And once again, I have to apologize for my tardiness. I got caught up in working overtime last week and spent the first part of this week with an illness. I used to be so good at cranking these stories out. I don't know what happened with me. I will say this though; we are starting to make the turn towards the conclusion of this long journey. At this point, I'm projecting between 43 and 46 chapters. It makes for a pretty big story, I do admit. But I do appreciate you taking the ride with me.

As I'm sure you'll notice, I'm doing my best to balance the characters and give everybody some text time. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't. But like my two Next Generation stories, there are a lot of characters who are involved. But that makes sense. After all, wouldn't you do anything for Chuck and Sarah if you were in this universe? :-D

I'll try to get the next chapter out within the two weeks. However, I'll be starting a three-month substitution as a mathematics teacher in a local high school so I can't guarantee anything. I'm not nervous about it; I'm scared out of my mind. I haven't been in the classroom in ten years and that was a different town. If you see someone being led away from a suburban Chicago high school in a straitjacket, you'll know it was me. :-D

Anyway, thanks for reading. Please leave reviews, please note this still remains the property of NBC and Fake Empire productions, and please have a better 2017 than you did a 2016.

Buy More – Burbank, CA
June 5, 2016
10:00 PM PDT

Sarah kept a close watch on Chuck, holding his hand as Carina contacted General Beckman and briefed her on the events of the evening over a secure line. An NSA cleanup crew fixed the damaged parts of the store while the rest of the team kept an eye on the perimeter to make sure nobody would try anything.

"What did you see, Chuck?" Stephen asked his son.

"I saw the file on Daniel Shaw," Chuck replied softly, still in pain from the flashes he had. "He was an agent in the CIA. He was recruited out of the University of Iowa where he met Evelyn. Both of them worked as agents for a few years before getting married. Then she went to Prague and was killed there."

"Confirmed," Carina said, having done a search on the information from Chuck's flash. "According to our records, she was on a mission to find what she thought was an arms dealer. Graham ordered her to make contact with someone in their organization. Try to get as much information as she could and eliminate them after that."

"So why does Shaw think you killed her, Sarah?" Stephen asked. "Why were you in Prague at that time?"

"It was my first assignment," she replied. "It was my Red Test, right before I was put on the CAT Squad with Carina. I was given information on what Graham thought was a mole inside the CIA and my job was to eliminate them." Her breathing became labored. "I'm walking through this park and…I…I heard a shot fired. I ducked out of the way and hid behind a tree. I peeked out and I saw someone in the distance raise a gun at me. I fired back and…"

Sarah fell back into the chair. "Oh, my God. I did kill her. I killed his wife."

"No, Sarah. Don't do that." Carina replied forcefully, grabbing her best friend's shoulders. "You didn't kill her. That was self-defense. Do you even know who you were shooting at? Did you see her face?"

"No…I mean, it was dark, but I…I killed her…"

"You had no clue who that was. Your life was in danger, and you had less than a second to think about it. OK? How the hell could you know who you were shooting at? The Ring found Shaw and fed him this bullshit in order to get to us."

"But what do we do?" Chuck asked. "They must know now we're doing something in the store."

"That's the biggest problem," Stephen replied with a sigh. "It'd take time to set up a new location and transfer everything I've done so far. Time you don't have. The flashes are just going to get worse."

"I'll talk with Case and Jimmy," Carina replied. "They can come up with a few new ways to keep this place secure. And let's keep you at the hotel while the store is open so nobody from the Ring can just slip in through the front door. If you need to do things with the setup here, we'll come back at night when the store is closed and it'll be easier to guard you."

Stephen nodded. "Let's talk to John and Jimmy."

The two left, leaving Chuck and Sarah alone. Chuck looked up at her and still saw the hurt on her face. He reached up and gently caressed it.

"It's OK, Sarah," he said gently.

"No, it's not OK," Sarah said as her eyes welled up. "I saw what the Intersect did to you when Shaw put the gun to my head. It almost killed you!" She began to shake uncontrollably. "I did this. I brought this man to us. To you. I put you in danger…"

"No you didn't!" Chuck exclaimed, although his voice was still a bit weak. "Carina's right. You didn't kill Evelyn. Shaw is psychotic. I saw it in his eyes. The Ring must have set you up, and his rage just locked on to what they told him. You're not capable of murder."

"But I have, Chuck. All of us have had to kill in our past. You've seen it yourself."

"I've seen you defend yourselves. And I've seen you defend others. Me especially. And after being with all of you the past nine months, I'm sorry. None of you are capable of murdering an innocent person in cold blood. I will never believe that."

"But…what happened in Prague…"

"OK, what if you really did kill her? Who were you at the time? You were a scared rookie agent who was thrown to the wolves. Someone shot at you and you shot back. What else could you have done?"

Chuck sat up slowly and put his arms around Sarah. "This was not you, Sarah, because it CAN'T be you. I don't care what your past was like. The Sarah I know isn't capable of what Shaw thinks you did. He wants someone to blame for the hurt he's felt. But we'll find out what happened. That much I guarantee."

He gently took his face in her hands and wiped away a few stray tears. "I'm going to do whatever I can to make things right. What you've meant to me is beyond comprehension."

Sarah looked into his eyes. It was funny that he always drew strength and confidence from her. Right now, the tables were turned. She felt that confidence from him, that sense of calm that she needed right then. She could not have felt more fortunate to have walked into the Buy More nine months ago.

She placed her lips on his and kissed him with an increasing passion and hunger, gripping him almost to the point of drawing blood.

"I love you, Chuck," she whispered into his ear, pressing her face against his. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," he replied. "I'd do anything for you."

She pulled back a bit. "And about that. How you risked your life trying to take on Shaw…"

Chuck's eyes widened. "I…I was just trying to defend you…"

Sarah lunged at Chuck's lips once again, cutting off his response with an even more fiery kiss. "Thank you," she said, cradling his face in her hands.

Chuck gave her that smile, the one that could soothe her soul no matter how turbulent it was. They continued to kiss.

W Hotel – Los Angeles, CA
June 6, 2016
8:00 AM PDT

"What is the Intersect?"

Shaw's mood hadn't changed much since the prior night when he barely got away from capturing Chuck Bartowski and killing Sarah Walker. The Ring hadn't been up-front with him about the importance of Bartowski, and their incompetence, despite the help he gave them, meant that the rest of Sarah's team was still alive.

"The government needed a resource to utilize all of the data their agents collected from the field and analyze it for patterns faster than a human could," Shaw's Ring contact replied. "The Intersect was designed to do this. Stephen Bartowski…the man who shot at you last night…invented it back in the 1980s after a failed attempt at implanting a new personality into the memories of a volunteer British agent. He theorized that an image could contain subliminal data and whoever saw the image would know that information. The first person it was tried on supposedly went insane and committed suicide, but that was not the case. He's now part of Walker's team. Agent Slade."

"So now the Intersect has become a success?"

The man nodded. "We thought we had gotten to one of their agents, a Bryce Larkin. But he stole the Intersect data before we could get our hands on it and sent it to Chuck Bartowski. Every attempt to retrieve the data has failed…except one. We managed to retain some of the files the newest Intersect had despite Walker's team attacking us and stealing it back from us. Some of which included combat skills. We think implanting those into your mind will give you the advantage you need to give us what we want. And what you want."

Shaw stared at the man. He could barely fathom what the Ring was proposing. He would see a bunch of pictures and then have the same skills Bartowski used to defeat him last night? It sounded ludicrous, but it would also explain a lot. How else can some nerd who worked in a Buy More suddenly become part of all of this? If he wanted to kill Walker, he needed an edge against her team. And Bartowski.

"What do I have to do?"

Unknown Location
June 6, 2016
8:00 AM

Clyde Decker once again found himself in front of the Ring leadership.

"Perhaps you can give us a reason why you should not be eliminated," the leader asked from the center of the table. "In spite of the intel provided by Agent Shaw, you still failed in eliminating Walker's team."

"Your agents were sloppy," Decker replied. "I set up the location and gave you the satellite recon you needed to kill Walker's team. I cannot be held responsible for their incompetence. Their stupidity cost them their lives."

Decker stepped forward. "You pride yourself on being methodical and thorough, yet you are trusting an agent who is blinded by his hatred for Agent Walker?"

"What do you suggest?" the man at the far right asked.

"General Beckman has been playing this close to the vest. Which means not even people in the DNI knows what is going on between her and Walker's team."

Decker looked at each of the five leaders of the Ring one-by-one. "We start by taking her out of the picture."

"How do you propose to do that?" the Ring leader asked.

"Exactly what we tried to do to Walker's team. Only this time, we'll succeed."

Tangerine Hotel – Burbank, CA
June 6, 2016
2:00 AM PDT

Carina looked at the doors to the hotel rooms for the hundredth time in the last hour. Casey, Ilsa, Alex, and Jimmy remained at the Buy More with the NSA crew to bolster the security of the store. Chuck and Sarah were in for the night, as were Mr. Bartowski, Ellie, and Devon. She was determined to keep watch, even though Cole offered to have the agents he brought in keep an eye on the Bartowskis. But an angry glare from her and a steadfast shake of her head were all Cole needed to know that she had to do this herself. Not that he could blame her. From what he had found out about Carina, she had been best friends with Sarah since both of them were part of the CAT Squad over a dozen years ago. Certainly he could appreciate Carina's loyalty to her boss, even if he didn't have as much experience. But then, he hadn't spent a lot of time working with a team of spies like this. And spending time with Carina and her friends made him the see the advantages rather quickly.

"How are you holding up?" he asked as he walked up to her after checking that his own people were prepared for tomorrow.

"I'm fine," Carina replied in a brusque fashion.

Cole shook his head and laughed. "I think I'd believe you more had you said you were going to give up partying for Lent."

"Not in the mood for jokes," she hissed.

"I apologize. But you seem to be taking this personally and that's not really you. Surely all of you have been in danger before."

Carina exhaled slowly and leaned against the wall. "We have. This just…you're right. This feels personal. Shaw thinks Sarah killed his wife? No way would Sarah do that, not murder someone for no reason."

"Sounds like he's pretty convinced she did. Very brazen of him to turn to the Ring and then help them try to kill all of us."

"He's not thinking straight. He lost his wife and has probably been looking for revenge ever since."

"That's the hardest type of person to stop: someone with nothing to lose."

"Yeah. I…I'm just…"

"I understand." Cole looked at her for a moment. "Sarah's a good leader. That much is apparent. I can see why all of you would go to such great lengths to protect Chuck and her."

Carina nodded. "We've been best friends for years. Well, most of that time."

"What do you mean?"

"We were part of this special group within the CIA when we first started: the Clandestine Attack Team, or CAT Squad. There was Sarah, me, Zondra, and Amy. Zondra was tough as nails, and Amy was the party girl. But Amy eventually betrayed the rest of us, and the relationship soured between Sarah and Zondra. I don't think they've spoken since."

"And you?"

"In the latter part of our time together, we recovered a large diamond, the Nadan-I-Noor diamond. It was meant to be used in the purchase of weapons and equipment for a slew of terrorist groups, but an ambitious supervisor in the DEA contacted me and wanted me to take the diamond to use as a bargaining chip to obtain routes and manifests for a group of ships rumored to be smuggling heroin to the States. He promised a big role in the DEA in return.

"I knew the CAT Squad was going to break up sooner rather than later, so I jumped at the chance. Except when I stole the diamond and Sarah tried to find me, she was captured by the man we stole it from in the first place. Somehow, she managed to get free and even helped me get the job with the DEA by getting that shipping data. But then she walked away from me. She felt betrayed and I can't say I blame her."

"Then you reunited?"

"Six years later. They were changing the format of the show so Sarah would be the leader and someone else would play the seductress. It was Sarah's idea to have me join the team and play Jill Garrett. That first time back was very uncomfortable. I was a bit surprised she would trust me to do this, but we talked and talked, and I understood what she needed me to do. I couldn't go off on my own; I couldn't put me first. I had to think of the team. The more I tried to do that, the more she trusted me. And as time went on, we grew close again and the team became even more successful."

"That's putting it mildly. But it doesn't really sound like you lost your playful edge. Certainly not based on what I've seen of you."

Carina looked at Cole and a smile drew across her face. "Well, I did find it fun to torture John about our little adventure in Prague ten years ago. Managed to handcuff him to a bed and steal some intel both the DEA and NSA wanted. And I admit to teasing Jimmy way too much in the beginning. The poor guy was afraid of making any little mistake at first, and me practically throwing myself at him didn't help. But boy did my opinion change of him when he rescued me from that separatist group by himself. When I think about it, I have to thank Sarah for that, too. She made him a better agent and he went to the mat for me."

Carina turned to face Cole. "I owe it to Sarah to keep Chuck and her protected and get them out of the spy business."

"And after that?"

Carina froze. "I…I don't know. I never gave much thought to that. We've just been so focused on getting the Intersect out of Chuck I didn't even consider what would happen after that."

"I'd imagine the team would stay together with someone to take Sarah's place. Why argue with success, especially when you'll still carry an Intersect?"

Cole slid his hand along Carina's face. "If it helps, I'm not planning on going anywhere. Despite everything we've been through, it's been quite an experience." He gently placed his lips on hers and gave her a gentle kiss. "Thanks mostly to you."

Carina looked into Cole's eyes. She was starting to understand what Sarah went through with Bryce and then with Chuck. That connection with someone else. She never expected to have the same feelings so many others have with another person, but that was how she acted in the past. It was a different day.

She grabbed the back of Cole's head and kissed him with an overdose of want and desire. She back Cole up into the wall and hooked her leg around him, grinding hard against him as they went after one another, two sets of searing lips battling each other…

"Ugh, I'm gonna throw up."

They broke away quickly and turned to see Casey looking at them in disgust.

"Goddamn Walker," Casey growled. "Now it's spreading."

Carina matched his look of disgust. "Ilsa, I thought you were going to get him to lighten up."

"I'm working on it!" she replied with some offense. "It's not easy. It's like trying to chisel with a toothpick."

"How are things at the Buy More?" Cole asked to refocus everybody.

"Forrest and Slade are finishing work there," Casey replied. "Every square inch of the perimeter is now monitored. And if there's a traffic or wireless cam within ten city blocks, we have access. Slade's setting up extra security on Mr. Bartowski's equipment."

"They'll be back in a couple of hours," Ilsa said. "Why don't you two get some rest. We'll keep watch out here."

"I can't…" Carina began.

"Thanks. We appreciate it," Cole interrupted, gently taking Carina's elbow and leading her to their room. "Come on, you. Even a cold-hearted badass needs the occasional nap."

Carina raised an eyebrow. "Mmm, you called me a badass."

"If the six-inch stiletto fits…" Cole said in a smooth voice.

"You do know how to turn a girl on," Carina purred, sliding her hands across Cole's chest and proceeding lower. He grabbed her and took her to their room.

Unknown Location – Los Angeles, CA
June 6, 2016
11:00 AM PDT

Daniel Shaw was led into an empty room with a large monitor sitting on a desk. The monitor was attached to what looked like a laptop powerful enough to make any gamer cry tears of joy. He wasn't entirely certain what was about to happen. But if what this man was proposing could give him the abilities he saw out of Bartowski, it was a risk he was willing to take.

"Keep your eyes fixed on the monitor," the man said as he stood in front of the laptop and put on a pair of sunglasses. "Ready?"

Shaw nodded, and the man punched a series of passwords into the keyboard. He stepped back as the monitor began to fill with images. Shaw was frozen in place as the images flashed by at an increasing pace. Shaw began to yell in pain as the images began to overload his mind.

The monitor shut off, and Shaw fell unconscious to the ground. The man took off his glasses and waited patiently for Shaw to wake up. After a few minutes, Shaw's eyes fluttered open and he grimaced from the intense headache he had.

"OK, so the Intersect is hurting Bartowski, too?" Shaw asked. "This is the worst my head's felt since the day after that Orange Bowl party we had."

"We're not sure why," the man replied. "Our only working theory is that this new Intersect was designed specifically for Bryce Larkin. It's incompatible with anyone else."

"What?" Shaw was livid. "You put this thing in knowing it would kill me?"

"You don't have the full version like we think Bartowski has. We only put in what you'll need to handle Walker and her team."

"How do I know this worked?"

The man smiled and reached for Shaw, pulling him to his feet. He then pulled out a small radio. "Send them in," he said.

A group of six rather intimidating agents entered the room and surrounded Shaw. They began to approach him. Suddenly his mind was filled with instructions on various styles of fighting and tactics.

The first agent attacked. Shaw ducked under the agent's punch and hooked his arm, swinging over the man's back to land a kick at the face of the agent next to him. He landed and brought his knee up into the first agent, making him double over. He brought his other knee up to nail the man in the face. As that man fell, Shaw pirouetted off the back of that man to attack the agent on the other side, throwing a hook at the man to send him back, following it up with a spinning back kick to take them down. Two other agents tried to attack, but Shaw did a backflip, nailing both agents in the face with his feet. He landed as the last agent pulled out a knife and went after him. The agent lunged twice, but Shaw avoided each attempt. On the third try, Shaw kicked up, and the agent's arm went under his outstretched leg. Shaw clamped his leg down, trapping the man's arm. He jerked his leg hard, breaking the man's arm and forcing him to drop the knife. He then let go, planted with that foot, and spun to send a hard kick into the middle of the man's chest. The agent flew across the room and crashed into the wall at the opposite end.

Shaw looked around in wide-eyed shock. He quickly looked at the clock on the other wall.

Only ten seconds had passed. Shaw couldn't believe it, but the Ring contact remained expressionless.

"I believe now you see the advantages of the Intersect…and why we would want it," the man said.

He then reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun. Shaw had another flash. He ducked, spun around, and grabbed the man's wrist, taking the gun out of his hands and aiming it at him. He pulled the trigger.

The gun clicked.

"You didn't really think I would let you take a loaded gun from me, did you?" the man said with considerable amusement.

Shaw's breathing finally slowed from the rush of the two flashes. He threw the gun at the man's feet.

"When this is over, I want this out of my head," Shaw said calmly.

"If you do what we've asked for, we'll be able to," the man replied. "Bring us Bartowski, retrieve the new Intersect, and make sure Walker and her team are dead."

Shaw nodded and walked out of the room.

Tangerine Hotel – Burbank, CA
June 6, 2016
9:00 AM PDT

Chuck slowly stirred in the bed. He found his arms wrapped around Sarah, and she was holding them tightly as she slept. He sighed and gave a tiny smile. He no longer felt the pain he did last night from his flashes, although he still felt a bit dizzy. He looked over at the clock radio on the nightstand. The long rest did him a lot of good, and he hoped it did Sarah a lot of good, too. He had never seen her act the way she did last night, and it scared him a bit. But he understood why. Everyone on the team had stories from their past that had affected how they were now. So did he. However, Sarah was always there for her friends and for him. They relied on her to keep the team together and she never failed. He wanted to make sure she got that in return.

He gently pressed his cheek against her sleeping form, and she moaned contentedly for a moment before stirring awake herself. She reached up and gently caressed his cheek.

"How are you?" Chuck asked softly.

"I was about to ask you the same question," she replied, turning around. She gently pushed him on his back and lay on top of him.

"I'm much better, although I can still feel the effects a little bit." He gently brushed her hair back and cradled her face in his hand. "I was more worried about you."

She smiled and reached down to kiss him. "Hey, are you trying to take over my job?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do as well strutting around in lingerie or a bikini. And let's face it. I don't care how cute Jimmy is, kissing him on the show would just be awkward."

He gave her an eyebrow dance and Sarah laughed hysterically. She kissed him even harder. "You should know, funny just moved into a tie with caring, sweet, and handsome in the things I love about you."

"Yes! Finally!" Chuck's grin was ear-to-ear and moving wider.

"Have you been up long?"

"I woke up just before you did."

Sarah reached behind her to check her smartphone. "Cole left a text. He has his people over at the Buy More. Jimmy and Alex will go over there and update Morgan and Big Mike on things." She put the phone down. "How about we accompany your father and Ellie there tonight so they can work on completing the Intersect. At the very least, we need to ready the one that will remove yours. If we can get that one out of you, maybe that will buy us some time. Our priority right now is your safety."

"What about Shaw? Now he knows there's something going on at the Buy More. We have to assume he's told them by now."

Chuck sat up in the bed while holding Sarah in his arms. "I don't want him coming after you again. He had that knife to your throat last night, and I…it really…" he let the words trail off.

"We weren't expecting that," Sarah replied with renewed confidence. "But now we can be ready for him. The Buy More's security has been upgraded, and your father is close to finishing what we need to get the Intersect out of your head. We'll get this done."

Chuck looked into her eyes. "OK. But you BETTER stay safe, young lady," he said in a stern voice, pointing a finger in her face.

"Yes, DAD," she replied before the two broke up in laughter and continued to kiss.

Buy More – Burbank, CA
June 6, 2016
11:00 AM PDT

Jimmy dragged himself to the back entrance of the Buy More with a cup of coffee that could be used to refill an entire Starbucks. He spent the majority of the night configuring the security hardware brought in from the local NSA office. The servers in the back of the store would now require a body scan and both voice and retinal identification to be accessed, and Stephen reconfigured the network encryption with a 2MB rolling cypher that would take months to break through. Anyone without authorization would have to be cleared by someone inside the room. And whoever who attempted to enter unannounced would find themselves staring down the business end of a pair of computer-controlled electro-shock guns capable of lighting them up like a cheesy 70s game show.

Alex pulled out her smartphone and dialed Morgan's number. She spent the night at the Buy More as well but wasn't as exhausted as Jimmy. Given he was the expert in surveillance hardware and computer programming, he did most of the heavy lifting last night. But she was going to get some rest after they were done here and make sure Jimmy did likewise.

"Morgan?" she said when he answered. "We're in the employees' hallway. We need you and Mike to come back here."

"Sure thing," Morgan replied. "I'll get Big Mike."

A few moments later, Morgan and Big Mike came through the back doors leading to the employees' area. The four walked into the breakroom. Alex closed the door behind them.

"We just wanted to update the two of you on what's happening," Jimmy began.

"Dude, you look like hell," Morgan said. "You two weren't…"

"We were here all night," Alex replied with some irritation. "The store was attacked last night. It's better that you don't know the details, but we've upgraded the security both around the Intersect computers and around the store."

"You were attacked?" Big Mike asked with understandable concern. "Was anybody hurt?"

"Thankfully, no," Jimmy replied. "But the Intersect is starting to harm Chuck even more. That makes unfeasible to try and establish a new location for Mr. Bartowski to work. We have to get this out of Chuck and soon. And if the Ring is stepping up its attacks on us, I have to get the new one in me quickly."

"Whoah, this thing is going to kill Chuck?" Morgan said in an alarmed voice.

"We're not going to let it get that far. But you two have to be as vigilant as possible. We don't know if the Ring will attack us again or when. We're doubling the number of agents here during the day, and we'll only work on the Intersect when the store is closed. Hopefully Mr. Bartowski can finish his work. Chuck and Sarah are watching Ellie, Devon, and him at the hotel. You have to do whatever it takes to make sure things run normally around here."

"In the meantime, we want you to carry these," Alex said, handing Morgan and Big Mike a pair of small remotes. "That's an emergency callout. Press the button, and it'll transmit a distress call and your coordinates to the team and we'll come running."

"Just make sure you don't lose those and Jeff and Lester find them," Jimmy said tiredly. "Talk about the boys who would cry 'Wolf'."

"Gotcha," Big Mike replied.

"We'll keep you posted."

The four got up and exited the breakroom. Morgan and Big Mike returned to the floor while Alex and Jimmy exited the store.

"Back to the hotel for you," Alex said, pulling at Jimmy's arm and leading him to the passenger's side door. "You need some rest."

"Christ," Jimmy droned. "You're worse than Sarah."

Alex took his car keys and went to the driver's side to get in. "If it's that important to protect Chuck, why isn't at least as important to insure the health of the person who will get the new Intersect?"

"There's a difference," Jimmy ground out as he slid into the car. "People like Chuck." That was met by an angry glare from Alex. "Am I about to get smacked upside the head?"

"If you're lucky, that's all I do," she growled at him.

He shook his head. "To the hotel," he answered tiredly, pointing out of the parking lot.

Alex put the car in gear and took off. Two people watched them leave, surprised that they were there. They continued to walk around, wondering why the Buy More had so many more cameras than they remembered.

"What's going on?" one of them asked the other.

"Hope they didn't go in our lockers. My stash is in there."

"Why would an actor care about your stash? That was Jimmy Slade. You met him, remember? Why was he here today? And who's the hot blonde?"

"No clue. Maybe they're doing some location scouting."

"Why would Jimmy Slade and Tricia Helfer be scouting the Buy More?"

The man turned to him. "That was Tricia Helfer?"

"I thought it was her."

"Wow, she looks even more badass in person."

The first man stared out at the departing vehicle. "Something is going on. We have to find out what it is."

"No prob. Just gotta take my green pills first. Or do I take the yellow ones now?"

Lester shook his head at Jeff's lack of reality as the two returned to the Buy More to figure out what was happening.

Buy More – Burbank, CA
June 6, 2016
9:00 PM PDT

Sarah stood and stretched. Chuck, Ellie, and Stephen were huddled over the Intersect computers. Stephen was close to finishing configuring the program to remove the Intersect from Chuck. Ellie continued to adapt Stephen's code to the Intersect they would download into Jimmy. Chuck finished installing the last of the security measures needed for the room: a panic button that would download all of the data on a hard drive and destroy the computers should they come under attack.

Sarah checked the time. "Devon should be back in a few minutes with some dinner. Are all of you at a point where you can take a break?"

Stephen exhaled. "There's way too much to finish and I'm so close…"

Ellie cleared her throat, and Stephen turned to see the evil glare on her face. He turned behind him to see the same look on Sarah.

Stephen leaned over towards Chuck. "It's like your mother split in two," he said quietly.

"Not getting any sympathy from me," Chuck said with zero remorse.

"I'll check with Cole's people outside and make sure things are OK," Sarah said. "Then I'll bring Devon in."

"OK," Chuck replied. "And be careful."

"I will." She gave him a kiss and exited Big Mike's office. She checked the monitor to see the agents closest to the door were still there. She then opened the door.

"Everything OK out here?" she asked the closest agent.

"It's quiet," the man replied. "We're rotating. the two-person teams: two guarding the door and two walking the perimeter at all times. So far we haven't…"

The agent stopped and fell to the ground. Sarah pulled out her gun and looked in shock at the dead agent. The agent twenty feet down hit their emergency callout before the whoosh of another silenced bullet sent her to her grave. Sarah ducked down and moved slowly, attempting to ascertain the source of the gunfire. A shot went off a foot in front of her and she dove back. She tried to run in the opposite direction, only to have another shot hit the building in front of her again. She turned back in terror. Someone grabbed her from behind and wrapped their hand around her throat.

"Isn't technology wonderful?" Daniel Shaw hissed into her ear. He then threw the wireless control he was using to control the rifle on the ground at Sarah's feet. "Courtesy of the Ring. After all, how can you shoot at a sniper that isn't even there?"

Sarah snapped her head back, nailing Shaw in the nose. It was enough to loosen his grip on her throat. She twisted his wrist to push him away, planting a hard boot into his midsection to send him back.

Shaw stared at her with a deranged smile. Right then, his Intersect activated. His eyes rolled up into his head and snapped back. Sarah looked at him in horror, having seen Chuck do exactly this when he had a flash.

"Time for some fun," Shaw hissed.

He spun and landed a kick at Sarah's face, knocking her down. She rolled quickly along the ground to get away from him as he leaped forward and delivered a kick to her midsection. She coughed profusely, pulling herself to her knees. As she tried to get to her feet, Shaw sent a hard roundhouse at her, making her stagger back. She tried to send a spinning kick at him but he caught her leg and threw her. She fell to the concrete, barely able to move.

"Shaw!"

Shaw turned to see Chuck and Stephen there.

"This is not about you, Bartowski," Shaw seethed as he stared Chuck down. "Your girlfriend has to pay for what she did."

"She didn't murder your wife," Chuck said, slowly walking towards him as Stephen ran to check on Sarah. "Sarah's not capable of murder. The Ring lied to you."

"Oh, but she is," Shaw replied in an increasingly maniacal tone. "She's a government agent, just like I used to be. We're all capable of murder. It's part of our job. It's a part of us."

"It doesn't have to be. You know someone like her isn't capable of murdering in cold blood."

"I SAW HER DO IT!" Shaw roared. "I saw the footage! She killed her!"

Shaw started to move towards the barely-conscious Sarah. "She has to pay for what she did."

"Do not lay a finger on her," Chuck warned him, continuing to walk towards Shaw.

Shaw turned and faced Chuck. "The Ring told me all about your Intersect. How it's killing you slowly. It takes a special mind to control it."

"I'm in control," Chuck replied evenly.

Shaw stood in silence for a moment. An evil grin drew across his face. "How about now?"

Shaw whirled around, pulled out his gun, and shot Stephen, who fell back to the ground.

"NOOOOO!" Chuck screamed. Shaw turned and went towards Chuck. Chuck's Intersect kicked in and he fell to the ground from the extreme pain. He covered his head, unable to handle to handle it.

"Looks like I can handle it better than you. Revenge is the ultimate motivation," Shaw teased as he leveled the gun at Chuck.

Someone flew at Shaw and knocked him to the ground, making him drop his gun in the process. He quickly got up as Jimmy jumped up and faced him, blocking him from getting back to Chuck. Ellie, Casey, and Ilsa charged out of the Buy More. Casey swept up Chuck and carried him over to where Sarah and Stephen were. Ilsa and he guarded them while Ellie checked on the three.

"Well, well," Shaw cackled at Jimmy. "The other Intersect. It's a double-feature."

Shaw attacked Jimmy, who rolled on the ground to avoid him. Shaw doubled-back quickly and sent a kick at Jimmy's head to knock him down. He went for the prone Jimmy, who launched upward, nailing Shaw in the chin with his skull and knocking him back. Shaw was unfazed as he threw a hook that sent Jimmy reeling back. He followed it up with a second. On his third attempt, Jimmy ducked to the side and hooked the incoming arm of Shaw. He sent four consecutive punches at Shaw's kidneys but Shaw was undeterred, lurching forward to flip Jimmy to the ground.

He went towards Jimmy when he had to hit the ground. Carina and Alex opened fire at him. Shaw took an explosive device and threw it at the group. It landed by Jimmy's head, who barely had enough strength to grab it and whip it towards the parking lot. Casey, Ilsa, Carina, and Alex dove for Chuck, Sarah, and Stephen, covering them as the explosive went off. The four went chase after Shaw, but he was long gone.

Casey immediately pulled out his phone. "This is Casey, authorization 27455-Beta-Echo-Charlie. Need a medi-vac helicopter at 9000 Burbank Boulevard, stat. Three victims, one with a gunshot wound. Get your asses here now!"

Cole ran out of the Buy More with the backup drive as Devon pulled up. Everybody gave Ellie and him room to take care of Chuck, Sarah, and Stephen.