Hello all! So I have another fic for you. The premise for this one came to me this summer while I was working on "Picking Up The Pieces". I kept putting it off though, because I didn't want to distract myself anymore than I already was. So I wrote out some notes, put it on a shelf and forgot about it. Then while I was posting PUTP, I wrote out the first page of this story and another one I have ideas for, but then forgot about them again. So then a week or so ago when my Beta started hounding me about not writing, I sent her both fic starts, and this one came into being. It is a complete one shot, AU, and nothing but fun, goofy, fluff.
I sincerely hope you enjoy this and look forward to reading your responses!
Enjoy!
*Disclaimer* I do not own Castle or the Castle characters. I'm just taking them on a harmless adventure, and promise to return them home unscathed and before curfew.
"Butterfly Effect"
by DeBo81
The Butterfly Effect as defined by Urban Dictionary: The scientific theory that a single occurrence, no matter how small, can change the universe forever.
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March 1985
Six year old Katie Beckett snuggled into her mother's side as she watched, wide-eyed, the people coming and going on the busy subway car. She was relived when the smelly drunk in the corner across from her, hobbled off and was soon replaced by a young woman and her smiling daughter.
Though Katie had been often reminded that it was rude to stare at people and certainly never to talk to people she didn't know, especially on the subway, she tentatively waved her fingers at the slightly older girl.
"Hi!" The girl with creamy brown skin and barrette-adorned, fluffy hair-twists, replied.
"Alaina!" The mother scolded. "What have I told you about strangers?"
Alaina rolled her eyes and intentionally deepened her smile at Katie.
Katie responded with a smile of her own, revealing four missing teeth and a scrunched nose.
Over the distance of the next two stops, neither girl took much notice of their surroundings as they quietly crossed their eyes and stuck out their tongues at the other, while trying to keep their giggles in check.
Johanna Beckett noticed her daughter's antics with a grin of her own, but never chided her to stop. In fact, she was glad to see that in a city full of indifference and self-absorption, her child was willing to interact with people outside of her immediate world.
Katie had just caused Alaina to squeak with suppressed laughter by crossing her eyes and touching the tip of her tongue to her nose, when the train came to an abrupt and screeching halt.
She looked around, quickly taking in every detail. Her mom's sudden grip on her shoulder hadn't been released yet and bit into her soft flesh, even through the layers of her white turtleneck, purple corduroy jumper and hot pink wind breaker. Alaina seemed to share her curiosity and turned on her knees to look out the windows into the dark void of the tunnel they were in.
Several grown ups looked around as well, even putting down their newspapers and closing their books, out of curiosity. At the other end of the car, someone said a bad word loud enough for her to hear, a baby began to cry and a little boy near the middle of the car asked his dad what happened. A big boy wearing a Karate uniform, asked his grandmother if they were now going to be late to wherever they were heading, earning a shrug and an answer spoken in a language she didn't understand. The only person who didn't seem to notice, was the teenage boy sitting to her immediate left. He continued to keep his eyes closed and lip-sync to the music blaring in the headphones of his Walkman.
Katie watched as an angry looking man stood up and paced a little while, before going to the doors and testing them to see if they'd open, which they didn't. Eventually he sat back down, but not before kicking the wall and saying a word she'd never heard before.
"Hey Buddy," the man with the little boy said. "Watch your mouth. There's kids here."
"And the adults don't want to hear it either!" replied a woman with curly, snow-white hair.
The overhead speaker crackled to life, cutting off the man's answer, and a thick Bronx-accented voiced garbled out. "Ladies 'n Gnlmn, we 'pologize fer da..." The sound cut out briefly. "...track fire...electric prob...," another static filled pause, "soon az possible."
A collective sigh filled the car. The angry man punched the window, and Katie's mom blew out heavily, lifting her long hair away from her face.
"Mom, is the fire going to get us?"
Johanna Beckett shook her head. "No, we're safe here in the car, Baby."
"Are we going to miss lunch with Daddy?"
The woman glanced at her gold wristwatch and bit her lip. "I don't know. If they can clear the tracks quickly, no."
"But if they can't?" the girl asked, green eyes wide with threatening tears.
"Then I'm afraid we will."
Katie felt the other girl's eyes on her and swallowed her disappointment. She wouldn't cry here. She wasn't a baby. Even if they'd been planning this special trip to her Dad's office for weeks, and now it might get canceled, she'd keep her broken heart in check.
"It'll be OK" Alaina said to her, shrugging off her mothers hand from her elbow. "Like, two years ago we were stuck by a track fire, and we only had to wait like, twenty minutes. It was boring, but not too bad."
Katie nodded and tried to smile.
"We don't have to be bored though." Alaina turned and pulled her neon, turquoise duffel bag into her lap. "I've got some Barbies."
Alaina's mom hissed something into her daughter's ear but the girl wasn't dissuaded. "Mom, I'm right here in front of you, with another kid, on a train that's not going anywhere. Nothing's gonna happen."
Katie watched the woman carefully. She wasn't mad, she was scared. Even though Alaina had a good point, she didn't want to interfere."It's OK. I don't wanna get you in trouble."
The older girl's shoulders dropped dramatically. But after only a second, the mother relaxed. "Fine. But just this once."
Alaina hopped up with two Barbie dolls in hand and crossed the narrow aisle, squeezing herself in between Katie and the teen listening to his Walkman.
"You can have the princess, I'll keep the ballerina, cuz I'm going to be a ballerina one day."
"You dance?"
"Yup! I just came from my spring recital! You should have seen it! I wore a gold tutu and a crown and everything!"
"Wow! I bet you were beautiful!"
Alaina shrugged off the compliment but her eyes glowed with pride. "Why don't you pretend the princess is a ballerina too, and we can have them do a routine together."
"OK."
The girls shifted in their seats trying to make room to play, but Mrs. Beckett was already pressed against the wall, and the boy next to Alaina was practically smooshed into the side of the Spanish speaking grandmother.
Katie stood. "Wait, I have an idea!" Kate crawled onto her knees and whispered into her mother's ear. After a brief pause, the woman nodded and reached into her bag, pulling out a checkered tablecloth.
"I was going to my dad's office for a picnic. He was going to order food from the deli downstairs, and we were going to eat on the floor in front of his giant windows in his new office. But we could use it here too and sit on the floor."
Immediately the girls spread the cloth out and plopped down to play.
"My name is Alaina," the caramel skinned girl announced.
Katie looked briefly at her new friend's mother. "Yeah, I know."
Alaina didn't seem embarrassed at all.
"I'm Katherine, but people call me Katie."
"Hi Katie!"
The girls played quietly under their mothers' watchful eyes for close to fifteen minutes before the angry man on the other end of the car drew their attention again. He yelled at the speaker, cursing the fire and threatening the unseen owner of the voice that had made the earlier announcement, as if it was his fault.
The man who'd spoken up earlier and his son, stood and moved back toward them. He sat in the seat Alaina had vacated, and placed his son on his lap. The boy in the karate uniform eyed them warily.
The small blonde boy pointed toward Katie and Alaina. "Daddy, I wanna play with them!"
"No, I'm sure they don't want a little boy interrupting. Plus, they're playing with dolls."
"I play dolls with Rachel and Megan."
"Kevin, your sisters do not let you play with their dolls."
"Sometimes. They let me be the daddy Barbie."
Alaina looked up and smiled. "If I had my Ken dolls here, I'd be happy to let you play with us." Katie nodded in agreement.
"I have Optimus Prime! Can he play?" Kevin held out his Transformer for the girl's inspection. The pair consorted silently and then nodded.
Katie waved him down to the floor, "Sure, you can protect the dancers from alien invaders during their big show."
"Yesssss!" Kevin pumped his fist in the air as he scrambled off his dad's lap, landing on his knees.
Across from him, the kid in the karate uniform, with the glossy black curls, snorted. "There's no such thing as aliens."
Alaina straightened her spine and leveled the older boy with a cold stare, "Says you! And why do you care anyway? It's not like you're playing with us!"
"Alaina Parish!" Her mother chastised her the moment the words left her mouth. "Apologize."
"But I ain't sorry!"
Mrs. Parish didn't let down, but eventually her daughter did.
"Sorry," she muttered half-heartedly.
"It's cool, Lanie!"
"It's Alaina."
"Oh yeah. Sorry." Despite the apology, it was evident that he was anything but sorry. He was obviously enjoying egging her on.
By now, more than half of the passengers in the car were watching the children interact, mostly with bemused smirks.
"And I'm Kevin!" The youngest one announced. "I'm five. How old are you?"
"Eight," Alaina answered without taking her eyes off her tormenter sitting near by.
"And I'm Katie, I'm six."
Little Kevin pointed his red, white and blue robot at the boy in the seats. "What about you?"
"Name's Javi. I'm eleven," he replied with forced boredom lacing his voice.
"You wanna play too?" Little Kevin asked the older boy. "I'll share my Transformer, we can be partners!"
"Nah, I'm cool."
For close to an hour the three kids playing on the floor, and the one commenting from his seat, entertained themselves, and all those around them. After two more overhead announcements apologizing for the delay and promising that the situation was under control, the fairly happy children were the only thing keeping the mood of the trapped passengers light.
Eventually, even the new playmates and the handful of toys were not enough to distract the youngest members of the car.
"Daddy, I'm hungry," Keven complained.
"I know Buddy, I'm sorry. You'll just have to wait."
The blonde boy's lip trembled as he crossed his arms over his tummy, but he sobered quickly as he noticed the others watching him.
Katie turned to her mother, "Mom, we were going to lunch, do we have anything to eat? I'd share."
"Sorry, I don't. Dad was ordering in."
Katie Beckett, who by nature was a problem solver, looked around, searching her brain for ideas. When her eyes landed on Javi, the way he avoided her scrutiny, spoke volumes to her. She stared at him for several seconds before he eventually met her gaze. Silently, she questioned him with her stare.
On a sigh, Javi opened the gym bag at his feet and retrieved an unopened bag of Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers. "Here kid," he said kindly before tossing the paper bag into Kevin's lap.
Immediately, the youngster turned to his father. "Can I?" With his dad's approval and help opening the package, Kevin turned back to his new friend, "Thanks Javi! I wish I had a big brother like you!"
This obviously surprised the pre-teen. "You don't have a big brother?"
"Nope, two sisters," came the full mouth reply.
"Me too."
Kevin extended the open bag to Javi, who slid to the floor for the first time, so he could take a handful of the snack. "Thanks, Bro."
Twenty minutes, and half a bag of crackers later, the four youngsters on the floor again became restless. Being stuck on a train was no longer novel and fun. It was boring. Eye Spy had grown old, and Kevin didn't really understand Twenty Questions. There was no room to run and now that several passengers were sleeping, they'd been hushed into loud whispers.
After the ninth round of the Telephone Game, the formerly motionless teenager sitting behind Katie, yanked his headphones down around his neck and sighed, "Crud".
"Batteries die?" Katie turned and inquired.
The skinny boy with shaggy, brown hair, eyed the girl and her companions quickly before answering. "Yeah."
"Bummer."
"You're telling me. Any word on when we're getting out of here? I haven't heard any announcements lately."
Alaina shook her head, setting her braids swinging back and forth.
He lifted his wrist, glancing at his black and orange Swatch. "My Mom is going to kill me."
"Why?" Katie asked.
"I've been late a couple times, you know meeting up with her, and curfew and stuff. I was supposed to meet her for lunch with her cast over an hour ago."
"Cast? Did she break her arm?" Kevin asked.
"No, the cast from her show. She's an actress on Broadway."
"Oh," Kevin answered, but he still looked confused.
Alaina glowed though, "Broadway? That's so rad. Your mom must be famous."
"She'd like to think so, at least."
Silence descended over the group again for several long seconds, until Kevin began another round of introductions.
"I'm Kevin. I'm five. And this is my Bro, Javi, he's eleven," he said with pride.
Javi nodded toward the girls. "And they're Katie and Lanie."
Alaina took a breath to correct Javi, but was cut off by the oldest boy. "Well nice to meet you guys. I'm Ricky Rogers and I'm fifteen."
"Wow, fifteen" Kevin smiled. "That's even older than you, Javi."
Javi rolled his eye and tussled the kindergartner's blonde hair.
Ricky shoved his Walkman into the pocket of his jean jacket and shifted in his seat. "Looks like you guys have quite a party going on."
Katie shrugged. "Pretty boring party."
"Boring? You're in the middle of an adventure with a bunch of other kids... how can you be bored?"
Javi scoffed. "Dude, we're stuck on this bogus train, and you think that's an adventure?"
"With a little imagination you can make anything an adventure! You could pretend you're a wicked new band, traveling cross-country on your tour bus, and if you don't come up with some new songs fast, the show's gonna have to be canceled. Or maybe you're on a space shuttle to become the first colony on the moon. Or you could be a crew of naval officers in a top-secret submarine, sent on a mission to detect Russian nuclear missiles. Or even better yet, this could be a haunted train and you could be a team of Ghostbusters, ready to wipe out some grody ghouls and goblins."
Katie and Alaina giggled at the images Ricky suggested, but Kevin scooted closer to Javi. "There's not really any ghosts on here... is there?"
Ricky recognized the fear in the little boy's eyes and felt terrible about frightening him. "Nah. There's no ghosts on this train. I was just pretending."
The blonde sighed with relief and nodded seriously, "I knew that."
Ricky scooted to the edge of his seat and pointed to a corner of the table cloth that the kids were spread out on. "Mind if I join you?"
When no one objected, he scooted down next to Katie and folded his gangly legs "Indian style" so that only the tips of his Converse high tops were visible below his knobby knees.
"How 'bout I tell you all a story?"
"Is it gonna be any good?" Katie asked.
"I guess you can be the judge of that."
The girl thought about it a moment and then leaned back against the seat Ricky had just abandoned. "We're listening!"
Rick appraised the four younger kids with a knowing smile and then leaned forward so that his elbows rested on his knees.
"Once upon a time, here in New York City, there was a gang of bad guys who terrorized the good citizens of the Big Apple. They stole kids' lunch money and hogged seats on the bus. They robbed convenience stores, ditched taxis without paying for their fares, spit their gum on the floor and ate their desserts without finishing their veggies. They called themselves 'The Punks' and were real scoundrels!
One day, The Punks started an electrical fire that shut down the entire subway for hours! It was terrible! The passengers were tired, hungry, bored and angry, but the worst part, was that one particularly handsome passenger, named Rick Rogers, was so late to his lunch meeting, that his boss made him work the weekend, canceling his plans to go to the REM concert."
Katie tipped her head toward the teen in disbelief. "Seriously? That's where you're going with this?"
"Chill out! I'm just setting the stage, K?"
The skeptical girl shared an eye roll with Lanie, but nodded for Ricky to continue.
"That Saturday night, when he was supposed to be at the concert, Mr. Rogers called his friend, the mayor, and told him, 'Mayor, something has to stop! These Punks are taking over the city! We can't stand for this anymore! Isn't there anything you can do?'
The Mayor thought about it for a minute, but finally answered, 'I didn't want it to come to this but there is one thing.'
'What is it?' Rick asked.
The leader of the city paused dramatically, then in almost a whisper said...'The K Team!'"
This time Javi interrupted, "Don't you mean The A Team?"
"Nope," he assured them, "I mean The K Team, keep listening!"
Ricky dove back into his story, "Rick Rogers was shocked, he'd never heard of The K Team. 'Who are they? How can they help?'
'They're a group of super-secret vigilantes, who live all over the country. Separately, they are amazing people, living their alter-ego lives in peace and quiet, but when they're brought together as a team they're an unstoppable megaforce of heroes who can stop all evil.'
'Well,' Rick asked, 'Why haven't they done something to stop this already?'
'Their powers are very strong, but they don't last long and take almost a year to regenerate. If they're called on too often their powers could be lost forever.'
'Can they be called on now? Are they ready?'
'I think so. I think the last time the world called on them was to save us from an alien invasion last year!'
Mr. Rogers was in disbelief, just like you guys are right now. 'I never heard about an alien invasion last year,' he told his friend.
But the mayor didn't back down. 'They are that good. And I think we need them now. Come to my office and help me put out the signal.'
So Mr. Rogers hurried across town, to the mayor's office. When he got there, the mayor was setting up a giant blue laser on the roof.
'What is this?' Rogers asked.
'It's the emergency beacon. Each of the team wears a communicator pin on their chest, and when I activate this laser, their pins will light up, signaling them to beam here right away.'
Rick was amazed, but everything was happening so fast he didn't have time to ask any more questions. In a few minutes, the laser, which was pointed at the full moon, glowed brightly for several seconds before shutting off with a loud pop.
'Now what?' Rick asked the mayor.
'Now we wait.'
He accepted that, but he had one more burning question. 'Who exactly are the people who make up this team of heroes?'
The city leader patted his buddy's shoulder and smiled. 'Just wait and see my friend, just wait and see.'"
By now all four kids were enraptured, and more than one adult sitting near by, was interested in Ricky's tale.
Rick looked around the cluster of children on the floor. "Before I go any farther, tell me your names again."
Always quick to answer, the youngest piped up quickly. "I'm Kevin! Remember?"
"Kevin, what? What's your full name?"
"Kevin Patrick Ryan!"
"Awesome."
The three reaming kids took turns sharing their names.
"Javier Esposito. I don't have a middle name."
"Alaina Nichelle Parish."
"Katherine Beckett."
"No middle name for you either?" Ricky asked.
"I have one. I'm just not telling you. I hate it and you'll laugh."
"No I won't. Pinky promise."
The teen extended his little finger out to seal the deal, but Katie held back. He might not laugh but the others would.
A second later, Alaina offered her pinky as well, and after a little coaxing from Javi, the other two boys added there digits to the mix.
"You swear you won't tease me?"
Four solemn nodding heads convinced the girl to link her fingers with each of the others, sealing the oath.
"My middle name is H...tt...n," she mumbled quietly.
"Your name is Houston?" Ricky asked.
"No, it's Houghton," she clarified. "Like I said, it's a stupid name."
Ricky shook his head emphatically. "That's not stupid. It's different, but I like it."
A soft pink blush colored the girl's cheeks, but the teen wasn't sure if her embarrassment was from her dislike of the name or his compliment.
Not wanting to embarrass her more, he went back to his story. "OK, so where was I?"
Alaina answered, "Rick Rogers and the Mayor were waiting for The K Team."
"Right, so the two men stood quietly on the roof, anxious for the squad of city saving heroes to appear. After only a few minutes a bright yellow flash of light off to their right, drew their attention as New York's police chief suddenly materialized in front of them.
'Chief Ryan!' Rick gasped. You're part of The K Team?'
'Sure am!' the officer answered as he brushed off his immaculate uniform.
'No wonder you're the smartest, bravest, strongest, cop in the city,' Rogers grinned."
Little Kevin, sat up straighter and grinned from ear to ear as the story unfolded. "I'm a cop!" he whispered excitedly to no one in particular, earning a wink from the storyteller.
"Then a pink light flashed next to Chief Ryan, and the famous and beautiful actress, Alaina Nichelle Parish appeared out of nowhere.
'Mayor, you called?' the Hollywood star asked.
'I sure did, he answered. 'As soon as the other two show up, I'll tell you what I need.'
Before the mayor could finish speaking, two more lights, this time green and purple, shown brightly and Four-star General Esposito appeared next to his friend Kevin, while an extraordinary woman in a navy suit formed in front of the entire group, who all were now slightly glowing.
'President Beckett!' Mr. Rogers gasped in surprise.
The head of the country stepped forward with her hand out. 'If you're a friend of the mayor, you're a friend of mine, call me Katherine, or better yet, Kate.'
Rick asked the only thing he could think, 'Kate, you're part of The K Team?'
'I'm the leader,' she answered.
Rick was just completely amazed. Some of the country's most important people were standing in front of him, on the roof of the mayor's office, ready to fight crime.
"See, Rick," the Mayor explained, "Kevin Ryan is the communications expert. When they are united, he can use his powers to hear far away conversations, in any language, see through walls, and intercept, translate or alter almost any type of communication! General Esposito is the brute force, not only is he trained in the ways of the Ninja and Jedi, but he has bulletproof skin, super-strength speed and can fly! Ms. Parish is a shape shifter who can make herself into any living thing, whether it's a plant, animal or person. This includes becoming as tiny as a flea or as larger as a giant Sequoya tree. And President Beckett has amazing mind control. Not only can she read people's thoughts but she can use her mind to communicate with people, teleport short distances, and move or bend inanimate objects.'
As the mayor explained the skills of the team, each person gave a brief demonstration. Chief Kevin pressed his ear to the floor and informed the mayor that his secretary was on the phone with her sister, and was planning to call in sick the next morning so that she could go shopping with her mother in Hoboken. General Javier jumped off the roof, flew to a nearby park and returned with a large tree branch which he proceeded to chop into firewood. Alaina morphed first into an exact replica of President Beckett and then into one of Rick, leaving Rogers believing he was looking into a mirror. And finally after the Mayor finished speaking, Rick heard Kate's voice in his head, 'Don't be afraid Mr. Rogers. We can only use our powers while aligned as a team, and only for good. Join us and be our civilian aide.'
Without speaking, Rick asked the team leader, 'How can I help? I have no powers.'
Her response this time was spoken so everyone could hear. "Deep inside, we all have powers, Rick. The power to help. To power to be good. The power to care for those around us. Go into the city, tell the people to stay inside until morning. Tonight The Punks will come to justice'."
Alaina literally clapped in her excitement, Javi and Kevin sat forward, eager for more, but Katie just watched him, seemingly unimpressed. For some reason, Ricky really wanted her approval, so he pressed on, hoping that eventually he might win her over too.
"Soon Rick Rogers was running through the streets warning everyone that he saw to get inside; the city would soon be released from the evil grip of The Punks. Meanwhile, The K team who were still on the rooftop, prepared for what would be an all out battle on the city below. By midnight, hordes of Punks poured from their dark alleys and secret hide outs, headed for Central Park.
Kate looked at Alaina as she gave instructions, 'Take Kevin down to park, become a tree and hide him in your branches. Kevin, listen and watch for anything that might be an asset to us. Javier and I will be at the north end of the park in one hour to face the mob. Until then we're going to search out stragglers and anyone who might be trying to hide out for a sneak attack.'
The group then split up, ready to face the night head on.
At one in the morning Kate, dressed in her purple 'K Team' suit and mask stepped onto a park bench, bathed in light from the street lamp above.
"To the Punks of New York City, hear me now!' she shouted over the crowd. 'Your days of evil-doing are officially over. When the sun rises on this great city, it will be the dawn, not only a new day, but a new era. The NYPD is waiting behind me for anyone willing to turn themselves in peacefully. You will be punished, but treated fairly. I recommend that you take this option.'
Not one person stepped forward, so she nodded to Esposito who flew in behind her, in his green suit. He carried a rail car used for transporting cattle. Inside, were the Punks that they'd rounded up throughout the city. Beckett continued to address the crowd, 'If you won't listen to me, maybe you'll listen to your hoodlum buddies here. We are turning them over to the police right now. You may come with them and this can end peacefully, but if you choose to remain here, there will be a fight. And you will lose.'
A dozen or so people, out of the hundreds gathered, moved into the light, ready to turn themselves in, but the majority stayed put, readying for the battle to come.
One last time Beckett addressed the crowd, but this time she never spoke. Everyone heard her voice though, in their heads, as she stated simply, 'You have made your decision and now you will face the consequences.'
Suddenly, the walkie-talkies that some of the gang carried all crackled to life and began shouting a variety of random instructions, all in Kevin's voice, confusing the group ever more, but they began to scatter as they'd been instructed.
Alaina made her move next and sprouted giant tree roots from the ground, tripping many people and trapping others. Then she grew vines to capture and tangle a bunch more until the cops could come bring them into custody.
Javier flew over the crowd, herding a large group all the way to the boathouse, where they hid in fear. Esposito landed, took a steel fence post and wrapped it around the door of the building, locking the group securely inside.
After leaving the boat house, he teamed up with Ryan who searched through the darkest parts of the park, listening for gang members for his partner to capture and fly back to the police barricade.
Meanwhile, Beckett took on the group that came directly after her. With lightening speed, she flashed from point to point, easily escaping any attack that was headed her way. In the brief moments that she was visible to the ruffians, she'd mess with their minds, casting doubt on their intentions. Before long, they were all scared and confused enough that she could tie them up with little resistance.
In less than an hour every Punk in the park had been put under police custody and The K Team convened under the same streetlight where the brawl began.
'We did it! Great work guys!' Kevin cheered.
The group patted each other's backs and shook each other's hands, celebrating a job well done. All of them that is, except for Kate, who stood stone still.
'Beckett, what's wrong?' Parish asked.
'I don't know. I just feel like something isn't right.'
Before anyone could ask any more questions, the ground began to shake, and a crack formed in the street. Steam rose up from where the pavement split, but parted like a curtain when a large dark figure approached.
The dark shadow person more than doubled in size before reaching the light.
'Well done, K Team,' laughed a deep voice. 'I knew that by bringing the Punks into the city, I would eventually lure you as well.'
Javier took a step forward and froze when he saw who exactly the dark form was. 'Mayor!? What are you doing?'
The oversized mayor laughed evilly, letting Kate answer her partner's question. 'He's trying to destroy us.'
The four members of the group stepped closer to each other, causing the subtle glow that surrounded them to increase.
The villainous mayor only laughed harder. 'You'll need more power than that to stop me, I'm afraid.' Then he tripled in size and grabbed the team, lifting them into the sky. Esposito used all his strength to push against the massive hands, but to no avail. Ryan used his vision to look around them for anything that might help, but came up empty. Miss Parish tried to transform, but the monster's grip was so crushing, her body failed to morph. Beckett was the only one who didn't struggle. She remained completely motionless, with her eyes closed, while she concentrated.
All of a sudden, she opened her eyes wide and spoke mentally to her team. 'The Mayor's mind is closed off to me. I don't see a way out. But I keep feeling like we should get rid of our communicators. I don't know why.'
One by one, they removed the silver pins from their chests and dropped them onto the sidewalk far below. When the last one hit the pavement, the team's glow faded by about half, along with the strength of their powers. Suddenly weaker, the crush of the Mayor's hands around their bodies became almost suffocating. The end of The K Team was coming closer with each second.
The Mayor laughed harder, creating a painful echo in the team's ears. 'What, you're just giving up? Where's the fun in that? I wanted a fair fight!'
'Fair!?' A voice shouted from the ground below. 'What does someone who lies to the world, terrorizes a city for years, lays traps for heroes, and then crushes their opponent know about fair?'
Distracted, by the new voice, the Mayor loosened his grip enough to allow the heroes to breath. 'Rick is that you?'
'Yes Mayor, it is!' came the man's reply.
'This isn't your fight. Leave me at once.'
'No, this is my fight. First you had my city, and now you have my friends.'
The Mayor continued to laugh maniacally. 'You don't have any powers even. What makes you think you can stop me?'
This time it was Rogers who laughed. 'But you're wrong. Weren't you listening earlier. We all have powers. I have the power to help.' A subtle glow began to form around Rick as he spoke, and continued to increase with each confident statement. 'The power to be good, The power to care for those around me.'
The giant man swung his head back and forth. 'Well those don't scare me.'
Rick walked a few paces on the sidewalk to where the four silver pins remained discarded. He scooped them up into his hand, and felt an almost electric charge seeping from them into his hand.
Then he heard Kate's voice in his head, 'The power will lead you. Trust it.'
He looked at the pins which were now also glowing, all in there respective colors. Rick took the first one and attached it to his shirt. He felt energized.
Rick shouted back up to the mayor who was watching him with amusement. 'Maybe those don't scare you, but this should. 'I also have the power of Communiation.' The white glow around him flashed yellow for a brief second before he picked up the pink pin. 'I have the power of Transformation.' He flashed pink. 'I have the power of Body'. He flashed green. 'And I have the power of Mind.' This time he flashed purple before the glow became a steady, glowing red.
The Mayor was still laughing, but paused to ask, 'What makes you think that if four people with these powers couldn't stop me, that only one person with them could?'"
Ricky again paused his story, this time to catch his breath. Not only were the kids all waiting anxiously for him to continue, but most everyone in the quiet subway car was as well.
"Don't stop now!" Javi practically shouted. "What's gong to happen?"
Ricky looked at Katie who was watching him wide-eyed, with just a hint of a smile. She refused to indulge him by asking him to continue, but it was obvious she wanted to know how the adventure would end. He winked at her, causing her to recoil a bit, but he'd already picked up the story again, cutting off any come back she might want to give.
"Now that Rick had the combined powers of his friends, he's already communicated with them silently laying out a plan.
'I think I can stop you because I have two more powers,' he told the Mayor confidently;
The giant humored the small man on the pavement. 'Really? And what powers are they?'
'The powers of Teamwork and Surprise!'
Rick Rodger flew up and hit the mayor between the eyes, causing him to drop the K Team to the ground. Kevin was already using the police radios and walkie-talkie to instruct them to move in, while Javier and Rick grabbed two street lights and rapidly turned them into handcuffs for the giant man. Alaina transformed into a large venomous spider, crawled up the mayor and sank her fangs into his neck, causing him to scream and drop to his knees with an earth shaking thud. And Kate Beckett was finally able to break into the Mayor's thoughts. What she saw there startled her, but also relieved her. Although this man was indeed the mayor, he was under the control of something else.
All of a sudden the entire night sky lit up like a ball of fire as a large flying saucer appeared over their heads.
The giant Mayor screamed out in a voice that was only remotely familiar, 'You may have won the battle earthlings, but you haven't won the war!'
Then the Mayor turned into a glowing white light, shape shifted into a pillar of pure energy and shot into the saucer. The spacecraft then zipped out of the atmosphere leaving the night sky clear and bright in the moonlight.
On the ground, the real mayor, who was now back to normal size, sat up and groggily looked around. 'What happened?'
A pair of paramedics ran up to him and began to check him out while answering his questions to the best of their ability.
A few feet away, the now five-member K Team regrouped.
'Welcome to the team, my friend,' Kevin said while shaking Rick's hand.
'What an introduction!' Rogers replied. 'Here, you guys need your communicators back.'
Kate held out her hand. 'Let me see them first.'
She took the four silver wedges and formed a circle with them, in her palm. Magically, they melted together into one solid piece before breaking into five equal wedges. She handed each member of the team, including Rick, a piece. 'I'm not sure exactly what your powers will be but when the time comes, you will know.'
He took the communicator pin and nodded. 'Thanks.'
'No, thank you.' The rest of the team answered as one.
With that, the reformed K Team helped put the city back into order during the last few hours before dawn. Then, as quietly as they arrived, they each left, heading back into the night, preparing once again, for the next time they should meet.
The End."
Applause broke out around the train car, including from the children Ricky had just entertained for the last thirty minutes.
He leaned slightly toward Katie, "So was it OK?"
"I think you should be a writer when you grow up. You have a lot of talent for telling stories."
"Really? You think so?"
"Why would I make that up?"
"I dunno. It's just that outside of my friend Damian, no one's ever told me I was talented."
"Well, now I have too! Thanks for the story." Katie smiled.
Ricky lifted his hand for a high-five, which she conceded. "Anytime."
Just then, the crackled voice came through the overhead speakers again. "Ladi... nd Gentlemen, thank y... ...yer patience. We'll be moving again shor... but only to.. (garbled voice) Station. Shuttles will... ailable to take... ...your... ...stop."
"Time to get back in your seats guys," Mrs. Beckett told the kids. Surprisingly, they seemed disappointed that they'd be moving again.
When the train lurched forward a few minutes later, Katie was tucked in next to her mom, and Alaina was sitting on her mother's knee. Ricky and Javi had returned to their seats and Kevin was dozing on his father's shoulder.
Soon the train pulled into the station, and people quickly poured out of the cars. Javi and his grandmother were some of the first off but not before he turned back to wave goodbye.
When the girls and their mothers stood, Alaina pressed something into Katie's hand. "You can have this to remember me."
Before she could even thank her new friend, Alaina and her om were walking out through the sliding doors. The last thing she heard from her as they left, was Alaina telling her mom she wanted to be called Lanie from now on.
Katie looked down into her hand to see what her new friend had given her and found a white plastic elephant key chain. In and of itself, it wasn't anything special, but from that moment on, elephants became a favorite animal for the young girl.
Mrs. Beckett pulled Katie's hand. They were the last ones in the car and it was time to leave.
When walking across the platform, the newly acquired plastic trinket slipped from Katie's hand and she stopped to go back to retrieve it. But before she could pull away from her mom, a young black man in a police officer's uniform, bent and picked it up.
"Is this yours young lady?"
"Yes, Sir."
Katie looked at the man's name plate. It read, R. Montgomery. He appeared to be a cadet or something cuz he didn't have the usual badge most officers had, just a blue stripe, but what he did have, was a giant smile. "It was a gift from my friend."
"Then hold on tight to it. You don't want to lose something that special."
"Thank you, Officer." Mrs. Beckett replied.
"Yeah, thanks!" echoed the girl.
"No problem. Have a great day!"
The Beckett ladies continued on with the flow of people, toward the steps.
About half way up the stairs, the crowd stopped so that people could trickle threw the congested turnstiles. Katie looked back one last time, hoping for a final glance of her new friends.
Disappointed to see they were all already gone, she moved her focus back to the head of the stairs. There, just at the exit was Ricky, was turned toward her and smiling. She lifted her hand to wave goodbye, but in that split second, he'd already turned back and followed the crowd out.
"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Those kids were really nice. Do you think I'll ever see them again?"
"I don't know Katie. This is a big city, but I suppose anything is possible."
XXXXXXXXXX
March 2013
"You know Castle, Nikki doesn't have to be naked on the front of every cover." Kate argued.
Rick leaned in close to his girlfriend's ear, after swallowing the last sip of his coffee. "Don't lie, you're totally flattered."
Beckett rolled her eyes and followed the rest of her team onto the open subway car where their latest victim lay.
Ryan immediately grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and covered his nose. "Ugh. He looks like he's been locked in here for ages. And what is that smell?"
Espo nudged his partner's shoulder. "Don't puke Bro!"
Dr. Parish, who was kneeling over the body looked up at the pair towering over her. "I don't know how long he's been in this car but I can tell you by his liver temp, he's only been dead two, maybe three hours."
Castle groaned as he examined the corpse in disgust. "Lord knows two hours stuck in the subway is enough to kill anyone."
"Awwww, Castle don't be such a baby. Just being on the subway for a while didn't kill him. Once, when I was a little girl, I was on a train that was stuck underground for a couple hours. There were some other kids with me and it actually ended up being kinda fun."
The End
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A/N: There you go! I hope you found this story unique and enjoyable. Thank you for taking the time to read it!
To all my American readers (and anyone else who wants to celebrate our many blessings), Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for each and every one of you who reads my stories. I'm thankful for this forum, where I can exercise my writing skills. And I'm thankful for the Castle fandom, where I've met so many great folks.
To everyone, everywhere, whether you're celebrating a holiday or not, have a great and safe weekend!
Until next time, happy reading!
DeBo81