A/N –I published this story as a one shot several years ago. I've decided to add one more chapter to recognize this November. It is an important month in history. It is the 75thanniversary of the Battle of Tarawa and a hundred years ago the First World War ended. Four years of slaughter was finally over and the world drew a breath.

In 1939 the slaughter began anew.

A/N2- In this two chapter story….Chuck quickly figures out that Casey was ordered to terminate him. Also, to move the story along, I have Sarah tell Chuck that Graham is dead right at the start. This, of course, didn't happen until the next day/next episode when Casey told Chuck Graham was dead.

Michaelfmx, thanks for editing this story and making it better.

Historical Note: Operation Galvanic 1943, the invasion of the Gilbert Islands, the Battle for Tarawa took place 75 years ago almost to the day- November 20 - 23, 1943. A tip of the hat to the USMC, most of them in 1943 were citizen soldiers, who volunteered.

Personal Note:In Canada and many other countries, November 11, 2018 will be Remembrance Day. This year marks the 100thanniversary of the end of World War 1. I had two great uncles who volunteered and were sent over to France with the Canadian Army. Both were wounded within months of getting off their troop ship. My uncle Lue E. Hoskinson, after recovering from his wound, went back to the trenches. He was killed in action near Ypres, November 10, 2017. The revision of this story is my admittedly inadequate homage to all those who served.

I don't own Chuck and so far I don't know anyone on this Fan site who does.

Chuck versus Tarawa

Echo Park- Evening, September 28th, 2008

Sarah knocked on the front door. She was the bearer of bad news for Chuck. Their date had to be cancelled.

Chuck's face showed his confusion and disappointment. But Sarah had more bad news. She quickly went on to tell him that the Cipher they had taken back from Fulcrum was actually a Trojan horse, it was a sabotage device.

It had exploded when they had booted up the Beta Intersect and everyone in the room had perished in the explosion, including Langston Graham.

Chuck's reaction to her news was a horrified realization that he was still the only game in town. He was still the Intersect. Neither of them said a word. They were both lost in their own thoughts.

Sarah, ever since she had heard the news, was wrestling with her feelings.

The thought kept playing and replaying in her mind…..Langston Graham was really gone.

He had been her mentor starting on that fateful day in San Diego, eleven years ago, when he had recruited her.

He had rescued her from a life that would have ultimately ended in her going to prison and no doubt becoming a hardened criminal.

She almost laughed and cried with the awful irony.

Graham and the CIA had slowly and meticulously shaped her into a hardened assassin and field operative who was respected but feared in the intelligence community.

It was too much to say that Graham had been a surrogate father figure to her.

Sarah never went down that road. Deep down she knew that Graham had been using her but, alongside using her, he had given her a purpose. There had been rewards both financial and otherwise that went along with being Graham's enforcer and the most feared agent in the CIA.

In the beginning, serving the greater good had been a noble and pristine concept to her. She was now one of the good guys.

Over the years that vision became tarnished.

Sometimes she wondered who the good guys and bad guys really were. Other times she didn't care. A mission was a mission.

In the end, she had become a finely tuned instrument that the government could use as it...as Graham desired.

Graham preferred dedicated agents who were caught up in the noble idea of serving their country. Failing that, he would coerce, leverage, threaten and ultimately eliminate them if they didn't stay in line and do his bidding.

Sarah knew that with Graham's death she was finally free from his leverage over her. Her dad was now safe and, most importantly, her mom and Molly were just that little bit safer.

One day she would deal with that viper, Ryker.

There was one more thing she would never have to face with Graham's death.

He could now never order her to terminate Chuck. She felt the great weight being lifted from her shoulders.

The Damocles sword that constantly hung over her head was that Graham would order her to kill Chuck.

He'd done it once, at the beginning of this mission. He'd told her to kill Chuck if he tried to run. It was the night they went on their first date.

Sarah smiled to herself. Graham could've ordered her to do it.

If he'd actually ordered her to kill Chuck, she would've acknowledged the order.

She would've accepted the assignment and then she and Chuck would've disappeared. She'd made plans for that contingency. Thankfully, no termination order had ever been issued.

Her mission was now to protect Chuck Bartowski first. Protecting the Intersect would always be secondary to that.

From now on she would base her choices on what she perceived as serving the greater good, not Graham's skewed perception of it.

Sarah leaned in and gave him a quick hug. There were a thousand things to do and the CIA was in turmoil coping with the loss of their Director.

{o}

Chuck's feelings about Graham's death were quite different from Sarah's.

Chuck viewed Graham in the same way he saw the Emperor in Star Wars, a malevolent, manipulative man who had unbridled ambition and, quite frankly, frightened him. People were just pawns to Langston Graham.

No more. Chuck didn't rejoice in his death; he didn't grieve his death either.

{o}

Casey was still hidden in the shadows of the hallway. He'd almost put a bullet in Bartowski's head.

When he heard the knock at the door. When he heard Sarah give Chuck the news about the Intersect, he quietly retraced his steps. This time he avoided the one piece of flooring that had squeaked earlier.

Casey didn't like the CIA, as a general rule; he detested Graham for ordering him to kill Chuck. Beckman shared responsibility for that order…. but for some reason he focused his anger only against Graham.

He remembered Graham's last words to him " ..Now…. Bartowksi can die for his country." Well it looked like Graham's words were prophetic, except he hadn't been talking about Chuck, he'd been talking about himself. Humanity would not miss Langston Graham.

Now Casey wouldn't have to kill Chuck, the loss of Graham and the Intersect effectively nullified the termination order. Thank God. He needed to get back to his apartment and check in with Beckman and then grab his Johnnie Walker Black. This had been a hell of a night for him but the outcome was better, much better, than he could've ever hoped for.

The Next Evening –Casa Bartowski

The "Piranha" was one of only six hackers in the US who had outstanding federal warrants issued against him in absentia but who had never been caught by the FBI.

Chuck was the Piranha.

Chuck had been honing his craft and skill as a hacker for many years. He was forever indebted to a fellow hacker called "Rigel" for helping him.

They first met online back in the fall of 1996. Rigel had given Chuck tips and tricks and code that he had personally written. The most important thing he gave Chuck was a book of one-time encryption codes, only known to the two of them, which they used to communicate with each other.

Rigel told Chuck it would take the NSA a hundred years to crack the encryption codes. He had also given Chuck the "Ghost Protocol Code" that prevented the curious or the government from ever zeroing in on his IP address.

In the early years of their friendship, Rigel had even protected Chuck from several traps set up by the various government agencies to either trap or recruit talented hackers like himself. Rigel had always been interested in Chuck and what was happening in his life and was always asking after his sister and how she was getting on in life. If there was one person other than Ellie he absolutely trusted, it was Rigel. Rigel was simply the smartest person he knew.

It was Rigel who had encouraged Chuck to attend Stanford.

{o}

A month after Graham died in the fiery explosion, Rigel reached out to Chuck. It was a special delivery from a Mr. B. Etel Geuse. Chuck smiled to himself because the name was an alias Rigel sometimes used.

Rigel had sent him a thumb drive.

Chuck inserted the thumb drive into the socket. The screen quickly filled with a picture of Chuck's bedroom. It was the NSA video surveillance of Ellie's apartment. The time stamp showed that this was a month old. It was the same night Graham died.

As he was watching he saw it ….the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

He saw Casey come into his bedroom through the Morgan door. He was holding a Ruger 22/44 with a suppressor. Chuck had seen him with the gun on a couple of missions where stealth was required.

The video jumped from camera feed to camera feed and tracked Casey's movements as he hunted something in the apartment.

Chuck half stood up when it dawned on him that the "something" had been him.

Then he saw the footage of Sarah at the front door telling him about the Beta Intersect being destroyed.

He watched Casey's stealthy withdrawl from the apartment.

He sat there, stock still for twenty minutes. His mind was racing.

Finally he lowered his head until it bumped against the desk.

Each second that passed the voice in his head grew louder. "Run, Run, Run away!" He now knew that his protectors, Sarah and Casey, could become his executioners in the blink of an eye, all with a simple phone call or text message from their respective bosses.

He now had pretty damning proof that Casey, if ordered would do just that.

But would Sarah kill him if ordered to do so?

No, surely not, maybe, no, no, no … she wouldn't. He had seen the way she behaved when Longshore almost took him to the bunker. He was sure she was going to shoot Longshore to protect him. No, Sarah Walker would never do that to him.

He was thinking so intensely about Sarah and assets that he had flashed and the Intersect showed him images of a past mission two years ago. To his horror, he could see a file and a picture of Hans Furman, German – CIA -asset. Then a passport picture of Mira Vischer appeared - handler, Mira had jet black hair, but there wasn't any doubt about the face. He sucked in his breath.

The next image was a picture of Hans Furman lying dead on the grass. His eyes were glassy, staring into eternity. He had a bullet hole in his forehead. There was a red stamp on the file. Terminated.

He blinked and the images disappeared and his heart sank.

Chuck took the next two days off, supposedly with a cold/flu. Ellie backed him up after he told her he needed some 'mental health' days off.

He knew deep down that he couldn't go on another mission with Casey or Sarah until he confronted them about the termination order. If he didn't do this and somehow clear the air, or at least get this out in the open, someone would get killed on a future mission.

Chuck might hesitate at a critical moment or his doubts about Casey or Sarah would inhibit him from flashing, and Casey or Sarah might be killed. Hell, he might get killed.

He used the two days he was pretending to be sick to finally convince himself that Sarah wouldn't kill him. It was a leap of faith. In spite of the images in his head about what she had done in the past, he would trust her based on his gut and his heart.

How he was to confront Casey about almost killing him occupied a lot of Chuck's time.

In some ways Casey was as complex a human being as Sarah Walker.

In certain other ways he was far easier to read.

Chuck finally figured out a way he might get through to Casey. A way to get him thinking like a soldier instead of an agent who always follows orders. It was a long shot.

God, bad choice of words…if this plan went wrong, Casey might just shoot him.

Chuck sat down and wrote Casey a letter.

He would have preferred to just go over. Knock on the door and confront Casey in his apartment.

A little voice popped into his head, Sure go into the cave and talk to the eight hundred pound Grizzly Bear. Idiot!

A letter was the safer route….. at least for Chuck it was.

November 1st, 2008

Casey had the late shift at the Buy More so Walker had driven the moron into work. He got up to go and have his morning run. He saw an envelope taped to his front door. It was addressed to Major J. Casey.

Chuck's Letter to Casey

Major Casey, USMC

I know you were in my room and almost killed me the evening the Beta Intersect went live. It's not important how I know, let's just say both of us know it's true. Since you are a good soldier and follow orders (without question apparently) Graham or Beckman must have ordered you to end my life. Orders sent down the chain of command to "burn" the asset. Yes, I know what burn and terminate really mean.

By now, with all that's gone on in my life, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised when people I like and put my trust in betray me. In this case the ultimate betrayal.

I knew you were an NSA assassin from the Intersect, but I didn't think you would ever kill me. I was a teammate, I wasn't a criminal, I was a loyal American just like you and Sarah, I did what General Beckman asked me to do to the best of my ability. I wasn't trained and I didn't ask for money for doing my duty. Why would my government possibly want to kill me? It really never entered my mind. I can't help but wonder if the order to kill me was more about bureaucratic expediency than National Security.

Excuse me Casey, why on earth would that distinction matter to you? An order is an order. I know you don't appreciate people whining at you, that you prefer people to just to suck it up. Life is tough, don't cry about it, so I will get to the point.

My maternal grandfather was in WWII, his name was Sergeant Daniel Gunter and he told me he served with the Marines. He sometimes referred to himself as one of the "the Betio Bastards." The only battle he ever mentioned was Tarawa.

I looked it up after he died, it was the first opposed landing the Marines faced, but I'm assuming Casey you know your Marine History. My grandfather won the Navy Cross and was wounded during that battle.

In the last year of his life, he came to live with us. My mom looked after him. Towards the end, when the cancer was really taking hold on him, he talked more about the war. He kept in touch with two men from his squad that survived the battle with him.

I had the privilege of meeting one of them when I was nine years old. I think the former squad member came to say a final goodbye to him. Once I heard my grandfather talking to my mom in the kitchen. He told her the only reason he and his two friends ever survived was because they stuck together, they looked out for one another.

So why am I sharing this with you Casey?

The reason is this. You always talk about honor and loyalty, serving your country and the Corps. Maybe I'm only a civilian or an asset to you, but I am on your team along with Sarah. You and Sarah have always told me we are serving our country and the greater good.

I know we have risked our lives many times. We also, at least in the past, have looked out for each other. You and Sarah have saved my life a dozen times or more, and I have saved your life at least twice that I can remember.

I can't help but think that a real Marine, someone like my grandfather, would never betray a loyal member of his squad. In fact, each member of his rifle squad would have given their own life to protect another member of the squad.

To my civilian mind that strikes me as the essence of being a Marine. Casey, you have forgotten what it means to be a Marine and what the word honor really means. You blindly follow orders like you're a terminator unit. My grandfather, Sergeant Daniel Gunter, now long in his grave, is still a better Marine than you ever were or can ever hope to be.

Chuck

When Casey finished reading Chuck's letter, he wanted to go and break the moron's neck. No one called his honor into question. Casey knew he was a damn good Marine. He had served his country faithfully for over twenty years.

He sat down, leaned back and stared at the wall.

He then slowly reread the letter. Casey grunted twice.

He grabbed his cell phone and called a number in Quantico, Virginia from memory.

The phone rang twice. "Master Gunnery Sergeant Lopez, speak. "

Frank Lopez was the first sergeant Casey served with, when he was a fresh faced second lieutenant just coming out of Annapolis. Back then, Casey went by another name, now long forgotten by him and Frank.

John Casey didn't have many friends, many believed he had none.

Frank Lopez was living proof that those people were wrong. He and John had served with each other. They'd been sent into harm's way together many times.

Lopez and Casey's friendship had been forged in battle. It had endured when there was peace. They trusted each other, without question or doubt. Frank's first born son had been named John and Casey was his Godfather.

"Gunny its John, I need a favor and quickly."

"Okay John, go."

"I need information on Sergeant Daniel Gunter. He was awarded the Navy Cross on Tarawa. Oh, also any info on the squad members. If it's true about the Navy Cross… find me the citation."

"John, I'm not sure all those records got put into digital form. If not, we'll have to do some digging in the archives. Listen, I'll reach out and see what I can do."

Casey jumped in, "Listen, when you do find Gunter's records, can you tell me the names of the men in his rifle company? Find out if any of them are still alive? Here's my phone number, scan the info and send it to me at this number. Frank, I'll talk to you later. Say hi to the family."

"John, are you okay, anything I can do?"

"I could be better Frank, I could be better. Listen I'll catch you up later."

"Later John."

Casey then had to lie down. He didn't feel like running anymore.

As he lay down sleep eluded him.

Chuck had placed a knife that was twisting in Casey's gut by sending him that letter. Casey knew, at some level, that Chuck was trying to provoke him. Annoyingly, it was working.

He needed to check out Chuck's story about his grandfather and confirm this Gunter was indeed his grandfather. Casey set his iPhone alarm to wake him up in two hours so he could get to work on time.

{o}

November 4th, 2008

The CIA was still sorting out the mess of losing the Beta Intersect and their enigmatic Director.

There had been no missions in the interim. Beckman told the team to stand down.

Needless to say the atmosphere between Casey and Chuck had grown tense. Chuck wouldn't go into work with Casey.

Sarah had been driving him into work at the Buy More, even on her days off.

At the Buy More, Casey and Chuck hadn't said twenty words to each other over the last month.

Sarah had been acutely aware of the tension between them. What the hell's going on?

She had tried to talk with Chuck and Casey separately but neither was forthcoming, they stonewalled her. She had finally run out of patience. Tonight she would get the information out of Chuck.

Sarah was going to get him over to her hotel room. She would get to the bottom of this, enough was enough.

Sarah's plans for Chuck this evening never got off the ground.

Casey came over to the Orange-Orange and told Sarah they all needed to meet at his apartment right after everyone got off work.

Sarah's innate curiosity and her spy senses were now pinging like mad. She hated not knowing what was going on, she hated sudden meetings and she hated secrets.

Echo Park – Casey's Apartment after Work

Sarah and Chuck were walking up to Casey's front door. Sarah noticed that Chuck was getting more agitated the closer they got. Finally, she couldn't stand it, "Chuck, what the hell is going on between you and Casey? And what is this meeting about?"

Chuck gave her a quick look and replied, "It might be about a letter I wrote to him."

"A letter? What sort of letter? Why on earth would you write Casey a letter?"

"I think we're about to find that out. Let's get this over with." He raised his hand to knock on the door.

Sarah put her hand on Chuck's arm and stopped him in his tracks. "Chuck, please tell me what's going on. Since the Beta Intersect blew up, you can barely stand to be in the same room as Casey.

She wanted to say something to him, assure him that he was safe. She was his protector, his friend. Sarah was about to say something...say anything when Casey opened the door.

He glanced at both of them, and turned away, heading for the kitchen. He switched on the coffee machine.

Sarah and Chuck took a quick look at each other and headed for the table, each of them taking a seat. Sarah could see Chuck's eyes darting back and forth, quickly scanning the apartment. It was clear that Chuck was more nervous than he usually was in Casey's place.

The table had four chairs arranged around it. There were two files and a laptop where Casey was obviously going to sit.

Chuck sat at the opposite end from where Casey was going to sit. Sarah took the seat to Chuck's left closest to his end of the table.

Casey moved from the kitchen to his closet and very slowly and deliberately took out his gun and put it away in his lock box. He also reached down and unfastened his ankle holster and put that in the lock box.

While he was doing this Sarah was tracking his movements with her eyes and was wondering what Casey was up to.

When an agent did this, he or she were in essence announcing that they were disarmed.

He closed the closet door. "Walker you want coffee…Bartowski coffee?"

Both of them said yes. Casey poured the coffee and put the mugs in front of them along with cream and sugar. He put his cup down near the two files and the laptop. Finally he sat down.

He then took a sip of his coffee.

Chuck had also been tracking Casey's movements, his leg was bouncing up and down under the table. Chuck was silent. This was Casey's meeting and Chuck wasn't going to let his mouth run away from him, not this time. No babbling. So he held his tongue and waited.

Sarah felt Chuck's leg bouncing up and down. Her anxiety was rapidly climbing. She almost reached out to stop his leg bouncing.

Instead she stilled herself. But inside her stomach started to knot with anticipation. What the hell was going on here?

Casey looked at Sarah, "I've turned all the surveillance and bugs off. Walker, take out your CIA detector and confirm what I'm telling you is true."

This meeting was becoming more bizarre by the minute.

However, she reluctantly complied and got up and swept the room. It took her about five minutes to complete her work.

While she was doing this, Casey and Chuck were making eye contact, staring at each other for a short time, then looking over at Sarah. Sarah completed the sweep.

She sat down. "Okay, no bugs. I assume therefore this conversation is off the record.

She then raised her voice from her usual cool tone. "Casey what the hell is going on?"

Over the last year, Casey had wondered how compromised Agent Sarah Walker was, when it came to Chuck Bartowski.

He was about to find out.

Casey's approach was not without risk; it might just get him killed. But if she wasn't compromised, if Walker was still the wild card enforcer for the CIA ….things could get interesting. Oh well, God hates a coward.

Casey looked at Chuck and started speaking. "Last month just before the Beta Intersect went live, I was ordered via video conference by General Beckman and Director Graham to terminate Chuck."

The words were barely past his lips, when Sarah's gun was out, with the safety off and leveled at him.

Casey held his breath and waited, counting the seconds in his mind.

Nothing happened.

Chuck was frozen in place; is heart was now hammering in his chest. What the hell was Casey playing at and what was Sarah doing? He was now sorry he had ever sent the fricking letter.

Sarah stared down Casey. The only reason she hadn't killed him on the spot was because he'd disarmed himself and his hands were in plain sight.

Her voice was fierce. "You bastard. So tell me why you didn't carry your orders out…. Major!…. Oh, I get it, because the Beta Intersect was destroyed.

"So did Beckman stop you at the last moment?" Sarah was spitting the questions out at Casey. Her tone was menacing. Her hand holding the gun was steady as a rock.

Casey smiled inwardly, he now knew Sarah wasn't going to shoot him.

He also knew that she was compromised, that Bartowski had broken down her walls. Sarah Walker would kill anyone who tried to hurt Chuck…..good.

Now he firmly knew that he could continue with what he wanted to do.

Casey continued in a level tone. "Walker, I want to show you and Bartowski a recording of that video conference." Sarah was still holding the gun….but she lowered it so it was lying flat on the table.

Casey swiveled the laptop around so they could both see the screen, called up the file and pressed play.

They both saw the replay and heard and saw Beckman and Graham order Casey to terminate Chuck. What stayed with Sarah was Graham's vehemence in ordering Chuck's death. God she was glad Graham was dead and out of her life forever.

Casey then shut the laptop and pushed it to the side.

He then shoved the letter Chuck wrote to him across the table for Sarah to read.

With one hand Sarah continued to hold her gun, with the other she unfolded the sheet of paper so she could read Chuck's letter.

A couple of times she stopped reading and looked across at Chuck and then at Casey. Boy this was a side of Chuck she had never seen, gutsy move on Chuck's part to call Casey a poor Marine and question his honor.

Even though she knew Chuck was brilliant and resourceful, she kept underestimating him and what he might be capable of.

She finished reading and shoved the letter back and looked at Casey and Chuck. For a while everyone sat in complete silence.

Sensing that it was on him to break the silence, Casey finally spoke up.

"Bartowski, I didn't want to kill you. But I was overruled. Be assured that if I had refused the termination order, there would have been another two or three agents here within hours, ready to carry out that order without any qualms.

"I'm glad the Beta Intersect didn't get off the ground. I'm glad Graham and I don't share planet Earth together anymore. And I'm really glad you're alive."

Casey wasn't finished, he turned to Sarah.

"Walker, why is it that CIA Director Graham asked me to carry out the termination order. We both know you were his go to agent. He should've given you the order, but he didn't.

"We both know the answer, don't we? So don't get self-righteous with me. If it had been anyone else but Chuck, you would have gotten the order and that person would be dead by now."

Sarah hated Casey for saying that in front of Chuck. But it was the truth and she felt her face redden. She flicked the safety back on the gun and put it away in the waistband behind her back.

She couldn't bear to look at Chuck right now.

Casey then looked Chuck in the eye and said, "What do you want from me Bartowski, why send me that damn letter?"

Chuck took a deep breath, for the first time since they arrived, he spoke.

"Casey, I'm not sure… but I had to do something.

"What I do know is that if I'm going to go on any more missions with you….. and put my life on the line, then we need to trust each other…..completely.

"I can't do that knowing that my handlers, with a phone call or a simple text message, might kill me a second after the mission is completed.

Chuck's voice was laden with emotion and bitterness. Chuck was getting in touch with his anger.

"I also don't want Ellie walking into the apartment to find me dead in a pool of blood from a gunshot or my throat cut or poisoned ….or who the hell knows what delivered by the hand of someone I once trusted."

Sarah almost flinched when he said the word poisoned.

Chuck stopped speaking and he could feel the anger rising in him. He was pissed.

He hated being owned by the government. He didn't really understand the world Casey and Sarah lived in. Even though he'd been immersed in their world for almost a year, he dearly hoped he'd never become used to it.

Chuck felt like he had a best before date stamped on his forehead. The only problem was he couldn't see the stamp and didn't know the exact date. Chuck's feelings stopped him from saying anything else.

Casey now said what he had planned to say. There was a reason why he'd tested Walker about her feelings for Chuck and why he didn't want any surveillance in the room.

"Chuck, let's make a pact. I can't speak for Walker but here's what I can agree to. I'll give you my word as a Marine, even though you think I'm a piss poor one.

"If you continue to serve your country, you'll never have to worry about me being the one who hurts you or comes after you. I will…." Casey paused and made sure he and Chuck were on the same wavelength, "….let you know about any order to hurt you. I'll help you go off the grid…..

"One caveat, if you are in imminent danger of being captured, and believe me, once they get you... they will torture you, then I will end your life, that to my mind would be a mercy killing."

Chuck nodded, "Okay Casey, I can agree with that. I'm not thrilled with the being captured and you'll shoot me piece…sounds like a 'lose-lose' scenario for me."

He then leaned forward. "Your word of honor is enough for me."

All eyes then turned to Sarah.

Inwardly she cringed and felt trapped. Not because she would ever hurt Chuck. No, that wasn't the problem.

She hated having to say this in front of Casey.

If Casey was telling the truth, then he basically had admitted to her that he wouldn't follow a direct order from the NSA or CIA to terminate Chuck. That meant he was compromised. He could be charged and thrown in prison or worse for disobeying a direct order from Beckman.

If, however, Casey was lying, and this was all an elaborate con…then Sarah would be the one going to prison or worse.

Sarah could now sense Chuck staring at her and waiting for an answer. She had to break the growing silence, time to take a leap of faith.

Something she hated to do, trust somebody.

"Chuck, you know that I would never hurt you. And I really hope you know why. The truth is, almost the first week after I met you, I knew I wouldn't carry out a termination order. Casey is sadly correct. If it was anybody else but you I would have followed orders, just like he was going to do."

Sarah paused and took a deep breath. She took a moment before looking Chuck right in the eyes,

"And Casey damn well knows that if he'd carried out the termination order that night and killed you. I would have done everything in my power to hunt him down and kill him. Then I would have done the same with Beckman and Graham…. if he'd survived the explosion.

"Chuck, I will protect you and your family….against anyone who might try to hurt you."

Chuck asked, "What about Morgan, you'll protect him too, right?"

Casey grunted. Sarah smiled, "Yes Chuck, Morgan too."

Chuck's face lit up and gave them both a big smile, and for the first time in a while he was the old Chuck.

John Casey sat back and smiled, sort of.

He then said, "Okay I think this team now has an understanding. Let's seal our understanding with a drink."

He got up and grabbed his Johnnie Walker Black from a side cabinet and three glasses.

He poured each of them a drink and raised his glass. "A toast to our squad."

Each of them took a healthy sip and the tension slowly ebbed away.

Casey took another sip of his whiskey and slowly pushed a file over to Chuck.

"It's all in the file, Sergeant Daniel Gunter's service record, fitness reports, unit history for the battle of Tarawa and the citation for him being awarded the Navy Cross.

"Your grandfather was the real deal Chuck, he was what they called 'one of the old breed'".

Casey had obviously been doing a lot of detailed digging. "A marine rifle squad in 1943 during Operation Galvanic had 12 members. Sergeant Daniel Gunter's squad was in an LVT or amphtrack with 12 other Marines.

"The LVT was hit and came to a stop on top of the coral reef far short of the beach. The men had to jump over the side and walk across 200 yards of coral with water up to their waist. The navy hadn't factored in what's called dodging tides. These are irregular neap tides. Almost impossible to predict.

"The men trying to land on Red Beach 1 were exposed to withering machine gun fire. After the battle we found out the Japanese had built five hundred bunkers.

"Squads became fragmented as men got wounded or got separated. The beaches were a mess. Hundreds of men were wedged right under a coconut log seawall. Machine gun fire scythed mere inches over their heads.

"Gunter and his squad survived several attempts to dislodge them from the seawall and throw them back into the sea. In the end, out of the twelve original members of Gunter's squad, there were only three left.

"There was your grandfather, private Frank Herron and Corporal Tom Lipinski.

"At around 1pm local time, a report went back from the beaches to General Holland Smith's ship. The message was, "Situation in doubt". Chuck, that is Marine speak for we're in deep shit...better send in the reserves.

"By 18:00 hours on D-Day 5,000 marines had landed and 1,500 of them were either dead or wounded. Sergeant Gunter and his two buddies were exhausted and isolated on Green Beach.

"During the day Gunter, Herron and Lipinski took out several bunkers and coconut log revetments with Satchel Charges and blocks of TNT. He, along with other Marines, helped to open up Green Beach.

"That night he and his two remaining squad members kept each other alive. They hunkered down in an abandoned rifle pit. Several times during that long night they fought off infiltrators. At first light, men from the second wave found them.

"The three of them were wounded, but alive. In front of their position were ten dead Japanese soldiers. Chuck, your grandfather was a fine Marine.

"He enlisted in 1937 and served with the fourth regiment in China. Once you've read through his papers I can give you a little more history and tell you what some of the military jargon means."

Sarah was beyond surprised at Casey's behaviour. She kept having to rein in her facial expressions in order not to gawp. This was a side of Casey she had never seen and truly didn't think existed.

This was the nicest Casey had ever been to Chuck. She could see the impact it was having on Chuck.

Casey then said to Chuck, "Now, let me ask you an important question. Do you know where Sergeant Daniel Gunter's Navy Cross is? Does someone else have it? Cousins, Aunt or Uncle, would they have it?"

Chuck shook his head. "No, there was only Mom. Daniel was also an only child. I guess it went missing when he died. When Mom disappeared from our lives, Dad threw a lot of Mom's stuff out. He was pretty angry at her for abandoning us.

"He threw her stuff into banker's boxes. Later on a rainy day, he took the boxes to the dump."

Casey walked over to a drawer and pulled out a blue box that had Navy Cross stenciled on it.

He motioned for Chuck to join him. Chuck stood up and walked up to Casey. For several heart beats the two tall men looked at each other. Casey cleared his throat and slowly put his hand on Chuck's shoulder.

Sarah's usually stolid demeanor disappeared. She felt proud of how Chuck had stood up to Casey. She was still struggling with the revelation that her bastard of a boss came within a hair's breadth of killing this wonderful man. The lump in her throat made it difficult to swallow and her eyes were full.

She focussed her attention back on Casey's words.

"I made some phone calls. The Marine Corps is run by NCOs. I reached out to a few of them and told them Daniel Gunter's medal had been lost. I had them check up on your grandfather. And requested a replacement."

"This is for you Chuck, keep it safe. Maybe someday, if the three of us continue to look out for each other. If we somehow manage to stay alive….well, maybe then you can tell your children what this medal represents. Remember to tell them about Sergeant Daniel Gunter and Tarawa."

Chuck's instinct was to give Casey a hug. He took a half step and then realized they weren't quite at the hugging stage…yet. After all, Casey was still Casey.

A/N3- The actions described here by Daniel Gunter are transcribed from actual Navy Cross citations awarded at the Battle for Tarawa.