Castle sat on the bus next to Kate, a foul look on his face as he jolted back and forth with the bus' movement.
"Couldn't we have taken my car? At least it has air-conditioning," Castle whined. He lowered his voice, "And it doesn't smell bad."
Kate glanced past him at the homeless man sitting a few seats over from them. He sat rigidly, his eyes darting from side to side. The odour emanating from him drifted over to her, and she smelled the urine soaking his pant legs.
"Come on, Castle. The poor guy is obviously handicapped," Kate whispered back. "Plus, you know my car's in for repair, and cabbies are on strike."
"We could have walked. Actually, I would have preferred to walk," Castle complained.
The bus jolted to a halt and Castle lurched to the side, slamming his shoulder into a handrail. As Castle angrily muttered under his breath, two men got on the bus. They surveyed it, looking up and down the aisles until they spotted Beckett and Castle in the long rows at the back.
Moving towards them casually, each man sat on either side of Castle and Beckett.
Kate turned to Castle, inching into him ever so slightly as the man to her left pressed up against her thigh.
Castle too moved inwards, feeling restricted by the man on his right. Castle turned to Kate, about to suggest they move when cold steel object was pressed into his side.
Castle felt Kate stiffen beside him, and knew that she, too, was being subjected to the same treatment. Castle turned to Beckett, his eyes questioning what they should do.
Kate opened her mouth to answer when the bus slammed on its brakes. An awful shrieking sound pierced the air as metal collided with metal. People screamed as they were thrown forward, glass showered inwards and shots were fired. Smoke billowed from the front of the bus as a small fire raged under its hood. The homeless man from earlier was dead, a shard of metal embedded in his forehead.
Castle felt himself being pushed to his feet and desperately reached back to grab Kate's hand. He held on to her tightly as they were forced off of the mangled bus, still disoriented from the crash.
Castle looked back at Kate and saw blood dripping from a cut on her cheek. He struggled against the man holding his arm, but stopped when the gun dug farther into his back, a silent threat.
Castle saw the van waiting for them; its side doors open, ready to swallow them whole. Castle watched as Kate was pushed in front of him. She tried to kick out behind her, attempting to trip the man pushing her forwards. The man fired a shot that barely missed her waist.
Castle shouted out, but the man behind him quickly pistol-whipped his skull. Castle saw stars, but didn't lose consciousness. He watched Kate being shoved into the van, and soon felt strong arms push him into its confines as well.
As Castle sidled over to where Kate had landed, they watched as the doors to the van were quickly slammed shut, encasing them in darkness.
"Are you ok?" Kate asked.
"Yeah," Castle said. "How about you, are you alright?"
I'm fine," Kate responded distantly.
The sat in shocked silence a few moments longer, the van bumping down the road.
"I don't understand," Kate wondered aloud, breaking the silence. "This was a professional grab. We must have been followed, they couldn't have known we were going to take the bus today. But they left us untied and conscious."
"Maybe they have super ninja skills and aren't worried about us mortals overpowering them," Castle suggested.
Kate chewed on her bottom lip, "They must have some kind of plan."
The van suddenly halted and doors were slammed.
"Get ready to back me up," Beckett said, inching towards the sliding doors feet first.
Castle sat, unsure of how to prepare. He finally settled on a mean look with clenched fists held close to his chin.
The sliding doors burst open, sunlight blinding them as it sliced through the dark.
Beckett wasted no time, kicking out with both feet and catching one of the men with her heel. The second man grabbed her by the hair and forced her head sideways, smashing it into the van's side door. Kate let out a small cry of pain, and retaliated by thrusting her fists into the man's face. He grabbed her fist and jolted Kate's arm out if place, dislocating her shoulder. The man used her temporary weakness to his advantage and wrapped his arm around her neck, squeezing the air from her lungs.
Castle leapt onto the first man and tackled him to the ground. He pummelled his fists into the man's face, only stopping when he saw Kate up against the side of the van, her hands clawing uselessly at the large arm crushing her windpipe. Castle started to get up and help when a voice halted him.
"Stop," the voice commanded.
Castle looked up, confused.
The man holding Kate let her go, and Beckett fell to her knees, coughing.
"Handcuff them, please," the voice commanded.
The men obliged, the one goon bleeding profusely from his nose and mouth after Castle's beating.
Kate hissed when the second man roughly pulled her dislocated shoulder behind her back so as to fit her hands into the handcuffs.
Beckett breathed heavily, and then, regaining her composure, she looked up at the man in charge and gasped. "Oh, my God."
A/N: New Castle fic! Hope you'll enjoy it.