Chuck vs. The Courtyard Bench
Well, in the previous chapter: Bash and Beach started off with a blast as Jeffster performed their Hall and Oates cover rendition of Private Eyes. All was going smoothly until Jack Burton showed up in order to speak with Sarah. Beckman would momentarily speak for her 2nd in command until Sarah stepped in and assured her boss that she would be fine. After reassuring her fellow colleagues who have her back and giving a silent exchange with Chuck on stage she would head off to speak with her father up in her office. Unfortunately, their talk or lack thereof would be short lived as Jack bailed leaving Sarah totally pissed off. It would lead her unleashing all her pent up anger and unresolved issues on to him while Jack just stood there not saying a word while not facing her at all. Things would escalate but Beckman stepped in giving Sarah's father him the notice he's no longer welcome at Westside Medical Center. As for Sarah, she would be given the rest of the day off and would be taken home by Chuck who would hand off his hosting duties to Morgan, much to his surprise. Thankfully, he understood. After speaking with Emma and Molly at the condo Chuck would take leave. As he does, he would get a call to meet up by the person he hired to follow, as well as investigate Jack Burton...Conway. What movie character does Chuck compare Conway to will waiting to meet up with him in the parking lot of Santa Monica Beach? Who does Conway talk about that causes Chuck to see a side of him that shows he's a human being? When did Jack Burton arrive in Los Angeles that causes Chuck to flash and make a sudden realization after looking over the information provided by Conway? Why does Conway turn down an offer that Chuck gives concerning Bash at The Bench? Where does Chuck end up going after speaking with Conway? Read and find out! Anyways, hope you enjoy the read and leave a comment to share your own thoughts on this particular chapters. As always, reviews are awesome.
Again, if you enjoyed reading my stories and left a comment I truly appreciate it. Please continue to do so as it gives me the incentive to write more chapters.
I don't own Chuck.
A Particular Set of Skills
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It's 6:45 p.m. PST when Chuck pulls into the parking lot of Santa Monica Beach and easily finds a parking space since the crowd of beach goers have dwindled down considerably. After parking his 2006 white Ford Falcon 2 door XR6 Turbo, he shuts it off and scans every direction for any sign of someone who exudes being in law enforcement, or in the military for that matter. Casey comes to mind, he thinks to himself. In any case, the sun is still shining but gradually setting, providing light for Chuck as he sits in the parking lot of Santa Monica Beach. For him, this would be the first time he'd actually be meeting up with a private investigator and he didn't know what the proper protocol would be, so he went by the rules of a job interview.
Arrive at least 15 minutes early for a job interview because it shows that you're ready, eager and that you have your game face on. True, he's ready and eager to meet up with Conway, but when it comes to his game face that's considered to be a work in progress. He's a bit nervous because he has no idea what to expect when it comes to encountering a guy who quite possibly utilizes a particular set of skills similar to that of Liam Neeson's character Bryan Mills from the movie Taken mentality without the whole getting back his daughter scenario. Of course, even without the daughter getting taken scenario, his skills in law enforcement and in the military as an Army Ranger is considered to be totally badass, he thinks to himself. Although the conversation with Conway was brief he couldn't help recall the phone call scene where Liam's character shoots straight to the bad guy who abducted his daughter the greatest memorable and most definitely quotable iconic line of the entire movie.
In that instance, his mind begins to formulate possible scenarios concerning his time as an Army Ranger. What kinds of top secret OPS he has done in the past? Could he still be doing when it comes to "off the books" kinds of missions that require his kind of finesse? Does he do it by himself or have team members of elite former soldiers who have his back when given missions? Are they even deemed missions or just simply called "Jobs"? It's those particular thoughts and more like it that cause him to shift his thinking into a gamer mode where he nerds out imagining Conway as Sam Fisher in one of the most popular games for Xbox and any other gaming console out there, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.
While sitting there behind the wheel of his parked car, his attempts to check if there is anyone remotely resembling a guy with a Liam Neeson like presence. His attempts at trying to be discreet and nonchalant about it fail due to the fact he's sort of acting like a hyperactive dog looking out front, back, and sides of the vehicle windows. After a while, Chuck stops then reaches down grabbing from the center cup console his large Dr. Pepper that came from Subway he bought along with foot long Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki Sandwich, which he finishes off. What's left is the now empty wrapper and the plastic Subway sandwich bag it came in. It's not long before the sound of an empty Dr. Pepper drink container leads Chuck to get out of his car but not before grabbing the empty wrapper that's stuffed in the plastic Subway sandwich bag.
With the now empty Subway drink container in his right hand and the plastic Subway sandwich bag with its trash contents inside, he heads towards the nearest trash receptacle. As he makes his way there, he notices an individual standing around several feet away behind him and just off to his right talking on a cell phone and every so often looks around and then seemingly looks in his direction. Once he throws his trash away, he stands there for a second contemplating on whether or not to approach the individual in question who is quite possibly Conway. He waits for a few seconds and then makes his way towards the aforementioned individual who is glancing over at him as he continues to talk on his phone.
Chuck is 95% committed to this while the other 5% is wanting to abort because there's a chance it's not him. Fortunately for him, he gets his answer as he's about 10 feet away from him by the sudden appearance of a female approaching then standing next to the individual talking on his phone. After witnessing a shared kiss between both individuals, the nerd stops and pretends as if he forgot something then retreats back towards his vehicle with added facial expressions as well just to give it that something extra. As he does, he suddenly notices another man possibly fitting his presumed description that he worked up from his own head walking towards him. It's not long before both men converge on one another leading Chuck to speak up.
"Conway?" he called out 3 feet away from him.
"Who?" responded the individual, with a mixture of surprised confusion.
"Sorry. My mistake." Chuck said, giving a quick apologetic wave.
His slight embarrassment causes the nerd to not stop and just continue to move back towards his car. Once he reaches it, he suddenly realizes something. He never really gave a specific meeting point for the both of them to meet up causing Chuck to mentally kick himself for that bonehead mistake. It's that realization in which he goes to retrieve his phone from his right front pocket and once he has it in his possession, he locates Conway's name on the call log section on his phone. As he's about to press the private investigator's number, he hears his name being called out.
"Charles Bartowski." the somewhat gruffly voice called out.
The nerdy business owner nearly jumps out of his skin causing him to almost drop his phone, but quickly catches it before it actually does. While doing so, he quickly spins around facing the person calling out his name. He briefly looks at the individual who is a bit shorter than him, somewhat similar in build, and considerably older evident by the grey in his beard and receding hairline. Yet, he's far more grizzled and seasoned possibly due to his years in the military, as well as in law enforcement. While bent down with his hands pressed against his knees, Chuck peers up acknowledging the man's presence. "Conway?"
"Let's talk." he stated, eyeing the man who hired him.
XXX
"Sorry, about that. You freaked me out there." Chuck takes a moment to gather his composure in front of Conway. In that moment provided, the youngest Bartowski sibling can see that he's white button down shirt with both sleeves rolled up, dark grey slacks, black dress shoes, and sporting aviator sunglasses. In his right hand, is a file folder presumably of what he's found out so far involving Sarah's father Jack. After straightening up, he asks an all important question concerning the situation at hand. "How did you find me?"
"I followed you." Conway retorted back, exuding a seemingly stone faced no-nonsense expression.
"You did?" replied Chuck, cracking a nervous smile towards him.
"Actually..." Conway takes the moment to remove the aviators covering his eyes. He placed or in this case hangs it from the right front pocket of his white button down shirt. Afterwards, his steely gaze is certainly an intimidating feature for the former LAPD detective turned private investigator evident by the way Chuck raises both eyebrows. "...I was following Jack Burton until I made the decision to follow you." he added, pointing to Chuck with the file folder in his right hand.
"How long have you been following me?" he wondered with absolute curiosity on his part.
Conway doesn't waste any time as he begins to give Chuck the complete rundown of events that would lead him face to face with his client. He would start off by sharing with his client that he drove a blonde woman by the name of Sarah Walker home to a condo located in Culver City. Maison23. 391 North Pass Ave Unit #4F Culver City, CA 90232. Afterwards, he'd be informed that he spent close to 2 hours there and then leave after receiving his call. Chuck would learn from Conway that there would an hour and 25 minute window before their meeting at Santa Monica Beach where a pit stop would be made to Subway in Culver City before the 30 minute drive back. It surprised the nerd to learn that his original order wasn't Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki Sandwich and that his first choice was a Chicken and Bacon Ranch Melt.
Chuck would continue to listen and find out that Conway also knew at what table he was sitting and how long he spent in the bathroom. It would be information that was not really considered pertinent to the investigation, he thinks to himself. Yet, he was impressed by the fact how considerably detailed he actually is when it pertains to providing the who, what, when, why, and how of it all. In any case, Conway would further share that he would continue to follow him to the gas station and fill up his vehicle then spend the next 30 or so minutes following him going down Pacific Coast Highway to the predetermined meeting area. It would be at the meeting area that he would spend the next 5 minutes just observing until it was the right time to make contact.
"That's awesome. A little weirded out about finding out about my sandwich order or how long I spent in a Subway bathroom. Not going to lie. Hey, that's why you're considered the best. Hartley said, you're very thorough Conway." Chuck shakes his head then takes a moment to correct himself. "Ummm...Mr. Conway?" he added, with a questionable look on his face.
"Conway will do just fine." he retorted back, briefly holding up his left hand. "It's my job. I'm paid to be thorough, Mr. Bartowski." Conway added, with a firm nod.
"Oh, you can call me, Chuck. All my friends do." insisted the nerdy business owner and popular YouTube host. He then shifts the topic concerning compensation. "Before we go any further how do I go about paying you after all this is done?"
"You don't." Instantly, confused bewilderment is expressed on Chuck's face after hearing that. This would lead Conway to expound on why. "This is a favor for Hartley. He said you're family. So, it's Pro Bono."
"Awesome." Chuck is momentarily silent but then continues on. "Still, there's gotta be something I can do to show my gratitude for all that you're doing or have done." questioned the man who hired Conway.
The private investigator stands there in front of Chuck for a moment actually mulling over the offer being given to him. While doing so, the nerd in question is trying to get a good read when it comes to his facial expression but is failing miserably. In his mind, he's a mere Padawan unlike the man he hired to follow who is considered a Jedi Master or in Jack Burton's case a crafty Sith Lord at reading people. After waiting for an answer for what seems like forever, Chuck would finally hear from Conway concerning what he would like in exchange for putting forth all his hard work and effort into the investigation.
"You host a show online, correct?"
In response, Chuck nods. "Right, on YouTube. Nerdy Nerfherder and Fuzzball."
"Started back in summer of 2003 before your Senior year at Stanford. In a relationship with Jill Roberts but broke up after you learned she was cheating on you with your former roommate, Bryce Larkin." Conway revealed. "Now dating Chief Operating Officer Sarah Walker. The daughter of the man you hired me to follow."
A brief moment of shocked silence is experienced by Chuck before he forces himself to respond. "You're not really a T-1000 liquid Terminator sent back from the future to keep me or Sarah alive are you? If so, then that would be so awesome." he mused, quirking his right brow. Unfortunately, it's not a laughing matter when he notices Conway's not even cracking a smile or laughing for that matter. He shakes his head then refocuses back on the subject of the online show he's part of with Morgan. "So, you were gonna ask about my YouTube show?
"It concerns my son."
"What about him?"
"He's going for treatments and chemo at the children's hospital at Westside Medical Center. I've done my homework on you and you do good work." Conway stated, pointing at him with file folder in hand.
"The real credit goes to the doctors and nurses there." insisted Chuck.
It's at that point, Chuck suddenly sees the professionalism in Conway diminish to where the human being and not to mention father come out. "You've put a lot of smiles on kid's faces. Rockstar Rebels, you call them. Over 300, if I'm not mistaken. I watched the tribute video that was posted on there dedicated to you."
"Numbers don't matter. What matters are the smiles and that they have fun.. Plus, it's not about me. It's about them." he responded, redirecting the focus on where it should be.
"I believe you..." responded Conway, somewhat visibly emotional. "...especially after the death of Camden Willard."
"He was a special kid. I won't ever forget him."
"Hopefully, you won't forget my son then."
"What's his name?"
"Everette Conway. He's 11 and dealing with cancer of the liver. The medical term for it is Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Stage 3. Of the tumors that have grown and been able to cut out, one of them is at least larger than 5cm. Luckily, none of the them have grown on to a larger vein of the liver, haven't spread to any of his lymph nodes or to other body parts." he fully shared, noticeably struggling to keep his professionalism together. "He also watches the show by the way. Whenever we spend time together, he wants me to watch it with him." he added, with a bit of softness to the tone of his voice.
"I'll keep him in my thoughts and prayers. That's awesome to hear. I'll make sure to keep in touch with him like I do with all the Rockstar Rebels."
"Listen..." Conway pauses and takes a deep breath before continuing. "...I'm speaking to you as a father. If you could pick him as your next Rockstar Rebel then that's considered payment enough. I'd owe you big time." he fully shared, noticeably struggling to keep his professionalism together. "Just to see the smile on his face will all be worth it, knowing he's been through so much pain because of it. The chemo has taken his hair, but he's taking it all in stride at his age. I always say to him to fight through it and knock 'em down no matter how big or small his cancer is. Even though he's small for his age, he has a big heart with an even bigger personality. He's a Juggernaut in my eyes."
"Like the character from the X-Men." Chuck abruptly threw it out there without even realizing it. Surprisingly, he receives a smile back instead of the usual stone faced expression given by the private investigator.
"He says it's his favorite character and even has the toys at his mom's house. Also, he wears X-Men shirts too." An even softer, but sad smile is expressed on Conway's face as he thinks more about his 11 year old son. "As a father, if I had the power, I would take his pain away if I could. That's why the money that gets paid to Longshore Investigations, a portion of it goes to him."
Chuck is silent for a moment then continues on. "Thanks for sharing that. Here's an idea. How about you coming on the show with your son and..."
Conway immediately interjects. "No! His mother..." He stops and shakes his head with his sudden outburst. "...my ex has full custody of him. I have weekend visits. That's what his mother and I agreed on in court. My job just got in the way. The price I paid for being the best." Conway added, giving a slight shrug afterwards. "His mother. She goes by her maiden now, Morris. Desiree Morris. Don't tell her that it was me."
"I won't let her know that." Chuck is momentarily silent then speaks up. "I won't even tell my best friend Morgan who helps me pick every Rockstar Rebel about it. I'll just mention to him that one of the nurses suggested it to me and wants to remain anonymous." Conway simply nods showing appreciation for what he's going to do for Next Friday. Afterwards, he continues on. "I don't know you at all..." he said standing there 2 feet away from Conway. "...but the little I know of you just from you talking about your son is that he would do anything for him." he surmised, expressing a honorable smile. "Your skill set as a father knows no bounds."
"Thank you. I've made a ton of mistakes in my failed marriage, but all the sacrifices I've made for my son are well worth it. I try to do right by that kid." nodded Conway, retrieving his aviator sunglasses. After putting them back on, he takes a deep breath and then regains his composure to where he refocuses on what he's been hired to provide, which is information. He takes a step forward and hands over the file he's been holding in his right hand to his nerdy client. "This is what I have on Jack Burton so far."
After taking the file given to him by Conway, he briefly looks at him then peers down, opens it, and begins looking over what the private investigator has found/come up with thus far.
XXX
For the past 5 minutes of so, Chuck scanned over the documents that Conway provided concerning his investigation on Jack Burton so far. What he was able to find out was considerably shocking, surprising, and not to mention mind blowing that he could hardly believe what he was reading and/or looking at. In his mind, it wasn't so much the information he was suspicious about that was confirmed to be true, but the information he didn't know about that Conway was able to dig up simply floored him. It really put to light as to why he came to Los Angeles in order to speak with Sarah and try to open a dialogue with her only to have to backfire on him, which he handled it all wrong.
"How did you even get your hands on Jack's financials?" questioned Chuck, peering up from scanning the file folder. "I'm sure you would have gotten a search warrant signed by a judge to get your hands on those. At least that's what watching Law and Order has taught me over the years. Am I right?"
"Skill set as a private investigator, remember. Rules don't often apply." answered Conway, with a firm nod. "There's something else that you should know that's not in the file." he added, crossing his arms.
"What is it?" Chuck wondered with absolute curiosity.
"It's the time frame of when Garretty's campaign started and when Jack Burton joined his staff. Garretty's campaign began last November."
"I take it Jack joined in that same month." he retorted, intently furrowing his eyebrows.
"He didn't. They actually don't match up."
Chuck is astonished by that piece of information provided by the man he hired to dig up dirt on Sarah's father. "Wait...what? So, when did he join then?"
"From what I've been able to ascertain through my investigation and trusted contacts is that he's been in Los Angeles since August of last year." Conway stunningly revealed to Chuck. "At least that's what my contact within The Westin Bonaventure Hotel shared with me." the experienced private investigator added.
After hearing that, Chuck peers down and focuses more on the file he has in his possession. After taking a deep breath, he then experiences a flash in which he suddenly realizes and begins piecing together everything that Conway has been able to provide him thus far. To him, it's all starting to make sense as to the reasoning and why he wanted to wait instead of appearing out of nowhere as if he showed up completely out of the blue wanting to speak with Sarah, he thinks to himself. For the youngest Bartowski sibling, he figures that his intentions weren't to instigate a confrontation, but make preparations ahead of time so that when the time was right, he would forge ahead with his plan.
Unfortunately, his plan didn't turn out the way he wanted because he didn't take into account of having his feelings and emotions for that matter be personally affected. In Chuck's mind, the infamous Jack Burton has built for himself a persona that is considered to be cold, calculated, and most definitely deviously crafty when it comes to being the best at mental manipulation. Yet, like the Grinch from the classic animated Dr. Seuss movie How The Grinch Stole Christmas in which he finds his small heart grew three sizes because he started to care about the people of Whoville, but more importantly cared about Cindy Lou Who. As for Jack, he must have found he had a heart after all when he quite possibly started caring about his version of Cindy Lou Who otherwise known as his daughter.
Thinking about it further, he surmises that sometime after making his presence known to Sarah and before witnessing Jack puke his guts out in the bathroom of C3 that his persona began breaking apart. The part of him that he switched off as being a normal human being, good person, father, and husband would unfortunately give way to the professional spin doctor of lies that he would just envelope his entire soul. A soul that he sold to the devil, in a manner of speaking, in the form of the all mighty dollar, he thinks to himself. When his focus shifted from his family to the money, that's when he lost his heart and gained something considerably darker, which is the greed of financial notoriety. Like Conway said, the price one pays to be the best.
Sadly, Jack's skill set in destroying an opponent's credibility and life for the expressed purpose of getting his client into a position he helped get elected to would eventually end up destroying him in every sense of the word. He would certainly receive a reality check in a tremendously big way and it would be like a slap in the face where a daughter unloads all her anger on an absentee father who is attempting to set things right between the two of them. The question is will it be too late for a reconciliation knowing what he now knows or will there still be time for father and daughter to come together if he can somehow bring them together? It's a tremendously huge undertaking, but one that he's willing to at least try to help bridge that broken gap.
It's that particular thoughts in which Chuck closes the file and then looks up, focusing his attention on Conway. "Where is Jack now?" he inquired, quirking his right brow towards the former LAPD detective.
XXX
It's 8:45 p.m. Jack Burton is standing behind the bar of his top floor lavish suite of the The Westin Bonaventure Hotel. As usual, he was able to talk and finesse his way into getting the best room available that is usually reserved for high profile dignitaries or celebrities with deep pockets. He turns around in order to reach over and grab a bottle of Crown Royal XR Whiskey the places it on the counter in front of him next to his empty glass. A small bucket full of ice set close to it. Afterwards, a couple of ice cubes are placed in the glass and once that's done, he goes to uncork the crown clear top handle. Before picking up the Crown Royal container glass container, he takes a moment to savor the smell of the cork itself.
A few seconds later, he pours a small amount at first, just to wet his whistle. He then picks up the glass and begins swirling the liquid inside of it around a bit and smells it again. Of course, he has tasted every sort of alcoholic beverage during his time as one of the best and prolific political spin doctors because most of them were given as gifts from his clients as a way of saying thanks for a job well done. When it comes to the smell of the Crown Royal XR Whiskey that's in his glass, he can detect whiskey, honey nut, vanilla with some intense spice that makes it such a rich and complex alcoholic beverage. It brings a pleasurably satisfying smile to his lips as he finally takes a quick sip of the delectable liquid that just slides smoothly down his throat.
The experience for him is over within a matter of seconds as he sets his empty glass down on the counter. He redoes the ice and pouring process once again, but before partaking in his golden elixir he retrieves something out of his right front pocket. That something are the same prescription pill bottles that Chuck saw in the men's bathroom of C3 unbeknownst to him. After popping open both small plastic bottles he drops a few of the pills into his left hand then sticks them into his mouth. It's not long before he washes it down with the Crown Royal XR Whiskey, which is immediately refilled to half the glass this time. After it's refilled, he takes the glass and places the crowned glass cork cover back into place of the Crown Royal bottle.
When he's done, he makes his way around from behind the bar and heads towards an open sliding leading to the balcony/terrace area to his right. However, he stops because the sound of a knock is heard at the main door of the suite. Jack furrows his eyebrows wondering who could it be leading him to head towards the main door with his glass of whiskey in hand. When he finally approaches the door, he looks through the peephole and then snaps his head back for a moment noticing the person on the other side of the door. He steps back and after brief contemplation on his part, he reaches for the door handle and opens it up to where he greets the individual standing on the other side.
"Schnook?"
"Hey, Jack." replied Chuck, without batting an eye disregarding the insulting moniker. "Can I come in? Give me 10 minutes and I'll leave."
"Did Sarah put you up to this? For what I did to her earlier today?"
"Jack..." The determined nerd doesn't budge from where he's standing. "...please." he pleaded, with a sense of hope expressed in his eyes.
Jack stands there for a moment, then opens the door wider to let the man his daughter is currently dating into his suite. Chuck makes his way inside and for a moment is awe-inspired by how spaciously large and lavish the suite is that Sarah's father is staying after reading the information concerning his financials provided by Conway. He stops in front of the bar where he notices the open prescription bottles that are slightly concealed behind a Crown Royal bottle and an ice bucket. In that instance, he doesn't let on that he just saw what he saw so he quickly turns around in order to speak with the man face to face. He hopes that a direct confrontation will make him wake up to a reality that he knows he's facing all alone.
"Sarah doesn't even know I'm here talking to you."
"So, why are you here?" he wondered, keenly aware of the file folder he's holding down in his right hand. "Oh, care for a drink?" he asked, holding up his glass of Crown Royal.
"No thanks." Chuck responded, briefly lifting his left hand and shaking his head. "Why didn't you tell Sarah? The reason why you're really here, Jack?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." responded Jack, shaking his head. "Tell Sarah what, exactly?" he added, taking a sip from his glass of whiskey without a care in the world.
Chuck points to the glass filled with liquid elixir with his left finger. "Should you be drinking that?"
"Why is it of your concern as to what I'm drinking?" Jack asked, giving Chuck a questioning look towards him.
"The reason I'm asking is because..." Chuck pauses for a second then continues on. "...you're diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma. Kidney Cancer. What I don't know is how bad is it and what stage are you in now?" he firmly stated, locking eyes with Sarah's father standing in front of him. "You're dying Jack."
XXX
NOTE: SO what do you think about this latest chapter? Conway proving to Chuck why he's the best and else did Chuck learn from what he was able to gather utilizing his particular set of skill. Leaving off on a bit of a cliffhanger, which I apologize for. I'm working on the next chapter as we speak. So, stay tuned. As always, share your thoughts and leave a comment. Like always, I tip my hat to NEVER for doing the beta for the chapters I send to him.