We don't own Chuck. Actually, we don't own much of anything.

I have normally been posting The Cost of Love on Mondays and The Long Road Home on Thursdays. With this being Christmas Eve, I think I'm going to change that. I didn't plan this but the next chapter of The Cost of Love probably isn't suitable for such a day. It's pretty grim.

So while maybe the image of The Enforcer dealing with Eric Gold isn't the best possible Christmas present, it's all I have.

So I hope that you will all have a happy and safe Christmas holiday.

If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible.

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

x-x-x-x-x

Emma and Molly were huddled together on one of the cots in their cell. At least the bastards had kept them together. Things had gotten a little rough during the capture. In fact Emma was currently sporting a bit of a fat lip. That was courtesy of a backhanded slap that was punishment for trying to stand in the man's way when he went to secure Molly. But since they were in the cell, they were basically left alone. Except for bringing them meals, there was no interaction with their captors at all. And that suited Emma just fine.

At first she was consumed with trying to put on a brave face for Molly. But she quickly realized that, not only wasn't that necessary, if anything Molly was the calm one. She fully expected her new heroes to rescue them with the surety that only a six year old could pull off.

"I wish they would hurry up and get here," Molly finally said with an exasperated sigh.

Emma could only stare at her daughter in wonder. 'Daughter', the real truth was that Molly technically wasn't even her daughter. Fate had thrown two people together who desperately needed each other… as it so often did. And yes, Molly depended on her. But there also wasn't a single day that Emma didn't also thank fate. She couldn't imagine being closer to someone. It was the second chance at being a good mom that had eluded her with Sarah. In fact, Molly was perhaps the polar opposite of Sarah. Where Sarah was always so quiet and bashful, Molly never had a single unexpressed thought. In spite of the ridiculously tense situation, Emma was forced to smile. "I'm sure they are on their way," she said as soothingly as she could. "It takes time to plan a rescue, even for heroes like Chuck and Sarah."

"I know," Molly said with an even deeper sigh. "I just wish they would hurry."

"Chuck promised he would take us to Disney World."

x-x-x-x-x

When Eric Gold finally woke up, encouraged by several not so gentle slaps to the face followed by a whiff of two of some rather nasty smelling salts, he found his arms and legs strapped to a plain but very sturdy wooden chair. Even when he was back to full consciousness he wasn't exactly sure where he was. What he was exactly sure of was that he was no longer in the suite at the Grand Ambassador. It looked like a cement cell, windowless, probably in an underground bunker of some kind. Sarah Walker was standing there intently looking at him. She had clearly turned in her sexy evening dress and was now wearing a considerably less sexy black mission outfit.

"Good," Sarah said with no hint of humor. "You're finally awake. We can get started. Just to put this on the table, not that it ultimately makes much difference, but it might help if we both agree on who is in charge here. You having the information that I need might give you the illusion of being in charge. Make no mistake. I am totally in charge of this situation. You live or die based upon my sole discretion. The only way out of here alive is by making me happy. Oh one other thing, this is a sound proof room. So feel free to scream all you want. The screaming is actually my favorite part. It tells me that I have your attention. This next part is almost always a waste of my breath but it's only fair to give you a chance to get out of this with as little physical damage as possible. Are you willing to answer some questions?"

"Fuck you," Eric said.

"I'll take that as a no," Sarah said in a businesslike tone as she paced in front of him. "I really didn't think so. To be completely honest, I'm not even sure that I was hoping for it. You probably think that holding out is your duty. There's really nothing wrong with that, it's how you were trained. I understand that. For what it's worth, I even admire it a little. However I do think you should consider something. You weren't my favorite person even before this latest encounter yesterday."

That was ridiculous understatement. The roses and stupid card intended to cause her incredible husband to needlessly worry was a mean spirited low blow. The trap with the ten agents trying to beat her into submission was even worse. Then he tried to make Chuck and her into his personal slaves. And that was not even thinking about the pathetic attempt to force her into bed. Frankly, even thinking about it turned her stomach a little. "The things you've done in the past week alone are worthy of a death sentence in my mind. I could easily put a bullet between your eyes, go home, have a nice dinner with my husband, and sleep like a baby."

Sarah grabbed a handful of Eric's hair and jerked his head forcing him to look at her. "But then you went and topped even that," she said, her tone changing from businesslike to pure growl. "You kidnapped my mother and an innocent six year old little girl who must be scared to death right now. I can't imagine a human being doing something that purely evil. So we can forget all about the quick merciful bullet between the eyes. In fact if you're expecting any mercy from me whatsoever, well, I'd ask what color the sky is in your world. I'm going to do whatever it takes to get the information that I need in the quickest way possible. I'm afraid that means inflicting as much pain as I possibly can without driving you into unconsciousness. Not to boast like Chuck playfully is always accusing me of, but I'm quite good at it. Back in the day, my nickname was The Enforcer. Most times I don't enjoy this process. It's just a necessary task, something that has to be done. Today is a notable exception. My new rules are that I don't have any rules. Do we understand each other?"

Eric made no response.

Sarah reached over to the table and grabbed an instrument that looked something like a large pair of pliers and held them up so Eric could see. "This is called a finger popper," she said. "It's pretty low-tech, was invented in the far east sometime at the very beginning of the Iron Age, actually has a more formal oriental sounding name that I really could never pronounce properly. The English name is pretty self-explanatory. It's actually quite ingenious. It works by taking the joint of a finger at the middle knuckle and putting pressure on it until the cartilage explodes. The popping sound it makes is quite distinctive. It's said that it's one of the most painful experiences possible. I've heard reports that new orthopedic joint replacement techniques can now usually save the function of the finger after a long rehab… but it's probably never really the same."

Sarah let her warning sink in for a bit before she placed the instrument in position over Eric's left index finger and paused. "One last time, Eric before this gets very serious. Are you ready to answer my questions?"

"Fuck you," Eric said with an arrogant grin. "You're bluffing. You would never do anything like that. It's against the rules. You know it and I know it."

Pop!

Sarah took one look at the surprised look of horror on Eric's face and the wordless cry that escaped his lips. "Aren't you getting sort of tired of being wrong today?" she asked in a mock playful tone. "I guess we both know now that I'm not in any way bluffing. I must admit, I rather enjoyed that. It was frontier justice at it's finest. Be honest. It hurt like hell, right? And even better, you now know that the soft, sweet, blonde that you once had a vision of taking to bed and using for your amusement tonight is pure fantasy. She only exists when I want her to. I'm afraid she is never, ever going to exist for you. She is reserved exclusively for my amazing husband. On the other hand, Agent Walker can be a serious bitch when she wants to. I'm afraid that's who you're going to be stuck with tonight. I haven't even gotten warmed up yet." That's why she wouldn't let Chuck stay. She didn't want him to ever see her like this.

Sarah paused for a moment to grin at him evilly while he struggled against the pain. "Against the rules, Eric?" she finally continued. "Like kidnapping a six year old little girl, Eric? Help me out here. What rule book are you using which would allow that? So just like you, I now have no rules. Once we've done a few fingers, I'm thinking we'll move to your testicles. I'll admit that will be a first for me. I really don't think they'll pop, do you? Probably more like a squishing sound. I'm sort of torn on this one. I'm not really looking forward to pulling down your pants and I'm frankly looking forward to seeing your testicles up close and personal even less, but I have to admit, watching them squish might be a little fun. Now that I think about it, maybe we should move to the testicles right away. I think I might like you a little better without testicles. They seem to be driving you into some really stupid actions. You're probably better off without them."

Eric was now softly moaning as tears streamed down his face. "Please," he was finally able to get out.

But Sarah didn't flinch. She simply moved the popper to the next finger. "You can stop this at any time," she said. "Just nod your head and quickly answer any and all questions that I ask and this will be over. I have a doctor in the hall who will give you something for the pain. I do think that I owe you just a bit of fair warning. I hate being lied to, always have. I consider it a sign of disrespect. Our team is picking up your men from the hotel parking lot as we speak. I'm going to be asking them enough of the very same set of questions that I ask you to tell if you're being truthful. If your answers don't match… Well, Eric, I was going to say that you're a smart guy and you could figure it out. But we should probably strike that smart guy part. Maybe it's better if I tell you a little plainer. It will cost you several finger joints and a testicle. That's going to be non-negotiable."

"So, Eric, let me know when you're ready to answer some questions, okay?"

x-x-x-x-x

When Sarah came out of the interrogation room, the first thing she did was to find Chuck and brief him about what she'd learned. Brief was actually a good term. The conversation was very brief… and rather tense. He clearly still wasn't happy with her. As soon as they were finished Chuck left to make his phone calls to put things into motion.

Sarah spotted Ellie sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee. She immediately went over to give her sister-in-law a hug. "Thank you for coming," she said. "I'm so sorry to drag you away from your family and half way across the country on such short notice.

Ellie flashed her warmest smile. "Don't be silly," she said. "I'm with my family right now. How much damage did you have to do?"

"Not much," Sarah said. "For all of his macho bullshit bravado he caved pretty quickly. His left index finger is pretty mangled. Ellie, I know that you're a doctor and your oath is to help your patient however you can, but this guy is dangerous. It's okay to treat his injuries and make him as comfortable as possible, but don't loosen his bonds no matter how much he pleads. Morgan will go in with you just for backup, won't you Morgan?"

Morgan simply nodded. He had already had one run-in with Sarah today over 'forgetting' to tell her about teaching Chuck to drive her car. He really wasn't looking forward to facing a pissed off Agent Walker again anytime in the near future.

Ellie also nodded. "Can I sedate him?" she asked.

"Here's the deal," Sarah said. "The only thing I would need this guy for is if what he's told me turns out to be bullshit. Then I would need to talk to him again. He would have to be alert enough to answer my questions and fear that I was going to deliver him more pain. So you can do anything that wouldn't interfere with that. I seriously think we're going to be okay. At the end he was pretty eager to appear cooperative. He seemed pretty afraid that I was going to take another finger so he quickly answered the questions I asked him. But I'm also not prepared to take any chances. I understand that what I'm asking of you might be at odds with your oath. I'm truly sorry about that."

"Will you stop with the sorry stuff?" Ellie asked in mostly faux frustration. "You're starting to sound just like Chuck. I'm your and Chuck's sister well before I'm a doctor. From only the little I know this guy is someone who a little pain might do some good. It could have just as easily been Devon, Clara, or me that was his next target. Trust me. If you need to talk to him again, he'll be available. Besides, Mrs. Bartowski, I'm far too giddy after talking to Chuck to worry all that much about anything. You guys are going to be okay. I think that's possibly the best news I've ever heard. I want to hear every single lovesick detail."

"Thanks," Sarah said. "I've been dying to call you. We've just been too busy. I have to keep my spy game face on, so I can't get giddy right now. But I'm looking forward to talking later more than you are. I understand that you're going to look at his finger and wonder what kind of monster would do something like that. Not to mention threatening to kill you. All I can say is that I used to be that monster. But I'm not any more. Tonight I just did what I had to do. As soon as this blows over you and I have to take some time, go someplace private, and truly fix us. Ellie, I want to get back to where we were."

Ellie nodded. "There's really nothing that needs to be fixed," she protested. "We never left where we were. It's just that you couldn't remember it for a while. I've never, not once, thought of you as a monster. I love you, Sarah. I always have and I always will. But as long as you're feeling guilty, I wouldn't object to you treating me to a ride in this private jet that Chuck says you're so in love with. Maybe you could fly us to some tropical island; we could have a few drinks at a club on the beach sometime while you entertain me with some best friend type gossip about you and Chuck."

In spite of the tense situation, that got a smile. "He's a little miffed at me right now," Sarah began, "but suffice it to say, we're a lot more than okay. In fact, I'd say that we're pretty much perfect, probably better now than we've ever been, even before the lost memories. But maybe I'm not the best one to say. I'll let you be the judge of that. If we fly someplace tropical we'll have to plan on spending at least one night. After spending a night drinking with you, I'd be in no shape to fly us back. I'm pretty sure that you don't want to hear every detail of the past few days since we've talked last, but I'll tell you as much as you can stomach. You'll have to shut me up when it gets creepy for you."

After Ellie smiled and turned to look after her new patient Sarah turned to Morgan and grabbed his hand. Responding to the look of pure panic, she smiled. "I'm sorry that I was so harsh with you earlier," she said. "I… um… Morgan, I'm kind of a hothead. I was under some stress, so I lashed out at you. That wasn't right."

Suddenly Morgan's grin was back, like it had never left. "I should have told you," he said. "I thought about it. It just didn't quite fit in with the theme I was going for at the time. And, no offense, but I'm pretty well aware of the hothead thing."

"I understand," Sarah said with a sigh. "Thank you for getting us down here. It hurts not having a base anymore."

"Hopefully you won't need a base anymore," Morgan said with a laugh. "Besides, what's a Buy More going to do with a secret base? All we've been doing is storing flat screens down here. Seems like a waste of a bunch of soundproof rooms."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Ellie and Morgan left to check on Eric, Sarah sat at the table with her own cup of coffee and waited, not so patiently, for Chuck. They were in the middle of their first real fight since getting back together and she knew that it had to be resolved quickly. Normally Agent Walker would have been able to push these types of personal feelings aside and simply concentrated on the mission… not this time. There was no way she could go into a dangerous mission knowing that Chuck was angry with her. In fact she was quite frankly surprised by how miserable she felt. Usually she would be feeling the nervous energy that always accompanied a mission. Currently she just felt like crying. It was a new experience for Agent Walker. And even though she felt like crying, it wasn't totally unpleasant. It was the biggest sign yet that Agent Walker had changed into Sarah Bartowski. Her priorities had changed. But it also had to be quickly resolved.

"I just got off the phone with Casey."

Sarah was so deep in thought that she hadn't noticed him until he was standing across the table. She was so intent on trying to figure out his mood that she really didn't get the importance of what he was saying.

"They have the men and their car in custody," Chuck continued. "The plan is on schedule."

Sarah nodded. She didn't know how to say it, so she just blurted it out. "Chuck," she pleaded. "I don't want to fight with you any more. I know that you wanted to help. But please don't be cross with me. I hate that."

But when she actually looked into his eyes as he sat across the table, it wasn't anger in there. Indeed his eyes were filling with tears. That caused her to worry a little. So she grabbed his hand. "What's wrong? Is it mom?"

Chuck was clearly trying to gather his composure. He opened his mouth to answer her twice, but no words would come. Finally he just shook his head firmly.

Now Sarah's worry had escalated into full blown concern, panic wasn't far away. "Sweetie," she said as she squeezed his hand. "What's wrong? You can't be this mad at me over this. Please talk to me. You're scaring me."

Chuck finally got the words out. "I just figured something out," he started haltingly. "That trust fund. That's how they found mom and Molly. I led those bastards right to them." Then his voice broke. "I'm so sorry, Sarah."

Sarah hadn't thought about it, but she had to admit, he was probably right. Normally, she wouldn't have been able to look at Chuck trying to blink away tears without blinking away a few of her own. And this was a still a very tense situation. They were about to risk their lives on a rescue mission. But she couldn't help the smile that was tugging at the corners of her mouth caused by the relief. He wasn't mad at her.

In fact it was more than relief. That was her Chuck, her guy, who was sitting there trying to keep from breaking down. It was today's reminder of what had never been more evident. His biggest weakness was also his biggest strength. He cared about people, worried over their well being. It was a characteristic that an agent on a mission couldn't afford. He had lived this life for five years now. Yet, he simply didn't allow the grim realities to alter who he was. That made him unique… and totally wonderful.

"You're being pretty silly," she said softly but firmly. "We were out of the spy business. You had no way to predict this would happen. I wouldn't have either. If I had been there when you set up that fund, I would have said to go ahead. You have no reason to feel guilty for being the most generous, most sensitive, nicest person in the world."

Sarah saw the beginnings of a smile. "I was worried that you were mad at me for not letting you stay for the interrogation," she said. "Can we please make up?"

Chuck simply shook his head as if to signify not quite yet. But he also couldn't keep the smile from broadening. "I have seen Agent Walker in action before," he said as he took a seat across the table from her. "She's quite the badass. I know that you don't believe this, but the badass part is one of your most attractive qualities to me. I love the surprised look on their faces when they realize a second too late that they have underestimated you… just before your foot impacts the side of their head. I actually fell hopelessly in love with that badass. You don't have to hide her from me."

All Sarah could do was let out an audible sigh. He was more than right. This was totally her issue. She didn't like Chuck seeing Agent Walker, didn't understand how anybody could love her. He had nailed her yet again. Why in the world would she still be surprised at that? "I know," was all she could say.

Chuck quickly let her off the hook. "You don't want to rub my face in it," he finished her thought. "Okay, I get that. I know that you're not ashamed of the things that you've done as a spy. And you shouldn't be. You've made the world a better place, saved countless lives, including mine. So why are you so afraid that I might see you like that? Sarah, if you think that I would change a single thing about you, you're simply mistaken. I'm so proud of badass Agent Walker that I feel like shouting it. I was actually looking forward to seeing that scumbag taste a little comeuppance."

"Okay," Sarah said, now her voice had a little of a pleading quality. "It's just… um, just… can we please make up?"

"This is something that you clearly don't remember," Chuck said. "But we fight like this fairly, well perhaps not regularly, but it does happen from time to time. We have established a very specific way to make up. Come on. Morgan says that the bedroom quarters are still in place. I think you're going to like this."

That got them both laughing. "I'll bet you do," Sarah said. "I never thought that I'd say this to you. But, Chuck is this really the time and place for bedroom stuff?"

Chuck's grin threatened to break his face. "Do you trust me?" he asked playfully.

Sarah wasn't sure where this was going. But there was really only one possible answer to that question. "Of course," she said.

"I have a plan," Chuck said. "One that even hard core, badass Agent Walker would approve of. After all, her reputation is that she would make almost any sacrifice for a mission. Bedroom stuff is actually a key component of this plan. It's put up or shut up time, Sarah. Do you have his phone?"

Sarah couldn't quite read his mood. That fact alone annoyed her a little. He was clearly partially teasing… but he was also just as clearly partially serious. So her tone was maybe a little sharper than she planned as she held up Eric's iPhone. "Yes," she said. "What are we going to do with it?"

Chuck stood up and extended his hand to her. "Come on," he said. "I think that they need to think that they're winning a little."

In spite of the tense situation, Sarah couldn't help responding to his relaxed grin. So now her annoyance was mostly faux in nature. "Are you going to tell me about the plan?" she asked. "Or am I going to have to interrogate you too?"

"I was James Bond last night," Chuck replied. "I can probably pull off Eric Gold tonight, don't you think?"

"Let's go give those bastards something to think about."

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