A/N Making some of my more blatant changes to the timeline in this chapter. Some elements are new, while others are simply split to improve the pacing.

"Commit to what?"

"I need to confess."

"Open, says me."

"I'm your biggest fan."

Their friend and partner John Casey going willingly with a Ring team wasn't one of their expected outcomes, so Chuck and Sarah hadn't developed any contingency plans for the possibility. They weren't even armed. Stanley Fitzroy's men were, and would have gone after their prisoner, but Chuck used the keycard again, closing the holding cell before they could throw their lives away. Leaving the guards behind, Stanley whisked the two agents up fifteen levels in his special hidden elevator and sent them on their way, before they could ask embarrassing questions about the architecture.

"Do they actually want us to believe that Casey's a member of the Ring?" said Chuck, as soon as they were out.

"They're idiots if they do," said Sarah. "Let's get out of here." She ran for the car.

"Yeah," said Chuck, running after her. "We're in the one place they aren't." He reached for the door, but someone opened it from the inside, hitting him in the nose and knocking him down. He saw feet, lots of feet, and heard Sarah yell in alarm, but then the world went dark.

Yeah, he thought as they rolled him over and cuffed him. I'd be plenty steamed too.

The trip back to Castle was short and silent. The guards weren't talking, naturally, and both Chuck and Sarah knew better. Plus, they were both tracking their progress through the city and didn't need any distractions. They knew they were going into the Orange Orange long before they smelled the sugar.

Strong hands pushed them around, forced them into chairs, and spun them around, all tactics designed to disorient and weaken their resistance. The bags came off, but Chuck and Sarah already had their eyes closed, having gone through the same interrogation resistance training as their captors. They opened them to see General Beckman looking at them. "What did you think you were doing?" she asked mildly.

"Saving Casey from making a mistake," said Chuck, "But then we realized he wasn't making one."

Beckman sat back. "And when was this?"

"When Keller and his men retrieved him," said Sarah. "If Casey really was with them, we were right there and unarmed. He could have betrayed–" she looked around at the assorted agents and chose a word other than 'Intersect' "–us to them at any time."

"Ergo," said Chuck in the tone of someone who'd always wanted an excuse to say 'ergo', "He's up to something, and my suspicion is you're up to it with him. You had to know we wouldn't accept the fingerprint story."

Beckman nodded, and flicked her fingers. The guards dispersed, except for the one who unlocked the cuffs. "Colonel Casey is being coerced," she said, when the three of them were alone. "He gave me a sealed file to open, and permission to share its contents with the two of you." Two pictures flashed on the screen behind her. "Allow me to introduce Lt. Alexander Coburn."

Morgan walked into the courtyard, bicycle under one hand and an open letter in the other. As he passed the fountain his knees buckled and he sat heavily. The sound of his bicycle falling over attracted the attention of the man tending the potted garden. "What's the matter?" he growled.

Morgan rose. "Casey?"

The gardener tugged down his kerchief. "What's in the letter, Grimes?"

Morgan slumped. "It's a 'Dear Morgan' from Hannah."

"Couldn't tell you to your face, huh?" said Casey, putting down his tools. "Not that curator…"

"No, the curator's a douche," said Morgan as Casey walked over to him. "The assistant curator's okay, though, kind of like Chuck, only with art. Better for her than me." He looked down at the paper. "Not a surprise, just…hard, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." Casey sat down next to Morgan. "You never got one of those before?"

The paper twitched. "Never mattered enough to anyone before."

Moron. "So that's a good thing, right?"

Morgan brightened. "Yeah, I guess it is." He slapped Casey's shoulder with the letter. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," said Casey, looking around, "But while you're in the mood, I need a favor…"

Chuck's computer made a noise, as he was drawing up plans for their operation in San Diego. Alex Coburn had had a fiancée, and Keller had made it clear in no uncertain terms how much the continued good health of 'the women in his life' depended on Casey's compliance with their wishes. With no time to spare, Chuck and Sarah were flying to her side so Casey could face Keller on more even footing.

"What's that noise?" asked Sarah.

"The decryption of Prince's phone," said Chuck, opening his case. "I wasn't about to leave that behind or start all over again." He checked the output. "Good folder structure. Okay, we've got some clear text here, no images yet. Oh, dear." He got out his phone.

"Oh, dear, what?" said Sarah, looking at the screen. Chuck pointed as he searched his contacts. "Alex Coburn? We know that."

Chuck moved his finger. "Oh, dear," she said.

"Yeah, hi, Devon? I really need a favor…"

Morgan was back at the Buy More, looking over the DVD rack as he so often did. He wasn't really looking for a movie, he knew which one he wanted, but he didn't want to just go for it. Be a dead giveaway if he did. He flipped through the various titles, racked out of order. Finally he moved in. First, second, third, what? Planet of the Apes? Talk about sacrificing for his country.

And unsealed, to boot. Now that was just insulting. As if any Buy More employee worthy of the name would put a movie back on the rack without shrink-wrapping it first. Morgan popped it open, and saw the little capsule, just where Casey said it would be. Yes! Mission accomplished.

"Hey, Morgan, there you are," said Devon, appearing at the end of the aisle, between Morgan and the door. "Been looking all over for you." He waved a hand. "Come on, little buddy, we've got a mission."

All right! Morgan shoved the DVD in his bag and followed Devon out. When it rained, it poured.

Casey sat in his car, hidden among scores of others in the mall parking lot. He saw Morgan go in, creeping around the way some clown from a spy movie might. Then he saw Devon go in. Nuts. Sure enough, the big lug came out just a few minutes later, Morgan in tow. "But Devon–"

Morgan hadn't made the handoff. Terrific. Casey prepared to get out of his car. He'd have to do it himself.

"No time, Morgan," boomed the blond to everyone inside the Large Mart. "Chuck needs us. You don't want to let him down your first time out, do you?" He opened the door of his car and shoved Morgan inside. "You'll just have to watch your movie when we get back."

They pulled out of the parking lot at high speed, faster than Casey could pull his own car out after them. He didn't see them when he pulled out into traffic himself, and he gave it up as a lost cause. He didn't know what Chuck needed them to do, but as long as Chuck was doing what Casey needed him to do he'd live with a hiccup or two. The Laudanol would be safe enough.

He turned around and headed for his own appointment

Chuck and Sarah pulled up outside Kathleen McHugh's house, looking closely for any signs that Keller's men were already there, but they saw nothing. "Glasses," said Chuck, and they both put on their sunglasses and got out of the car. They walked up to the door and Chuck knocked.

"Yes?" said the woman who answered the door.

"Mrs. McHugh?" asked Sarah. "We're with the FBI," she said, when the woman answered in the affirmative. She and Chuck flashed their cover badges, and she took off her sunglasses. "We'd like to talk with you about Alex Coburn, if you don't mind."

Kathleen looked at the two of them in confusion. "Alex? But…he's been dead twenty years."

"May we come in, please?" asked Sarah. "This really is a highly classified matter."

Kathleen opened her door, and they went inside.

John Casey walked into the cabin, a lit Cuban cigar in one hand and a zippered gel-pac in the other. Keller sat behind a desk, probably a dozen guns at his fingertips. "I knew I could count on you," he said. "You should have listened when I told you Alex Coburn was dead, but no. You always were too emotional for your own good." He gestured, and Casey tossed the zippered case onto the table. Keller unzipped the gel-pac and stopped, staring at the contents. "What is this?"

"Tic-tac?" said Casey. "You should try it. Really covers up that rotten-soul smell."

Chuck listened as Mrs. McHugh spoke to Sarah so glowingly of 'her Alex', scrutinizing the many pictures of a mother and daughter growing up alone. The large truck pulling up outside caught his eye. "Are you expecting anyone, Mrs. McHugh?" He went to look out the window from cover. Sarah got up.

"No," said Kathleen, disturbed by their sudden alertness. Doors slammed outside, and they heard lots of men moving, trying to be quiet about it.

Sarah drew her gun. "Twenty to one they try the gas company ploy."

"No bets," said Chuck, raising his watch to his lips. "We have a situation." Looking around, he noticed a closet, and pointed to it. "Mrs. McHugh, you might want to seek shelter."

Keller stood. "You're not walking out of here. I've got five guys watching my back. What have you got? A cigar."

Casey took the cigar from his mouth and dropped it on the floor, crushing it under his boot. "I've got my team. She's safe from you." Outside, the sound of a winch unspooling under Casey's car drew the guards' attention.

"From me, yes," said Keller, "But not from the three squads I sent after her, and your team. Not that they're the ones you should be worried about."

Outside, Casey's van exploded, fragments of glass and shrapnel piercing the windows harmlessly. The two men waited, but no one came to report. Casey grunted, satisfied that the loss of his cigar had been worth it. "Sorry about your backup."

"I might want to seek a gun," said Casey's former fiancée.

"Too late for that," said Sarah, as someone knocked on the door. "Hide." She took her gun to the side entrance, so that she could protect Kathleen without endangering Kathleen.

Too late for that. "Gas company," said someone outside, and armed men swarmed the house.

Chuck flashed, dodging bullets as he used whatever weapons came into his hands, giving new meaning to the phrase 'close-quarters combat.' Sarah got a few shots off but her gun was knocked from her hand by angry armored men. Kathleen went for the gun but was stunned before she could get there.

Chuck and Sarah stood back to back as the thugs took aim. "Switch," said Chuck, flinging up an arm. Sarah hooked his arm with her own and bent over, pulling Chuck backward. He kicked up with his legs and rolled across her back, throwing himself to the ground on the other side, where Sarah's gun was. He fired as he rolled, shooting at unarmored feet with uncanny accuracy, and then the entire squad was on the floor.

"Incoming," yelled Sarah, looking out the window. The door crashed open, the back-up to the first squad having no need or use for stealth. Sarah went down in a swarm or armed men. Chuck flashed.

Colonel Keller flipped the table, leaping to the attack, but he was older than Casey in a business when age mattered. Casey fought him off easily and pulled him up, hands around Keller's throat. "You should have stuck to strategy," he said. "Left the tactics to younger men."

"You've killed them," Keller said, gasping.

Somehow Casey didn't think Keller was talking about his guards. "You were gonna kill her anyway."

Keller rolled his eyes, the only things he could move. "True."

Casey lifted his former commander off the ground and held him there.

Time slowed, sounds muted. Vision blurred, too slow to suit the needs of the moment. Sound and shadow, glimpses of movement, ruled his world. Men became targets, statues and pictures became projectile weapons.

Sarah hit the ground, hearing Chuck shout her name. From the floor she watched as he blurred into motion, too fast for her to see clearly. The sound of it appalled her. Chuck wasn't pulling any punches. He wasn't saying anything. Broken rails broke bones, wielded in his hands. He pivot-kicked a statue from the mantel, the heavy object moving slowly enough that she could see it impact the head of a man, his gun aimed at her. He dropped like a dead man.

Sarah pushed herself up off the floor. "Chuck, stop!"

Someone grabbed her by the neck, pressed a gun up against the side of her head. "I'd do what she says if was huuurk!" Between the first word and the last Chuck had crossed the floor and slid his arm between Sarah and the man's gun arm, catching him by the throat and lifting him off the ground.

Colonel Keller fought, kicked, went still. Casey let the body fall.

Colonel Keller's goon fought, kicked…

Sarah stood up, between Chuck and his target. His eyes were focused, his expression utterly still. "Chuck, look at me." When his gaze shifted to her she kept talking, ignoring the choking sounds from behind her. "Chuck, listen to me, listen to this." She raised her arm to the side of his head, making the charms on her bracelet jingle together. "Hear that sound, Chuck?"

Jingle, jingle. "That's the sound of our hearts, beating together. You gave me that heart, your heart, Agent Bartowski. You gave it to me to keep it safe."

Jingle, jingle. "I hung my heart next to yours, you've had it since the day you helped a ballerina dance." She touched his face, drawing her hand across his cheek. "I knew you would keep it safe as well, and you have, Chuck. I love you, and I know that you love me."

Jingle, jingle. She felt his stance change, come alive. His eyes became eyes again, not…tracking sensors. He was seeing her. Hearing her. "You saved me, Chuck, from Rebecca Franco, from Katie O'Dowd–" His grip opened, and the goon fell. She threw an elbow back as he slid past her, making sure he was out as well as down. "From that guy."

Chuck reached up and caught her hand, stilling the sound of the charms. He held the two hearts in his fingers, Chuck and Sam. Sam and Chuck. "Hearts," he whispered.

Sarah pulled her phone from her pocket, pressed a contact, waited for pickup. "Desperate measures, General," she said without preamble. "I'll let you know when we're done." She put the phone away and drew Chuck's tranq pistol. He looked at her blankly.

"Time to go, Agent Bartowski," said Sarah. She tranqued all of them, starting with Mrs. McHugh herself. The cleaners would be here soon, and the fewer memories anyone had of this day, the better. She tugged at Chuck's hand, pulling him to the door, and he followed like a sleepwalker. "Come with me, Chuck. It's time. Time for us."

A/N2 Not quite where they ended this segment in canon. I hope you don't mind. I hope you'll drop me a line and tell me what you think of this rewrite so far.