This like chapter 1.2, i got a beta, Foxmac who reviewed the first chapter and edited a lot of it so i decided to put it in. I hope you enjoy it
In this story, I decided to try and see how Chuck would be if he were a bad guy, at least for a little while, the primise is that Mary and Stephen's marrage wasent that strong and before Mary went undercover in Volkoff Industries, she and Stephens had gotten divorced. When she was ordered to go undercover, Alexei found out that she had a son since Stephen wasent there to protect him. I dont know how many people will like it so if you like it or if you hate it review,
"Your father is waiting for you Mr. Volkoff, you can go in" she said as she saw her employee's son walk into the room.
He gave her a slight nod and walked into the office, the second the door opened Alexei got up from his desk and gave his son a big hug and kissed him on both cheeks, as they sat down Alexei turned to his son, "So how did it go?"
Karl Bartowski Volkoff, Chuck to his friends smiled at his father, "Your tip with the phone lines paid off, I got the records from the phone company of all phones that were turned off when we think the meeting took place, I compared that to the list of men off grid when the mole meet with his handler." He paused knowing his father's love for theatrics, "That narrowed the list down to one."
Volkoff walked back to his desk, knowing at least one of his troubles was finished, "And who was is?"
"Malashenko." Chuck replied.
"Vladimir?" Volkoff asked with surprise and disbelief.
Chuck nodded, Vladimir was one of his father's oldest supporters and a longtime family friend, Chuck had refused to believe the facts at first and still couldn't think of a reason for the betrayal.
"Bring him in," Volkoff said tersely a while later. He'd get to the root of Vladimir's dissent before dealing with him and his family.
Chuck went to the door and gestured, "I figured you'd want to see him so I had the guards bring him up," he stepped aside as two gigantic guards dragged a man into the room and shoved him into a chair.
Volkoff moved over to him and stared into his face, "Vladimir, I've known you a long time and considered you family correct? Why then would you betray me like this?"
Vladimir looked up at Volkoff and spit at him, prompting one of the guards to give him a powerful punch to the gut, Vladimir glared at Volkoff and managed to stutter, "You killed my family."
Volkoff looked surprised, "Really I know I would have remembered that and I can tell you I would have never ordered their deaths."
"It was during a weapons demonstration for a client," Vladimir vehemently cut in. "You used a small village for target practice, remember?"
Volkoff paused for a second and then nodded, remembering the day.
"My family lived there, you killed them."
Volkoff backed off, shaking his head regretfully, "Oh, I'm sorry Vladimir, you do have a valid reason for wanting me dead, and if I was in your position, I wouldn't even have gone to the CIA I would've just killed you," Volkoff bent down and taped him on the shoulder, and then faced his son, "unfortunately this means he must die, Karl."
Chuck who had been watching the entire questioning, pushed himself off the wall, "Sir."
"Take care of this, oh and remind your mom that we have dinner in an hour," with that Volkoff walked away.
Chuck stared at his father's retreating back with something akin to refusal before turning his attention back to Vladimir. With a slight hesitation, he pulled out his gun and attached the silencer on. He knew he was going to have another bout of sleepless nights when this business was over. Growing up and knowing who his father was and how he handled problems in his business, he'd always tried to use his father's technique as a last resort. However, there were situation, like this one, where the last resort was the only one available.
Vladimir started to beg. He knew that Karl Volkoff was a reasonable man. Hell, everyone within Volkoff Industries knew that he doesn't resort to killing anyone on a whim.
"Karl," Vladimir began with a slight tremor to his voice. "We've known each other since you were a boy. Please you don't have to do this."
Chuck looked at Vladimir sadly, his silenced gun hanging limply at his side. "I've got no choice, Vladimir."
"Yes, you do," Vladimir protested. "You're not like him," he spat before he change tact. "With everything that you know about Volkoff Industries, the CIA would be willing to grant you whatever you want." He had no idea if that was true, but he knew it was his last chance.
Chuck sighed and aimed the gun at Vladimir, "I'm sorry Vladimir, but he's my father and I won't betray family." With that, he put the gun up to Vladimir's temple, closed his eyes and pulled the trigger, it was only after the guards carried the body away that he let the tears start to fall.
Later that day Chuck went to his mother's room to get her for dinner, "Mom you ready?" he called out to her.
His mom came out wearing an expensive fur coat, "Yes Chuck, how was work,"
"Well," he began with a sigh, "we finally found the mole."
"Really, who was it?" asked Mary, fixing the last strands of her hair in the mirror.
"Vladimir"
Mary stared at her son through the mirror before answering, "Wow, I thought he was completely loyal."
Chuck nodded before simply adding, "He's been dealt with. " He turned away from his mother, pouring a drink from the liquor cabinet.
Although she didn't show it, Mary Volkoff nee Bartowski felt concerned when she heard the tone in Chuck's voice telling her that the matter was not up for discussion. She let the matter slide, knowing that her son would eventually come around and tell her in his own time.
After her divorce with Stephen, she got custody of Chuck while Stephen got custody of Ellie. Soon after she was ordered to go undercover with Volkoff and despite her best efforts Volkoff soon realized that she had a son and brought him to Moscow. With her son now at the mercy of Volkoff, Mary severed all contact with the CIA and became an integral part of Volkoffs network. Much to her chagrin, Chuck was so readily accepted by Volkoff that he started to subtly groom him to be his successor. As Volkoff endeared himself to Chuck, Mary soon that realized she had to get closer to Volkoff in order to protect her son to Volkoff to protect Chuck. Therefore her only choice was to start a relationship with Volkoff that culminated in a marriage two years later. With her marriage to Volkoff secured, her primary objective of taking him down had fallen through the moment he had legally adopted Chuck as his son. The adoption had brought to Mary the realization that her primary mission had drastically changed.
Now, 20 years after they had first moved to Moscow, Mary was somewhat content, she had made a pretense of being happily married, she had come to accept her circumstances and had made the best she could of it. Alexei may be crazy but he was also a totally devoted family man, who she knew would do anything to protect her or Chuck. However since she was the nominal second in command of the organization, and had nearly as much power as Alexei, the one thing she still was worried about was the fact that Chuck was thriving in the organization, she wanted the best for him and knew that if he continued to be more involved with Volkoff Industries he would eventually loose himself, something that Mary didn't want for her son.
Mary was stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. On the one hand, she could not betray her son to the CIA and neither would Chuck betray Volkoff, whom he considered his father. So she decided to simply bide her time, waiting for an opportunity that would allow her and Chuck a way out, as well as stop Volkoff. But for now, she would still do anything to protect her son, and that included anyone who threatened him.
"Mom, you ready to go." Chuck snapped her out of her thoughts.
Mary smiled, putting her previous thoughts aside for another time. She nodded at him and replied, "Yeah, let's go."
They went down the stairs and Volkoff was waiting for them. He gave Mary an affectionate kiss to the cheek before ushering them into the waiting limousine. They were driven to a very famous and expensive restaurant in Moscow. They were immediately seated and waited on by the best waiters the restaurant had. While they were waiting for their main meal to arrive, the chef came out personally to ask whether the food met their expectations.
When you're a multimillionaire industrialist, who also happens to be one of the most important people in the country, Chuck thought with a smile. You get top billings in just about every restaurant and hotel your mere presence graced them with.
During dinner, the three of them talked shop, discussing a couple of the business deals and possible problem that may arise. Suddenly Alexei turned to Chuck, "Charles I've got a proposition for you."
"Oh," Chuck replied sounding interested as he hid his trepidation by taking a sip of his wine.
"You know that for years now," Alexei began. "I've been letting you handle some aspects of the company, right?"
Chuck nodded wordlessly and let his father continue.
And since, you're doing an exceptional job, I thought what better way to expand your horizons than head our North American VI branch."
For a few moments no one said a word until Chuck finally managed to stammer, "Seriously?"
Alexei nodded, a grin lighting up his face like a child in a candy store.
Chuck's mouth opened then closed before he managed to compose himself enough to say, "Wow. I can't believe-! Is this for real? Me? Heading a VI branch?"
Alexei nodded as he pulled Chuck towards him and gave him a one-armed and affectionate hug. "You'll do us proud, my boy."
Chuck smiled and turned to his mom, Chuck was surprised by the fact she wasn't congratulating him, "Mom are you ok?"
Mary nodded, not wanting to betray her thoughts by replying. She knew that if Chuck succeeds in this endeavor – as she knew he would – then he would be almost guaranteed to succeed Alexei as the next CEO of Volkoff Industries. She couldn't do anything overt to prevent this from happening and so she let it go for now.
Before I let you take control of our American branch," Alexei began. "I thought to have you placed as an assistant to our representative in America, who also happens to be the Motherland's ambassador."
"So you want me to be a diplomat?" Chuck asked confused. "What's that got to do with running VI?"
"Two words, my boy," Alexei replied. "Diplomatic immunity."
"Ah," Chuck nodded, understanding where his father was going with this. "I get it."
"Good you leave after dinner."
Mary stared in surprise, "Alexei, you can't be serious, there's no time to make any arrangements-"
"I know you wouldn't like this darling," Alexi said in a very apologetic voice, "but he has to be prepared to be able to adapt to any situation at any time."
Mary glared angrily at her husband and was about to start protesting more when Chuck put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Mom, its ok, I can do this."
Mary didn't have the heart to argue when he son looked at her like that as if to say, "I'm a big boy now, Mom. I can handle this on my own." She gave a soft sigh of resignation and simply nodded, though her eyes told otherwise. She needed more time to think of what to do.
They spent the rest of the evening discussing contacts and other operational details. Afterwards, the limo took them to the airport, where a private jet was waiting to take Chuck to America.
As he got out of the car, Chuck went over to Volkoff and his mom.
At the foot of the jet's stairs, Alexei came up to Chuck and hugged him close. "Try not to worry too much, Charles," he said as he pulled back, his hands on his son's shoulders. "I have every confidence that you'll be able to handle this easily. Though you're not of my blood, you're my son in every sense of the word. I will do everything I can for you: you need any help or get into any trouble, I will personally see to it. All right?"
Her eyes brimming with tears, Mary felt torn between letting Chuck go and stopping him from boarding the plane. She finally pulled away from him and holding him at arm's length, she looked at Chuck as if to imprint him to her memory one last time. "Stay safe," she simply stated.
Chuck smiled gently at his mother before he gave her a kiss on one cheek then the other and back again. "I will," he said before he took a step back from his parents and climbing aboard the jet.
Agent Sarah Walker of the CIA went into the briefing room very worried. She had just completed a seven month mission and was really looking forward to a well-earned break, at least until she had gotten an emergency call to move to Langley ASAP. When she got in the room, General Diane Beckman and Director Langston Graham were already there along with another agent she didn't know.
"Hello Agent Walker, excellent job in China," Graham began.
"Thank you sir," As she looked at her bosses guests, "Sir, if I may, why am I here?"
At Graham's unhappy expression and Sarah knew that her non-agency related holiday had just been cancelled.
"I apologize, Agent Walker," Graham said, his voice had a slight apologetic ton to it. "Your vacations had just been rescinded due to the fact that something – or rather someone – had just entered the US."
Sarah stared, unsure of how to respond to that.
Graham clicked a button and the screen on the adjacent wall lit up with a large picture of a really cute man in his late twenties. Not bad looking, Sarah thought. I wonder what makes him so important to the CIA and the NSA.
A few more pictures came up with him next to a jet and shaking hands with a couple major soccer stars. Sarah was starting to think he was some kind of royalty or the son of a wealthy industrialist with the company he kept.
That was until she saw the next set of pictures. These pictures showed several professional killings. Some of them highly public as well as the remains of a couple charred buildings.
Sarah stared incredulously. The contrast between the two sides of the man's personality was amazing. The last image was of the same young man standing beside an older man, who looked vaguely familiar to her but she couldn't place from where.
"Agent Walker, meet Charles Irving Bartowski," Graham said breaking the silence. "Now known as Karl Bartowski Volkoff."
Sarah gasped and the NSA agent grunted in surprise.
"He is Alexei Volkoff's adopted son and all the intelligence we have points to him being groomed to become the CEO of Volkoff Industries whenever Alexei retires."
General Beckman then picked up the thread and continued, "The reason we're telling you both of this is that we believe he's coming to America to run Volkoff's North American branch."
The NSA agent gave a predatory smile, "Excellent General," he growled, "When do we take him out?"
"Were not taking him out Major Casey," Beckman replied, "Alexei Volkoff is smart enough to make it so that his son has diplomatic immunity by making him an assistant to the Russian ambassador. We're still trying to figure out how he pulled that out but we don't think we have a chance of changing the diplomatic status."
Sarah smiled slightly as she watched Casey deflate when he heard the news.
Graham started to talk again, "Because of his diplomatic cover, we have no chance of arresting him and the fact he is a diplomat on American soil makes assassination unfeasible, plus Alexi's reprisal would be brutal."
Sarah could sense the frustration emanating from Beckman and Graham.
"Due to these problems we are tying a different method, which brings us to you Agent Walker."
Sarah at her boss, "Me?"
Graham nodded before adding, "We need someone within Volkoff Industries, and the best way we come up with is through Karl Volkoff."
Sarah stared, she had been trained in seduction but it was limited, she could list at least ten other agents that could do the job better than she could, "Sir," she began. "I know I have the training but if we're going to put someone inside Volkoff Industries through his son, there are other agents who are better skilled with seduction than I am."
"Yes we thought about that but decided you are the best candidate. Volkoff has probably made his son aware of what to look out for and will recognize any such attempts made by an agent. You, on the other hand, have other skills to rely on." He looked pointedly at her.
Sarah knew that Graham was talking about her past experiences as a conman. That was, until she had been arrested at nineteen and was given the choice of either joining the CIA or going to jail. She looked at Graham again and saw in his eyes that he hadn't divulged any of her criminal past to Beckman and Casey.
"So you think I can help the Agency catch an international criminal?" Sarah asked innocuously, playing along with Graham's plan.
"In this case, yes," Graham replied. "If we use any other agent, there's a chance that Karl Volkoff will recognize them, thus compromising the Agency. With you, however, the chances are very likely that he'll believe you're just trying to fleece him out of his money him, which in turn may give you an opportunity to put a foot in his father's business."
Sarah was quiet for a moment, already knowing what her decision will be. She pretended to think things over for the benefit of the NSA. She knew Graham well enough to know that he liked to get one over his military counterpart and decided to go along. A moment later, she gave a nod.
Beckman let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She knew about Graham's protégé and thought at the chances of them being able to put an agent within Volkoff Industries seems to have risen.
"This is a deep undercover mission, Agent Walker," Beckman continued. "Any contact with the CIA is strictly forbidden. Your only contact will be Major Casey." She tilted her head to the man seated beside her.
Casey gave a curt nod in response. Both agents have heard enough about each other and their respective reputations to know that they could be relied upon for such a mission as this.
"What's my cover going to be," Sarah asked moving the conversation along.
"You will be a struggling model, we already have an apartment setup for you," Graham replied.
Sarah nodded before Graham continued, "Agent Walker, Major Casey, I must impress on the both of you about the gravity of such a mission as this."
Sarah looked at Graham's concerned face and knew exactly what he was worried about. She had heard enough about deep-cover agents who had to spend months undercover close to the mark. Such a relationship leaves a lasting impression on the agents involved that the likelihood of them being compromised increases.
Sarah sighed and knew the danger that Karl Volkoff could pose especially given his father's reputation as a very shrewd but very ruthless businessman. "Yes, sir," she said. "I'm willing to do this."
Beckman smiled, "Good, the detailed briefing will commence in the next room, good luck." With that, Beckman and Graham signed off, leaving her alone with Casey in the room. Breathing deeply, Sarah walked into the room with Casey following silently behind.
2 Weeks Later
Chuck finally had a day off after weeks of filing, meetings and barely avoiding police going to and from secret rendezvous. He could finally relax for a night, and planned to spend it getting wasted. As he got to the bar, he heard screaming coming from the alley next to him. Motioning for Boris to follow, he went to the alley where to his horror he saw two men were wrestling with a young beautiful woman, who lay screaming on the ground.
An enraged Chuck went running towards the men, "Leave her alone," Chuck screamed at the men.
The men looked at the man running towards them are saw he was alone.
"Fuck off, punk," one of the men laughed and turned back to the still cowering woman on the ground
Chuck grabbed the man's arm and twisted, snapping it; he punched him in the face, knocking him out.
The second man then pulled a knife out and held it towards Chuck, smiling maliciously. "You shouldn't have done that, pretty boy," he said, then swung at him.
Chuck jumped back and aimed a vicious kick at the second man's hand. The man dropped the knife in pain, leaving him open for a well-aimed kick to the chest and head making the man hit the wall behind him and slid listlessly down on the ground unconscious.
Chuck heard his bodyguard walk up to them as he made his way over to the disheveled woman. He didn't have regrets about what he'd just done, only that his father would probably not have liked his son to have spent his first night off after arriving in America fending off criminals and rescuing damsels in distress.
"You ok?" Chuck asked in his barely discernible accented English while he took off his coat and draped it across the woman's shoulders.
When the woman turned towards Chuck, he felt his heart leap out of his chest. Even with her face bloody and bruised with her tears ruining her makeup, she was easily the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you," the woman stammered. She threw her arms around Chuck and gave him a tight hug. Even with the blood and grim on her, the feeling of her body pressing against him, the smell of the perfume she was wearing and even the sight of her blond hair flung everywhere made his heart skip again.
The women started to cry again and Chuck guided her inside the bar. When the owner saw Chuck moving into the bar, he immediately got them a booth in a more private area of the bar he hurried over and gave them two vodkas. Chuck saw that Boris was talking to the owner and was probably relaying what had happened. The owner nodded and was about to apologized to Chuck but he waved it off as nothing.
"They had been harassing the poor, young lady," the owner said. "I had them taken out, thinking they would have gone to another establishment. Maybe a night spent in jail will have a more sobering effect, yes?"
Chuck nodded and the owner put the drinks down and left. The second he had set them down, the woman drank hers and then followed it up with Chuck's.
Chuck smiled, "Better?" he asked with slight amusement.
The woman shook her head.
"What's your name?"
"Sarah Walker," Sarah managed to shakily reply. "What's yours?"
"Karl Bartowski Volkoff but you can call me Chuck."
Sarah laughed at her good fortune and thought about how easy it was to get back into the game. She decided to ignore her mission for now and focused all she had on the man before her.
"Who were those guys?" Chuck asked.
"I don't know, I was just sitting here at the bar when they came up to me and were hitting on me and so I finally just left and then they followed me, I really didn't know what was happening, I heard one of them say something and I turned around and then they hit me and then I was on the ground and they were on top of me…" Sarah had been growing hysterical as the story progressed and at that point she broke down. While in reality the two attackers were both agents who had apologized for around an hour about what they had to do. The attack had been her idea and her injuries weren't actually that bad. At the look on Chuck's face, she thought that her plan was working. Maybe a little too well, she thought and hoped that the other two agents got off all right. Maybe can ask Casey later.
At the sight of her breaking down again, Chuck moved around the table and went over to her side of the table and sat down. The second he had sat down, Sarah leaned towards him and started crying on his shoulder.
A little awkwardly, Chuck wrapped his arm around Sarah and pulled her closer to him, offering what little comfort he could. After a couple of minutes, she stopped crying and looked up at him, "I'm sorry. I know I'm acting like a two year old," she laughed at herself.
"No you're not, you have nothing to be ashamed of Sarah. What those guys were going to do is reprehensible."
Sarah smiled but inside she was confused. This man is the son of an international arms dealer and he would have been more like his father. Yet here she was, talking to him, and she could sense the truth of his words. He must be laying on the charm, she thought. A lot of women must have fallen easily for that. Well, I'm not one of those women.
They sat quietly for a moment as Sarah just held onto Chuck. A while later, Sarah pushed herself off Chuck and turned to look at him. "Chuck, I feel really stupid asking this but can you stay at my apartment tonight. I really don't want to be alone."
Chuck didn't have to think twice and replied, "Sure. I'll stay with you."
Sarah smiled and gave Chuck a little kiss on the cheek, "Thanks,"
When Chuck felt Sarah's lips on his cheek, he nearly fell out of his chair. He looked down at her, still with a couple tears running down her face and realized that may have been one of the greatest things he had ever experienced. He had no idea why but Sarah really got to him. It wasn't just her beauty compared to some of the supermodels that he had gone out with him and they would have gladly jumped at the opportunity. Maybe it was the fact that he had rescued her but he doubted that too. He had saved other women in similar situations before and some were just as beautiful as Sarah was, although none of them made him feel like this. The only possible reason he could think of was that he was falling for her.
Chuck snorted at that. As if she would have felt the same way once she knew who he was. Not bloody likely, he thought mimicking one of his father's oftenly used expressions.
"You ready to go Chuck," Sarah asked after another couple minutes of silence.
"Ready whenever you are," Chuck replied with a smile, "do you want to go to the hospital or something?" he asked.
Sarah shook her head. "No, I'm fine, really," she added reassuringly. "Nothing but a bag of ice and some painkillers won't cure." She paused. "I saw you how you took those guys on. I hope you wouldn't get into trouble with the police because of me."
Chuck gave her a reassuring smile. "I don't think the police will arrest a man for assault on two men who were trying to force themselves on a woman," he said delicately, trying to minimize the trauma such recollection of the previous events may have on Sarah. "Plus, even if they did try and charge me, I have diplomatic immunity."
Sarah looked at him mustering surprised, "You're a diplomat, for what country."
"Russia"
"Your accent's barely discernible," Sarah said, just realizing that fact.
"I travel a lot," Chuck explained, "and I was born in America, lived here till I was nine."
Sarah's jaw dropped in surprise. This was something new. No one was able to dig up anything about Karl Volkoff's childhood. Both the NSA and CIA assumed that he was one of Alexei Volkoff's several purported illegitimate children. The fact that he was America-born means that he may still have familial ties here in America. That one innocuous sentence had gleaned them more information than a year's worth of investigations.
"If you don't mind my asking – and you can tell me that it's none of my business," Sarah rambled nervously. "How did an American kid end up in Russia?" she asked as they walked towards Chuck's car. She noticed that he drove a military-grade SUV with diplomatic plates.
"Well," Chuck began, thinking quickly how much he can divulge. "After my mom got divorced, she got a lucrative job in Russia and I went along with her. There, she met my dad and he adopted me after they got married two years later. My mother changed our citizenship and became Russian."
Sarah shelved this bit of information for later discussion back at the safehouse. She smiled at him mischievously and teased, "So you're a communist then. Do I have to report you to the CIA, the FBI, or something?"
"Yeah, laugh all you want," Chuck retorted back, smiling at her to take the sting out of his words.
They continued to banter as Chuck drove to her apartment, his bodyguard following discreetly behind them. At times, Sarah forgot she was on a mission since she found that Chuck was just so easy to get along with. Even though she did enjoy being with him, she was dreading what was coming up. Even if she did like him she really didn't want to have to jump him.
As they pulled up to her apartment, Sarah was so nervous that she thought about calling everything off. When they entered her apartment, Chuck looked around. The apartment didn't look like much. Just a living room, kitchen, bedroom and a bathroom. He quickly made his decision and suggested, "Okay, I'll sleep on the coach. You just yell if you need anything, all right?" He turned around and told his minder – in Russian – to stand guard in the kitchen.
Sarah was stunned. This was not what she was expecting from a criminal. Wordlessly, she simply nodded and walked over to him to gave him a big hug. "Thank you for everything," she said as she pulled away from him. "I don't know what I would have done if you weren't there."
"Think nothing of it," Chuck replied. "What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't come to the aid of a damsel in distress," he added with a smile."
Sarah shoved Chuck gently away from her as she turned towards her room. She heard him laugh softly as she closed the door. She then moved to a little side room adjacent to hers that she uses as a closet space and looks out of the small hole. His bodyguard had taken a place at the kitchen table and looked as if he were made of stone, his gun on the table and staring straight at the door. Chuck, on the other hand, had turned on the TV on low volume and was flipping through the channels before getting bored and turned in for the night.
Sarah watched for a couple more minutes to make sure nothing else was happening before she changed into her nightgown and went to her bed. Just before she settling down, she looked under her pillow to make sure her gun was still there.