So this morning I was brainstorming for another fic that I'm working on and this crazy idea popped into my head and wouldn't leave. An hour later, I started putting it down in words, and now here at the end of the day I'm posting it. I really don't know where this came from, but it was fun to write. Hope you enjoy! Love to hear what you think!
To LT, thank U, and don't slap me!
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle in any way shape or form, but I like to pretend I do.
The Amazing Adventures of Super Cop and Writer Boy
by DeBo81
"Ethan, it's after 9:30. You need to go to sleep, Buddy."
"But Mom," the child whined, "I'm not tired. Why do I have to go to bed? There's no school tomorrow."
Kate sighed."No but today was a big day, and you're still recovering from strep. You don't want your sore throat to come back, do you?"
"No."
"Then it's time for bed with no arguments."
The seven year old, who looked so much like his father, had also inherited the paternal genes for charm and dramatics. When hopefully flashing his gorgeous baby blues at his mother failed to change her mind, he sighed deeply and hung his head before slowly heading for the stairs. "Will you at least tell me a story?"
She nodded. "Yes, but only if you're completely ready for bed by the time I come to tuck you in. Go brush your teeth, wash your face and put your PJs on, I'll be up in five minutes."
Ethan bounded the rest of the way up the stairs, suddenly invigorated.
After he'd disappeared from sight, Kate began cleaning up the game of Battleship they'd been playing. Battleship and Clue were Ethan's favorite board games and it was no secret that Kate loved to play them with him. She always took pride in watching his deductive and reasoning skills develop. She'd never force him to follow in her law enforcement footsteps, but it still made her heart swell to see that her son seemed to naturally have some of her abilities.
After putting the game back in the closet, Kate glanced at her watch. She was surprised that Rick wasn't home yet. Usually these meetings with his publishers went well past dinner, but now that he was a family man, they rarely went very late.
"Moooooooooooooooooooom!" Ethan called loudly. I'm reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaady!"
Kate climbed the stairs to her son's room, but paused momentarily when she felt the flutter in her abdomen. She rested a hand on her swollen belly and smiled. She'd only been feeling the movement for a week or so, but had already noticed that their little surprise that she carried seemed to always be quite active around ten o' clock. "Right on time, Peanut." She whispered to her unborn child.
When Kate entered her son's room, she found him PJ clad and sitting cross legged on his bed, smiling from ear to ear.
"Good Job, Slugger. You did it, with a minute to spare!" She gave him a congratulatory fist bump before tucking him in under his rocket ship comforter.
"We finished Mouse on a Motorcycle last night, so what am I reading tonight? Horrible Harry? Arthur? Robinson Crusoe?"
"How about Heat Wave?" Ethan asked with mischievous eyes shining and his dimples bursting from his cheeks.
Kate didn't know whether to me appalled or amused by the request. "Heat Wave? Where did that come from? Has Dad been reading you his books?"
Crestfallen, he slumped back into his pillow. "No. He says I'm too young still, and that maybe I can read them when I'm twelve."
Relieved, she stroked her boy's brown hair off his forehead. "If you knew that already, then why ask?"
"I dunno. I guess I just miss Dad's stories. He hasn't been home to read a bedtime story all week."
"I thought you liked it when Gram or Alexis or I read to you."
"I do, it's just that... well, you guys just read me books, and that's great, but Dad tells me stories from his imagination, full of action and adventure."
"Oh, I see. Daddy does tell pretty great stories, doesn't he?"
Ethan nodded earnestly.
"Well I think I could tell you a pretty good story too."
He raised a skeptical eyebrow, unconvinced.
"What? You don't believe me?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
"How about you let me try it, and if you don't think I do a good job, next time I'll just read a book?"
"OK, I guess."
"So what kind of story do you want to hear?"
He thought about it briefly before completely lighting up. "A superhero story!"
"Superhero huh? Like Batman or Green Lantern?"
"No! You didn't make them up! They already have stories. I want an original!"
Kate couldn't contain the laughter that bubbled up. "OK! Original it is."
Ethan scooted close to the wall so that there was room for his mother to sit next to him on the bed. When they were both comfortable, she began.
"It's time for the Amazing Adventures of Super Cop and Writer Boy!"
Ethan rolled his eyes and laughed, but didn't interrupt.
"Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a city, far, far, away, There was a cop, named Officer Becks who did her very best to stop the crime of the world. She was a good cop who worked very hard, and because of her dedication, a lot of bad guys went to jail. Officer Becks had a secret though."
"Her super powers?" Ethan asked.
"Nope. See, all police officers have super powers. Almost all of them use their powers for good, some for bad, but the thing is, most cops don't even know they have them! It's not something they teach you in the academy. So she didn't know she had super powers yet."
"Oh."
"No, her secret was that she was very sad."
"Was she sad cuz she thought she didn't have superpowers?"
"No. She was sad because when she was a girl, a member of the SSSV, Super-Secret Super Villains, killed her mom and got away with it. That made her very sad and very lonely."
The boy nodded solemnly, imagining the sorrow involved with losing a parent.
"Anyway, one day, Officer Becks was doing her job and investigating a crime when she met a special man named Nick King. He was a writer. Nick had some special information about the crime that had happened and helped Officer Becks work to find the bad guys. As they worked together something strange happened. Whenever Nick and Becks were near each other, Officer Becks felt something strange on the inside, something odd and powerful that made her happy. She couldn't explain it. She'd never felt it before."
Ethan bounced with excitement. "Her powers?"
Kate laughed at her son's anticipation. "Yes. But she didn't know it yet. In fact she didn't know what what was happening to her and it kinda scared her. But over time she realized that the more Nick was around her, the more she felt it. He seemed to magnify everything about her. With him by her side she was smarter, faster, stronger, and happier. Officer Becks' chief realized this too, in fact he realized it even before she did and hired Nick King to be Becks' plucky sidekick, because having a Super Cop with a sidekick was just what the city needed."
"Did Nick have super powers too?
"Sort of. He was mega-insightful, had super charm and a vast arsenal of rapier wit."
"What's that mean?"
"It means he was good at understanding and manipulating people and was REALLY REALLY good with words."
"Oh. Did he know he had those powers?"
"Yes, but he didn't always know how to use them for good, even when he wanted to. It was something he had to work on. Luckily helping Super Cop, helped him him figure that out."
"Did they have Superhero costumes?"
"Sort of. Because they couldn't fly and weren't invincible, it was important the the SSSV didn't know there were super heroes in the city looking for them. So Super Cop and Writer Boy had to keep their mild mannered alto egos all the time, which meant no tights or capes. Instead, Writer Boy wore his Blazer of Boldness and Super Cop always wore her Power Heels."
Ethan didn't look impressed, but Kate pretended she didn't noticed and continued on.
"Anyway Super Cop and Writer Boy worked together for years, with their partner team, Espoman and Ryno, having many adventures and escapades that were super exciting. But one day they came across a case that they thought was just too big, even for them. This was a job for Superman. Unfortunately Superman was very busy in Metropolis and couldn't come help them, so he sent his friend, Agent Falcon. Agent Falcon was a hero, but a very grumpy one. It was very hard for Super Cop and Writer Bor to work with him because of it."
"Why was he so grumpy?"
Kate stroked her son's head while she thought of what to say. "Many years earlier, Agent Falcon had been married to the love of his life. Then one day a bigger bird, a Predator, that was even bigger and stronger than a falcon, attacked the city. It was a tragic day. Many civilians and heroes died that day, including Falcon's wife. Because of her death and the attacks, Falcon's heart was injured, making it very hard for joy to grow there anymore. Therefore he still had his sharp eyesight and keen hearing and Talons of Justice, but no smile."
"That would make anyone grumpy, even a Superhero."
"You're right," she replied sadly, "but I'm getting away from my story."
"Ooops."
"Anyway, so even before Falcon showed up, Super Cop and Writer Boy were called to crime scene where a cab driver had been killed. At first, they thought it was a robbery but the more they looked into it, the more, their super senses told them it was something more. Someone was using the cabbie for their own evil deeds. So, with Ryno and Espoman, they dug deeper and deeper until they had some new leads. One of which took them to a storage facility. They went in and found the unit they were looking for. It was locked. Writer Boy liked to tell people he used The Force to open it, but in reality, Super Cop used her Super Bolt Cutters to open it instead."
Ethan laughed, which caused Kate to laugh as well.
"So after they got the door open, they went in. The until was almost completely empty except for a large crate. Of course then they opened the crate to look for more clues. But as soon as they did, Super Cop's danger alarm went off..."
"BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!" A voice in the hall supplied.
"Daddy!" Ethan shouted and jumped from his bed.
Rick came into the room and opened his arms for his son. "Hey Kiddo! What are you still doing up? It's late!"
"Mom's telling me a story! The Adventures of Super Cop and Writer Boy."
"So I heard. But are you sure it's not Super Cop and Writer Man?"
"No, Mom says Writer Boy."
Rick caught his wife's eye over the top of their son's head. "Mommy's getting old, maybe she forgot that it was Writer Man. I may have to remind her later."
Ethan just shrugged, oblivious to his father's innuendo, and Kate stuck her tongue at her husband.
"Can you stay here and listen to the rest of the story, Dad?"
"I'd love to."
The child climbed back in bed while Rick sat down at Kate's feet.
"It my story Rick... you don't get to add anything."
He nodded in agreement. "That's fine, but can I do the sound effects?"
"If you must."
"I must."
"Very well then. Now, where was I?"
"BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!" Rick repeated.
"Oh yes. My, I mean, Super Cop's alarm sounded, telling them to get out of the unit fast. There was something dangerous in there. Something toxic."
"Like toxic, green, glowing slime?"
"Nope not that time. They couldn't see the toxins but they were still just as dangerous. So Super Cop called in the Incredible Toxic Team to come check things out, but when they did, they put Super Cop and Writer Boy in a special hazardous materials tent because they thought they were radio active."
"Cool!"
"Nope, not cool. This was serious, Super Cop and Writer Boy could die if they were exposed to too much radio active material, and then who would save the city! So they waited and waited, watching, wondering what their fate would be. Would they live or would they die? Only time would tell. It was while Super Cop and Writer Boy were being held, that Superman sent Agent Falcon to help out at the police station.
Eventually a man entered the tent to give them the news... and it was good news! Even though there were high levels of radio active material in the storage unit, our Dynamic Duo would live to see another day!"
Rick trumpeted a fanfare between his lips.
Ethan pumped his fist in the air, but didn't speak, allowing his mother to continue.
"So now that our heroes were free to save the people, they had even a bigger job to do. See the crate in the unit had been holding materials for explosives, but they found out there had been another crate there too. It was missing though, which was very bad, because inside it, was a dirty bomb.
Super Cop and Writer Boy returned to their station to team up with Ryno, Espoman, Agent Falcon and many others to find the bomb before it exploded. No one wanted another terrible day like the one where the Predators attacked.
The squad of heroes were scared, maybe a little for themselves, but even more so for all their friends and families all the people in the city who went on with their lives not knowing about the danger. And the worst part was, they couldn't tell them to leave because that could be even more dangerous. Right then they only had one choice, to find and stop that bomb."
"Da Da Duh!" Rick inserted for effect.
Kate looked down into her son's eyes, which were wide awake. Then looked back to her husband and winked. "I think maybe I'll stop there. It's getting late."
"No Mom! Please. I have to know what will happen! I've gotta see if Super Cop and Writer Boy can save the day!"
"I don't know, Ethan. It's late."
"I promise I'll go right to sleep when you're done."
Kate raised a finger to her lips and made a show of thinking about it. "I don't know. Dad, what do you think?".
"I think you better continue. I can't wait to see how it ends either."
"Well then, I suppose I'll have to finish."
Both Castle men thanked her with megawatt smiles.
"OK. So as the cops and heroes work to find out any more information, more and more evidence comes out to show that the cabbie who's death opened all this up, might actually be involved with his family, in making and setting the bomb. Everyone is convinced of it...except Writer Boy. Remember I told you one of his powers was that he was very insightful?"
The boy nodded.
"Well that power was kicking in. Writer Boy didn't believe this family in question, was a family of bad guys. Maybe they had inadvertently done some things that were helping the real bad guys, but he was sure they had no idea that there was anything bad going on.
Super Cop knew she had to listen to him, He was right more often than she wanted to admit. So she let him look into some other possibilities.
That's when Writer Boy went and talked to an international spy who was very wise and knew many secrets. The spy couldn't do much to help but what he told Writer Boy shed more light onto the entire story.
Writer Boy was excited to tell Super Cop what he knew, but when he went back to tell her, Agent Falcon knew where Writer Boy went and was angry that he went to see the spy. He was afraid that was a big mistake that would only make matters worse. Agent Falcon was so upset that he sent Super Cop and Writer Boy home. They couldn't be on the case anymore.
But like the good Super Heroes that they are, they couldn't ignore that the city was still in danger and kept working on their own, until they discovered that the real bad guy was possibly Captain Dark Haze, a disgruntled war vet with a serious chip on his shoulder. He'd even worked with the dead cab driver.
Super Cop and Writer Boy now had a new lead with new clues. They followed those clues which led them to an old warehouse. They were right! The bad guys were there, and so was a van carrying the bomb which was slowly counting down to detonation."
"Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick."
The bad guys discovered them and started shooting at our heroes before they could call in for their back up."
"Pshoo! Pshoo!"
"Remember these heroes aren't invincible like other superheroes. They had to be careful. So they took cover in a refrigerated storage unit near the van.
It seemed like a good idea at first but then Captain Haze's henchmen locked them in. They tried everything they knew to get out, but nothing worked and the freezing temperatures were slowly draining them of the power they had left. They were locked in the container, most likely for their last few hours of life, while the bomb headed out into the city counting down the last hours of many others. They were defeated. Evil had won. Or had it?
Back at the station Ryno and Espoman started getting nervous that something was wrong with their friends. No one could find them or get a hold of them. They knew their friends needed help. So they sent patrol cars out into the city, to places where Super Cop or Writer Boy might have gone to, and when one found Super Cop's car at the warehouse, they searched until they found the freezer and saved Writer Boy and Super Cop from certain death."
Rick cupped his mouth and made cheering noises, causing both Kate and Ethan to laugh.
"Just in time too! Now they can stop Captain Haze from blowing up the city!" Ethan announced.
"Let's hope so! After the heroes recovered, they told Agent Falcon what they'd seen in the warehouse and how much time was left on the bomb's counter. They were running out of time! But now that they knew what they were looking for, the search was truly on.
With less than an hour to go, the Super Squad tracked down Captain Haze and took him into custody but it was too late. He's taken the cabbie's wife and baby hostage and had already made her leave with the van. The bomb was again on the move.
With time ticking down, part of the Super Squad stayed with Haze and his men, while Agent Falcon, Super Cop and Writer Man went to try and stop the bomb! They all drove through the streets, as fast as they could. Super Cop used her Super Speed and Writer Boy used his insight, and together they found the van. The woman driving it was terrified. They told her that everything was going to be OK, the bad guys didn't have her baby anymore. Then they opened the van doors and came face to face with the timer. The red glowing numbers showed less than two minutes left on the timer.
Super Cop called for back up, but they were too far away. She called Agent Falcon and sent him a picture on the phone but he couldn't help either, not without being on site.
Less than one minute was left and the numbers never stopped their decent."
"Tick, tick, tick, tick."
Super Cop and Writer Boy looked at each other. After everything they'd gone through to find the bomb and save the city, they ended up getting there only minutes too late. There was no more time left to diffuse the bomb. Ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Writer Boy reached down and took Super Cop's hand. Seven. Six. Five. And in that moment that there hands met, their powers grew into one super force. Four. Three. Super Cop's Super Speed and Strength combined with Writer Boy's Super insight. Two. One. And with lightning speed Writer Boy reached out and pulled the wires free from the bomb..."
Kate paused a moment to draw out the suspense. Ethan was holding his breath as he waited.
"The bomb shut down. They were safe. The city was safe. The heroes did it once again."
"Yes! Way to go Super Cop and Writer Boy!" Ethan cheered. "That was great Mom. You can tell me stories anytime."
"Really? I passed the test, huh?"
"Yup!"
"I'm so glad. But now it's time to go to sleep young man. You're going to be exhausted tomorrow."
"OK."
Kate and Rick both stood from the bed and then gave their son hugs and kisses.
Just before leaving the room though, he called to them. "Hey Mom! I know you're Super Cop and Daddy is Writer Boy."
"We are?"
"Yeah. But don't think you fooled me into thinking that story was real. I know that couldn't really happen."
"If you say so, Hun. Good night."
Kate stepped into the hall and Rick followed, shutting the bedroom door.
She smiled at her husband before leaning into his chest. "I guess, I'm not that bad at telling adventure stories after all."
"Adventure huh?" He wrapped his arms around his wife's expanding waist and kissed the crown of her head. "Funny, I thought it sounded like a chapter out of the greatest love story ever told."