Don't own Chuck

Ellie, Devon and Alex were inside of Nissan in the back of a trailer being pulled by a tractor heading towards the piers at L.A. But Ettore had dropped the latest bombshell on Ellie by telling her he had an intersect and when he mentioned he was going crazy she realized it was the same version that scrambled Morgan and Sarah's brains as well as what made Alexei Volkoff out of Hartley Winterbottom. In other words, it turned a villain into a super villain.

"What are you talking about," said Ellie as she looked at Alex. "What do you have in your head? Look you don't need to go to all this trouble for me to examine you. Come with me to Westside Memorial and I'll take care of you. I promise. Let me run a few tests and everything will be better."

"While I trust your word, I can't very well show up at Westside and expect nothing to happen. Your brother would be the first one to come for me. He's the one who did this," said Ettore as he showed Ellie his prosthetic leg.

"If Chuck did do that to you then you probably had it coming. You still haven't told me what you have running around in your head and how you expect me to fix it. I'm a doctor not a magician. I don't blow flour on you and tell you you're healed."

"Don't knock it until you've tried it. But oh doctor, we are talking about a kind of magic of sorts. The type that takes fantasy and makes it reality like the one your father invented a long time ago before his untimely demise..."

"You're talking about the intersect. You have an intersect, how's that possible? I thought all that research was destroyed."

"Come on doctor," said Ettore. "Don't try to lie to me. It's beneath you and makes you look ridiculous. I know you've tinkered around with it too. Now I need you to go the next step and fix what's wrong with mine. I've got faith in you."

"Look, I really don't know that much about it other than the theory that's behind it. I know you're supposed to be able to upload data directly to your brain but not much more than that. That's it, that's all that I know. Yes, I admit I looked at it for the government but I told them the same thing and my father took his research with him to his grave."

"Well, I wanted to do this the easy way but it seems you're leaving me no choice but to do this the hard way," he said as he pulled out a cigar cutter from his pocket. "Your husband wouldn't be much of a surgeon if he were missing his thumbs, would he? Kind of hard to hold on to the instruments" said Ettore as he clipped off the end of cigar letting the end drop to the floor.

"I don't know what you're trying to prove but I told you I don't know that much and I don't. I'm sorry... I really am but I don't know what I can do for you?"

"Maybe you'll change your mind when we show you the girls? Your daughter's name is Clara, isn't it? What a pretty name for a pretty little girl," he said as he lit the cigar. "I bet you're proud parents that wouldn't like any harm to come to her."

"You touch one hair on our daughter's head and I swear I'll..." Devon started to say but Ettore backhanded him then pulled a Beretta holding it next to his head.

"I don't like people threatening me and this is your second strike. One more and you're out so I'd be careful if I were you. There are no extra innings in my game."

"Boss," said the man in the front interrupting him. "I'm sorry but I just got off the horn with the guys who went after the kids. I'm sorry but they reported that they got away. The place is covered with agency men now and it seems our rendezvous point has been compromised too."

"They can walk home for all I care," said Ettore as Ellie and Alex smiled at him with contempt which made him that much angrier.

"You want to go ahead and pull that trigger now," said Devon. "Looks like you lost one of your bargaining chips."

"Shut up," he said as he let Devon go. "Just because I need you alive doesn't mean I still can't take off your thumbs," he said then he turned back to the men in the front. "On second thought I want to go get those two idiots. I'm going to make an example out of them that you guys won't soon forget. Failure is not an option here. Where are we supposed to pick them up?"

"I know it sounds odd but Bravo team leader asked to be picked up at Sizzling Shrimp a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown."

"I know what Sizzling Shrimp is. It's Morgan's favorite… hey wait a minute. And you say this was their idea? What did this man sound like on the horn? Was there anything wrong with his voice?"

"Well yes but I'm sure it was just some local distortion. They're pretty far away and the connection was bad."

"Why? Because the voice sounded familiar? Did he sound like me?" There was a pause as the men looked at each other.

"Yes, but how'd you know? I swear I told him to stop clowning around but like I said I'm sure it was just static on the line or something."

"Alex, we know who it was, don't we? I thought about capping him in the Buy More but then Devon showed up and was kind enough to give me a ride to you guys. Now it seems the fates are smiling on me again and this time he won't walk away. I hope you don't mind anything less just wouldn't be professional."

"Go to hell Ettore! If you give me my weapon back I'll be more than happy to punch your ticket for you and send you on your way."

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Back in Langley the General was weighing her options. There didn't seem to be any right answers. Casey had called in the mission was a success and the team was heading back to L.A. but now she had to drop this bombshell on them. The Major volunteered to make the call for her and shield her from any fall out but Beckman wouldn't hear of it.

"No this is my job not yours. That's why I have these stars on my shoulders," said Beckman. "They aren't there as ornaments. I get paid to make the hard calls. Get them on the horn then patch them through to the monitor." A few minutes later Chuck was explaining what he'd done with the rogue satellites.

"That's nice Agent Carmichael," said Beckman but Chuck took what she said and the way she said it to mean she hadn't understood.

"General, let me try again," said Chuck as he briefed Beckman again trying to explain it in simpler terms. "... when they come around they'll fire once more breaking free from the earth and if my calculations are correct the sun will capture them pulling them towards it. Barring they don't get hit by a meteorite or comet they'll go up in a blaze."

"I guess that will give NASA something to study for a long time to come," said Beckman with a flat voice. She didn't sound like what they expected considering they'd just saved the whole world and the human race. Mary took it to be that Beckman was still angry with her so she offered an olive branch.

"I suppose you and I need to have our sit down, don't we? It's been long overdue," said Mary as she looked over at Sarah. "I just want to say good bye to the girls and Ellie first. Let me do that then I'm all yours."

"Hold on Mary just wait one," said Sarah. "General, Mary was pivotal to the success of this mission and we couldn't have completed it without her. For this reason, I think you need to take this into consideration before you take any action."

"It's no longer what I want and before you take this the wrong way. I'm afraid that our sit down is on hold indefinitely. I know you just finished this mission but I need to tell you… well there's no good way to break this news," said Beckman as she seemed to be stalling.

"General please just spit it out," said Chuck as he looked around. "I think I can speak for everyone here. We're more the rip the Band-Aid off kind of guys." Everyone nodded. Chuck felt Sarah reach over and take his hand in hers. It felt cold and clammy. He knew what she was thinking because he was thinking the same thing.

"Go ahead General, just tell us what's happened," said Sarah. "Does it have to do with the girls? Please tell us they're safe."

"The children are safe. They're currently in lockdown in Castle with Ms. McHugh and your daughter briefed me about the events that took place at the cabin. I have to say she brief was better than some people's that I know," said the General as she looked at Chuck. "Straight to the point and no excessive rambling which is very good. She seems to have master the art of using improvised weapons from rocks to hammers."

"My daughter will not be an agent if that's what you're hinting at," said Sarah. "She will become a doctor which is her long-term goal."

"There's no reason one can't exclude the other but that's a tomorrow chat. Just know there will always be a place here in the agency for her if she should so decide."

"And that was the same load Stephen and I were told about Chuck and Eleanor," said Mary. "I'm with Sarah on this one. The Bartowski family has given enough to this country."

"General, we're getting off topic. You mentioned the girls and I assume from that you mean Sam, Clara and Bunny. You also mention Ms. McHugh which would be Kat or you would've said Agent McHugh but what about the rest? Morgan, Alex, Ellie and Devon? Where are they?"

"Your assumptions are correct about the people we have in Castle but Agent McHugh and Doctors Woodcomb were taken by Ettore from the cabin before we arrived. It was Agent Grimes who sounded the alarm and found the people we extracted."

"You didn't mention him being in Castle with everyone else. Where is he right now? Please don't tell me he's gone after Ettore by himself?"

"Not by himself but he's got a team with him. Agent Grimes setup a rendezvous with Ettore's people posing as one of their own. They think they are extracting two of their team they left behind. I have to give Grimes credit he setup the sting operation and by the time you get back I hope to have the location of Ettore. I can assure you this time he won't get away."

"I'll make sure of that," said Mary. "This Ettore has never dealt with a momma bear and he's just grabbed the wrong mother's daughter."

"Hold up a moment," said Chuck. "You said Morgan arranged this sting operation. Just exactly how did he do that and where is it going down." Chuck had a bad feeling about it.

"From your daughter's brief, they took out one of Ettore's henchmen and she took a radio off his body," said Beckman. Chuck couldn't believe what had happened but he blocked that out to hear the rest of the story.

"So, Morgan suggested Sizzling Shrimp? That's what you're saying," said Chuck as the General nodded. "Ma'am as much as Morgan knows Ettore, Ettore knows Morgan and he's got to know this is trap."

"There's nothing I can do about it now. The extraction is going down now as we speak. I'll contact the team leader but I'm afraid if it's as you said it's already gone south."

"Thanks General, we're on our way to Chinatown now. Carmichael out," said Chuck. He didn't have time to follow protocol and let the General sign out first. "John, did you copy that?"

"Roger that, pedal to the metal."

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The Team leader had the trap set or so he thought. He had a couple of his men sitting at a booth in the corner with hoodies on pulled down over their faces then they had men set dispersed around the room at different tables. He and Morgan were in the back of the restaurant monitoring by wireless CCTV.

"Okay it's about show time," radioed the Team leader. "Everyone look alive they should be pulling up any moment now. Are you sure Ettore's men are going to show up?"

"That's what we agreed to over the radio," said Morgan. But time was ticking by and so far he and agency men were the only people in the restaurant waiting.

They waited and waited until they thought it was going to be a bust and Ettore was going to be a no show. Then just before they pulled up stakes they got word from lookouts posted outside that a caravan of black Nissan SUVs were headed towards the restaurant.

"Well this is it or there is a large group of people descending for the ten-dollar buffet. Maybe we ought to throw together some dim sum in case they're hungry."

"I got their dim sum right here," said the Team leader as he patted his holster. "Like MSG, lead is hard to digest and not good for your health."

"Is there a special class you guys take to learn quips like that? Casey has a million of them," said Morgan but his conversation was cut short when the men outside radioed in that the vehicles had pulled up outside. At least fifty men piled out of the Nissans and entered the restaurant. Morgan and his men were outnumbered two to one. The last person to limp in was Ettore in person.

"Where is Morgan Grimes," yelled Ettore as he walked in. "I want to see Morgan Grimes right now if he's not chicken enough to come out and meet me."

"He's trying to get to you," said the Team leader. "If you go out there I can't guarantee your safety. let's fall back and regroup."

"Alex sends her love," Ettore yelled. "You do remember Alex because I certainly do. Are you her knight in shining armor or are you going to show her the coward we know you to be."

"He's goading you to do something stupid. Don't go out there and fall back with us," said the Team leader as he tried to pull Morgan back but he shook off his hand. He picked up a plate of dim sum then walked out.

"Can you hold the noise down? You always did like to yell," said Morgan. "Here stick one of the Char Siu Bao buns in your trap maybe you'll be quiet for a little while."

"Not very smart meeting here," said Ettore as he picked up one looked at it then looked at Morgan. "My people are waiting if I don't call them in an hour they have orders to kill all the hostages."

"What? You worried I poisoned them. The only thing that might kill you is the msg and by the way do you suffer from Chinese Restaurant Syndrome," said Morgan as he popped one of the mini Spring Rolls. "I can never get enough of this stuff."

"Funny, now that you're in such a party mood let me explain to you what's going to happen. I'm going to get up and walk out of here. If I don't leave or call back to my people soon they have orders to kill everyone and that includes Alex," said Ettore as he picked up one of the buns and bite into it. "Humm, this is good. I wish I could stay and eat more but I do have to run. The life of an evil villain is never done."

"I don't suppose you're going to take your men with you," said Morgan as he carefully selected another bun and ate it. "They're like little surprises for your mouth each different. Did you know dim sum in Cantonese means 'touch of heart'."

"That's interesting but I really do have to run and make a phone call. I think we both can agree that it is urgent I make it on time."

"You never answered my question about what you're going to do with your men here? We're going Dutch so everyone needs to settle their own bills. Unlike you I'm not made of money."

"What do you think I'm going to do? I'm going to leave them to kill you of course. You know anything else just wouldn't be professional."

"No, I guess it wouldn't," said Morgan as he downed another one. "Ettore, if you touch one hair on Alex's head you'll answer to me."

"You know normally I don't take kindly to threats as Doctor Woodcomb can attest," said Ettore he saw Morgan's look. "I mean Devon but in your case… well, I don't see the need to because let's face it you might have my looks but you don't have my brains so long Morgan."

"So, long Ettore see you soon," said Morgan as he poured himself a cup of tea.

"I don't think so," Ettore said as he left.

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Ellie and Devon along with Alex were led into a detention cell with hoods on their heads. Once they were inside the hoods were taken off and they were uncuffed. Then the men left and the door was closed. They heard the key turn in a lock and the bolt inside clicked as it locked in place.

"What are we going to do now," said Devon as he tried the door but it was solid steel. "We aren't getting through this." In fact, the cell they were in all the walls were made of steel with no seams or joints. There wasn't even a window to look out of. "A person could get claustrophobic in a place like this."

"I guess we're lucky we've got air conditioning," said Ellie. "When and how did Ettore get an intersect? I thought I was the only one working on it?"

"You'll have to ask Chuck for all the details but I know he has it and it's the same one Morgan and Sarah had... the one that melts your brain."

"You realize that makes Ettore extremely dangerous. He already was that way before he got it but now that he has the intersect he's going to be even more... for a lack of a better word evil. I'm sorry let me look at you," said Ellie as she looked at Devon's wounds. "Please don't do anything like that again."

"Oh babe. I had to show him the kind of material I'm made of. It's like the story of the little bull. One day the farm brings home a big bull and puts him with the other bulls. The little bull starts to snort and paw the ground. The other bulls look at him and tell him what are you doing? Do you want to get yourself killed? But he says, no I just want to make sure he knows I'm a bull."

"Funny story but I want my husband alive," said Ellie. "Follow my finger," she said as she moved it side to side. "Without a full examination, you look fine. Just promise me you won't antagonize him anymore. With that bad intersect there's no certainty about the way he'll react."

"So, what do you suggest we do," said Alex as she studied the lock on the door. "We need to get word to someone."

"And tell them what?" said Ellie. "We don't even know where we're at. No for now we play along with him. I will treat him and see what I can do. Maybe if I can fix him then he'll let us go."

"I wouldn't hold my breath on that," said Alex. "I can see the need to bide our time but when the time comes we need to jump or we may not get another chance. After everything you just said you should know better than to hope mercy from Ettore."

"I'm sorry you're worries about Morgan of course," said Devon. "Don't worry the little guy can be crafty when he needs to be."

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As soon as Ettore was out of the restaurant Ettore's men stood up. "Just one moment let me finish my tea and while I'm finishing this any of you that might want to leave are more than welcome to do so. The exit is behind you. For those of you who stay well they call me the Cobra and you're about to taste my bite."

Morgan sipped slowly on his tea sitting in the booth. Ettore's men looked at each other waiting. By then the Team leader had pulled all of his men out to regroup outside so Morgan was sitting there alone… sitting in the booth with his tea.

"Come on we've waited long enough. It's time to dance," said the man as he reached down to grab Morgan's teacup but when he did Morgan flipped in over and caught the man on the back of the hand then he smashed it.

"Augh," screamed the man as he grabbed his hand holding it up mangled. All the boned in it were broken and his hand dangled at the wrist.

"Why you," said one of the other men but as they reached to grab Morgan the lights went out. No one could see anything as they fought in the dark. There was the sound of glass breaking, men screaming and furniture crashing.