Title: A Few of Her Favoured Things
Authors: csiAngel & victorias7
Rating: T
Disclaimer: We don't own anything! Unless we do.
Summary: So innocent, pure and sweet...
Dedication: Happy birthday, Lightwoman! In your honour (though Vic insisted it was in your honor) we got together to write this epic crossover masterpiece!
A/N: This is, of course, a completely serious fic. Those familiar with Victoria's work will know that she only writes completely serious fics! You have been warned!
Oh, and: This is a The Mentalist / Lie to me* / Castle crossover. There are no major spoilers. It's safe!
... ... ...
You would be right in thinking that it is highly unlikely that deception experts from DC, a detective and her author partner from New York and a California state agent and her not-a-psychic consultant would end up in the same city at the same time, let alone that their paths would not only cross but get all tangled up. But it did happen once. And this is that story.
You see, Gillian Foster was turning forty. (Despite what her partner - only in the professional sense - of eight years may have said to annoy her in the past, she had not yet turned that age!) So, to make up for being a complete prat to her for the previous six months, Cal Lightman booked them both a holiday to LA.
Now, LA, being home to various movie studios, was, at the time, preparing to host the world premiere of 'Heat Wave'. Based on the novel of the same title, by the famous Richard Castle, the movie was set to take the world by storm (no pun intended - for those fans of Castle's earlier works!). And so it was that Castle and his inspiration, detective Kate Beckett, were in the city of angels.
It was these two paths that crossed first. The night before the premiere; also the night before Gillian's big day, both couples (only in the professional sense. Oh who are we kidding? They seriously needed to hurry up and admit their feelings for each other!) headed out on the town to a little country and western bar, unimaginatively named "Nigel's". They were sitting at opposite ends of the bustling bar, drinking and laughing as a Lady Antebellum song played in the background. When all of a sudden a scream shook the building. Castle and Beckett exchanged wary looks, knowing only too well what usually caused such a reaction. Cal instinctively stepped in front of Gillian, as all eyes turned in the direction of the sound. Rolling her eyes, she shoved him aside.
As it happened, the circumstances leading to the terrified noise were not as harrowing as our New York investigators had feared. But the blood smear on the wall and the missing senator certainly implied that there may be more to be found elsewhere. As such, Beckett and Castle, and Gillian and Cal, offered their respective services to the local police when they arrived on the scene. Naturally, these police were wary to accept such assistance given that all four of them were witnesses, and so the small group bonded over a newfound grumpiness aimed at the LAPD.
Hours later their grumpiness had more than doubled and this is when the path of our other favourite twosome became intertwined with theirs. Being that the missing person was a member of the senate, the case had quickly come to the attention of the California Bureau of Investigation; finding its way to the desk of Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon. Her team was already embroiled in an investigation, but her bosses had insisted that she and her consultant fly down to LA and take the lead. And after a plane journey with Patrick Jane and his mind games, Lisbon's grumpiness could definitely give that of all four of the others a run for its money!
However, Jane quickly determined that Castle, Beckett, Cal and Gillian could be trusted to help them with the case (though he did earn glares from Cal and Lisbon when his hand seemed to linger a little too long on Gillian's as they shook a greeting. He couldn't help it! She looked familiar.). Therefore a lot of the grumpiness soon subsided and they found they made a pretty good team.
The senator - Joe Spinach (that had amused a lot of people when he first ran for office!) - had been at Nigel's for his sister's birthday party. It was she who had screamed upon finding the blood, and not finding her brother. Miss Spinach was not in a fit state to give them much information, but they did establish that Spinach's rival had recently threatened to expose some big secret. Jane's remark that it was probably the key to staying 'strong to the finish' earned chuckles from the other men, but stern looks from each of the women. The 'Lisbon look', in triplicate. He almost shivered!
Of course, Jane would only make such a comment in such circumstances if he already knew that things were not as dire as they seemed. And so, to everyone's awe - except Lisbon who saw him do this all the time - he led the team to visit Senator Spinach's home, knowing already that they would find Spinach in his own bed, in a deep, drunken slumber, a makeshift bandage wrapped round his injured hand. All a huge misunderstanding that had completely ruined Miss Spinach's birthday party - and probably Senator Spinach's reputation.
But, the whole farce did bring our three couples together. Granted Cal and Lisbon were still a little unsettled by the immediate bond that Jane and Gillian seemed to have - almost as if they had met before - but, when Castle invited them all to the movie premiere to celebrate their closed case, they couldn't bring themselves to say no. Lisbon checked in with her Sacramento headquarters, secretly hoping they would need her back, but was told her team's case was all tied up and she could take a day or two. So, there was only one thing for it: dress shopping.
As soon as the sun was up and the stores were open, Gillian, Beckett and Lisbon applied their coconut, vanilla and chocolate (respectively) sunscreens and headed out for outfits befitting a movie star. Trailing through store after store, giggling and ooohing and ahhhing at dresses far outside their price range, the three also discussed their respective men. And Lisbon gradually relaxed, realising that Gillian was far too in love with Cal for her to become involved with Jane.
Meanwhile, the men couldn't resist attending the press conference Senator Spinach was giving to somehow put a spin on the previous night's events: Cal wanting to spot each and every sign of deception; Castle wondering if he could get away with a storyline like that in a book and Jane always enjoying watching politicians squirm. And squirm this one did, particularly when the crowd started to hurl food at him. Spinach - unsurprisingly: Fresh, frozen, canned!
The ladies were just enjoying a well earned lunch, their purchases made, when Beckett's phone disturbed their peace. She glanced at the caller ID and Gillian smirked: The blush on Beckett's cheeks told her exactly who was calling. She would never have guessed the reason though.
Cal and Castle were sat in the ER waiting area when the women arrived. They stood, respectfully, as the group approached them, trying to offer Lisbon reassuring looks. They couldn't help but feel like guilty schoolboys though, about to be told off for something that actually wasn't their fault. After all, how were they supposed to know that the crowd would throw food? And who knew that spinach came in cans?
Luckily, Lisbon was too concerned about Jane, and the other two too concerned about Lisbon, for them to inflict too much damage. And, even more luckily, Jane's doctor emerged mere minutes later to confirm that Jane was fine, except for the bruise on the side of his head, and to plead with them to get him out of there.
"Are you some sort of magnet for flying objects?" Lisbon asked him when she went to drag him out. He pouted and asked for more sympathy, and, feeling emboldened after the earlier girl talk, she obliged, gently holding his head still while she softly kissed his wound. She had to step away when he roughly whispered, "That's better."
The trip to the hospital left them with only a couple of hours before the movie. With arrangements made for Castle's limousine to collect them all later, the three couples went their separate ways; returning to their hotels to change for the evening.
Lisbon spent most of the time avoiding Jane's intrigued gaze - much easier to do once she was securely locked in her own room. He was amused by how flustered she was since kissing him earlier, and that annoyed her. And she knew if she got too annoyed she would kiss him again, to wipe the smirk off his face. And she wanted to do that. Too much. She decided it was best to hide.
The first thing Castle did once he and Beckett were alone was to interrogate her as to what she knew about the other couples' relationships. Luckily she had known him long enough to accept that he was a gossip and a hopeless romantic. She told him what she knew. She just hoped he didn't have time to formulate any matchmaking schemes! (But, really, she secretly hoped that he did!)
Gillian and Cal stopped for ice cream en route to their rooms - the ladies had, after all, been called away from lunch before dessert, and Gillian Foster's sweet tooth was almost more famous than Richard Castle! And, it was, after all, Gillian's birthday. So if she wanted ice cream, Cal could oblige. What Cal probably shouldn't have done was make that remark about a moment on the lips. Because a moment on the nose probably had the same effect, and it was his nose. And the ice cream was bloody freezing! Vanilla, though, smelled nice. He did take the opportunity to step into Gillian's personal space and offer to let her lick the ice cream off his face. She declined. But he enjoyed the response he saw in her eyes before she turned and walked away.
...
The premiere was - as premieres are - glitzy and glamorous, from the limo to the red carpet entrance, to the bottomless flutes of champagne at the after party. At first, Beckett grew annoyed by the assumptions that she was Nikki Heat (the character in the book and movie inspired by her) and that she and Castle were, therefore, involved (the part of the book and movie that was obviously written as an expression of Castle's feelings for Beckett) (oh, and the part of the movie where Beckett did her best to pretend Castle was not sitting beside her!). But, the alcohol soon dimmed her annoyance and she drifted into the role of dutiful muse, making small talk with his myriad of fans.
Cal, Gillian, Jane and Lisbon watched Castle and Beckett schmoozing, with amusement. Cal pointed out to Gillian that they were lucky his books never made it to the silver screen. She managed to refrain from pointing out that they were lucky his books even got finished! Jane wondered, out loud, whether he should write a book. Lisbon's snort gave him the answer.
When the party was over, Castle revealed that he had a surprise for the others. The limo transported them all to Castle's hotel suite, where he issued them all with more champagne and encouraged them to admire the view from the balcony. Then he whisked Beckett into the kitchenette to assist him.
He suspected they all - including Beckett - thought that he intended to act on feelings it had been difficult to repress during the movie. They thought wrong! (Though he couldn't tell if Beckett was relieved or disappointed by that.). The actual plan was for Beckett to help him put candles on the birthday cake he had earlier ordered for Gillian. She gave the most adorable smile when he told her that and, for a split-second, he thought she might kiss him for his thoughtfulness. He paused for a moment, just in case... But it was unnecessary.
Moving on, he opened the box that had been delivered while they were out. He froze when he saw what was inside and was too shocked to close the box before Beckett saw it too. Her eyes widened and she hit him - hard - in the arm, declaring that it was not at all an acceptable cake to get for someone as lovely as Gillian. He managed to regain the ability to move in enough time to stop Beckett before she stormed away, and he found the words to explain that he had in fact ordered a cake shaped like 'boots' as he had noticed Gillian was wearing nice ones the night before. Clearly the man on the phone had misheard. Beckett was unsure about believing him for maybe two seconds, then she burst into laughter. Well, you would, wouldn't you? Because he looked completely mortified!
She helpfully suggested that they try to make the cake more appropriate. And this is how they came to be discovered - by a lost Lisbon looking for the loo - some minutes later, with frosting on their hands and faces. The cake, though, now looked like a ... well, the best word for it is 'mess'. But it didn't look like what it had originally looked like (they knew because Lisbon certainly had no idea what it used to be! She also had no idea what it was meant to be now, but: Lesser of two evils!) so they deemed it a success. Castle really wanted to lick the frosting off Beckett, but the others had wandered in to see what was taking so long with the surprise (and Lisbon's visit to the bathroom). He quickly stuffed some candles into the mess and stalled the group from coming any closer until he had lit them.
Gillian blushed, both adorably embarrassed at being the centre of attention and in gratitude to Castle for remembering her special day. The group sang 'Happy Birthday' while Lisbon danced (though that last part was more to do with the fact that she still hadn't been to the bathroom!), then Jane reminded Gillian to make a wish before she blew out the candles. Castle suspected she may have wished for a better birthday cake next year. Cal assumed she wished for him to kiss her. Jane thought she had wished that she would remember where she knew him from because he really did look familiar. Gillian wouldn't reveal her wish. But Jane was right (and yet he insists there's no such thing as psychics!).
To cheers and applause, Gillian cut the cake (not that that was entirely necessary) and they enjoyed a - slice is the wrong word... dollop. They enjoyed a dollop of cake with another glass of bubbly. Castle and Jane conversed about including a mentalist in the next Nikki Heat novel; Beckett asked Gillian where she had bought the boots she had been wearing the night before; and Lisbon assured Cal that Gillian was completely in love with him and had no interest in Jane (beyond the unavoidable, natural, (and completely understandable!) attraction to Jane that all women experience). In return, Cal tried to convince Lisbon that Jane was in love with her. She claimed that she didn't believe him, but Cal knew otherwise (you can't deceive a deception expert!).
So a lovely time was had by all and this group of people whose paths were so unlikely to get tangled together became BFFs. And, in effect, it was all thanks to Spinach. So, before they headed to their own hotels at the end of the night, they made a toast to the man (not to the can that had nearly knocked Jane unconscious!)(actually Lisbon secretly toasted to the spinach in the can, as it led to that brave kiss). Then they said their goodbyes, promised to write and the unlikely encounter ended. They went their separate ways. ATTHS. (Well ATCalandGillianHS and JaneandLisbonHS but Castle and Beckett didn't because Kate doesn't think they should yet!).
THE END