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 19—the Shotgun

Rancho Ramirez

Chuck and Casey were standing outside the restaurant being checked out for the rehearsal dinner. Chuck had just asked Casey if he could cover the restaurant. Casey pointed to the hills to the east, "Oh, it will be simple. We'll put a couple snipers up there on the hill and we'll be able to cover everything down here. We can use some armored vehicles to transport everyone. Yeah, it should be okay."

Chuck went over to Sarah, "Looks like this is a go. I can't think of anything else for the wedding can you?"

"Well, we still have to meet people at the airport and bring them out here. But other than, getting the dress, getting the tux, making sure everyone gets to meet each other, finding out if anyone is allergic to something we are going to serve…" Sarah smiled at him. She knew the rehearsal dinner had been his problem, but now that it was solved he would be able to help a little more with everything.

Chuck held up his hand, "Right, still a lot." Chuck knew there was a lot to do, he just hadn't sat down and listed it. He was happy that Sarah had a good handle on the problems. He promised himself he was going to find some way to help more.

Casey came up with Mary, "Don't forget, we still have a planning review with Mary's dad this afternoon. Then his operation goes tomorrow."

Mary said, "I'll get a little barbeque set up for tonight. I think we need to relax a little." She knew they had been through the ringer trying to get everything ready and still run operations.

When they got back to the ranch, Chuck, Sarah, Casey and Mary went out to the command center to prepare for the next operation. The command post crew set up a live feed with Carlos. Chuck began and explained the final results from the model. The operation would start out of Brownsville and move up the coast. The smuggling and drug running operations were using small inlets along the coast. The model had pinpointed the major ones, or as Chuck said the ones that were used the most. The Coast Guard cutter was still going to be used to close off the harbor during the operation. Helicopter support would handle any runners from the scene, either by land or water. The Rangers and FBI would be taking three warehouses. The last job was for the Coast Guard to board the main ship being used by the Ring and MS.

Carlos ended the review, "The operation will begin tomorrow at 8:00 AM Central time. We will be up and live with your center at 6:00 AM. We do not have anything else."

"Thank you, please tell your folks to be careful," Chuck concluded.

Mary asked her dad, "And you're still planning on getting here in two days?"

"Yes sweetheart, I'll be there," Carlos replied.

The review concluded and Chuck and the others adjourned to dinner. Mary had a very nice spread of barbeque delights. There were steaks, brisket, ribs, and chicken along with a variety of salads and desserts.

As soon as Chuck sat down, Ellie asked, "So, who is getting out here first?"

Mary answered, "If everything goes alright, my dad will be the first one out."

Sarah then added, "Then some of the people who work for me in D.C. are coming out. Right now that will be a little later that day. We'll meet them. As matter of fact almost everyone will be going out. They want to do a little sightseeing."

"Hey, and then the person you have been waiting for, Morgan will come out the day of the rehearsal. And watch out, Anna is coming with him," Chuck smiled as he said it.

Sarah nudged him, "Oh come on, they were very nice the last day."

"Right, I am not sure we heard the last from Anna about the night at the beach," Chuck remembered running for their cars and the high speed chase.

"Yeah, I know," answered Sarah, "But she really liked when we helped her with her dog." Sarah had found out the rules for bringing a dog over to Hawaii.

"So which little furry thing was that?" Casey asked. "The one that set off the alarms or the one that never worked while wearing a Buy More shirt."

"Very funny Casey, don't forget everyone will be here," Chuck replied.

"Yes, I know. I had to explain why we needed to protect them all," Casey smiled.

"Casey, you know that without anyone of them we wouldn't be here," Chuck came back.

"I know, just a dream, just a dream," Casey growled in a chuckle.

They finished up their meals and relaxed. Chuck and Sarah went for a walk down by the gardens. "You know, I hope we remember all of this," Chuck put his arm around Sarah.

"Oh, don't worry. I am sure Casey will have a recording of it all," Sarah said.

In the distance they heard, "Hey, that's not funny."

Chuck laughed, "So, do you like mayonnaise on you roast beef sandwich…" Sarah started laughing.

For the operation the next day Chuck, Sarah, Mary and Casey took their positions in the command center. Sarah was happy, they just monitored. They did not expect Chuck to flash and no close ups of captured Ring or MS was going to be shown.

At the beginning of the operation smaller Coast Guard boats drove up the inlets at the same time. They arrived at their targets at the same time. The arrests went smoothly and no shots were fired. The high traffic inlets were shut down. They were able to see a speed boat leaving the next inlet over. The helicopters were sent after the boat. It did not get away. They surrendered near a bridge and the Rangers took the crew.

The Rangers and FBI had few problems taking the warehouses. At each of the warehouses there was a group of MS men. After some discussion, the MS men made the mistake of trying to shoot their way out. When two FBI agents were injured, Chuck made the recommendation not to let any more get injured or worse. Carlos readily agreed and authorized the go ahead to use maximum force.

The main resistance was from the MS on the freighter. They attempted to fire back. It was met with fierce counter-fire. Overall the operation was a resounding success. MS was stopped and several victims were recovered. Chuck's only problem was the lack of Ring involvement. Only two Ring Agents were arrested.

The next two days were busy. A procession to the airport and back occurred almost regularly. Carlos came back as promised. Several of Sarah's staff came out. They were all using vacation time to make the trip. Each eagerly awaited the official tour of Buy More, Orange Orange, Castle and the apartments. It was thrill for each to see where their analysis went and where the missions were carried out. Sarah's team members were treated like Rock stars. And Liz received royal treatment like she was one of their long lost members.

The day before the wedding became a torrent. Casey's Protective Details permanently manned the airports. Caravans of security forces shuttled the guests to the ranch. The overflow of guests was given rooms at a nearby hotel. Morgan and Anna came back from Hawaii.

Chuck spent the day in the command center. He continued to go over his model looking for indications of the Ring. Sarah finally came into the center, "Chuck we have to go. The rehearsal starts in ten minutes. We have to get over there. Everyone is waiting."

"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to make sure everyone is going to be okay," Chuck threw up his hands.

"It will be fine. Casey has enough people to cover tomorrow. With my boss and yours at the same location, we have more than enough to cover everything. Plus you know almost everyone in the wedding party will be armed," she smiled.

"Yeah, I am starting to feel like this is one of the old Godfather weddings," Chuck chuckled.

"I know, Casey already said he is packing a shotgun. This happens no matter what. He isn't going to do it over," Sarah laughed. The tension was there and they both knew they would make it. Sarah wrapped her arms around him, "Come on. Let's go."

When they got to the chapel for the Rehearsal, the Chaplain took Chuck and Sarah aside, "Say I found an old ledger in the chapel. It was listing the events from back in the 1800s. Did you have relatives back here then? There was a marriage of a Charles Bartowski and Sarah listed. The last name on the Sarah entry is muddled. Someone put a glass on it and the ink ran."

"Interesting, I'll have to ask Dad," Chuck raised an eyebrow.

The rehearsal was a real practice. The organist played the songs intended for the wedding. He wanted to get used to the organ. Everyone walked down the aisle to his or her positions. The Chaplain went through the vows with Chuck and Sarah. Chuck and Sarah pretended to get the rings and put them on each other's hand. They filed out of the chapel and waited for everyone. Casey's detail showed them to their armored vehicles and they left for the dinner.

The sun was setting and the yellow background light was decreasing. They had just completed a round of toasts and Casey's phone started ringing. Two Captains came into the reception area and went to Casey. Chuck and Sarah saw the activity. Chuck said, "Keep the toasts going, I'll check." Casey was animated and Mary was reaching in her purse.

Chuck got to Casey, "What's happening big guy?"

"We lost contact with the oversee positions. Visuals don't show them in position either. The UAV is coming into position. It is a UCAV and armed. Keep everyone in here and away from the windows," Casey was telling Chuck and directing activities at the same time.

Chuck flashed at the idea the oversee positions were compromised, "Casey, we need to move everyone down the hall into the other conference room. Its windows are on the ocean side. Have the hotel deliver the deserts down there."

Casey looked at the Captains, "Go. Go. Do it now."

Chuck walked back to his position, "I am sorry everyone. We have a slight problem to overcome. The desserts are going to be served in the other conference room. Please use that exit and our ushers will show you to the room." To emphasize the point he said, "Teams, we need to move now."

That was the spur that got it moving. Their team members quickly got to their feet and encouraged everyone to move through the exit. Chuck and Sarah made sure everyone got out. Casey and his detail were the last in the room. Chuck had noticed the balloons on the ceiling. They were for the event planned for the next night. The hotel asked if they could position them ahead of time, now Chuck was happy they did.

Chuck said to Casey, "Let's find out who and where they are. Promise the hotel that we'll pay for the damages." He smiled and pointed at the balloons.

Casey nodded, "Everyone out. Now. Now." He waited for the last, "Okay. Go now." He hit the lights and Chuck pulled the chord on the balloons. "This is Casey. Standby to return fire."

It did not take long. Sniper fire began coming through the windows. The lights backlit the balloons and when they came close to the windows, the snipers were taking the shot.

Casey called out, "This is Casey. Return fire. I say again, return fire."

The counter-fire mission lasted less than a minute. When the sniper bullets stopped, Casey signaled a cease-fire. Casey said, "You guys go join the party. We'll take care of this." He saw Chuck and Sarah hesitate. Casey joked, "Wasn't kidding. Go." He pulled back his coat to show the shotgun.

Chuck smiled, "Got it, the last, 'stay in the car.'" He took Sarah's arm and headed down the hall.

Everyone had been served. They were waiting for Chuck and Sarah. Sarah said, "Sorry we had a slight ringing problem. Casey eliminated the problem. Please enjoy." The Sarah's team and the analysts understood what just happened. Jeff and Lester shrugged it off as another feedback problem in the sound system.

In a while Casey came into the room, he was smiling. Mary was with him and looked so happy.

Chuck and Sarah got up and went to the side with them. Casey said, "Well, that should be it. Four positions were compromised. And I am sorry to report that we have four seriously wounded men. They are being evacuated. Doc Adams is with them. The Ring agents, twenty in all, were eliminated. And we got one extra prize; a command van had three people in it. We believe one of them was the senior Ring Elder and probably the only one on the loose. With his reaction, this was pure vengeance. No other reason. You can run your models again, but I think that was the end of the Ring here in the States."

Mary added, "You guys keep going with the wedding activities. We will take care of the wounded men."

Chuck shook his head, "No, we will stop by." He looked at Casey, smiling, "Make it so."

Casey looked at him with a growl coming out.

"Do it, please." Chuck stood there.

Sarah intervened, "Casey, I can't do it any other way either. We'll leave here in an hour."

After another growl, Casey turned and started talking into his mic. They got to the hospital an hour and half later. Chuck and Sarah made their calls and left the hospital in separate helicopters. Sarah went back to the ranch. Chuck was taken to the hotel.

The next day was almost as hectic. Chuck went to meet his boss at March Air Reserve Base near Riverside. Mary and Casey went along. Sarah and Alice met her boss at Los Angeles Airport. Steven went to get Sarah's dad. Ellie and Awesome went out to get the Awesomes. General Beckman and the retired Roan Montgomery were the last to be picked up; the Chief and LT met them at the ranch helipad.

Morgan got Chuck out of the hotel room, "Chuck its time. I have the ring right here." He held it up and showed that he put it his coat pocket. "We won't have that problem today. Casey gave us thumbs up. The van is outside. You ready for this, man?"

"Yes, Morgan. I am ready." Chuck replied.

They headed out the door and to the van. It was a short trip to the ranch. Chuck just stared out the window. 'We are really getting married after all this. She is so beautiful. Okay, Morgan has the ring. I saw him put it in his pocket. Yeah, have to check for a hole. Everyone will be there and Sarah will walk in. She had it all decorated. The groom's cake is in place for the reception, saw that this morning. I have the tickets for the honeymoon. Dad knows, but I think he is the only one. Well, except Casey's Delta Team and they promised to keep it quiet. Bags are all packed and the team has them. Yeah, this will work. Showtime.' Chuck got out of the van.

Chuck stood looking at the chapel. It was an old wooden chapel. The outside had wooden siding that looked more like planks than anything. The roof was wooden shingles with a small steeple and cross on the top. The bushes around the chapel were blooming, just looking at them almost made him sneeze. He smiled as he approached the building, a color guard held their sabers in an arch as he entered.

He walked down thea isle admiring the flowers and decorations. It really did work. There were ribbons highlighting the aisle and gardenias at the end of each pew. There were larger baskets of gardenias at the front and ribbons around the pulpit. Chuck went to the front and turned. Sarah's boss, teams and analysts were seated on Chuck's right. Chuck's dad, his boss, several members from the protective details and the Buy More contingent were on the left.

The procession began, LT and Kristen, followed by Chief and Alice, Eldie and Liz, Tom and Vera, Kayle and Anna, Casey and Mary, Morgan and Ellie. He could see over Ellie, Sarah and her dad were in the door. He watched in amazement as she was more beautiful than he ever saw her before. He was sure the sun coming in the windows only help reflect the beaming brightness that radiated from her.

Sarah took the hand of her father getting out of the van that brought her from the ranch house. He held her hand as they went through the arch of sabers and entered the chapel. It was better than Sarah had imagined. The sun lit the flowers and the room seemed to sparkle. She saw Chuck at the front and began her gleaming smile. 'Okay, walk slowly. He looks so great up there. Everything is so nice. Walk slow. The gardenias go with their dresses. And they look great. And Chuck,' She smiled to herself, 'Casey would say he did good, he made it in one piece. Walk slow. This is great, just what I wanted.' She knew to pace the walk to the front and kept reminding herself. She wanted to make it go a little slower and then she was there. It seemed so fast and then her dad was going to his seat.

"And I present Mr. and Mrs. Bartowski. You may now kiss the bride," the chaplain ended.

A/N Hope you enjoyed. Finally, got them married. This chapter completes Chuck vs Leave of the Plans Series. I do plan on another, but likely a month or so before it starts. Thank you for all of the reviews. Happy 4th of July.