A/N: I know, I know, it's been a minute. However, I have completed this episode, and have begun pecking on the next. I haven't decided if the next will be titled, Let's Go Cougars, or All Thumbs. They are two very different cases. Either way, both cases will be coming up soon. But you're here for the here and now. Let's get to it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

"Grab the gun," Chuck blurted, pointing at the gun beside the man.

"Got it," Sarah said. She handed it to Chuck, turned, and cautiously put two fingers to his neck. She let out a relieved breath.

"So, not dead?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah," Sarah replied. "He's unconscious." She glanced around, surveying the new area they had just uncovered. "He must have been injured when we crashed." She studied the man. "That's not Alex Dorian." She began to search him, keeping an eye on him. She stood up and backed away, turning toward Chuck. "No wallet, but I did find his cell phone. Think you can find his contact information?"

Chuck gave her a look. He messed with the phone for a second, pointed it toward the unconscious man, grinning as the phone allowed him access. "Okay, our stowaway is Renaldo Cassione." He looked up at Sarah. "His residence, according to this, is Waimea."

"And there's our Hawaii link," Sarah said, nodding. "Looks like this is absolutely drug smuggling." She glanced at the stowaway again. "He's got prison ink."

"So, he's done some time," Chuck said, nodding. "Sarah, what's an armed felon, from Hawaii, doing hiding on this plane?"

"I have no idea," Sarah said, shaking her head. "But it stands to reason, he's probably why they didn't want us to take off."

"Okay," Chuck replied, nodding, and then looking around. "Welp, we've got to take him with us." Sarah gave him a skeptical look. "We can't just leave him here."

Sarah groaned. "You know I love you, right?"

"I know, but right now, I'm being me, aren't I?" Chuck asked. Sarah nodded. "We can't leave him."

"Right," Sarah agreed. She looked over at the unconscious man and back to Chuck. He tilted his head at her. "Right, right."

}o{

"Did I throw a party, and no one told me?" Anna asked as Dan, Carina, Casey, and Zondra walked into the office.

"I don't suppose you know where those two morons are, do you?" Casey asked.

"Yes, repossessing a plane," Anna told him. Casey groaned audibly. "What?"

"In Crescent City?" Casey asked. Anna nodded. He sat down in the chair and blew out a breath.

"Of course they are," Zondra muttered.

"Will someone please fill me in on what's going on?" Anna asked. "Did someone report that they stole the plane?"

"Oh, that would be too easy," Casey groused. "CHP got reports of shots fired at a private airfield in Crescent City." Anna's eyes went wide. "I've got friends there, and they told me that a plane was missing and there were shell casings all over the runway."

"You don't have proof it was Chuck and Sarah taking that plane," Anna pointed out. Casey gave her a look. "Yeah, I know. I had to try. They go to Crescent City to repossess a plane, and a shootout happens at the airport… it tracks, with those two."

Casey's phone went off. He pulled it out, and studied what he was sent. "Shit," he muttered. He handed his phone to Anna. "Put that video on the TV screen."

Anna pressed some buttons, and the video was on the screen. They watched a plane take off and heard gunshots. Anna pressed her fingers to her lips as she watched. "Two shooters, both in masks," Carina said as Anna pressed on the phone, making the screen go into a closeup. "No plates on the vehicle, either."

"They knew that that place was being monitored by cameras," Zondra added. "They came prepared." Carina nodded, worry evident on her face.

"There's something I do not understand," Dan said. Everyone turned to him. "If Charles and Sarah managed to take off, then why have they not used the plane's communications system to contact us, or anyone else?"

"Either the comms took a hit, have failed…" Casey began. He didn't say anything else, he just sat there quietly, as the room went uncomfortably quiet.

"What's the or, I don't understand?" Anna said. "What do you think happened?"

"They've crashed," Carina told Anna gently. "They've crashed.

}o{

"I can help," Chuck said. Sarah snorted. She was carrying the stowaway in fireman's carry. "Really, I can."

"Chuck, you're hurt. I got this," Sarah told him. "There's a ridge over there. We might be able to get service."

"We should probably take a rest," Chuck told her. "I need it." Sarah stopped and turned to him. "I do." She shook her head, seeing through his attempt to get her rest. Resigned to it, she gently lowered the man on her shoulders to the ground.

"Whew," she said, letting out a breath. Chuck shook his head. "What?"

"You know, it's okay to say that you're the one that needs to rest for a minute?" Chuck told her. "I wouldn't hold it against you, okay?"

She grinned at him, and patted the leg of the man she had been carrying. "Well, our boy here is deceptively heavy." She glanced over at Chuck. "How are you managing?

"I'm fine," Chuck assured her. "The pain reliever helped. Seriously, I'm okay."

"You know, last week, it was a gunshot. his week, it's a plane crash…" Sarah began. "It's a really good thing your new boyfriend is a surgeon." Chuck laughed at that. "What are we doing, Chuck? We don't have to do this stuff. We could have a normal life."

Chuck came over, and gingerly sat down beside her. "Is that what you want? A 'normal' life?" he asked, using finger quotes.

"It would be safer," Sarah began.

"Sarah, do you enjoy what we do?" Chuck asked. She was silent for a moment and nodded. "Do you enjoy us doing it together?"

"We still talking about work?" she teased. He chuckled. "Yeah, I do."

"Every day, millions of people go to work, their jobs being dangerous," Chuck told her gently. "Now maybe in the future the two of us taking on drug runners is not the best idea…" she chuckled softly at that, "but we're good at this. And we enjoy it."

"Yeah we are," she said softly. She was quiet, studying the forest. "I think I'm gonna need you to marry me."

"You've already proposed, and I've said yes," he reminded her. She looked over at him, her eyes dancing, a dangerous, wicked smirk on her face. "Oh, you mean it is time, right now, for me to become Mr. Chuck Walker."

"I also need you to quit getting shot, and to quit crashing planes," she told him.

"That last one you'll have to take up with my fiancée," he said, making her smile. "Shecrashed the plane." He started to say more, then held up a finger. "You hear that?"

"It's a helicopter," Sarah said.

Chuck started to move out from under the tree. "It's got to be search and rescue. Sarah followed behind him. They saw the helicopter between the tree limbs. Chuck reached for the flare gun she had found earlier.

"No, wait," Sarah said, putting her hand on his, keeping him from taking and firing the flare gun. "There're no markings. That's not a rescue helicopter."

"But they're flying low, like they're looking for us," Chuck pointed out. It dawned on him the second he said it.

Sarah grabbed Chuck's arm, pulling him back. "Let's get back under concealment."

"Sarah?" Chuck asked. He saw the look she gave him, and knew exactly what that helicopter was doing. She pulled out her phone.

"I have a signal," Sarah said. "I'm going to call 911. They'll be able to track us." Chuck nodded, and they both paused, hearing a voice they hadn't heard before.

"No, I wouldn't do that," Renaldo said. The two PIs looked over at him. "The guys that are after me, they have somebody inside CHP on the payroll."

Chuck groaned, but Sarah turned toward the sound of the helicopter. "It sounds like they're moving on," Sarah told Chuck.

"Who are you people?" Renaldo asked.

"Well, you know, considering I've been carrying your ass through the jungle for the last hour, how about you go first?" Sarah snapped. Chuck gave her a look. "Fine, he was heavy, and I needed a break." Chuck couldn't help but giggle.

"Fair enough," Renaldo replied. "I'm Renaldo."

"Yeah, Renaldo Cassione," Chuck said. "We got that much. What we want to know is what were you doing on Alex Dorian's plane, and who are these guys following us?"

Renaldo sighed, and looked beaten down. "They work for my boss, Nestor Moreno." He paused for a moment. "Moreno, he's a nightclub owner, but it's mainly a front for laundering money for his coke business."

"Cocaine?" Sarah asked. "I'm confused, we're in the Emerald Forrest."

"You know who don't ask a lot of questions, and look the other way?" Renaldo asked. "Pot farmers."

"Fair," Chuck agreed. "Okay, but, if you work for this Moreno guy, then why is he trying to kill you?"

"Well, he thinks I was skimming money off the operation," Renaldo answered. Both Chuck and Sarah gave him a flat look. "Okay, fine. I was. But Dorian tipped me off before Moreno's hitters could get to me."

"Dorian tipped you off?" Sarah asked. Renaldo nodded.

"This isn't making sense," Chuck said. "So, what is Alex Dorian's involvement in this operation?

"He hooked up with Moreno a few months back, running transportation," Renaldo explained. "But… it's just his cover."

"Oh shit," Sarah muttered. Chuck turned to her. "A cover?"

"Yeah, he plays for the other side," Renaldo said. "Dorian's an undercover Fed."

"He's DEA," Sarah said. Renaldo nodded.

Okay," Chuck said, nodding. "Well, that explains why the plane's lease was run through a shell company." He turned to Sarah. "He wouldn't want it being traced back to law enforcement."

"Yeah, but there's a bigger problem here, Chuck," Sarah said. She looked at Renaldo. "When he found out Moreno was gonna take you out, he risked breaking cover to save you."

"Yeah," Renaldo said. "The plan was for me to hide on the plane and then we'd fly back to Hawaii this morning. They had a safe house there that they thought was safer than the one in California, since there is a mole."

"I'm guessing you would have turned state's evidence?" Chuck asked. Renaldo nodded. "Explains why they were willing to shoot down the plane." He turned to Sarah. "Wait, what if the shooters didn't show up to stop us?"

"You're saying we happened to get there just in time?" Sarah asked. Chuck nodded.

"I don't understand," Renaldo admitted.

"Somehow, Moreno must have found out about it, because he knew you were on that plane," Sarah explained. If we hadn't been hired to repossess that plane, you'd probably be dead."

Renaldo looked from Chuck to Sarah. "So that's how you got caught up in this." He was silent for a moment. "I guess I owe the two of you my life."

"What time was Dorian supposed to meet you to fly you out?" Chuck asked.

"Seven AM," Renaldo replied. "He had to gather some stuff, some evidence or something he had been gathering, but he never showed."

"Only one reason he wouldn't show," Sarah said grimly. She reached for her cell phone.

"You can't call CHP," Renaldo said.

"We're calling someone better," Chuck told him.

"Friends."

}o{

"What do you mean you can't track the plane?" Casey growled into the receiver. He was sitting in Chuck and Sarah's office, talking on the phone to the CHP. "Well, how would the ELT even be disabled?" He listened for a moment. "Well, use satellite imagery to search for it." His cell phone rang, and he grabbed it. Looking at the caller ID, he spoke into the desk phone, "I've gotta call you back," and hung up.

"Walker, where they hell are you? Are you two hurt?" he blurted out.

"We're fine," Chuck told Casey. "We had to abandon the plane, and my phone is busted."

"Walker okay?"

"She's fine, but we have a huge problem," Chuck began. "The guys who shot us down are after us."

"All right, hold on to your shorts," he growled, grabbing the office phone. "I'll call CHP, triangulate a signal, and get a rescue team out there right now."

"Nononono," Chuck blurted out quickly. "Don't do that."

"Bartowski," he growled, a warning in his voice. "What is going on."

"There's a lot more you need to know," Chuck said. "A lot more."

As Chuck told Casey what was going on, Sarah was checking on Renaldo. She knew they were going to have to move soon, and if she didn't have to carry him, that would be for the best.

"Listen, how do you think those hitters managed to track you to the airstrip?" Sarah asked, checking the cut on his head he suffered during the crash. "Someone must have told them that you were hiding on the plane."

Renaldo shook his head, disgust on his face. "Other than Dorian, only person I told was my girlfriend." He blew out a rough breath. "I called her from the plane this morning. Thought she was loyal, but..." he trailed off, shaking his head.

Personally, I hope it was your girlfriend who told them," Sarah told him. "Because the alternative is that Moreno's men found Agent Dorian and tortured the information out of him." Renaldo winced, and Sarah nodded. She looked over at Chuck, who was still talking to Casey.

"Okay," Casey said, listening. "Miller is here, she'll get in touch with DEA and get a BOLO out on Agent Dorian. Then I'll find out what we've got on Moreno's operation, get CHP to start rounding people up."

"About CHP," Chuck began, wincing. He knew how Casey felt about dirty cops.

"Bartowski," Casey growled.

"I know you're not going to like this, but I'm gonna need you to leave CHP out of this," Chuck told Casey. There was silence for a moment.

"What in the blue hell are you talking about, Bartowski?" Casey said.

"According to our stowaway, Moreno's got a high-level informant inside the department," Chuck explained. "We have to assume he's on the comms."

"You're gonna believe a damn drug runner on this?" Casey asked. "You're gonna call a cop dirty off the word of a damn drug runner?"

"Casey," Chuck said gently.

"Chuck, what's going on?" he heard Zondra say. "It's fine, he's growling and cussing. Tell me what's going on."

"There appears to be a mole in the CHP," Chuck told Zondra.

"Well, that would explain Casey's reactions," Zondra replied. "And your source is a – am I hearing this right – a drug runner? What makes you think he's telling the truth?"

"My gut," Chuck said. "And Sarah believes it as well."

"Your gut," Zondra repeated, sighing. "I hate this damn job," she muttered.

"Casey says the same thing all the time," Chuck pointed out. "But seriously, in this scenario, why would he lie?"

"Okay," Zondra replied. "I'm guessing your guy doesn't know who the mole is?"

"Not a clue that I can tell," Chuck admitted.

"Of course he doesn't, which means I'm gonna have to go under the radar, both in coordinating your rescue and tracking down this DEA agent," Zondra said.

"Yeah," Chuck replied. "If it helps, I'm sorry." There was silence. "I mean, you can do this, right?"

"Sit tight, Chuck," Zondra said. "Help is on the way."

}o{

"Come on, we gotta move!" Casey barked. Three phone calls and some driving found the group at March Air Reserve Base. A plane would fly him and Zondra to Crescent City, where a helicopter would be waiting for them. "Believe me, I'd prefer to send search and rescue. But if there's even a chance someone in CHP's feeding the cartel info, we can't risk tipping them off."

"I told you that," Zondra reminded Casey.

"You sure about this?" Carina asked.

"Don't worry, we got them," Zondra told Carina. "Are you sure about your back-up?" They heard a gun cocking and turned to see Anna holding her weapon."

"She certified," Casey said. "Rizzo, we gotta go!"

"Go, we'll handle this," Carina told Zondra. They watched Zondra board and a minute later, the plane was in the sky.

"So, what do we do?" Anna asked.

"We've gotta track this DEA agent," Carina told Anna. "But Dorian's handlers in L.A. pinged his burner, which put him at a location about fifteen minutes away from there as of two hours ago. That's where we'll start."

"What are the rules of me shooting someone?" Anna asked.

"If they're shooting at us, shoot to kill," Carina told her. Anna grinned. Carina grinned in return. "This is gonna be fun!" Her face turned serious. "We gotta find this guy, it could be bad." Anna nodded, and the two headed toward their vehicle and sped off.

}o{

"Oh, great," Chuck muttered, as Sarah came back carrying coconuts. "Whilst I've been keeping watch, you've been gathering coconuts. Should I sing I've got a Lovely Pair of Coconuts?" Sarah snorted and shook her head at him. "At least now we'll have something to throw at Moreno's men when they start firing guns at us." Chuck thought for a second. "Wait… where the hell did you find coconuts?"

"They were on the back deck of a house a little bit that way," Sarah said pointing. "No one was home, and I didn't think I should announce our presence."

"Oh?" Chuck said.

"Let's just say I did hear some chatter about money being offered for us to the locals," Sarah told Chuck.

"That's not good," Chuck muttered.

"Okay, let's see your little boo-boo," Sarah said.

"Excuse me?" Chuck replied. He looked around and lowered his voice. "I don't think this is the time or the place, and… I don't appreciate the size shaming."

Sarah laughed. "Your wound, Chuck, your wound."

"Oh," Chuck replied, turning a bit red. Sarah shook her head and uncovered the wound, wincing.

"That's actually not looking great," she said, reaching for the coconuts and a rock. She started to hit the coconut with the rock. "I'm going to have to irrigate it."

"With what?" Chuck asked. "Couldn't you have just grabbed some water instead of that?"

"Coconut water," she told him. "It's actually an anti-inflammatory." She busted it open and looked at him. "Plus, it relieves the pain."

"There's a but coming," Chuck muttered.

"Yeah, it's probably gonna sting a little bit," she said, and poured it on the wound. Chuck hissed. "Sorry about that." She studied the wound, then nodded, satisfied. She gently covered the wound again, as Renaldo hurried up to them.

"Hey, I just saw movement in the trees," he told Sarah. Sarah went with him, while Chuck finished dressing the wound. The two saw a gunman coming through the trees. "We got to jam, right?"

"I don't know," Sarah said. "If we move from here, the rescue team might not be able to track us."

"So what do we do?" Renaldo asked.

A/N: Well, Sarah, what do they do?

Next time:

"My sophomore year in high school, I entered a science fair," Chuck said, as he poked holes in the lemons with his knife. "I won second place for building a battery out of common household items."

He looked up, a slight scowl on his face. "Billy Lambart won because he used potatoes, and the judges all agreed that potatoes were more common than lemons."

"I mean they are," Renaldo said. Chuck and Sarah both gave him a look. He shrugged.

Chuck went back to the lemons. "It's quite simple really." Sarah watched him, grinning at him nerding out. "The acidity in the lemons will help to move the electrical current." He was placing nails in each lemon he had poked a hole into.

Huh….Chuck doing Chuck things. Come on back next time.