Hey, sorry if any of y'all got two alerts about this chapter, I had to upload it twice. Anyways, no real plot to this chapter, just a little fluff I came up with to waste your time (and mine). But it's 5000 words, and I don't think I've written 500 words about anything before, so I hope you enjoy it. And it would be much obliged if you read the quick AN I have at the bottom
Enjoy!
The lurch of the subway as it arrived at a station jolted Castle out of his dozing state. Quickly he glanced at the monitor, to make sure he hadn't missed his stop, before sitting up and blinking the sleep from his eyes.
Trying to keep himself awake, he glanced around. Well past rush hour on a Friday morning, there were only 4 other people on his car. Two suits seemed to be discussing business, paying no attention to him, while a teenage girl in a "sk8er girl" getup was listening to music two rows in front of him. The last was a middle aged woman reading a book. Even as he looked at her, she glanced away from Rick and back towards her book. His own face stared at him from the back cover.
He tried to not take the subway very much, being a relative celebrity and all. While he enjoyed the fanfare as much as the next person, the subway wasn't exactly the most glamorous place to take pictures or sign autographs.
Usually he would've taken the car to a case, but Alexis had taken it to a field trip upstate for the day. And while he still had the Ferrari, it wasn't exactly a touring around the town kind of car. Not like the one he and Alexis shared at least.
A smile came to his lips as he thought back to her 16th birthday, when she had asked for a car. Neither of them had really needed a car (their lives being mostly in the city), but now with some of Rick's cases requiring a surprising amount of driving and Alexis wanting more freedom, it hadn't seemed like a bad idea. Plus, it wasn't like money was a burden for them.
Alexis had wanted a Jeep. She had found used ones online, printed safety and mileage stats for all the latest models, and had even promised to come up with $2000 herself to fund it. Plus, "they're totally safe, even when you take the doors off," she had said.
"Take the what off?" responded Castle.
"The doors. You can take the doors off. It's like driving with the windows down, but even better."
Castle frowned. "How would you even know that?" Before she could respond, he continued, "You know what? I don't want to know."
He shuffled through the stack of papers she had placed before him "Ooh, what about this one? An Escalade? Five star crash rating, big enough for all of your stuff, non-removable doors. Plus I bet you can even bulletproof the glass." he said with a wink.
"Why would we need bullet proof glass? You plan on getting shot at? And that tank gets like 4 miles to the gallon. Let's try not to kill the environment," Alexis had countered, clearly exasperated.
They had argued for several hours, until they decided on a Subaru hatchback. Decent enough fuel efficiency, room in the back for textbooks, violins, fencing equipment, and friends. Happy that he had talked her down from a moving death trap without doors, Castle had even agreed to pay for the whole thing. It was only a week later, when he saw printouts of car research with the exact model they had decided on, but dated before their argument, that he realized what had happened. She wanted the Subaru the whole time! She played me like her violin!
Both disgust and pride in his daughter, weighted towards the latter, raced through his chest as the subway finally arrived at his stop. He hopped off and started walking up the stairs, towards the 12th Precinct. Beckett had given him an address only 2 blocks from the Precinct. He glanced at his phone. Missed call from Beckett. Well he was only a minute away from the crime scene. He'd catch up with her there.
The frigid air outside caused him to shiver, and he pulled his coat tighter around himself. There was a brutal cold streak going through New York right now. They would be lucky if temperatures reached positive numbers today. Luckily it was a quick jaunt up the street to the apartment building, and from there only an elevator ride to 4C, where the vic was waiting.
As he entered, he found CSU going over the room and taking pictures. Lanie was there with the body. "Hey Castle," she intoned without even looking up.
"Morning Lanie," responded Castle, still looking around the room. "Where are Beckett and the boys?"
Lanie set down her clipboard and grabbed some tweezers from her kit. "Went off to follow a lead. They think it's the wife. She was at a bar down the road." She leaned over and pulled a long blonde hair off the chest. The hair was soaked with blood.
Finally looking at the body, Castle gasped. "Oh my, what happened to target practice here?"
The body was laying on it's back on the floor. The vic was a slightly overweight man, with two distinct holes in the chest. But the real damage was his head, which looked like it had been caved in with a icepick, multiple times.
"Two GSWs to the chest, and then a bunch more to the face. I'm guessing 4 as that would round out the bullets in the revolver over on the living room table."
"Trying to hide the identity?" asked Castle, moving to get a better look at the face, or what was left of it. The bullets must have been a fairly large caliber to do that much damage. There were no distinct bullet holes, just a horrible mush that had once been distinct bone, skin, and brains.
"Nope," said Lanie, gesturing towards a wallet on the floor a few feet away. "Wallet with an ID was in his pocket."
"Hm. The killer was clearly angry at the vic. Maybe he was an abuser, and wife finally grabbed the gun and shot him, then emptied the gun into his head?"
Lanie closed a bag and deposited it into her case before snapping it close. Speaking to other CSU investigators she said, "You can take the body now." Glancing back at Castle, "I think that's what Beckett had in mind. She tried to call you, but you didn't answer. Wanted me to tell you to meet them back at the Precinct."
Castle grunted and left. Maybe if he went fast enough, he could make himself some coffee and warm up a bit before they got back from arresting the wife.
Sadly, no such luck for him. When he arrived, Beckett was just leaving interrogation. Castle managed to glance inside and see a sobbing blonde woman still handcuffed to the table.
"Wife did it?" asked Castle. When Beckett nodded an affirmative, Castle frowned. "It's too easy. Maybe she was hypnotized into thinking she did it, while it was really a mob hit?" He tried to keep the hope out of his voice.
Apparently it didn't work. "Not this time Castle. This one's open and shut."
"Damn," cursed Rick, still trying to warm his hands by sticking them in his armpits. "I was really looking forward to a fun one. Looks like I made the winter trek over here for nothing."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Well, if you really want to do some police work, you can do the fun stuff now."
Castle's eyes lit up. "Really? What's that?"
"Paperwork" was Ryan's reply as he dropped a thick binder onto his desk, making a deep boom.
"Oh, ha ha funny guys," Castle said as Ryan, Beckett, and Esposito chuckled at the look of utter disappointment on his face. But with nothing better to do, he plopped himself down at his customary chair as Beckett began typing away at her computer.
It took 20 minutes of Castle alternating between watching Kate write the arrest report and playing solitaire on his phone for Beckett to finally say, "Look Castle, its not that I don't love your… company, but don't you have something better to do?"
"Not really," was Rick's reply, which was accompanied by a sigh. "Alexis is out of town for the day and my mother is preparing for some new play, so she's gone all day too. Guess it's up to you guys to entertain me." saying that last part louder and towards Ryan and Esposito.
Beckett frowned. "Well maybe you could entertain us… with some coffee." Happy for anything to do, Rick gleefully ran off to the break room to prepare refreshments as the detectives returned to typing.
Nearly 3 hours later Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito finally finished their respective paperwork. Beckett had started reading the day's newspaper while Castle played paper football with the boys.
"So you guys really don't have any work to do?" asked Castle. "Cause I can leave if I need too." He said this despite the fact that he dreaded the frigid trip home to an empty apartment. Hanging with the squad was much more fun that taking a midday nap or watching a soap opera in his underpants. Ok so fine, he thought. I really just want to spend time with Beckett.
"Nah," responded Ryan. "We've closed all of our cases."
"Plus," added Javier, "shouldn't be too long until a body drops. Murder doesn't stop just because we finally have some free time." He flicked his finger, and the folded triangle of paper soared through Rick's upright fingers.
Rick bent to retrieve the football and took aim at the other set of goal posts: a pair of pencils they had stabbed into erasers. "Well that's good, because I could really use a juicy case right now. This is even more boring than Alexis' mathletes competition."
Suddenly, another piece of white soared through the air, and smacked Castle right in the face. He looked up, surprised to see a smirking Beckett look back at her newspaper. "If it's that boring Castle, no need to hang around here."
"But detective Becket, what if there's a case? I wouldn't want to leave you short handed."
Right on queue, Beckett's phone rang. The three men smiled and started grabbing their things, and even Beckett seemed happy to break the monotony. "Becket," she said into the mouthpiece.
Esposito and Ryan were halfway to the elevator when they heard "Oh… of course I'll be in court on Monday… Was that all?... Thanks, have a good day." She couldn't quite manage to keep the disappointment out of her voice as she re-holstered the phone. "Just a lawyer about a court appearance. Don't get your panties in a bunch."
Rick sighed and glanced at the clock. A little after one in the afternoon. "Anybody hungry?" he asked as everyone resumed their previous positions. "I can order pizza. It's too cold to go out for lunch."
They all agreed and soon enough had 3 large pizzas for company in the conference room. Castle had just finished telling them how Alexis had duped him into buying the car she wanted when Captain Montgomery walked in.
"Hey Cap," said Esposito. "I thought you were going to be at 1PP all day?"
"I was, but the commissioner got called into a meeting with the Mayor. Sent us all home." He eyeballed the pizza boxes on the table. "Hard at work here I see."
"Just waiting for someone to die," Castle said, somewhat unceremoniously.
Beckett cleared her throat. "I think what he means is that all of our cases are closed right now. We're waiting to see if another case somes our way."
Montgomery frowned. "Well I can't have all of you here lollygagging. Beckett, you head home. Ryan and Esposito, go digitize some of the old records. 1PP is up my ass about this whole 'Tech Update' thing." Javier and Kevin grunted an acknowledgement and wolfed down their last slice of pizza as they headed to archives downstairs.
Beckett, however, hesitated then said, "If it's all the same to you Cap, I'll help out the boys. I'd feel bad if they got to do all the fun stuff while I was at home enjoying myself." Montgomery raised an eyebrow, but knew Kate might actually enjoy work more than getting the rest of the day off.
"Besides," she continued, "Castle seems determined to turn the precinct into his personal man cave, so someone has to keep a hold on his leash."
"Do what you will. Just know I can't be paying you overtime to sit on your ass all day." He turned to leave before hesitating, turning back and grabbing the last slice of pineapple and bacon pizza. "Make sure this gets cleaned up," he said with a wink as he left for his office.
Castle sighed as he stood to start stacking empty pizza boxes. "I guess that ends my day. Digitizing files sounds super dull."
Beckett smiled. "I don't know Castle. I actually think you'll enjoy this. There's some pretty fun cold cases you might want to put your 'brilliant detective mind' to."
Rick could hear the sarcasm dripping from her voice, but decided to play along. "Anything to help the NYPD." He deposited the empty boxes in the trash. "Another coffee?"
They made a game out of digitizing the records: One of them would describe the crime scene/enter data into the computer while the others would ask questions to try and figure out who the killer was. It wasn't very efficient, as only one person was actually entering the files at a time, but it provided some entertainment on a slow day. And everybody loves a good game of Clue, thought Castle to himself.
He set down his vending machine soda. "So the lawyer was found overdosed on painkillers in his bed?" When Ryan nodded, he continued, "Well it looks like suicide, but for the sake of fun, I'm going to guess that his client killed him because the lawyer messed up his case and cost him 10 years in jail."
"Wasn't suicide," was Ryan's reply. "Autopsy shows he was drugged beforehand, and probably force fed the painkillers. And it was the client, but he was a first time offender. No prior jail time."
Kate crunched on a handful of chips, also bought from the vending machine. "So the client killed the lawyer? Any previous links between them?"
"Nope. First time they met was in lockup when he was assigned as a public defender."
Javier put his feet up on his desk. "Had the lawyer been acting weird in the weeks leading up to his death?"
"Yeah," responded Ryan, reading through the file again, and stopping to actually type something into the computer. "Our vic had been making trips down to Chinatown. The wife said he never went there."
"Chinatown?" asked Kate, sitting up. "The client's name was Jack Li, right? So maybe our lawyer was talking to his family?"
"What was the charge against him again?" asked Castle.
"Misdemeanor driving without a license."
"And where was he ticketed?" queried Castle again.
"Uh…" hesitated Ryan, reading through the file. "Down by the docks. Nowhere near Chinatown."
"Ok," said Castle standing up. "So our clinet, Jack Li, great spy name by the way, was caught down by the docks without his license. But that's hardly a crime worth killing for. First time offender, probably just pay a fine, right?" The detectives nodded. "So it's probably not the traffic ticket. What was he doing down by the docks in the first place? Engaged in something sketchy maybe?"
Beckett's eyes lit up. "And our lawyer, being the good professional he is, does some digging into the circumstances. He finds out what our boy Jack was into, and was killed for it."
Castle smiled. "I'm guessing he was a cleanup guy for a Chinese gang. When they need to get rid of a body, they call Mr. Li, who dumps them down by the docks."
"Ding ding," was Ryan's reply. "Not just a cleanup guy, but a hit man. Was pretty good at it too, as he'd never even gotten a ticket before this. But when our goodie two shoes lawyer kept digging, he threatened to send Li to jail for more than a couple of days. Try a couple of decades." He closed the file, then bent back to the computer screen to finish typing it up.
Esposito sighed. "Another solve for Castle. I hate to admit it, but you might have actually been a good cop."
Castle pulled out his phone. "Hold up let me get my camera ready. Can you say that again?"
Esposito waited for Castle to start recording, then promptly flipped him the bird. While they engaged in some more childish taunts, Beckett glanced at her watch. 5:15. Time to head home. She looked around at the boys. Even she was having a bit of fun, just passing time. It's not like she was going to do anything particularly interesting when she went home. Plus, she admitted to herself, a little more time with Castle is nice.
"What do you guys say? One more?"
"Wow, that was amazing," sighed Beckett contentedly.
"Yeah it was," responded Castle.
They had spent another 3 hours playing detective at the Precinct. None of them had anything to do that night, so they just kept looking over old case files and competing to see who could solve the most interesting ones. Besides, it wasn't like they really had anything to do on a Friday night. So when the night squad had shown up and kicked them to the curb, they had all hesitated to go home. Then Castle had suggested they all grab dinner at a new Vietnamese place downtown. No one could come up with a reason why not, so here they were, finishing their pho and beers.
"Best Vietnamese food I've ever had," agreed Kevin.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes, sipping slowly at their drinks. It was finally Ryan who spoke up first. "It's late, and I should get home to Jenny. She has this whole big trip planned to visit her relatives in Connecticut this weekend."
"So you're getting your leash tugged?" asked Esposito with a smile.
"No," he frowned. "Ok well yes. Whatever. See you guys on Monday." He got up and headed towards the exit.
"It is getting pretty late," said Beckett. "Maybe we should call it a night."
Esposito hesitatingly agreed and put on his jacket. "Yeah, probably a good idea."
"No, no, let me buy you guys a drink. The Old Haunt is just down the street." For no particular reason, he didn't want the night to end. There was nothing he wanted less than to go home to his empty apartment. He would much prefer to spend time with Esposito and Beckett. Ok mostly just Beckett. But if dealing with Esposito was the price to pay for being with Beckett longer, then it was worth it.
"Alright," acquiesced Javier, grinning. "Maybe you can give us some more of that famously expensive scotch."
"I'm afraid not, I only bought the one bottle. But I'm sure we can find something else for you. Beckett?"
"Fine, fine," she said. "But I'm buying the first round. I owe you about 100 coffees at this point. May as well start paying you back."
"Well I own the place," replied Castle with a smirk. "All the drinks are free."
There were surprisingly few people in the bar. "Being a Friday night, you'd think more people would be out." mentioned Castle.
"Well this isn't exactly party central," mentioned Beckett, glancing around at the rustic design. She took a seat at one of the stools with Esposito while Castle went behind the bar.
"Being the owner has its perks," Castle boasted as he reached for a glass. "You want a beer or cocktail?"
"Beer" for Esposito and a "surprise me" from Beckett. Castle got to mixing some drinks while Esposito headed over to the darts board.
"Well hey there guys," said a very distinctive voice. Beckett and Castle looked up to see Lanie walking in the door.
"Lanie!" exclaimed Castle. "I didn't know you were coming."
"Javi texted me. Figured I could distract him to give you two some alone time."
Beckett rolled her eyes, but couldn't quite hide the smile that crept onto her face. "Believe me, the last thing I need is more Castle."
"Why, detective Beckett, you wound me." replied Castle with fake hurt in his voice. "And here I was thinking you were fond of me."
"I'd be a lot more fond of you if you'd make me a damn drink."
"Coming right up!" said Castle as he pulled out two cocktail glasses and poured a red mixture into each of them. "This is called a Jack Rose. I learned how to make it from a college professor, who was very fond of Hemingway." Both ladies took their glasses and slipped apprehensively at first, then with more vigour upon tasting it.
"Wow," said Lanie. "I like that. What's in it?"
"Oh just some apple flavoured liqueur, lime juice and grenadine. Not the most extravagant, but impresses the ladies," he replied with a wink directed at Beckett, who rolled her eyes yet again. Rick turned to grab two mugs and fill them with beer from the tap. "Bring this to Javier won't you?" he ask Lanie as he scraped off the foam and handed it to her.
Castle wiped up a bit of spilled beer while Lanie sauntered off towards Esposito. Beckett watched her go, and then turned to raise an eyebrow at Castle. "When did you become a master bartender?"
"I've always enjoyed making a good drink. There's an art to it that not many people appreciate." Kate smiled at Rick's diverse hobbies. "And plus, making a girl a drink is a great way to get laid."
Kate snorted, the disgust she occasionally felt around Castle surfacing. Sometimes he could make her forget about his womanizing side. "Well good luck with that tonight."
Rick grinned as he came around the counter to sit down with his mug of beer. "I'm sure I could find a Richard Castle fan around here. It's a lot easier to get laid when you're famous you know."
Kate took the last sip of her drink and grinned at Castle. "You know what else helps?" she said as she leaned in close to him. "Looking like this." And with that she put her glass on the counter and walked over towards the dart board where Esposito and Lanie were. Castle couldn't help but watch her hips sway as she walked away.
Beckett turned around to catch him staring, smirking when she caught him. "Make me another one of those drinks, won't you?"
Wiping the slack-jawed look off of his face, Rick grabbed her glass and rushed behind the counter. First, he would probably need to splash some cold water on his face.
Javier beat Rick soundly at darts. A jack-of-all-trades Castle may be, but athletics were never really his forte. After that, they had downed another couple drinks (which Castle whipped up in impressive fashion) and sat around, telling stories and jokes.
They had just finished round four when Javier and Lanie took off. Esposito had made up some excuse about having breakfast with his familia, but Beckett and Castle had just smiled. Yeah, and it looks like Lanie will be there too.
Kate had also tried to leave at that time, but Castle had begged her to stay. "Come on Beckett, just one more drink."
"No Castle I really should go. Wouldn't want you getting any ideas at this hour."
"My intentions are completely honorable," he said as he put his hand over his heart, mimicking a boy scout. "I was just thinking that you were conceding."
"Conceding what?" asked Beckett, the competitive part of her kicking in.
Castle smiled, realizing he could bait her into staying with a competition. "Well obviously if you leave now, you admit that I can outdrink you."
Kates face flushed with anger. Even though she was a bit drunk already, she had complete confidence she could drink Castle's sorry ass into the ground. "You really wanna do this?"
Castle nodded vigorously and went behind the counter to grab a bottle of tequila and a couple of shot glasses. He also fished out a bowl of lime wedges and a salt shaker. "It's on!"
James, the real bartender, walked by and shook his head at Castle's antics. "Is he bothering you miss?" he jokingly asked Beckett, well aware of the friendly relationship between the two.
"No, but you can call him a cab. He's going to be passed out soon enough."
James just chuckled and walked over to another set of customers while Castle bristled with indignation. "Counting me out already?"
"Just pour the shots already," Beckett said with no small amount of exasperation. She grabbed the salt shaker and poured a bit on her thumb and also took hold of a lime wedge. "Let's really get this party started."
Castle gave in after 4 shots. He watched, impressed as Beckett downed a fifth. If he was honest, he could have kept going. But things were starting to blur, and the last thing he needed was to say something stupid around Beckett.
"Take that!" she practically yelled as she slammed her shot glass down on the table. Her clumsy hand knocked it onto the ground though, and she blushed as she bent down to retrieve it.
Castle couldn't help but watch as she bent down, the angle revealing a hefty amount of cleavage. He kept staring, even as she recovered the glass, set it on the table, and returned to her seat. It was only when she cleared her throat that he dragged his eyes up to her face. Damn, maybe I'm a little more drunk than I thought, thought Rick.
Kate clearly had a similar thought process, because she said, "It's late, I think I should head home." She got up and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair, starting to bundle up against the cold.
Rick reached out and grabbed her hand, trying to stop her from going. All he wanted was to spend a little more time with her. He opened his mouth to speak, even though every sober cell in his brain was telling him not to.
"Castle," said Kate before he could stay anything stupid.
"No, nothing funny. Let me walk you out. Just give me a minute to get my coat." He had stashed his coat in the basement, trying not to get alcohol on it. As he returned, zipping up his jacket, Beckett was standing by the door, wrapping her scarf around her neck. He smiled at her and offered his arm, all gentlemanly like.
"Shall we?" he said in his best English accent.
She laughed and nodded, trying to hold back a smile. Rick reached out and pushed open the door. The cold hit them like a frigid wall, but they pushed forward to the street, where Castle hailed the first cab he could.
Still doing his best gentleman impression, he opened the door for her, then turned to say goodbye. "Get home safe, ok?"
"I will, don't worry. I still have my gun, remember?"
"Of course. But you'll text me? Just for my sanity?" Rick knew that she was more than capable of fending off trouble, but one could never be too cautious.
"Fine," she said, an annoyed expression crossing her face. But then it softened, and she bit the corner of her lip. "I… uh… thanks for today Castle. It was… fun."
And before he could respond, she leaned over and placed a delicate kiss on his cheek. Her lips were like fire compared to the bone chilling wind, but it was gone all too soon. Quickly, trying to hide the blush that was appearing on her cheeks, she scrambled into the cab and closed the door.
Rick stood there, a shocked expression on his face as the cab took off. He pressed a hand against his cheek, as if that would stop the wind from stealing the kiss away from him. His face felt like it was sparking with little bits of electricity where her lips had touched him, and he watched the taillights of the cab turn the corner and vanish from view with a heavy heart.
Regaining his composure, he ran his hand through his hair and looked down the street, intending to hail the next cab. However, the car that stopped in front of him was not a cab, but rather a blue hatchback.
"Hey dad," chirped a voice from the cracked window. "Get in."
Rick quickly opened the door and darted into the warm car. He turned to see Alexis at the wheel, already flicking the blinker to get back into traffic.
"How'd you know where I was?" asked Rick.
"James called me. Figured you weren't going to last much longer, so you may need a lift." And as if she predicted his next question, she said, "He knows me because I balanced the books for the bar last month."
Castle sighed as he leaned back in his seat. So many things to discuss, but it could wait until the morning when he was thinking clearly. For now, he set his sights on the road ahead.
Well, the night hadn't ended quite as he wanted, thinking about Beckett. But he supposed that was a good thing. Drunk sex would just make everything weird, he thought to himself. We don't need that. Besides, if they were going to do it, he wanted to remember it.
Afterall, if he wasn't going home with Beckett, he was just fine heading back to the loft with Alexis. She would always be the most important girl in his life, even considering Beckett. And getting a free ride home wasn't bad. In the very car he had been thinking about that morning.
He thought back to all that had happened since he had dozed off in the subway. He didn't accomplish one thing. It should have felt like a waste of a day. But remembering the careless fun they had playing real life Clue at the precinct, or trying some great Vietnamese food, and even getting drunk with Beckett, Castle couldn't help but think that it had been a good day.
Just a very good day.
Hope you guys liked it!
Anyways, having recently finished the Castle series and not having anyone to talk to is pretty annoying for me. So if any of y'all wanna chat about Castle, please send me a PM. It can just be your favorite and least favorite moments from the show for all I care. I also hope it'll inspire me to come up with some fun new chapters for this story.
This isn't me fishing for reviews, just friends. No pressure, but I look forward to hearing from you!