Christmas Train Chapter 7, a castle fanfic

Christmas Train

Chapter 7

December 31st

The trio had only just made it to the first car coupling space. Curious, Vile asked, "How did you spot him the first time," as they all walked very slowly while keeping their eyes open, looking for anything.

"It suddenly started to snow and the snow stuck to him. It was just the vague shape of a person but you knew he was there," Kate answered.

"Then we'd better hope it starts to snow again. The problem is he might find a way to double back on us and escape. Take off the suit and simply blend in." Vile got ready to open the next door for her husband who had his weapon trained and ready.

Kate began wondering why it had snowed in the first place. It had never done that before, so why had it done that now?

Kate walked as slowly as her friends, however, instead of walking with a weapon in her hand, she had her hands in fists. She was going to punch and kick him until he was down and unconscious if she had to.

The next car was filled with people sitting and talking. So as not to cause a stampede and allow the killer to escape past them, Shrom and Vile had to try and hide their weapons while still keeping them at the ready.

Kate felt out of place wearing only her bra and panties. She had even taken off her high heel shoes so she could run more easily. Which meant she was now walking around barefoot. She did her best to ignore the stares she was getting. She was secure in her feelings about her own body, it was just that being practically naked in public wasn't all that easy.

So far Shrom and Vile hadn't spotted anything out of the ordinary. They'd even taken to stepping in or sweeping their arms in spaces where he might be hiding as they slowly walked to the far end.

"Shrom!" Vile had spotted something and got his attention.

Shrom's head whipped around. "What?" he hissed. Kate had her eyes on a different direction.

"The far train door just opened and no one went out or came in," Vile warned.

"We continue slowly. It may be a distraction and we need to search the luggage areas, too. He may try hiding in them." Shrom was in no hurry to rush the door and try and catch him.

It took time and while no one stopped them, they did get a lot of looks, especially Kate. "I knew I hated that dress," she whispered to herself.

Vile had heard her and gave her opinion easily. "You wore it because of Castle. I think he likes you…a lot."

Kate shook her head. She didn't need her feelings for Castle getting in the way. She was hunting a killer and she needed to focus on that though it was difficult. She did like him, she liked him a lot. She hadn't been this happy in a long time. Will had never made her laugh, not once.

Stepping through the door they were confronted with suitcases stacked behind support straps on both sides. "Keep the door closed. No one goes through it while we search." Shrom told Kate as he and Vile began moving suitcases. It was slow and a little tedious, still it needed to be done. An invisible person may be just that, invisible. But he or she still took up physical space. Shrom and Vile were counting on their training to not end up being stabbed to death by an invisible person.

Vile looked at Shrom who shook his head. He had nothing and it was looking like Vile had nothing as well. They continued to the next door that was a simple articulated section of the train. Searching it took almost no time since there was no place to actually hide.

Vile opened the door for her husband and followed him into the next car. Once again Kate was left guarding the door they had just come through while they searched the luggage storage area.

Kate was finding that walking around in nothing but her bra and panties was a little cold. Not enough so that she could see her breath or that her teeth chattered, but she was starting to get goosebumps and had begun rubbing her arms to keep warm.

Once again Vile looked at her husband who shook his head. Neither of them had anything. She moved to the next door.

"This is one of the bar cars," Kate said to them. She'd been studying everything about this car for hours on end.

"Liquid." Shrom smiled and looked at the other two.

"We splash him and whatever gets wet will become visible," Vile explained when Kate gave them both a questioning look. "Be ready to throw someone's drink at him if you see something." Now was not the time to be worrying about someone complaining about ruining their drink.

Shrom nodded and Vile opened the door for him.

At first Shrom was a little shocked at what he saw. But like his wife, he did not fear death. "That doesn't work on me," Shrom stated flatly then shot a hole in their invisible killer. Collapsing to the floor, he was dead before he even hit it. It was only then that the other two could actually see any portion of him. But for the hood they would have seen a look of shock on the dead man's face. His suit was supposed to scare them into inaction. Except Shrom had shot a hole right through him. It was about the size of a baseball. It took out a large section of a lung and almost half of his heart. Along with a number of ribs.

"You got him." Kate was a little surprised.

Vile had heard her husband and understood instantly what he had tried to do. Shrom wasn't afraid of anything, much like herself. They were both well-trained.

His action had gotten the attention of a number of people in the car that were drinking.

"Let's see who our killer is, shall we?" Shrom bent to remove the hood that allowed his face to look like Death.

"WILL!" Kate was shocked and couldn't believe it. He was close to the last person she would have suspected. In fact she was thinking he was the killer's next target. "Why?" Him being the killer didn't make any sense to her.

"Your old boyfriend. Isn't he a politician?" Vile was also a little shocked at seeing him. She hadn't suspected him either.

"Yeah, a United States Senator. Why is he the killer?" Kate stepped in closer to remove more of the hood to get a better look at him. He was clearly dead since he had an enormous hole in his chest.

"Why, Will?" She obviously had her killer but it left her with questions. She was thinking about searching his room for answers.

Then she saw something clutched in one of his hands. One hand clearly had a knife in it but the other hand was clutching something much smaller. She reached for it and pried his hand open.

"NO!" Vile screamed at her but it was already too late. The three of them and most everyone in the car never felt a thing. They were dead so fast they didn't see or feel anything as his body exploded. Kate had, without even knowing it, exposed a dead man's switch.

Rick was still holding pressure on her wound while the doctor was actually doing his job. "I need to get her to my office so I can operate on her. The wound's bad but I think he stuck her stomach or intestine this time instead of one of her kidneys or liver. I think we have time." He needed to start operating on her straight away.

"Keep applying pressure. You two help me lift her and carry her to my office." He singled out two people who were standing around just watching. "NOW!" Neither of them had moved a step until he yelled at them.

"Keep applying pressure…Santa?" He'd only just noticed just who was applying the pressure. He had no idea there was a Santa Claus on the train. It was a Christmas Train, though, so he wasn't that shocked.

Suddenly the entire train pitched violently which sent all of them flying. The two helpers lost control of the woman's body. Rick lost his ability to apply pressure to the wound and all of them hit the far wall then crashed to the floor.

It left all of them a little dazed and Rick was the first to attempt to stand up. He had only just succeeded when he saw a violent flash of orange and red light, then the car lurched again, sending him crashing back to the floor and sending the others flying again. For a brief second Rick and the others saw fire. It was just enough for Rick to wiggle his fingers and it started to snow again.

"Tickets please." Will and Kate stopped and handed over their tickets. "You have berth B-2. That's four cars that way. There's a mandatory evacuation drill that all guests are required to attend. There's also a map inside your room; please take a moment to memorize it so you know where everything is. Welcome aboard, we hope you enjoy your trip." He handed them both back their tickets.

Kate was out in front and couldn't shake the feeling of déjà vu that was almost consuming her. She knew down deep inside that she'd done this before. All of it. It was just that it didn't make any sense at the moment.

She walked through the first car that had a lot of blue in it. Blue seats and blue drapes with windows on both sides. "A bar car is next," she whispered and started opening doors, not waiting for Will to do it for her. She was in a hurry to get somewhere.

"What's the rush?" Will didn't understand just what she was doing. She had always allowed him to try and be a gentleman. He'd used it for the last year to get her on his side. To try and get her to believe that he was a nice guy.

Kate ignored him as she walked into the car and saw some seating areas with small tables. All of the tables were being used at the moment and the place was filled with passengers that had beat them onboard. She made her way through the crowd as quickly as possible and stopped at the bar. "I'll take a double shot latte with vanilla and Irish Whisky when I get back, Henry," she said and kept moving. Henry was a little taken aback. She was the second person that knew his name and he had never seen either of them in his life. Still he got to work on her drink since he wasn't busy at the moment.

The next car had a narrow corridor down one side with windows on one side and doors on the other. Kate stopped at the third door down and stared at it. The brass plate said A-3 on it. "Our cabin is the next car down, Kate." Will didn't understand why she had stopped there. This was not their cabin.

Kate turned to look at him and couldn't help but feel repulsed by the sight of him. He wasn't just ugly now, he was hideous. She didn't know why she'd never seen him like that before. She couldn't stand being next to him. He was the most vile person she had ever met. "Leave me alone! Move on to your cabin, I'm staying in this one," she said and saw the look of shock on his face. "NOW, WILL! I don't ever want to see your face ever again. You disgust me! MOVE!" He was still just standing there looking at her. "I may not have my weapon but I can still kick your ass. Now get out of my sight!" she all but yelled at him.

Bracken took his two suitcases, squeezed past her, and continued down the hallway toward the next car. He stopped to look back and saw her just standing there looking at the door. "You will pay for this, Kate." If she wasn't going to be his arm candy to help him get elected president then she wasn't worth anything to him…or anyone else.

Kate never took her eyes off the door in front of her. She somehow knew who was on the other side. She also knew how she felt about him. She raised her hand to knock on the door but stopped. Her heart was beating so fast and her nerves were getting to her. Suddenly tears were rolling down her cheeks. She loved him. With all of her heart she was certain that she loved him and she was going to prove it to him. She gathered her courage and got ready to knock again when suddenly the door opened. Rick was going to go get that drink. Except he found Kate standing there and she was crying. Seeing her had him frozen in place, unable to move or speak.

"Hi, Castle." He was incredibly handsome, tall, broad-chested and broad-shouldered. She wasted no time in cupping his face and kissing him. It was the kiss she had always dreamed about. It was soft, sensual, and amazing. Just what she knew a kiss was supposed to be like. She also somehow knew it was their first. Kate broke from the kiss and looked into his eyes. They were blue and deep and she was lost in them. "Hi," she barely whispered.

"Kate?" It was her yet it shouldn't be her. He meant he knew she would be there on the train but not at his door kissing him. And how did she know his name? They hadn't met yet. At least not this time around.

"Are you going to invite me in?" She was still standing out in the hallway with her luggage.

"Um, yeah, sure." He was shocked but also happy to see her. He watched as Kate picked up her suitcases and walked into his cabin.

Kate put her suitcases down and looked around. Something was wrong, really wrong. "Where are the Christmas decorations and the Christmas lights? This cabin should be filled with them." She turned to him to find out why it wasn't.

"I, ah, I haven't put them up yet. How do you know about them?" She shouldn't have any memory of him or this room, and yet it seemed as though she did.

Kate smiled widely since it looked like she had the advantage even if she didn't understand how or why. "Do you still have my dress, Castle? The gorgeous green one?" She secretly loved that dress. It was now her most favorite dress of all.

"Um, in the bag." Rick gestured at his little overnight bag that was still on his bed.

Kate turned to look and saw a little overnight bag that her mind told her she had never seen before. At least something was new. It also left her with a question. How did her two dresses, Christmas decorations and lights, and his suits all fit in that tiny little bag?

"His suit." Kate turned back around to look at him. Suddenly he looked different to her in a way that warmed her heart like it hadn't been since she was very young.

"My suit?" He frowned; he wasn't following. "Which suit?"

Kate stepped up to him and got really close, still lost in his eyes. "The red and white one, …Santa." He didn't exist, at least that was what her head had told her since she was a child and had decided that he didn't exist. However, at the moment her heart was in charge and she was going with it. She loved him and couldn't stop herself.

"My Santa suit." Oh boy, what had he done this time? "What do you remember?" He decided to start with that.

"I remember that you look incredibly handsome in that green suit of yours. I remember that Shrom and Vile are on this train." Kate stopped there when she saw the look of shock on his face. Still she soldiered on. "I remember you getting me to wear a Christmas tree dress that I looked ridiculous in, by the way. I remember that there's a killer on this train. I remember…" Her voice trailed off, stopping there since she remembered who the killer was.

Kate raised her hands to cup his face again. "I remember that I fell in love with you, Santa Claus." It was impossible but she just knew he was Santa. Someone she had given up on countless years ago only there he was, on a Christmas Train, out in space of all places.

Rick had no idea how she could remember all that. He had used his Christmas magic to reset everything so he could do it all over again. Only this time hopefully he would be able to stop the killer before he killed his first person. It had been a spur of the moment decision. Except Kate shouldn't be remembering. He must have screwed up somehow.

"Say something." Rick was being too quiet. She needed to know what he was thinking. Her heart was open and his to destroy if he chose to. She was hoping that he would fill it instead.

"Lily's going to have kittens," Rick muttered then kissed her. This time the kiss was anything but soft and sensual. It was filled with pent-up, unused passion that left both of them breathless. Kate had no idea who this Lily person was but she would fight for him if she had to.

Then Rick started fussing with the buttons to her top and Kate was smiling jubilantly. "Make love to me, …Santa." She was in, all in, and she was keeping him. Santa Claus now belonged to her if she had anything to say about it.

"Your wish is my command. Perhaps you could write Santa a letter telling him what you want." Rick couldn't resist teasing her a little.

"Uh-uh, I'd rather show him." Kate got to work on his buttons while he was busy with hers. "Am I on the nice list or the naughty list?" she purred.

"What do you think?" Rick said then kissed her while slipping her top off her shoulders and letting it fall to the floor.