A/N: Don't own...well, something...I'm a bit distracted and can't remember what I don't own. Probably don't own anything cool. Ask me later. But, in any event, I'm back. My wife and I had a delightful trip and accumulated tons of cool new stuff to tell you all about in future chapters of the story. Thanks for being patient with me. Stay tuned.

A/N2: As I've been doing this for a while, I've learned of my own inadequacies. One of them (among many) is an inability to align big chapter numbers with earthshaking stuff in the plot. Just tough for me. So, I have what I hope is a nice scene to end the chapter and that it will satisfy the need for something extraordinary for chapter 200. Not as monumental as the engagement (chapter 100) or the Oval Office (which didn't even make chapter 150 anyway, it was 148). I know you guys will let me know how I did.

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Federal Correctional Institution, Mariana, Florida

Lau Wang, known professionally as Yami, lay on her cot and stared at the ceiling. Her ribs hurt when she moved, but that would pass in time. Her broken nose was wrapped and packed, and she had to breathe from her mouth, but she didn't care.

There was a single thought she was doing everything in her power to avoid. So, she thought of other things instead.

Somehow, they had underestimated the Americans. The camp with those right-wing idiots had been found much too quickly. She had no idea how, but the FBI raid had surprised them. She and her brother had known that the Americans had been alerted to the fact that they were hired for the assassination. But, even so, how they picked up the camp so quickly was a shock. That attack using those men had been intended to be the distraction. A violent frontal rush at the Presidential motorcade would have both taken the Secret Service's attention elsewhere and allowed them to pat themselves on the back afterwards for stopping it. And, of course they would have stopped it. Those idiots with their pick-up trucks and machine guns would have been slaughtered by the protective detail.

But it went beyond that. Then the FBI had a fast car with an expert driver waiting at exactly the place they had left the woods. It was only good luck that they had managed to avoid getting nailed there. How in God's name had that happened?

And then she and Jason had forgotten the laptop in the car. Probably not a huge problem as it had unbreakable encryption, but then somehow the Americans had figured out the plan with the natural gas in the building. Did they break the encryption of the computer? She didn't know. She doubted that that was it. Even if someone had gotten in and somehow found the file on the chemical bleach they were using, to put that information together with the mercaptan in the gas supply would have taken someone with phenomenal brilliance and imagination. More likely that she had gotten tripped up with someone looking too closely at the HVAC technicians at the facility.

But, however it happened, they were thwarted by the Americans, with the help of the Chinese, she supposed. Those two agents she'd found below the building were clearly a combined team.

And...and...then they had found Jason in the sniper's nest. They had killed Jason.

A strangled sob escaped her. Try as she might to avoid the thought, it kept coming back. Her brother was dead. They had killed him. She knew it was her fault. She had insisted they take this job even when he didn't want to. And now he was dead and it was her fault.

Restlessly, she got up and began to pace her tiny cell. Her brother was dead. Her best friend, partner and constant companion would never be by her side again. Sobbing, she punched the wall. She had never known a moment of her life without him and never again would know a moment of life with him. The loss was unimaginable.

The sobs came steadily now, each punctuated by one of her fists striking the concrete wall in front of her.

Her heart was broken, and she had no words to capture the depth of her desolation, so she sobbed inconsolably and pounded at the wall. She kept going until she had to stop to breathe and her hands were steadily dripping blood onto the floor of her cell.

She didn't know what she was going to do with the rest of her life alone. Except one thing she knew. She was going to escape from this American cage and kill the people who took her brother from her. That she knew.

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Los Angeles, California

Lin Zeng, attorney to Ben Lo Pan and the other White Dragon triad members, left his office and walked into the office building's empty garage to his car. He was annoyed. The new client had insisted on an evening meeting and then was a no-show. He had wasted his time and missed dinner.

He would eat something when he got back to his apartment. There was some leftover Mexican food in the fridge.

Two shadows stepped out from behind a pillar. He was just becoming alarmed when one of the shadows shot him twice in the chest. As Zeng fell, he noticed one of them stoop to pick up the spent brass ejected from the weapon. The other one reached into Zeng's jacket to take his wallet.

Zeng's vision was fading as life left his body. He heard one of the men say to the other, "Take his watch too, Marty. Got to look like a street crime."

"Got it, Frankie. Not my first time, you know."

Zeng's vision faded to black.

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Los Angeles, California

Ren Hai and Han Lin, acting as the leaders of the White Dragon Triad while Lo Pan was incarcerated, climbed into the limousine and settled back. Speaking in Mandarin, Lin said, "The Twins failed. Unexpected, to be sure."

"To be sure. In my view, it is just as well. While I respect the Mountain Master and appreciate his wise leadership over the years, in this case I disagreed with his decision," said Hai.

"As you made clear at the time, my friend," said Lin.

"Do you think Yami will implicate us?" asked Hai.

"No. She is a professional and will keep her silence."

Hai gave a long sigh and said, "And it cost us Fifty Million Dollars. Do you think there is any chance of getting at least a partial refund from Beck?"

"I would be very surprised. We knew all along that success wasn't guaranteed."

"True. But we have been good customers over the years. Perhaps a partial refund may be in order?" asked Hai.

"It is certainly worth a discussion with the man," said Lin, turning to look out the window. Angrily, he turned to look at the back of the driver's head. Speaking English, he said, "Where do you think you are going, you idiot? This isn't the way to..." He didn't finish the sentence when the luxurious car stopped in an empty parking lot and the driver turned around.

The man was not their usual driver. In fact, he was the largest African-American man Lin had ever seen. It was amazing he could fit behind the wheel of the car. He twisted his bald head back to them through the gap between compartments and said, "You are not heading at all where you expect, gentlemen." The large pistol in his huge hand looked like a toy. It fired twice.

Mike Colt stepped out of the car, which rose visibly on its springs as his weight was released. As the weapon he had used was a revolver, there was no need to pick up the spent brass. He left the engine running, the driver's door open, and the lights on.

Colt walked back to the car which had followed them into the parking lot and got into the passenger seat. "Let's find a bar, Jack," he said to the driver. "I could use a drink."

"Sure thing, boss," said Jack as he began to drive them away.

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Metropolitan Detention Center, Los Angeles, California (Federal Custody)

Lo Pan was bitterly disappointed. The perfect opportunity had been extant. The perfect operatives had been engaged to perform the assassinations. The deposit had been paid. And what had happened? Unbelievably, the Twins had failed.

But, overriding his disappointment was fury. On the television, he had watched the footage of the Presidents being hustled away from the building before the explosion. The women in the lead were Agent Cho from the MSS and the American blonde who had been the pilot of his jet when he had been tricked and hijacked. The same two cursed women. The same team. His hatred and anger would stay with him for the rest of his life.

He barely noticed as the doors to the recreation room opened and prisoners began to stream in and through. Many, many men. Dozens. Maybe a hundred or more. His White Dragon companions were brushed aside and pushed away from him by the crowd. Sitting in his wheelchair, the moving throng blocked sight of anything other than prison uniforms moving past.

When the crowd had passed by, he had been stabbed eighteen times and was dead before the guards had even noticed the commotion. The bloody shank lay on the floor by the wheel of his chair.

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Evergreen Cemetery, Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California

The stretch limo stopped and Sarah looked at some of the people she loved most in the world. Her mom and sister looked back. Her best friend and soon-to-be sister gave her a gentle smile of understanding. Lou Palone tried not to be curious. Mei-Ling and Rachel nodded to her. Carina, with her cane, and Zondra, as well, of course.

Sarah said, "I'll be right back."

"Going with," said Carina, reaching for her black baseball cap and pulling it on her head. Her hair was still extra short, but was coming in quickly, still the lustrous red, but with a blaze of snow white where the shrapnel from the Gentle Hand car bomb had clipped her scalp.

"Me too, Sar," said Zondra.

"Ok," said Sarah, getting out of the car. Zondra came out next and the two women helped Carina join them.

The three remaining CATS walked up the short slope to the grave. They walked slowly to accommodate Carina and her cane. Zondra held Carina's arm to steady her and, although Carina said she didn't need it, she didn't shrug it off either. Both of them had their free hands otherwise full with a bottle apiece.

At the top of the hill was a small simple gravestone.

AMY TURNER

JANUARY 8, 1979 - JULY 25, 2008

OUR FRIEND

They stopped to look at it. It was the first time Carina had seen it. Sarah put down the small bunch of flowers, picking up a wilted bunch that had been there for a few days and had to be replaced. Under the other set of flowers was a small metal Marine Corps insignia. Sarah silently pointed it out to her friends with a quiet smile.

Sarah started. "Hey, Ames. CATS are together again. Well, now that we're with you, we're together. Just wanted to stop by and say hi. The girlfriends have decided to take me dress shopping for the wedding dress. We've got my mom and sister in the car. Ellie, of course. Lou is there. My friend Rachel, who you met at the engagement party. Mei-Ling, she's a Chinese spy we worked with to bring down the White Dragons and just now to take out the Yama Twins on an assassination thing. You'd like her. Eileen couldn't make it."

Carina took a long drink from an open bottle of champagne held in the hand that wasn't holding her cane. After a small lady-like burp, she said, "What Blondie isn't telling you is that this is the start of the bachelorette party. Once we get her a sexy wedding dress, the limo takes us straight to Vegas. Rachel and Ellie and I have been planning some stuff. Vegas will never be the same."

Zondra took a long pull from the bottle of tequila she held and said, "Well, not exactly. Lou can't make it to Vegas and Sarah's mother and sister aren't coming either, of course."

"Right," said Carina. "But Graham's daughter Karen is flying in from DC. And that French spy, Marie something, is coming too. Both of them will meet us at the Bellagio. We have a block of rooms for the weekend."

"Fabron. Marie Fabron," said Sarah. "You remember her from Interlaken, Ames."

"Yeah, that's right," said Carina taking another drink. "I also wanted to tell you that I'm the best and fastest healing patient Calistoga has ever had. And I'm going to be dancing at the wedding. One hundred percent. I thought you'd want to know."

"And I'm going to be in the wedding party...a bridesmaid," said Zondra. "Can't wait. I'll come by afterwards and tell you all about the wedding while Chuck and Sarah are off having crazy monkey sex in the Caribbean."

Sarah said, "Casey is doing a bachelor party for Chuck this weekend too. Your old squeeze Cole is flying in for it. He was on assignment in Caracas and is coming up."

Carina grumped, "If you can even call it a bachelor party. No strippers, if you can believe it."

Zondra said, "Red, you know Chuck wouldn't want strippers. Can you imagine how creeped out he'd be with some strange set of tits shaking in his face? Amy, back me up on this." Sarah chuckled at that.

Carina made a "Hummmppff" noise and drank more champagne.

"Anyway, Ames, just thought we'd stop by. See you later," said Sarah, still clutching the old flowers.

"Yeah," said Zondra. She turned the bottle of tequila over and emptied it onto Amy's grave.

"Bye, Amy," said Carina. "Here, take this too. For when you're finished with the tequila." Like Zondra, she turned over the bottle of champagne and emptied it for Amy.

Silently, the women made their way down the hill and back to the limo, Zondra helping Carina. Both still clutching the now empty bottles.

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Beverly Hills Bridal Shop, Los Angeles, California

The ladies were having fun. A lot of fun. Admittedly, Carina and Rachel seemed to be the rowdiest, but even Emma and Ellie were laughing along with the mayhem. Molly was toddling from lap to lap, as each woman there wanted a turn playing with the adorable little blonde-haired girl. The limo had been stocked with liquor for twice the number of passengers actually in the car, which turned out to be prescient. Several bottles had accompanied them into the shop and were being steadily drained while Sarah modeled one dress after another.

Most of the saleswomen looked on indulgently, although there was one matronly lady with a grumpy scowl.

Sarah came out in an a-line, long sleeve, off the shoulder, dress with gold embroidery. Rachel yelled, "Butt..."

Carina yelled, "...ugly!" The two women high fived.

Ellie gave a thumbs down and Emma shook her head negatively.

Lou said, "Have to try again, Sar."

Next, Sarah came out in a sweetheart neck dress with Illusion long sleeves and a chiffon skirt. Carina grabbed a nearby garbage can and mimed retching into it. Rachel blew a loud raspberry.

"Not at all for you," said Mei-Ling.

"Not at all, dear," said Emma.

Zondra was trying to teach Molly to say "tequila" when next Sarah came out wearing a sleeveless ball gown with a scoop neck.

Carina said, "Yeah..., just right for when you are the grandmother of the bride."

Rachel said, taking drink of gin, "What she said. Hey, who switched my vodka for gin?" Mei-Ling cracked up and looked away innocently.

Emma shook her head at the dress and Lou gave a thumbs down.

Sarah came out in a satin halter-necked ballgown with a monstrously huge train she had trouble navigating through the door and up onto the platform.

Zondra said, "Well, if we have to hide we can always duck under the train. All of us at the same time."

Emma said, "I think you'd have a tough time dancing at the wedding in that one, sweetie."

Rachel got up and pulled the train over Sarah's head, leaving her friend blindly plumphing around under an acre of billowing satin, with everyone laughing hysterically. "Yeah," said Rachel. "That's what I thought."

Next, Sarah came out in a clean silk slip dress with a plunging neck.

The response was, for once, quieter. "Now that's nice," said Emma.

"Yeah," said Zondra. "I like this one."

"Could be a keeper," said Ellie.

"Short list?" asked Sarah. "I like it too."

"Yeah," said Rachel. "Definitely short list."

"Agreed," said Lou.

"OK," said Sarah.

A few minutes later, she came out in a satin ball gown with a bustier and a feathered skirt.

She was greeted by total silence, even by Carina and Rachel. Not the kind of silence resulting from people hesitant to speak. 'You could hear a pin drop' kind of silence. As if every woman in the room had brain lock and a resultant inability to utter a single sound. Eyes wide, they were barely breathing. That kind of silence.

While they were all frozen in place staring at Sarah, Molly toddled over and grabbed a part of the dress with her little hand. Looking up at her sister with love, she said, "Pity."

Sarah, tears in her eyes, reached down to pick up her sister and said, "Yes. It's pretty. Thank you, Molly. Thank you." She kissed her sister's cheek.

That broke the logjam.

Carina said, in a whisper, "Holy Mother of God, it's beautiful. It's beautiful."

Ellie and Emma had tears in their eyes and nodded their heads, quietly applauding in their seats.

"Wow," said Rachel and began to tear up a little, herself. "Just, wow."

"That's the one," said Lou, with two thumbs up.

"No question," said Mei-Ling. "With your hair up, to show off your neck."

"Fucking A," said Zondra and immediately slapped a hand over her mouth looking at Molly. She mouthed 'sorry' to Emma, but Emma's tearful attention was still rivetted on her beautiful daughter.

Sarah said, quietly, "It's perfect." While holding Molly in her arms, Sarah said to her friends with wonder and joy in her voice, and looking as happy as anyone had ever looked, "We're getting married."

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A/N3: Why is Lau Wang (Yami) in Mariana, Florida instead of some other holding facility? Because there is no prison in the Federal System for women inmates who require a heightened degree of custody. Since 2007, all women prisoners who require max custody are housed in a segregated area in what is otherwise a men's medium security prison in Mariana, Florida.

A/N4: The wedding dress scene from canon. I loved it. Sarah was finally getting her head into the wedding and leaving some of her butterflies behind. Even though she was alone in Castle until the last minute, her joy when she found the right dress was an emotional delight. On the other hand, when my wife went shopping for her wedding dress (a long time ago), both her mother and her sister were with her. I decided that my Sarah wouldn't go through that experience alone in New Day. Her posse would be there for her, as raucous as they might make it. So, that's what I did. Now here's a fun fact. The dress she picked as 'perfect' in Castle in Chuck vs. The First Bank of Evil is not the dress she wears to get married in Chuck vs the Cliffhanger. No explanation is given for the switch. So, I had the 'perfect' dress as the runner-up and the actual final dress as the winner in front of her friends. Hope you approve. Hope the scene is worthy of the massive chapter 200 number.