Don't own Chuck

Meanwhile back in the bar the gunfire stopped for a few moments as the one killer helped his friend to a chair then reloaded their weapons handing him both. The man fired short bursts from his chair while the other man reached inside his brief case coming out two grenades one in each hand. He pulled the pins with his teeth spitting them out on the floor.

"Alonso... Alonso hold your fire for a minute. Let me talk to them," yelled the man over the sound of his friend's gunfire.

"I want to kill them all Diego. Look at my poor leg," he said as he gritted his teeth. "It's starting to hurt," he said as he sat down one of his weapons then took out a flask from his jacket. While Diego was talking he drank from it to dull the pain. However, no matter how dull the pain became the throbbing wasn't going away.

"Listen up inside," yelled Diego. "I'm going to make a onetime offer and I'm only going to say this once only once. My friend is hurt and I need to get him to a hospital so we need to get this situation resolved in a hurry..."

"A onetime offer by its mean is only once. But it sounds to me like you've got a personal problem," yelled Chuck. "But if you guys want to go ahead and leave you know where the door is just don't let it catch you on the way out. I promise we won't try to stop you."

"Very funny... you some kind of comedian? Be smart in there," yelled Diego. He looked over at Alonso who finished his flask then tossed it aside after which he picked up the other weapon then nodded to Diego.

"Look, no one else needs to get hurt. Just send out Pablito to us and we'll let the rest of you live. If you don't... well no one is going to get out of here alive."

"I'm still going to kill them," said Alonso as he felt a wave of pain. The booze hadn't lasted long. "Augh, yes, I'm going to kill everyone of them for this."

"Keep your voice down and stop moving around or you'll bleed out right here. Let me handle this and when we get them out in the open..."

"You do what you've got to do but I'm going to get even and their going to die."

[Meanwhile in the backroom]

"Pablito," asked Chuck. "Is there another way out of here? Surely you've got to have an escape plan for situations like this."

"Situations like this! Up until you people showed up in my bar the only problems we've had was the occasional drunk that needed to be tossed out on his ear or a bar fight every now and then. However, we made money off those as they became a spectator sport, boosting bar revenues through drinks and bets. But you've thrown a monkey wrench in that now. It's going to cost me a fortune to get this place cleaned up and running again."

"'Cleaned up' predicates that it was clean to begin with. But set all that aside for now, you haven't answered my question. Is there another way out of this room other than through the bar where there are two killers waiting to gun you down?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you. No, there isn't one but if we can hold them off for a little longer the police should be here shortly. Someone has to have heard what's going on and called them."

"I hope for your and our sakes they aren't in Miguel's pocket or we're right back to square one... up the polluted stream."

"I don't want to rain on anyone's parade," said Alex. "But I'm down to half a mag then I'm out. Pablito, you don't happen to have any 9 mm ammunition back here?"

"No, it's all under the bar. As a norm I never let anyone back here so I don't need it. The only thing I've got is this Deringer I keep in my boot for personal protection," said Pablito as Chuck gave him a look. "What? I haven't needed it until today. Not even when all you Yanks were trying to kill me and you're one to talk. What kind of pistol is that anyway? A dart gun? What kind of CIA man carries a dart gun?"

"The kind who doesn't like guns. I need to come up with a plan... I always have a plan. Let me think... crap nothing is coming. I don't have a plan," said Chuck as Diego continued barraging them with promises and threats.

"You've got thirty seconds to send Pablito out or we're coming in to get him," yelled Diego. "You need to hurry up the clock is ticking out here."

"You're more than welcome to try or tell you what, I've got a counter offer. Can't we settle this like civilized adults? How about a game of Uno?" yelled Chuck. A hail of gunfire followed. "I take that's a no."

"Mister smart mouth, you've got twenty seconds to decide now and not a second longer," yelled Diego as he looked over at Alonso.

Inside the backroom Chuck looked at Alex then at Pablito. He didn't have to tell them their situation was dire.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," said Chuck. Alex and Pablito looked puzzled at him. "Okay, I do have a plan. It's not a good one but it's the best I can come up with. Alex give me your weapon and Pablito give me your Deringer. When I say go I'm going to charge out and draw their fire. I want you two to run for the emergency exit and don't look back."

"I can't let you do that," said Alex as she shook her head. Chuck that's crazy it's a suicide and Sarah will be pissed at me. No, I won't go along with it."

"Just listen, this is for Casey. He's bailed me out more times than I can count and you need to get Pablito to Miguel's plantation. When Dona Rosenda sees him she just might let Casey and Roan go. Besides this isn't a request, it's an order. I'm the senor officer present just promise me you'll make this worth it. Tell Sarah I love her and girls."

"But Chuck..." Alex started to protest but Chuck cut her off.

"There's no more time. You heard me hand me your weapon and get ready. We're only going to get one shot at this... literally," said Chuck as he positioned himself behind the door. "How much time to I have left?" yelled Chuck.

"Ten seconds, then I start tossing grenades. Oh, I didn't tell you I had grenades, did I? That was supposed to be a secret but the cat's out of the bag now. Five seconds, four, three, two," yelled Diego. Chuck looked at Alex and gripped her weapon hard then nodded. Time was up.

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General Thomas was gearing up with the rapid response team. It'd been a while since he'd been in the field holding a weapon and he missed it. Now for the first time in a long time he felt the adrenaline pumping again. He looked around and caught the other men looking at him. He knew what they were thinking, they were wondering if the old guy could keep up. He might have the stars on his shoulders but they weren't bullet proof in the field.

"Gunny, are the men ready to head out?" asked Tank as he tightened up his vest making sure it was snug.

"Yes Sir, we're ready to roll out. But I'd feel better if you stayed behind and directed us from HQ. There's no need in you coming out with us."

"You mean you don't need an old man holding you back when you breach the fence around the compound. You don't have to worry about me this isn't my first rodeo."

"Well, if you won't listen to me at least hang next to my side. It would reflex poorly on me if I took you out to play and didn't bring you home afterwards."

"Roger that. I didn't get where I got to by not listening to my Gunny," said Tank. As they were talking a man came running up to them.

"Gunny… Sorry Sir, I didn't see you," said the man as he started to salute. But Gunny grabbed the man's arm and pulled it down.

"What are you doing are you trying to get the General killed? There's no saluting in the field," yelled Gunny. The man looked over at the General who nodded.

"I'm sorry I wasn't thinking," said the man. In fact, they were all dressed in black without any insignias or patches to tell anyone who they were.

"Don't be sorry just don't do it again. You had something to tell me or you wouldn't have come running so spit it out."

"Yes Gunny, a Rover Defender just pulled up outside the main gate. A man got out and left an envelope on the other side of the gate. When he was challenged he just turned around and left.

"Didn't anyone try to stop him from leaving? What's inside the envelope," asked the General. "Don't tell me you let him walk away?"

"The General's orders… I mean the other General that is… she told us we weren't to operate outside of this compound. The man was on the outside so there wasn't anything we could do."

"That's not what she meant…" said Tank as he started to jump on the man but the Gunny stopped him and waved the man off.

"That's enough. Thanks, you can go back to getting ready," said the Gunny. "Sir, they're taught to follow orders not to interpret them. They need a few stripes on their arms before they can do that." Then the Gunny Sergeant started to walk off.

"Hey, where are you going? According to what you said before I'm supposed to be following you," said Tank as he smiled.

"They couldn't go outside the gate so if we want to know what's in that envelope we're going to have to go outside and get it before someone passes by and picks it up."

[A few minutes later Gunny and General Thomas walked in on Beckman]

She was standing in front of a large monitor with an overhead view of the plantation Sarah's phone had been tracked back to before the signal went dead. She watched the monitor looking as red dots walking around the compound but the plantation house itself was one solid red dot.

"Major, I'm not seeing anything inside the plantation house. What's the matter with our IR scanners? I should be seeing the heat signal from the people inside."

"That's because the roof is made of metal and with this hot sun beating down on it. You're not going to get any heat signals from inside until after sunsets and the roof cools down," said Tank as he and the Gunny walked up behind her.

"Never mind Major," she said in a mic strapped around her head. "I just got my answer. I need a layout of the house before we go charging into the wrong rooms. Call me back when you have that," she said as she took the mic off and dropped it on the table. "What's that envelope you've got in your hand?"

"Believe it or not someone just dropped this off then hightailed it out of here. Before you ask why no one tried to stop him remember it was you who gave the order that no one was to leave the compound."

"And with good reason, no one knows we're here and before feathers get ruffled we need to be out of here. Okay, they don't need to hold me literally to what I say. That aside has this been checked for bobby traps? It could be a letter bomb or have a biological agent inside like anthrax."

"I had the Doc run it through his portable x-ray machine and it looks like it's only got a thumb drive and a letter inside," said Tank as he handed it over to her.

"You say 'only' but you hand it to me to open," said Diane as she ripped the envelope open then dumped the content on the table. A piece of paper and a thumb drive fell out on the table. "Well looks like you were right," she said as she picked up the piece of paper to read the note.

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Mary pulled into the parking lot of Barnum Memorial Elementary School as all the other students were arriving. Sam looked around to try to see if she could find Maria, the little girl she'd met before, and Tommy, the little boy who stuttered. But it was close to the time classes began and everything was chaotic so she couldn't find them.

"Come along we need to go the office first and get you checked in," said Mary. She took Sam to the office then stood there waiting to be dealt with until she felt she'd been standing there long enough.

"Excuse us, good morning," said Mary as she got the attention of the man behind the counter. "My granddaughter is supposed to begin first grade today. I think you'll find she's already been enrolled. She's been out of town with her family and needs to start school today."

"Just one second, I've still got to fire this up," said the man as he sat down his morning coffee then pulled out a chair and sat down behind a computer. "Okay name the child's name, please"

"Sam... Samantha Bartowski," said Mary. Samantha sounded strange to Sam's ear and she really didn't like it even if it was her real name.

"Everyone just calls me Sam. I'm in Ms. Martin's class or that's where I was supposed to be before... when... well when I was here that is before."

"Yes, I see you're in the system and by before you're talking about your suspension and that wasn't even the first day of school," said the man as he read what was in the computer.

"That was before and this is now or do we need to talk with the Principal," said Mary as she made a mental note to have that taken care of when she got to castle. A nice system crash should do it, she thought as she looked the man in the eyes.

"You could if we had one," said the man. He looked back down at the computer. There was something about the way Mary looked at him that made him feel uneasy.

"What do you mean 'if you had one'? I met the woman the last time we were here. She name was Dean and her first name was Doctor or that might've been her title. I never understood which.

"Doctor Dean no longer works here and is no longer involved with education. As a matter of fact neither does Ms Martin..." said the man but he was cut off by a woman who walked up behind him.

"But if want to talk to her you can find her in LargeMart, she works there stocking shelves and customer assistance," said a woman behind the man carrying folders in her arms. "I don't know if you know her... Maureen Buchmiller? But Dean ran off with her husband when the IRS came looking for the two of both. It seems they had a little business going on the side."

"No, can't say as I do," said Mary as she looked down at Sam. Sam just shrugged her shoulders. "So what do I do with my granddaughter? Can she start school today?"

"Sure, I don't see why not," said the woman. "I'll take her down to Nancy's class... that's your new teacher. Richard, can I have a printout to give Nancy so we can get this little girl in class?"

"But shouldn't you leave that decision up to the new principal to decide? She's coming in tomorrow? I don't know if she'll like you taking the responsibility."

"She'll get over it and besides this little girl needs to get an education. After all that's what we're paid to give. Just do your job and print out the form," said the woman. The she turned back around to Mary and Sam. "We're getting a new principal tomorrow to replace Dean. Fastest hire I've ever seen but he's right she's supposed to be in tomorrow and she might want to talk to you so if you could please drop by when you drop this little darling off."

"We can wait until tomorrow," said Mary. "We don't want to get you in any trouble with your new boss. I mean it's only one day," she said but the look Sam gave her said she couldn't.

"I think your granddaughter is trying to tell you she wants to start school today. If I get in hot water it won't be the first time and it won't be the last."

"Don't worry, you won't get in any trouble and I'll put in a good word for you," said Sam as she smiled at the woman. "I want to become a Doctor and the sooner I learn to read the sooner I can become one. Also, if the nurse gets backed up with work I'll be more than happy to help out... no charge."

"Sweetie, I'll pass on the information," said the woman as she laughed. "Come on and let's get you started towards medical school but you might want to reconsider your fees. I don't see many of your future colleagues working for free. Ma'am, you can pick your granddaughter up at four when school let's out. Follow me and let's get you in class," said the woman as she took the piece of paper from Richard then left with Sam.

They walked together down the hallway towards the first grade. Sam remember the corridor from before and they walked down past the computer lab which now just labeled computer lab with a piece of paper taped to the door. The memorial sign was blackened out and hidden behind it. Sam didn't think much of it at the time but Chuck had caused a tsunami at her school that had washed out the old regime and not everyone was happy to see Sam back.

"Hey Buddy, isn't that the girl whose father got your Dad arrested," said a little boy when Sam was brought into the First-Grade classroom.

"I told you my Dad hasn't been arrested. He's only wanted and right now he's at an undisclosed location with the Principal working on their defense strategy together. He'll be back soon and you'll see this was all a big mistake."

"Yeah, my brother told me they're working on their defense strategy together in a hotel room drinking Margaritas together in Acapulco."

"Tell your brother that's exactly what they're doing and he'll see as well as everyone else that my Dad is innocent," said Buddy as he stared at Sam and got angrier and angrier by the moment looking at her. "I'm going to give you a good welcome back to school."

"What'd you say Buddy? I couldn't hear you," said the boy behind him. "Boy, just look at that I bet you're liking this, aren't you?"

"Shut up... no wait a minute. Marty, what's your friend's name, the one who's got all those spiders? You know the one with the tarantulas and does he still have them," said Buddy as he watched his teacher talking to Sam and the woman from the office.

"His name is Alvin and yes he still does. As a matter of fact, he's even gotten more but why did you want to know that?"

"No reason in particular... just we need to go see him after school. I'll come over to your house then we can go over to his. Will that be a problem?"

"No, I don't think so. Tonight is the night my parents go out late and leave us with a babysitter. I'll just tell her I'm tired and slip out of my window after I tell her I'm going to bed. I can meet you behind my house then we can cut across town. But you still haven't told me why you want to see Alvin and his spiders?"

"Let's just say I need a welcome gift for our new classmate," he said as he smiled looking over at Sam. "Yes, a special gift."

[In the meantime Nancy greeted Sam at the door]

"I'm bring you a new pupil," said the woman with Sam. "This is Samantha and she's starting school with us today. She was supposed to start when school began but she had to go out of town with her family."

"Please call me Sam. No one calls me Samantha and I wouldn't know to answer. Please tell me you haven't taught them how to read yet? I need to learn to read..."

"So she can become a doctor. She already knows what she wants to be when she grows up. I'll leave her here with you," said the woman as she handed Nancy Sam's paperwork.

"Very good, now let's find you a desk, shall we?" said Nancy but as soon as she looked over where to put Sam a little Latino girl waved pointing at the desk next to hers. "Okay, you can go sit next to that little girl. Her name is..."

"Her name is Maria. We know each other from... well we know each other. Hola Maria," said Sam as she greeted Maria in Spanish.

"Good you're bi-lingual," said Nancy listening to their conversation. "I can use you to help me explain my lesson to Maria. But she needs to speak English in class."

"Yes, of course," said Sam as she smiled at Maria. She heard a cough behind her and turned to see Tommy smiling at her too. But what no one say was Buddy Buckmiller smiling in the back at her too.