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

The bad guys switch tactics. Actually now, their strategy is fairly straight forward – kill anybody associated with Team B. And then there is Shaw. His plan for Sarah – well, it isn't all that nice.

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.

Unlikely Partners

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Alex was lying on Kate's old bed deep in thought. Most of those thoughts were good. On one hand, he was happy beyond belief. How could he ever have gotten a woman as wonderful as Katie to fall in love with him? It was like a dream. But then, there was the other hand. She was almost three thousand miles – and three time zones away.

Last night had been the very, very best night of his life. Sure, his first time with Kate had been exciting – there was no question about that. But last night was a hundred times better - and not just the sex part. In their now four days of being a couple, they had already developed a trust that took most couples months – or even years to achieve. No matter what they were talking about – or even when they weren't talking at all – they each knew exactly what the other was thinking. It was close to magical.

Alex smiled to himself as he relived their previous conversation. She insisted on calling him a hero. It was cute. But, at least, she was safe. After all, she was now being continuously watched by three real heroes. She had actually asked him to propose to her. That must mean that she was going to say yes, right? Little did she know that he already had the big rock part taken care of. When his mom gave him his Grandma's ring all those years ago, he never had an idea that he would ever use it. Now, here he was - about to put it on the finger of the most beautiful girl in the world.

But poor Alex was quickly snapped out of his daydream by a loud pounding on the door. "Meet me in the Safe Room," came Casey's booming voice. "Right now!"

x-x-x-x-x

Kate sat on the sofa. She was basically in a state of shock. She was aware that her parents and Aunt Janice were talking. She was even aware that they had called Uncle Casey on the secure phone. But she didn't really understand what they were saying. Of course, she felt badly for Julie. And even worse for Paul. But the simple truth was she felt a little guilty that she didn't feel even worse. After all, she had been with Paul for four years. But the honest truth was, it didn't feel like it. Oh, make no mistake – she didn't wish him any ill will. And he certainly didn't deserve to die. But frankly, all she could think about was the people back home. They were clearly now in danger. How was Alex? Had they taken him out of the frying pan – only to put him in the fire? If anything happened to him… The thought was simply too horrible to continue.

Sarah was trying to keep her voice down. After all, Kate was clearly zoned out. And the last thing that she wanted to do was to freak her out any more than she already was. But it was clear – whatever the bad guy's plans were – they had moved into Phase II. "Casey is going to check on Elise?" she asked.

"Yes," Janice said. "He agrees with us. Elise is the one who is in the most imminent danger. He is going to talk to the guys for a minute and then head over to get her."

"That will tip them off that we're aware of them," Chuck said.

"It can't be helped," Sarah sighed. "Elise is a sitting duck. And whoever these jerks are – they are clearly eliminating witnesses. If Elise is at home base, they can at least defend themselves. It would take a fairly large force to attack there with both Casey and Elise ready for them. They could hold out for days."

"What about us?" Chuck asked softly. "Are we in imminent danger?"

Sarah and Janice just looked at each other. As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Janice went to answer the door while Sarah assumed a defensive position with her weapon drawn. Janice opened the door – as much as the chain would allow.

"Excuse us, Senator Casey," the man said as he held out a badge. "I'm sorry to bother you so late. My name is Detective Abrams. I'm investigating the possible murder of your employee, Julie Collins. We have a couple of questions for you and Ms. Bartowski if you don't mind."

"Can this wait until tomorrow?" Janice asked firmly. "We will gladly come down to police headquarters and talk in the morning."

"I'm sorry, Senator," he said. "But we're following a hot lead. We actually have a warrant."

The detective pushed his badge and the warrant through the partially opened door. Janice looked at the warrant closely – and was finally satisfied that it was legitimate. "Come in," she sighed as she took the chain off the door. "Hopefully, this won't take too long. We're not having a good night."

"No ma'am," he replied as he stepped into the room. "This should only take a minute."

Fortunately Chuck had just uploaded an update. It had been a long time since Chuck had flashed on a bad guy - and even longer since the Intersect engaged into fighting mode. But as soon as he saw the detective's face, both happened. And he was actually quite surprised that there was absolutely no sign of rust. It looked to be in slow motion as the man went to draw his weapon. The Intersect was easily able to kick the gun across the room. The second kick was definitely life threatening. It landed flush just under his diaphragm.

It didn't really matter that a dozen men had just poured into the open door. The Intersect could handle twice that many. He could see that Sarah had already dispatched her first target. Her favorite fighting technique – a kick to the groin – was still as lethal as it ever was. Janice was having a little more trouble with her guy – but not much. His face was already a bloody mess.

Suddenly a shot rang out. When Chuck turned to see where it came from – he saw the most horrible sight. One of the men had Kate. He had a gun pointed to her head. They really had no choice but to quickly surrender. Chuck could see Sarah put her hands on her head in a sign that she was giving up. Chuck and Janice quickly but reluctantly followed suit.

They were officially captured.

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Alex walked into the Safe Room, Casey began speaking. Chuck Junior and Bryce were already there. Both looked scared. "We have a crisis," Casey firmly said. "They just found the bodies of both Janice's office worker, Julie and Paul. Both were made to look like accidental drug overdoses. That can't possibly be coincidence. Elise is almost assuredly next. I want you guys to gather your tranq guns and as many darts as you can find and wait here for me in the Safe Room. Anybody who walks down those stairs that is not me or Elise is an enemy. I'll be back with her in less than an hour."

"We need to come with you," Chuck Junior said.

"No way," Casey replied firmly. "For one thing, I'm safer on my own. I can't be worrying about protecting you. You have your orders."

"Yes, sir," Chuck Junior said sadly.

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as they had Chuck and the team in the van, their hands were quickly cuffed behind them. Chuck was trying to catch Kate's eye for reassurance – but there was actually no need. She was remarkably calm for the circumstance. Sarah's face was a little harder to read but Chuck could see equal measures of concern – and hatred. Janice was a lot easier. Her face was pure hatred. They roughly pulled a hood over their heads so Chuck couldn't tell where they were going. After what Chuck guessed was about a thirty minute drive, they were led out of the van and up some stairs. Clearly the noise was that of a plane. Indeed, quickly they were taking off.

Where ever they were taking them – it wasn't close by.

x-x-x-x-x

Casey had only been gone about ten minutes when Chuck Junior's cell phone rang. He could see that it was his Uncle Casey so he quickly answered it. Chuck Junior was a little puzzled. He could hear voices – but his Uncle Casey was not answering him. Suddenly, he realized in horror what was happening. Uncle Casey had been captured and that the phone was in is pocket. He just pressed send in his pocket. He was warning them. So Chuck Junior quickly turned on the speaker phone so that Alex and Bryce could hear.

"You'll never get away with this," Casey said. "There are only five of you." He was plainly telling them how many bad guys there were.

"On the contrary," a man said. "I believe that we will. We already have the folks in Washington. You were the toughest one here – and you were pretty easy. Can you imagine Agent Walters or those snot nosed kids giving us any trouble?"

Then they could hear some conversation between the men.

"You two take the good Colonel here and put him on the plane to Red Mountain. We'll go and retrieve Agent Walters. Then we'll come back for the kids."

"That will leave the house unwatched. Do you think that will be okay?"

"Of course. They are scared to death. They are going to be huddled in that room."

"How are we going to get them out of that safe room?"

"Easy. Once we have Agent Walters, they would do anything to save her."

That's when the phone went dead. "Shit," Chuck Junior said. "They have Uncle Casey. It sounds like they already have Mom, Dad, Aunt Janice and Kate."

"They are going for Elise," Alex said. "We need to go save her."

"Uncle Casey told us to stay here," Chuck Junior said. "It was a direct order."

"Well," Alex said. "Look at the situation. Colonel Casey is captured. I'd say that makes his orders are pretty much moot. The whole team is captured. Elise is the only one who would have a clue what to do. If we let her get captured, we're next. Then who is there left to help? We're Kate's only hope. The hell with it - I'll go myself. What is the address?"

"Okay," Chuck Junior said with a sigh. "I guess you're right. We have no choice. Let's go."

"We're going to have to hurry to get in front of them," Alex said. "They already left."

Bryce sighed. "I know how to get there fast," he said. "We have a fast car."

x-x-x-x-x

"Report your status," he said briskly.

"We're right on schedule, sir. The four from Washington are in the air in route to Red Mountain. They should be arriving in a couple of hours. Colonel Casey is also in route. The men are on their way to pick up Agent Walters. They will have her and the boys on the plane in a couple of hours."

"Excellent," he said. "Let me know when Walters and the boys are in the air."

"Yes, sir."

"Well," he said as he turned to where Shaw was sitting. "I've done my part. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I would," Shaw said with a grin. "Thank you. Now I plan on doing my part. The two Fulcrum Elders we were detaining broke out of prison this afternoon. Perhaps you saw it on the news."

"I did see that," he said. "Very creative. What do you plan on doing with the bodies?"

"Let them be found, of course," Shaw said. "They will be buried as heroes. Dead… but heroes."

x-x-x-x-x

Elise was sitting at her kitchen table when there was a knock at the door. When she saw who it was, her eyes narrowed in disgust. "What do you want?" she asked coldly. "I was hoping to never see you again."

"Come now, Agent Walters," he said with a grin. "After all the time and effort I've put in working with you on your manners? Perhaps it's time for another lesson. There has been a slight change in plans."

When the kitchen door opened behind him, he simply called over his shoulder. "Wait in the van," he said. "I'm going to need a few minutes. I forgot how stunning she really is."

"She is stunning," Alex said as he fired three darts into the man's back. "I'll give you that." As soon as he fell to the floor, Alex stepped up to Elise and held out his hand. "Hi," he said. "I'm Alex. You must be Elise West. Kate talks about you a lot. She loves you very much. It's very nice to meet you. I'm very sorry that it is under these circumstances."

"Alex?" Elise asked in confusion as she shook his offered hand. "Katie's Alex?"

"Yes, ma'am," Alex said. "I'm afraid that we have something of a situation." At least I didn't look at her lungs.

x-x-x-x-x

Kate could feel someone sitting on either side of her. But with her hands secured behind her back and a hood over her head, she had no way to tell who it was. So she just guessed. "Mom?" she whispered.

"Katie," Sarah whispered back. "Stay quiet. Don't give them a reason to punish you. Don't worry. We'll get out of this. We've been in worse situations."

"She was right about staying quiet," a loud voice said in the darkness provided by the hood. Kate could only guess who belonged to the voice – but she guessed a man in his thirties or so. "But don't worry," he said, clearly mocking her. "We won't punish you – yet. After all, we have all the time in the world."

x-x-x-x-x

Since Chuck Junior was lying in ambush position, it was fairly easy for him to tranq the other two men as they came into the house to check on why it was taking so long. After all, they weren't expecting any trouble.

"Red Mountain," Elise said pointedly as soon as Alex and Sparky had told her the whole story. "Are you sure about that?"

All three guys nodded. "Yes," Alex said. "What is Red Mountain?"

"It's a CIA training facility in Western Kentucky," Elise said. "It was closed due to budget cuts about twenty years ago. Shaw must be using it as a base of operations. It is incredibly remote."

"What should we do?" Alex asked. "They have Kate… umm… and the rest of the team."

Elise smiled at Alex's first thought of Kate – in spite of the tenseness of the situation. "I don't know, Alex," she said. "What do you think we should do? We can't call anyone in authority. Daniel Shaw is the head of the agency. We'd just tip them off."

"Do you know where Red Mountain is?" Alex asked hopefully?

Elise nodded. "I've trained there - quite a lot, actually. That's where seduction training was held. It's so remote that once you spend a few weeks there, you're actually eager to seduce…" Elise paused in mid-sentence as the blush traveled quickly up her neck. "Actually, that's probably too much information," she said.

"We need to go rescue them," Alex said quickly. "We're their only hope."

Chuck Junior and Bryce each nodded.

Elise looked closely at the guys. She knew that she had to go. Her team – no, her family - was in trouble. Alone, she knew that she didn't have much of a shot. But these guys were just kids. Could they help… or would they just get in the way? "Boys," she cautioned. "This is not a joy ride. This is as real as it gets. Are you sure you want to do this? There is no shame in not wanting to risk your life."

"Aunt Elise," Chuck Junior said. "They have our family. Besides, he called us snot nosed kids. I'm looking forward to shoving those words up his ass."

"Alex?" Elise questioned.

"What are we waiting for?" Alex asked impatiently. "We're wasting time. I'm going myself if I have too."

"I agree with you," Elise said with a smile. "I just wanted to hear you say it. Bryce, take my car. Drive to your Aunt Ellie's. Explain the situation to her. Have her gather her clan and go someplace that no one knows about and lie low. Buy a new prepaid phone and call your Grandma Beckman. Tell her the situation. Then call Joe's secure phone. Tell him the situation and then throw the phone away. Use only cash. Do you understand?"

Bryce nodded quickly.

Elise quickly had to blink the tears out of her eyes. "Bryce," she said softly. "Please tell Joe that I love him… And if you ever see Robbie, make sure he knows that his mom loved him. Ask him not to hate me… I did this to protect him."

Bryce had to blink out his own tears. But he nodded again.

"Good," Elise said. "I'm counting on you. Alex, Sparky, let's go."

"Go?" Chuck Junior asked. "How do we get there?"

"We'll have to drive," Elise said. "With your mom's car it should take about twenty hours. We'll drive in shifts."

"Come on," Alex said frantically. "Let's go. We don't have any time to waste."

"How are we going to get in once we get there?" Chuck Junior asked.

"I have an idea," Elise said. "But actually, Alex is kinda right. It might be best if I told you in the car."

"Who should drive first?" Alex asked.

"I'm driving first," Elise said. "The first leg is through the mountains. It's been a long time since I drove such a hot car. I'm actually looking forward to it."

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