New York, March 2009
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: The murderer had to be at this spot. The only other location was under the water.
New York, March 2009
“I should arrest your driver!”
Richard Castle turned away from the fountain he was studying to face detective Beckett. “Why?”
“She must have broken every traffic law on the books to arrive here that fast.”
“That’s just the result of good German engineering,” Rick answered. And Slayer reflexes behind the wheel, and plain madness. It said disturbing things about his own mental health that he let Vi drive at all.
“Tell me another one! And why didn’t you follow me, instead of rushing ahead? We’re talking about a dangerous killer here!” Beckett glared at him. “I should arrest you for your own good.”
“But you won’t, since you need me.” Castle smiled at her. If she tried to arrest him, Vi would intervene,and that would be bad. Or, worse, she’d let the detective arrest him to keep both of them safe. Vi sometimes had peculiar ideas about the proper relationship between a Watcher and his Slayer. All Buffy’s fault, of course. Sometimes Castle wondered if Rupert really had been knocked out that often by demons, or if Buffy had taken a hands-on approach to make sure he’d stay safely out of a battle.
“I would not call it ‘need’. Your obnoxious attitude is close to outweighing your limited usefulness.” Her glare had grown more intense. Under that professional mask the detective was a very passionate woman.
“You wound me, detective!” He put a hand on his chest.
“Not yet.” And that was a smile Faith would be proud of. Not that he’d never compare Faith to a cop where either could hear him.
“I didn’t find any sign of the murderer,” Vi’s arrival interrupted both. She hadn’t sensed any demon then. That was ‘not of the good’, as Buffy would say.
The detective had her gun drawn before she realized it was Vi who had snuck up on them. Castle was used to ‘Slayer stealth’, as he called it. Beckett didn’t comment on it though, but she glared at the redhead while she reholstered her gun. Vi smirked at her, totally ignoring his gestures behind the detective’s back to cut the attitude. Slayers!
“I don’t get it. This is the next point of the pentagram. If he’s painting a pentagram in blood, like in my novel, he’d have to come here.” Castle didn’t want to know what would happen if the man had started to randomly pick murder locations.
“Patrols are at the other locations. They haven’t found anything there either.” Beckett stated after a brief check with her team - on her own phone, at last. “You can draw a pentagram two ways from the same point.”
“Yeah, but the other version has the third point in the middle of the Hudson River.” Castle wasn’t quite letting his annoyance show. He had considered that. “I doubt he’s going scuba diving with his victim. Makes it hard to use the blood....” he trailed off when he realized just where the alternate point was.
“The tunnel!” Both he and Beckett exclaimed at the same time. After a brief, startled pause, both of them were rushing towards the parked cars.
“See you in the tunnel, detective Beckett!” Castle yelled, opening the passenger door of his Z3. Vi, of course, was already seated and had started the engine.
“No you don’t!” Beckett answered and, to Castle’s great surprise, slipped in after him, onto his lap. “You’re not leaving me behind.”
Vi stared at her, then at Castle, clearly waiting for his decision.
He had a pretty girl in his lap and a demon-possessed murderer to catch. There was only one answer. “Hit it, Vi!”
And they were off.
*****
Reality had crushed another fantasy of Rick. Well, not exactly crushed, but he had thought a drive at high speed with a pretty girl in his lap would have been a bit more exciting. At least Beckett had stopped screaming after the third time Vi had taken an unorthodox shortcut. And she had calmed down somewhat when Vi stopped the car in front of the tunnel’s maintenance access. Calmed down enough at least to not threaten to shoot the redhead anymore. He still had to push her out of the car and his lap, but she managed to stand, which made her tougher than most Watchers who let a Slayer drive a high-performance car for the first time.
“That… that… you’re a menace! A danger to society! You almost killed us a dozen times, and I lost count of how many people you endangered!” Beckett shouted, and Castle had the impression she was reconsidering not shooting Vi.
Vi was ignoring her and already opening the access door to the maintenance tunnel.
“Do I want to know why she has a key to this door?” Becket seemed to find getting ignored even more vexing than almost getting killed in traffic.
“The municipality cut corners. They only have about a dozen different keys for those doors.” Castle answered. And he and Vi had copies of all of them. They needed them - New York might not have been built with underground routes for vampires and other demons in mind, but there were so many tunnels and sewers, both new and abandoned, it hardly made a difference. Granted, in a pinch, Vi could simply break those doors open. Or kick them open. That usually surprised demons. And on two occasion, had taken them out when the door hit them. But keys left less traces and were more convenient. Especially for a ruggedly handsome Watcher who couldn’t kick a metal door open.
“That doesn’t answer my question.” Beckett complained, but she was rushing after Vi, who was sprinting ahead.
Castle followed. Without the Ack Pack - that would have been impossible to explain to the detective - he was faster than usual, and could keep up with the detective. She made a fetching sight, running in high heels through the cramped maintenance tunnel. Obviously fit. Dedicated. Smart. About to face a demon as a normal human. Granted, she didn’t know that, but he had a feeling that if she knew, she’d still run as fast, or faster, towards danger.
They heard a scream ahead. A girl - not Vi, of course - in mortal terror. The scream went on, she didn’t get cut off. That was a good sign, usually, for last second rescues.
Beckett pulled ahead, and Castle grit his teeth - briefly, he needed his mouth wide open to breath. He should start running in the morning. Or go to the gym more often. It was a nice place to meet women too, although…
Beckett entered a larger room, ahead of him. “NYPD, you’re under arrest!”
Castle reached the room as well, and was relieved at what he saw. Vi was beating ‘Damian’ around. The man looked crazy, and seemed tougher than a normal human had any right to be, and was wielding that knife with the obsidian grip, but Vi had it under control.
“NYPD! You’re under arrest. Miss, get away, I cannot shoot if you’re so close!” Beckett was moving around, trying to get a clear line of fire. Vi ignored her commands, the murderer did the same, and Castle went for the victim, who fortunately seemed unhurt.
She had stopped screaming too, but was still crying. “It’s ok, we’re here to save you, Miss Thompson.” He knelt down next to her, pulled out his bowie knife and started to saw through the rope that kept the girl fastened to a rusting pushcart.
“Castle! Tell her to get away from him!” Beckett yelled at him, but he ignored her as well. As if Vi would listen to him just to let the cop steal her ‘kill’.
His Slayer was taking her time, he could tell - or downplaying her abilities because of the detective’s presence. The redhead didn’t knock the possessed - probably - man out until Castle had freed the kidnapped girl and covered her with his jacket.
Beckett knelt on the man and handcuffed him one handed, gun pressed to his head. It was quite impressive, even counting the fact that the guy was unconscious. Castle had a sudden vision of Beckett handcuffing a Fyarl demon for attempted murder, and couldn’t help snickering at the absurdity of the thought. On the other hand, was it really that absurd?
“Do you find this amusing, Mister Castle?” Beckett was in his face, livid. “Your ‘driver’ is lucky not to have been wounded or even killed fighting a deranged and armed murderer. Why didn’t you call her back? This is not some novel of yours!”
If he told her the Slayer wouldn’t listen to him and had likely been showing off to her, and showing her up at the same time since Slayers just were like that, she’d probably explode. So he lied: “I was focused on saving the girl, sorry.” He smiled his best ‘I am innocent, really’ smile at her.
It didn’t work. “So you and your girlfriend wanted to play hero!” She snarled at him. “This is not some cosplay con!” He’d not have thought she was familiar with that particular scene.
At least he served as a distraction so Vi could remove the obsidian part containing the demon’s soul from the knife behind the detective’s back.
“Now that you mention it, that would make a good scene in a book.” He grinned. She was about to explode when he continued. “You’d make a good character too. Suitably altered of course.”
“What?” She blinked, gaping at him. “Suitably altered?”
“Oh, yes. A smart, sassy and stubborn detective investigating paranormal crimes! I might start a new series, even. ‘Vampire Hunter’ in an Urban Fantasy setting. It has been very popular lately.” And probably responsible for a fair number of deaths of girls thinking bloodsuckers were romantic. “I’ll skip the almost obligatory love triangle with the vampire and werewolf, though - you don’t seem to be the type to play with two men at the same time.”
She opened her mouth to say something, then shook her head. “I will not even deign that with an answer. I’ll head out to call my team. Do not move from here, or I’ll arrest you both!”
He grinned at her retreating back, until he caught Vi’s expression. His Slayer was frowning at him. “What?”
“You’re not making her a ‘Vampire Hunter’, right?” Vi seemed oddly concerned.
“No. I am thinking of a normal human detective.” He wouldn’t have to make Beckett superhuman to make her interesting, he knew that. A woman like her, in the police? There was more than one story to be found. Or spun.
“Good! Then I call dibs on the ‘Hunter’ part!” Vi grinned.
“What ‘Hunter part’?”
“You can’t fight evil without a ‘Superhuman hot chick’!” Vi was quoting Faith. Drunk Faith. ”Of course there’ll be a ‘Vampire Hunter’ part. A redheaded, beautiful, smart and stylish ‘Vampire Hunter’!”
Dear Lord, she was serious.
*****
Obsidian dissolving in a magical mixture of herbs and holy water was a fascinating sight. Castle stared at it as it sizzled and hissed in his ceramic bowl.
“You won’t be seeing a green shade escape it, dad. Willow was quite clear about it.” Alexis had joined him in his study.
“Have you been listening to my calls again?” He frowned at her.
“Of course not. I asked her.” Alexis answered, all falsely accused innocence.
“And she told you?”
“Of course. She knows who’s the most dependable person in this Scoobie Unit.” Alexis nodded with an expression that clearly stated she was carrying a heavy burden.
“We’re not a ‘Scoobie Unit’. We’re a Watcher and a Slayer.” And his daughter wasn’t part of that.
“And me. Watcher in training.” His daughter beamed at him.
“You… what… no. No.” She wouldn’t. London wouldn’t... who was he kidding? Mary would be overjoyed. And the scoobies wouldn’t really object too much to someone following in their footsteps. And Alexis would do that. Damn.
“So, did you get a date with the hot detective?”
“Don’t change the topic! And no, I didn’t ask.” Yet. He’d have to let her cool off a bit more.
“So, you asking the Mayor to get assigned as a consultant to her precinct so you can ‘research for your next book’ is a purely professional decision?” Alexis smirked at him.
“Yes.” It would allow him to study cases that might have supernatural ties as well. A win-win-win situation. Unless the detective shot him. Down, he meant.
“Don’t forget, if you’re interested in her, you have to run her by me and Gran first. And probably Vi too. You promised.”
“That was eight years ago! And I didn’t promise anything! And you didn’t say anything about my last girlfriends.”
“Bimbos don’t count,” Alexis scoffed. “So, when will you invite her over?”
“When she doesn’t feel hostile to me anymore. Vi didn’t make too positive an impression, and I got the blame.”
“So, never then. And I had so hoped for a smart stepmother,” Alexis shook her head in mock sorrow, but Rick couldn’t tell if she was actually sad, or relieved. Or a bit of both.
He only knew he’d see detective Kate Beckett again.
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: The murderer had to be at this spot. The only other location was under the water.
New York, March 2009
“I should arrest your driver!”
Richard Castle turned away from the fountain he was studying to face detective Beckett. “Why?”
“She must have broken every traffic law on the books to arrive here that fast.”
“That’s just the result of good German engineering,” Rick answered. And Slayer reflexes behind the wheel, and plain madness. It said disturbing things about his own mental health that he let Vi drive at all.
“Tell me another one! And why didn’t you follow me, instead of rushing ahead? We’re talking about a dangerous killer here!” Beckett glared at him. “I should arrest you for your own good.”
“But you won’t, since you need me.” Castle smiled at her. If she tried to arrest him, Vi would intervene,and that would be bad. Or, worse, she’d let the detective arrest him to keep both of them safe. Vi sometimes had peculiar ideas about the proper relationship between a Watcher and his Slayer. All Buffy’s fault, of course. Sometimes Castle wondered if Rupert really had been knocked out that often by demons, or if Buffy had taken a hands-on approach to make sure he’d stay safely out of a battle.
“I would not call it ‘need’. Your obnoxious attitude is close to outweighing your limited usefulness.” Her glare had grown more intense. Under that professional mask the detective was a very passionate woman.
“You wound me, detective!” He put a hand on his chest.
“Not yet.” And that was a smile Faith would be proud of. Not that he’d never compare Faith to a cop where either could hear him.
“I didn’t find any sign of the murderer,” Vi’s arrival interrupted both. She hadn’t sensed any demon then. That was ‘not of the good’, as Buffy would say.
The detective had her gun drawn before she realized it was Vi who had snuck up on them. Castle was used to ‘Slayer stealth’, as he called it. Beckett didn’t comment on it though, but she glared at the redhead while she reholstered her gun. Vi smirked at her, totally ignoring his gestures behind the detective’s back to cut the attitude. Slayers!
“I don’t get it. This is the next point of the pentagram. If he’s painting a pentagram in blood, like in my novel, he’d have to come here.” Castle didn’t want to know what would happen if the man had started to randomly pick murder locations.
“Patrols are at the other locations. They haven’t found anything there either.” Beckett stated after a brief check with her team - on her own phone, at last. “You can draw a pentagram two ways from the same point.”
“Yeah, but the other version has the third point in the middle of the Hudson River.” Castle wasn’t quite letting his annoyance show. He had considered that. “I doubt he’s going scuba diving with his victim. Makes it hard to use the blood....” he trailed off when he realized just where the alternate point was.
“The tunnel!” Both he and Beckett exclaimed at the same time. After a brief, startled pause, both of them were rushing towards the parked cars.
“See you in the tunnel, detective Beckett!” Castle yelled, opening the passenger door of his Z3. Vi, of course, was already seated and had started the engine.
“No you don’t!” Beckett answered and, to Castle’s great surprise, slipped in after him, onto his lap. “You’re not leaving me behind.”
Vi stared at her, then at Castle, clearly waiting for his decision.
He had a pretty girl in his lap and a demon-possessed murderer to catch. There was only one answer. “Hit it, Vi!”
And they were off.
*****
Reality had crushed another fantasy of Rick. Well, not exactly crushed, but he had thought a drive at high speed with a pretty girl in his lap would have been a bit more exciting. At least Beckett had stopped screaming after the third time Vi had taken an unorthodox shortcut. And she had calmed down somewhat when Vi stopped the car in front of the tunnel’s maintenance access. Calmed down enough at least to not threaten to shoot the redhead anymore. He still had to push her out of the car and his lap, but she managed to stand, which made her tougher than most Watchers who let a Slayer drive a high-performance car for the first time.
“That… that… you’re a menace! A danger to society! You almost killed us a dozen times, and I lost count of how many people you endangered!” Beckett shouted, and Castle had the impression she was reconsidering not shooting Vi.
Vi was ignoring her and already opening the access door to the maintenance tunnel.
“Do I want to know why she has a key to this door?” Becket seemed to find getting ignored even more vexing than almost getting killed in traffic.
“The municipality cut corners. They only have about a dozen different keys for those doors.” Castle answered. And he and Vi had copies of all of them. They needed them - New York might not have been built with underground routes for vampires and other demons in mind, but there were so many tunnels and sewers, both new and abandoned, it hardly made a difference. Granted, in a pinch, Vi could simply break those doors open. Or kick them open. That usually surprised demons. And on two occasion, had taken them out when the door hit them. But keys left less traces and were more convenient. Especially for a ruggedly handsome Watcher who couldn’t kick a metal door open.
“That doesn’t answer my question.” Beckett complained, but she was rushing after Vi, who was sprinting ahead.
Castle followed. Without the Ack Pack - that would have been impossible to explain to the detective - he was faster than usual, and could keep up with the detective. She made a fetching sight, running in high heels through the cramped maintenance tunnel. Obviously fit. Dedicated. Smart. About to face a demon as a normal human. Granted, she didn’t know that, but he had a feeling that if she knew, she’d still run as fast, or faster, towards danger.
They heard a scream ahead. A girl - not Vi, of course - in mortal terror. The scream went on, she didn’t get cut off. That was a good sign, usually, for last second rescues.
Beckett pulled ahead, and Castle grit his teeth - briefly, he needed his mouth wide open to breath. He should start running in the morning. Or go to the gym more often. It was a nice place to meet women too, although…
Beckett entered a larger room, ahead of him. “NYPD, you’re under arrest!”
Castle reached the room as well, and was relieved at what he saw. Vi was beating ‘Damian’ around. The man looked crazy, and seemed tougher than a normal human had any right to be, and was wielding that knife with the obsidian grip, but Vi had it under control.
“NYPD! You’re under arrest. Miss, get away, I cannot shoot if you’re so close!” Beckett was moving around, trying to get a clear line of fire. Vi ignored her commands, the murderer did the same, and Castle went for the victim, who fortunately seemed unhurt.
She had stopped screaming too, but was still crying. “It’s ok, we’re here to save you, Miss Thompson.” He knelt down next to her, pulled out his bowie knife and started to saw through the rope that kept the girl fastened to a rusting pushcart.
“Castle! Tell her to get away from him!” Beckett yelled at him, but he ignored her as well. As if Vi would listen to him just to let the cop steal her ‘kill’.
His Slayer was taking her time, he could tell - or downplaying her abilities because of the detective’s presence. The redhead didn’t knock the possessed - probably - man out until Castle had freed the kidnapped girl and covered her with his jacket.
Beckett knelt on the man and handcuffed him one handed, gun pressed to his head. It was quite impressive, even counting the fact that the guy was unconscious. Castle had a sudden vision of Beckett handcuffing a Fyarl demon for attempted murder, and couldn’t help snickering at the absurdity of the thought. On the other hand, was it really that absurd?
“Do you find this amusing, Mister Castle?” Beckett was in his face, livid. “Your ‘driver’ is lucky not to have been wounded or even killed fighting a deranged and armed murderer. Why didn’t you call her back? This is not some novel of yours!”
If he told her the Slayer wouldn’t listen to him and had likely been showing off to her, and showing her up at the same time since Slayers just were like that, she’d probably explode. So he lied: “I was focused on saving the girl, sorry.” He smiled his best ‘I am innocent, really’ smile at her.
It didn’t work. “So you and your girlfriend wanted to play hero!” She snarled at him. “This is not some cosplay con!” He’d not have thought she was familiar with that particular scene.
At least he served as a distraction so Vi could remove the obsidian part containing the demon’s soul from the knife behind the detective’s back.
“Now that you mention it, that would make a good scene in a book.” He grinned. She was about to explode when he continued. “You’d make a good character too. Suitably altered of course.”
“What?” She blinked, gaping at him. “Suitably altered?”
“Oh, yes. A smart, sassy and stubborn detective investigating paranormal crimes! I might start a new series, even. ‘Vampire Hunter’ in an Urban Fantasy setting. It has been very popular lately.” And probably responsible for a fair number of deaths of girls thinking bloodsuckers were romantic. “I’ll skip the almost obligatory love triangle with the vampire and werewolf, though - you don’t seem to be the type to play with two men at the same time.”
She opened her mouth to say something, then shook her head. “I will not even deign that with an answer. I’ll head out to call my team. Do not move from here, or I’ll arrest you both!”
He grinned at her retreating back, until he caught Vi’s expression. His Slayer was frowning at him. “What?”
“You’re not making her a ‘Vampire Hunter’, right?” Vi seemed oddly concerned.
“No. I am thinking of a normal human detective.” He wouldn’t have to make Beckett superhuman to make her interesting, he knew that. A woman like her, in the police? There was more than one story to be found. Or spun.
“Good! Then I call dibs on the ‘Hunter’ part!” Vi grinned.
“What ‘Hunter part’?”
“You can’t fight evil without a ‘Superhuman hot chick’!” Vi was quoting Faith. Drunk Faith. ”Of course there’ll be a ‘Vampire Hunter’ part. A redheaded, beautiful, smart and stylish ‘Vampire Hunter’!”
Dear Lord, she was serious.
*****
Obsidian dissolving in a magical mixture of herbs and holy water was a fascinating sight. Castle stared at it as it sizzled and hissed in his ceramic bowl.
“You won’t be seeing a green shade escape it, dad. Willow was quite clear about it.” Alexis had joined him in his study.
“Have you been listening to my calls again?” He frowned at her.
“Of course not. I asked her.” Alexis answered, all falsely accused innocence.
“And she told you?”
“Of course. She knows who’s the most dependable person in this Scoobie Unit.” Alexis nodded with an expression that clearly stated she was carrying a heavy burden.
“We’re not a ‘Scoobie Unit’. We’re a Watcher and a Slayer.” And his daughter wasn’t part of that.
“And me. Watcher in training.” His daughter beamed at him.
“You… what… no. No.” She wouldn’t. London wouldn’t... who was he kidding? Mary would be overjoyed. And the scoobies wouldn’t really object too much to someone following in their footsteps. And Alexis would do that. Damn.
“So, did you get a date with the hot detective?”
“Don’t change the topic! And no, I didn’t ask.” Yet. He’d have to let her cool off a bit more.
“So, you asking the Mayor to get assigned as a consultant to her precinct so you can ‘research for your next book’ is a purely professional decision?” Alexis smirked at him.
“Yes.” It would allow him to study cases that might have supernatural ties as well. A win-win-win situation. Unless the detective shot him. Down, he meant.
“Don’t forget, if you’re interested in her, you have to run her by me and Gran first. And probably Vi too. You promised.”
“That was eight years ago! And I didn’t promise anything! And you didn’t say anything about my last girlfriends.”
“Bimbos don’t count,” Alexis scoffed. “So, when will you invite her over?”
“When she doesn’t feel hostile to me anymore. Vi didn’t make too positive an impression, and I got the blame.”
“So, never then. And I had so hoped for a smart stepmother,” Alexis shook her head in mock sorrow, but Rick couldn’t tell if she was actually sad, or relieved. Or a bit of both.
He only knew he’d see detective Kate Beckett again.