Firefly/Castle: Ruggedly Handsome?

by: domina tempore (formerly "jewel of athos")

Summary: In which Wash and Mal look at some old video footage supposedly from "the Earth that was"… total crack!fic.

Disclaimer: Firefly and Castle, and all of their characters and locations belong to their respective owners. I own only my original storylines. No copyright infringement intended!

Author's Note: Alright, this one is a late birthday present for my friend The Layman, sparked from a funny little discussion that we had around that time. Total crack!fic, haha; I don't know if the particulars of it make any sense in the Firefly universe. This was all just for fun. Cheers!

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Mal entered Serenity's bridge to find Wash watching some kind of videofeed instead of flying the ship. Wash was so interested in whatever it was that he didn't even notice the captain had come up. After a moment, Mal cleared his throat. "Having fun there, Wash?"

Wash jumped. "Oh, Captain! I didn't even realize you were up here."

"At least you weren't playing with those dinosaurs this time. You mind tellin' me what is that you are doin' in place of flying my ship?"

"Oh, this? Well, it's nothing, really… Just some old video footage I found. Guy sold it to me back on Persephone last visit; said it was footage from the Earth that was. Made a big deal about it, too; so I –"

"You got suckered into buyin' it."

Wash nodded. "Pretty much. But it's actually really interesting; come over here and take a look at this."

Mal hesitated, but truthfully he was intrigued; so after some token grumbling, he leaned over Wash's shoulder to see the screen.

"Alright, I'm lookin'. What am I supposed to see?"

"Well apparently, these tapes were all part of a video drama on the Earth that was way back before they were even thinking about colonization. The drama is called Castle, and it's about a writer who follows these officers of the law – police detectives – around to gather ides for stories."

"Sounds strange."

"Mhm. But it can actually be quite entertaining."

Mal squinted at the screen. "Why's it called 'Castle'?"

"Oh, that's the main characters name. Richard Castle."

"Huh, now that's a funny name… Oh she's pretty!"

"Yeah," Wash nodded. "That's detective Kate Beckett; she's the one he follows around. The book Castle is writing is based on her."

"Hm. Do you think that if I wrote a book about Inara she's let me follow her around like that?"

"Not a chance, Captain," Zoe informed him, coming onto the bridge and wandering over. "What are you boys doing up so late? You're not still watching those videos, are you honey?"

"Hey, I like 'em! Come look." Obligingly, Zoe came to lean over her husband's other shoulder. The little viewscreen showed a close-up of a man.

"Who is that?" Mal asked. Wash glanced up at him and grinned; he was getting the captain hooked.

"That's the writer, Captain. Castle."

Zoe chuckled. "He seems sorta ruggedly handsome, doesn't he?" she asked, studying the picture.

Wash glanced at the screen again and nodded. "Yeah, yeah I think so." He slapped at a button to freeze the image, turning to the Captain. "Well, Cap'n? What do you think?"

Mal squinted again at the image, shook his head. "Nah, I just don't see it," he shrugged. "He does look kinda familiar, though…" With a shake of his head, he wandered out again. "Don't forget to call me when we get near that planet, though!" he called back over his shoulder. "If you're not to busy, Wash!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll try to get on it," Wash mumbled, unfreezing the screen. "Y'know, Zoe, I don't know what he's talking about. That man right there? I would kill for his looks."

"Nah, I like you the way you are. Though if you were maybe just a coupla inches taller…"

"Hey!"

fin.