A/N: If we lived a quantum world, I could both own Chuck and not own Chuck at the same time. Weird, right?
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The exchange was set for 9:30 that evening. Sarah and Casey had assembled a small team of agents to help them take down the North Korean spies. The three members of Team Bartowski, together with four other agents, were assembled at an NSA staging area, a cavernous building in Hollywood that was generally assumed by the public to be a part of one of the movie studios. Huge cargo doors were open along one side, letting in the cooling evening air. Casey was dressed in civilian clothes, but the rest of them wore black tactical gear complete with vests.
Chuck was the only one without weapons. Casey had an UZI submachine gun sitting on the table next to him with a long sling. Given the role he was playing that evening, he had decided that a single, obvious weapon would be about the right level of defensive preparation. He hoped it conveyed the impression, 'not prepared for a gunfight, but not prepared to be ripped off either'. Sarah had her Smith Wesson 5906 in a thigh holster. In addition, she had obtained a left-handed pancake holster for the small of her back where she was keeping a trank pistol set for a left-hand draw, in case her main weapon was in her right hand when the trank pistol was needed. The other men all had an assortment of weapons, but each had a trank pistol.
One of the agents ended a cell phone call. Casey asked, "Well?"
The man answered with a grin, "We got it. It's on its way. The prop department at Warner Brothers was very accommodating. It should be here soon. They're just down the road. Crazy place that prop department, I hear."
Casey grunted and said, "Good." He walked over to a table where Sarah was studying a floor plan of the Mother of Mercy hospital. When Casey arrived at the table they began to converse in quiet tones, both looking at the plan and pointing to this or that on the page.
Casey and Zarnow had been in touch on and off throughout the day, each checking on the other's progress. He had the Koreans lined up to come with the money. He believed that Casey's plans to capture the Intersect were proceeding perfectly. They debated for a while on the location of the exchange. (Casey was convinced that Zarnow was just a cut out for the Koreans in that part of the discussion). They settled on the Mother of Mercy hospital. Although empty and scheduled for demolition, it still had power. Sarah and Casey were discussing the disposition of their team around and in the building to observe the approach of the Koreans and block any exits they might try to use.
Knowing they were approaching from an offshore ship, the Coast Guard had been alerted to be on the lookout for small boat traffic coming into the harbor from any one of the ships.
A CIA shell company had called the Buy More with an all-day offsite install for Charles Bartowski, and later left a rave review of his performance promising more work of a similar nature to come their way in the near future. Big Mike was a happy man. That left Chuck free to spend the day with Casey and Sarah, working on their plans for the evening.
An agent with vibrant red hair came over to Chuck and said, "Excuse me, you're Carmichael. Right?"
Chuck stood up. The man was about Chuck's height, 6'3", but carried maybe a hundred more pounds on him, none of it fat. His nose appeared to have been broken more than once. "Yes," said Chuck.
"I was at Union Station. I saw what you did. You've got real stones, man. May I shake your hand?"
A clearly surprised Chuck extended his hand into the man's large, powerful grip, "It's an honor, Carmichael. An honor. Serving with men like you makes this job worthwhile." The man looked at Chuck with a serious, but friendly, expression.
"Ummm...thank you...ah...people call me Chuck," he said with a nervous grin. What the hell was happening to him?, he wondered. This whole thing couldn't be real. A part of him thought this might be somebody's idea of a practical joke.
With a smile, the man said, "I'm Liam Fitzpatrick, but people call me Fitz."
"Pleasure to meet you, Fitz." The man nodded and wandered off to check his weapons or something.
Chuck turned away from the others and looked at the blank wall for a few moments. He felt pressure in his eyes of threatening tears. He knew he couldn't let any of the others see that, well, maybe Sarah, but not now. After a few moments the feeling passed. He found himself standing up just a little straighter than a few moments ago, but a corner of his mind reminded him that he still fixed computers at Buy More for a living. He felt a little disjointed, trying to figure out what was real...who he was. Was he Chuck Bartowski, expelled from Stanford, dead end job at a Buy More, pining over Jill? Or was he Chuck Bartowski/Carmichael, part of the Federal team at Union Station, the boyfriend of Sarah Walker, a man who engenders respect in other men? He couldn't be both, of course. The dichotomy was just too extreme. If they were alone, this would be a really good time to talk to Sarah. Or even Casey, actually.
Chuck sat on a box to re-tie his boot lace. The other three agents were behind him, chatting idly in quiet voices while waiting. One said, "No. She's Graham's enforcer. The Angel of Death. She's gorgeous, but she's a freakin' assassin. I'm scared of her. I really am. Straight up. And I don't scare easily."
One of the other agents picked up the conversation, "I heard Graham just points and she shoots. Bang. There's another dead guy. God only knows how many kills she has."
"Not just shoots," says the third agent. "She'll do anything. Guns, knives, bombs...hell, I heard she poisoned an entire table full of people at a restaurant in Paris, the Maison Gauche."
Chuck flashed on the name of the restaurant. Pictures of dead bodies at a dinner table. Fake passport. Video footage. Salad dressing. Elana Truffaut. Sarah. Translation of Parisian police report. Five dead. Dread gripped him. Oh, no. Not more, he thought. On top of the three he'd seen her kill in the video clip the day she left for DC. It was too much. And what the men had said about her reputation, her history. Just too much. His heart was breaking.
He stood up and turned to look at the men behind him. When they turned their heads to look at him he said, "You know, if you don't have anything nice to say about someone, you shouldn't say anything at all." He walked back to his laptop to check on the location of Zarnow and Frank. His hands were shaking.
Looking at his computer, he didn't see Fitz make his way to the group of other agents. He didn't hear what Fitz told them. He didn't see Fitz slap one of them on the back of the head really hard. The men began to look back and forth between Sarah and Chuck with a mixture of surprise and embarrassment on their faces. One of them broke off from the group and came over to Chuck. "Agent Carmichael?" he said. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry. We didn't mean any disrespect, Sir. I promise that will not happen again. We're very sorry, Sir. All of us."
"Ok. Thanks," said Chuck. As the man walked back to his group Chuck caught Fitz's eye. He nodded his thanks and Fitz nodded back in acknowledgement.
A small truck arrived outside the open cargo doors and two of the agents went to unload it. Once empty, it drove off. They wheeled in a coffin, or at least a coffin sized box. The lid of the box had prominent air holes at one end. Casey walked over to it, opened it and looked inside with what seemed to be reverence. "Ok," he said, "all good. Set it up with M84's." The two agents who had unloaded the truck moved to comply. Once it was ready, they loaded it onto the back of a Ford F-150 pick-up truck and put the collapsible trolley in the bed of the truck next to the box.
With a nod from Casey, Sarah said, in a voice loud enough to command attention. "Guys, listen up." They gathered around her at the table. "It's almost show time, so let's go over the plan one more time. Casey contacts Zarnow and gets the ball rolling. Casey drives to the hospital alone in the pickup. Zarnow and his guy Frank come from Irvine to the exchange site as well, monitored along the way by Carmichael and the tracking devices. Casey meets them outside and Casey and Frank move the box to the main operating room on the fourth floor and he, Frank and Zarnow wait for the Koreans."
Sarah continued, "The Koreans are coming in from an offshore ship. The Coast Guard is on watch for them, but there are too many ships, too spread out, for us to have any chance at close surveillance, so we probably won't have eyes on until they are on the doorstep of the hospital."
"We follow Casey to the hospital in the communications van. Marco, you drive the van and stay with it during the operation. Coordination and overwatch." The man called Marco, who had apologized to Chuck, nodded his understanding. "You park it here," she pointed to a spot on the map. Marco nodded.
"Billy, you drive the detention van." They hoped to have a handful of prisoners by night's end, and had made preparations accordingly. "Leave it a couple of blocks away. Until Zarnow arrives I want you here to observe." She pointed to the map. "Then take up position here," she pointed to the map again, "after Casey and Zarnow go inside, wait and let us know when the Koreans arrive. Once they are inside, move in to this blocking position in the lower stairwell. As the situation develops you can move from there to any number of positions, so be ready for redeployment."
"Yes, Ma'am," said Billy.
"Leo, you come with us into the hospital. I want you here on the fifth floor stairwell. That way, you'll be above us when we confront the Koreans on the fourth floor. Again, like Billy, be ready for redeployment as the situation develops."
"Roger that," said Leo.
"Fitz, you're with me in the scrub room adjacent to the operating room. When it hits the fan, we go in. Chuck, you are here, in the operating room observation gallery on the fifth floor. It's all windows, so you will have to be careful not to be seen from below. You keep us informed of what you see in the room. We will be able to hear Casey, but you will be the only one who will see him."
"Ok, Sarah," said Chuck.
"You, Fitz, Leo and I go in right away and take up our positions before Zarnow arrives. One more thing. If anyone gets shot tonight, we screwed this up. You all have trank pistols. Use them. We really want all these guys alive. Lethal force is permitted to defend yourself or your teammates, but otherwise trank these a-holes. Any questions?"
There were none. "Ok, Casey? Anything to add?"
"Nope. Ready to rock and roll," said Casey.
"Let's do it," said Sarah.
Casey took out his burner phone and pushed a button. "Hey. It's done, Doc. I've got the Intersect. Walker is tranked, so we are on the clock. Your guys better be ready to move...OK. See you in half hour, partner. Prepare to be a rich man. Heh, heh." He disconnected the call and said, "Enjoy your last night of freedom, jackwad."
Without further word, the six of them entered the two vans and followed Casey in the pickup truck through the Los Angeles evening. Using his cell phone as a monitor, Chuck gave everyone a running commentary on the whereabouts of Zarnow and Frank. In a fairly short time, they arrived at the hospital.
Chuck, Sarah, Fitz and Leo entered the building and climbed the stairs. Fitz and Sarah, peeled off at the fourth floor, while Chuck and Leo continued up to the fifth. With a nod, Chuck left Leo in the stairwell and found the operating room observation gallery. Chuck left the lights off in the room. If he was in darkness and the room below was lit, there was less chance of being seen through the reflection of the operating room's own lights.
"Right," said Sarah over the team's communications net. "Everybody in position?" When the entire team had answered affirmatively, she said, "Chuck, where's Zarnow?"
"About three minutes out," replied Chuck. He was very nervous and hoped his voice didn't show it. This was the real deal. He was dressed like a commando and hiding in the dark helping a team of Federal agents arrest a traitor and a handful of North Korean spies. And Ellie thought he and Sarah were at the movies. Once again he wondered, what the hell had happened to his life?
"Zarnow is turning the corner," said Chuck.
"I've got him," said Billy. "Late model sedan. Two men inside. Yeah, one of them is Zarnow. Stopping in front of the Major...Out of the car...Shaking hands...The other one, Frank, going with Casey to the back of the pickup... Opening the trolley...Got the box and heading into the building...out of my sight."
Sarah said, "Marco, activate Casey's transmitter."
Suddenly they heard Casey's voice, "Ok, just through here. It's a good, big room."
The lights in the operating room came on as Zarnow flipped the switch. Frank and Casey wheeled the box in.
Chuck said, "They are in the operating room."
"Ok," said Casey. "When will your guys get here with our money?"
"I called them from the car. They're on their way. I would expect them any second now."
Suddenly everyone heard the sound of an approaching helicopter. Helicopter? Shit, the Koreans were coming by helicopter. Of course, the hospital has a helipad on the roof to treat medevaced patients. That's why the Koreans agreed to this location. Sarah said, "Leo, leave your position, come down to the fourth floor, and move to the corridor outside the operating room. The western door. Billy, come inside and get in the stairwell now."
Both men acknowledged. Chuck, said, "FAA?"
"Good idea," said Sarah. "Marco, tell the Coast Guard our guys came in by chopper from the ship. Have them get on to the FAA to track the bird's flight backwards to the ship. Once the Coast Guard has the location from the FAA have them hit that ship."
By this point, the sound of the helicopter was very loud. "Tell them it's landing on the roof right now."
Chuck looked down into the operating room. Frank was leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette. Zarnow and Casey were standing together tensely. Zarnow pointed to the gun looped over Casey's shoulder and said, "That isn't necessary."
"Damn, I hope you're right, Doc. I hope you're right," Casey answered honestly. "I see you have your trank gun ready."
"Yes, in case the Intersect needs a further dose for the journey ahead. Don't want to damage the merchandise." He grinned coldly.
The sound of the rotors faded. A couple of minutes later four Koreans entered the room from the stairwell along one side. Chuck gave a running commentary, "Bad guy coming in. Don't recognize him. Another one," Chuck flashed, "Ugghhhh...Name is Moon Jin-lee, Colonel in the RGB. Known for torture...there are some pretty bad pictures...He's skinny with a tan jacket. Next one," Chuck flashed again. "Jun Lee, Captain in RBG. He's got a round face and a Laker's sweatshirt. Fourth guy, I don't recognize. They are spread out along the western edge of the room. The two guys I don't recognize are carrying duffel bags. They are pretty tough looking, probably the muscle."
"Any guns?" asked Sarah.
"Not in their hands. The muscle guys have them tucked into their belts, can't tell about the other two, but nobody is waving them around. Casey isn't touching his either."
"OK, Leo when you hear the signal come join the party. Fitz and I will be doing the same. Chuck, stay where you are and keep an eye on things. Billy, maintain position and keep blocking the exit. Marco, heads up in case something goes down outside."
The men acknowledged their orders.
Skinny Moon spoke, "Show us the Intersect." He spoke accentless English.
Gesturing to the box on the trolley, Casey said, "Right here. Tranked and boxed for transport."
"Open the box," said Moon.
"One second," said Casey, holding up an index finger. "Doc, look in the duffels for our money. Don't take the duffels from them, just open them and make sure the money is there."
With almost comical eagerness, Zarnow scurried over to the bags. He opened them one at a time and ran his hands into the bundled stacks of bills. His face almost splitting with the width of his grin, he said, "We're good, Casey. We're good."
"Ok, Doc. Leave the bags there until they take delivery of the Intersect," he said with a 'stay put' hand gesture.
"Ok, Casey."
"Ok, Gentlemen. Here's the Intersect." Standing behind it, he opened the box. They all looked in and saw a recumbent man in a business suit. Oddly for a tranked person, his eyes were open and he was smiling. As they looked closer they realized that they recognized him. It was...Ronald Reagan?
At that precise moment the three M84 flashbang grenades mounted on the inside of the lid of the box detonated. No shrapnel, just a blindingly bright light and deafening bang. All hell broke loose in the operating room.
Sarah, Fitz and Leo burst through doors on either side of the room.
Frank lunged for Casey's UZI. Casey, rather than pushing Frank away, pulled him forward and headbutted him. Frank was tough and tenacious and held on to the weapon, so Casey whipped the weapon around in both of their grasps and clocked Frank on the side of the head with the collapsible buttstock. As Frank staggered back, releasing the UZI, which fell to the floor. Casey hit him three times with a quick combination of blows. Frank tried to block the punches, but was mostly unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Leo was closest to round faced Jun. Jun reacted swiftly, though. He met Leo with a front stretch kick, a taekwondo kick where the heel goes straight up from the floor without the knee bending. Jun's heel connected with Leo in the chin and knocked him flying. He hit the ground and stayed down from the powerful blow.
The two Korean muscle guys jumped Fitz and hit him with a barrage of kicks and punches. Fitz blocked the bulk of them, but even the ones that made it through didn't seem to bother him too much. As one of them positioned himself for a roundhouse kick, Fitz kicked the duffel bag of money into his support leg, disrupting his balance. Fitz grabbed one of the men and twisted the man around to act as a shield from the blows of his partner. The partner pulled back and began to draw his gun from his waistband while the man in his grasp tried to drive his thumbs into Fitz's eyes. Fitz swept the hands aside, pushed the man backwards into his partner and pulled his trank gun with his left hand. He tranked the man in front and quickly tranked the other man as well.
Sarah had run into the room with her trank gun extended and took aim at Zarnow and Moon, but the round faced Jun, who had just knocked out Leo, leaped at her with a flying side kick. She blocked it, but it knocked her trank pistol out of her hand. He landed like a cat, spun on the ball of his foot and threw a reverse roundhouse kick at her head. She ducked and let the foot pass over her head, but, with the same movement, spun her leg low to connect with the knee of his support leg. With a shout of pain, he threw himself out of her way as she straightened to come at him again.
Fitz tried to get a shot at him, but Sarah's body was blocking the shot.
Zarnow and Moon bolted through the stairway door. Chuck yelled, "Zarnow and Moon on the move. Billy?"
"Nothing here, but I can hear them."
Chuck was looking at his phone. "Right, the tracker says they are going back up to the roof. Billy stay there and keep blocking. I'm following them," said Chuck. He didn't know why he was saying these things, or why Billy should listen to him, but it was all happening too fast for him to really think.
Sarah blocked a straight punch from Jun, grabbed his wrist, quickly spun her body so her back was to him, and, with a simple hane goshi judo throw, tossed him over her hip to the ground at Fitz's feet where he was promptly tranked.
Sarah said to Fitz, "I'm going after Zarnow and Moon. Help Casey." She grabbed her trank pistol from the floor and hit the stairs, heading up.
Holstering the trank pistol, she ran up the stairs as fast as she could and quickly met up with Chuck heading the same way and holding his phone in his hand. She passed him easily, although he was climbing the stairs as fast as he could. Her Smith & Wesson was now in her hand. She had no intent to shoot anyone, her admonition to her men was still front and center in her planning. The helicopter, on the other hand, could be incapacitated.
Sarah burst through the door to the roof and saw the waiting helicopter and Zarnow running towards it. She screamed, "Freeze!" She took aim at the main rotor hub, the connector linking the main rotor mast to the rotor blades. That hub was a very complicated piece of machinery with three different, independent hinges. Eleven 9mm parabellum slugs pumped into it could ensure that this aircraft stayed on the roof for a long time to come.
Moon tackled her from the side before she could get a shot off. She rolled free, kicked him in the face with a front snap kick, and began to draw her trank pistol. Zarnow fired a moment later and her world went black.
Chuck arrived at the roof at that moment and saw as Sarah was tranked.
Below, in the operating room, Casey landed a right hook to Frank's jaw, which knocked him back. Fitz tranked him. Before Frank's body had even hit the ground, both men were on their way to the stairs. Casey yelling "Billy, move up to the operating room and secure the prisoners. Check on Leo. Fitz and I are heading to the roof."
"Roger that, Major," said Billy.
Zarnow saw Chuck and said, "Get in the helicopter."
"What?" asked Chuck.
"I said get in the helicopter. Pick up Agent Walker and put her in the helicopter. We are going for a ride. Casey may think his trick has stopped me from getting to the Intersect, but it's just a delay." He sounded pretty unhinged, thought Chuck. "Walker can give me what I want and I'll still get hands on it. DO IT," he screamed, brandishing his trank gun. "GET IN THE HELICOPTER."
Chuck said, moving forward with his hands raised, "Ok. Ok. I'll get in the helicopter. No problem. Don't shoot me. OK. I'll do it. You're Zarnow, right? The smart guy, right?"
"Yes, now stop talking and move her into the helicopter."
Chuck knelt beside Sarah and lifted her upper body off the roof.
"You have what? Two PhD's?" he asked, as he struggled to get a good grip on Sarah's limp form.
"No, three, you simpleton."
"Three PhD's and you still found time to learn how to fly a helicopter. That's awesome." Chuck's fist closed around the handle of Sarah's trank pistol in her back holster.
With a chuckle, Zarnow said, "No. I can't fly a helicopter, but my friend Moon..."
Chuck shot Moon.
Zarnow shot Chuck.
Chuck's world went black.
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A/N2: My thanks to David Carner for his advice and guidance on this chapter. If you liked it, you can thank David. If you didn't, the fault is all mine.
I've been inside the prop department at Warner Brothers and, as the agent says, it's a crazy place. It's a huge building with high shelves stacked floor to ceiling with stuff – all kinds of stuff, from furniture to kitchenware to busts of historical figures to wax manikins. If there is any rhyme or reason to how all that stuff is organized, it was not apparent to me. I expect there may be some guy/gal who's been there for thirty years and knows exactly where each piece is.