Let us do something, while we have the chance.

Still don't own Chuck.

"Sometimes it helps to know that you got something to lose."
--Agent Walker Episode 3.4

Chapter 16—the Getting Ready

Rancho Ramirez

Ellie echoed, "Oh that would be great," when she saw the pancake platter set before her. She was amazed. It was a real collection. She was torn between guarding the platter and scooping up as many she as could. There were plain, blueberry, pecan and whole grain pancakes.

Mary was getting a pitcher of guava juice and pouring everyone a glass. They were at the big table of the ranch house. Philip, Steven, Ellie, Devon, Chuck, Sarah, Alice, Kristen, Lea, Doc Adams and Dorothy were at the table. Mary and Casey were up helping bring the food out from the kitchen and serving everyone. Mary was smiling the whole time. She really did enjoy the big family environment. With her uncle and the whole ranch chipping in this was easy. The kitchen crew was helping in the kitchen and Mary had little to do other than socialize. She even thought she saw Casey smiling.

When everyone was seated and ready, Mary said a blessing and asked everyone to join in. Chuck responded, "Mary, all of us thank you for hosting us. This is truly great."

The teams had just completed a joint agency, state and local take down of Halverson and MS. Chuck had made a sweep yesterday during the clean up to ensure the job was done. Philip and Carlos agreed and passed along their findings to Chuck's boss. Steven and Sarah worked with Mr. Wiggins and Sarah's analysts to file a report on Fulcrum and the Ring. The model confirmed that the Fulcrum basically did not exist in the U.S. However, they were certain that a group of at least thirty Ring Agents had escaped from Atlanta.

While the escape was a problem, the Honorable John H. Wabash declared the operation a complete success. The President even mentioned it in his weekend address. News releases were provided showing the arrests of Traffickers and the subsequent care of the victims. National and local media proclaimed the heroic nature of the arrests. The media plan provided easy access to local, state, and approved agency teams. The FBI was particularly happy with the events as several of their agents were honored. Chuck was thrilled as the news coverage included those that had been wounded in the battles. Several funds were established to help cover their bills and rehabilitation. John made sure that all involved got a letter of commendation. He knew that Chuck, Sarah, and the rest of their team deserved more. He was working on it. But he knew the most pressing thing was to get Chuck out of Castle and to the ranch so he really could recuperate.

Ellie finished a bite and looked at Doc Adams, "Ben, how is he doing this morning?"

"Oh, fine. The results of the MRI showed another tiny hole starting. I know he wanted to spend time with the Marines, but the procedure was easy and he did not have to stay in the hospital. But with the apartments in the shape they were, we just had him stay over night at the hospital," Doc Adams responded.

"I am sitting right here. You could have told me we didn't have to stay," Chuck was a bit upset.

Sarah reached over and put her fingers to his month, "It only made sense. If we had left, you would have spent the entire night following the results of the clean up activity. At least you got some sleep and you needed it."

"Yeah, but…" he trailed off knowing that it was a pointless argument. "So, the real question is whether we can stay out of there for a while," Chuck held Sarah's attention for a second. She liked the pancakes too and currently had the platter. He knew it was no contest. Sarah dug in and loaded her plate. He figured it that with all the exercise that she got a couple extra pancakes was no problem.

Ellie started, "So you already picked the flowers?"

"Hum, yeah. Gardenias, called Miami Surprise. They are in season and we called the other day to the florist we used for your wedding. They said they were happy that we called. They were certain that they would be able to get our order," Sarah took a bite.

Chuck finished pouring the syrup on his pancakes. He looked at Ellie, "You know we did get a few things done."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah, we stopped by and got the marriage license yesterday morning on the way back from the hospital. Then last night, Casey and I got measured again for the tuxedos," he smiled knowing that she thought nothing had been done.

"Well, can we help you with anything Sarah?" Ellie said with a little huff.

Sarah picked up on it right away, "Oh sure Ellie, there is a lot I haven't done. I still have not picked out a dress. I went to the store next to the tuxedo shop but didn't have enough time to really look. And while we have the flowers, we don't have anything for the real ceremony. We did settle on the cake and I got the bakery, but I have nothing else for the reception. And Chuck will need Devon's help on the rehearsal dinner."

"Do you want to go out a pick out a dress this morning? We could look for matching bridesmaid dresses and one for me," Ellie thought out loud.

Sarah looked over at Mary, "Do you want to come along?" Then she thought of the others at the table. "Alice and Lea, do you want to come?" They nodded yes. "Kristen, do you feel good enough? It will take a while."

Kristen had a big smile, "Sure, I'll be okay." She was happy to be included. Everything seemed to be working better for her. Mary let LT come back early and things were improving there. LT got to the hospital while Kristen was still there. He stayed with her and helped her with everything that day. She asked, "Which color did you decide on? Pink or yellow?"

"A light pink if we can find something nice. I would prefer that," Sarah saw Kristen nodding her approval.

Chuck bent over to Sarah, "Don't forget, Liz would probably like to go."

She squeezed his knee, "Right. Well, she should be here by the time we are ready. I'll give her a call when we get done with breakfast so that she knows." They ate a couple more bites. Sarah had redone the count, "I guess we expanded a little. Is that all right?"

Chuck rapidly said, "Fine, we can get enough guys to match. Do you know yet whether Carina is coming?"

"Actually got a response last night, she can't. She said that she'd love to but can not guarantee her current assignment will be done by then. So, she said that if it was that she would just attend, rather than be a bridesmaid," Sarah replied.

Casey heard what they were talking about and saw Chuck getting ready to ask something else. He shook his head. Chuck knew he heard a small growl with it, and skipped the next question. Instead, Chuck asked for another cup of coffee.

Sarah then asked, "Are you going to be okay here?"

"Sure, I'll see what Casey's new toy is like. Dad and I can check a few things to see if we got any more hits from the model. It will be fine," he answered.

Steven chimed in, "Sure it will. I spent last night getting it hooked up to the system here at the ranch. That in itself was impressive."

Mary added, "I told you it was a fairly impressive set up. Grandpa uses it when he comes out for the weekend."

"Well, it certainly has as much as we do at Castle," Steven said.

Chuck looked over at Doc Adams, "Can I head out there, or is there something else you need to do?"

"We went ahead and set up a station for you. You can just plug in and go," Doc answered.

Chuck had to ask one more question, "Well, did you get enough pancakes Ellie?"

"Hum, yes." She got out through her last bite. "Mary, thank you. They were great."

Chuck turned to Sarah, "You want to look at what we can find on the web sites before you head out?"

"Well, we are going to try both stores Ellie used. I like the one where we got Ellie's dress. It had a couple that I was looking at. But Ellie said there was a couple at the other store that might be a shade I'd like. We'll head there first. Then if they have nothing we will go to the other store. They had a good collection of bridesmaid dresses. We have it. It will be fun," Sarah gave him a kiss.

Before they made it out the door Chuck caught up with Ellie, "Remember how Honey did this? Please help. Okay?"

Ellie grabbed him in a hug, "I know. And I owe you and Sarah. I'll try to make this as easy as I can. Don't worry it will be good."

After the protection details got set up, Sarah, Ellie and the girls headed out shopping. Chuck and Steven followed Casey out to the command bunker.

Bridal Shops

Sarah and the girls went into town to the first bridal shop, the one that Ellie had used first. Sarah felt that it was odd when they started. They were asking too many questions about her and the wedding location and not offering anything about their dresses. After Ellie prodded them they finally started showing some dresses. Finally Mary shook her head after a not so kind remark about Kristen's obvious Kevlar vest.

Sarah saw it happen. She grabbed her bag. She ended it, "Come on folks, we need to head out." Sarah was not happy. At the next store she would give them the conditions.

Sarah thought it ridiculous, but Chuck made her promise. The wedding party was to be outfitted with vests. He was upset about Atlanta and the missing agents. He was positive that if they had their address at the apartment, then it had to be a fairly good chance that they would know about the wedding. He said he wasn't going to risk anyone, but he wasn't going anywhere else for the wedding either. The ranch had to be the best place for the ceremony. It would be the most secure place there was on the wedding day. Even now it was secured as a high priority facility.

At the second shop Sarah immediately asked to see the manager. Ms Gibbons came right over. She had remembered Sarah and Ellie from the rush job. Sarah decided the best way was to convince her that they needed more than the regular help.

"Miss Gibbons, we need your help. I am getting married in a week and there are some special things we need your help with," Sarah only got that out and then was interrupted.

Ms Gibbons said, "Oh that's no problem. We have hired on extra help now."

"No, what I mean is that there are some special considerations we need for the wedding party," she paused. "We will have to wear protection."

Ellie looked at her with eyes crossed.

"Wait, no," Sarah looked at Ellie and smiled. She pointed at Kristen, "The wedding party will have to wear vests."

"So, this is some kind of bet for the wedding?" Ms Gibbons asked.

Ellie decided to clear it up and have a little fun too, "No. Yesterday, some very bad men blew up and shot up our apartment. If you look across the street, you'll see our protection detail. And if you look too close, you'll probably notice that all my friends here carry their own weapons. It's not a bet. We want to look as beautiful as we can and still live through it."

Sarah saw the eyes of Ms Gibbons getting bigger and bigger, "Please help us. Except Ellie, who is a Doctor, all of us work in government law enforcement."

Ms Gibbons was starting to think this was some elaborate prank, "Well, can I see some IDs?"

Sarah gave up at that point. She decided that if they need to have everyone in the store sign a Non-disclosure Statement. "All of what Ellie said was real. I am a Director in the CIA. We are a group from government law enforcement agencies. I told my fiancée that we would wear vests. If we don't, I don't know what he'd do. And right now, he is still our boss."

Ms Gibbons turned her back and got a picture from the credenza. It was of her and someone in a policeman's uniform. "That's my husband," she pointed at the picture. "I understand. It can get nasty out there. We will work with you."

"Oh thank you, we do appreciate it," Sarah said.

"And I do have one suggestion, if your people can work wonders, it would likely help if the vests were white or at least the color of the dresses. That way they won't show as much. Even dark underwear will show through some dresses these days," she pointed at one set of dresses.

"Sure. I mean I think they can," Sarah was not really that sure.

Mary spoke up, "I have had a seamstress down near the ranch enlarge… I mean I think she could do it, if we have too." Mary's cheeks were blushing.

Ellie was starting to look through the dresses, "Well, there are several dresses. Did you say there were a couple you looked at before?"

The girls gathered round and began to go through the dresses Sarah had found before.

Rancho Ramirez

Chuck was positioned at his keyboard. He was impressed with Casey's new toy. Any of the positions could link with the main displays or use the pop up displays at their position. All the stations were linked and file sharing was instantaneous. Even call-ups from the servers back at Langley had no delay. He liked the speed and the ease.

Steven had already been in the command center and knew its capabilities. He was pulling up the displays from the last model runs. They now showed the data that they were able to input from the raids on the previous day.

Chuck looked at what his dad put on the main display, "Looks like we should tell Tom and Vera to move again. If the Ring had an abandoned site there, it could become an assembly point. There's no need to expose them to a possible threat."

Kayle looked at it and said, "I could go over and take a look at it. Brad and LT could come along if you wanted."

Chuck agreed, "Okay, plan that out and coordinate with the SAC over there. As soon as you have the details, let us know and we'll go over them with you." Chuck turned around to Casey, "So I still ask you to have a protection detail, but someone else plans it and gives it to you for approval?"

"Right, already on it," Casey grumbled. Then he thought he would be clear, "They are concerned that we may need more support. And do not want to have an understated requirement and smaller force than is required. So Sarah is now shopping with twice as many people as she ever did."

"Casey what happened at the apartments should have been something I thought of, it wasn't something that should been a normal thing for the protection details. We did increase the number on duty by three that day. That should count for something," Chuck shook his head. "Do I need to send something to clarify?"

"No. We are fine. Actually they are paying more attention to this," Casey admitted. "Before the other day some thought that we would have problems arresting the Traffickers. But many considered that a police action. They would agree that it was a big one, but it was still a police action. Things changed a bit when the Ring brought armed helicopters, even though they were old Hueys. It made everyone wake up to a real fight. And that helps us."

Then he smiled, "And get the command center didn't hurt, it came with a planning staff. They are assigned to us, with or without the command center. Nice."

Chuck nodded, "Definitely."

Bridal Shops

Sarah found the dress. Everyone agreed as soon as she put it on. Sarah told everyone, "Remember I really want this to be a surprise for Chuck. So you can say we found one but please not what it looks like."

"It's okay. We won't tell them," Ellie said.

"Well, do you like the pink or the yellow?" Sarah asked about the bridesmaid dresses. They had picked the design that everyone liked. The soft yellow and pink was a decision that had not been reached.

Mary said, "Look I know this doesn't help much. But at the time of day you have planned for the wedding, the sky will be just right for either color. The yellow will go great with the setting sun and the pink will match the color for the surrounding rock walls."

Alice said, "You know I think the yellow goes with Ellie and Mary's dark hair better than the pink." Somehow that settled it. The chorus of 'I agrees' fixed the decision for the yellow dresses. The girls spent the rest of the time picking out accessories.

Rancho Ramirez

Chuck and Philip were looking at some of the intelligence generated by Carlos and his team. Actually Carlos was in charge of several states. He had the Gulf Coast and the operations from West Texas through Key West. Chuck was highlighting a problem they would have to deal with.

A/N Hope you enjoyed. Please review.