Don't own Chuck
Diane knew she had to get out of her cabin but the question was 'and then what?' If she got out and they were at sea it could be a long swim to anywhere safe and there was not an 'if' about getting caught. However, when she was would she end up someplace worse? However, if they were pier side everything changed. But how to know where they were?
"How can you be certain that there's land out there," she said to herself as she finished her breakfast. The glimpse of outside the door when it was open didn't tell her anything other than she was below decks.
"How to tell," she said to herself as she went into the bathroom and got a glass of water. She looked at the water first to see if there were impurities but as she did, it came to her. She had an idea.
"I don't need an intersect to flash and tell me what to do," she said as she opened up the water taps and let it run in the sink then she did the same in the shower.
"Now we'll see where we're at," she said to herself. She realized if they were getting their water from the pier no one would come. But if the fresh water was coming from water stored onboard then someone would be coming to shut it off soon.
"Even if we're making our own in this area the ocean water is warm which would make the evaporators inefficient and make water conservation a priority. Now I just have to sit back and wait," she said to herself. She let the water run for over an hour and no one came. She'd been waiting for almost three when the door opened and two men walked in.
"I need your tray," said the one man. He glanced over at the bathroom where he could obviously hear the sound of running water coming from."
"If you're wondering what I'm doing, I'm trying to get the water to heat up. I'd like to lodge a complaint with the management. The hot water heater must be out or going out and I really don't like Spartan showers."
"Too bad," said the other man but the other one with the tray gave his partner a look and shook his head. Then signalled they should go.
"You know if it's not too much trouble I'd like a pot of coffee with my lunch as well as a bottle of water. The water coming out of the sink is green and I don't think it's very potable."
The two men just turned and started for the door without saying a word this time. Diane got up and went to the door but again the one man stopped her.
"I was just going to help your friend out, but be that way if you like see if I care. However, if I keep on drinking that water I could come down with something. If I do then you're going to have some explaining to your boss."
That struck home and caused both men to stop in their tracks then they looked at each other. However, neither spoke a word they just stood there. They were obviously concerned about what their boss might think and do.
"Okay, we'll see what we can do. We'll bring you a bottle of water after you get out of the shower and we'll see what we can do about the coffee at lunch. Now, we've got to go."
"And I thought you two were mute… well at least you aren't. I thought the other guy might have just been a little slow from riding on the short bus all his life. I'm sorry that's no way to talk when you want something. I'm so used to ordering and it being done." The two men looked at each other.
"Excuse me but you do know I'm a general," said Beckman. They both just shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders. "Then you don't know what I'm in charge of?" she said and got the same blank expression.
"Oh… well isn't this interesting," she said as the two me left looking puzzled. She heard the key turn in the lock after they closed the door.
"Isn't that interesting indeed then they aren't after me… which means they were after Roan. If that's the case then they've stashed me so they can deal with him… like hell they will," she said as she took her hose off.
"I hate to sacrifice my best pair but it can't be helped," she said. Once she had her hose off she took them along with the plastic fork and knife she'd saved off the tray into the bathroom. With a little bit of effort, she managed to get the knobs off the taps for the shower and the sink. She placed the in her stocking then tied a knot in the end making it tight.
"And there we have it a makeshift sap jack," said Diane as she admired her handy work. "Next time frick and frack come in I'm going to give them a surprise."
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Meanwhile back at Sam's school the cleaners had arrived and were busy making everything look as if nothing had happened. Sarah took the opportunity to explain as much as she could to Kathy about what had happened. At least the non-classified version that would be in the paper that evening. She was almost finished when Chuck came barging in.
"Chuck!" yelled Sam as she jumped out of her chair and came flying into his arms. "You should've seen me in action. I can fight bad people too. Wait a minute, I am going to get to keep the money I won, right?"
"Hold on what money are you talking about? Remember the deal was if it got too dangerous here we were going to send you girls somewhere safe. The beloved Premier is around the corner here and I know you'd be safe there…"
"No, I don't want to go to Costa Gravas. Alejandro smells like old cigars. I like it here and besides it's just as dangerous there. Just count how many times someone has tried to assassinate him besides Uncle Casey…"
"You should call him Mr. or Signor Goya and this isn't the right place to be talking about Alejandro," said Sarah then she turned to Kathy. "You have to understand that was before he became democratic."
"Should I call him the beloved Premier instead? I don't want to go and stay with them. Besides they've got their own children to worry about. It's safer here then there."
"Sam, it's not just up to us to decide if you can stay here or have you forgotten what just happened? The other children and their parents might not feel safe with you here."
"Oh, I hadn't thought about that. I guess you're right," said Sam as she looked down at her shoes. "But I still think he smells like old cigars."
"I will really try to unhear that last bit about our Latin American neighbors but might I give an observation," said Kathy. "If Sam had or hadn't been here everything would've been the same. What I'm saying is the gunman didn't come in here because of her. He came here looking for that other man… the drug dealer."
"Drug dealer," said Chuck. Sarah elbowed him in the side. "Oh, right that drug dealer. You have to forgive me. I was down at the piers running down leads there when I was notified so I was out of the loop on what went down here… not that I didn't try to call," said Chuck as he looked at Sarah. She just shook her head.
"Well, whatever the case we were lucky to have Sam here with us. She kept a cool head and it was thanks to her quick wit that we're all here to talk about this in my office. What I'm saying is we love to keep Sam as a student here no matter how short her stay is here on the island. I'm sure the rest of the children and their parents will agree with me."
"You hear that," said Sam. "They want me to stay and I want to stay so please… pretty please can I stay."
"Your father and I still have to talk about it but I don't think it's going to be a problem," said Sarah then she turned back to Kathy. "I also need to tell you that what happened here needs to be kept low key. This is still a part of an ongoing investigation. We're still looking for the ring leader of this drug ring."
"We are… I mean yes, we are," said Chuck after Sarah elbowed him. He was saved from having to explain his mistake when Mary came in.
"Kathy, is it? I need your office for a minute do you mind waiting outside. I need to talk to my agents," said Mary. The principal looked at her puzzled.
"Hold on a minute you're getting me confused. I thought you were the grandmother? This isn't your daughter-in-law and I assume this is your son?"
"Yes, mom which is it? I never really figured that out either. And that was pretty good of you to figure out I was her son and Sarah was the daughter-in-law."
"Once you've seen as many parents and extended families as I have, you start to see a pattern in behaviour… a type family dynamics."
"All that's nice but I still need the room. Our cleaners are almost done outside so why don't you go see if you like what they've done and you, little one," said Mary after she ushered Kathy out of her own office. "Sam please wait outside…"
"Wait a minute," said Sarah. "Who's got Bunny? Mary were supposed to be watching her. Don't tell me you let Alex take her on that roof top?"
"No, don't be silly. She's outside with a woman named Roxy and a guy names Jesus. They said they were friends of Sam's. I told them I'd have them shipped off to Gitmo if anything happened to her."
"I'll be right out front. You don't have to worry about me and I'll keep an eye on Bunny too," said Sam. "Besides Jesus wants me to teach him how to play poker."
"No gambling," said Sarah. "I mean it this time. What you did before was all right but you don't take your friends to the cleaners… not everyone is a mark." Chuck wanted to say something but considering his mother was there he kept quiet for once.
"Can we get back to work," said Mary. She whisked Sam out the door then closed it. "We've got a big problem. There a storm front on its way here…"
"Really? That wasn't what I heard on the news this morning. I talked with the Coast Guard down at the marina and they said it was supposed to be sunny all day."
"Not that kind of storm Charles. If I can finish this time I'll explain. The Major just called me to give me a head's up. General Thomas is on a plane heading for here. I expect him to arrive this afternoon so we need to have something to show him other than a high body count."
"Well we took that last one alive and then there's Spud. How's he doing?" asked Sarah but Mary shook her head. "There was that SUV that took off. Were you able to stop or follow it?"
"It broke through the police barricade then disappeared into a parking garage. I just got word they found it but not before someone torched it and the perps that were aboard are in the wind."
"So, we need to break our perp," said Chuck. "I think I can do that."
"We don't have the time. I can have the General stalled for a little while but not for long. No, we need to go forward with the tiger trap. Colonel Casey needs to be our goat."
"No, I need to be clearer Mom. I know I can break our perp. You just need to give me a few of the bodies we rounded up, clear out Sea World for us for this afternoon and give me access to the shark tank. This will work."
"As intriguing and bizarre as your request might be I'm going to have to pass this time. I'm moving forward with the Colonel. It's a done deal I've already talked with him about this and he volunteered so you don't have to live with this on your conscience."
"This isn't on me Mom, it's on you… I'm sorry Acting Director. Why did you even come here and talk to us if you've already made up your mind?"
"I need for you and Sarah to meet the General and keep him occupied while we work with the Colonel."
"The General isn't coming here to see me. He's coming here to see you and if he sees me at the airport he's going to want to know why you're not there."
"Tell him whatever you want just not the truth. Not if you don't want him to demand the omega protocol be put in play."
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Meanwhile across Lubyanka square from Detsky Mir, the Children's World department store in the former KGB headquarters now the central offices for the Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii(the FSB). Director Trostski was sitting in an interrogation room with Natasha in a chair across from him. He had an open folding in front of him thumbing through its pages one by one silently.
"Is there a reason I'm here? If you want to know something then just ask it. We don't got through all the usual niceties."
"You know I don't completely blame you for everything that happened. This happens more often then you might realize. An agent is placed too long in contact with a foreign asset. Feelings start to develop the you start forgetting that he is asset and not your people…"
"We used to use the word comrades for everyone. But that word has fallen out of fashion," said Natasha as she stared back at him. "Don't we have a duty to protect those people that once worked with us."
"Protect? What protection? In the report I read the freedom fighter Pablito was killed in a firefight with government forces aided by the US," said Igor. He noticed a change in Natasha. "At least that's what's in the report," said Igor as he closed the folder.
"You've got the file there in front of you. What's written in it? Pablito was killed by a .50 calibre round through the head. Not a pretty picture I can tell you and in fact there was a closed casket funeral."
"I know what it says in here but I want to hear you tell me why after all this time you felt the need to get vengeance? I would've thought you would've had this done before now."
"Vengeance is a dish best served cold but I didn't go after revenge. My agent was concerned that she might be outed by General Fry so I used someone who I knew had a grudge against him to protect my operative."
"Yet, it begs the question why she was still in play. The rule is if someone's cover is blown we get them out as soon as possible. When her husband told her he knew who she was why didn't you pull her out then? Why wait until this happened?"
"You're asking me to second guess myself. I won't do that. All I have to say is at the time it seemed like the right thing to do."
"Are you sure that was the reason or was it that you've had your eye on Fry for a while and now you had the opportunity?"
"I told you this had nothing to do with revenge or not on my part and I meant it. Do you want me to repeat it? Okay, this has nothing to do with getting even."
"Then what about the message that you sent about Beckman and Roan? Or the latest one about Colonel Casey? None of this has to do with revenge for your lover's untimely demise. You know what they say confession is good for the soul."
"I have nothing to confess. What are you talking about? My contact wanted the rest of the people who were involved in Pablito's death and I gave them to her… them."
"And what do you call that? In my book it's called revenge. You helped Pablito's friend… I'm sorry friends get revenge for his death. Except now you're about to bring a crap storm down on us. One of the people who was grabbed was the director of the American's clandestine services and if anything happens to her then know that all the stop gap measures we put in place over the last fifty years will be gone. We'll go back to tit for tat which means a lot of good people… loyal people will lose their lives because of you. We kill one of theirs and they will kill one of ours."
"But you can't let that happen," said Natasha as she realized what this meant. "You have to do something to stop this."
"And what can I do? I don't know where Beckman is being held nor if she's even alive. No, I can't do anything and worse is if she's killed who do you think the Americans are going to target here," said Igor as he pounded on the table. "Look at me! Who do you think they're going to target? That's right yours truly and I can tell you I'm not going to go alone."
"What does that mean," asked Natasha. She was afraid of the answer because she was almost certainly she knew it.
"If and when it does happen there will be a contract issued through the Bratva to take out everyone you know or care about. I'm taking the lot of them with me. I'm even going to take your goldfish with me. He'll be coated in flour and fried golden brown then some fat greasy man is going to eat him head to tail. You'll have no one to blame but yourself and while you're at it. You might as well pick out a nice black outfit right now. You'll want something that will last because there will be a lot of funerals in your future. This will be all your doings because you wanted to get revenge for your lover. Well, I hope you're happy with yourself."
"Listen this isn't about getting revenge for Pablito," said Natasha as she collapsed in her chair. The weight of everything she'd done seem to be dropping down on her and she couldn't take it anymore. "Look, I told you before this wasn't about revenge. This was about something else."
"Okay, then explain what that something else is. I'm a reasonable man despite what others might say about me. Out with it and tell me what this something else is?" said Igor. He waited a few minutes but Natasha didn't say anything. "Very well you leave me no other choice…"
"No, no wait… okay, I'll tell you. The truth is… well you're not going to believe me. Maybe it's better if you see for yourself," said Natasha. She gave him a web address. "If you look there you'll find everything you need to know. We can talk again if you want to know the how but look at it."
"This had better be good because if I find you've been toying with me… well they say you can see all the way to Siberia from here. Take a good look because you'll see your friends and relatives there," said Igor as he got up then went to the door. It opened as if by magic then he left leaving her there sitting at the table.
"What do you think that was," said Anatoly. He and Stefan were waiting on the other side of the door. "Do you think this is some ploy of hers to get herself off the hook?"
"I won't know until I've looked at it. Stefan, you are up on all this technological stuff. I want you to come with me. Anatoly, I want you to stay here and watch her… make sure she doesn't take the easy way out. I want her to have a long life so she can see and feel what she's done."
"So you really intend to go through with everything you threatened her with? Don't you think that's a little harsh to take out vengeance on someone you don't know because their friend screwed up? I that were the case I'd be in trouble with Stefan as my friend," said Anatoly as he and Stefan laughed but not the director. He was stone faced cold.
"Isn't that exactly what she did when she made those calls to Saint Thomas? Besides when I'm gone I won't have any control over what happens other than being an angry ghost. You two can stay out of my Scotch when I'm gone."
"Like you just pointed out you won't have any control over what happens after you're gone other than being an angry ghost," said Stefan as he and Anatoly laughed.
"I'm glad you two can find something funny about this. Come on I want to see what's so important on that website. Anatoly, you've got the suicide watch. Now come on," said Igor. "You know you could at least use my Scotch for some sort of wake for me. Just remember to put a shot on my casket."
"What good would that do you'll be dead. It seems like a waste of good Scotch."
"You mean a waste of my Scotch. You don't have to worry about that I'll find a way to get one last sip in or I swear I'll haunt you and Anatoly for the rest of your lives if you don't."
"Okay, okay, I'll put the glass there myself."