Don't own Chuck
Chuck jumped on a Yamaha XV250 then headed down to the Marina with the owner hurling insults at him from behind. He had not intention of standing down or by and letting Raul get himself killed even if he was pigheaded. Raul was looking out for his family and trying to save his father. This Chuck could understand something he couldn't do for his own. Something inside him came to surface a feeling of guilt, a feeling he should've done more and if he had… Well maybe things would've been different. Chuck wasn't the only one reflecting.
"Marina," Raul told the taxi driver as he got in. He sat in the back sinking into the seat as the weight of everything seemed to come crashing down on him. Everything was coming to a head now he repeated to himself and now was not the time to have second thoughts. However, he no longer felt like he was making his own decisions. If anything he was being carried away by the current of events which brought him to where he was at now.
"Maybe I should've taken Chuck's offer... maybe it would've been better for everyone," mumbled Raul to himself. "But what about Papa? What was he supposed to do for him? Casey said he was still in the States…"
"Who's in the States?" asked the driver looking up at him in the rearview. Raul hadn't realized he was talking out loud and the driver had overheard part of his talk to himself.
"No one that you need to worry about," said Raul getting short with the driver. "How long before we reach the Marina? Shouldn't we be there by now."
"We're almost there just a few more minutes. Hey, I know you aren't you one of those circus people? Yes, that's where I saw you. I saw your act on the high wire before I came on duty this evening. I have to say it must take some guts to do what you guys do night after night."
"I don't think about it any more. I've done this all my life and my father and his father before him. I come from a long line of circus people. My father and uncle had an act together before and I guess we're just keeping on the tradition... that is my brother and sister are."
"I can't imagine that. My boy's in the university studying to be a doctor. I wouldn't wish him to follow in my footsteps because of any obligation. That type of thing died out with the Middle Ages."
"It's really not like that. We do have a choice," said Raul but then he asked himself why was he having this conversation with a man who obviously couldn't understand him.
"I'm sure you did," said the driver as he pulled over to the side of the street. Then he punched a button on the meter. "We're here and that will be twenty euro."
"Crap," mumbled Raul as he fished out his wallet to pay him. He must've fallen asleep and dreamt the conversation with the way the driver was looking back at him. "There's twenty-five keep the change."
"Thanks, have a good…," said the man started to say 'evening' when his face went pale. He saw Raul's pistol protruding from his pocket. The driver took the money then quickly sped away.
"Well so much for me asking you to wait to give me a ride back to the circus," said Raul as he watched the man's taillights disappear in the darkness.
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Mulder continued to follow the hospital signs but at the same time he peaked around corners with his mirror. He was getting nervous because he hadn't seen or met anyone else for a while. This was quickly looking like he was walking into a trap. Then he remembered seeing Merriweather when they entered the hospital.
"I bet it was that SOB who ratted us out," said Mulder to himself. "That has to be and that's how they knew we're here. But how'd they get the signs up so fast?" He almost talked himself into thinking he was imagining things when in the mirror he saw men around a corner in full tactical gear.
"Crap, now what," he said to himself as he froze. He was about to try to call Scully when he heard the sound of footsteps advancing on his position.
"I've been found," he mumbled to himself. He fired two rounds without aiming from his position around the corner then he started running back into the hospital.
"Bravo team," radioed the Major. "You've got hostiles headed your way. They're armed and dangerous." The Major wanted to tell them to try and take him alive but before he could he heard men yelling in his earbud.
"Put the weapon down on the ground then put your hands in the air. I won't repeat these instructions. Don't do anything stupid you've got nowhere to go." That was followed by the sound of suppressed gunfire then the sound of return fire. It was over before it began.
"Hold your fire. Suspect is down," heard the Major. There was a scratching sound from the mic. It sounded as if the mic was being repositioned then Bravo team leader came back on.
"I don't know how much you heard. The hostile refused to give up so we had no choice other than neutralize him."
"You said him as in singular. There was supposed to be two of them," said the Major. "Are you sure there was only one hostile?"
"Yes there was just this one guy. As a matter of fact, I'm standing over the top of him right now. This guy was alone heading from your direction when he ran right into us. There was no one with him."
"They must've split up," said the Major as it suddenly hit him what had happened. "Leave a couple of men to secure the body and wait for a clean-up crew the rest converge on the General's position now. Our missing gunman is heading there."
"Roger that," said Bravo team leader. The Major turned around and waved everyone to follow him as he took off running through the hospital. They were behind the eight ball and he knew it. He just hoped they weren't too late.
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Ellie and Devon noticed the agents around them were moving about in a frenzy. Devon was about to ask what was going on when the lead agent told them there were a slight problem but they were handling it and soon everything would be under control. Neither of them liked the answer but they had their patient and Doctor Merriweather to think of.
"Merriweather, can I speak to you outside," said Devon as he motioned for him to follow him out the door.
"You two should really wait inside here," said the agent as he stood in front of the door. "I have my orders to keep an eye on all of you."
"Then why don't you come with us out in the hallway," said Devon. "You can come with us if you want. I've just got a few ideas about what to do for our patient that I'd like to bounce off the good doctor."
"I still don't know why you can't do that here," said the Agent as he stepped aside. "Okay I'll bite but I go first then you two follow me."
"It sounds like you're expecting trouble. I thought you said you had everything under control," said Devon as Ellie took his hand. The agent just grunted then went outside. "He must've been trained by Casey."
"I hope you know what you're doing," said Ellie. "Go get this over then come back to me. I don't think this was what we signed up for."
"What is it you want to bounce off me," said Merriweather. He didn't understand either why it had to be done in the hall. "I don't know how much more I can be of help to you. You've done about everything I would've done."
"Come with me and I'll explain better. There is one more thing you can do for grandpa," said Devon as he herded him outside into the hall.
[At the end of the hall near the elevators]
A few minutes later Scully stepped out of the stairwell. He looked down the hall and saw Merriweather talking to another doctor. He couldn't make out what they were saying but Merriweather didn't look happy.
"Just as well, I've got my two birds with one stone," mumbled Scully to himself. He slipped over to a corner hanging where he was sure he could see them but they couldn't see him. He took out his phone and dialed.
"Come on and answer," Scully said to himself as he kept an eye on the movement in the corridor. "Crap answer, where are you? I bet you got yourself caught. Okay so it's just me," said Scully as he put his phone away. Then when Devon and Merriweather went inside Scully knew this was his chance to make his move.
"I've got to cover distance," said Scully as he held his weapon at the ready and quickly made his way down the hallway ready to take out anyone who got in his way. He made it safely to the door he saw Merriweather enter. Strange he thought that they didn't have anyone posted on the door.
"I can't worry about details now," said Scully to himself. He went in with pistol drawn he wasn't sure what he'd find but there wasn't anyone just a diving chamber in the middle of the room with lights on and gauges dancing. He made out a body inside and heard voices in an adjoining room.
"The General just radioed they took one down below in the trap but the other one is still on the loose in the hospital. I've been ordered to move everyone to safe location. She has two teams on their way here now."
"It's going to take time to extract the patient from the tank and prepare him for evacuation," said Merriweather. "But it can be done we just need to be quick about it."
"Evacuate this," said Scully. He turned and fired three quick rounds through the glass on the diving chamber. There was a huge fired ball that erupted inside followed by a shock wave that knocked him out of the room into the hallway. The sprinklers kicked in and water began falling like rain soaking everything and everyone including Scully. He rolled over forcing himself up he wasn't going to wait around to get Merriweather too. It was too late and he knew it.
"Get up," he told himself as he scrambled to his feet. The fire alarm went off and lights began flashing. "Get out of here before you get caught."
He ran to the stairs then ran down two levels. On the third level he got out mixed in with the crowd that was evacuating the hospital. Once outside he ditched the white coat and went over to the parking garage. There still waiting for him was Mr. Smith.
"Where's Mulder," asked Smith as he got in but Scully just shook his head. Smith started the car up and was pulling out as firetrucks arrived on scene.
"What a mess so much for being discreet. At least can you confirm the kill," asked Smith as a fire engine raced by with its sirens blaring and lights flashing.
"It couldn't be helped they had him in a diving chamber filled with oxygen. When I fired into the chamber the room blew up with him in it and I nearly blew myself up in the process so yes I think I can confirm the kill. I saw Merriweather he was there. The man has the most luck of anyone I know. I wanted to waste him but I didn't have time."
"Well that would've been nice but what's important is the target has been eliminated. Too bad about Mulder he was a good guy. There's a fifth of whiskey in the glove box we can drink to him."
"Now that sounds more like it," said Scully as he took out the bottle broke the seal then took a hit. We ought to go someplace and order a short stack."
"That sounds like a plan," said Smith. Scully offered him a hit from the bottle. "No, I'm driving and the last think we need is to get pulled over."
"Too bad for you but that means there's more for me," said Scully as he took another hit. "I don't know but there's something off with your whiskey. I think you might've let it set too long in your car."
"Why's that? Is there something wrong with it?" said Smith as he looked over at Scully. "How are you feeling?"
"I don't know. I don't feel so good my head is spinning and I feel a little nauseous," said Scully as he slumped forwards foaming at the mouth.
"Sorry but your little stunt back there… They'll be scouring the CCTV feeds for you and they find you you'll give up me. So you can see it's just a question of self preservation," said Smith as he talked to Scully's body. "But you did have a good idea about the short stack," he said as he drove into an abandoned factory on the outskirts of town.
[A little bit before back in the hospital]
The General had her men double time it after she heard the explosion. She was yelling in her radio for a status report but was getting only static back. When she arrived on the BHOT floor to find a war zone. Smoke had filled the passageway mixed with the water from the sprinklers it looked like a Dickens tale from the streets of London.
"Get those sprinklers turned off and be careful we don't shoot our own. The last thing we need is friendly fire," said the General as she went and her men went down the passageway ready for whatever jumped out the thick gray haze at them. Suddenly, she heard the sound of coughing and laughter.
"What the heck is going on," said Beckman as she entered the BHOT room. The first thing she noticed was the doors were blown open and inside she made out Ellie with her arms around Devon standing next to Merriweather and one of her men. "Agent, do I have to repeat myself?"
"I'm sorry Ma'am but I can't hear too well after the explosion," yelled her man pointing at his ears. "But everything is all right we've got the situation under control."
"And you call this under control?" said the General as she looked around at the disaster in the room. The diving chamber was ripped open the inside was charred black. "I guess you tried to save the old man by moving him over here."
"No we didn't move him that was just what the killer thought. Doctors you two can explain what happened better than I can... but it was genius," yelled the agent as he gave them both a thumbs up.
"It was simple actually. First we took one of those CPR dummies and put it in the auxiliary chamber then pumped it full of pure oxygen. Merriweather and I went stood outside while Dr. Schweitzer hid inside in case things went wrong. When we spotted the killer near the elevators we went inside. There we started a conversation about how you were on your way and would be here soon that made him feel he had to act fast."
"I see," said Beckman. "He just saw a man's shape in the chamber so he fired in it which caused the explosion and fire. So he thinks the old man is dead and reported that back to his people. Well I would've liked to have taken him alive to question him but this is good too. At least now they won't be gunning for our man and we can relax a bit... maybe even catch our breath."
"Ma'am, Dr. Merriweather is responsible for helping us pull this off so I think this should go a long way to exonerate him from any wrong doing. If he'd been in on this he could've sold us out and been on his way with our killer."
"You're as bad as Chuck always seeing the good in people. Well, maybe I am a little cynical but I concur; however, doctor I can't let you walk away either."
"I don't understand. You just agreed that I didn't have anything to do with this... whatever this is. Why can't you let me go back to my practice?"
"Because the people that were here saw you and you'll be the next name on their list of loose ends to tie up. Sure I could let you go but you won't last twenty-four hours on the street. I'm sorry but you're going to have to go into witness protection."
"But medicine is my life. I can't just pack up and leave everything behind. They might as well kill me because they've ended my life."
"Now let's not get all melodramatic," said the General. "There are options like the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. It's the largest military hospital outside the continental United States and if you want I could stash you there where you could continue to practice medicine."
"Now that sounds like a win. Let's go back over to the room across the hall and check on our patient doctors," said Devon as he took Ellie's hand.
"You guys go ahead I need to call Chuck. The last time I talked with Sarah Chuck was walking a tight rope in a circus. Not bad for a guy who was afraid of heights."
"Yes do that and let me know how he's liking his vacation," said the General as she looked over at the Major but he didn't pick up on her hint. "Major, don't you have a phone call to make?"
"No I don't think so. Alpha and Bravo teams have called in clean-up crews that will be here shortly," said the Major as he looked at her perplexed.
"So you talked with Agent Carmichael, Sarah, did she say if she liked the clowns?" said the General as she looked at the Major. He nodded his head then disappeared.
"You know it's funny you should ask but we were talking about how much we didn't like clowns. You know you never know what a clown is thinking behind that painted face."
"How very true," said the General as she looked around but her Major was still gone. "Well I'll let you get on with it. I need to track down my aid."
Ellie pulled out her phone and tried to call Chuck but her call went straight to voice mail so she tried Sarah too. She got the same result she was about to try Chuck again when Devon came back out.
"Come in," said Devon as he stuck his head out of the door. "You need to see this. I cut back on some of the sedative and now Grandpa is conscious. He wants to talk to the pretty doctor he saw before."
"In a minute I'm trying Chuck and Sarah but neither of them are answering. I want to give it one more try then I'll be in."
"Come on bebe put away the phone. Can't you figure out what they're doing? They're on the French Riviera. It's night time over there right now and the moon is out. They've probably shared a glass or two of wine and now are strolling along the beach barefooted or they've found themselves a quiet spot."
"Sarah did say they were sending the girls back to their hotel with Emma," said Ellie as she thought.
"See what I mean. Let's leave the lovebirds alone and you come in with me. Our patient wants to thank you for everything you've done. I'm glad he's in the chamber or I might be a little jealous."
"Oh shut up. You're probably right," said Ellie then she took Devon's hand and they walked back inside. Devon took her over to the chamber and there lying on his back was the old man with his eyes open smiling back at her.
"Here you go Grandpa this is my wife. She's the doctor who helped me save you."
"Don't call me Grandpa sonny. You can call me what everyone else calls me, Zio Mario."
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Chuck pushed his bike to the limit opening the throttle wide open. He had no intention of slowing down as he was driving break neck speeds through the streets of Monaco. Raul had a head start on him so he had to make up distance by taking every short cut he could which included cutting through bars, driving down steps, across flower beds and driving the wrong way down one way streets. Chuck did everything he could to make it to the Marina in time.
"You know Sarah is going to be so mad at you when she gets a hold of you," said Chuck as he knocked tables over in a bar drinks went flying. "Sorry, in a hurry," yelled Chuck as people began throwing things at him but he continued on driving.
"I know Sarah's worried about me but I've got to do this. I think she can understand that I couldn't save my crazy old dad but maybe I can save Raul and his. I just have to… I just do," he repeated to himself as he drove through the night.