Aces, Charles

A/N: NOT UPDATED IN 12 DAYS!? I am so sorry! I've gotten this question a lot. How does Casey know someone within an organization that doesn't exist known as the Mafia? You know how all of these chapters have a poker or card theme? This one stretched because it's the only song that could kinda meet both the poker motif and kinda speak to the chapter. Confused…not as much as me. You wanted the Casey unleashed…you got it. Chapter 9, Diamond Eyes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but if I was in a gun fight, I'd want John Casey to have my back.

August 30th, 2004

Casey just stood there. He had listened to Chuck's entire story about how Jenny's father had been a first class dumbass. His heart broke for the kid. He was so close to having it all, finally, and this worthless piece of trash didn't even believe his own daughter. Hell, even he believed Jenny loved the nerd and would never con him, but she didn't need to know that. Emma touched his shoulder pulling him out of his thoughts. That was another thing that was weird. He and Emma. Kathleen had decided what little they had wasn't enough and had moved on. John really couldn't blame her, he wasn't thrilled with what little they had either.

"You can't fix this," she said to him. Casey started to turn to her, and saw Bartwoski's stupid smirk. The one that said, I know something you don't know. No, numbnuts, you don't. I know something you don't know, and I ain't telling you, because if I do, you'll tell Ellie, and I'll be deaf for the rest of my life. Casey growled at Chuck, which only made the fool grin bigger.

"No, but I know someone who can," he said to Emma.

"Casey, this is my and Jenny's problem," Chuck said.

"Actually it's my problem, but you had to go and say we're family, Mister Butt-in Butt-inski," Jenny said coming into the room. Emma gave her a look like she could cry and came to hug her. Jenny gave Chuck a look. "You told her everything, didn't you?" Chuck just grinned as he took a sip of his coffee. When Emma released her, she walked over, placed a kiss on Chuck's cheek, and slugged his arm.

"Ow!"

"You gossip more than anyone I know," Jenny said. Casey smiled at that. "Casey, leave it alone." He just stared at her, leaned against the counter with his elbows, his fingers intertwining each other, and grinned.

"Burton, there's something you've got to realize," Casey said. He turned to Chuck. "Not. A. Word." Chuck gulped, and nodded. Casey nodded and turned back to Jenny. "That idiot and his sister are my children, which makes you my daughter-in-law, and before you say you're not, we both know where this is heading, or already would be if you weren't so damn stubborn." Chuck wondered what alternate universe he was in. "That means, you're one of mine, and no one, and I mean no one, gets to do anything, to one of mine, other than me."

"Huh," Jenny said. "I figured you'd go with the step-father speech," she replied, grinning. Casey set his jaw and started to speak twice, but didn't. Jenny turned to Chuck. "He's trying to figure out a way of saying something about either way putting me over his knee and spanking me without it sounding dirty," Jenny said to Chuck. Chuck nearly spit his coffee out. She turned and looked Casey right in the eye. He grinned, and walked away. Emma watched him go, a bit uncomfortable. "Sorry, Mom."

"I just didn't realize…." She trailed off.

"Emma, even I know something's going on," Chuck said. Emma shrugged.

Casey had gone to his room, and just stood there, looking into the mirror. He took off his pants and looked at the scar on the outside of his left leg. He flexed it and thought back.

}o{

Top secret location, lots of fighting mid 80s

"Casey, we've got to go!"

"The kid's in there, I'm going after him," Casey yelled to his CO (commanding officer).

"Casey, the chopper is 2 klicks out and we have thirty minutes to get there!"

"I'll be there!" Casey replied. The CO nodded as the rest of the team headed to the rendezvous point. Casey knew why they left the kid behind, he had disobeyed an order and gone into the building. His CO thought the kid was too much like his old man, a mobster in Vegas. Bobby had been anything but like his father, but the CO was old school. Casey also knew he had to get his men out of there, he understood, but he didn't respect his CO. Casey found the kid, and began to patch up his leg. "Hey, can you hear me?"

"I can, you should go," Bobby said.

"I don't leave men behind," Casey replied.

"I can't feel my legs," Bobby said tears in his eyes. Casey stopped and looked at him.

"Kid, we don't have a lot of good options," Casey said softly. "The only way I know to save your life is to pack you out of here, but that could make things worse."

"Leave me," Bobby said.

"Ain't happenin', Kid," Casey said. "Now, you're choice, I can make a stretcher, and drag you, but that gives up little chance of making the chopper."

"You're as stubborn as a mule, so pack me out of here," Bobby replied.

"That's the spirit, Kid," Casey said, hoisting him across his shoulders. "Now for a 2 klick jog. Piece of cake, right?"

"We'll never make it, Casey," Bobby said.

"Not with that attitude we won't," Casey replied. They took off, for the first 15 minutes, Casey thought this just might work, and that's when the enemy spotted him, and began the chase. Casey knew there wasn't a chance in hell of them making it now, but he saw cover up ahead. That's when the first bullet hit his left leg. To his credit, he didn't fall….on that shot. The second one in the same area, took him to the ground. He dragged them the few feet remaining to behind what little cover they had. He looked to see at least ten of the enemy coming toward them. He handed the kid his pistol and took his gun out. "Well, let's take a few of them with us," he said to the kid. Bobby nodded. The firefight began, but they were quickly running out of ammunition. Four of them remained, and were on the verge of taking out the two, when gunfire erupted behind them. His unit took out the four remaining enemy combatants and began to check on Casey and Bobby.

"Good job, Casey," his CO said. "We don't leave men behind. Thanks for watching my six on that one." Casey nodded.

"This isn't good," the medic said looking at Casey's knee.

"My legs never were that pretty," Casey grumbled.

"This may end you," the medic admitted. Casey shrugged.

"That's not the first time I've heard that," Casey replied. The two were transported to the Landing Zone and were evaced out.

"Casey, you gave me a chance to have a family," Bobby said, near tears. "If I can ever repay you, please let me know. I'll do anything." Casey looked at him.

"Kid, better watch those promises, I know who your dad is and how he takes those kinds of oaths," Casey said. Bobby reached over and grabbed Casey's forearm.

"I know you know, and that's why I'm telling you, I owe you."

}o{

Now

Casey pulled out his phone and called. He waited for the voice on the other end.

"Hey, Kid, how you making it?" Casey asked.

"Casey?" Bobby replied.

"Yeah, how you doin?"

"I'm good, Man, really good, it's good to hear from you," Bobby said.

"Look, Kid," Casey began.

"Casey, I said I owed you, what is it?"

"It's….well…he's my foster son, after the service I took him and his sister in. He's met someone, a good person, but her father, not so much. She's being blackmailed by Jimmy Sykes," Casey said, more than uncomfortable.

"That son of a bitch," Bobby spit out. "Why dad lets him…I'll arrange a sit-down. I'll call you when I have the details. Casey, thanks for calling me. I finally get a chance to try to pay back some of what you owe me."

"You out of that life and living right?" Casey asked.

"You know it man, you'd come kick my ass if I didn't, wheelchair or not," Bobby replied, laughing. "You gave me hope, Casey. I didn't have that for a long time. Thanks."

"Kid, you did all the work, I just carried you when you were down," Casey replied.

"I'll call you when I have it arranged," Bobby said, and hung up. Casey stood there a minute, starting at the scar on his leg.

"We both should of died that day, maybe you saved me as much as I saved you."

}o{

October 18th, a little sandwich shop out of the way near Vegas…don't look for it, it doesn't exist…and neither do these people (gotta protect the kneecaps)

Jenny, Chuck, and Casey were sitting at a big round table, when the door opened, and a man in a wheelchair came in.

"Casey!" he yelled.

"Bobby Toletti," Casey said, grinning. "Wow, I didn't realized that day how God awful ugly you were, I probably should have left you behind so as to scare the enemy."

"Nah, it rubbed off of you, when you packed me around," Bobby fired back, grinning. The two men hugged. Bobby looked over at Chuck. "This guy probably never told you he saved my life that day. Probably the same way he never tells anyone how he took you and your sister in, and that he just 'works' for you."

"For a guy who hates lady feelings, he sure seems to have a lot of them," Jenny said. Bobby grinned.

"You must be Jenny," Bobby said, shaking her hand. "I am so sorry about that jerk Jimmy."

"The jerk is here," Jimmy said.

"Cool it, Jimmy," Gino said, coming in behind him, flanked by two huge goons.

"I ain't lettin' no one talk about me like that, kid or no kid," Jimmy said.

"Perhaps you forget who you're talking to," Gino said quietly. The color drained from Jimmy's face.

"Sorry, Boss," Jimmy said. Introductions were made, and the sit down began.

"My son has filled me in on the reason for our meeting," Gino said. "You're father," he said looking at Jenny. "He knew the rules to work here, and he ignored them, so I sent Jimmy to tax him, but it seems he went into business for himself." Jimmy gulped. "A very….lucrative business, behind my back."

"I was making money," Jimmy said. Gino nodded.

"I'm torn, part of me thinks I should make him eat it, but he has people, and they need to eat," Gino said. Casey had warned them all not to speak until directly spoken to. Chuck wanted to speak so badly, but he liked his kneecaps so he kept quiet. "There's one place we will start, there is no more vig." Jimmy looked upset. "How much Jimmy?"

"800 large," he said.

"Is that without vig?" Gino asked softly. Jimmy nodded

"Yes, Boss, you said no vig, so no vig," Jimmy replied.

"Fine, we'll pay it off, now they owe me, and that we can work with. You can go Jimmy," Gino said. Jimmy nodded, stood and began to leave. "And, Jimmy," Gino added. "If any of these fine people ever tell me you reached out to them again…" Gino didn't say anything else, Chuck's eyes went wide, but not as big as Jimmy's.

"Won't happen, Boss," Jimmy said, and fled.

"Now, the terms of your repayment," Gino said. "I would like to tell you not to worry about it, but I'm a business man, and if I do this, which would be the right thing to do, I might not be long for this earth, if you know what I mean." Chuck couldn't help but nod. "You could pay this off right now, yes?" Chuck started to speak, but Jenny's hand on his arm made his brain keep shut.

"He could, Sir," Jenny said. "But, it's not his to pay." Gino looked at her, and grinned.

"But it would settle my debt," Gino said.

"Yes, but it's my debt. You wouldn't ask one of your friends to pay one of your debts," she said.

"Forgive me for saying, but I do believe he is more than a friend," Gino replied.

"With all due respect, Sir," Jenny began. Chuck's and Casey's face were both filled with horror. "That's none of your business, and it's still my debt."

"If you were married?" he asked, curious.

"Again, none of your business, but maybe," she agreed.

"Are you not marrying because of this?"

"Well, he hasn't asked," Jenny began. "But, I told him not to until this is over. This is my problem. You don't put your problems on other people's doorsteps. You don't bring things like this into a marriage."

"It would be pocket change for him," Gino said.

"But that doesn't make it any less right," Jenny replied. Gino stared at her, and smiled. He looked at Chuck.

"You better treat this one right," he said. "She's got honor and loyalty and you don't see that these days. But, anyone raised by John Casey I expected nothing less from." He turned back to Jenny. "Here is my problem. We have a lot of money at stake here, and I'm not making any anything off of it."

"Chuck and I have made a deal," Jenny began. Gino nodded to continue. "If we haven't raised the money by the WPT championships in April, he will pay off the balance." Gino made a face, thinking.

"Six months," he said, nodding. "Pay as you go, or in a lump sum?"

"If it's okay with you, whatever we win, minus entry fees, we'll pay to you as we go," Jenny replied. Gino nodded.

"I think we have a suitable arrangement," Gino said. He stuck out his hand, and Jenny shook. "Don't worry, I won't take the money he's going to try and give me after you leave." Jenny looked over at Chuck who was looking away.

"He's too nice for his own good," Jenny said.

"You should protect him," Gino said, grinning.

"Oh, I plan on it," Jenny said. "I plan on it." Gino stood, nodded, and exited.

"When you pay, just contact me, and I'll get the money to him," Bobby said. "I wish he could just make it go away, but he's right, with the life he leads, if he did, he'd be taken out by someone who wants to move up the ladder."

"That's gives a whole new meaning to the term separated from your employment," Chuck said. Jenny just looked at him.

"Really, you don't speak all this time, and that's what you say?" Jenny asked.

"Give the kid a break, he didn't talk for fifteen minutes, it could have been much worse," Casey said.

"So, we made him an offer he couldn't refuse, didn't we?" Chuck asked grinning. Jenny turned to Casey.

"You had to say it, didn't you?" she asked.

"My bad," Casey grumbled. "My bad."

}o{

The next morning saw the two of them entering the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship. With buy-ins and fees of $10,300 each, and with over 300 entrants, they knew they'd have to make the top fifty just to make any money, and they'd only make about $1,700.00 if they only made it that far. The top ten was where the money was at. They survived the first day, both near in the top half in chips. Chuck made her promise to use the new math skills she had learned. He didn't really need to, because it had become an integrated part of her game.

When Chuck woke that morning, all he could do was stare at the blonde angel lying on his chest. He wanted to propose so badly. He wanted to just pay Gino off, but he knew what would happen if he tried. They both knew the other wasn't going anywhere, but it was getting to be torture. He had just created a new phone game, and was making a ton of money off of it, despite the fact it was only selling for $.99. Chuck asked if they could use that money, and the look she gave him was all the answer he needed.

"I mean you could ask if all you're going to do is stare at me each morning trying to summon the courage, but I'm going to tell you I'll give you my answer in May," Jenny said, never looking at him.

"He agreed to the deal, he didn't say we couldn't get married," Chuck argued. She raised her head and gave him a look, smirking.

"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?" she asked. Chuck shifted, getting excited. "We could get secretly married and no one know?" she asked, her voice rising just a bit. Chuck didn't like where this was going. "Chuck, the guy runs Vegas, he'd know." Chuck slumped down. She was drawing her fingers lazily over his chest. "However, we could act like we are newlyweds," she said, raising her eyebrows.

"We have to be at the casino in two hours," Chuck said, giving her the Bartwoski eyebrow dance. Jenny just smirked.

Three and a half hours later, both of them weak-kneed, they entered the casino. The grins on their faces leaving no clue as to why they were late. Today they would play down to 27. They both knew they needed to survive the day to have any chance of making a dent in the amount they owed. They survived to the money, Jenny making her way up the leader board, slowly but surely.

"I'm just relaxed," she said to him, shrugging during a break. Chuck grinned. "You know we come in second and third, or better, this is all over," she said, turning to him, with a wicked grin on her face.

"Or, one of us could just win it," Chuck replied.

"There's that too," Jenny said, and then took a long pull from her water bottle. "I think today has taught us something." He looked at her and the look on her face turned even bawdier. "Even if we're not married, we need to pretend like this morning, we're on our honeymoon, each day before we play in a tournament." Chuck went red. "Unless you can't handle it," she said softly.

"I can handle it," he muttered. She never turned around. "I can," he said a little louder, she shrugged. "I can handle anything you throw at me," he said, causing those around him to turn and give him a knowing look. She took her seat, looked at him, winked, and slid on her shades. "I don't know if I can handle this," he muttered to himself.

"Chuck, my boy," Sammy Farha said as he sat down next to him. "I don't know how you managed to date her, but regardless of where you come in in this tournament…you're winning." Chuck just grinned.

}o{

The next morning saw them scamper to their seats right before play began, there were only 27 left, and to be blinded off, meant to lose precious chips with high blinds, neither could afford if they were going to try and win this thing. They day was full of twists and turns but by the end they found themselves both at the ten-handed final table, and somehow, it was the first time they had been at the same table during the tournament. They were playing down to six, the six who would find themselves on TV. For each spot they could survive, they would move up in the money, and Chuck found himself wanting to win it so bad, just so they could end this. The random draw came, and they found themselves beside each other.

It started with Carlos Mortensen making fun of the two, good naturally. Jenny raised Chuck, her being on his right, several times, driving him out of multiple pots. It all came to a head when Chuck didn't move all in from the short stack, but simply raised during a hand with her. She studied him, she knew so many tells now it wasn't even funny. She grinned at him and folded. He grinned back, and folded, face-up. 7-2 off-suit, with a flop of nothing but face cards. The shock on Jenny's face made the table explode.

"Oh, he's sleeping on the couch tonight!" Carlos yelled. The whole table got a big laugh. Two hands later, Chuck moved all in with pocket nines against an A-J offsuit. The Jack come on the flop, and Chuck was left with 2 outs. Two blanks hit, and Chuck busted, up $26,000. The new payoff amount was $774,000.00. He went to the pay window and got his money and came back to watch. Jenny survived another player, moving up in the money, but she simply ran out of chips much too soon, and busted out 8th, earning herself $38,000.00 after the fees were excluded. The new payoff amount was $736,000.00.

Jenny got her money, and grabbed Chuck by the elbow.

"I'm sorry," he said. She stopped and looked at him, her blue eyes sparkling.

"That was the hottest thing I have ever seen in my life," she said, breathily. "You bluffed me. No one has ever bluffed me like that!"

"So we're good?"

"Bartowski, we're going to my house right now, and we are so going to have what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas moment," she said. Chuck gulped. "Sure you still want to propose?"

"Never been surer," he replied.

"Damn it," she whispered.

"What?"

"I really wish I had won this tournament," she said, grabbed his hand and drug him out of the casino. Someone yelled there goes Chenny, but they were too busy heading home to answer.

A/N: We're progressing along nicely. I think two more chapters will do it. Three at the most. Hope you enjoyed it…take care…see you soon…til next time.

DC