Don't own Chuck

Mary walked out of Jim's office letting him lead the way but as they walked past the row of empty cubicles she noticed one was occupied by an attractive redhead. The woman looked busy doing something that kept her back to her. The woman kept her head down as they walked by and there was never any eye contact made which made Mary stop but before she could say anything Jim called for her.

"Will you hurry up," said Jim trying to get Mary to get a move on. "The Ambassador is a busy woman and she's squeezing us in between appointments. You might use this time to think about what you're going to say."

"I'm sure she is and so am I," said Mary as she got on the elevator with Jim. She took one more glance back at the redhead but the woman never turned around to take peek at the person who was causing her boss so much grief.

"You need to tone it down a notch when you talk to the Ambassador. We're still operating here on shaky ground. The Germans haven't forgotten nor forgiven us tapping the Chancellor's phone."

"They're ticked off because someone shot their mouth off and told the world what we did. We listen to everyone just like they do too. We all spy on each other and that keeps us all honest and it helps avoid being blindside like what happened to Raegan in Sicily. I bet he wish he'd known about that secret PLO-Italian deal. If he had we wouldn't have forced that plane down there."

"That's ancient history and if you go into the Ambassador's office with that attitude you'll be on the next plane out of here."

"History has a habit of repeating itself and I won't be the next person on a plane," said Mary as the elevator doors opened.

"And what do you mean by that," said Jim but their conversation was cut short when they were greeted by the Ambassador's personal secretary standing in front of the elevator obviously waiting for them.

"I tried to call you to tell you something came up but I was told you were already on your way up. I'm sorry but the Ambassador won't be able to see you right now. There's been an incident and she's in with the Deputy Chief right now discussing what needs to be done."

"An incident? What kind of incident and why wasn't I informed? I should've been called up to sit in on this meeting." Mary bit her tongue and resisted telling him just why he'd been left out.

"I'm sorry Jim but I... the Ambassador was just caught off balance. It's Mark Talebort. He was involved in a traffic accident on his way into work not far from here. From what I was able to understand he didn't make it."

"And now do you still wonder if your guy didn't turn Abe away on purpose? This is someone tying up loose ends," said Mary then she turned back to the woman. "You said it's near here? I need to know exactly where."

"The Germans aren't going to like you sticking your nose into their business. You should let them handle it and wait for the report."

"And that's the difference between you and me. They won't know what to look for and we need to tie this off in case they find something they shouldn't. It's called being proactive instead of reactive and wow for that address," said Mary as she turned back to the woman.

"Leave here on Habelschwerdter Allee then go down Löhleinstraße. I heard it was near the Free University but we should tell the Ambassador. She'll want to be informed."

"Jim, you can talk to her and make sure we get the body. I want full tox screens run by us even if the Germans' come back clean and whatever you do don't let them accidently cremate the remains. We need to lock them down. You can have the body sent to our base in Ramstein."

"I know what to do and I certainly don't need you telling me," snapped Jim. In that moment Mary felt like breaking his pencil neck.

"What's going on?" asked the Secretary as she looked at the two of them. "Is there more here than we know?"

"That's above your paygrade. Just listen to me and do what you've been told. Jim will go with you to explain everything to the Ambassador. I've got to run and get there before they move the wreckage."

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Emin got off the phone with Omer and sat back in his chair. If what Omer had told him was true and the Americans had found the ledger how was he going to get it back for where it was. He couldn't just storm into the Embassy in Berlin and take it. He had influence and reach but not that far and not that powerful. He looked at his phone and wondered if he should contact the man who had visited him. However, that would open another can of worms.

"Crap Klaus, why haven't you called me yet? I swear if you screw this up you'd better be dead because I'll make you wish you were. I need to think," he said as he got up and went to the window. He looked down on the bridge that spanned the Bosporus, the link between Europe and Asia. The bridge was like him and would his people eliminate him.

"They needed me," he said as he looked out the window. "No, they wouldn't they were just trying to scare me. I need to go clear my head then make a phone call. Yes, that is what I'll do," he said as he walked back to his desk.

"Call down, have them get my car ready and tell my security detail they're coming with me," said the Turk pressing the intercom button on his desk. "I want to go to the baths and tell them there had better be no screw ups."

There had been no screw ups last time. The circle wanted to demonstrate to Emin that he was not bullet proof which they showed him by wiping out his whole security detail while leaving him the sole survivor.

A few minutes later he was walking again through old town puffing away on his cigarette and chain smoking worse than before. He'd gone through a whole packet just in the time he'd gotten out of his car and walked to the baths. When Emin walked inside, the old man behind the counter handed him his special towel silently with the same stoic expression.

"Old man, here's some money... send your boy to the tobacconist's and have him get me a carton of these," said Emin as he handed the man money and an empty pack. "Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," said the man nodding as he took the money. "I'll send a boy right away and have him bring them to you."

"He can give them to my man in the changing room," said Emin as he took his towel then walked into the changing room with his men. One of his men went into the sauna and told everyone inside it was time to go while Emin changed out of his clothes wrapping the towel around himself.

"Demir," yelled the old man and a boy came running out from the back. "You can stop what you're doing for now. I want you to run down to the tobacconist's and get a carton of these cigarettes. This is important and the man who wants them is not one we want to get angry. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," said the boy as he took the money and the packet then ran out the door all the way to the tobacconist's but when he got there he found they were out of that particular brand. He remembered what his boss had told him about the man who wanted the cigarettes so he ran to another tobacconist's farther away. Finally, he got the cigarettes he was supposed to get then started to run back.

"Just a quick drink of water," said Demir as he got a drink from a fountain. It was hot and it seemed he'd been running all over the city. After catching his breath, he started off again and it wasn't long before the bath came in sight. He just hoped his boss wasn't going to be too angry with him.

"I'm back with the cigarettes," announced Demir as he ran back inside. But his boss, the old man, wasn't at the counter as he usually was. "Maybe he had to step out," said the boy to himself but he'd never known the old man to ever go anywhere.

"I overheard the man say that he wanted the cigarettes taken to the changing room," said Demir so he went back there but walking in he almost slipped and fell on the blood that covered the floor. Demir dropped the cigarettes and started to run out when he heard a man crying for help.

"Help, someone help," he heard and the voice was coming from the sauna. Demir walked in slowly peeking inside. There he saw a big man with a moustache, the same one who'd ordered the cigarettes sitting there with something tied around his head that had a digital clock attached to it. It was counting down quickly.

"Please help me," cried the man but Demir knew he could do nothing and his family depended on him so with two minutes left Demir ran back to behind the counter. There he found the old man lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He knew he was dead and he didn't want to join him but first he cleared out the till taking as much cash as he could grab stuffing it into his pockets then running outside. He'd just cleared the door when a fireball erupted inside catapulting him into the wall on the other side of the street. He got up, shook it off, then ran as fast as his feet could carry him home.

"Do you want us to go take care of that kid," said one man as the kid ran past them. The man who had visited Emin before and today was sitting in a bar not too far away observing Emin's end.

"No, let him go. He can live besides, he doesn't know who we are so if he's questioned he can't finger us. Emin thought he was bullet proof but he wasn't bomb proof. I need to get back to the hotel and call our contact in Berlin. We need that ledger from the Americans that's why I'm going to send you there. Once you have it you can join me in L.A."

"Los Angeles? Why L.A. Mr. White? I thought Jack Burton was in Montenegro? How are we going to grab him by going to L.A.?"

"He is and judging from the fact that the Turks men went MIA well protected there too. I read Burton's dossier Mr. Black and I can tell you it's an interesting read. However, the part that was most important for us was the bit where it said Mr. Burton's got a daughter in L.A. If we grab her we can make him come to us. Now let's get a move on it. I still have that call to make then we need to get to the airport."

"I'll arrange our flights."

"You do that Mr. Black and while you're doing that I'll make that phone call to Berlin."

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[Mean while at the Buy More]

Morgan was sitting in his office looking over the inventory and the current sales. He's been gone too long and now he was having trouble catching up. This wasn't helped by him being interrupted by Big Mike then Fernando and Skip.

"Son, where's you friend Chuck at? I thought he was supposed to be in today after that big installation? I know Chuck's you boy and everything but the natives are getting restless around here with you giving him all those installs. I know he needs the extra cash with all those mouths to feed but things will go sideways around here if you play favorites."

"Chuck and Sarah got called into the principal's office at Sam's school so he'll be running a little late but he'll be in as soon as they're done."

"Gee that was fast. How long has school be in for a couple of weeks and the kid's in the doghouse. But you know something..."

"I'm afraid I'm about to find out. You know Big Mike I've got a lot of work to get caught up on so do you think you could..."

"I spent some of my best moments in detention. That's where I met my first love and I got my first kiss. Man o' man something like that you never forget."

"I'd really like to try. Like I said I've got all this work to get caught up so if you don't mind," said Morgan as Fernando and Skip walked in painted up like rejects from a Kiss concert. "What the heck are you two supposed to be and more importantly how did you think it was appropriate to come in to work with that get up on?"

"Don't you know what tomorrow is? Can't you tell by the blue with the Union Jack and the five stars," said Fernando as he pointed them out on Skip.

"I think if Skip would turn as you point then we might get a better picture of what you're trying to say. I take this is to get tomorrow off?"

"It's only right so we can celebrate the birth of a nation. Tomorrow's Australia day so we should get the day off to celebrate."

"But you're not Australian nor are we in Australia and Skip holding you in a baby carrier like a Joey isn't going to cut it."

"But my name is Fernando? Why would he call me Joey? Look at us the way we're made up we're going to..."

"Go wash that stuff off before I get really upset. Australia day isn't tomorrow, it's the 26th of January or can't you two morons read a calendar?"

"Wait a minute you two were in here just the other day asking for time off wearing sombreros saying you need off because it was Cinco de Mayo. I went home and asked the beautiful caliente..."

"Oh no," said Morgan as he shook his head. He knew where this was going and he didn't have to like it.

"That's right your momma, the seductive Mrs. Bolonia Garcia Bougainvillea Grimes Tucker and she told me heck no it wasn't Cinco de Mayo nor cuarto or sexto and it's not even May. But we had our own little celebration and I don't know if they use fireworks south of the border. However, at home there were sky rockets in flight not to mention afternoon delight."

"Okay everyone out of here. I mean it out right now," said Morgan as he shoved them all out of his office. "I hope Chuck had a better time with principal that I am here."

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[Meanwhile in the Principal's Office]

"No, Sam you don't need a lawyer," said Kathy trying not to laugh. "But I need to figure out what I'm going to do with you. You can't keep answering Nancy the way you do even if you know all the answers."

"I don't understand. If she asks me a question don't I have to answer? If I don't I get in trouble and I can't pretend I don't know the answer or is that what you want?"

"No, that's not what we want and yes, we want you to answer but there's answering and answering. I'll give you an example what if I asked you what pi r2 means what would you tell me?"

"Pies aren't square they're round," Sam said smiling and laughing but Kathy gave her a frown. "Okay, it's how you find the radius of a circle."

"That's right," said Kathy as she looked at Chuck. Suddenly he felt it get warm in the office. "I wonder who told you the joke but putting that aside for now you shouldn't know any geometry yet. I bet you're bored silly in Nancy's class."

"A little but you see numbers come easy to me... they make sense. They have an order that helps me understand what's going on around me. I count the days Mommy or Chuck are gone. I know the day's twenty-four hours long so I can divide it into things I want to get done. There are seven days in a week and four weeks in a month. This is math and this is order which makes what's going around me... well okay."

"I see and what if I told you I was thinking about organizing a class... a special class for gifted students such as yourself? You'd continue with Nancy's class to learn to read but for everything else you'd go to the computer lab and there I'll work with you. That is of course with your parents' approval."

"I'd like that," said Sam as she smiled. "Please say yes," said Sam as she gave Chuck her saddest look and batted her eyes. Chuck just couldn't say no.

"I guess it couldn't hurt to try. Don't you think love? This would be better than one of those fancy schools where the kids have to wear uniforms and learn to hate their parents."

"I don't know," said Sarah. She realized she was being put on the spot and if she said no she'd be the villain. "I'm sorry but I'm still not convinced this is the right choice."

"Please, please," said Sam as she tried to work her mom but she knew this was going to be a hard sale. Even if she didn't understand why."

"This isn't written in stone and we can stop if you can come up with a better solution. But I can tell you that Sam will be frustrated and may end up hating school if you force her to continue."

"I don't want that," said Sarah as she looked over at Chuck. But she could tell he was into the idea hook, line and sinker. "Okay, for now but I don't want any medical examinations, CAT scans or EEGs. This is purely academic and that's all there will be."

"Certainly, I don't see how you'd think it would be anything else. But sure, there will be no medical examinations without your prior consent. If there's nothing else I need to put a curriculum together for our first lesson tomorrow. It will be nice to spend time back in the classroom," said Kathy as she got up then saw them out.

"Sam needs a hall pass to go back to class," said Kathy to her secretary then shook Chuck and Sarah's hands before going back inside her office. A few minutes later they were in the parking lot walking to their car.

"What was that back in there? Why were you hesitant to give Kathy permission to teach Sam? Did I miss something? Because I thought it was a good idea and Kathy's doing us a favor."

"You really believe that? I hope that's all this is. I don't know Chuck, you're always thinking the best of people and... well let's say I don't. People don't do anything for nothing. Remember Beckman was the one who got Kathy this job and I couldn't help wonder if this wasn't some sort of long game to bring Sam into the company."

"That really would be a long game considering her age but I can see what you're talking about. Especially, if Beckman figures out what kind of head Sam has on her shoulders and that's without the intersect."

"I don't want intersect and Sam being mentioned in the same sentence. And Chuck you don't think Beckman hasn't already figured that out. I don't know we just have to keep our eyes open. Did you park in a no parking area again? Chuck, how many parking tickets have you gotten so far?"

"What are you talking about? This is the school parking lot we can park here. I didn't see any sign that said we couldn't," said Chuck as they walked up to the herder they'd used. On the windshield they found a piece of paper folded under the washer blade.

"Look, it's just a note," said Chuck as he pulled it out and held it up. "What's this? It's addressed to you or better to Jenny Burton."

"Let me have that," said Sarah as she snatched it from his hands the unfolded it. Her face hardened as she read it.

"What is it? What's wrong?" said Chuck. Just from her look he could tell it wasn't good. "Do I have to remind you about our pack... no secrets and no lies?"

"We need to get to Castle right now. I need to talk to Jack," said Sarah as she shoved the piece of paper into her pocket. She gave the parking lot a quick scan before she got into the car but she didn't see anyone.

"Sarah, I love you with all my heart but you're kind of freaking me out," said Chuck as he got in the passenger's side. "You want to tell me what's going on or do I have to play twenty questions?"

"The truth is I don't know. All the note said was have you talked to your father lately and that was it... no signature, no nothing else. Now, put your seatbelt on and hang on to something I'm going to get us there as quickly as possible."

"And in one piece," said Chuck as she laid rubber driving out of the parking lot. What they didn't see was a woman looking like Carmen Sandiego sitting in a vehicle with tinted windows watching them. The woman smiled as she watched them speed out of the parking lot and into traffic.

"The game is on," she said as she laughed. Then she started her car up and pulled out herself driving towards the Buy More.