A/N Time to regroup.

"You kicked him where?"

"You heard all that?"

"Who the hell are you?"

"Agent Walker killed my wife."

Chuck lay on the floor, stunned, hearing words like 'Agent Walker' and 'kill' in the same sentence, and he instantly responded. "No! Don't kill…need…please…" He gripped the arm holding him down, but he was in no position to free himself.

Then the arm holding him relaxed slightly. "Don't worry, Chuck," said Daniel Shaw. "You're a good boy. After she's dead, I'll take care of you."

'Good Boy' Chuck answered automatically, "I didn't say anything, Agent Shaw."

Shaw smiled his plastic smile. "I know you didn't, Chuck." He shifted his hand, and the arm that forced Chuck down with such force lifted him up with equal ease. "I'm sorry I knocked you down, but I…I felt like…" Shaw paused, shaking his head slightly. He couldn't remember what he'd felt, exactly. He hadn't felt much in a very long time, but surely the idea that Chuck was a threat was ridiculous!

Chuck considered his options. Shaw was much stronger than he was, but he had the advantage in reach, and apparently in sanity as well. Fighting the guy was not his preferred option, but the second he could get a tranq dart or twelve into that broad back–! His gun was right there in the couch, all Shaw had to do was turn around.

Shaw turned around. "Come on, Chuck, we have to get going."

"Where?" asked Chuck, keeping in character until Shaw took another step or two.

"I have to go kill Agent Walker, and I can't leave you alone, so you have to come with me."

"You know where Agent Walker is?"

"Not exactly," said Shaw. "I know where I escaped from, just yesterday, and I know where all the other Ring bases are–"

Chuck shivered, rethinking his devious tranq-related plot. "You do?"

"Yes," said Shaw, his voice going soft. "It's…odd…I just have to think about them, and….it's like a dream…" His eyes fluttered, and his voice grew firm again. "I think I know where they would have taken her, and if she's not there, I'll just keep on going. We'll find her, eventually. Are you ready?"

Chuck flapped his robe. "I, I have to, um, get dressed."

"Good idea, Chuck," said Shaw approvingly. "Go do that, but please be quick."

"I will, Agent Shaw." Chuck shuffled to his bedroom, wanting to run.

Ellie's voice dripped with sarcasm. "The CIA hires psycho stalkers?"

"Daniel Shaw was one of our greatest agents, but it's a stressful job, and even the greatest can crack," said Justin, watching them carefully. "You should know that, considering you were at a CIA psychiatric facility today."

"That place was CIA? Wow, you're right about the cracking." Ellie's eyes got wide, and she looked down at her patient. "Hey! Sarah…?"

Sarah clearly muttered Great! "Thanks a lot for outing my husband, Mr. Timberlake." Then she gave a great gusty sigh. "Yes, Ellie, he works for the CIA."

Justin sat up straighter.

"Even the damn CIA needs janitors. It's not like they can just call a service."

Justin sat down again. His bombshell had fizzled. That was unfortunate. These two seemed like nice people and good friends. It would be a shame to torture them, but…whatever. It's not like they were going to have to live with the consequences. He stood. "If there are no more questions, ladies, I'll go and have a talk with my superiors, see what I can do about getting you on your way again."

"You're locking us in again?" asked Ellie.

"No, Doctor," said Justin, "I'm locking everyone else out. Remember, the less you know, the better." He smiled and closed the door, not noticing that she didn't smile back.

Ellie moved her hand, in Sarah's grasp, pressing 1-2-3-4 into her palm.

Sarah pressed back 1-3-1-3.

"A janitor?"

"Correct, Leader," said Justin. "There is a Charles Bartowski in Interiors Maintenance. Normally he works in the main building but one of the patients has started, uh, 'marking his territory', so to speak, so he was reassigned yesterday." He hadn't bothered getting any more details but Leader almost certainly didn't want these.

Even the robotic voice carried a hint of irritation. The loss of their experiment at this critical juncture would make anyone just a bit…testy. "Do you know why I am called Leader, Agent?" Leader couldn't be bothered learning the names of anyone below the rank of Force Leader.

Justin thought carefully, unpleasantly sure that this was a trick question. "Because you…lead?"

"Because I am not about to let an underling do my thinking for me. You will send this Bartowski fellow's file to me now. And it had better be more detailed than your report. Go."

Justin nodded, almost bowed. "Yes, Leader."

Leader did not wait for the file to appear, an Evil Plot has so many details to keep track of.

The door unlocked, and flew open.

"Where?" said Morgan intently.

"Over there, on the right," replied Devon, pointing. As Morgan hobbled off, he added, "I told you you should have gone before we left." He turned around. "Hey, come on in, Alex. We're all family here at Casa Woodcombe."

"Thank you," she said, stepping through the doorway. Sweeping her eyes over the room, she almost couldn't tell that a home invasion had taken place. The only real sign was the new door, but she thought she could see smudges of powder here and there.

"Can I get you anything?" asked her host. "I always keep a protein shake in the fridge, or I can put on some coffee…"

She didn't want to be trouble. Plus this looked like something big happening, so quick and nutritious would have to do. All she'd had lately was a little apple pie, not likely to see her through this, whatever this was. "The shake will be fine, thanks."

He gave her a wide grin. "Awesome."

She shook her head as he walked into the kitchen. When had her taste in men started running to shorter, darker, and bearded? She heard the blender start up, and shortly the blond god was coming back her way, a tall glass in each hand, full of something green.

"Here we go, some gas for the tank." He handed her one and raised the other to his lips, gulping it down in one long pull.

As she copied him, Morgan came out of the bathroom. "Alex, no!"

Startled, she lowered the glass. "What?" she asked, licking her lips.

Morgan stared at her. "You're alive," he said in wonder. "You drank one of Awesome's shakes and it didn't kill you…?"

She swatted him on the shoulder. "It's delicious," she said, finishing the glass. "Is there more?"

Another bright grin. "Always." He took her glass and headed for the kitchen again. "The recipe is Chuck's by the way. He said it didn't have to taste like roadkill."

"Wait, wait, wait," said Morgan, coming after him. "Chuck's tasted your shakes? How many men were holding him down?"

"None, dude," said Devon, laughing. "He came to me for workouts and stuff."

"Voluntarily?" Shakes or workouts, it didn't really matter which. "And you never told anybody?"

Suddenly Devon put it all in context. "Whoa. Not awesome."

"Not awesome at all, dude. Quick, how does Ellie contact her boss? You've gotta have something here."

Devon put the glasses down. "Yeah, the…TV." He turned it on, set it to channel 0. "General Beckman."

The screen lit immediately, no waiting to track her down. "Doctor Woodcombe, I told you I would–" she stopped when she saw she had an audience of more than one. "Ah. Guests for your stay in Leavenworth, I see."

Devon pointed. "Morgan had an idea about where Ellie might be, General."

"And Miss McHugh?"

"She's with the FBI," said Morgan.

"I'm a trainee, Morgan."

The General recognized the look of someone caught up in another's enthusiasm. "You'll be a trainee when the next session starts, Miss McHugh." Beckman turned her frown on Morgan. "That makes her a civilian with a photo ID, Mr. Grimes, not an agent with training wheels."

"Okay, fine, arrest me twice, I'll take hers," said Morgan. "The point is, I know where Ellie is, and Sarah."

The General's clasped hands were white-knuckled, but her voice was steady. "And how do you know this?"

"Colonel Casey, what is your situation?"

"I'm standing in Morgan Grimes' apartment, General. I was planning to ask his assistance again, looking for Chuck, but it seems like he was kidnapped too." Food on the table, signs of struggle, and the door standing wide open.

"Unfortunately not, Colonel," said Beckman, sounding tired. "He, Doctor Woodcombe, and your daughter were just at Ellie's house for a meeting with me."

"With you?"

"Don't say it like that, Colonel, I didn't ask them to. Your 'assistant' convinced himself that he knew where the quote bad guys are unquote, and dragged the others along in his wake. I can see Devon following out of desperation, but I would have thought Miss McHugh would know better."

Alex? This just keeps getting better and better. "She's got his six, General," said Casey, letting the pride show while keeping the anxiety under wraps.

Beckman's sigh was loud enough to be heard over the phone. "I thought as much, Colonel. He'll need that, where he's going."

"Where's he going?" asked Casey, in a voice not usually used to senior officers.

"All he said was you'll know, and then he dragged his, well, cohorts, off with him to do recon until you arrived."

Recon? With Alex? "I'll know?"

"Yes, something about a lab you discovered while searching for Chuck. I've got the Lensmen searching your reports of the affair, but I hope you remember the location."

Casey headed back to his car, stomping the stairs like they were Grimes' body. "I'll send you the GPS coordinates, General. And when you send backup, make sure they have body bags, they're gonna need at least one."

Orion?

YES, MANOOSH?

Have you figured out the problem with the brain waves yet?

NO, I HAVEN'T HAD TIME. I'M CONDUCTING THE SEARCH FOR ELLIE AND AGENT CARMICHAEL.

I've got something I need to say to you.

SAY IT, THEN.

Switch to visual, please. Manoosh made sure he stood in the right spot. The screen shifted, losing the text in favor of a screen full of rotating cubes. "What happened to the purple?" He liked the purple.

"Beckman got some tech to counter it. I knew she would eventually." Orion packed a lot of contempt into eventually.

"She caught on to something else," said Manoosh, sounding unhappy. "She knows we've been communicating, that you've been sending me the Intersect Code."

"Damn. I was hoping it would take her longer…"

Manoosh yelled, "You expected it?"

"Of course I did," replied Orion calmly. "You're good, Manoosh, but you're not that good. If you were you'd have shown up on someone's radar long before this."

"Why?"

"I told you, I needed hands."

"Oh yeah? How about this hand?" Manoosh held one hand up to the screen , one finger extended. "You like this hand?"

"There's no need to be rude, son…"

"Don't call me 'son'. We both know who your son is and we both know who you're leaving me hung out to dry for." Manoosh pulled his back to his chest, finger still extended.

"I'm not hanging you out to dry, Manoosh–"

"Goodbye, Orion. Anything I find from here on out I report to North Star first, and you never." Manoosh reached out and killed the screen, then activated a firewall of his own devising. Then he turned on his number 2 monitor. "You heard, General?"

Beckman nodded, smiling. "I heard, Mr. Depak. You made the right choice."

Orion sat back. Well, that went about as well as it could have. Manoosh had worried a little about his ability to stage the breakup convincingly, wanted it to be amicable. Orion knew that the more heat the better, from Beckman's point of view, and he was glad to see his protégé was able to get into the role. He replayed the scene, the extended finger pointing… A little graphic on the number three screen, a wave form going through a series of changes, on repeat.

What is that?

Carina jerked awake. Waking up in strange beds wasn't unusual for her, but not knowing how she got there was. Maybe the hangover? No, that wasn't a hangover, she recognized the symptoms of tranq-head. Twice in one day, oh God.

She rolled over. The table by the bed had some painkillers and a glass of water, with a sign: Take these. Masculine handwriting, looked like Casey's. Casey's house? Groaning, she sat up and reached for the pills. Still dressed. Of course she was still dressed. She had to go.

The door was locked, and the thermostat had a sign posted next to it. Speak your name clearly. She leaned in close to the heating unit. "Carina Miller," she said, not feeling at all stupid.

"Voiceprint recognized. Internal security deactivated," said the wall. The bedroom door unlocked with a thunk!

First stop, bathroom, next stop living room. She turned on the TV, set it to channel 0. "General Beckman."

The screen lit immediately. Either it was earlier than she thought, or something big was happening. She knew what time it was, so she wasn't betting on option number one.

"Agent Miller, you're feeling better?"

Definitely something big, she actually sounds concerned. "I'm awake, General, and something tells me that'll have to do. What's the situation?"

A/N2 There's not a lot from the Subway I can use here, but I'm trying to keep the pacing right.

All my major characters are in motion, but where are they in motion to?