Early season 7
The heat was as palpable as it was it detrimental.
They'd been sitting here for too long, way too long. Kevin could feel himself growing delusional, his brain tired from fighting the exhaustion that the incessant heat and lack of oxygen had caused.
His breathing was shallow at best, eyes focused on the ground, repeating the silent mantra that defeat was not an option this time around.
Castle sat to his left, leaning heavily against the wooden panels that made up the wall of their prison. Plain boards without any inscription, without the scratch marks from fingernails dug into the grain, one last desperate effort to break free.
The writer's remarkable sense of humor had been dulled down to pitiful one-liners, trying to keep up their strength during these trying times.
Javi was to his right, the quietest of the three men, stoically enduring the latest curveball fate had thrown at them.
"Did you know that statistically speaking, the number of heat-related deaths in the state of New York goes up 3% with each degree over 82?", Castle explained, his voice a mere mumble as he leaned his head back, eyes closed, swallowing hard.
"Boy, are we going to screw up that statistic.", Kevin replied as another drop of sweat rolled off his cheek, dripping onto the floor, "It's probably about 170 degrees in here, that's 88 degrees higher. I feel like that's a definite sign that we're gonna die…"
"We're not gonna die.", came Javi's raspy voice from the other side, the unwavering authority in his words not changing despite their sorry state of affairs, "We've been through worse."
"We have?", Castle mumbled and leaned forward to look at them questioningly.
"Javier does have a point. He and I spent some time in a burning building."
Silence settled between the three men again, disrupted only when Kevin drew in a deep breath and shook his head in defeat.
"We should have known this was a setup. It was clear as day. And now look at us. Trapped. Hot. Our oxygen could run out at any moment. God knows how long it will be before our bodies are found."
"To think that I always envisioned dying a hero's death. Saving a class of school children by throwing myself in front of a bus, or taking a bullet for the president.", Castle mused, then rested his head in the palms of his hands, "Trapped inside this…this hut, with sweat coming out of every pore of my body…wasn't on the list."
"Yo, the more you complain, the worse it gets, so stop it. We gotta hang in there.", Javi insisted and wiped the sweat off his face, not bothering to look over at his teammates.
"I wonder what Beckett will go through when she finds our bodies…? Guilt?"
Kevin's words earned him an angry glare from the right, and a shrug from the left as the young detective sighed quietly, cursing fate for the umpteenth time that afternoon.
They'd been so close to reaching a different outcome too, so painfully close. But luck had been the one thing eluding them on this journey.
"How much more time do you think we have?", Castle asked and checked his wristwatch, no longer trusting his own senses when it came to the significance of the question.
"Half an hour. Less if you don't shut up and conserve your energy…"
"Does Javier always get cranky like that when it gets hot out?"
Castle's question was aimed at Kevin this time, and the young detective nodded unperceptively.
"He gets hangry too. And we never did eat lunch…"
"You two should have at least eaten something, knowing that this outcome was a possibility…"
"We had a good chance for a better outcome. It's your doubt that jinxed us.", Esposito replied and leaned forward to meet their faces, "Now we just gotta man up and survive this. I got a date tonight and I intend to show up."
"You got a date? With whom this time? Lolita in HR? Or were you the cop that held up the beauty pageant bus this morning on grounds of illegal parking? That was you, wasn't it?"
The mockery in Castle's question served to only irritate the older detective further and he shook his head, taking several deep breaths before replying.
"My mom invited me over for alcapurrias. In my family, dying is not an approved excuse to stand up your mother when she makes dinner."
Surprised by the response, Castle raised his brows, then squinted against the dim light.
"You really think she'll be able to handle cooking for all those pageant girls?", the writer continued and laughed amicably, then stopped mid-sentence, "On second thought, a can of peas will probably feed them all for the night."
Instead of replying, Esposito resorted to stubborn silence, never even reacting as the sweat continued to run off his face and dripped onto his dress pants.
Kevin thought about interfering, hoping to throttle some of Castle's well-meaning humor under the circumstances, but the exhaustion overwhelming his body became too strong.
With his heart hammering in his chest, he closed his eyes for a moment, hoping the miniscule act would help revitalize his senses.
When he opened them again, he saw Esposito taking off his t-shirt, fighting the fabric where it stuck to his shiny skin.
Looking over at the left, he noticed Castle following suit, though skeptically, as he slowly unbuttoned his dress shirt, needing a couple attempts to loosen the expensive cufflinks on his wrists.
"You know we're gonna have to put those clothes back on once we get out of here. I mean, people are going to think that…well… you know. Not that I… I would have an issue with that but…you know what, I can't think straight anymore. Just let me know if we survive this. If not, have somebody cover me up. I don't want people to know my last act of herosim was sweating to death."
Feeling the damp dress shirt constrict his body like a snake, Ryan succumbed to the notion and pulled on the Windsor knot of his tie, releasing it one slow inch at a time, before carelessly letting it drop onto the bench they sat on.
Unbuttoning used up considerably more effort, resulting in several failed attempts before he finally stripped out of his dress shirt, immediately feeling an iota of relief from the oppressive heat.
Breathing heavily, Kevin tried to remain positive, knowing that at least he wasn't in this miserable situation alone.
Then again, without the bravado of the two men currently in his company, he may have not ended up in it at all.
"You know, I always thought you guys would have matching tattoos. Or nipple piercings."
With his wavy brown hair matted against his forehead and blotches of red covering his youthful features, Castle looked dreadful, his sorrowful expression reminding him of the homeless population lining the streets to work every morning.
When Javi made no attempt to answer, Kevin shrugged disinterestedly, then looked down at his bare chest that was covered in sweat.
"I always thought about a tattoo. It kind of lost its appeal after I saw a guy stabbed to death with a tattoo gun."
"Oh, that's right.", Esposito chimed in, "His ex-girlfriend shoved it into his eyeball and penetrated his brain. That was a messy one. I remember his eye had leaked all over the floor."
"Well, it didn't help that she tried to tattoo her name into his skull. So, Castle, why don't you have any tattoos or piercings?", Kevin rebutted, thoroughly enjoying putting the writer on the defense for once.
"Isn't it obvious? Because it would only distract from my natural beauty."
Shaking his head exasperatedly, Esposito used his crinkled-up t-shirt to wipe his face before answering.
"You don't have a piercing because you're afraid that Beckett's gonna attach a chain to it and walk you around the precinct by your nipple ring."
"I would…I guess, I would be ok with that."
Running a hand across his chest, Castle smiled playfully, seemingly catching his second wind under these inhumane conditions.
Kevin admired that part about the him; knowing how easy it would be to feel self-pity under similar circumstances.
Drawing in another ragged breath, the young detective glanced down at his wristwatch, having to wipe the face against his pant leg before he could finally tell the time.
"Guys…I think…I think we did it!"
His words did wonders to raise the weary spirits of his company and both Castle and Esposito stood up, as if they had to see the good news themselves.
"Are you sure?", his partner asked disbelievingly, and Kevin nodded, before twisting his wrist to show him.
"Sweet. We did it, bro! I knew we could do it!"
"Well would you look at us, guys.", Castle cheered and reached backward for his soggy clothes, before lifting his arm and kissing his biceps, "Just when they thought they won, we came out as victors, defying the odds and showing grace under duress. It's flawlessly poetic. What do you say we go and spend the rest of the afternoon rubbing it in their faces."
"How about we take a shower first…", Esposito suggested and grabbed his shirt, before heading to the small door leading out of the sauna and toward the gloriously cool room outside.
The last one in tow, Kevin blinked a few times at the bright lights greeting him on the other side, along with voices- a lot cheerier than he'd expected.
"Well, well, well. Look at you, guys. Got a little warm in there?"
Beckett's voice was accompanied by a chuckle from none other than Lanie, who had decided to join the party.
"Mhm hm hm…I say we should do this more often…", the ME suggested and stepped closer to Esposito, before running her finger down his chest, stopping at the badge dangling off his neck.
"You mean bet on who will close the case first or take our clothes off and spend some time in the sauna, see who can last the longest? Because we don't need a bet for that.", the older detective replied and caressed her cheek with his thumb, before they were interrupted by Beckett clearing her throat to separate them again.
"I'll give you credit. Lanie and I figured you wouldn't last more than 5 minutes in there. We even turned the heat up a bit. Half an hour is impressive. You look like you're well done. Cooked all the cockiness right out of you."
"Not all of it…", Castle argued, "Guess who's going to be well prepared in case we're ever trapped inside a sauna, sweat shack or spaceship orbiting the sun? Me and the boys right here, that's who. You'll be the first to pass out, so you better be nice to us being we're gonna be your knights in shining armor."
"I say we cross that bridge when we get there, Castle."
Unable to hide a hearty laughter, Beckett let her eyes drift over her men, keeping them on a certain writer a few moments longer before gesturing toward the exit.
"Freshen up and then let's head back to the precinct. There are reports to write. Do let me know when you want to make bets again. The next time you lose, you'll get to spend an hour in there."