Don't own Chuck

Previous Chuck stories and order: 1 Chuck vs Charles, 2 Chuck vs the Love Boat, 3 Chuck vs The Rock, 4 Chuck vs Amtrak, 5 Chuck vs The Dictator, 6 Chuck vs The Name, 7 Chuck vs The Volcano, 8 Chuck vs The Ghost, 9 Chuck vs The Shooter, 10 Chuck vs The Package, 11 Chuck vs The Jade Dragon, 12 Chuck vs Jai-Alai

Chuck and Sarah were sitting in Castle at the conference table. Sarah had baby Sam in her arms resting on the table as they were talking to Mary on the monitor chatting about the latest happening. Chuck had taken off his sling before the call because he didn't want Mary to ask about it or be concerned.

"So Mom, when are you finally going to visit? Sam will be moving away to university soon."

"Funny Charles, I had hoped I'd be free before now but things are evolving here rapidly and I can't break away."

"I know too many evil masterminds loss in the world and only Mary Elizabeth Bartowski can save the day."

"Charles, sarcasm is not become you. Tell him Sarah when you're running down a master criminal you can't just walk away and go home."

"Love, she's right the trail will go cold and you might not catch another break."

"I know, okay so what are you up to anyway or what can you tell us?"

"Not much other than the Soviets lost something to an international arms dealer that they shouldn't have and now I've got to get it back and stop the person who took it. Let's just say there's a high profit yield."

"I see," said Chuck but he really didn't and he wasn't doing a good job of hiding it. "So I guess we'll see you when we see you. I'll send you some more pictures and videos the next time we get the uplink. I'm sorry but I think I hear Casey. Sarah and Sam can finish this link." Chuck got up and walked into the back of Castle favouring his shoulder as he got up.

"Sarah, I'm sorry I know I'm disappointing Chuck but you of all people should understand me."

"Mary, I'm trying but Chuck isn't all wrong."

"I know and that's the part that hurts the most. Tell him to put heat on his shoulder and to stop wearing the sling. He needs to move it or the stiffness won't go away."

"How do you know?"

"Sarah, Love, Chuck's my son, I keep tabs. How's your mother after Jack left? I feel sorry for her but again I'm here and there's not a lot I can do."

"She's fine and Molly's better thanks. I'm going to miss them when they move back home but we need her here if we're going to keep up our lifestyle."

"You mean your spy lifestyle. It's a hard row you've two decided to hoe. Chuck's father and I worked that field but there are as many joys as there are sorrows. Now let me talk to my granddaughter. Yes, how's my precious," said Mary as Sam began a series of chatter that Mary interpreted liberally.

"Well, they tell me we're going to lose this link soon so before I go I want to tell you all I love you and am thinking of you constantly," Mary said as the line dropped and static came up on the screen.

"Sweetie, I know you're behind me. Mary's gone you can come out now."

"I wasn't hiding," said Chuck," I just didn't have anything else to say."

"Chuck, she's your mother. You can't just get up and walk away every time she calls."

"I know but I get so angry with her then I get angry with myself for feeling like this and the only thing I can do is just leave."

"I know and I think she does too but it's her life. It's ours too. Do you ever wonder if Sam isn't going to do the same thing to us one day? How would you feel then?"

"When did you become the sensitive one?"

"Since I married a sensitive man," she said. Chuck came over and kissed her then Sam held out her arms wanting to be held.

"I guess the other woman in my life wants her share of Chuck time too," Chuck said he sat next to Sarah and played with Sam while she held her.

"If we can get back to grown up work," said Casey, "we've got a bogey in the Buy More." Casey pulled up on the monitor Cole Barker who was walking through heading towards the break room.

"It'll be nice to see him again," said Chuck as Sam said something.

"Sweetie, I should take Sam up to Alex. It's not very professional to have children here in Castle."

"If that were the case, Troll shouldn't be allowed in," said Casey. "Where's he at anyway? I haven't seen him or Alex since they came in this morning?" Casey started looking through the monitors.

"John I'm sure they're around somewhere. Why don't we wait until Cole gets here and we find out what he wants before we start looking for them?" Chuck knew exactly where they were and had a good idea what they were doing. The monitor in Morgan's office was offline and the audio feed was out.

"What the…?" said Casey and in that moment Chuck realized that Casey did too. Chuck pulled his phone out as both Sarah and Sam watch him scramble to speed dial Morgan. Casey stormed out as Chuck had Morgan on speaker.

"Come on pick up."

"Can you say contusion," said Sarah as Sam giggled. Chuck almost broke out laughing but Morgan's life was in danger now. Casey could accidently kill him.

"Morning," said Cole as he walked in. "What's up with Casey? He came charging by like a bull."

"Morgan waved a red flag. He's in his office with Casey's daughter."

"Oh crap, either he's really stupid or really in love either way there's a stay in hospital for him, if he doesn't end up in the basement. Sarah, Chuck is this the little miss I've heard so much about? Your mother goes on forever about her granddaughter and I have to say she's right. Pretty as a button, aren't we?" Sam threw up her arms wanting Cole to pick her up.

"Hey what's this you jump in the arms of the first man you meet," said Sarah.

"The woman has taste, that can't he denied," he said as he picked her up.

"So you saw my mother?" said Chuck.

"Yes, she was in Tbilisi tracking down a shipment of lost nuclear warheads from the Black Sea Fleet in Stevastopol. She had a phone full of baby pics and made us all look at each one of them." Chuck felt a little embarrassed at the way he had treated his mother. Sarah picked up on Chuck's sentiment so she took his hand in hers.

"So Cole where's Carina and why are you here? I figure it's more than you wanting to meet the latest member of team Bartowski."

"That would be reason enough but no I need a favour and you're probably going to have to call your General but she might tell you that this is going to have to be off the books."

"That sounds rather ominous," said Chuck as he sat down and began typing in commands with one hand.

"What'd you do with the other arm?"

"Racketball, pulled a muscle."

"Sweetie, why don't you tell the truth is sounds actually a little sexy. He hurt his shoulder breaking in a door to take down a sniper."

"Wow, that's brave mate but anyone every tell you to keep your shoulder down?"

"That's what I told him," said Casey as he came back down.

"Love, and now you know why. So did you find Morgan and Alex?"

"They were just going out for yoghurt."

"Crazy coincidence."

"Yes, crazy coincidence. If I check your phone for the number last dialled what would I find?"

"Standby Casey, General Beckman is coming on line," said Chuck as Casey grunted.

"Good morning team, what can I do for you? You know Castle isn't Romper Room agents Bartowski."

"With all due respect General, we were just on a secure sat line with my mother and she wanted to see her grandchild."

"So what you're telling me is you misappropriated government resources for personal gain."

"Well General, it sounded better in my head to tell you the truth."

"It's alright Chuck, I saw Mary last week in Constanța, Romania where she briefed me on her mission and her granddaughter."

"Ma'am Agent Cole is here and he said he needed our help but he wanted to brief you in on this."

"I think I know what agent Cole wants but go ahead."

"Yes, General you might. Well Agent Miller and myself parted at Istanbul I went to meet agent M. Bartowski at Tbilisi and agent Miller proceeded to the Aegean sea. We were supposed to rendezvous on the island of Mikonos but she never showed up. Her agency has since written her off as a loss and well, I'm on a leave of absence from MI6."

"What! How can they do that?" said Chuck.

"It's hard to accept but things like this do happen," said the General. "Please continue agent Cole."

"What I'm asking for are some agency resources and assistance for a colleague in danger, that's all and in particular your help Chuck."

"I'm sorry but since the DEA has written her off there's little I can do but if you can give me some evidence that she's alive I'll do my best to change their mind. So I'm clear until things change this would be off the books and if anything happens the CIA will disavow any knowledge in this matter."

"Roger that but I don't see we have any option," said Chuck.

"Sweetie before you go running off I have to remind you we have a daughter now even if Carina is our friend."

"What kind of message would we be sending to Sam that you abandon your friends when things get tough? No, I'm in."

"Good that's what I wanted you to say," said Sarah as she kissed him.

"How often does this go on," asked Cole.

"Often," said Casey

"Too often," said the General. "Well, I'll let agent Cole brief you on the rest. Beckman out."

"Roger that," said Casey.

"I think Beckman was just joking about the kissing," said Chuck.

"I agree," said Sarah as she kissed him.

"Yuck, let the man speak before we all die of diabetes."

"Chuck I need you because the person Carina was hunting down is someone you know or knew, Stravos Demetrios."

"I thought he was in jail."

"Paroled on good behavior and skipped the country running back to Greece where he took over his father's shipping enterprise. That would be okay but we got wind that he was back up to his old line of work, dealing in drugs and weapons."

How does Carina's disappearance tie into Stravos," asked Sarah.

"She had a lead on his current base of operation and was going to track it down that was the last she communicated to me. She was going to tell me all the details when we met up but we never did."

"So what do you want from me exactly?"

"I need for you to hook up with your ex, Lou Palone and see if she knows where Stravos is. After we get that then I'll take Stravos ask him nicely were Carina is then we rescue her. Think you can do that?"

"Cole when you said Chuck needs to hook up with Lou what exactly did you have in mind," asked Sarah.

"Sarah we're all spies and we do what we have to do, am I not right? Like when you tried to get my pants off."

"That was different and we weren't married."

"Nobody is taking any bodies clothes off," said Chuck then looking at Sarah, "unless they want to. What I'm saying is I can talk to Lou. I floated her a loan for her shop and we're all friends. Besides I know she doesn't like Stravos."

"Then we better hope she knows where he is."

"You know I could seduce her," said Casey.

"Okay on that note moving right along I've got a plane on standby that will fly us to Brindisi. There I've got an old PBY Catalina waiting for us. We'll use it to fly to Calimero in Mykonos."

"I've flown one of those before in Central America. Great aircraft for landing and taking off on water the perfect plane for going in undercover."

"Also great in a country made up of thousands of islands. Sounds like I won't need a pilot."

"I got that," said Casey almost beaming.

"John, you're acting like it's Christmas day and Santa left him a brand new XM500 sniper rifle," said Chuck.

"With its ten round clip, I could take down the whole herd before reloading." Sarah put her hands over Sam's ears.

"Casey, please." Then is a little voice that sounded uncertain.

"Kay See," said Sam.

"No, no," said Chuck as he banged his head on the table. Sam thought her father was funny so she repeated "Kay See, Kay See" and patted Chuck on the back of the head.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

HALF HOUR LATER AT LOU'S

As Chuck and Sarah with Sam and Cole walked into Lou's the bell above the door rang. Lou looked up and smiled seeing Sam then waved them over to take a corner table. Lou's deli was doing remarkable well in a downed economy. Before her clientele were young bankers and managers looking for rare and exotic cuts of meat or rare cheeses, like Sardinian Casu marzu, cheese with worms, which the importation in many countries was prohibited and black sausage made from coagulated blood. However, her customers now were mainly college students looking for cheap thrills and fast food.

"Hey, Chuck, Sarah I guess this is the kid that Morgan's been telling me about?"

"Yes, this is Sam. Say hi Sam," said Sarah as Sam suddenly decided to play bashful and hide her face.

"And I'm Cole Barker," said Cole holding out his hand, "and I'm not so bashful."

"You're English?"

"Do I have a sign on my forehead?" They all laughed.

"Can I get you something," she offered, "on the house."

"No thanks, I'm sorry" said Chuck, "Lou, what we need is information."

"This has to do with Stravos, doesn't it? The jerk came by when he first got out of prison and wanted to make a go of it again but I sent him packing. He tried to talk me into opening a Doner Kebab place with him but I said no. I like my place the way it is now and I have no desire to expand, especially with a big butt hole like him."

"You're my kind of woman, call 'em like you see 'em," said Cole. "Do you know where we can find him?"

"Who do you work for the English equivalent of the USDA?"

"Yes, but we really need Stravos," said Chuck interrupting Cole before he broke their cover. "You've heard of mad cow disease well there seems to be another one now call crazy sheep disease. It makes them do freaky things that's best not discussed in an eating establishment. I can't go into the details but Stravros is connected and we need to speak with him."

"Well about every two or three months he calls and he's about due soon. Then last week he sent me a post card. The man is a serious stalker. Chuck I told you that he trashed the guy's car I was seeing before you, right?"

Chuck nodded his head and looked over at Sarah who didn't seem to happy. If he didn't know better she seemed almost jealous.

"What I'm saying is he just won't leave me alone."

"Well, I'd be happy to take care of him for you," said Cole, "but I'd need to be able to find him."

"Well, here's the postcard," she said as she went over to a bulletin board and took one down then handed it to Cole."

"Delos, that's in the Aegean sea, if I remember right?"

"Yes, it's near Mikonos. Stravos' family owns an island close by where they grow olives and make wine. It's supposed to be some sort of retreat for the family away from their business."

"Could you draw us a map of the island and where buildings are locate," asked Sarah. She could get satellite images but if she knew what went on each of the buildings it would be better.

"Why is the USDA going to raid the place? I think his island is a little outside your jurisdiction."

"Not for the EU," said Cole trying to be serious, "you see this crazy sheep disease needs to be nipped in the bud before it gets blown out of proportion. It wasn't done when Mad Cow first came out and Italians had to go without T-bones."

"Wow, it's that dangerous? I'm sorry I didn't know," said Lou.

"Don't worry miss," said Cole now sinking his teeth into the role, "that's the way we want to keep it so there won't be a scare. We appreciate your cooperation and it will be duly noted the next time a form of Casu marzu falls off in front of your shop."

"Let me get pen and paper, I'll sit here and draw you that map." Lou got up and disappeared into the back.

"Cole what are you promising! We have no control over the USDA or customs."

"Don't worry you don't have to. The next time she gets a form in and it passes through she'll think we helped."

"And what happens when it doesn't?"

"Not likely, she already has some behind the counter. See it over there with the things that look like rice that's moving."

"That's disgusting," said Chuck. "I don't even drink tequila because of the worm and it's dead."

"What I'm saying is if she has it someone is already looking the other way so the possibility of her getting caught is minimum."

"Fake it 'til you make it," said Sarah. Chuck wasn't sure if he liked lying to Lou but she did think they were undercover USDA agents. But as he was about to raise objections Lou came back in with pen and paper.

"Okay, the island is kind of oval like this," she said as she drew the shape of the island and began to label all the builds and what they were used for. "Here, here and here," she said as she drew three Xs, "these are closed wells and the manor house is almost dead center of the three. I hope this is helpful."

"Thanks Lou," said Chuck. "You know I could use seven Chuck specials but I insist that I pay for them and a grape soda."

"For Morgan, I only carry it for him. Sure give me a little bit and I'll have your order ready." Lou said as she got up and went into the back. Cole looked at Chuck.

"What we've got to eat and when we get back we'll need to get ready to fly out so no one is going to have time to cook. It also doesn't hurt that I think the sandwich is delicious."

"Just the sandwich I hope," said Sarah.