New York, July 2009
Starfox5
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New York, July 2009
"That's… a trick," Kate Beckett stated, slowly shaking her head, but Richard Castle could tell she didn't really believe her own words. Her logical mind wouldn't accept that.
"Look for wires?" he grinned, even though he was wondering, mentally, how much a drop from this height would hurt.
"Maybe magnets…" she trailed off.
"Anything metal would be affected by that." He pointed at his belt buckle.
"Technically, antimagnetic metal wouldn't be affected," his daughter corrected him. He heard Vi chuckle.
"Alright… you can set me down again. The point is made."
Vi set the couch down, though with enough of shock that he was jolted out of his seat and almost fell down. "Maybe there is a reason that the traditional way to demonstrate a Slayer's strength was to twist an iron poker," he mused.
Beckett was recovering her composure. Rick could see she was eyeing both him and Vi warily, and even glanced at Alexis with some suspicion. "What is she?" the detective asked, pointing at the Slayer.
"She's a Slayer. A girl gifted with the power and toughness to hunt vampires and other demons. Gifted ... or cursed." Castle added with just a hint of drama.
"That's the introduction of your first novel. You just replaced 'a Slayer' with 'a Vampire Hunter'," Beckett retorted.
"Yes." Castle sat down again and Vi retook her place on the couch's armrest while Alexis moved to stand behind him. A nice show of solidarity and support, in his opinion. It also placed his daughter behind the the reinforced couch, in case she needed to take cover. It was unlikely, but Beckett was still visibly stressed, and Vi could start a fight with a saint if she wanted to.
"So… all your books are based on real events?" Beckett wasn't yet back to normal, but Castle could see how she was shifting from shocked to interrogating.
"I took a few liberties in my novels to protect the source of my stories. All the information about demons is correct though." Rick smiled.
"Victoria was based on me!" Vi grinned. "He did tone down her ass-kicking though, to make it less obvious."
Castle coughed. "I do recall a certain redhead complaining until I made her more formidable."
"What?" Vi affected an air of utter innocence and turned towards Rick's daughter. "Alexis, how could you do that to your dad!"
"What?" Alexis sputtered. "You're blaming your vanity on me?"
"Children…" Castle rolled his eyes. "Do you see what I have to deal with? I hope you'll not follow Vi's example when I am writing Nikki Heat."
"Could you be serious for once?" Beckett asked in a strained voice. Castle could see that she was clenching her teeth as soon as she had finished her question, probably to keep herself from cursing.
"Sorry!" Rick sat up straight and looked at her with exaggerated seriousness - for about two seconds, then his mouth started to twitch. When he saw the detective's expression darken, he held up a hand to stop what he suspected would be a very memorable tirade. "I truly am sorry. But… joking around is how we cope with the fact that we are risking our lives every day. Or almost every day."
"It's better than what other Slayers and their Watchers do to cope," Alexis nodded.
Rick narrowed his eyes at his daughter. "And what exactly are those people doing to cope with stress, and how do you know that?"
Alexis's smile froze on her face, and she pointed at Vi.
Castle turned to his Slayer. "Vi!"
"Hey! I am innocent! She listened in to a talk with … London!" Vi protested.
"And you didn't spot or hear her?" Castle glared at her. "Are you getting sloppy?"
"Err…" Vi winced.
Before Castle could threaten her with more sensory training, Beckett interrupted their discussion. "So, you joined those… Watchers… while you were in London."
"Yes." They were spilling secrets faster than he had planned to, but he trusted Beckett. Or wanted to. "My first wife saved me from a vampire, and I joined her group of vampire hunters in gratitude." That was his story.
"Mary Wilkinson is a Slayer too?" Beckett sounded surprised, as well as concerned.
Vi snickered. "She wishes! No, she's a tweed-wearing watcher. Slayers are much hotter than her!" The redhead struck a pose straight out of a pin-up calendar on the armrest. Castle made a mental note to check what exactly his family had been up to.
"Those are the 'Loremasters' in the novels." Beckett wasn't asking but stating now.
"Yes." Castle was starting to feel like one of her suspects. Vi must have picked up on that since she glared at the detective.
"How long has this been going on? This demon hunting?" Yes, Beckett was now back to normal.
"Ah… I've been doing it for 20 years, though with a break of a few years. Before Sunnydale." Rick pointed his thumb at Vi. "Since then I've been training and working with her."
He was about to go into greater detail of his work when Beckett shook her head. "No… I mean the 'Loremasters'. How long have they been at it?"
"We don't exactly know," Alexis cut in while Rick was pouting. "The records only go back until the time writing was invented."
"You're joking!"
"No, she's not. Those Brits in the 90s? So stuffy and hide-bound, they thought our letters were a newfangled invention!" Castle snarked.
"Dad!" Alexis shook her head at him, before addressing the detective again. "Let me tell you, trying to read hieroglyphs can be a pain. And the Sumerian cuneiform is worse."
Yes, Rick definitely had to find out just what his daughter had been up to.
"That's… why doesn't the world know? Why haven't you told people?" Beckett was standing now, agitated. But she seemed to have accepted the existence of demons. Progress!
Castle pointed at her. "That's exactly what I asked when I joined!" Well, not exactly - back then, he had been too enamored with the idea of joining a secret society of vampire hunters. And with Mary. But there was no need to go into those details. When the detective's stare turned into a glare, he hastily continued. "It's related to the Old Ones. The true demons. Or demonlords. The big bads of the big bads." Judging by her expression, he really shouldn't be using Scoobie terms when talking to adult people. He'd probably just wrecked his cred as a writer. "Anyway. Those monsters are far more powerful than vampires or lesser demons. They are gone from the world, but not completely. More like sleeping. If too many people learn of the existence of demons, their belief, their fear, could wake up one of them. Or more."
"But… people believed in them before…" Beckett blinked. "The population explosion!"
"Yes. If seven billion people start believing in magic and demons…" Castle grimaced. "Do you need a drink?"
Beckett nodded, and Castle went and got a bottle of whiskey.
Vi smiled, showing her Irish heritage. Then she frowned. "Why does she rate the good stuff?"
"It's not every day your worldview is shattered." Castle filled three glasses.
"Well, I didn't get that kind of treat when I was told about demons," Vi pouted.
"You were underage then." Castle raised his glass, ready for a toast.
"Wait… 2002… you started hunting vampires at 17?" Beckett stared at Vi, then glared at Castle. "You sent children against demons?"
Castle downed his drink, then filled it again. He just knew he would need it.
*****
"Why is it that explaining how demons live among us, hunting humans, is less of a problem than explaining Slayers?" Castle muttered to himself, after Beckett had calmed down and stopped threatening to arrest him.
At least Alexis had taken care of the explaining part. "... so you see, back when the Slayer was created, eligible girls were considered adults. While standards have changed since then, the Slayer spirit still works according to those archaic rules."
He took over "And before you ask - no, we cannot keep the Slayers from hunting until they are adults. It's in their blood. If they don't hunt, they get antsy. And if Slayers get antsy, things tend to break around them." Or people.
"That wasn't in your novels!" Becket glared at him.
"I told you - I protect my sources. It wouldn't do to give the demons information about us. We're at war." He ignored her muttered 'child soldiers', and Vi's 'I wasn't a child'.
"I still can't believe no one knows about this." Beckett stared at her glass, not her first, then emptied it and held it out for a refill. The woman could hold her liquor.
"Well… some do. The government, even if they prefer to look away when we deal with demons. Some of the Feds, the army has a demon-hunting unit…"
"More like a demon-baiting unit. We've had to bail them out half a dozen times so far. When it comes to demon hunting, they are more special ed than special forces." Vi snorted.
Castle laughed. He'd have to tell Riley that, next time they met.
"But you're the… Watcher… for New York." Beckett sounded as if that was hard to believe.
"Yes. I am the resident Watcher."
"And I'm his Slayer!" Vi added.
"And you hunt demons. In New York."
"Yes." Castle nodded.
"Why are you following me around then, instead of doing your job?" Beckett asked.
"That's a very good question!" Vi smiled sweetly, far too sweetly at the other woman.
"I am actually using you as inspiration for my new book," Castle admitted.
"Yes. You'll be the normal sidekick to the best Vampire Hunter!" Vi beamed at her.
"She'll be Nikki Heat, saucy, sassy, smart supernatural detective," Castle corrected his Slayer. Strangely, Beckett didn't seem to be as happy about that honor as he had thought.
"But… you were not just following me about. You were… investigating. On your own. You were hunting demons involved with my cases!" Beckett sounded outraged.
Castle refilled his glass again. This would be a long night.
"That's… a trick," Kate Beckett stated, slowly shaking her head, but Richard Castle could tell she didn't really believe her own words. Her logical mind wouldn't accept that.
"Look for wires?" he grinned, even though he was wondering, mentally, how much a drop from this height would hurt.
"Maybe magnets…" she trailed off.
"Anything metal would be affected by that." He pointed at his belt buckle.
"Technically, antimagnetic metal wouldn't be affected," his daughter corrected him. He heard Vi chuckle.
"Alright… you can set me down again. The point is made."
Vi set the couch down, though with enough of shock that he was jolted out of his seat and almost fell down. "Maybe there is a reason that the traditional way to demonstrate a Slayer's strength was to twist an iron poker," he mused.
Beckett was recovering her composure. Rick could see she was eyeing both him and Vi warily, and even glanced at Alexis with some suspicion. "What is she?" the detective asked, pointing at the Slayer.
"She's a Slayer. A girl gifted with the power and toughness to hunt vampires and other demons. Gifted ... or cursed." Castle added with just a hint of drama.
"That's the introduction of your first novel. You just replaced 'a Slayer' with 'a Vampire Hunter'," Beckett retorted.
"Yes." Castle sat down again and Vi retook her place on the couch's armrest while Alexis moved to stand behind him. A nice show of solidarity and support, in his opinion. It also placed his daughter behind the the reinforced couch, in case she needed to take cover. It was unlikely, but Beckett was still visibly stressed, and Vi could start a fight with a saint if she wanted to.
"So… all your books are based on real events?" Beckett wasn't yet back to normal, but Castle could see how she was shifting from shocked to interrogating.
"I took a few liberties in my novels to protect the source of my stories. All the information about demons is correct though." Rick smiled.
"Victoria was based on me!" Vi grinned. "He did tone down her ass-kicking though, to make it less obvious."
Castle coughed. "I do recall a certain redhead complaining until I made her more formidable."
"What?" Vi affected an air of utter innocence and turned towards Rick's daughter. "Alexis, how could you do that to your dad!"
"What?" Alexis sputtered. "You're blaming your vanity on me?"
"Children…" Castle rolled his eyes. "Do you see what I have to deal with? I hope you'll not follow Vi's example when I am writing Nikki Heat."
"Could you be serious for once?" Beckett asked in a strained voice. Castle could see that she was clenching her teeth as soon as she had finished her question, probably to keep herself from cursing.
"Sorry!" Rick sat up straight and looked at her with exaggerated seriousness - for about two seconds, then his mouth started to twitch. When he saw the detective's expression darken, he held up a hand to stop what he suspected would be a very memorable tirade. "I truly am sorry. But… joking around is how we cope with the fact that we are risking our lives every day. Or almost every day."
"It's better than what other Slayers and their Watchers do to cope," Alexis nodded.
Rick narrowed his eyes at his daughter. "And what exactly are those people doing to cope with stress, and how do you know that?"
Alexis's smile froze on her face, and she pointed at Vi.
Castle turned to his Slayer. "Vi!"
"Hey! I am innocent! She listened in to a talk with … London!" Vi protested.
"And you didn't spot or hear her?" Castle glared at her. "Are you getting sloppy?"
"Err…" Vi winced.
Before Castle could threaten her with more sensory training, Beckett interrupted their discussion. "So, you joined those… Watchers… while you were in London."
"Yes." They were spilling secrets faster than he had planned to, but he trusted Beckett. Or wanted to. "My first wife saved me from a vampire, and I joined her group of vampire hunters in gratitude." That was his story.
"Mary Wilkinson is a Slayer too?" Beckett sounded surprised, as well as concerned.
Vi snickered. "She wishes! No, she's a tweed-wearing watcher. Slayers are much hotter than her!" The redhead struck a pose straight out of a pin-up calendar on the armrest. Castle made a mental note to check what exactly his family had been up to.
"Those are the 'Loremasters' in the novels." Beckett wasn't asking but stating now.
"Yes." Castle was starting to feel like one of her suspects. Vi must have picked up on that since she glared at the detective.
"How long has this been going on? This demon hunting?" Yes, Beckett was now back to normal.
"Ah… I've been doing it for 20 years, though with a break of a few years. Before Sunnydale." Rick pointed his thumb at Vi. "Since then I've been training and working with her."
He was about to go into greater detail of his work when Beckett shook her head. "No… I mean the 'Loremasters'. How long have they been at it?"
"We don't exactly know," Alexis cut in while Rick was pouting. "The records only go back until the time writing was invented."
"You're joking!"
"No, she's not. Those Brits in the 90s? So stuffy and hide-bound, they thought our letters were a newfangled invention!" Castle snarked.
"Dad!" Alexis shook her head at him, before addressing the detective again. "Let me tell you, trying to read hieroglyphs can be a pain. And the Sumerian cuneiform is worse."
Yes, Rick definitely had to find out just what his daughter had been up to.
"That's… why doesn't the world know? Why haven't you told people?" Beckett was standing now, agitated. But she seemed to have accepted the existence of demons. Progress!
Castle pointed at her. "That's exactly what I asked when I joined!" Well, not exactly - back then, he had been too enamored with the idea of joining a secret society of vampire hunters. And with Mary. But there was no need to go into those details. When the detective's stare turned into a glare, he hastily continued. "It's related to the Old Ones. The true demons. Or demonlords. The big bads of the big bads." Judging by her expression, he really shouldn't be using Scoobie terms when talking to adult people. He'd probably just wrecked his cred as a writer. "Anyway. Those monsters are far more powerful than vampires or lesser demons. They are gone from the world, but not completely. More like sleeping. If too many people learn of the existence of demons, their belief, their fear, could wake up one of them. Or more."
"But… people believed in them before…" Beckett blinked. "The population explosion!"
"Yes. If seven billion people start believing in magic and demons…" Castle grimaced. "Do you need a drink?"
Beckett nodded, and Castle went and got a bottle of whiskey.
Vi smiled, showing her Irish heritage. Then she frowned. "Why does she rate the good stuff?"
"It's not every day your worldview is shattered." Castle filled three glasses.
"Well, I didn't get that kind of treat when I was told about demons," Vi pouted.
"You were underage then." Castle raised his glass, ready for a toast.
"Wait… 2002… you started hunting vampires at 17?" Beckett stared at Vi, then glared at Castle. "You sent children against demons?"
Castle downed his drink, then filled it again. He just knew he would need it.
*****
"Why is it that explaining how demons live among us, hunting humans, is less of a problem than explaining Slayers?" Castle muttered to himself, after Beckett had calmed down and stopped threatening to arrest him.
At least Alexis had taken care of the explaining part. "... so you see, back when the Slayer was created, eligible girls were considered adults. While standards have changed since then, the Slayer spirit still works according to those archaic rules."
He took over "And before you ask - no, we cannot keep the Slayers from hunting until they are adults. It's in their blood. If they don't hunt, they get antsy. And if Slayers get antsy, things tend to break around them." Or people.
"That wasn't in your novels!" Becket glared at him.
"I told you - I protect my sources. It wouldn't do to give the demons information about us. We're at war." He ignored her muttered 'child soldiers', and Vi's 'I wasn't a child'.
"I still can't believe no one knows about this." Beckett stared at her glass, not her first, then emptied it and held it out for a refill. The woman could hold her liquor.
"Well… some do. The government, even if they prefer to look away when we deal with demons. Some of the Feds, the army has a demon-hunting unit…"
"More like a demon-baiting unit. We've had to bail them out half a dozen times so far. When it comes to demon hunting, they are more special ed than special forces." Vi snorted.
Castle laughed. He'd have to tell Riley that, next time they met.
"But you're the… Watcher… for New York." Beckett sounded as if that was hard to believe.
"Yes. I am the resident Watcher."
"And I'm his Slayer!" Vi added.
"And you hunt demons. In New York."
"Yes." Castle nodded.
"Why are you following me around then, instead of doing your job?" Beckett asked.
"That's a very good question!" Vi smiled sweetly, far too sweetly at the other woman.
"I am actually using you as inspiration for my new book," Castle admitted.
"Yes. You'll be the normal sidekick to the best Vampire Hunter!" Vi beamed at her.
"She'll be Nikki Heat, saucy, sassy, smart supernatural detective," Castle corrected his Slayer. Strangely, Beckett didn't seem to be as happy about that honor as he had thought.
"But… you were not just following me about. You were… investigating. On your own. You were hunting demons involved with my cases!" Beckett sounded outraged.
Castle refilled his glass again. This would be a long night.
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