Chuck Vs. The Hunters

Chapter 10: Curare

Layla was forced to giggle and act lustfully as Ochoa's guard swooped her in his arms and threw her over his shoulders like a Neanderthal. After a few goblets of fine wine and sultry promises of passion, she demanded that Eduardo whisk her up to Ochoa's den. She convinced him that it would be more daring, and the more daring it was, the faster the heart pumped… Eduardo ate up the rest of her flirtations like a dog chewing a bone.

Ochoa's den was on the first floor of the Villa and faced the tropical forest. Eduardo thrust her into the room and lowered her to the floor. She pretended to stumble over the tiger skin rug and backed against Ochoa's large, Oakwood rifle closet. In the first drawer of the cabinet, Ochoa kept a velvet bag of rare poisons he'd used in Africa to kill charging animals. Eduardo was impatient, but Layla held him off.

"You beast! Go to bed and make yourself comfortable! I want to pour a drink from the bar…a little tequila will really get me going." She played with his shirt buttons and then tore it wide open. When he attempted to grab for her again, she shoved him.

"I mean it! Now ándale!" She demanded.

Eduardo complied and jumped into the zebra striped bed. While he struggled with his clothes, Layla rifled through the cabinet and pulled out the tiny curare bottle. She quickly mixed two drinks at the bar and brought them over. She handed him the drink in her right hand. Eduardo eyed her feverishly.

"I was watching you, señorita. You put something in my drink."

Layla looked at him aghast. "Now why would I do that?"

"To subdue me! I was warned of your little tricks!"

Layla knew that as soon he was finished, Eduardo would report to Ochoa and have her killed. He was still dumb enough to fall for her trick in the wine cellar.

She pursed her lips annoyed. "Were you now? Fine…then take this one." Layla wagged the drink in her left hand, but Eduardo wasn't going to be played a fool.

"No! You take that one! I'll take the other."

Layla brought the crystal glass to her lips and gulped it.

"Suit yourself, amigo." Just as she was about to take another sip, Eduardo stopped her.

"Wait…I changed my mind! Give me that one!"

Layla rolled her eyes at his nonsense. "Okay, but can you please drink something before I fall out of the mood, señor?"

Eduardo kissed her neck, and then gulped down the tequila rapidly from the glass in her left hand. Layla smiled and set him down on the bed. She massaged his stomach.

"Just close your eyes, and soon you won't feel a thing…" She raised a sharp letter opener that dripped with the poison and jabbed him in the chest.

Eduardo opened his mouth wide and grasped his chest from a sudden throbbing.

"You bruja! You tricked me! How…but you…drank…"

"Did I really drink, Eduardo?" She purred. "Your greedy eyes must've played tricks on you…or maybe you were too busy staring at my boobs to notice. Curare will barely have effect taken orally...it has to go directly into the bloodstream." She grinned.

Eduardo's body went into a convulsion and stiffened. This was part of the job that Layla somewhat detested, all the killing and violence. She wiped her collarbone where his mushy lips touched her, then pulled the blanket over his face. She had to work fast before Ochoa realized she was gone and that he no longer had the remote. She dove under the bed and rummaged for her communicator.

"This is Agent Calderon to base, I have a situation at present…can you read me?"

Within the next few minutes, Layla secured her position and explained Casey's and the NSA's involvement. Just as she clicked off, she heard voices outside the door. She shoved the communicator back under the box spring and raced to the back window. Ochoa entered his den angrily before she could climb out.

"I should've known you'd seduce him, Layla!" He walked to the wine glasses and sniffed them, then noticed the letter opener with spots of blood upon it.

"You killed him with my special curare! You little devil! Ochoa snapped for his men and they ran in and grabbed her.

"Come with me, you are still my head servant at the resort and I need you to serve up a special lunch! Bring her to the hillside!"

Ochoa stomped away and the men dragged her out of the room.

~Oo~

Casey, Chuck, and Sarah maneuvered through the underbrush with less stamina. They were winded from Ochoa's obstacles and Casey wanted nothing more than to sleep for twenty-four hours. As they approached another clearing, Chuck stopped them in their tracks.

"Everybody, quiet…listen. Do you hear that?"

"All I hear are toucans cawing and insects buzzing in my ears, Chuck." Casey snarled.

"No really…it's like something…growling…but I know it's not you because I haven't spoken yet…it could be my stomach…"

That elicited a grunt from Casey, but Sarah silenced him and pointed. "Chuck's right!" She whispered, "It's coming from behind those trees."

Chuck was ready to run back, but he held his ground. He had to stop behaving like the baby of the team. "We can't have a real hunt without animals, can we?" He laughed slightly.

Casey pushed forward. "If there's an animal there, it would've sprang on us already, I'm going in."

As Casey advanced through the trees, a loud roar erupted and a hefty, ferocious tiger leaped at him. Casey yelled and staggered back as the claws swiped his chest. He knocked the others down.

"Damn! That cat almost tore my face off! Stay back!" His chest was scratched and sore.

"Look, he's chained to the tree! We can get away from it!"

"Chuck, we have to keep moving in this direction, he's bound to get one of us." Sarah said nervously. Dealing with wild animals never actually came up in her CIA training.

The tiger eyed them hungrily with vibrant, yellow eyes. He pawed at the grass and low, guttural growls welled up from within his striped throat. He wasn't going to let them pass without having dinner. Casey kept still and bade Chuck and Sarah to do the same.

"I have an idea." He spoke from the side of his mouth. "Everybody, follow my lead and do exactly as I do."

"And what exactly are you gonna do?" Chuck smiled at the tiger. "I uhh…always loved your cereal…heh heh…" The tiger attempted to lunge again.

"Aughh! Whatever it is, do it fast!"

Casey started walking very slowly around the circumference of the tree. The tiger followed after them, just as stealthy.

Chuck was excited. "I get it now! He's wrapping the chain around the trunk."

"Great, then we can get away." Sarah replied.

"Pipe down and no sudden moves." Casey demanded. He kept himself close to the tiger. If Tony were going to pounce, he'd make sure it grabbed him first.

After two rotations, Casey nudged them. "Alright…now…we run for it!"

Casey sprinted off with the others trailing behind. The tiger was furious over being tricked and as he tried to make chase, the chain stopped him. He roared and struggled, but the fetters were stronger than him. The trio raced beyond the trees and found themselves surrounded by glorious blue skies. They were no longer in the forest, but on a wide, grassy hillside that had a precipitous slope.

A large tent was set up on the hill and alongside it was a long, white table. The aroma of steaming foods wafted toward them and Chuck's stomach growled.

"Okay, now that was me…not the tiger. I'm starving, is that for us?"

Ochoa drove up to the table with two guards and Layla in the middle. He jumped out when it came to an abrupt stop and dragged Layla after him. He kept a small pistol on her back. Casey rushed to them, jerking the others behind him.

"Ochoa! What is this now?"

Ochoa laughed. "I told you I was a generous host! This is lunch, no tricks. And I brought my best assistant to serve you. You must eat up! You need your strength. I've also prepared this tent for you to rest for a while."

The guards approached with rifles and nudged them to the tables. Ochoa unlocked the shackles from their wrists. He removed Casey's collar and Casey restrained himself from letting out a shout of relief.

"You won't be needing this anymore…thanks to your Latina mutt lover over here. Do you know she poisoned one of my favorite guardsmen, Eduardo? That wasn't very kind of her…but I imagine she makes you proud, Major Casey."

Ochoa handed Layla a medical kit from his jeep. "Why don't you patch your boy up a little? He's looking much worse for wear than I remember."

Casey glared at him, but said nothing. Layla was drawn out and defeated and she solemnly served up their food. As her serving ladle passed over his plate, he gently brushed her arm and caught her eye. She smiled weakly and kept looking beyond the hillside and over the cliffs. Casey remembered she had other Agents stationed out there. When she finished she took the medical supplies and tended to the tiger scratches.

"How do we know this food isn't poisoned, Ochoa?" Sarah asked, moving the meat and rice around with her fork. Her appetite was returning.

"Because it isn't…that would not be sportsmanlike, would it? This hunt's no fun with exhausted animals. ¡Come! This may very well be your last meal. Layla, pour them some vino!"

Layla did as she was told and when she poured Casey's glass she speedily tapped her nail against it using an old Morse code distress signal. Casey ducked his head to hide a smirk. She'd been able to contact with her team. Chuck munched on the nachos and guacamole and started thinking about his sister. If he made it out alive, he'd have to explain to Ellie why he looked like he was thrown into a lion pit. He decided to tell her that the resort offered a hiking tour and his group got a little lost in the forest. The fib would also have to include Sarah…and he usually got by with using the spastic colon ruse when all else failed. The team ate in silence, keeping weary gazes on the guards standing at attention beside the jeep with their rifles ready for action. Layla had to stand by as well, while Ochoa kept his gun muzzle pressed against her waist.

Casey watched her intensely. They'd been parted for so long, save for a brief reunion in two thousand for all official business. It was the year before the world turned upside down with the Trade-center tragedy. He'd immediately afterward been employed to Afghanistan for two years to smoke out warlords. Right now Casey wanted to take her away somewhere private and just converse, talk until he was blue in the face. He wanted to open up and spill his guts about his current action-packed life and troubled conscience. He was confident she'd make whatever pain he had go away…at least for a little while. He'd not forgotten how adept she was at that and how much he loved her for it. She was the only woman he'd shared his life story with.

Casey glanced pensively at Chuck and Sarah. He still wondered what would become of Chuck once the new Intersect was installed and how Sarah was going to react to the NSA's incendiary plan of action against the asset.

'Why wonder? You have your orders to do what you do best!' He thought with regret.

What was the point of going nuts trying to keep the nerd alive when he'd have to plug a hole in his head sooner or later? It no longer made sense to him. What really unnerved him was that he actually liked Chuck and didn't want to see him come to harm. It was getting more difficult to be callous and cruel on a daily basis. Casey was worn out. Layla may have had x-ray eyes to see his heart, but he didn't need anyone to tell him that it still beat and relentlessly pricked him with all sorts of genuine human emotions.

When they finished eating, Layla cleared the plates. As she stacked them, she quickly dropped a small bottle in Casey's lap. It was the curare she'd used on Eduardo. Casey palmed it and furtively placed it in his pocket. She knew at some point he'd find a use for it.

"Stand up! I've made a decision, Major." Ochoa lined them up alongside the edge of the hill.

"I've decided that three's a crowd…now I want you to pick only one partner Major…the blonde? Or the brunette?"

He shoved Chuck and Sarah away from him and they faced Casey. Sarah's expression already told him what he had to do.

Casey pointed. "I choose Chuck."

Chuck gaped at him, then quickly looked down and ran his boots across the dirt. He was behaving like a coward. He had to be grateful that Sarah wasn't chosen. She was still weakened from the drugs and he didn't want anything to happen to her. Chuck glanced up and bravely walked to Casey's side. He narrowed his eyes in the harsh sunlight and sneered. He was ready for this.

"Go ahead Ochoa…make our day!"