Don't own Chuck
Back at the Buy More Skip and Fernando were still plotting to get the weekend off. They'd taken down the sales tags they'd put up early; however, now they had to come up with another plan if they were going to get the weekend off. They were still debating their plan of attack when Big Mike came up behind them unnoticed.
"It's foolproof just take my word for it," said Skip. "This will absolutely work. You just need to have a little faith in me. This will work I swear."
"But why do I have to let you drop a computer on my foot? I could drop one on yours then I could take you in the hospital and then we could run over to the Arena together. It's going to be hard for me to bowl afterwards."
"You mean hobble but the reason I need to drop one on your foot yours is… well other than the obvious which is it's my idea. I'm a white shirt and you're a green. I work on computers but you don't so it only makes sense that you would drop it."
"This is job discrimination... you people and your white shirts. You think you're better than us. Well I had to bust your bubble but I get them in the back from our customers and you don't..."
"So what does that mean? What skill sets do you need to be a green shirt... none. I have to know how to repair computers... all kinds of computers which means I wouldn't drop them because... well because they're our babies."
"Is that your excuse your mother dropped you on your head? Well for your information as green shirt I should know my way around a box. It makes more sense you dropping one on your foot, because you only handle them when you have to set up a display. However, one day you get froggy and decide to help out. You pick up the wrong box, it slips out of your hands then you start yelling."
"Thief! No fair that was my idea and no one's going to buy that I volunteered to help out. When was the last time I helped out doing anything? Remember our motto 'buy more so we can do less'."
"You two lamebrains had better get on to work," said Big Mike. "If I don't see you doing something besides moving your jaws I'm going to count this as your break time."
"Oh man you can't do that… we're just admiring how smoothly the store is running with you in charge. Morgan is good but you're better. Didn't I just say that?" said Skip as he elbowed Fernando.
"Ouch! I thought you were talking about how much you wanted to help us move inventory around. Skip was generous saying he'd help us set up for the big sale."
"Yes, but right after that I was talking about how well things seem to be running with you back in the saddle again even if it's only temporary."
"Now, now, you have to give Morgan his due. He's young and he's learning. You know I didn't get to be like this overnight. It took a lot of hard work and dedication…"
"And foot longs from Subway as well as morning pastries," whispered Fernando. Big Mike gave him a look. "Oh, I'm sorry, you were saying."
"Right… well Morgan will catch on soon and I'm glad you decided to volunteer and pitch in to get the store set up for the sales because with your early sale markdowns I can't afford to give you overtime. So, thanks for volunteering."
"You don't have to pay us to work we're just happy to help out and since you can't afford to give us overtime. There is another way you could remunerate us and that's by giving us time off instead. That would be acceptable compensation."
"Remunerate, just look at you with the big words. But you know that's not a half bad idea and I'll keep that in consideration the next time I need you to work extra hours."
"But what about now… I mean we're going to put in the hours. You could give us a little time off now and that way we'd be square." Fernando nodded.
"I would but you two already volunteered to work for free. Maybe I can talk to Carrot Top and get him to stay later then give him time off this weekend since I'll have you two working all weekend. Let me go find him. Thanks for the idea by the way."
"Don't say a word," said Skip as Fernando looked at him shaking his head. "And don't look at me like that this is all your fault."
"I don't hardly see how. You're the one with the absolutely infallible plans. If you want I'll drop a computer on you… but on your head."
"You're the one with the screw loose. Why can't you keep your trap shut? If you hadn't spoken up we'd been off this weekend." As they went back and forth at each other they failed to notice who came walking through the front doors.
"Hey guys have you seen Morgan?" They started to ignore the voice like they did most customers but something about it was familiar and when they turned there was Anna Wu.
"Anna, what are you doing here?" said Skip as he brushed his hair back with his hang and Fernando started to stare. "You missed me and came to drop in to see how I was. That so sweet of you."
"Are you crazy? It's obvious she came to see me," said Fernando. "Hi Anna, how have you been? You know I'm about to go on break if you want we could go across the street and split a yoghurt and talk about old times together."
"No, I'm about to go on break. We can go grab that yoghurt together and we can each have our own… large ones even. There's a lot I have to tell you."
"There's a lot I have to tell you too," said Fernando as he pulled Skip back so he could move in front of her. Skip responded by doing the same until they got into a shoving fight.
"Guys, cut it out. I don't have time for a yoghurt and even if I did I'm lactose intolerant so no yoghurt for me. I need to find Morgan. Have you seen him I thought he'd be back in by now. I left him quite a while ago in Chinatown."
"No, we haven't seen him but you could ask Big Mike when he expects Morgan to be in. He's running the Buy More right now. I think he went back to the breakroom."
"Okay, well I'll just run back and see if he's there," said Anna. They watched her disappear into the back.
"Now's my chance," said Skip. "You stay out here while I go back and talk to Anna. Make sure no one comes back to bother us."
"No way," said Fernando. "Didn't you see the way she looked at me. No, she's really here for me. So, your stay here and I'll go back." There started shoving each other again when Big Mike showed back up to yell at them again.
"What are you two still doing here? Will you cut out the horseplay at work? I told you two to get to work but I can't be too mad at you. I tried out your strategy about giving time off instead of overtime pay and Carrot Top took it. He's working late tonight so he can have Saturday off."
"Gee, isn't that great," said Skip. "Big Mike, what's up with your boy Morgan? I hear he's two-timing Alex with Anna his ex?"
"What are you talking about? Those are some serious allegations. I hope you've got some facts to back them up with even if facts don't seem to matter much anymore."
"We just talked with Anna. She's here in the store," said Fernando as he looked over at Skip smiling. "She came in looking for Morgan…"
"That's right she came in asking for Morgan," said Skip. As they both nodded their head in unison like bobbleheads.
"I didn't know she was in town and probably Morgan doesn't either. If there's anything going on it's from her side. You boys won't know anything about this but sometimes women have a hard time letting go when they know they've passed up a good thing. You don't know this but I told Bolognia Bouganville Grimes Tucker that my ex called me up once and I had to hang up on her."
"She missed you and wanted you to come home I bet," said Skip as Fernando stood there. "It's a good thing you were strong."
"You bet I was. I told her hell no could her new boyfriend use my rods to take her fishing. She never wanted to go fishing with me but this guy moves in and suddenly she wants to learn to fish. Let'em buy their own gear."
"The nerve of some people… like who do they think they are? You did the right thing hanging up on her."
"You bet I did right after I told her she could still use her Buy More family discount card to get five percent off the equipment they needed. But what's this about Morgan?"
"Yeah Anna said they'd met in Chinatown and she thought he'd be back here. Not that the one doesn't know about the other and vice versa."
"What that Alex doesn't know Anna is in town? No, Morgan's not that kind of guy… no, I told him he was running with the big dogs but that didn't mean he had to act like one… no, this isn't my fault."
"Well, I hate to point this out but you know most of the time if children do something wrong people look back at the parents."
"That's right and we know. Our parents have taken a lot of heat for the two of us. But this in no way reflects badly on you but I wonder what's Alex going to do when she finds out? I mean the house they're living in is hers, isn't it?"
"Crap, I hadn't thought about that. It is and if she throws him out then he'll have to move back in… no we've turned his room into our playroom." Fernando and Skip looked at each other. "It was the only room that had a beam that could support our swing. Where's Anna at? I need to head this off before it goes too far."
"She went into the breakroom looking for you," said Skip. Big Mike took off. Skip and Fernando were right behind. "Come on this should be good."
"Where's she at?" said Big Mike looking around at the empty room. "I thought you said she came back here?"
"That's where she was headed the last time we saw her. Maybe she gave up and left or she went looking for Morgan."
"No!"
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Down below in Castle Sam broke out a deck of cards to play a few friendly hands of poker. However, the way Sam played cards wasn't very friendly. She was taking Kat and Clara to the cleaners. They were in the showdown of their last hand. Sam looks over to Clara and Kat smiling.
"Did any of you hear that? I thought I heard someone yell? said Sam. Clara and Kat shook their heads. "Probably the air conditioning. Well, I'm all in," she said as she shoved her chips towards the center of the table. "So, who's going to see me?"
"I fold," said Clara as she tossed her cards in. "What's taking them so long to call in? They should know something by now."
"Things like these take time," said Kat. "I fold too," she said as she tossed her cards in. "I say we take a break. I'm getting tired of being taken to the cleaners."
"What are you talking about? This is just a few friendly hands. I can't help the way the cards fell and this time you folks gave up too soon," said Sam as she turned over her cards. "See I only had a pair of duces ace high."
"It's all about attitude," said a voice from above them. Kat pulled a Glock nine she'd checked out of Casey's armory. He'd given her the code in case of emergency and that's what this was.
"Anna!" said Sam as she started to run for her but Kat grabbed her. "What's the matter? Oh, it's because of Alex..."
"How do we know what side you're on," said Kat. "And how did you get down here anyway? This is supposed to be a secret hideout."
"Secret? Give me a break. I heard you guys were in trouble so I came to help. How do you think Morgan survived this morning? I need to talk to him... actually I really need to talk to Chuck. Do you know where I can find him?"
"They were on a helicopter chasing some bad guy who took Alex, Ellie and Devon on a boat. This is Clara my cousin and their daughter."
"Hi Clara," said Anna then she turned to Kat. "You can put that thing away before you get hurt. You said boat then they probably went after the wrong ship. I traced Ettore back to the piers but by the time I got there the Chenxing had already left."
"What's the Chenxing," said Kat as she put away the weapon.
"For the little ears here it's a Chinese freighter but it's cargo... well it's not the Love Boat. I guess you could say the ship is a part of a triad smuggling ring operating out of Shanghai."
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The Chenxing continued on its course sailing across the pacific with its cargo. Ellie and Devon got washed up then they knocked on Alex's adjoining door to find her at the porthole looking out. She was souring the horizon for any vessel they might pass. She wasn't sure how she'd do it but she had to somehow get a message out to someone... anyone where they were.
"Did you see anything," said Ellie as she came in after knocking. "You can come in," she yelled back to Devon.
"You don't have to be so formal after all we did share a bucket. But no, I didn't see anything. The only thing I can think of is we're not sailing in the normal sea lanes. I don't know what's wrong with this thing Ettore has in his head but it's doing a number on him."
"What do you mean? Can you be a little more specific? What did you notice about his behavior that was... well not normal? And I use the term normal loosely."
"Well, at one point he had to brace himself against a table to stay upright. I also noticed he had tremors in his hands and he looked like he hasn't been sleeping. He had suitcases under his eyelids. What does all this mean?"
"Nothing good I'm afraid. I know this isn't going to fly but do you think he'd go along with having it removed? I mean if push comes to shove?"
"He was adamant about wanting to keep it and he asked me to pursue you to look at him. But he wants the thing in his head fixed not removed."
"I don't know if that's possible. I really need to examine him in a hospital with proper equipment before I can say anything."
"I should tell you that he said that if he can't be fixed then he'd fix us for good. However, that being said we can't let him loose on the world with that thing working in his head. If that happens we're going to need more than just Chuck to fight him."
"I think Chuck's more than capable of taking on Ettore, said Devon as he glanced out of the porthole. The sun was setting and he couldn't help but think about what Clara had to be going through.
"Normally I'd agree with you but Chuck has a moral code he goes by. Ettore doesn't have one and he'll let nothing get in his way." There was a knock on their cabin door and a group of armed men came in.
"You come," they said in broken English as they pointed at Ellie and Devon. Ellie thought they meant her so she started to go with them. "No you. He," said the man in broken English pointing at Devon.
"What's going on? Where are you taking my husband?" said Ellie. She moved towards them but they shoved her back.
"It's all right," said Devon. "I'll come with you. Babe, just keep calm I'll be right back. I promise. Okay lead the way." Alex and Ellie watched as Devon was shoved out the door then it closed behind him.
"If they do anything to him I'll kill him... I'll kill Ettore myself," said Ellie.
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The chopper dropped the team off on the pier there they got back into the Lada and drove to the Buy More. On the way they decide to divide and conquer. Morgan and Casey would go into the Buy More while Sarah and Chuck went in through Orange Orange and they would all meet up in Castle.
"Come on Troll we need to find your ex," said Casey as the doors opened. "If we find her we can find out what's going on."
"John, believe me I haven't got a clue where to start looking. It's not like she gave me her business card. How am I supposed to find her?"
"Worse comes to worst we can make a tiger trap and guess who's going to be the goat," said Casey as they started walking across the store floor.
"Son we need to talk… oh you're with John Casey," said Big Mike. "Maybe you can come with me into my… our office. There are a few things I need to go over with you."
"We're kind of in a hurry. Can it wait? Maybe I can talk to you later but if you want to take your break early or go out for a second lunch go for it."
"No, it's nothing like that I really need to talk to you in private… you know I'm a man of the world and I know things can happen. You know two people can love each other then for no reason of theirs fall out of love."
"What are you trying to say?" said Morgan. Casey went on leaving Morgan with Big Mike. "You aren't going to leave my mother, are you?"
"What? No, me and your momma are still on fire just like our first day. Look I don't know what you've got going on but John Casey isn't a father you want to get a spanking from."
"Excuse me but you're not making any sense. What are you trying to say? Just come out with it like I said I'm in a hurry."
"Son, I hate to tell you but there's no room in the inn if you decide to move back home. We've turned your room into our jungle room so you can't afford for your woman to turn you out."
"Turn me out? You did what with my room… no I take that back I don't want to know. Why do you think Alex would turn me out?"
"Your other female friend came by earlier looking for you when you were out. She talked with Skip and Fernando and they told me about your tryst in Chinatown."
"There was no tryst. We met yes but that was it. I am looking for her because… because… yes why am I looking for her?"
"Yes, why are you looking for her? Take my word son you're on a slippery slope. It's easy to slide back into old habits… old bad habits if you know what I mean," said Big Mike. While they were talking, Morgan saw Casey waving at him to hurry up.
"I appreciate the advice and I'll keep it in mind but really there's nothing to worry about. You threw out my sluff that's cold."
"Had too your room is the only room with a steel I-beam that we could hang our swing from. You know me tarzan and…
"And she's Jane," said Morgan as he shook his head. "Why me?"
"No, Jane who? I don't know any Jane. I'm talking about your momma and how she loves to swing. Back and forth… muy caliente."
"I was missing that," said Morgan as he shook his head. "Okay, there's nothing going on and now I really need to go."
"It's about time. Your girlfriend is down in Castle waiting for you. If you hurt Alex like you did before I will break bones you didn't even know you had and then some."
"Anna's here and she's down in castle. How'd she get by all the security checks? That's pretty impressive, don't you think?"
"I think you need to keep it in pants before I rip your tongue out and you wear it like a necktie. Now let's go but remember Clara is down there and she just lost her parents so watch your trap."
"I know you say that because you care. I want you to know I do to and if you need someone to talk to… well I'm here for you. After all we're almost family."
"You said it 'almost' that's like almost being alive. Which if I get wind of any funny business between you and Anna will be your status."