Don't own Chuck

The team made their way to the rendezvous point where they were supposed to wait for a CH-53 Sea Stallion to pick them up. Chuck kept looking at his watch as they made their way there. He didn't want to say anything but every moment they spent waiting the more time Ettore had to get away. Casey pulled up in front of the Battle Ship Iowa museum.

"Oh come on John, there was no other place they could pick us up. Every moment we wait the further out to sea Ettore gets."

"Keep it in your pants Bartowski. The flight crew can't miss this," said John as he led them up the gangway.

"Look out... make a hole," yelled John as he pushed past everyone in line. "NSA, Homeland, we need to get by."

"Tickets please," said the man at the turnstile. "No tickets, no entry, this baby doesn't pay for itself you know."

"This is a national emergency let us through," said Casey but the ticket collector was less than helpful. The man just pointed at the ticket window. "Why you… I ought to…"

"I warn you I'm going to have to annotate your surly behavior in the ship's deck log," said the man as he held up his pen.

"This is what I think of your deck log," said Casey as he grabbed the man's pen and broke it in half. °Now what are you going to do?"

"That's government property… you just damaged government property. But it won't stop me because I have another pen right here."

"Boy, dude let it go. You're just trying to get yourself killed," said Morgan then he turned to Casey. "John, remember he knows not what he's doing. You can't go around whacking civilians."

"Oh, how my finger itches. You know it really wouldn't be that hard. Just one hand around the Adam's apple then squeeze until his eyes pop out… not hard at all and maybe even set a new record."

"Leave him be. Here are our tickets," said Chuck as he showed the man the e-tickets he paid for and downloaded while Casey was arguing.

"Come on in," said the man. "Now that wasn't hard but you're still going in the deck log. Maybe you'd like to check out a set of headphones. They explain everything you'll see while you're embarked."

"Like where's the head so I can flush them… no hold on… yeah, give us all one of those," said Casey as he grabbed his. "We have to turn these in when we leave right?"

"Yes please, for the next guests who visit," said the man. Casey smiled at him then patted him on the cheek.

"Sure, I've got you cover. You might want to have everyone move up forward in about ten mikes… that means ten minutes in civilian time. I hear there's going to be an airshow."

"That wasn't in my pass down log. I'm still going to have to write you up," said the man as he started writing on a notepad.

"Lead the way John this is your environment. Somehow, I don't think this was the first time you've been written up."

"Not the first and probably not the last either. This way we need to go away from the pointy end. That's nautical talk for you Grimes."

"Who me? How'd I get in the middle of this conversation? And besides I know what the stern is. I didn't watch all those episodes of the Love Boat and not learn something."

They walked back aft until they reached the stern. There was a large group of tourist taking pictures and milling around.

"This isn't going to work. The chopper isn't going to be able to hover with these many people around. There's too much FOD."

"Okay everyone listen up clear out... Go forward," said Mary. But no one seemed to pay her any attention. There was even a group of Japanese tourist who started taking photos of her. So to get her message across, Mary pulled her Beretta and fired two shots into the sky. "I said everyone clear out and I meant now. Now we've the fantail to ourselves."

"Not a bad move… a little excessive but I guess you didn't shoot any of the tourist so we're all good here," said Sarah.

"No, no we're not all good. Mom, you can't go around shooting at tourists," said Chuck as they heard the chopper heading their way."

"I think I just proved you can and besides like Sarah said I didn't shoot any of them. The bird is in bound so we need to let them know we're here."

"I'm on that," said Sarah as she took out her compact and began flashing Morse code to the chopper. "Okay they've seen us."

"What's going on back here," yelled the man from the ticket booth. "There are no firearms allowed onboard. I'm going to have to write you up," said the man as the chopper sat down on the fantail. The team hopped on and as Casey jumped on he tossed the headset back at the man.

"Looks like I've got to run," John said as he closed the side door. The bird lifted off the fantail and the wind shear caused by the rotors almost blew the man over the side.

"Okay, we've all had our fun but we've wasted time now let's get after that boat. Lieutenant, what's the word on that yacht we called in that left the port?"

"The Dewey and the Stockdale have been sent to intercept it on the other side of Catalan before she makes the jump into the open ocean.

"Both crew know that we might have people onboard so they need to hold their fire and only fire if fired upon and then only as a last result."

"Chuck, sit down and shut up. These people know what they're doing," said Casey. "I don't like it any more than you do but this is out of our hands right now. Once the yacht has been stopped we can board her but if they make a break for it what's better letting it get away with Devon and Ellie onboard or stopping it?"

"And Alex too," said Chuck. It just slipped out but he wasn't sorry he'd said it. Casey was acting like he didn't care but Chuck knew he did. "Or have you forgotten about her."

"Why you… I ought to…" said John as he moved towards Chuck but Mary and Sarah got in the middle.

"I'm only going to say this once," said Sarah. "You boys need to channel your anger where it belongs so stow away the testosterones and let's work together. Lieutenant, how much further do we have to go?"

"We're almost there. Both the Dewey and the Stockdale have reported they've got visuals on our target. They're hailing them now to stop and standby for boarding."

"There they are," said Morgan as he pointed out of the side hatch window. "Crap, what are they doing?"

"Crap, they're trying to make a run for it. They're heading for the Channel Islands to try to out maneuver us."

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Onboard the Dewey and the Stockdale things were heating up in their combat centrals. Both ships were at battle stations before they came into contact with the target. They both hailed the vessel and demanded they stand down and prepare to be boarded but the yacht answered neither hails. Instead it bolted sailing a full speed heading for the Channel Islands.

"Dewey this is Stockdale," radioed the Skipper. "I'm going to head them off by putting us between them and the Islands."

"Roger that," replied the Skipper of the Dewey. "We'll swing around behind and box them in. They'll have to back down their engines then."

"Full speed ahead and standby for my orders. Have the gunners standing by," ordered the Old Man. When the Stockdale was in position it began to cut across the bow of the yacht. Suddenly a lookout started yelling from the bridge wing.

"There's a man topside with a Stinger and he's pointing it at us," yelled the port lookout. The CIC alarms went off as soon as they were illuminated.

"Come around hard starboard. Fire a short burst from port side phalanx," ordered the Skipper but the missile had already been launched.

"We've got incoming," said the OS on the scope. The Boatswain mate barely had time to pass the word over the 1MC for crew to standby for impact. The ship was turning away which was what the Skipper wanted to limit the area exposed but the missile still slammed into the port side aft but caused little damage.

The Skipper of the Dewey wasn't going to wait to see if they had more. He orders a short cannon burst both starboard and port of the hostile vessel. The cannon fired twice kicking up spray over the yacht on both sides. The vessel started sailing in a zigzag pattern to avoid being hit by the Dewey's volleys.

"It's time we put this madness to an end," said the Skipper of Stockdale. "Standby with the phalanx aim aft just below her water line. If we take out her propulsion plant she'll have to stop."

"Sir, I have agents onboard the inbound CH53 they want to remind you that we have people onboard the yacht."

"Tell them I'm well aware of that but right now I have to think about the safety of my crew. Fire phalanx when ready."

The six barrels of the phalanx came alive spewing our tungsten tipped rounds at 4500 rounds a minute or 75 rounds a second. Part of the aft section of the yacht blew away. Thick black smoke started bellowing out aft from below decks. The smoke became more intense then it happened one minute the boat was there then there was a bright fireball and when the flames died down the boat was gone. All that was left of the yacht was floating debris and a burning oil slick.

"Crap, put boats in the water to recover casualties," said the Skipper. He stepped out on the bridge wing to get a better look through his binoculars.

"Sir," said the executive officer as he came out to look too. "The Dewey radioed they're putting boats in the water too. Also, the CH53 has requested permission to land on our flight deck."

"I should go greet them. Who knows Troy this could be your command before we pull back into port?" He caught his XO's look. "Well, let's not keep our guests waiting."

A few minutes later everyone was sitting in the wardroom looking over photos of the yacht that were taking just prior to its explosion.

"They fired on us and we returned fire. I tried to minimize damage to the yacht but I guess we hit a fuel bunker or something," said the Skipper as he sat at the table with his XO. Chuck looked over the photos quietly letting Mary do most of the talking. Casey just sat there looking off into space wondering how he was going to explain this to Kat

"I can't express how disappointed we are that the boat wasn't taken. How goes the recovery operation? We'd appreciate if all the survivors were brought here and assembled on the fantail. There's still the possibility that our people could be among the survivors who are wounded."

"I'll contact the Dewey and have them transferred to us but so far all we've recovered are Orientals and unless your people fit that description… well I'm sorry."

"Hold a moment," said Chuck as something clicked. "Yes, bring them all over here and I want a couple of the bodies that were recovered. Keep the live ones down on the fantail and the bodies I want on the 0-1 level."

"Chuck, do you've got another one of your harebrained schemes going?" said Casey. Chuck smiled and nodded. "Good what have you got in mind?"

"John, the fat lady hasn't sung yet. It's time to do some interrogating. Skipper you're going to have to grant me a little wiggle room and it would probably be better if all your men stayed below decks except for those guarding the prisoners."

"Okay, but I don't like the direction we seem to be heading. We're going to have to be present that means me and my XO and if I say stop you have to stop."

"Skipper… Commander," said Chuck. "I like you so I'll agree but keep in mind with one phone call I can have you relieved but I don't want to do that so don't make me."

"This is still my ship," said the Skipper as he looked across the table at Chuck. Chuck met his stare with his own.

"For now, but let's not dwell on this shall we. I just need those people assembled and those bodies placed on the 0-1 level."

"Then we should go get things ready," said the Skipper as he got up. "Troy, can you come with me so we can get things ready for our guests," said the old man. He made sure to stress the word 'guests'.

"Chuck, what are you doing? There was no reason to get into a pissing contest with the CO. This is his ship and if he wants he can kick us off. We could just as easily grab the prisoners when they pull into port."

"John, we don't have time. Don't you see Ettore is trying to give us the slip. He had to have known we'd be after him so he staged the explosion. I just need to find out where he went and where he's holding everyone at. But to do that I'm going to need to be a little creative. And while we're talking about being creative Morgan sit down you and I need to have a chat."

"Who me? Chuck, if you need the Cobra I'm your man. You want me to go all psycho on them just turn me loose but you will be there too, right?"

"Morgan, I don't need you to be with me when I… well do what I have to do and it's probably better if you're not there. But that's not what I need for you, what I need Morgan is the truth." Everyone looked at them.

"Chuck, what are you saying?" said Sarah. "I know you're upset about Ellie and Devon we all are but blaming Morgan isn't going to help anything."

"I don't… I mean that's not it and you know it Morgan. Let's talk about those fifty men in the Sizzling Shrimp. I want to know how you – by yourself – took out all fifty without a scratch on you."

"Yeah, what about that, I'd like to know too," said Casey. "Spit it out... when did you start working for the other side? There's nothing worse than a traitor. Spit out the truth or spit out teeth it's the same to me."

"Traitor? No… well sort of but not like you think John. However, you're not going to like it. Morgan, can you explain these," said Chuck as he dropped the jade darts in front of him. "Where's she at and how do I get in touch with her?"

"Her? Her who?" said Morgan as Mary examined the dart. "I don't know who you're talking about. What her are you talking about?"

"These are nice but a bite too Bruce Lee for me," said Mary as she threw one at a dartboard they had in the wardroom hitting the bull's eye. "Perfectly balanced too."

"I remember these," said Sarah. "Oh Morgan, please don't tell me you're protecting your ex at the risk of your fiancée?"

"No, it's not like that. Anna told me not to tell anyone she's in town. I don't know how to find her she just showed up at the restaurant. I thought I was a goner when the lights went out but then I heard her voice telling me to get under the table. I stayed there until everything was over then she told me I could go and that's it. I couldn't say anything not after the way the other agents treated me and then they assumed that I'd taken out those men I just played along. No harm, no foul."

"We'll see about that," said Casey as he cracked his knuckles. "Chuck, what do you make of this?"

"Something is going on. The Skipper said all the men they recovered were oriental and there's the White Lotus. The two have to be connected somehow but that will have to wait until we get back to shore. For now, we have this motley crew to deal with."

"Chuck, I don't have to tell you to tread lightly with the Skipper. I think you've already pissed him off and it won't take much for him to give us the bum's rush out of here.

"Don't worry everything is calculated."

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On a Chinese freighter steaming in the North pacific making its way aching under the Hawaiian island chain on a course back to its homeport of Shanghai. The ship was making good headway since its departure from the port of Los Angeles where it took on a number of container that would be off loaded once they got back home. While in transit, a Chinese made Avicopter AC313 landed on the helo deck. The Skipper and first mate stood by to greet their guest.

"I trust everything when well," asked the Skipper as the First Mate got his men to handle Ettore's bags for him.

"Better than expected. They think I'm dead so we shouldn't have any problems on our trip home. I hope my guests haven't been too much a nuisance," said Ettore as the Skipper led him to his stateroom.

"No more than to be expected given their situation. The one girl asked to speak with you… the shorter one. I'm sorry but you westerners all look the same to me."

"No problem. I was thinking now that we're in the middle of the pacific we could bring them up and put them in adjoining staterooms. I need the doctor… the other female to examine me and she's more likely to do what I want if I treat her nicely."

"That does make sense there's a proverb that goes, 'One can win over and influence people the best with gestures of kindness and compassion.' But personally, I just like to shoot them in the head and be done with it."

"That's why I like you Wang you're always pragmatic. But see to what I just asked for, I can't afford to shoot them in the head… at least not just yet. Oh, and then bring the girl who asked to see me, I have something to tell her she might not like to hear. Sorry and one last thing, could I get some Dim Sum. I've had this urge since I left Chinatown."

"No problem, I'll have the girl brought up to you and I'll have our cook throw something together for you," said Captain Wang then he left leaving Ettore looking out a porthole at the ocean outside the window.

"Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink," he said as he went over and poured him a glass of water. "Funny that Coleridge should come to mind." Suddenly he flashed and all the works of Coleridge passed before his eyes plus Coleridge's vices.

"Demons… so many demons," said Ettore as he closed his eyes and held them shut tightly until the flash was over. When it finally passed, he found himself weak and needing rest. He sat down and poured himself a glass of bourbon neat. He was still sipping on it when there was a knock on his door.

"Come in but enter at your own risk," said Ettore. He looked at his hands they were still shaking. The door opened and a guard brought Alex inside. "I don't think I'm fit company right now. I know you wanted to talk but right now I don't."

"Then why did you send for me," said Alex. It was a valid question but she was happy just to get out of the box even if it was for a little while.

"I'm have you people moved to better accommodations. However, I warn you what I give I can also take away so behave or it's back in the box but this time there won't be any air conditioning. You can go now."

"That's it there's nothing else you have to say to me? You look like crap if you don't mind me saying so and too bad if you do." Ettore laughed.

"Brutally honest, I think you probably take that from your father. In the short time, I was with your mother I just can't picture her saying something like that."

"Then you really don't know her very well. So, if there's nothing else I'll go back to wherever it is I'm supposed to be."

"Talk to Ellie and convince her to look at me. I need this thing fixed before it drives me mad and she will one way or another."

"Have you thought she might not be lying and she really doesn't know that much about the intersect. What will you do then?"

"I chose not to think about it because that means I'm condemned but if I am you people are too. This ship isn't going down by itself. So, for every ones best interest she'd better cure me."

"Have you thought about having it removed? That might be easier then having what you have in your head fixed."

"You people would like that, wouldn't you? You'd like for me to give this up. Well you can forget that. I've got this and when it works right it's great."

"And when it doesn't? What's it like then? I think I'm looking at the results right now."

"Take her to wherever the Skipper has the other two. If I want to see her I'll have her sent for," said Ettore. The guard had just taken Alex out when there was another knock this time it was a steward who brought him the Dim Sum he'd asked for.

"Good just set it down and leave," said Ettore. He got up and walked over to it and while he was looking at it he flashed again.

"Geez, this is getting worse," he said as he steadied himself holding on to the table. "Ellie had better fix me or no one's going to be happy. I'll see to that."