So I realized as I wrote this chapter that this story has gotten really, incredibly dark. I did not intend it to go that way - I intended it to be fairly light and fluffy, like Chuck vs. the Future was. However, this is just the way it has come out. I hope you still enjoy the story.
2:18 A.M. MST
July 13th, 2018
33rd Floor,
Sarah was awake. She had been awake for just over two hours – the longest period of time she had been awake without being pumped full of electricity since just after noon the prior day.
Unexpectedly, her blindfold was ripped off. Her eyes, not having seen light for fourteen hours, took a moment to adjust to even the dim light of the office she was in.
Then she felt her chair tip backward, and there was a moment of terror as she thought she was going to be dropped on the floor. Then she realized she was being dragged somewhere.
Frank Mullins dragged Sarah’s chair a few feet, and then set it upright, facing the other four women. “Hello, Director Walker,” he spat, stepping around her to stand in front of her. “How are you doing?”
Sarah tried to spit at him, but her mouth wasn’t working quite properly, and she ended up simply drooling down her chin. She had to satisfy herself with staring death at Mullins.
“Oh, my, not the look of death,” he mocked her. “Heaven forbid.”
With no warning, he backhanded the right side of her face as hard as he could. Sarah started moving her head to the left as he swung, though, so the majority of the impact was lost. She still tasted blood in her mouth.
“Director Walker,” he said viciously, “you are going to tell me something.”
“Like hell,” she tried to say. It ended up coming out more like, “Liii heh.”
“What was that, Director Walker? ‘Like hell’? Oh, wrong answer.”
He swung at her again, this time from the other direction, and this time, instead of moving her head, she turned to face his hand head on, sinking her teeth in as hard as she could the instant his hand made contact with her mouth.
Mullins howled in agony and tore his hand from her mouth, collapsing to the floor. After a moment, he got to his knees, a fiery rage burning in his eyes. “Well, Director Walker, you just signed your death warrant,” he growled. “But before you die, you’re going to tell me the name and location of every single agent of the Omaha Project.”
Sarah’s eyebrows went up. Speaking very carefully so that she could make herself understood, she said, “Would… that… be… before… or… after… you… suck… that… guy’s… dick?”
Mullins, rising to his feet, cocked his head and gave Sarah a curious look. “Not quite that,” he said. “However, if two hours from now, you haven’t started talking, we’re going to have to do some pretty vicious stuff to your friends here.”
“We’ll start with Chuck’s sister… then move on to the courageous first mate of theSerenity… then we’ll take care of the freak… and last, but not least, Mr. Early has something very special set aside for little Miss Kaylee Frye.”
Sarah watched Kaylee’s eyes go wide. “No…” Kaylee whispered. “Please… no…”
“What… do… you… plan… on… doing… you… sadistic… fuck?”
Mullins got as close to Sarah’s face as he could. “Ever heard of a Reaver, Director Walker?” he asked her in a low growl.
Zoe and River gasped. Kaylee started crying. “Ask them what Reavers are, Director Walker,” Mullins said. “Because we’re going to make them look like preschoolers.”
With that, Mullins reached behind Sarah’s ear. She gasped involuntarily as something touched the back of it. “Oh, don’t worry, Director,” he said, “we’re not going to hurt you yet. You’re FAR too valuable. I’m just putting a Bluetooth on your ear. That way, when you’re ready to talk, you can just say my name, and I’ll come a-runnin’!”
Mullins and Early headed for a door off to the side, followed by a very pale Bob Richter. “We’ll just be right next door,” Mullins stated. “Don’t forget… two hours. Then it’s the end of the world.”
4:01 A.M. MST
The jet-black Gulfstream V taxied off of Runway 26 well in excess of the posted speed limit of 30 miles per hour. Blazing up to the Lincoln Executive Terminal, it jolted to a halt a scant ten feet from the Suburban waiting for its passengers.
A stairway was rolled up to the door, and as soon as it was there, the hatch popped open and seven men dressed in riot gear poured out. Chuck, Casey, Morgan, Devin, Mal, and Jayne were all heavily armed. Simon had two handguns and was hoping to not have to use them.
Not a word was spoken as the men piled into the Suburban. The Omaha Project officer from
Twelve minutes later, the Suburban screeched to a halt in the parking garage of the
And the elevator doors opened, revealing Kaylee Frye’s ID card lying on the floor. Chuck entered the elevator and picked it up. He sighed, a deep sigh of desperation. “Let’s see if we can figure out where they are,” he said resignedly.
The seven piled into the elevator and rose to the lobby. Casey and Chuck exited the elevator. “Hold the elevator right there,” Casey instructed as they walked out. Devin placed his hand on the “door open” button and held it.
Casey and Chuck approached the security desk, guns out. When the security guard looked up, his eyes widened. Casey immediately held up his ID. “Federal agents,” he said. “I need to see a list of all building tenants.”
“Excuse me?” the security guard said. “I don’t know if I can –“
He suddenly found himself face to face with the business end of a Heckler & Koch MP10 machine pistol. “Here ya go,” he gulped, picking a sheet of paper up off his desk and handing it to Casey.
“Chuck?” Casey asked simply, handing the sheet over. Chuck scanned it –
A picture of a middle-aged white man. A consulting company. A Fulcrum file.
“Richter Consulting, 33rd floor,” Chuck said. “Has offices in
“Thirty-third floor!” Casey shouted as they crossed the lobby back to the elevator.
As soon as the doors had closed, the security guard picked up the phone. “Yeah, Mr. Richter? You’re about to have company.”
Richter Consulting
33rd Floor,
“Time’s up, Director Walker,” Mullins said evilly.
Sarah didn’t say a word. “Well, we’ll start with Ellie, then,” Mullins said. “I think… hmmm, what do you think, Mr. Early? Mutilation or violation?”
“Whatever,” Jubal Early replied. “Whatever you feel like.”
“I think we’ll ask the President,” Mullins laughed, pulling a quarter out of his pocket. “Heads, George Washington tells us to mutilate her. Tails, the Eagle tells us to violate her.”
He flipped the quarter up into the air, and let it land on the floor. “Tails,” he announced. “Violation it is!”
Crossing to Ellie, he grabbed her by the hair, and picked her up, forcing her handcuffs up and over the back of the chair. “On your knees, bitch,” he snarled. He began to undo his belt buckle, when Bob Richter came running in.
“We’ve got a problem,” he yelled. “Bartowski and Casey fuckin’ found us somehow. I told you we couldn’t mess with these guys!”
“Shut up, Bob,” Mullins replied. Turning to Sarah, he drew his TASER and shot her again. She slumped over in her chair. “Come on, let’s grab Director Walker and head for the roof. I can have a Fulcrum bird here to pick us up in five minutes.”
Then he paused. “Oh, but wait. It’ll be from the Phoenix Police Department, and their helicopters only carry four. I’m so sorry, Mr. Early, but Director Walker’s a FAR more valuable commodity than you are.”
He aimed the TASER again, and shot Jubal Early in the center of his chest. Early fell to the ground, paralyzed from the electric shock.
Mullins and Richter dragged Sarah Walker to the elevator bank. Seconds later, an elevator arrived. They dragged her in, Mullins pressed the “Roof” button, Richter swiped his key card, and the doors closed.
No more than two minutes later, there was a “ding” announcing the arrival of the other elevator. The four women all cringed, expecting their torturers to have returned – but instead, were greeted with the welcome sight of seven very familiar black-suited men piling out of the elevator.
Chuck gasped when he saw Ellie on her side, and ran to her, pulling her upright and pulling off her blindfold. “Are you okay?” he whispered, pulling her into a hug.
“I’m fine,” she replied, trying not to burst into tears. “But… you might want to check on Kaylee.”
Casey and Mal were working on freeing Zoe. Simon was comforting River. Devin and Morgan both rushed to Ellie’s side as soon as Chuck stood, and Jayne stood guard in front of the elevator.
Chuck winced as he stood up, a tightness still present in the left side of his chest. “It’ll be there for a while,” Dr. Russell had told him. It still hurt.
As he crossed the room to Kaylee, she looked him in the eyes, trying to smile. When he reached her, he removed the small cutters from his utility belt, reached behind her, and cut her handcuffs. Then, without a word, he folded her into his embrace. She broke then, her breath coming in great heaves. “Oh God,” she cried. “Oh, God, oh, God, he was going to rape me.”
Chuck’s eyes widened, and he pulled back. “WHAT?!” he gasped, shocked. “WHO was going to rape you?”
Kaylee pointed at the prostrate form of Jubal Early on the floor behind Chuck. Chuck turned to see him, and turned back to Kaylee. “Who the hell is that?”
Kaylee tried to answer, but couldn’t speak. She didn’t have to.
“His name is Jubal Early,” Mal said, his voice sounding dead. “He invaded my ship over eight years ago. He threatened to rape Kaylee, told her he’d do horrible things to her if she tried to stop him. I’m going to guess that he offered to follow through on that.”
“Is that true?” came Jayne’s voice from behind Chuck. “Did he…”
Kaylee nodded. Chuck saw Mal’s face go void of emotions, and then saw Mal make eye contact with Jayne. Chuck turned to Jayne, and saw him nod.
Crossing to Early, both Mal and Jayne reached down and lifted him to his feet. Then, Mal brought his arm back and gave Early an almighty smack across the face, waking him up.
“Jubal Fucking Early,” he snarled. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice your stench the moment you landed on Earth.”
“Malcolm Reynolds,” Early replied. “What exactly do you want with me?”
“Remember what I did to you last time I saw you?” Mal asked menacingly.
“You kicked me, and I floated off into space, where I was lucky enough to be retrieved by some lovely folk from Greenleaf,” Early replied.
“Guess what,” Mal said. “I’m gonna do it again, and it’s going to be a little more permanent this time.”
“Mal, wait!” Casey shouted, but it was too late.
Jayne brought his gun up and shot the window behind Early. As the glass shattered, Malcolm Reynolds lifted his right foot, and put his boot directly into Early’s chest with all the force he could muster. Early staggered backwards –
Right out the opening where the window had been.
There was a scream as he fell – and then there was no more sound.
Except for the sound of a helicopter taking off from the roof of the
“What the hell?” Casey asked, looking out the window. “
“That’s them,” Zoe said quietly. “That’s Mullins and the other guy. They have Sarah Walker with them.”
Chuck lifted his head toward the ceiling. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His chest twinged with pain. “Dammit,” he breathed. “God dammit.”
Bringing his head back down, he said, “John, I’m turning this operation over to you. I’m not in good enough physical shape, and I’m certainly in no emotional state to be leading this mission.”
Casey looked at him. Then, he said, “Alright, Chuck. I want you to take the Suburban and get all these civilians to the Nerd Herd office. You’ve got a safe house there, right?”
Chuck nodded. “Good. They should be alright there. I’ll commandeer a police car or something, and then I’m going to find out where that helicopter went, and then I’m going to go retrieve Sarah.”
Mal turned to face him. “I’m going with you.”
“No,” Casey said automatically.
“Me too,” Jayne stated.
“No,” Casey replied. “Neither of you is going with me.”
“Colonel Casey,” Mal said, “we are combat trained, and we have had a hell of a lot of experience fighting scumbags. It’ll be a suicide mission if you go alone. We’re going with you.”
“As am I,” Zoe announced, standing up.
Casey threw his hands in the air and looked to the ceiling. “Fine. You can all three come. It’ll be like the Village People do special ops.”
Simon turned his riot gear and weaponry over to Zoe. Casey and the three Serenity crew left, leaving the four men and three women standing in the now drafty thirty-third floor office.
“Let’s go,” Chuck said tiredly, heading for the elevator. “It’s time to go hide.”
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