With His Dying Breath

I don’t own Chuck

A rundown airstrip somewhere in Russia

The two stood there, looking at the plane. One wheel was broken off, one of the wings severely bent where it had bit into the ground and dug up dirt as the plane came to a halt.

“So you forgot how to fly?” Ellie asked as calmly as she could.

“No, I remembered how to fly,” Stephen disagreed. “I never was good with the landing part.” Ellie turned to him slowly. Her eyes were wide, disbelief covering her face. It was at that moment the plane exploded. They were far enough away they only felt the briefest fingers of the shock wave. Ellie’s glare intensified.

“Oh, boy,” Stephen muttered. “I hope the CIA is gonna reimburse someone for that.” Ellie didn’t know her eyes could go wider, but they did.

-ooooo-

“Are you sure about this plan?” Ellie asked, as they walked up to the front desk of Volkoff Industries.

“No, but your brother is,” Stephen told Ellie.

“I am going to kill him,” Ellie replied. “I mean it. Kill him, bring him back to life, and possibly kill him again.”

“If we survive this you mean,” Stephen said. Ellie turned to him, her eyes wide…again. “Whoops,” Stephen muttered.

-ooooo-

The two found themselves in front of Volkoff minutes later. “Well, Stephen…or should I say Orion, I have you.”

“Or, I have you,” Stephen said. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”“Dad!” Ellie hissed.

“What?” Stephen asked. Volkoff watched, shock on his face. “This guy kept our family apart for years, you think I’m going to play nice with him.”

Volkoff lifted a gun and pointed it at Stephen. “I think we both know this is over.”

“That’s not the best idea,” Stephen told Volkoff. “I have infiltrated your systems and held a notification from you.” The gun wavered. “Would you mind putting that down, those things make me very nervous.”

Volkoff lowered the gun. “What have you done?”

Stephen lifted his arm, slowly. Pushed back his jacket, slowly. “I’m going to hit this button which will allow you to see, okay?” Volkoff nodded. Stephen pushed the button and a notification went off on Volkoff’s computer. His eyes went wide and anger covered his face.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!” Volkoff screamed.

“I think we have his attention,” Stephen said to Ellie.

“I’m going to kill him,” Ellie muttered. “Murder even.”

-ooooo-

Some weeks ago, a safe house in Tabor

“So it’s not just the Ring?” Chuck asked.

“Nope, it’s the Ring’s weapon suppliers as well…or should I say supplier,” Bryce told Chuck.

“Volkoff,” Chuck said, making Bryce nod. “So he’s the key. What is his goal?” Bryce looked confused. “What drives Volkoff?”

“Power,” Bryce answered

“And how is that achieved? How does Volkoff measure his power?” Chuck asked.

“Simple, money,” Bryce answered. Chuck grinned.

A few hours later, after he had messaged his father and learned new information, he found himself sitting there, a stunned look on his face. Volkoff actually had an Intersect. Bryce was pacing. “So let’s pretend Volkoff is a bad guy, and not some guy affected by an Intersect, how would you get to his money?”

“Simple, before I steal any from the Ring, I’d let one payment go through to Volkoff, while having a tracer in there,” Chuck explained. “Once in Volkoff’s account, I’d empty it.”

“Okay, now you have Volkoff off-balance,” Bryce said.

“Literally,” Chuck said softly. He messaged his father with Bryce reading over Chuck’s shoulder.

“OMG!” Bryce breathed.

“Bad idea?” Chuck asked.

“No, it’s freaking brilliant,” Bryce admitted. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Cause you’re not me,” Chuck told him, making Bryce move to swat Chuck, but his hand passed through him, making both men uncomfortable.

-ooooo-

“You took something from me I loved, and now I took something from you that you loved,” Stephen told Volkoff. “I win. My wife is free of you.”

“But I’m going to kill you,” Volkoff said, raising the gun again.

“WHOA!” Ellie said, raising her hands, and stepping between them. “This is nuts. Give him back the money, and he lets mom go, simple as that.”

“No, it’s not, you know he’ll just rise to power again and your mom will keep coming after him,” Stephen said. “Besides, you just blew her cover.”

Ellie closed her eyes, berating herself.

“Give me back the money, and I let you and your daughter walk out of here,” Volkoff offered. “You get to have one big family reunion. Otherwise, I kill you, then your daughter.”

“Fine,” Stephen said, sighing like he was beaten. He pulled up the wrist computer and began to type on it. “When I tell you, you’re going to need to go to your account and hit the accept button.”

Volkoff nodded, put down his gun, and began to type. He looked up at Stephen. Stephen wavered. “Again, I will kill your daughter.”

Stephen grumbled under his breath, and punched a few more buttons. “It’s ready.”

Volkoff grinned an evil grin. “You never were a match for me, Orion. You haven’t the stomach to do what needs to be done.” Volkoff clicked the button with the mouse.

Hello Hartley the screen read.

“What have you-” Those were the last words that Volkoff said as the computer sequence began.

“Gave away my mother’s cover,” Ellie scoffed. “Who the hell do you think I am, some kind of amateur? I’m a doctor for crying out loud.”

“He really can’t hear you,” Stephen said. Ellie turned to him, the glare back…again. “However, maybe you should continue, work out some of that frustration.”

“Like how you went out for pancakes?”

“Oh boy,” Stephen said.

“Where am I?” they heard the confused voice of an Englishman say.

“Ready?” Stephen asked Ellie.

“Yes,” she said. “Hartley Winterbottom, I’m Ellie Bartowski, the daughter of Mary and Stephen Bartowski.”

“How is that possible?” Hartley asked. He looked at Stephen. “How are you this old.”

“I have a story to tell you,” Ellie began.

-ooooo-

A few hours later, Volkoff led the two, at gunpoint, onto his private plane, bound for France.

“I could fly,” Stephen said softly.

“OR, the trained pilot could,” Ellie countered.

“I owe you so much,” Hartley said as the plane took off.

“Do you think you could cover the cost of a plane?” Stephen asked. Ellie groaned and leaned back in her seat, her hand covering her face. She was going to kill her brother.