Copied&Pasted from FF.net! :D

A/N: Alrighto! We have Chapter 8 up and running! I'm sorry it took so long. This chapter is much longer than the previous few, and it's that way, because IT'S THE SECOND LAST CHAPTER! I'd like to thank everyone who's stuck with this story throughout it's long and boring journey! It's also the first, more-than-one-chapter fic that I've written, so that's an accomplishment too! :D The next chapter might take a longer while as my exams are coming. Anyway, reviews/constructive critiscm are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading.

I'd like to say a huge thank you to theprincess1511, and this chapter is dedicated to her cause she makes a special guest appearance!

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck or anyone in this chapter. I don't even own Agent Winnie Koh, cause she owns herself. (She's theprincess1511! :D)
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“Chuck, I told you to stay put!”

“Damn it, Bartowski! Get back to the car!”

“Hey, come on, you can’t actually expect me to stay in the car again, right? I mean, after all we’ve been through as a team?”

“Sure, dumbass, and when you get killed, Beckman will confine me and Walker into a car until we die of old age.”

“Oh come on guys! You’re in some sort of dangerous, life-threatening operation and you expect me to stay in the car? It’s like you don’t know me at all!”

Casey made a disturbing grunting noise that sounded something close to a wounded animal as he muttered a curse under his breath. “Fine, Bartowski, but stay close and don’t make a single sound, or I’ll make sure the Ring never gets the Intersect.”

With a SIG P226 in his hand, and another pistol tucked securely in his waistband, Casey moved forward cautiously through the blinding white corridors, while Chuck was safely tucked between himself and Sarah, who was armed with her trusty Smith & Wesson pistol, which she had amazingly managed to hide from the Ring agents who had previously searched them – a feat that amazed Chuck to no end.

A silenced shot rang out as yet another Ring agent fell to the ground with a bullet to his temple. Chuck’s eyes darted between Casey and Sarah’s guns, trying to confirm who had dispatched the agent. A quick look at Sarah’s smoking gun confirmed that she had indeed downed the enemy agent.

On their way to the Ring compound, Sarah had a feeling that something was amiss, and she wasn’t sure if Casey saw it as well. The Ring agents that were escorting them in the SUV were exchanging looks, and they were looks that were not lost to Sarah – Looks that spelt, trouble, mischief and what frightened her, double-crossing. Knowing that they were dealing with professional spies and definitely, expertly trained killers, she wasn't so sure if those looks were meant to lead her on, or were legitimate.

She discreetly signaled to Casey with a hand, while Chuck remained oblivious to his surroundings with his mind still trying to wrap around itself over his recent kiss with Sarah. With one hand already placed on the small of her back where her knives were hidden, her other hand gripped Chuck’s hand tightly, causing a faint smile to grace his lips. Casey retaliated with a slight jerk of his head, gesturing that he understood.

Without Chuck’s knowledge, Casey and Sarah had come up with a contingency plan. If the whole thing was a hoax, which was a high possibility, they would take out any agents that crossed their path, find an unnoticeable vehicle that Chuck could take refuge in, before trying to take out the Ring from the inside. They’d agreed that calling Beckman for reinforcements was completely out of the question, with her being part of the Ring itself.

Their fears were confirmed when both of the Ring agents pulled guns on them before their departure to the Ring compound – a secret underground compound, underneath the “terrorist” cell where Chuck had previously been tortured – before Sarah had transferred her gun onto Chuck’s person by planting a mind-blowing, passionate kiss on him – it was also too short for Sarah to even consider it a kiss, but she enjoyed it nonetheless, and she could tell that Chuck felt the same way.

The tactic worked, as the agents didn’t bother to search Chuck for weapons, while they kept their eyes on Sarah and Casey like hawks. Chuck, unaware of the gun that was tucked snugly in his huge pocket, and of the guns that were pointed at his handlers throughout the ride, stared dreamily into space while his lips tingled with an unfamiliar sensation.

Their contingency plan had been working well, and they were already well ahead into stage two: Taking out the Ring from the inside. After taking out the agents that had driven them to the Ring’s base of operations, they stealthily made their way in, just as they had before. A stroke of luck allowed them to locate the entrance to the main underground area, and they failed to raise any alarms by impersonating two guards that they had taken out.

The original typical terrorist-base-like compound was nothing like the underground complex. Sleek, glass-like walls were fitted at every nook and cranny, and the labyrinth-like corridor made it easy to get lost. The narrow corridors were designed to keep any intruders out – all doors were concealed, and could only be opened with a specific key card, the halls were exceptionally difficult to navigate through.

Casey had managed to snag a key card from one of the more superior agents stationed underground, while they moved through the halls, hopelessly lost. It was only when they had run into Chuck, who by the way, wasn’t even supposed to be in there, had they managed to obtain some results. But all was well, as Casey had stated with a grunt.
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Ok, Chuck, stay in the car. Yes, stay in the car. Be a good little asset and stay in the car. Chuck chanted his mantra repeatedly, reminding himself that if he were to leave the confinement of the car, he would most likely die. If he didn’t, then Casey and Sarah would sure as hell make sure he was dead. His hand itched to grab hold of his seatbelt buckle and his finger threatened to push the eject button. Busying his hands deliberately, he brushed away the beads of perspiration that had formed on his head.

The jet-black Jeep Wrangler wasn’t exactly the most comfortable vehicle to be in, especially when the engine was turned off, and if it was stationary in a place that was as hot and dry as a desert. Chuck had all four windows rolled down – although dangerously easy for him to be spotted, it prevented his suffocation – and he was about to faint from the intense heat that radiated in the air surrounding him.

But that wasn’t the only thing that was bothering Chuck then. His bladder was full, as it should have been, seeing as how he hadn’t emptied it since he was recaptured from the hospital. He failed to even grasp how he had lasted that long without a visit to the bathroom.

He rested his head on the palm of his hand. Ever since he had that mega flash in the hospital, right after he had been kidnapped and tortured, he had been having migraines that would come and go at arbitrary periods of time. He still hadn’t forgotten the flash. It held all the details about The Ring, but one piece of intel stood out most prominently – the war that the Ring planned to unleash on the CIA, NSA, DEA and other organizations.

The details were horrifying: the Ring planned to set off a chain of events that would lead each agency to point fingers with the other – events that would include buildings being blown up, along with the numerous inhabitants of said buildings. No one would care who fired the first shot, but fingers would be pointed, and guns would fire, and the Ring would be the ones to salvage the ruins.

But the only thing Chuck could think of that moment was how he much needed to relieve himself, and fast. Scanning the area from the vehicle, Chuck ensured that the coast was clear, before he scurried out of the jeep and into the bushes nearest to a wall, ensuring that he would not be caught out in the open. He whistled softly as he emptied his overflowing bladder, while his eyes darted everywhere other than his front.

That was when a flash happened.

That was when Chuck found himself lost in a place that could very well be a modern day labyrinth.

After gaining entrance into the underground complex, a wide-eyed Chuck scampered through the hallways, flashing on every emblem that was present on the hidden doors in the walls. Several of the flashes forced him to pause in his step to steady himself before he was able to continue on, but miraculously, he did not run into any hostile agents throughout his little tour. With a few left turns and multiple right turns through the doors, which he was able to access with intel from the flashes, Chuck finally met up with his handlers, who were anything but happy to see him.

"Wait, wait, wait! We've been through this way before!"

“How the hell would you know that?! They all look the same to me!”

“Because, dear Casey, I’ve been flashing on every door and it’s been telling me what each room is for, according to those glowing emblem on the door,” Chuck pointed at the faint blue glow that emitted from the wall. Casey grunted, unimpressed, while Sarah listened intently, as if Chuck’s every word was law.

“This room right here,” he rapped his fist gently against the door which had a glowing blue Chinese character on it, “belongs to Agent #01293, Agent Winnie Koh, formally of the Chinese Intelligence.”

The three agents froze in their places when a gun appeared at Chuck’s head. Chuck swallowed a gulp as the owner of the mysterious hand emerged from the room. Agent Winnie Koh of the Chinese Intelligence, stood ram-rod straight as her statuesque form stood behind Chuck’s lean body. Her gun was pointed directly at Chuck’s temple as she smirked slyly at the three agents who had decided to knock on her door. Literally.

“Who are you?” Agent Koh questioned menacingly, her gun never wavering, as Casey and Sarah lifted their weapons to meet her head, inches away from Chuck’s while she stood behind him.

“Don’t shoot! Please don’t shoot. Seriously, we’re Ring agents, the new guys! We’re your, uh, your co-workers… co-spies!”

“Well, all the better to kill you then.”

Chuck cocked his head to the side in confusion.

“Wow, that’s completely off. No! Don’t shoot just yet. We’re not Ring agents, alright? Did I say we were? No, we’re not. We’re, uh… We’re here… to infiltrate the Ring! I’m sorry, I stammer when I see pretty ladies.” Chuck babbled on with a nervous smile, trying to muster up enough charm to save Team Bartowski.

“CHUCK! No!” Sarah yelled at him for unveiling their plot to the seemingly rogue Ring agent. Casey looked like he would have shot Chuck there and then if he weren’t the Intersect.

“Damn it, Bartowski. Why don’t you just broadcast our arrival to the Ring while you brief their agents on how to stop us, huh?” Casey growled angrily.

Voices travelled from the far end of the hall as a patrol was making their way towards them. The voices, loud and clear, were speaking in a foreign language, most likely Polish.

“They’re coming to investigate noises.” Sarah said, with worry in her voice. Considering that she was fluent in at least 8 languages, those being Mandarin, Polish, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, it was times like these where the languages proved useful.

“Come with me if you want to live. I’m undercover, sent by my government to infiltrate the Ring as well.” Agent Koh stated with her eyes fixed on Chuck, gun still aimed at his noggin.

“How do we know we can trust you?” Sarah questioned, doubt clouding her mind.

“How do I know that I can trust you?” Agent Koh countered back, completely deadpanned, as the sound of footsteps inched closer to their exposed position. It was apparent that she had no qualms about the patrol. Logically, if she stalled them long enough, the patrol would come by and shoot them, but not her. The only reason why Agent Koh kept her gun in place was to make it seem like she were trying to subdue the intruders. But she was offering to save them.

“It would really help the trust factor if you’d lower your gun right about now.” Chuck pleaded, trying to regain some feeling in his legs as he continued his staring competition with the barrel of a gun.

“Tell your partners to lower theirs first.” The Chinese agent demanded, gaze and gun held firmly in place.

The footsteps echoed even louder down the hall, just as the guards rounded the corner. In plain view of the impasse, the two Ring agents that were on patrol duty drew their AK 47 assault rifles, prepared to fire at the intruders with no hesitation, other than to take out the threat that presented itself. It was the supposed protocol to take out any hostile threats, but losses of personnel was an acceptable occupational hazard.

You just had to eliminate the threat.

Before the Ring agents could even take aim, they fell to ground together in a bloody heap. Agent Koh had dispatched her fellow agents in a matter of seconds, and the gun snapped back toward Chuck’s head, all before Casey or Sarah could even comprehend that they were about to have a faceoff with the patrol.

“I’m on your side.” She stated with force, and finally lowered her gun, causing Chuck to breathe a sigh of relief. Still in shock at having witnessed firsthand the amazing speed and agility of the Chinese agent, Casey and Sarah responded by lowering their weapons in pure awe.

“H-how… did y-you do that?” Chuck swallowed, obviously still shell-shocked by what he had just witnessed.

“I’ve been training with the Ring for a long time, but no, I’ve never betrayed my country. I’m one of the trainers here as well, and even though no one here is any match for me, I couldn’t take down the entire organization by myself. I needed a distraction of somewhat, or a team that I could work with. It seems I just found my team.” Agent Koh’s expression softened significantly. She reached out her hand, and smiled fondly at the group.

“Agent Winnie Koh, MSS Chinese Intelligence, at your service.” Chuck and Sarah shook her offered hand as Chuck took his turn to introduce Team Bartowski.

“Carmichael. Agent Carmichael, CIA,” he gestured toward Sarah before continuing, “this is Sarah Walker, also CIA, and the grunting beast over there is Colonel John Casey of the NSA.”

Agent Koh’s eyebrows shot up slightly. “You’re Charles Carmichael? I’ve heard about you and your team. Very high success rates on your missions. Not bad for someone who was screaming like a little girl at the sight of my gun,” she remarked, obviously impressed by the team that she had chanced upon. Her little comment at the end earned a scowl from Chuck and a small snicker from Casey. Sarah remained silent as Agent Koh turned to address her.

“Sarah Walker, huh? I’ve heard more of you compared to your teammates. You’re the star of the CIA, aren’t you?” Sarah nodded, her face suddenly beaming. Agent Koh nodded in approval, and appraised her new team.

“I’m sorry to break up this little bonding session, Koh, but we’re very exposed right now. And last I heard, we were actually on a mission,” Casey cut in impolitely, drawing an eye-roll from Agent Koh. Chuck shared a panicked look with Sarah, knowing that Casey and Koh fighting would result in Casey probably dying before he could even lay a finger on the Chinese agent.
They weren’t trying to degrade Casey, but Koh was just that good.

“Ah, yes, I’ve also heard of the Colonel’s extreme sense of humor and sarcasm,” Koh stated, to which Casey replied with a grunted and shrug, “Nice to meet you, Colonel Casey. I’ve been meaning to ask you if it was really true that you failed Seduction School twice. I was under Roan Montgomery for a while when my government sent me to the USA for training and you were sort of immortalized at his school.” Koh smiled in remembrance of the charming, suave and irresistible Roan Montgomery, the man who she held a brief infatuation for throughout her days training with him.

“But you’re right. We have to get out of the hallway. Follow me.”

With that, Agent Koh disappeared into her room as quickly as she appeared. Chuck and Sarah observed Casey awkwardly as his hardened gaze morphed into a look of high regard as he grunted, “I like her. The girl’s got guts.”

The three took off after the MSS agent, hot on her heels. They proceeded into her room, where they equipped themselves with bulletproof vests and enough bullets and guns to fight off an army. They were led through different hallways by Agent Koh, although they didn’t even know if the hallways were different. Agent Koh’s long legs were barely visible at the speed that she was travelling at. Finally, when a lone white door was in view, she slowed to a stop.

“It’s… the room of the… Ring leaders.” Chuck stuttered in awe, his head throbbing from the
recent flash.

Agent Koh whipped her head around to face him. “How did you know that?”

“I, uh, did some… research before.”

“Oh, right, I get it. Tortured some guy, huh?”

Chuck held a chagrined expression. He didn’t want to be known as someone who tortured others. He wasn’t ruthless, nor was he a real agent, but he had a cover to protect, and by darn, he was gonna protect it.

“Yeah, really beat the hell outta him. Told me everything he knew about the Ring too.” He told her, attempting to appear smug. Agent Koh nodded in slight approval while Sarah nodded encouragingly to Chuck, when his eyes darted to her in desperation.

“You guys ready? Do you have a plan, Koh?” Casey asked.

“I was thinking of something along the lines of charging in guns a blazing.”

Chuck swore he saw a tear in Casey’s eye. The guy had finally found his match.

“I’d rather not…” Chuck started, when Sarah cut him off.

“That’s why you won’t Chuck, its way too dangerous for you to be in there. I want you to stay outside, and when you hear the codeword, “Intersect”, get out of here. Is that clear?”

“But you guys are practically walking into your own graves! How could you expect me to just leave like that? Have you forgotten Semper Fidelis? I won’t leave you behind.” Chuck protested.

“Chuck, you’re far more important to the world than me or Casey. You have to put yourself before others sometimes, and now’s that time. Please, just promise me you’ll get out of here if things go wrong.”

“No! I can’t, and I won’t!”

“Chuck, why are you so stubborn? You have to promise me! Why can’t you just leave?”

“Why can’t you just let me stay? I know you’re trying to protect the I-Thing, but since
Beckman’s part of the Ring already, what does it matter anymore?!”

“I can’t lose you again, Chuck!” she yelled, causing Chuck’s face to take on a look of total shock. Trying to be considerate, Casey decided to walk down the hall and scout for any agents with Koh. Sarah spoke again, her voice much softer than before.

“Do you know how worried I was when I found out that you were kidnapped twice? Do you know how scared I was when I found you bleeding and bruised?” She was holding back tears now, and her eyes were turning red.

“I care about you, Chuck, and sometimes it scares me that I care so much. But please, you have to do me this one favor, and run if you hear the codeword.” Sarah let a tear slip down her cheek, before she brushed them away with her hand.

Chuck stood still for a moment, his face devoid of emotion, before he stepped forward and planted a kiss on Sarah’s lips – a kiss that she responded to eagerly. After a while, he pulled away and rested his forehead to hers.

“I promise, alright?”

She beamed at him, and hugged him once more. “Thank you, Chuck.”

He planted another kiss to her forehead and took a step back, smiling the trademark Bartowski grin. Sarah held on to his hand for just one second too long before releasing it.

When she separated from him, she signaled Casey and Koh that they could proceed. The agents pulled out their guns and their ammo, making sure that they were well-prepared for what would possibly be their last fight.

“Ready, Walker, Casey?” Koh questioned them which gained her nods from her two teammates. She nodded to Chuck, as if to say goodbye and thank you.

Chuck stood a good few yards back, clutching his tranquilizer gun, which he had gratefully gotten from Casey. He kept the darts in a small pouch that slung around his shoulder, just in case he ran out, and stared worriedly at his team.

After Agent Koh flashed her card, and inputted an extra security code that only senior Ring agents possessed, the door opened with a click. They entered cautiously, but were alert to any sounds or sight.

A small, petite figure stood in the middle of the dark room. Sarah squinted her eyes as she aimed her gun at the mysterious person.

“You?! How can it be you?!”

“Yes, Agent Walker, it’s me.”

Sarah cried out as a piercing pain shot up her arm, where the bulletproof vest didn’t cover. The pain forced her to drop her gun, as the blood began to leak out of the gunshot wound.

Standing in the darkness, waiting for them, was none other than General Diane Beckman, who clutched a smoking pistol in her palm.
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DUNDUNDUN

Labels: Chuck Versus The Torture