Bug came up with the genius title, I am just rolling with it.
Thank her for being awesome.
Emily, for keeping me on my toes, putting up with my crazy and insecurities, and most of all for being my trashcan of love.
And lastly but most certainly not least(ly?) to my wonderful readers- the review response truly is amazing, and your kind and encouraging words humble me.
I am. Humbled. So keep it up? This one is for you guys.
Okay, get ready for my first stab at action...
Trigger
The drive was a race towards the junction of Pike and Madison.
Kate maneuvered the car with ease through the thick traffic, weaving in and out of the stopped cars and speeding through lights. And she managed to maintain a conversation with Castle the entire time.
"Kate," he said, after the silence that cloaked them became unbearable. She focused her eyes on the road, once again determined not to meet his eyes, this time for another reason entirely. "Kate." Her hands tightened on the wheel as he danced on her last nerve. Now was most definitely not the time.
"Castle," she said, through gritted teeth. She didn't want to be mad, and he most certainly didn't want her mad, so he said nothing, relaxing against the back of his seat and amusing himself by looking at the world fly past him through the window. Immediately she felt the annoyance ebbing away and her resolve softening. "Castle," she repeated his name, this time softer and laced with apology. He forced himself to look at her, and she was indeed calmer.
"Before-I said no regrets, and I meant that," he said, flashing back to the night on her couch. "I don't regret kissing you in the elevator. Not for a second." He told her. He had been sitting there the whole time thinking of a way to assure her of this, and this, of all things, was what he settled on. And he called himself a writer… he scolded himself, unimpressed at his lack of creative language. It was only then did she tear her eyes from the road, meeting his, even if only for a moment, absorbing his words.
And then, after a moment:
"I don't regret it either."
It was simple, yes, but it was enough. He smiled, daring to reach across the consol and touch her. It was her hand, and it was a brief comfort rather than a groping pass, so she let him for a moment, even squeezing his back, gently. He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him short. "Don't Castle- you see this?"
"What?"
"It's a moment, and you're about to ruin it," she informed him, flicking her gaze back to his for a second before squeezing his hand again and taking it back, replacing it at two o' clock on the wheel. He was unable to suppress the smile that broke on his face, still looking at her through sparkling blue eyes.
It was Madison street, the green street sign said, where Beckett slid the Crown Vic to a jolting stop. Before she climbed out, she turned to Castle. She licked her thumb and reached towards him, holding his chin and using it to wipe away the lipstick stain from his upper lip. He smiled like a fool, pleased to no end, but she merely smiled, pleased at the simple actions effect on him.
She climbed out, double checking all the ties on her vest, re-Velcro-ing the front for measure. She circled the car, getting to Castle just as he was getting outside of what had become his side. She looked up just in time and planted a firm hand on his chest, the 'writer' vest rock solid under her palm. She looked at him, reading him, debating. Was there a point in telling him to stay?
She observed the hope in his eyes, as it mingled with excitement, and worry.
No, she decided, after another long moment of thought. Her hand plant on his chest quickly turned into a means to grab his and haul him along, grinning like a child, until they were mingling with the group of police officers already crowding around what looked to be a store. "Better keep you where I can see you," she muttered. She approached Esposito, still dragging along Castle. "Where are we?"
"The tail I put on Marcus led us straight to here- it's a barber shop, Brook's Barber Shop," he explained, turning from the officer he was talking with to bring her up to speed. He stopped, noticing Ryan jogging up from behind the pair.
"I looked-" Ryan stopped to catch his breath, but was still choking on it when he spoke again, breathing in choppy heaves between words. "Looked up the place-" gasp. "-It's a front that-" gasp. "Marcus and the Gregory brothers used to meet up once Marcus hit the radar and the trio were on the map. Well, quad, if you count our vic."
"So they decide to meet up at their known hiding spot?" Kate asked, skeptically. "That's the smartest move they could have made."
"Yeah, well these aren't Harvard grads we are dealing with, are we," Castle pointed out. The three around him nodded their agreement.
"Touché, bro." Esposito said.
"So are we going to sit around and gossip , ladies, or are we going to catch the bastard?" Kate asked.
"Break out the hairdryers?" Ryan asked Castle and Esposito, considering her proposition.
"I left my barrettes at home," Castle said, apologetically.
"And Sex in the City is a repeat tonight," Esposito pointed out. To this, Ryan cocked his gun, letting the shell fall to the ground with a delightful ring.
"Then let's catch the bastard," he said, and the detectives, Castle in tow, approached the building, a few backup officers right behind them.
"You stay behind," she told Castle in a hushed whisper as they all hurried along. He nodded a solemn nod, looking as serious as he'd ever. She met his gaze, echoing his nod. They met a silent understanding in an eye conversation that lasted all of two seconds.
"Stack 'em up, boys," Beckett ordered, when they reached the door. Luckily the store didn't seem to be open- the blinds were drawn over the large windows and a 'closed for lunch' sign was up in the door. She stopped just before the door, slowly moving her head to get a peripheral view. Esposito, Ryan, and Castle all piled behind her in that order, the backup officers lining up in similar formation on the opposite side. "On my mark," she mouthed over to the first Officer- Morgan, she remembered, she had worked with him before.
Her gun was drawn, as were all the others, arms stock straight and ready to swing upwards for the sweep. "There may be customers in there," she warned in a whispered tone to everyone. Inside she counted down, more for her own mental benefit than anything else. She had done this a hundred times, this was no different.
One, she counted.
Her right index finger tapped a quick pattern on the barrel of her gun, lightly.
Two.
Her index finger moved to the trigger- one, two, three, four quick taps, with only slight bends of her digit.
Three.
Her shoulders set back and she had her thumb on the hammer, tapping, one, two.
Now.
She nodded to Morgan and stepped in front of the door, using extreme force and her right foot to smash the door jamb, sending the door flying open. In the officers flooded, all following her lead. Guns were raised, swinging around. "NYPD!" she yelled, loudly, to the room. She struggled to take everything in as it happened- Two men in chairs, aprons on, getting haircuts, it looked like. She hoped dear God everyone else noted the civilians. Other than that there were two hairdressers and a receptionist woman at the front desk. It was a real business- whoever was running the place must be involved. Hands flew up- everyone's, as a matter of fact, and one of the barbers actually hit the deck. She lowered her weapon slowly, keeping that one finger balanced right above the trigger. Morgan led his team to securing the room, cuffing the suspects and holding the witnesses for questioning. Beckett, however, was more concerned about the curtain that covered a hole in the far back wall- a hole that no doubt led to a back room. She led her boys to crowd it, again stacking up before ripping the curtain aside and pouring into the room. Shouts were called again, and this time it was an entirely different scene.
It was dimly lit, only a little bit of sun filtering in through a papered- over window near the ceiling. Three men, all gathered around a table, with three scotch glasses and three hands of cards on the table. Immediately Beckett recognized one as John Marcus, and the two others, obviously brothers with an uncanny resemblance, from their mug shots. They leapt up in surprise at the visit, obviously oblivious to the commotion outside. Marcus threw his hands up, one of the Gregory brothers made a run for it and the other pulled a gun.
Stupid move.
Ryan had him down in a flash, blind siding him, and with the element of surprise managed to kick away his weapon. As for the runner, Beckett made a dash after him. He had a head start as well as a home field advantage, but Kate was quicker and smarter, taking educated guesses as to where he would move next. He had to be heading for an exit and she only saw one alternate on her way in- an emergency exit to the left of the farthest wall. She bobbed and weaved through a complicated maze of appliances and construction supplies- there must have been some renovations going on in the building they shared. Although he knew the place much better than she, she managed to meet him at the emergency exit, throwing her entire body into him at full force. The tackle sent them both flying into the door, and into the push handle, sending the door open and them out of it.
They landed with a hard thump onto the sidewalk, and from the throbbing sensation in the back of her head, she landed beneath him. Still she seemed to gain her sense back first, turning them so she was pinning him with her body weight. She heard him grunt beneath her as his face hit the pavement. She applied pressure on her knee, which was now right in line with his lower spine. "Move, and it will be the last time you can move your legs, do I make myself clear?" she asked him, using the hand holding her gun to balance herself on top of him and the other to reach for the cuffs she had looped around her belt.
Just as she was pulling them out he threw her, twisting his body in a way that shouldn't be possible and force that she wasn't ready for, sending her tumbling along the pavement. She was surprised and a new stinging sensation was making her painfully aware of her chin, but she held onto her gun with conviction and when she turned around, she pointed it right at her attacker, her finger light on the trigger- ready.
He was standing over her now, and sometime in the shuffle had drawn his own Sig. 9 mil, she guessed, by the size of the barrel she was now staring down. She backpedaled in her mind, desperately searching the man above her for any signs of her best move. She couldn't find one so she jumped into the catch all and began to lower her own piece. "Hey now," she said, moving her hand from the trigger and raising it up in defense. "Okay," she said, just as slowly.
"Throw it," he spat, indicating her gun. She nodded, tossing the weapon away from herself, but away from him as well. He was unsteady- of this she was sure. He wasn't expecting this, he hadn't planned on this. Now he had her at gunpoint, and now he had to think. She took advantage of this, giving him a moment of false security before swinging a leg high, still seated on the ground. Her foot came from his left side and caught the gun, sending it flying out of his loose grip while he wasn't expecting it. In the same fluid motion she used her other leg to kick his feet from under him, sending him to the ground, hard.
A gunshot went off and she knew the bullet was a narrow miss, but she refused to think about it as she again tackled the guy, cuffing him quickly and standing him up.
Ryan and Esposito poured out of the door she fell though minutes ago, out of breath themselves, followed by a distraught looking Castle. Damn, she though. I must look really bad.
"Wha-" Ryan began, but she said nothing. Instead she tightened the cuffs around her suspect's wrist, to the point where he cried out in pain.
"That was for pointing a gun at me," she informed him, walking him inside. Once inside the building ,where she noticed Morgan and his team carrying away the other suspects, she walked him right into the table in the middle of the room. He gasped out in pain when the table rammed into what Kate guessed was at least one broken rip. "And that was for making me chase you in these heels."
I am really proud of my endings as of late...
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