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[trigger_man]

Jack's currently sitting at the bar, drink next to his right hand, a book propped up in front of him.  Or, more specifically, a Sony Daily Edition Color eReader; not exactly top-of-the-line for his time, but it's about as fancy as he remembers ebook readers being, the last time he saw one.  It's not what he would have chosen, but besides the text-

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[bestsellingego]

Enter Castle, ill-timed interloper, with a travel tray of coffees balanced on one hand. It's half past eight, Manhattan time, and he's either very late or very early to meet up with Beckett at the precinct. Either way, the coffee is a good, liquid apology. Or so he's hoping.

He bellies up to the bar and puts the coffees down, mopping his pink hand with a napkin. "Spot me a couple of those little milk creamers, wouldja'?" A small dish burps into being on the counter. Castle peers among the selection. "You got any flavoured ones? French Vanilla, Hazelnut --" he grins "-- yeah, that's the stuff. Can't believe Starbucks was out of this stuff. What are we, savages?"

Castle drops a handful of creamers into his pocket and turns to go, catching sight of the guy with the screen-lit face.

"I know you, right?"

[trigger_man]

Jack turns, nodding when he recognizes Castle.

"Jack Bauer, friend of Kate Beckett's. You're Castle, right? How is the case going?" he asks, his face betraying more concern than he'd like.

[bestsellingego]

Castle puts down a couple of coffee stirrers and offers his hand. "Yeah, I remember you. We met in the Bar -- well, here, I guess -- 'few months back."

He pales when Jack mentions the case. "She told you about that, huh? Hits a little too close to home, if you ask me. To be honest, I'm starting to feel like we're chasing our tails."

[trigger_man]

Jack shakes Castle's hand briefly, trying to tilt his hand so the scarring on the back isn't noticeable.

"Yeah, she did. She didn't really have much of a choice; it was pretty obvious that something was really bothering her. I take it you don't have any more leads, then."

[bestsellingego]

Castle glances over his shoulder -- the Door is there and, hell, this is an alternate reality, right? Coffee'll still be hot -- and then slings a leg over the stool next to Jack's. He shakes his head.

"She tell you details? 'Bout this guy using my book as a play-by-play?"

[trigger_man]

"Some of them," Jack says with a nod, leaning in a little. There's a little of that old intensity in his face, that focus he'd had when he was in the middle of something at CTU. "She mentioned that he calls her Nikki Heat, that he's been calling her and that he's carved a message into bullets. I don't think she said what, though."

[bestsellingego]

In a moment, Castle'll have to decide whether or not to trust Jack with the remaining details. On the one hand, Castle knows, well, jack about Jack Bauer -- other than that he's a friend of Beckett's and looks like he could crush small rocks with his fists if you asked him to. On the other hand, he's a friend of Beckett's.

Knowing Beckett's choice of friends, that gives Bauer a considerable amount of credibility.

"Two crime scenes," he says. "Beckett's people got shell casings from both. He carved a letter into each of them --" ticking out his fingers as he goes "-- first 'NIKKI', then 'WILL'."

[trigger_man]

Jack's jaw tightens; there are a lot of ways to finish that sentence, none of them good. There's one particular one that sticks in his mine, one with only three letters.

"Son of a bitch," he says, under his breath. "She's got a protective detail, right? And I take it this guy hasn't been leaving much behind for forensics."

[bestsellingego]

"Scenes are clean by the time the forensics guys get there," he confirms. He doesn't expect the reaction he gets from Jack, but he appreciates it all the same. There are a lot of things about this case that frustrate the hell out of him. It's nice to have someone to grumble about them with.

He looks less confident when Jack asks about Beckett's detail. "Yeah, she's got a couple of guys who're supposed to keep tabs on her, but you know how she is." He feeds the other man a long-suffering look. "I mean, clearly, the woman can take care of herself. But this whole thing...it's not like anything we've ever worked before. Hell, she ever find out I worry about her as much as I do? She'd shoot me herself."

[trigger_man]

"Yeah, I figured Beckett was only barely tolerating it, and of course not being on the case isn't an option." If she even thinks of slipping her detail, Jack's going to kill her.

It's a little comforting to hear that Castle's worried about her, though. Not because he can really do anything to help, but because it means there's someone out there who can hopefully make sure she doesn't dig in her heels. It's more than Jack can do, stuck in here.

Though now that he thinks about it, he wonders if "private bodyguard" or "friend that works for private security" would be a realistic explanation for his presence in her world.

[bestsellingego]

Castle chuffs. "Yeah, tell Beckett not to do something and she's gonna' come back at you that much harder. All you can do is hope that you're not standing close enough to get any on you."

[trigger_man]

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me." He really shouldn't begrudge her that, considering it's a trait he shares. "My concern is that she takes the threat to her own safety seriously."

[bestsellingego]

"Beckett's serious as a heart attack," he says, absently studying the mottled surface of the bar. "Well, most of the time, anyway." Beat. "'You two meet in Milliways?"

That segue was almost seamless, wasn't it?

[trigger_man]

"She can be," Jack says. He should know, he's had a couple heart attacks. "And yeah, we did. First night I came in, actually. How'd you end up working with her again?"

He can't remember if Beckett told him exactly how Castle had ended up dogging her heels.

[bestsellingego]

No sign of intimidation on this guy -- he's as cool as can be, even eerily so. Castle thinks 'military training,' and wonders if there's any way (besides the junkyard dog look Jack's got) to substantiate the theory.

"Bout a year ago, some guy started copying murders right out of one of my books. Same MO, same crime scenes, same --" he pauses, drawing his lip over his teeth. Now it seems all a little like deja vu. "-- Well, you get the idea. Beckett got the case, and her boss thought it might be a good idea if I came along. Sort of a consultant-type gig."

[trigger_man]

"And you've been on board ever since? Even with the first book already published?" Jack says.

From what little Beckett had told him about Castle--and, he has to admit, to some degree from what he'd read about "Jamieson Rook" so far in Heat Wave--he'd been expecting the casual, easygoing charm. But with the way Castle talked about the case and about Beckett, Jack can tell there's some seriousness underneath it. It's something he's glad to see, considering the situation Beckett's in.