JOAN OF NEW YORK
by
SANDEFUR
This is a sequel to my earlier Castle/Joan of Arcadia story: CASTLE ARCADIA. This story takes place between the second and third episodes of the fifth season.
(A reminder: Joan of Arcadia was a TV show on 2003-05 in which a teenage girl named Joan Girardi spoke with God in various forms, carrying out assignments that helped other people or helped her learn a valuable life lesson. In my version Joan has matured greatly in her spiritual abilities through years of being trained for more advanced assignments.)
This is fan fiction just for fun. I have no claims.
X-X-X-X-X
August 2012, New York City...
Alexis Castle walks along at a brisk pace despite having just finished a jog in the park. A block away from her home she notices a not unusual sight for New York City, but this is the first time Alexis has seen a three card monte operator in her own neighborhood. Alexis pauses to watch as the street hustler has gathered a surprisingly large audience. Some are tourists, this particular form of street gambling being a draw to out-of-towners, but most are regulars from this neighborhood who are fascinated by these odd proceedings. It is not the game operator that has their attention, but the player (her Dad would call her the mark) who is definitely not your ordinary gambler.
The player is an attractive woman in her mid-twenties who is easily winning every hand of the game to the delight of the crowd. The card game huckster is obviously ill at ease about this situation, and under similar circumstances he would routinely just grab the money and run – giving the mark a hard shove to the ground before taking off. That isn't going to happen here as the crowd has the operator hemmed in, and he knows he could never get away with shoving a woman who is so very pregnant. What has drawn the remarkable admiration of the crowd is not just that the pregnant woman is winning, but she is doing it blindfolded!
"Watch the queen, watch the queen…" the game operator says, spouting his usual patter as he deftly moves the three cards about the top of the cardboard box that serves as a gaming table.
Alexis, along with the rest of the crowd, play along in their heads, trying to keep up with the quick hands of this street pro. Alexis thinks she knows which card is the queen, but she also knows that is how this guy makes his living – fooling others with a false sense of certainty. The blindfolded lady just waits for the operator to finish as she cannot even see the cards. The guy stops, hoping that this time he will win what is suppose to be a near sure thing for him. Alexis is confident the queen is the card to the left, but the young woman quickly calls out…
"Middle card."
The guy groans and flips over the middle card, revealing the queen. "Okay lady, you win. You've wiped me out."
The young woman removes the blindfold and collects the guy's last twenty. "You might want to remember how this feels the next time you're cleaning out some poor sucker."
The guy grabs the box and his cards and walks away grumbling. The crowd sees the excitement is over and begins to walk away, some congratulating the pregnant woman before they go. Alexis lingers, feeling joyful as she has recognized the young woman now that the blindfold is gone.
"Joan…? Is that really you?"
Joan Girardi smiles. "Alexis Castle, wow, what are the odds of running into you?"
The pair exchange an A-frame hug due to Joan's swollen middle. They hold hands for a few beats, smiling in fond remembrance of their meeting a couple of years back.
"Joan, it is so good to see you again. I wish we had made more of an effort to keep in touch. What brings you to town? Can you stay with us, because I know Dad and Gram would love to see you again. And hey, you're pregnant!"
Joan chuckles at the excited rush of words coming from the pretty redhead – her teenaged enthusiasm bubbling over. "Sorry too – about not keeping in touch, but you know, busy lives. I'm in town on a quick business trip, and I would love to see your family again, but I wouldn't want to intrude by staying with you. And what else? Oh right, the pregnancy thing. Well, that happens when you get married."
Joan displays an impressive ring on her finger that Alexis dutifully admires. "So you're now Mrs…?"
"Oh, I kept my maiden name. Isn't that modern of me? It works out better for my career and my utterly adorable husband was very understanding." Joan says as she wipes away a few beads of sweat. "Is it just me or is it getting really hot?"
Alexis glances at Joan with concern. "You are looking a little flushed. I live just a block away. Let's get you inside and cooled down."
"Thanks. Even at eight months pregnant I'm still not use to be so…limited."
The two young women begin walking down the block and Alexis calms as she sees Joan is steady in her gait. "Joan, it was amazing how you won against that card hustler. How…?"
Joan shakes her head, but smiles. "A magician never reveals her tricks. Let's just say I've played against the best, and beating that guy was not only fun, it spares me a charge at the ATM machine."
They continue on, catching up as they go. Joan smiles frequently as she has always liked Alexis, and that is why she was so eager to take this assignment to deal with the evil influence that has come into the teenager's life…
X-X-X-X-X
Climax. It is such an inadequate word for one of the most joyous moments in life, made doubly so by the experience being shared at the same time with the one you are with. Rick Castle and Kate Beckett pause to catch their breaths, each smiling with a slight blush as passion recedes followed by deeper, more tender emotions.
"Wow..." Castle whispers with a happy grin.
Beckett grins back. "Actually, two 'wows' for me."
More smiles, more blushes, bodies cuddling, fingers entwined and kisses shared. It is all so perfect, so right - why did they wait so long to begin this when they knew for years how great it would be? But all good things...
Beckett groans, "Oh crap, look at the time. We've got to get back to the station."
"I'd much rather spend the rest of the afternoon in bed with you."
"I'd like that too, but these unusually long 'lunch breaks' are going to start to seem odd. You know we can't let Capt. Gates start to get suspicious."
Castle sighs. "I know, department regs about not being involved with the person you work with, but does that really apply to us? I'm an unpaid consultant, not a cop."
"Who works as my partner. You know how much Gates dislikes that, not to mention the way she feels about you. If she caught wind of our relationship, it would be all of the excuse she would need to end us working together. Do you want to risk that?"
"No, of course not." Castle concedes as he wonders how much the excitement of the job plays a part in their success as a couple...
Fifteen minutes later the hastily showered and redressed lovers leave the semi-seedy hotel that is the closest to the police station where they work. Unnoticed, a man hiding in the shadows photographs them.
X-X-X-X-X
Captain Victoria Gates reads through a preliminary report on the most recent violent death in her jurisdiction. It is one of those annoyingingly simple but impossible incidents that is hard to catagorize. Murder? Manslaughter? Self-defense? An argument could be made for any of those possibilities. Last night a couple of guys were playing pool in the basement of a third person's home. The hosts, Paul Oaklyn and his girlfriend Denise Cobb, were joined by two cousins, Angelo Morton and Frank Unger. It all started out as friendly but heavy drinking and reckless wagering led to accqusations of cheating and a refusal to pay off a bet. Words were exchanged, pool cues raised as weapons and suddenly the lights went out. When they came back on, Paul Oaklyn was dead on the floor - his head smashed by a blow from a pool cue, and the two cousins were both injured from lesser blows.
The girlfriend Denise Cobb admitted to turning off the lights, hoping the temporary darkness would give everyone a chance to cool down. Instead it became the go-ahead signal to start swinging wildly. CSU was unable to determine who struck who because all three pool cues were broken, everyone had blood on themselves and fingerprints were useless as each player had been randomly using the different cues during the night. Morton and his cousin Unger both deny striking Oaklyn, maintaining that in the confusion they accidentily struck each other. Everyone is lawyered up, and unless the autopsy gives them a break, this case may go unresolved.
Gates looks out to the bullpen area, seeking the detective assigned to the case but not finding her...
"Esposito, where's Beckett?"
"Off the board, Captain. Still 10-63."
Gates frowns. "She needs to be reminded just how long of a lunch break a cop gets. I blame Castle. He's a bad influence on her. Have her report to my office as soon as she gets back."
X-X-X-X-X
"That was a delicious meal, Martha. Thank you. Can I help with the clean-up?"
"No Joan, even if you weren't eight months pregnant, you're a guest in our home. Richard, entertain Joan while I attend to scullery duties."
"Yes Mother. Joan, join me in the living room? I'm not sure how entertaining I will be..."
"There's no need. I'm just so grateful you're putting me up while I'm here in New York." Joan says with a smile, relieved that her plan is working. As she expected, the Castles insisted Joan stay with them and it was arranged for her luggage to be sent over from her hotel. Being this close to the family will help her identify whatever threat the Castle family is facing. Normally on a God assignment Joan has more information to go on, but this isn't an official task assigned by the Almighty. For a week now Joan has been having disturbing symbolic dreams of an impending danger involving all three of the Castles, but especially a risk to Alexis. Other than that, Joan is having to wing it as she goes along.
With a helpful hand from Castle, Joan is settled into a comfortable chair. He smiles affectionately. "Do you know yet what you are having?"
"A boy, which pleased my husband. I guess all fathers want a son."
"Not true. I wouldn't trade Alexis for a dozen sons."
"Yeah, I guess the father/daughter relationship is pretty special. My own relationship with my Dad is different from my brothers, and in a way it is closer."
Castle nods. "Exactly, although my own relationship with Alexis has been a bit sparse lately. She just got back from a summer tour of Europe with her 'Grams' and next week she is off to college."
"Ooh, that must be a difficult transition."
"It is, and forgive me if I get a bit misty-eyed. In a way I want Alexis to stay my little girl forever, but on the other hand I am just so darn proud of the wonderful, beautiful woman she is turning into. I only wish the process would go a little slower."
Joan smiles. "I get that. My own teen years were difficult for my Dad to handle. In his heart he was always in protective daddy mode, but in his head he knew he had to let me grow up, even if that meant letting me make a few mistakes along the way."
Castle sighs. "It's one of the hardest decisions a father has to face, when to let go and to what degree. Like tonight, this is the first time Alexis has gone alone to meet a young man at a restaurant without me meeting the guy first. I know I should trust her judgement, but it was all I could manage not to follow her as she left for her date."
From the kitchen Martha Rodgers calls out, "Which is why Alexis didn't have him pick her up here. She's getting a little old to have her dates exposed to your routine of: 'Intimidating father delivers the third degree'."
"I'm not that bad." Castle calls back.
Martha enters the living room smiling. "Oh please, you've done your best to frighten every beau who has come to our door, including once having a fake severed head and a bloody lab coat. It's amazing any of them ever came back for a second date. Besides, I've met Lord Redfield and he's a very charming and handsome young man."
Joan asks, "Did you say 'Lord'?"
"Oh yes, William Grayman, also known as the tenth Baron of Redfield. Alexis and I met him on a tour of his family's castle. The two of them hit it off immediately, and his lordship has been in hot pursuit ever since. He even followed us back to New York to continue his courtship. Isn't that romantic?"
Castle grumbles, "You say romantic, I say stalker. Besides, he's too old for Alexis."
"Only five years. Think of it Joan, if things work out between the two of them, one day Alexis could be 'Lady Redfield'."
"She'd be a 'Castle' who lives in a castle."
A look of alarm crosses Rick Castle's face. "No, she's too young. She hasn't even started college yet. I won't allow..."
Martha interrupts, "Richard, don't even think of interferring. I'm not saying this is the path Alexis is going to follow, but you have to accept she's old enough to make her own choices."
X-X-X-X-X
Sex. The subject has been on Alexis Castle's mind for awhile now, and her interest in the topic has increased ever since she met William. Well into her eighteenth year, Alexis has been experiencing a definite sense of being left behind. She keeps in touch with her many girlfriends from high school, and the way they talk about their boyfriends, Alexis can only conclude she is the last virgin in her graduating class. With college looming and all of the new social interactions that will entail, how long can she go on being the good girl who is waiting for 'true love' to experience her first time? (Drat all of those romantic, happily everafter stories she grew up with.) Her own social resume goes no further than a few trips to second base with her former boyfriend Ashley...
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Alexis blushes before replying, "Oh, uh...I was thinking of our houseguest. Was it rude of me to go out her first night with us?"
"This is the young woman you met a couple of years ago in...what was it?"
"Arcadia. It's a small city in western Maryland."
William Grayman (Lord Redfield) shrugs. "Your social obligation to an unexpected guest isn't written in stone. It would be nice to be there with her, but it isn't as if you left her alone. I'm sure your father and grandmother are seeing to her needs."
"I know, but this isn't just a matter of good manners. My whole family owes Joan a debt we can't repay - she literally saved our lives when we were visiting Arcadia."
"That is quite an obligation, but surely your friend understood you had plans. Besides, from the condition she is in - you said eight months pregnant? Then I'm sure she wants nothing more than an early night with plenty of rest."
Alexis nods, relieved. Despite her attachment to Joan, she really didn't want to miss this chance to go out with William. He is so good looking, and that accent of his just makes her melt. Maybe...she doesn't have to wait until she is deeply in love. How many women get to say their first time was with an English lord?
"What I don't understand is why this 'Joan' is travelling in her condition."
"Oh, she explained. Joan graduated law school in May, passed the bar in June and was immediately hired by her local prosecutor's office. She volunteered to come to New York to interview a witness to a hit-and-run in her hometown since she had to be in the city anyway for a doctor's appointment. I didn't pry, but I got the impression her pregnancy has been a difficult one."
"I hope she is alright."
"I think so. It seems Joan's husband, a medical student, is just being overly protective. He arranged through one of his professors a visit to supposedly the best OB/GYN in the world, even though Joan's local doctor says she is fine."
"Well, I can certainly understand the father's point of view. There is no more precious moment in life than bringing a child into the world with the woman you love." William says as he takes Alexis' hand and stares into her eyes.
Alexis trembles through a biological surge unlike anything she has ever experienced before. Why not William? He is handsome and charming, kind and gentle, and obviously very smitten with her. It is inevitable he will anyday now make his move to seduce her, and...she will almost certainly say yes.
Lord Redfield continues to stare adoringly into Alexis' eyes, very aware of the effect he is having on her. Good, his plan is working. He will seduce this silly American teen, manipulate her into falling in love with him and then marry her. It is an old story, an English lord on the brink of financial ruin marries an American heiress - exchanging his title for her wealth. Of course there is the snag that Alexis isn't an heiress yet. A minor detail. Once she is his, all he has to do is arrange the murder of Richard Castle.
To Be Continued.
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