Richard Castle, Watcher: New York, August 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: As usual, Gina could make his life difficult while making money.
New York, August 2009
“So, this is Clark’s,” the lead demon biker, clad in ripped leathers, with studs to match the many horns and spikes sprouting from his skull, had declared in a loud, alien voice. He had looked around, then turned towards the others who had entered with him. “Doesn’t look like much, eh?”
“Bunch of pansy-ass grass eaters!” He had smiled, showing double rows of pointed teeth. Suddenly, his nostrils had flared, and he had sniffed the air. “Humans?”
Kate Beckett had watched him turn towards her, Castle and Vi. Had watched his smile widen, and heard him chuckle, then swagger over to them. And despite his alien, growling voice, and his utterly inhuman appearance, she had seen a punk. A dangerous, demonic punk, but still a punk. Dressed and acting like a punk.
And she could handle punks.
Next to her, Castle had tensed up, and Vi had smiled, ferally, while the regulars had started to back away.
The big demon had marched up to them, licking his lips. “I may have to eat my words - not many places offer such an entertaining meal.”
The way he had leered when he said ‘entertaining’ had left no doubt about what he had planned to do with her and Vi. And maybe Castle too. The other demon bikers had laughed, and the biggest among them had even pointed at her. “Dibs on her.”
Castle’s smile had widened then, but his eyes had gone cold. Apparently dismissing the demon, he had turned to the Slayer. “What do you make of them, Vi?” He had been looking for a fight, Kate had realized then. And she had realized that she wasn’t a cop there. Wasn’t facing a human punk. Wasn’t bound by human laws.
Vi had cocked her head sideways, and made a show out of studying the demon and his biker buddies who had come to flank him. “Bunch of bumpkins. Think they’re hot stuff, but too chicken to head to Cleveland. Too stupid to keep their head down and too ugly to get any woman. Worse than a vampire.”
The leader had stared at her, gaping, before he had drawn a deep breath, likely to shout or roar in rage. When Vi’s fist had struck his belly though he had folded around it, and all he had managed to utter was a whimper.
That had caused the other demons to freeze for a second, in shock and surprise. Enough for Kate and Castle to whip out their shotguns and fire. She hadn’t fired a Dragon’s Breath round before and had aimed for the closest demon’s center of mass. The flames shooting out of the barrel though had not just struck that demon, but the one next to him as well, and their clothes had ignited.
Vi meanwhile had driven a blade right into the neck of the leader before kicking the bleeding, dying monster into the others charging her. Castle had shot one demon in the face with another flame throwing shotgun round before the next demon slammed him into the bad. Before the monster had been able to hurt the author further, a dagger from Vi had hit it in the back of its head, and it had gone down.
Right then the demon who had called dibs on her before had charged Kate, and she had had to focus on defending herself. The monster had been strong, but slow, and the detective had ducked under a wild swing, then rammed the muzzle of her shotgun into his groin, racking the slide at the same time. He had howled in rage. Then she had fired, and the monster had shrieked and collapsed, bleeding and thrashing. She barely noticed how Castle had jumped behind the bar and then had shot a demon who had jumped on the bar, following him - the unbalanced biker had been thrown off by the shot. But then she had noticed Vi fighting.
Vi had simply slaughtered the rest of the gang. Kate had known the woman was very dangerous ever since she had seen her shoot, but she hadn’t known what the redhead had truly been capable of. The Slayer had moved in the middle of the demons, nimbly dodging their blows while striking hard enough to throw the monsters around like rag dolls. One was thrown in a window, ending up impaled on broken glass, howling until another thrown dagger silenced it. Kate had heard bones and skulls break despite the screams from wounded demons, had seen throats cut and eyes pierced, until the only ones left standing had been the ones she had set on fire. And their screams of agony had been cut off with Vi’s blade a few seconds later.
The redhead had stood there, wiping green blood from her sword, and had grinned widely. “As I thought - big-mouthed pushovers.”
Kate had stared, still tense and worked up from the most brutal fight she had ever been in. Had she really just fought demons? And won?
“That one’s still alive,” Vi had said, pointing at the one she had shot in the groin. Kate had turned, and seen that it was whimpering, rocking back and forth on the ground.
“I’m certain it wishes it wasn’t. Alive, that is,” Castle had commented from behind the bar, then had shot the demon in the head with a slug. “Happy to help.” The author, no, the Watcher, had rubbed his arm and shoulder, wincing.
Kate had blinked. “We just…”
“... killed a bunch of cannibal rapists.” Vi grinned at her, then frowned at some spots of green blood on her jacket. “Damn… I’ll have to act the clueless wanna-be painter again with dry-cleaning.”
“Technically, since demons are not human, they are not cannibals, but man-eaters,” Castle had said, stepping around the bar. “Let’s leave.”
*****
Kate Beckett woke up with a gasp, eyes wide open, then closed them again. That was the third time that week she had dreamed of that night again. Maybe she should have taken up Castle’s offer to celebrate her first ‘Demon Barfight’ ‘Slayer style’ - enough alcohol, and she might not have remembered anything.
She shook her head at her own foolishness. Trying to forget would be a coward’s choice. She was no coward, she could handle demons. In more than one sense.
She wasn’t sure she could handle Vi though.
*****
Richard Castle was smiling when he entered the bullpen of the 12th Precinct and dropped off a box of doughnuts at the break area, saving one for himself, and one for Beckett. And another box for Vi. And coffee of course.
“Good morning, detective!” he said while sitting down in the chair he had come to consider his next to her desk, resisting the urge to swivel around.
“Morning Castle,” the detective answered, briefly glancing up from her work and grabbing the offered doughnut and coffee. “Thanks.”
“So, what exciting case is waiting to be solved by my inspired help today?” He grinned while toasting her with his own cup.
“The exciting case of the piled up paperwork.” Beckett pointed at a stack of files.
He pouted. “Unfortunately, that task is beyond me.“ He already wrote more reports than he wanted to for London, he had no intention to do more paperwork.
“Really? I would have expected an author to excel at paperwork, seeing as you make your living by writing.” She smiled sweetly at him.
“Ah, that’s a misconception many share. We successful authors have agents for that.” If only he had an agent for handling the paperwork Vi was prone to generate. Well, Alexis would help, he was sure, but he wasn’t sure he wanted her help.
“In other words, you’re lazy and will watch me work while doing what you can to distract me.” Beckett made a point of looking at the file in front of her again.
“I am distracting you?” He grinned. Progress!
“You’re annoying.”
“Close enough.” He shrugged. “So, what are you doing?”
“Going through cold cases, to see if any of them might have connections to demons.” Beckett said in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Really?” He perked up. That might be interesting.
Then he heard detective Esposito laugh behind him. “Of course not, Castle. We’re just checking the old cases for similarities to current ones.”
“Aren’t there computer programs for that?” Rick knew Willow had programmed some search-algorithms, ‘loosely inspired by google’s code’, to search databases for demon activities.
“Normal people have a budget to worry about. That includes the police.” Beckett rolled her eyes at him as if it was his fault the city lacked funds. He was paying his taxes.
Before he could respond, he saw Captain Montgomery walk towards them with a young woman at his side. Esposito at once returned to his own desk, where Vi was poking around in his files.
The captain was smiling. “Detective Beckett, Mister Castle - this is Miss Varshney. She’s a reporter for the ‘Post, and interested in the consulting Castle does for us.”
Miss Varshney smiled, nodding enthusiastically. “Call me Jane. I am so looking forward to see you two work together. The famous author, solving crimes with his muse!”
Right then, Castle realized two things. First, Beckett would be hating whatever article came of this. And second, this had to be the work of his agent and ex-wife Gina. As usual, she was making his life difficult while making money.
“Well, we’re not currently investigating a case, we’re just doing some paperwork,” Beckett explained.
“Boring paperwork!” Castle cut in. Maybe the reporter would leave.
“So you have time for an interview then?” Miss Varshney beamed at them.
Castle glanced at Beckett, and shivered at what he saw. If looks could kill, he’d need medical help.
Fate intervened though, in the form of Detective Ryan. “We’ve got a case. Dead man found hanging from a tree in the Central Park.”
“Yes!” Castle was out of his chair and ready to leave before he realized that this was probably not the kind of reaction to a murder he wanted to show to the press.
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: As usual, Gina could make his life difficult while making money.
New York, August 2009
“So, this is Clark’s,” the lead demon biker, clad in ripped leathers, with studs to match the many horns and spikes sprouting from his skull, had declared in a loud, alien voice. He had looked around, then turned towards the others who had entered with him. “Doesn’t look like much, eh?”
“Bunch of pansy-ass grass eaters!” He had smiled, showing double rows of pointed teeth. Suddenly, his nostrils had flared, and he had sniffed the air. “Humans?”
Kate Beckett had watched him turn towards her, Castle and Vi. Had watched his smile widen, and heard him chuckle, then swagger over to them. And despite his alien, growling voice, and his utterly inhuman appearance, she had seen a punk. A dangerous, demonic punk, but still a punk. Dressed and acting like a punk.
And she could handle punks.
Next to her, Castle had tensed up, and Vi had smiled, ferally, while the regulars had started to back away.
The big demon had marched up to them, licking his lips. “I may have to eat my words - not many places offer such an entertaining meal.”
The way he had leered when he said ‘entertaining’ had left no doubt about what he had planned to do with her and Vi. And maybe Castle too. The other demon bikers had laughed, and the biggest among them had even pointed at her. “Dibs on her.”
Castle’s smile had widened then, but his eyes had gone cold. Apparently dismissing the demon, he had turned to the Slayer. “What do you make of them, Vi?” He had been looking for a fight, Kate had realized then. And she had realized that she wasn’t a cop there. Wasn’t facing a human punk. Wasn’t bound by human laws.
Vi had cocked her head sideways, and made a show out of studying the demon and his biker buddies who had come to flank him. “Bunch of bumpkins. Think they’re hot stuff, but too chicken to head to Cleveland. Too stupid to keep their head down and too ugly to get any woman. Worse than a vampire.”
The leader had stared at her, gaping, before he had drawn a deep breath, likely to shout or roar in rage. When Vi’s fist had struck his belly though he had folded around it, and all he had managed to utter was a whimper.
That had caused the other demons to freeze for a second, in shock and surprise. Enough for Kate and Castle to whip out their shotguns and fire. She hadn’t fired a Dragon’s Breath round before and had aimed for the closest demon’s center of mass. The flames shooting out of the barrel though had not just struck that demon, but the one next to him as well, and their clothes had ignited.
Vi meanwhile had driven a blade right into the neck of the leader before kicking the bleeding, dying monster into the others charging her. Castle had shot one demon in the face with another flame throwing shotgun round before the next demon slammed him into the bad. Before the monster had been able to hurt the author further, a dagger from Vi had hit it in the back of its head, and it had gone down.
Right then the demon who had called dibs on her before had charged Kate, and she had had to focus on defending herself. The monster had been strong, but slow, and the detective had ducked under a wild swing, then rammed the muzzle of her shotgun into his groin, racking the slide at the same time. He had howled in rage. Then she had fired, and the monster had shrieked and collapsed, bleeding and thrashing. She barely noticed how Castle had jumped behind the bar and then had shot a demon who had jumped on the bar, following him - the unbalanced biker had been thrown off by the shot. But then she had noticed Vi fighting.
Vi had simply slaughtered the rest of the gang. Kate had known the woman was very dangerous ever since she had seen her shoot, but she hadn’t known what the redhead had truly been capable of. The Slayer had moved in the middle of the demons, nimbly dodging their blows while striking hard enough to throw the monsters around like rag dolls. One was thrown in a window, ending up impaled on broken glass, howling until another thrown dagger silenced it. Kate had heard bones and skulls break despite the screams from wounded demons, had seen throats cut and eyes pierced, until the only ones left standing had been the ones she had set on fire. And their screams of agony had been cut off with Vi’s blade a few seconds later.
The redhead had stood there, wiping green blood from her sword, and had grinned widely. “As I thought - big-mouthed pushovers.”
Kate had stared, still tense and worked up from the most brutal fight she had ever been in. Had she really just fought demons? And won?
“That one’s still alive,” Vi had said, pointing at the one she had shot in the groin. Kate had turned, and seen that it was whimpering, rocking back and forth on the ground.
“I’m certain it wishes it wasn’t. Alive, that is,” Castle had commented from behind the bar, then had shot the demon in the head with a slug. “Happy to help.” The author, no, the Watcher, had rubbed his arm and shoulder, wincing.
Kate had blinked. “We just…”
“... killed a bunch of cannibal rapists.” Vi grinned at her, then frowned at some spots of green blood on her jacket. “Damn… I’ll have to act the clueless wanna-be painter again with dry-cleaning.”
“Technically, since demons are not human, they are not cannibals, but man-eaters,” Castle had said, stepping around the bar. “Let’s leave.”
*****
Kate Beckett woke up with a gasp, eyes wide open, then closed them again. That was the third time that week she had dreamed of that night again. Maybe she should have taken up Castle’s offer to celebrate her first ‘Demon Barfight’ ‘Slayer style’ - enough alcohol, and she might not have remembered anything.
She shook her head at her own foolishness. Trying to forget would be a coward’s choice. She was no coward, she could handle demons. In more than one sense.
She wasn’t sure she could handle Vi though.
*****
Richard Castle was smiling when he entered the bullpen of the 12th Precinct and dropped off a box of doughnuts at the break area, saving one for himself, and one for Beckett. And another box for Vi. And coffee of course.
“Good morning, detective!” he said while sitting down in the chair he had come to consider his next to her desk, resisting the urge to swivel around.
“Morning Castle,” the detective answered, briefly glancing up from her work and grabbing the offered doughnut and coffee. “Thanks.”
“So, what exciting case is waiting to be solved by my inspired help today?” He grinned while toasting her with his own cup.
“The exciting case of the piled up paperwork.” Beckett pointed at a stack of files.
He pouted. “Unfortunately, that task is beyond me.“ He already wrote more reports than he wanted to for London, he had no intention to do more paperwork.
“Really? I would have expected an author to excel at paperwork, seeing as you make your living by writing.” She smiled sweetly at him.
“Ah, that’s a misconception many share. We successful authors have agents for that.” If only he had an agent for handling the paperwork Vi was prone to generate. Well, Alexis would help, he was sure, but he wasn’t sure he wanted her help.
“In other words, you’re lazy and will watch me work while doing what you can to distract me.” Beckett made a point of looking at the file in front of her again.
“I am distracting you?” He grinned. Progress!
“You’re annoying.”
“Close enough.” He shrugged. “So, what are you doing?”
“Going through cold cases, to see if any of them might have connections to demons.” Beckett said in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Really?” He perked up. That might be interesting.
Then he heard detective Esposito laugh behind him. “Of course not, Castle. We’re just checking the old cases for similarities to current ones.”
“Aren’t there computer programs for that?” Rick knew Willow had programmed some search-algorithms, ‘loosely inspired by google’s code’, to search databases for demon activities.
“Normal people have a budget to worry about. That includes the police.” Beckett rolled her eyes at him as if it was his fault the city lacked funds. He was paying his taxes.
Before he could respond, he saw Captain Montgomery walk towards them with a young woman at his side. Esposito at once returned to his own desk, where Vi was poking around in his files.
The captain was smiling. “Detective Beckett, Mister Castle - this is Miss Varshney. She’s a reporter for the ‘Post, and interested in the consulting Castle does for us.”
Miss Varshney smiled, nodding enthusiastically. “Call me Jane. I am so looking forward to see you two work together. The famous author, solving crimes with his muse!”
Right then, Castle realized two things. First, Beckett would be hating whatever article came of this. And second, this had to be the work of his agent and ex-wife Gina. As usual, she was making his life difficult while making money.
“Well, we’re not currently investigating a case, we’re just doing some paperwork,” Beckett explained.
“Boring paperwork!” Castle cut in. Maybe the reporter would leave.
“So you have time for an interview then?” Miss Varshney beamed at them.
Castle glanced at Beckett, and shivered at what he saw. If looks could kill, he’d need medical help.
Fate intervened though, in the form of Detective Ryan. “We’ve got a case. Dead man found hanging from a tree in the Central Park.”
“Yes!” Castle was out of his chair and ready to leave before he realized that this was probably not the kind of reaction to a murder he wanted to show to the press.