A/N: Although I make some minor references to the Episode 'Chuck vs. the Beefcake,' I am not following that storyline. I'm taking it in an entirely different direction with my own adventure. Thanks.

Chapter 1: Missing

-Oo-

Chuck Bartowski skidded past his best friend Morgan Grimes and waved his hands 'No!' Morgan was about to yank his arm and drag him to the break room for another complaint fest.

"I don't have time to hear about mama's romps or your accidental flasher tactics! I gotta meet Sarah at the cast…uhh...Orange Orange! Yeah!"

Chuck bustled out the sliding doors before Morgan could utter a word, and the bearded and mystified salesclerk threw up his hands annoyed.

"Ya think my best friend in the world would be there for me, ya know? I'm going through some rough times! He has no idea how serious this relationship with Big Mike so isn't!" Morgan belted out to no one in particular.

He picked up his clipboard with the list of applicants and as he turned, he nearly crashed into Jeff and Lester.

"Don't you guys ever have work to do?" He snarled. Morgan was still teed off over their farce with trying to hire supermodels as the new green shirts.

"I can't believe you nearly got Chuck and me fired!"

Lester patted his shoulder with the smarmy, calm manner he mastered. "But it almost worked, dear Morgan. Jeff here just got a little…frisky."

"I wouldn't call recreating 'the scene' from Basic Instinct, frisky. More like psychotic, pathetic and…"

"Brilliant, just brilliant." Jeff murmured. Jeff had been staring blankly at the entrance to the store since Chuck's departure.

"I wonder why he's rushes back and forth there so much? It's gotta be those banana smoothies…If I had a woman who used a knife the way she did, I'd want to be cut to pieces."

Jeff scratched what was left of his frazzled hair, flicked his crusted fingers, and went behind the Nerd Herd. Morgan held his head and Lester groaned. He wiped his shirt, and shivered in revulsion.

"Can we just forget that incident ever happened, Morgan? You and Chuck are still here, don't you realize you're both indispensable? Besides, the plumbing will get pretty rusty if Big Mike fires you. " Lester grinned wickedly, but then quickly clamped his mouth shut. It was extremely sore after being tossed into the fence by John Casey and nearly swallowing his apple whole. He was thankful he still had all his pearly white teeth. He hurried away before Morgan could retaliate.

Morgan stuck out his tongue, and then turned to meet the growing line of oddballs that were desperate for employment.

"Up next, 'who'…your name is, Who Watson?' Somebody's parents watched a little too much Abbot and Costello…this dude was probably conceived during a 'Who's on first?' skit." He muttered.

He snapped and pointed at the greasy, middle-aged wallflower to follow him to the interviewing room. For him, it was going to be a very long and arduous day at the Buy More.

-Oo-

Chuck punched in the code to enter the Castle chamber and rushed down the stairs three at a time. Five minutes earlier, Sarah had called him with very daunting news…Casey was missing. Chuck had wondered why the big man wasn't at work when he was scheduled. The snarling, rough as sandpaper Casey never fell sick unless intentionally poisoned. He only seemed to reserve his time away from the store for even more work related to their clandestine missions. Chuck halted beside Sarah. She was ready to begin a briefing with General Beckman, and neither looked happy.

"Sarah, I didn't like the tone of your voice, what do you mean, Casey's missing? I take it he's not vacationing in the Bahamas?"

"Hello to you too, Chuck. I meant what I said. Casey's missing…as in, he may have been abducted."

Chuck gaped at the monitor and back at Sarah. Both she and Beckman wore their stoniest expressions and he held back any snide jokes that would normally fly at these awkward moments. Chuck recognized the fear and concern in Sarah's gentle, aquamarine eyes. Despite the fact that Casey was a hard nose, he was still her partner. They had come to a mutual understanding with a propitious 'I got your back, you got mine' rapport.

"Kidnapped! That's impossible! Casey would never allow that happen to him! How? Who? Where? When?" He fumbled.

"If you will calm yourself down, I will explain all that, along with perhaps, what and why? But first I need you to look at these. Hopefully you will flash on something." General Beckman retorted.

The monitors alongside hers flickered and dated pictures of a very tan and striking man in his fifties with coal black hair and lethal dark eyes to match, popped up. There were some surveillance shots of confiscated warehouses full of drugs and powerful arms, and one pleasant image in the middle. The man was lying out on a shady, white and marble veranda. He was slurping a very fruity Mai Tai and about to receive an oily rubdown from one of his fake chested, but gorgeous assistants.

"Who's the man being sautéed by the Mexican Pam Anderson?" Chuck asked, peering closer. Sarah zoomed in for him.

"The man in the picture is Billionaire Damien Augustino Ochoa, one of the world's…"

Neither woman had noticed Chuck's eyes flicker and grow heavy lidded with a sudden flash. He blinked rapidly from an onslaught of violent criminal images. They were laden with vicious gun play, brutal knifings, drug smuggling, and lastly, though out of place, big game hunting. He grabbed a pen and scrap paper from the table and wrote out a long number, then typed it into the system and sent it to Beckman.

Beckman smirked contented. "I assume now you have something else to add, Bartowski?"

Chuck glanced up quickly. "Umm, yeah. I do. The shiny silver cross he's wearing has a foreign bank account number embedded on it. Damien Ochoa was on everyone's hit list since he was a gangbanging teenager in Mexico during the late sixties. He worked his way up to become the most notorious drug dealer in Latin America, yet managed to stay under the radar until 1991 when…"

He paused, unsure of himself, then glanced at Sarah. She gazed at him with a desperate look to continue. Without Casey's menacing, but oddly reassuring presence in the briefing room, they all felt ill at ease and Chuck was about to drop the next bombshell.

"When, young, NSA Agent Jonathan Casey infiltrated his mansion in Acapulco and brought down his vast coke empire. Casey killed Damien's brother and financial advisor, Emilio Ochoa. Damien escaped capture, and went into hiding somewhere in darkest Africa. Now he's back and it looks like he's settled not too far off in the remotest part of Cabo San Lucas…although that picture is from 2002. We can't be sure about the location, could be Cabo."

Chuck blurted out his Intel with speed and authority. He was learning how to control his flashes and make sense of the information the Intersect provided him during his many eight-second intervals of brain freeze. His mind had been working over-time the last month since having been exposed to Fulcrum's own Intel of embedded images. Sarah nodded slowly, taking in his description. She had read into Ochoa's troubled background. The Latin drug lord was always close to the top of the CIA's most wanted, along with the F.B.I, NSA, and every other American Government agency down to the Internal Revenue Service.

"Is he Fulcrum, Chuck?" Sarah asked.

"No…that didn't come up this time, I think he's just on his own as a baddie. Sometimes we have to stray a little from the Fulcrum herd, we don't want our villains to get monotonous…heh...ahh, never mind."

Sarah shrugged and turned back to the monitor. "So General, what's our next plan of action?"

"We can't be too sure yet, Agent Walker. There has been no solid evidence to support that Ochoa has made any moves in Casey's direction. Neither can we confirm if Casey is in fact, missing."

Chuck felt he had to interject. "I must disagree, General…"

Beckman's eyes narrowed and she folded her arms haughtily. "What is it now, Bartowski?"

Chuck stood at attention. He was the 'King' of the castle at present, and he desired to take some control over the situation…though he would never tell that to Sarah.

"With all due respect, General, Casey has never neglected to contact one of us if he knew he wouldn't be coming into the Buy More. I really think we should go on our gut instincts with this and believe the worst…well…you know…not the worst…but at least that he is kidnapped, and that this Ochoa guy is the perpetrator."

Sarah watched Chuck plaintively, but supported him with a tiny grin. He was certainly maturing in his role as the Intersect and learning to handle his position on the team well. She was very proud of him. General Beckman was surprised with Chuck's tone. She sighed and then nodded firmly.

"Very well, I will have more information on the circumstances in Cabo San Lucas and that secret account within the next hour or so. Agent Walker, I want you to go to Casey's home and look for potential signs of a break-in and report back to me immediately."

Sarah gulped and agreed. She was also fearful of finding Casey dead in his leather easy chair. Chuck grasped her hand when the General clicked off.

"Hey…I umm…I can put in for a 'repair call' and come with you. Not that you need me there or anything!" He added hastily, and dropped his grip. "Ya know…just for moral support or something."

Sarah glanced at Chuck gratefully. "You really don't have to, Chuck. I can handle it.."

"No, please! I want to…and I would do anything to get away from the Buy More and Morgan's stories about his mom and…"

Sarah walked away quickly and put her hands to her ears. "Chuck, I just had lunch."

"Oh, right…it is pretty vomit inducing after awhile. Please let me come, I promise I won't be any trouble. I could be of some use."

Sarah laughed slightly. "Chuck, you don't cause trouble, you're the one usually in it."

Chuck smiled apprehensively. "This time the shoe is on the other foot, Casey's always stuck his thick neck out for me."

"Yeah, I know, me too. It's funny, he told me a few days ago that he forgives me for scarring his hand with the Weinerlicious wood sticks. He said it was an excellent fight maneuver he'll be sure to remember. Something's different about him lately."

He understood what she referred to. Ever since Casey and Sarah had thought Chuck was killed in the Nerd Herd car explosion, Casey had used less colorful insults and was all around more complimentary toward Chuck's improving spy skills.

"Maybe he's finally turning over a new leaf… after all, it's a new year, a new season…The man's fast approaching middle age, it's a time for reflection and midlife crisis. Hey, you don't think that's what it is, do you? Going through the motions?"

"Maybe, but Casey's not the type to shrivel up under his own insecurities…if he has any. Let's just hope he went on a bender or something and is snoring away at home, okay?" Sarah said optimistically.

"Exactly! Perhaps he hooked up with Roan Montgomery and they went out for a night on the town. Mano a Mano...heh...sorta." Chuck mused.

"That's good Chuck, stay positive." Sarah remarked to his off beat comment.

Her heavy heart told her something vastly different. Casey was in some sort of trouble, and it was up to them to find him.