Christmas Train Chapter 2, a castle fanfic

Christmas Train

Chapter 2

December 25th

Rick had chosen to dress for dinner in the very best he had. The only drawback with the room was the amount of storage it had or lack thereof. The closet to hang clothes was really narrow as were the two drawers under that space. It wouldn't fit even a fraction of the clothes that he had in his bag. At least his suit came out of the bag without a single wrinkle.

He looked at himself in the mirror and straightened his tie a touch. "Very festive of you." Rick smiled at himself and headed out of his room in search of the dining room.

It turned out to be a few cars to the rear from his room, not that he cared.

"Name?" Rick was asked as he stepped into the space. He didn't answer right away as he was looking the place over. There was a fair amount of honey-toned wood that was used to separate each table. There was a table on either side of the aisle. It looked like there were glass inserts in the wood. Each table looked to be capable of seating four people. He doubted seriously if he would be sitting alone which was fine with him.

"Richard Castle." He was glad that he was used to using his original name everywhere he went.

"Of course, sir, right this way." He led him down the aisle to a table and let him sit. "You will be sharing this table with two other people. Someone will be with you in a moment for you to order a drink. Enjoy your meal." He left Rick to help the next person or two.

His table had a fine white linen cloth over it. On it was a gold-colored warming plate. He could tell because it was actually warm to the touch. He had two wine glasses, a bread plate with a butter knife, and two forks and two knives. "No spoon?" He looked at the setting across from him and saw they didn't have a spoon either. "What if I order soup?" Then his mouth curled up at the corners at the thought of what the other guests would think if he simply lifted up the bowl and sipped his soup.

He was still smiling at what he was thinking when he was interrupted. "This is your table. You will be sharing it with one other. Someone will be by shortly to take your drink orders."

Rick saw them and was surprised. "Kate!"

"Mr. Castle!" She hadn't been expecting him either. She sat down and moved across to make room for her boyfriend.

"Richard Castle, this is my boyfriend–"

Rick finished for her. "William Bracken." Rick wasn't overly pleased to see him and tried to hide it.

Kate was a bit shocked. She didn't remember ever mentioning his name.

Bracken sat down. "Have we met?" The senator couldn't place the face so didn't think they had met. Still he was well known, at least in the New York area.

"Officially, no. Though I'm well acquainted with you. You've been on the naughty list since you were eleven years old," Rick told him and saw the looks he was getting. Rick was not deterred, though. "Let me think, the last present you asked Santa for was…a bow and arrow set. A real one as I recall, not one with rubber suction cups on the tips. Naturally you didn't get it and you've been on the naughty list ever since for countless reasons." Rick knew all the reasons why all the boys and girls were on the naughty list.

Bracken smiled and chuckled softly. Oh, yes, he remembered that present Santa hadn't gotten him quite clearly. He had yelled at his parents for hours when he didn't get it. It was the point in time that he was finally convinced that there was no Santa.

"You're sure we've never met before?" Bracken narrowed his eyes. "What do you do, Mr. Castle?" Maybe that would help him place him.

Kate answered Bracken's question for Rick since she remembered what he'd told her. "Mr. Castle owns the largest toy tore and distribution company on Earth."

"Really?" Bracken tried to think. "Isn't FAO Schwarz the largest toy store?" Bracken was certain he was correct as he wanted to skip over being on anyone's naughty list.

Rick corrected him. "In New York City, yes. However, my place and its distribution system is the largest on Earth."

That had Bracken thinking. It was just that children and their toys were not something he cared anything about. Still he was going to inquire when he had the chance. And how had Kate met this guy anyway?

"Tell me, how is Ellie? Did her hair ever grow back after you set it on fire?" Rick hated him. And not just because he didn't believe in Santa any more. He was naughty, really, really naughty. Rick knew exactly what had happened to Ellie after that day. It was one more reason why he didn't like the nasty snob.

Bracken was shocked into silence. He suddenly remembered setting a girl's hair on fire when he was little. He'd long since forgotten her name. He also didn't care what had happened to her. He did remember being sent to the principal's office. He had eventually gotten back at the principal years later.

Bracken was saved when a young woman approached their table to ask about drinks. "I'll have a double martini with two olives," he ordered brusquely.

"I'll have an Old Glory," Rick said with a smile.

"I'll take a vodka. Lots and lots of vodka." Kate had a feeling this dinner was going to be a long one. What she didn't understand was why Castle hated her boyfriend so much. She was also going to question him about that little girl.

Rick smiled at Bracken and debated if he should continue. It was just that Bracken sat across from him looking so damn smug that he couldn't help himself.

"Tell me about Victor. How did you two meet?" Rick asked.

Bracken was good and he knew it. It was years of practice. He knew exactly who Victor was, what he meant to him, how he'd met him, and what he used him for even today.

"I'm afraid I don't know any Victor," Bracken answered smoothly. "It sounds Russian to me and I don't have any dealings with people or companies outside of the United States. Doing so is against the law, even now."

He was now damn sure he was going to find out just who Richard Castle was. He knew too damn much. Maybe too much. But he knew what to do with nosy people.

"Perhaps, but I don't think so. He recently helped you find that old house in New York. It was perfect for your needs. It had a nice high stone wall that could be monitored. There was only one way in and out which came complete with a very heavy gate that was monitored.

"All you had to make sure of was that the legal owner handed it over to you. …Tell me, where is he now?" Rick knew he wasn't on his list any longer, which only meant one thing: Victor was dead.

"Will?" Kate had no idea what was going on but somehow Castle knew far more than she did, if, and that was a big if, he was telling the truth.

Bracken needed to do damage control and quickly before Kate started asking him questions as well. "I don't know of any such building, I assure you. Both of you. You're obviously mistaken."

He continued to fight back. "I have a residence in New York as required to serve that state. I have to spend a fair amount of my time in Washington DC. My place in New York is an apartment as Kate can attest. I have no need of such a large house."

Rick had a great deal more ammunition he could fire at him, however, he was also watching Kate and she was starting to look a little lost and concerned. For her sake he decided to stop.

"Perhaps some agency would care to investigate after we return. It would be nice to know what happened to the owner." Rick couldn't really let him off the hook.

"Perhaps. But I'm sure the owner is in perfect health." Living his dead life at the bottom of the river in fact.

The appetizers turned out to be a choice of escargot, chilled strawberry bisque soup, or grilled tomatoes. The salad was either a classic garden salad or a Caesar salad. Their choice of entrée was duck à l'orange, grilled lobster tail, or veal parmigiana. And dessert was a selection of chocolate mousse, crème brûlée, or raspberry cheesecake.

"Well that meal was really nice." Rick was being kind since his meals at home were actually much better. "Perhaps we will meet again tomorrow. It's a small train." Actually it was a large train and they had barely seen any of it. It was only the first day, though.

"That would be nice," Kate murmured; she was full of questions now. All of them dealt with why he hated her boyfriend so much and if he could prove what he'd said about him.

"I'm sure we'll all be very busy tomorrow. So if we don't see you again, it's been nice meeting you," Bracken said and began to wonder if he should add Rick to his list of people he was there for. He took Kate and walked toward their suite.

"Oh, I'm sure we will. The real question is why are you here?" Rick said to himself as he went to the bar to get a nightcap before bed. Once there he found a small party going on. Complete with music and singing. It soon had him leading in Christmas songs since they were his absolute favorite.

December 26th

Rick was loving his bed. Okay, that wasn't truly accurate. For a vacation bed he was loving it. His bed at home was perfect for him so he loved it. Right now though he was uncomfortable. Something he couldn't quite place was wrong.

Disquieted, he got out of bed and went into the shower. The water felt and smelled a little different. Not bad, just different. "I'm on vacation, it's supposed to be different." He didn't want to say bad even if home was better.

He was dry and stepping out of the bathroom when he heard running in the hallway outside his door. It was disturbing enough that he hustled to get dressed. He pulled the first thing he could get his hands on out of his bag and as expected, there were no wrinkles. He slipped on some comfortable shoes and opened his door just in time to see a young man dressed in white running down the hallway. He knew the train's crew were mostly dressed in white.

Rick ran down the hallway after him until he came to a stop at an open cabin door. Looking inside he saw the place was full of white uniform-clad train officers. They were talking to each other with all of the words overlapping, making it difficult for Rick to understand what was being said. Then he was pushed out of the way and another man dressed in white went inside.

He listened and found out this new man was a doctor. Then Rick singled out a word from all that was being said. "DEAD!" That really got him noticed.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you're going to have to leave. This is an official investigation and you are not involved." Rick was starting to be pushed out.

"If someone was murdered you need to know there's a homicide detective onboard that could help you. Her name is Kate Beckett. She's here with William Bracken." It was the best he could do at the moment.

It was enough that another officer told him to stop. Then he pointed out another officer. "Find this Kate Beckett and ask her to come down here." Then he moved over to Rick.

"Thank you for the help, sir, but you're going to need to leave now." He didn't need a civilian messing everything up. He had enough trouble already and didn't need more.

Rick, however, wasn't willing to leave just yet or ever, for that matter. At least until he was sure Kate was going to help them. "You're going to let me stay and help Kate Beckett investigate what happened here."

It took a moment. "You can remain, sir, but please stay out of the way unless this Kate Beckett wants your help." Rick smiled, pleased that it had worked. He was pretty sure it would, but not everyone was the same. He might have been able to resist his suggestion.

"Castle?" What was he doing here? Kate had found herself alone in their suite. Bracken was gone and she didn't know where.

A man in white had pounded on their door and insisted that she needed to come with him. That her assistance was vitally important and she needed to come with him. Now.

She'd made him wait outside while she got cleaned up just a little and dressed. She'd bundled her hair into a messy bun. She was sure she looked like hell but here she was.

"What's going on?" Kate inquired.

"You're Kate Beckett?" an officer asked and she nodded. "I've been told you're a homicide detective."

"For the 12th Precinct in New York City, yes. …Why?" She was on vacation and didn't need a homicide case to find her way out here.

"I'm afraid we're in need of your services, Detective. We aren't set up to deal with things like this. This is Doctor Jerry Grainger, he can explain what we've found. …Please." He really needed her if she was what he was told.

Kate looked at everyone including Castle. "They could really use your help. I'll help you all I can if you want." Rick wasn't really going to take no for an answer. He didn't need to be told who was dead. He already knew and he wanted to help. The deceased deserved his help. He'd been on the nice list all his life.

"Show me what you've got." Kate was in even if she didn't want to be. This was not turning out to be the vacation she'd been promised.

Kate had found out that they had no means to check for prints; even if they had prints they had no access to anyone's database. They had no setup to do a mold to find out what kind of knife had been used to kill him.

The fact that he had been stabbed was obvious to everyone. So was the fact that he had bled out and not died from the stabbing itself. Even more aggravating was when she'd found out that the doctor was a contractor with the train company, not an actual employee. Therefore what he had to work with was what he brought with him.

Kate had been told that she could count herself lucky that he had a portable X-Ray machine. Then it got even better. He'd never actually done an autopsy. At least they had a camera so she had spent an entire hour taking pictures.

Kate finally emerged from the room that was now mostly empty of train employees and found Castle waiting outside. "What happened?" Rick asked.

"He was stabbed from behind. I would say by a knife of unknown type or size. My best guess is that he was in bed asleep when he was stabbed. I wish Lanie was here to tell me more, but I'd say that the blow left him paralyzed. He woke up and slowly bled to death." It was the best Kate could do.

"I can't even get Doctor Grainger to tell me when he died." He was unwilling to estimate the time of death for Kate.

"May I?" Rick gestured, wanting her to let him inside so he could look.

"You want to see all this? The blood's all still there. And he's mostly naked," Kate warned.

"I've seen blood before and I'm familiar with a man's…jewels," Rick replied.

"Is he cleared for this?" Kate asked one of the few train employees that were still there. After getting confirmation, she said, "Knock yourself out." She stood aside and watched everything Rick did in case he either found something she hadn't or if he managed to contaminate the site.

Kate watched him actually search the body then start going over the cabin. He moved to the door. "This door is like my door, correct?" Rick asked a train employee and got confirmation. "If I understand it correctly only I and train employees can open my door," Rick commented and finally had Kate's attention. "Oh, swell." Rick saw the employee nod.

"Does the name Jimmy Van Briller mean anything to you?" Rick asked Kate.

"How did you know his name?" Kate hadn't yet gotten around to asking the train employees whose cabin this was. So how did he know when she didn't find any identification in his room after searching it?

"I'm good with names." Especially if they were on his nice or naughty list. "So what's next?" Rick had never done this before. Kate was the pro.

"Normally I'd find out who he'd last seen. Who he'd last talked to. Where he'd been last. Talk to his relatives and surviving family. And most importantly let Lanie do an autopsy." She wasn't sure how she was going to do any of that.

Rick turned to the train's employees that were still there. "This train has cameras all over the place, right?" Solve that problem first, maybe.

Kate looked at them and saw them all nod. All she saw was hours of watching digital surveillance footage in her future.

"I'll help you," Rick offered.

"Why?" She couldn't understand why was he so willing to help.

"Because," Rick stated then saw the look she was giving him. "You need the help, he was a nice guy and deserves better. Besides he was murdered which means there's a killer loose on this train. So was he or she only after him or will there be others?"

"Good point." She hadn't thought about that yet.

Bracken chose that moment to show up. "What are you doing?" He sounded upset that she was even there.

"There's been a murder, Will. They need help solving it and I am a homicide detective," she reminded him.

"Who is far outside of her jurisdiction and on vacation," Bracken pointed out. "We didn't come here for you to solve murders like you do at home. And who says he was murdered?" Bracken was getting more and more agitated by the second.

"I did and I'm helping them to solve who killed him. It's what I do. You should care who killed him, you're a senator." Kate was becoming quite angry with him.

"A senator who knows where his responsibility ends and is on vacation with his girlfriend. Now let's go, you are done here." Bracken waved his hand and started to walk away, only stopping when she didn't follow.

"I'm staying, Will. Someone murdered him and whoever that is needs to be found before there's another murder. I'm the one to find them," Kate informed him. That was the end of the discussion even if he didn't like it.

"And what is HE doing here?" He jabbed a finger at Rick.

"I'm helping. He wasn't on the naughty list unlike someone I know," Rick countered since he really didn't like this guy.

"Naughty list, nice list. Stupid Christmas." Bracken had planned for something else on this trip and now his plan was going down the drain. He hadn't actually foreseen this like he should've. He was seeing his mistake now. He was really beginning to hate Rick, too. He may have to go as well.

"WILL!" Kate liked certain aspects of Christmas. She didn't like everything about Christmas and hadn't since her mother had been killed. It was an activity meant for families. And she'd liked the gift he had gotten her even if he wasn't family. It had looked expensive.

"I'm going to our room. I expect to see you there shortly." He didn't say, If you know what's good for you. Yet somehow Kate and even Rick heard it as they watched him walk away.

"Naughty list," Rick reminded her. Kate looked at him with new eyes. He was starting to sound a little weird to her with all this nice and naughty stuff. Just who was Richard Castle?

Kate had to admit that at the moment she wasn't all that happy with her boyfriend. He was acting like an asshole. A man was dead and he acted like he didn't give a shit. That part alone was really pissing her off.

"Security room or your cabin?" Rick replayed that in his head. "I mean you and your cabin not me and you in your cabin." He squeezed his eyes shut; that didn't sound any better.

Kate smiled a little since his embarrassment was sweet. It was also cute and humorous. "Security room. Will can just get over himself. We have a murderer to catch."

Rick smiled. She had just said WE.