Richard Castle, Watcher: New York, September 2009 - Part 1
Richard Castle, Watcher
Author: Starfox5
Rating: FR18
Crossover: “Castle”
Written for: TtH August Fic A Day Challenge
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. Castle Characters belong to Beacon Pictures and ABC Studio. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Summary: That was a new definition of 'overkill', Castle thought.
New York, September 2009
“Really? The stomach flu, for two weeks?”
RIchard Castle, bestselling fantasy author, raised his eyebrows at Violet ‘Vi’ O’Malley.
“That’s what she just told the captain.” Vi, who had shamelessly abused her Slayer hearing to eavesdrop, sounded amused, not quite looking at Captain Montgomery’s office. Jane Varshney, Reporter not so extraordinaire, had returned to the 12th Precinct.
“Wow… makes one wonder if she’s as truthful when she’s writing,” Rick commented, shaking his head.
“She a glorified and overpaid gossip columnist, Castle. You don’t honestly expect her to win a Pulitzer Prize anytime soon, do you?” Detective Kate Beckett rolled her eyes at the two of them. “And is there a reason you have to be sitting on my desk?”
Vi, who was letting her legs dangle, nodded. “Rick took the chair.”
“It’s my chair. I saw it first.” Rick wasn’t about to let himself get evicted. Though he might get away with purchasing a chair of his own, if that was what it took.
“It’s my desk. And you’re occupying quite a bit of it with your rear.” Beckett glared at Vi.
“Are you calling me fat?” Vi narrowed her eyes.
“No, I am trying to get you to stop occupying my desk and keeping me from my work.”
“Rick doesn’t have any trouble working when I am with him,” Vi declared. The Slayer leaned backwards, arching her back and pushing her chest out while her leather jacket slid down her shoulders. “Am I distracting you?” she whispered while licking her lips. Rick made a mental note to talk to Faith about not being a bad influence on impressionable younger Slayers. Then he scratched the note - that would only encourage her. And Vi. He barely noted how Esposito was so distracted by the sight that he kept pouring coffee into his mug until it overflowed and scalded his hand.
“No, you’re simply annoying me. And you’re giving Castle ideas about his hypothetical book involving a certain detective with a stripper name and some redheaded hunter.” Beckett deadpanned.
Castle blinked. He had planned to have a ruggedly handsome journalist with a slight resemblance to himself romance Nikki Heat, but this… everyone knew love triangles attracted readers. Especially if it involved two hot women. His editor would love it.
“See? His mind just got lost in the gutter. Earth to Castle, the real world just called. The world where you’re currently fantasizing about an armed detective and a ‘trained bodyguard’.” Beckett waved her hand in front of him.
On the other hand, Castle loved to be alive. And whole. And he didn’t want to insinuate that kind of interest in Vi. He coughed. “You’re wrong. Besides, Nikki Heat strikes me as the more straight-laced kind of woman.”
“Oh, you might be mistaken about her past. But Nikki Heat wouldn’t go and rob the cradle. She would like a more mature partner.” Beckett smiled sweetly at Vi.
Castle just kept from reflexively blurting out that he was mature.
Vi had less self-control, and growled: “I’m no teenager anymore.”
“Oh? Could have fooled me.” Beckett said so innocently, butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.
The two women locked eyes with each other. They were so close now, Vi would have just to lean to the side a bit, or Beckett lean a bit forward…
“That’s so going into the book!” Castle said. His editor wouldn’t be happy, but it wouldn’t be the first time he had made changes at this stage.
He was saved from their ire by the Captain announcing that they had a case. Jane, standing next to Montgomery, was looking like she was about to have a relapse.
*****
“I have to point out though that there’s nothing hypothetical about my book. My editor has seen the first draft already,” Castle commented on the way to the crime scene.
“Hopefully he’ll change the name of the main character.”
“She,” Castle corrected the detective. “And she liked ‘Nikki Heat’. All the possible titles from the name alone....”
“What about Vivian, the real main character?” Vi wanted to know.
“She liked that character too, but thought it was a bit too close to another character I had already used.”
“Well, duh!” Vi smiled.
“Oh?” Jane asked, leaning forward.
“Vi also served as the inspiration for ‘Victoria’ in ‘Facing the Old One’,” Rick explained.
“Oh!” Jane seemed to read a lot into that, judging from the amount of notes she was making. Castle reminded himself that he would get to read the article before it was published. Would have to read it. Damn, he’d have to act as an editor too, if the woman’s questions were any indication of her writing skills.
They reached the crime scene - the Upper New York Bay. “We got a floater?” Castle asked, perking up.
“A man checking on his boat found the corpse. Tied to an anchor, floating right beneath the waves next to his boat’s hull.”
“An anchor…” Rick didn’t recall any demon using anchors. Not the kind found on ships, at least.
“We’re not going to dive, are we?” Vi asked.
“Don’t worry about ruining your hair, the police has that in hand.” Beckett commented from the back bench. One of those days, she’d accept his place in front. And she and Vi would be the best friends. And the World would be at Peace.
Vi parked between a patrol car and the van from the morgue, and everyone got out. Jane, who had grown steadily more quiet the closer they got to their destination, was taking deep breaths already. Rick spotted Ryan standing nearby, and quickly walked over to the detective. “Put me down for ‘5 minutes after she sees the corpse’, and with 20.”
“Got you.”
When he caught up with the rest of the group, Vi was smirking at him, and Beckett was glaring. He mouthed ‘You told her?’ to his Slayer, but she shook her head. He hadn’t thought he was that obvious. Or Beckett that perceptive. Then again, she had found out about his secret. Sort of.
“What do you have for us?” Beckett asked Lanie as soon as she saw her.
“Us.” Castle glanced at Beckett, smiling despite the glare he got in return.
The medical examiner pulled the blanket back from the corpse. “White male, about 30 years old, found tied to a small anchor with a chain.”
Castle whistled at the corpse’s chest. “That’s a lot of bullet holes.”
Lanie nodded. “Yes. But he might not have died from those wounds.”
“Water in the lungs?” Beckett crouched down to study the bullet holes. “The bullets must have perforated both lungs though. Small caliber. Less than 9 mm even.”
“Yes. I’ll have to conduct an autopsy to find the exact cause of death.”
“Do we have an ID yet?”
“He had his wallet on him.” Lanie held up a clear plastic bag with a slightly damaged ID in it.
“It wasn’t a robbery gone wrong then,” Castle stated.
“Alexei Ivanovich Berezin. Russian national.” Beckett stated, frowning.
“You can read Cyrillic?” Castle asked, surprised.
“I can speak Russian. I spent a semester in Kiev as a student,” the detective answered without taking her eyes off the document.
“Nikki Heat has even more hidden depths than I thought!” He’d have to find a way to get that in his next book.
“Time!” Vi suddenly said. Castle turned to her, and she pointed to the side, where Jane was bent over a plastic bag.
“Two minutes and 20 seconds,” Ryan said, handing over several bills to Beckett.
Castle stared at her. And she had been frowning at him for betting? He huffed.
“I told you I might not be as straight-laced as you assume,” Beckett said with smirk as she pocketed her winnings.
“Cops gambling… my faith in the police’s integrity just was shattered!” Castle sighed theatrically.
“Don’t be mad you lost, Castle. Just get used to it.”
“Never!”
*****
“Shot, drowned, and poisoned too? Who was this guy, the second coming of Rasputin?” Castle exclaimed after reading Lanie’s report back at the Precinct.
“That’s a good question, Castle. There are no records of this man entering the country legally. But judging by the parking tickets and receipts we found in his wallet, he has been in New York for months.”
“Oh… illegal immigration, and… polluting the environment? Does bleeding into the water after getting poisoned count?” Rick wondered.
“He’s dead, Castle. He won’t get prosecuted for anything.”
“Given how much it took to kill him, I’d not rule out resurrection.”
Beckett laughed, then stopped. “So that’s why Vi is watching Lanie working.”
Castle nodded.
“Do you think it could be a vampire?” Beckett asked in a lower voice, after checking for eavesdroppers.
“I don’t think so. That would be the first case of a rising after a burial at sea. Sort of.” Rupert would be ecstatic about such a novel case. “I’d suspect an exotic demon at work. Unless it was just adrenaline and luck.”
“Can’t Vi smell demons?”
“She can. But it’s not 100% foolproof.” Emphasis on ‘fool’, Castle thought.
“Did she ever have false positives?”
“Not so far,” Castle answered. Unless that unfortunate misunderstanding with the man who had just had messy sex with a succubus before encountering Vi counted. But he survived, and probably learned to pick his lovers more carefully, and shower more often. “But false negatives could happen without anyone realizing it.”
“We’ve got the vic’s address. We matched the key we found to an apartment building in Soho.” Esposito interrupted their discussion, handing Beckett a note with an address.
Castle peeked at it. “Oh? Gentrification involves illegal immigrants these days?” With a glance to the two detectives, he added: “I got the sales brochure for that building’s condos last year. It’s not exactly something you can pay while working in a sweatshop.”
“Contrary to popular belief, Castle, illegal immigrants are not all slaving away in sweatshops.”
“Well, he didn’t look like a stripper to me either.”
Author: Starfox5
Rating: FR18
Crossover: “Castle”
Written for: TtH August Fic A Day Challenge
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. Castle Characters belong to Beacon Pictures and ABC Studio. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Summary: That was a new definition of 'overkill', Castle thought.
New York, September 2009
“Really? The stomach flu, for two weeks?”
RIchard Castle, bestselling fantasy author, raised his eyebrows at Violet ‘Vi’ O’Malley.
“That’s what she just told the captain.” Vi, who had shamelessly abused her Slayer hearing to eavesdrop, sounded amused, not quite looking at Captain Montgomery’s office. Jane Varshney, Reporter not so extraordinaire, had returned to the 12th Precinct.
“Wow… makes one wonder if she’s as truthful when she’s writing,” Rick commented, shaking his head.
“She a glorified and overpaid gossip columnist, Castle. You don’t honestly expect her to win a Pulitzer Prize anytime soon, do you?” Detective Kate Beckett rolled her eyes at the two of them. “And is there a reason you have to be sitting on my desk?”
Vi, who was letting her legs dangle, nodded. “Rick took the chair.”
“It’s my chair. I saw it first.” Rick wasn’t about to let himself get evicted. Though he might get away with purchasing a chair of his own, if that was what it took.
“It’s my desk. And you’re occupying quite a bit of it with your rear.” Beckett glared at Vi.
“Are you calling me fat?” Vi narrowed her eyes.
“No, I am trying to get you to stop occupying my desk and keeping me from my work.”
“Rick doesn’t have any trouble working when I am with him,” Vi declared. The Slayer leaned backwards, arching her back and pushing her chest out while her leather jacket slid down her shoulders. “Am I distracting you?” she whispered while licking her lips. Rick made a mental note to talk to Faith about not being a bad influence on impressionable younger Slayers. Then he scratched the note - that would only encourage her. And Vi. He barely noted how Esposito was so distracted by the sight that he kept pouring coffee into his mug until it overflowed and scalded his hand.
“No, you’re simply annoying me. And you’re giving Castle ideas about his hypothetical book involving a certain detective with a stripper name and some redheaded hunter.” Beckett deadpanned.
Castle blinked. He had planned to have a ruggedly handsome journalist with a slight resemblance to himself romance Nikki Heat, but this… everyone knew love triangles attracted readers. Especially if it involved two hot women. His editor would love it.
“See? His mind just got lost in the gutter. Earth to Castle, the real world just called. The world where you’re currently fantasizing about an armed detective and a ‘trained bodyguard’.” Beckett waved her hand in front of him.
On the other hand, Castle loved to be alive. And whole. And he didn’t want to insinuate that kind of interest in Vi. He coughed. “You’re wrong. Besides, Nikki Heat strikes me as the more straight-laced kind of woman.”
“Oh, you might be mistaken about her past. But Nikki Heat wouldn’t go and rob the cradle. She would like a more mature partner.” Beckett smiled sweetly at Vi.
Castle just kept from reflexively blurting out that he was mature.
Vi had less self-control, and growled: “I’m no teenager anymore.”
“Oh? Could have fooled me.” Beckett said so innocently, butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.
The two women locked eyes with each other. They were so close now, Vi would have just to lean to the side a bit, or Beckett lean a bit forward…
“That’s so going into the book!” Castle said. His editor wouldn’t be happy, but it wouldn’t be the first time he had made changes at this stage.
He was saved from their ire by the Captain announcing that they had a case. Jane, standing next to Montgomery, was looking like she was about to have a relapse.
*****
“I have to point out though that there’s nothing hypothetical about my book. My editor has seen the first draft already,” Castle commented on the way to the crime scene.
“Hopefully he’ll change the name of the main character.”
“She,” Castle corrected the detective. “And she liked ‘Nikki Heat’. All the possible titles from the name alone....”
“What about Vivian, the real main character?” Vi wanted to know.
“She liked that character too, but thought it was a bit too close to another character I had already used.”
“Well, duh!” Vi smiled.
“Oh?” Jane asked, leaning forward.
“Vi also served as the inspiration for ‘Victoria’ in ‘Facing the Old One’,” Rick explained.
“Oh!” Jane seemed to read a lot into that, judging from the amount of notes she was making. Castle reminded himself that he would get to read the article before it was published. Would have to read it. Damn, he’d have to act as an editor too, if the woman’s questions were any indication of her writing skills.
They reached the crime scene - the Upper New York Bay. “We got a floater?” Castle asked, perking up.
“A man checking on his boat found the corpse. Tied to an anchor, floating right beneath the waves next to his boat’s hull.”
“An anchor…” Rick didn’t recall any demon using anchors. Not the kind found on ships, at least.
“We’re not going to dive, are we?” Vi asked.
“Don’t worry about ruining your hair, the police has that in hand.” Beckett commented from the back bench. One of those days, she’d accept his place in front. And she and Vi would be the best friends. And the World would be at Peace.
Vi parked between a patrol car and the van from the morgue, and everyone got out. Jane, who had grown steadily more quiet the closer they got to their destination, was taking deep breaths already. Rick spotted Ryan standing nearby, and quickly walked over to the detective. “Put me down for ‘5 minutes after she sees the corpse’, and with 20.”
“Got you.”
When he caught up with the rest of the group, Vi was smirking at him, and Beckett was glaring. He mouthed ‘You told her?’ to his Slayer, but she shook her head. He hadn’t thought he was that obvious. Or Beckett that perceptive. Then again, she had found out about his secret. Sort of.
“What do you have for us?” Beckett asked Lanie as soon as she saw her.
“Us.” Castle glanced at Beckett, smiling despite the glare he got in return.
The medical examiner pulled the blanket back from the corpse. “White male, about 30 years old, found tied to a small anchor with a chain.”
Castle whistled at the corpse’s chest. “That’s a lot of bullet holes.”
Lanie nodded. “Yes. But he might not have died from those wounds.”
“Water in the lungs?” Beckett crouched down to study the bullet holes. “The bullets must have perforated both lungs though. Small caliber. Less than 9 mm even.”
“Yes. I’ll have to conduct an autopsy to find the exact cause of death.”
“Do we have an ID yet?”
“He had his wallet on him.” Lanie held up a clear plastic bag with a slightly damaged ID in it.
“It wasn’t a robbery gone wrong then,” Castle stated.
“Alexei Ivanovich Berezin. Russian national.” Beckett stated, frowning.
“You can read Cyrillic?” Castle asked, surprised.
“I can speak Russian. I spent a semester in Kiev as a student,” the detective answered without taking her eyes off the document.
“Nikki Heat has even more hidden depths than I thought!” He’d have to find a way to get that in his next book.
“Time!” Vi suddenly said. Castle turned to her, and she pointed to the side, where Jane was bent over a plastic bag.
“Two minutes and 20 seconds,” Ryan said, handing over several bills to Beckett.
Castle stared at her. And she had been frowning at him for betting? He huffed.
“I told you I might not be as straight-laced as you assume,” Beckett said with smirk as she pocketed her winnings.
“Cops gambling… my faith in the police’s integrity just was shattered!” Castle sighed theatrically.
“Don’t be mad you lost, Castle. Just get used to it.”
“Never!”
*****
“Shot, drowned, and poisoned too? Who was this guy, the second coming of Rasputin?” Castle exclaimed after reading Lanie’s report back at the Precinct.
“That’s a good question, Castle. There are no records of this man entering the country legally. But judging by the parking tickets and receipts we found in his wallet, he has been in New York for months.”
“Oh… illegal immigration, and… polluting the environment? Does bleeding into the water after getting poisoned count?” Rick wondered.
“He’s dead, Castle. He won’t get prosecuted for anything.”
“Given how much it took to kill him, I’d not rule out resurrection.”
Beckett laughed, then stopped. “So that’s why Vi is watching Lanie working.”
Castle nodded.
“Do you think it could be a vampire?” Beckett asked in a lower voice, after checking for eavesdroppers.
“I don’t think so. That would be the first case of a rising after a burial at sea. Sort of.” Rupert would be ecstatic about such a novel case. “I’d suspect an exotic demon at work. Unless it was just adrenaline and luck.”
“Can’t Vi smell demons?”
“She can. But it’s not 100% foolproof.” Emphasis on ‘fool’, Castle thought.
“Did she ever have false positives?”
“Not so far,” Castle answered. Unless that unfortunate misunderstanding with the man who had just had messy sex with a succubus before encountering Vi counted. But he survived, and probably learned to pick his lovers more carefully, and shower more often. “But false negatives could happen without anyone realizing it.”
“We’ve got the vic’s address. We matched the key we found to an apartment building in Soho.” Esposito interrupted their discussion, handing Beckett a note with an address.
Castle peeked at it. “Oh? Gentrification involves illegal immigrants these days?” With a glance to the two detectives, he added: “I got the sales brochure for that building’s condos last year. It’s not exactly something you can pay while working in a sweatshop.”
“Contrary to popular belief, Castle, illegal immigrants are not all slaving away in sweatshops.”
“Well, he didn’t look like a stripper to me either.”