A/N1: Don't own...you know.

A/N2: Most of my American readers will be able to ignore this note, but some overseas readers might find it useful. We are entering the weddings weekend. Different cultures have different traditions for the celebration of weddings. In addition, the United States has many cultures living side-by-side, so even here in a single nation there are varying traditions. So, to give a bit of a calendar of what to expect, the events planned for the weddings in this story consist of celebrations on three of the four days stretching from Friday through Monday. On Friday the 26th we have the rehearsal dinner. It's a dinner celebration for the wedding(s) party (ies) and the out-of-town guests and might or might not have anything to do with the actual rehearsal of the event. Sunday the 28th are the weddings themselves in the afternoon followed immediately by the wedding(s) reception – the party. The next morning, the 29th, will be the brunch for those guests staying at the hotel. The brunch wraps up the celebrations. The brunch will be the last chapter of the arc, following which we go on the honeymoon with Chuck and Sarah. (We are leaving Ellie and Devon to their own devices for their honeymoon.)

This chapter takes us to the rehearsal dinner.

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Sarah, Ellie and Sadie Moore stood looking at the now fully set room.

"Sadie," said Ellie, "I think it looks great. You were worried about nothing."

They were in one of the larger party rooms of the hotel. Two long tables were set up, each with seats on either side. Although it led to some guests sitting with their backs to other guests, it was pretty much inevitable given the number of attendees. There was a smaller table set up at the far end, perpendicular to the other two, intended for the brides and grooms. Place cards for seating were distributed on the tables.

"Thanks, Ellie. You're right. It came out pretty well in the end. It's just that with Daphne gone I'm worried about everything twice as much."

Daphne Peralta was still in jail awaiting the court's disposition of her case. She had pled guilty to murdering her husband and the judge was taking recommendations from her defense lawyer and the prosecutor as to sentencing. With her out of commission, Sadie had taken over all the active clients while still learning the business. Handling a double wedding was really throwing the young woman into the deep end of the pool.

"And the things you're worried about don't happen, right?" asked Sarah.

"Yeah. So far at least," admitted Sadie.

"Well," continued Sarah, "that just proves it works."

"What?" asked Sadie, confused. "What works?"

"Worrying. See? If you worry about stuff and it doesn't happen, it proves worrying works. So, you should keep worrying. In fact, you should worry more," said Sarah with a smile.

Both of the other women laughed at Sarah's logic.

While they were laughing, Chuck came in with Stephen and Emma. He'd stopped by Emma's place and picked her up on the way to the hotel. Molly was at Fitz's house with Kevin Graham's two children and all of Johnny's and Brett's kids. A few very well-paid baby-sitters were the ringmasters of that particular circus.

"Hi, Sweetie," said Chuck, kissing Sarah.

"Hey," she turned to Emma and said, "Hey, Mom."

"Hey, Pumpkin. Things look good."

"Yeah. We thought so too," agreed Sarah.

Chuck said, "Give me a sec. I want to put the bag down near our seats." Chuck carried the bag with the gifts for their groomsmen and bridesmaids.

Soon, Devon arrived with Honey and Woody. Honey admired the room and the setup, causing Ellie to breathe a silent sigh of relief.

The guests began to arrive. With two wedding parties and their spouses and assorted plus ones, as well as various out-of-town guests, there were almost a couple of hundred people attending the dinner.

Yuri came in and grinned at Sarah and Chuck. "Moy brat [my brother," he said with joy, giving Chuck a bear hug. He turned to Sarah and said, "Spasibo, chto pozvolili mne otprazdnovat' vashu radost' vmeste s vami i Chuck." [Thank you for allowing me to celebrate your joy with you and Chuck.]

"Yuri, of course you are invited. You are our friend," said Sarah. "Listen, when we met in the interrogation room months ago you asked me if the CIA would assign you a girlfriend like me." He nodded, remembering the conversation. "Do you remember what I told you?"

The big man grinned and said, "You told me you would introduce me to some friends of yours."

"Yup. And I picked everyone's seating on our side. Hope you like the decisions I made," said Sarah with a mischievous grin.

Yuri laughed and said, "I can hardly wait."

Several doctors from the hospital arrived and Yuri wandered off to the open bar to get a glass of vodka.

Cole and Reilly, his plus one for the weekend, arrived. "'Allo," said Reilly. "Congrats on this wonderful event."

"Syd," said Chuck. "Welcome. Hey, Cole. Good to see you guys."

"Delighted to be here, my friends," he said.

Casey, Eileen, Lou and Morgan arrived together and started to mingle with the other guests. Devon's brothers, both biological brothers and frat brothers came with their spouses or dates.

Rachel and Brian arrived and began to mingle. Jorge, Brett and his wife, and Johnny and his wife arrived soon afterwards. Jorge was soon in a conversation with one of Ellie's bridesmaids, an emergency room doctor.

Zondra, Carina, Marie, and Mei-Ling, who knew each other from the bachelorette party in Las Vegas, came in together, having met for a pre-party drink at the hotel bar.

Chuck and Sarah were speaking with all four women. None of them could talk about work, as both Marie and Mei-Ling worked for different countries' intelligence services. So, the five women ended up talking about Mei-Ling's boyfriend, a Uyghur cop who could not make the trip to the wedding for the weekend. As Sarah and Mei-Ling were the only ones in relationships, the others were giving them some good natured ribbing.

Fitz's men came in by ones and twos. Both Leo and Billy were running solo for the weekend, although Sarah remembered that Billy seemed to enjoy the company of Karen Graham at the engagement party.

Kevin, Mickey, Karen and Anna came in soon afterward. Langston was flying in that night. An emergency at work had kept him longer than he wanted. He intended to come to the party directly from the airport.

The waitstaff was walking among the guest with trays of hors d'oeurves. Chuck had to stop himself from eating dozens of the 'pigs-in-a-blanket.'

Casey and Kevin seemed to seek each other out right away, each with a scotch in hand. "Major," said Casey.

"Colonel. Nice job with the Fulcrum wrap-up, Sir."

"No 'sirs' tonight. Just Casey," said the older man.

"Kevin," said Graham with a smile.

"You and your guys handled the bombing run perfectly," said Casey with appreciation.

"Well, to be honest, it wasn't much of a challenge. We train to drop bombs while dodging anti-aircraft fire and flying with one engine. This was a straight drop on an undefended target," he said.

"The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle," said Casey.

"Amen," said Kevin, clicking his glass with Casey's. "Patton, right?" Casey nodded.

It was the first time Emma and Anna had met. They smiled at each other and, without even bothering with introductions, threw themselves into hugs.

"Thank you," said Emma.

"It was my pleasure, Emma. My absolute pleasure," said Anna. Both women were crying.

"She must have been a huge pain in the ass," said Emma, chuckling with a smile.

"Well, she was a challenge, but so worth it. Jack really did a number on her head. You know she didn't unpack her suitcase the whole time she was staying with us?"

"Oh, shit. That must have driven you crazy," said Emma.

"Come on, girlfriend. Let's get some wine and I'll tell you all about it," said Anna, snagging a small lamb chop on her way past a tray.

The cocktails lasted for an hour and everyone seemed to be having fun. Chuck and Sarah kept moving from guest to guest, making sure to spend time with each. While it was fun, they did not get a chance to relax and enjoy. Ellie and Devon were in exactly the same boat. Happily, the guests for Ellie and Devons wedding seemed to get along with the guests for Chuck and Sarah's wedding, so there was pleasant intermingling.

Eventually, it came time for everyone to sit for the meal. A recording of a small bell tinkling was the quiet signal. While a bit of herding cats, after a while everyone was seated and the waitstaff came out with the food. Yuri was sitting between Carina and Zondra, to his delight.

The short speeches would follow the meal. The longer ones would happen at the wedding reception after the marriages in a couple of days. Chuck checked the index cards on which he'd written out some words. His speech was going to be hilarious, if he did say so himself.

About thirty or so men and women wheeled out covered serving carts spreading themselves out around the large room.

One waiter was moving slowly to the front of the room, where Chuck, Sarah, Ellie and Devon were sitting. He was wheeling it backwards towards them with his head down. When he got to the front he stood up straight and turned.

Ted Roark, his face showing gruesome burn scars, faced Carmichael and his family while his men and women Fulcrum operatives unlimbered MAC-10 submachine guns from the serving carts.

"Hey, Carmichael. Did you miss me?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Director Graham climbed down the few steps from the jet and onto the tarmac at Whiteman Airport in Pacoima, California, on the northern end of Los Angeles. His car was waiting for him with Simmons and Rangmin, two of his bodyguards, already in it. Jerry Barker, his third bodyguard, was just behind him coming out of the aircraft. They climbed into the back seat and the car moved off to begin the drive to the Hotel San Mateo. The airport was a little bit distant from the hotel, but he had no control over which airport the jet was directed to.

Graham was looking forward to the weekend and the joyous event. He considered Sarah as another one of his children, his second daughter. And his affection and respect for Chuck had grown to be just as deep and powerful. He thought back to the first time he read the man's file and had drastically underestimated him. But he was quickly disabused of that erroneous judgement. Without any training whatsoever, Chuck had immediately performed at Union Station with brilliance and breathtaking courage. Even a hard case like then-Major Casey had mentioned a Silver Star. And Sarah announced, to his shock, that she was dating the man. That alone would have made him stop and take notice, as she had never before made any such an announcement.

So, he had decided right up front to keep an open mind about Chuck. And from that point until now, at every single opportunity, Chuck had consistently impressed him with every new mission Team B had undertaken. What's more, the young man seemed to raise the bar for the performance of Team B again and again, until they were performing at a level far beyond the best spies he'd ever seen. Several times, Graham had believed that the bar for his success simply could not be higher than it was, only to find on the next mission that it could be yet higher. And the most recent success, the destruction of Fulcrum...Christ, the President himself had put Chuck in command of the entire response by the Federal government. And he and his team had carried out the complicated operation flawlessly.

And to make the whole situation even better, Chuck and Sarah were more in love than any couple he'd ever seen. They were giddy with joy and excitement about their upcoming marriage. Graham was certain that their future was going to be wonderful. And he couldn't wait to share some sort-of-grandchildren from them. With that thought he found himself smiling out the window.

Simmons, driving the car, received a message on his cell phone. He glanced at it and said to Barker, "It's time, Barker."

"Ok," said Barker, unbuckling his seatbelt and reaching for his weapon.

Simmons took his pistol from his shoulder holster, flipped off the safety, and aimed it at Rangmin, who said, in confusion, "Wha?" He never got farther. Simmons fired once, blowing his partner's head to pieces. Skull and brain matter splattered around the inside of the front seat of the car. The sound of the gunshot was deafening in the confines of the vehicle. The smell of fresh blood assaulted his senses.

Barker had his gun pointed at Graham with the safety off. "You didn't think Fulcrum had plans for this contingency? Plans to decapitate the intelligence community? You're dead, Graham. We will regroup and reestablish ourselves. We are the only true patriots left in this country. Right now the Sachem and a hard team are taking out Carmichael and his family at the rehearsal dinner. Including your family. And now you'll be dead too."

Graham didn't allow himself to freeze with shock; that would be a death sentence. Time seemed to slow down for him. He could think about how this had been allowed to happen later. For now, he had to act. Graham looked around and saw that they were on a lonely road in the Hollywood hills.

He was doing his best to look defeated. He sighed and said, "Dammit, Jerry. Shit. You're right. I underestimated you. How did you keep your names off the roster of Fulcrum agents?"

"None of your fucking business," snarled Barker.

"So, you have it all planned out, huh, Jerry. Is the Highway Patrolman behind us part of your plan too?"

Barker jerked his head to the side to look out the rear window of the car.

Graham reached for the pistol in Barker's right fist and pushed it away from his direction. Only a moment later, the gun went off and Graham felt a burning pain in his left side. He continued to push the muzzle of the gun away from him until it was pointing at Simmons' back, through the driver's seat.

With his left thumb, Graham began to fire Barker's pistol into Simmons. Barker grabbed at Graham's left hand with his own left hand, using both of his hands to try to push the gun away from Simmons, but Graham was a very strong man and the attempt was fruitless.

That's when the palm of Graham's right hand hit Barker in the nose, crushing it. Grahan's fingers, curled like claws, dug into Barker's eyes, feeling the slippery jelly-like consistency as Barker screamed in pain. Meanwhile, the pistol in Barker's hand, controlled by Graham, continued to fire into Simmons until the slide locked back as the magazine was empty. Barker had pulled his head backwards to get away from Graham's fingers, but found himself up against the car window, with nowhere further to retreat. In desperation, Barker released Graham's wrist and tried to punch him, but Graham tucked his head down and took the blows on the top of his head without appreciable effect.

Simmons had been shot seventeen times and was quite dead while the car continued along the road, now out of control. The heavy vehicle began to drift and shortly went through the barrier, over the edge of the road and down the hillside, rolling as it went. As the grappling men experienced the rolling of the car, Barker began to tumble inside the confines of the back seat. Graham lost his grip on the man but, still belted into his seat, remained in place. He raised his arms to block Barker's body from slamming into him during the slow motion collision.

At the bottom of the hill, the car came to a stop on its roof. Graham unbuckled his seatbelt and opened a door, having to kick it open while sitting on Barker's body. Barker was moaning, his body twitching. Graham crawled over him and noted as he did that Barker was bleeding from a compound fracture of his femur. Once outside the car, Graham drew his own weapon and looked at his former bodyguard.

Barker looked up at him with only one eye, the other one too obviously damaged for sight. His lower teeth had bitten through the skin under his lower lip and jutted out obscenely, presenting a hideous aspect. With hatred on his face he said to Graham, his voice weak, "Fulcrum will win in the end."

"Naw," said Graham and shot him once in the less damaged eye, blowing the back of his skull off.

After re-holstering his weapon, he took out his phone and hit an emergency code. When the voice at the other end answered, Graham said, "This is Graham. Code Omega. I repeat, Code Omega. Two packages. I want them here yesterday."

"Roger, Director. Airborne in ten."

"Make it two," said Graham.

He disengaged the call and began to call his wife, his children, Sarah, Chuck, and anyone else he could warn at the rehearsal dinner.

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"Ready to go, Ma'am?" asked Berkley.

"Did you get the Iranian transcripts to Unit 8200?" asked General Beckman.

"Yes, Ma'am," Berkley assured her. In the morning, Israel would be invading the Gaza Strip to disrupt Hamas rocket attacks on civilians. The administration had chosen to share the intelligence it had gleaned from listening to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard with the Israeli equivalent of the NSA, Unit 8200. As the Iranians were sponsors of Hamas, their discussions would be of interest to the Israelis.

"Ok, let's go. I don't want to be late," said the General.

"It's your plane, Ma'am. It won't be leaving without you," he said with a smile.

She gave him a look and said, "Nevertheless."

"Yes, Ma'am," he said.

They walked out of the NSA headquarters at Fort Meade toward her limousine to take her to the airport for the overnight flight to Los Angeles. She had intended to attend Chuck and Sarah's rehearsal dinner, but the press of work interfered.

As they came to the car, one of the bodyguards held the door open for her.

She stopped and said, "Who are you?"

"Newley, Ma'am," said the man.

"Where's Lester?" she asked.

"He's out sick, Ma'am. Flu, I think," he said.

"I see," said Beckman. Without saying anything else, she pulled a pistol from behind her back and aimed it at Newly. "There isn't anyone named Lester, Newley. I made that name up. So, let's try again. Who are you?"

Newley lunged at her with the intention of knocking her weapon aside. She shot him once in the center of the chest.

Berkley had his own weapon out by this point and was squatting to aim through the open door into the limo itself. Although she couldn't see what he was aiming at, he fired twice into the interior of the car.

The car pulled away from the curb as uniformed security guards ran from the headquarter's doors to the curb where Beckman and Berkley were standing over the body with guns drawn.

She ordered, "Tell the gates to stop that car. Lethal force is authorized."

One of the men in uniform spoke into a microphone at his shoulder. Not a minute later, there was the sound of automatic weapons fire from the Fort's gate followed by the sound of a car crash.

Berkley knelt next to the man Beckman had shot. He touched the man's throat with two fingers for a moment and then turned to Beckman, shaking his head.

"Well, shit," said Beckman sourly.

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A/N3: Cliffhanger. Sorry, not sorry. Don't know how many of you were surprised by Roark's reappearance. Anyone who has watched TV knows the adage: No body, no death. Even with the destruction of Fulcrum, they are a dangerous bunch. And God knows they hate Carmichael and team. So, cliffhanger. What do you guys think?