Disclaimer : Castle is the propety of ABC and is in no way mine. There is dialogue in this chapter from Hong Kong Hustle both as it appears in the episode and slightly altered for this story.
Castle tucks the letter from Captain Gates and his own personal pistol owners licence back into his inside jacket pocket as the NYPD Sergeant behind the counter turns away from him and steps into the gun vault behind the same counter. As the Sergeant disappears into the vault Castle contemplates where his wife is at this moment and what she might be doing with a certain Chief Inspector from Hong Kong.
He doesn't think he's ever seen his normally supremely confident and self-assured wife so insecure and plagued with such feelings of inferiority before. The boys just didn't get it. Of course he understands that Kate needs to have her 'girls nights' just like he knows that Kate understands that he needs his occasional 'men only' poker nights. But going out with Chief Inspector Zhang is not the same as going out for a few drinks with Lanie and Jenny.
Oh, no, Kate going out with Zhang is not going to be a typical girl's night if for no other reason that Zhang hardly looks like the type of person to be throwing back tequila shots at some random bar. While he could suppose that the admittedly beautiful Chinese woman might let her hair down from time to time from the serious and driven visage Zhang had presented at the precinct he seriously doubts that any hair will be let down tonight.
At that moment the Sergeant returns to the counter where he is waiting and places two automatic pistols, two ammunition clips, a box of 9mm ammunition, a pair of safety glasses, a pair of ear protectors and a sheaf of rolled up paper targets in front of him.
"Here you are Mister Castle. Now according to that letter from Captain Gates at the 12th and from the fact you already own a number of firearms I take it you do have some experience discharging a weapon safely and that you are familiar with the rules of a firing range?" asks Sergeant Venables, Castle reads from the man's name plate.
Nodding Castle responds, "Yes, Sergeant I have over twenty years experience with firearms and am well familiar with range protocols."
"It said in that letter that you are here to undertake some practice in preparation for undertaking the NYPD weapons qualification test. That's not something a civilian would normally want to do or be permitted to do. May I ask why you are doing this sir?" asks a very curious Sergeant Venables.
The Sergeant is well used to all stripes of NYPD officers and young, soon to be Probies, coming here to the NYPD Shooting Range at Rodman's Neck on Eastchester Bay to practice before qualification. However the fortyish, well dressed and well groomed man in front of him is definitely not the sort of person he usual sees here practicing for qualification. That's not to say that the man is a total unknown to him. He, like a lot of NYPD officers, has heard of Richard Castle, the rich mystery writer that works as a consultant with the homicide squad at the 12th. He's just never heard of a consultant being given permission to qualify to carry a side arm before.
"Ah, Sergeant if I could tell you of the number of times I've been required to discharge a weapon in defence of myself and the detectives I work with then we would be here all night. Captain Gates is just allowing me some practice to ensure that, in such extreme circumstances, that I am properly prepared and am not a danger to my team or the public," answers Castle keeping an affable look on his face as he is, unfortunately, forced to lie to the man.
His plan to become the first NYPD Auxiliary Detective is still a secret as Bob and others are still working on the legislative requirements. That hasn't stopped him, however, from getting a start on some of the training he is sure he will be required to do. He's already borrowed all the text books that Kate still has from her time at the Academy and when she took the Detective's exam and has been studying them religiously.
He then put a very well-reasoned and he hopes not too annoying plea to Captain Gates for himself to start practicing firing a pistol to NYPD standards so that he is well prepared to qualify when the time comes. He'd been surprised that the Captain had so readily agreed and written him a letter giving him permission to access the NYPD's shooting range. Castle had thought that he would have to spend hours hunting through EBay for more of those creepy dolls the Captain likes to convince her. Maybe the acerbic Captain really has started to like him.
Sergeant Venables looks at the man not one hundred percent sure he believes the explanation he has been given but he does have a letter signed by the commanding Captain of the 12th. Venables has also heard of 'Iron Gates' and he knows that the former IAB Detective would not put her name to anything unethical. He pushes a clipboard over the counter towards the man.
"Very well sir. If you'll just complete this form and sign the attached receipt for this equipment you'll be free to start practicing. Do you need an instructor to assist you or is one of the detectives you work with going to be joining you?" asks Venables.
"No Sergeant. This is just some preliminary practice. While I am well versed in how to handle a gun it has been a while and I just need to shake off the cobwebs before I start more serious training. Then I'll be sure to have someone with me to run through the proper training requirements," responds Castle with a smile and much more truthfully this time.
"If you're sure then, sir," says Venables and he then leaves Castle to his paperwork as a blond headed young woman in grey NYPD sweats walks up to the other end of the counter to return some unused ammunition.
Castle makes quick work of the form, with a flourish adds his autograph to the receipt, flashes his usual charming smile to the Sergeant as he passes the clipboard back to him and then collects the various items from the counter in front of him. It's lucky that his jacket has so many pockets, he thinks, as he secures both pistols, after first inspecting them and clearing them safely to ensure they are not loaded. Once each gun is in a separate jacket pocket he collects together the rest of the items in front of him.
"Lane six is free for you to use Mister Castle and be sure to return all the equipment to me here when you are done," requests Venables as Castle turns away from the counter and heads towards the doors leading to the range itself.
As he walks towards the doors Castle feels the weight of the two pistols in his jacket pockets as they bump into his hips. In his left hand pocket is a Glock 19 the primary weapon that Kate and a lot of NYPD officers use. In his right hand pocket is a Glock 26 the subcompact weapon that Kate uses as her back-up weapon. He is particularly wanting to practice with the Glock 26.
As he demonstrated to Kate at the very beginning of him shadowing her he is a naturally good shot. He gives himself an amused grunt. Perhaps that's one of the things he's inherited from his mysterious and lethal father.
Yet regardless of his innate ability with weapons the first time he had to fire Kate's back-up gun was not as successful as he intended. He had been serious when he'd told Kate that he'd been aiming for Scott Dunn's head over five years ago. He just hadn't been used to handling the smaller Glock 26 in his large hands which is why he shot the gun out of the serial killer's hand and not his head, as he'd aimed for. He's gotten better doing his own, private practice with his own Glock 26 that he purchased for himself not soon after the Dunn case. He'd even gotten himself his own Glock 19 on top of a couple of other models of hand guns he already owns but doesn't have the carry permit for. Some are in the gun safe he has hidden in his walk in wardrobe in his bedroom in the loft. Others are kept at the private shooting range that he has spent many hours at becoming familiar with Kate's weapons. Just in case he needs to borrow either of Kate's guns in the future.
On those occasions since when he has, the counterfeiting gang case and the drone case, he has done better using Kate's back-up but he still feels that he needs more practice with the smaller gun if he is to qualify with it to NYPD standards. He's also come to the NYPD range so that he can become familiar with the location where he will hopefully be qualifying as part of his Auxiliary Detective training. So while Kate is off doing whatever she is doing with Zhang and after some quick talking to get himself out of helping the boys with their grunt work he has come here to get that practice.
The door buzzes as Sergeant Venables releases the electronic lock on the door and Castle pushes his way onto the range. He hears the sharp reports of several guns firing from the various occupied lanes. He looks up at the number over the nearest lane to orientate himself before glancing up and down the corridor behind the lanes. Spotting a yellow sign with a black six printed on it about five lanes down to his right he starts heading in that direction.
Upon reaching his assigned lane he deposits the various items in his hands, the roll of targets from under his arm and the pistols from his pockets and places all of them on the bench there. As he places the last of his items on the bench he becomes aware that some others, in lanes nearby, have just finished thier shooting of holes in paper. A decrease in the amount of sound of firing and the sight of two paper targets moving towards thier respective firing positions tells him this.
The next thing he hears causes him to freeze. Two familiar voices. One intimately more familiar to him than the other.
"Not bad," the not so familiar female voice says.
"Thanks, I'm a bit rusty though," responds the very familiar female voice. The voice of his wife, Kate.
"Me too," he hears Zhang reply. "I haven't been to a range in six months."
Peering carefully around the back of his lane, so he can't be seen, he looks in the direction of the voices and, just as he feared, there he sees Kate and Chief Inspector Zhang, four lanes down from where he is. With pride he sees the target that Kate is holding and the fine grouping in the center of the target. Next he notices Kate's shoulders straighten in shock as Zhang's target comes into view.
"That's after six months?" Kate asks in disbelief that matches his own as he sees the extremely close grouping of shots that Zhang put in the head of her target.
"It's hard to find time to practice what with my duties in Hong Kong, San Fran, The Hague," responds Zhang and Castle's eyes narrows at that. To him it sounds like Zhang is just bragging a little.
Unfortunately, in her current uncertain state Kate doesn't seem to pick up on it as she asks in a voice with a tinge of awe, "You work at the Hague?"
"International War Crimes Tribunal," responds Zhang and Castle can almost hear her putting the capitals in front of each word. "Trust me it's not as glamorous as it sounds. When you reach the peak of a mountain it's time to scale another right?"
As a clearly flustered and impressed Kate responds Castle pulls back into his lane. Ok, Zhang may not be lying. The job in The Hague sounds really cool and that stuff about climbing mountains and then what he hears her say about not making things a struggle has a ring of Eastern wisdom about it. He laughs breifly to himself as he thinks, or perhaps it's all just from some fortune cookies.
He hears Kate question Zhang about her relationship with her friend Henry, their victim and from her voice he can tell, as only he can, that Kate has been seriously put off her game by the casual ease and imposing resume of the Chinese Chief Inspector. He's never seen Kate like this before and it's not something he ever wants to see. His muse uncertain about her own abilities and feeling inferior to someone else.
This is why he told the boys that he didn't want Kate going out with Zhang. Just as he thought, she's got Patterson syndrome. He knew it would become a competition and here they are exactly engaging in a competition of both the shooting and who's got the best job kind. It also looks like it's a competition that, in Kate's mind, she is loosing. He's going to have to give some serious reassurance to Kate when she gets home tonight but he as to get there before her and she can't know he was here.
Castle doesn't want Kate thinking he is following her. Doesn't want her to think he is trying to butt in on her bonding with Zhang. He doesn't think his ears would survive. Plus there's a chance that Kate would be embarrassed that he would see her here with Zhang and how her 'girls night' has reinforced all her feelings of inadequacy regarding Zhang.
He can read her just as she can read him and they both know this. So he knows that Kate would know that he would pick up on exactly how she is feeling at the moment if he made his presence known. He's not going to be able to reassure her later if she is feeling embarrassed at being found here being beaten at a thing she prides herself about, her ability to shoot.
As quietly as he can Castle gathers up his guns and other equipment as he hears the resuming of gunshots from the two lanes holding Kate and Zhang. Taking another quick peek around the corner he see's the coast is clear as the two women are focused on inflicting harm on the paper silhouettes in front of them. Holding his breath he just restrains himself from tiptoeing back out of the firing range. It is not until he is back outside, in front of the vault and a puzzled Sergeant Venables that he releases his breath.
Looks like practice is a bust. Time to get home, open a bottle of Kate's favourite Merlot and be ready to give her support while not mentioning that he was here. She has reassured and supported him so many times before whenever bad writer's block has gripped him so it's the least he can do. Supporting each other, its what they do.
A couple of nights later at the loft
As Castle finishes his nightly routine in the en-suite bathroom he can hear the taping of a keyboard coming from the bedroom. The case with Zhang is over and she has gotten justice for her friend Henry. The accomplished detective is now winging her way back to San Francisco and he for one is not sorry to see her go.
Not that it turned out all bad in the end. Especially after the admissions that Kate told him about that Zhang made to her that her life wasn't as perfect as it seemed on paper. He knew it. Knew from how she was obviously talking herself up to Kate at the shooting range that while she was emphasizing her professional accomplishments that her personal life was anything but rosy.
What pleased him most that almost from the moment of that conversation on he'd seen the old, confident and comfortable in her own skin Kate return. In fact he's starting to think that Zhang's visit might be a good thing in the end as it seems to have reinvigorated his wife and her thinking about the future.
He pauses as he puts his toothbrush next to Kate's in the holder over the sink. Zhang's visit didn't just raise some questions just with Kate. They raised a couple with him as well. A slight niggle about his plan to become and Auxiliary Detective and how it might be affecting Kate. He's thought that perhaps why Zhang's presence had so easily thrown Kate was that she was uncertain about his plan to cement their working partnership. Then there is some media coverage that he and Paula had just instigated as part of his plan. He knows Kate is always wary of the media. He needs to ask her about all of this, he thinks, as he walks back into the bedroom to the sight of Kate sitting up in bed, typing away at her laptop on top of the comforter over her legs.
"So, you think you and Zhang will stay in touch?" he asks to start the ball rolling.
"I hope so. I mean us super cops have to stick together," Kate responds still concentrating on the screen in front of her.
"You're not trying to break my high score on Fruit Ninja are you?" asks Castle wanting to keep the mood light and yet also curious at what has his wife so engrossed.
"No, I'm writing up a list of priorities for my future," she answers still studying the screen.
Castle stands next to the bed and decides now is the time to ask about what he was just contemplating in the bathroom, "Kate, I hope my plan to join the NYPDA as a Detective hasn't contributed to why Zhang made you feel insecure? My plan is all about helping you. It is not my intention to take anything away from your career. I also know that sometimes you are uncomfortable with aspects of my fame and that it may have become more pronounced with the article that Paula got in the Ledger about some of my cases with you. That was done to help raise my profile with the state government as they contemplate and hopefully legislate my idea for NYPDA Detectives. I don't want you to think that this will overshadow what you have built with all your years with the NYPD. What I am doing is a mere homage of the profession you have dedicated your life to," states Castle earnestly.
Castle's speech has dragged Kate's attention from the computer on her lap as she regards him in surprise, "Of course not, Castle. I love your idea and I can't wait to give you your fair share of the paperwork from our cases to do." She responds mischievously trying to lighten the serious tone of Castle's question.
"Seriously though, Babe, none of what I was feeling about Zhang had anything to do with your plan. It was all about seeing someone so much like myself and yet who had seemingly achieved so much more than I. And while I'll always be suspicious of the media I knew that they had a part to play in your plan. In fact I'm proud of what we've done together and I want the public to know that you have been responsible for putting so many killers behind bars. No, what Zhang's visit has done has really made me take a long hard look at where I am going and what I want," says Kate with conviction.
"Ahhh...Ok then. So new mountains to climb. Well what's it going to be, Fuji? Kilimanjaro? Everest?" he asks relieved that his concerns are unfounded and curious again at what Kate is thinking.
"I don't know yet. I mean I love what I do and I love that you are going to be even more a part of it soon but I feel like I need a new challenge. It's kind of like when you killed off Derek Storm because you were bored," she tells him giving him a relevant example.
"Ahh, yeah. Look how that turned out," he responds knowingly as he gets into the bed and dusts a kiss to her temple as she humms a "Yeah" in reply to his show of affection and the implication of his words.
As Castle settles next to her with a book in hand she closes the laptop, puts it aside and takes one of his hands in both of hers. Sincerely she says to him, "Well, whatever's next I don't want to have to compromise my priorities to get there and I never want to be guilty of leaving behind what matters most."
"You can not leave behind what is always at your side," says Castle his voice full of the truth and promise of his words.
Kate is stunned by his heartfelt words and asks, "Ahh...Did you just make that up?"
"Yeah, why?" Castle asks puzzled as the sentiment he has just expressed is nothing new to him, his mind or his heart.
Kate surprises him as she quickly moves to him, straddles his hips and shakes her hair wild and loose above him as she tells him seductively, "You are so much better than Patterson."
Castle tosses his book to one side and has a look of contentment on his face as Kate leans down and starts nibbling on his ear. Yeah, Patterson can write as many books as he likes as long as he is here, for he rest of his life, with this gorgeous woman doing sinful things to him like she is right now.
A week later in the offices of NYPD Commissioner Hayward
Commissioner Hayward sits back in his black leather office chair and contemplates the email he has just read from Chief Inspector Zhang. The praise he reads here coupled with the reports from Victoria Gates and others regarding Detective Beckett's recent case with the officer from Hong Kong has him pondering again some recent thoughts regarding the homicide detective from the 12th.
As he'd told the mayor a couple of weeks ago now he's started to think about the future of Detective Beckett and this case seems to reinforce his high opinion of the woman. Yet again she successfully arrested a murderer while gaining the appreciation of the head of a major international joint task force and in the process exposing a flaw in a FBI case that would have cost the feds dearly.
Yes, Kate Beckett showed some common sense dealing with what could have been a potential political shit storm as that Chinese Chief Inspector started her personal crusade to find her friend's killer. Not to mention the satisfaction he got from telling the FBI that one of his detectives, the same one that they had warned off from their investigation, had discovered information that saved the bureau the embarrassment of arresting a suspect that was ready for them. Not to mention that the witness they tried so incompetently to recruit was the one that told their suspect all about their investigation. He really has to come up with a way to use Beckett's skills more widely.
Then there is her husband. He's heard from Senator Carrington that he, along with a counterpart in the State Assembly, are proceeding well with the planed changes to legislation allowing the creation of armed NYPDA Detectives. The Senator assured him that, unbelievably, the legislation would be ready for a vote in a couple of weeks and that it was sure to pass. That it will pass both the State Senate and Assembly so easily has apparently been helped by a recent article in the Ledger outlining the positive work that Richard Castle has done at the 12th. All approved through his office and instigated by the writer's strident agent.
With the remarkable ease with which this seems to be going maybe he should ask Rick Castle to help him next time he has some change to legislation he would like pushed through. As the likelihood of Castle's scheme working becomes more possible it looks like Beckett will have her husband's surprising skills to solve murders even more at her's and the department's disposal. Again he needs to think about how to make that benefit his department, the city and perhaps beyond even more than it does now.
A/N : I'm not 100% on the models of Glocks that Kate uses in the show so I chose some likely ones. If someone knows the particular Glocks she uses feel free to let me know. Please forgive any typos as I don't have a beta.
Thanks to everyone that has reviewed, faved, followed and reading this story. It makes it even more fun to do.