Here is the 2nd chapter! As I said before, sorry for any mistake. If you find something that murder the English language, send me a cute PM and I will fix it.
Hope you guys like it!
Neo City was one of the few places that still had people living in the ground. With the evolution of technology and the desire to feel like gods, men build up monstrous skyscrapers that would go through the clouds. A lot of cities used the ground to throw their trash on; in Neo City, trash lived there. Wanted people, like Richard Castle, whores, dealers, trip-drug addicts, hackers, prosthetic sellers, bastards, fallen politicians.
Castle knew a lot of these people. Of course they didn't know they were talking with Castle, the wanted author. They were talking with Alexander Rodgers, the guy who loved the system. It was hard to get favors being hated but he had to get some credit to live. And he still didn't know if the detective could be trusted. One thing was to admire her from afar, falling in love little by little, but to talk with her? She was a cop. She knew who he was. And she could arrest him.
It was Friday night. The Zion bar was near the sector 1 elevator, the only elevator that could take people to the sky. So pretentious that they named their region as 'Sky'. But the rich loved to be here, in the underground, in this little square full of cops. They could do their illegal business, get their goodies and trip to inside their mind where their lovers were different from their wives. It was the line between high and low.
So it was busy with people. Castle stumbled in the sidewalk trying to avoid a wave of people. He was assuming that their meeting would be at the same time she talked to him. And he was right. She was there, always in her red trench coach, waiting in front of the bar. Weird. Something was… off. She was looking... different.
And then, when she turned to him and opened a smile… it was there. The perfect smile. The tattoo in her right cheek was gone and she looked like a goddess.
"How… what… w-"
"I thought you were good with words, Mr. Rodgers. But not here. I think you should show me your house. And then we can talk." Her face was directed to him, but her eyes looked everywhere, suspicious, vigilante.
"Wait…" really? "You want….", he laughed, "you want me to take you to my home? You are crazy. You know I can't do that and you know why." He then looked serious. How could she suggest this? Only if she wanted to arrest him. To know where he lived and get all his books.
"You know that if I wanted you would be already in jail, right, Mr. Rodgers?"
"Yes, but I still had a little trust in you because you let me go away. But wanting to go to my home? Where all my things are? Things that are evidence?" He took a step back ready to run if needed. But the detective held both his arms and launched forward faking a stumble right when a group of people passed through. And then her lips were whispering in his left ear, strong and angelic.
"I let the tracking device in my home, Mr. Castle. Tomorrow is my day off and I usually like to sleep early to enjoy the day. Nothing that could get their attention. If you want we can go into an alley and I will show you." She pushed him away and started walking away.
He started to follow. He spend weeks observing her from his stool inside Zion bar. He fell in love with her beauty and laugh. He wanted to know her. It was his dream coming true, right? The only risk being that she was a cop and he could end in jail. Oh well… leap of faith time.
In the next alley, she turned to him, opening the device hidden under her left forearm skin. Empty. No tracking device.
"Who are you? I know you are a detective, Ms. Beckett, but…"
"If we get to your home I will explain everything, Mr. Castle. Trust me… please?" Castle was starting to think this was some kind of faith encounter. She made herself untraceable. The talk they had last time flooded his mind. She said to him that there were people inside that wanted to change this city like him. But how? Was she that powerful?
"Mr. Castle…"
"Wh… what?"
"You zoned out"
"Oh… uh… Yeah… ok." Leap of faith. "I will take you to my home, Ms. Beckett."
"Please… call me Kate," and the perfect smile was there again. Damn. He was so whipped.
"Call me Rick then. So… follow me." He started walking and a nice silence set between them.
They walked through the S street, where women and androids would give you the time of your life. They were more expensive than trip-drugs so everybody knew that the people who came here were the ones that despised the ground.
At the end of the street, Castle turned right into an alley and followed until the end where a door was set.
"Wow… you live in the S street?"
"They are the people that hate me less. Their credits come from the sky so…"
"Because of the things you write for Technofuture journal."
"Exactly. Let's go" he opened the door and went through the stairs until the 2nd floor. 3 doors after, at his right, he unlocked the metal door with his card and announced his arrival.
"Pumpkin, I am home!" while he let the detective enter. The place was comfy, a hallway in the right, kitchen on the left. A big screen in the opposite wall of the door and a shelf in the right with a lot of books.
"Hey dad, welc...oh...you have company!" the beautiful redhead stood beside Castle and looked puzzled.
"Lex, this is detective Kate Beckett. Kate this is my daughter Alexis."
"Hello Alexis," Kate could see the suspicious look. Then Alexis took a defensive position, crossing her arms over her chest, the light from the ceiling reflecting on her metal prosthetic arm.
"A cop? Is something wrong dad? And why she doesn't have her symbol?"
"Don't worry Alexis, she is here to…. ok…. I actually don't know what do you want Kate…"
"Really dad? You bring her here and have no idea why?" Alexis turned to him with raised eyebrows.
"We… we met in the Zion bar and-"
"Wait a minute…. is she the woman you been talking about for weeks?"
"Really Castle? Stalking much?" She knew that. That's how she discovered the guy was Richard Castle and it was like fate decided to give a hand.
"I… uh…."
"Alexis," Kate looked serious in the young direction "I know your dad is Richard Castle," the shocking in her eyes would be funny if the subject wasn't important "I… like his work. And I was looking for him for a long time now…"
"Wait… what?" now it was his time to get shocked. What a twist.
"You are a hard man to find, Rick. You know how to hide. Some people believe you don't even exist. That your books are written by a group of people because no one ever went and said 'I know Richard Castle.'"
"O… k… and why were you after me if not to arrest me?" He suddenly remembered his manners and pointed to the couch while he seated in a chair on the left. Kate took her place and a deep breath.
"As I said the last time we met...you are not the only one that want to change this city. I am part of a group that want to do the right thing. We want to take the power from the corps and give it to someone that will not be influenced by them. And we want your help, Rick. We've been looking for you because you can influence the ground with your words and put fear in the sky."
The way she talked made Castle fall more in love for her. How could he feel this way in such short notice? She was like him. She wanted to change this. She was a cop but she wanted to save this city. But this was a hard task.
"But you are just a cop… I mean…. no offense."
"None taken, Rick"
"So… I assume you have someone in this group of yours that can take the place of Counselor Bracken…. who?"
She took a moment to answer. Let the pause take his breath.
"Bob"