Don't own Chuck

Banai heard someone behind him. He spun around and saw two men with AK47s pointed at him. He didn't have time to think he raised his arm to fire but before he could get off a round he heard two gunshots. His first thought was, "this was it," but his life didn't flash before him like he had heard it was supposed to. In fact, nothing happened then he started patting himself down.

"If you're checking to see if you're dead you're not," said a voice he recognized but he still checked himself out to make sure he wasn't dead. "See no bullet holes but I can fix that if you want," said Casey. Banai looked up to see the two men with the 47s face down in the road and Casey walking up behind them with Morgan behind him. John had his Sig out in his hand he slowed up a little when he walked past the two men in the road to admire his handy work.

"I thought you guys were supposed to pray to the east," said Casey as he continued walking up to Banai looking over his situation. "Hold that thought for a moment I've got an itch I need to scratch," said John as he dropped the remaining men in the bat of an eye. There for a moment Morgan thought Casey's Sig was on fire and afterwards it was smoking.

"Boy was that some good stress relief. You know I do I feel a lot better. Too bad there's no place to get a short stack around here they'd really hit the spot right about now. You wouldn't happen to have any more bad guys you need taken care of."

"I hope you realize how messed up that sounds," said Morgan as he looked over the carnage Casey had caused. "Geez John, what are we going to do with these bodies? We can't just leave them, can we?"

"Why not? The wolves and vultures need to eat too. It won't take them long to smell this banquet. Or you can knock yourself out and try to dig graves in the frozen ground."

"You know I saw on Animal Planet that the vulture is a sacred animal to the Tibetans because it is one of the few animals that doesn't kill to find its food."

"Where did you guys come from? I thought you were still a long way out," said Banai. "How'd you get here so fast? Not that I'm complaining or anything and I'll admit you saved my... well, turkey bacon." Casey grunted.

"We caught a very fast plane out of Mildenhall then got here in record time. How we parachuted here well numbnuts you want to explain that?"

"John I swear the light was green or greenish when I jumped. I don't know why you won't believe me. And that Sergeant didn't he say Geronimo?"

"He said 'not now' but you jumped anyway and no the light wasn't green. The long and short of it is we were supposed to land outside Tbilisi where a team was supposed to meet us but instead we're here thanks to this genius."

"You know John when you say things like that it really hurts inside. Besides look around I brought you where you were needed... and thanks to me you got to scratch that itch..."

"And keep it up and I might scratch it again. Well, I hope one of these vehicles is drivable," said John as he noticed Banai's Mercedes was riddled with bullet holes. Like we said we parachuted in so we don't have any ground transportation," said Casey as he gave Morgan the evil eye.

"We need to get on the road. Abram isn't that far away with the missile," said Banai then as they lifted the hood on the cattle truck tried to get it to start he explained to Casey who Abram was and why he wanted him so badly.

"I can't say as I blame you I'd want his hide too if I were you. If there's one thing I can't stand is a turncoat... well unless he's becoming a turncoat for us but still I wouldn't trust him. People like Abram can never really be trusted. If they turned once they can always turn again. Okay there we go that should do it," said John as he put the hood down. "Grimes try to turn her over now," yelled Casey. Morgan turned the key, the truck sputtered and backfired but then it came to life. "Now where do we go from here," said Casey as pushed Morgan over and got behind the steering wheel.

"Hey a little easy on the merchandise," said Morgan as he got settled in the middle. "Remember you chose me to come along with you."

"Boy was that ever a mistake 'Wrong Way'. Just sit there and keep you trap shut or I'll shut it for you," said Casey. "Okay Banai you were telling me which way we needed to go."

"Just follow this road," said Banai as he got in from the other side then closed the door. "I've got intel that says they're heading for Batumi where they plan on offloading their cargo into a warehouse before they put it on a ship."

"Hey isn't that where Chuck and Sarah are right now? I thought I heard the Major say something like that when he check-in on us."

"Chuck and Sarah are there?" said Banai. "We should contact them so they can head off the cargo. We could box them in then take them. No muss, no fuss I think is what you people say."

"Maybe in an ad for some household cleaner but as far as getting in touch with Chuck and Sarah that would work if we could get in touch with them. What I'm saying is that it's not that easy. Chuck went MIA and Sarah has gone looking for him. Right now it's just you and us."

"But come on guys we can do this. We've been in worse situations," said Morgan as they got up to speed rounding through the mountain roads with no guardrails. "You know John you can bring us a little closer inward away from that oh so very... very deep and steep drop off," said Morgan as he looked over the side of the road into the white cloud cover below.

"What? Are you afraid? You were the one talking about sacred vultures and charnel grounds. If we go over the side, we just give them more to eat tonight... a smorgasbord if you like.

"You know the first thing they go for is the eyes because they're soft tissue and a tasty morsel. After that they go for the tongue unless you don't have any pants on then that changes things up a bit...

"No I don't like... that's enough right there that's probably more information then I will ever need to know about... well stuff. No I didn't meant that kind of stuff," said Morgan as he turned green. "Oh I mean it and considering I'm sitting in the middle I don't think either one of you want to see me power puke."

"I heard about Beckman and I want you to know I'm sorry. We might not have always been fighting on the same side but I respect her. She's a very strong woman and if anyone can pull through she will. You might not believe it but we're all in the hands of…."

"And speaking of hands when I get mine on the guy who issued the hit... well he's going to be in a world of hurt and by the time I'm done with him he's going to be begging me to finish him off. So I understand exactly how you feel about your man Abram and what you want to do. But if you ask me stringing him up in a public square is too good for him. I can give you a few ideas on our way to Batumi."

"Oh am I so going to have to make an appointment with Dr. Dreyfus when we get back," said Morgan.

"Who says you're going to make it back," said Casey.

"Remember your promise to Alex and I haven't told her yet about the tiger trap," said Morgan. Casey growled.

"And you won't if you know what's good for you," said Casey as he tapped the brakes and Morgan banged his head on the dash while Banai hung on to the door.

"Guys, guys can we channel all this to the people who deserve it… Ettore, Abram and Abu. What's this about a tiger trap anyway? I know what a tiger trap is but what does this have to do with us."

"Easy," said Morgan. "For a tiger trap you need a goat then a hunter stakes out the goat and when the tiger comes to take the goat the hunter shoots it. You see I'm the goat in this scenario because I look like Ettore…"

"But nine time out of ten the goat doesn't live. However, it's a good plan if Ettore was in charge. I know Chuck's been taken but I thought the way you talked he was free. Let me back up and explain I talked with him… or I should say he called me. He was on a plane with Abu. I know because I talked to him too and I guess I pushed him a little hard and that was the reason for the ambush back there. I don't know if you realize this but the man behind this operation is Abu. I'm not sure how Ettore fits into this but Abu is the one calling the shots."

"So I'm here to do what?" said Morgan.

"Don't worry we can still use a bullet magnet.

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Sarah rode under the Discovery all through town and back to the port. The vehicle drove into a restricted area Sarah knew that because she recognized the guard's shiny boots that she saw from under the vehicle. At first she was worried that the vehicle might be searched and if they checked under the Discovery with a mirror she'd be discovered. However, the guards tone changed when the man inside told the guard they worked for Bin Abu then he hastily waved them through.

"So this Bin Abu has some clout in the port... just another wharf rat to me," she thought as they continued on in the port. She knew she was getting near the water front when she heard a ship's horns and there was a strong smell of salt in the air along with the shrieking call of gulls. The SUV slowed down then stopped when it came to a warehouse.

"You need to drive inside and wait in your vehicle those were Abu's orders. He'll be right with you guys. He told me to tell you he had some other questions he needed you to answer."

"Like what? I told him everything when we talked on the phone," said the one guy. Sarah took it he was the guy in charge of the mission that went south.

"I hope he hurries it up or I'm not going to get my ice cream," complained a man in the back. "Why does this crap always have to happen when you're in a hurry? And why do we all have to wait here? If he's got questions you can answer them you don't need us with you."

"You could ask that to Mosul," said the man driving. "At least you got to sit in the back. I had to sit up here in Mosul's blood. I'm never going to get this out of my clothes. I think I'm just going to burn them."

"Will you two pipe down and stop your whining. You're acting like a bunch of old women. You heard the man we have to wait and that's what we're going to do. I don't like it any more than you guys but that's what we've got to do."

"I still want my ice cream," said the man in the back. There was a round of yells telling him to shut up. "You guys can tease me as much as you want but the stomach wants what the stomach wants."

"Here we go," said the leader. Sarah saw light coming in from the outside as the door they drove in opened up again and a group of men walked in. Sarah could tell by the sound they made as they walked over that she wasn't going to didn't like what was about to go down.

"We need for you to get out of the vehicle and come with us," said the one man. "Abu will be here shortly to talk with you." Sarah detected something in the man's voice that confirmed what she had already felt was going down and no she didn't like it.

"Like I said before I explained everything to him before," said the leader. "I don't understand why he's treating us like this. Things like this just happen and they're really no one's fault they just happen."

"Just get out of the vehicle and follow me," said the man as he stepped up to the passenger door and opened it. "This way."

"Okay, okay we're coming," said the leader as he started to get out. Sarah could hear the quiver in his voice like he knew what was about to happen. She couldn't understand why he didn't do anything but he just got out. Suddenly she heard the sound of suppressed gunfire and saw the bodies of the men drop on the warehouse floor. She saw the team leader was still alive although seriously wounded and he was looking right at her.

"Crap," she thought as she reached for her Smith & Wesson. This was the last thing she needed a shootout in a warehouse. But as the man tried to speak pointing at her the man who had pulled him from the SUV finished him off with a head shoot.

"Abu said to tell you he accepts your apology," said the man then he turned to his men. "Bag them up then take them to the ship. Once we're out to sea we'll dump them overboard and feed them to the fish."

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Margo was starting to see double down in the Dungeon. Mike walked over to her and asked her why didn't she take a break. They weren't doing anything other than standing by and if need be he'd come and get her. Reluctantly she agreed. Working all day underground without seeing the light of day was... well she had more respect now for spelunkers.

"Okay I'll go because I need to get out of here and breathe some fresh air. I'm taking my phone so if you need to reach me don't hesitate to call and I mean that… anything."

"Don't worry if anyone calls for you or anything happens your number will be the first one I call and if I can't reach you for any reason I'll send someone for you. Go now I've got this."

"Okay and when I get back you can go topside and get a breather too. Working down here round the clock can't be healthy. There's a reason the Air Force called off project Oil Change."

"Don't worry about a thing," said Mike as he walked Margo over to the elevator and put her on it before she changed her mind.

She knew Mike was right she needed to take a break from down in the Dungeon and if ever there was an appropriate name it was that. But as she came off the elevator sitting there waiting for her was Sam. She'd even brought a chair over to sit it as she passed the time.

"I think you're waiting for me," said Margo as she got off the elevator. Sam nodded her head then hopped out of her chair.

"Can you tell me what's going on with Mommy and Chuck?" asked Sam. "I think I have a right to know. They are my parents."

"Sweetie, I wish I could but it doesn't work like that. You know I could get into a lot of trouble if I tell you something that's secret and someone else finds out."

"How is anyone else going to find out? I promise not to say a word... not even under torture," said Sam. Margo raised an eyebrow.

"A kid your age shouldn't know anything about torture. Where did you hear it at?" asked Margo. But she should've expected this to happen given Sam's situation.

"I heard it from Uncle Casey," said Sam in a nonchalant manner. "It's what he threatens to do to Morgan all the time. But between you and me I don't think he's ever done it or will do it. He just threatens him with it which reinforces the effect that he might one day do it."

"Have you ever spent any time at the farm?" asked Margo without thinking as she gave Sam a puzzled look. She was even more perplexed when Sam nodded. "Do your parents know about this?"

"Sure they do. They took me on a family outing. It was okay but I don't see what all the fuss is about. I was expecting to see bunnies but you know what I saw?"

"I bet it wasn't bunnies that's for sure," said Margo. She was rethinking the whole Chuck talking to Razib thing. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Why are you looking at me that way? Have you been there too?" asked Sam. Margo wasn't sure how to answer her question.

"Yes of course, I did some training there and so did Mike. And your parents were all right with taking you there? It was their idea?"

"Yes of course why not? So you trained there? What did you do? Did you work with the rides or in the concession stands? I liked the Butterfield Stagecoach ride because I liked the horses. Chuck was terrified he said they were going to bite or kick but they didn't do either and the man let me feed them carrots."

"Excuse me but I think we've gotten our farms mixed up. What farm are you talking about? Because where I was there were no rides and definitely no concession stands."

"Why Knott's Berry Farm in Buena? What farm were you thinking about?" asked Sam with a little perplexed look.

"Not that one for sure. Sam it doesn't matter I can't tell you anything. I'm sorry I wish I could but those are the rules."

"Where were you headed to the bar or to your room? Why don't you walk with me and let me offer you a coffee on the house. We can talk a little more and I'm sure we can come up with fair and equitable solution that will make both of us happy."

"You know you're going to be very frightening when you get older," said Margo as they headed for the bar.

"Just walk with me and hear me out," said Sam. Then she saw Emma and worse was Emma saw her. "Pretend we never had this conversation."

"What? What's the matter?" said Margo. "Sam, I told you before and I'll tell you again I can't tell you anything." Sam tried to signal Margo to keep quiet as Emma came up to them.

"There you are," said Emma. "Well what do you have to say for yourself? You know I told you not to bother Margo and you were supposed to stay in Jack's office."

"I was but I got tired so I thought I'd go out for a walk to... to stretch my legs. Yes, that's it I was just stretching my legs when I bumped into Margo. I was walking with her to the bar because... because...

"Because it's not safe for her to be out walking around in the open alone. We're not sure there are no more of those bad people around so I wanted to keep an eye on her."

"Something tells me that isn't exactly how it went but okay this time. You're coming with me now miss and we're going to find you something to do. My mother used to tell me idle hands were the devil's workshop and I wasn't sure I believed her until now."

"Who are you talking about? Why are you looking at me? I haven't done anything," said Sam. Both Margo and Emma gave her a look. "Okay not in the last five minutes... at least," she said as she raised her hand.

"Come on and let's leave Margo in peace. She doesn't have time to mess around with you she's got work that needs to be done."

"Sam, I'm sorry but I promise you if anything happens I'll come and tell you. You have my word on that."

"Will you pinky swear," asked Sam as she help up her little finger. Margo laughed then held out her pinky too and they shook.

"Now I need to go outside for a second get some fresh air then go back down below," said Margo as she looked at her watch. "I need to hurry up because I promised Mike I'd let him come up for a breather too."

"Oh really," said Sam as the cogs began to turn. "You know you don't need to stay with me all the time," she said to Emma. "I'm sure you'd like to go check on Molly too. We wouldn't want her to feel neglected now would we?"

"Remember if you know all the cons you'll never be a sucker. Now let's move along."

"I'm coming Turnkey. How long before I get some yard time?"