I started thinking about this story while I was exercising at the university gym and listening to my ipod. The song, "Shut Up and Drive" came on while it was on shuffle. Then it cause me to think of what if Beckett randomly let Castle drive. Then I thought, it couldn't be randomly but something interesting that would make her not want to let him drive again. I haven't written a story with a car chase before. Though if you have read "Midnight Snacks" you might notice a familiar writing style that I use. This will be a one-shot. I also don't know if anyone else has use this idea of Beckett letting him drive. If someone has, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take it. This is just something I thought of.
I really wanted my friend and betareader (also Castle fan/fanfic writer), clcummins12, to beta read this story but she wasn't able to. I hope the next story I'm able to let her look over it and help me out. She's a wonderful betareader. Though don't worry, this story was looked over by someone. It was by my friend and Castle fan and also fanfic writer, Hallow777. So I want to thank them and all my Castle friends that I know from this site for helping me deal with the void that Castle has given to me because there's no new Castle episodes till September. So we have to fill that void by writing/reading fanfiction, making/watching fanvideos, and chatting with others. Especially Hallow777, since her stories helped me think of my own fanfics too. I have a funny power of reading her mind sometimes especially when it comes about writing Castle fanfiction. She a good friend too. Thank you. Now you can read the story.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended...
P.S. I would recommend listening to "Shut Up and Drive" by Rihanna before reading this story.
"Shut up, and drive!" She screamed at him while running. Richard Castle and Kate Beckett were running out of a building trying to keep up with a suspect.
"What?" he exclaimed. He was shocked out of his mind. He just wanted to keep up with the guy and Beckett, all his brain could think was, "run." Normally Beckett, well actually, Beckett never allowed him to drive the police car.
She took out her keys and showed them to him. "Why?" He asked. He was finally slowing down a bit and processing her decision.
"Just do it, Castle. I'll tell you later," said Beckett.
He looked at her with a shocked face and then realized that he needed to move. They didn't have time to think about it. She threw him the keys and he caught them perfectly. It was like they were in sync. They ran to the car and got in. He buckled himself in excitedly and got everything ready for him to go.
"Castle, we don't have time for you to get comfy!" Said Beckett.
Disappointed he looked to her, and said with a puppy eyed look, "Can I at least turn on the siren?"
"Fine, you can."
"Yes!"
Then he turned on the siren and it made him smile but what he didn't notice was that Beckett was watching him and smiling too, and then she snapped out of it.
"We've got to move, look he's already getting ahead," Beckett said.
Richard got serious, and started driving, but deep down he was excited that he was going to experience a car chase like in the movies.
He started to speed through the roads and around the curves to catch up with the suspect who called himself "Felix".
After a while of driving, he was getting close. "Now, try to get ahead of him, Castle." She told him while giving him that look that said, "Don't question me, just do it." He almost froze for a second at that look but realized that he was driving and concentrated on that.
He began to go faster and faster and finally went around the other car and was driving in front when Beckett started to open the window.
"This isn't a joy ride, Beckett. There's no need to open the windows." Castle said before suddenly noticing, out of the corner of his eye, that she was getting out of the car though the window.
"What are you doing?" said Castle, louder than normal.
She tried to scream loud enough that Castle could hear her inside…the car.
"I need to shoot the wheels to stop the car, that's why you needed to drive."
"Isn't that kind of dangerous?"
She responded to his answer by shooting at the gray car behind them. It wasn't very large; she could see where she could hit the wheels. If only the car wasn't moving, then aiming would be so much easier. After she started shooting, she wasn't able to shoot enough at her target before someone next to the driver started shooting back at her. She jumped back in.
"That was fast! Did you get him already?" said Castle.
"Apparently there's another guy with him in the car. He was trying to shoot at me."
"No way!" Castle said while looking in the rearview mirror to see the other car. Then he realized that he shouldn't get excited, what if Beckett was hurt? And if she wasn't, she could. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just haven't figured out what to do. Should I go back out and try to shoot or find other plan?" she asked.
He tried to look at her while keeping an eye on the road at the same time. This was harder than Beckett made it out to be. "How about we find another plan?" said Castle.
"Really, Castle? What plan do you have right now?" said Beckett curious and frustrated that she's run out of ideas.
"I could block him with the car," said Castle.
"What are you crazy? That won't work," said Beckett.
While they were talking, Castle was driving towards a light that was changing colors from green to yellow.
"Um, Beckett? Should I slow down?" Asked Castle, unsure. Which felt like a first for both of them that he wasn't as confident.
"No, we've got to keep going. Just keep going!" said Beckett looking at him and then towards the back, not noticing the change.
He keeps going, a bit faster than before. He kept thinking how much it felt like the car races he's done on his Xbox. Though this was in real life, so the situation was completely different.
The scary thing was that he was speeding. Isn't this what every guy thinks about? The car chases, fast cars, and sexy girls sitting next you in the car… whoa, did he just call Beckett sexy? He can't deny that he hadn't noticed how amazing she looks every day, but this wasn't the time to daydream. He needed to concentrate. It really didn't help that the heat was brutal, and he smelled cherries. What was Beckett doing?
Kate Beckett was getting closer to him; he was wondering what was going on with her. Every day she surprised him. For a second he though she was getting out of her seat to kiss him on the cheek but then he remember that they were in a car chase. Why would Beckett do that? Not that he would mind.
She was actually getting out of her seat to look out of the back to see if she could make out any details of the new guy in the other car.
"You should sit down, Beckett…"
"Funny that you would say that, Castle, because if you weren't driving I bet you would be looking to check out who our suspect was driving with," said Beckett.
"Really?" he said smugly. She could picture him already, even without looking at his reaction. "You know me that well, huh? Well, who's the other guy?"
Still looking out the back, she responded to his question. "About mid-thirties, kind of like our subject. I'm figuring he tagged along to help him in case the plan didn't come out right…Shut the front door!"
Just as she said that, a bullet hit the back widow. "Wait, why are they shooting at us?" asked Castle. She was about to get back in to her seat when she decided to kiss his cheek. Beckett didn't know what came over her and neither did Castle.
"A kiss for good luck," said Beckett. She got back into her seat, grabbed her gun, loaded it, and went out of the window again to start shooting the other car; this time with more determination.
He just realized what she said. It made him smile. "Did you just reference Star Wars?"
While shooting, she was smiling and spoke loudly to him again since she was partly out side. "I've got to keep you on your toes."
"That's so sexy," said Castle. "Will you reference more Star Wars when we get back to the station?" He had a big grin on his face.
"We need to get out of this situation first," said Beckett, not quite concentrating on what she was saying and trying to shoot and duck from the shots aimed at her. Her response surprised him. She didn't even deny that she wouldn't reference those amazing movies.
"Whoa," she said getting back into her seat, "that was really close."
"Don't try shooting again. We will figure something out," said Castle.
"Worried about my safety, Castle?" said Beckett.
It was like the tables were being turned on him. He's never seen her act this way. It was almost like she was flirting with him during this car chase, and here he was being concerned about her life. Even though he normally is worried about her safety it seemed like as soon as he was given the chance to drive, it's was like they were both acting different. He was worried and she was almost carefree and excited.
He needed to change this game. He needed to get more confident. He started to take more risks while driving. Castle was taking the cop car around other cars to move around. He could still see the other car in the rearview mirror; he needed to figure out what was the best ending to this story. But this wasn't any of his stories. They were in danger, and especially Beckett was in danger.
The light was yellow again. Should he risk it?
"Beckett?" said Castle.
"Just keep going, don't worry if we lose them," said Beckett.
He looked shocked. "No, we can't. He could tell us something! We can't just let him go!"
Castle got mad and pushed onto the accelerator and went through the light and tried to get to a road that was empty so it was only their car and the suspect's car.
Soon as the coast was clear, he made a quick left turn while putting his foot on the break. This move would have been amazing if it was done in the movies. But he had done it to stop them from smashing into a dead end. He hadn't noticed earlier that the road he turned on was a dead end till he was on it and couldn't turn around.
The problem was the other car had followed them down the street and was coming full speed towards the left side where Castle was in the driver's seat.
God, he thought, this was the end. All he could hear was Beckett screaming his name. Then "Bam," he didn't hear anything else.
She didn't know what to do. It was like her body was acting without her. She was screaming his name, fearing for his life, while the other car was crashing into theirs. The other car hit in such force that it causes the car to move in away that Castle's head hit the steering wheel and then the car moved again and his whole body fell towards her, his head falling onto her lap.
His face was bloody and Beckett could tell that he was unconscious just by looking at him but she checked his breathing, and his pulse, just in case. She could feel his pulse and that calmed her down. She grabbed the handset radio, and called the station to tell them that they needed help. Why didn't she think of calling for back up before? She couldn't beat up herself now. Castle needed her. Luckily she was okay, just a little bruised and shaken up.
After calling for help, she got out the car and placed Richard Castle slowly down onto the seats. She went towards the other car wearing her police vest. Beckett took out her gun and held it up to the men's faces in the car.
"Get out of the car!" She said angrily. No one hurt Richard Castle and got away with it, she was going to make sure of that.
Both men raised their hands in defeat while getting out of the car. She told them their rights, even though she felt like they didn't need it. In no time, other police cars, and an ambulance, were at the scene. She didn't even notice when they arrived. She didn't notice Ryan and Esposito taking charge and officially arresting the men, and telling the medics where to go to find Richard.
She was frozen for a second. What if something happened to him while she wasn't watching? She couldn't think what she would do if Richard Castle was hurt worse than she thought. She couldn't even think of how to tell Alexis. She and Martha needed to know.
While the medics were checking Castle, she decided to call both of them to let them know. Luckily they were both at Castle's place at that moment and Alexis answered.
"Hello?"
"Alexis? It's Beckett. Is Martha there?" said Beckett in a voice that she couldn't recognize.
"Kate, what's wrong? Did something happen to my dad?" said Alexis.
She didn't know what to say but she knew that Alexis wanted to know. Beckett didn't want to worry the girl but not telling her would make her worry anyways.
"Yes, something has happened to your dad. We are going to the hospital right now."
"Oh, my god," she said shocked. Martha was asking her in the background what was going on. "Something happened to Dad. We have to go."
"Don't rush, Alexis. I'm sure he wouldn't want both of you to be in an accident trying to get to the hospital," said Beckett.
"Don't worry, Kate. We will. We will be there as soon as we can." Beckett could hear Martha saying something to Alexis and the phone call ended.
She was just holding the phone in her hand for a moment before Esposito's voice broke her out of daze as Castle was being placed into the ambulance.
"Beckett, you can ride with us to the hospital." said Esposito. Ryan nodded. "Don't worry, I bet he's in good hands," said Ryan.
"No boys, I think I'll ride with Castle in the ambulance, if you don't mind." They nodded. They understood, far more than she even knew. They knew that Castle and Beckett had something, they didn't know what it was, they couldn't describe it, but it was nothing like what they have ever seen.
The EMTs led her into the ambulance. While they were checking Castle, they were also checking her as well. To see how she was doing. They took notes of her explanation of what happened and where she felt pain when they asked her. But mostly she was watching him. He wasn't supposed to get hurt. She was supposed to protect him. The more she looked at him, the more sadness showed on her face.
She looked at his face. They had already clean up the blood but it still didn't look right to her. It wasn't lively like she was use to. She looked down at his purple shirt. It had stains from his blood, a reminder of what had happened. Beckett touched his sleeve and ran her hand down his arm. She pushed up the sleeve and noticed his left arm was bruised. She went down to his hand and felt it. It felt warm in the cold ambulance. Beckett held onto his hand the whole way to the hospital.
When they got to the hospital, they didn't let her stay with him at first because she wasn't family and then she told them that she was his fiancé. After that, they let her stay with him all the way until he got his own room in the hospital. She was sitting in his room in a hard chair but she didn't care. She wanted to be right next to Castle when he woke up. She didn't understand it, the feelings she was having but it just felt right. She just hated waiting. Then there was a knock at the door.
"Hey Kate, I didn't know my dad proposed to you." Alexis said, trying to smile. She thought it was funny but she was still worried about her father.
"Um, I just told them that little lie so I could stay with him," said Beckett.
Alexis nodded and smiled. "Sure, I could see that. In all seriousness, Grams is already talking to the doctor. I kind of heard them saying that he's going to be fine…" She wanted to hear it from Beckett. She trusted what Beckett would tell her.
"Yes, Alexis. He will be, but I know it doesn't stop us from worrying," said Beckett.
"I know. I'm so worried about him," said Alexis realizing that her words were affecting Beckett, she continued. "I don't blame you. It's not your fault."
Beckett smiles at Alexis. "I know…"
"I'm really glad you're okay, Kate." said Alexis. "Thank you for helping my dad."
"Thank you, Alexis. I tried my best."
Then they both heard something coming from the bed. They looked at Castle and he began to wake up.
"Beckett…" He said groggily.
At that moment, Beckett felt like the world was getting back to normal. She looked to him with a smile. Alexis was so happy. "I'm going to tell Grams that he's awake already!" Alexis said running out of the door.
"So…" Castle said while Beckett got closer to him so she could hear him. "What is this I hear about you being my fiancé?" He said, giving her the classic Richard Castle smile.
"Shut up!" She said smiling, not really angry. "You are never going to drive again!"
"Aw! That's not fair! I don't normally drive like that."
She gave him a look, like she told him that she knew that but he wasn't going to change her mind.
He became disappointed, like a little boy. She began to laugh a bit. They both smiled. Yeah, he so wasn't driving any time soon but he really didn't mind.
So what did you think? Was there anything that need to be improve? What can I do better in my next fanfic? Please let me know by reviewing. I hope you've enjoyed the story. Thank you!