Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 44th cycle. Now cycle 45!
INTRODUCING "CHEAT SHEET" - If you want to know ahead of time when a certain series will be updated next, just reassemble the link below and check out the list, save it, print it, bookmark it, whatever you need!
Go to: gleekathon [dot] tumblr [dot] com [slash] cheatsheet
** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 45 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about shift days!
This is a shift day [see above]. There was another upload this morning: Activities in Friendship.
"A Dish Best Served Cold"
Glee/Castle Crossover
Sequel to "Red Herring" (and "Welcome to Chez Castle")
A/N: It's that time of year again! As last year, this story is dedicated to two awesome birthday girls,
aka Marie and Charlotte :) This one is going to be two weeks long instead of one though! ;)
1. First
New York City
There was no telling how long this had been in the making. As opportunistic as it could have looked, there was no way this had been just that. They had been planning this, but that didn't matter: they wouldn't get away with it.
Four inmates had made a run for it. Well, that wasn't true. Five had meant to escape, but only four of them would actually succeed. It would be the discovery of the fifth man – dead – which would alert the guards to what they would soon understand to be a break out. By the time they had come to realize it though, it was too late. The four inmates had made it past the gates.
The headcount was performed, and that along with footage from security cameras had helped them identify the four escapees. The information was floated down the precincts, looking for any assistance they could get. Some of these men were more dangerous than others, and all of them needed to be brought back in before anyone else got hurt.
When the notice reached the twelfth precinct, it was Detective Esposito who first read it and recognized one of the names. He had shown it to his partner, and Detective Ryan had to agree: they had to tell them. For now, only one of those two they needed to tell was present. When they had slipped the notice on to her desk, Detective Beckett had frowned, having already heard of the break-out, but then she saw the name too, and she had the same reaction. She picked up her phone and dialled him up.
Richard Castle had been at home, watching with no short amount of amusement as his daughter's face receded further and further into a cringe, the more her grandmother attempted to will her long hair into a direction it just didn't want to follow, saying how it would accentuate her features or some thing or another, he was much more interested with the 'help me' looks she was throwing him, right along with something like 'the longer you wait, the more you will pay.' When his phone rang and he saw it was Beckett, he got up, giving her the thumbs up to 'hang in there,' and he imagined he'd pay for that one dearly… just not now. He had barely had time to extend a greeting to the detective when she just came right out and told him about their situation.
"It's Matheson, the Marie Bennett case? He escaped this morning along with three other inmates."
"I'm on my way," he told her, hanging up. She wasn't saying it, but he was thinking it and he knew she would be too. Having him brought up again, it wasn't so much Marie Bennett that came to mind the most, although she did to some extent. What they really thought about was that Glee Club, the one they had gotten to know some months ago, when Matheson had tried to use them as scapegoats for his act.
He had barely made it to the precinct that he almost ran right into Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito on their way out, where he was informed that Matheson had been spotted on footage from a bus station and they were on their way there to try and catch him. He didn't have to be told twice and soon they were paired up, two cars speeding toward the station. When they arrived, they were directed to where they could see this footage for themselves. What they had not been told was that they had not caught his appearance live, only upon review once they'd heard about the break out, and that in the meantime there had been a number of buses which had departed, with no guarantee which of them, if any of them, carried their man.
With the list of possible buses, soon it became very clear to them. Of all the directions he could have taken, only one of them took him anywhere near someone he knew, and while he could have just been making a run for it, anywhere the road would take him, they couldn't ignore the possibility that he might have been bound for Ohio, and… Castle looked to Beckett, and she knew what he was thinking.
"We have to warn them."
X
Lima, Ohio
Their group had gotten bigger in the last few months. Their numbers had fallen, and then they had risen again. They didn't need much time to adjust, and although there were changes, a lot of things just stayed the same. And as they stood, spread out over the auditorium stage, rehearsing a routine as led by both Mike and Brittany, some of them did well, while others struggled, though they either tried to hide it, or weren't giving much effort to begin with.
"Come on, guys, we need to focus. Competition is only going to get harder as time goes on, and our best chance to come out across is to keep practicing. That's the only way you'll improve," Will insisted.
"What are you looking at me for, talk to knuckle dragger over there," Santana frowned.
"Hey…" Finn frowned.
"The fact that you knew I was talking about you kind of proves my point," she smirked.
"Okay, Santana, let's not get started there, we…"
"Excuse me? Will Schuester?" They turned when the man's voice called their director's name.
"Yes, that's me," he frowned, seeing the police officer's uniform. There was an intake of break among the group. What if something had happened to someone, a family member, or… "How can I help you?"
"This is the… New Directions Glee Club?" the officer asked, checking his notepad.
"We are," Rachel spoke from the stage. "What's going on?" she asked, as Will signalled that he'd handle it.
"We've just received notice from a precinct up in New York that an inmate escaped from prison and might be heading toward you, a Jared Matheson," he read again, causing an instant reaction from all but a few of the kids on stage. "We'll be keeping a look out in case this Matheson does come into Lima, which has yet to be confirmed, and we promise we'll do our best to keep you kids safe."
The officer had given some more information, words of advice, but eventually he had left. Once he was gone, there was an immediate outburst of voices, of concern and fear and confusion. Those who had not been part of the club at the time didn't really know who this man was and now had to be informed. Matheson had been running the competition when they had gone to Nationals the year before. Someone had been murdered, a woman who also worked there, and for a moment the crime had been pinned on them, on Brittany in particular, before they had figured out they were being set up. They had agreed and helped the detectives flush him out, which had resulted in Tina being taken as a shield by the one they'd thought to be guilty, when in fact the woman had only been a decoy, letting Matheson escape. Luckily, he had still been caught, and he had been put behind bars… until today.
"What do we do?" Rachel asked. "What if he does show up?" As much as they didn't want to, they had to think about it, because for now… they were sitting ducks.
TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)