Don't own Chuck

Morgan was with the tactical team heading for the cabin. He had no idea what was going on or what Ettore was up to just that whatever it was it had to be no good. After driving through L.A., they were on the last leg of their journey and tensions in the van were running high. Morgan took a deep breath and tried to prepare himself mentally for what they might find.

"Okay, listen up. I need to tell you guys something. Look if you see someone who looks like me but isn't shoot him. However, hearing myself say that I'd really appreciate it if you were sure it wasn't me," said Morgan. They drove out of the city and were heading back on the road towards the cabin.

"Okay, we're almost there so get ready ladies," said Morgan. Everyone got quiet and gave him a look. "I'm sorry I think I got a little carried away. Casey does that all the time and no one says anything? It doesn't matter anyway... this guy we're going after is an evil genius so don't under estimate him… don't give him an inch or believe me you'll regret it. Does anyone have any questions that I can answer or are we all clear?"

"I have a question," said one of the men as he raised his hand. "Well I don't know about the rest but if you don't mind who is this evil genius you're talking about? You told us he looks like you but no one gave us a name when we left. The only thing we were told was we needed to get a team together and you'd show us the way."

"Yeah, that's right," said another man. "I'd like to know who we're going after. Even the guys in Seal Team Six knew they were going after Osama." There was low murmuring among the rest and head nodding.

"You don't know we're going after? We're going after Ettore LaBarba," said Morgan. There was silence. "Oh, give me a break you've never heard of the Cobra but everyone knows about Ettore."

"But LaBarba doesn't look like you, does he?" Morgan gave the man a look. "I don't know I guess we were expecting… well given his reputation something a little different."

"Maybe a little taller is what you mean or a little more muscular. Maybe some like Dolph Lundgren or maybe a Bond villain? I hate to disappoint but he looks exactly like me with a small difference. His right leg is missing and he wears a prosthetic so he has a tendency to limp when he walks. He lost it when he had a run in with Agent Carmichael and came out a foot shorter."

"Wow, I've heard Agent Carmichael is pretty badass but to rip a guy's leg off bare handed then beat them with it. Now that's something you only hear about."

"And you're right you'll only heard about it, because it didn't go down that way. I know Chuck and he wouldn't go around yanking people's legs off and certainly not beating them with it. Now if you were talking about Casey that's a different story."

"No, this was Agent Carmichael I'm sure of it. Are you sure about what you're saying because I heard this from a reliable source," said the one man in black. "I'm not doubting you but were you there when the action went down?"

"Well no I wasn't, but like I said I know Chuck," said Morgan. There was a low murmur again from the guys as they shook their heads. "No, this has nothing to do with the Cobra thing from before." But before Morgan could defend himself they got word from the Team leader. There were almost at their destination.

"According to your directions Agent Grimes we're almost there. Everyone look alive in the back it's time to rock and roll. Check your weapons and check yourself this could get hot."

The two vans pulled up outside of the cabin but there was no sign of life. The grill was still warm and there were hamburgers on a serving platter that were warm. A table was set with food, plates, silverware, and drinks. But there were no people.

"I think we just missed them," said the team leader. "I'll have road blocks setup they couldn't have gone very far."

"You can try but Ettore is a master of the art of disappearing. There's no telling where he's at by now but if it helps take a photo of me that will give them someone to look for."

"In here I've found some fresh blood," yelled one of the men from the inside the cabin. Morgan felt gutted as he walked around like he was in a daze. The men moved around him talking but he wasn't listening. All he could think of was if only he had put the pieces of the puzzle together sooner this might not have happened.

"Agent Grimes, we're going to send the blood off for a DNA match and we found two sets of footprints leading off into the woods. The one set looks like there were made by kids."

"Sam, yes Sam, Ettore couldn't fool her. I know where they went. I need some men with me," yelled Morgan as he grabbed his carbine and ran into the woods.

"Well, you heard the man. Don't just stand there go after him. You and you," yelled the Team Leader. "Go follow him and keep in radio contact. There are two sets of adult footprints wearing tactical boots pursuing them and I don't think either one of them is Ranger Smith."

"I hope we find someone because so far it's been a day late and a dollar short here," said the Team Leader as his two men disappeared in the underbrush.

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Sam led Clara and Kat through the underbrush. It didn't take Clara long to realize where Sam was taking them. They knew they had gotten a head start on the evil Morgan and his wicked henchmen who were arriving as they left. However, as soon as he realized they were gone he'd send someone to look for them. That was why it was essential they get to the den before the men caught up to them.

"Come on we need to keep on moving," said Sam as she looked back at Kat and Clara. But Kat signaled them to hold up.

"Catch your breath for a moment," said Kat as she bent a young sapling by the side of the path then tied it down with vine then led the vine back across the trail. "That should give them something to think about. Okay, now we can go."

They continued down the path until they reached the clearing. Once there Sam took out of her pocket two hamburgers she'd grabbed wrapped in paper then tossed the burgers near the opening of the den.

"Come on let's circle above but first I need to leave something else," said Sam. She pulled out a pair of scissors from her medical bag and cut off a piece of her blouse then tossed it near the opening of the den. It wasn't long before they heard the kitten as it made its way cautiously to the burgers. It sniffed them first then started to eat.

They reached the den in the nick of time because back on the trail the two bad guys that were after them were gaining ground. They saw the footprints in the dirt so they knew they were heading in the right direction.

"Come on Rob, the Boss isn't going to wait for us all day. I for one don't want to be left behind out here and have to hump it back to civilization."

"Get off my back. This isn't the first hunting party I've been on and they're still in front of us. They couldn't have gotten far. Come on they're that away," said Rob as he tripped over the vine and the sapling snapped back knocking both of them down. Rob had his finger on the trigger of his H&K MP5 and fired a short burst into his partner.

"Crap, I'm sorry are you all right," said Rob but the guy just looked at him with an expression that said 'what do you think'.

"So Rob, you've been on other hunting parties? Who with Dick Cheney?" said the man. "I'm hit but I don't think it's that bad. If you help me to my feet I'll go back to the camp and you can continue on."

"Okay, so this is the way I'm going to explain it. You stumbled through the woods and before I could tell you to watch out you stepped on a tripwire that knocked you off your feet and you accidentally fatally shot yourself."

"What are you talking about? Help me to my feet and get after them before they get away. Then the Boss will be really pissed. Don't worry about me just go I can take care of myself."

"I will after but first let me help you," said Rob as he looked down at his partner. The wounded man reached down for his side arm but Rob had his MP5 in hand.

[Up ahead the sound of gunfire told them someone was coming]

"Hear that they're near," said Sam as she peeked over the rise to look down at the kitten eating the hamburgers. "I bet she'd be nice and warm to sleep with in bed."

"As long as you don't become a chew toy for her during the night. Wild animals belong in the wild they suffer if you remove them from their habitat. Think about how you'd feel if someone took you away from your parents and family. I don't think you'd like it."

"No, I wouldn't and I wouldn't let anyone take me either," said Sam as a man came in sight breaking through the underbrush into the clearing.

"I see you up there on that rise. Come down and no one needs to get hurt," yelled Rob as he walked forward. The kitten saw Rob and growled then hissed. "Give me a break. I won't warn you again. Don't make me come up there."

Bob, the kitten, growled even more as Rob advanced towards what was left of the hamburgers until he was too close. Bob tried to bite and attack his tactical boots but Rob just kicked him away. The kitten let out a scared yelp then ran back into the den.

"Don't you hurt her," yelled Sam as she grabbed up a rock and threw it at Rob catching him square in the head. He yelled out some profanities as he lowered his weapon and rubbed his head.

"Oh, are you going to pay for that when I get my hands on you," he yelled with a few more profanities added for good measure. In the meantime, the kitten continued to meow with a scared thin voice.

"I'm going to give you only one more chance," Rob yelled. "Then I'm coming up there and believe me you don't want me to."

There was a sudden breeze that blew past them like a sudden gust of hot air that was preceded by yellow streak. The momentum of the bobcat flying down off the rise at Rob off his feet knocking his weapon out of his hands and him to the ground.

"Geez," he said as he scrambled to get to his feet. The bobcat hissed and circled him. Its ears were laid back and the hair on its back was standing up. It looked like something from hell. He looked at his weapon on the ground but when he tried to go for it the cat swatted at him.

"What am I doing," he said then he remembered his side arm. He reached down to his side and slowly undid the safety strap on his holster then he started to pull his Beretta out.

"Don't you hurt my friend's mother," yelled Sam. She grabbed the hammer out of her bag then stood on the rise like a mini version of a female Thor. She threw the hammer at Rob catching him dead center mass. It made a loud thud when it hit him making him back up.

"Why you little…" he said as he pulled his weapon and pointed it at her. But she stood there defiant staring him down. There was a loud gunshot then Rob fell over. Morgan and the other men came out of the woods into the clearing.

"Hold up," said Morgan. As the bobcat didn't seem to be very happy about their arrival. She sniffed Rob then turned grabbed her kitten by the back of the neck then left with Bob meowing which Sam took as a protest. But she was feed up with all the human presence and went to look for someplace safer.

"You can come down now so we can go back to the cabin. Everything is okay... well not okay but... just come down," said Morgan. But he got a rock thrown at him instead.

"How do we know it's you and not that other you… the evil troll," yelled Sam. "You come up here and you'll get more of that and worse."

"Look it's me… Sam I think you can tell the difference. Remember I ate the last slice of pizza the night before we came. What else do you want to know?"

"I want to know how many grape sodas were left in the fridge this morning before you guys went on the supply run."

"There was one," said Morgan. A rock came down and caught him in the shoulder. "Ouch! Cut that out. What's wrong with you there was only one?"

"Wrong answer you want to guess again?" yelled Sam. "There's plenty more where that one came from and I'm a pretty good shot."

"Like the last time we were here, and you fired a warning shot at Alex and Me but you almost hit me. You were sore for a week afterwards. And for your information there was only one grape soda in the fridge because I took the other one with me in case I got thirsty on the road which I did."

"It is you… it is him. Come on let's go," said Sam. She, Clara, and Kat with Bunny came down to Morgan and the other two men.

"Tell me you rescued Alex, Ellie, and Devon," said Kat. "They were being held prisoner when we left. There was nothing I could do so I took the girls to safety."

"I'm sorry but when we got to the cabin everyone was gone. We've got road blocks set up and all the law enforcement agencies are looking for them."

"I should've stayed and done something," said Kat wondering if she'd done the right thing leaving. "If I'd stayed things would've been different."

"Yeah, you all would've been taken. No, you did the right thing. Now we have to do our job ma'am," said one of the men. "We need to go."

"He's right Kat and you don't know this evil me like I do. He wouldn't think twice about using you guys as human shields. There is one consolation even though his mind is warped and he's as cruel as they come he does have a soft spot for Alex so I'm sure wherever they are they're all right."

"Agent Grimes, I radioed back and told them what happened. The General wants us to drop back to Castle and regroup there. She'll be contacting Agents Carmichael and the Colonel."

"Very well but we don't stop looking. This might seem a needle in a haystack made of needles but we will find them. Ettore went too far this time and he will be mine even if it's the last thing I do."

"Bravo team come in… Bravo team come in over," they heard. Everyone looked at each other then around to find where the voice was coming from. "Bravo team come in." Sam grabbed a radio off the dead man then handed it to Morgan.

"Thanks," was all he could say. He'd had nightmares for two weeks after he saw his first dead body but she acted like it was normal.

"Bravo team come in… Bravo team come in over," said the same voice. Morgan looked at the men with him holding out the radio.

"What do I do? One of you talk to them," said Morgan as he tried to give them the radio. But they shook their heads and pushed it back to him.

"No, you know Ettore better than anyone else. You should talk to them and see if you can get them to pick you up then we'll set up a trap and grab them."

"Okay, I can do this. This is Bravo team over," said Morgan. "Sorry but we ran into a little difficulty. We had to break off pursuit agency men showed up. Request extraction coordinates," he said as he looked over at the men with him. One of them gave him a thumbs up as he got on the radio with the Team leader to pass on to him what was going on.

"Rob, what's wrong with your voice? You sound like the Boss. Listen stop screwing around or he'll get pissed. If you want to be picked up you and Tom need to make it to the rendezvous point, you know that." Morgan looked at the men with him but they both shrugged their shoulders as the one talked on a radio.

"Hold up... I mean wait one we hit a glitch," said the one agent into his radio. "I'll explain in a second."

"Look… I don't know about that. I overheard some of the agency men talking here and I think the rendezvous point might've been compromised. I think we need to rethink the extraction. Why don't I meet you in Chinatown? Say at the Sizzling Shrimp? But you've got to give time to get there."

"Roger that, Sizzling Shrimp, it is in two hours. The Boss is on a time table so don't be late or you'll be left behind."

"Roger that bravo team out," said Morgan as he put away the radio. "Phew, I did it. I really did it. Now we need to get down to Sizzling Shrimp right away and get setup.

"The Team leader wants to know what is Sizzling Shrimp," said the one man on the radio. "He's concerned that there might be too many civilians."

"Don't worry about that… have you ever seen 'Big Trouble in Little China'. Well this won't be like that. Oh, and what is Sizzling Shrimp… good Chinese food at affordable prices. They have a ten-dollar buffet that is phenomenal."

"Yeah, we could have a problem with civilian casualties," said the man as he turned back to the radio. "We need to get back to the cabin and the General would like you to debrief her on the ride back to L.A."

"I'd be more than happy to," said Sam as she walked past them heading back through the forest to the cabin.

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In a black Nissan, Ettore entertained his guests as they drove back into L.A. They got off the back roads from the cabin and back on the interstate making good time. But Ettore's man told him there was a roadblock up ahead.

"Sir, we just got word the police have a roadblock about ten miles up on the interstate. What do you want us to do?"

"You might as well give it up," said Alex. "This is crazy what you're doing. Just pull over to the side of the road and turn yourself in. It will go better for you if you do."

"There was a time when I might've listened to you. You had me beguiled with your beauty," said Ettore as he caressed Alex's face with the back of his hand.

"Move that hand or I'll bite it off," said Alex as she tried to turn her face away. He grabbed her mouth with his hand. "But not anymore," he said as she shook his head free.

"I hate to differ but I'm here handcuffed with you which seems to contradict what you just said. If it is me you want why not let them go?"

"Noble gesture but I wouldn't push my luck if I were you. Call up the truck and let's load her up," he yelled up front. "You see I was expecting something like this. I think you're going to like this."

An eighteen-wheel appeared from a side road then blew past them before maneuvering in front of them. The Nissan drive matched speeds with the tractor-trailer. The back doors opened and a ramp was lowered from the back sending sparks flying as it scrapped the asphalt. The Nissan driver sped up and drove right up into the back of the trailer. Then the ramp came up and the back doors closed.

"Now we'll drive right on through any road blocks undetected," said Ettore bragging. "All I need now are the kids and I'll have what I need to get what I want done."

"And what is that?" asked Alex as Ellie and Devon huddled together as best they could with their hands handcuffed behind them.

"It's simple I want her to fix me," said Ettore are he pointed to Ellie. "You see this thing I've got in my head is making me crazy and I need it fixed."