Aces, Charles

A/N: Hi, the fanfic website is having a bit of an issue with me, or just in general, so make sure you’ve read Chapter 2. Go ahead…I’ll wait…(Checks watch) Oh good you’re back. Glad to have you. So I was concerned some of you would be worried and I basically got an eye-roll from everyone. I can keep them apart…yeah, no I can’t. Also I wasn’t trying to be so cryptic at the end of the last chapter, and after rereading it for the fifth time, it wasn’t the best. I knew what I meant, but it’s my job to make sure you do, so if it sounded disconnected or disjointed, that’s entirely on me. …It’s time for Aces, Charles Ch 3, Know When to Hold Em.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Chuck, nor can I count cards, but Breaking Vegas is a heck of a book…

Christmas 2003

The tree was decorated, there was food everywhere, Bartowskis, both naturally born, and adopted in, were in their PJs…including one John Casey. Casey didn’t even bother on Christmas day to try and be himself…Ellie just wasn’t hearing it. John had done a lot of things in his life, but nothing, absolutely nothing, scared him like Ellie Bartowski.

“John, what’s wrong with him?” Ellie asked. Chuck wasn’t even watching The Twilight Zone marathon going on, and he had been distracted all day.

“Ellie, I don’t want to have this conversation,” John said. “You’re going to yell.”

“Why would you think that?” she asked. Casey just looked at her. He looked over at Chuck, and then glanced at his watch. What he was about to do was mean, but what the hell, it was his Christmas present to himself.

“If you think he’s that bad, stop the marathon and flip it over to ESPN,” Casey said. Ellie gave him a look. “It’s the WSOP Main Event from this summer, I promise it will answer a lot of your questions. Just watch him.” Ellie stopped the marathon. Chuck didn’t even notice, and she flipped it over to ESPN. The name Jenny Burton was mentioned, and Chuck’s head raised up. She was in a hand with Sammy Farha. This wasn’t the final table, but the final 27 players. Chuck watched Jenny, how she had one leg drawn up under her, her elbow resting on the table, her chin on the heel of her hand. Ellie looked at Chuck, then looked at the screen, and then over to Casey. Casey tilted his head as if to say, “see.” Chuck watched her as she coolly analyzed everything, and seemed to pick up on something from Sammy. She picked up four chips and dropped them into her hand, over and over as she studied the board and then Sammy.

“That’s her, ‘I-think-you’re-lying-but-my-cards-aren’t-good-enough-to-beat-you tell,’” Chuck said softly. “I should have told her about that,” he said, and then sighed. He watched the screen. “I always wondered what would have happened if she pushed all-in here? The math was right. If he folded she would have won a big pot and really hurt Sammy. If he called, her odds were pretty good.” Chuck shook his head. “It’s her only flaw I’ve ever seen on what they’ve showed on TV.” Ellie looked over at Casey, who shrugged. She grabbed Casey’s arm and drug him into the kitchen. Before she could say a word, Casey’s hands were up in a defensive posture.

“Jenny Burton, professional poker player, father is a con man that stays in trouble. Best I can tell she spend the majority of her money getting him out of a jam. I thought she was playing Chuck for a big payday, but turns out, she won’t talk to him. Apparently the kid said something stupid last time they talked and she’s cut him out,” Casey said, terror on his face, as he watched the look on Ellie’s face.

“So, she’s not after Chuck for his money?” Ellie asked. Casey was quiet for a second.

“I don’t think so, Ellie,” Casey said. “I mean it’s possible she’s hooking him in for a long con, but if she’s picked up half of what her father knew, according to my contacts, then she’s got him right now and doesn’t need to play it. The other thing is, I haven’t told the kid any of this.” Ellie gave him a look and he held his hands up again, knowing if Hurricane Ellie struck, this motion would be useless. “I told the kid she was a card player and probably only wanted him for his money. I may have said enough that he messed some things up when he talked to her.”

“You tapped his phone again,” Ellie said, not asked. John looked away, the tiniest bit ashamed…but not really.

“Ellie, you know what he’ll do if we have another Jill situation,” Casey said. Ellie put her face in her hands. “Exactly.” She raised up to look at him.

“Well, he’s not exactly the bubbly Chuck we know, is he?” she asked. “I’ll take care of it.” John gave her a look. “Just go ahead and get ready, because he needs to at least try, for his sake.” John didn’t look happy. “I know, I know. You don’t want him hurt, I won’t tell him you care, and we’ll pick up the pieces if it goes wrong, but, John. He has to live his life.” Casey grunted, and watched her walk off.

“Chuck me,” he grumbled.

}o{

Ellie sat down on the couch beside Chuck and watched him. He seemed the happiest she had seen him in weeks. He was watching intently every time Jenny did anything, and then when the action wasn’t on her, he seemed to be off in another world. His sister laid a hand on his arm and he turned to look at her.

“Tell me about her,” she said. Chuck smiled.

“She’s worked her way up from a card dealer, teaching herself. She’s so smart, but she plays by feel, she has instincts that rival anyone in the game. And funny, Ellie, she is so funny, but she’s reserved, like something happened a long time ago, and she’s not letting anyone in, although I could be projecting,” he said shrugging.

“So you know her?” Ellie asked. Chuck nodded. “Talk to her.”

“I kinda screwed up with somethings I said, and how I said it, and she’s not taking my phone calls anymore,” Chuck said. “She reads people, Ellie, she’s a poker play and she can pick up on things, and my voice…I didn’t trust her, and it hurt her. I also made a snide remark to let her know I knew some things…I messed up. Plus, Casey says she’s only after me for my money.”

“Chuck, if she was after you for money, don’t you think she would have called by now?” Ellie asked. Chuck nodded. “Okay, how about this. Tell me, tomorrow if you came in and found out through some paperwork error you had lost everything, would you be concerned?”

“I mean, yeah, there are people’s jobs that I am responsible for,” Chuck said. Ellie shook her head.

“I mean could you put in the work, and get it all back?” she asked.

“I mean we’d have to get lucky and make a hit game again, but yeah, we could make that money back,” Chuck said.

“So what do you care?” Ellie asked. “You are miserable. You have feelings for her, and you deserve to give yourself a chance. Do you think she’s after you just for your money?” Chuck shook his head no. “How much of your money would you give to see Mom and Dad again?”

“All of it, plus I’d go find more,” Chuck said. “I’d give everything I could.”

“Then why aren’t you?” Ellie asked, patted him on the shoulder and walked out, leaving Chuck to watch Jenny on TV.

February 21st, 2004

Chuck was ready to pound his head into the desk. He had shut down the company from Christmas through New Years to make sure people spent time with their family. They were on pace to make their deadline for Intersect 3.0, but over Christmas, rumors about the game made their way online, and now Sony and Microsoft were at Chuck’s door, wanting the game before the insane demand waivered. He and his employees had worked nonstop to get the game ready and now it was in certification. What little sleep he had, he dreamed about Jenny. He had called her several times. She never answered, and he never left a voicemail. He didn’t know what the right thing to do was, but he was pretty sure he knew what to do.

“Morgan,” Chuck yelled, knowing his buddy was lying on the couch in his office. “You’re in charge, I’m going to Vegas for a few days.”

“Chuck I think that’s a bad idea,” Morgan said, coming into his office with someone else. Chuck turned and saw Andy Bloch. Andy held electrical engineering degrees from MIT and a JD from Harvard. He was famous for being involved in a black jack scam, but more importantly, he was a nerd, and a friend to Chuck and Morgan.

“Andy,” Chuck said, shaking his hand, “What are you doing here?”

“Came to see you two,” Andy said. “There’s a WPT tournament going on down at the Commerce Casino. Thought maybe you’d like to go, plus she’s there,” he said, showing Chuck a picture. “Phil says it’s time to go all-in.” Chuck looked at him, and nodded.

}o{

Jenny sat in her chair, leg folded under her like normal, elbow on the rail, hand on her chin. They were waiting on a player from a breaking table to come over. She knew the player was going to be seated by her since it was the only open chair at the table. By the odds, it would be a guy, and he would be hitting on her, because that’s what they did. Well, one never did, but apparently that was part of his game, it was a long game, that she didn’t give him a chance to play…or was it. She sighed, thinking about him and looked down at her iPod. It was hers now, no matter what anyone said. She kept telling herself she’d get rid of it, but she hadn’t yet. It had been nearly five months since he gave it to her, and she seemed to hold tighter to it every day. She felt the man next to her sit, and her body froze. She wasn’t sure what was going on, who would make her react that way, but Nina Simone’s Feeling Good was starting, and she wasn’t about to interrupt it.

“You know I’m thinking my phone’s broken because I never received a call telling me you were here. Nice iPod,” the voice came beside her. Holy shit! She knew that voice, that smell, that feeling her body got when he was nearby, and she had missed it. How was that possible, he had only been close to her once, but it was enough. “How’s the battery life on it?”

“It’s okay,” she said, not looking at him. “I overpaid for it.”

“You ever find yourself in a situation where your brain runs so far out in front of your mouth, it takes days to catch up?” he asked. She turned and looked at him. She stared at him, thanking God her glasses were on, and her cap pulled down. Those chocolate eyes that could see into her soul, that curly hair that really didn’t belong on a multimillionaire, but she was so glad he hadn’t cut it. He looked very nervous, she glanced down and saw him wipe his sweaty palms on his jeans. She allowed him to see the small smile. She wanted him to know she was enjoying this. “You know what, screw that, I was an ass, and you deserve better than that. I am sorry. I had no right to say what I said, in the tone I did. You have every right to live your life however you want, and you didn’t ask for my opinion on things, and I got my feelings hurt. I deserved to be removed from your phone. I am sorry.” Jenny stared at him. She was dumbfounded. She could let him off the hook, but she had hurt for months, and doubted herself, and she needed to know was her read wrong? Had she misread him, or was she right, and that moment was something else. She had to find out, and she was going to convince herself those reasons were why she was doing this.

“Screw what?” she asked. Chuck looked confused. He was expecting many things, but not that question. “Screw what? You were going to say something before, but you stopped.”

“It was an excuse,” Chuck said.

“But, an excuse is full of truth and I want to know why you treated me the way you did,” she said. Chuck nodded.

“I’m a nerd. I guess you figured that out. I am also very wealthy, and women, who previously had no interest in me, suddenly seem to have a lot more interest in me,” Chuck looked down, licked his lips, looked back up, and continued. “I admire the way you play, I admire your story, how you came from nothing. And then, I got to sit by you, and watch, and I realized something, you’re brilliant, you have a sense of humor that is so funny, but I bet many never see it, because I bet many never get close enough to you. When you said you wanted me to come down to Vegas instead of go to LA, I thought all you were after was my money, to get me on your home turf, get an edge, and to just take my money. I was wrong, I’m sorry, and I would do anything if you would forgive me.” She nodded, and snuck a glance at the clock. They had a few more minutes while the tables were being adjusted. She decided to go for broke.

“You’d do anything?” she asked. He nodded. “Okay, then you need to lose all your chips to me that you can.” Chuck sat there shocked. “What’s wrong? Maybe you were right about what you thought about me on the phone. Make it up to me, lose your chips to me, this way I have a better shot of winning the tournament.” The look on her face told her it was a no go, but she had one more card to play that she had to know. Don’t worry Chuck, tonight, I’ll make it up to you. I promise I’ll make it worth the money.” Chuck’s face fell, and Jenny did an internal victory dance. She wasn’t wrong. He was a good guy. He wasn’t trying to play her.

“I didn’t think I’d have to put those kind of parameters on anything,” Chuck said, as he looked up at her. It was then he noticed the wicked grin on her face. “Damn,” he said softly. She took off her glasses and he could see her eyes. They were a stormy blue, and he thought he could get lost in there forever. “I deserved that.” He had a soft smile on his face, and she returned it.

“Thank you, Chuck,” she said. She saw the question on his face so she continued. “Thank you for proving to me that I was right when I first met you. Thank you for making me stop doubting myself.”

“You?” Chuck said, shocked. “You doubted yourself, your Jenny freakin’ Burton!”

“Yeah, and Jenny Burton doubts herself all the time when the TV lights aren’t on, so thank you, but you still owe me,” she said, smirking. “Let’s be clear about one thing, Chuck Bartowski, I am after your money. I am a poker player, and I want to win it, not because I’m specifically targeting you, but if you are going to put up money at my table, then you have to pay the toll.” Chuck smiled at her, and she returned it. “And, don’t think that I forgot that you busted me, so there’s that, plus interest. I’d be after your money if you had five thousand dollars, or five million, because that’s how I earn my living. But, I like you, Chuck. You are a good guy, and frankly I like being around you, so if you cannot do anything stupid, maybe we can agree on some things.”

“Like what?” Chuck asked.

“If you put your money down, I’m going to try to win it,” Jenny said.

“The same with me,” Chuck replied.

“During a hand I’m not going to have a big conversation with you, because that reveals too much, after, we’ll see,” she said.

“So I get to you, and I can read you,” Chuck said. Jenny gave him a look.

“I’m not saying all that, I’m just saying I’m not going to give you a chance,” Jenny replied. “Final thing, I would like you if you had five million dollars, five hundred thousand dollars, or five cents.”

“Got it,” he said. “Now, how about we make another deal?” Jenny nodded. “How about we both talk to each other about what the actual problem is and not what we think the problem is. No secrets, no lies.”

“I have a lot of secrets, Chuck” Jenny said honestly.

“I’m not asking for you to tell me things from your past, and I understand if you don’t want to, or can’t tell me something, but things about us, let’s tell each other the truth.” She nodded, smiled, and glanced at the timer, knowing it was close to running out.

“You’re buying me dinner during break.” The timer stopped and it was back to poker. They played a few hands, a player busted, and the table the two of them were at, broke.

“You do know that there is a free buffet for the players?” Chuck asked. Jenny gave him a look. “Right, dinner it is.” Jenny picked up her phone, typed in a few things and showed it to him.

“I got back in your phone,” he said, grinning.

“Don’t screw it up,” she said as she turned to head to her new table.

“Don’t you screw it up,” he said, causing her to laugh. He thought for a second. “Wait, how did you get my number?”

“I never forgot it, Chuck,” she said, as Chuck watched her walk to the other side of the room. Jenny freakin’ Burton had his number in her phone. Win or lose, this was a good day.

}o{

Chuck made his way to the steakhouse the two were supposed to have dinner at, but as he arrived he noticed Jenny in a heated conversation. He tried to not be close enough to listen, but she saw him and motioned him over.

“Listen, I got you into this tournament. I flipped my 40 bucks for a 10k buy-in. You’re the one making me play this, you could have cashed that out for 9k,” Jenny said.

“And I told you, you owe more than that,” she glared at him. “Fine the account owes more than that, you need to make it to the money.”

“Where, what makes us even, because I’m telling you I’m not winning this thing and you suddenly tell me I owe 1.2 mil,” Jenny said. Chuck stood there quietly.

“Eighth,” he said finally. “You get eight and pay me 75k and we’re even.”

“Are you gonna quit buying up his tabs?” she asked. The man smiled evilly, and walked off. Jenny rubbed her left arm with her right hand.

“Are you okay?” Chuck asked. She shook her head no.

“Let’s go eat at the buffet,” she said. “I’m not that hungry right now.” Chuck followed her, not saying anything. He thought and he thought. He knew what Casey would say, he knew what Ellie would say, the question was what should he do? They sat, and Jenny didn’t say a word.

“I don’t know what’s going on, and I’m not asking, but if you need 75k I can give it to you,” Chuck said. Jenny’s eyes shot up at him. “No favors, no agendas, just a friend helping out a friend.”

“Are we that close of friends, Chuck?” she asked. Chuck shrugged.

“I think so, but I’ve got money to burn so it’s no big deal to me.” She sat and studied him for a minute. “Did I screw up?” he asked. She smiled and shook her head.

“I don’t want your money, and I’ll explain why, but I need a favor, and given the joke I made earlier, it’s gonna sound….” Jenny trailed off.

“You want to stay at my place tonight to get away from Creepy McCreeperson?” Chuck asked. Jenny couldn’t help but laugh.

“If it’s not too much trouble,” she said.

“I’ll have to move the frogs I’m training for a chorus line out of the spare bedroom, but yeah, I think we can figure something out,” he said.

“Top hats and canes, or I’ll be disappointed, Mr. Bartowski,” she said, grinning.

“Please, I’ve got the full tux for them,” he said. She laughed and studied him.

“Thank you, Chuck,” she said simply.

}o{

“You sure this is a good idea?” she asked, as he walked up to his front door to unlock it.

“You staying with me, you checking out of the hotel, or you seeing my frog chorus line?” Chuck asked.

“The first two, I’m not missing the chorus line for anything,” she replied, trying to smile.

“Jenny, you are safe,” Chuck said, gently placing his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not going to do anything.” She grinned at him.

“Oh, that wasn’t what I was worried about,” she replied. “If you tried anything I’d just kick your ass.” Chuck smiled at her. “No, I’m talking about getting you involved.”

“So I can loan you the money, or just give it to you?” Chuck asked.

“No, Chuck, and you need to quit offering to give money to people you barely know,” Jenny said, starting inside. He reached out and gently held her wrist. She turned back to him. He reached around and turned on the light.

“I didn’t want you to trip and hurt yourself,” he explained. She gave him a tight smile. “And, I know you Jenny, I may not have known you long, but I know you.” He closed the door behind her as she shook her head in wonder. She walked over, sat in the middle of the couch, and patted the seat beside her. He walked over, and sat down, right beside her. She took a deep breath.

“My father is a con artist,” she said. “He was caught by the police when I was seventeen. That’s when I moved to Vegas.” A tear made it’s way down her face, Chuck just watched her. “He got out a few years back, and started conning again. As I became a better player and was just starting to get my life on track, a man approached me. He had a picture of my mother, and he told me he had paid off those my father had conned. I owed him money, plus the interest, or vig, as he called it. After I paid it, I thought it was over, but then he approached me again.” Chuck shut his eyes.

“He’s extorting you,” Chuck said softly, opening his eyes to look at her. There was pain in them, for her. Jenny gave him a smile as another tear fell down her face.

“The night you called, I had just reloaded my bankroll for a second time, I was on my way to call you, and he showed up again,” Jenny said, sighing in frustration, looking up at the ceiling. The tears fell freely now. “I can’t get away or they’ll hurt mom.” She looked at him. “What am I supposed to do.” Chuck didn’t hesitate, he pulled her into him. She held on for dear life, and the tears of frustration fell. They stayed that way a very long time, until they both fell asleep on the couch, holding each other, exhausted, but for the moment, at peace.

A/N: Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my rag-time gaaaalllll…Oh, you’re still here…well…that’s embarrassing…Take Care, till next time.

DC