A/N: We continue

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck

"Looks like seven of them," Casey muttered, pulling down the spy glass. "How many Shaw members did you say were left?"

"Let's just say that we're not sure our intel is the best," Chuck said, blowing out a breath.

"I know Shaw himself keeps about four with him up in the mountains," Casey told them. "And then there's that camp of five or six at Rolling Rock."

"Fifteen, eighteen, it doesn't matter, they all need to be dead," Sarah said.

"They do," Casey agreed. "Walker and I can take out two quick-like, with our guns."

"That leaves five," Chuck said, drawing in the dirt. Sarah looked over at him. "Don't like those odds." Casey looked at him as well. "Don't like those odds of all three of us coming back unharmed." Casey grunted in affirmation.

"What are you thinking?" Sarah asked.

"If it was skunk mating season," Chuck began, but shook his head. "No sense iffin'."

Casey gave Chuck a look, picked up his spy glass, and looked at the group again. "These boys don't look very rugged," Casey muttered. He began to look around the countryside until he found what he was looking for. He handed the spyglass to Chuck. "Is that a cave?"

"It is," Chuck said. "With a perch on top."

"You know, I know where we can get a barrel of rancid pig pieces," Casey said.

"Why in the hell would you need that?" Sarah asked

"Makes good bait," Casey said with a shrug.

"You aren't thinking about tipping that barrel over, and covering them boys with it, are you?" Chuck asked with an evil grin on his face.

"It's hard to draw on someone when you're too busy retching," Casey pointed out.

"Okay, one problem; how do get them over to that cave?" Chuck asked.

"I'm pretty sure a damsel in distress would lure them in," Sarah said. "Of course, I'd probably have to wear a dress."

"No, I don't like this," Chuck said. Sarah gave him a look, and Chuck didn't back down.

"Shit," Casey muttered.

}o{

"You said I got to do what I wanted to do," Sarah said as she got off the wagon back at the ranch.

"You do," Chuck told her, climbing down from the wagon, hurrying after her. "I just said I don't like this."

"So, I can't do it?"

"I wish you wouldn't," Chuck told her.

"Fine, I'll do it," Sarah said, heading toward the house.

"Sarah," Chuck said. She turned around. He was standing there, fighting for the words.

She walked up to him, defiance in her eyes. "Say it," she said softly.

"Please don't," Chuck nearly begged. She didn't say anything. She turned and walked back into the house. Chuck stood there, and then turned to see Casey and Morgan standing together.

"Go," Morgan said to him. "Go talk to her!"

Chuck nodded and walked inside.

"How long do you think they'll be?" Casey asked.

"No idea how long a discussion like this will last," Morgan said with a shrug.

Casey gave him a look. "Moron, they ain't gonna be talkin' long." Casey shook his head and walked away.

"Then what would take them awhile?" Morgan asked. He thought for a second. "Ohhhhhh."

}o{

"What are you trying to prove?" Chuck asked. She shook her head as she headed for her trunk, wearing just her slip. "I get it, you can take them out. But this… this is dangerous."

She turned and walked up to him, their noses inches apart. "Everything I've done is dangerous."

"There's another way," Chuck said softly. "You don't need to prove anything to me. I'm not him."

"And I'm not her," Sarah countered. She saw the hurt on his face. She grabbed his hand. "I get it, you're scared. But this is a good plan. If it was anyone else doing my role, you wouldn't say a word."

"Anyone else isn't you," Chuck told her.

"Baby, I'm not leaving you," Sarah told him.

"She… she told me the same thing," Chuck said softly. He looked away, but a gentle but firm hand pushed his face until he came eye to eye with her again.

"You tell me not to," Sarah said.

"I would never," Chuck told her.

"You would if you really believed it was a bad idea," Sarah said softly. "This is you being scared."

"Fine, I'm scared I'm going to lose you," Chuck told her.

She smiled at him. "I don't think you understand, Chuck. I finally found you. I didn't even know I was looking for you, and I found you. I'm not letting you go. There's not enough members of the Shaw gang to stop me."

"If you don't come back to me," he began but trailed off.

"I will, baby, I will," she said. He nodded, tears in his eyes. She pulled him close and held him tight.

}o{

It was dark.

He wore a mask over his nose, not that it was helping much. The lid on the barrel was secure, and it was up high enough that you couldn't smell it down on the ground. She looked up at him, standing in front of the cave entrance. Inside were her weapons. She put her hands together, making a heart where he could see. She then slipped into the darkness.

Chuck still didn't like the plan, but he trusted her.

He knew he loved her. He knew she meant the world to him, but that she meant as much as she did… He wondered how much of this was from losing Jill, and how much of this was from knowing how much it hurt to lose someone you cared for, that you loved.

"Hellllllpppp," he heard Sarah's voice. He almost giggled. He could hear a note of vapidness in it from where he was. "Someone! Anyone! Please! HEELLLPPP!"

Chuck shook his head, knowing what those men heard. They were predators, and they had heard the call of someone defenseless. They were coming to take care of whatever ailed her, and then do unspeakable things to her.

He heard her almost silently moving in the cave, and heard the not-so-silent men talking to themselves. They were laughing and jeering.

The trap was set.

Chuck heard a hoot owl call twice, and knew what that meant. It was Casey's signal that two had remained at camp. That left five for Sarah to deal with. If this worked the way it should, she should have no problem. She told him he had to get three of them with the disgusting mix that was in the barrels, preferably in the middle.

That would leave two on the outside that she could quickly pick off. The other three would be blinded by the goop, retching from the smell, and likely too disgusted to react quick enough to attack Sarah.

These weren't certainties, but Chuck knew there were few certainties in life.

"SOMEONE! ANYONE! HEEELLLPPPP!" He could hear Sarah basically below him now. He heard thrashing around in the bushes, and the first of the men came through.

"Where you at, Sweetie?" he heard one of the men sneer in a lecherous tone. "I'm here to save you."

"We're all here to save you," another said.

"Oh, thank goodness," he heard Sarah say. Chuck took the top off the barrel. The smell nearly knocked him on his ass. "I need a big strong man to save me." That was the signal. Chuck tipped the barrel and did his best to hit everyone below. He heard yelling, retching, and just general chaos. Shots rang out from across the way. Clearly, Casey had taken out one. He heard pistols go off beneath him. They were rhythmic, and then he heard another shot across the way. That would have been Casey's other bandit.

He counted the five shots from underneath. He kept pouring just in case. "Okay, you can stop," he heard her say. He sat the barrel, now nearly empty, back on its bottom, and put the lid on. "I think we've made a mistake."

Sarah had walked out to where he could see her. There were spatters on her dress, Chuck assumed from the retched brine he had poured down. She was making faces, but she didn't look like she was going to throw up. "And what's that?"

"How the hell are we getting credit for these men?" Sarah asked.

"Well, I figured someone that can handle things just fine herself, can take care of it," Chuck said.

He could see her glaring at him. "Don't make me shoot my husband," she told him.

"Yes, dear," he replied. She shook her head at him.

}o{

"I have no idea why I'm out here," Big Mike said the next day, as the three led the sheriff to the cave. "I've already paid for the two, just bring these other five to me."

"I really don't think you want us dragging these bodies into the jail," Chuck told Big Mike.

"Son, I've seen some of the ghastliest things a man could see," Big Mike began. He stopped walking. "Do you smell that?"

"You smell anything?" Sarah asked Chuck.

"Sure don't," Chuck said. "How about you Casey?"

"Just the wildflowers," Casey said. He sneezed. "Damn things make me sneeze."

They continued to walk as the smell grew. Big Mike was blinking tears. "What is that…" He looked as though he might vomit at any moment. When they came to the clearing and he saw the bodies, he turned and ran off.

"Maybe we should have brought the bodies to the sheriff's office," Chuck said to Sarah.

"God, no," came the weak reply of Big Mike.

"Do you want to come verify who they are and how many?" Casey asked.

"How many do you say are there?" Big Mike asked.

"Five," Chuck told him.

"Then you'll get paid for five, now get me the hell out of here," Big Mike said. Casey helped him as they turned and headed back to the wagon.

"I think I handled that just fine," Sarah said, quite smugly.

"How's your dress?" Chuck asked, earning him a dark look. "Sorry."

"No, you're not," Sarah said, shaking her head. "But, if you must know, I had it burned."

"I see," Chuck replied, as the two started back to the wagon. "You do take me to the nicest places."

Sarah chuckled. "Chuck, I have to finish this. You know that, right?"

"I do, but… I just felt it was an unnecessary risk, and just because I don't like it, doesn't mean I'm right," Chuck told her.

"I know, but at that moment… I felt…"

"Lied to?" Chuck asked. Sarah nodded. "I get it. I didn't at first, but when you walked up to me and demanded I tell you…"

"I'm sorry about that," Sarah said. "I truly am. I… I knew you wouldn't lie to me, but after what I've been through… I took something out on you that wasn't your responsibility, it was what I thought you would have done if you were Bryce. And you are not Bryce."

"No, I'm not. But it's okay if we have disagreements, Sarah," Chuck told her.

"Wives aren't supposed to disagree with their husbands," Sarah reminded him.

"Sarah, we all know wives disagree with their husbands, because everyone is capable of their own thoughts," Chuck reminded her.

"Keep up this kind of talk, and I'll wonder if you'll join the women's suffrage movement," Sarah teased him. She grabbed his arm and spun him towards her. "I love you."

"I love you," Chuck told her. "Let's get home, we've got some more bad guys to get."

"And a farm to run," she reminded him. The two joined Big Mike and Casey, already in the wagon. She climbed up, took the reins, and drove them back to town.

A/N: Fire's dying. Let's pick up tomorrow.