A/N : Guess what, guys? I finally GRADUATED! YAY! Officialy a college girl. Anyway, thanks for the feedback on last chapter, guys. It gave me a good laugh, I love that I was able to shock you at this point of the story :D By the way, what makes you think that Chuck isn't really dead ? I don't see why GRRM can't kill his main characters and I can't do the same!

Enough chit-chat, please enjoy this new chapter and don't forget to review!

Love you nerds !

disclaimer : i don't own a thing except for the plot.

You could hear a needle drop.

It as if every one had stopped breathing, as if the wind had stopped blow, the birds had stopped singing. The only thing that seemed to exist was silence. A long, suffocating, undisturbed silence. No one knew what to do, nor to say.

Peter found himself gaping at the screen in front of him, his eyes staring at the figure of his CI. At least, he thought that person was his CI. He didn't know anything anymore. His mind had gone blank. The senior agent found himself observing the two conmen's reactions, silently hoping that this was part of some crazy plan. Peter couldn't help but be a little disappointed when he saw their shocked expressions. Unconsciously, Mozzie had taken a few steps back while Alex had brought shaking hands on her mouth, her eyes clouded by unleashed tears.

As if they were one and the same, Jones and Diana turned to him, awaiting his orders. But he didn't know what to tell them. Eventually, Sarah was the one who broke the silence.

"I'm gonna kill him."

Then without another word or any protest from the others, the blonde agent walked toward the door, a charged gun in her hand. As she reached to open the lock of the van, a larger hand stopped her, strong fingers wrapped her slimmer wrist. She didn't need to look up to know who had decided to intervene.

"Casey, let go of me."

She didn't yell, hiss nor spat. Sarah had asked him to let go of her like she would ask him the time. Her voice was calm, controlled. She didn't sound like she was about to kill the man who had just murdered her fiancé. The tall and bulky man stared down at her, the fingers of his free hand brushing against the butt of his gun, tucked in his pants.

"Can't do that, Walker." Casey muttered.

"I wasn't asking, Casey." Sarah retorted, her voice harsher as she looked up this time.

Her blue eyes had lost their warmth and were glaring daggers at him. Casey stared back at her, his hand tightening around her wrist as she tried to shake him off. Her jaw clenched and, from the corners of his eyes, Casey could see the hand holding a gun twitch. And he gulped. He wasn't afraid to admit. Sarah scared the shit out of him and anyone who wasn't afraid of the deadly blonde was clearly out of their goddamn mind.

"Too bad 'cause you're not going anywhere." Casey declared after clearing his throat.

"I don't answer to your orders." Sarah spat at him, trying to pull her hand out of his hold.

"Neither do I."

His retorts were short and calm, which seemed to annoyed Sarah even further. She wasn't calm and emotionless anymore, she was frantic, almost hysterical, eager to exit the van and put a bullet into one Bryce Larkin. The FBI agents seemed to notice the change in her behavior, watching the blonde with anticipation as their hands brushed against their weapons.

"You know" Sarah said in an almost casual tone "I could break your wrist and take every one out in a blink."

"I know you could. And you know that I will break both of your wrists without hesitating a second if you don't stop struggling."

"DAMN IT, CASEY!" The blonde yelled, spluttering a litlle as she did so "HE SHOT CHUCK ! "

There it was, the older agent thought as he watched his partner slowly break in front of him, her body trembling in anger. Her blue eyes were, now, clouded with tears and grief. Grief that made him want to look away. But he couldn't. As much as he wanted to. He couldn't.

So he kept staring at her, feeling her hand as it went limp and the struggle stopped. Her gun was pointed toward the ground, as was her gaze. Casey shot a look at Peter, the latter nodding in understanding before he walked toward Sarah slowly taking the weapon out of her hand. Surprinsgly, she didn't resist. Instead, the blonde woman took a shaky breath and looked back up at Casey, blue eyes staring back at her

"He shot Chuck." Sarah repeated, emphasizing on his name. "Chuck. In front of his sister."

And that was all Casey needed before taking the younger woman in his arms, holding her small body close to his. He felt her tears wetting his shirt and let her head rest on his chest as he ran his fingers through his hair, his chin resting on the top of her head. Her arms limp against her body, Sarah didn't know what to do but cry and mutter the name of her dead fiancé.

Ellie knelt next to him, two of her fingers still on his neck and her other hand resting on his heart. Nothing. She felt nothing. His arm was still bleeding. So with shaky hands, she ripped one of his sleeves, teared it in two and used one part of it to press against the wound and the other was used as a tourniquet.

Ellie knew that stopping the bleeding was useless. That Chuck was already dead. Nevertheless, the red liquid stopped flowing, Ellie bandaged his arm and it made her feel better. She sniffed, blinking away tears as she stood back up, her gze never leaving her brother's still corpse. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Bryce and Shaw talking but she couldn't hear them, her ears still buzzing because of the gunshot. It was as if Bryce kept shoting, never stopping even though his victim was already dead.

"Well, that was unexpected" Shaw admitted with a chuckle "I didn't think you had it in you, Larkin."

"You obviously don't know me that well, then." Bryce retorted, a cocky smirk on his face.

Daniel nodded, looking thoughtful. After making sure the safety was on, the former spy gave back the gun. Shaw took it and, turning his back toward Bryce, strolled toward Chuck. The latter was lying on the floor, pale and motionless. It was a strange sight to look at. Satisfying, but strange. Oblivious to Ellie's and Bryce's presence, Shaw tilted his head to the side and said in a murmur, as if he were talking to himself:

"I never thought that it would be that easy to take him down. It's pathetic, actually." Pointing his gun toward the spy's head, Shaw put a finger on the trigger, mouthing "Bang."

"You made your point, Shaw." Ellie intervened, glaring furiously at the criminal.

Turning to face her, he nodded again and put his gun away, his face serious and solemn.

"Of course. Sorry, got a little bit carried away."

"I understand why you would." Bryce spoke up, casually strolling toward him, his hands stuck in his pockets. "But we're not complete monsters. We should let her grieve in peace."

Ellie's dark glare was now on Bryce, the latter winking at her with a smug smirk when he felt her eyes on him.

"Of course." Shaw repeated, taking a deep breath as he got closer to the brown haired woman and put both of his hands on her shoulders. "My condoleances, Eleanor."

The woman spat at his face and shrugged him off. At the offence, a couple of men started walking toward her, imitated by Bryce. They all stopped when Shaw raised a hand and took a .tissue out of his pocket with the other.

"It's alright. She's just upset."

"Go fuck yourself." Ellie hissed at him "Both of you", she added turning her gaze toward Bryce.

Not waiting for an answer, she went back to sit in the dark corner, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. Shaw had killed their father in front of Chuck. He had made Bryce kill Chuck in front of her. Ellie wouldn't be the next victim. She would be the one to put a bullet in Shaw.

"Your boyfriend is smarter than I thought, Ms Ellis."

Sara was oblivious to Roark's smug tone, her eyes stuck on the screen in front of her. Her eyes were wide opened and her jaw was clenched. Next to her, Elizabeth was becoming paler and paler, tears rolling on her cheeks while Alice seemed unsettled by it, as if it were something she dealt with every day. It probably was, Sara realized as she observed the blonde woman filing her nails.

Sara flinched when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Turning her head, her blue eyes met Roark's gaze.

"Don't worry" the older man reasurred her "Larkin is one of us, now. You've got nothing to fear."

Sara glared at him then brushed his hand away and moved closer to Elizabeth, taking one of her hands in hers and lacing their fingers together. Her eyes not leaving the criminal's face, the strawberry blonde felt the other woman squeeze her hand.

"Why?" Sara asked, not needing to say more to be understood.

Sighing dramatically, Roark sat on the armchair of the couch and crossed his arms against her chest.

"Have you ever work for the CIA? Of course not, dear" The grey-haired man continued without waiting for an answer "You are too rebellious for them, you'd be a danger. See, that's how it works : there are the smart ones and the strong ones. All of them have to obey orders, not questionning anything. Well, otherwise.. bang." Roark made a gun with his fingers and brought it to his head.

"That's why I don't think you'd be a good fit for them. You ask too much questions. Anyway, they tend to be overbearing, domineering, manipulative."

" 'Manipulative'" Elizabeth repeated, cocking an eyebrow, doubtful.

"Well yes, Mrs Burke. They flatter you, always compliment your talents and work, make you feel special. And then, one day, they take everything from you : the compliments, your work, your genius .

"Let me guess : it happened to you." Sara intervened, giving an unimpressed look.

With a menacing smirk, Roark leaned closer, making the young woman slightly uncomfortable.

"It's exactly what happened to me, Ms Ellis. They took everything from me and trust me, I'll take everything back and more. And when I'll do so, I'll bring them to the ground and making them hope I had died."

Bryce sat at the desk, typing frantically on a computer provided by Shaw. Every now and then, his look away immediately when his gaze met her dark glare. Closing his eyes a moment, Bryce tried to clear his minds then opened them, his blue eyes darting toward Ellie every now and then, the latter still sitting in her dark corner, curled up in a ball.

By killing Chuck, the young man had sealed his fate, deciding to put his trust in Roark – a man who had tried to kill him and threathened people closing to him – and betray his team. He had decided to join the Dark Side. Bryce snorted as the thought, causing every person in the room to look at him. Clearing his throat, the former spy smirked, winking as he looked at Ellie. The woman scoffed and rolled her eyes at him, resting her head on her crossed arms. After a moment, people didn't found him interesting anymore and returned to their work, whatever it was they were doing. Bryce did the same, sighing.

Shaw returned a few minutes later, looking impatient and slighlty nervous. The former spy shot him a smile which was ignored by the brooding man.

"Is it ready?" Shaw asked without preamble

"Hum-yeah. Well it's almost ready. It'll be over in half an hour. I just need-"

"Can't you speed up the process?" He interrupted, crossing his arms against his chest and tapping his fingers against his arm.

"Sure- but it's not exactly the safest thing to do." Bryce started protesting only to be interrupted again.

"I don't care, Larkin. The product was supposed to be ready hours ago, so I'll ask again : is it ready?"

Bryce looked at him for a moment, wondering if he was serious or not, before he turned back to his computer, started compozing a new code, changed a few settings and confirmed it. He looked back at Shaw and announced:

"You'll be able to test in five minutes. Top."

"Perfect." The criminal retorted with a toothy grin.

The five minutes that followed were one of the longest moment that Bryce had ever experienced. Shaw wasn't one of the most patient people he knew either. The rogue agent kept drumming his fingers against his knee, the heel of his shoe taping on the floor in rhythm. As if it weren't enough to annoy Bryce, Shaw kept shoting obvious glances at his watch every five seconds and sighing dramatically.

Bryce had to physically restrain himself from pumping a fist in the air as the laptop started beeping, indicating the end of the downloading. All eyes were on him as he unplugged the special designed glasses from the computer and handed them to Shaw. The latter observed the object with excitation, fascination and what Bryce thought was anticipation. Taking a deep breath, Shaw looked around him and announced:

"Gather 'round, people. The show is about to start.

Bryce found himself smiling too, as excited as Shaw. Ellie, from where she was standing – between two guards - , observed Shaw, nervous, as he put the glasses on his nose and downloaded the last version of the Intersecret in his brain.

TBC.