Author's Note: That was some finale, wasn't it? Dang! After watching it, a friend and I determined two things: one, the fandom could probably use some laughs, and two, Beckett has a tendency to shoot at things for no real reason. So now, I give you Blowing Off Steam, a fic comprised of many cracktastic little shorts in which Beckett shoots at things for no real reason (besides making herself feel better, that is). Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, and am not making money off of this venture. Thank goodness.
I.
The freighter had already cast off, and Castle could see it pulling away from the dock. Knowing that they wouldn't reach it in time, he began to slow, puffing for air. Well, they'd almost had him.
Beckett, to his slight surprise, didn't seem deterred. She pounded down the dock in a pair of heels just this side of impractical, and Castle winced, waiting for her to snag on an uneven plank and trip. Wanting to be there to pick her up if she did end up face-planting onto the dock, he begrudgingly broke back into a run.
He caught up to his partner at the end of the dock. She was glaring at the retreating vessel, her weapon still clutched in her hands. Castle drew a breath to say something encouraging, lifting a hand for a bracing shoulder pat, but the relative calm was shattered by the explosive report of Beckett's weapon.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Beckett fired on the ship, her expression grim. Castle shrank back instinctively, astonished at her behavior.
"Beckett?" he ventured in one of the brief pauses between gunshots.
"What?" she snapped, her aim unwavering as she continued to empty her clip at the hulk of a ship.
"Just..." he took a small, tentative step towards her and reached for her shoulder. "Look, will you just stop it?"
Beckett's arms dropped with startling alacrity, and he skipped back a step as she whirled around to face him. "He's getting away!" she said with a pointed gesture over her shoulder, her expression suggesting that he was being unreasonable.
Castle straightened. "Yes, he's getting away, but I don't know what shooting the boat is supposed to accomplish," he bit back, nettled.
Beckett let out a frustrated huff of air as she holstered her weapon, turned away from him and folded her arms. Castle relaxed a little, though he couldn't quite let the matter drop. "What, did you think you were going to breach the hull?"
Beckett hunched her shoulders and stormed past him. He followed, hurrying to catch up. "Because if so, you probably should have aimed closer to the waterli—"
"Shut up, Castle."
I have a few more chapters in mind, so if you aren't put off by the idea of hardcore, down-the-rabbit-hole levels of crack and questionable characterization, stick around!