Before the Storm
By RascalFlattsS
Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck.
Spoilers: Some little spoilers to Chuck vs. the Living Dead and Chuck vs. the Subway. And from Season 2 Chuck vs the Ring. Little teeny spoilers-so small that you will need a microscope to see them.
Some violence and mild swearing. And of course, Chuck whumpage!
Thank you all so much for your reviews! They make me so happy!
Some Road in Southern California-Exact Location Unknown
"I swear to God if you lay one hand on him," growled Stephen,
"Please Stevie," said Carl. "We both know your threats are useless." There was a pause. "Relax Stevie, as long as you do what I say, your kid will be fine."
"What do you want?" asked Stephen.
"Well I said we'd come and get you," said Carl, "but we can't see to find you. Removed the GPS chip, did we?"
"Might have," said Stephen. "How about I meet you somewhere?"
"McCarthy Park," said Carl. "Be there in one hour. Or your kid dies."
Colonel John Casey's Apartment-Burbank, California
"Something isn't right."
Sarah looked up at Casey. They were sitting in Casey's apartment, watching the surveillance footage from the Bartowski apartment.
Of course, this isn't right, thought Sarah, Someone kidnapped Chuck! Someone hurt him…God only knows what is happening to him right now or if he is even still alive…..
"Earth to Walker! Hello?" asked Casey, waving his hand in front of her face.
"Oh I'm sorry Casey," said Sarah. "My mind was…elsewhere."
Casey grunted. "Watch this." He replayed the surveillance tape. "What do you see?"
Sarah sighed. "Chuck fighting with the kidnappers." She continued watching and then suddenly she grabbed the remote hitting the pause button.
"That's a standard CIA move," said Sarah slowly. "You think the Ring is behind this?"
Casey shrugged, "Most likely. But that's not what is bugging me." He hit the play button. "Watch the time stamp."
Sarah watched the time stamp. "8:30 am. So?"
"So watch this next part," said Casey. He fast forward. "This is when Ellie comes home and finds Bartowski missing. Now look at this time stamp."
"Quarter to one," said Sarah.
"We know that Bartowski was kidnapped around eight thirty this morning," said Casey. "And that the people who kidnapped him are professional CIA-most likely working for the Ring."
"Right," said Sarah.
"And we know Ellie doesn't come home till almost one to find Bartowski," said Casey. "So that leaves almost a four hour window from when Bartowski disappears to once it is found."
"Casey, what is the point?" asked Sarah.
"The kidnappers have a four hour window to clean up the mess," said Casey. "So why the hell didn't they?"
Sarah paused. Casey had a point. Why would the kidnappers leave such an obvious mess? Why would leave such an obvious clue?
"We're missing something," said Sarah. "I mean, we would know right away that Chuck is missing, why stage the apartment?"
"Because it's not meant for us," said Casey, suddenly. He jumps out and races out of the apartment. Sarah follows in hot pursuit.
"Casey! What's going on?" she yells.
Casey ignores her and continues running. He runs into the Bartowski-Woodcomb apartment. Devon and Ellie are sitting on the couch talking quietly. They both look up when Casey rushes in with Sarah right on his heels.
"Ellie," said Casey out of breath. "Have you received a ransom note yet?"
"No," said Ellie slowly.
"John is everything okay?" asked Devon.
"Did you tell anyone?" asked Casey. "Did you call anyone?"
"No," said Ellie. "I just called 911 and the hospital and…" She paled. "Oh God," she whispered as realization hit. She held her head in her hands as fresh tears started to flow.
"Ellie, who did you call?" demanded Casey.
"Dad," said Ellie. She looked up at them, "I called my dad."
Burbank Buy More-Burbank, California
Morgan Grimes could tell that this was going to be a long time when he arrived to work at the Buy More. However he had no idea.
He was helping a customer when he saw Big Mike waiving him over to his office.
"Will you excuse me for a moment?" asked Morgan. He walked over to Big Mike's office. "Whatever happened, I can assure you that I am in no way responsible…."
"Sit down, Morgan," said Big Mike. There was sadness in his voice that Morgan had never heard before. There were two police officers standing in the office with him.
"Is everything okay?" asked Morgan, afraid to ask. Big Mike shook his head.
"Mr. Grimes," said one of the officers. "I'm Officer Keller and this is Officer Hansen."
"Okay," said Morgan slowly. "What can I help you with?"
"Do you know a Chuck Bartowski?" asked Officer Keller.
Morgan nodded, "Yes. He's my best friend." He swallowed. "Why are you asking this?
"Someone broke into his apartment this morning," said Officer Keller.
"Oh my God," said Morgan. "Is Chuck okay?"
The two officers exchange a small glance. "What is it?" asked Morgan.
"Mr. Grimes, it appears your friend Chuck Bartowski has been kidnapped…
Secret Evil Guy Hiding Place-Location Unknown
Stephen had arrived at the park on time. Upon arriving, he had spotted a black SUV in the parking lot. He had left his car and walked over to the SUV. The guards had checked for any bugs or GPS trackers. Once they had been assured there was none, they had opened the trunk and advised that would be his seat for the journey.
To Carl's credit, the truck at least had plenty of leg space.
After several hours of driving, the SUV came to a stop. Once Stephen was let out of the truck, he looked around at his surrounds. From what he could tell, they were in the middle of the desert, with no sign of civilization anywhere.
Great, thought Stephen that will make escaping a little tricky.
The two guards had escorted into a large warehouse. The two men lead Stephen down a long hallway. Stephen wondered these men had not handcuffed his hands or why they were not more guards escorting him.
Finally after walking the length of a football field, the guards arrived at a door. The guards opened the door and roughly pushed Stephen in causing him to stumbled.
"Geez," said Stephen. "Take it easy. Push me again and I'll make you regret it."
"No, you won't." The voice caused Stephen to turn. He gasped.
Carl stepped forward. He was using Chuck as a human shield. He then had a gun pointed at his son's head.
"That's always been your weakness Orion," said Carl. "You were always a family man."
Stephen glared, "What do you want Carl?"
"Straight to the point as always," said Carl. "I'm working on a little project—one of the ones we were working on back in the day—and it's got a few bugs in it. And you seem like a perfect man for the job."
Stephen sighed, "I'm not helping you build another Intersect."
Carl rolled his eyes, "What is it with you Bartowskis and the Intersect?" he asked. "Why the hell would you to help me build an Intersect? I could an Intersect in my sleep." He smiled, "Besides why build a new Intersect when I already have the newest version?" Chuck paled.
"What the hell are you talking about?" growled Stephen.
Carl smiled, "You don't know?" he asked.
"Shut up!" shouted Chuck. "Don't listen to him Dad! He's—"
"SHUT UP!" roared Carl. He pushed the barrel harder into Chuck's skull. Chuck stopped talking.
"Your son is the new Intersect," said Carl.
"You're lying," said Stephen. "Bryce Larkin is the new Intersect."
"Bryce Larkin is dead," said Carl. "Your son and Larkin were the only ones in the room before the Intersect 2.0 was destroyed. Larkin is dead. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out." He smiled. "And if that's not enough proof for you, he'd flashed when we first met. In fact, I'm sure we can find something for him to flash on." He smiled, "Oh Ivan! Come here."
One of the guards, Ivan stepped forward. Stephen spared Ivan a quick glance before turning back to his son. He watched in horror as he saw Chuck flash. He saw his son's eyes roll up his head and move back and forward as the pictures and information flashed before him.
As the flash ended, Chuck shook his head, as if trying to shake the images from his mind.
"See what I mean?" said Carl. "Charles Irving Bartowski is the Intersect 2.0 and the CIA's newest spy!"
"Dad," whispered Chuck. He looked up at his father, his eyes pleading. "Dad, I'm so sorry. I was going to tell you—"
"Enough," said Carl. "Not that I am not enjoying this wonderful father-son moment but this isn't Dr. Phil." He paused, "I mean I have places to go, evil plans to set into place and a world to take over."
"Fine," said Stephen. "What the hell do you want?"
"I'm rebuilding the Storm," said Carl.
Stephen paled. "Are you crazy?" he asked.
Carl struggled. "Maybe a little. But I want Storm. And you're the first person I thought of for the job."
"I'm flattered," said Stephen.
"Here's my offer," said Carl. "You help me rebuild the Storm-solving all the little problems we ran into years ago and you and your son will walk out of here. Alive."
"Let Charles go first," said Stephen.
"No," said Carl.
"You let my son go right now or I'll never help you," growled Stephen
"Yes you will," said Carl. He smiled. "Don't insult my intelligence, Stephen. I heard what happened with Roark. He was a nice guy and let your kid go. Then your son goes running back to his CIA handlers and a whole Fulcrum base ends up getting blown up to bits in an air strike. No offense, Stephen but that's not how this story goes."
"Here's my counter offer," said Carl. "Your son stays here until you complete the Storm project. Then once the project you and your son can walk away scotch free."
"No," said Stephen. He crossed his arms. "You let him go now or you can forget it."
Carl shrugged. "Fine. Have it your way." He pushed Chuck forward. Chuck caught off guard by the sudden moment and combined with the concussion, Chuck fell forward. He automatically threw his hands out to brace his fall. He tried not to cry out as pain flared up through his injury shoulder but he couldn't help but suppress a groan.
Chuck started to sit up. Carl kicked him in the chest, hitting his injured ribs. Chuck heard something snap as Carl's steel toe boots collided with his ribs. Chuck fell back, gasping in pain, trying to breathe.
"No!" Stephen started to move forward towards his injured son but two men grabbed his arm and drag him back. Stephen struggled against them. "Leave him alone!"
Carl smiled, "Hit a nerve, didn't I?" He kicked Chuck again. Chuck gasped, struggling to catch his breath.
"Wait till I get a hold of you," gasped Chuck, struggling to sit up. He started to sit up when Carl pushed him down with his boot, pinning him down to the floor. Chuck struggled to push the boot off of his chest but stopped when a gun was pointed at his chest.
"There are two ways this goes down Stephen," said Carl. "Option one; your son stays here while you complete the Storm project or option two; your son dies here and now." He cocked the gun.
"NO!" screamed Stephen. "No! I'll do it! I'll do whatever you want! Just don't hurt him!"
Carl smiled. "Now, see that wasn't so hard, was it?" he said. He lifted his boot off of Chuck. Chuck rolled over to his side, gasping and coughing.
"I have a few requests of my own," said Stephen.
Carl nodded, "Fine. Let's hear it."
"First, I want my son to stay with me," said Stephen.
"Of course," said Carl.
"Second, I want my son to receive medical treatment," said Stephen.
"I can't get you a doctor," said Carl. "Unless you want me to invite your daughter or son-or-law to this little party."
"Not necessary," said Stephen quickly. "I can treat Charles as long as I have all the supplies. Bandages, gauze, saline solution, iodine, antibiotics—"
"I get the drift," said Carl. "All right, Stevie Old Boy, you got a deal. But be warned, if you try to double cross me or cheat me, you will be sorry." He growled. Stephen nodded in understanding.
"All right, boys," said Carl. "Let him go." The two men released him and in an instant, he was by his son's side in an instant.
"Charles?" he asked softly.
Chuck opened his eyes. "Dad-"he started. He struggled to sit up. Stephen helped him up and then pulled him close in a hug.
"Dad, I'm—"
"Shh," said Stephen, holding his son tightly. "Everything is going to be okay, Charles. Everything is going to be okay.
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