A/N: Hope you are still reading and enjoying. Not too many comments so I've been worried I lost you out there. All mistakes are mine alone. So excited for Season Five dvd's out this week. Love 'em; don't own 'em.
It was difficult to run through the plane because it was moving like it had hit heavy turbulence. With Sarah's catlike reflexes and athletic ease of movement she quickly moved along the aisles and up to First Class. Chuck admired his wife as he watched her move so fluidly and easily. (Not to mention watching the most beautiful woman in the world move before him!) For not the first time he wished he had a tenth of her athletic skills. His shins were never going to forgive him for all the crashing and stumbling he did in his journey through the plane.
Once Chuck finally arrived at the cockpit Sarah had already removed the crews' harnesses. Now they had to remove the flight crew from their seats and out into the passenger area. It was as unpleasant a job as Chuck had ever had since becoming a spy. Even though they were in a hurry, they also tried to be as careful and respectful as possible for these four brave crew members. Chuck gathered blankets left by the passengers to cover the bodies. "I'm sorry we couldn't save you," Chuck said in a quiet whisper.
Back in the cockpit Sarah immediately jumped into the pilot's seat, "Come on, honey, I need your help in here." As Chuck entered she motioned for him to join her in the copilot's seat.
"Wa-wa-wa-wa-wait! Sarah, does one of us know how to fly a 747?" Chuck's voice was definitely ascending to a high, freaked out, pitch and the fear he was feeling was quite evident in his face.
"Just get in the seat, Chuck."
"What? I don't know anything about flying this thing."
"You don't have to. Just do everything I tell you."
"And you know how to do this ... HOW?"
"Chuck, I'm too busy to go into details right now. Just trust me. I will tell you once we land."
Sarah was checking gauges, flipping switches and using the yoke to try to get the plane to stabilize. "Wait, Chuck, before you strap in: I need you to find the headset and put it on me. Honey, please don't freak out. We are going to make it. We're a team; we're together; we're unbeatable."
"I know it, baby. But even after all we've been through together, this is way over the top. Oh, here it is. Let me get it on you."
Chuck got the headset onto Sarah's head, only poking her in the eye once. "It's not working, Chuck." He traced the cord and discovered it was not plugged in. Looking around he easily found the plugin. "That's it. Thanks, sweetie!" Sarah waved him towards the copilot seat where he sat down, strapped into the seat, and put his own headset on.
As soon as Chuck had gotten her headset plugged in she started calling, "Mayday, mayday, mayday! Rio de Janeiro airport, this is flight 1094, hijacked from Honolulu. We have neutralized the enemy combatants. However, we are now flying with no flight crew. My name is Sarah Walker Bartowski and I am an American. We need assistance. Mayday, mayday, mayday!"
As she began her second call there was an answer: "Flight 1094 we hear you and have you on our screens. We are clearing all other traffic between you and the airport. How else can we assist you?"
Sarah talked to the controller for some time. She had gained control of the plane and made a small course correction to head directly to the airport. Chuck watched her in amazement and flipped switches when she pointed to them. Could she do this? Could she get them to the airport and then land this behemoth? Well, of course, she can! This is Sarah Walker Bartowski we're talking about here. My Sarah! The most beautiful and amazing and talented woman in the world.
Chuck watched Sarah in awe and amazement. Her firm, controlled voice was calming to him, just as it had been those many years ago when they first met. Her confidence was his confidence and he began to relax … a little.
Sarah seemed satisfied with the information and instructions the controllers had given her and sat back in the seat taking a slow, deep, cleansing breath. Now that things seemed to be calming down a little Chuck spoke up, "Uh, Sarah ... can we talk?"
Looking at him now with her most electric smile, she answered, "We've got a few minutes now, so, yes. What's on your mind, babe?"
"You're going to fly this thing?"
With a chuckle Sarah smiled at Chuck and explained. "Yes, Chuck. In fact, sweetie, I am actually flying it right now. You know I've trained on and flown civilian helicopters and most military aircraft."
"But, uh, Sarah, this is a 747 jumbo jet."
"True. Sweetie, remember when you had your first solo spy mission on the plane to Paris? When you were caught in the luggage compartment and turbulence helped you take care of the two agents?"
"Sure, but..."
"That turbulence was actually me." Chuck's jaw dropped in amazement. "The CIA had developed a way to take over planes in flight in order to divert enemy fighters. It had never been tested until that night and, to everyone's amazement, it actually worked. We had a complete instrument cluster in Castle where I took over and 'rocked the boat' until you were safe."
"W-W-Wow," was all Chuck could say at that point. Sarah saved me while thousands of miles away. Amazing! "Have I mentioned recently that I love you?"
"No, but we've been busy. I love you, too!" A buzzer went off making them both jump slightly. "Okay, here we go, final approach and then we are home free!"
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"Casey, Casey, Casey!" Grimes came running into the hangar. Pointing to the western sky while panting hard Morgan said, "Those lights ... that's the plane … AND SARAH'S FLYING IT!"
"Walker? ... What the hell ... do you know any more details, Grimes?"
"No, that's all I could find out. I snuck into the control tower and then questioned one of the ATC's. But that was all I could get out of him. Wow! What can't that girl do?"
Then Morgan's satellite phone rang. "Yes, ma'am. What? No, the plane's in sight and coming in for a landing. I don't know how but Sarah's flying it. Okay, okay!
"Casey, that was General Beckman. There's a bomb … a very unstable bomb … on board. It's big enough to destroy all of Rio! If it's armed, any jolting around could set it off. Even if it's not armed, if it crashes around the cargo hold too much it might detonate anyway!"
"Call the tower and have them patch us in to the plane."
Morgan fumbled the phone so Casey grabbed it and punched in a couple of numbers. "Yeah, this is Colonel Casey. I need to speak to the pilot of Flight 1094. Yes, the hijacked plane!" Geez, who are these morons? After a short pause, "I don't care who's authority you need, I need to talk to her RIGHT NOW! DO IT!
"Yes, sir! Go ahead Colonel..."
"Walker ... is that you?"
"Casey? What are you doing on this frequency?"
"Sarah, listen, you have a bomb on board!"
"We know, but Chuck removed the timer."
"Doesn't matter. If you bounce that thing around enough it will detonate. You need to abort the landing until we can figure something else out."
"Casey we can't abort. First, I'm in final approach right now. Second, we don't have much fuel left. A fly around would use up all our reserves; we might not even make it around again. And third, what makes you think I'm going to bounce it around?" Sarah gave Chuck a big smile as she said this. With the news about the bomb he was starting to freak out again and all he could do was grin back at her.
"Ungh ... same old smart ass CIA agent," said with a smile. "Okay ... uh, Sarah ... just be gentle with it. Good luck you two."
XXXXXX
Sarah could hear the concern in Casey's voice and thanked him. Now back to work….
"Sarah, do you think that bomb will go off if we hit too hard?"
"We can't really worry about that now, can we, sweetie? Let's just get this thing on the ground.
"Chuck, do you see the landing gear sign to your left?" Aroused from his vision of a giant explosion devouring both Sarah and him, Chuck pointed at it. "That's right. Push the button." Chuck did so and they heard the whirring of motors as the landing gear descended into position.
"Flight 1094, you are coming in pretty hot but right on course. Just bring it home Miss Bartowski."
"That's MRS. Bartowski and we are right on target." This time Sarah flashed Chuck her biggest and most dazzling smile just before going into her serious, totally focused, 'let's get this job done' spy face. All he could do was watch her in total awe.
Chuck had never been in the cockpit of an airplane before so he had never seen the view looking out the front of the plane as it landed. Well, except in his video games. Those gaming graphics were good but nothing like this. It was an incredible sight. And it was his amazing Sarah doing the flying!
The nose lifted and they felt the rear wheels hit the ground …. hard! They bounced, and the plane rose back into the air while tilting to the right. The plane bounced again, not quite so hard this time, and then stabilized. Sarah gently rotated the nose down and they were on the ground.
"Chuck, help me with the brake pedals. We are coming in really hot and need to get this baby stopped!"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Casey and Morgan were running to one of the emergency vehicles as the plane came in and they both cringed when they saw it bounce. Despite another hard bounce it leveled out and smoothly finished the landing. However, the plane was moving very, very fast.
"Come on, Grimes!" Casey jumped in the driver's seat and was pulling away before Morgan was even in his seat. They gave chase along with a fleet of other emergency trucks and rescue vehicles.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
The engines roared into reverse and Sarah and Chuck were slammed forward against their harnesses. The brakes were screaming and smoke poured from the wheels as the plane continued head long down the runway. It was all Sarah could do to keep it rolling straight forward.
"Uh, Sarah ... Sarah!"
"I see it Chuck, I see it. Come on baby, stop!"
The plane was almost out of runway. They could see the lights and towers that marked the end of the field.
Chuck reached out and took Sarah's hand and she gripped it fiercely. "I love you Sarah, with all my heart!"
"And I love you, too, Chuck! Forever and ever!"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"Oh, crap ... they're going to run out of runway! If they go off the end that bomb is sure to go!" Casey was driving the truck for all it was worth but knew he really couldn't do anything to help. If the bomb detonated they would quickly become random molecules right along with everyone else.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Why won't the damned thing stop? After all we've gone through to stop O'Broghlan's plan are we just going to die here at the end of a runway? Sarah could tell the plane was slowing but there was so little room left.
And then they hit...
A/N: Okay, so just one more chapter. Will this be the end of our favorite couple thus causing Season Five to disappear forever?