Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
Sitting at his desk, he stared at the computer screen in front of his eyes. He couldn’t believe what he was reading but it was there. His heart sunk as he continued down the page. Never in a million years would he think of what he may have found “Boo!” Mia’s voice broke into his inner thoughts as Chuck scrambled to close out from the page.
She laughed at his dismay “Mia! Are you crazy?” he asked, looking flustered.
“Need you ask?” she rolled her tongue smartly “Are you looking at porn?” She whispered while looking around headquarters but there was no one else around.
Chuck frowned “No. I do that in the privacy of my own house.” A slow smile curled onto his lips when Mia winced with disgust “What are you doing here so late?”
“Devin told me to come to get a fitting for a parachute.” she slumped her shoulders weakly and fell onto the chair next to him.
“Oh.” Chuck nodded as he returned to typing the document he was working on.
Mia sighed as she got up and headed to the weapons room. She turned to him “I won’t tell Eve about your hobby.” She gave him a wink and laughed.
On his way home, he nearly ran over an old lady after his thoughts trailed away to the subject he was reading from an email. His contact had found more than enough information that he needed. But denial soon hit him. There was a mole in the police department and he knew exactly who it was. When he reached his apartment, he felt like his spirit had left him behind. Doing everything in slow motion as he cooked himself dinner. Eve had class that night. He didn’t realized his fried rice was burned until he took a bite.
Chuck was glad to hear the knock at the door as he got up to answer. It was Devin “Hey Chuck.” He smiled. Chuck backed away from the door in an awkward manner “What’s wrong?” Devin asked suspiciously.
“Nothing.” He smiled crookedly “I’m fine. What brings you here?” he motioned him inside.
“I dropped by Headquarters today to check on Mia. I noticed that you didn’t log out of your computer.” He stepped slowly over to the couch and sat down. Legs crossed, he tilted his head coolly “I read the email.”
Chuck lingered by the door as he crossed his arms. Stumbling to get the words out, he stammered “Oh…really? It was just a joke my friend sent to me. It didn’t mean anything.”
Devin raised his brows curiously “Really? A joke…is that what you call it.”
“Hey, that’s not hard evidence. It doesn’t mean anything.” Chuck laughed it off but Devin’s face was cold, emotionless.
“You know what you have to do.” Devin said shortly, eyes unmoving.
Chuck lowered his head away “I can’t.”
“If you don’t do it, I will.” Devin threatened.
“Give me more time!” Chuck pleaded.
“Two weeks.” Devin agreed “I don’t want this to get any worse. You know who will end up hurting in the end. I will not have my team be endangered because of this.”
He slowly nodded “I know…I’ll make sure this problem doesn’t explode.”
Devin got up from his seat and patted him on the shoulder “I know this is hard for you but you have to tell her.”
“I know.” Chuck answered. He knew it would be bad news when Devin showed up. Expecting the worse was obviously his only choice. When he left, Chuck called Erin “I need to talk to you.”
Erin frowned, she sensed the uneasiness in his voice “Okay…I’ll be right over.”
“No. I’ll come over.” Chuck advised.
“Okay.” She hung up the phone and cradled it in between her chest and hand.
“Hey!” Luke tapped her on the shoulder after calling her a few times.
She was startled back to reality “What?”
“You fazed out.” He raised his brows “Anything wrong?” She shook her head, not wanting to worry him “Carmen made dinner. You want to join us?”
“No. Thanks, you guys enjoy. I’m not hungry.” Erin placed the phone back to it’s receiver as she sat down on the couch. She couldn’t shake the shivers from her shoulders and her stomach was swarming with butterflies.
Luke instantly sensed the strangeness of her behavior “What’s wrong? You’re acting strange.” He touched her forehead with the palm of his hands “You’re normal.”
Erin shook her head as she turned to him “Did you ever have a feeling like something’s wrong and something bad was going to happen but you don’t know what?”
“Yeah, all the time. I think they’re going to call me back for the audition and then days after that, I still didn’t—”
“Not that.” She interrupted “Something really bad.”
“You’re scaring me.” Luke twisted his face “What did you do today? Where did that Mia take you?”
Erin smiled softly “I went to see Brad today.”
“Oh! That’s why!” Luke laughed “Every time you go to visit Ah Gor, you come back like you just saw a ghost.”
She didn’t want to worry him as she nodded “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
He ruffled her hair playfully “Okay kid, stop thinking. I’m going to have dinner, call me if you need me.”
“That’s my line.” Erin narrowed her eyes at him. Laughing, he brushed away her glare and skipped into the kitchen where Carmen was waiting.
An hour later and still no sign of Chuck, Erin grew worried as she glanced at the clock for the hundredth time. Finally deciding to pick up the phone, she dialed for his number. There was no pick up, she grew more nervous with each missed call. After the twenty something call, he picked up “Erin?”
“Uncle Chuck!” Erin cried, relief written all over her face as she gripped onto the phone “Where are you? I was getting worried.”
“I’m okay. I forgot to call you. A friend of mine called me out at the last minute. I couldn’t make it to you. Maybe some other time?” he sounded stiff and not his normal self.
Erin frowned “Do you have a gun to your head?” she whispered.
“Saturday sounds great. Okay, I’ll see you then. My house.” He added before the line went dead.
Chills ran down her spine as she sunk into the couch “Uncle Chuck…” her thoughts raced as she got up and headed out to her car. She drove at lightning speed towards Chuck’s apartment building. The sirens flickering in the rear view mirror made her curse “Shit. Not now…” She knew it was best to pull over as she stopped the car and waited for the officer to approach her.
It took a few minutes to convince the cop that she was with the P.R.A. and it was urgent that he let her go. She continued on her way, eyes darting back at the cop who wouldn’t leave her alone. When she reached the apartment, she hopped out of her car and ran towards the gate. The guard was asleep as she tried calling for him “Mr. Leung!” she yelled but the man was in a deep sleep. Giving up, she looked around and noticed the cop was still there staring at her. He pointed to her car, she was parking illegally “Just give me a ticket!” she yelled at him.
He raised a brow but prepared to write her up. With the cop occupied, she was able to pull out her emergency pin and picked the gate lock. Within less than a minute, she was in and impatiently waiting for the elevator. She couldn’t wait as she ran towards the stairs. It was ten flight of stairs but she didn’t care. His life was in danger, she refused to lose her last relative. Halfway up, she felt a pang of pain that hit her side. Instantly falling to her knees, she gasped when the pain shot through her ribs and into her chest. She wasn’t completely healed yet.
She felt the blood rushing to her face, but she had to move on. Gripping onto her side, she continued up the stairs. Hand on rail, she practically pulled herself up with every step. Erin was perspiring when she get to his apartment door. She tried the door and was surprised to see it unlocked. She prepared herself for the worse, instead, she found him and Eve sitting on the couch talking. She seemed to be crying “Erin?” Chuck looked up oddly “What are you doing here?”
Erin leaned onto the door for support “Your call…it scared me…” catching her breath with each gasp.
Chuck got up to support her inside “Did you take the stairs? You’re in no condition to run up ten flight of stairs.” He scolded like a father.
Her heart began to relax the second she took a seat. Her eyes wandered to Eve “What’s the matter?”
Chuck returned to his wife “There’s no use in lying to her.” Eve nodded at her husband “I lost the baby. It was a miscarriage.”
“I’m so sorry.” Erin was earnest as she realized why Chuck didn’t come to see her like he said he would “Is that why you were at the hospital?”
Chuck turned to his wife as if he didn’t know. She nodded “I didn’t want to worry you.” Eve explained to him “I’m sorry. I really wanted this to work. But the doctor said that the baby would have been born with a few syndromes that would effect his brain growth and health.” Eve wiped the tears away “It’s okay, I’m still young.”
“It’s good to be optimistic.” Erin nodded with a smile.
She patted Chuck on the hand “You should take Erin down. I’m tired, I should get to sleep.”
“Okay.” Chuck watched as Eve limped into the bedroom. Smiling at Erin, he flicked a corner smile “Did I scare you?”
“I was this close to a heart attack.” She pinched her fingers together to show him. He helped her to her feet as he walked her towards the elevator. The uneasy feeling was still within her “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Chuck avoided her eyes “Yeah.”
“Look at me.” She ordered.
He forced himself to stare at her in the eyes and smiled “Everything’s fine.”
Erin assumed he had his reasons “Okay. You should go back with Aunt Eve. I can walk out by myself.” The elevator opened as she walked in.
“Erin—” Chuck called but something held him back “Be safe.”
Her brows knitted together and she nodded. The doors closed and their eyes continued to lock, there was the feeling again. He had something to say, she was sure of it. Erin’s eyes moved to a sparkly object at the corner of the elevator. Bending down to pick it up, suddenly, the elevator top opened and in jumped a masked man in black. He took stabs at her with his dagger as she blocked and twisted around his weapon. When the elevator stopped, the guy reached for the stop button but Erin was quicker as she kicked his hand away and the door opened. Making a back handspring to get away, she rolled onto her back when the side pain rushed through her once again.
The guy was about to attack when the he noticed the guard had woken up “Stop!!” The old man pulled out his baton and waved it at the guy who coolly shut the elevator and it began to move up. The man noticed Erin on the ground “Miss, are you okay? Should I call the ambulance?”
“No…I’m fine.” She assured him and got up slowly. Her eyes moved towards the elevator, something was wrong, she could feel it in her bones. She decided to leave and sighed when the ticket was on her wind shield wipers. She tossed it into the car and drove home.