Don't own Chuck
Chuck and his team followed Ettore's men back to his evil lair. They laid back making sure they gave them a thirty-yard cushion. But that wasn't easy following them across the city then along the banks of the Zhujiang river. When they were well out of the town they turned down a long road dirt road that was pointed out by an old rusty sign labelled 'Sanatorium of Hope' written in English. The road led past what could only be describe as an old hospital of horrors.
"Keep on going," said Chuck as Casey drove. Go past the entrance then we can double back. Geez, check out that place.
"Just keep it in your pants," snapped John. "I know what I'm doing," he said as they drove past the entrance Ettore's men pull into then doubled back.
"We need to pull off the road and hide our car. I don't think they get a lot of automobile traffic out here so ours is going to stick out."
"Again, telling me what I already know," said John. "Just sit back and enjoy the scenery. I've got this all underhand," he said as he found a place he could pull off and drive into a grove of trees. "There that should do it. Now we can hump it back. Chairman, you can grab a case."
"Are you talking to me," said Tien trying to figure out what Casey's problem was. "My name is Tien Yee so you can call me…"
"You're lucky I don't call you worse and you can look that up in your little red book," said Casey as he got out of the car. "We're wasting time and you're wasting my air. Let's get a move on it."
"Tien, don't pay any attention to John. That's just the way he is but deep down he's got a heart of gold…"
"And hands of steel that will slap both of you silly if you don't stop the yapping and get a move on it. We need to get some recon before we breach these walls."
Once they parked they walked back to the road where they could get a better look of the hospital that set back off the road behind a wall.
"Wait for me here. I need to go take a selfie," said Chuck. Everyone looked at him strange. "Just trust me. Most of the time I know what I'm doing."
"Did he say selfie?" Lin nodded to Tien. "Is that code for something? It must be code because he wouldn't really take a selfie, would he?" Lin just shrugged her shoulders.
"Don't ask me I just met he a few minutes before we picked you up. But that's what he said he was going to do."
"What part of keeping your traps shut don't you two understand? What kind of spies are you two… oh that's right the kind that get caught. Now pipe down," said John as he watched Chuck through his binoculars walking to just outside the wall around the hospital.
"Okay, he's checked for cameras. Here look through these and you can see for yourself what he's up to," said John as he passed his binoculars to Tien. He watched Chuck attach his phone to a selfie stick then raised it just above the wall. He moved it side to side and after a few minutes he took it down then ran back to them.
"Here we go I look a video so we can see what's going on the inside then we come up with a way inside that doesn't get us caught. Looks like they've got all their guards out but if we wait until dark..."
"Chuck, you know as well as I do this is a trap. Ettore has to have figured out we'll be coming for Ellie and Alex then now there's Morgan. So he's got to be waiting for us and just because we can't see it doesn't mean it's not there."
"You're absolutely right. But there's something else that's bothering me and for the life of me I can't figure out what it is?"
"Well this is for your life and ours. Ettore is playing for keeps so if you think something is up it probably is so you need to figure out what it is before we walk head first into a noose."
"The Colonel's right. We can't go charging inside with guns blazing," said Tien. "The man I saw back at the train station his name is Jian and he's one evil bastard. He works for the minister and he's the minister's go to guy when he wants someone dealt with which usually means the person either disappears or has an accident. He's good at his job and if he's inside then we need to take extra caution."
"Your minister is going to be a problem," said Chuck but he was cut short when a motorcycle came charging by. Chuck immediately recognized the driver and so did Lin.
"That's Anna," said Lin as they watched Anna head for the wall. "She going to jump it and get herself killed."
"Not if I can help it," said Chuck. He pulled his dart pistol from his shoulder holster then took aim. He fired one dart that hit her back tire. The bike slid sideways as the back tire tried to pass the front. Then she lost control and the bike flipped over a couple of times sending Anna flying. She made a low thud when she landed on the gravel. "Ops, maybe I should've tried something different?"
"Do you think," said Casey. "If I were you I'd stay put and let her come here so she walks off some of her love for you. Or not," said John as he watched Chuck walk towards her. "Oh, this is going to be good."
Anna got up from the dust kicked her bike then looked around. She got even angrier when she saw Chuck walking towards her. They couldn't her everything that was being said but they could see Chuck was trying to explain to her why he'd done what he'd done.
"Oh, this isn't going to end well," said Casey. He and everyone else there could see she wasn't buying it. "I've got twenty bucks that says she sets him on his can."
"Instead of betting maybe we should go down and help him," said Tien seeing how heated things were getting. Anna was pointing rapidly at Chuck then at her bike then back at him. "Come on you didn't have to be a rocket scientist to see where this heading."
"Why do you want to go down there? Now where would the fun be in that?" said John. Anna punched Chuck knocking to the ground. "Like I told you before Chuck brings out the best in people and there you go. I knew I should've gotten you guys to cover my bet. Talking about easy money."
"Hey, who's this," said Lin. In all the commotion, she kept on watching the video clip Chuck had taken of the compound. "It looks like someone else has beaten us inside. Look there's someone sneaking about."
"What are you talking about? Let me see that. Oh crap, that's Chuck's mom. She's already inside," said John. Tien and Lin looked at him. "That's right Momma B is a spy too. Chuck needs to see this. Come on," said Casey. He took the phone then they went to show Chuck.
"If you two are done horsing around it's time we get back to some real work. Chuck, I hate to tell you but your Mom's beaten us to the punch and she's already inside."
"What? How'd she beat us here?" said Chuck as he took his phone back. There on the screen was Mary skulking around inside the compound. "Crap, she's going to get herself killed."
"She was on the train with us," said Anna. "We need to get away from the wall before someone comes to see what's going on and finds us standing here."
"Anna's right. John, I want you guys to post out here. Tien, you and I need to go back into town and take care of some business. I'll explain what I mean on our way. John, if my mother gets in trouble…"
"I've got her back," said John as he went to one of the cases opening it up then started assembling his Barrett .50.
"Thanks, I know I can count on you," said Chuck. "Anna, you can come with us. I might need your help and I don't need for you to try to slip inside. My mother's inside and that's enough for now."
"Only because you asked me politely but I ought to shoot out your tires. Then we'd be even or is that the reason you want me to come with?"
[In the meantime, Lin was standing over John]
"Wow, a Barrett fifty cal or the M107, a recoil-operated, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by the American Barrett Firearms Manufacturing company. With a ten round detachable box magazine, fixed front, adjustable rear sight," said Lin as she watched him assemble it. "Recoil-operated rotating bolt, Muzzle velocity2,799 feet per second,effective firing range 1,969 yards."
"So, you think know your way around this baby? How'd you like to be my spotter? And I'll teach you a thing or two that I've picked up through the years. We just need to find us a nest."
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Ellie looked over the results of the MRI as Ettore's goons helped him put his leg back on then got him up off the table. He came hobbling out MRI room trying to get everything back symmetrical still in his hospital gown with the back flapping in the wind. Ellie looked at him and it was all she could do not to laugh. The lab tech turned away so he could snicker thinking he wouldn't be seen.
"Go ahead make fun of me if you like laugh it up," he said as he walked behind the tech then suddenly bounced his head off the control panel. "Now who's laughing? You still want to be the funny man?"
"Ettore stop," said Ellie as he pushed him away from the tech. "Get a grip on yourself. He was just telling me a joke. Not everything is about you so just take a chill and leave the man alone. He works for me now and I need him if you want this work to be done?"
"I'm out of here… I'm going to change. Once you're done here my men will bring you to me," he said as he hobbled out of the room. Ettore was livid and he didn't mind letting everyone know it.
"Xièxie, thanks," said the man as she looked at his face. She took some tissues and wiped off the blood but he was no worse for the wear.
"You really should've picked public health care over private. It would've been less pay but a safer work environment. Working for Ettore is like riding a roller coaster you don't know if you're up or down. You'll be fine just keep everything clean and watch out for infections. Okay, I guess I'm ready to go take me to your leader."
The lab tech translated for her so the goons motioned for her to follow them. Ettore's outburst confirmed for her that his instability was getting worse and that they were doing all the wrong tests. The one junior mountain signalled her to wait then he knocked on the door to Ettore's study. She heard him yell something out then the man opened the door and waved for her to enter.
"So, what have you learned," said Ettore as he finished buttoning his shirt. "Have you come up with something that will help me?"
"I've looked at the scan and I know you want to do a CT scan but really in my professional opinion you need an EEG. I should take two readings of your brain one to establish a baseline then do another while you are flashing to see the intersect at work. The MRI we did is good but there again we should do another as you're flashing so I can see what parts of your brain light up."
"And what parts don't," said Ettore as he went over and poured himself a scotch. He held up the bottle to Ellie but she shook her head. "Good, I can see you've given thought to my situation. Is this what you did for Sarah?"
"What do you mean for Sarah?" said Ellie. Ettore caught her off balance and she didn't know how to react. "Are you talking about Sarah, Sarah, as in my sister-in-law?"
"You don't have to be so coy Doc," said Ettore as he took a sip. "I've figured out she has an intersect too so don't try to lie. You'll just insult yourself and my intelligence and you've seen what I'm like when I think people are insulting me."
"Can you tell me how you came up with that wild idea? But I'm in no way confirming or denying your hypothesis. I just want to know how you came about it."
"It's simple really. She was given the intersect after project Omaha then she was assigned to Chuck thinking she was watching him when it was he who was watching her. But as what sometimes happens when two people get too close and stay that way for too long feeling develop."
"I don't know what project Omaha was or is but she was assigned to Chuck. He was her asset then she became his handler or so I've been told."
"Come on… or you might not know. Yes, I never thought about that… you did come in the program around the time your father returned. Then… well I won't go into that but Beckman turned the intersect project over to you."
"I would call it more a collaboration then giving me the project. I discover from time to time that things are going on that I don't know anything about like how you got a copy."
"But this is the same version that scrambled Morgan and Sarah's brains. I heard on the grapevine about the Cobra. There are people in Aspen who are still looking for the Cobra. I take it you found a way to remove it or Grimes would still have his frosted tips."
"Which would be so much easier than trying to fix what's broken. If you let me I can remove yours then you'll go back to the way you used to be just like Morgan did."
"Morgan could go back to the way he was because someone else on the team had the intersect, Sarah. That's the reason she went rogue. The intersect she had she had for too long and it cooked her brain. I've done my homework I know Chuck moved heaven and earth to find her again."
"Yes, he searched for her until he found her and then he won her back. I'm proud of my brother, a lot of people told him to give up and move on I being one of them but he wouldn't. And if you think I'm going to help you destroy what he's fought so hard to create you need to rethink that."
"I don't need to rethink anything I need to be rebooted like you rebooted her. I want you to reboot my intersect and make me like her."
"Rebooted her? Ettore, I think you need…" Ellie started to say but Ettore held up his hand then picked up a large manila envelope dumping its contents on his desk. There were photos and photos of Sarah all taken from a distance and all without her knowledge.
"Funny, but examining these photos over and over one thing stuck out and you want to know what that is?"
"She's fashion conscious? You know this could be construed as stalking," said Ellie as she looked at the photos. "You really need to get out more. Do you date women? I mean real women not the inflatable kind?
"Funny, but what stuck out to me was her watch. She wears basically the same kind of watch all the time. As you said yourself she's fashion conscious yet there's the same watch," he said as he pointed it out in various photos.
"Well, I can point out that she's got different watches on too. I know the watch doubles as a communication device so there's the reason you see the same watch."
"I think the watch is much more and the fact that you're becoming defensive seems to support what I've guessed. Your father in his notes mention something he called a 'governor' that governs the impulses the intersect transmits to the brain and that's what I think this is. That's what's keeping her from becoming like me and the look on you face tells me I'm right."
"I don't know what you're talking about… look. That's what my father said in his notes? Well dear old dad… You realize he used to have us walk around home with aluminium foil on our heads to keep the government from reading our thoughts. Chuck and I called him our crazy old dad for a reason. One day he promised us pancakes then he disappeared. Sure, he'd send a card every now and then but then that stopped. Until he came back then there was… well I don't want to get into that with you."
"I realize you might have daddy issues but I think part of what you're trying to do is to throw up a smoke screen. I've hit the nail on the head. I need her watch to live with this thing then I need to be rebooted and you're going to do that for me. Before you say you're not remember I have Morgan and Alex upstairs."
"Okay, say I'll help you with the reboot which I'm not even sure is possible. I can't make a watch… I'm sorry you called it a governor for you."
"Don't worry I'll walk you through the reboot and as far as getting the watch… well my friend has a team in place ready to grab it for me. Now, you can go up to your room and stay with your friends. As you have dinner with them look at them and think if their lives are not worth you helping me.
"I said I would. There's no need with the constant threats. You're right it's time I go to my room I need some fresh air."
"Then we understand each other. You should get plenty of rest this evening because we'll start back at this early tomorrow morning," said Ettore then he went to the doors and opened them. He said something to the goon standing next to the door but the man shook his head.
"He'll escort you up. We wouldn't want you to get lost," said Ettore. Ellie was a bit confused but then Jian came walking down the steps from the floor above. She realized Ettore had been asking about him.
"There you were I was looking for you. You know you were only supposed to escort Morgan up not spend the whole morning holding his hands."
"What? No, I wasn't holding his… I wasn't doing anything like that. One of my men radioed in about finding a window open on the third-floor so I went to check it out," said Jian then he stopped.
"Well man did you find the window open and if you did does it look like we've got uninvited guests inside this facility? Come on speak up?"
"I was waiting for the doctor to leave us first," said Jian as he said something to the man next to Ellie then he took her away. "Let's go inside and talk in private."
They walked inside and as soon as they were in Jian turned and closed the doors. Ettore went back over to his desk and picked up his glass then went over to freshen his drink.
"You want one," said Ettore holding up the bottle. Jian nodded then took up a seat across from Ettore's desk.
"Here you go," said Ettore as he handed him a glass. "So, what is it? Is Chuck on the grounds? It's about time for him to show up. Actually, I was expecting him before now."
"No, it's not Chuck. I reviewed the security footage from the CCTV cameras. They only caught a glimpse of our intruder but it doesn't look like a he but a she. I'll print you off a copy of the blurry image so you can see for yourself. But it's not a he that's for sure."
"If it's not Chuck then it's probably Anna Wu. She's come to rescue Morgan. I'd like to see Alex's face when she finds that out."
"I'm not sure who it is," said Jian as he took a sip. "They did get on the plane together from LAX but I can't be sure."
"I thought your people were going to grab them both in the air terminal but all you got was Morgan. Then I heard news your people had her on the train coming here from Shanghai then you let her slip through your fingers again. This is no way to build a rail road and it doesn't make me feel good about your capabilities."
"First of all, those were regular agents from the MSS and not my people. But if it is Anna Wu I'll have her by the end of the day… that is if she's still in our compound. I want to triple the guards on your guests. That will be where she'll head for."
"I'm not so sure about that. She's a little bit stubborn and pig-headed. If her mission is to take me out then she'll be coming here for me and you can take that to the bank."
"So, what are you telling me? You want me to forget about posting more guards on your guests so I can put more on you?"
"My dear Jian, you can explain to your minister how you failed at the only task you had which was making sure I was safe. It seems to me if you want to keep from being on the wrong side of a firing squad your decision is obvious."
"I'll take care of it now," said Jian as he downed his scotch then put his glass on Ettore's desk. "I thought this was supposed to be smooth but you know it started out okay then there was this bitter after taste."
"Maybe scotch isn't your thing. Now go take care of what needs to be taken care of and tell the people in the kitchen I'm reader for my dinner. You can come and brief me before I turn in which will be right after I eat."