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

I've been promising you for quite a while that we would see Shaw get his ass kicked – it's time to pay off.

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.

All Talk

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Sparky walked up to Sarah. "Mom," he said. "Please don't do this." The pleading in his voice was clear. "There is no need. You have nothing to prove – to anybody. Why give him a chance to hurt you? This is over. Let's just take him in and get on with our lives."

"Sorry, sweetie," Sarah said with a soft smile. "I know that this might make me sound like a hypocrite after my speech to Alex upstairs an hour ago. But this is between him and me. The son of a bitch threatened my family. You know all about that. What you don't know is that he tried to get between your dad and me. He tried to make your dad think that he and I were having an affair. Nobody does that and gets away with it. This is just something I have to do."

"But, Mom," Sparky insisted. "How can you win? He is going to hurt you. Just look at the numbers. He's six-two. He must have a hundred pounds on you."

Sarah's soft smile broadened into a grin as she unbuttoned her blouse. When she took it off, she was left wearing a blue sports bra. Clearly she had dressed for this possibility. "You're really trying to get on my bad side tonight, aren't you, sweetie?" she asked. "He has at least a hundred and fifty pounds on me. Are you trying to say that I'm fat?" Sarah laughed as she looked at the look on Sparky's face. "Come on, I'm just teasing you. Besides," she said. "Hasn't Heather given you the size-doesn't-matter speech yet?"

"Actually, Mom," Heather said with a grin of her own. "I don't think that Sparky and I are ever going to need to have that particular discussion."

"To much information," Sarah said to Heather with a grin as she held out her blouse. "I could have gone a long time without knowing that particular detail. Don't worry, Sparky – I'll be fine. If you want to be productive, hold my shirt until I'm done." Then she turned to Elise. "Call for an ambulance," she said. "The patient is a six foot two white male. He is suffering from multiple contusions, several broken ribs, a severe concussion, a broken arm – oh and a crushed ego."

Just as Sarah turned to face Shaw, Chuck grabbed her arm. "I understand why you're doing this," he said softly. "Okay, I appreciate the thought – but you know that I'm not ever going to let him hurt you."

"I know," Sarah said with a smile. "I seriously don't think it's going to come to that."

"Good," Chuck said. "In that case – kick his ass."

x-x-x-x-x

It was an odd event – to say the least. For one thing, Shaw was the nation's most wanted fugitive. Once they realized that he was there, enough FBI agents gathered in that parking lot to invade a small country. They had the immediate scene so lit with spotlights that it looked almost like a sporting event. One of the local television stations was lucky enough to pick up on the radio chatter and had a chopper in the area. It was currently overhead clearly broadcasting live. The FBI agent in charge stormed up to Chuck. "Who's in charge here?" he asked with a hostile tone. "That's clearly Daniel Shaw. We need to arrest him."

"Just what in the hell do you think we're doing?" Chuck asked as he showed the man his CIA ID. "That's Special Agent Sarah Bartowski. She is completely in charge of this situation. She has been authorized by a Presidential Special Executive order to use whatever means she deems necessary to arrest Daniel Shaw. She clearly has deemed this is necessary. Check with your superiors if you want. But I'm sure they are going to tell you the same thing. If you or your men interfere with her arrest, I'm going to have you charged with obstruction of justice. If you want to feel needed, make sure that he doesn't escape – and keep the citizens clear."

The fight actually started off slow. Shaw was fairly cautious. He stayed on the outside and used his huge reach advantage to jab at Sarah's face. A few of his punches actually found their mark.

Sparky had to force himself to keep watching. He was on the verge of tears. This was horrible. "She's losing," he said sadly. "It's just like I feared. He has too big of an advantage."

It was Elise who corrected him. She came up behind Sparky and put her arms around his waist. Then she winked at Heather – just to be sure that she didn't get any wrong ideas. "She's not losing, Sparky," she whispered into his ear. "Don't worry, sweetie. Those soft punches are not really hurting her. He's just pissing her off."

Indeed, it wasn't long before Shaw made his move. He rather quickly realized that Sarah was in better physical shape than he was. He was getting a little winded from their sparring. But he wasn't all that worried. After all, he had physics on his side. One solid punch would have her quickly helpless. Then he'd be able to snap her neck before even Chuck with the intersect could react. So he looked for an opening and soon followed up one of his jabs with a vicious overhand right.

The punch would have quickly ended the fight – if it had landed. But it ended up being his fatal mistake – almost literally. Sarah was anticipating such a move – and she was much too quick for him. She dodged the punch at the last instant and grabbed his wrist. The force of Shaw's punch and his own momentum caused him to stumble and fully extend his arm. So Sarah twisted his arm – and brought her other forearm down into it. There was a loud sickening crack. Not that anybody needed to hear the sound to know what had just happened. It was clear. Elbows were not designed to bend in that direction.

Elise let go of Sparky's waist and walked around to the circle where the kids were watching in stunned silence. "Look at his face," she said with a grin. "I mean, come on. That had to hurt, right?"

Sarah quickly followed up her advantage. Using his now helpless right arm as leverage she launched a kick into his gut, just below his rib cage. The air rushing out of his lungs was clear. So now, Shaw was pretty much defenseless. Sarah, still holding his right arm to prevent him from backing out of reach, threw her own overhand right – directly into Shaw's nose causing blood to splatter in seemingly every direction.

Elise laughed. "Did you mom ever tell you that she still holds the record at the CIA Academy for the most victories in kickboxing?" she asked in a deadpan voice. "Shaw is a moron for agreeing to fight her. He never stood a chance. She's sort of a bad ass."

Sparky wasn't sure if his mom heard Elise – probably not. She was a ways away. But she set out to prove her right anyway. Sarah ended the fight with two kicks. The first one was an impressive spinning reverse backhand style blow to the side of Shaw's knee. The second loud sickening crack clearly told everybody that Shaw no longer had a functioning left knee joint. A final tremendous kick to Shaw's groin left him in an unconscious heap.

"He's going to feel that in the morning," Elise said. "Did I ever tell you that the first time I met Sarah was when I was in her class on how to kick a guy in the groin? She is an absolute artist."

All in all, the fight had lasted only about two minutes. Sarah just looked at Shaw, lying in a heap – and spat on the ground next to him. "Just like I thought," she said. "All talk. You actually thought that you had a chance to seduce me? You couldn't carry my husband's socks. Enjoy your life in prison, traitor. You're under arrest." Sarah actually started to walk away – then she remembered the line from the movie. "Oh yeah," she said. "You lose."

Alex was so sore himself that he could barely move. His body hadn't nearly recovered from the beating outside of the bar a couple of nights ago. And now the bruises on top of bruises were really starting to take their toll. So much so that watching Shaw take that incredible beating actually wasn't that much fun. It made him think about his own aches. He really should have not been so stubborn and taken the Vicodin that Heather had offered him. But when he saw Shaw fall into a heap, all that pain went away – for a moment anyway. It was replaced with pure relief. This was over. It was time to get on with their lives. Finally Alex was going to start living. He had the job of his dreams - a brand new family that adored him - and even better, the girl of his dreams. Who could ask for more than that?

It would have been the happiest moment of Alex's life – until he locked eyes with Heather. He could see the pain in her eyes – and he could instantly tell what she was thinking. It was almost exactly the opposite. For Heather, going back to normal meant being half a continent away from Sparky – for a whole year. Alex felt ashamed of himself for being so selfish – so he stepped up to Heather, grabbed her hand, and led her a few steps away. He could see the surprise in her face. "Don't worry," he said. "He's crazy about you. We all are. He's going to find a way. I promise."

Heather didn't speak. She knew that she couldn't without breaking down. So she just put her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder.

Alex winced as Heather squeezed him – on two levels. First, it hurt – a lot. But he also didn't want Kate getting the wrong idea. But then, he figured that Kate would understand. "I'm sorry that I've resisted you so much when you were trying to help me," he said. "It was nothing personal. I just don't like doctors much. They scare me."

Heather had to laugh – and found her voice. "From where I'm standing nothing seems to scare you," she said. "Actually, I'm not a doctor – not yet anyway. So maybe you don't have to be scared of me for a few years."

"You have a deal," Alex said. "While we're on that subject - do you still have that Vicodin?"

Chuck walked up to the lead FBI Agent. "I think you can take over now," he said. "Our mission is complete." Then he turned to his amazing wife who was just buttoning her shirt. "How are you feeling?" he asked with a grin.

"Never better," Sarah replied with her own grin. "I'm a little winded. I'm getting a little too old for this stuff. But you know how much fights turn me on. Let's go home and I'll prove it to you."

"Mom," Kate groaned. "You're killing me here. I thought that we had a deal. I'm nice to my miserable brother – and you keep whatever disgusting things you do with dad behind closed doors. Did you really have to say that in front of me? I'm not feeling all that well as it is. That might just push me over the edge."

x-x-x-x-x

Alex wouldn't go home until he apologized formally to the hotel clerk. And since Kate was in the mood to never let him out of her sight again, she reluctantly went with him.

Alex stepped up to the front desk. "I want to apologize for pointing my weapon at you," he said. "I hope that didn't frighten you too badly. I also want to thank you for your help. He did have a hostage. With your help, we were able to rescue her."

The clerk just smiled at him – and actually grabbed his hand. "I knew that you weren't going to shoot me," she said. "Not with those sexy eyes. If you really want to apologize – how about dinner? I get off in twenty minutes."

Okay, forget bad guys with guns. Now Alex was scared. The look on Kate's face was somewhere between horror – and rage. Somehow he managed to politely decline the invitation – and keep Kate at bay - barely.

That poor clerk. She had a gun pointed between her eyes a couple of hours ago. But she really never knew how close to death she actually came.

x-x-x-x-x

The first thing that happened when they finally got home was that Ellie demanded that she examine Kate. After all, this was her specialty. Kate was pretty lucky to have perhaps the leading neurological expert in the country staying in their guest room. And Ellie wasn't in a mood to take any chances. She ran Kate through an exhaustive battery of motor function tests. And actually, the one that benefited the most was Heather. She asked Kate and Ellie if she could participate. And Ellie clearly had a blast mentoring her. And for what it was worth, Ellie came away very impressed with Heather's knowledge and ability. She asked some questions that showed she wasn't the typical first year medical school candidate.

Then Heather got a double treat as Ellie let her participate in examining Alex. And actually, Ellie was much more direct and to the point to Alex about taking care of his body than Sarah had been. Really, Ellie was examining Heather much more than she was examining Alex. She asked her several hypothetical questions about symptoms and treatment options. It was clear that Heather Moore was going to be an excellent doctor someday. Well, maybe that wasn't technically true. Moore probably wasn't going to be her name.

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie insisted that Kate take a nap while she examined Alex. And Kate had to admit, it wasn't that bad of an idea. She was still feeling a little weak from the drug. When she woke up, Alex was sitting in the chair next to her. Was he really afraid to get in bed with her? Okay, so she was giving him a bit of the silent treatment – but still. "Come to bed for a minute," she whispered.

"That's disgusting," Sparky said with a gleam in his eye. "I know that Mom wants us to get along better – but there are limits to what I'll do – even for Mom."

"Sparky," Kate said as she sat up. "Where's Alex? Is something wrong?"

"Yes," Sparky said. "There is. I think that you should know something. We were all panicked. We were running around like chickens with our heads cut off – even Mom and Dad. It was Alex who figured out where you were and who had you. He violated Elise's direct order, forced the clerk to give him the room number, ran up eight floors worth of stairs, and launched himself at that guy who was twice his size. If Mom hadn't come in exactly when she did, he'd have killed Alex."

"Okay," Kate said. "I know…"

"I'm not really finished," Sparky interrupted. "Here's my point. I'm not totally sure why – but the guy is crazy about you. So much so that he's risked his life three different times in the past week alone to save you. So if you're going to act all jealous of Alex – I seriously don't know what to tell you. Do you really think that he deserves one of your ridiculous silent treatments? Having been the recipient of about a million of them, I can tell you -they're not fun."

Kate smiled at her brother. "You love him as much as I do," she said. "Admit it."

Sparky didn't answer her question. The redness in his face was enough. It was noticeable even in the darkened room. "For what it's worth," he said with a grin. "I'm glad that you weren't captured – a little. It would have depressed Mom. Who needs that?"

"Yeah," Kate responded with her own grin as she recognized her own words thrown back at her. "Well, when I hug you later in front of Mom – don't worry. I won't mean it."

"Thank you," Sparky said as he opened the door. "Now I can keep down my dinner."

x-x-x-x-x

The mission debriefing was more like a party than a meeting. First things first – Chuck briefed the team on The Ring's plans. "From the documents that we found in Volkoff's suite," he said. "They were in the process of acquiring and importing five nuclear weapons. Shaw was going to use the CIA to get them into the country without being detected. They were going to deploy them in New York, Washington, Chicago, Atlanta, and Los Angeles."

"So that's how they would have controlled the military," Janice said. "After they detonated the weapon in Washington, what was left of the government would have been in chaos. They would have been completely in charge."

"That's why The Ring leadership gave up so easily," Sarah said. "They didn't want to spend the next couple of years in prison – but they were all willing too. They knew that they would be held outside of Washington. So they knew that they would survive the attack – and they didn't want to draw any attention to Volkoff. That was the real plan."

"That's why they didn't want Janice to be President," Kate said, more to herself than anybody. "She would have asked questions - and made the connection."

"What's the political climate between you and the President?" Alex asked Janice.

"We're back to being rivals," Janice said with a laugh. "They did pay attention to this crisis – once they realized how damaging it was. But their lack of attention to that point was unforgivable. By the way, I read your announcement speech. It was perfect. I'm going to deliver it exactly as it is written."

"So, now that we have Volkoff and Shaw - what's next for us?" Sparky asked.

"There's nothing next," Sarah said. "It's over. The FBI raided the safe house and found what was left of The Ring's men. Team Bartowski is officially disbanded. Joe and Elise get to go back to running a chain of upscale restaurants. Devon and Ellie get to go back to being world famous doctors. Alex and Kate get to go back to Washington and help Janice become President. You get to go back to school…" Then she saw Heather – and the tears that were threatening to overflow.

Kate already had her arm around Heather. So Sarah just reached out her hand and grabbed Heather's. "Don't worry, Lieutenant Moore," she said with a smile. "We're not forgetting about you. This is going to work out. I'm not exactly sure how yet – but it will. I promise. Trust me a little?"

Heather just nodded – and buried her face into Kate's side to hide her tears.

Alex stepped over to where Kate and Heather were locked in their embrace. "It's not totally over," he said. "I know that you're mad at me - but do we still have a deal?"

Kate couldn't move, Heather had her stuck. So she stuck out her hand. "Of course we still have a deal," she said. "Alex, I'm not mad at you. Not really. I'm mad at me."

"Good," Alex said. "That means we have to drive to Vegas tonight. I was thinking that Sparky and Heather could drive us."

"Alex," Sarah said. "I know that you and Katie had a deal. And I don't want to get in the way of that. But do you think you could wait until the morning? You're not in any shape to be driving to Vegas tonight. Tomorrow, we'll all go. I don't want to miss seeing my little girl getting married. And Janice and Casey will need a few hours to get there. So I'd appreciate you doing me this favor. I really think that we could use a couple of days to relax without someone trying to kill us, don't you think?"

Alex smiled at her. "Mom," he said. "I would never want to cheat you out of seeing your daughter getting married. And the honest truth is that I don't think my body is up to a wedding night anyway."

"Yeah," Sarah said. "About that. If you're going to get married tomorrow, you can't spend the night together tonight. It's a family tradition. I'll give you ten minutes to say goodnight then Kate is coming with me."

"What?" Chuck cried in mock terror. "Why do I have to suffer? I'm not getting married."

Sarah just grinned at her husband. "Sorry, big guy," she said. "Kate and I have to have a chat. Remember the deal that we made some twenty-two years ago? You kept your end – horribly, but you did it. Now it's time for me to keep up mine."

"Mom," Alex groaned. "Isn't this a tad old fashioned? We live together."

Chuck suddenly realized what Sarah was talking about – and remembered their deal all those years ago. "Trust me, Alex," he said with a laugh. "You're going to want Kate to hear what Sarah is going to tell her tonight."

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