Don't own Chuck
Igor had squeezed everything he needed to squeeze from Viktor and as a lemon he was dry ready to be discarded. Igor told Viktor to go home kiss his wife then to report to Lubyanka where he could give his statement then Igor would go from there. Viktor tried to get some sort of guarantee from Igor about what would happen to him but Igor was too angry and not in the mood to play cat and mouse any more.
"Look, you've got two hours to report in and no more. If you don't report in there will be a kill-on-sight order on you so it's in your own best interest to show up."
"Yes sir, I'll be there. I promise but if you could give me some indications about what's going to happen to me afterwards... you know so I can tell my wife. I mean after all I thought I was doing this for the betterment of the Rodina... the motherland..."
"But the bottom line is you weren't, were you? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. What do you want me to tell you? You want to tell your wife that you've been a fool and that she might not see you again? I can't see that as being of any comfort for her."
"Sir, poʐalooysta, nye dyelay etoguo. [Please don't do this]," said Viktor as sweat rolled down his forehead and he rubbed his wet palms together.
"Oh, stop your whining and act like a man," said Imma. "He's not going to have you executed. If he were we'd just take you down to the basement and get it over with. He certainly wouldn't let you go home then have you come back in. Not when you could run..."
"But the Director said he'd put a kill-on-sight order on me," said Viktor as Imma shook her head. She couldn't believe how gullible the guy was.
"So, tell me what's the difference if you got shot running or come in and got shot wouldn't you'd be dead either way. You know thinking like that... or better the lack of thinking is what's gotten you in this trouble."
"The Colonel is right Viktor. The lack of thinking things through has brought you to this point in your life. I could have you arrested but you're not worth the cost of the bullet to put you down. That doesn't mean that a pair of snowshoes won't be in your future. Now go, tell everyone I told you that you needed the rest of the day off. No one should question that."
"Yes Sir... right away," said Viktor as he hurried off leaving Imma and Igor standing in the conference room alone.
"You know you're mad at Stefan and Anatoly and you took it out on that poor man. We have everything he knows so there was no need in threatening him like that."
"There's always a good reason, my dear Colonel. Machiavelli knew it when he said it was better to feared than loved. People who love you think they can get away with things someone who fears you wouldn't try it. I think you might know something about this."
"Hold on a moment. And what's that supposed to mean? If you're talking about Stefan that was mutually agreed upon."
"If you say so I need to get back to my office and you need to go get changed then I want you on the next flight to Moldova. I'll send you agents Mikhailovich and Metrohken's location in the air. I want you to meet them and express my disapproval. You can slap Stefan if you want."
"I'll pass on your disapproval with pleasure," she said as she smiled. "Then what do you want me to do once I've made contact? Do you want to issue a kill order on them? Do you want me to terminate them with extreme prejudice?"
"'Terminate them with extreme prejudice', what does that even mean? This isn't one of those Jason Bourne movies. No, I didn't want to get mixed up in this but it looks like I am like it or not," he said as he paused for a moment. "No, I'm in it now so I'm going to play my hand."
"You complain about me speaking in clichés and what do you do? You start speaking in metaphors. What hand are you talking about playing?"
"I'm the director so I'm authorized to speak however I want. Come on I'll have my driver drop me off at Lubyanka then take you home so you can change. I'll have him wait then run you to the airport and by then I should have everything arranged for your trip. I have just one favor to ask..."
"You don't want me to tell my Generals about this sudden trip to the sunny beaches of Moldova. I can understand why and of course I won't."
"If you want you can tell them you're going to the Ukraine for me. There are some things that we need to check out and given our current relationship I thought it best this be done covertly."
"I can do that but you're going to have to give me a back story. What am I supposed to tell them if they press me?"
"Tell them you're going to be working with Kolonel Sheshenkov 'the Butcher of the Caucasian' that should scare them enough to keep them quiet. No one wants to be linked with him."
"You mean Chuck," said Imma as she watched Igor give her a look then smiled. "What? Why are you looking at me like that? Of course I know who Sheshenkov really is but no one else does in the GRU."
"You know I'm liking you more and more. I might have to adopt you as my daughter one of these days. Come on I need to get your trip taken care of then I want to yell at someone... I think I'll start with the Americans."
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White walked out of the casino but he didn't go to the morgue like some people thought. He made a beeline to the closest phone store where he bought a burner. When they'd left the plane, Oscar took his phone with the excuse that it was for security purposes but he knew it was more about wanting to control what word got back to Moldova. Now with this new player on the field it was imperative that he make contact with One's secretary to find out exactly what was going on.
"Okay, now that I've got the phone I need to find a place to make my call without being overheard," said White to himself as he stepped out of the store.
"Crap, what's going on here," he mumbled as he looked around. There were police everywhere combing the alley knocking on doors and stopping people. "I think I need to make myself scarce."
He was about to head back towards the Casino when he walked right into two uniformed officers. They looked at him and because of his looks they were immediately suspicious.
"Can I see identification, please," said the one as he held out his hand. "How long have you been walking around here?"
"Not long... I forgot my phone at home so I just bought this one," said White as he handed the officer his fake ID. "I've got a receipt that has a time stamp if that helps?"
"Yes, it would. May we see it," said the other officer. White dug in his pocket and pulled out a waded piece of paper then tried to straighten it out before handing it to the policeman.
"Thanks, you're good to go," said the one officer as he showed the time stamp to his partner and he nodded back. "Sorry, if we inconvenienced you," said the cop as he handed him back his ID.
"What's going on? You're obviously looking for someone. Did something happen? Am I in danger," said White as he feigned being scared.
"No, it's nothing like that," said the one officer as he looked at his partner who nodded back. "You see a man was assaulted not too far from here and we're looking for the his assailant. You wouldn't happen to have seen anything?"
"I'm sorry but I was coming from the opposite direction and now that I have my phone I'm going back. That's terrible for something like that to happen in broad daylight. If I were you I'd be targeting foreign visitors in your search."
"Foreigners? Why do you say that had to be a foreigner involved? It could just as well have been a local for all we know. It's too early to jump to conclusions."
"But if it had been a local don't you think this type of thing would've happened before or hadn't you thought about that?"
"I'm sure the commissioner has taken in accounts all the possibilities and it's for that very reason he's on his way right now to the Casino to question them."
"My God, I'm staying there. Are you sure I'll be safe staying there? Maybe I should think about finding another hotel as least until this is taken care of."
"I'm sure you've got nothing to worry about," said the one policeman as he gave his partner the evil eye. "My partner was just stating facts. It looks like there was an altercation and the one man got the short end of the stick. I'd appreciate it if you didn't go around spreading what we just told you to anyone else. My partner was speaking out of turn and should've kept his mouth shut about certain details."
"I see. Look, I'm here by myself anyway so there's no one I would tell anything to so you needn't worry. But... well this probably isn't anything. No, I shouldn't even bother you with it."
"If you have something useful it's your obligation to tell us. Leave it up to us to decide if it's important or not."
"Well, there was a Russian, Major Oleg Romanoff, who left the Casino before I did and I believe I saw him walking in front of me but I have no idea where he went. One moment he was in front of me then the next he was gone."
"And this Major, how do you know him exactly? What I mean is how can you be sure it was him you saw? The streets are full of people."
"We've done business before and he's tried to stiff me out of a commission so I'm not going to forget his face," said White as he was laughing inside thinking this would keep the Major busy for a while.
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Chuck rode a Bell helicopter from the capital to a small village nestled away in a valley not far away. They came in at sunrise with the sun just starting to cast its first rays on the valley below. Soon the chopper touched down in the town center on what was or is the towns soccer stadium. Chuck smiled at the man he'd been intimidating sitting on the opposite side from him.
"We're here," announced the man in black who'd loaded them up in Chişinău as the chopper start hovering like they needed to be told. After the chopper sat down they were all taken off. Chuck watched as Visali was led off by more men in black leaving him along with Stefan and Anatoly to wait.
"I don't like this," said Anatoly as he looked around. "I get the feeling we're being watched. How do you Americans say my Spidey senses are tingling."
"I told you to go when we were back at the airport," said Stefan as he shook his head. "You're just going to have to hold it."
"I wasn't talking about..." Anatoly was about to say when he stopped. Heading towards them was a man unlike the rest who wore black off the rack suits designed by J.C. Penny. This man was wearing a grey pinstriped suit by Valentino and shoes made by Berluti.
"Do you see what he's wearing? We're in the wrong line of work," said Stefan as he looked at Anatoly and himself. "We're dressed like peasants compared to him."
"Shush, but we can sleep at night. Now let me do the talking," said Chuck as he moved forward to meet the man. The man stopped and looked Chuck over first then Stefan and Anatoly. He seemed hesitant at first them shook it off.
"Good morning, I trust you had a comfortable flight," said the man as he offered his hand to Chuck who took it.
"It was okay," said Chuck. "I've flown on better and I've flown on worst. My name is Sheshenkov... Colonel Sheshenkov and these are my assistants..."
"Mr. Mikhailovich and Mr. Metrohken... Of course, we did backgrounds on everyone that's coming here. You can call me Twelve. Our organization is known as 'the Circle' and all our members go by numbers. Please follow me and I'll take you to your quarters."
"And when am I supposed to address your 'Circle'? I'd like to get things out of the way as quickly as possible and I think they'll want to hear me."
"The latest I got from One... he's the head of our circle, is that he wants to talk to you alone first then afterwards if he deems it necessary he'll brief the Circle. You know security is important and well the members of the Circle would like to keep their identities secret."
"So, let me get this straight," said Stefan. "One is in charge and leads this Circle? I thought the idea of having a circle is so that no man could sit at the head of the table and that all people are equals."
"My dear Stefan, you're forgetting the Orwell principle," said Chuck. They all turned and looked. "What has happened to education these days... 'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.'"
"Yes, I guess that would sum it up nicely," said Twelve as they got into a golf cart that whisked them into town. Chuck looked around to try to figure out where Casey and his Mom could be. There was a hill top that overlooked the town that had a good vantage point.
"I assume you've taken over the town and have patrols in those hills. If I were a sniper that would be where I'd set up my nest. You could cover the whole town from up there."
"We've got the town locked down and there are roving patrols. If there are snipers up there we'll find them before they can do any harm. Our security officer set everything up before he went out on mission. You might know him because he says he knows you... Major Oleg Romanoff. He said you were together..."
"In the Caucasians with Boris. Yes, I remember him and as I recall he was a very competent officer but he could be a little reckless at times. He had two vices... he liked to drink and he liked women. I hope wherever you sent him there aren't any beautiful women."
"We're here," said Twelve as he filed away the information Chuck had told him for later inquires. They stopped in front of a set of row houses in the middle of town. They got out of the cart then walked up to the front door then walked on inside. "This is yours for duration."
"Spah-see-boh," said Chuck as they entered. The place was fully furnished with papers and clothes scattered around everywhere. The place had obviously been occupied. "What happened to the owners? Is there a mass grave on the outskirts of town?"
"No, nothing like that. The civilian population has been rounded up and are being detained in the tavern until we're done here."
"Either there aren't very many or you've got them stacked in there like the black hole of Calcutta," said Chuck. The atmosphere suddenly got very tense inside.
"I guess that rules out a drink," said Anatoly to cool things down. He walked through the living room picking up photos in picture frames and looked at the couple who used to live there.
"I wouldn't rule that out," said Stefan as he homed in on the liquor cabinet. "There's stuff in here I've never heard of but I can read vodka in just about any language. I'll just put this in the freezer for later consumption."
"Well, make yourselves at home and I'll come for you when One wants to speak with you. Oh, and please don't wander off, there's a shoot-on-sight policy in effect."
"We'll try to keep that in mind," said Chuck as he shook Twelve's hand then Twelve turned and left. Chuck went to the door and looked out through the peephole making sure Twelve and his goons had gone.
"That's it. The die has been cast and now the fun begins," said Chuck. He reached into his pocket taking out a small mirror then he went to the window facing the hill he'd noticed before. "I hope the wrong people don't see this."
"Wrong people? Chuck, who are you signaling," asked Stefan as he sniffed some of the mystery labels. "Is the rest of your team in the hills?"
"I wouldn't take anymore from here than is absolutely necessary," said Chuck as he flashed a short message. "That should do it."
"You realize they're not going to allow anyone to live when they leave? You joked about it but I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a mass grave already being dug in the back of the town."
"I know Anatoly. That's why I said what I said to make them realize they'll never going to get away with it. If I'm right Casey and my Mom are up there."
"Make them realize what? That they need to kill us too? Chuck, I think it's about time you need to tell us what you've gotten us in to."
"Don't worry I've got a plan. I worked it out with office supplies and everything."
"That's good because I thought there for a moment you were flying by the seat of your pants. I hope office supplies is a code name for a secret weapon or a special delta force division."
"What? Clerks by day then when night falls they become deadly assassins. They put a whole new meaning to getting a paper cut."
"You should propose that to Netflix or Warner Brothers. But no, office supplies are just that office supplies. It's better if I just explain what's going on but you might want to bring that vodka out of the freezer first."
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Oscar got on the elevator as quickly as he could. He had only one plan at the moment and that was to change his clothes then take a bleach bath to get rid of any possible trace DNA. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid and that idiot had been so foolish. However, that was history and now he was in the present.
"What's going on," said one of his men meeting him in the hallway as he got off the elevator. "You look like you're in a hurry. Is something wrong? Is that blood on your sleeve? I hope it's not yours."
"Plenty is wrong and no, it's not mine. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to go get White and the rest of the men. Tell them I want everyone in my room in a half an hour. We need to go now."
"I'm on it," said the man. Oscar continue down to his room as the man pressed the button for the elevator then watched him hustle down the corridor wondering if Oscar had finally had enough and had taken out the Major. The bell rang snapping him out of his daydream as the doors opened and he got on.
"Crap, he's right there's blood on my cuff," said Oscar as noticed the stain as he unlocked his door. "These clothes have to go," he said as grabbed the liner from the trash can then stripped putting his clothes inside.
"Be professional," he told himself. "The last thing you need it to contaminate your room," he said as he dropped his watch in the bag too. He took a small container of bleach he had in his bag then wiped his hands and arms down be doing his face and neck in the sink. He immediately jumped in the shower and continued to decontaminate himself.
"Stupid, stupid," he repeated as the water came belting down on him. His anger mounted inside until he had felt like he was going to pop and so he punched the wall cracking some of the tiling.
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Back in Langley the General was getting an earful from Igor. He blamed her and Chuck for dragging him into something he didn't want to be involved in. The General sat there listening to Igor rant and letting him ramble on until he was out of steam.
"Okay, now that we've got that out of the way. I didn't know anything about Chuck contacting you and I think you realize that but let's overlook that for now."
"K chertu," mumbled Igor. Beckman had let him rattle on and he'd said too much. This was a rookie mistake. "Yes, let's overlook this for now. So, what do you propose?"
"I have a list of suspected members of this organization. I'd like to send you a copy and have you vet them. I'll do the same then we'll compare notes."
"That sounds like an excellent idea."