Casey held his gun to the back of Petrelli's head as he shoved him down the narrow stairway to the underground bunker known as the castle.
"Getcher ass down there. Now that the prez has shut down Guantanamo, us big bad types gotta get our kicks when we can."
One moment the gun was on the back of the man's head, the next the head was gone.
"The hell?"
He looked at Sarah, who looked just as shocked as he did.
"Go get Bartowski. Something odd is goin on here."
Customers come in. Customers go out. Customers come in. Customers go out.
I look up at the clock again. 8:08 am. Two minutes. Two long minutes since I last looked.
Ok, Chuck. Get your mind off of what's going on down there. Just focus on the store.
Buy-More's having one of Big Mike's brilliant monthly sales. Guess that's why so many people are in here so early in the morning. He slashes all prices by ten percent, after raising them five. That way the customers actually only get 6 and a half percent off, and Mike gets to move old merchandise without losing so much money. Sometimes working here is depressing for multiple reasons.
I look through our list of installations. There's only two scheduled for this afternoon. I check the repair list. Nothing. The one day that we actually don't have any computers to work on. Which means there's nothing for me to do except stand here and wait for something to happen.
8:10 am. I sigh, and rest my face on my fists.
And that's when she walks in.
Suddenly my whole day looks brighter when Sarah Walker walks through the stores doors. She seems to move in slow motion. I tilt my head to the side and smile as I watch. The way she smiles at me. The way here hair teasingly blows around her. The way she seductively blows me a kiss...
"Hi Chuck."
I snap out of it as my cheek slips off my fist and my face hits the counter.
"Oh! Uh, hi Sarah." I try to act cool, failing miserable. Sarah gives me a light kiss on the cheek and a stand up tall, a big goofy grin on my face.
"So, uh, what's up?"
She smiles and leans in. But her voice is serious as she whispers.
"We need you down the the Castle. Petrelli's gone."
"Gone?" I say much too loudly. A couple of customers look at me, and I just smile and nod, embarrassed.
"What do you mean, gone?" I whisper back. "How?"
"I'll tell you when we get there. Come on." She takes my hand and leads away.
"Bartowski!" Sarah and I stop as Big Mike stomps out of his office. "Where the hell do you think your going ten minutes after the store opens?!"
"Uh, well Big Mike...uh, you see..."
"Hey Big Mike," Morgan says, appearing out of nowhere. "Come on, man. You know how it is when your smoking hot girl comes over and wants to spend a little quality time with you. Can't really say no, can you."
Big Mike glares at Morgan. Then he grunts and laughs a little. "Heh. Yeah, I know what you mean." Big Mikes eyes look off into the distance for a moment before he suddenly realizes where he is. "Ok, Bartowski. I want you back in ten minutes."
"R-right," I say as Sarah leads me out. I mouth a thanks to Morgan, and he gives me an enthusiastic thumbs up. I notice Big Mike looking up at nothing as he slowly makes his way back to his office.
Sarah quickly runs me over to the Orange Orange and we go through the Castle entrance in the back. Down the stairs, Casey's waiting for us.
"So...what happened guys?"