Don't own Chuck
Chuck sat in the back with Sam nestled in her car seat next to him. Alex rode shotgun next to Casey in the front. Casey spied their company as soon as they left the hotel but then they broke off that could mean either they weren't interested in them which was highly unlikely or they had planted a tracking device on the car. But to make sure John made a couple abrupt turns but no sign of their tail.
"John, you make a few more turns like that and I'm going to roll out," said Chuck as Sam reached over to take his hand. Chuck had to keep his upper arm stiff but raised his arm at the elbow to take her hand. When he caught Sam he ripped open the wound so now it was extremely tender. "Well do we have a tail?"
"Stop your belly aching in the back, I thought we did but they seemed to have dropped off. Makes me think they've planted a tracker. When we park I want to give this the once over."
"I wouldn't waste my time. See that sticker on the windshield it tells thieves we've got a satellite antitheft device which means we've got a GPS tracker hardwired into the Mercedes' electrical system that also means anyone can find us as long as the rental company cooperates."
"Like with a government agency... sounds like communism to me... big brother and not the reality show. So what do you suggest we do? Buy hot dogs and marshmallows then torch it by the roadside?"
"Nothing that drastic we simply switch out cars twice. When we leave the zoo we stop after the tail drops off switch cars once. That will put them in a furry but by the time they figure out what car we switched to we switch again then they're be totally lost."
"I wish I could be in their command vehicle when we do that. I bet I'd learn some new German words. How are we getting the... you contacted Hannah."
"Somehow John I think these words you already know. Yes I sent her a text over the secure net. I don't know what we'll do if she ever quits. Alex, are you feeling okay? You're awfully quiet up there," asked Chuck but before she could say anything the Children's zoo came in sight and Sam got agitated.
"Bunnies," yelled Sam as soon as she saw the sign and recognized where she was. It was all Chuck could do to keep her buckled in. She was ready for the bunnies.
"Sam, you have to stay in your seat until we come to a stop. It's not safe for you to unbuckle yourself and move around. Please behave." Sam looked at the ground and began to sulk. "I'm sorry if I yelled at you but it was for your own good," said Chuck as he reached over and kissed her.
"Where's mommy," said Sam with tears in her eyes. Chuck realized that it just sank into Sam's head that Sarah wasn't with them.
"I'm sorry Sweet Pea but Mommy had to go to work but we can call her soon and you can talk to her. Now let's go see the bunnies." Chuck needed a distraction. "You can tell me their names I don't know if I remember them. I remember the one with floppy ears is called Egbert, right?" Sam shook her head no. "Then it's Rumpelstiltskin, right?"
"No you're being silly again none of them are called that. The one with the floppy ears is Gretel Come with me and I'll teach you again but you've got to pay attention. Sometimes I wonder what you use your head for."
"Yes Chuck, are you being silly again?" said John as he looked at Sam in the mirror. "Tell him Sam someone's got to straighten him out."
"Geez thanks John," said Chuck as he unbuckled Sam and she was out of there. Ready for her bunny hunt but as Sam was leading the way. Chuck overheard Alex talking with Casey.
"Dad, I'm going to ask you a question and I expect and honest answer. This woman Eve we're stuck with helping now. The other night you were going to go out with her weren't you and not because you thought she was the enemy but on a date. Remember I asked you to give me an honest answer."
"Alex it's complicated," said John as he tried to find the words but they were failing him. Chuck felt sorry for him because John just didn't know how to deal with his feelings and emotions.
"What's John is trying to say..." Chuck started to say but was cut off by John who told him, not so politely, to butt out it wasn't his business.
"Chuck, I can speak for myself. Why don't you take Sam along and see the bunnies or something. Alex and I are talking."
"Yes Chuck, I don't want to sound rude but Dad's right this is between my father and myself if you don't mind. You can go ahead and we'll catch up."
"Chuck means well he just always has to have something to say. He always feels like he needs to fix things and some things just can't be fixed."
"I know but like you said he means well," said Alex then she waited but John kept walking along silently. "Dad, I'm still waiting for my answer."
"Answer? Didn't I already answer you? Oh Chuck, if you want to call Sarah you can do it inside the rabbit hutches. I can keep a watch on one end and Alex can stand lookout on the other?"
"Well only if you two are done talking, I don't want you two to think I'm trying to stop you from having a nice father, daughter talk," said Chuck as he looked at the John. "Far be it for me to break up this Casey family moment."
"You should take advantage of the opportunity while you still have the ability to talk," said John as he cracked his knuckles.
"Well only if you insist," said Chuck as he took out his phone and earbud. "I'm sorry Alex but I need to do this where I know I won't be overheard."
"Don't worry about it," said Alex as she looked over at John. "This conversation is far from being over and I won't stop until I get a satisfactory answer."
"Take your time on the phone," Casey said in a low voice. "And I mean take your time."
"She's your daughter she'll understand," said Chuck looking away from him and smiling at Alex. "Sooner or later you're going to have to tell her."
"Sooner or later we all die and if you want your sooner keep it up."
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Paulus was in his office in a warehouse on the river Spree. It was the center of his illegal empire, the black market version of the unemployment office. His job was based on interpersonal skills, he matched the worker with the right job a kind of headhunter and he had the heads under glass to prove it.
"What do you mean you're not going to pay? I've got next of kin to take care of and overhead. We got you one of the two. I'm not saying pay the full price but I think I deserved at least half," said Paulus. However the man on the other side's response was to hang up.
"That's a load of crap," said Paulus to his man as he walked in. "Don't you agree? Half the job done should mean half the pay or am I missing something?"
"Yes sir you're absolutely right," said his man. The man already understood you didn't argue or disagree with Paulus. He was always right even when he was wrong. "What do you want anyway? And next time knock before you barge in."
"Yes Sir, but this is urgent. Our lookout at the house just called in saying he saw two women going in. He said one had a key and she let the other one in."
"Good let's see if he refuses to pay when I bring him her head. Then he'll have to shell out everything that was promised plus an extra. Our man is absolutely sure it was her, right? I don't want any mistakes."
"Absolutely, he even sent over pics. He said the one is definitely one of the twins but he didn't have a clue who the other woman was," said the man as he handed Paulus the photos. "So boss what do you want us to do?" Paulus looked over the photos and smiled as euro signs came to mind.
"I want you to get the men geared up we're moving out and we'll take this other woman out if she gets in the way. But the primary target remains Eve. We take her and we'll be rolling in dough. Have them bring along the special package."
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Sarah was sitting next to crate of ammunition loading extra clips. Eve was positioning them around the house so in a firefight if they had to run and shoot they'd always have a clip handy. The last thing they wanted was to run out that wouldn't be conducive to good health.
"Listen, you're pregnant I don't expect you to be running up and down stairs shooting or being shot at. You can stay in here and monitor. I'll wear an ear piece and you can tell me where my target is."
"Pregnancy isn't..." Sarah started to say but Eve shook her head and cut her off.
"I heard the line you used on your husband about pregnancy not being a disease but it is a state of being... two beings and he asked you and walnut to come back to him safe. I want you to keep that promise no matter what. If I get into trouble I'll call for you but until then you stay here.
As they were talking Sarah's burner phone rang it had to be Chuck. She put it on speaker so she could continue loading ammo.
"Sarah love, listen I've got us a safe house," said Chuck as he gave her the address. "Tell Eve that I made sure that it had a sound proof garage and a basement."
"You said you got us a safe house. Chuck, you aren't planning on bringing everyone there are you and by everyone I mean Sam?"
"The suite is compromise and I don't trust anyone except our team. Beckman is heading back to Dulles, I guess I could've sent Sam back with her but she's safer here with us. Besides we're having fun today at the petting zoo. Say hello to mommy," said Chuck as he put Sam on the line.
"Mommy, there are more baby rabbits. Oscar had four last night and the man here let me see them. They're so tiny and did you know they're born with their eyes closed. Chuck said I'll see you tonight so I'll tell you everything then I need to go back," said Sam then she gave a kiss into the phone.
"Oscar had four," said Sarah as she dried her eyes. "My poor baby is going to have such an identity crisis when she gets older."
"I know," said Chuck. "The name comes from The Rose of Versailles a Japanese animated cartoon that was popular here. The Heroine's name was Lady Oscar so there's nothing strange there. What are you two up to? And before you tell me nothing I can tell you're loading clips for H & Ks. I can hear the sound and I counted the number between pauses which meant you moved on to loading another clip."
"Impressive," said Eve as she walked by to pick up the clips Sarah had loaded. "I don't think I could do that."
"Sarah, what's going on? Do you need me to come there? If you give me your coordinates I'll be right there."
"No Sweetie there's no need we've got the situation under control. Eve is getting ready to grab the guy who double crossed her then I think she's planning on a little extreme rendition."
"Tell her to bring him to me and let me question him. I know you and I have different opinions when it comes to rendition and interrogation but I'm offering before she goes Medieval on him."
"I'll mention it," said Sarah as Eve came making a sign that she needed to get off the phone. "Well I have to run now. Love you and give Sam a kiss for me and tell her Mommy loves her."
"I love you and stay safe," said Chuck as the line dropped.
He didn't like that but he felt helpless. If anything happened to her... well Paulus would wish for Medieval. For all the intersect could do it was useless now but he couldn't show Sam what he felt inside. The only thing he could do was wait and hope she'd meet them at the safe house.
"What am I doing," he said to himself. He sat in the back on a bale of hay where he could watch Sam they with his tablet he put together a plan.
In the Federal Intelligence Service HQ...
In the Bundesnachrichtendienst Head Quarters in Pullach, Gerhart came to work like he did everyday working in the IT department maintaining the agencies records and archives. He had the exciting job of turning the written reports into electronic data for use within in the agency. Today was no different other than he received an email from his favorite Thai restaurant offering him an evening dinner for two free. He had his eye on Gretchen in supply for a while and he had even sent her some flowers a few times... well more than a few which were well received.
"Maybe today is your lucky day Gerhart," he told himself. He knew better than to open unauthorized e-mails on the company computers let alone attachments that came with them but then there was Gretchen. She smiled at him in his cubicle as she walked by. Her perfume filled the air and his hand moved to open he clicked then he hit print.
"Oh Gretchen," said Gerhart. "What are you doing tonight?"
Chuck felt a little bad about what he'd done but he need to get in and out without being detected. Hacking the bank accounts of some of the BNDs IT employees was easy. He found Gerhart had a love for Thai food and someone he sent flowers to regularly. The man had numerous charges on his credit card for a particular Thai restaurant and to a florist. The coupon attachment was actually a Trojan horse that created a backdoor into the BND database. Chuck was trolling and it didn't take long for his man to swallow the bait.
"You know that's kind of low," said Alex as she sat down next to him. "The poor guy's going to sit down with his girl to find out he can't afford the meal."
"I'm not that bad I sent the restaurant funds to cover the coupon with an explanation that I was friend who want to do something nice and anonymous to bring the couple together. I ever asked them to serve a bottle of chilled champagne."
"Look, look," said Sam as she walked over to Chuck holding a rabbit in her hands. "The man let me hold her. Isn't she about the softest thing ever?" Sam was wide eyed and in rabbit heaven. Chuck made a quick video using his IPad then he sent it via Instagram to Sarah.
"Chuck, Dad is avoiding telling me what's going on, so will you? I know what I said before and I'm sorry but I was hoping it would encourage Dad to talk but it hasn't."
"Alex, you're putting me in an awkward situation," said Chuck but he could see how important this was for Alex and she wasn't going to let this go. "Okay I'll tell you but you've got to promise not to tell him it came from me... say you called Morgan and... no I can't throw Morgan under the bus. Just tell him I told you. Well it all started with John asking your mother to marry him."
"He did what?" said Alex. Everyone in the room turned to look at her. "Sorry you all can just turn back around and mind your own business. Chuck, he did what?"
"Yes he asked her to marry him but her answer was she was happy with the way they were right now which didn't sit too well with him."
"He took it as a rejection so that's why he's been acting weird," said Alex. Chuck gave her a look. "Okay weirder than normal. I need to talk to him. I need to tell him that whatever happens between them it doesn't affect our relationship. I'll always be his daughter no matter what and I'm proud to be a Casey or Coburn... what I'm saying is I'm not going anywhere."
"I think you just did," said Chuck. She mistook his look before he was trying to tell her that Casey was walking up behind her. When she turned she found him standing there.
"I'm not going anywhere either so I guess we're stuck with each other whether we like it or not," said John as Alex hugged him.
"Are those tears I see in your eyes," said Chuck looking at John.
"It's my allergies acting up there's a lot of dust and pollen in the air inside here. You and I will have a discussion later. There are at least six agents outside around this building watching us."
"Let them watch. My tablets are shielded and I'm using an oscillating IP address that will make it difficult if not impossible to crack and if they do intercept something I'm using 256 bit encryption code. We'll be home before they break that and if they do they might get a surprise they didn't expect."
"What did Sarah have to say? How are things proceeding?" asked John but Chuck turned away and walked out the door to get some fresh air. "Chuck is everything all right?"
"I wish I knew... I wish I knew."
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Across town in Eve's family home the silent intruder alarms went off. It was show time Sarah manned the comms and video feeds. She laid out on her keyboard her Smith and Wesson placing next to her a H & K MP5SD3. Operating the security system Sarah brought up all the cameras and motion detectors on line.
"Eve, I've got four black Range Rovers outside and sixteen men, two eight men teams each, one team coming in the front and another coming up the fire escape in the back. What does this Paulus guy look like?"
"He's probably the one waiting in one of Rovers. He's not the type to get his hands dirty if he can avoid it. Look for someone who looks like Casper the ghost and not so friendly... that would be him."
"Yeah I got an albino looking guy sitting in the middle car. It looks like he's got a tablet with him. I'm zooming in. He's got the floor plan for this building."
There was a sudden explosion as they blew in the front door. But as they were walking in they tripped a wire and two shotguns barrel protruded from the wall giving them a blast of buckshot head high.
"Oh now that was messy," said Sarah as two men dropped. "I don't suppose you listen to a lot of Smashing Pumpkins."
"I was thinking about London Bridge is Falling Down," said Eve as she pressed a detonator that set off a series of micro explosions and the whole metal fire escape detached from the wall. It came crashing down with the eight man team in an area covered with protruding rebar from a construction site started but left uncompleted.
"Now that's disgusting," said Sarah. "And I was worried about making sure Chuck got a tetanus shoot. I've got two on the ground floor and four moving up the stairs."
"I've got them," said Eve as she slipped out from under the staircase firing on the ones going up the staircase taking all four out then ducking back inside before the other two could come back to assist.
"What have we got," asked Eve as she walked back to Sarah. "Do you think we've got their attention yet?" What's Paulus doing?"
"He's called his two men back and there're bringing in a big box. I'm taking it that they're not interested in throwing a Tupperware party?"
Outside Paulus took out his phone and dialed Eve. The phone rang then heard the click when she picked up. He put it on speaker just so he didn't have to hold it up to his head.
"Eve, you know you've become quite tiresome. You've taken out some of my best men I hope you're happy."
"I could be even happier if you'd come in. What's the price for selling out friends these days or is it still the standard price thirty pieces of silver."
"It's nothing personal just business. The contract says dead and I'm tired of losing men so this is the deal. I've placed a fifty pound explosive inside your house and when I press this button it goes boom. The woman with you I'll let go but only if you give yourself up."
"What guarantees do I have? Like the ones you gave me when you sent those men who killed my sister. Don't think a minute hasn't gone by I haven't thought about what I'm going to do to you."
"Yes, and blah, blah, blah," said Paulus as he signaled his men to take cover. He got back in his car then pressed the detonator. There was a loud explosion and the whole building collapsed in on itself. As the cloud cleared where the building once stood now was an empty lot.