Title: Bent, Not Broken- Our Rules
Rating: T
Pairing: Gates/Perlmutter friendship
Disclaimer: I couldn't begin to take credit for the beauty that is Castle. That would be Andrew Marlowe's pride and joy. I just play with the toys and put them back in the toybox.
Author's Note: Nothing would please me more than to share the thoughts and love I had for 5x15 "Target". I can't stop watching the episode, and when I can't watch the episode, I watch clips. I was blown away by Nathan Fillion, Stana Katic and Molly Quinn. After I watched it the first time, the Castle muses began whispering the fiction you see before you now. I would like to thank Andrew Marlowe and the Castle crew for their hands in making something we love and believe in. And I would like to thank Vertical Horizon and Three Doors Down for giving me the rock music that inspired each one of these chapters. The music for each chapter is as follows, and if you'd like reasons why, please message me:
Our Rules (Gates/Perlmutter): "Miracle" by Vertical Horizon
Our Lives (Ryan/Esposito): "Citizen Soldier" by Three Doors Down
Our Hearts (Lanie/Beckett): "Won't Go Away" by Vertical Horizon
Our Souls (Castle): "Train" by Three Doors Down
This builds on top of my "A Day In the Life of Perlmutter" fiction, and happens right before Chapter 8 "Where We Stand". Enjoy.
Summary: Our rules can be bent, but they will not be broken. (Spoilers for 5x15 "Target")
"I don't know, Sidney," said Captain Victoria Gates, her arms crossed and her gaze hawkish, fixated on the intangible on the floor. "This is something a little closer to home."
She'd been like this in spurts, periods here and there when no one was looking, but she didn't fool Dr. Sidney Perlmutter. She played the rest of the precinct like saps; the stoic, unyielding commanding officer, all for "yes, Sir" and "absolutely, Sir" until her subordinates were blue in the face, making fools of themselves. But a slight hitch in her step, shoulders slumped slightly, her periodic starings into the unknown gave her away like a cheap drunk at the town bar. Her tells were easy to pick up if one was paying attention, and it was his habit and occupational hazard to nonchalantly notice everything, and miss nothing.
Sidney absently fingered the knick-knack paperweight on her desk, sending the tiny metal ball swinging into its brothers and exchanging centrifugal force. "Nothing you can do but do your job, Victoria. Find the facts, do your job, and get her back. Alexis needs us to work on the outside so she stays alive on the inside. As long as we do that, we can't lose."
"I know that, and I'm trying not to lose hope or perspective on that, but it's getting bleaker by the moment. You know as well as I do that the lifespan of a kidnap victim goes down every hour they don't turn up. And with Castle pacing around so badly that he's etched a groove in the precinct's floor, I'm finding nothing to give him to ease his pain."
"You 'like' Castle, don't you?"
She sighed. "About as much as you. While I don't care of his antics, there are moments where even I can't help but acknowledge him as a blessing in this place. I'm beginning to see why Roy Montgomery kept him around for so long."
Sidney smirked slightly. "You know that's not the only reason why he kept Castle here."
"I know. I've been suspicious for awhile, and today just confirmed it. The way she hugged him and them holding hands… that sort of affection is restricted here. It's against the rules for partners to be in a romantic relationship together, and I know, once all this is over, I will have to address it." She sighed, and rubbed her eyes with the thumb and index finger on her right hand. "That's not a conversation I'm looking forward to at all."
"Well, technically, they aren't breaking the rules."
"Hmm?"
"You said 'partners' right? As in two people who work together for the NYPD."
"Right."
"Then they aren't 'partners', not with that line of thinking. Beckett's an NYPD homicide detective, and Castle is a two-bit writer with delusions of grandeur and no imagination. He only thinks he's a cop."
She narrowed her eyes. "And?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, you can't kick him out of the precinct based on that fact. He acts in a consultant capacity only. Unless," he bemusedly grabbed the paperweight's flying spheres. "you would like to tarnish the reputation of the New York Police Department by actually claiming Castle as a deputized employee. But if you ask me, that would be stupid."
Gates chuckled. "Since when were you an advocate for Richard Castle?"
"Since his daughter got kidnapped." He hardened his gaze, serious. "It's hard to find reasons to demean and criticize a father when his child is put in danger. Especially if you were that child's mentor for awhile. I might not respect big Castle, but little Castle, I'm quite fond of."
That seemed to settle things. "I will… give it some thought. Thank you for being honest, Sidney."
"Absolutely. Now, if you will excuse me, Victoria, I have to get back to the morgue. Beckett asked me to look over the body of Mr. Roadkill one more time. The sooner we find these clowns, the better."
Sidenote: Someone mentioned this chapter is OOC for Sidney. That's probably because of what's missing in "A Day in the Life of Perlmutter".
-To give him more interactions with other characters, I had in my head that Perlmutter would take over Alexis's internship at the morgue if Lanie wasn't there, or if Lanie asked him to consult. This means he's known Alexis and worked with her "for awhile", since Season 4.
-He would've liked Alexis. She's smart, and she pays attention, and she doesn't annoy people.
-I had a chapter I was working on that explains this, but I never got to publish it before "Target". It will be published immediately afterward.
-Because of Sidney's respect for Alexis and the situation, he would feel some sort of obliging respect for Castle too. Don't think it would last, but for the moment, he would feel Castle's pain and be on Castle's side in keeping him in the precinct, where he could do the most good.
Just fyi. -K.F.
