Disclaimer: I don't own the Castle series, the Heat franchise, the Storm franchise, or any of the characters
Stepping out of the car, Nikki stopped and took a deep breath.
"It's game time," she whispered to herself. And then she proceeded to walk. She walked into the building, proceeding to step into the elevator. She pressed one of her long fingers into the "R" button and the doors closed.
The elevator ride felt like the longest, shortest, and most nerve-racking seconds of her life. When the doors finally opened, she stepped out, relieved to have a breath of fresh air in her lungs. The sun sparkled, hitting her eyes and causing her to squint. She put a hand up to her brow and peered around.
She faced an empty roof, apart from Storm's set up. He had put out small pillows, as well as a blue blanket, and she could see sandwiches peeking out of his bag. He wore an old fashioned grey suit with a black tie, and his brown hair was slicked back with some sort of gel. At least, it had been slicked back, until he had begun to run his fingers through it.
"Derrick," she called softly, her voice taking a more feminine tone than she had originally intended.
He turned, flashing a brilliant smile that caused Nikki to forget her surroundings momentarily.
"Nikki," he said happily. He extended his hand out to her, and she walked towards him. She began to reach her hand back out to his, but the second their fingertips touched, she pulled back. "What is it, Nikki?" he asked, concern peaking in his tone.
"Derrick," she whispered, her voice cracking, even in the silvery tone. She cleared her throat. "Can you explain why I found this in place of my case files in my house?" she asked, sliding the slim metal briefcase out of her large brown purse.
Immediately Storm paled. "Oh…" he whispered. "You found that."
Her nose wrinkled in anger. "Yeah," she said sarcastically. "I found it. What the hell were you doing in my house?" she asked. "Are you with… with them?" she asked, referencing to the CIA logo on the side of the briefcase.
"Nikki," he coaxed. "It's not what you think. I can explain—"
Her cheeks flushed red as she fumed, forcing air out of her nose. "So it's true. You only did this," she said, referencing to the picnic, "me," she said, voice rising in pitch, "as a contact for your case?" she exclaimed.
Storm scoffed. "You're one to talk," he spat.
Heat frowned. "What the hell are you talking about, Storm? You're the one who betrayed me!"
He smiled, but she could see the pain in his eyes. He slipped a slim metal cell phone out of his pocket, and played a recording. "You're my partner and I can't do the job without you. Storm… I'm only seeing storm as a liaison, okay? It's our way to get info from him, it's not real, I promise."
Nikki turned pink. "Oh," she whispered. "That," she was flabbergasted.
The pain grew stronger in Storm's face. "Yeah. That."
"Listen, Storm, I—" Nikki started, but Storm cut her off with a wave of his hand.
"Nikki, whatever you heard, whatever you thought about us, I promise you, my intentions were pure. I like you, Nikki. Plain and simple. I didn't date you for your cop background. Hell, I didn't even know you were involved on this case until our third date. So I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I was using you, because I wasn't," he said softly. "If anything, it was me who was fooled."
Nikki opened her mouth to respond, but she found that she didn't know what to say, so she stood there, mouth open.
Storm shook his head. "That's what I thought," he muttered. He turned and began to walk towards the elevator.
"Wait, Storm!" she called.
He waved his hand. "Save it, Nikki," he said. He didn't sound mad, or upset, or infuriated. He just sounded tired.
She stared, looking around like a lost puppy, and the pitiful look on Storm's face as the elevator doors closed in front of him only added to the image.
Nikki stood there for a moment, and then she ran towards the doors, pounding for them to open, but they wouldn't. She jabbed her thumb into the down button, but when the elevator came back, he was already gone.
Nikki closed her eyes, stepping into the door. The tears began to fall, streaming faster and faster as every floor button lit up as she passed. The elevator stopped once on the fifth floor to let in a tall, blonde man who was holding hands with a redheaded woman. Nikki stood up straight, attempting to wipe her tears, but she was sure it didn't do much good.
The couple took little notice of her, and they went about giggling and kissing each other. Nikki saw she had a sparkly diamond ring on her finger, and yet his was bare. Fiancées, she thought to herself. They only made her feel worse.
When the elevator finally stopped to let them out, the couple stepped out, laughing, but the blonde man turned, flashing Nikki a look of pity. She glanced down at her toes. Nikki Heat doesn't take the pity of others.
She stepped into her car and began to drive. She drove down the coast for what felt like hours until she found a good spot where she could see the skyline and think. She sat, but no thoughts came, so she embraced the silence, and she felt her eyelids begin to droop.
Nikki sat up straight in her car seat. She pulled out her gun, looking around, and then she realized what happened. Oh, damn, I must've fallen asleep in my car.
She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone, checking the messages.
Eleven missed calls and seven text messages, her phone read. The calls were either from the precinct, Rook, or Lauren. Nikki frowned and clicked on the texts.
Rook, Jameson [12:14 PM]: Hi, Nikki, it's Jameson. I'm sorry I stormed out like that. I'm at the precinct now. Where are you?
Rook, Jameson [12:24 PM]: Nikki, Ochoa told me what you're doing. Please, please don't do this. Not until the boys bug and brief you. Please.
Parry, Lauren [12:29 PM]: Nikki, honey, don't do this. It's rash, you need to cool down, you need time to think. Come on, please come back to the precinct.
Parry, Lauren [01:26 PM]: Nikki, where are you?
Parry, Lauren [01:34 PM]: Nikki, you're really scaring us, please respond.
Raley, Sean [02:34 PM]: We found a body. Female. Jane Doe. Her face is so disfigured that we can't tell who it is, but Nikki, the rest of her looks like you. Please answer if you're okay.
Rook, Jameson [03:04 PM]: Nikki, please. Please be okay. For me. Please.
The messages stopped after that.