I still don't own Chuck.

Um, yeah. Fair warning, this chapter is a little grim for our heroes all the way around. But it is also necessary. If evil didn't win every once in a while, victory wouldn't be as sweet. Happier days are coming, but today is not happy. Chuck's plan was good. It could have worked. It just didn't.

There is also a rather explicit nonconsensual sex scene that might be a little disturbing to some.

The show danced around the idea that Chuck was the only person who could effectively handle the Intersect. Of course they weren't consistent with that. They allowed Shaw to sit in prison for two years, without removing the Intersect, with no governor, and no visible harm. Makes zero sense, right? So I'm going to conclude that anybody but Chuck would have serious issues.

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.

Help Me

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah had never been so exhausted in her whole life. But they were finally in Los Angeles after driving for two whole days. She listened on the wire as Chuck and Laura took Bowles to the apartment they had set up. Fortunately they were all as tired as she was and quickly collapsed into bed.

Now it was time for the part that she dreaded. Casey went with her to the motel room to check on Bryce. Following the plan, he had uploaded the Intersect this afternoon. The very last thing that Sarah wanted right now was to see Bryce Larkin, in any capacity, but especially as an Intersect. But it couldn't be helped. Chuck was in harm's way. For his plan to work, Bryce had to be realistic bait. Volkoff would certainly make sure he was really getting an Intersect before giving up any nuclear weapons.

It had already been a long night. And being here confirmed Sarah's worst fears. She realized that the Intersect had made Bryce a different person the very second she saw him. It caused the knot that was already there worrying about Chuck to tighten even a little more.

"I don't like this," Casey growled. "This wasn't part of the plan."

The dismissive tone of Bryce's voice was impossible to miss. "Tough luck," he replied. "I'm the Intersect now. We play by my rules. When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it. If I want to go out for a drink, who the fuck are you to tell me that I can't? Besides, I didn't even invite you. Do I go along on your dates? Have you ever heard the expression third wheel?"

Sarah did a double take. They tried hard to get him to stay in his room for the night but that proved futile. So it made some sense to keep an eye on him. Who knew what trouble he could get in with his mental current state? They were trying hard not to provoke him, but Sarah was also not willing to do anything she would later have to explain to Chuck. Casey clearly understood the situation and tried to always stay between them. Bryce kept trying to get her to dance with him. He even got more and more insistent as the night went on. In fact, he had gotten downright crude with the suggestive innuendo and the overtly checking her out with that smug gleam in his eye.

"Bryce," she said, making no effort to keep the disgust out of her voice. "If you believe that was a date, then you also believe in the Easter Bunny. I'm an incredibly happily married woman. I don't go on dates. My partner and I were keeping you in our sight, nothing more. We have a critical mission tomorrow."

If that was intended to send a message, it failed miserably. Or at least it didn't send the intended message. "Good," Bryce said. "You're a lousy date anyway, always were. All you ever wanted to do was dance, and tonight you wouldn't even do that. You're really only good for one thing. Let's get this over with and go to bed. That way you can keep me in your sight all night." He turned to Casey. "Sorry, big guy. We won't be needing you. She's the only one with any experience fucking an Intersect."

Sarah caught Casey's eye. The look of concern they shared was plain. This wasn't Bryce. Okay, so it was a tense situation. It had been a tough month. He was clearly jealous of Chuck. And that was making him act like a major tool lately. But he was also a professional, a hero, a basically good guy. She tried to appeal to him. "Bryce," she said pleadingly. "I don't have the time or energy to play these games right now. We've driven for two days straight. I'm worried sick about Chuck. Please, let's just get some sleep. We can talk about the plan tomorrow." It was funny. Chuck had the same exact Intersect in his head that had just clearly driven Bryce insane. But she didn't even fear it. She knew her Chuck. He could never act like this. People always underestimated her guy, but he was strong inside. He was stronger than this.

Bryce ignored her. He grabbed her arm rather roughly. "Come on," he said. "I'm doing something for you. It's only fair that you do something for me. We can talk in bed. On second thought, I'll do all of the talking. With what I have in mind, you're going to have your mouth full."

Naturally the instant Casey saw Bryce touch Sarah he immediately jumped to her defense. Under normal circumstances Sarah would have maybe enjoyed watching a fight between Casey and Bryce. It would have been interesting. Casey was much bigger, stronger and could take a ton of punishment with seemingly no effect. On the other hand Bryce was quicker and had more defensive moves. But this wasn't a normal circumstance. Against the Intersect, Casey had no chance. Before Sarah could even make a move to help, Bryce had unleashed two vicious punches that came so quickly Casey didn't even see them coming. He was suddenly on the floor in an unconscious heap.

Bryce turned to Sarah. "He was starting to bore me anyway," he said. "Let's get started, shall we? Strip for me… slowly."

"Fuck you," Sarah said dismissively. "I didn't even do that when we were together. You're delusional if you think I'm stripping for you now."

Bryce grinned at her. "I see how it is," he said. "I've always suspected that you have a rape fantasy. That's really fine with me. Now I'm actually in a position to accommodate you."

Sarah knew that under normal circumstances she could easily defend herself against Bryce. Ironically in a fight between them, it would be Bryce who was bigger and stronger and Sarah who was quicker and had many more defensive moves. It might be a battle, but she could take him. Then again, this wasn't normal. Sarah tried her best to at least deliver enough punishment to talk him out of doing anything crazy. But again, against the Intersect, she really didn't have a chance. Every punch, every kick, every twist or move she tried, he was there waiting for her with a stinging slap. She was taking substantial punishment and never got close to landing anything herself.

Once she realized that she was hopelessly overmatched, she pulled out her gun. Bryce simply grinned as he snatched the gun out of her hand before she could get it close to a position to fire and tossed it to the side. That was when she looked to escape, maybe call Beckman and get some help. But the Intersect was making that impossible. In fact he was slowly forcing her farther into the room to protect herself as much as possible. Finally he had maneuvered them so that they were in the bedroom. She was running out of room to retreat. She was getting close to being pinned against the bed.

Bryce was taking his time. He was clearly not interested in trying to finish her. He could have done that quickly, just like he had Casey. She didn't even see most of the slaps coming. He was obviously toying with her, enjoying delivering just enough punishment to prove to her who was firmly in control. "Well?" he asked with a grin. "Are you ready to strip for me? Chuck will understand. You really don't have a choice. Or do I have to do it for you?"

Sarah didn't answer. She just threw another kick. Bryce grinned as he sidestepped it and slapped her again. Sarah was close to panic. He was far too quick for her. In fact it was almost like he had superpowers. She didn't see him unbutton a single button, yet she suddenly realized that her shirt was missing. She was far to busy trying to defend herself against his stinging slaps to worry too much about the fact that he was now holding it in his hand, holding it up for her to see, grinning as he mocked her with it. She was really starting to feel the effects of the punishment she was absorbing and could feel herself noticeably slowing down.

Bryce paused for a moment to grin evilly. "Now that's what I'm talking about," he said. "Let's keep going, shall we?"

Sarah wondered what he was talking about until she suddenly realized that she was topless. She never felt him take it off but he was again mocking her by twirling her bra on his forefinger and then tossing it across the room. She realized that she couldn't do much to stop him. So she tried to go defensive. But against the intersect, even that was futile. Through her half daze she realized in horror that he had taken out his handcuffs.

Bryce was clearly enjoying himself. Once he had the cuff on her right wrist, it was easy to use it as leverage to pull her arm behind her back. He intentionally used the pain in her arm to control her movements, pushing her onto the bed and quickly overpowering her enough to cuff her hands over her head and fasten them to the headboard. He completely immobilized her by sitting on her stomach and spent a long moment playing with her breasts, teasing one nipple and then moving to the other. "This is nice," he said as he watched her helplessly lay there, her perfect breast rising and falling under his roughly groping hand as she panted for breath trying to shake the cobwebs from her head. "How's your rape fantasy going so far? It didn't have to be this way. It still doesn't. All I want is what you owe me. Are you ready to give it to me?"

Sarah desperately tried to thrash out of his grip. But with her arms secured and him sitting on her, was completely controlled. She had no choice but to allow him to continue to grope her. "Fuck you," she spat. "You're not getting anything from me willingly."

"Fair enough," Bryce said with a laugh. "We can do this your way. Although I do admit, I'm really enjoying this. The thought of giving you your rape fantasy honestly has crossed my mind a time or two while we were together. I can't say that I'm happy about how crude your language has gotten lately. Is that the same mouth you use to kiss Chuck?"

If Sarah hadn't been before, without being able to use her hands she was now almost totally helpless. All she could do was lay there watching in horror as he got up off of her and undressed. She tried to throw some kicks at him while he removed her pants but it was hopeless. He just laughed at her as he slid his hand down her stomach and into her panties. "Please, Bryce," she groaned. "Please don't do this. If you do, it makes us mortal enemies. You don't want that, do you? Let's talk about this."

"I don't mind so much," Bryce said with a grin as he removed his hand and make a big show out of sliding her panties slowly down her legs and onto the floor. "I'm done talking. I'm the Intersect. What are you going to do about it?"

Clearly the question was rhetorical. "I'm afraid that the nature of our relationship has changed," he continued. "You're no longer in charge, I am. You're going to pay for the long months of constantly teasing me. Maybe now the next time I ask you to strip for me, you'll remember how today went and just do it. We'll talk about some of the other things I've always wanted from you in between rounds. You're eventually going to enjoy submitting to me."

Sarah tried with every bit of strength she had left to keep her knees together. But she was hurting and no match for the power the Intersect was giving him. He was clearly toying with her, keeping the unrelenting pressure pushing them apart, yet going slowly just to prove that she couldn't stop him.

"Bryce, please," Sarah pleaded once she was too exhausted to fight anymore and simply allowed him to push her knees far apart and then to lift into the air. "Don't do this. But if you're going to, at least use a condom. We're trying to start a family."

That got Bryce's grin to grow even broader. "It'll be interesting to see who your baby looks like, huh?" he goaded her. "Imagine nine months of wondering. I'd root for me if I was you. Either way, it'll have an Intersect heritage."

"Bryce," Sarah cried. "Please."

"I'll tell you what," Bryce said with a leer. "Beg me to fuck you. Convince me that you want it and I'll use a condom. It'll be fun to imagine you explaining those little details to Chuck."

"Fuck you!" Sarah screamed as she tried one last desperate kick with whatever little strength was left in her now rubbery legs. "I'll never give you the satisfaction."

"Your call."

Finally, she could feel him enter her. He was clearly going slowly to taunt her. "Don't worry," he said with the first slow thrust. "You're acting like this is the first time this has happened. I'll bet that for all of your faux protest, you will ultimately enjoy this more than I will. You always wanted to move to the next level. Well, we're finally here."

Sarah looked at the smug look on his face. It infuriated her. He was really starting to pick up the pace. All she could think about was how to break the news to Chuck about this. It would devastate him. The guilt was overwhelming, so much so that she could barely feel his powerful Intersect driven thrusts pounding deep inside of her. This was all her fault. She should have never put herself in this position. It was one of those stupid insensitive things that she always seemed to be doing to him.

"We're finally here," he repeated.

Suddenly Sarah was aware that Casey was shaking her shoulder. When she finally was able to wake up enough to realize that she was still in the van… and it was just a bad dream. She saw that they were parked outside a motel. "Sarah, we're finally here," he repeated for the third time. "Come on sleepyhead. It's time to go to work."

Sarah took a long moment to calm herself. She didn't want to sound frightened in front of Casey so she willed her breathing back to normal and clasped her hands together to stop them from shaking. "I really don't want to see him," she said. "Would you please go yourself? I'll monitor from outside in case something happens."

She obviously wasn't fooling him. But he pretended not to notice the fear in her eyes as he opened the car door. "No problem," he said. "I don't blame you."

"I never liked him."

x-x-x-x-x

When Bryce opened the door, he immediately looked for her. He had only been an Intersect for a few hours but the knowledge that came with it had already changed his life. "Where's Sarah?" he asked.

"She's waiting in the car," Casey said.

"Why?"

"I don't know, genius," Casey replied sarcastically. "Maybe she is taking the fact that you ordered her gang raped a little personally."

"That's not it," Bryce insisted. "Yes, she was pissed. But she knows that I was following orders. You would have done the same thing."

"Don't be so sure," Casey replied. "Maybe that was true once. I don't think so now. I like myself better. Are we ready for tomorrow?"

Bryce ignored the question. "Tell me the real reason," he said softly but firmly.

"She's afraid of you, dumb ass," Casey finally blurted out angrily. "Have you ever considered that? It's quite a concept. Agent Walker is pretty fearless. But she doesn't have a clue what you're currently capable of. It'd be a shame to have to shoot you."

The realization that he was right hit Bryce between the eyes. Suddenly he understood. She was afraid on several levels. She was probably tired of explaining to her husband why her ex was always so prevalent in her life. But she was also physically afraid. He was the Intersect. She would no longer be able to defend herself against him.

"I need to talk to her," Bryce said sadly. "I need to let her know that she doesn't have to be afraid of me."

"I would never hurt her."

x-x-x-x-x

The instant that Sarah stepped warily into the room, Bryce could see that Casey was right. He maybe didn't know her as well as he once thought. But he certainly could tell when she was unnerved. It was plain in her eyes. She wouldn't even look at him. So he made sure to not try and approach her, keeping the table between them. "Thank you for coming in," he said.

"Casey said that you wanted to talk," Sarah said. She made sure that she didn't appear friendly in any way. But he probably did deserve to tell his side once without getting punched or kicked. But she also didn't try to hide the fact that her hand was on her gun. "Okay, talk. You've probably already realized that we are no longer friends."

"I know," Bryce said sadly. "That's completely my fault. I've been acting like a douche. I get that now. I… I… Sarah, I'm sorry. You don't have to be afraid of me. I would never hurt you. You're married. I also get that now. I don't want to lose you and Chuck from my life. Is there anything I can do to get back to being your friend?"

Sarah did a double take. Bryce always had a confident, some would say annoyingly smug, persona. She had maybe seen him sad sometimes, after all, they had been in some incredibly sad situations. But she had never seen him this contrite before. Assuming he was being genuine and not simply using another tactic in his ridiculous quest to get her naked, that was a good sign. It was something that he would need to prove to her over time.

"Understand something," she said. "You alone dug this hole with us. You're the one who on your own has to climb out of it. Bryce, I admire you as a spy. I appreciate your role on this mission. I can even get along with you… when you're not acting like a child. But I would never consider calling someone a friend who my husband can't stand. I love him, Bryce. He is all that's important to me. So here is as plainly as I can say it. I'm tired of hurting him. I'm absolutely done being insensitive to his needs. The last thing that he deserves is the worry of someone who should be his friend plotting to get his wife in bed, no matter how far fetched and pathetic the idea is. That is so far beyond acceptable conduct that I'm stunned that it even needs to be said. If Chuck is better off knowing that I don't give a flying fuck if you live or die, that's exactly what he's going to get from me. So getting me to forgive you has to start with getting Chuck to forgive you. Good luck with that one." Sarah met his eye for the first time.

"He's pretty pissed at you."

x-x-x-x-x

For the second time in a few days, Laura found herself sleeping in the same bed with Chuck Bartowski. Well, at least he was sleeping. She was mostly just watching him sleep. Who could have possibly predicted that a month ago? It had been Casey's idea. If Bowles thought that Chuck and Laura were a committed couple, she might lay off them. And fortunately, it seemed to be working, for now anyway.

Besides, they were all so bone tired that it really didn't matter who she was sleeping with. Anything other than rest was simply out of the question, even had she been so inclined. And she wasn't… at all. It was an odd feeling. Laura had never met anyone like Chuck before. She now loved him. Even though that was a dangerous thing for a spy, the one thing that you were never to allow to happen, she knew that she did. She loved him every bit as much as she did Sarah. If there had been any question at all, it was put to rest on the ship.

And she had the agent's pretty open view of sex in general. She was pretty sure she could talk herself into willingly fuck almost anyone under the right circumstance. And she had honestly never worked with an undercover partner before who could lie there in bed with her without reaching over and copping a feel at some point in the night. The excuses they could come up with were nothing if not entertaining. And Laura had to admit, she was pretty much always very willing, more often than not she would be lying there hoping he'd hurry up already. Sometimes she would even grow impatient and make the first move herself. That would almost always quickly lead to some pretty hot sex. But she absolutely knew that Chuck would never, ever, under any circumstance try and cop that feel. He had already proved that. It felt a little odd, a man who wanted something from her other than sex, especially friendship. But also honestly felt wonderful.

It must be what it is like to have a brother. That's exactly what it felt like. And even though she knew he was the Intersect, and in every physical spy way far superior to her, Laura felt very protective of him, would gladly throw herself in front of any threat to protect him. She now understood why Sarah was always so frantic. And truth be told, they were both worried sick about his headache. Laura found it hard to believe it didn't have something to do with the Intersect. And it was clearly getting worse. As soon as this assignment was over, they would have to get him some help. She was so wrapped in her thoughts that she missed the fact that his eyes were open until he spoke.

"Morning," he said tiredly. "How did you sleep?"

Laura ignored the question. "How's your headache?" she asked.

"Worse," Chuck sighed. "It's really starting to become an issue."

"Chuck," Laura said gently. "You're really starting to worry me. I can handle this morning. Why don't you stay here and rest?"

Chuck could clearly hear the concern in her voice. It was plainly more than the concern for a partner on a mission. It made him smile in spite of the throbbing in his head. "I'm okay," he insisted. "That won't work with the plan. Besides, we need to get this over with."

x-x-x-x-x

Finally, at long last, the governor was complete. Steven was on the edge of being annoying with his final tinkering. "Tell me exactly why the damn watch has to keep accurate time," Joan demanded. It was the first time she could remember being cross with him. And she instantly knew why. She simply hated seeing that disappointed look on his face. "I'm sorry," she said sheepishly as she grabbed his arm. "I guess I'm more tired than I thought. That's no excuse for snapping at you. I'm really sorry."

"You don't need an excuse," Steven said as his face broke out into a huge grin. "We've been working non stop on this for a week. Besides, did I tell you how sexy you are when you're annoyed?"

Joan instantly could no longer remember why she was annoyed in the first place. "Sweet talker," she said with a grin. "If you think that sex can fix everything with me… well that's where you're exactly right."

That got them both laughing. "Good to know," he said. "What did you find out?"

"He is in L.A.," she said. "He is on some super secret mission. That's all she would tell me."

"You didn't tell her about the governor," Steven asked in alarm.

If Joan was offended, it didn't matter compared to how cute he was. "Of course not," she said. "Like I would tell Diane Beckman about the governor. She'd have agents knocking on the door demanding it faster than we could get dressed. I told her that I wanted to talk to him about the extraction process."

"We'd better get out there," Steven said. "When he starts to degrade, it's going to happen quickly. And it apparently takes us a week to get dressed."

Joan paused for a long moment trying to figure out how to start this conversation. "How well do you know your son?" she asked as gently as she could. "Do you know that he just got married?"

Steven's face lit up. "Chuck got married?" he asked. "That's great. What do you know about her? Is she a nice girl?"

Joan didn't know how to answer. So she pushed a few keys and Sarah's picture popped up on the monitor.

"Wow," Steven said. "She's gorgeous." Then he immediately tried to cover his faux pas. "But certainly not as gorgeous as you."

That got Joan laughing. "That was a gallant effort," she said. "Really most impressive. But don't worry. I have no illusion of being competitive with the newest Mrs. Bartowski in the looks department. She is actually quite famous. I've heard all about her."

Steven looked crestfallen. "He married an agent?" he asked sadly.

"She's not AN agent," Joan said still trying to keep it light. "She's THE agent… number one on the CIA fitness duty roster. She has a list of missions longer than your… well it's pretty long. She has a couple of files that even my clearance couldn't open. She has a reputation throughout the agency as being a cold, calculating, deadly, bad ass, killing machine assassin. Her nickname is The Enforcer. She was his handler. It was her first assignment as a handler. She clearly took the handler thing a little more literally than the CIA intended. He probably enjoyed being handled as much as she did. Apparently they enjoyed it so much that they made it legal. They got married in Vegas a week ago."

"I know the type," Steven said sadly. "There is no way this is a real marriage. It's a cover."

"Wrong answer," Joan said, still teasing. "I understand that it's hard to believe. That was my initial reaction too. But Beckman says it's absolutely real. This burnt out, stone cold agent fell head over heels in love with your son. Beckman says she acts like a doe eyed, lovesick schoolgirl. She says that it's hard to believe how much she's changed. They are going to retire after this final mission and start a family. That's why they want the Intersect extracted."

"I'm not convinced," Steven said. "CIA Agents are famous for being able to fool people."

Joan put her hands on her hips in faux annoyance. "Is it really so hard to believe that someone who never thought they could fall in love meets the right guy?" she asked. "I believe it. I just lived it. Besides, she wouldn't be trying to fool Beckman. She'd be trying to hide it from her. That's the last thing she'd want to hear. Her star agent was in love with her asset? The last thing an agent would want would be to have the Intersect extracted. Maybe you could turn off your healthy skepticism for ten minutes until you actually talk to her."

Steven pulled her into his lap. "You just made some pretty good arguments," he said in a teasing tone. "You must be pretty smart. You're right. It wouldn't be very fair to judge her before I've even met her. We'd better get moving."

Joan buried her head in his neck affectionately. "I have a proposition for you," she said. "After I deliver my formal apology for snapping at you earlier, against my better judgment, we'll get dressed. As a reward, both for the erotic nature of my apology and for my huge sacrifice in getting dressed, we'll fly to Vegas and get married in the first chapel we can find. Then we'll rent a car and drive to LA. Maybe we'll have time for that fancy candlelit dinner you promised me sometime during the trip. We'll find a hotel with mirrors on the ceiling, buy a moderately priced bottle of champagne, and I'll show you my quickly formed plans to entertain you on your wedding night until you're begging for mercy. I think that you might like it."

"Are you sure that you're ready?" Steven asked.

"It depends," Joan answered with the gleam in her eye unmistakable as she started kissing her way down his chest. "Ready for what? Getting on my knees and delivering a formal apology? Absolutely ready. Getting dressed? Not really that ready. I've grown somewhat accustomed to being naked with you. Getting married? Wedding night with mirrors, moderately priced champagne, and tons of wild, wild, wild sex? Hell yes I'm ready. I'm jealous of this Sarah Walker. I'm not sure if I'm ready to tell her to her face. She scares me. But I want to take away her title of the newest Mrs. Bartowski. Hopefully she lets me live."

Steven laughed as watched her work her way down his stomach. "You do realize that we have to get dressed," he said. "The airlines frown on that sort of thing."

"Maybe we could start a nudist colony."

x-x-x-x-x

Mary Bartowski learned why that Fulcrum Agent's voice sounded so familiar to her the second she saw them come out of that house. It was so stunning that it took her a long moment to process the information. Then she kicked herself for not having made the connection sooner. The agent's name was Chuck. Could that actually be her son? He was a spy? A Fulcrum Agent?

And who was that partner? She was beyond beautiful. They said they were together. Mary had been around enough to know that men and woman spies pretended to be together for cover reasons. She had also been around enough to develop a particular talent. She could read people. And the look that agent was giving her baby certainly wasn't that of a platonic partner. Did Chuck really land such a babe? Of course, he wasn't all that bad himself. Her little Chuck had turned into quite a lady killer. It made her proud.

For a second she thought about helping him. After all, he was in a bad situation. Fulcrum was finished. The CIA was rounding up their agents all over the world. It was only a matter of time before… But Mary ultimately decided that she couldn't interfere. She had stayed out of his life for twenty years. Whatever he did with it now was up to him, good or bad. But she had to admit, it was nice to see him. Too nice.

In fact, she intentionally forced those thoughts out of her head. She could maybe let him and his partner live but that's as soft as she would allow herself. She knew that if she didn't get her mind back on her own work, this wasn't going to go well. So she followed the car from a safe distance.

x-x-x-x-x

Bowles got in the car with Chuck and Laura. "How are you going to capture him?" she asked. "Doesn't the Intersect make him very powerful?"

Laura glanced at Chuck. He obviously didn't understand that she had asked a question. He was holding his head in his hands clearly in agony. So she answered the question by pointing at her chest. "We're going to distract him," she said. "Once we have the cuffs on him, even being the Intersect won't help him much. If we have to, we'll tranq him."

Naturally the plan called for Josh and Joey to be waiting outside to make sure that Bowles would wait in the car. "Shit!" Laura said as she pointed them out. "One of the other Elders they captured must have tipped them off that you would be going after the Intersect."

"What are we going to do?" Bowles asked.

"Get down," Laura said. "They don't know us. Chuck and I will go in and get Larkin. Make sure you stay out of sight."

x-x-x-x-x

Mary's spy instincts were on edge. Okay, so she had just gotten the first glimpse of her son in twenty years. That was enough to spook her. But that wasn't it. Something wasn't right here. She thought through the scenario in her mind. It made some sense for the CIA to stake out Larkin's location. After all, it made sense that Fulcrum would go after the Intersect.

What didn't make sense was why the very last two Fulcrum Agents in the world would take this much risk to protect Bowles. After all, who was she? They could just run. Nobody would ever know. They might even be able to avoid capture, at least for a while. Were they really this dedicated? It was hard to believe.

Then it happened.

The young female CIA Agent stole a quick glance at Chuck when she thought that no one was looking. Mary knew that look. There was concern written all over it. She knew him. She liked him. Maybe she even loved him.

Suddenly Mary realized. This wasn't as it seemed at all. This was a setup. They were using Bowles. But why? Then it hit her… to get to Alexi. Chuck wasn't Fulcrum at all. He was CIA. He was her enemy.

That's when Mary knew. She had to find out what they knew.

One of them would have to be convinced to talk.

x-x-x-x-x

Casey and Sarah were in the van about a mile away listening intently to all of this unfold. Since Bowles knew both of them by sight and thought they were dead, it would be far too risky to be very close.

For one of Chuck's plans, it was actually pretty simple. They would pretend to get the drop on Bryce and cuff him. All they had to do was to lead him out to the car, pretend to tranq Josh and Joey when they went to interfere and drive off. Bowles would plainly contact Volkoff as quickly as possible to complete the deal to trade Bryce for the weapons. As soon as that went down, Beckman's people would move in. If that didn't happen, Bryce would be the Intersect for a while until they could figure out where Volkoff was holding him and raid the location.

Unfortunately nobody was counting on the thirty or so men that Mary had brought with her. The instant that Laura opened Bryce's door and had him cuffed, all hell broke loose. The thirty men were more than enough to handle the five agents.

Even cuffed, Bryce with the Intersect was able to down several but eventually they got smart and simply tranqed him.

Laura did her best, and her best was very, very good. She got some serious shots in. She even made sure that several of the men had a very bad day. But ultimately she was overcome and secured.

Chuck tried to flash. But the searing pain was so bad that he could barely stand, much less fight. So after only taking care of a couple of men, he was also quickly secured.

By the time Casey and Sarah realized that this was going south and could get there, Volkoff's men had already loaded up Bryce along with their fallen comrades and were long gone. Bowles was also gone. But it was still a chaotic scene. Laura was in the room, cuffed to the table, and calling for help. Josh was cuffed but frantically screaming that they took Joey.

Naturally Sarah was just as frantically looking for Chuck. She quickly found that he was in the room with Laura.

Laura was also frantic. "He's really hurting," she called just as soon as Sarah walked in the door. "We have to get him some help right away."

Sarah could see him lying on the floor balled up into a fetal position. His hands were secured behind his back. All he could get out were two words, more of a plea than anything.

"Help me."

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