AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey there. A brief pause (two weeks) between chapters because I've started an extensive remaster of my first Chuck tale, Love-Struck Spies. I've also began extensive worldbuilding for a mature story, Temptations. However, Who Dares Wins will always remain a focal part of my fanfiction plans, so long as those who enjoy this fiction remain vocal about it with me.
GLOSSARY:
Kip - to sleep, especially in a place that is not your home
Stag - on watch as guard duty
Who Dares Wins
Chapter Forty-Eight: Lockdown: Part Twenty-Seven: Jeffster: Part Two
Outside News Now Media Corporation
London
Wednesday, 21 November, 2007
"Right, the idiots have pulled to a stop outside their workplace," Chris declared, pulling Red Team's surveillance van to a stop a short distance from Jeff and Lester's.
"It's 19:00 hours, so I don't think they'll be in their offices for too long, but if they are, now is the time for all of us in the rear to get some kip," Chuck said.
Everyone nodded as Red Team tucked themselves into more comfortable positions inside the van, which they'd been mobile in for five hours, with almost certainly at least a few more days for the team remaining inside the vehicle on their less-than-enviable assignment.
A few minutes passed as Chuck, Sarah, Cole, Bryce, Morgan, Jamie, and Dan allowed their minds to relax until Chris MacDonald and John Murray in the front of the surveillance van detected movement at Jeffster's van.
"Heads up," John Murray said, observing Jeff and Lester departing Jeff's van, and they walked hastily towards the entrance of News Now. "Both targets are heading inside."
"And hopefully, they'll stay there for a few hours so we can get our heads down while you two out front have to stay up and keep watch," Chuck said from his cosy position under the blanket he'd brought.
"Ya wee bastard!" John Murray hissed in complaint.
"Serves you right for being so eager to take the front seat," Sarah said, cosying herself into her blanket.
Most in the rear, and Chris in the front, muttered in agreement while Cole said, "I couldn't have said it any better."
A brief silence ensued as Chris and John observed Jeff and Lester heading inside their place of work, a glint of awe in John Murray's eye as he watched them walk.
"A nice, heated facility. What I wouldn't give for that right now myself," John Murray said as Jeff and Lester disappeared from view.
Groans instantly erupted amongst John's teammates.
"Did you have to open your mouth and tell us that?" Cole Barker asked in complaint.
Immediate mutters in agreement broke out amongst the whole team in support of Cole.
"Och! I'm in the same situation as all of you!" John Murray protested back.
"Yeah, but the difference is that none of us was thinking about it before you opened your trap, fella, but now all of us are," Big Dan said.
Red Team voiced further agreements.
"Now that he has us all thinking about it, how about we all bugger off to check into a hotel and leave Chris and Morgan here on stag?" Jamie Hughes suddenly suggested.
"That's not a bad idea, Jamie!" Cole instantly voiced his support. "A nice stint in another five-star hotel. How about it, ey?" he asked, glancing around at his teammates.
"I'm game," Bryce said instantly.
"Same here, mate, so long as I don't have to share a room with any of you," Jamie laughed.
Snorts broke out amongst the teammates for a brief moment until Chuck asked, "Well, how about it, Chris? Fancy taking one for the team?"
"Not bloody likely!" Chris shot back.
Red Team groaned as Big Dan said, "Always the party pooper, isn't he?"
"We could always assassinate him here and now, mate. He dies heroically in the line of fire, and then all of us can bugger off for a few weeks on vacation under the guise of searching out his assassin. Once we find and eliminate the assassin, we'll report back to command?" Jamie suggested while trying hard not to laugh.
"Now, there's a thought!" Cole said quickly.
"Who's doing the killing?" Bryce asked, glancing around at his teammates. "It had better not be me for once."
"John can," Sarah said. "Considering he's the one who put a warm and cosy heated facility all in our minds. And because it's so shit in here already, he should hurry up and do it."
Cole pointed in endorsement at Sarah while most of the team started to chuckle, and Big Dan said, "An excellent suggestion, Sarah. Well, John, fella, don't keep us all exploding in suspense. Take your sidearm out, and blow his fucking brains out!"
Everyone started snorting like pigs, but they failed to hold in their laughter as John Murray said, "What's wrong with any of you doing it?"
"He's scared!" Cole said back instantly, emitting a rowdy chuckle as he did so.
Red Team shared the laughter with Cole until Chuck said, "Considering Chris is a party pooper as usual and blocking all of us from going, plus John being scared to carry out his assignment, I guess that means I'll have to bail out of the van right now and check into a hotel on my own. I'm sure none of you will mind and support me in the decision?"
"He'll fucking do it as well, him!" Big Dan said instantly, shaking his head.
In addition to Big Dan's comment, Chuck's joke set off the latest exchange of chuckles amongst the unit for a moment until things calmed, and the team relaxed again.
X-X-X-X-X-X
News Now Media Corporation
Lester departed the elevator on the floor of his office in tandem with Jeff.
Looking around as they walked along the office floor towards Big Mike's office, they observed a deserted workplace without much activity, which was to be expected, with most of the staff of News Now having already departed or were preparing to depart for the evening.
The best friends soon bumped into Fernando, seated at his deck.
"Hey, Fernando," Jeff said.
"Hi, Jeff," Fernando replied.
Lester took off his dark-tinted glasses, which he had been wearing to cover bruising on his left eye, which he'd gained from participating in Jeff's Fight Club, which the best friends recently formed once they returned from Hereford.
With his natural sight, Lester started to take in and study Fernando's appearance for a long moment.
Once Lester completed his observations, he said, "Fernando, my man, you're already losing weight. I told you the Fight Club would help you to lose the calories, my brother!"
"Yeah. But if he beats Skip..." Jeff said but paused as he suddenly started to burn an intimidating stare at Fernando, "Then he will face the nunchuck master."
Sensing Fernando's fear, Lester started to laugh hysterically in approval for a few seconds until he composed himself and said, "Maybe we should invite Fernando to join our activism in support of population control, Jeffrey?"
"Good idea," Jeff replied as he and Lester looked at Fernando in wait for his reply.
"No thanks," Fernando said.
"Your loss, brother. Our activism is going to change the world! Earth is becoming too crowded for all of us to live on! You will have to join us at some point. You have no choice!" Lester said.
"Maybe we should invite all humans to Fight Club, Lester, but with a more twisted format?" Jeff said.
"What do you have in mind, Jeffrey?" Lester asked as he started to consider what his best friend's suggestion would be. He was sure it would be excellent regardless.
"Battle Royale," Jeff said with glee in his eye. "Last man standing wins."
Lester raised a hand to rest on his chin as he considered Jeff's suggestion for a long moment, quickly becoming further and further excited with each passing second. "Jeffrey, my brother, that is a fabulous suggestion! But what if it's just us two left at the end of it?"
"Friend or not, Lester, you're going down," Jeff said with a menacing stare at Lester.
Lester quickly shrieked in fear.
"Cya, Fernando," Jeff said as the best friends walked away from Fernando's desk, but they soon paused and stopped at Skip Johnson's position.
"Skip, my brother, I will come straight to the point," Lester said. "We would like you to undergo castration as a willing subject in our efforts to combat and enforce population control. We all have to do our part against this terrible disease, brother, and I cannot think of anyone better than you to volunteer. So, what do you say?"
"Why don't you go first, Lester?" Skip asked.
Lester instantly shrieked and turned nervous at the suggestion.
"He has a point, Lester," Jeff said. "Because we are most passionate about it, one of us should go first."
"Jeffrey, my parents would murder me in my sleep! They already think I'm a girl!" Lester strongly protested.
"Chicken," Jeff said back.
However, Jeff, Lester and Skip were suddenly disturbed by Anna Wu appearing in view, who had exited Big Mike's office.
"Hello, Anna, my little dim sum!" Lester said as he quickly walked up to Anna's position, and Jeff followed.
On arrival, Jeff started to wink at Anna from both eyes, one at a time.
"Ew. You're so gross, Jeff," Anna complained, looking at Jeff scornfully.
"How's it going, Anna?" Jeff asked.
"I would be much better if you two were not here," Anna admitted.
Lester gasped in immense hurt. "That hurts, Anna. What can we do to make you like us?"
"You can leave me alone," Anna said.
Lester laughed and said, "Anna, my sweet dim sum, you cannot resist my charm!"
Anna scoffed and said, "What charm?"
Lester winced in hurt.
"Anna is right, Lester. It's my charm she likes a lot more," Jeff said as he started his creepy winking at Anna again.
However, Anna continued her scornful stare and said, "Oh, please, Jeff, you have as much charm as a one-toothed hobo at a kissing booth!"
Lester erupted in hysterical laughter for a long moment, and once he could speak, he said, "Perfectly said, Anna! However, I would have gone for a doped-up leprechaun!"
Anna smirked in approval; however, the three of them were interrupted by Big Mike, who appeared at the doorway of his office.
"I thought it was you two," Big Mike said, looking at Jeff and Lester with an unfriendly gaze. "Every time you two halfwits are around, my internal spook meter rings out alarm bells, and the whole building shakes in fear of what you're going to cause me stress over next!"
Lester laughed a muted chuckle until Big Mike said, "Get in here now, you halfwits! You're late for the meeting."
Big Mike then turned and reentered his office.
"See you soon, Anna, my honeyed dim sum," Lester said.
"Not if I can help it," Anna said back instantly.
Jeff continued a leering gaze at Anna for a few seconds more until Lester said, "Come on, Jeffrey!"
The best friends then moved to enter Big Mike's office, and they moved to take seats.
Big Mike paused in silence briefly, save from the sound of him finishing a foot-long chicken-teriyaki sandwich.
Once he finished, he discarded the wrapper and turned his attention back onto Jeff and Lester.
"It's been over three weeks since your investigative reporting landed one of the biggest stories we have ever had at News Now," Big Mike said.
"Thanks, Big Mike! I told you we would make you proud!" Lester said with enthusiasm.
"I have to say. It's the very last thing I expected from you both. I didn't know you had it in you to capture a shootout involving the SAS against terrorists," Big Mike said. "You more than earned your jobs back, but in three weeks since, you have done almost nothing. So, what are you working on?"
Lester suddenly stood up from his seat, which turned Big Mike nervous.
Big Mike's nerves increased until the point they almost exploded when Lester came to a stop close to him.
"We'd like an op-ed," Lester said.
Big Mike took a few seconds in thought, his mind becoming increasingly stressed as it did so because an op-ed from Jeff and Lester would never end well. "About what?" he asked with extreme reluctance.
"Hit him with the magic, Jeffrey!" Lester commanded as he returned to his seat.
Jeff nodded at Lester, turned to look at Big Mike, and said, "Population control."
Big Mike looked at Jeff like he had four heads for a few seconds until suddenly, Big Mike erupted in intense laughter.
Lester started to laugh with Big Mike, which continued for a brief moment until Big Mike composed himself and said, "Denied."
Lester quickly stopped laughing, then protested, "But Big Mike, the world population is becoming out of control! The citizens deserve to know the issue that Earth is quickly becoming faced with! If we don't act and act now, the problem will become much worse!"
"So will my problems if I give you halfwits an op-ed!" Big Mike quickly said, breathing out a massive, sudden sigh. The meeting had only been going on for one minute, and he was already excessively stressed!
Big Mike continued, "Of all the journalists in this world, you two are the last I would trust to carry the torch on that topic. I would sooner give Jimmy Savile an op-ed on sexual abuse than entrust you two with population control!"
"So, what else are you working on? And I don't want to hear the word 'nothing'," Big Mike cautioned.
Consigned to not receiving Big Mike's blessing for them to champion population control activism officially, Lester said, "A little birdie tells me the Prime Minister's daughter is engaging in hardcore partying, involving class-A drugs. We intend to investigate."
Big Mike entered into thoughts for a moment, quickly surprised that Jeff and Lester had such a story. "If you get me that scoop, you can have anything you want."
Lester and Jeff quickly became excited.
"An op-ed?" Lester soon asked, expectancy filling his tone.
"Not an op-ed," Big Mike said dismissively, shaking his head.
"But you said we could have anything, Big Mike," Jeff protested.
"I said not an op-ed, you halfwits!" Big Mike said commandingly, becoming further irritated in the presence of Dumb and Dumber.
Lester soon turned to Jeff and said, "So, what will we have, Jeffrey?"
Jeff entered immediate thought.
However, Lester didn't wait for his friend to come up with an answer. He turned his glance onto Big Mike's Marlin and proclaimed, "We'll take the fish!"
"Not the fish!" Big Mike said sternly.
Jeff suddenly asked, "Our own office?"
Lester turned to look at Jeff, entered thought for a few seconds, then said, "Our own real office? Like not in the bathroom stall, but in an actual real office? Why Jeffrey, this could actually work!"
Big Mike, eager to get Dumb and Dumber out of his office as quick as possible, said, "Deal."
Lester and Jeff quickly turned excited.
"We won't let you down, Big Mike!" Lester enthusiastically said.
"I hope not," Big Mike said, now disinterested in their presence. "Otherwise, the bathroom stall might be a reality. Now go and pester someone else."
Jeff and Lester stood, turned, and departed Big Mike's office.
"Well, Jeffrey, an excellent idea, I must say to have our own office!" Lester said with excitement as they walked towards Anna. "We'll turn it into a casting couch!"
"And Anna will be first in line to be cast with us," Jeff said as he leered a gaze at Anna again.
"Or Blondie!" Lester said. "She was hot, Jeffrey!"
"For an alien," Jeff said in agreement.
Jeff and Lester came to a stop at Anna's position.
"Did he fire you both again?" she asked smugly.
"On the contrary, my little dim sum!" Lester said. "He offered us our own office if we land our scoop on population control."
"That's not what he said, Lester," Jeff said.
"So he fired you again?" Anna asked.
"No, we are going to uncover the Prime Minister's daughter who is involved in hardcore drug use," Jeff said.
"Now, now, Jeffrey!" Lester said quickly. "That performance…is a sideshow to the real issue we face here! What's a story about a party girl filling her nose with...nose candy...compared to overcrowding in population?!"
"I guess," Jeff said. "But I wanted to use the boob cam in the clubs we will enter to find her."
Lester thought for a long moment, then said, "We'll do both!"
Jeff nodded in immense agreement.
"So, Anna, would you like to join our activism in advocacy of population control?" Lester asked. "We plan to feed the homeless to the hungry."
"We think many will find a home real quick when faced with an alternative solution," Jeff said as he started to wink at Anna again from both eyes.
"You guys give me the creeps!" Anna said in disgust.
"You say that now, but once we get our own office, you won't be able to resist us," Lester said. "Come on, Jeffrey, we have activism to undertake!"
Lester started walking away from Anna, and Jeff slowly followed behind, turning to leer back at Anna as they made it to the elevator.
X-X-X-X-X-X
"Heads up," Chris said, commanding the attention of everyone in Red Team's surveillance van. "The targets are exiting their office and returning to Jeff's van."
Red Team plus Morgan registered the information from their positions in the van.
A few minutes passed until John Murray said, "They're mobile."
"Oh, for fuck's sake, I was trying to sleep," Chuck complained.
Prompt mutterings were voiced in agreement with Chuck, while Big Dan opted to reply cohesively, "You and me both, fella."
Red Team's van quickly became mobile as the SAS team followed Jeff's van for twenty minutes until they came to a stop again.
"They've pulled up in a layby in the middle of nowhere. If I were to put money on it, I'd say they intend to rest up here until the morning," Chris said.
"Don't they have homes to go to?" Sarah asked.
"At least they're in the same situation as us. It makes it easier to swallow," Jamie said.
Everyone nodded.
"We'll take turns on stag and change over who is out front every four hours moving over until completion of the assignment," Chris said.
"Sounds good to me," Cole said. "Now, all of you shut up so I can sleep away my sorrows of being hunkered down in the arctic, and the only comfort I'm getting is the metal flooring of this cramped tin can!"
Snorts erupted from Cole's teammates while Chris said humorously, "Quit whining, Laddie!"
Multiple Red Team members started shaking their heads as silence ensued.
Relaxing themselves to be able to sleep—despite every member of the team feeling freezing cold—the teammates and Morgan in the rear of the van tucked back as comfortably as possible until they drifted off to sleep one by one.
Four hours later
The climate was still frighteningly cold, and habitable conditions inside Red Team's surveillance vehicle were nothing close to being excellent—instead, they were just about barely manageable.
Chris MacDonald and John Murray out front were still awake, but there had been little noise from the rear of the vehicle for several hours now.
However, it was now time to change who was on stag duty. An hour ago, Chris and John had selected Bryce and Big Dan first because they were the closest to the front and, thus, easier to replace without disturbing the rest of the team.
Turning to enter the rear, Chris entered first, where he moved to shake Big Dan awake.
Big Dan startled, quickly locking his glance onto Chris.
Chris gestured with his thumb at the front, wanting to make as little noise as possible.
Big Dan nodded, and they adjusted themselves to swap places.
In the meantime, John Murray also entered the rear, hovering over Bryce as he did so.
From there, he shook Bryce, who quickly came to his senses.
"Stag," John Murray whispered, gesturing with his thumb to the front.
Bryce nodded, and he was preparing to sit up when everyone was suddenly disturbed by Big Dan whispering, "Look at them!"
Everyone turned to shoot their glances at where Big Dan was looking, and as they did, they came in contact with Chuck and Sarah.
Their two teammates were still sleeping, but Sarah was snuggled into Chuck's frame, and he had his arm draped over her.
The four conscious teammates instantly erupted in muted laughter as loud as they possibly could without making it audible.
"Fucking hell!" Big Dan exclaimed incredulously in a whisper.
Chris suddenly narrowed his eyes. "Did they do it intentionally?" he whispered with concern because he would not be impressed if they had.
"Nah, fella. I looked into the rear a few times, and they weren't like that. It's just natural sleep gravitation and happened within the past hour while they were unconscious. Plus, all of us know anyway that they're lovers, which would explain why they'd lean toward each other," John Murray said quietly.
Chris nodded in acceptance, as did Big Dan and Bryce.
"Well, fella, as natural as it was, we can't leave it without a response, can we?" Big Dan asked.
"It would be criminal not to, fella," John Murray said.
The four teammates shared a rowdy, muted chuckle.
"Right, let's wake Cole and Jamie quickly and quietly. Once everyone's awake, we'll surprise Chuck and Sarah," Chris said in excitement.
The muted laughter continued.
"You conniving bastard!" Big Dan whispered. "I like it, fella."
Chris and John Murray got to work as they woke Jamie and Cole while Big Dan and Bryce watched on. However, they glanced back at Jeff's van every few seconds in case they needed to become mobile.
Once everyone they needed was awake, Jamie quickly asked, "How long have they been like that?"
"Not long," John Murray said.
"It must have happened naturally," Cole said with a grin. "They look so peaceful. Should we really do this?"
"Of course, we should, fella, 'cause they'd do it to us," Big Dan protested.
Everyone considered Big Dan's words until they all nodded.
"Dan's right," Jamie said. "It's all in good spirits, mate. We'll wake Morgan up the same way as well. Just watch out if Chuck or Sarah instinctively start swinging for us."
Everyone nodded before Cole, Jamie, Chris, and John moved into positions to hover around Chuck and Sarah, still soundly unconscious and snuggled up.
"Right, on three," Chris whispered.
After the countdown's conclusion, Cole, Jamie, Chris, John, Bryce and Big Dan shouted in unison, "HEADS UP!"
Chuck, Sarah and Morgan instantly jolted awake. And, as Jamie had predicted, out of instinct, Chuck discharged a hard blow with his fist into Cole's left ribcage, which sucked the wind out of him, while Sarah shot up and unleashed a powerful punch, which connected against Jamie's groin.
"Fucking hell!" Big Dan exclaimed in a mixture of shock and excitement at seeing the impressive blow from Chuck onto Cole and Sarah onto Jamie.
While Jamie also said, "FUCKING HELL!" but his was for a much different reason than Big Dan's exclamation, having been hit right in the nuts!
"You proper, horrible bastards!" Chuck complained, looking around at his scheming teammates in scorn.
Meanwhile, Sarah was also shooting a belittling stare around her teammates, who were now laughing intensively at Chuck, Sarah, and Morgan's expense.
"You're all very evil, and I will get each of you back for this!" Sarah said with conviction.
"Amen, Sarah!" Chuck nodded, feeling immense agreement with his lover's words.
"Sleeping well, were we?" Big Dan asked with glee.
Chuck and Sarah started headshakes in condemnation at their teammates, whom they didn't like very much right now.
"I was before you guys did that," Morgan complained.
Morgan's complaints set off laughter amongst Cole, Jamie, Chris, John, Bryce and Big Dan again as Jamie said, "Sorry, mate. We couldn't resist it. You'll suffer things like this a lot from us, so consider yourself warned."
Morgan nodded before he suppressed laughter, seeing the funny side of it.
However, Chuck and Sarah remained unamused.
With the main exchange ending, Big Dan and Bryce climbed into the front of the van while Chris and John Murray moved to take up resting positions.
"So then, Chuck, Sarah, is there anything we should know about?" Jamie asked.
Chuck and Sarah drew out sighs, knowing they would never hear the end of this now, so Chuck soon attempted to explain themselves in a bid to quash it here and now, "However we were sleeping when you all found us didn't happen voluntarily. But actually, it's not a bad idea for all of us 'cause I feel a lot warmer than I was when I first fell asleep, but maybe that's because of the rush of blood to my head from being frightened out of my skin, and for feeling satisfied with myself for sticking one on Cole!"
Cole instantly chuckled, now having his breath back from Chuck's sharp punch, and Jamie—still recovering from the sharp blow to his nuts—Bryce, Chris, and John shared the laughter with him while Big Dan said, "Don't mind us, fella. Go right back to it if you want."
Unwilling to be teased about yet another thing, Sarah drew out a deep sigh before she gained a resolute stance she'd not yet had, then said, "Ok. We will."
From there, she instantly moved to lay back, pulling Chuck down to her as she did so.
Once they were down, she looked around her teammates, and with grit and determination in her body language and facial expressions, she asked, "Happy now?"
"Just don't start kissing," John Murray teased.
"And you can shut up too, or else you'll get a punch like the one I just gave Jamie!" Sarah warned, not feeling in any mood to mess around. This lousy assignment was already bad enough as it was!
John Murray suppressed laughter in approval while the rest of the team, including Chuck—who was immensely proud of Sarah—started to chuckle.
"She's developing grit and determination in her personality, and I have to admit, I very much love to see it, especially 'cause it's coming from a good mate to all of us," Big Dan said after a short moment.
"Style, I call it!" Cole said with pride as everyone moved to make themselves comfy again.
"That's why she's in Red Team, mate!" Jamie said, chuckling.
The entirety of Red Team shared laughter, and Chuck, not one to refuse or protest his most stunning girlfriend sleeping against him, moved to place his blanket over her.
Once they were as comfortable as possible, Chuck's hand ran down Sarah's back before it finished by resting on her lower back.
Sarah made eye contact with Chuck from where she lay on his chest.
He grinned at her while starting to feel drowsy.
She smiled back, trailing her hand affectionately down his chest for a brief moment undetected by anyone else before becoming drowsy too.
"Goodnight," Staff Sergeant MacDonald soon said.
"Goodnight," his teammates replied in sync…
End of Chapter
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thoughts? Leave a review. Your feedback is essential to my motivation to tell the story. Without it, I wouldn't continue.
FOOTNOTES: This was the only natural place for me to end the chapter, other than my original endpoint for the chapter. However, that original ending is four additional scenes away, two of which are very long exchanges, which would drag this chapter to 12,000-14,000 words. I generally fear long chapters in this fiction due to a history of low feedback (especially of late), which would demotivate me if I sweated out a 14k chapter today, so I've ended things here (but anyway, this chapter is 4.8k words, which is still one of the longest of WDW). I will see you all in a few days with the next instalment of Who Dares Wins.