Chuck Versus a Man called Crescent
This is my first story arc guys so be cool…..
Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but I do own the characters I create. No-one steals Crescent from me, oh no no they don't.
PS After seeing all the comments on Sarah/OC, I have decided to remove this idea. Crescent is now a supporting character which stirs up a little trouble in the team.
Strange Bedfellows
The Colonel and his partner fire off another couple of rounds, dropping two more attackers, but then their hammers on their guns click back. The clips are empty.
"Walker, go back to the van and check on the moron. Contact Beckman. Knowing Bartowski, he's probably forgotten. I hold them off here for as long as I can.," grunts Casey.
Acknowledging this, Sarah takes a deep breath and runs out from her cover, narrowly missed by a hail of bullets. She runs back to the alley where the van is parked and hammers on the door, which slides open. Something leaps out and pulls her into an embrace, and Sarah is about to strike back when she recognises the familiar scent of her boyfriend.
"I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried that they could hurt you," breaths out Chuck.
"They couldn't hurt me if they tried," she replies with a smile. However, realising the seriousness of the situation, she reverts back to agent mode. "Have you informed the General of what has just happened?"
"Yes. A backup team is on its way. ETA is half an hour." says Chuck.
"That isn't fast enough." states Sarah. "When I left Casey back there, he was pinned down and out of ammo. We need to go back and help him; that backup won't arrive in time." With that, she goes into the van and returns with more clips for her pistol and a tranq gun for Chuck.
The remaining gunmen concentrate their fire on their ex-boss, who is hiding behind a crate. One of them breaks off and runs at him with his combat knife, and ends up being held hostage with the blade to his throat.
"Now let's not get over-excited, shall we?" Crescent says, slightly out of breath. He coughs out blood, but quickly wipes it away to conceal the sign of weakness. "Put down your weapons. You don't want this to get any messier."
The team leader pauses for a second, but, raising his rifle, says, "He's not worth it. Nothing personal, Kenny." He fires off several rounds, hitting his own teammate in the stomach and forehead and Crescent in the upper chest. The rest of the team open fire as well, but the wounded assassin has already disappeared. Casey takes the opportunity when the gunmen are distracted and manages to overpower one of them, taking his rifle and firing on the rest. The leader goes down and Sarah and Chuck, entering the fray, finish off by dropping the remaining gunmen.
Admiring his handiwork, Casey smirks. "No-one messes with the Angel de la Muerte. Good job, Bartowski, Walker." He pauses. "Just a second – where's our assassin friend?"
Crescent stumbles into the alleyway, hitting the wall and groaning from the pain. Damn, he thinks, I'm losing my touch. He rips off a part of his shirt, loops it around his chest and ties a tight knot. As the fabric scrapes across the wound, his face contorts as he gives off a scream. He presses his right palm over it and attempts to continue, but collapses on the ground. His vision begins to fade around the edges, and he sees a large man standing in front of him just as he blacks out. Casey grunts as he hoists him onto his shoulder.
"Do you want some help with that?" asks Chuck. The Colonel, giving a small chuckle, replies, "Save your strength, Bartowski. You might fall over and hit your you-know-whats, and you won't be able to express your lady feelings. Walker here would be very unhappy."
"What are you-" begins Chuck, and then the memories flood back. "Oh no. You didn't."
"I did. Bartowski, did it ever occur to you that you have to train your muscles before you try heavy weightlifting?" Casey says with a smirk on his face. "Maybe you should stick with the two kilo dumbbells for now."
"In my defence, I thought it was a lot lighter so I wasn't expecti-"
"Could you two stop arguing and contact Beckman to tell her that we have him." says Sarah, acting as the voice of reason. The two men, giving each other one last stare, stop and the General's face appears on the main monitor in the van.
"Congratulations on the successful mission, team." Beckman says. "I see you have captured our target. Bring him back to Castle."
Looking at the improvised bandage around Crescent's chest, which was now completely drenched in blood, the blonde speaks up. "Negative, General. His wounds are too severe - we need to get him to a hospital before he bleeds to death."
"Agent Walker, the hospital is too far away. Our guest may not make it, therefore you are taking him to Castle, where Chuck will use the Intersect to perform surgery and remove the bullet."
"General-" Sarah tries to talk, but Beckman cuts her off. "No more objections. You have your orders – that is all." The feed cuts and the silence is only broken by the groaning of the patient.
"Hey, I can do this!" exclaims Chuck. "Remember the time when I removed the bullet from Casey's leg?" The Colonel grunts something which sounds like "bastard stole my blood". Despite being a little put off by Casey's comment, Chuck continues. "Now, let's get the patient to the operating table."
After a long session with a scalpel and various other medical tools, Chuck stumbles out and collapses into a chair. He pulls off his gloves and apron which have been covered with a layer of blood, and gives a long groan. Sarah walks past him and takes a look at the unconscious Crescent.
"How are you?" she asks.
"As happy as I am that I am able to perform complex surgery, I really don't want to do it again. Do you have any idea how frightening it is to see blood shooting out onto your chest?"
She doesn't turn around. "I've been in that situation before – it's not really scary after a few times. You just get used to it."
Flashing her a more nervous smile, Chuck replies, "Thanks for sharing that with me. That paints quite the disturbing picture in my head, you know – remind me never to annoy you when you're holding anything which has one or more sharp edges."
His girlfriend doesn't respond, and Chuck feels that something is wrong. "Sarah, I can tell when you're angry and hurt, and this is one of those moments. I know you said that you're okay with the fact I didn't shoot Shaw, but you're definitely angry about me lying."
Sarah turns around and Chuck notices the vulnerability in her eyes. This is Sarah, the emotional twenty-or-so year old woman, not Agent Walker, the robotic assassin who switches off her emotions with a switch. "Look, Chuck," she says, "I love you so much, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life, but we have to get things straight. NEVER lie to me again."
"Okay. I promise never to lie to you again, sweetie." Chuck leans in and gives her a little peck on the lips, but this develops into an all-out tongue twister between the both of them. Sarah breaks the kiss and gives her boyfriend a loving gaze, which he returns. They kiss again, just as Casey walks in. "Ugh," he says. "Could you two not do your business here? I am here for a lot of the time, and I don't want to mention how many mental scars I've obtained." They break apart, and Casey continues. "How's the assassin?"
"He's recovering in one of the holding cells. He'll be waking up soon." responds Chuck.
"Good. Beckman wants to talk to us, and him as well. Bring him in as soon as he's conscious and contact me when we're ready to call the General. I've got a few Beastmasters to sell." The Colonel goes up the stairs and through the secret door into the freezer of the Orange Orange, leaving Chuck and Sarah all by themselves.
"You know, there's still plenty of time to do some stuff before he wakes up." says Sarah in a huskier voice. She gives Chuck a seductive smile which she knows he cannot resist. They lean in for a kiss, and this time they are not disturbed.
Casey steps out of the freezer and walks out behind the counter, where he sees an nervous looking Devon.
"Devon." Casey nods his head in greeting. "What's the problem?"
"Well, first of all, I know you guys just went on a mission, because we were evacuated from the building and we saw an all out gunfight round the back, and also I think Ellie might have figured out that Chuck is a spy."
"That's impossible. There's no way she could have seen him – Bartowski only arrived at the end."
"Yeeah, we kinda stayed because Ellie decided it was a better idea to hide inside, and she heard a very girly scream which only Chuck can do. She also saw him carrying a gun and shooting it at those people."
"Damn moron, can't even notice when he's being watched." says Casey under his breath. Raising his voice back to its normal volume, he says, "Devon, I think you should try and convince Ellie that Chuck carries a gun just in case he needs to defend himself, which is what happened today."
Devon gives a sigh of relief, but still looks a little uneasy. "That might work, but I don't know whether she'll buy it. I mean, if I know Chuck, no offence, he's the kind of guy who would be too scared to hold a gun, let alone use it."
The Colonel grunts. "It'll work. Now, if you excuse me, I have to return to the BuyMore for my shift before they notice I'm late." He slips out of the door and drags out a skinny teenager holding a camera. He growls at the kid, who immediately runs away as fast as he can. Casey smirks.
Crescent, aka David Lawson, Matthew Lee, Victor Goldacre etc. , gradually wakes up from a long sleep. He feels like someone's driven a truck over his chest and his head is still fuzzy from the anaesthetics. Sitting up, he looks around and, seeing an access terminal next to the door, walks over to it, supporting himself with a chair. Using a flat piece of metal he pulled of the bed, he levers off the case of the terminal and rewires it, and the door slides open.
He limps into the main area, where he finds the two CIA agents entwined with each other and kissing passionately. He coughs, and Chuck immediately jumps off Sarah, who pulls out her gun and aims it at him. "Sit down." she orders.
"Looks like you're a little jumpy. Not angry that I walked in on a little moment of yours, are you, Agents Walker and Carmichael?"
"Shut up." she snaps as she reaches for her phone and rings Casey. "Yes, he's awake… okay, I'll do that." She hangs up, and runs into the armoury, returning with two pairs of cuffs. She cuffs Crescent's wrists and ankles together, and steps back to admire her handiwork.
"Please, do you think I could escape with this aching wound here?" he says.
"Better safe than sorry." she replies coldly. Casey enters Castle from the Orange Orange entrance, and sees the assassin shackled up. "Good," he smirks, "I see you took my advice and cuffed him. Now let's contact the General and get this creep off our hands."
"I may be injured, but I'm not deaf, Colonel Casey, or should I use your real name – Alexander Coburn." This earns him a right hook in the mouth. "I struck a nerve, didn't I?"
"You go there again, and I assure you that I will kill you with my right thumb."
Beckman's face blossoms onto the screen. "I don't think that killing your team member would be a good idea, Colonel. Stand down." Casey steps back reluctantly, and then stops, realizing what the General just said. "Team member?" he says in disbelief.
"That is correct, Colonel. Crescent will provide his services and intel to Team Bartowski about your missions. He will be briefed on his cover identity later."
"What makes you think that I'll help you?" says Crescent. "I seem to recall you are the one who put me up for target practice."
"If you refuse, you will be sent to a CIA detention centre, and there will not be a very welcome reception. You have built up many enemies, Crescent, and you would not be in the safest situation."
"Is that a threat, Beckman?" says the assassin in a low voice. She nods and pauses for a second. "You have to make your decision now, Crescent." she says.
After a short car journey back to Casa Bartowski-Woodcomb, the three members of Team Bartowski step out, along with the newest addition.
"Crescent, you will adopt the identity of Daine Reynolds, a twenty-nine-year-old criminal psychology graduate from Harvard. You will move in with Colonel Casey in his apartment at Echo Park and attempt to fit in the community to the best of your ability. You will be kept under twenty four hour surveillance, and I warn you, if you attempt at any point to escape, you will be recaptured and sent on a one way trip to a detention centre. Do I make myself clear?
Daine nods. "Perfectly, General."
"General, I don't think this is a good idea." Chuck says. "No offence to you, Daine, but he poses a significant security risk to all those around him, including my family who are living just on the opposite side of the courtyard!"
"You don't have to worry, Chuck." says Sarah. "If he even tries to make a move, he'll be an eunuch for the rest of his life." She shoots a glare at the man which clearly promises a lot more bodily harm than she has mentioned already.
"God, what an incredibly welcoming and friendly team. I think this will be fun."
Daine follows his new room-mate to the door of the apartment. He looks around the courtyard. Typical urban house split into three apartments. He would not have guessed that this was the location of a top-secret CIA-NSA black ops team.
"So, Colonel, where's my room?" he asks. "Down the corridor. Second on your left." came a grunted reply. "Don't get too comfy." Charming fellow, Daine thinks, and he feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns to find a smiling woman, around thirty years old, standing right behind him. "Hi," she begins, "Who are you?"
"Oh yes, you must be Chuck's older sister Eleanor. I'm Daine, I'm Casey's new room-mate. Pleased to meet you."
"You too. Hey, would you like to come over for dinner tonight? Jus want to welcome you into the neighbourhood – have you met my husband Devon?" Ellie pulls out Devon from nowhere and introduces them to each other.
"So, Daine, are you with anyone?" Devon asks "Girlfriend, boyfriend?" His wife shoots him an angry glance. "Excuse my husband, he can be very judging when it comes to appearances."
Daine smiles. "No offence taken. And no, I don't have a girlfriend. I did have a fiancé, but she was killed in an accident. I'm not really comfortable yet with sharing my life with another person."
"I am so sorry, bro." says Devon. An awkward silence begins, only broken when Chuck and Sarah emerge from their apartment and notice Ellie and Devon talking with the "mad psychotic off-the-leash murderer", as Chuck so eloquently put it. "Hey guys," says Chuck as he joins the huddle. "I see you've met Daine, our new neighbour. I hope he's behaving himself." he adds staring right at the guy.
"Don't worry, Chuck, he's being a perfect gentleman." answers Ellie. "In fact, I've invited him to dinner tonight. You and Sarah should come along too! It'll be fun!" Chuck looks like he's about to start protesting, but his girlfriend cuts in. "We'd love to. Now, Chuck and I are going to go out for a while, so see you later at your place at around eight?"
Ellie nods and returns to her apartment with Devon in tow, and Chuck turns to Daine with a threatening look on his face. "Don't try any funny business tonight, or-"
"Or what? You'll beat me up?" he replies. "Unlikely, and besides, I won't do anything stupid. I give you my word, for what it's worth." Daine turns around and goes into Casey's apartment, slamming the door shut behind him.
"I'm sorry, but I really feel that I cannot trust that guy," says Chuck.
"I agree with you," responds Sarah. "There is something about him that makes me feel uneasy. But right now," she gives her boyfriend a peck on the lips, "let's go do something fun. And no, we are not watching another episode of that lame scifi show you keep watching."
"Oh come on, how can you not enjoy Star Trek? It is a total classic!" The two of them joke and bicker as they walk out of Casa Bartowski-Woodcomb.
Going into his room, Daine locks the door, and collapses onto the bed whilst coughing heavily. He pulls out an inhaler and takes a shot of it, and the coughing stops. Relaxing a little, he pulls out a small scuffed photo of a young woman, which he strokes. A single tear rolls down his face, and when he hears Casey knocking on his door, he quickly wipes it away and tucks the photo away in his pocket.
"What is it, Colonel?" he asks, and finds him holding out a pizza box. "Eat up." Says Casey gruffly. "It's going to be a while before eight, and I don't want to have to deal with a starved-to-death body." With that, he returns back into the sitting room, where he picks up a cleaning cloth and starts polishing his pistol.
That man is an enigma, thought Daine. One second he's as scary as hell, and the next he's exactly the opposite. And the other two, Bartowski and Walker, they're clearly in love each other. Wonder how long it'll last. People don't really last long in this profession. She didn't. As he pushes the door shut, he has his hand over his pocket and an almost sad expression flickers across his face.
Well, first of all, sorry for Chapter 4 being a little late, back log of work. Anyways, review it please, more ideas welcome.