I still don't own Chuck. Not sure who does at this point. Maybe Subway.

Okay - The bad guys have made their fatal mistake. They have completely underestimated how close Team B is and what they would do for each other. And now Team B has a second generation.

The scariest thing that you will ever do is tell someone that you love them – and mean it.

I'll be sure to post warnings on chapters that have violent or sexual situations. I'm going to keep this T – but I might dance on the edge for a bit.

If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review.

Joy Ride

x-x-x-x-x

Bryce turned to Chuck Junior in horror. "Why do I have to drive?" he asked in a panic. "I promised Mom. You know what she's like when she thinks that you lied to her."

Chuck Junior just held up his hand with the cast. "Think about it, moron," he said. "This is a manual transmission. How can I drive and shift with one hand? Don't worry about Mom. I'm pretty sure she'll understand. Now, Aunt Elise says that we have to drive as fast as we possibly can. I think she wants us to lose whoever is following us."

Fortunately, Bryce had already learned to drive a manual transmission. He didn't want Mom to have that as an excuse why he couldn't drive the Porsche. And, he had to admit, this is something that he had been looking forward to – since he was old enough to know what a Porsche was. He was something of an expert in the Grand Theft Auto type of video games – so he had driven Mom's car virtually hundreds of times. Now it was finally time for the real thing. "As fast as we possibly can," he said with a grin. "I think that I might be able to accommodate you."

"Umm," Chuck Junior said. "Just so you know – I'm pretty sure that Mom will understand about us taking her car. I'll have your back when we talk to her about it. I'm pretty sure that Aunt Elise will stick up for us. But scratch it – and you're on your own."

x-x-x-x-x

"You did what?" he asked in horror. "Putting Walters in a corner was a last resort."

"I'm sorry, sir. Our man in Los Angeles misunderstood. He moved this afternoon."

"Shit," he sighed. "That means we're time crunched. Now we need a tape by next week. Once Agent West gets back home from Denver, the jig is up. Damn that Shaw. His revenge crap is messing us up. Now we have no choice."

"I don't understand, sir. Why don't we just grab Bartowski or maybe the new boyfriend and force her to make a tape?"

He looked dejectedly at the room. He was surrounded by morons. Were these guys all really this thick? "It doesn't work that way," he sighed. "I'll explain this one last time. I'll speak really slowly so that you might understand. If we do anything overt, we'll draw attention to ourselves. That's the last thing that we can do. If we were to kidnap or kill anybody as famous as Senator Casey or Kate Bartowski, the press would be all over it. They would eventually find us out. That's why we picked Robbie West. He's not famous. Twelve year old boys disappear all the time. Nobody would tie the two things together. As long as we keep Walters contained, by the time she could tip Casey off, it would be too late. Now we're committed. If we don't have something soon, we'll have to abort and start cleaning this up… and that will get… messy. I suppose that as long as Walters can't ID us, there will be no need to actually kill her."

He quickly looked around the room to insure that he had their undivided attention. Satisfied that he did, he continued. "What we need is for Bartowski to compromise herself in some way that Senator Casey will want to keep quiet – enough that she will quietly withdraw. A sex tape would work - or maybe a tape of her taking drugs. But we need something that we can deliver anonymously. Then we can trade that for her withdrawal without exposing our identity. If Casey finds out our identity, we're in big trouble. We're not powerful enough to fight her directly. We can quietly encourage Bartowski to help us – but we can't force her. If we aren't careful, this could completely backfire. It could generate a lot of sympathy for her. It could guarantee her the presidency. That's why Bartowski has to be willing. I never dreamed in a million years that she would be so tough to break. This is our last chance. Bartowski obviously idolizes Walters as a role model. Hopefully, Walters can talk her into experimenting a little."

"Yes, sir."

"Tell me," he said. "Is Walters going to cooperate?"

"Yes, sir. No problem there. Our man said that she was blubbering like a little girl. He put her through a little impromptu loyalty test. She passed with flying colors. She is completely broken. She'll do anything to protect her son."

"Good," he said. "Make sure to monitor her closely. If she is able to tip anyone off, we're in big trouble. Anonymity is our main weapon. Without it, we're dead."

"Yes, sir. Let's face it – she never was a good agent. And now she really doesn't have any options except give us what we want and hope that we go away. Her husband is in Denver. The Bartowski's are in France. And the Casey's are in Washington. If she can't use the phone or computer, she's effectively isolated. She has no one that she can turn too."

"We're going to have to move quickly on this new boyfriend," he said. "We no longer have any time to be subtle."

"Yes, sir, I've already taken care of that. Our gal is going to put on the full court press. She already has a lunch date with him. There is one other thing. The Bartowski boys took their mother's car out for a little joy ride."

That actually got a smile - the first one of the day. "Let me guess," he said. "Two teenage boys with a hot chick-magnet car – where would they go?"

"Yes, sir, exactly. We followed then to I-15 but then we lost them. That Porsche is way to fast to keep up with. Should we try and pick them up in Vegas?"

"No," he said with a laugh. "Let them have their fun. It keeps them out of our hair. They'll be back by tomorrow's check in. If they're not, then we'll look for them."

x-x-x-x-x

Bryce Bartowski was learning that the excitement of driving a hot car was quickly fading. After all, in the flat straight desert, there wasn't much advantage to a high performance car – except that you could go faster. But even that was deceiving. It didn't feel like you were going that fast. They were flying down I-15 at about a hundred and ten. But it felt more like sixty. And besides – this wasn't a joy ride. "What do you think that this is about?" he finally asked.

It took Chuck Junior a long time to respond. He was clearly deep in his own thought. "I don't know," he said. "But it's something big. Aunt Elise's note says Life or Death. She wouldn't use that phrase lightly."

Bryce turned to his brother. There was something that had always bothered him. "What does dad do for a living?" he asked. "Do you think this has something to do with that?"

Chuck Junior winced. Bryce had just brought up the pink elephant in the room that the kids never talked about. "I don't know," he finally replied. "Could be. Whenever you ask him or Mom, they change the subject. Whatever it is, it's what I want to do. He hardly ever works and we're pretty well off. Mom gets a new hundred grand sports car every year that she hardly ever drives."

"Do you think that it's something illegal?" Bryce asked softly.

Now, Chuck Junior really winced. It was the same question that he had so often asked himself when he was growing up. He couldn't bear the thought of his dad… he'd almost rather not know. "I don't know," was all he could get out. "I hope not. Dad doesn't seem the type of person who would be into something illegal."

"Why is he surrounded by all of these beautiful women?" Bryce asked. "I mean, there's Aunt Elise, Mom, Aunt Janice – not to mention Aunt Ellie. Remember that Carina woman? You've seen the pictures of them twenty years ago. Sparky, do you think that Dad is a pimp?"

Chuck Junior smiled. "No," he said. "I don't think he's a pimp. That doesn't explain the workout room and shooting range. Besides – are you saying that Mom's a…"

"Of course not," Bryce said quickly. "Please don't ever tell her that I said that. It would kill her. But something is up."

"Don't worry," Chuck Junior said with a smile. "Like I would tell Mom that we were thinking that she might be a hooker. Do I look suicidal to you? I'm thinking that it is more likely something to do with the military. Uncle Casey is a Colonel. Grandma Beckman is a General. Have you ever seen Mom and Aunt Janice wrestle? They look like two ninjas going at it."

"Hopefully, we'll find out tonight," Bryce said with a sad sigh. "I just hope that I'm not disappointed."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were well into the first day of their impromptu second honeymoon – courtesy of Director Shaw.

"This is nice," Chuck said as he handed Sarah a strawberry. They had just ordered strawberries and champagne from room service and were sitting in the hot tub.

"It's very nice," Sarah said as she leaned over to gently kiss him. Quickly the kiss turned into several kisses – each one lasting a little longer.

"I wonder what the boys are doing," Chuck said with a smile when the last kiss finally broke.

"Wow," Sarah said with a smile. "I thought you were going for some serious romance. I have to tell you, I've heard better seduction lines, Agent Carmichael."

"I'm sorry," Chuck said with his classic smile. "I'm not saying that being here with you is anything other than amazing. I just miss being home."

"I miss them too," Sarah said with a soft smile. "Does that make us officially old fuddy duddies? We can't even enjoy a second honeymoon?"

"Maybe," Chuck said with a sigh. "I prefer to think of it as our lives are so perfect that we don't need something fake like a second honeymoon. After all, we're still on our first honeymoon."

Sarah was having trouble blinking the tears out of her eyes – and was not really being totally successful. Leave it to Chuck. He had just summed up their life perfectly in a single sentence. He was exactly right. They were in the middle of a twenty-two year honeymoon – one that was showing no signs of slowing down. And sometimes she would forget how incredibly lucky she was. "Now see, Agent Carmichael," she finally whispered. "That was more like the type of smooth seduction line that I was expecting. It might be time to move this over to the bed – and let me remind you how very much I love you."

x-x-x-x-x

If Diane Beckman would ever admit any weakness to herself – and she never would - she would have admitted to being a little lonely. After all, she went from one of the most demanding jobs in the whole world, to retirement overnight. And that's one of the reasons that she moved to Vegas. Okay, so she told everybody that it was because of the weather. And that was partly true. But mostly it was to be closer to Janice and the family. And Vegas was the perfect location. It was only a three hour drive. But those three hours kept everybody from becoming a daily drain.

Not to mention the health issues. She didn't begin to realize how miserable your gall bladder could make you feel. And, while getting it removed was pretty major surgery for a person of her age, she was starting to feel a lot better – for the first time in almost a year.

She actually had mixed feelings about Janice winning her Senate race. Naturally, she was very proud. But now she was all the way back in Washington. The time zone difference was the worst. There was never a good time to talk. And Janice was her main connection to the kids.

So her heart was racing when she opened the door and saw Sparky and Bryce standing there. What a nice surprise. Wow, did they look great. They were officially all grown up. Bryce was turning into a very handsome man. And Sparky had been one for some time. They were both turning into real lady killers. She was more than a little surprised how much they had both matured. She talked to them pretty regularly – at least once a week. But there were some things that talking on the phone didn't do. It had been several months since she had actually seen them. The last time was at the lake.

"Hi, Grandma Beckman," Chuck Junior said as he hugged her. "I've really missed you."

It took a long time and a lot of negotiation for the kids to come up with the right name. At first, they called her ma'am. After all, so did everybody. Uncle Casey was Sir – and he was only a Colonel. A General had to be Ma'am, right? But she didn't want the kids calling her that. It was too cold and impersonal. For a long time, she couldn't bring herself to be called Grandma – Grandma anything. But she finally warmed up to the idea. The kids didn't have a real grandma. It was clear that they were as close to grandkids as she was ever going to get. And the simple truth was – she loved them more than she had ever loved anybody in her life – even if it did take her a long time to admit it. So now she was Grandma Beckman – and had been for a few years.

"Sparky," she said as she hugged them. "Bryce, it's so good to see you guys." But Sarah's Porsche sitting in the driveway told her immediately that this wasn't a social visit. Something else was clearly up.

And Sparky quickly confirmed her suspicions. "Grandma Beckman," he said. "We have a note for you from Aunt Elise. We think that she might be in big trouble."

Diane quickly had mixed feelings. She was much too old and experienced to be afraid. But Elise was the smartest agent that she had ever met – except for possibly Chuck, of course. For her to use the boys like this – something was seriously wrong. If it was something to do with Chuck and Sarah, she would have just called. On the other hand, she had to admit – it was nice to have a little excitement back in her life. So she just smiled and took the note that Sparky was holding out to her. "Come in guys," she said. "Let's take a look. There's soda in the refrigerator."

x-x-x-x-x

Janice had just gotten off the phone. One good thing, retirement hadn't blunted her mom's instincts. She was just as paranoid now as she ever had been. She still had a full regimen of secure communications gear. So there was absolutely no question but that their call was private. Casey always swept the apartment for bugs every morning – apparently she was surrounded by paranoid. But, at least she knew that this was secure.

Another thing that she knew – someone was about to die a slow and gruesome death. Janice was as furious as she had ever been in her entire life. Okay – she and Casey had enemies. Chuck and Sarah had enemies. Hell, even Elise and Joe had enemies. That's the world that they lived in. But to try and destroy Kate – the sweetest, most innocent girl in the whole world – well, they were going to pay. This was now war - total and complete war. No prisoners would be taken.

It took a long time before she could even speak, she was so furious. "Those bastards," she was finally able to shake out. "Those rotten bastards. When I'm president…"

Casey knew that he needed to settle her down a little. For one thing, they needed to think clearly. They couldn't afford rage leading them into any mistakes. So he put his arm around her. "Don't worry," he said softly. "We'll get them. I promise you – we'll get them. But we have to be smart."

Janice just nodded. Besides Chuck and Sarah, the only person that could settle her down was Casey. "I knew that I didn't trust that Julie," she said. "I should have listened to my instincts. So, she is the mole. Let's drag her into my office and kick the… well, the snot out of her until she talks."

"Maybe," Casey said. "I seriously doubt if she knows that much. Let's see what Chuck thinks. We need to get Chuck and Sarah up to speed. After all, they are the ones who are currently in the most danger."

"You're right," Janice said. "It's no secret that Joe is not my favorite person. But Mom said that, once she got him secure, his voice was shaking with anger. He'll make sure that Robbie is safe. We don't have to worry about him."

"Robbie is safe," Casey said firmly. "I know Joe pretty well. It would take a small army and a lot of body bags to lay a finger on Robbie at this point."

Janice just nodded – again. "At least Kate's safe," she sighed. "Those morons – they couldn't have possibly picked a worst target. Katie might look soft – but she's really tough as nails. She would never break."

"Is she safe?" Casey replied softly. "That Alex is over there with her right now. How much do we trust him?"

"We can trust Alex," Janice said. "I've talked to him for quite a long time. He loves her. I would bet my life on it."

Casey just smiled. "I think so too," he said. "I just wanted to hear you say it. That makes me feel a lot better. And that makes him a target. They will want to isolate her. They are going to try hard to separate them. Will he help us?"

"Alex is the one," Janice said with the first faint smile that she could manage. "Have you seen the way that they look at each other? It's almost as sickening as Chuck and Sarah. He is totally dedicated to her. He would do anything that Kate asked him - up to and including walking through hell. If I'm wrong about that – then I don't deserve to be president. Let's go talk to them."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was trying to find something on the television that was in English enough to find the hockey scores. It turned out that Chuck had become something of a fan. He wasn't a huge sports fan. Neither of the boys was either. And living in Southern California his whole life, Hockey isn't the sport that would immediately come to mind. Kate was actually the one who got him to go to his first game. Of course it was because she was fourteen and had a crush on the rookie defenseman. But Chuck quickly found that he enjoyed the rapid pace of the action. And the Kings were actually having a good year.

Naturally, Sarah expressed her normal reverence for anything involved with sports – she rolled her eyes whenever you mentioned it. They made a deal once. She would go to a Hockey game – if he would go with her to the Auto Show. Both quickly regretted it. Sarah had forgotten all about the leggy, skimpily dressed models at the Auto Show. And Chuck came to realize that most Hockey fans were men – and Sarah was a big hit. So now, Chuck just took Kate to the games – and Sarah took Elise to the Auto Show. Of course for the past few seasons, Kate was also turning into a big hit with the men. But it was one of those father / daughter bonding things that he was really missing. It was just another thing he was going to miss about her being gone.

Sarah was checking her emails. After all, there was the obligatory message from Elise every day that basically said that the house hadn't burnt down – yet.

"Damn," Chuck said as he threw down the remote in disgust. "I have to learn to speak French. Even the numbers are different. Maybe the intersect can teach me. What do you think?"

When Sarah didn't respond immediately, he turned to look at her for the first time. He could tell immediately by the look on her face that something was up. "Sarah?" he asked. She was looking at a spam email. "I don't think that really works," he joked. "Besides, you always said that size doesn't matter."

That didn't get the laugh from Sarah that he expected. She just jumped up. "Quiet," she whispered. Then she jumped up and swept the room for bugs. After a moment she determined that the room wasn't bugged and went back to the computer. "Get me a pad of paper and a pencil," she snapped.

"What's wrong?" Chuck asked. When Sarah took that tone, something was wrong.

"This is from Casey," Sarah said. "It's in partner code."

"What is partner code?" Chuck asked.

"Back in the early days," Sarah said, "before you and I were together, Casey and I were worried that we might not be able to trust our superiors. We came up with this code so that we could talk privately, even if somebody was watching us. Only he and I know about it." As she scratched out the message on the pad of paper that Chuck had given her, her face got white. Finally, she handed the pad to Chuck.

Urgent,

Bad guys trying to compromise Kate to get to Janice.

Your mission is fake. You are to be killed.

Elise is in corner – they are threatening Robbie.

Nobody in imminent danger – except perhaps you. Be careful. Trust no one.

Find secure phone and call me ASAP at…

Sorry to have interrupted whatever disgusting thing you two have going.

Have a nice day.

Chuck sighed. "We'd better go buy a prepaid phone and call him," he said. "I can hear him saying I-told-you-so already."

Sarah was still laughing at Casey's closing jab. Yeah, like he is really sorry. He lives for interrupting us. "How about me?" she asked. "I told you so too."

x-x-x-x-x

This was, by far, the very best night of Kate Bartowski's young life. She never even knew that she could feel like this. Sure, the first time last night with Alex was exciting. But this was a totally different experience. She could now just – be with him – without worrying about all that other stuff. They could just be together. It made everything better.

It made their political discussions better. Alex knew what it took to succeed in politics inside and out. And he had this unique way of expressing his opinions but never seeming pushy. He totally respected that Kate was the chief strategist. So he always made sure that Kate understood his point – but always let it drop without any hint of pouting when she didn't agree. It was very refreshing to see – and a huge turn-on.

It definitely made their dancing better. It turned out that once Alex was comfortable – and nobody else was watching him, he was a pretty decent dancer. And since he knew how much she loved it, he was great at dancing with her. If she didn't know better, Kate would have sworn that he was having as much fun as she was. But she knew that he was doing it for her. That's just how sweet her new guy was. When they weren't dancing, they were belting out the words of the songs together. They got so silly that Kate's side was starting to hurt from giggling so much.

It most definitely made their love life better. Alex was still a little bashful about making the first move – but whenever she did, he more than enthusiastically participated. There would be no more manipulation required, that was for sure. He was gentle and loving. Indeed, in a way, the cuddling was the best part. That's what they were doing now, sitting on the couch cuddling. Well, maybe necking was a better word. After all, there was clearly some serious tongues dancing – and more than a little second base action happening. Indeed, it was very intense in its own way - but a different kind of intense. It was oh so slow and gentle – much more intimate. Alex was clearly willing to let the passion smolder and enjoy it as it slowly built. And he was, just as clearly, enjoying taking Kate with him to that height. Paul would never…

And that's when Kate decided. She would quit comparing Alex to Paul. For one thing, there was simply no comparison. For another, she was embarrassed that it had taken five years to figure this out. It was time to stop analyzing everything to death. He loved her. She loved him. This was simply too perfect to ruin by worrying about it. It was just time to enjoy it. For the first time really, she now understood what Mom was trying to tell her in Vegas.

So when there was a knock at the door, Kate groaned. She was so comfortable, the last thing that she wanted was to get up and answer the door. Maybe they would just go away. After all, who could it be? But the next knock was even louder and more insistent.

Alex was the first to move. "I'll get it," he said.

His look to Kate clearly reminded her – she needed to resituate her clothes. Indeed, she didn't quite have her bra back completely in place before Alex opened the door. Kate was actually annoyed when she saw Uncle Casey and Aunt Janice come into the room. Come on guys, I don't bother you when you're necking. Of course, there was that one time when she walked in on them at the lake. They were far, far more than just necking. Really guys? The kitchen? We eat on that table. But she had been trying real hard for years to get that image out of her head. So, she forced the smile on her face. "Hey," she said. "What's up?"

Janice flashed a quick smile to Casey. "See?" she said. "I told you. Almost as sickening as Chuck and Sarah." Then she turned back to Kate. "Hey guys," she said softly. "We have to talk."

x-x-x-x-x

Elise was afraid to read the note that Sparky had deftly slipped into her hand when she went for her daily check up. He was so adorable when he gave her hand a subtle – but very real squeeze. When had Sparky become a man? The last time she checked, he was an awkward teenager – and now here he was. It had happened right in front of her and she didn't even recognize it. He was clearly being protective of her. He was as worried about her as any other member of his family. After all, that's what she was – family. How sweet was that? And there were so many things that could go wrong. That's why she forced herself to wait until she was home – and in the bathroom. She breathed a silent but huge sigh of relief as she read the General's rather choppy handwriting.

Elise,

Be assured – Joe is aware of the situation. He asked me to tell you that he will make sure Robbie is safe – and that he loves you very much. Chuck and Sarah are in route to Washington. Plot is bigger than originally anticipated. Your assignment is to make them believe that you are fully cooperating. Team is planning an offensive. Don't worry about Kate. She is aware. She is safe. Communicate cautiously through notes to Sparky.

Chuck asked me to tell you to not worry. He has this one. I believe him. He sounded pissed. Will see you soon.

Stay safe,

DB

Elise knew that she had to be careful. After all, they were listening to her every sound. But crying was probably okay. They would interpret it as a mother worried sick about her baby boy. They would probably enjoy it. It would tell the bastards that she was mentally defeated. After all, that was the whole point of the humiliating session that she was forced into by that sick demented pervert. At least she knew beyond a doubt that Robbie was now safe. She knew her Joe. It was so sweet that he told Beckman to tell her that he loved her. He was clearly worried about her. But there was really no need. He would tear anybody apart with his bare hands that would even think about hurting his pride and joy. As long as Elise knew that, she was okay. Anything else could be dealt with.

So Elise felt good about sobbing in relief as she quietly ripped up the note – and flushed it down the toilet. Sparky and Bryce had just come through for her big time. More than that – they had saved the day. She knew how embarrassed the boys got when she hugged them – but tough. When this was over, they were each getting a big one – in front of their friends. That would get some tongues wagging for sure. Elise could now take a breath for the first time in over twenty-four hours. Chuck and Sarah were coming home. Casey and Janice were already there. Elise had a pretty good idea what Chuck had in mind. After all, she knew his style pretty well. All that Elise needed to do was to play her part in this little charade. She could do that. And it meant that some very bad guys were about to have a very, very bad day.

Elise never liked to see herself as a damsel in distress. For one thing, it was contrary to her training. After all, a spy was taught to protect her own self. But she couldn't wait for Chuck to introduce her big, strong, ex-agent husband to the sick puppy that had just threatened their son… and more. Talk about someone who was going to be having a bad day.

It served him right.

x-x-x-x-x