Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments and reviews. They always inspire me to write more. This is the longest chapter yet, so enjoy. I look forward to your feedback.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I own nothing.
Chapter 10
Sarah squinted, the sun streamed in through the blinds, beating down on her like a spotlight. The pounding in her head seemed to intensify by the second. She groaned as she pulled the covers over her head. She recalled the events of last night. They played over and over in her head like a broken record, every little detail. Despite the heavy quantity of alcohol she had consumed last night, it did nothing for her memory. She remembered everything. Every mortifying detail.
There was a light knock on the door. To Sarah it may as well have been someone kicking the door down. She held her head waiting for the noise to stop.
"Sarah." She heard her name, followed by the doorknob turning. Sarah peeked out from underneath the covers to see Ellie in the doorway.
"Sarah?" Ellie called out again.
"Hey." Sarah replied, still trying to shield her eyes partially with the covers. Ellie was squinting herself as she staggered into the room and took a seat on the edge of Chuck's bed.
"How are you doing?" Ellie asked.
"Uh..been better…you?" Sarah managed to get out.
"Yeah, not feeling so great." Ellie rubbed at her temples. "I heard you had quite the night. How are you feeling?"
Sarah laid back on the bed and pulled the covers up high to cover her face. "Embarrassed." She replied, muffled through the blankets.
"Sarah you have nothing to be embarrassed about…Who hasn't had too much to drink before and regretted something they did or said? At least you were here with friends."
Sarah removed the covers. "That doesn't make me feel better Ellie."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"I think I did enough talking last night." Sarah looked away.
"Sarah it's okay to miss him." Ellie tried her best to reassure her.
"I guess, I'm just not dealing with this as well as I would like to be…It's…new for me." She finally replied.
"I'm always here if you want to talk."
"Thanks." Sarah said as she glanced at the clock. "It's after Nine?"
"Yeah. So listen I came in to tell you that if you want to take a shower, you can borrow some clothes, just help yourself."
"Thanks, I need to get ready for work." Sarah fought with the covers. She managed to free herself and sat on the edge of the bed. "Whoa."
"Give it a minute, it'll stop spinning. I had to sit on the edge of the bed for about 5 minutes before I could stand up."
Ellie left Sarah to get ready for the day. Sarah managed to get out of the bed. She was just about to head for the shower when her stomach decided it had some more toxins to rid itself of. Sarah made a beeline for the bathroom.
"I'll call you later." Casey spoke into his cell phone.
"Okay John, talk to you soon." Agent Erin Molloy responded.
Casey had taken a liking to Agent Molloy. Two weeks prior when the two of them had been shot at the warehouse, Sarah had ordered him to stay with her, make sure she was okay. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would find a companion and quite possibly, the love of his life in the process.
"Bye." Casey spoke softly into the phone a grin from ear to ear adorned his usually detached face.
"Bye." she sighed contently on her end.
Casey waited, but didn't hear the phone disconnect. "Are you still there?" He asked.
"Yes, I was waiting for you to hang up." She replied with a giggle.
Casey laughed. "I was waiting for you to hang up."
"You hang up first." Erin replied.
"No you hang up first."
"No you hang up first."
The flirtatious banter went on for a few more rounds. Finally Casey spoke up.
"I have an idea. How about we hang up at the same time?"
She giggled again. "Okay."
"So on the count of three, we'll both hang up?" he suggested.
"Okay."
"one, two.." Casey started to count.
"Wait!" Erin protested from her end of the phone line.
"What's the matter?" Casey asked, concern in his voice.
"Are we hanging up on three or after three?" She asked.
"After three. So it's one, two, three, hang up." he explained
"Okay."
"Alright then, so one…two…three." He waited patiently a few seconds passed. "You still there?" Casey's question was answered by a giggle and he couldn't help but laugh himself.
Suddenly his TV screen lit up before him and he was greeted by General Beckman.
"Colonel Casey."
"General!" Casey jumped, he felt like a teenage boy who's mother just walked in on him in the bathroom. "Okay gotta go." he spoke into his phone and hung up quickly before turning his attention back to the TV screen. "General Beckman. We weren't scheduled for a briefing, is everything okay?"
"Casey, I've been trying to get a hold of Lieutenant Walker but she hasn't answered her phone. I want you both at Castle in an hour for an emergency briefing. There have been some developments."
"Yes General, I will get a hold of Walker."
"One hour Casey." The General repeated before the screen went blank.
"What now?" Casey picked up his cell phone and tried Sarah's number.
Sarah had finally managed to pull herself together. Once she was showered and dressed, she slowly made her way out to the dining room where Ellie was sitting at the table. Devon was out in the kitchen working on one of his blender creations.
"No, Morgan, I have not heard from Chuck." Ellie spoke into her cell phone. "No, Sarah hasn't either…..If I talk to him I will have him call you…Look Morgan, I'm not feeling so great today, I'm going to have to let you go….okay…..Bye Morgan." Ellie closed the phone and tossed it down on the table. She laid her head down on the table, it hurt too much to try to hold it up any longer than she had already.
Sarah approached the table and sat down across from Ellie. "Morgan?" Sarah asked with a knowing look.
Ellie groaned. "He won't stop calling."
"Yeah he's been calling me too."
Devon approached from the kitchen, carrying two glasses of his latest concoction. "I think Morgan may miss Chuck more than the two of you combined." He stated as he set the glasses down in front of them. He then proceeded to place three aspirin in front of each of them.
"I doubt that." Sarah said to no one in particular.
"What is this?" Ellie asked pointing to the glass in front of her.
"Don't ask, just drink. Trust me ladies. Just take your aspirin and drink."
Ellie and Sarah picked up the pills and tossed them into their mouths, chasing them with Devon's special drink. Almost on cue, they both slammed their glasses back down on the table as they struggled to keep the drink down.
After she managed to swallow what was in her mouth, Ellie turned her attention to Devon "This is disgusting!" she exclaimed.
Sarah just made a face and pushed the glass away.
Devon pushed it back towards her. He picked Ellie's back up and placed it in her hand.
"Drink." he said. "You will thank me in half an hour."
Both girls hesitantly brought the glasses back up to their mouths and began to sip at the nasty mixture.
Halfway through the drink. The trio were interrupted by a ringing sound coming from the living room.
"Is that my cell?" Sarah asked looking around the living room.
"That thing has been going off all morning Sarah." Devon said before taking a sip of his own special colon cleansing shake.
"It has?" Sarah was worried. This couldn't be good. "She looked around the living room frantically. She finally located where the ringing was coming from. She felt around the couch cushions, finding her phone lodged between two of the cushions. Unfortunately she didn't get to it in time.
Sarah looked at the screen, It was Casey calling. Sarah scrolled through her listing of missed calls only to discover she had five missed calls from General Beckman and two from Casey. Sarah panicked as she punched in her password to listen to Casey's message.
"Walker, Beckman has been trying to get a hold of you. She wants us at Castle within the hour for an emergency briefing. Apparently there has been some developments. I don't know where you are, but you better drop what you're doing and get over here, pronto."
Sarah sighed, all kinds of thoughts began to race through her head. What if someone had gotten to Chuck? Maybe they found Haz? Sarah didn't like the sound of this. She shoved her phone into her pocket and quickly started gathering her belongings.
"Sarah is everything alright?" Ellie asked, a worried expression now on her face.
"Huh?….Oh, yeah, I just…I'm late for work… My boss is going to kill me….I gotta go." Sarah gathered the last of her things and retrieved her keys off the coffee table.
"Sarah what about your shake?"
"Huh?…oh right." Sarah quickly made her way over to the table. She picked up the glass and pounded down the rest of it's contents.
"Thanks Devon, I feel better already." She said rushing for the front door. "Thanks for the clothes Ellie." Sarah flung the door open and made her exit.
"I'll call you later Sarah." Ellie called out to her before she heard the door shut. "Wow, she was in a hurry huh?" Ellie said turning her attention to Devon. "I didn't know her boss at the Orange Orange was such a hard ass. It's just frozen yogurt, it's not like it's a matter of national security." Ellie chuckled briefly before grabbing her head again. "Owww." She whined.
"Yeah..right…national security. Good one honey." Devon chuckled before taking another swig of his special drink.
Casey was already in the process of reviewing some of the field agents' reports when Sarah rushed into the castle.
Casey glanced down at his watch. "Cutting it kind of close there Walker." he said with a smirk.
"Casey, what's going on? What did the General say? Is everything okay?"
"You know as much as I do." Casey finally looked up from his reports. "What the hell happened to you?" he asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.
"You look like hell…You're hungover." He accused.
"Casey, I'm not hungover, I'm just a little under the weather today."
"Yeah…because you're hungover." he replied, eyeing her head to toe.
"Fine I had some drinks last night. Is that a crime?"
"No crime. There's nothing wrong with wetting your whistle every now and then. I just assumed with everything that's going on…Well it's not really a good time to be inebriated is it?"
"Let's just say I wasn't thinking clearly last night and I recognize that, so can we please move on?"
Before Casey had a chance to answer, the big screen lit up with Beckman's face.
"Lieutenant Walker, I'm glad to see you could join us." Beckman started.
"General." Sarah tried to protest. "I'm sorry I missed your calls, I.."
"Enough Lieutenant. I don't really care where you were or what you were doing, we have more pressing matters to discuss."
Fear seeped into Sarah's chest causing her a sharp pain. "General, what is it?"
"Well, first off I wanted to inform you both that Agent Carmichael has completed his training here with us. He was set to fly back on Thursday to resume his training with you and get him back in the field."
"General, what do you mean he was set to fly home Thursday? Have the plans changed?" Casey interjected.
"Last night Chuck had another one of his episodes." The General started.
Sarah's jaw dropped, she was ready to go into full blown panic mode.
"Just like the previous episodes, this one was more…aggressive, which has been the pattern with them every time. My onsite physician conducted several tests on Agent Carmichael and found something interesting. Chuck had what appeared to be some kind of electronic device…a microchip if you will, implanted on his brain. We believe the device was the cause of Chuck's episodes. Chuck underwent surgery last night to have the device removed. I have my people working around the clock analyzing the chip, trying to figure out it's function. We are hoping to hear something later today."
"General, is Chuck okay?" Sarah could feel the bile rise in her throat once again. She struggled to keep it down.
"Agent Carmichael is resting comfortably. He has not woken up yet. Once he does, my medical team will assess his condition. If he is stable I still want to send him home later this week."
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. "Is there anything you need us to do General?"
"For the time being, just continue with your efforts to track down Haz. I'll update you once we know something." Beckman replied before signing off.
Sarah stood there motionless trying to take in all this new information and assess the situation.
"You Okay?" Casey asked, turning his focus to the blonde next to him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sarah was now fuming. She had let her guard down with Chuck. She showed her vulnerable side, her human side. It wasn't something she was used to and now instead of one of the CIA's finest, people saw her weakness. How could she ever have both? Her career defined her, but Chuck fulfilled her. She loved them both but was there room in her life for both?
"I mean are you okay?" he repeated.
"Why wouldn't I be okay Casey?" Her tone was cold and unfeeling.
"Because they just operated on your boyfriend's brain…and….you weren't there." The words came out softly and with a hint of compassion which baffled Sarah.
"He's not my boyfriend Casey, you know it's all for cover."
"Sarah, I'm not a moron. I see you two together….I know."
Sarah didn't know what to say. She had thought she had been careful when it came to her and Chuck. Apparently the only person she had been fooling was herself. There was no use denying it now.
"He was alone." she whispered.
"Sarah if there is one thing I have learned about Chuck Bartowski over the past two years, it's that that kid is a lot tougher than he lets on. Don't beat yourself up over this."
Sarah took his words to heart. Yeah Chuck was a lot tougher than he let on, but that didn't make her feel any better about not being there for him.
"Do we have any new leads on Haz?" Sarah was ready to change the subject. She needed to change the subject before everything got too real for her.
"Not really, they did find some prints at the warehouse but no one has been able to identify them yet. In fact I was just getting ready to call Agent Stevens before you got here, to see if he had a report for me. I'll get him on the phone now." Casey pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned to walk away.
"John."
"Yeah?" he said stopping in his tracks and turning his attention back to her.
"Thank you." And she meant it. It wasn't everyday Colonel John Casey uttered words of comfort, offered compassion to someone in need. In fact some might say that from his behavior this very morning, that hell had finally frozen over.
Casey grunted in response. It was a new one Sarah hadn't heard before, but she was pretty sure it was Casey's way of saying 'you're welcome.'
"Agent Carmichael can you hear me?"
Chuck was beginning to stir. He could make out the light through squinted eyes. His vision still somewhat blurred. He could hear the muffled voices in the background becoming clearer with each second that passed.
"Agent Carmichael."
He heard his name being called. Chuck moaned in response. A few more minutes passed and Chuck's eyes fluttered open. Within seconds a team of nurses along with the doctor, were at his side.
"Agent Carmichael?" The doctor repeated. "How are you feeling Agent Carmichael?" he asked. Chuck moaned once more.
"S…Sar..ah."
"Agent Carmichael do you know where you are? The doctor asked.
"Yes." Chuck managed to get out, barely audible to the ears that surrounded him.
Chuck began to take in his surroundings as everything came into focus.
"Carmichael tell me where you are." The doctor prodded.
Chuck struggled to find the words as he came to.
"C…C..I.A….training…fac…facili…ty." His eyes closed again as he struggled to remain conscious.
"Agent Carmichael, you had surgery last night. Do you remember?"
Chuck had a vague recollection of last nights events. He remembered Agent Hansen beating him to a pulp. He remembered going back to his bunker, the headache, then the blackout. Chuck forced his eyes open again.
"Sur..gery?…why?" He managed to get out.
"You had another one of your episodes Agent Carmichael. I did some more tests and we discovered a microchip implanted on your brain. I believe this device to be the cause of these so called episodes of yours. We successfully removed it and it is being analyzed as we speak. You're going to be fine Agent Carmichael. Now I want you to get some rest. We're going to get you fixed up here and hopefully on a plane home by the end of the week.
Chuck smiled through the pain. 'home' he was going home. A smile formed on his face as he fell back into a deep slumber.
3 days later
"Dammitt!!" Haz slammed his fist down on the table. He had spent the better part of the past four days tinkering with his devices. Despite all his efforts his screen continued to read 'system failure.' Something had gone wrong during the last transmission. The chip that Haz had implanted into the intersect was now showing as being offline, which meant that either the device had malfunctioned, or possibly was discovered and removed. The only way for Haz to know for sure and to complete the transmission would be to exam Agent Carmichael once again.
"Sir" one of Haz's operatives entered his private headquarters.
"What is it?" Haz snapped back.
"Sir, sorry to interrupt, I just thought you should know. There is some news regarding the intersect." Haz now turned his attention to the man in the doorway.
"Sir, our informant has told us that the microchip has been removed. The intersect will be returning to Burbank. He's scheduled to land in L.A tonight."
"Perfect." Haz replied.
"Sir, do you want us to bring him in?"
"No."
"No?"
"I have other plans for Agent Carmichael. Get my undercover contact on the phone." Haz ordered.
"Yes sir."
Haz watched his agent leave. "I will have my intersect Agent Carmichael, by any means necessary." Haz stood up from his seat and made his way across the room to a large storage closet. He opened it and immediately went to work searching for the perfect disguise. It was time to do a little field work of his own.
"There you go." Sarah said handing the young boy his frozen yogurt.
"Thank you." he said before running off to join his mother at the nearby table. The door to the Orange Orange swung open causing Sarah to look up. She watched as Casey entered and made his way up to the counter.
"What can I get you sir?" Sarah asked, loud enough for any customers in ear shot to hear.
"Uh…" Casey quickly glanced up at the menu on the wall. "I'll have a small peaches and cream."
Sarah went to work getting Casey's yogurt. Casey moved in closer to the counter. "I just got off the phone with the General." he said in hushed tones. "Bartowski's plane is scheduled to land at LAX late tonight. She wants us there for pick up and transfer. We're to keep tabs on Bartowski at all times, which means he will be staying with one of us for the time being, I vote that he stays with you."
"Of course you do." she replied as she tossed a spoon into his yogurt.
"Well lieutenant if you would rather her stayed at my place…"
"Casey, it's fine!" she replied handing him the frozen yogurt.
"I thought so." he said taking the yogurt from her. "I'll see ya later." Casey said before leaving the Orange Orange.
Sarah watched Casey make his exit, a smile formed on her face. Chuck was coming home. She would be seeing him in a few hours and she couldn't be happier or more relieved. Sarah had been so caught up in her own thoughts, that she failed to notice the elderly gentleman who sat at the nearby table straining to hear every word that was spoken between the two agents.
"Gentlemen we'll be taking off in 3minutes." the pilot announced over his radio as Chuck and Agent McKinley settled into their seats on the small private plane.
"How you feeling Carmichael?" How's the head?" McKinley asked Chuck as he went to work fastening his seat belt.
"Good." Chuck smiled. "I'm going home, I'm good."
Chuck and Agent Mckinley were distracted from their conversation when Agent Hansen along with another Agent, who Chuck had never worked with, only had seen in passing, boarded the small private plane.
"Hansen? Is something wrong?" McKinley asked, confused as to why the men were there.
"No, nothings wrong. General Beckman asked that I and Agent Miller accompany you on the transfer, just as an extra precaution given everything that has gone down this past week." Hansen and Miller settled into their own seats.
Chuck gave Agent McKinley a questioning look. McKinley just shrugged his shoulders in response.
The plane's engines roared as the plane came to life. Within seconds, they were air born and well on their way to Los Angeles.
Chuck had taken a couple pain killers and reclined his seat so he could get some rest. He was after all still recovering from surgery a few days prior, not to mention his broken ribs and other ailments from his training session with Agent Hansen.
As exhausted as he was, it didn't take Chuck long to fall asleep after he had closed his eyes. One single image popped into his head. The image of one Sarah Walker. Chuck couldn't wait to see her. It had been nearly three months now that they were apart. Three long, excruciating months. All Chuck wanted to do was take her in his arms and hold on for dear life. And they would be together. Chuck had done what he needed to do. He would be her equal. Nothing could keep them apart now. A smiled formed on Chuck's face as he entered into a deep sleep and the dreams came.
"Sarah!" He moved towards her.
"Chuck!" She ran in his direction to greet him. Once she came in contact with him, she threw herself in his arms.
"Ahh.." he squirmed a little in her embrace.
"What is it?" she pulled away to look at him as he held his torso. "You're hurt?" concern washed over her.
"It's just a few broken ribs, no big deal...now come here." He held his arms out for her once more and she fell gently this time into his embrace.
"I can't believe you're here." the tears began to flow now. "Chuck, I've missed you so much."
"I know, I missed you Sarah. I was beginning to think I was never going to come home." He leaned down and his lips grazed the top of her head. "I love you."
"I love you Chuck."
"What?" he questioned, a smile forming on his face.
Sarah pulled away from him just enough so she could look him in the eye. She smiled. "I said I love you."
"You love me?"
Sarah nodded as a fresh tear made it's way down her cheek. Chuck brushed it away with the pad of his thumb. Their eyes met. Chuck slowly leaned in and captured her waiting lips with his. The kiss was slow and sensual, full of raw emotion and although it was brief neither of them had ever felt anything like it before.
"Let's go home Chuck." she suggested as Chuck tightened his hold on her.
Chuck nodded. Sarah picked up Chuck's duffel bag and slung the strap over her shoulder. She laced her arm around his waist. He rested his arm over her shoulder, pulling her in closer in the process. "Let's go home Sarah."
A few hours into the flight, Chuck woke when the pilot came on the intercom to announce that they were about an hour from their destination.
Still smiling from the dream that was fresh in his mind, Chuck reached into his pocket and pulled out Sarah's charm bracelet. He held it between his thumb and finger. He couldn't wait to give it back to Sarah. To place it on her wrist where it belonged.
"I'm going to go talk to the pilot." Agent Miller announced getting up from his seat. The three men watched as he entered the cockpit. Chuck adjusted his seat, moving it from it's reclined position.
"Feeling any better? "McKinley asked.
"Yeah, the sleep did me good." Chuck replied.
"You all rested up for your lady?" McKinley joked.
"Sure am." Chuck laughed.
Hansen rolled his eyes which didn't go unnoticed by Chuck. Chuck was about to say something to Hansen when a gunshot was heard coming from the cockpit. Chuck tucked the bracelet back into his pocket.
"What the hell?" McKinley jumped up from his seat. Chuck and Agent Hansen followed suit.
McKinley drew his gun and slowly approached the cockpit. Chuck right behind him.
McKinley kicked in the door and entered the cockpit to find the pilot hunched over the controls, a gunshot to his head. McKinley approached and felt for a pulse. There was none. He stepped back. Just as he was about to turn around, he was struck over the head from behind. Mckinley hit the floor just as Chuck was making his way into the cockpit.
Chuck was met with a gun pointed at his chest. "Not so fast Agent Carmichael." Chuck put his hands up "Back it up, nice and slow now."
Chuck slowly walked backwards out of the cockpit. As he entered the cabin of the plane he was surprised to see Agent Hansen with his gun drawn on him as well.
"Hansen? What are you doing?" he questioned.
"For a super spy you're not very smart Agent Carmichael. What does it look like I'm doing?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm the guy who's going to capture the intersect." Hansen replied.
Agent Miller grabbed two parachutes from the overhead compartment and began to put one on. Chuck stumbled backwards when the plane hit some turbulence. He could feel the plane dropping, they were losing altitude fast.
Once Agent Miller had his pack on he drew his gun on Chuck once again and tossed the other parachute pack to Hansen. Hansen proceeded to put the pack on.
"You want me to tie him up?" Agent Miller asked.
Hansen nodded. "There's some rope in that compartment behind you."
Agent Miller turned to retrieve the rope. As he did, Hansen turned his gun on him and pulled the trigger, putting a bullet in his head. Blood splattered everywhere. Chuck looked down to find that he was covered in Agent Miller's blood. His hand went to his mouth as he tried to stifle the vomit he could feel making it's way up his throat. He swallowed hard and forced it back down.
"Now Agent Carmichael, I want you to remove his parachute and put it on." Hansen instructed him.
Chuck stood for a moment trying to take everything in.
"NOW CARMICHAEL!!" Hansen was getting angry.
Chuck made his way over the Miller's body. He struggled to remove the bloody pack from the lifeless body.
"Get it on!" Hansen ordered once again.
Chuck slipped his arms through the straps and adjusted them. He could see Agent McKinley beginning to stir out of the corner of his eye.
Once Chuck had the pack on, he slowly walked past Hansen. Hansen followed his every move with his eyes and his gun. His back was now to Agent McKinley who was coming to.
"What exactly is your plan here Hansen?" Chuck asked.
Hansen laughed. "You see that door there Carmichael." he pointed to the door of the plane with his gun.
"Yeah."
"Well Agent Carmichael, you and I are going to take a little dive out that door there. After which I will be delivering you personally to the man you know as Dr. Haz."
"Who is Haz really? Is he with the ring?" Chuck asked.
Hansen laughed. "Is he with the ring? He is the ring."
"What does he want with me?"
"What do you think he wants Carmichael? What does anyone want from you? The intersect."
Chuck watched as McKinley slowly approached Hansen from behind.
"Is Beckman working with you?" Chuck asked.
Hansen laughed again. "Beckman? Please, the General is joke. She is so oblivious to what is going on around her. Like she would have the brains to orchestrate something as inventive as the ring. Beckman is small time."
McKinley cocked his gun as he approached Hansen from behind. "Don't you move Hansen." McKinley said as he moved in closer.
Hansen's vision shifted when he heard the gun click behind him.
McKinley grabbed Hansen from behind. Hansen's gun went off in the process. Chuck saw his chance and took the opportunity to attack. His leg came up kicking the gun from Hansen's hand. Hansen stumbled backwards McKinley held him in a headlock. He squeezed tighter and tighter until Hansen fell unconscious. McKinley grabbed the rope from the nearby compartment and went to work tying up Hansen.
Chuck winced in pain as he struggled to catch his balance. "AAAhhhhh." He held onto his side.
"You okay Chuck?" McKinley looked up at him. Chuck lifted his shirt. The blood poured from his abdomen. "You were hit?"
"Yeah." Chuck staggered over to a seat and sat down.
McKinley removed Hansen's parachute and began to put it on.
McKinley entered the cockpit to assess the situation. Things did not look good.
"Chuck." McKinley entered the cabin and approached Chuck. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah…I'm fine." He looked pale.
"Can you walk Chuck?" McKinley started to help him up.
"Yeah." within seconds Chuck was on his feet.
"Chuck I need you in the cock pit. You need to see if you can't gain control of this plane."
Chuck made his way to the cockpit with Agent McKinley's assistance. McKinley removed the pilot from his seat to make room for Chuck. Chuck sat down and played with the controls. It was only seconds before the pain shot through Chuck's head. His eyes rolled back and image after image outlining how to fly the plane flashed in his head. Chuck came out of the flash and immediately went to work trying to regain control of the plane. Unfortunately nothing seemed to work.
"The controls are jammed. We're going down!" he exclaimed.
"Let's go Carmichael, we need to get out of here now." He barely got the words out when the control panel went up in flames. Chuck jumped back to avoid getting burned.
McKinley grabbed Chuck by the arm and pulled him out of the cockpit. "Now Chuck, we don't have much time."
The two men approached the door of the plane.
"You remember how to do this right?" McKinley asked. Chuck swallowed hard and nodded. "Here. Tie this end to your pack." McKinley handed him one end of a rope. The other end tied securely to his pack. "It's dark out there, we have no idea what we're jumping in to. This way we won't get separated."
Chuck nodded and went to work fastening the tie to his pack.
"Ready?" McKinley asked.
Chuck swallowed hard once again. "Let's do this." he said
McKinley threw the door open, a gust of wind blew through the plane nearly knocking them on their asses.
"On the count of three Chuck?"
Chuck nodded.
"One, two, three…"
Casey shut down his computer. Tossed his gun in its holster and turned his attention to Sarah.
"You ready Walker. He should be landing in half an hour." Sarah put down the file she was reading and stood from her chair.
"Yeah, we should head out." she replied, throwing on her Orange Orange sweatshirt.
Just as the two were about to walk out the door of Castle, General Beckman appeared on the screen.
"Lieutenant Walker, Colonel Casey, I'm glad I caught you!" General Beckman exclaimed.
"General?" Sarah replied. "We were just headed out to retrieve Chuck."
"That's what I want to talk to you about."
"Is something wrong General?" Casey asked.
"You could say that." Beckman replied. "Chuck's plane was set to land in 37 minutes. Our surveillance shows that they've gone off the radar and we have been unable to make contact with the plane."
"General, what are you saying?" Casey asked.
"I'm saying, there's good chance the plane went down. Our people are doing everything in their power to find them but we need to prepare for the worst."
Sarah's breath caught in her throat.
"General.." Casey started.
"You two are to remain at Castle. I will be in contact with you as to what our next move is." The General didn't give them a chance to respond and disconnected the call.
"Oh my God!" Sarah's hand covered her mouth in disbelief. "Casey." her eyes watered.
"Sarah don't freak out. We don't know anything yet. Stay focused." Casey tried his best to reassure her. "I'm going to pull up the flight plan and check the satellite images see if I can find something." Sarah nodded in response.
Sarah collapsed into her chair. This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not Chuck.
Well there ya have it. Hope everyone enjoyed. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your reviews.