Hi guys,
I thought I should give you some sign of life. Life had been hectic and complicated, so I hadn't had a lot of time to write. To anyone reading Love At First Explosion and/or Journey of Love, I'm very sorry that you have to wait so long for the next chapter – again. But various occurrences kept me from updating.
During the heatwave in Germany, I was in absolutely no mood to work on the chapters after I've spend a little over eight hours in front of my computer at work, feeling like I was in a sauna. I just went home and searched for the coolest place, not really in the mood to do anything. It wasn't helping that it didn't cool down in the evening either. The weather really wore me out, bringing me to my limits. 104°F in the shadow – daily – is too much.
Adding to this, I was involved in a car accident. Nothing bad happened, just material damage. But it's still enough to create more trouble than it really had to be. Especially when you need the car to get to work.
But during my vacation I recovered from the hectic and started this new story. Of course I'm still working on the other two fics as well, the next chapter of LAFE is in the works and I used the time while being on vacation to re-plan JoL. But this new story is downright pouring out of my fingers.
As it looks now, there will be sixteen chapters, but that can change since I haven't finished it yet. I'm working on chapter ten as we speak. Furthermore, I plan this to be the first part of a three-story-arc. I already have the titles for the sequels, as well as some great scenes and the general direction.
Anyway, I don't want to keep holding you back from reading the first chapter. I really hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.
Chapter 1
She straightened her soft summer scarf and tightened her coat as a light evening breeze caught up to her, slowly swapping the hot summer days into the cooler ones of autumn. Soon the trees will lose their leaves, preparing the nature for the icy winter time.
Johanna Beckett was just on her way to meet one of her clients, having squeezed him in between two other meetings, giving her the chance to spend more time with her family the next day. That was, if nothing else would turn up till then.
As she walked down the two blocks towards the little café where she'd meet her client, Johanna went over the list of things she'd have to buy later tonight, though a block away from her destination she felt a wave of chills going down her back. Turning her head slightly to the left Johanna saw a man crossing the street, walking towards her in a little bit of a hurry. Shaking her head about her sudden fit of paranoia, she still grabbed her bag tighter with her right hand and walked instinctively in a quicker pace.
Suddenly a shadow flashed out of a side street and a big, yet lean body crashed into her right side, ultimately making her sway to the left until she found her footing again, though she came to a complete stop when she saw that the man who crashed into her cut her off from her path, a crooked smile was on his face as he leered at her. Johanna immediately turned around, wanting to go back and out to the more open and lively street, however the man she had seen earlier coming towards her was already waiting behind her with the same sick smile on his lips. Based on the faces of the two men, Johanna noticed that they had to be related somehow.
Mugging seemed to run in their family, Johanna thought sarcastically.
"Well, look at what we have here, Hank! What a nice piece of body." The one who had followed her from behind spoke up.
"Yeah." Hank hummed. "Not often that one of the middle-class people are walking down our streets."
The smaller one, which name hadn't been mentioned yet, stepped closer and his eyes flickered to her bag. "Shall we look what she brought us?"
"Please, I don't want any trouble. There's nothing in there that could be of interest for you. If you would just let me go, we can forget this ever happened." Johanna said. Normally she was not afraid to stand up to someone who challenged her, talking them down and letting her lawyer-side take over. However she was in a quiet street, no one close enough to help and even when those two weren't one of the more dangerous people she had already met in her life, she still could do the math. Two against one – two men against one woman – was not working in her favor.
"Quiet! We decide what's of interest and what's not!" Hank grumbled and pulled out a pocket knife. The other one would probably also be armed, she guessed.
Since Johanna stood facing Hank, she didn't notice the other one grabbing her bag and tearing it from her shoulder. Gasping in surprise, she turned around and watched the man dig through her belongings.
"And? What's in there, Jeff?" Hank asked curiously, though grew restless when Jeff didn't answer, drawing Johanna closer to his body holding the knife to her throat. "Jeff!"
Jeff scoffed annoyed and glanced back up to her and Hank. "That bitch said the truth. There only papers, pencils and other useless things in there."
"What?!" Hank replied and Johanna had to repress a smile and the words I told you so. They wouldn't help her out of this situation. Still, this was her business bag and she wasn't carrying expensive stuff with her while at work. She could offer them nothing. Not that she even wanted to.
Jeff looked suspiciously at Johanna. "Search her! There's no way that she walks around without a wallet or something."
Hank grabbed her left arm and pushed her towards the hard wall of a shabby and neglected building. She lifted her hands up in the last moment to dampen her crash.
Hank was just about to let his greasy hands glide over her body, as all of the sudden a voice not that far away called out to them. "Hey!"
Surprised by the third voice Johanna shifted her body to the right side, searching for the person whom had dared to interrupt the plans of the two men who had caged her against a cold stone wall. She inhaled sharply as she saw the person running towards them – the one that was supposed to help her out of this situation – was the exact opposite of what she had hoped for.
She felt slightly stupid for hoping for a police officer – knowing that she couldn't be that lucky. So Johanna settled for the image of a man – again. Tall and muscular. Intimidating. Any attribute which would easily scare away her two assailants without any further hassle.
But as she saw a boy around the same age as her daughter hurrying towards them – his intention of helping her clearly visible – she felt a sense of dread overcome her again. Not for herself. No, they'd have certainly made her feel uncomfortable, would have taken everything she had with her without caring if they could need it or not. But Johanna had been sure they wouldn't have harmed her. At least not seriously.
Now, however, she was frightened that this situation would get out of control and that things would get ugly. The boy might be tall and broad-shouldered, and looked like he was pretty much able to hold himself in a fight, but the two men were armed and the boy was no match against them.
What was the boy even going here anyway?!
Jeff and Hank seemed to come to the same conclusion as she did, because only Jeff prepared himself for the arrival of the boy. Hank kept a steady grip on her, yet stayed with his back facing her.
Jeff swept with the knife at the boy when he was close enough, but luckily the boy must have expected this and dodged it, yet wasn't quickly enough to avoid the knife completely catching the teenager at his left arm, the contact between knife and skin was followed by a cry of surprise. Johanna saw something red soaking through the boy's sleeve, though the now injured teenager wasn't letting it show in his movements.
His cry however made Johanna more restless, struggling against the firm grip Hank had her in though her movements draw Hank's attention back towards her, leaving Jeff and the boy to themselves.
Since now only one pair of eyes were on her, she had a chance to fight back. Lifting her right foot Johanna slammed her heel into the right foot of Hank who screamed as her six-inch-heel bored its way through the thin material of his shoe and into his flesh. That must hurt like hell, Johanna thought pleased with herself.
She saw Jeff struggling back, having been distracted by Hank's yell and she noticed that the boy got some good hits on Jeff. Whipping her head back around and being finally able to face Hank instead of having her back to him, she rammed her knee into his stomach and Hank doubled over in pain. Another scream of the boy drew her attention back to him and Jeff, seeing him crouched down while holding his right side.
Hank had recovered from her hard blow faster than she expected and used the moment of her being distracted to grab her and toss her around, making her land hard on the cold ground. She felt some liquid making its way down her face and her world was spinning slightly.
Johanna heard Hank coming closer to her, could already imagine his smug expression of having now the upper hand in their fight. Slowly gaining focus again she searched for something to use against Hank. To her right side laid an old wooden pillar. Grabbing it, Johanna quickly got onto her knees and wielded the pillar with both hands at Hank, catching him – more out of luck than anything else – on his head. Hank sunk down to the ground and seemed to be out cold, only the slight movement of his chest indicated that he was still alive.
Her heart slammed hard against her rips, adrenaline was pumping through her veins. She had laughed at her husband this morning for wanting to play hooky with her today. Normally he wasn't one to suggest things like that, both of them loved their jobs and had no problems with having to go to work. But now and then they were caught up with themselves or with their daughter, and thoughts like skipping work run through their heads. But she had dismissed him quickly, knowing that she was packed with meetings today. Instead she had her fun with her husband, teasing him mercilessly before leaving the house. Now she wished she'd have just accepted his offer and stayed in bed with him!
Turning her head Johanna saw how Jeff was plunging his knife into the left side of the boy, ending the power struggle between the boy and Jeff. "No!" Johanna breathed silently, still catching her breath from her own fight with Hank.
Jeff shoved the boy away, watching how the teenager quickly lost his balance and fell backwards onto the street, the knife still in his left side. Though Jeff looked like he hadn't expected it to have had to fight that hard against a teenager, he put his hands on his knees and took deep and controlled breaths. Using his distraction, Johanna closed the distance between her and Jeff and knocked him out just like she did with Hank.
Johanna watched the two unconscious men for a few seconds, observing any indication that one of them would get up any time soon. But they both seemed to be out for some time and she threw the pillar away, hurrying over to the injured teen.
His breathing was unsteady, blood was seeping out of the wound on his left side. His eyes were half closed and unfocused, sweat was forming on his forehead. Johanna wasn't a doctor, and definitely had no medical experience, but she knew that if she'd wanted the boy to survive, she'd had to get help – soon.
Her eyes flickered over the side street searching for her bag which contained her cell. Quickly locating the bag she got out her cell while moving back to the boy. She hoisted his head on her legs, combing his hair from his face while she dialed the emergency number.
"Come on, son. You need to stay with me." She whispered, hoping that help would arrive soon.
I'm pretty much motivated with this story, but some reviews will always help to increase my motivation . Besides I'm really curious of how you like it so far….