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

I actually listened to Bonnie Tyler's Holding Out For a Hero about a thousand times when I was writing this chapter, lol. But I think that it fits. Alex and Chuck Junior don't think that they're heroes. They are just a couple of guys doing what they have to do. Elise was always the weakest of the agents. She always depended on her brains – and her body - rather than her physical spy skills. Now she's in charge. Indeed, she is the only hope. Can she mold her only assets - two inexperienced boys - into a kick-ass team of warriors – in twenty hours?

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.

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Holding Out For a Hero

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Alex had never been so scared in his life. He couldn't see Chuck Junior in the back seat – and he wasn't about to take his eyes off the horror that was the road in front of him long enough to look back there. But if the high pitch of his voice was any indication, he was just as freaked out.

"Sonofabitch," Alex said as he hung on for dear life. "I knew that we were going to be risking our lives on this mission. I just thought it was going to be after we got there. Not in the first hour on the road."

Elise just laughed at them – as she downshifted to pass an SUV - going down a mountain – in the middle of a hairpin curve – at a hundred-thirty miles per hour. Okay, it might not have been a hundred and thirty – but damn. "Relax guys," Elise said. "I may not be good at many things but this is actually one of my strengths. I was a driving instructor at the CIA academy. We're in a hurry, right? Besides, I love this car."

Elise could see Sparky's white face in the rear view mirror. She knew that she had to quickly turn these innocent young men into fearless warriors for them to have any chance. "Look – guys," she said. "I need you to listen to me. There is only one way to approach a mission like this. And that's by telling yourself that you're not going to survive. You'd sacrifice your life for Kate, wouldn't you Alex?"

"Of course," Alex immediately said.

"Sparky?" Elise asked.

Chuck Junior paused for just a moment longer that Alex. But there could be no mistaking the resolve in his voice. "Yes," he said.

"Me too," Elise said. "So what's the worst that can happen? We sacrifice our lives trying to save her. That's not all that bad. So what is there to be afraid of?"

Elise could sense the mood in the car change. "No more fear," she said firmly. "We live this next day like it will be our last. They may have a lot of resources aligned against us. They have men, weapons, and a fortress. But the poor bastards don't have a clue what is coming for them. They are going to regret the day that they messed with us - because we have a weapon that is very, very powerful. We have nothing left to lose. That makes us invincible. So we're going to absolutely kick their ass – and we're going to laugh at them while we're doing it. Nobody messes with our family and lives to tell about it. Screw it. Maybe we're going to die today. But we're going to take a lot of them with us – and maybe give some people that we love very much a chance. We leave nothing on the table. No regrets. No fear. Do we have a deal?"

Elise could see Sparky nod in the mirror. His face had the same grim determination as Alex's. If the bad guys could have seen it, they would run for their lives. "Deal," Alex said.

"Good," Elise said with a grin. "Now somebody find something on the fucking radio. It helps me to drive fast."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah sat restlessly in her cell. She had given up pacing about an hour ago. At least Janice was next to her. But Janice was the only one she could see. "What do you think that they want?" Sarah finally asked.

"I don't know anymore," Janice said. "For them to kidnap a sitting United States Senator, they must know that there is no turning back from that. They can't possibly be thinking of letting us live. If they get caught, they're dead."

"How do you think that Katie is doing?" Sarah asked. Her words were so soft that Janice had to strain to hear her. "I never wanted her to get mixed up with this life."

"I think that Katie is a lot stronger than you might think," Janice said just as softly. "You would have been so proud, Sarah. She may only be twenty-one – but she handled those professional interviewers like she had been doing it for twenty-one years. She made them look foolish."

"I am incredibly proud," Sarah said. "I just hope that I get to tell her."

Suddenly he appeared in front of Sarah's cell. "Oh, don't worry," he said with a gloating smirk. "You'll get to see your daughter again. In fact you'll get to watch her die."

Sarah set her jaw. She knew instinctively that he was just trying to provoke her. "Okay, Shaw," she said. "Why am I not surprised that you're behind this? You've gone too far this time."

"We'll see," Shaw sneered. "You're not in a real good position to be making threats. As a matter of fact, I would think that you might be a little nicer to me - maybe even a lot nicer. Your whole team is in my custody. Who is going to save you?"

While they were talking, one of Shaw's men walked up to where he was standing. "Sir," he quietly said. "I'm afraid that we have some bad news. Agent Walters and the boys have escaped. We found our men's bodies inside of Walter's house. No sign of them. The Bartowski Porsche is also missing."

"Damn," Shaw muttered. "They are heading to Denver to hook up with Walter's husband. Make sure they don't get there."

The man turned and left without comment.

Sarah forced a grin onto her face. Unfortunately, Shaw was probably right. Elise was probably heading to Denver to get Joe's help. That would be the smart play. After all, what could Elise and three boys do against such a large and organized force? But she knew that she couldn't let him see any fear in her eyes. So she tried to duplicate his gloating smirk. "You were saying?" she asked.

x-x-x-x-x

It was Sparky's turn to drive. They were well out of the mountains. They were now in the boring flat desert. But that also meant that there was no reason not to air the car out. After all, it was one of the fastest production cars made. Might as well see what it could do, right? The only danger was a State Trooper seeing them and pulling them over. But Elise assured him that she could get them out of even that. After all, she was a CIA officer. At least, she still had an ID. And this was a national security issue, right?

Alex was in the back seat sleeping. He was getting ready to drive the next shift.

"Elise," Chuck Junior said. "Can I ask you a question?"

Elise smiled at the lack of the 'Aunt' before her name. Sparky must have taken her little talk to heart. "Of course," she said. "You can ask me anything."

Chuck Junior paused for a long moment. Clearly he was struggling with if he should ask her. "This guy Shaw wants revenge against Mom for something that happened on her Red Test," he finally said with a sigh. "What is a Red Test?"

"A Red Test is the last thing that you have to do to become an agent," Elise said. "You have to prove that you're willing to kill someone. Apparently, your mom was assigned to kill Shaw's wife for her Red Test. I have no idea why. That's a shame. It really wasn't her fault."

"Who was your Red Test?" Chuck Junior asked.

Elise paused for a long moment. She knew that Sparky had long ago put her on a pedestal. He clearly had a huge crush every since she could remember. It was beyond cute. But now he was a man. Could he handle the unvarnished truth? "I never did one," she finally said. "I wasn't the ideal trainee. I was such a lousy shot - there was no way I could have passed those tests. So I had to do something else."

"Something else?" Chuck Junior asked.

"Yes, Sparky," Elise said with a sigh. "Something else. I had to use my other assets. Female spies are trained to use their bodies to get men to do things for you. So I went to an instructor. I told him that I would be his plaything for the entire weekend if he would fake my Red Test for me. It was a very long weekend for me. He definitely got his money's worth, if you know what I mean. It's actually kind of ironic. I faked it with him and he faked it for me. But I became a real agent."

Elise looked over at him – and smiled. She could see the fire quickly rising up his neck. "Sparky," she said. "That's not really what you wanted to say, is it? Why don't you ask me the question that you really wanted to ask me? No fear, remember?"

Chuck Junior just stared at the road. "I…" he started. "I… umm… I was wondering… Oh screw it. I'm just going to say it. I was wondering if you knew how crazy I am about you."

Elise just smiled. That took a lot of guts for him to say. So she placed her hand over his that was resting on the gear shift handle. Gently because he just had the cast removed yesterday. "Of course I know," she said. "I've always thought it was really sweet. But Sparky, come on, you've had dozens of girlfriends. That Jennifer girl that you had at the lake on the Forth of July could have been a model. That bikini she was wearing bordered on indecent. Robbie and Bryce couldn't stop staring at her. Joe might have even taken a peek or two himself. Girls are standing in line to go out with you. You realize that nothing can ever happen between us, right?"

"I know," Chuck Junior said quickly. "Elise, I'm not even talking about anything romantic between us. I know that's a little on the creepy side. I realize that we're family. You're married. You have a kid. I love Joe and Robby too. I'm not asking for anything from you that you can't give. But if we're going to die today then I need you to know something."

Elise just nodded for him to continue.

"I need for you to know that you're everything that I would ever look for," Chuck Junior continued. "I mean I just found out today how big of a hero you are. But even before that - you're funny and smart and witty and just plain nice. You're incredibly beautiful, yet easy to be around. You're one of those rare women who are just as attractive in jeans and a sweat shirt throwing a football around as in an evening gown going to a fancy ball. And, Elise, your smile simply lights up the room. All of the guys may have been looking at Jennifer – but the honest truth is – I would blow my brains out if I had to spend much more time with her. I couldn't wait for that weekend to be over. I've never once been bored being around you. That Jennifer may have been very pretty – and, yes, she could really fill out a bikini – but she knew it. And she kept demanding that you remind her how pretty she was every ten minutes. Can you imagine her ever picking up a football? That's my problem, I guess. I keep comparing the girls that I go out with to you – and that's why they don't ever last very long. Joe is the luckiest man that I know."

Elise didn't even try to blink the tears out of her eyes. That would have been futile. So she just let them flow down her cheeks as she struggled to gain her composure. "Wow, Sparky," she finally was able to get out. "That is, without a doubt, the nicest thing that anybody has ever said to me."

"I hope that this doesn't make things weird," Chuck Junior said.

"Why would things be weird?" Elise asked. "Sparky, I held you in the hospital the day you were born. I've watched you grow up from a baby to a boy. And now you're a man. It happened right before my eyes. I'm somewhat of an expert at this. So trust someone who knows - you are an incredible catch. Keep looking. Your girl is out there. I promise. And when you find her, you'll just know. Don't settle for anything less."

"I'm afraid," Chuck Junior said. "I know that you said not to have any fear. But I'm afraid. I'm not afraid of fighting. I'm not even afraid to die. I'm afraid that I'm going to let you down."

"Sparky," Elise said. "You're not going to let me down. You couldn't possibly. I've loved you since the day you were born. And when the time comes, you're going to turn into a warrior. You'll see. Trust me. Being a hero is in your blood."

x-x-x-x-x

They had Chuck and Kate in the same cell. They kept Chuck secured to the chair. Probably because they were afraid of what the Intersect could do. Every once in a while, they would come in and let him use the bathroom. And naturally, they had someone standing there with a gun at Kate's head while he was free.

"Not too courageous,' Kate said to Chuck as they were finishing securing him. "Are they, Dad? I mean, all these big strong men, afraid of one guy?"

"So," the man said that had been holding the gun. "Big strong men, huh? Sounds like our lovely lady is getting a little lonely." He took the back of his hand and semi-gently stroked the side of Kate's cheek. "So how about it, sweet cheeks? I'd be glad to help you out."

To Kate's credit she didn't back away. After all, that's what he wanted – to see that he had intimidated her. So she just smiled. "Sorry, stud," she said. "I'm holding out for a hero."

Chuck tried to keep the laugh in – but he failed miserably. It came out pretty wet.

The man was clearly taken aback – for a moment. "Be careful," he said. "Heroes don't often live to tell about it."

The man that had just finished securing Chuck sneered. "Knock off the grab ass crap," he said. "You know that we're on high alert every since Walters and the boys escaped."

As soon as they left, Kate ran over and threw her arms around Chuck's neck. "Did you hear that, Dad? Elise and the guys escaped. They are coming for us."

Of course the Intersect had already processed the information. The safe thing would be for Elise to contact Beckman and then drive her and the boys to Denver to connect with Joe. Perhaps Beckman could call in a favor and help somehow. But he also knew Elise. She was a hero among heroes. She was willing to be bold, reckless even. And an attack was the last thing these guys would be expecting. But how would she know where they were? Of course, Chuck knew that he couldn't let Kate get her hopes up. "Katie," he said softly. "How would they even know where we are? We don't even know."

"I don't know," Kate said. "I just know that they will. Alex will find a way." Then she just whispered to herself. "Come on, Alex," she said. "Sweetie, I need a hero."

x-x-x-x-x

Alex was driving. He actually had been for some time. They were now in the grassy plains. Well, they would have been grassy if they hadn't been covered in wind swept, now dirty snow. The sun was just about to come up over the horizon. Elise was just waking up from her nap in the passenger seat. Chuck Junior was in the back seat. If his snoring was any indication, he was still very much sound asleep.

As soon as Elise was fully awake, she just sat and studied Alex's face for a long moment. "You're thinking about her," she finally said. "Aren't you?"

Alex didn't turn to look at her. "I've known her for six weeks," he finally said. "We've been together for about a week. I used to laugh at people who said they were in love and the silly things they would do. But it feels like my life began a week ago. It's like I've known her forever. It's the first time in my life I've ever been in love. I didn't know what it felt like. I didn't know that it could hurt so much. I can't imagine my life without seeing her smile."

"That's sweet," Elise said softly. "Alex, she really loves you too. It's actually hard to imagine Kate being like this. She was always so stand-offish with men. She was with Paul for four years and when you saw them together, you would never imagine that they were a couple. I've been with them for weeks at a time – but I've never once seen them kiss. The first time that she told me about you, I knew that it was different. At first, I thought it was a rebound thing. But the way that she talked about you, Alex. You're the one. That's why we're doing this, right? So you two can be together – and live the life that you were meant to live."

"Yeah," Alex said.

"No fear, remember?" Elise said gently. "Kate needs you to be a warrior."

"I'm not afraid," Alex said. "Not of them anyway. I'll gladly fight a thousand of them. But…"

"But what?" Elise asked. "Come on, Alex. Say it."

Alex couldn't keep his voice from breaking. "But," he finally got out. "I just hope that she's still alive."

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