Well, it's happened again. This chapter was going to be twice as long, but the last sentence I just wrote begged to be the end. (Of the chapter, not the story; I'm not THAT mean; besides, I have some fun stuff planned for the next chapter, and the next, and the next...I THINK there will be at least three more...) It also means I can post this tonight. Yay!
Disclaimer: Huh. You know, after a while, I run out of ideas for what to say in these. I guess you could say that is proof that I don't own this wonderful show. I read in an interview that Andrew Marlowe has enough ideas for at least a full five seasons. I'm hoping for more, but I'll take five. For now. As long as all the shippers (and all of the other fans that aren't shippers) stay loyal to this wonderful show, I think we can easily keep the ratings high enough to keep it going. And that's WITH Caskett getting together this season. Not that I would stop watching even if it didn't happen until next season...although I'd have to find something to distract myself over the summer to keep me from going crazy...
"I think Esposito just saved Gina's life," Rick whispered in shock. He slowly lowered his phone from where he had been holding it to his ear, listening to everything that had happened to his publisher after she had threatened him.
"Javi should have left the mob get her," Lanie muttered. Rick, Martha and Alexis all stared at her in shock. "What? It's not like they would have killed her," the M.E. defended herself.
A sudden cheer from the crowd alerted the four to Kate's presence coming up behind them. The reaction was almost as strong as it had been for when Rick had arrived, so they knew it could be no one else. Once the crowd had quieted down, Kate said, "Lanie's right. Murdering Gina would create way too much paperwork for me. And the last thing these guys want is to get on my bad side."
"Um, Beckett, I know you're the best homicide detective I've ever seen, but I don't think even YOU could handle this many people at once," Rick said.
"Actually, I could," Kate said, her voice ringing with certainty. The worried look that crossed Castle's face made her let out an uncharacteristic chuckle. "Not if they were a group of hardened criminals," she went on. "I'm good, but I'm not that good. But we're not dealing with criminals here."
"How do you know that?" Alexis asked, the surprise at the detective's conviction clear in her tone.
"I know what they are," Kate answered simply.
"What they are?" Rick repeated Kate's words slowly, his imagination piqued by Kate's choice of words. "What are they? Aliens? Ghosts? No wait, that wouldn't work, its daylight. That means they can't be vampires, either. They look too normal to be zombies..."
"Castle!" Kate's stern tone, one that the writer was all too familiar with, stopped Rick mid-sentence. "They're every bit as human as you and I." Kate shook her head at the disappointed look that crossed Rick's face at that bit of news.
"Then why did you say you know what they are, if they're just-"
"They aren't just anything," Kate quickly interrupted. "They're shippers. Caskett shippers, actually."
It took less than a second for Rick to grasp what she meant. "Caskett? That's our shipper name?"
"Apparently," Kate said. "And they-" she gestured to the crowd, "are our shippers."
"Your shippers?" Alexis asked, confused. "Dad, what are you and Detective Beckett talking about?"
"You'll have to forgive my daughter," Rick said to Kate with false solemnity, "she never got into soap operas as a child. Not for mother's lack of trying."
"I knew you were famous, darling," Martha said with a twinkle in her eye. Having played a part in a soap opera herself, she knew exactly what her son meant by 'shipper,' especially once he'd mentioned soap operas in relation to the term. "But I have to say, I'm impressed. I had no idea you had this many people rooting for the two of you."
They probably consider you the head shipper," Kate said to Lanie.
"Which is why they gave me such a warm welcome," Lanie suddenly realized.
"Lanie is the head shipper," said Dani, one of the few shippers lucky enough to be in the very front of the crowd. "She's done more for Caskett than anyone. But you don't have to fight the battle alone anymore, Lanie. We're here to help."
"Help?" Kate's unease at the announcement was obvious. "Help how?"
"That all depends on what type of help is needed," Gloria, standing next to Dani, said.
"Would someone PLEASE tell me what a shipper is?" a very frustrated Alexis said.
"A shipper is someone that invests emotionally in the relationship of someone else," explained Bailey. Since she was standing to the other side of Dani, she was able to easily jump in on the conversation.
"And all of these people," Alexis' eyes widened as she realized what it all meant, "are here for Dad and Detective Beckett?"
"Looks that way, kiddo," Martha said.
"We have our own shippers!" Rick said excitedly.
"He looks as excited as he did when they were going after that 'superhero,' doesn't he?" Bailey asked the group at large. (A lot of the shippers got a kick out of Castle's excitement in that episode. It was so nice to see a happy Castle after he was so serious in season three's finale and season four's premiere)
"Definitely," Dani and Gloria said in unison, along with most of the shippers in the first twenty or so rows.
The shippers' comments only fueled Rick's excitement. "This is so cool!"
"No, Castle, this is not 'cool,'" Kate snapped.
"If Castle says it's cool, it's cool," Pema burst out. The girl was also in the front row, but was a dozen or so people away from the other girls that had spoken. She, along with quite a few shippers (although not by any means all of them) had been getting progressively more and more irritated at the way the detective had been treating the writer (the three month absence had pushed many of them over the edge to where they were occasionally struggling with outright hostility towards the woman). Hearing even the small scolding just given to the man was enough to get Pema to speak out against it.
"Yeah," her friend, Ratima, agreed.
Kate couldn't keep from rolling her eyes at such a strong reaction to what she considered nothing more than a part of her and her partner's everyday banter.
"We got a classic Beckett eye-roll!" Ratima exclaimed, turning to Pema.
"All right!" Pema said, and the two quickly high-fived. In their exuberance they smacked hands a bit harder than they intended.
"Oww," they said in unison, shaking their stinging palms.
Kate didn't know how much more of this she could take. She needed to make this all go away, and soon. Unfortunately, the only idea that popped into her mind was telling Rick how she really felt. She was sure it would work, but she wasn't anywhere near ready to do that.
"Castle, we need to clear these people out of here," Kate said. She was careful to state it as diplomatically as possible. What she really wanted to say was 'Castle, we need to get these whackoess to leave, NOW.' But the reaction she had gotten from a simple scolding of Castle told the detective that the crowd was more supportive of him at the moment and she'd better tread carefully. Hoping she wouldn't regret her decision, she continued, "I'm open to dumb ideas here."
Kate was startled by the gasp that rippled through the crowd.
Why...?
"Gotta give the fans what they want," Rick muttered.
It dawned on Kate as Rick's lips touched hers that those were the very words she had uttered before they had acted like a drunk couple to fool a guard, done minutes before Rick had kissed to throw the guard even further off-track about what she and Rick were really doing. At the same time Kate realized something else: whatever control she may have had over the situation she found herself in was officially gone.
Darn it, another cliff-hanger. Sorry about that. But it's late and I need to get up early for work tomorrow, so I better just post this and go to sleep. 'Night, all. Hopefully I'll have some reviews to greet me in the morning. Pretty please?
One other thing. Grace, I haven't forgotten-you and your friends will have a key role in the next chapter. :) Also, sorry to Gloria and Bailey-I put you guys in without you specifically asking me to. If you'd rather not be mentioned by name, let me know and I'll see what other shippers I can put in there. And Maddie, don't worry, I have plans for you in this story, too, but it will be towards the end. I'd give you a hint, but I don't want to give anything away. (It's so difficult for me to do that, considering how I LOVE spoilers, but I really try to keep in mind that I'm in the minority on that one) If there is anyone else that wants to be in this, I'll need a first name (it doesn't have to be your actual name, it can be whatever you want, just something you would recognize as being 'you' so you'll know when you're in the story). Sorry if I've forgotten anyone. If I have, PLEASE let me know. I don't want anyone to be left out of the fun. And Nat, sorry we're not in this chapter. It's because I was going to put us in the second half of this chapter, which has now become the next chapter.
Oops, I forgot one thing-I WILL be responding to all the reviews. Real life has just taken over for the last week or so. That, and the fact that I didn't want to wait any longer to post this next chapter.