A/N: On the home stretch now. As always, thanks for reading and commenting. All have been inspirational and helpful.
Only a few more days until Season 5 dvd's are released ... can't wait!
Don't own them, blah, blah, blah.
"Chuck, you okay?"
"Yeah … fine. I guess O'Broghlan had a friend downstairs that we didn't find. Damn."
"Well now Erin. Looks like we have a bit of a standoff here. Two of us ... two of you. Of course, looks like most of your guns are out here."
"Yeah ... how's the arm, O'Broghlan?"
"Oh, you will pay for that, me dearie. Tell you what. You surrender and I promise I will kill your little playmate quickly and painlessly. Can't ask for a better deal than that."
"I can think of a better deal. How about you surrender and I'll make sure you spend the rest of your life behind bars?"
There were a couple of bullet holes in the wall of the bar and Chuck was looking through one towards the stairs. He got Sarah's attention and pointed while 'walking up stairs' with his fingers. Sarah nodded, quickly stood, threw a knife, and dropped back down before either man could fire at her. There was a painful, gurgling shriek and they heard a body falling down the stairs. O'Broghlan shot through the bar again but only managed to ruin the refrigerator. Both Chuck and Sarah had hit the floor with Chuck covering Sarah with his body. "Nice throw Mrs. Bartowski," Chuck whispered into her ear. Despite the situation his breath on her ear gave her goosebumps.
"Sounds like maybe the odds just changed again, pal."
There was no reply but suddenly they heard four more shots at a distance. They both ducked again but no bullets came through the bar. Then they heard O'Broghlan running through the cabin. Both Sarah and Chuck jumped up but he was already down the stairs.
"Oh no, what did he just do?"
Sarah ran from the bar to the cockpit door which was now standing open. She looked in and saw her greatest nightmare. O'Broghlan had shot all the flight crew. The plane was still on autopilot right now but where were they headed? And what would happen when they arrived?
"Sarah? What's happened?"
"He's killed all the flight crew! We are definitely in trouble now."
"Well, we've got to find him fast. We can't have him coming up behind us, or messing with the plane, or activating whatever's in that crate. Come on!"
They both moved quickly but cautiously down the stairs, then worked their way through the plane as quickly as possible to determined he was not on the lower seating level. "How are we going to search the rest of the plane but also make sure he doesn't get behind us? Can he fly this thing?"
"He didn't know how to fly when we were in Spain. Let's hope that hasn't changed. We have to assume he's gone to the crate. When you were working your way up here did you see any other access panels?"
"There are several but I don't know where any of them lead. If he knows the plane better than we do, he could surprise us at any time."
"He usually relied on others for the fine details like that. I doubt he would take the time to study the schematics of a jumbo jet."
"Okay. Let's head to the crate and see if we can catch him."
"Wait. Is there another way down besides the elevator?"
"I did see stairs going down, back by the rear restrooms, but I don't know where they lead or if we can get into that compartment once we are down to the lower level."
"Let's try." And Sarah took off running to the rear of the plane.
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O'Broghlan used the elevator to get to the cargo hold. He ran to the crate and saw that it was open. "Damn those busy bodies. Got into everything. I swear, Erin, I am going to cut you into little pieces and mail you to the CIA." He saw his two guards, still unconscious, tied up. "Idiots! I'm surrounded by idiots!"
He looked at the timetable the pilot had given him and saw that they should get to Rio in about 35 minutes. He took out the timing mechanism on top of the blue liquid cylinder and set it for 30 minutes. That would give ample time for the liquids to mix and heat so they would be at their maximum explosive instability when the plane was directly over the city.
His boss had told him once the autopilot disengaged 10 minutes out from the airport the plane would descend rapidly. This bomb was big enough to destroy all of the city and the surrounding areas. That would be the first salvo in what would be the downfall of the western world. Just sorry he would not survive to see it.
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Once they landed in Rio de Janeiro Morgan called Ellie. "Hey, Ellie, it's Morgan.
"Morgan! Are you and Casey leaving again? What's happening?
"Actually, we are already gone. We had to leave suddenly. I can't tell you a lot but we have landed in South America and it looks like the plane is coming to us."
"South America? Can you be more specific?"
"No, I really can't. Casey is standing right here and he's flexing his trigger finger."
"What about Chuck and Sarah? Come on, Morgan, you've got to give me something here!" He could tell Ellie was nearly hysterical.
"We really don't know anything other than they've reestablished contact. There just isn't more to tell right now."
"If you are lying to me, Morgan Grimes, I'm going to reach through this phone and strangle you."
Morgan grabbed at his throat and replied, "I am telling you everything I can right now and there are no lies involved. Please, Ellie, we are working on this. I have to go. Call you later."
"Morgan … Morgan? Oh hell … I don't know whether to feel better now or not. Devon … I need you!"
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Chuck and Sarah quietly worked their way down the stairs and found a dark compartment. Once inside they fumbled around until they found a light switch. This was not the compartment containing the crate so they quickly moved to the other end and looked through the door into the next hold. There it was. And there was O'Broghlan, just sitting next to the crate, holding his gun.
"Chuck, run back upstairs and use the elevator to come down. Hopefully that will distract him enough for me to get in behind him. But be careful he doesn't shoot you as the elevator door opens. I love you Chuck. Come back to me!" Sarah pulled Chuck in for a searing kiss. When they pulled apart her hand lingered on his cheek and there were tears in each of their eyes.
"I will not leave you; my heart will always be with you. Now, let's get this guy."
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"Colonel Casey, we lost the signal from Sarah's phone. However, we found a hidden signal calling the plane by satellite. We traced it back to the President of the Brazilian National Oil Company. We have found him at his Miami headquarters. We have a team headed there to try to find out what he is up to. You and Mr. Grimes need to stay put until we see what that plane does."
"Do we have any jurisdiction here as yet?"
"No. John, try not to totally antagonize the Brazilians. We are just started to get them on our side."
"Yes, ma'am. And ma'am … we'll get Chuck and Sarah safely out of there."
"I have every confidence in you Colonel."
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O'Broghlan had been expecting the elevator and was ready for them. Erin and lover boy were totally predictable; they would try to find him. They apparently knew about the crate so would obviously come here. He stood up and trained his gun on the door. But he wasn't ready for the door to open and ... no one was there.
Sarah snuck through the door and around the crate while O'Broghlan was distracted by the elevator. Now she, too, stared at the empty elevator. It shook her to her very soul. Where's Chuck? Damn! If anything's happened to him….
O'Broghlan moved cautiously down the walkway with his gun trained on the opening. Why would they send the elevator down empty? What are they up to now?
"Drop it, O'Broghlan! You know I can't miss at this distance!" Sarah had quickly put her all spy girl face and voice on for the moment.
"Dearie. You know I can't do that. Where's your boy scout? He stay upstairs so you would have to do all the dirty work?"
"I have no problem doing the dirty work so just drop the gun and let's go back upstairs peacefully."
"I really don't think that's going to happen, Erin!" As he spoke the name he turned quickly but Sarah was faster. One shot and the gun flew out of his hand. A second shot and his arm dropped to his side limply, with his shoulder burning like nothing since that grenade caught him in the face. And a third shot took out his knee, throwing him to the floor.
"Owwwww! Bitch! Stay away from me! I'm going to kill you!"
Sarah moved quickly to kick his gun further away and make sure there were no more weapons on him. "Somehow, O'Broghlan, I seriously doubt that." She was not a bit gentle in the search and managed to poke each of his wounds with her gun bringing out more moans of pain. "I told you in Hawaii I would leave you with a limp for the rest of your life, you bastard!"
Chuck suddenly bound into the compartment from behind her and Sarah was turning her gun towards him until she heard him speak. 'Sarah, Sarah, are you alright? I heard shots! Baby, talk to me!" She smiled at him, in relief that he was back with her. "Oh, wow … he looks a little worse for wear. Nice shooting, honey. Let's get him upstairs and take care of those wounds."
"You don't need to do anything for me, you bastard! You don't have anyone to land the plane and behind you is the most powerful bomb ever made short of something nuclear. You are going to live just long enough to know that Rio de Janeiro will disappear at the same as you die! Ahahahahah!"
He was laughing and moaning together now, creeping out both Sarah and Chuck. "Chuck, check the crate."
"Uh, Sarah, he's put a timer on this thing. I don't see any way to stop it."
Sarah stepped on O'Broghlan's injured knee, eliciting a loud scream of pain. She hissed at him, "How do you stop that timer? Tell me before I shoot out the other knee." Chuck could almost … almost … feel sorry for the terrorist. Nah … not really.
"Forget it, bitch! I'm getting my revenge on you, knowing you are going to die right along with me and your precious ... husband. Ahahahahahah!"
"Sarah, it looks like I can detach the timer. But I don't know what it will do to the container."
"Do it!" Then quietly added, "Carefully." Sarah ran up to Chuck and they embraced quickly, both thinking about another bomb and another kiss.
Chuck took hold of the black box and pulled it straight up until there was a snap. The timer box came off the cylinder top and the wiring harness pulled loose from a mechanical box on the side. The cylinders and liquids seemed to remain stable. He checked the box on the side but did not see any more timers or detonators. The clock kept on ticking down but it wasn't attached to anything now so hopefully it couldn't do anything but run out the time. Even so, Sarah grabbed it, threw it into the next compartment, and slammed the door closed. The cylinders appeared stable.
"Let's just tie him up down here and leave him. We need to get back upstairs." Sarah was taking command which was just fine with Chuck.
They were just emerging from the elevator when the sound of the engines changed suddenly and the plane veered slightly to the left. "We've got to get up to the cockpit!"
Chapter 12 coming attractions: what's going on with the plane? Who's going to fly it now? What about the bomb? See you...