AN: I like to thank knightrid3r696 for betaing this chapter. He had said I needed a beta so I drafted him.
"If you want something done you better do it yourself."
Morgan started the first day as boss humming a song from the Lion King;
"Oh I Just Can't Wait To Be King"
Today was the day he got to run a Buy More and Morgan was in high spirits. Being his first day running the San Diego Buy More, he decided he needs to rally his troops to get them prepared for their first day in charge of a new store. However achieving this is a whole other story, what with Chuck probably recovering from a hangover, and Casey keeping to himself and doing God knows what until the early hours of the morning when he finally got in.
As he was expecting, Chuck was slow to rise. Casey on the other hand was up and about as if he had twelve hours of sleep, when Morgan knew Casey got in around 3:00 am. The trio gathered in the hotels dining room and had a hot breakfast consisting of bacon and eggs with lots of hot coffee.
The walk to the store took about five minutes, in which time Morgan was starting to get on Casey's nerves as a result of his constant humming of that song. They ended up arriving just as the morning crew was opening up. They each flashed their Buy More ID's and were let into the store. Being the new management caused them to become the center of attention in a store that had been seriously requiring new leadership.
Chuck was shocked when he walked into the San Diego Buy More, and it took him a moment to realise what was missing. Whitegoods, the showroom lacked whitegoods, and there were areas of the floor that were bare. Floor space is valuable yet this store was not fully utilizing it. Another thing that surprised Chuck was the lack of staff that was in attendance, or perhaps they were just that short staffed.
With the help of Casey, Morgan had the staff line up in a row so he could formally greet them. He introduced himself as Morgan Grimes, a Buy More employee from Burbank that would be the manager for the next couple of weeks, John Casey as the Green Shirt supervisor and Chuck Bartowski as the man who would take charge and reorganise the NerdHerd helpdesk.
None of the trio expected the first topic that came up.
"When will we get paid?" one of the green-shirts asked.
"What?" Morgan was flabbergasted. "What do you mean you haven't been paid?"
"We haven't been paid for months," came the reply, "That's why there's no-one here. They weren't being paid so they left to find other jobs. We're still here for some reason, I guess because we have a loyalty to the store. A couple of the guys are stocking shelves at Walmart."
"Well you guys don't seem to be starving, so how are you still managing to make ends meet?" Morgan asked, still amazed that the workers were not being paid.
"I.O.U's" they hear someone say.
"I don't understand." Morgan and Chuck echoed.
"On pay day we all write out an I.O.U and we take cash from the store's cash registers for the same amount. One of the problems we've noticed is that we haven't had any new stock to sell, probably because our suppliers won't give us more products due to the fact that they haven't been paid in a long time. We aren't getting paid, the suppliers aren't getting paid and the store is running low on its stock of goods to sell. I'd estimate that within a month there won't be anything left to sell."
"Then we'll be screwed." Chimed in another green shirt.
"Unbelievable." Morgan groaned, running a hand over his face.
The longer this conversation went on the more Morgan understood the enormous task in front of him. He didn't like what he was hearing. What first appeared to be a golden opportunity, now seemed like a giant milestone that seemed insurmountable. He was put in charge of a store with no stock, no cash flow, and a staff that showed up to work came and went as they pleased and hadn't received an actual pay check in months.
From the stories that staff told him, Morgan pieced together that Miss Watson was the accounts lady. He also realized that according to the rest of the staff, she was ancient. She had been at the store for so long that they didn't update the hard copy financial records to a computer based system because they thought she was too old to learn. And besides, Miss Watson was always punctual and reliable. They continued using the carbonated sheets rather than have it all computerised.
Miss Watson never took time off for holidays; she was always in her office keeping the books. When she suddenly took ill some months ago, the Manager didn't replace her, thinking she would be back at work in a day or two. Morgan also learned that due to her advanced age, and the managers lack of managing their employees, Miss Watson hadn't been at work in months.
The manager himself was no longer at work. The staff noticed one day that he wasn't in his office. Initially they were relieved that he wasn't in because he seemed to get in the way of things. It was only last week after one of the salesman rang head office that they realised he been missing for almost as long as Miss Watson.
As there was no assistant manager, the chain of command fell to the head Nerd Herder, Rick Sykes. Sykes was good at his job but he had next to no people skills. If there was a walking advertisement of a socially awkward employee, it was Sykes. He was good at fixing computers but that was it. He also appeared to have recently suffered from an anxiety attack and had not been seen since.
The first improvement that Morgan initiated was the updating of the sales system to a digital, computer-based system, which was Chuck's area of expertise. It was a job that he could get the Nerd Herders to do after organizing them and making sure they had the proper knowledge. He was surprised when he found all the modern sales terminals at the back of the store in the cage area, still in their original packaging, which he found out had been stored there for several years. It didn't take long for him to have wired the whole store with the standard company's accounting system. If Miss Watson were to come back, she would either have to learn it or retire.
Once Chuck had gotten the new system up and running, they then had to train the staff how to use it. Training new staff was something that Chuck was familiar with. Teaching a new guy was generally an on the job experience and he normally sat with him for a few days to make sure he was comfortable doing the job. However, this was the whole store's personnel and he didn't have the luxury of time because there was too many staff to be trained. Even with Casey's help, it would be time consuming and Chuck couldn't guarantee that Casey wouldn't lose it and shoot something or someone out of frustration.
Morgan quickly realised that straightening out the Buy More was not going to be easy because like the Burbank store, the San Diego store must have had a policy of only employing misfits and cretins.
Morgan walked into the Managers office and slumped into the Managers chair.
"So do you want to abdicate now?" Casey sneered.
Morgan leaned forward and rested his head in his hands and shook his head before responding, "No. I need to make a call."
After a few rings, a deep baritone voice came through the line, "Big Mike, its Morgan, what a mess this place is. The entire staff haven't been paid in months and the accounts lady has run off with all the money."
Deep under the Burbank Buy More, and tense teleconference was underway. General Beckman was grilling the Castle station chiefs on why Charles Bartowski was issued an unsanctioned assassination order.
"Who's idea was it to give Bartowski a Red test?" the General sneered.
"That was mine, General." Shaw said. "I wanted to know if the intersect could override Chuck's emotional responses."
"What? Have you not read Bartowski's psychological profile? You have read the psychological assessment with regards to how Bartowski deals with killing have you not?" Beckman asked.
"I have General, but I believed it was an experiment where the rewards far outweighed the risks. Chuck's behavior proves that the intersect can't override the subjects emotions even when it's a life or death situation." Shaw responded.
"I don't need to remind you that the emotional state of the host will affect the usefulness of the intersect." General Beckman stated as if she were speaking to a five year old.
"And what better way of testing the intersect, General. I just needed to know if Chuck was cut out to be a spy. Clearly his isn't. If he is put into a life or death situation that requires him to defend himself using deadly force, it's very likely he will fail. I think it about time we stop dancing around this and put Bartowski in his place. He is an analyst at best. It's foolish to send him out in the field because he needs to be protected at all times. He's tying up very valuable resources." Shaw argued vehemently.
Glancing a view at the other agent present, the General asked "And what is your view on this Agent Walker?"
Sarah blinked as the bluntness of the question, she gave Shaw a quick glance then spoke to the monitor, "I was against the idea General."
"I see," Beckman was clearly not pleased, "Keeping the Intercect functioning has been a full time job for Agent Walker. Getting her to order the Bartowski his so called 'Red Test' has probably damaged the delicate working relation between the two. Bartowski, for all his brilliance, has abandonment issues. Throughout his past most of those he has cared about have left him. His mother when he was a child, and then his father a few years later. His emotional anchor was his sister, as she essentially raised him from the time their mother left. When he was forced into service as an asset, Agent Walker became his handler. Her cover was as his girlfriend, and it was clear Bartowski took a likening to her from the start. Even though he was untrained, he became part of one of the most successful espionage teams this country had ever seen. This three person team managed to take down and destroy Fulcrum almost singlehandedly."
Daniel Shaw went to speak but the General shut him down.
"Agent Walker, can you please refresh me on your current mission?"
Sarah got a sinking feeling in her stomach. "I am supposed to protect Chuck and follow up on any leads his flashes might yield."
"Exactly, so why exactly have you abandoned your mission? Agent Shaw can certainly take care of himself, but the Bartowski still requires protection until he can get a handle on the intersect. I need an agent with him representing CIA interests on the mission. That is why you, Agent Walker, are supposed to keep a close eye on him. A very close eye. Now get back to your post."
"General, where exactly is Chuck? I mean the Intersect." Sarah cringed as she said it.
"Mr Bartowski has been seconded to the San Diego Buy More. That is where you will find him."
Before signing off Beckman glared at Special Agent Shaw.
"Agent Shaw, I want you in my office at 0900 tomorrow! Have I made myself clear on this matter?"
"Yes ma'am." Shaw replied through gritted teeth.
"As for you Agent Walker, the Intersect is in San Diego, go and protect it."
As the screen went black, neither Shaw nor Walker looked at each other They simply turned away from each other and went to different parts of Castle.
"Big Mike, this place is a disaster!" Morgan whined into the phone.
"Now listen son, the first thing you have to do is act like you're in control. I know it sounds easier than it is, but you can't let the staff know you're panicking."
"But what do I do?" Morgan asked, wanting further explanation.
"I believe in you son, otherwise I wouldn't have sent you. Use your experience and your team. You have Chuck and Casey. Get organised."
"Right, right. Chuck and Casey. We can do this. We know the problem we just need to create a solution."
"And Morgan, use your card. Use it and hire a temp accounts clerk." Big Mike advised.
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