Don't own Chuck

Mr. White got as comfortable as he could but this was a far cry from what he was accustomed to and would take some getting used to. However, hopefully his lawyer would be able to get him out soon because this was totally unacceptable. He walked over to the mattress on the floor, took a handkerchief from his pocket unfolded it then placed it neatly down before sitting as he began to ponder on how he'd gotten himself here.

"Well, this is one fine mess you've gotten yourself into," he said to himself as he leaned back against the wall. Little did he know what chain of events he'd caused with his one phone call or what was going on up at the front desk.

"I'm Mr. White's attorney," said a well-dressed man as he handed the officer behind the desk his business card. "I demand to see my client right now."

"I need to get this cleared with my Watch Chief," said the officer as he looked over the man standing in front of him wearing a Giorgio Armani suit that was worth more than six months of the officer's pay. "I'm going to need some of picture identification."

"Sure," said the man as he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a passport and handed it to the officer. "This should do and before you ask, yes, I'm licensed to practice law here."

"Please take a seat. You can sit over there and wait while I get this cleared," said the officer as he picked up the phone and dialed a number. "I need to talk to the Chief. I've got a guy here who says he's White's lawyer and he wants to see him. ... I'll ask," said the officer as put his hand over the receiver. "Sir, my Chief said that Mr. White is being transferred and asked if this couldn't wait until he gets moved."

"You can tell him no it can't. What kind of place are you running here? Already, you're holding my client without any sort of just cause and now you're denying him his civil rights. I'll have you all in front of a judge in Strasburg and you can explain every why I couldn't see him before the European court."

"Thank you, we just wondered if you could wait but you're saying you need to see him now," said the officer as the man gave him a look. The officer turned back to the receiver. "Chief, did you get all that? He still wants to see White and he's not going to leave without seeing him. ... All right I'll tell him," said the officer as he hung up the receiver.

"So, what is it? Am I going to be able to see my client or do I have to start writing down names for my formal complaint?"

"There's no need for that we just wanted to make sure you couldn't wait. Just stay seated and my Watch Chief will be here in a few minutes and he'll take you to see your client."

"Thank you," said the man as he sat there holding his attaché case on his lap. He looked at his wrist watch then looked at the watch on the wall. "You know, like everything else here, your clock is five minutes behind?"

"Like I said he'll be right with you. You just need to have a little patience," said the officer but before the man could reply another policeman showed up.

"My name is Chief Zorn Bojan and I'm the Watch Officer this afternoon," said the policeman as he took the man's passport from the other officer and gave it a look. "The reason I asked if you could wait is that we don't have all the amenities that other detention facilities have so your going to have to visit your client in his cell."

"Amenities? I don't care what you have I just need to see my client so we can start work on his defense strategy. This is only delaying my ability to put together an effective defense and I assure you when this goes before the judge he will hear about this."

"No need in getting worked up just follow me," said the officer as he handed back the man his passport. "Like I said you're going to have to interview him in his cell and I should tell you that he's been placed in solitary confinement. He had a run in with one of the guards... your client doesn't like to follow orders. However, I can assure you no one laid hands on him."

"I'll be the judge of that when I see him and all of this will be present to the judge at his hearing. Therefore, I'd recommend you keep your guards away from him," said the lawyer as he and the officer walked back through the jail towards White's cell.

White didn't have to sit long in solitaire before he heard the sound of footsteps heading towards him from outside his door. It was funny how his senses became keener as he sat there in the silence so sharp were they that he could tell there were two men walking down the corridor towards him. He heard the key being put in the lock and the grinding noise of the bolt being drawn back as it was turned.

"I knew Xavier was quick and efficient but this is too much to hope for. He'll be expecting a hefty bonus for this," he said to himself. "Don't get ahead of yourself this could just be the transfer."

"Geez," he said as he had to shield his eyes from the light outside. All he saw were two silhouettes standing in the doorway as the light shone brightly around them. "What's going on? What do you want?"

"Your lawyer's here to see you," said the officer then he turned to the other man. "Well, here's your client, so talk to him."

"Sorry but attorney-client privilege I believe you have that too. So, if you don't mind please wait outside the door. I'll knock when we're done." The officer gave the lawyer a look then glanced over at White sitting on the mattress. "Come on make a decision. I don't have all day. Do I have to call your Minister of Justice and report this?"

"Okay, but I don't want any funny business and if I find you've passed him something he shouldn't have then I'll have your..."

"I think you've made yourself clear enough," said the lawyer as he pushed the officer out then closed the door.

"Who are you? Where's Xavier? Did he send you?" said White in a low voice. "I don't care who you are I just want out of here."

"Calm down. Yes, Xavier did make a phone call that caused me to come here," said the man as he opened his briefcase. "I need you to look at the material in this folder and make sure everything in it is true to the best of your knowledge. You know what they say, the devil's in the details."

"Sure," said White as he heaved a sigh of relief. "I thought you'd been sent by... well you don't want to know. But I thought you were here for another reason."

"Really, like what," said the man but in that moment, he dropped the folder and the papers scattered across the cell floor. "Crap, look at what I've done."

"Here let me help you pick them up," said White but as he bent down the lawyer pulled a knife from his buckle.

"That's kind of you," said the lawyer as he walked up behind White as he bent down to gather the papers. "You know I think I can have you out of here in no time."

"Rea..." was all White got out as the man grabbed White by the hair pulled his head back and slit his throat in one swift move. He shoved White back down to the floor so he'd bleed out without getting blood on him. The lawyer wiped his blade on White then replaced it in his belt as he walked to the door and knocked.

"I'm ready to go," he said and the officer opened the door then closed it after he came out. "My client said this whole ordeal has him feeling dead tired and he'd like to sleep."

"If he misses his meal then he'll have to wait until morning. This isn't a hotel you know," said the officer as he locked the door.

"My client is well aware of that but resting in peace is what he needs right now."

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Sam and Tommy played for most of the afternoon in her room. Kat brought them refreshments that included peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. However, when it started getting late Alex had to bring an end to their fun.

"Sam, I'm sorry but Tommy has to go home now. The deal with his parents was he needed to be home before supper. However, he can come back another day, we just have to set up a play date with his parents."

"I'd like that," said Sam as she looked over at Tommy. "I mean that is if you want to," she said and he nodded back.

"Okay, let me talk with his parents then it's a date," said Alex as Sam gave her a look. "A play date... Tommy get your things together so I can drive you home."

"Can I come along... please," said Sam. "I'm sorry for the way I acted before and I promise I'll be good so can I ride along? Please... please!"

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep but all right and I'll remind you of this the next time you start acting up again."

"Sss...am," said Tommy as he stuttered. "I had fun playing with you but you don't seem to be very sick to me. Why didn't you go to school?"

"I have a strange illness that comes and goes but I'll be back soon or I hope to be. Don't worry I'm not contagious or anything," said Sam as Alex smiled. Sam gave her a look back.

"Remember your promise," said Alex before Sam could open her mouth. "And after all a promise is a promise."

"I didn't say anything," said Sam. But she didn't have to her face said everything. A few minutes later they were pulling out of Echo Park driving towards Tommy's house. Alex noticed the black SUV parked across the street as she drove away then a few yards later they picked up a black Escalade tail that started following them.

"I see the downtown office is working overtime," said Alex as she glanced up in the rearview. "I mean the road crew... see how nice and new the road is."

"Iii...f yooo...u say so," stuttered Tommy. "My dad says there needs to be elections because that's the only time they touch the roads."

"Sometimes it certainly feels that way," said Alex as she continued on to Tommy's house. Every so often she'd check in the rearview to make sure the Escalade was still behind them. Knowing they were there made her feel better.

"Here we are," said Alex as they pulled into Tommy's drive. "Say thank you to your parents from me and I'll get with them when we can do this again."

Having the escort probably wasn't necessary but it made her feel better knowing it was there so it was a little unnerving when on their way back she looked up and noticed the Escalade was gone.

"Crap, where are they," she mumbled to herself as she started looking for the Escalade in her rearview and not paying attention to the road in front of her.

"Look out," screamed Sam. Alex looked up to find a car had switched lanes then slowed down so she was about to rear end it. She quickly swerved to avoid it but in doing so cut off another vehicle in the lane who had to brake. The man honked his horn at her but luckily with the windows up and the A/C on they didn't hear what he was yelling at them.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to get us killed?" said Sam from the back. "If Uncle Casey were here he'd tell you eyes front."

"And that's part of the problem, he's not. Sorry but that guy came out of nowhere," said Alex as she glanced up again but the Escalade was nowhere to be seen. "We're closer to the Buy More than to home let's stop by and see if Morgan wants a ride home?"

"Sure, and maybe we can stop for some ice cream too. Rocky Road would really hit the spot right about now as well as calm my nerves."

"Calm your nerves? Well we'll see," said Alex as she glanced back up in the rearview. She noticed a dark blue Discovery that was gaining on them swerving through traffic. Alex didn't know who they were but had no intention of letting them catch up to her. As she accelerated her phone rang and glancing down at it she saw it was Morgan.

"Morgan, I really can't talk right now," she said as she looked up in the rearview. "So, unless this is an emergency I'll..."

"It's about the security detail that was following you. The downtown people called in saying their team was involved in a traffic accident..."

"Did they send a dark blue Discovery to replace their Escalade," asked Alex as she looked up to check where their pursuers were.

"No, they called to ask me to find out where you were and to arrange a rendezvous with them. What's going on?

"We're coming in on the 134 from Glendale with a bandit on our tail. I'm closer to you then home but we're going to be coming in hot."

"Don't worry I'll be ready," said Morgan then he hung up. "Crap, what do I do? Come on what would the Cobra do? No, what would Chuck do?"

"Morgan, son, I need to talk to you," said Big Mike as walked into Morgan's office as Morgan got up to leave. "It's important..."

"No time right now. No time," said Morgan as he tried to think about what Chuck would do. He started to try to pushed past Big Mike but Big Mike wasn't moving.

"I need to talk to you now. It's about those idiot twins they put the wrong prices..."

"Just go ahead and fix it. Pineapple," said Morgan.

"Pineapple? Son don't go saying that if you don't mean it. That's like the little boy who cried the sky was falling. In the end someone hit him in the head with a brick and told him there's your sky you little..."

"No... no, you're getting it all wrong. You're getting your 'Chicken Little' confused with your 'Little boy who cried wolf'.

"I do like little a six inch Subway sub with chicken teriyaki, provolone cheese, jalapenos and black olives on hearty Italian... you know a little east meets west. That's a spicy sandwich almost as spicy as the beautiful caliente Bolonia Garcia Bougainvillea Grimes Tucker."

"Why me? Always my mother," said Morgan as he shook his head. "No, no the little boy cried wolf when there wasn't any until one day there was and no one believed him so he got eaten. Chicken Little is… well there's a cartoon version you can check out later. What am I doing here? Pineapple," yelled Morgan then he ran off.

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Chuck got off the phone with Sarah and looked over at the hooded man sitting across from him then at his watch. It would be about an hour before they reached their destination but if everything went as planned Sarah would be there to meet them.

"You couldn't have picked anything closer," yelled Imma back at Chuck. "As it is we're going to come in on fumes."

"I can think of a couple of ways we could lighten our payload," said Casey as he looked over at Twelve and Viktor. "I'll even let you two toss a coin to see who we throw out first."

"That's very democratic of you," said Anatoly. "But we need them both to take with us. Stefan's gotten some intel and if we bring them back alive we just might avoid a firing squad."

"Too bad, so sad but if we go down you won't have to worry about a firing squad or have you thought about that?"

"No one is getting tossed out the hatch," said Chuck. "I've done the math so don't worry we've got just enough fuel to reach Bezmer Air Base in Bulgaria. And yes, Imma we have to go there. It's the only place that's close enough that we can hide number One away before the Circle's men start looking for him."

"Do we need to get ready for them to make a rescue attempt? Because if they want to try I say let them bring it on. I've just scratched one itch but that doesn't mean I can't scratch another."

"You know they sell over the counter creams for those kinds of things," said Stefan as Casey grunted and stared at him.

"I don't think they'll... we'll be sending any rescue team," said Twelve as he suddenly spoke up. "Rescue really isn't our style. Once a person has been taken we write them off as being compromised which means they become a loose end to tie up. However, all that depends on what was left intact after our departure."

"I can promise you a slow and painful death," said the hooded man then he moaned a little as he came to and shook his head. "I promise that to all of you."

"Yah, I hear you," said Casey as he yanked the hood off of One. "Yeah, you're going to kill us all and blah, blah, blah. If I were you I'd be worried about where I was heading after we land. I can make you a promise that it won't be the Ritz-Carlton."

"Very funny Colonel Casey," said One as he looked at John. "Yes, I know who you are... I know who all of you are. Miss Frost or is it Mary Bartowski? I get names confused in my head sometimes."

"I don't think you get anything confused in your head or anywhere else for that matter. But like the Colonel said just sit back and enjoy the ride. I've got a surprise waiting for you when we land."

"And I've got one for you Agent Carmichael. Yes, I know who you are too. I make it a habit of knowing everything about the people I'm going to meet. I knew there had to be some reason White's team failed in L.A. but your wife was in Montenegro protecting her father so I did a little digging and you popped out."

"Don't let him mess with your head, because that's what he's trying to do," said Casey. "So what, he knows our names but he's the one that's on his way to a dark hole somewhere."

"That may be true but you've overlooked one important little detail and I can see from your face Chuck...do I mind if I call you Chuck? But I think you've just realized it."

"My friends call me Chuck. You can call me your worse nightmare if what I think you're hinting at is what I'm thinking."

"And what would that be? Maybe that I know where you live and who you've left behind unprotected and unguarded."

"Do you want to try to fly? John and Imma think we need to lighten the chopper and I think I'm hearing you volunteer."

"You won't do that because your General wants my intel. You know we in the Circle run around worrying that you people are after us when the truth is you don't even know we exist," One said as he laughed. "If you let me go I can call our people off."

"Shut up," said Mary as she unbuckled herself and knocked him out with one punch. "Charles, don't listen to him. If what he says is true... and remember it might not be... but if we let him go there's no guarantee he'll call his men off."

"He might not be able to," said Twelve. "Like I said before if the others in the Circle find out he's been taken then his authority will be stripped from him and a hit will be placed on him."

"If what you say is true that means there will be a hit placed on you and Viktor," said Chuck. Twelve nodded back.

"That's right there will be," said Twelve as he heaved a sigh. "Our only hope is they think we were killed in the explosions when we left which means Viktor, you and I need to lay low."

"And find a nice rock to hide under," said Casey. "I think our commie friends can help you two out with a place like that."

"Yakutsk," said Anatoly as he smiled looking over at Stefan. "Believe me no one would look for you there and I think you Americans say a stranger would stick out like a sore thumb there so it would be easy to protect you."

"What us Yakutsk," asked Twelve looking at Stefan and Anatoly but Viktor spoke up first.

"Arguably the coldest city in the world and it's in the middle of Siberia," said Viktor as he cringed thinking about it.

"I need to call Alex," said Chuck as he started to pull out his phone but before he could dial it his phone began to ring.

"Crap, I don't need this now. It's the General," he said as he answered it. "Ma'am, I'm kind of busy here can I call you... What? No, I haven't. Look that's not important I was just told... wait a minute. Did you say my override code was used? ... Thanks for calling. ... Yes, yes, you can blame me but I need to get off this line right now. I promise I'll explain everything later."

"What's going on? What codes are you talking about?"

"If I'm right the Cobra's back."