A Chopper pilot called chuck

by batty02

Chuck the helo revised and expanded with the wonderful help of esardi Casey goes hunting Sarahs on the war path, Beckmans pissed off and chuck is a flyboy

5. Chapter 5

Hello its batty

i hope you guys like this chapter Esardi Ran over my outline and now i gotta make another (LOL)

Well I wanted to Say thank you to the Readers and Reviewers I Would also like to give props to Esardi who has taken what i thought was a "fair " story and now it is something i don't even recognize and that's a good thing.

I Enjoy working with Esardi Immensely He is a Great guy and i Let his Imagination out unsupervised.I let mine go and i get 6-10 pages he lets his off the chain and we get theses MONSTERS, However, the whole point of this site is to enjoy the Fiction that Each of us can create and so i don't moan when i get his stuff back i enjoy seeing where he takes my story. with this chapter i could end it but then i got the 2x4 with his finger on a big button so we just cant have that and he's breathing so ... on with the show...er story.

as always i don't own the coast guard nor chuck or anything else and if you care leave a review Esardi and I Take them into consideration when working on this Frankenstein (its October and i think Ive had one too many M&M's its only a 42oz bag...)

hope you folks enjoy the story

Chapter 5 A Chopper Pilot Called Chuck

Survival

Chuck, Mike, Troy Cooper and Steve Watson, watched in trepidation as the third Blackhawk landed disembarking another 6 men with another one waiting to come down. Unlike the first two, this one Blackhawk had landed and it looked like the fourth was going to do the same.

"What the hell Chuck." Said Mike.

Watson chimed in, "It seems like they want to capture someone."

"I agree with you Steve." Said Chuck. "If they wanted us dead that Apache could have made short work of us. We were helpless in the water. He just broke it off like he was ordered to."

Chuck thought for a moment, "The weather is getting terrible, therefore; I believe they are going to make a big push right now to achieve whatever orders they were given. Lets' split up into groups of two and not make it easy for them."

Cooper was very nervous, he was not trained to handle anything like this, "Do…do you think that...that is such a good idea sir. Should we not stick together?"

Mike did not like to baby sit and he certainly wanted no part of Cooper, therefore; he said impatiently, "Look, if we stick together they can easily concentrate on us and capture or kill us. By splitting up we will divide their forces and make it more difficult for them to complete their mission."

"Cooper I understand you are nervous, but listen to these two men if something happens to me. They are your best chance of survival. Steve you are with me, Mike you got Cooper"

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." Said Mike in a very sarcastic voice.

Watson lean forward and whispered, "Good luck babysitting." He chuckled.

"Steve move a hundred yards north and I will join you in a couple of minutes." He then turn to Mike and grabbed his arm hard. "Don't do anything stupid Mike you hear me, remember who you have with you." Chuck then said, "You may want to give him your Berretta."

"I am afraid he may shoot me with it."

"Your choice but you never know he might save your life." Chuck then gave Mike and Cooper a wave and was gone.

The enemy had deployed and was in seeking and captured mode. There were four groups of four men each sweeping an area of two hundred yards.

Russian Base Camp Three Hundred Yards Away

When Colonel Anatoly Bashmakov stepped down from the third Blackhawk, he was frankly bored. He owed a lot to Volkoff, that is why he had accepted this assignment but seriously capturing a mere pilot was not much of a challenge. His men had been everywhere and had performed magnificently. He had demanded that they keep his group together. He had been more than a little surprised that his demands were met. Usually you did not demand anything from Volkoff, you followed orders or else.

However, such a specialized group was hard to find. Still this so called Agent Carmichael intrigued him. His success rate even impressed him, and Bashmakov was not easily impressed. Little did he know that his information was faulty. As far as the Colonel was concerned he was not going up against anyone to worry about except for this Carmichael. He was going against just the Coast Guard personal. They would be easy to dispatch of. Bashmakov estimated that they would take no more to than one or two hours to capture the agent. Bashmakov smiled, 'maybe I will get a nice reward for capturing this American quickly.'

Lieutenant Boris Vitaly came running over to the Colonel saluted and asked,

"Каковы ваши заказы полковник? Russian

("What are your orders Colonel?")

Отправить четыре группы по четыре военнослужащих и четыре поездки ярдов. Использовать любые средства, необходимые для захвата этой американского летчика. Он является нашей основной цели. Запечатлеть лицо, сдачи, тем не менее, убить кого-либо, что сопротивляется.

("Send four groups of four soldiers and spread out over four hundred yards. Use any means necessary to capture this American pilot. He is our main target. Capture anyone that surrenders, however; kill anyone that resists.")

Погода становится еще хуже.

("The weather is getting worse.")

Вот почему это нужно сделать быстро. Оставайтесь на связи и если кто-то нуждается в помощи чем ответить сразу, является то, что понятно?

("That is why this must be done quickly. Keep in touch and if anyone needs help than respond immediately, is that clear?")

Да сэр!

("Yes sir!")

Группа один в группу четырех.

("Group one to group four over.")

Группа четыре.

("Group four over.")

Переместить сто ярдов к северу. Помните, что мы работаем в рамках пилотной программы.

("Move one hundred yards north. Remember we are looking for the pilot.")

Что можно сказать о других?

("What about the others.")

Снимать их, если это возможно.

("Capture them if possible.")

Если они будут противостоять?

("If they resist?")

Убить их!

("Kill Them!")

Not far off from team one Chuck and Watson were listening. Even though it was windy and getting worse the Russians had raised their voices loud enough over the wind to be heard.

"That is definitely Russian I hear." Said Watson, "What in the world would they be doing here!"

Chuck answered with one word. "Volkoff."

"So you think he is after revenge for what we did to him in Seattle?"

"Well he is involved, however; I do not think that is the whole story. There is something else brewing."

"Let us get out of here and swing around this group."

"I have another idea." said Chuck

"What would that be?"

"Let us take this group out."

"What?"

"Let us take them out and then we steal their equipment, the radios, their uniforms and their weapons."

"Why risk it?"

"If we are dressed like them, we could create confusion and have a great advantage in case we want to pull off an ambush. I also want to know who they are talking to."

"You do not know how to speak Russian Chuck!"

"Yeah but I have a feeling that the person in charge does not know either. It is a good risk to take. The radios can be used by us; we will just change the channels so that we can communicate."

"Good idea, let's do this."

Shoot out in the Woods

As they got closer to group one, the wind was starting to howl. Chuck pulled Watson close to him cupped his hands over his ear. "I am going to distract them by showing myself. When they come after me mow down as many as you can, I will double back and take care of any that are left."

Watson looked at Chuck and shook his head yes.

Chuck moved away from Watson a good twenty five feet. He then raised himself as one of the Russian soldiers caught sight of him.

Вот он!

("There he is!") Yelled the Russian.

Chuck started running away and the Russians were not far behind. Watson with a clear line of site opened up with his P-90.

The P90 is a selective fire, straight blowback-operated weapon with a cyclic rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute. The weapon is chambered for FN's 5.7×28mm ammunition, and although it was developed and initially marketed as a personal defense weapon, it could also be considered a submachine gun or compact assault rifle. Its unusual shape is based on extensive ergonomic research. The weapon is grasped by means of a thumbhole in the frame that acts as a pistol grip, as well as an oversized trigger guard that acts as a fore grip for the shooter's support hand. The P90 fires from a closed bolt for maximum accuracy, and its design makes extensive use of polymers for reduced weight and cost. Overall, the weapon is relatively lightweight, weighing 2.5 kg or 5.6 lb. empty, or 3 kg and 6.6 lb. with a loaded 50-round magazine.

That was the exact amount of rounds in Watson's P-90. Twenty five of those rounds found their way to the three Russian soldiers that were no more than three feet apart from Watson. They never had a chance.

The lead soldier stopped to turn around and clearly heard the ratchet sound of a gun chambering a bullet. When he looked back, Chuck was pointing his Glock 17 directly at him. He had no intention of firing until the Russian decided to raise his AK-47 at Chuck. Yelling 'NO!' Chuck had no choice but to fire three times hitting center mass. The impact of the bullets sending the Russian flying in the air and landing with a thud.

As horrible as it was killing those people from the Blackhawk was antiseptic next to killing someone three feet away from you. Chuck lowered his weapon as his hand started to shake back and forth. Even in the strong winds he felt like he could not breathe. His legs began to buckle and he soon found himself on one knee. He momentarily closed his eyes and was struck by how surreal everything seemed to be. 'This is just a bad nightmare I am going to wake up from anytime now.'

A hand gripped his shoulders, "Chuck, Chuck are you ok, are you hurt."

Chuck was snapped back to reality, Watson looked at the dead Russian soldier and handed Chuck the Jacket he had recovered. It was an unspoken recognition that Watson and the whole group knew how hard this was for Chuck and wanted to make it as easy for him as possible.

"Thanks buddy, get as much ammunition as possible."

They both heard the radio squawk.

Выстрелы, мы движемся в для расследования!

(Shots fired; we are moving in to investigate!")

Группа два для группы.

("Group two to group one over.")

Chuck and Watson knew that this new group was close." No time to hide!" Replied Chuck.

"Ambush time Chuck!"

Even though the wind was gusting to 75 mph they still were able to stand. Watson dressed to look like the Russians waved both hands in the air signaling to Group two to come forward. He started to point frantically down for dramatic effect.

They never suspected anything as the group kept running towards them. Chuck and Watson had chambered their weapons and at five feet away they both whipped around and started firing their weapons. One thing about the AK's they may not be reliable at long distances but they are deadly accurate at close range.

The standard AK-47 or AKM fires the 7.62×39mm cartridge with a muzzle velocity of 715 m/s. Projectile weight is normally 123 grain. The AK-47 and AKM, with the 7.62×39mm cartridge, have a maximum effective range of around 400 meters or 1,300 ft. The 7.62×39mm cartridge produces significant wounding effects if the projectile tumbles in tissue; but it produces relatively minor wounds when the projectile exits the body before beginning to yaw. The plain fact was this was only 5 to 10 feet and there was no missing an enemy that was coming straight at you in the open.

It was simply a slaughter. Chuck stood there frozen at the scene. Even through the fog of war all he kept thinking was, 'I lost Sarah; she will never want to be with this monster.'

"Come on Chuck let's get moving!"

Chuck mechanically leaned down and started picking up AK-47 magazines. He also picked up a medical kit one of them was carrying and stuff it in his jacket pocket. The Russian parkas were big, warm and comfortable. He no longer thought he might die of hyperthermia.

Unfortunately, things did not go well for Michael and Cooper. They were hiding when Cooper pulled at Henderson's jacket. "I have got to go to the bathroom."

"Who is stopping you?"

Shivering Cooper responded, "I… I'll be over here."

'Great,' thought Michael, 'maybe he will want me to wipe him next.'

Michael heard automatic weapons firing, he stood up to see what was going on when he spotted Group four and he made himself as small as he possibly could.

They were searching when all of the sudden Cooper walked out of the woods. Eyes wide he put his hands up.

руки вверх

("Hands up!")

"Don't shoot, don't shoot!"

На колени!

("On your knees!")

"Huh?"

Я сказал на колени!

("I said on your knees!")

One of the Russian soldiers was moving in on Cooper intending to grab him and throw him to the floor. Michael took this opportunity to swing to his left and shoot the two soldiers on his left side; they never saw him and were cut down easily. The sergeant on his right side tried to shoot him but Michael was moving faster than he ever had, rolled to one side to avoid the errant shots from the sergeant and his AK and shot him three times in the throat.

The soldier that was reaching for Cooper whipped around and would have had enough time to kill Henderson, however; that was when Cooper grabbed the soldiers AK, unfortunately; instead up pointing it up he pointed it down. The soldier simply shot Cooper two times in the right leg and tried to again kill Henderson. They both shot at the same time, the Russian soldier shot wide twice and hit Henderson in the left shoulder as the bullet exited his back. Michael's four shots hitting the soldier from the lower abdomen all the way to his upper right shoulder knocked him into Cooper.

The AK-47 bullet felt like being kicked by a mule followed by excruciating pain, making it hard to breath for Mike. He tried his best to get up but it was hard. At the same time he could swear he was hearing someone rolling around the ground screaming in pain.

Group three not far behind Group four became gun shy.

Группа три на четыре группы.

("Group three to group four.")

Группа три на четыре группы.

("Group three to group four!")

Вы можете слышать мне группа четыре? Ответить!

("Can you hear me group four? Respond!")

Silence.

Группы от трех до группы, группа четыре не отвечает!

("Group three to group one, group four is not responding!")

Again they were met with silence.

Группы от трех до какой-либо из групп ответить!

"(Group three to any of the groups respond!")

Группы от трех до базы! Ни одна из других групп, отвечает! Каковы ваши заказы полковник!

"(Group three to base! None of the other groups are responding! What are your orders Colonel!")

Доклад на базу сразу же!

("Report back to base immediately!")

Chuck and Steven had heard the automatic weapons fire coming from around a hundred yards away. It was difficult to pinpoint the direction because of the wind and rain. The gusts were becoming stronger and the rain was making it difficult to see.

One thing that kept them going was the screams of pain that were becoming more pronounced the closer they got to their target.

When they finally reached their destination what they saw made Chuck want to throw up right there in front of them. Cooper was withering uncontrollably in pain. Chuck ran over to Cooper, while Watson attended to Mike. There seemed no controlling Cooper. He would not sit still and there was a tremendous loss of blood coming from his leg. Chuck remembered he had recovered a medical kit from one of the Russian soldiers. He quickly opened it and looked to see if there was anything of use in it. He saw several packets with needles and some liquid that could be squeeze through those needles. Even though the language was different he correctly deduced that this was some form of morphine. He broke the container shook it to make sure and stuck the needle into the thigh of Cooper, who started calming down after a minute. Chuck repeated the procedure a couple of more times and by the third time Cooper was back to normal.

Looking behind him, Chuck realized that Mike was in a tremendous amount of pain. He grabbed two more of the morphine needles. Watson was trying to take a look but Mike was pushing him out of the way. It just hurt too much.

"Damn it Mike let me take a look!"

"No!"

"Here let me help."

"What is that Chuck?" Inquired Watson.

"They seem to be morphine type of pain killers. Three of these finally calm down Cooper. Watson you had some basic training in battlefield medicine right?"

"Yeah that is right." Replied Watson.

"Take a look at Cooper. I tried to apply pressure on the wound and then a tourniquet and it just did not seem to work. He keeps bleeding, I could not stop it."

"Here Mike this should make you feel better."

"What...what is th...at Ch...uck. I...I'm freezing."

"Hang on a little longer. These Russian parkas are a lot warmer than what we are wearing."

"My…my…back!"

Chuck took a look at his back and that is when he realized that his wound is what is called a through and through. A "through and through" gunshot wound is where the bullet enters and exits the body, generally without making contact with anything important.

Once Chuck injected the morphine into Mike's back, he was able to take his shirt off partially. Again he was worried about possible hypothermia, Mike was trembling uncontrollably. He got some gauze and cotton along with tape and what looked like some antibacterial gel, he cleaned the wounds as best as he could under these terrible conditions and applied a liberal amount of gel to the entry and exit wounds. He had Mike hold one of the now wet and very cold pieces of cottons as he placed the gauze and tape in front of the entry wound and had no help but he managed to place a tape on the exit wound.

It was taking longer than he planned and because of the wind and rain he had not heard Watson yelling at him. Chuck finally looked up and saw Watson waving at him. He gently laid Mike down by a tree and battled the strong winds just to get to Watson. Unable to hear very well, Watson cupped his hands and spoke into the ear of Chuck. "We have a major problem. I think one of the bullets cut the femoral artery."

Chuck pulled back, he was white as a sheet with his eyes widening. He pulled Watson closer. "Can we do anything?" He yelled.

Watson shook his head no. Chuck closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he got close to Watson's ear again, "How long?"

"He would have been dead already if it was not so cold, my guess minutes."

He looked at Troy Cooper, 'So young,' He thought. 'Can this nightmare get any worse?' He crawled over to Cooper who was shivering. He was literally becoming a Popsicle in front of him. What a dilemma, if he covered him up he would bleed out quickly. If he did nothing he would live a few minutes longer. Chuck hated to see anyone suffer, especially anyone under his command.

He grabbed the Parka of the dead Russian soldier in front of him and covered Cooper up. Chuck tried to make him as comfortable as possible by placing Cooper in his lap and sticking him with two more morphine shots. He then lied to Cooper by telling him he was going to be alright. They were going to be rescued soon, to hang on. He held his hand for dear life as he tried not to cry. However, Cooper could feel his life force leaving him. He smiled weakly at Chuck and motioned him to come closer.

Chuck bent over to hear what Cooper was saying, "Yo…you're a terrible liar sir. Please tell m…my paren..," and then his hands became limp and his eyes lost all focus.

Chuck did not care he held on even though Cooper was dead. He kept rocking the young man back and forth, "I am sorry, I am so sorry."

Watson tending to Mike looked back at Chuck and knew this must be killing him. 'To care so much about people. I hope this does not destroy you Chuck.' He then grabbed one of the radios and made it to where Chuck was. He gave Chuck the radio. "He is dead Chuck."

"So young."

Watson yelled back, "We can morn him when this is all over. For now we have to stay alive. Come on we need to huddle up."

That woke up Chuck from his stupor. They both crawled to where Mike was. "It was a good idea to huddle up we should to stay this way. The body heat is what we need to survive this storm."

They all were huddled up with the Parkas from the dead Russians the only thing keeping them warm. It had been 30 minutes after the last fire fight when they heard the squawk of the radio.

Back at the Russian Base Camp

As Group three was returning, they were confronted by Colonel Bashmakov.

То, что случилось.

("What happened out there!")

Мы не знаем. Мы, группа поддержки четыре, как заказать когда мы услышали огонь из автоматического оружия от наше право. Группы по оказанию помощи и мы оставались на месте.

("We do not know. We were supporting Group four as ordered when we heard automatic weapons fire from our right. Group two went to assist and we stayed in place.")

Продолжить.

("Continue.")

Затем мы слышали из левой. Мы обратились к главе четыре, чтобы см. Если они нуждаются в помощи.

("We then heard automatic fire from our left. We called to group four to see if they needed assistance.")

Знаете ли вы?

("Did you give it?")

Мы пытались, но никто не ответил.

("We attempted to but no one answered.")

Colonel Bashmakov was in deep thought when the Lieutenant continued.

Затем мы связались с группа один и сказать ему, что Группа четыре могут быть неприятности, но они не ответили. Когда я спросил если у кого-то можно было бы признать нас, но нет ответа.

("We then contacted group one to tell them that Group four might be in trouble, but they did not answer. When I asked if anyone one would acknowledge us, there still was no answer.")

Каким образом это может быть все три группы?

("How can that be, all three groups lost?")

Как представляется, г-н Председатель.

("It would appear so sir.")

'This did not make sense.' He thought, 'Daniel Shaw was holding something back, there was no way he could lose twelve men to a mere agent and a bunch of Coast Guard men. He would get to the bottom of this right now!'

"Colonel Bashmakov to Daniel Shaw do you copy."

"Did you capture them already Colonel?"

"Unfortunately no!"

"Then why are you wasting my time Colonel?"

"Mr. Shaw, I just lost twelve men, just what is going on here?"

"Are you serious Colonel? I was told by Volkoff that your team was one of the best and you are telling me you already lost half of them!"

"Do not patronize me Shaw! You are holding something back aren't you? Just what are you not telling me?"

"It must be Agent Carmichael that is causing you problems."

"What do you mean Shaw, I was told he knew tactics and was great at planning operations that is all!"

"Oh you mean that I did not tell you that he is responsible for the destruction of Fulcrum or the total defeat of the Ring in the West Coast? It must have slipped my mind."

Bashmakov gritted his teeth. He wanted to personally fly back to the base and shoot that SOB himself. "Shaw when this is over we have private conversation yes?"

"Don't worry Colonel in the morning I will send you another hundred men. You think that will be enough to handle one Agent! Now I do not want to hear from you again until Carmichael is our prisoner, is that clear?"

"Crystal." The Colonel was fuming. He kept wondering how he would explain things to Volkoff after he shot Shaw. 'No sense in worrying about that now I have an agent to capture.' When he received the extra men he would send sixteen men per group. 'Let us see how you deal with that agent.'

Of course Chuck and Watson had heard everything. Chuck now knew who he was dealing with and what they had to do.

The Escape

Chuck and Watson were looking at each other, Chuck than looked at Mike who had fallen asleep. He needed it after the trauma his body had suffered. They were shivering in their little made up tent under some underbrush feeling horribly uncomfortable wondering if they were ever going to feel the warmth of the sun again.

They were hanging on for dear life as the wind and the rain kept whipping around unmercifully. The extra parkas taken from the dead Russians were serving as very little cover, although making it easier to speak.

"We have to do something about that Camp Chuck."

"I agree Watson; if we allow them to bring those extra hundred men in and join forces with that Colonel we will be capture or killed in no time."

"What do you want to do?"

"Ok Watson from what Blue has always preached, he has told me that if I ever attack a position with greater numbers, I should do it between two and four in the morning."

"Yes that has always been a sound strategy."

"Well from what I saw this afternoon there were at least two Blackhawks that did not take off after dropping the troops."

"Don't tell me, we are escaping in one of them right?"

"Got it in one my dear Watson!"

"Pretty cheesy Chuck."

"Yeah, I have my moments."

"Ok one thing is to say it; another is to be able to do it."

"Well I am thinking that if I am correct, they will post one or two guards at a time. Most of the time they will be riding out this storm inside their Blackhawks."

"Well here is where it is going to get messy, we will take care of the guards, then we are going to have to hit the fuel tank of one of the helicopter and basically set it on fire."Said Chuck.

"That sounds messy, hey wait a minute! I remember at least some of those Russian soldiers carrying some grenades!"

"I did not even think about that Watson, thanks."

"Well Chuck it may have gotten less messy but much deadlier. Do you realize what is going to happen when that grenade explodes?"

Chuck hissed and his face contorted like Watson had never seen before. "Don't you think I KNOW WHAT KIND OF KILLER I HAVE BECOME?"

After grabbing his face with his hands and slowly passing them through his face he continued. "I am sorry Watson, you are not to blame. I am the one who wanted this. I wanted to play tough guy and show everyone how macho I was. However, I never thought that succeeding in what I wanted to do would make me lose my soul."

Taking several deep breaths Chuck looked at Watson he just felt hollow inside. He said in a much lower voice, "I know that we are probably going to have to kill those guards silently. That means a knife to the throat, or strangling them. I have made my peace with this because Mike needs medical attention and I do not want them to succeed in whatever plan Shaw has in mind for me. That is why escape is our only option, we either are successful or we die trying."

"It is 1400 right now. Let us set our watches to 0100 and try to get some rest. Then we do our little commando raid and if we are lucky we will be able to fly out of here sometime tomorrow morning."

"Ok Watson I will go along with that. However, you do understand we will have to take Mike with us right?"

"Yes I am aware, but first let me look and see if I find any grenades on those dead soldiers." Just before he left, Watson turned placed a hand on Chuck's shoulder. He hated seeing his friend torture himself like this. "Chuck just because you fight people and kill them before they kill you does not make you a killer. You are only doing what you have to do to survive. Just remember that."

Watson came back 20 minutes later. "I found four grenades; do you know how to throw one?"

"I have seen Casey throw a couple in a demonstration once, however; I have never thrown one myself."

"Make sure you are in a secure position that provides cover from shrapnel. Aim at the target, the grenade is an area weapon but accuracy is always best. With your non-throwing hand grab the pin and pull it free from the grenade. Don't pull out the pin with your teeth like in a war movie, that's a good way to see the dentist. Quickly look at your non-throwing arm to ensure its holding the pin. Throw the grenade at the target and get under cover. Remember to pull the pin and throw the grenade and not the other way around, which is something I have seen before."

"Ok Watson let us get some rest; we are going to need it if we are going to be successful tonight." Just then Mike started to moan again, the morphine is starting to wear off. Chuck quickly sticks Mike with two more of the morphine injection. 'Only 9 left and they only last four hours not good.'

Back at the Russian Base Camp

Сколько ограждения вы хотите публиковаться сэр?

("How many guards do you want posted sir?")

Я нормально сказать два, но это Кармайкл непредсказуемо. Сделать его четыре!

("I would normally say two, but this Carmichael is unpredictable. Make it four!")

Безусловно сэр вы не ожидаете атаки у вас?

("Surely sir you do not expect an attack do you?")

Я не ожидал потерять двенадцать мужчин. Теперь я надеюсь ничего и все!

("I did not expect to lose twelve men. Now I expect anything and everything!")

As Colonel Bashmakov fell into a fitful sleep inside the Blackhawk, he could not help thinking that if he survived the night it would be one that he would never forget.

The Attack

At precisely 0100 the alarms on their watches officially woke them. Unofficially Mike had done that when the pain killers started to ware off. Chuck had held off sticking Mike because of the fact that he knew what lay ahead. Moving him was going to be hard. Moving him under these conditions was going to be almost impossible. Chuck more than once thought about leaving Mike, but he just could not. He did not want to waste time and the possibility of not being able to find him again if they were successful. Mike was just going to have to tough it out. 'Yeah,' he thought, 'easy for me to say.'

Chuck and Watson picked up Mike as gently as possible and heard a very loud groan from him. Chuck moved quickly and stuck Mike three times once in the front and two in the back. They had no time to check the wound and even if they wanted to they could not because of poor visibility.

Mike was shivering but even in the wind and rain Chuck could feel he was hot. 'He is probably fighting off infection.' He thought. Chuck cupped his hands again and told Watson, "We are going to move straight south. Their soldiers were moving from the north. South is where I saw the last Blackhawk land."

"How are we going to figure we are moving south Chuck?" Watson yelled.

"I have a compass and a small penlight, see." Chuck showed him the compass. The penlight had been in the pocket of one of the dead Russian Soldiers. It was not the best situation, but they would have to make due.

It took them nearly two and a half hours to get the half mile from where they were to finally reach their target. They had crawled, walked and had to make frequent stops because of Mike's injuries. It was Watson who saw the silhouette of the first helicopter. He was moving ahead of Chuck and Mike. They kept alternating every twenty minutes or so. Moving Mike that distance had really been a major task.

Watson rushed back to where Mike and Chuck were, "One of the helicopters is just 50 yards away!"

"How are you feeling Mike?"

"Like someone ran over me with a bulldozer." Said Mike wincing.

Chuck felt his forehead; it was still pretty hot considering that it was raining and cold. The wind was starting to die down. "Do you think the storm is passing?"

"I don't know, this damn thing feels like a hurricane, or it could be where we are. The wind is still pretty gusty about 80 to 85 miles per hour I think."

"Mike we are going to move you forward some more. Do you think you could hold a weapon, maybe even fire one if necessary?"

"Yeah but it will have to be a hand gun, it...it would be too hard to hold a rifle." He said to Chuck.

Chuck and Watson both helped Mike move forward until they were only 20 yards away. Chuck could tell Mike was hurting badly. He unzipped his bag again, took two more of the morphine needles and stuck Mike again.

Looking at Watson he said, "Let us wait another 10 minutes to make sure the morphine has taken effect, than let us move forward with our attack."

"Ok Chuck how do you want to play this?"

Chuck took his Glock 17 out and the three clips. He remembered only firing three shots at the Russian soldier, the memory of that moment engulfing him as his eyes widen, he shook his head to clear his mind. 'Man up Chuck, there is no going back now, nobody wants a killer that is who you are, and time for regrets will have to wait until later.' He smirked, 'If there is a later.'

Watson grabbed his arm, "Were you listening to what I was saying?"

"Sorry Watson just zoned out there a moment, what were you saying?"

Watson was starting to get concerned for the way Chuck was acting. "I said how do you want to play this?"

Chuck handed him a radio. "I programmed these radios to work on channel three. Let me have enough time to get to the other Blackhawk, I will click the mike twice and then we will make our moves on the guards. No matter what, let us make sure they know we were here."

"Chuck we have the element of surprise don't worry we will be home soon."

"Sure Steve." Chuck was getting more depressed about their situation and about himself. He had a strong suspicion he would not be coming out of this alive.

Chuck handed his Glock to Mike and made sure the magazines were easily accessible to him. He had left his Beretta behind. Reloading would be a problem for him but at least once he replaced the clip he could slide the gun into firing position again with one hand. With a nod to Mike and Steve Watson, Chuck was of.

"I have a feeling that Chuck is thinking of this more of a suicide mission than an escape."

"Do you think we will make it Steve?"

"Damn it you too Mike?"

As Watson got up Mike grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye. "Good luck my friend."

"See you soon."

Watson had turned down the radio low enough so that he would be the only who could hear it. Even though the wind was whipping around at a good clip he did not want to take the chance.

Fifteen minutes later, and still no word from Chuck. 'What is keeping him?' He looked at his watch 0400. "Click, Click."

Watson could not tell where these guards were but he knew they were there. Fortunately for him, the guards on his side had recently replaced the ones that had been there and they were pissed.

Может вы считаете, что это утро Юрий? Никто не в праве на виду бы нападение сегодня вечером!

("Can you believe this shit Yuri? No one in their right mind would attack us tonight!")

Я согласен Грегори, это в пустой тратой времени.

("I agree Gregori; this is a waste of time.")

Yuri turned around trying to lay a blanket down so he would have some comfort. Gregory was waiting for his friend to finish so he could do the same thing he had done. Suddenly a hand shot out from behind covering his mouth as Watson drove his knife through his right kidney and twisted and quickly in a finishing move he cut his throat as he silently placed him on the ground. Because of the wind and rain Yuri was oblivious as to what had just occurred behind him.

Yuri turned, " Грегори ..." ("Gregori...") He never got a chance to say another word as Watson expertly threw his knife right into Yuri's chest. In shock and trying to pull out the knife, Yuri was helpless as Watson quickly moved forward and cracked his skull with the butt end of his AK-47. Watson took a couple of deep breaths and waited for Chuck's signal.

Chuck could easily see the other Blackhawk. There was movement inside and suddenly there was movement in the bushes. He squatted down quickly as his heart was beating a hundred miles a second. 'You can do this Chuck, it should be simple for you now, you have found your true calling.' His self-deprecating thoughts rambled. 'Only someone like Casey will understand you now.'

Chuck moved closer to his target, grabbed his knife throwing style and waited for the appropriate moment. As the Russian soldier attempted to sit down Chuck threw his knife and it stuck to his arm instead of his back. The Russian soldier made a loud yelp as he stood up. Chuck was closing the distance as fast as he could in order to finish off the soldier before he had a chance to warn anyone. Chuck punched the man hard in the face and the soldier went down. Chuck jumped him and pulled out the knife that was imbedded in his arm.

The soldier screamed. " Не убить меня! Не убить меня! Помогите! Помогите!

("Don't kill me! Don't kill me! Help! Help!")

Chuck lunged at the soldier with his knife but the soldier grabbed his hand with his good hand. Chuck then pushed with both hands as hard as he could. The soldier was in a terrible position as he was quickly losing the battle. He tried to kick, bite anything to stay alive but Chuck was relentless as the knife sunk in slowly but surely into the man's heart. The soldier stopped moving.

Chuck was heavily panting almost completely out of breath, looking down at the destruction he had caused. This wasn't him, it was someone else, and it was someone twisted and evil. Chuck looked up just in time to catch the second guard diving at him from his left side. Chuck had expected two guards not four! He caught the soldier in midair but his knife was able to slice Chuck in the back. Chuck hissed loudly but was more determined than ever that if that was his last moments he would not go down alone.

They were both wrestling as they stood up, the soldier stepped in some brush and his foot got caught and tried desperately to free himself. Chuck saw what was happening and took the opportunity to send a kick to the right side of his knee. Having nowhere to go, the soldier took the full brunt of the kick and a loud pop sounded as ligaments were torn. His grips loosen on Chuck who took the opportunity to head-butt the soldier straight in the nose breaking it as well.

The commotion was quite evident even from Watson's position, He knew that the enemy would be spilling from the Blackhawks soon and their advantage would be gone. Calmly Watson pulled the pin of the first grenade and lobbed it. He then repeated the same motion again quickly and lobbed the second one as well and ducked quickly for cover.

The first grenade landed only two feet from the helicopter's pilot side. The second one clanged loudly on the top rotors and was sliding down slowly when they both went off. The first explosion tilted the Blackhawk precariously on its right side while the second explosion blew up just a few feet from the fuel line. The simultaneous explosions causing the helicopter to disintegrated in a huge ball of fire.

Everyone hesitated and was caught off guard in the second helicopter. Once the Russians caught their second wind both doors slid open and men started pouring out. Chuck stood up from his position and started raking the pilot's side with 7.62 bullets from his AK-47 killing the pilot instantly. He continued to spray the plane as the side door slid open and Lieutenant Golovkin was preparing to throw a grenade himself. Unfortunately, for him and anyone close to him two bullets from Chuck's weapon broke the Lieutenant's forearm making him drop the grenade inside the helicopter. One of the soldiers who saw what was happening, only had time to say,

огнетушитель!

("Grenade!")

Before another big ball of fire consumed the second Blackhawk.

As luck would have it would have it, at that precise moment the soldier that been fighting Chuck decided at that moment to attack him again. As the soldier knocked Chuck down, he grabbed his knife and raised it to kill him, the flying shrapnel from the blast sliced through the air and into the soldier. He rolled off Chuck with several large pieces of shrapnel protruding from his back.

Not so lucky was Watson. After blowing up the first helicopter, he got up and was quickly coming to Chuck's aid when the Blackhawk blew up. The shockwave sending Watson flying ten feet through the air, and landed heavily against a tree. The impact and landing causing a compound fracture of his right forearm and a piece of the tree to impale him on the left side of his love handle. For all intense and purposes Watson looked like he was dead even though he was just knocked out.

Chuck was groggy and disoriented and got slowly up. Everything around him was on fire. Everyone looked dead. Chuck walked around slowly trying to find Watson. "Watson where are you!" Chuck yelled. He was bleeding from a knife wound in the back, his left eye was nearly closed from the sucker punch he had received during both of his fights and his head felt like it was going to explode at any moment from the blast concussion.

He was breathing deeply, staggering around looking for Watson. It was weird but the fire felt oddly comforting from the constant wind and rain. It almost felt surreal, he wanted it all to end, Chuck even thought for a moment of just walking into the fire and ending it. 'Not possible must find Watson.'

Then he saw him, not ten feet away, what looked like the crushed body of his friend Steve Watson. Chuck just broke down and sobbed, "No!, No!, No!" He looked to the heavens and while the wind and rained pelted him he raised his arms, "WHY HIM! WHY NOT ME, WHY NOT ME!" He crumbled to the ground and pounded his fists on the ground and he again cried in a much softer tone, "Why not me."

Mike had been listening to all the screaming and the yelling plus the explosions. There was only supposed to be one, not two explosions. This concerned Mike. He had a very bad feeling about this and he had to do something even in his incapacitated state. He slowly got up with much wincing and groaning and started to search for his friends. It was difficult because of the heavy wind and rain. The fire actually felt good.

Even though it was winding, he was close enough to hear someone sobbing. He got closer and cautiously started to get ready to point his gun on the person crumbled on the floor. "Get up and put your hands up slowly."

Somewhere in Chuck's mind it registered the familiar voice of one of his friends although he could not tell who. He raised his head and looked at the stranger in front of him. Mike had a much clearer head at this point, "Chuck is that you?"

Chuck got up slowly, and Mike asked, "Where is Steve?"

Chuck swallowed hard and pointed. Mike made his way as fast as he could towards Watson. When he got there he felt for a pulse. "Chuck, Chuck, Watson is alive!"

At that moment Chuck finally snapped out of his melancholic stupor and rushed over to where Watson was. "I have got a pulse Chuck." Then he said, "We need to check him out thoroughly to see where he is hurt."

Chuck only nodded took out his pen light and started examining Watson very slowly. Chuck winched when he saw his right forearm. There was a piece of bone protruding from his right forearm. He continued and saw blood from the left side of his body. Chuck thanked god that Watson was unconscious. He would have been withering in pain if he was awake. Chuck cut away the part of the parka that covered what was going on with that branch. He saw it protruding from his skin outward, this was going to be hard and if not careful devastating to Watson.

Let's see Ellie always taught me that one of the signs of a compound fracture is hemorrhage, and the person providing first aide should attempt first to control this. If bleeding is profuse, the wound should be covered with clean clothes or sterile surgical dressings, bandaging this snugly in place. The fracture victim should not be moved more than is necessary. It is important that a splint or any support be applied right where the fracture victim lies. The reason for this is that when the victim is finally moved, further damage to his tissues, which may be caused by the sharp ends of the broken bone, is avoided.

'Ok I have to administer pain killers before I attempt to remove him from that tree. Mike will not be much help.' Chuck looked at his medical kit. 'Only 4 morphine pain killers left.' He made a decision to use them all before he removed him. Damn it this is going to be difficult. He had very little that would aid him in the dressing of the wounds. He had to get more. Chuck did not care if he had to search every dead body there simply had to be more medical kits.

Chuck was back to his old self for the moment, he had a mission to distract him, he had to somehow save Watson. He took the four Morphine shots gave 3 to the fore arm and one to his love handle. 'Hopefully he will not wake up before I comeback it could get messy.' "I will be right back Mike."

"Where are you going?"

"To see if I can find more medical kits. I need them for Steve and for you."

"Be careful and take your AK with you."

Chuck began to look for anything he could find. By the time he had reached the second Blackhawk two things happened. First, he found two medical kits. Even more amazing was what happened next, Chuck heard soft moaning coming about 25 feet from the second Blackhawk, he quickly investigated it and then he found none other than a very groggy Colonel Bashmakov trying to get up. The Colonel froze when Chuck ratcheted his AK and pointed at the him.

Colonel Bashmakov slowly raised his hands in the air. "Carmichael I presumed."

"You presumed correctly Colonel Bashmakov."

"How did you...?"

Chuck clicked his radio twice. "Ahh I see. What do you intend to do with me?"

"Make you do a little hard labor, and if you are good, really good you may get to live through this."

"You must know by now that in a few hours there will be many more of us looking for you."

"Yeah Colonel I got the memo, now let's move."

When Chuck got close to where he left Mike and Steve he called out. "Mike it's me Chuck I am coming in with a guest."

"Holy crap Chuck is that the Colonel you were listening to?"

"I thought you were sleeping."

"I was until I started to hear our friend and Shaw yelling at each other."

"Alright Colonel you and me are going to lift our friend out from the tree. You will be gentle or there will be consequences"

"He is in bad shape."

Chuck ignored the comment from the Colonel. "Mike I am going to search the Colonel first, if he so much as breaths the wrong way shot him."

"Arms up Colonel." Bashmakov had no choice but to comply, "That is a big roll of duct tape Colonel, was this for me, or were the zip ties you were carrying." The Colonel simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Ok Colonel you take the left side and I will the right and as gently as possible we lift him out of the tree." They lifted Watson and the pain must have woken as he yelled and groaned loudly in pain.

"He needs a doctor agent Carmichael."

"Save your breath Colonel, that piece of shit you work for does not care about you; he certainly does not care about us."

Chuck took the gauze out along with the anti-bacterial gel he needed for Watson. However before he began he said to the Colonel, "Your hands behind your back."

"I will not try to escape."

"You are right Colonel you are not." Chuck then zip tied his hands behind his back. It took a lot of work but by around 0700, Chuck had finally finished fixing up Watson as best he could. He also did the same thing for Mike. When he finally sat down he was totally drained. One thing was for sure, Watson could not be moved, Mike was still hurting and he could not trust the Colonel. Chuck was well aware that there would be over one hunderd men coming soon and they were sitting ducks. As Chuck looked over the situation he knew that he needed to take drastic actions if his friends were going to survive this. He again composed himself and started mentally preparing for what he was about to do.

The Sacrifice

Chuck took the Colonel about fifteen feet from the rest and duct taped his legs together and then he ducked taped him to the tree. "No escaping for you Colonel." He smiled and then taped his mouth.

Chuck walked up to Mike and a barely conscious Watson. "I have given this a lot of thought." Chuck began. "In a few hours there will be many more enemies to deal with. I am the only mobile one here. The plain fact is that Shaw only cares about capturing or killing me. I am going to make sure he has all the incentive in the world to come after me. I intend to split up from you and have him go after me instead of us."

Mike immediately protested, "You have got to be kidding me Chuck, splitting up would guarantee your…no I cannot let you do this Chuck it is suicide!"

"Listen to me both of you, Watson cannot be moved, you can barely function and can only shoot with one hand, the best chance for both of you is if I were to split away from you, have Shaw chase me, make him think everyone else is dead. It gives you guys a chance to live!"

Watson whispered, "What about you Chuck?"

"It is a good trade off."

"No, Chuck No!"

"Mike, do me a favor, if you ever meet my sister or…or Sarah, just let them know I really was not a monster. That I hope they could forgive me and that I was thinking about both of them at the end!"

"Damn it Chuck!"

"I left you both P-90's loaded Mike, I sincerely hope you do not need them, if you do it would mean that I failed. The medical kits are next to the guns, there are plenty of pain killers in there that should last you until you get rescued." He sadly looked at his friends for what he considered the last time. If his plan succeeded than there would only be one ending. "Goodbye my friends, it has been a pleasure and an honor." He gently squeezed Watson's hand and did the same to Mike who had tears in his eyes.

Chuck started moving west going by the carnage that had occurred in the early morning hours. He started picking up ammo clips for the AK-47 along with more Rifles and Grenades. He wanted to set up some traps for his would be captors that would make them gun shy and hesitate. He had to give his buddies as much time as possible if they were going to make it.

At five hundred yards he set his first trap. There was a coat a cap and an AK-47. Chuck tied a string to the grenade pin and the other to the AK-47. 'Yeah this is going to be one hell of a surprise.'

He planted 4 more of his surprises around. He still had about eight more grenades, two AK's and about (20) 30 rounds magazines. 'Time to poke the bear.' He smiled.

At 0900 Shaw called the Colonel to check in on him. "Colonel Bashmakov, what is your status?" Silence. "Colonel Bashmakov do you copy?"

"I am afraid he does not copy."

"Who is this?"

"I think you know."

"Carmichael?"

"At your service!"

"This is a trick!"

"I am afraid that the trick is on you, but don't worry Shaw I am coming for you!"

"There is no way you can find me!"

"Oh I found your Colonel and he told me everything. I thought he would be tougher, I guess my knife proved me wrong." He really started to like messing with Shaw.

"I will destroy you before you can get anywhere near me!"

"Oh I know all about the hundred men you are sending this morning, if they are anywhere near as incompetent as the bunch I killed last night, expect me for lunch." Chuck knew a little bit about Shaw. Well he knew that Shaw was unstable and easy to rattle.

"You…you…I."

"What is the matter Shaw? Cat cut your tongue? Don't worry I intend to have that pleasure myself soon."

"I will get you!"

"Oh good come back, however; I intend for you to sing that to me in soprano when I remove a certain body part! See you soon Shaw!"

Conversation between Shaw and Volkoff

Shaw was in utter shock and for the first time in a long time he was afraid, very afraid. He was in a near panic when he called Volkoff. He could not believe that the great Colonel Bashmakov that Volkoff had raved about was dead and a very deadly Agent Carmichael was about to cut him to pieces.

"Why are you calling me Shaw?"

"I…I need more men!"

"What are you talking about; you have over 1000 men already. You could start your own war with the men that you got."

"I need…I need men I can count on!"

"Don't be silly Shaw; I have given you Colonel Bashmakov, Colonel Klopov, and Colonel Glasov. They are the finest…

Shaw was laughing hysterically, "What is the matter with you Shaw?"

Shaw finally got some composure back, "Colonel Bashmakov is no more."

"Make sense will you Shaw."

"I said your precious Colonel GOT WIPED OUT BY AGENT CARMICHEAL!"

"That is not possible! Colonel Bashmakov and his men are some of the finest…"

"THEY ARE DEAD YOU STUPID MORON! Carmichael told me this morning, he said he was coming for me! I NEED MORE MEN!"

"Control yourself you idiot! What were your plans going to be this morning?"

"I was going to send a hundred men to help Colonel Bashmakov track down and capture him."

"After I told you to eliminate Carmichael you instead wanted to capture him? Are you insane?" Well that was a rhetorical question.

"What…what should I do?"

"First get a hold of yourself than send in two hundred men to track down and kill this monster. Is that understood?"

"Yes, yes you are right." Then he gritted his teeth, "But this better work Alexi or so help me god I will give him your home address do you hear me!"

"Just do it Shaw and you will see that we will be smiling before you know it!"

"Just make sure that the smile is not one from ear to ear Alexi."

When Volkoff hung up the phone he kept muttering. "Idiot" However, he did give pause and thought for a moment, 'He killed Colonel Bashmakov and all his men? Then he called Shaw and taunted him? Just who in the world was this mad man? I guess I better send Shaw more men.'

Back at the site

Chuck had several traps laid out. 'These surprises should be something that will really slow them down.' He took note of the fact that the wind was starting to really die down. 'They should be here soon.' He had taped the mikes of several radios in the open position. It would make it easy for the enemy to track him down; of course there were several open mikes. 'That should drive them crazy,' He chuckled and for the first time he realize how crazy this situation had gotten. 'Going down in a blaze of glory eh Casey. You always thought it was going to be you, well guess what buddy it was going to be the nerd you met four years ago.' Chuck shook his head, 'Who would have ever thought that was possible.'

Saving LTCM Bartowski

When Sarah finally landed in Kodiak she thanked the chaplain who had been nice enough to be beside her and alleviate some of the fears about Chuck and other women. She knew that in her heart of hearts that Chuck was in "big trouble" she could feel it like when you got bad Intel on an operation or when you know that something is just off.

She walked about twenty steps to the two counters one saying rent-a- heap and the other saying AVIS. While she was filling out the insurance paperwork and other documents she realized that she had no knowledge of this place, "Excuse me sir does the car have GPS?"

"Yes miss just about every vehicle does."

She got the keys to a Toyota Corolla from the AVIS Rep. and walked to her rental car, it was a good five minute walk. She took her shades out of her purse and put them on. As she reached her rental car she stopped, took her phone out and looked at the text message that Carina had sent her. The address read, 1117 Purtov Street. She keyed in the address into the GPS system and was off.

When she arrived at the address she noticed that the house was a 1960's style single level home with a garage and a fire place. When she walked to the front door and was about to knock in a voice said, "Identify."

Sarah did not know what to do so she stepped back to look around again. Satisfied that no one was around, she stepped into the front door area and once again a voice said, "Identify."

"Umm...Sarah Walker."

A hand print board flips on the right side of the door. "Please place your right hand on the glass."

Sarah does and a yellow light passes through her hand. The door clicks open and the voice says, "Welcome home Miss W."

Base Commanders office Elmendorf Air force Base

"Colonel Casey we have launched our C-130 to over fly the area that Flight 412 took and we are re- routing the Cutter Storis and re-routing the Jarvis to investigate what the hell happened out there. There is no need to get the General on the phone, the Admiral's bite was big enough this morning. He made the idea of early retirement very promising if Chuck's crew wasn't back on base yesterday crystal clear."

"Captain Hester, thank you, you have been more accommodating then some officers that I have worked with. Major Smith with his Apaches should be here soon and the General is sending another strike team to help as well. We should be airborne within the hour, so any support you can give us will be appreciated. I need to barrow one of the pool cars to go into town to secure some information at Chucks place."

"Just talk to my assistant outside Colonel Casey and by the way you're welcome. Now if you'll excuse me I got a down aircraft to find Colonel."

They both saluted each other and Casey left.

Casey reaches the Captain's Assistant and very politely asks, "Lisa, my dear may I barrow one of your pool cars to go into town please?" The one thing he learned over the years of working with Chuck is that you can get farther with honey than with vinegar, and it works well especially working with staff.

Just as John Casey reaches for the door handle of the truck he gets on loan from the base, his cell phone vibrates and he looks at it, 'Oh, oh.' "Blue you are coming with me."

"What gives Colonel?"

"The lady of the house has just arrived!"

"Holy shit! I will be right back."

"Where are you going?"

"To get her tactical suit, it may save your life!"

Casa Bartowski

Sarah was starting to look around. 'So this is where Chuck stays hmm? I wonder what's in the bed room.' She walks through the dining room and living room she notes the 42 inch LCD TV the Xbox and the connections and the pictures around the walls. There were pictures of Chuck and Ellie and others with Devon back in Echo Park. There was a picture of them smiling and holding each other. She was wearing her Princess Leia outfit. That made her smile. There was a picture of him holding a target and Chuck grinning like a fool. Under the picture it read 'First target 1800 yards.' There were other pictures of him in his dress blues getting awards. One of him in midair probably five feet off the ground doing a flying round house kick. On the Mantel a picture of Chuck and Casey and a group of guys, 'wait a sec…CASEY! THAT NO GOOD DOUBLE CROSSING BACK STABBING BASTARD! He suppose too be someplace else not with Chuck!'

Her Face couldn't hide the hurt. Then all of a sudden the TV turns on and a Voice comes over the speakers "Miss Walker Welcome to Casa Bartowski or as Chuck would say Welcome Home Sarah."

Sarah is bewildered, "Who's here? Where are you? Who are you? What the Hell is going on here?"

Greeting Max's Face comes on the screen, "My Name is Max and I take care of Mr. B, now if you would please sit down on the couch, we have a lot to discuss and I have already texted the Colonel Casey of your arrival. Just so you understand how much Chuck trusts me, I know about Barstow." Max went on to say, "I am his Butler, his answering service, his Broker, I manage his finances and take care of the Bills. I run his digital life. I'm his Digital Life Assistant, Mr. O made me to help Chuck manage the Information for his Secondary Job. "

"Wait so you are an AI? You're a computer?"

"Yes Miss W. I am."

"I'll give you more information later Miss W, the Colonel is here, now promise me you will not kill him. I can monitor the home, however; I can't hide the body and I can't get blood stains out of the carpet so please do not be angry."

They hear the front door shut, "Hey MAX! Where is our girl?"

Casey greeted Sarah like nothing had happened between them. "Hey partner, before anything else happens, I wanted to say how sorry I am to hear about Bryce and what happened to him."

SMACK! Casey wasn't shocked he was actually expecting it sooner or later. He knew he had betrayed his partner's faith in him. So he took the slug to the jaw. He figured he was getting off light with a right cross to the jaw. "Feel Better?"

Sarah Glared at him. Looked at his pocket and smirked, quicker than he thought possible, Sarah grabbed his Cuban cigars and broke them in half. "Now I feel better."

"Damn it Sarah not the Cubans!"

"Whoa!" Came a voice from behind Casey

"Who are you?"

Blue jumped in front of Casey to prevent him for taking anymore beatings. He extended his hand to Sarah, "Sergeant Blue Stevens at your service ma'am."

"Sarah...Sarah Walker"

My friends call me "Blue, especially my little brother Chuck."

Viewing Blue skeptically she only said, "Ok."

"Here this is for you."

Sarah raised her eye brow. "Where is the bathroom Casey?"

"Down the hall, first door to your left."

"Thanks for saving my butt Blue."

"Anytime."

"Come on while she is changing let us get the computer from his office."

As they got into their vehicle Sarah commented, "What happened to your Crown Vic?"

"This truck is a base motor pool vehicle."

Casey then felt like he owed Sarah some further explanation. "I was ordered away from team intersect. I was ordered by the General to give an Analyst weapons training. It turned out that the Analyst was the moron who had joined the Coast Guard and was scheduled to become as pilot. He busted his hump, he did me proud, and I watched him go from a 98 pound weakling to a man. I was proud to call my friend. Yes I knew you were comprised from the word Go. However, I was strictly forbidden from contacting you."

Blue jumped in, "He was the one that discovered that smuggling network that they sent Carina on. You picked a good one Agent Walker. He was tracing some stuff for the General; before we knew it we had the Ring on the run everywhere. It was amazing what he could do!"

Casey continued, "He became one of us. Going against orders to save Blue, and fight off Ring special forces giving us time to rescue them."

"What?" Said Sarah shocked.

"Yeah and the way he flies our Blackhawks!" Chimed in Blue.

"Wait what!, When did Chuck go from an analyst to a tactical team member?"

"He did that on his own Sarah. Lieutenant Edgington had been incapacitated and Chuck volunteered, and never left." Said Casey.

"Now he is just irreplaceable. Chuck plans, gives the briefings, organizes and is right there with us on the missions. He saved me and my team in Seattle..."Blue tried to finish.

"Hold it right there. I heard about that mission, it was all the talk of the CIA and NSA. Chuck was that helicopter pilot?"

Blue shook his head yes.

Sarah's eyes were wide as she placed hand in her mouth.

"The Teams just love him like one of their own Sarah, if Bryce walked into the hanger up at Elmendorf he would look like Swiss cheese before he smiled." Casey said.

"If I already haven't said it I'm sorry Walker, and if you repeat anything that was just said to anyone I'll make you my next target."

Sarah was in deep though, "Oh my god, I am in love with a super hero!"

Blue looked at Sarah's hand, she had been clutching what looked like a letter like her life depended on it.

Eielson Air force Base Alaska 11:00 AM

Major Smith had just finished the meeting with his team as they were preparing to leave for Elmendorf Air force Base. Two Lieutenants approach Major Smith, "Major I am sorry sir that we were late."

"Who are you Lieutenant?"

"I am Lieutenant Whitaker sir, and this is Lieutenant Edgington. We are the extra strike team that General Beckman ordered for this operation. Lieutenant Edgington is the replacement pilot for the missing Lieutenant Commander. He used to fly with them before he was replaced by the Lieutenant Commander."

"How was it working with that group Lieutenant Edgington?"

"It was great sir, exciting, everything I ever wanted until I got appendicitis. I got benched and never could get my position back."

"Lieutenant Commander Bartowski replaced you right?"

"Yes sir it seems that the wannabe hero got himself into trouble and now we are going to have to save him." Edgington said very sarcastically.

"What is your problem Lieutenant? Bartowski is a hero! Get your head in the game, we are going into combat and there is no place for petty jealousies"

'Damn I said too much.' Edgington thought. Lieutenant Edgington had been very bitter about being replaced and had said so verbally many times. He hated Charles Bartowski, who he had associated as a wannabe Agent, Chuck was beneath them, but the powers that be were blinded by his luck. That was his sincere belief. Unfortunately, the wrong ears had heard about this and started tracking the disgruntle agent. Terrell Edgington had two weakness women and gambling. He thought of himself as a ladies' man. It was easy for the Ring to entrap him. Lieutenant Edgington thought that the women that had come flocking to him had finally come to their senses. He considered himself quite a stud. He did not realize that he was just a pawn and was being played like a violin.

Living the high life on an NSA's salary was just not going to cut it. Adding to his woes was the fact that he was stationed in LA, which was not far from Las Vegas. It was easy to get him wrapped up with the gambling and the easy women. He just could not say no and the debt kept getting higher and higher. When the moment was right the door was slammed on him. He owed $500,000 dollars. They could make it go away if he did them a favor that is all, a small favor. From there on out whenever they needed something they would just bring the fact up he was a traitor to get what they wanted. However, they also rewarded him by funneling money and making sure that his ego was well fed with beautiful women. They were mostly prostitutes or women that needed to repay a favor to the Ring. No sense telling him the truth, let him believe what he wanted to believe as long as he remained compliant they really did not care.

Edgington had fallen for the oldest trick in the book and now he was permanently hooked. Like the traitorous piece of meat that he now was, he did anything he was ordered to do. The Ring who definitely wanted Chuck dead had given Edgington his marching orders and with the personal contempt that Edgington held Chuck he happily accepted this assignment. If he got the opportunity he was to assassinate one Charles Bartowski. Now that he had the perfect opportunity he would be ready to strike. 'They will never see me coming.' He smiled.

Somewhere over Katmi State Park

"This is Coast Guard 60 to Base over."

"This is Base over."

"Base we are coming over the Shelikoff Straights. We will make several passes through the Straights and the adjoining forest. We will report back if we find anything."

"Copy that."

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport aircraft. The versatile airframe has found uses in a variety of other roles, including as a gunship AC-130, for airborne assault, search and rescue, scientific research support, weather reconnaissance, aerial refueling, maritime patrol and aerial firefighting.

It was the perfect plane for this mission as it flew low and slow enough to have a very good view of the Straights and the Forest. Captain Allen stated to the crew. "Look alive and let me know if you see debris or anything unusual."

"Lieutenant Brody reported, "I see debris on the Straight"

Petty Officer 3rd Class Marin reported. "Captain on the right hand side sir! It looks like all hell broke loose there."

The crew of seven scrambled to get a better view of what the Petty Officer had just reported. The Captain asked, "Looks like the burned out hauls of helicopters maybe Blackhawks?"

"Definitely Blackhawks reported the Co-Pilot."

"This is Coast Guard 60 to Base over."

"This is Base over."

"We are less than a mile in from the straights and have spotted burned out helicopters, could possibly be Blackhawks over.

"Any sign of survivors."

"None yet Base, we will keep looking and keep you informed."

"Copy that Coast Guard 60."

Elmendorf Air force Base 1:00 P.M.

Sarah, Blue and Casey arrived back at the NSA part of the Base.

Upon entering the hanger everyone's eyes went to Sarah. Several of the men had a confused look while others were admiring how well the tactical suit looked on Sarah.

Blue said. "All right listen up, this young lady is non-other than Sarah Walker, Chuck's girl. She is going to help bring our boys back."

It was like a light switch was turned on. Sarah had never seen anything like it. She was used to getting lecherous looks whenever around any group of men. However, not these men, at the mention of being called Chuck's girl, these guys treated her like a long lost family member. They hug and kissed her in the cheek and told her how wonderful it was to finally meet her. It was quite a shocking experience and one she was not used to. They immediately accepted her as one of their own. She actually felt quite comfortable around these men. It was an odd and wonderful feeling at the same time.

Jim Henderson threw his arm around her and along with Dickerson and Jefferson showed her the array of weapons available to her. "So Sarah what do you think about Chuck's older brother Blue?"

"Are you guys pulling my leg?"

"No Sarah there is nothing fake there. Blue took Chuck under his wing and trained him to be a major pain in the ass."

"What do you mean Jim?"

"Well when we first met him, he could not get out of his own way, now I would not want to face him one on one."

Sarah was taking this all in and could not believe they were talking about her Chuck. 'HER CHUCK.' She thought. 'How wonderful to think that again.'

"Jim what is the status of the Apaches?"

"Oh sorry Colonel I forgot with all the excitement about meeting Sarah. They are 10 minutes out. When they get here General Beckman wants a quick conference with us before we head out. Oh before I forget, there is another strike team joining us along with Lieutenant Edgington."

At the mention of Edgington there was a loud groan from the group. They all thought he was full of himself and really did not like him.

"What is wrong?" Sarah asked

Blue answered, "Every now and then the NSA makes a mistake, and this guy is one as far as we are concerned. When he was here he thought he was god's gift to women."

"Yeah," Calvin says, "He was always jealous of Chuck?"

That got Sarah's attention.

Brian and Thomson start laughing. "You remember the night we dragged Chuck out to that bar in Pensacola!"

Samuelson joined in on the fun, "Ha! I remember that, Mr. God's gift to women Edgington bet all of us he could land any woman he wanted."

Brian and Jim were cracking up at the recollection, "Remember the blond chick we bet him that he would not be able not get? Talk about crash and burn." They all started laughing.

Diaz, Lieutenant's White and Masterson had joined the party late. White and Masterson had seen Sarah and with broad smiles had come over to greet her warmly, however; Diaz had not seen her but had heard most of the funny retelling of the incident.

Diaz chimed in, "Hell yeah, I remember. That woman would not even give us a second look until Chuck went to the bar to buy us a round of beer."

Jim and Dickerson were trying to get Diaz attention to stop right there. Diaz undeterred continued. "Remember how Chuck did not say a word to that woman but she was all over him! Honestly when she decided to join us it looked like we were going to have to call the cops to get her off him, she would not..."

They were all glaring at Diaz and the big hand of Blue was clapped tightly around his mouth. He whispered to Diaz, "Sarah is here you idiot!"

Sarah had a lump in her throat; she could swear at that moment she thought she was swallowing bile.

"Sarah...Sarah I am sorry, I did not realize you were there!" Diaz said.

"It's alright," She lied

"No it's not." Diaz said. "You are only listening to half the story. Chuck was always loyal to you. The fact of the matter was that Chuck's extracurricular activities always concerned helping one of us out. The rare times we got him out to a bar he never sought or encourage female companionship. It is true that females found Chuck attractive and if he wanted to he could have gone out with his fair share. However, Sarah YOUR MANwas loyal to a fault."

"You know Sarah, you have ruined Chuck." Said Jim.

"What do you mean?"

"Whatever it was you guys did when you were together has ruined him for any other woman. Hell he even got a tattoo on his left butt cheek that says, Property of Sarah." Everyone broke out in laughter.

"What?"

Casey quickly came in, "They are here!"

Conference With General Beckman 1:30 PM

They were all seated when the large screen came alive and a very stern looking General Beckman addresses the group.

"Gentleman, and agent Walker," Sarah nodded to the General. "I am sorry for the delay in sending you to rescue our men, but we just could not go in blind and possibly run into an ambush." The General continued. "This morning with the help of the Coast Guard Admiral they send one of their C-130 planes to take a look at the site where Lieutenant Commander Bartowski was shot down. They have sent us these pictures; there was obviously debris on the water where the helicopter crashed." Sarah placed her hand to her mouth and had watery eyes. Blue took her other hand and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"The second picture is of some burned out Blackhawks. As you can see there are several dead bodies around the helicopters. The good thing is that they all appear to be wearing the same uniforms. That to me says that our boys have been busy out there."

However, before they broke off the search, the Captain of the C-130 reported that a large force consisting of several Apaches, Blackhawks, and even two CH-47 Chinooks were heading towards the crash site. Your mission is clear; we now know what we will be up against. We had an AC-130 gunship, stationed at Eielson Air force Base that will rendezvous with you at the crash site to provide you with ground support. I cannot stress the importance of bringing back our boys alive. Good luck and good hunting"

Major Smith stood up and said to his men. "Mount up and be ready to go in five!" Then he turned to Casey, "May I have a word with you Colonel."

Edgington who had being giving Sarah lecherous looks throughout the briefing quickly came over to introduce himself. "My, this group is getting better by the day," He extended his hand, "Hi I am Terrell Edgington and you are?"

"Not interested Lieutenant."

That got some chuckles from the men that had heard the exchange. Lieutenant White intervened, "Back off Edgington, she is Chuck's girlfriend."

Edgington could care less. "Oh I am not jealous, would you care to ride with me Agent Walker?"

God Sarah hated men like these; they were lecherous pigs that needed to be put down hard. "Sorry Lieutenant but I left me barf bag at the airport!"

That got the group to break out in a loud laughter. However, Blue was not finding Edgington's antics acceptable at all. Masterson took Blue to the side and said, "Hey Blue you think you could talk to the Colonel and have him switch up Pilots? It just seems wrong that Edgington would be the one piloting Chuck's Blackhawk. Sarah should be riding with us as should you and the Colonel."

"I will see what I can do."

As he was moving to find and talk Casey, Blue caught the ending of the conversation between the Major and Casey. "Yes Colonel the way he spoke would indicate to me that the Lieutenant does not have much respect for the Lieutenant Commander"

"Thank you Major Smith."

Blue then entered and asked, "Let me guess he was talking about Edgington?"

"How did you know?"

"He was just very disrespectful to Sarah even though he was told he was told she was Chuck's girlfriend. Is there any way he could pilot another Blackhawk?"

"What the hell is wrong with him?"

"John you know that he never liked Chuck and after the Bar incident in Pensacola well that seal the deal. All the bad mouthing he did after Chuck replaced him even got back to us."

John Casey was not into drama and totally hated what he referred to as "Lady Feelings." However, what really pissed Casey off was a disrespectful and unprofessional subordinate.

"Edgington! You will be flying Lieutenant's Whitaker's Blackhawk, Lieutenant Whitaker you are flying Chuck's Blackhawk, let's mount up!"

Edgington was going to protest when Casey came up close to him and growled, "If you say one word I am going to leave you here. Are we clear?"

Edgington just nodded. Then he smiled to himself, 'I am going to enjoy killing this bunch!'

As everyone was getting on board, Sarah was tapped on the shoulder by Lieutenant Whitaker. "Ma'am I just want to let you know what an honor it is to go on this mission. The Lieutenant Commander is a hero of mine. Don't worry we will get him back today."

"Thank you Lieutenant I really appreciate that."

As they took off, Blue once again noticed how Sarah clutched the envelope she was holding then she slid it under her suit.

Having 10 Apaches and four Blackhawks take off in formation was quite impressive. For a moment it looked like the skies were filled with attack helicopters. In all her years in the agency, Sarah had never experienced anything like it. She kept wondering, 'Is this the way it is for Chuck when he goes on these missions.' She was still trying to grasp how HER CHUCK was doing this.

Shaw's secret base 3 hours earlier

Colonel Vladimir Klopov was old school KGB. He had done some horrible things in his life and had commanded many men as a military officer. He was known to be a tough no nonsense individual with a reputation of getting the job done.

However, after all those many years in the Russian Military, forced retirement had not suited him at all. He had gotten used to a certain style of living and he quickly found out how horrible life could be without a steady stream of income.

That is why when Alexi Volkoff had asked he had jumped at the chance to do this assignment. However, now he was starting to regret ever accepting this mission. Working for Daniel Shaw had been exasperating. The man could change moods in a drop of a hat. In Klopov's eyes this so called hound was totally incapable and could easily crack. He had worked for some pretty unstable people in his life time but this fruit cake took the prize.

"Volkoff told me that you are one of the best and now you are refusing to GO OUT THERE!"

"I did not say that Mr. Shaw, but I want guarantees!"

"And what would those be Colonel?"

"I want more air support and more men if the situation calls for it!"

"You are being difficult."

"I do not want to end up like Colonel Bashmakov!"

"But he is ONLY ONE MAN!"

"Yes but apparently that one man just wiped out an Elite Russian tactical team!"

"What would it take to get your cooperation?"

"If my men are going into this hot zone, I want at least one hundred men at a time. No piece meal drops. Let us use the CH-47 Chinooks. We can pack nearly forty men in each helicopter and overwhelm Agent Carmichael from the start."

"Ok I can do that."

"Oh but that is not all. I want my own tactical teams landing at different points at the same time the Chinooks are landing their men. That means that I want those four Blackhawks you have left."

"Anything else?" Said Shaw sarcastically.

"Yes Mr. Shaw I want at least four Apaches watching my back."

"I cannot believe I am agreeing to this for one man."

I am not only worried about this Agent but his friends as well. You do not seem to care about losing ground troops but losing your precious equipment makes her hesitate, why?"

"Losing equipment will make it harder to evacuate if the need arises."

"Oh so this is about yourself?"

"Some of us are destined to live longer than others."

"Well since you put it so eloquently than let us spice up this assignment a bit shall we?"

When Colonel Klopov did not hear a respond from Shaw he continued. "Place a bounty on Agent's Carmichael's head. Whoever kills him will get a bonus One hundred thousand dollars in a Swiss Bank account, and I will get One million of your US dollars too."

"Aww I see, I am not the only one looking out for myself."

"Do we have a deal?"

"Of course we do, money has never been an option, and I have plenty of that." Shaw smiled sinisterly at the Colonel. As soon as he delivers Agent Carmichael's corpse, he was planning on expanding the funeral arrangements for a certain Colonel.

Back in the Forest

Chuck clearly heard the helicopters coming, what surprised him was the CH-47 Chinooks. 'Damn I guess I frighten him too well. I better be careful or this little adventure will end much quicker than I anticipated.'

The first Chinook landed about two hundred yards from where Chuck was located. The amount of troops pouring out of the helicopter shocked Chuck. 'Oh my god!'

He heard the second Chinook landing four hundred yards west of him and his heart raced. 'That is a little too close to Mike and Watson for my taste. This could get ugly.'

Upon landing Colonel Klopov immediately took defensive positions. No sense losing any soldiers you did not have to.

Капитан Иванов, я этих ракет "Стингер" незамедлительно развернуты. Я хотел бы также группы восьми мужчин начать лапу северной и южной. Пребывание в течение двух сотен ярдов.

("Captain Ivanovo, I want those stinger missiles deployed immediately. I also want groups of eight men start to sweep north and south. Stay within a two hundred yard area.")

Да сэр!

("Yes Sir!")

И для Небес, сакэ если вы услышите и стреляли, узнайте, во-первых, она является и всех групп пересекаются в одной области, удалите!

("And for heaven's sakes if you hear shots being fired, find out first where it is and then have all groups converge in that one area, clear!")

Да сэр!

("Yes Sir!")

Apache and Blackhawk Attack force three minutes out

"This is Helen Leader to AC gunship over."

"Copy Helen Leader."

"We are three minutes from target over."

"Well you better hurry up, there is already about one hundred troops on the ground and more inbound."

"Can you engage over?"

"We'll do. There is a Chinook about to take off that will mark where you should start landing."

"Go luck and good hunting."

"Copy Helen Leader."

"Helen leader to all birds get ready to engage, coming in hot. Three through six stay and cover the Blackhawk drops. The rest with me, enemy spotted inbound."

All said, "Copy leader."

"Colonel Casey did you hear."

"Yes I did. Get ready with the fifties boys it looks like we have some action coming our way."

"Sarah this is different than what you are used to. We will probably land but it is a possibility we will have to drop. Just remember to drop roll and head for cover. It is important to be safe first before we get our bearings and decide what to do."

"Ok."

"Don't worry I will be close to you."

The Lockheed AC-130 gunship is a heavily-armed ground-attack aircraft variant of the C-130 Hercules transport plane. The basic airframe is manufactured by Lockheed, while Boeing is responsible for the conversion into a gunship and for aircraft support. The AC-130A Gunship II superseded the AC-47 Gunship I during the Vietnam War.

The gunship's sole user is the United States Air Force, which uses AC-130H Spectre, AC-130U Spooky, and AC-130W Stinger II variants for close air support, air interdiction and force protection. Close air support roles include supporting ground troops, escorting convoys, and flying urban operations. This gunship was on loan and was based at Cannon AFB, New Mexico. The AC-130s deploy to bases worldwide in support of operations.

All of the weaponry aboard is mounted to fire out from the left or port side of the aircraft. During an attack, the gunship performs a pylon turn over the target area flying in a large circle around a fixed point on the ground, the fixed point being the target. This allows it to maintain fire at a target far longer than a conventional attack aircraft. The AC-130H "Spectre" was armed with two 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannons, one Bofors 40mm auto cannon, and one 105 mm M102 cannon, the Spectre's twin 20 mm cannons, as well as an improved fire control system and increased ammunition capacity.

The Gunship targeted the Chinook. Colonel Klopov was busy giving the same sets of instructions to Captain Popova as he had Captain Ivanovo when he heard the unmistakable noise of twin 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannons firing on the slow moving Chinook. The first blast ripped off the rear stabilizer and as the Chinook Pilot fought desperately to gain control over the wildly spinning Helicopter. It really did not matter as the second bust hit the Pilot's side of the cabin and exploded mid-air. The ground shook as pieces of the Chinook hit the ground. One of them was the front rotor who caught two unsuspecting Russian soldiers and cut them in half.

The Gun ship continued to bark its hot lead on the ground troops and six more soldiers quickly fell to their deaths. Colonel Klopov was screaming in English to the Apache's demanding that the Blackhawks drops be covered and to protect the ground troops. There was of course one major problem, as soon as the Apaches took defensive positions they were attacked by the approaching US Apaches.

The Apache helicopter is essentially a flying tank. It is designed to survive heavy attack and inflict massive damage. It can zero in on specific targets, day or night, even in terrible weather. As you might expect, it is a terrifying machine to ground forces. The Apaches have amazing flight systems, weapons systems, sensor systems and armor systems. Individually, these components are remarkable pieces of technology. Combined together, they make up an unbelievable fighting machine, it is the most lethal helicopter ever created.

These were the newest Apaches sporting twin turbo shaft engines, boasting about 1,700 horsepower each. The Apaches style of flying is considered "nap-of-the-earth" flying zipping along just above the contours of the ground. Apaches need to fly this way to sneak up on targets and to avoid attack. The rear tail wing helps stabilize the helicopter during nap-of-the-earth flight as well as during hovering. The Apache's primary weapon is the Hellfire missile. Each missile is a miniature aircraft, complete with its own guidance computer, steering control and propulsion system. The payload is a high-explosive, copper-lined-charge warhead powerful enough to burn through the heaviest tank armor in existence.

These Apaches carried the missiles on four firing rails attached to pylons mounted to its wings. There are two pylons on each wing, and each pylon can support four missiles, so these Apaches were carrying 16 missiles. Before launching, each missile receives instructions directly from the helicopter's computer. When the computer transmits the fire signal, the missile sets off the propellant. Once the burning propellant generates about 500 pounds of force, the missile breaks free of the rail. As the missile speeds up, the force of acceleration triggers the arming mechanism. When the missile makes contact with the target, an impact sensor sets off the warhead.

The Apaches that Shaw's forces had fired Hellfire missile designed to use a laser guidance system to hit its mark. The Apaches that he would be facing aims a high-intensity laser beam at the target in some situations, ground forces might operate the laser instead. The laser pulses on and off in a particular coded pattern.

Before giving the firing signal, the Apache computer tells the missile's control system the specific pulse pattern of the laser. The missile has a laser seeker on its nose that detects the laser light reflecting off the target. In this way, the missile can see where the target is. The guidance system calculates which way the missile needs to turn in order to head straight for the reflected laser light. To change course, the guidance system moves the missile's flight fins. This is basically the same way an airplane steers.

With deadly accuracy the two Apaches supporting Colonel Klopov never saw the missiles coming until it was too late. The two Apaches exploded simultaneously, the flaming wreckage falling on one of the descending strike teams and burning the six man team to death. The Blackhawk that had dropped that ill-fated team tried to get away but had no luck. Helen 3 locked on and fired. The missile tore the main rotor off the Blackhawk as it spun wildly twice before hitting the ground and exploding.

Chaos was dominating the moment as Lieutenant Whitaker landed his Blackhawk and strike team one hit the ground running. Sarah did everything that Blue had told her to do to perfection. However, what she did not notice was that her precious letter fell from her jacket. Blue was right behind her and picked-up the letter and stuffed it in his pocket.

Chuck had doubled back and was on his way to Mike and Steve when he spotted a group of eight Russians getting uncomfortably close to his friends, his family. He did the only thing he could do, he attacked; he took careful aim and let loose a burst of thirty rounds into the group. Two died instantly and one was severely injured. The Russian troops immediately returned fire and had Chuck pinned down.

One of the enemy Blackhawk helicopters that had managed to drop their strike team had a beat on Chuck as they had spotted him shooting at their troops, the Pilot was about to open up the their 50 caliber machine guns when Lieutenant White shot them from fifty feet away killing the Pilot and Co-Pilot in the process. The Blackhawk went straight down and exploded between the forces shooting at Chuck and another approaching eight Russian Soldiers. The explosion knocking them back and killing one on the first team and four on the back team.

Chuck took the opportunity to charge the group. They were disoriented and an easy target. All Chuck kept thinking was 'not my family.' He would have made quick work of the Russian Soldiers if he had remembered to reload. However, he did not and as he reached the first soldier and aim he heard the empty click of the weapon. All he could think of doing was cold cocking the soldier who slumped to the floor with severe head trauma. He then faced another Russian soldier who decided to take him on fist fighting. Chuck even in this moment remembered his hand to hand training he had received from Blue, as he flipped over his opponent and broke his arm. Two other Russian soldiers engaged Chuck with knives he took two knives out himself as another Russian Soldier joined the fray. He was taking on three Special Forces soldiers in hand to hand combat to the death.

Mike could clearly see Chuck from his vantage point but could not fire for fear of hitting him. Chuck dodged one thrust but felt the nick on his shoulder from another. He was running on plain adrenalin now and no one was going to stop him. He kicked a soldier in the knee and stabbed another in the leg. A third soldier rushed him and knocked Chuck to the floor. Chuck was struggling with the big man but holding his own. Another soldier came in and hit him in the head with the butt of his weapon. Bleeding from the side of his head, he made one more desperate lounge at the soldier who had hit him with his weapon stabbing him in the stomach. Strike team one and three had taken all of this in total amazement.

Sarah was mesmerized and in shock at what Chuck was doing and if you asked her in private, she was more than a little turned on by Chuck. When the third man suckered punch Chuck and he went down in a heap all that vanished and the wild card enforcer was on the moved. With a guttural yell she made short work of the Russian Soldiers. Her weapons of choice were a pair of Smith and Wesson 45's. Sixteen rounds later the men around Chuck laid dead.

She immediately rushed over to Chuck. "Chuck, Chuck please baby wake up Chuck!" Sarah was in hysterics.

Casey taking out his McMillan TAC-50 A1 was having a field day. He spotted the Russian Strike team and took aim. He shot and they kept looking for the sniper. Six shots produced six kills. He reached for his pocket to celebrate with one of his favorite Cubans when he remembered. 'Damn it Sarah way to spoil my celebration.'

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Edgington had purposely moved the drop of strike team four right in a hot zone. He knew that at least fifteen Russian soldiers were down there. When the five man team started to drop down they were easy marks for the Russians. Three of the five men team died before they hit the ground the other two were fighting for their lives. The Co-Pilot Gary Stinson was horrified, "What are you doing Lieutenant! We must go back and support our strike team."

Edgington looked at Stinson coldly pulled out his Colt 45 and shot him twice in the face. He then turned to gunner Fernandez who only had time to try to reach for his weapon before he met the same fate as Lieutenant Stinson. Smiling on a well done job, Lieutenant Edgington made his way slowly towards Strike team one. He angled his helicopter to have a clear site of the team as they gathered around Chuck.

Lieutenant Edgington smirked as his final victory was at hand. He switched the safety off to get ready to fire. Curious Blue looked at the Blackhawk and said, "What is he doing?"

Unfortunately for Lieutenant Edgington what he never counted on was the fact that one stinger missile group of two Russians was still alive and wanting revenge for the slaughter that was being perpetrated upon them. When they saw the low flying and hovering Blackhawk they could not believe their luck. They both took careful aim and fired.

Lieutenant Edgington smiled and muttered, 'Bye, Bye.' When the first of the two stingers cut the tail rudder in half, all he had time for was to say, "Shit." Before the second one hit right under his seat and blew up the Blackhawk into what seemed like a million pieces.

The fight was soon over as and none of the enemies Blackhawks or Apaches had survived. Only the second Chinook had escaped. Soon Jim and Dickerson and Jefferson found Mike and Steve and a special present tied up nice and neat by Chuck. The Coast Guard provided support and did a lot of the dirty work. Three H-60's were brought to take the wounded strike team members out. Sarah went along with Chuck never leaving his side. Lieutenant Whitaker was completely heartbroken by what had happened to his strike team. Only corporal Sanchez had survived and he had two gunshot wounds to his stomach.

In all the confusion Colonel Klopov thought he had escaped. He was wondering further and further from where the fighting had taken place. Luck had been with him so far when he spotted an AK-47 sticking out of some branches along with a cap. 'Could this be Carmichael?' He thought.

He sneaked up to the cap and stabbed at it. There was nothing there. Disappointed he went to take the rifle and it seemed stuck to something. He pulled hard and a discernible 'PING' was heard as a now very live grenade popped up to stomach level. All the Colonel could do was have a shocked look as one second later the grenade went off.

The Cutter Storis and Jarvis were assisting with the clean-up. All the wounded Russians and soldiers that had surrendered were being distributed between both ships.

USAF Elmendorf Regional Hospital

Chuck, Mike, Steve and Sanchez were brought to the hospital. Sarah was stuck to Chuck like glue. Chuck had a moderate concussion plus he needed to have stitches to his back and shoulder. He was in and out of consciousness. The doctors decided it would be best if Chuck was knocked out until the next day. Sarah prepared to set up some pillows for the night when Casey and several of the guys made their rounds.

Sarah finally had a chance to sit down with her old partner and discuss with him everything that had transpired including the stolen letter from Bryce, the betrayal and ultimately his execution.

Casey sat there in stun silence for a moment. "Casey, why did the General never tell me where Chuck was."

"Honestly Sarah she knew that you had about had it with the assignment at the six month mark. If you knew where Chuck was she feared you might throw caution to the wind and go rogue."

"She thought that I was going to run away with Chuck?"

"Sarah look at me in the eyes and tell me you would not had tried that very same thing."

"Well..."

"I thought so. The problem with the General was twofold, she was getting a heavy amount of pressure from above to make the intersect work on Bryce no matter what."

"And the second?"

"Chuck was the only one having success deciphering the Intel on the Ring."

"Does Chuck like being part of the strike team?"

"Come on, you know that is not the question you want to ask?"

"You know me well partner, divert and stall and hopefully you will divulge something before I have to ask directly."

Casey smirked, "No he isn't involved with anyone else."

It felt like a big weight had been lifted off her shoulder and a bright smile came to her face. "Well he would have a hard time explaining the tattoo on his left butt cheek to any other woman."

"You peeked?"

"Hey I am a spy!"

Mike Henderson's Room

Everyone else might have been down and out, as a matter of fact Watson and Sanchez were still in surgery but not the chatter box called Mike Henderson. He was holding court with eight of his buddies and more were on the way. He could not stop talking about his "Hero Chuck Bartowski."

"Damn he did all that?" Said Jim.

"Yes my brother and then he did the most stupid thing."

Everyone leaned in riveted by the story Mike was telling, "He made sure we were all ok and then he said that he was going to make sure the enemy went after him! Can you believe this guy? He was willing to do everything in his power to make sure we made it, even if it meant losing his own life to accomplish it."

Everyone was silent for a moment. Mike continued, "Jim I am real worried about Chuck?"

"What do you mean Mike?"

"Well we all know how hard it was for him to take out all those men in Seattle. We all know how traumatic and different it is to take another man's life when you are in close quarter combat. Chuck feels like he is a monster, someone no longer worthy of the love of his sister or Sarah."

"Wait What?"

"He has it in his mind that Sarah will no longer look at him the same way, that she will be repulsed by him because he killed all those people."

"Ok guys you wait here and I will talk to Casey and Blue."

Hospital Entrance

Blue was just making his way into the hospital when he bumped into Casey who somehow had found a cigar and was enjoying it. "Hello Colonel."

"Hey Blue, how is the mop up going?"

"Very well thank you. Those Coast Guard boys did an excellent job. About an hour after you left they started dropping down regular troops from Ellison. They really are covering the place."

"So everything is under control?"

"Oh you betcha! The place looked like a large encampment by the time we left. Oh before I forget have you seen Sarah?"

"Yeah she is with Chuck right now why?"

"Because in all the commotion this afternoon she dropped this on the ground."

"Whoa that looks like the letter she was talking about."

"Huh?"

"Long story I will tell you about it later."

Just then Jim Henderson showed up. "Finally, I need to talk to you both."

"How is Mike?"

"Like the parrot he always is, and now that he is holding court and everybody is actually paying attention. There is no stopping him!"

That got a chuckle from everyone. Then Jim turned serious, "That is not the reason I wanted to find you." He then proceeded to tell them what Mike had said concerning Chuck.

Chuck's Room

Sarah walked into his room again and she could not help but to get real close to Chuck and observe him sleep. She took her finger and traced every contour of his face. She physically winched when her finger ran over a bruise. However, as she looked at him he was the most gorgeous site she had ever seen. Her oasis in the middle of her lonely and empty desert. "Never again my love." She whispered.

He was having another nightmare. Shaw's evil and twisted face with his maniacal laughter filled the room. She was wearing this blue dress and she looked like an angel sent from heaven and then he saw Shaw nod and a dark figure put a gun against her head and she said his name "Chuck!" He sat upright like a lightning bolt scarring the crap out of Sarah who jumped at Chuck yelling, "NOOO -SARAH!"

Sarah immediately ran to him, "It was a bad dream Chuck, only a bad dream." As she held him tightly.

Chuck blinked several times still thinking he was dreaming. However, the lavender smell of her shampoo and the feel of her silky hair made him realize it was really her. Chuck then began to silently cry. He had lost the opportunity with Sarah. Once she found out what he had done she would leave and never come back.

"Chuck baby what is wrong?" As she reached for his cheek but he turned away from her.

"Leave, just leave."

Sarah did not understand and thought it had been about her disappearing without a word. She reached into her pocket for the letter, GONE. 'He is never going to believe me now!' She tried to reach him one more time and when he did not respond she bolted out of the room sobbing uncontrollably.

She ran down the corridor and out the front. Casey, Jim and Blue saw her crying and falling to her knees. Blue took immediate control of the situation, "John and Jim go talk to her make her realize that it is not what she thinks."

"Where are you going Blue?"

"To knock some sense into my little brother."

When Blue arrived at Chuck's room, he had his arms crossed around his chest with tears streaking down his face.

"I do not want to talk about it."

"Tough because I do, and YOU WILL LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY."

Chuck did not want to look at Blue, he kept starring down away from him.

"You are wrong about her you know."

"No I am not."

"You think that because you HAD to kill she no longer wants you?'

"Sarah loved the fact that I was a sweet loveable nerd. That was what she was attracted to. She said it to me more than once. She was tired of bad boys like Bryce and Cole. She wanted someone different. Guess what? This Chuck is EXACTLY like those guys. There is very little of the sweet lovable man she once knew!" Giving out a brief sob, "Blue I am a monster!"

"Bullshit!"

That got Chuck to look at Blue. "The man I know will do ANYTHING for his family and friends. The man I know has taken money from his own account to pay for Diaz's kid to fix a broken tooth, he was there to nurse Mike back to health when he got the flu. The man I know went at three in the morning to pickup Jefferson from the airport and spend the rest of the night consoling him over the death of his mother. He disobeyed orders and rescued a Senator, refused to give up on his crewman and did not take advantage of a vulnerable and lonely woman. That seems pretty special to me!"

"But Blue," He turned his hands upward and looked at them, "these hands are filled with BLOOD! I killed people with my bare hands, with my bare hands Blue!"

"Chuck I want you to listen to me carefully. Did these men that you HAD to kill want to surrender to you? When they attacked Steve and Mike and all the Coast Guard men they killed, did they ask you to surrender? What I am trying to get through to that think head of yours is that these men did not give you any choice. They were either going to kill you or one of your other family members. None of us enjoys killing Chuck with the possible exception of the Colonel. "

That got a brief smirk from Chuck.

Blue continued, "However, Chuck when somebody comes into your home with the intent to kill you and your family then you have two options, either you defend your home and kill them or you allow them to kill you and your family. There were no other options. I know from firsthand knowledge that a caring and loving man is the reason I and many of these men are here today."

"What if she does not want me anymore Blue."

"Why don't you give her a chance and find out Chuck. I don't want you to end up like the Colonel and I, we had our chances and we blew it. You have something special, with the woman of your dreams, don't blow that my friend or you will regret it for the rest of your life."

"How did you become so knowledgeable?"

"Oh I have been hanging around some stupid geek who has had a bad influence on me."

"Nerd." Chuck said smiling.

"Before I forget this is for you."

"What is this?"

"It is a letter from Sarah to you that never got delivered."

"How, why?"

"She was carrying it with her when she accidently dropped it while saving you. The why that you did not get it sooner was because Bryce Larkin stole it before you had a chance to read it. Sarah can fill you in with the gory details"

"Did you read it?"

"Hey you are like my little brother. I respect your privacy."

Chuck arched his eyebrow.

"Ok fine I read it now it is your turn. She will be coming in soon; the ball is in your court Chuck don't blow it." Then Blue walked out.

Chuck opened the letter and started reading it,

Chuck when they sent me to Burbank two years ago, I was a cold and heartless person. I was the perfect embodiment of an agent, everything by the book, doing what was needed to complete the mission. Emotions did not matter, consequences for my actions did not matter, deceiving and lying as needed no matter who was hurt or destroyed did not matter. It was all for the greater good, the only requirement was that the mission succeed.

There were many times during those dark years that I wondered if my life was worth anything. After the horrible things I did for the greater good, I hated myself, I was not a good person, and I did not deserve a good or normal life. I thought that I had lost my soul and was destined to die alone, in a place no one knew to be forgotten like so many before me.

Than I met the most wonderful, kind and generous person. He honestly thought that people were good and deserved to be given a chance. I was smitten by you the first time I saw you. The feeling was foreign to me and I pushed it down. Then this wonderful man helped a little girl in trouble and defused a bomb with his wits and I knew I was in trouble. I denied it, pushed you away and treated you poorly, but you never gave up on me. It is funny how you are always claiming I am out of your league. The truth of it is that I am the lucky one to have you. You are everything I ever wanted in a man and so much more.

You have taught me how to smile, to laugh, to joke, to cry but most importantly you have taught me how to love. I knew that once we made love everything would change between us. I was right Chuck everything has. You mean everything to me and I can safely say that you are the one.

I must leave you now for a short time. Bryce has convinced me that in order to protect you we must convince the enemy that he is the only intersect. It is the hardest decision that I have ever had to make, but if it keeps you safe than I am more than happy to do it. My love please do not be upset with me, my contract is up in two years. I promise to call you as often as I can. Whenever possible I will come back and spend time with you.

The best part though is that as soon as my contract is up I promise to resign and comeback back to you. Than we can share that normal life we have talked about so often. Chuck your friends are my friends, your family is my family. Everything we have ever wanted is within our reach. It will only be a little longer my love and then we will have our happily ever after.

Forever Yours

Sarah

Chuck got all glassy eyed again. He looked up and there she was. Sarah looked at Chuck and then the letter.

"How?"

"You should not take your mail into the battlefield." He gave her his megawatt smiled and opened his arms.

Sarah did not need to be asked twice. She crash into Chuck full force, he briefly winced but did not care.

Between butterfly kisses she said, "God...Chuck...I...Missed...You...So...Much."

"I am sorry Sarah, I hope you are not disappointed in Me!"

Sarah cupped Chuck's cheeks. "YOU LISTEN TO ME CHARLES IRVING BARTOWSKI YOU HAVE NOTHING TO BE SORRY FOR. If anyone needs to ask for forgiveness it is me for stupidly leaving you two years ago, I can safely say my love that was the biggest mistake of my life."

"You are here now Sarah and that is all that matters to me."

She held him gently as if her life depended on it. "I love you Chuck, more than my life."

"I love you Sarah, more than you will ever know."

There was a knock on the door and Casey stuck his head in. "It is safe?"

"Come on Casey what did you expect for Sarah and I to be having some wild sex?"

"Knowing you two, do you really want me to answer that?"

Sarah started laughing and Chuck started blushing.

"Anyway the guys want to come in to say goodnight."

Chuck did not realize that Casey meant 'everyone' and soon the room was completely filled with well wishers.

They were all joking and poking fun at all the antics Chuck and gang had been up to since they had become a team. Sarah then took a look at Chuck and back to his new found friends and she then realize how close these guys were. The sparkle in Chuck's eyes told her everything she wanted to know.

"GET OUT!" Said a diminutive Black woman with a scowl in her face.

"Oh god another Beckman." Laughed Jefferson. Everyone started to laugh loudly.

"Shut up you NSA Neanderthals! Can't you see there are other patients on this floor that need sleep? You have two minutes to clear out before I call security!"

"Well that is our queue, goodnight you two." Everyone was going out when Diaz rushed in with a large pizza.

"Vegetarian no olives." Sarah arched her eye brow, "He tells us everything." Then he rushed out.

Sarah looked at Chuck who was busy getting a slice and was about to hand it to her. She looked at him inquisitively and Chuck just shrugged his shoulder and Sarah shook her head.

The diminutive nurse was back in full force, "When I said get out I meant you too."

Sarah was about to get up when Chuck grabbed her hand and said, "No way."

"What did you say?"

"Look Nurse Nelson."

"Betty Nelson." The nurse corrected.

Chuck swallowed hard and continued. "Sorry Betty Nelson, I have not seen my girlfriend in almost two years, she is not leaving my side tonight."

Nurse Nelson narrowed her eyes but she was doing that for show, she really was a sweet heart. "Ok but no funny business, remember we have to wash the sheets in the morning."

Once the nurse left Chuck and Sarah burst into laughter, touching their foreheads as they did.

"So Mister Bartowski where do you suppose that I will be sleeping tonight?"

Chuck scoots over and says, "Ta da!"

"Just remember Chuck no funny business."

"Who me?" As he does the eye brow dance.

Sarah just starts laughing again. "Oh Chuck I love you so much."

"So do I my love, so do I." As they tenderly kiss.

Shaw secret base

Shaw did not care about all the dirty looks he was receiving from Volkoff's Russian troops. They just did not understand that it would have been foolish to send more men to die. He had ordered a total shut down of the base. He was going to wait them out. Hopefully this tactic would work as it was the only option available.

Shaw was realizing what a terrible mistake he had made when he had decided to accept the mission to kill Carmichael. In the back of his mind he was still deeply worried that Carmichael would show up and destroy him. He had run up against many formidable foes but never anyone like Carmichael, if he never saw him or heard from him again it would be fine with him.

One thing for sure there would be no more troops coming, and he was never making another deal with Volkoff that was for damn sure. Now he had to wait, he still had a trump card or more accurately a pair of trump cards. He smiled evilly, when he struck back they would pay, oh how they would pay.

Casa Bartowski

Sarah had left Chuck briefly and promised she would be back by noon. He thought that was odd but hey this was a new beginning and total trust was the word of the day. He was going home today and he could not be happier.

"Hey babe."

"Hey beautiful."

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"So Chuck when did you start driving a Jeep Wrangler?"

"You like it?"

"It's not a Porsche but I could get use to it." She leaned over and kissed him lightly. Sarah had never felt so free and alive in her life.

"Well if you like the Jeep you will love the Harley."

"What? I don't know what I am going to do with you."

Chuck smirked "I have a couple of suggestions. By the way where do you go this morning?"

Sarah started laughing and squeezed his hand. "It's a surprise!"

"Hey that's my line. Aww home sweet home." They walked to the door hand in hand feeling great about life and their future. "Max we are home."

"Welcome Mr. B, and Miss W." The door unlocked and Sarah was about to step in and Chuck grabbed her hand. He smiled and swooped her off her feet.

"Honey your stitches."

"Indulge me."

Chuck walked Sarah through the thresh hold and even though he had not proposed yet, he had no intentions of blowing it. Chuck set Sarah down gently and kissed her deeply. "I love you but I feel dirty. Let me take a shower and I will be right out."

Usually she would have joined him but today she had a surprise that he needed to open.

"Honey I left my clothes in the drawer you mind getting them for me?"

"No Chuck you are going to have to come out and get it."

Chuck walked out with a towel around his waist dripping wet. "I guess someone wanted to see a show!" He looked at Sarah and did a double take; she was warring only his Stanford tee shirt. "Whoa!"

'Damn he looks good.' Sarah walked up to Chuck and softly kissed as her hands started to wonder all over his body. Then in one swift move she took his towel off. "Much better."

"Sneaky."

Sarah started laughing. "You complaining?" Chuck shook his head no.

Sarah then turned Chuck over, "Nice tattoo."

"Thanks." Chuck said slightly blushing.

Sarah took Chuck's hand and led him to their bedroom and started kissing him passionately and took her tee shirt off. "Time for your present." She whispered in his ear as she pushed him on the bed. Sarah then guided Chuck's hand to her left butt cheek. Pull it, she said softly.

Chuck reached a tape and pulled it. Curious he turned her around and started to laugh. It was a tattoo and it read, "Property of Chuck."

His eyes sparkled with pure love. Sarah grabbed him with both hands and looked intensely at Chuck "Never again Chuck."

And Chuck repeated, "Never again my love."

Their love making that night was slow and intensely intimate. It was a union of promises and of hope but most importantly of a future.