Don't own Chuck
The weather in Moscow took a turn for the worst. The sky clouded up and it began to rain which changed to sleet. It was cold and miserable when a taxi pulled up in front of the hotel Nikol'skay Kempiniski Lubyanka square letting out a stunning red head. After paying she made a dashed for the front door where a man ran to her aid holding it open. She barely noticed him as she passed through while he got thoroughly drenched. Without so much as a thank you she walked across the lobby. Everyone she met seemed to notice her but she lived off the attention.
"I'd like to check-in if you don't mind," said the woman to the receptionist. She seemed a little annoyed that he hadn't paid her proper attention because he had been momentarily distracted talking on the phone. However, when he looked up he thought he was looking at a movie star and dropped the phone on the floor.
"Excuse my colleague," said the woman next to him as she pushed him out of the way. "His sugar level is low. Name please and can I have some sort of identification, please."
"The reservation was made under Ms. Fatale, Natasha Fatale," said the woman as she passed the lady her passport.
"Yes I have you here," said the clerk after she typed the woman's information into the computer. "Here is your room card. You'll need that key card for the elevator which is right over there," said the Clerk as she pointed it out.
"Thank you I need to see if a friend of mine has checked in yet. Mr. Roan Montgomery, he told me he'd be staying here."
"I really can't give out our client's information," said the woman but as she explaining why she couldn't the man she had shoved out of the way entered the name in his terminal.
"Yes he's got a reservation but no he hasn't checked in yet. Would you like to leave a message? Can I call a busboy for you to help you carry your bags? I have a break coming soon if you want I can carry them up for you."
"No I'll track him down later and I really don't have anything to carry other than my beauty case. Thank you the same," said the woman as she took her documents and room card then left.
"What was that all about," asked the female clerk. "A pretty woman walks in and you forget about hotel policy. You know you could get fired for what you just did."
"What's the matter are you jealous? I didn't violate hotel policy that much and besides there were extenuating circumstances," said the man but the woman wasn't buying it.
"Really lets hear them. When what were they other than a loss of blood flow to your head. I swear you men you see a pretty face and you fall all over yourselves."
"It's all jealousy I don't know why I put up with you."
"Probably because I'm the only person who puts up with you. Your dog ran away from home and your goldfish committed suicide by jumping out of its bowl. Besides that woman has had so much plastic surgery that she must get nervous when she sees an open flame."
As they were bickering back and forth they failed to notice the rather dapper gentleman who walked up to their desk. Roan had to clear his throat to get their attention.
"Oh I'm so sorry," said the woman. "But my colleague here was asking me a question and… well you're not interested in that are you, you just want to check-in."
"Yes, if you don't mind but I agree with you. Son you have to remember that the most important woman you have is the one that's in front of you."
"Thank you I think," said the woman as she took the man's identification document. "So Mr. Roan Montgomery have you stayed with us before?" asked the woman as she worked the computerized check-in menu
"Yes, back in 1989 but that was a lifetime ago now. The wall had just come down and I got sent here for work. Is the bar still located in the same place?"
"I believe so," said the woman as she pointed it out for him. "Here is your room card and you can use it for the elevators too. You know…" the woman was about to tell him that a Ms Fatale had been looking for him just a short while ago but the woman's colleague cut him off.
"Would you like me to call you a busboy," asked the man even though he could see but Roan didn't have any bags.
"No I'll just go up to my room then come down later when the bar opens us," Roans said as he walked off to catch the elevator.
"Why'd you cut me off like that? You told the woman about him why couldn't I tell him about the woman?"
"I just noticed his reservations were made and paid for by the Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii the FSB. The man is obviously some sort of spy and I bet she is too. Probably some sort of black widow."
"I think you've been watching too much television no wonder your dog ran away and your goldfish committed suicide."
"I'll have you know that happened when they took that program about the guy with the computer in his head off the air. Harvey, my goldfish, used to live for that show."
Natasha rode the elevator to her floor then stepped off. The men waiting to take it down immediately stopped talking then parted as they let her by standing there with their mouths open watching her walk down to her room. Just before she went in she turned to make sure they were still watching before she went inside. Smiling to herself she walked in. The first thing she did was to take off her coat hang it in the closet then she took her phone out of her purse and called a number putting it on speak as she checked out the mini-bar. The phone was still ringing when she took a small bottle of Jack and diet coke to mix from the fridge. She had to watch her weight.
"It's me," she said as someone picked up on the other end. "I just checked in but Agent Montgomery hasn't checked in yet. I have confirmed he's got room reservations though. Are you sure he'll be in the bar tonight?"
"As sure the sun will rise tomorrow, don't worry he'll be there. I want this to be not only his last night in Moscow but his last night in this world."
"Roger, I'll engage the target and terminate with extreme prejudice. I can't wait to get this job over Moscow isn't my kind of city. The weather is always nasty and the food… you can eat only so may blinies. I'm not a fan of fish eggs and I hate vodka."
"Finish this then when you get back we'll open a bottle of champagne. I'll even spring for a bottle of the expensive kind."
"How's our girl doing? You sounded concerned before?"
"Nothing I can't handle. You just take care of loose ends there and I'll handle everything back here. We've come too far now. Be careful with Montgomery and don't under estimate him I read his file and he's quite the lady's man."
"If you go in for that type of thing it could be a problem,' said Natasha. "I've got to go I want to get some room service then have a shower before I meet my mark."
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Sarah was pacing the floor at home worried about what was going on halfway around the world with Chuck. Sam didn't help because only naturally after seeing her father on the monitor she was all hyper and had no intention of going to sleep. Sarah finally got Sam in bed then she took a globe pointing out where Chuck was and where they were trying to explain how far away Chuck was. But Sam still couldn't understand.
"Here give me your hands," said Sarah as she took Sam's hands and put one finger on Los Angeles and a finger from the other hand on Ossetia. "That's a long ways away, see?"
"No," said Sam as she shook her head then she held up both hands showing Sarah that it was only a few inches. Sarah tried to laugh through her nervousness and kissed Sam on the forehead. "I know in the heart it feels like that only in real miles it's a lot farther."
"Hey, I thought you could use some relief," said Kat as she stuck her head in the door. "She doesn't want to go to sleep? You know children can sense what their parents are feeling so if you're nervous she'll feel it too. Why don't you go to the kitchen and let me try to get her to go to sleep."
"Thanks," said Sarah. She kissed Sam goodnight before she left. Kat wasn't a half hour with Sam before she came out.
"She's fast asleep. I don't think anything short of an earthquake will wake her," said Kat. She walked into the kitchen picked up her coffee cup then freshened it up with new before she sat down next to Sarah.
"You're good at being a mother," said Sarah as she looked into her cup. "I don't know if I'll ever be as good as you. I keep making mistakes I used to be able to control my feelings better now I'm just a mess."
"What are you talking about? You're not a robot that can turn your emotions off. You're doing an excellent job and don't let anyone tell you differently," said Kat. There was a long awkward pause.
"So where did everyone go when I took Sam back to go to sleep? Seems like everyone cleared out in a hurry. Did something come up I missed?"
"No I don't think so, Alex ran home to get some things and Morgan noticed you were out of grape soda so he went with her to get some. Diane is next door at John's making a call back to Langley or I don't know where considering the time it is on the East Coast."
"She's probably giving the Director a heads up on what's going down," said Sarah. Then she thought they're try to move a bird overhead to see if they could watch the battle but she couldn't because Kat didn't have a clearance or she could tap in and watch too. However, even if she could she wasn't sure she wanted to.
"Are you sure the guys are okay? What Chuck talked about didn't sound that easy and… well I lost John before I don't want to lose him again."
"Don't worry Chuck and John are okay. Chuck said he had a plan and Chuck's plans always work," said Sarah as she reached over and took Kat's hand. Sarah told herself if she repeated it long enough she'd eventually believe it herself.
As they were talking General Beckman came back. She opened the door slightly then knocked not wanting to wake Sam. She stuck her head inside then waved for Sarah and Kat to come outside. When Sarah went out she left the door open so she could hear if Sam got up.
"I just got off the horn with my Major and gave him a heads up for his boss. He held me on the line as he ran to the situation room where he could give me a blow by blow account from our eyes in the sky," said the General as she paused.
"Go ahead," said Sarah as they both looked at Kat. "It's too late now you already started so you might as well finish."
"It was a massacre there are no other words to explain it. They thought they had the battle won but fell head long in the trap." Kat looked shocked at Sarah as her eyes welled up. Sarah's weren't much better as reached over and took hold of Kat's hand.
"Any word about Chuck or Casey? Are they… well are they okay," asked Sarah as she choked out the words.
"What are you talking about? Of course they're okay Chuck's plan worked even if too well. He pulled Nilokai's forces into an envelope then closed it, textbook strategy. He didn't lose a man but what happened afterwards wasn't… well they took no prisoners. A local warlord Borz took responsibility for the slaughter saying it was in retaliation for what Nikolai's men had done to his people. Igor's got his hands full if he thinks he can get these people to talk peace. The only peace they want is a piece of this or a piece of that."
"Chuck and Casey, General do we know where they're?" asked Sarah. She felt Kat's hand squeeze hers.
"There was a T-80 that was allowed to leave the gorge while the massacre was taking place. We think they might be in it."
"Excuse me," asked Kat. "But I know this might sound stupid but can you tell the slow student what's a T-80."
"Sorry," said Sarah. "A T-80 is a Russian made tank that went into service in 1976 and has been in every Russian campaign since then. I can only guess it was captured in Chechnya during the war."
"Probably but we lost visual when it went into the mountains. Langley is tracking it via IR that's infrared the heat emissions it's giving off."
"I can understand that much," said Kat as she breathed a sigh of relief but then she thought. "Okay so the battle is over and Chuck won. Can't he come home?"
"Kolonel Sheshenkov's mission is done but Chuck's has just begun. He's still after Izad and the Americans plus I think he's going after that production plant." Sarah nodded her head.
"You're right and I know how. That's why he needed the tank General, Chuck is inside. Don't you see he's got his Trojan horse."
"Trojan what?" said Morgan as he walked into the courtyard with Alex carrying two cases of grape soda. "It was just you said and I thought… well…"
"Yes Agent Grimes we all know what you thought," said the General. "Can you please get your mind out of the gutter and let Agent Carmichael finish?"
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Nikolai was beside himself ranting. How could he have let himself be tricked like this? All his men gone and with the tunnel still blocked he had no way of getting reinforcements or supplies. He was a rabbit trapped in his hole and he knew it. Soon Borz would surround him. It wouldn't matter that Borz couldn't root him out he didn't have to. They both knew sooner or later his supplies would run out and he'd have to come out. Borz could just lay back and wait picking his men off one by one as they tried to send them out for supplies.
"This is also your fault," said Nikolai to Izad. "If your people hadn't killed everyone on the council I could've had a friend to call on to break Borz's siege or if you'd been a little more precise in your work Borz would be dead and none of this would've happened."
"And if Borz had agreed to our terms I'd be sitting in his production plant watching crates being shipped off instead of being held prisoner here." Nikolai reached for his gun but Izad blocked his arm. "But we're in this boat together. I've got a plan if you want to hear how we all get out of this mess alive." Nikolai relaxed.
"Okay I'm listening just one small thing first," he said as he pulled his Makarov and shot his bodyguard. "That's because you didn't lift a finger when this man touched me." One of his men ran in from outside looked at the dead man then Nikolai waved for him to get out. "Now let's hear your idea."
"Hydra has a jet on standby for us at the Vladikavkaz airport. We could all board and leave you just have to have your men hold this place long enough for us to get away."
"You're asking me to run away like a dog, like a coward. How could I explain that to my men? How could I expect them to fight for me? They'd kill me before Borz got a hold of me then all of you too."
"You think they're going to fight for you? What just happened here ought to be a good example for you what's going to happen. They haven't abandoned you yet because Borz doesn't seem to want to take prisoners if what I heard is true. But after a month of siege Borz might be amendable to free passage if they give you up. It probably won't even take a month. Is there a back way out of here, an emergency exit of some kind? You can't tell me you boxed yourself in here without some sort exit strategy if things went south?"
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Chuck picked Casey up on their way out of the gorge then they proceeded through the forest after that they had to forage a stream before they starting up through a mountain pass and down a winding road. There wasn't much room for everyone inside so they had to squeeze in like sardines but that was the way they had to enter inside Nikolai's secret lair.
"Gez of all things a commie tank you couldn't find anything else? You know Chuck when I told you about knocking on the front door I was joking. You guys could've at least painted over that big red star," said Casey as Chuck had then pulled over and stop.
"I'm sorry if the accommodations aren't as comfortable as you Americans are used too. We think functionality ought to come before comfort."
"Really, tell that to your other two buddies I took out with my Barrett. You showed me you butt and I kicked it."
"Maybe you'd like to try that again. Anyone can get lucky once," said the Tank Commander as emotions flared up.
"Actually it was twice and it had nothing to do with luck. What you saw was skill," grunted Casey, "pure and simple."
"Hold up here," said Chuck. "Commander how many times will I be challenged and what are the passwords?"
"There should be two and the passwords are here," he said as he handed Chuck his commander's note book. "But since we left I don't know what's going on inside. Nikolai could easily have us killed on the spot. You might've noticed he's a little mentally instable."
"If you knew that why did you follow him," blurted out Casey. "I'm sorry but I just don't understand how anyone could follow that lunatic."
"Because at the time, he was the only lunatic to follow. Borz and his weren't the only one to lose everything. I'm not trying to sell a sob story here but your friend doesn't have a white hat either."
"Then why don't you do something about it. You seem like an intelligent person get yourself and your people organized," said Chuck. He took out a pen then wrote out a number. "Here call this number Igor Trotski will answer. It's his private number tell him you talked to Kolonel Sheshenkov that would be me," said Chuck as Casey rolled his eyes. "Tell Igor I said you should be at whatever peace talks are held and that he should support you."
"First we have to get out of here alive."
"No this is the end of the road for you guys. Casey and I will take it from here. I can drive and Casey can load so we got this just are you sure about the challenge passwords?"
"Yes if nothing has changed from this morning when we left," said the man as he and his men climbed out.
"Give me your helmets," said Chuck. They passed them back to Chuck and he put the commanders on. "If I have to get out I just pop my head up but keep the face shield down no one will know it's me."
"That will work," said the man. "You know you're going on a suicide mission and you're probably not going to make it out."
"No, this isn't a suicide mission and I've got a wife to get back to. Nothing is going to stop me from getting home," said Chuck as he buttoned up then proceeded.
"Chuck now can you tell me what we're doing? We could've waited and brought more troops with us. Borz would've come with us to take out this guy Nikolai. Like this we're on our own about to go into enemy territory without backup. Have I painted a bleak enough scenario or would you like me to add something else."
"John, Nikolai and Borz were much the same having about the same powerbase before Hydra and the Hammer of Thor came along. Then Hydra helped Nikolai out and he was top dog acting like it too. What do you think Borz will become now and especially if he gets his hands on the chip factory. One Czar is enough. On that Igor and I agreed. This factory has to be destroyed and we're riding in the means to do that. We had to let the tank crew go because I couldn't ask them to fire on their own friends and comrades."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Casey knowing exactly what Chuck was hinting to wishing he had brought that rusty knife with him.
"How many times have you been told to eliminate me but I'm still here."
"Keep yapping and the next time could be charm."
"I love you too John."
"I swear don't make me regret…" Casey started to say when they received the first challenge via radio outside a large metal gate. Chuck gave it and the gate came down.
"Welcome home Commander, the Czar is anxious to hear what happened," radioed back the sentry as they drove through.
"I'm sure he is," said Casey as he loaded the first round."