A/N *slowly opens door to apartment, waves a white flag* Sorry for the slow update! Pharmacology is kicking my butt. I did really poorly on a test the other day, but when I opened my email, I had a private message and few new followers for this story. What better way to thank you all for making a bad day better than to give you the longest update yet! (10 pages!) But really guys, thank you for all the reviews, follows, favorites, and messages (especially phnxgrl, sevenrez, Nerdtastic78, Jimmy 144, Purrum, and tut1971)! This hobby is keeping me sane. Virtual 100% test scores for everyone!
Just a reiteration, I promise I won't discontinue this story! I have a borderline type A personality and it bothers me to leave something unfinished. Also, I typically have about 20 pages to work with so I have some wiggle room to edit. If you think of a scene you want added in, please let me know!
Recap: "You," Chuck sputtered. "You were the one in Prague that pushed me into the sedan."
Daniel chuckled. "I am indeed. You should thank me. Spy camp is a bore- you wouldn't have learned anything of importance there."
Chuck was so furious that he was seeing red. "If you hadn't interfered…" he was cut off by Alex's gentle touch on his shoulder.
"Chuck," she whispered. "This is what they want. It's okay, you have Sarah now."
Chuck was appeased by her statement until thought he recognized someone walking up on the balcony. "Sarah?" he thought, baffled.
"Oomph," Morgan grunted, as Casey slammed on the breaks. The three men had stopped abruptly at the edge of the woods, unsure if it would be safe to drive up next to the building and storm it.
Devon and Casey looked at each other, both trying to decide how best to approach the situation. At that moment, Morgan looked down at his phone. Casey had received a text message from Agent Walker.
Quickly opening and scanning it, he excitedly proclaimed, "Guys, I got a message from Sarah!"
Casey snatched the phone from Morgan, read the message, and let out a Casey grunt. He looked out the front window of the car, scanned the perimeter, and, noting that what the message said matched the surroundings, turned back to the duo.
"Walker said that she disabled the outside cameras from the shed, which I'm assuming is that building over yonder," Casey stated, pointing to a shed at the outer edge of the trees. "Here's the plan. Grimes, drive the car back until you have a cell signal and call the General. She'll want to know our location. Devon, you and I are going to check out that shed. I want a better idea of what I'm going into. You'll stay there and watch the monitors, in case I need to evacuate quickly."
Having had the whole car ride to deliberate a decision, Casey handed each of the men a gun. "Morgan, only use this if you absolutely have to. A real gun is not the same as one in your video games. Devon, I know you know how to shoot and I expect you to not hesitate if someone comes into that shed."
Devon and Morgan nodded their heads in grave agreement. Devon, not having been able to see the message yet, asked, "What exactly did Sarah say?"
Casey held the phone up to eye-level and rattled off, "They have Chuck, Alex, and Mr. Bartowski. Chuck is injured. Disabled the outside security cameras from shed. Shaw and Jenn are running the shots. Need backup. Hurry."
Devon's face lost the little color it had. "How badly is Chuck injured? Should I go in with you? I can help…"
"No," Casey ordered. "I can't watch my back and yours. I need you to be my eyes on the monitors. This is the plan and we are sticking to it."
Devon, hesitantly, agreed again.
Sticking his hand out for a team huddle, Morgan said, "For family on three." Devon added his hand instantly and Casey, after a significant eye roll, put his hand in as well. "For family," they said together.
Chuck, not wanting to draw attention to the figure on the balcony above him, quickly diverted his attention back to the married couple. The sharp whip of his head made the corners of his peripherals darken. Choosing to ignore it, Chuck baited them with, "What did you gain by separating Sarah and me? Wouldn't it have been easier to keep us together?"
Jenn chuckled. "Oh Chuck, if we had let you two go off the radar we never would have had the opportunity to use Sarah to do our dirty work."
That stole both Chuck and Alex's attention. "What?" Alex asked.
"You see," Shaw continued for his wife, "both you and Chuck have something my better half and I desire. Your memory enhancements. We could create an army capable to take out the CIA, maybe even the entire US government, if we combined the two of your memory programs."
Giving Stephen a gentle touch on his shoulder, causing him to shudder, Jenn elaborated, "Mr. Bartowski has been so kind as to recreate a rough copy of the Intersect program, but there was only one injection of the PGMA program. Neither of the programs could be completed without having a scan of your brain waves."
Smiling with pleasure, Shaw continued, "The only way to obtain such waves was by being in close enough proximity to scan your eye. Neither Jenn nor I could ever dream of being close enough for that. That's where her sister came in. Though I personally would rather see the other Iverson sister dead, with her remains decaying at the bottom of the ocean. To make our army, we realized that causing you and Sarah to have a little tiff was the only way to get Sarah's full cooperation."
"With me back in the picture," Jenn explained, "My little Lemon was vulnerable and weak. Unlike me, her emotions are still intact. You never stood a chance against the genius creators of SPI."
"You underestimate Sarah," Chuck angrily spat. "She would never betray us. Alex and I are more her family than you could ever be."
"No? Why don't you ask her yourself. I believe she is up in the balcony right now," Jenn maliciously grinned.
It was at that moment that the shadowy figure on the balcony decided to gracefully front-flip down to the main level. "Hey Barbie," Sarah said, hands touching her throwing knives in case she needed to pull them out.
"Munchkin, I'm so happy to see you! But I am disappointed. Must you be so willing to use a weapon on your own dear sister?" Jenn teased.
"As long as my family is in danger, I am prepared to protect them," Sarah responded.
"Excellent answer Sammy, dear. I'm so glad you decided to align with your real family," Jenn sweetly crooned.
Sarah passionately replied, "No sister of mine would threaten my boyfriend, his family, or my friends. Jenn, I understand that the CIA wronged us. Yes, they ruined our family. But please, think about how much good the CIA does for the general public. This country we live in has more rights and privileges than any other. Our government may be corrupt, but it is functional. Your average, everyday citizens are able to live freely and in peace. Would usurping what we know for something that could cause world-wide chaos really be worth it?"
All the while, Sarah had been slowly moving closer to the group, hoping to get close enough to protect them if things got violent.
Shaw's face was like ice as he replied, "Free citizens like my wife, Evelyn, were not able to live in peace. The government murdered her in cold blood, without even having a reason. Aaron and I are not the only ones who have suffered injustice."
Agent Parker entered the main room. "SPI only accepts members who have been wronged by the CIA. Our agents have been accused of crimes they didn't commit, injured without compensation, homes and families destroyed, and been lied to by those we had sworn to serve. Stephen, Alex, Chuck, and Sarah, you have all been wronged. Join us. Join SPI. Together, we can demand justice."
"Aaron," Sarah said, softly. "Why are you doing this? You would pick these rogue agents over your own mother?"
Aaron's eyes hardened. "General Beckman lost that title the day that SPI showed me the file of the CIA calling for my sister's death. The file had the General's stamp on it."
Alex growled, in a very John Casey like manner, before she replied, "They have been feeding you lies! Evelyn wasn't innocent. I read the exact same file and then did my own research. Eve was Sarah's Red Target, and we all know that the only way to become a Target is to be declared a rogue agent. Anyone can use the General's stamp of approval- she probably didn't even know that the file was processed!"
Sarah's face softened, "How close were you with your sister, Aaron? Can you bet your career and your own mother on what SPI is telling you? Everybody lies when you are a spy, Aaron. Jenn has lied to me. Evelyn might have lied to you. What would we gain by feeding you yet another lie?
Alex continued, "The SPI agents have had a lobotomy," Sarah gasped at the revelation, thoughts whirling through her head at an unimaginable pace. Alex continued her tirade, "They can't even feel emotions anymore, Aaron! Who would you believe? Your friends or…"
"Enough!" Jenn barked. Everyone fell quiet at the anger radiating off of the rogue agent. "Agent Parker, you saw the facts. You saw the footage of Sarah murdering your sister. She has the drives with the brain waves that we need to succeed. Get them! Get me what I need!"
Meanwhile, Morgan Grimes was having the time of his life. Yes, he was incredibly concerned for his best friend and the woman of his dreams, but he was, deep down, a man. A man who loved cars. Especially fast, flashy, sports cars.
"Whooooooo," he yelled out the window. "Oh, whoops," he corrected himself quickly before he swerved off the trail.
Having felt the wind in his hair while speeding to the nearest cell signal, he decided it was time to focus. Looking at his phone, he saw that there was one bar. Excited to potentially complete his mission, he pressed speed-dial #1: General Beckman. Unfortunately, it didn't have enough oomph to complete the call.
Continuing to speed out of the woods, he was able to finally get two bars. Quickly, he dialed #1 again, this time going through. What he hadn't noticed, though, were the two armored Jeep Wranglers that had been attracted by his ridiculous, crazy driving.
Pressing speed-dial #1 again, Morgan patiently waited for his phone call to go through.
"Welcome to the international CIA hotline, Agent Casey. For an update on international affairs, press one. For information on the latest weaponry, press two. For…"
"Oh for the love of Ganondorf," Morgan mumbled. Looking up from his phone, he finally saw the two vehicles coming closer to him. His eyes grew three times their normal size. Deciding that he didn't want to make new friends, he slowly starting inching his car closer to the highway, hoping that they wouldn't find his flashy sports car intimidating, all the while listening to the options on the phone that might get him closer to the General.
Morgan's idea didn't work. While the two cars weren't driving towards him too quickly, they hadn't stopped following him, either. It was only as Morgan got to the beginning of a real road that he realized why they hadn't totally stopped him yet. Two more armored Jeep Wranglers were blocking his exit.
"For a complete list of airplane fares to Asia, press 6. For the office of National Intelligence, press 7."
"Finally!" Morgan not-so-subtly pressed 7. The other vehicles, seeing that he was on the phone, began their pursuit.
Morgan, still waiting for someone to pick up the phone, was beginning to panic. As the cars began to close in, he had a sudden memory of him and Alex playing Mario Kart on his Wii. Looking off to the side, he saw that there was an off-trail path that could potentially lead him back to the highway and to civilization. The phone was still ringing as he made his decision.
"To infinity, and beyond!" Morgan yelled, as he spun his wheels into the ground. Jolting forward, Morgan sped into the trees, hoping for a quick get-away.
The four vehicles sped up and followed Morgan, much to his dismay. The highway was so close, he just needed to get past that last tree. Finally, a voice answered on the phone.
"Office of National Intelligence, this is Natalie. How may I help you?"
Morgan swerved around a tree and replied, "Um, this is Morgan Grimes, Chuck Bartowski's friend. I really, really need to talk to the General. This is an emergency!"
"One moment please." As the familiar ringing noise came through the line, Morgan's breath stopped as a loud shot filled the air. He looked in his rear-view mirror and saw two guns pointed out the window, aimed at his car. Seconds later, he felt the first bullet hit his car.
"They're shooting at me!" Morgan ranted into the phone. Panic threatening to overtake him, he visualized the Rainbow Road, with a Koopa Shell being thrown at him. Mario Karts Morgan could handle. The thought of big bag rogue agents trying to kill him, not so much. Breathing again, Morgan realized that someone was talking to him on the phone.
"Mr. Grimes, are you still there?" Morgan heard the General bark, clearly annoyed with him having called her at work. As she spoke, several more shots were made at the car. Morgan had been forced to start swerving away from the road into a more foliage-populated area.
"General, help! They've got everyone and Casey went in to save them but I was supposed to call you and, oh my God, they're shooting at me again!"
Somehow, the General was able to interpret Morgan's message. "Morgan, I need you to focus. What car are you driving right now?"
"Casey's Batmobile," Morgan tersely responded. He had finally remembered he had a gun and was shooting back at the vehicles.
Even though the situation was severe, Beckman couldn't help but internally sigh from Morgan's answer. The Batmobile, really? Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she quickly responded, "Do you see some buttons in the front middle, down by the floor, under where the ash tray is?" Not waiting for his reply, "There should be a blue button that has a design that looks like popcorn kernels. Press it."
Morgan reached and pressed the button, but he still had his shooting arm out the window as he pressed it. The car shook, and what could only be described as fire shot from the back of the vehicle. A loud boom shook the environment, and two of the four cars behind him were hit by the explosion. Unfortunately, Morgan's arm was singed in the explosion.
"Ow, ow, ow, it burns!" Morgan cried, pulling his arm back in. Blinking away tears and trying to not focus on the pain, he asked, "What was that?"
"Just a rocket that Casey wanted installed," the General replied. "How many vehicles are still following you?"
"Two," Morgan responded. Looking at where he was in the woods, he wouldn't say that he was lost, but he definitely was not by the highway anymore. "Is there another button I can press?"
"Yes, press the red button with a big X on it."
Morgan did as he was told, and a combo of silver bullets and what could only be described as flying X-shaped knives shot from the back. One went through a tire of one vehicle, effectively taking it out. Another went through the windshield, putting the last vehicle out of commission.
Morgan breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly turned his car around so that it was heading towards the road again. Seeing it, he sped up even more. "Thanks," he said, not sure how else to thank the General for saving his life.
"Of course. Now, where is Agent Casey?"
"Jenn and Shaw have Alex, Chuck, and Mr. Bartowski. Casey and Devon are back at the SPI headquarters and we don't know what Aaron and Sarah are doing."
"Are you close to their headquarters right now, Mr. Grimes?"
"I am about fifteen minutes south of it. Can you track where I am with Casey's phone?"
"I can, but I believe that your cover has been blown. Returning now would be suicidal, especially with you injured. I want you to drive back to the nearest town…"
"With all due respect, General Beckman, I'm not going to leave everyone there and run for cover myself," Morgan interrupted. "I'm going back, even if I have to return on foot."
There was a pause. "Very well, but I want to you be extremely cautious driving back. Stay hidden as well as you can. And do not, under any circumstances, enter that building. You are not trained for battle action. We will track your location from your phone. Good luck, Morgan Grimes."
And with that, Morgan was on his own again. Looking at his singed arm, Morgan couldn't help but realize how much he had changed in the last 48 hours. From a nerdy, Buy More employee to a guy willing to risk his life for his family. He couldn't help but wonder what sort of Ballads would be written about him. Cautiously this time, and more of a man than he had been fifteen minutes ago, he returned to the headquarters.
Devon had also been having an educational experience. While he had not been given keys to a brand new Porsche, he had been forced to take out a man who he could only assume Sarah had earlier taken out. He still felt bad for violating his medical oath to not harm a patient. Oops.
Taking surveillance of the room, he realized that Sarah had been correct about the monitors. They showed almost everything that was going on in the manor. He had to hand it to SPI, it was clever to not have all of your equipment in the same building. On the other hand, it was pretty stupid of them to put it all in a shed that wasn't very well guarded. He shrugged, it wasn't his evil plot to take over the world.
Sitting down, he watched as Casey crept closer the building. Casey had approved the room for Devon's use, and the two had their walkie-talkies set to the same station. In an ideal world, everyone would get out of this mess unscathed. Devon would go home to Ellie, Sarah and Chuck would be together, Alex, Morgan, and Casey could do their love triangle thing, and Aaron and the bad guys would get past their grudges and find love again.
Yes, Devon couldn't help but be an optimist, even as he sat down to watch the action unfold.
While Devon was an optimist, Casey was very skeptical of his odds on this mission. He had no idea where Sarah or Parker's loyalties were, Chuck was injured, Alex, though smart, had never really fought before, and he had never seen Sr. Bartowski fight before. He wasn't willing to risk his daughter's life on poor odds.
As he waltzed into the building, tasing one agent and giving another a hard knock to the head, he realized that he may be going into this operation over confidently. He grabbed the key card from one agent and a gun from the other. Hiding both their bodies, he came to a decision.
Pressing the side button of his watch, activating his GPS and sending out an SOS signal, Casey whispered, "Angel de la muerte." He pressed a few other buttons and silently congratulated himself. While the General would be here as fast as her helicopter could be here, Casey knew he had backup that would be there in 20 minutes, at the longest.
Smiling, Casey stealthily moved towards the main room that his family was in. They didn't call him the Angel of Death for nothing.
Aaron stood still, shocked by the revelations that he had just been given. Looking at Sarah's face, he saw that he was not the only one who was astonished by the news. Aaron looked from the rogue agents to those who he had lived with for the past few months. Was he really able to jeopardize his good name for all of this?
Seeing that Parker wasn't moving, Shaw made the first move, quickly pulling the Sr. Bartowski to him and putting his gun to Stephen's head. "Sarah, hand over the flash drives and no one will get hurt."
Slowly, Sarah put her hand in her pocket, pulling out a zip-lock bag with two flash drives in it. She couldn't look at Chuck as she made eye contact with her sister.
"Sarah, you scanned us? How could you?" Chuck gasped, the shock of betrayal nearly enough to allow the darkness from his concussion to drown him in unconsciousness. "When?"
Seeing that Chuck was swaying, Alex quickly went to his side to offer support. She put a hand on his shoulder, trying to reassure him that it was okay.
Still not meeting Chuck's eyes, Sarah responded, "While you were asleep."
"Of course you would," Jenn gloated. "REM sleep waves are similar to that when you are awake. That should work marvelously." Holding her hand out, she said, "Give them here, Sammy."
Sarah hesitated. Shaw, seeing that they may need to fight to get them, cocked the gun on Mr. Bartowski's head.
Sarah held her hand out, as though to offer them to her sister. Suddenly, a resounding crash echoed through the room as Casey burst the door down, surprising everyone. Using the element of surprise, he fired his gun, aiming straight at Shaw. "Walker, now!" he cried.
Sarah threw the flash drives up to the second floor next to Casey. Everyone in the room looked at the bag with one goal in mind: retrieve them.
Stephen rolled away from the rogue agent just as the bullet slammed into Shaw's gun arm. While Daniel Shaw was not dead, he was certainly down enough to not cause problems for at least a few seconds.
Suddenly, alarm sirens went off in the building. Jenn smiled at Chuck and Alex, as they both held their hands to their ears. "Do you like the sound?" she purred. "It's a frequency that's designed just to irritate those who have had memory enhancements. It reacts quite perfectly with your neurons, no?"
While Jenn was distracted, Casey descended to the main level, snatched the zip-lock bag, and started back up the stairs to the higher ground to shoot more rogue agents.
Jenn, seeing that Casey didn't have a strong grip on them, threw her high-heel shoe at his hand. Not expecting that, the bag with the flash-drive fell to the stairs. Anticipating where they would fall, Jenn grabbed the bag and began to run to the computer on the top balcony.
Chuck grabbed his head, the sirens wailing through his mind. He couldn't focus on what Alex was trying to say to him, and the pain was causing him to fall to his knees. He kept flashing the same thing over and over: A crocodile. A spinning coin. A crocodile. A spinning coin.
"Get Chuck out of here," Sarah ordered Alex and Stephen. Chuck, still weak from the concussion, leaned heavily on Alex. Stephen Bartowski started towards his son, but at that moment, other SPI agents poured into the room. Sarah used a railing to get up closer to the door, chasing after her sister.
"Alex, get Chuck up the stairs back to the room. Barricade and lock the doors so that no one can enter. Be safe," Stephen demanded. He bent down and picked up Shaw's dropped gun, running towards the bottom floor door, hitting and shooting every agent that he could.
Alex looked at her dad, blocking the opposite door. He was bashing everyone who tried to enter, throwing them to the bottom floor, forcing the rogue agents to lay still upon collision.
The door that led to Mr. Bartowski's room was clear. All she needed to do was to get Chuck up the stairs. The noise was causing her head to throb, but focused instead on the person in front of her, trying to bury the pain. She could do this. "Come on, Chuck. We just need to get up the stairs and then you can lay down," Alex coached.
Sweat had broken out on Chuck's forehead. The wailing alarms and flashing colors were not helping him to concentrate at all. He tried, but he could not seem to make his feet work. Aaron, having made a decision, ran to Alex's side.
"Don't touch him you traitor!" Alex yelled, kicking Aaron's shin, hard.
"Alex, stop, please. I'm sorry. Please, let me help," Aaron pleaded.
Ale nearly rejected his help, but Chuck's quiet moan made her decision. "Okay, we need to get him up the stairs."
In another part of the room, Shaw had decided to join the fight. Seeing that Agent Casey was the most formidable foe, he sprang up and pounced on his back. Unfortunately, this allowed for SPI agents to infiltrate the room. Casey managed to knock Shaw out by hitting him against the wall, but by this point, he was surrounded.
Stephen, too, was in a pickle. He had the upper hand for the beginning, but his age and not having trained while being kept a prisoner was catching up to him. Stopping to breathe for a second allowed for two SPI agents to break through his barrier. He, too, was quickly outnumbered.
Jenn, not knowing that her team had the upper hand, ran to the emergency back-up plan button. Pressing it revealed the ground floor shifting and pulling apart. Underneath, in the center of the room, a crocodile pit opened.
Mr. Bartowski and Casey audibly gulped, as they realized that the SPI agents were slowly closing in on them and forcing them towards the crocodiles.
Alex, Aaron, and Chuck had barely made it to the base of the stairs when the floor shook and opened to reveal the crocodiles. Alex's mouth made a perfect O, but Chuck merely grimaced and mumbled, "Crocodiles, spinning coin." Aaron hoisted Chuck up the first step, making him stop his mumbling.
Holding the flash-drives out in front of her, Jenn smiled, the feeling of victory already coursing through her veins. Some emotions she no longer felt, but this one was so strong that it consumed her. Her hand took the flash-drives out, intent on fitting it into her software.
The one second victory gloat was all Sarah had needed to catch up to her sister. Seeing what she was doing, Sarah knocked into her sister, pulling out her throwing knives to battle.
"So this is what you choose, little sister. You choose a weak, memory enhanced man and his pathetic family and friends," Jenn taunted, picking up some nun-chucks from the desk.
"At least they still love for me, Jenn. Do you even know what that word means anymore?" Sarah replied, anguished with what her sister had become.
"Love and feelings are for the weak. I tried to love you, Lemon. I tried to stop the CIA from ruining what was left of our family, but they betrayed us. You still became a spy. Mom and Dad are gone. What's the point of having feelings if all they do is eat you alive?" She made a swipe at Sarah's arm.
"If you can't feel, you're not alive. You're not human. That's the only thing that separates us from other animals, Jenn." Sarah dodged another swipe. She was uncomfortable attacking her sister.
Just then, a swarm of men wearing black infiltrated the building. With rifles pointing towards everyone but Agent Casey, they were ready to take orders.
"Y asi comienza," mumbled Casey, blood pumping as he readied himself to give out orders.
A/N Y asi comienza= "And so it begins" in Spanish. I haven't had Spanish since high school, though, so if anyone wants to correct me that would be great!
Also, the Morgan scene was inspired by Furious 7. If you haven't seen it yet, add it to your list! :)