Hello. It was a goal of mine around the last week of June to publish five chapters in July. I was trying to break my visitors record. As it turns out, the story I did for the Fourth of July almost did the trick by itself. I'm about 400 past the record before I even publish the remaining two chapters for July. I hope to have the other one out by the end of the coming week.
I've been trying to keep up with Frea O'Scanlin, whose "What Fates Impose" story makes every other fanfic look like first-grade writing. It's a long read, but it is so worth it. (as opposed to mine, which are just long)
Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter, and please leave reviews. I'm feeling jealous of all the people who got to go to Comic Con. (and in the case of LittleChuckFan, also got to attend Yvonne's charity tennis tournament for the Ken-Mar dog shelter)
Los Angeles, CA
June 3, 2011
10:40 AM PDT
A Los Angeles County fire truck pulled up to the overturned car. Several L.A.P.D. vehicles sealed the area around the car to allow the Fire Department to do their work. Three firefighters approached the car carrying crowbars, a first aid kit, and a hydraulic spreader. One of the firefighters peered into the driver's window and saw the woman in there. He immediately put down his gear and laid his jacket on the ground to cover the broken glass strewn all over the pavement. He reached in the car to help her out. He gently pulled her onto his jacket. Suddenly the woman pulled herself up over his protests. She started to walk around but staggered from being disoriented.
"Ma'am! You should lie down. You were just in a bad accident. You're bleeding, and you probably have a concussion."
The woman was growling and not paying attention. "That bitch is dead. The bitch is fucking dead!" She continued to stagger around the accident scene. The firefighter tried to grab her and steady her, but she lashed out with her arm, almost hitting him.
"Hey!"
She stopped and leaned against the overturned car. She shook her head once or twice before looking up. She suddenly realized where she was. She saw the firefighter who was trying to get her attention and took out her ID.
"Alex Forrest, CIA. Anybody else hurt?"
The firefighter blinked in surprise but recovered quickly. "A couple of fender benders because of what happened. A couple of people got hit by debris. Mostly cuts and bruises. You took the worst of it." He actually started backing away from Alex at seeing the infuriated expression on her face.
"Not half as bad as that bitch will get when I find her." Alex looked around at the scene. The sirens were not helping her throbbing head.
"What are you talking about? Who did this?"
"Was there a report of a similar incident within a two-mile radius?"
The firefighter pointed to an unmarked police car. "The Site Commander is right over there. He can tell you."
"Don't touch the car until I get back. I have to call in the local office."
Alex walked over to the Site Commander. "Any other accidents that happened like this nearby?"
The Site Commander nodded. "Six blocks from here. We have an overturned armored van, but we don't know where it's from."
Alex pulled out her mobile phone and dialed the local CIA office. "Spencer, this is Forrest. My suspect attacked your truck with what looks like a Russian-made RPG. Hold on." Alex got more information from the Site Commander. "Sir, I'm sorry. Diaz escaped. Your men are dead."
Alex paused for a moment. Spencer was probably just as livid as she was right now. "Sir, we have reason to believe Browning freed Diaz to complete a deal to deliver data from the CIA to The Ring. I know you want to send a posse after them, but I have to let them think they succeeded. They probably think I'm dead, and I'm going to use that to my advantage. I'll find them, that much I guarantee. Right now, we need cleanup crews on the corner of 3rd and Figueroa and on the corner of 6th and Spring."
Alex went back to the firefighter. "I have some hardware and some files I have to take from the vehicle. Can you give me a hand with it?"
As Alex and the L.A. County Fire Department worked on retrieving the items from her car, she tried to ignore the blood streaming from her head, arms, and legs, along with the consistent pounding in her head. This Dana Browning was a traitor in every sense of the word and didn't care how many people she killed to get what she wanted. She freed a man who kidnapped her and was trying to go after Chuck and Sarah. And they tried to take the man with whom she was in love.
The gloves were definitely off now. She used to follow the rule book to the letter, but the book was gone. She didn't even care if she came out of this alive. As long as Diaz and Browning didn't.
Orange Orange
June 6, 2011
11:30 AM PDT
Sarah wiped the counter for the 20th time since being in the Orange Orange this morning. It was an inordinate number of times, especially given she hadn't seen a customer yet. She playfully teased Chuck for washing dishes when he was stressed and now she was doing the same thing. But she couldn't deny she was worried.
Beckman contacted them over the weekend to relay the information regarding Diaz's escape. Chuck and Sarah were ordered back to 24-hour protective surveillance, but for now they continued their jobs as normal. Casey was keeping an eye on Chuck in the Buy More at the moment, and he spent the weekend upgrading the exterior security cameras at the Buy More and at the Orange Orange. Although it was likely Diaz would lay low for a while, they didn't want to take any chances. She had given some thought to taking Chuck away from the area and hiding out until Diaz could be captured, but the thought of making Ellie worry about them for the second time in a short period didn't make that option sound appealing.
She was feeling all kinds of emotions right now, especially anger and fear. So many people were now involved in this. People she considered friends. People she cared deeply about. All of them were in danger. There was no way to know exactly what information Diaz took from Castle, but the possibilities made Sarah shiver. Obviously he had to know about Chuck, Casey, and her at this point. Perhaps he knew about Chuck's father. He knew about Jimmy and Alex, and now he knew Morgan and Devon were in on the secret, which also put Ellie at risk. It was almost incomprehensible how much of her life was in jeopardy.
In a weird way, she had to smile at that. Those people cared for her as much as she cared for them. She wasn't on a mission anymore; she wanted to do whatever it took to protect the man she loved and all of her friends. Concepts which were completely foreign to her only a few years ago. But she was a different person now. The longer she was with Chuck and the longer she was around all of these people, the more she wanted to leave the field and lead a normal life with Chuck. Granted, they would never be normal…as Chuck pointed out to her more than a few times...but she knew the life she wanted and she wouldn't be denied. Her determination and tenacity made her one of the best agents in the CIA. It was time she put that to work for herself.
She turned towards the door when the chime sounded. The person who walked in made her smile for the first time in two days.
"Hi, Dad," she said as she walked over to Jack Burton and gave him a hug.
"Sarah, honey, it's good to see you. It's been too long."
"I know. I'm sorry I haven't contacted you sooner, but I knew you'd want to know about this."
"Absolutely. I'm so happy for you. I knew Chuck was the guy all along. I knew he would be the one to steal my little girl's heart."
Sarah blushed. "He did. I can't tell you how happy I am we're getting married."
"Hey, I knew you'd always be a success. You deserve to have nothing but the best. And I'll be honored to give you away at your wedding."
Sarah took in her father's attire. "Did you dress in that suit just for me?"
Jack smiled. "Not completely, although I'm sorry the jacket is a bit wrinkled. I flew down here from San Francisco. I was up very early this morning."
Sarah eyed him warily. "You weren't…"
Jack looked at her in mock horror. "Sarah, can't you trust your old man to do something that is completely within the law for once?" Sarah's skeptical expression upgraded itself to a full distrusting glare. "OK, I was interviewing for a job. A real one."
Sarah didn't change expression. "You? Working? A legitimate career?"
"You'll appreciate the irony of this. Yesterday, I was in the Transamerica building visiting a couple of potential clients, and I made some off-handed remark about some security lapses in another office I visited two months ago. Maybe the guy watched too many of those shows where the thief helps the cops because he started littering me with questions. Before I knew it, I had an interview with the president of the company. I told him the meeting had to be very early today because I was coming to see you. We talked around seven this morning, and he offered me a position as a security consultant right then and there. I was shocked. I told him I'd have to think about it. You know, just to let them think I'm leveraging a nice salary."
"You're actually going to have a job where you tell clients where their companies are vulnerable?"
"Only in America, right? I admit the thought of a nine-to-five job would have rankled me a couple of years ago. But I'm not getting younger, sweetie. And the business is so much more cutthroat now. People think they know everything and have no qualms about killing you just to steal a couple of low-reward marks. It's time…it's time I find something that's…better for my health."
Sarah's expression didn't change much. She wanted to trust her father, but he had not given her too many reasons to do so over the years. He was a defective DeLorean away from getting Chuck and her killed the last time he visited. But he did raise her, and he deserved a minimal amount of leeway for that. Besides, he knew to trust Chuck, and that was the safest bet he ever made.
Jack's phone beeped. He looked at it quickly. "OK, I have to take this call. I have a few meetings to attend to this afternoon, and I don't want to bother you at work," he said to Sarah, mimicking air quotes while saying 'work.' "I'll call you tonight."
"OK, Dad," Sarah replied as she hugged him. "Love you."
"Love you, too, sweetie." Jack exited the Orange Orange as a few customers came into the store.
Echo Park
June 7, 2011
8:30 PM PDT
"Guys, I don't know. She hasn't said a thing to me."
"Case, you do realize you're in a relationship now, right? An ACTUAL relationship? I know you haven't had one of those since the Reagan era, but you really have to pay more attention to what she says."
"Lighten up, moron. She told me not to come back until now and to bring the two of you with me. She even stopped by the Buy More earlier and brought me lunch."
Sarah was smiling broadly. "Brought you lunch, huh? I was wondering why Chuck had to come over to see me today. Testing the surround sound in the theater room, were we, Casey?"
Casey glared at Sarah. "Big talk coming from the woman whose panties were caught between the cushions in there last week. Consider yourself lucky I found them instead of a customer. Or worse: Jeff and Lester."
"OK, moving on quickly," Chuck replied to change subjects. "What do you think she's doing in there?"
"No clue. But if you see a white silk scarf or an ice pick, make an excuse to stick around," Casey replied with a small amount of trepidation.
Chuck was amused. "Oh, yeah. That'll happen, Hoss."
Casey knocked on the door, uncertain if Ilsa wanted him to just walk in. She answered the door in an elegant white dress, certain to score brownie points if Martha Stewart suddenly dropped by.
"Good evening, everyone," she said as she gave Casey a kiss. Casey barely acknowledged it as he stood in shock at what he saw inside.
His lone recliner was now to the side as a beautiful couch and love seat decorated two sides of the living room. An ornate coffee table was now in the middle, and the room was brightly-lit with several very tall lamps. There were curtains on all of the windows and an oak dining room table. Casey could see the stove in the kitchen, adorned with a set of very expensive cookware. He was about to protest not being able to watch television anymore until he turned to his right and saw the 72" LED-3D television with Blu-Ray player and surround sound speakers. Chuck and Sarah turned to Ilsa with big smiles on their faces.
Ilsa shrugged. "I figured the TV was a little bribe I'd make for getting everything else."
Chuck looked around the room. He was amazed. "But how did you…how…?"
Ilsa nodded. "I've been working on this for a couple of weeks. The DGSE set up my new cover name, forwarded me an American passport, and set me up with a couple of credit cards."
Ilsa handed one of the cards to Chuck and Sarah. Chuck smiled. "Jane Linderman?"
Ilsa shrugged. "I guess I need to practice my American accent." She inflected her voice. "Does this name make me sound like I'm from Brooklyn?"
Chuck laughed. "Maybe too much. That sounds like you could do an SNL skit."
Casey was concerned. "What about security? I have a lot of…"
Ilsa put her hand up. "I contacted the local NSA office. They already knew about me, and I asked for some help. They heard it was for your apartment, and they were more than happy to supervise all the deliveries and setup."
Chuck leaned towards Sarah. "To hear Casey has to live in a real apartment with furniture? They probably had a few hundred volunteers." Sarah suppressed a laugh.
Ilsa gestured to the room. "Sit back, relax, welcome to our home. Supper will be ready in a few minutes. Does anybody want a drink? John, could you take care of that, please?"
Casey looked around the room. "What happened to all of the liquor?"
Ilsa smiled and handed Casey what looked like a small remote. "There you go." She walked into the kitchen.
Casey looked at the remote quizzically. He pressed a button, and a cabinet to his right opened. There were a dozen bottles of various spirits on the shelves, a sink with carbonated water and beer taps, and a refrigerator underneath housing a dozen bottles of wine. Casey turned back to Chuck and Sarah with a smile that took them completely by surprise. They never saw Casey smile like that before.
"It's like being in Hugh Hefner's first apartment," Casey said in awe.
Sarah smiled. "If she did all of this to the living room, imagine what she did in the bedroom."
Casey looked upstairs to where his bedroom would be. The alarm bells were going off in his head. "I have to do something special, don't I?"
Chuck and Sarah vigorously nodded. "Do you know her favorite flower?" Chuck quickly asked.
Casey was flustered. Being surrounded by two dozen ticked-off members of the Syrian Intelligence Services wouldn't have fazed him as much as this. "Dammit, I know this one. She told me once…"
"Casey, relax," Sarah replied, attempting to calm him. "Do a little research; work it into a conversation at some point. For now, no guy ever went wrong with a dozen long-stemmed red roses."
"OK, OK, good. Good idea, Walker. And I should brush up on my cooking skills, too, right?"
"Absolutely," Sarah answered. "That's a definite 'in' with women."
"That'll be tough. I haven't cooked a fancy meal in nine years, and that was for an assignment."
"You'll be fine, Case," Chuck said. "You've got time to work this entire thing out. Remember? You'll be retired soon. No more Buy More, no more Castle. You just get to relax and enjoy yourself."
Casey nodded. "I'm…I'll go see if Ilsa needs any help."
Casey slowly walked to the kitchen, and Chuck and Sarah could see the wheels turning in his head about what he signed up for when he decided to leave the NSA.
"Was I just giving Casey advice on relationships?" Sarah asked with a smile on her face. "Wow. If that isn't the blind leading the blind…"
Chuck laughed and took her in his arms. "Stop that. You sound like Jimmy. Your advice was perfect. At least as far as I know. I'm not the consummate expert on relationships, either." Chuck held her face in his hands. "But there's no question I was lucky enough to find you."
Sarah's crystal blue eyes had an extra sparkle in them as she looked at Chuck. "I could say the same thing about finding you."
She pulled him to her, and they kissed each other ardently.
Ventura, CA
June 9, 2011
11:00 AM PDT
Alex Forrest found the hotel where Dana Browning was at. Thankfully, Dana still thought she had the necessary parts to deliver the Cipher to The Ring. In a way, Alex was right back where she started since flying from D.C.: observing Browning and waiting for Dana to lead her to the Ring facility. It gave her a bit of pause. If what she was doing really was like every spy movie ever made…and it always amused her how far off those things were…this would be the calm before the third act. Before the commandos descended on the bad guy's evil lair and the brave spy went in and rescued the girl before they went off somewhere and got it on, throwing out some semi-humorous double-entendre before the credits rolled.
She spent part of the last few days trying to calm her anger. Patience was of paramount importance right now, and it took her considerable effort not to walk up to Dana's hotel room and put a bullet in her skull. Alex checked in with the on-call doctor at the CIA office following the attack last Friday…for about ten minutes. The doctor cautioned her about having a possible concussion, but she was going to have none of it. She was going to complete her mission, and some bitch with a stolen van and an RPG wasn't going to stop her.
She checked the computer. The tracking device Dana possessed was starting to move. Alex started the older-model truck she acquired over the weekend. She wasn't going to follow Dana in a car that screamed 'government vehicle.' She had given some thought to asking Sarah to borrow her Porsche, but she had a few supplies that would require a truck. She was armed to the teeth, with several automatic weapons, pistols, and ammunition for all of them. She also acquired a few special weapons that would make a platoon of Army Rangers take notice. Finally, she decided a little poetic justice was in order. She brought the vest of C-4 Jimmy Slade wore to rescue her in Philadelphia. Fortunately, she was enough of an expert on explosives to reconfigure it for her use. She wore nondescript clothing and even tucked her hair under a baseball cap to make her look like anything except what Jimmy once described as 'five feet-ten inches of insane beauty'.
She slowly pulled onto the highway and followed Browning from a safe distance. She had time. Browning could take a nice leisurely drive to the Ring facility for all Alex cared. Alex was determined to make it her last.
Orange Orange
June 9, 2011
1:30 PM PDT
"You are actually going to miss this place?"
Chuck asked the question again to make sure he heard Sarah's answer as they sat across from each other in the Orange Orange, taking a break from work. But he still couldn't believe what she said.
"Not all of it, of course," she replied with that smile that always lit up the room. "I certainly won't have another frozen yogurt for the rest of my life, and I can do without the paperwork and those little pervert high-schoolers who kept filming me every time I bent over to pick something up. Thank God Casey took care of a few of them for me."
Chuck laughed. "Then I better keep my mouth shut, because I took the occasional peek."
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "You I don't mind having a look. I have to admit the occasional fantasy of you taking me on the counter. Although that probably would have ended my career in a heartbeat."
"Mine, too," Chuck replied with a gleam in his eye. "But it would be so worth it."
Sarah laughed. She laughed more with Chuck than she did in the previous 26 years of her life put together. "But I'll miss working with Casey, enjoying time with Ellie and Devon, even talking with Morgan. This felt like home to me, being here in Burbank."
He took her hands. "I'm glad we made it a wonderful experience for you. I can't think of anyone more deserving."
She leaned forward, her cerulean eyes locking with his. Their heads tilted slightly as their lips were about to make contact…
…and John Casey reaffirmed his almost stalker-like ability to interrupt a romantic moment.
Chuck and Sarah turned towards the door to see Casey even more flustered than he was the other night when Ilsa replaced his entire apartment with a real one.
"Everything OK, Casey?" Sarah asked.
"I did what you recommended," Casey said in a rush. "I bought her flowers, cooked dinner for her last night. I kept it simple. I used that chicken recipe you suggested."
"And?" Sarah prodded.
"She appreciated it. I mean, really, REALLY appreciated it."
Chuck and Sarah looked at each other. First Jimmy, and now Casey. When did too much sex suddenly become a bad thing? Especially for those two?
"Uh Case? I don't think either of us is understanding the problem," Chuck said in confusion.
"I can't keep this up for the next thirty years, idiot. I was going stir crazy for the six weeks I was only working at the Buy More. Can you imagine what Ilsa is going through right now? She gets dumped from the French SIS through no fault of her own, and now she has to figure out what she wants to do."
Chuck nodded. "OK, that makes sense. But you have bigger problems than that. You're about to retire as well. The two of you have to come up with something or you'll drive each other crazy. You can't spend the rest of your lives traveling the world, lying on beaches, and just having tons and tons of sex. I mean, you can try. And it actually sounds like a lot of fun. And…Sarah, why can't we do that?"
Sarah gave Chuck a weird look. "Casey, you and Ilsa have to find something you can do together. Both of you have a myriad of talents. Maybe take that retirement bonus and invest in a business of some kind. I'm sure the NSA will help you set up a cover story that fits both of you. Then you set your own hours, take vacations anytime, and do whatever you want."
"OK, that makes sense," Casey replied. "But what kind of business would I be good at?"
Chuck was interrupted by his mobile phone. He walked away from the table to answer it. He talked briefly and quietly so Sarah and Casey couldn't hear it. He turned back to them in a state of shock, even though the news he was given was inevitable.
"Whatever you decide, you better make it quick, Casey. That was my father. He's ready to take the Intersect out. Once he does, you're a civilian."
Casey's mind cranked up to full speed trying to find an answer. "I…sure as hell don't want to be a bartender, and I don't want to deal with the hassle of owning a gun shop. I protect people or I eliminate people. That's been my job for twenty years. Who would legally need that outside of the government?"
Chuck glanced over at another table, where a copy of People magazine was sitting. It was open to a photo of a celebrity getting crushed by the paparazzi. A huge grin came to his face.
"Oh, I think I have an idea," Chuck said.
Unknown Location, California
June 9, 2011
10:30 PM PDT
Alex readied her backpack and her mask. She zipped her all-black fatigues and holstered both Sig Sauer P226 pistols. This was it. She looked ahead at the building. To an outsider, it looked like any typical building to be found in a corporate park. But that didn't matter. Dana Browning went into that building two hours ago. Alex wasn't sure how long it would take The Ring to realize what she gave them was useless. However, she did know she had to destroy the building before they found out and had a chance to escape with any of the data or hardware they already had.
She hid the truck 300 yards away from the building behind a hill. It couldn't be seen by surveillance cameras, and it was too far out of range for their motion sensors. Her plan was to sneak into the building and plant as many explosives as she could. If she was caught before she planted a sufficient amount, the grenade launchers mounted in the truck bed and wired to a remote would be her diversion. She wanted to give the impression the building was under attack by a large-scale force, forcing them to concentrate their security on it and allow her to complete her assignment.
She slipped on her backpack and pulled the mask over her face. She took a deep breath. This was probably a suicide mission. No agent ever truly wanted to embark on one, but all of them knew it could happen. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made for the good of the country, and her mission was certainly a prime example of it. But this was more than just taking down one of America's enemies. This was for Chuck, for Sarah, and for Casey. This was for her parents, who taught her to put others ahead of herself. And this was for Jimmy, the man who helped her regain everything she lost ten years ago and more. So much more.
She snuck around the hill and sprinted down the flank of the main driveway of the building. She lowered her specialized night vision goggles, which would not only help her see in the dark, but would also pick up the areas the motion and infrared sensors were scanning. She dove and somersaulted between two of those regions on the ground as she moved stealthily towards a side entrance. She inserted an electronic card into the lock to override it. The door unlocked, and she slipped inside.
Alex attached a silencer to her Sig Sauer pistol and peered around the corner. She saw one guard stationed by the stairwell to the basement thirty feet down. She took aim and fired. The guard fell against the wall and slumped down. She quickly moved down the hall and went down the stairwell. She looked down the hallway on the basement level but saw nobody. She removed her backpack and unzipped it. She took the first block of C-4 and placed it along a load-bearing wall. She moved down the hallway and placed two more blocks in the same manner. She quickly glanced at her phone, which contained a schematic of the building. If the schematic was right, she was two doors away from the main server room. She slipped down the hallway and waited by the door to the server room. A technician walked out of the room, and Alex landed a spinning kick at the man, knocking him out. She dragged him back into the room to keep him out of sight. She placed charges on the twelve computer servers that lined the walls of the room. These charges however, would be set with a ten-minute timer, just in case she was unable to escape and remote-detonate the explosives. Destroying the computers used for their Intersect project was the first priority.
She exited the server room, and a guard took her by surprise. He reached for his radio, but Alex landed a hook on him followed by an uppercut, which knocked the man out. She ran down the hall. Four doors away from the server room, she hit paydirt. A room similar to the Intersect room General Beckman showed her in the mission files was being prepared for use. Alex wasn't sure if The Ring had someone ready to upload the Intersect or if this is what they would have used on either Chuck or Jimmy. It didn't matter. She placed several charges around the room.
She worked her way down the other hallway and placed the remaining blocks of C-4 in strategic locations. She checked her stopwatch. The charges around the computers would go off in seven minutes. She was starting to think she may actually get to walk out of the building. She was surprised she encountered so little resistance.
I should have kept my big mouth shut, she thought.
A set of twelve security guards ran down the hallway and surrounded her with their guns drawn. She slowly put her hands on top of her head.
"Who are you?" one of the guards asked.
If the guards could see under her mask, they'd see Alex with a tiny hint of a smile. "The more appropriate question is, 'Who are we?'."
She pressed a button on her remote. Four seconds later, a heavy explosion rocked the building. Eight of the guards ran to the front of the building to see what was going on. The other four guards were about to haul Alex away when a second explosion knocked them off-balance. She recovered quickly and spun in the air, landing a kick at one of the guards. She threw a hard jab at a second one. One of the other guards fired, but Alex slid along the floor, reaching out to trip that guard, and knocking him off of his feet. She quickly got to her knees and landed a shot on the man. The fourth guard charged her, and Alex swept her leg to trip him. He leaped over her outstretched leg and turned around. Alex pushed off the ground with her other foot and landed a kick directly to the man's face. She ran up the back stairwell and bolted out the rear doors of the building. She got one hundred yards away from the building on the opposite end from her truck, which launched the final grenade at the building. She reached for the remote detonator.
Alex was knocked down by a roundhouse kick to her face. She was bleeding. She looked up to see who it was.
"I thought I killed you in Los Angeles," Dana Browning looked down on her with extreme contempt.
"You missed," Alex growled as she leaped to her feet and swung at Dana. Dana was knocked sideways from Alex's vicious blow but remained on her feet. Alex took another swing, but Dana ducked out of the way and kicked hard at Alex, knocking her off of her feet. She pulled out her gun, but Alex kicked it out of her hands.
"You might as well give up now, Forrest," Dana sneered. "What I do to you is nothing compared to what will happen to your friends."
Alex pulled her own guns out from their holsters, but Dana leaped on top of her, slamming both of Alex's hands on the concrete repeatedly until the guns fell out of them. Alex brought her leg up and kicked at Dana, who fell to the side. Alex tried to roll on top of her and pin her down. Dana pushed her arm up to use Alex's momentum against her, ending up on top again. She pulled out her knife and tried to bring it down on Alex's throat. Alex grabbed her wrist to hold the knife at bay while her other hand tried to grab at Dana's belt to throw her off. Dana pushed the knife harder towards Alex. Alex kicked at Dana's knee, knocking her off balance. She then pulled Dana's wrist away from her and recoiled hard. Her elbow connected with Dana, and she threw Dana off of her with both hands. Dana rolled several feet away but got to her knees. Alex jumped up and faced her. Dana still bore a depraved smile.
"Oh, what I wouldn't give to see the look on Slade's face when Diaz captures him. I would have taken great pleasure in being able to kill him myself." Dana said as she threw her dagger at Alex.
Alex dropped to the ground and fired the NRS-2 shooting knife she found on Dana's belt. The knife found its mark in the middle of Dana's heart. Dana stared in shock at Alex as she fell to the ground. Alex stood up and looked over her corpse.
"Nobody messes with my boyfriend," Alex spat at Browning's dead body.
Alex turned around and looked at the building. She reached into her pocket and took out the remote detonator. She pressed the button, and explosions began to rock the structure. She stepped back as the building collapsed onto itself.
She exhaled slowly. Some people might say she got lucky, but she knew she earned her pay tonight. She slipped into the wooded areas and made her way back to the truck. She hoped she wouldn't have to walk back to L.A.
Unknown Location, California
June 12, 2011
8:00 PM PDT
Chuck and Sarah drove up to the entrance of Stephen Bartowski's house. Sarah glanced over at Chuck in the passenger's seat. He had been quiet the entire trip. It was very unusual for Chuck to be quiet for even three minutes, let alone three hours.
She turned off the ignition and took Chuck's hand. "Is everything OK, Chuck?"
Chuck stammered a bit. "Yeah, sure. It's just…this is it, isn't it? This part of my life is about to end. I go in there, and when I come out, I'm back to being…just Chuck. I thought about this for so long. I thought I was doing the right thing. But now that it's staring me in the face…"
"Chuck, I know we talked about this, but if you don't want to go through with it, that's OK. I'm not going anywhere."
Chuck put his head down. "No, I should go through with this. That's what we need to do to have the life we want. You deserve it, and I want to give that to you. I'm…I'm sorry for being so hesitant. I guess it just feels weird that'll I'll go back to being an ordinary guy."
Sarah smiled and put her hands on his face. "Chuck, you were never an ordinary guy. You were always a sweet and incredible guy. And you always will be."
Chuck gently ran his fingers through her silken blonde hair as they shared a gentle kiss. They exited the car and knocked on Stephen's door. He answered the door, and Jimmy was standing in the living room three steps behind him.
"Chuck, Sarah, it's so good to see you," Stephen said as he gave each of them a hug.
"Hi Dad," Chuck replied as they embraced. He looked over at Jimmy. "He hasn't been torturing you too much, has he?"
"Only when we talk baseball and he reminds me of how long it's been since the Cubs won anything," Jimmy replied as he hugged Chuck and Sarah.
"How is the new Intersect coming along?" Sarah asked him.
"It's just about done," Jimmy replied. "Just a few more things to configure before I deliver it to Beckman's uber-nerds to prepare it. Everything OK in Burbank?"
Chuck and Sarah were quiet for a moment. "Diaz escaped," Sarah replied. "Beckman thinks a Dana Browning, a mole inside the DNI, was responsible. She stole the original Cipher data."
Jimmy's mood turned dismal. "Is that the assignment Beckman sent Alex on?"
"We think so. Alex was to follow Browning to the Ring facility here and take it out. There aren't a lot of details yet, but Beckman thinks she was successful in destroying their facility."
Everybody looked at Jimmy as he felt a cold wave go over him. Jimmy sank down in a chair and started to shake. Chuck put his arms around him. "Come on, Jimmy. I'm sure she found a way to get out of there. She's probably waiting for us back in Burbank."
Jimmy's voice was subdued. "Then I'm glad you're here to be the optimist for me. Because I really suck at it."
A beeping sound interrupted them. Stephen punched a command into his computer, and the monitor showed the images coming from the surveillance cameras.
"There are three large SUV's coming this way," Stephen said. Jimmy went over to the monitors. He focused one of the cameras on the lead vehicle, and his eyes widened.
"It's Diaz. He must have at least a dozen men with him."
Sarah drew her gun. "We have to get out of here. Now."
"Sarah, I can't," Stephen replied. "If this man is up here and Alex destroyed the Ring facility, they might know they could rebuild the Intersect with my equipment. I have to lock them out of here first."
"I'm not going to risk you being killed, Dad!" Chuck exclaimed.
Jimmy looked between Chuck and Sarah and the window where he could see the SUV's less than 500 yards away. "Sarah, get Chuck out of here. I'll hold these pricks at bay until Mr. Bartowski can secure this place, and then we'll make a run for it."
"Jimmy, you're an Intersect, too! You can't be risking your life any more than Chuck!"
"There's no time and we don't have enough people, Sarah! The only thing those bastards know is that Mr. Bartowski is here. They don't know about you two."
Stephen rushed towards Chuck and Sarah, shoving them towards the back door of the house. 'Jimmy's right, Sarah. You two are too valuable to me. Get out of here, fast."
"Dad..." Chuck protested.
"No time, Chuck! Just do as I say. We won't be far behind you."
Sarah's look clearly gave away how much she didn't want to leave Jimmy and Stephen behind, but her spy instincts were telling her they had little choice. She grabbed Chuck's arm and pulled him out the back door.
Stephen dead bolted the back door and ran to the computer. He punched a series of buttons on the console, and the wall of computers being used to program the Intersect slid back into the wall, and a steel door slid down to seal them out of sight. Stephen pulled out his keys and walked towards his weapons cabinet. The front door burst open and the room filled with Diaz's men. They quickly surrounded Jimmy and Stephen. Two of the men grabbed each of Jimmy's arms as Mr. Diaz smiled at his good fortune.
"Very good," Mr. Diaz said with considerable arrogance in his voice. "Two for the price of one. That makes my job a lot easier tonight. Dana delivered the files for the new Cipher computer, and apparently the CIA was about ready to give you an upgrade, Mr. Slade."
Jimmy smiled. "Let me guess: Project Goodwin II?" Mr. Diaz nodded. "A little lame on the CIA's part to make a Part II of anything, wouldn't you say? Just ask the Sex and the City or the Transformers people."
Mr. Diaz was pensive. "What do you mean?"
"I don't think you'll be visiting that Ring facility anytime soon. It's gone, along with that little bitch who was helping you."
Mr. Diaz's fumed momentarily before calming down. "A minor setback, given we have the man who built the original Intersect computer right in front of us. And your son won't be able to stay away from trying to rescue you."
"Sir?" one of the men with Diaz caught his attention and pointed to the security monitor. Mr. Diaz checked the image. He pointed to three of the men.
"Go get them."
He turned back to Stephen as the remaining twelve men closed in. "My luck just keeps improving. Your son is already here. I just need you to unlock your computers. Meanwhile, I'm sure your son and his bodyguard will come back if they know I'm about to kill the two of you."
"You will never touch them. And you will never get access to my computer system," Stephen said in a firm tone. The man behind him landed a shot to the back of his head, and he fell unconscious.
"I never said I needed you right now, Mr. Bartowski," Mr. Diaz replied. He turned to Jimmy. "Or you. I'll contact the Ring and let them know everything they need to build their new Intersect can be found here. I'll also turn you two over, as well as your two friends out there. Granted, I may have to...coerce them...into cooperating with us. Rest assured, it will be quite painful for them. And you."
Jimmy looked at him with an inferno of rage he didn't even know existed inside of him. His face contorted into a deranged smirk.
"To quote Droopy, that makes me mad."
His eyes widened, and he grabbed the two men holding his arms, slamming them into each other. He jumped forward with a primal scream and spun in the air, landing a roundhouse kick at another man. He threw a barbarous haymaker at a fourth man and threw a fifth man through the window. Mr. Diaz ran out the door as Jimmy turned into a whirling dervish, attacking anything that moved. He landed a butterfly kick that floored two more men. He did a hard kick into one man's groin and knocked him out with a knee to the head. He threw an elbow at another and landed roundhouse kicks on two more. One man tried to level his gun, only to have Jimmy bend his arm inward and fire the shot into the man's stomach. Another man got back up and turned Jimmy to hit him, only to have Jimmy head-butt him back down. Blood was streaming down his face as he took two more out with a relentless set of hooks. The last man charged at him, but Jimmy leaped into the air and introduced the bottoms of his shoes to the man's face.
Jimmy landed and looked in utter contempt at the men lying on the ground.
"Now THAT'S the required number!"
He quickly went over to Stephen, but he was still unconscious. He grabbed a gun and ran outside to find Chuck and Sarah.
Chuck and Sarah made their way along the side of the house, attempting to get back to Sarah's Porsche. The three men sent to get them appeared from around the corner. They came at Chuck and Sarah. Chuck flashed on his combat program and landed a punch on the first man as Sarah brought her foot up and connected with the chin of another man. He staggered back, and Sarah followed it up with a hard jab to send the man down. Chuck landed two more shots on the man who attacked him as the third man put a bear hug on Sarah. Chuck moved forward and grabbed the man, pulling his arm back to release Sarah. He threw the man into the side of the house. The man bounced off the bricks and turned around to receive a jab from Chuck and Sarah at the same time.
They walked quietly along the house. They peered out to the front of the house. They inched forward to Sarah's Porsche. Sarah moved around to the driver's side and reached for her keys, turning her head away from the house as she did so.
Mr. Diaz leveled his gun from the other corner and took aim at Sarah. Chuck turned and saw him.
"SARAH!"
Chuck flew over the hood of the car and pushed Sarah to the ground as two shots were fired. Chuck fell to the ground as both bullets found him. Sarah turned to see what happened.
"NOOOO!" Sarah screamed as she saw Chuck not moving. She dropped to her knees at Chuck's side. Mr. Diaz stood over her and aimed his gun, his rage completely out of control.
"You are about to join him."