Christmas Train Chapter 3, a castle fanfic

Christmas Train

Chapter 3

Obviously they weren't really tapes that needed to be rewound and played on a machine, of course. But that didn't make watching all of the video recordings of almost everywhere on the train any less boring.

Rick caught up to her as she sat there in front of a screen. "Anything?"

"I've got a whole lot of nothing," she sighed. "I've matched up the names with everyone in the video and chased down each of them for several hours. The frustrating thing is I have no real idea just when he was killed." She tilted her head and looked up at him. "I do have just one really strange thing." She used the controls to find it and play it for him so he could see. "Just this little moment."

Rick watched as the dead man's suite door slid open for a moment, however, no one came out and then it closed again.

"That was at 2:02 am. Then there was this." Kate fast-forwarded and Rick saw the exact same thing happen. The door slid open and no one actually came out. Then it slid closed again. "That was at 2:16 am."

Rick considered the situation. "Maybe he thought about going somewhere and changed his mind. Then thought about it again only to change his mind again." Rick had no idea. Then a question came to him. "You said that he bled out. How long does that take?" Rick wasn't sure if that helped or not.

Kate looked at him since she didn't see what how long it took had any bearing at this point. "It depends, if his only injury from the stabbing was to his stomach or intestine it could take hours."

Rick did his best to understand. "Like in those old Wild West movies where a guy is gut shot."

That had Kate looking at him yet again. "If he was stabbed in the liver he would bleed out in just minutes." She frowned and looked somewhat irritated. "What does that have to do with the door?" No one came out and no one went in.

Rick shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just trying to understand. I'm no doctor."

"Well our doctor is certainly no doctor, either. If you have a scratch he can fix that. If you need your appendix removed you'll either die during surgery or from a ruptured appendix. Add to that he's an independent contractor, meaning the train company can't be sued for anything he does or doesn't do." Kate really didn't like this guy. He wasn't anything like Lanie.

"Remind me to not get sick while I'm here." Rick hadn't really thought medical care on the train would be that bad.

"Have you seen what he charges just for walking into his office? Don't get me started on what he charges for motion sickness." Kate rolled her eyes since she had already looked up what he was capable of doing.

"So video gives us nothing. What's next?" Rick asked.

"We need to search his personal possessions and try and figure out if anything was stolen. Not that I've seen anyone but him going in and out of his own suite." Kate sat back, her entire body sagging tiredly. "Dinner! That's what's next. That and a drink since I could use one." Maybe with some aspirin.

"And where's my–" Kate was all set to admonish Rick for not keeping his promise just as he set a takeout coffee cup on the desk next to her.

"With vanilla and Irish Whisky. I remembered what you ordered the first time." Rick smiled at her. Kate was quiet as she picked up her cup and sipped it, humming as the liquid hit her system.

"Thanks, Castle." Then she ran her tongue over the inside of her mouth. There was something in the aftertaste.

"I added a spice suitable for the Christmas Spirit. Like it?" He was going to use it again if she did.

Kate sipped it again to see if she did. Her smile told Rick all he needed to know.

"I'm going to go get washed up for dinner and change. I'll see you at our table." Rick left her to go to his suite.

Once there he stripped down and stepped into the shower. Now dry, he pulled out yet another of his formal suits. He wanted to look good at dinner.

Rick looked himself over in the mirror to make sure nothing was out of place. "No, it doesn't have anything to do with Bracken," he told the man in the mirror. "Or Kate." He opened the door and headed for the dining car.

Rick got there first and had already ordered his drink when Kate and Bracken showed up. Kate looked positively stunning in her dress. Bracken looked nice in his suit which only irked Rick a little. How such a naughty boy could look so nice was what was getting to him.

Kate smiled at him. "Sorry we're late, Castle."

"There's only the one shower and it barely fits one person." Bracken liked the suite well enough save for the tiny bathroom. He was never taking this train again unless he absolutely had to.

"If we want to see the first event we'll need to eat quickly," Rick suggested. "They plan on stopping so we can take it all in. Provided that we can find an open window to view it from."

"The comets! We have to see that, Will!" Kate had forgotten all about the various stops the train was going to make. It was one of the things that had gotten her to agree to this trip.

"We'll see." The stops weren't why Bracken wanted on this train.

"WILL, we have to see them!" She looked at him askance. "What's wrong with you? This is a Christmas Train." You were supposed to have a good time on a Christmas Train, not be a stick in the mud.

He bristled. "Why are you investigating a death outside of your jurisdiction? This is a vacation not a working trip, Kate." He hadn't really anticipated her investigating murders when he suggested this trip or he would have left her behind and called it a working trip.

"A man's dead, Will." What was wrong with him?

Bracken fought back. "You need to let the train stewards and employees handle it. They have a doctor and are more than capable of investigating a murder on their own train. You have no need to be involved."

She fired right back at him. "He deserves justice just as much as the next person. And their so-called doctor barely knows how to apply a band-aid let alone investigate a murder. He's never even done an autopsy before. For all I know he'll faint dead away after he makes the first cut." Kate was actually thinking she would need to do her own autopsy. She had seen enough of them done to pick up a few tricks.

"Then the owner spends the next several months in court for his incompetence. You shouldn't be involved." He needed Kate off of this case and off of any others that came along.

"Well I am and I'm going to find out who killed him. I'm going to be able to tell his relatives that his killer's been found. That's what I do. You know that." She had no intention of dropping this case no matter what he thought.

"We'll discuss this in our room." Bracken got up, threw his napkin onto his warming plate, and stalked off.

Kate watched him stomp away. She'd never seen him like this before. It only added to her list of reasons why she was questioning their relationship. If he didn't support her work why was he even interested in her and why was she interested in him?

"I apologize. I've never seen him like this before." He had always been civil and nice to her. Though now that she was thinking about it, were his gifts his idea of being nice and romantic?

"It's okay. I'm sure he never expected to have a murder during his vacation. I certainly didn't." Rick had expected to have an extended Christmas and see some never-before-seen sights.

"It's just that he should care that there was a murder. He's a senator, he should care. Not to mention that there's a killer running around loose." Kate turned her head to look at where he had gone. "He should care." Above all he should care that it was her job.

"Shrom?" Rick saw him and his wife walking past.

"Pink Skin!" He hadn't seen him since he boarded the train.

"Please join us." Rick shuffled his ass to the far side of the bench seat to make room.

"Yes, please." Kate did the same. She was full of questions. Besides she could tell everyone back home that she sat next to and had dinner with a pair of aliens.

Vile sat down next to him. "Mr. Castle."

"How's your room?" Rick inquired since he had managed to get them moved to a room much like his own.

"It's amazing! I'm told we have you to thank for that. Are all of the rooms filled with Christmas decorations and lights?" Not that Vile really understood much about Christmas.

"Thank you for that, Pink Skin." Shrom wasn't used to owing people and while the room was much nicer, now in his mind he owed Castle for getting it and that didn't sit well with him.

"Don't mind him. He's just like that." Vile ignored the daggers her husband was throwing at her.

Kate was enjoying the banter. It told her a lot about Vile and just who was in charge. "So how do you know Castle?" He was in toys and Castle had said these two were in the military.

Vile began the story. "We were assigned to Earth for a short time to share information and tactics with your military. It was Christmas."

And Shrom added to it. "Pink Skin here thought we were missing out on Christmas and that our child wasn't getting a present."

"You have a child? Why is he not here with you?" Surely they didn't have to leave him behind!

"We don't." Vile threw more daggers at her husband. "Yet." She reinforced her point to him yet again.

"It didn't stop Pink Skin from assuming we had one, however." Shrom glared at Rick.

"They're married and love each other. I assumed, incorrectly I found, that they didn't. …So why don't you?" Rick glared right back at Shrom.

"Yes, Shrom, why don't we?" Vile glared at him, too.

"Pink Skin!" Shrom was going to skin him if he kept this up.

Kate asked a question to calm things down. "Why Pink Skin?"

Shrom looked at Kate like she was some kind of stupid. "We're blue, he's pink," Shrom stated matter-of-factly.

Their conversation was interrupted when the young woman arrived again to get all of their drinks and hand over today's menu.

Kate still had questions. "Are all of you blue?"

"Andor is a frozen planet. Most of our cities are below ground to take advantage of the geothermal that our planet generates." Vile thought that explained their skin color.

"There are a few that're part blue and part white though they're not common," Shrom said.

"They're not treated well in our civilization," Vile added.

"With good reason," Shrom argued, ignoring the look his wife gave him.

"And the…" Kate waved her hand over her head.

"Like I said, our planet's frozen. There's lots of ice. Our antennae are used for balance. Actually not being on ice takes some getting used to," Vile explained as Kate stared at her antennae since she was sure they were both moving at the moment. "The movement of the train helps a little."

All four of them had found a pair of windows so they could see the show. The train had actually slowed way down so they could see all of it.

They watched as a pair of comets passed each other. One passed through the other's tail which created a spectacular show. That show only continued as each of their tails interacted with the other.

"Amazing!" Kate had never seen anything like it.

"It's just…" Shrom shut up when his wife hit him. He glared at her but kept his mouth shut.

It was actually going to continue for hours and the train was going to stay for a lot of it as it slowly moved along to its next destination before going back into FTL.

"Drinks?" Rick offered.

"Good thinking, Pink Skin." He could use a drink after today's dinner since it wasn't sitting well in his stomach.

December 27th

Kate woke up, rolled over to look at her travel clock, and groaned. Even on vacation she was waking up like she had duty that day. Then she rolled back over only to find Will missing. She turned to lie on her back and look up at the ceiling.

He knew what she did for work. It was one of the things she had made sure he was comfortable with. She really didn't understand why he was so cold now. Someone had been murdered and she really was all there was to catch whoever had done it.

Yes, she was on vacation and she was going to do what she could to fit in her vacation time with her work time. He had never shown this attitude before so what was so special about this time?

"Maybe he's just being an ass." For reasons she didn't understand. If he kept this up she knew what her answer was going to be if he did propose and he probably wasn't going to like her answer. But they'd been together for about a year or more so she was going to give him a chance. "He'd better have a damn good reason, though." A really damn good reason.

She was grumbling even louder when she heard a knock on her door. It couldn't be Will; he could let himself in and didn't need her opening the door for him.

"This better not be you, Castle." She intended to turn over and go back to sleep. Instead she got up, searched for her robe, then opened the door only to find one of the white suited train employees.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, Detective, however we have another body." He meant dead body and Kate knew it.

She closed her eyes for a second and huffed out a breath. This vacation was starting to feel more and more like she was at home while getting a call about another body. "Where?" She needed to know where to go.

"Give me fifteen minutes," Kate said and started to close the door. "And go tell Castle." With two dead bodies she could use the help no matter how untrained he was.

She only washed her face and pulled her hair back in a messy bun. She found something simple to wear and was walking toward the suite with the dead body in about ten minutes.

She was surprised to find that Castle was already there and was slowly walking around, looking everything over without actually touching anything. "Don't contaminate my crime scene, Castle." Kate stepped inside and glanced over to find the doctor, if he actually was one, looking over the body.

Rick held up his hands. "I haven't touched anything."

Kate ignored him, directing her attention toward the doctor. "What have we got?"

"Male, the passenger list has him as Jimmy Graham. Sixty-one years old, a widower according to the file. He takes several medications. Most are for high blood pressure and cholesterol. He does have insulin in pens." The doctor had at least done a little work this time.

"Diabetic. Find all of his drugs and do tests on them. Find out if there's anything in them. Cause of death?" Kate stepped in closer and watched him roll him onto his side which exposed a huge pool of blood that was soaking into the mattress.

"Stabbed just like the other one. Based on the amount of blood–"

Kate finished it for him. "He missed the kidney this time and he bled out slowly. Get those drugs tested." She wanted the results of those tests.

"I'm not really set up to analyze prescriptions for unwanted chemicals." Then he defended himself a little. "I wasn't expecting a murderer on this train. It's Christmas."

"Well you do now so get to work." Kate was not in any way impressed with this guy.

"If he bled out slowly why didn't he call for help?" Rick asked from where he was standing.

"That's precisely why I want those drugs tested. And do a test on his blood, too, Grainger. I want to know what drugs are in his system. Maybe he couldn't call for help because he was drugged." Kate took Rick's question and explained why she wanted those tests.

The doctor started to open his mouth. "Just do the tests. I don't care how ready you were for a murder. You're a doctor so do doctor things." Kate was about done with this guy.

"Cameras?" Rick queried.

"Yeah, more hours staring at a screen." It hadn't helped much last time and she didn't have much hope of seeing anything this time. But she had to do it.

"I'll help. And bring you coffee." Rick was betting she was addicted to the stuff.

"Thanks." Kate could use the help. …And the coffee.

Since Ryan and Espo weren't there it was left to her and Castle to search the room and see if they could find anything. So far the killer was proving to be elusive. He didn't leave anything behind.

Then a thought hit her. As wacky as it sounded Castle seemed to be good at it and maybe his answer would give her a lead. "Was he on the nice or naughty list?" She really couldn't believe she was asking him this.

"Oh, nice, most definitely nice. …Unlike your boyfriend." Rick clapped a hand over his mouth. "Sorry!" Somehow that had just leaked out.

"Will's being an ass for some reason. Start searching and try not to touch anything." Not that she had a way to find fingerprints, or gloves, or bags to put anything that was found in to to be studied later. "Hell of a way to run an investigation," Kate griped yet again.

"You'll do it. I have faith." Rick wanted her to succeed. A killer needed to be caught.

Kate hadn't even had lunch yet and was still sitting in the security room watching video after video of camera after camera. It was tedious and she was tired. Not to mention that she hadn't found much just like last time.

Then she watched as a takeout cup that smelled suspiciously like coffee was set down next to her. "With vanilla and Irish Whisky. I had them add some whip cream and a cherry this time, along with my mystery spice." Rick beamed at her and sat down in a spare chair. "So, anything?"

Kate took a sip and hummed in approval. She had to admit Castle knew how to order coffee; now if he could just make it she would marry him in a heartbeat. Eyes wide, she shook her head. What the hell was she thinking?

"Not much. I have seen this, though." She changed cameras and pressed play so she could show him. Rick watched the deceased's door slide open and then slide closed. "That was at 1:01 am," Kate said. "Then there was this." Kate changed the time and showed him. Again Rick watched the door slide open and then close. In each case no one came out or went in. "That's it. That was at 3:23 am." She sat back. After what felt like hours of watching it was all she had and she didn't like it. But now it was her turn to ask questions. "Find anything?"

"Just this." Rick handed it over to her.

Kate took it and started reading. It didn't really matter that it was being handled this way. She had no way to run any tests on it so she might as well touch it.

She bit her lip and frowned because she remembered something from the previous killing. "Castle, both dead men were in politics. Will could be next."

"Somebody doesn't like politicians or just doesn't like politics." Rick had seen the link between the two as well. "Where is he?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him all day. He wasn't in our room when I woke up this morning and got up for this guy a few minutes later. I have no idea where he is. We need to find him!" She may be conflicted as to whether she loved him or not but she didn't want him dead.