Chuck vs. The Proposal
To recap the previous chapter: Casey finally makes his presence known and a face off ensues with Morgan's life hanging in the balance against his former subordinates. After a tense situation where Morgan does something absolutely unpredicting thinking it's still a test he leaves making his way out to safety. On his way out he runs into Chuck and Sarah. They have a discussion and are utterly confused by the conversation they are having with him, as well as questioning his overall attitude. Once he leaves, Chuck and Sarah make their way to Casey. In doing so, they find themselves once again in a standoff but this time the numbers are even. Unfortunately, Casey takes the lead and signals for a surrender. As this is happening, Morgan joins Alex outside just as Travis arrives with the duffle bag full of weapons. Needless to say, things turn from bad to worse as Travis is knocked out by an electrical surge after flipping a switch left by Casey. Morgan thinks its part of the final test only to be hit with the reality that it's not by Alex. So what happens in this chapter: Here are the who, what, where, when, why and how's. Who does Morgan quote when he sees what's in the duffle bag that Travis brings? What does Morgan say to Alex he thought he was before thinking it was all a challenge set up by her father? Where does Mackintosh want to be when they think they've finally got their pay day? When does T.I. and Mackintosh find out about the deal that was made between Morgan and Packard? Why does Morgan channel Hans Gruber from the movie Die Hard? How much does Morgan step up in order to save the ones he loves and cares about? Read and find out! Anyways, hope you enjoy the read and leave a comment to share your own thoughts on this particular chapters. As always, reviews are awesome.
Again, if you enjoyed reading my stories and left a comment I truly appreciate it. Please continue to do so as it gives me the incentive to write more chapters.
I don't own Chuck.
Be Awesome
XXX
Morgan rips himself away from the clutches of Alex's hands tightly clutching his face and quickly pops up into a standing position. He leaps towards the entrance of the underground facility and suddenly stops placing both up in front of him as if he heading inside. Meanwhile, a mix of confusion, fear, and absolute uncertainty are expressed on the face of John Casey's daughter as she slowly rises up from her kneeling down. Afterwards, she sees her bearded boyfriend turns around focusing on the monitor a few feet away and immediately heads towards it rushing past his girlfriend who is deeply concerned, as well as frightened evident by expression on her face. After reaching the monitor he kneels down and has his eyes locked on it in order to see how his friends/teammates are doing.
Of course, this all happens within a few seconds but for Alex it seemingly looked as if it were happening in a slow motion action movie. Unfortunately for her, it's not a movie because it's actual real life and there's no famous, big named Hollywood director yelling cut to redo the scene or make some changes. In any case, after standing there in stunned shock she forces herself to not only frantically head over to where Morgan is currently kneeling down at, but speak up as well.
"Morgan, what are we going to do?"
In response, Morgan shakes his head. "I..I…" he stammered out. "…don't know." His attention on the monitor is then directed to Alex. "I thought it was all a test. Casey's test. I was playing a role and trying to outwit, outthink, and outplay your dad. Like the tv show Survivor. The challenges he gave me were considered tough and sometimes I struggled to stay positive, especially against his military buddies. Or so I thought. Luckily, I overcame the odds and…"
As Morgan is spiraling and babbling on about the challenges he was tasked to do and comparing Casey to a scary version of Jeff Probst, Alex breaks her attention she has on her bearded boyfriend and locks her focuses on the monitor. What she sees scares her as sparks are sporadically bursting leading to a somewhat chaotic scene in that particular area, which probably happened after Travis flipped the switch. Her locked focus on the monitor is suddenly broken when she notices from her peripheral vision Morgan standing straight up leading her to do the same.
After turning around facing her freaked out bearded beau, she continues to watch him spiraling and babbling on to the point where she needs to put an end to it before he completely falls off the rails mentally. In her mind, Travis is completely incapacitated at the moment and doesn't know how soon he'll recover from being shocked so she needed him to focus. That's when she makes the effort to snap him out of it.
"Morgan!" Her first attempt doesn't work so she does it again, but this times reaches out and grabs his forearms in a tight vice like grip hoping it also snaps him out it. "Morgan!" she called out once again, shaking them in the process. Unfortunately, her second attempt fails.
For Alex, she knows time is of the essence and desperately needs Morgan to get it together or they'll lose the people they deeply love/care about. It's at the point she knows drastic times call for drastic measures. In her mind, it's considered to be her only recourse is to enact a tactic that has certainly helped, especially in a perilous situation such as this. The determined young woman lets go of the tight grip she has on his forearms and then reaches back with her right hand in order to slaps the right side of his face so hard it causes him to stumble back a bit. This time, her third attempt is successful.
"Thanks…" responded Morgan, massaging his right cheek with his right hand. "…I needed that." he added. His eyes briefly widen from the stinging pain that's gradually subsiding.
The next that Morgan knows, he's snatched forward and then finds himself down on one knee with Alex kneeling as well. It's a position he wants to him with him asking for his girlfriend's hand in marriage, but that's not the case as there's far more important matters to attend to right now, he thinks to himself. His attention is directed to the monitor and listens as her girlfriend is speaking up trying to figure things out.
"It's just the two of us." she breathed out, shaking her head. "They're armed and dangerous. All I have…" Alex reaches behind her in order to retrieve what was given to her for protection. In case I needed it. Those were the exact words that the former C.I.A. agent said to her. "…is what Sarah gave me." She lifts up the dagger and show it to Morgan. Her attention averts to the man she's kneeling beside. "What do you have?"
Morgan is at a loss for words leading Alex to suddenly realize what Travis was carrying when he arrived. She quickly turns her head to the right leading her Morgan to lean forward then back in order to see what she is seeing. What they both see is the duffle bag in question just a few feet away off to his right.
"Actually…" she pointed out. Alex pushes herself up towards and rushes over the duffle bag in question. Once she reaches it, the young woman quickly drops down on her knees and rips it open to find an assortment of weapons that are very much need right now. Afterwards, she expresses a relieved smile then looks behind her to see Morgan walking up towards her holding a pair of black leather gloves. It's not long before he kneels down beside him with gloves in hand.
"Where did you find those?"
"Beside the monitor. Doesn't hurt to use them. Just in case." he said, shrugging his shoulder. He then tucks those aforementioned leather gloves behind him away for now. Afterwards, his attention is focused on the duffle bag. "Whoa…" Morgan eyes go wide. "…guns. Lots of guns." he added, in a gravelly tone of voice while lifting one of the weapons in question.
A faint glimmer of hope is visible in Alex's eyes, but that that soon fades as she turns to stare at Morgan with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "Did you just seriously quote Neo from The Matrix?"
It's always been a natural response whenever he's in a highly stressful situation, Morgan think to himself. Other than his hetero life partner Chuck, he's considers himself a wealth of knowledge when it pertains to pop culture references and uses them whenever possible in regards to semi daily conversations to the point where it has worked for and against him. Essentially, it just easily flows from his brain to his mouth so much so it became an unfortunate coping mechanism from the time he was a young boy when he was either bullied at school or found himself in uncomfortable and awkward situations involving girls that were his bullies in school. Either way, he didn't have a great track record in the dating department to say the least.
Unfortunately, he still experiences those aforementioned uncomfortable and awkward situations, but now it's with a woman who doesn't laugh at, ridicule/berate, and discredit him in any way. Far from it. She instead laughs with, encourages, and applauds him in her own way. She loves him for the man he so wants to become and make himself a better man for her to the point where he shows much drive, as well as determination when it comes to his work ethic, which he lacked back at Buy More.
"Sorry. I'm feeling stupid and scared right now instead of how I was before I found out it wasn't a test."
"And that was?"
"Smart and fearless." he answered back, shrugging his shoulders.
Alex let's his words sink in for a second inevitably leading to the both of them sharing a momentary awkward silence. While kneeling down beside Morgan in front of the open duffle bag full of weapons, she knows that they have to come up with some kind of plan to save Chuck, Sarah, and most of all her had. How they're going to save them is an absolute unknown, she thinks to herself. However, when it comes to the magnitude of a rescue mission such as this and since she is part of Team Chuck it's best to go with what their best known for. The reputation for being unpredictable and unorthodox.
"Be that again." insisted
"I don't think I can." responded Morgan, shaking his head. The strong confidence that he exuded back in the underground facility with Packard completely vanished.
"Fake it then." Alex retorted. She can clearly see the uncertainty and fear in Morgan's eyes causing her turn to face her bearded beau. Instantly, she knows that the only person qualified to save the day is currently knocked out. So, it's up to the two people who have no earthly idea what they are doing and they're just going to wing it, which is what Team Chuck usually does. "Listen…" She forces Morgan to lock eyes with her. "…Chuck, Sarah, and my dad are counting on us. We got to come up with a plan. First, I need you to do something for me."
"What's that?" wondered Morgan.
"Be awesome." she firmly stated. "Can you do that?" she added, continuing to lock eyes with Morgan.
XXX
"What the hell just happened? Packard scans and assesses the aftermath of a chaotic situation in which there was a sudden overload of power causing sporadic electrical explosions. There's a mixture of lingering smoke and haze that emanate the confines of the area all the individuals are presently in. Plus, water from a pipe against the wall right to the left of Chuck and Sarah pours out as well makes it doubly dangerous knowing water and electricity don't mix. "T…Mac?"
"Ok..." Mackintosh said looking around, expressing a faint smirk. "…who ordered the light show." he remarked standing up, momentarily dusting himself off
"I sure as hell didn't." T.I. angrily growled. He stands up still armed with his weapon after briefly kneeling down for safety reasons.
"You two sound fine." stated Packard, briefly glancing at his two partners. His weapon aimed at his former commanding officer.
"Unfortunately." grunted Casey. He shoots an icy death glare at the man standing in front of him. His attention is then directed to the married couple currently tied up and hanging by their wrists, but doesn't break his focus on Packard. "Bartowski? Walker?"
"We're hanging in there." Chuck sounded off with obvious pun intended. A cough is heard afterwards.
"Don't…don't worry about us, partner." Sarah coughed out.
"Now that we know everybody is fine..." Packard calmly stated, stepping forward. He briefly expresses his charming smile then it turns absolutely serious. "…it's time for you to give us our well-deserved pay day. "But first, I know you have more weapons you." he ordered, motioning his weapon at Casey in a threatening manner. "All of them."
At first, Casey stubbornly refuses Packard's bidding until he sees him signaling his 2 cohorts who make their way to Chuck and Sarah who are continuing to dangle by theirs wrist shackled to chains. It's those aforementioned cohorts that aim their weapons at the married couple leading the grizzled military veteran to begrudgingly comply with Packard's threatening order by expressing a faint, but clearly audible defiant grunt towards his former subordinate.
Afterwards, the proud marine begins to retrieve any and all weapons that he didn't surrender. Weapons that were hidden on his person such a trio of handguns and the explosives that he retrieved the tunnel, which he was sorely disappointed he wasn't going to be able to use. Add to that, 2 knives that were drop on to the pile of discarded weapons that he was forced to give up.
Casey continues on as he briefly glances at his former teammates once again. "That's how it is? Resorting to using hostages?"
Packard shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly as he keeps his eye on Casey as they both cautiously move towards the hand identification access panel. "We could have done this nicely, but you're such a hardass. So, you forced our hand and took the little guy."
"If you'd up and partnered with us instead of being a loyal soldier who obeys orders back then we'd be sipping matai's on a beach enjoying our 20%." Mackintosh remarked. "Unless we invested it real estate." he added, reflecting back a bit.
"Don't try anything, Casey. We got these two covered." T.I. growled.
It's not long before Packard shoves Casey forward much to the Colonel's disliking evident by how much he wants to be unleashed on his former subordinate. After looking behind him and shooting a death glare at Packard, he finds himself looking down the barrel of the weapon that is holding him at bay for now. A second later, he turns around and places his left hand on the hand recognition access panel. Once it's on it takes a moment to scan Casey's hand print to where a sound is heard and the following words are shown: POSITVE ID EXPLOSIVES DISENGAGED.
What happens next is another sound is heard and that is the vault unlocking, which is considered music to Packard, T.I, and Mackintosh's ears. Once the vault door slides open to the right, the gold in all its beautiful glory is still there and the 3 soldiers who have patiently waited for years know their pay day has finally arrived.
For Chuck, the instant he sees the amount of gold in the vault he immediately thinks of Austin Powers in Goldmember. It leads him to softly breathe out one word in the way Goldmember says it from the movie. "Goooollddd."
In any case, the 3 ambitions former subordinates of now Colonel John Casey unfortunately wouldn't be able to bask in their good fortunes just yet as Casey speaks up once again. "You don't think you're going to get away with this?"
"We already have, pal." Packard retorted. A snug smile expressed afterwards. "T, chain him up." he ordered.
T.I. complies. After grabbing his former commanding officer, T.I. has Casey chained up next to Chuck and Sarah. While taking a moment to assess the situation after chained up alongside the married couple, T.I. and Mackintosh join Packard standing on either side of the man who is absolutely speechless expressing a wide smile as he marvels at the gotten gains. The 3 men know they've gone through so much to get right where they are now and in their minds victory never any sweeter than this moment, especially when it comes at the expense of their former commanding officer.
"We did it boys." growled T.I.
"Mai Tai's on the beach here we come." happily announced Mackintosh.
"Beautiful…" said Packard, briefly glancing at the two men on either side of him. A vindicated smile is expressed to both of them. "…just beautiful. Time to get what's ours."
As the 3 men step forward, a voice is heard from behind them. "Don't forget about me!"
All 3 men and the 3 individuals chained by their wrists turn their heads to the one person they didn't plan on seeing. That one is person Morgan Grimes, which leads Casey to speak up.
"Grimes! What are you doing back here, moron!?
"Morg?" Chuck is clearly surprised by his best friend's appearance after he was supposedly heading to safety. "This is bad." he added, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Ya think!" breathed out Sarah.
Morgan completely ignores Casey and focus his attention on Packard as he momentarily stands there in front of the opening of the tunnel. This would lead Packard to once again glance at T.I. and Mackintosh then turns his attention back to the little bearded man.
"I thought you left?"
"I came back."
"Idiot." Casey angrily grunted.
Packard faintly expresses a smile after hearing Casey response. "I can see that. Why?
"I want to re-negotiate the deal we made."
It's at that point, T.I. and Mackintosh hear the words "re-negotiate the deal we made" and turn their attention to Packard.
"What deal?" firmly questioned the 2 men in unison.
XXX
"What's going on, Pac? growled T.I.
"We saw the two of you shaking hands. Casey showed up before we could find out why." Mackintosh pointed out, briefly glancing over at his former commanding officer. "So, what's this deal about?" he inquired, shifting his focus from Morgan to Packard.
"Shut your trap, Grimes!" barked Casey. "You're in way over your head here." he added, warning Chuck's bearded best friend.
"Morg…" chimed in Chuck. "…buddy. Now, isn't the time to go all Hans Gruber." the nerd pleaded.
"Chuck's right. Whatever you're thinking right now. Stop!" Sarah insisted.
For Morgan, he's fully aware that he's in way over his head right now. In his mind, the moment he finally realized it the threat of danger and getting shot or worse…being killed is all real, he completely freaked out. Fortunately for him, Alex was for the most part able to calm him down and then take the moment to gradually motivate him to get into the totally oblivious head space before finding out the truth. The way she motivated was by doing the one thing that made him fall deeper in love with her. She hummed the Vader's imperial march and it initially helped him get back into character.
As for Chuck saying that now isn't the time to go all Hans Gruber, he is absolutely correct. Although they share a commonality of awesomely groomed and trimmed beards, he was shooting for a far less intimidating and shorted version of Chuck Norris. In any case, since his best friend mention Hans Gruber, he taps not only into what Alex told him to be about being awesome but taps into such an incredibly iconic Die Hard villain from one of the best 80's actions movie of all time who is perfectly portrayed by Alan Rickman. "So, he goes all in."
"Quiet!" he spoke aloud, putting his right finger up in front of his lips. "I am going to count to three, there will not be a four." Morgan added, briefly eyeing Chuck, Sarah, and Casey. Speaking of Casey, the expression on his face reads that he wants to so strangle the bearded moron.
As for the bearded moron, his attention returns to all 3 men standing in front of the open vault. He steps forward and takes his time walking over to them. While doing so, he continues speaking.
"To answer your question Mackintosh…." Morgan briefly pauses to carefully avoid a couple of hanging expose cable wires that is sparking every so often. "…yes there was a deal made between myself and Packard. The deal was I'd join for 5% of the cut." he added, walking across a pool of water on the ground. Water from the pipe causes by Travis hitting the switch.
"You're shitting me." T.I. blurted out, in an angry growl.
"Seriously? Just because you're psychic you want in on the cut of our gold?" questioned Macintosh. A mixture of angered disbelief is expressed on his face as he turns his attention to Packard.
When the word "psychic" is mentioned Casey immediately responds. "We're all dead." he breathed out.
In that instance, Chuck chimes in and gives his response making sure to quietly whisper amongst the 3 of them. "No we're not, big guy. I think Morgan has a plan and it's actually working. Look." All 3 turn their attention to Packard, T.I. and Mackintosh having a more lively discussion to the point where it seems to be getting gradually heated. "Let it play out."
"I'm with Chuck on this, Casey."
"We're all dead." Casey repeated.
"Listen…" firmly stated Morgan, turning around and stepping forward. After taking a couple steps, he turns around and faces all 3 men placing both hands in his pockets. "I wanted this re-negotiation to be adults. Professional, efficient, and cooperative. Not a lot to ask, but it's not looking that way now is it? Plus, I hold you to your word that you'll handle him." he added, pointing to T.I. standing a foot away from him.
"Handle?" growled T.I. once again.
A look of annoyed agitation and anger are seen in the big man's eyes as he takes a step forward. It's that step forward combined with the look on T.I's face that nearly caused Morgan to piss himself. Fortunately for him he didn't as Packard was able hold him back leading to the 2 business partners and soldiers to discuss things face to face.
"Calm down."
"You told him you were going to handle me?" A look of sheer intensity emanating expressed in his eyes.
"Hey…" Packard locks eyes with T.I. "…I meant talk things out. Besides…" The man with salt and pepper hair turns around facing Morgan. "…how much does he want to re-negotiate anyway?"
"20%. Enough to retire on a beach." Morgan smiled.
There's a momentary silence until it's suddenly broken by T.I. "That's bullshit!" he angrily snapped, grabbing Morgan by the throat.
The mammoth beast of a man has a hold on the bearded man's throat but not enough of a tight hold that he's able to choke the life out of him. Thankfully, what's saving him is Packard who is being assisted by Mackintosh trying to back up off him, but they're having a tough time doing it. Speaking of Morgan, he's doing his best to escape from the clutches of T.I's hold around his throat by hitting it with his right hand. His attempts at escaping are unsuccessful. It doesn't look good at all as Chuck, Sarah, and Casey watch in horror as they begin to see Morgan's eyes starting to flutter.
"Morgan!" Chuck frantically called out. As much as he wants to save him, he nor Sarah and Casey are unable to because of being chained up.
Suddenly, T.I. loudly growls out in pain causing him to release the tight grip he has on Morgan's neck and back up a few feet. As for Morgan, he drops to one knee on the ground that now filled with an inch of water from the busted pipe. In any case, the reason that the large tattooed tank released his grip is because there's something embedded in his right forearm. It look like a knife, but it's actually a dagger. A dagger that Sarah instantly recognized as her attention is directed to the person that threw it.
"Alex."
After hearing his daughter's name, his head turns to the opening of the tunnel. "Alex?" responded Casey, in absolute disbelief.
XXX
"Alex, what are you doing here!?"
"Trying to save you!" Afterwards, her attention is directed to her bearded boyfriend who is recovering from nearly losing consciousness. "Morgan, get up and remember the plan!" she called out.
Morgan doesn't hear her right away as he is sucking in air while at the same time coughing from being choked. Fortunately, he is able to recover and refocus while still kneeling down on one knee on the now muddy ground water. A few seconds later he looks over at T.I. who has now taken out the dagger from his right forearm and he looks pissed. He's not the only one as he, Mackintosh, and Packard suddenly turn their attention to the person responsible for throwing it at him…Alex. It's at the point, Morgan briefly peers down to suddenly see the reflection of sparks bursting out above him to where the initial plan that was worked out between him and Alex beforehand is throw out the window, so to speak.
Essentially, he's calling an audible knowing drastic times call for drastic measures because Alex's life is now in danger. He has to do something and that something is reach behind him in order to put on black leather gloves. Once he does, he briefly looks behind him then rises up and look to his left making sure to lock eyes with Casey. Morgan's focus is then directed to the exposed wire cable and then turns to give the Colonel a nod to let him know what he's about to do. As for Casey, he immediately gives Chuck and Sarah the heads up.
"When I say now, lift you're your feet."
"Why?"
"What's going on, Casey?"
"Just do it!" he grunted.
After seeing T.I. Packard, and Mackintosh take a step forward, Chuck's hetero life partner leaps up into a standing position then jumps up planting his left foot on a fallen piece of debris on the ground and leaps up to grab the exposed wire cable. It's all happening seemingly in slow motion for Morgan, as he finally grabs hold of what could potentially hurt like a mother or end up killing him. As he his momentum is now a downward trajectory course for an electrifying save, his attention focuses on T.I., Mackintosh, but mainly focuses on Packard inevitably locking eyes with him.
"Now!" screamed Casey, lifting his feet. Chuck and Sarah quickly doing so as well.
For Morgan, there wasn't any time to think as he simply reacted. The one thing that keeps repeating over and over in his head is Alex's voice telling him to be awesome. Well, he's doing it. Granted, it's an insanely crazy thing to do knowing that when the person you love is danger, you'll do anything to protect them from getting hurt or killed for that matter. It's that particular thought and the voice of Alex screaming out his name are what he holds on to as he sees Packard's complete widen. What happens next is that it all goes completely black for him.
XXX
NOTE: I have one more chapter left and I'm finally done with Chuck vs. The Proposal. Anyways, I deviated from how Morgan saves the day from the episode of Chuck vs. The Couch Lock. After this, I'll be focusing on my latest story Chuck vs. The Courtyard Bench.
