Don't own Chuck

A commercial plane sat down at the International airport in Tivat, Montenegro and all the passengers filed off via the sky bridge through the terminal to the baggage reclaim area then to passport control and customs. Marcus and Carmen followed the flow mixing with the other passengers trying to avoid CCTV cameras along their way. At passport control the passengers were brought through one at a time where an immigrations officer looked over their passports and visas.

"Have your passports and visas ready for inspection," said the customs officer as he directed the crowd one by one to respective officers waiting to clear them.

"Next in line please. Ma'am, please step over here," said the woman who directed Carmen to a man standing in uniform. He took her passport looked at both then at her.

"This is a German passport and so is your visa but your flight originated in Los Angeles and was nonstop. How do you explain that?"

"I was visiting friends there and now I've come here for a quick holiday before returning home. I'm going to try my hand at the casino in Kotor. I've been told it's something I can't miss. Do you know it?"

"There are a number of casino's there but I have a sure way of winning and that is don't gamble," said the man as he handed her German passport and documents back. He glanced down at her luggage and for a moment she thought he was going to inspect it. However, but the line had backed up and he needed to hurry things along.

"Welcome to Montenegro and if you're smart you'll take my advice. Next please," said the man as he waved for the immigrations officer to send him another person his way.

She went and waited outside the customs area with all the other passengers who'd just gotten cleared. There were all sorts of commotion going on round her as people were met by family and friends who were hugging and kissing. Carmen wait patiently for the most part for Marcus. But the crowds started to go away and she was still left there waiting until at one point she thought he'd been detained so she started to leave when he suddenly appeared.

"You know how long I've been waiting? What took you so long? I was about to give up and find my own transportation to Kotor."

"That would've been too bad because there's a car rental waiting for us. Come on we need to find the Europacar office."

"You still haven't told me what took you so long. I bet you smarted off to one of the customs officer and he did a strip search. You just can't keep that trap of yours closed, can you?"

"It was nothing like that if you have to know I forgot a pen knife in my carry on that TSA missed at LAX when we cleared security but they found it here so they inspected all my things. Before you ask they didn't find anything because I sent everything ahead to our room in the casino so can we get on with this."

"Sure as long as you don't forget anything else and get us busted. Remember we're supposed to be flying under the radar and that's not what you're doing."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," said Marcus as he led Carmen through the airport to the car rental. "We'll get our car then drive to the Casino where we'll check into our room. From there we can scope out the casino and get an idea where we need to go next to grab that package Abe sent."

"I hope you're right about this," said Carime as the green and white logo of Europacar came in sight. "I'd hate to go all through this hassle only to find out he never mailed it."

"Don't worry, he told me he'd mailed it to me and he's a man of his word."

"You mean was... he was a man of his word. You know your constantly telling me 'not to worry' only makes me worry that much more."

"Don't worry, we're here," said Marcus as Carmen gave him the look of death. "What do you want me to tell you? If you want to worry then worry but I' not. Hello," said Marcus as he started talking to the woman behind the counter. "You have a rental reservation for me," he said as slid his passport and driver's license to her.

They picked up their car from the rental agency, an old Fiat Panda. Carmen did a double take looking it over before she got in. Once she was in they took off driving from the airport in Tivat to Kotor on via Jadrandski through the Vrmac tunnel. The driver was usually about ten-minutes but in their car, it seemed to last forever as they drove along.

"I know you picked this car so we wouldn't be in the eye but going in the other extreme is just as bad. This thing is one step up from the car Fred Flintstone drove. I'm expecting to have to put my feet thought the floor board and run which given our current speed might even be faster. I think we were just passed by a goat cart."

"Funny, but you're right I didn't want to be in the eye and no one is going to pay any attention to his when we pull up in Kotor."

"You really think so," said Carmen as she took a deep breath. "You aren't really going to pull up outside the Casino Royale in this thing, are you? There will be women wearing long dresses, furs and jewels there and the men will be wearing tuxedoes. We will look like the country cousins coming in from the hills if we pull up in this tin can."

"I was just joking, of course I know that. My idea is to stash this near the marina and use it if we have to tail someone and that someone being Jack. We'll grab a taxi from the yacht club to the casino."

"Yes, of course you knew that I'm sure of it," said Carmen as she looked over at him. Suddenly they hit a big pothole and both of them bumped their heads on the roof. It felt like the whole bottom of the car was going to fall out. "Geez, a few more like that one and we'll be walking to Kotor. It's better if we take individual cabs and arrive separately so we're not spotted together. We've each got a room booked under our passport names."

"Wait a minute so you're saying we've got separate rooms? But I thought..." Marcus started to say but Carmen cut him off.

"That we'd be bunking together? In your dreams maybe. This is work and we can't have any distractions and before you say anything you know what kind of distractions I'm talking about. We need to keep out eyes on the prize and our heads in the game or we'll end up like Abe floating in the bay face down. We should be coming up on our turn off soon."

"Yes, I see the sign up ahead," said Marcus as he put on his turn signal and moved over to the outer lane before turning off. He understood what Carmen was saying but he didn't know why she was so adamant about laying the blame of Jack Burton's door step. He'd must've done something to her or someone she cared about and this was her way of getting even. However, the truth was he could've cared less as long as there was a payday in it for him this was all good. He was just happy he wasn't the real Jack Burton.

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Chuck called Morgan back and found out it was going to take him longer than he'd originally thought so Chuck drove over to Orange orange to get Sam her ice cream and to wait for him. They walked in and the girls immediately wanted to know how Sam's first days at school went. Sam glanced over at Chuck and decided to save her father from further embarrassment but she wasn't going to let him off the hook just yet.

"It was great," said Sam as they sat at a table. "I don't know if you heard but I got to keep a Tarantula at home for a night."

"The most I got to keep at home was a class rabbit and was my mother upset over that," said one of the girls. "It wasn't house broken and... well it made a mess. I remember giving my brother rabbit pellets and telling him they were smart pills. When he said they tasted like crap I told him he was smarter already." Everyone started laughing but Chuck could see the cogs turning inside Sam's head.

"Don't even think about doing that to your sister," said Chuck as he made a face. "Bunny's little and can't take up for herself..."

"You mean yet," said Sam as she smiled. "Oh, I'm also in a special class," she said as the other girls gave her a look. "Not that kind of special... I'm being taught algebra and geometry. The principal saw I was getting bored with my regular math work and organized this for me."

"Wow, that's really good. I never was very good at math," said one of the girls and the others started laughing. "What's so funny? I know I'm not."

"We figured that one out the last time you tried to close the till. It took us all a good two hours to try to figure out how you got everything to balance."

"That was easy, I was only a couple dollars off so I just put it in. See no problem whatsoever and it balanced out afterwards."

"Except Sarah found your two dollars then we had an overring of two dollars that we couldn't track down. Where is Sarah anyway? I'd think she'd be here with the little genius. I guess you take after your mother."

"Sarah's got some work she had to get done so we're all meeting up tonight at home. So, can we get my little Einstein here some Rocky Road. I think she deserves it after today." Sam didn't say anything she just gave him a look.

"Coming right up," said the one girl. Customers started coming in so the girls had to go behind the counter to wait on them.

"Why'd you call me Einstein? I need a mirror to see what my hair looks like. I don't think I look a thing like him."

"Chill out," said Chuck as he smiled. "I was talking about how smart you are and nothing to do with the way you look."

"Can you call Mommy again and see where she's at? I'd like to tell her about today too. It was super fantastic and I want her to hear it from me."

"I'll try but I don't know why she's not picking up. Maybe she's someplace where there's bad reception. I'll just step outside and tray again," said Chuck as one of the girls brought Sam her ice cream. Three scoopfuls of pure bliss Sam thought as she looked at it in front of her before digging in.

"You might want to go slow there," said Chuck as he got up and pulled out his phone. "You don't want to get a brain freeze."

"Mr. Bartowski, Can I talk with you for a moment?" said the girl who had brought over the ice cream. Chuck nodded. "No, not here somewhere private."

Chuck thought the request was a little odd and he was a little wary too but he agreed so they both stepped outside.

"If this is about your working hours or pay, I don't handle any of that. My wife takes care of all this so you really need to talk to her."

"No, it doesn't have anything to do with that. I don't know maybe I'm seeing things were there is nothing. I'm sorry but this was a bad decision."

"No, don't say that at less let me hear what you wanted to say and I'll tell you what I think. If there's something going on with the other girls we need to know about it before things get out of control and lawyers get involved. Chuck had a sudden flash back to Lester and Jeff."

"Again, no it's not like that," she said and suddenly he felt better but he still didn't know what she wanted to say.

"Just take a deep breath and let the words flow. Now, you've got me curious and I need to know," said Chuck wondering if he was going to have to take her to a black site to get her to talk.

"Okay, well this is it. This morning some men came in asking about your wife, Sarah. At first, we didn't know who they were talking about. They asked about a Jenny Burton then they said her name was Sarah Walker..."

"My wife's maiden name and they also asked about Jenny Burton. Sarah didn't get on well with her father so she had her name changed to her mother's," said Chuck. He realized that didn't explain why she'd changed her first name but the girl was a high school senior. The 'why' and 'how' of changing one's names was the last thing on her mind unless it was a famous movie star or singer.

"Oh, okay but it was the way they asked the questions that creeped me... us out. We all told them we didn't know anyone by that name then they left."

"And was that the end of that?" asked Chuck. He didn't like this one bit especially after what happened to them with the fake Carmen.

"Well, I thought so but then Michelle said she saw them go into the Buy More. I don't know how long they were in there but the van they were in isn't in the parking lot anymore."

"Thanks, I appreciate the heads up and I don't know if it's anything or not. You see my father-in-law liked to gamble and those men you saw were probably men trying to collect on his debt. This has happened before and we're probably going to have to pay them to go away. If they come back you've got my number call me and I'll clear this up. There's no reason to get you girls involved."

"Wow, I don't know how you can stay so calm about this. I was a nervous wreck just thinking about it and you say this has happened before? I don't know how you can put up with it."

"It's a part of marriage. When you marry your partner you also marry their family too and like I said don't worry I've got this," said Chuck as they walked back inside. He glanced back over at the Buy More and realized they'd probably told the men everything including his address.

"Hey Chuck, are you ready for Chinese?" said Morgan appearing from the parking lot. "I don't know about you but I'm really hungry tonight."

"Name a time you're not," said Chuck. "Morgan, you were in the store all day did anyone stop by the store looking for Sarah?"

"As far as I know, no, but I was in my office all day. Maybe the downtown crew when they came in but they know to ask for John. Why is something going on? Is that what this super-secret mission was that Sarah and John went off on?"

"Maybe but why wouldn't they tell me what they're up to and why isn't Sarah picking up? Remind me when we get back to Echo park I want to download the CCTV footage from the parking lot and inside the store today."

"What are you looking for? You know you can always count on the Cobra if you need a hand," said Morgan as they walked back inside.

"We'll see," said Chuck as they looked at Sam sitting at the table with a big chocolate smile. "First thing Cobra we need to do is to find a hose and clean this one up. Sam, you're supposed to eat it not wear it."

"Good to the last spoonful," she said smiling.

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Roan's flight arrived in the early morning hours landing in Berlin's Flughafen Schönefeld airport. His agency jet was directed over to a private hanger where Mary was waiting for him. Roan was at the top of the ladder as soon as they pushed it next to the plane and looked around as he walked down. Mary waited for him at the bottom and he smiled down at her when he saw her.

"It feels good to be back after everything we've gone through here. Berlin was always one of my favorite cities. I kind of miss the old days of cat and mouse."

"Do you miss being the cat or the mouse? For my part I live in the present and our present is dealing with Jim Henson."

"I thought he was supposed to be here to greet me. I was looking around for him but I don't see him anywhere. He hasn't flown the coop, has he? Back in the old days agents had the good sense to defect when they knew were burned."

"But defect to where? Although, I guess he could go join Snowden. They'd make a lovely couple in a dacha in the Urals. But that's not going to happen I've got him on a leash," said Mary as she held up her receiver. "I called him and at first he was surprised to hear my voice..."

"And why did he act surprised," said Roan as he watched the grounds crew off load his bags and taking them over to Mary's car. "Do you think that was smart to bait him like that?"

"If I hadn't he would've thought something was up but I thought the General told you. Jim planted a bomb under my car and I jumped out in the nick of time. I guess for moment he thought I was dead... wishful thinking on his part."

"That's right Diane mentioned it to me but you don't know for sure he planted the bomb just that he had opportunity..."

"And motive. He knew I was hunting the mole and I had a plan to trap him which I did. The proof is right here," she said as she held up the receiver. "He's still at home when he told me he couldn't meet you because of a prior commitment. Come on let's get in the car and get out of here."

"You think he's meeting a buyer for the device you left in the vault," said Roan as he got in the passenger's side. "What's going to happen when they figure out it's a Trojan horse?"

"I hope by then to have eyes on the mastermind behind what's going on or have an idea who's involved," said Mary as they pulled out of the hangar then went through the gate.

"I think the real objective should be to track down where the real books are and to retrieve them. We should use this time our friends are wasting chasing our false lead to figure out where it could be."

"I would but I'm stuck here until the General can get a relief assigned. After Jim hands off the pen we're going to track our guy out of country then turn the hunt over to Langley. They're going to use satellites and local teams to track out man or woman wherever they lead us. Hopefully back to their base so we can take them down."

"Sounds a little optimistic if you ask me. There are too many variables and possibilities for things that could go wrong. I'd grab them both now and have a little heart to heart with the two of them in Poland at one of our Black sites."

"I said the same thing but Diane is afraid of the blowback from Jim's friends. There are those who will say we manufactured all this to lay the blame on him."

"In the old days someone like Jim would have an accident and that would be that. No one would dare ask a question if they didn't want to get tied to him."

"Roan, I'm probably the last person you'd expect to hear this from but these aren't the old days anymore and there are different rules we have to play by."

Roan was about to answer when the receiver started bleeping the tracker was on the move. They looked at it as it signaled to see where Jim was on going.

"Looks like he did have a prior commitment after all and it looks like he's heading to Alexander Platz. That square is huge and he could be meeting his contact anywhere. Worse is there's little cover for us and he knows who we are."

"I can't worry about that right now. We just need to get there and worry about that once we're there," said Mary as she started to speed up cutting through heavy early morning city traffic.

"True but I'd like to get there in one piece. I heard it's been a rough few days for Embassy staff and traffic accidents."

"I would've pictured you as someone who gets so scared so easily. You sure you're feeling okay," said Mary as she weaved in and out of traffic.

"I ran out of gin an hour before we landed so unfortunately I stone cold sober. An unpleasant state I never thought I'd ever be in."

"We can get you a drink in one for the coffee shops in the square."

"If we ever get there."