I still don't own Chuck. Not sure who does at this point. Maybe Subway.
Okay guys. I think that the title of this chapter speaks for itself. Heather has to make a hard choice.
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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Heather's Choice
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Alex, Kate, Joe, and Elise were walking towards the bar. It was actually quite a cold night for mid-December in Kentucky. It had been mild for the past few days but a front had just moved through – and it was windy and chilling. Alex was the only one of the four who was used to winter. Joe and Elise had lived in Southern California for the past twenty-some years – and Kate had never lived anyplace else. So they were walking briskly, looking forward to getting out of the blustery cold.
Even though they were still a couple of hundred yards away, they could clearly see Sparky come outside with a stranger. His body language was plain. "Joe," Elise said in alarm. "It looks like Sparky is getting into a fight. Maybe you'd better get up there and help him."
At first, Joe just laughed it off. "Trust me," he said. "I had Sparky in the ring yesterday. He can certainly handle himself.
But then they watched in horror Sparky get surrounded by the five men. Alex immediately recognized that his friend was in trouble and started running towards them. Joe paused for a moment – but when he saw Sparky crumble to the ground, he followed Alex.
Kate went to follow them – but Elise grabbed her. She had already sized up the situation. This was more than just a case of a fight in a bar. "Katie," she said. "Run as fast as you can back to the base entrance and have the guards call Colonel Blum and get some help here." To Kate's credit, she didn't argue. She just nodded – and then she turned and ran. In spite of the situation, Elise had to pause for a second to marvel at how fast Katie was. Then she ran after the guys.
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Corporal Steve Quincy was definitely torn. On the one hand, he had no intention of asking his buddies to go outside and save some guy he didn't even know simply because he had picked a fight over a girl and got in over his head. That happened almost every night in a place like this. Especially since this guy was Heather's date. There obviously was more to this that it first appeared. She was clearly using him.
On the other hand, this Heather Moore was an absolute babe. There was just something about her that… well, she had starred very prominently in more than one of Steve's private fantasies. So much so that he had risked getting into some moderate trouble by continuing to ask her out. After all, a female office could make really make some trouble for him – if she wanted too - by claiming that he was harassing her. Then there was also the look of – well, admiration – from his buddies. He could see them sitting at their table – mouths hanging open that he was talking to such a babe.
So Steve decided – if Heather Moore was going to use him so blatantly – what was wrong with trying to get something out of the deal? "Okay, Heather," he said. "You want a favor. What's in this for me?"
Heather knew instantly what Steve had in mind. It wasn't all that hard to figure out. She quickly weighted her options. She could order him to help. After all, he had just acknowledged that he recognized her as an officer. But he could refuse. It wouldn't be a valid order – and he would know that. She could threaten him. After all, an officer could make life tense for an enlisted man, if she really wanted too. But that probably wouldn't be enough. So that left – sweet talking him. "Okay, Steve, what do you want?" she asked.
Steve was actually surprised. She seemed willing to go along. She must really be desperate. It was time to find out just how desperate she was. "If I do this," he said. "You spend tonight at my place… umm… thanking me."
Heather groaned to herself. Naturally, she didn't know any specifics about what he had in mind for her to 'thank him' – but she knew enough to know that she didn't want to do it – oh, and she almost assuredly would be naked. This was exactly Elise's scenario from this afternoon. It was time to put up – or shut up. She did know one thing. If she allowed Sparky to be captured out in that parking lot, there was a very good chance that she would never see him again. That was so unacceptable that there really was no decision to make. Maybe she wouldn't have to actually pay off – but even if she did – Heather was out of options. "Fine," she said. "If you and your buddies save him, I'll do what you want. But please hurry."
Steve couldn't believe his good fortune. "Okay," he said. "Kiss me."
"Kiss you," Heather said. "Now? Why?"
"I have to convince my buddies to help," Steve said. "They need to believe that they're helping me – umm… get something."
Heather really wasn't buying that reason – but she was too panicked to put up a fight. So she just leaned in and allowed him to kiss her. She knew that he was going to take full advantage of the situation so she wasn't at all surprised when she felt his mouth open. She allowed the kiss to only last for a moment. "Please hurry," she whispered. "Our deal only works if you save him."
Steve's smile was clearly into gloating territory. "Don't worry, babe," he said. "This is going to happen – even if I have to fight them all myself. I'll be right back."
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The six Ring Agents were gathered around an unconscious Sparky, trying to figure out how best to get him quickly and quietly in the truck. They had just put a second dart in him to make sure that he stayed out for the trip. So they really weren't paying attention to anything else. Alex didn't really have a plan as he ran up. So he did the only thing that he could think of – he launched himself at the closest man and tackled him to the ground. The force not only knocked the wind out of the guy, two of his buddies also were knocked down from the men falling.
When Joe arrived, he could see Alex rolling on the ground with three enemies. Certainly, he wasn't going to last long against three. But then he saw one of the standing men take out a tranq gun – and point it in Alex's direction. Alex didn't have much hope of winning a fight with three guys – but he would have no hope if he was unconscious. So Joe's decision was made. He launched himself at the guy that was holding the gun, much like Alex just had done – with pretty much the same result. The man was clearly stunned for a moment with the wind knocked out of him.
So they had two of the men at least temporarily disabled. Well, make that three. One of the men was currently rolling on the ground in agony, courtesy of Elise's well placed boot to his groin. But there were still three big, strong, trained agents to deal with. And things weren't going all that well. Especially when one the agents was able to tranq Joe. Poor Alex was taking a beating. He had men holding him on both sides while the third was taking repeated punches to his stomach and occasionally his face. Elise was totally forgotten about for the moment. So she jumped on the man's back who was punching Alex and attempted to get him in a choke hold. But he was too fast – and strong for her. As they wrestled, Elise quickly knew that it was only a matter of a few seconds before she was overmatched. If that wasn't bad enough, she looked up and saw that one of the men that had been previously stunned had now recovered – and was pointing his tranq gun at her. There was not a thing she could do. This was looking pretty grim.
Fortunately, this was the point when Heather showed up with Steve and his eight buddies. Steve may have overstated how hard it would be to get his buddies to help. After all, they were bored anyway. Might as well have a little fun. Especially since they had an officer to explain things to the M.P. They leaped into the fray with an enthusiasm that surprised Heather. And it certainly surprised the agents. Suddenly, the numbers had turned decidedly around.
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It actually took Sarah quite a while to get Chuck back in the mood. After all, he was a little spooked to learn that Shaw was going after Ellie. And while he agreed with Sarah – this was a great opportunity to trap him – that also meant using his sister as bait.
So that meant that Chuck was currently racking his brain – and the resources of the intersect – to work through the possible scenarios. After all, Shaw was a formidable foe. And he was evil beyond belief. The last thing that could happen was for him to get a hold of Ellie somehow. That would be horrible.
Naturally, Sarah knew her husband, and how he thought, very well. So she knew that she would have to give him a few minutes to process this latest information and to go over all of the contingencies in his head. He would never relax to the extent that Sarah needed him too until that was done and he was convinced that they could protect Ellie. So she just sat patiently on his lap and gently kissed his neck while he thought.
One thing was for sure – Sarah was beginning to regret her choice of seduction apparel. She never, ever intended to be wearing that skin tight t-shirt for this long – and it was really starting to get uncomfortable. So Sarah was grateful on multiple levels when Chuck finally signified he was ready to… resume. He reached down and kissed her. And – damn – what a kiss. Chuck clearly knew what he was doing. He knew full well that kissing was her weakness. It took a lot of will power for Sarah to break the kiss. After all, this was Chuck's night. She knew full well what would happen next if she allowed him to keep going. His hand would start snaking up her shirt. And that's the last thing that Sarah wanted – on two different levels. Not only would it have made her lose her resolve to make this Chuck's night – but there was also simply no room in that t-shirt for a hand. All the more reason to get it off as soon as possible.
So when Sarah heard the knock at the door, she literally groaned in frustration. "Janice," she said, more to herself than to anyone. "I'm going to kill you." But when she got to the door, again she was surprised. "Colonel Blum," she said with a sigh – and a much less friendly tone than a few minutes ago. "Come in."
If Sarah thought that Blum was blushing last time, he was ten times worse now. As a matter of fact, he looked like he was very close to having a stroke. "I'm so sorry, ma'am," Blum said as he averted his eyes. "I'm afraid that we have a serious incident."
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Now that they had the agents outnumbered, it was fairly easy to subdue them. In fact Steve's squad clearly enjoyed working them over a bit more than was absolutely necessary. Heather let them go for a few minutes. But she needed to make sure that the guys were okay. So she ordered them to be secured. As soon as they were all bound, Heather quickly assessed the situation. Sparky and Joe were unconscious. She quickly rushed over to check their pulses – and was very relieved when both were strong and rapid. Since she pulled a dart out of Joe's chest and two from Sparky's, it was clear what had happened. Sparky's head was bleeding a little from where he had impacted the cement – but it wasn't bad. There was nothing that Heather could do about that anyway. Besides, the one in the worst shape was Alex. He had taken several punches to the head and body – and was currently on his hands and knees vomiting. There was also not much she could do for him – except try and make him as comfortable as possible. So she turned to Elise. "Get some help from the base," she said. "We need three ambulances. Are you okay?"
"Kate already went to get help," Elise said – as soon as she could catch her breath. "She should be back any minute. I'm fine. I didn't take any blows. I'm just winded."
Heather saw the concern on Elise's face – and realized that she was looking at her unconscious husband – and was worried sick about him. "Don't worry," she said softly. "He's just unconscious from the drug. His pulse is good. He's going to be fine. Sparky is too, although the bastards shot him twice. He's going to be out for a while."
Elise stepped up and wrapped her arms around Heather. "Thanks," she whispered. "I can't stand watching Joe lie there. He looks dead."
Heather immediately felt guilty. She had been so consumed with her own problems and making sure that everyone was okay that she hadn't noticed how emotional Elise was – until she felt her shaking. She always thought of Elise as the cool calm spy with ice water running through her veins. If never occurred to her that Elise would have emotions. But she quickly realized that Elise was very concerned – afraid even. And that moment actually became a turning point in their relationship. Joe and Sparky were both lying there on the ground. And frankly, Sparky was the one in worse shape. Yet, Elise was panicked over Joe. That clearly proved beyond a doubt where her heart was. Worrying or being jealous about Elise's feelings for Sparky was – well, silly. Heather realized that it always had been. "Elise," she said as she rubbed her back. "He's going to be fine. I promise. But right now I have to go help Alex."
On Heather's way over to check out Alex, she passed by Corporal Quincy. "So," he said with a gloating smirk. "I held up my end. I assume that we still have a deal. I'll expect you at my place at ten. Bring a lot of condoms."
Heather winced. She really didn't know what to do. Clearly, he was putting on a crude show for his buddy's benefit. That fact alone made him an ass. But just as clearly, his buddies now knew about the terms of securing their assistance. He clearly had been bragging about it. There was no sense in trying to deny anything. So she simply nodded.
Elise stood there and watched the scene play out between them – and quickly came to the proper conclusion. The smile took a while to actually reach her face – but even though she was still worried sick about Joe, Elise couldn't keep it away for long. It was so very clear. There was only one way for Heather to get the help that Sparky needed. And she had done it. She had made the correct choice – the one that proved how she felt about him. It wouldn't have been accurate to say that Elise didn't have doubts about Heather. She absolutely did have doubts - until now. But any question that she had ever had was long gone. There was no longer any shred of a doubt. Heather was the one. Now, the only thing left to do was to get Sparky to see it – or more appropriately, to admit it. If Heather was looking for an ally – she had just found – well, the best one she could have hoped for.
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Even though it seemed like hours, it was actually only a matter of a few minutes before Kate was back – with a small army of, well, army. She was with the full force of Military Police – and enough ambulances to carry the inhabitants of a small town. Blum must have made quite an impression on the phone because the cavalry was – quite literally - here.
Naturally, Kate went directly to Alex. His face looked a bloody mess. Heather had to warn her not to grab him. There was the definite possibility of broken ribs. But they quickly found that they didn't have much to worry about – because when they searched the prisoners, one of them had the pictures of Sparky – and Kate. Even though Alex was obviously really hurting, when he saw the picture of Kate, he threw himself at the cuffed agent and started swinging. It actually took Elise, Kate, and an M.P. to pull him off.
Heather could see that Joe was slowly beginning to regain consciousness as they were loading him onto the stretcher. But she ordered the Para-medics to start IVs on all three men anyway. There was no sense in taking any chances. Alex was stubbornly resisting being treated. So Heather walked over to where Kate was gently holding him. "Come on, Alex," she said. "Please get on the stretcher. You're hurt."
"I'm fine," Alex insisted. "Concentrate on taking care of Joe and Sparky. I just took a few punches. I'm certainly getting used to that."
Heather just grinned. "I know," she said. "It's the damn-est family that we've hooked up with, isn't it? But you have to admit – it sure hasn't been boring. Come on, Alex. You're probably okay – but please let's make sure. I'd hate for something to show up later. And we're all going to the hospital anyway to check on Joe and Sparky. It might as well be in an ambulance. Do this as a favor to your possible future sister-in-law." Then she turned to Kate. "I could sure use some of that sisterly support right about now."
Kate grinned back – and nodded. "She's right, sweetie," she said. "About a lot of things. Let's make sure that you're okay."
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