Don't own Chuck

Abram delivered the missile to Abu but instead of greeting him with open arms as he had thought he would be Abu sent him right back out on another 'favor' as he called it. That was a half hour ago now he was being dropped off at the airport to catch a flight. His driver let him outside then turned around and left without saying as much as a word. Abram's reputation had preceded him and the rest of the men didn't care for his kind. Traitor was what they called him not knowing he was a mole. But that was all right by Abram most of these men he had no use for so the sentiment was reciprocal. They hadn't gone through the same training as Abu, himself or Banai for some extent and that's what set them apart from people he considered little more than common thugs.

"You should be happy Abu sent you out of town. Banai was on your tail and your men never checked back in so... well he got them," said Abram while he waited in line. Suddenly the hair stood up on his neck and he looked around but there was no one. "See you start thinking about Banai and you get paranoid."

"Passport please," said the woman behind the desk. Abram laid in on the counter top. "Do you have a flight reservation?" Abram nodded still thinking about Banai. "Do you have any luggage you'd like to check in?" asked the woman behind the counter as she typed his reservation into her computer.

"What? No… no none just a carry on is all I have," said Abram as he looked around to see if anyone was looking at him. Luggage he thought to himself. What a stupid mistake he thought to himself he should've brought a suitcase and brought it with him even if it was empty. His ticket was now probably going to be flagged which meant he could expect to be searched

"Okay very good. You believe in traveling light I see," said the woman which reinforced everything he's thought. "So Mr. Xavier where would you like to sit? Would you like an aisle seat or a window," asked the woman as she continued to type.

"Give me an aisle if you can? … No wait a minute make that a window seat. I'm a little tired and I'd like to sleep without worrying about someone climbing over me to get up."

"Yes, sir no problem there are plenty of empty seats on your flight so if you change your mind you should be able to switch seats. Just let your flight attendant know and here you go this is your boarding pass. Please follow that queue over there," pointed the woman. "That will take you through security then you need to proceed to Gate 12 for embarkation and thank you for flying with us today."

"Thank you," said Abram as he took everything from the woman then started over like he was going to get in line but instead he had made a beeline for the first restroom he came to.

He walked in looked around before going into a stall where he flushed the water. Then when he came out he went to the sinks where he washed his hands then wiped his face waiting for everyone to clear out. Finally, when everyone was gone and he was alone he took out his pistol from his shoulder holster wrapped it in paper towels then dropped it in the trash can along with an extra clip. He felt naked and vulnerable.

"Okay now we can go straight through that security check on the other side you'll be safe," said Abram to his reflection in the mirror. He turned and left. He went straight for the security check line. The line wasn't that long but it seemed to be moving extremely slowly. The slowness of the line didn't help his paranoia or anxiety but soon on the other side everything would be all right then he could plan his mission. One of the first things he needed after he landed would be a weapon. Luckily he knew a couple of places to go to a type of Cash and Carry for everything illicit.

"Please have your passports and boarding pass ready for inspection," said a man in a military uniform carrying an AK47. Abram smiled look at the soldier looking over his weapon. He was carrying a real one not a Chinese knockoff. Abram pulled his passport from his jacket and placed his boarding pass in it as he started to approach the inspecting officer.

"Hudas," Abram heard yelled from somewhere behind him. "You traitor... Stop him, stop that man don't let him through." Looking back at the people hurling insults he saw it was his old team from VAJA and they were yelling at him.

"Who are they yelling at? These crazy people... I think they're terrorists," said Abram. The security guards rushed to block them and in the confusion Abram rushed on through to the gates.

"Go, go help your friends," said Abram as other guards came running to the scene. He smiled inside as he continued on. If he were lucky he could board his plane and be out of there before anyone was the wiser. He'd thought about doubling back to recover his weapon but if had done that he risked being trapped in the restroom and having to shoot his way out.

"I've got to get to my gate," said Abram as his heart raced in his chest. He glanced up at the status board hurrying along but he didn't want to run or he'd attract attention. Luck was still with him the board indicated that his plane was now boarding. He ran up to the gate and got in line.

"Passport and boarding pass please," said the woman the exit for the plane. Abram took a deep breath as he handed everything to the woman. She smiled as she took the pass pulled off the stub then handed everything back and within a few minutes he was on his plane sitting in his seat waiting for take off.

"You made it again," he said to himself as he looked out the window smiling. He was thinking about all the hassle and trouble his old team was going through now. They might even have gotten themselves shot. The security personnel in the airport looked like they weren't fooling around.

"Would you like a drink before we take off," said the flight attendant. "We have to take all our alcoholic beverages off the plane before we take off for Tehran... Iranian law."

"No thank you but what's taking so long? I thought we were scheduled to take off at… well now," said Abram as he looked at his watch.

"There have been some technically problems. The pilot assured us that we'll be in the air shortly. Can I bring you something else to drink while we wait? Coffee, tea..."

"A peach nectarine would be nice if you have it, thank you," said Abram. It was Banai who turned him on to it and since then it had been his go to drink. This favor as Abu called it he'd sent him on Abram didn't like too much, but he wasn't in any position to turn it down.

"Piece of cake says Abu. I'm supposed to fly back to Tehran then walk into VAJA headquarters assassinate my old director them walk out. It Abu mad?" said Abram as he looked out the window at his reflection.

"But if you think about it as crazy as it sounds you're actually the perfect man for the job. You know the target and you know his habits so you're not going to have to stake him out and learn anything because you already know them. You don't have to cowboy this and gun him down in his fortress of an office."

"Okay say I don't have to walk into his office to take him out. Where do I take him out at? Certainly getting in to his off might be easy but getting out is another story."

"He has coffee and reads the newspaper every morning at the same bar. A dime bomb and a remote detonator and all your problems go boom. You just need to find a vantage point then it's done. This should be as easy as one, two three just go in do it then get out. Like Abram said a piece of cake," he said to himself. As he sat back in his seat getting himself comfortable relaxing with his eyes closed.

The flight attendant announced they were leaving and he felt the plane pull away from the jet bridge then taxi out. Somewhere along the way he must've dozed off because when he woke up they were airborne. He looked out the window at the clouds below and smiled he was on his way.

"Get in get the job done then get out," he said over and over like a mantra in his head. Tehran and for that matter all of Iran was radioactive for him.

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Banai, Casey and Morgan drove through the busy streets of Batumi. Casey was giving it all the truck had and then some as he ran through red lights and stops signs. Nothing was going to keep him from heading off Abram and stopping the missile transfer. However, when they arrived they saw men on the pier throw off the last line then the ship hauled it aboard as it sounded one long blast from the ship's horn. They were too late and the ship was underway.

"John, you can let up now. They got away," said Morgan. "John, you can pull over we can grab a boat or something and catch up to them. John, you can slow down this isn't a DUKW we won't float. Casey stop!"

"Will you pipe down Troll your whining isn't helping anything. We lost our brakes back in the mountain so there's no stopping this thing. I'm afraid we're going to get a little wet before this is over."

"John look," said Morgan as he pointed at the aft section of the ship as she started turning on her axis with the help of tugs. "Do you see what I see?"

"Did I see what? Charlie the tuna or the little Mermaid?" said Casey as the end of the pier was getting nearer and nearer.

"You saw the little Mermaid? Really where? I thought that was just a fairy tale," said Morgan as Casey reached over and slapped him behind the head. "Ouch! Watch out for the head. John the name of the ship... look it's the Contessa. Don't you see I was onboard that ship with Chuck when we went to rescue Sarah and Mrs. B."

"That's good to know if we don't drown," said John. "Hold onto something we're about to get a little damp." Casey ran out of pier and the cattle truck went airborne. They sailed through the air about twenty yards from the pier before gravity took over. The truck dropped into the drink with a loud splash and immediately sank like a rock. Casey and Banai got out first with Morgan getting out last.

All the commotion didn't go unnoticed onboard the Contessa and as soon as they saw Banai and Casey surface they opened fire on them.

"This way," yelled Banai as he swam as fast as he could back towards the pier where he could take cover behind the pier and out of the line of fire from their shooters.

"I can't leave Grimes," said John as he took a deep breath then went under again looking for the truck and for him but as he went under Morgan surfaced.

[Meanwhile onboard the Contessa]

"There's another one," yelled one of the crew pointing at Morgan. "Over there, over there, I can get him he's not swimming as fast as the others."

"Hold your fire," yelled Abu. "Can't you see that's Ettore. Someone throw him a line and bring him onboard. I want to know what he was doing with those two. Once you've reeled him in send him to my cabin but let him dry himself off first."

"What do we do with the other two?" asked the First mate as he saw Casey surface then swim back to the pier. "Do you want us to open fire again on them?"

"No for now let them go. We can't afford to draw all this attention to us. We might have a lot of people in our pocket but that doesn't mean we have everyone. Once Ettore is onboard send away the tugs then I want full speed out of here and back to Snake Island. I also want our guest brought up to my cabin. It might be fun to see his reaction when he sees Ettore's here with us."

"Yes Sir," said the First mate. He leaned over the railing and watched them haul Morgan aboard. But he wasn't the only one watching Morgan being hauled aboard. Both Casey and Banai were watching too.

[Back under the pier]

"Excuse me can you explain to me what just happened," said Banai. "Why did they grab Morgan like that and haul him onboard while they shot at us? They're treating him like he's one of them."

"The tiger just grabbed the goat and ran is what happened," said John as they climbed up a ladder next to the pier dripping wet.

"I'm going to need a little more explanation," said Banai as he bent over coughing up saltwater with his hands on his knees.

"Let me explain," said Casey as he told the story of Ettore and Morgan. "...so you see they think Morgan is Ettore La Barba and as long as they do he'll be safe but all that will change when they get wherever they're going to and find out that Morgan isn't him. Worse is I lied to my daughter about what Grimes was supposed to be doing on this mission and I promised her I'd look after him."

"Well then we need to go and get him back before they discover he's not this La Barba person. My team is supposed to be arriving today from Tehran. As soon as they show up we can regroup then go after them. Don't worry we can do this."

"I don't want to sound like I'm discouraged or anything but Ace you're not batting so great an average. I've got men that should be coming here any moment too. I pressed my distress beacon before we went airborne so we'll see which cavalry gets here first."

[Back on the ship]

Abu walked into the radio room and found the radioman sitting among his equipment turning dials changing frequencies in order to keep them in contact with the outside world. He looked up and saw Abu standing there looking at him so he immediately took his headset off.

"Sorry but the Skipper asked me to monitor harbor communications to see if anyone was coming to investigate the shooting."

"Well did they," asked Abu. He gave the man a look. "You told me what you were doing but not the result. That's giving me only half your intel and who do you think ordered your Skipper to find out?"

"I'm sorry... no there's no chatter going on and as best I can tell it's business as normal back in port. Nothing out of the ordinary is going on."

"Good then I want you to do me a favor. I want you to radio some of my men back at the docks and tell them there are two men on our pier who need to be dealt with. As far as I'm concerned they can toss them in the bay with some chains wrapped around them. I just want them dealt with then radio silence. I don't want any transmissions that can be used to track our location."

"So do you mean go dark... I'm sorry I mean completely dark or can I still do passive listening. It might come in handy to help us gather intel."

"Okay do that but no active transmitting that might sound a little paranoid but paranoia is what has kept me alive this long. If you need to pass anything along that you think is urgent I'll be in my cabin with our guest. You can come straight to me without passing through your Skipper and I'll tell him I told you so," said Abu as he wringed his hands. He left the radio room then walked down to his cabin.

"This should be good," he said to himself as he walked down the ladder. "Chuck and Ettore together in the same room. I'm going to need more men they might try to kill each other," said Abu.

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Sarah snuck out of the freezer and was she ever grateful to be out of there. She hands were already feeling numb and soon as she got out her ears lobes ached as they started to thaw out. But she didn't have time to think about anything. She had to find someplace to hole up. As she cut across the galley she grabbed some bread and a bottle of water then made it down a passageway.

"Crap," she said as she heard men coming her way. She ducked out of sight as they pass her by. "Ettore," she thought when she saw who the men had with them.

"Can someone at least give me a towel so I can dry off," said Morgan. Sarah recognized Morgan also because he wasn't walking with a limp.

"Morgan you're going to give yourself away," said Sarah she sat her provisions down then took out a half dollar piece and threw it at Morgan catching him in the thigh.

"Ouch!" said Morgan as he grabbed his leg. The men with him looked back at him. "What? You've got mosquitoes in here the size of helicopters. Can we go back to someone getting me a towel? I'm starting to get cold and I don't want to come down with anything."

"Just please try to keep up Mr. La Barba. Mr. Abu wants to see you right away. But we will stop and get you some dry clothes and in the meantime the ship's laundry will dry yours."

"Now was that so hard to say. Just lead the way. Oh look here someone lost fifty cents," said Morgan as he picked up the fifty cent piece and put it in his pocket. Sarah just shook her head as she watched him walk off now limping.

"Morgan, it's a good thing your escort doesn't understand English that well or they'd be asking you to explain how an American fifty cent piece got there. Then my friends Smith and Wesson would have to step in."

Sarah retrieved what she had laid down then made her way to the Volkoff's control room. She remembered the access code from before.

"Well here goes nothing. I hope no one's changed the code," she said as she punched in the numbers and the doors opened. She ran inside. The room looked like it hadn't been used since they were last in there. She put the room hit the closed button on the security panel and the doors close.

"This will be a good place to operate out of," she said to herself as she looked around at the mainframe. "If only Chuck were here I'm sure he could get this up and running. Well this was either very smart or very dumb Sarah. You've boxed yourself in. Now the only thing you can do is wait then when it gets dark you can go move about. Night crew will have less personnel and you can go find Chuck hen together we can find Morgan. But for now just chill," said Sarah as she took out her phone.

"Crap, no antenna tacks means no signal," she said as she looked at her phone. "It's the room it's shielded you should remember that.

[On the pier]

Casey and Banai were standing looking at the ship as it disappeared past the breakwater then out of sight. Turning around they saw two black Discoveries quickly approaching. John and Banai looked at each other thinking this was one or the other's team. The vehicles came to a screeching halt turning sideways as men poured out.

"Hey I guess those men are yours John I don't recognize a soul," said Banai. Casey looked at him puzzled. "Those are your men, aren't they?" John didn't have to answer they opened up with automatic fire.

"Look for cover," yelled Casey as he drew his Sig and returned fire. Banai made it behind a drum then started firing covering John who made it behind a crate.

"I don't want to state the obvious but they've got more ammo than we do so we need to make every shot count."

"You're right you are stating the obvious and maybe if you'd spent a little more time on the range instead of behind the desk your aim might be better."

"There's nothing wrong with my aim," said Banai. He jumped up and dropped two then ducked back down as they returned fire. "Did you see that?"

"Yeah but if you practiced more you'd be able to do this," said John. He jumped out to the side fire one round into the one Rover's bumper it ricocheted off hitting a man hiding behind the other Rover.

"You know no one likes a show off," said Banai. "You know John right about now we could use your extraction team."

"Mine? And where's yours at? Or did they get stuck get stuck in airport security? I'm down to my last round. How are you doing?"

"I've got a half a clip. Don't look now but I think they're trying to circle and come in behind us."