New York, October 2009
Starfox5
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New York, October 2009
"Do I want to know what you and your colleagues were up to after I left last night, or should I simply ask for the results?" Beckett said after sliding on the backseat of Castle's - and it was his, no matter what Vi thought - Shelby.
"You wound me, Detective!" Richard Castle said. When she narrowed her eyes at him, he added. "But maybe we shouldn't bother you with the details of our information gathering. Rather boring, really." He cleared his throat. "We've been tracking the van the demons used, and we have mapped its route, and the likely locations they might have transported the seal to."
"You've been busy then."
Was that appreciation in the woman's voice? Yes, it was! Castle smiled. "We've done our legwork."
"Yep. Like detectives." Vi grinned.
"Private eyes." Rick hastened to add, then glared at Vi. His Slayer just smirked.
Beckett rolled her eyes. "But you haven't found the place yet."
Castle pouted. She could have at least asked, instead of assuming that they hadn't had any success yet. "No, we haven't", he admitted. "There are a lot of locations in New York that would suit such a ritual."
"We've checked the most likely so far, but without any luck," Vi said. "Willow's spreadsheet was a bust."
"Those demons might be a bit smarter than I thought." Rick sighed. "It's really annoying when cultist intent on causing an apocalypse are no idiots." He rubbed his chin. "Although in this case, I wonder if they deliberately avoided the most obvious locations, or if they simply didn't know them, being foreigners."
"If they act dumber than they are, then that's cheating according to Buffy" Vi nodded.
Beckett stared at them. "I don't know if I should be glad or worried that you're apparently joking about an upcoming apocalypse we have to stop."
"Well, I was always fond of dark humour, as should be evident in my writing, but..." Rick started to say. Then he saw her expression, and quickly turned his head towards the Slayer who was sitting behind the wheel. "Vi, hit it!"
"I must admit that as a bestselling author, I do feel vexed that those demons visited so many abandoned warehouses and former industrial areas. As lairs, those are utter cliches." Castle was shaking his head. That was the fifth such location they were visiting. So far they hadn't found the demons they were looking for, but had dealt with one vampire nest and a scared a group of teens doing drugs.
"My heart is bleeding for you, Castle," Beckett said. "Such a burden you have to bear."
"I know." Castle sighed loudly. "It's so vexing when the real world follows literary tropes instead of being original."
"It's not actually a literary trope, but more of a televisonary one," his Slayer said.
"That's not a word, Vi," Castle said.
"Sure is! I just used it! I couldn't have done that if it wasn't a word."
"Buffy is a really bad influence on you." Castle was shaking his head.
"I'll tell her you said that." Vi stuck her tongue out at him.
"I'll deny it and bribe her with new shoes." He grinned.
"That's unfair."
"That's smart, young grasshopper."
"Grasshopper?"
"It's a figure of speech."
"Must be a misshapen, ugly, unwanted one. 'Grasshopper'... what's next, you calling the detective 'bug'?" Vi snorted.
"Why would I call her that?" Castle still was surprised by how Vi's mind worked at times.
"She's bugging us all the time!"
"I'd rather say that Castle is bugging me," Beckett cut in.
Rick pouted, but before he could rectify this accusation, they arrived at their next stop.
"Yet another abandoned warehouse. This one even comes with a partially caved-in roof!" Rick muttered as he grabbed his shotgun from under the seat.
"No flamethrower this time?" Beckett asked, checking her own shotgun. Actually, Castle's, it was just on loan, but he wasn't certain that it would be a good idea to mention this when she was holding it.
He shook his head. "If there are too many, then we might have to run quite quickly, and the Ack Pack would slow me down too much."
"Meaning, he couldn't outrun you, Miss High Heels," Vi added.
"I wouldn't outrun her, Vi. I would bravely cover our retreat," Rick said.
"You'd bravely protest while I throw you over my shoulder and carry you out while the Detective does her duty to serve and protect and distracts the enemy," Vi said.
"How many demons would be too many for you?" Beckett looked straight at Vi. "Two or three?"
Vi gasped, then grinned. "That was almost a decent zinger - for a newbie. Keep it up and you can rival Alexis."
Beckett was about to say something, but Vi suddenly froze and held up her hand. Castle saw the Slayer's nostrils flare, and her expression showing eagerness.
"Demons."
They were out of sight of the warehouse - even the average demon apart from a Hellmouth was not quite as dumb as to not pay attention when a car drove up to their lair - but they were apparently close enough for Vi to smell them.
"Do you recognise the scent?" he asked.
Vi shook her head. "No. It's more a general stench."
"None of the particularly smelly ones?" Castle asked.
"No."
"Do you actually identify demons by their scent?"?" Beckett asked, staring at Vi.
"Sometimes," the redhead answered.
"She's like a bloodhOW!" Castle winced, rubbing his arm. "I need that arm for fighting!"
"Then don't risk it by calling me a bitch." Vi huffed.
"That's not what I meant!" Castle protested.
"You didn't mention that in the Vampire Hunter books," the detective said.
"No, I didn't. I didn't want to clue the enemy in." Castle grinned. "Many of the older vampires grew up in a time without TV, and are therefore quite fond of reading."
"So, like your age?" Vi said.
That hit a bit close to home. Castle frowned at her. "As a former librarian and current bestselling author, I would be fond of books no matter if I were half my age."
"Can we now deal with the demons, instead of hashing out Castle's midlife crisis?" Beckett was tapping her shotgun with her fingers.
Castle would have made a joke about the life expectancy of a Watcher in the field being half his age, but that would have touched upon the Slayers' life expectancy, and some things you didn't touch if you were not Slayer yourself. So he said: "Making deals with demons is generally ill-advised." When the woman frowned, he added: "But I do think we should, as the teenagers say, 'get a move on'."
"We don't say that anymore, gramps," Vi said.
"You're not a teenager anymore either."
"We didn't say that when I was a teenager." The Slayer wasn't relenting.
"Let's just go and kill some demons," Castle said.
Before Becket lost her patience. It was the detective's first apocalypse, so she was understandably a bit stressed.
"How do we do it? The Xander way, or the Buffy way?" Vi asked.
"We're pressed for time," Castle said, "so we'll use Buffy's method." With a glance at Beckett, he explained: "Breaking down the front door and marching in."
She blinked. "And the 'Xander way' would be?"
"Scouting beforehand, and having multiple entrance methods." He saw her expression, and added: "Both methods have their uses. Xander's is often overkill for a demon den."
"Not always though," Vi said.
"Yes." Castle remembered those occasions well enough without the reminder.
Beckett sighed. "Let's just do this."
"That's the spirit!" Castle cheered.
They didn't actually kick down the front door, though. With Vi in the lead, they made their way to the back of the warehouse, sticking to the walls, until they reached a side entrance that looked like the last time it had seen better days had been back in the Great Depression. He saw Vi eyeing the roof, and shook his head. "We don't split up." Not with just one Slayer, and without the heavy weapons.
Vi pouted - she liked climbing and breaking and entering, which Castle felt he should have to worry about, if it wasn't so useful for their work, then nodded, and moved to the door. A few kicks later, the door was no longer barring their way. Or being much of a door at all.
"I didn't realise you meant it literally when you mentioned your plan," Beckett said.
"Oh, I didn't. We're not kicking the front door open, after all," Castle said, grinning as he followed his Slayer inside. He couldn't hear a response, but he'd bet that Beckett was rolling her eyes behind him.
They were in a narrow hallway, with a few doors - storage rooms, bathrooms, he guessed. He didn't want to guess in what state they were, after demons had used the building for some time.
At least their entrance hadn't been that loud, so if no one was in the office part of the warehouse, then they might not have been noticed yet. Still, they'd better hurry. They turned around a corner, and a door was opened practically in their face. A demon - a M'Fashnik Demon, Castle noted - was staring at them, obviously surprised. It opened its mouth to yell or roar, but Vi buried her steel-toed boot in its stomach and knocked the air out of it. All it managed was a whimper. Then her sword went up into its wide-open mouth, and out the back of its head. For a moment, Vi kept the demon upright, then pulled her sword out - she hadn't got it stuck this time, but he made a mental note to that she might need a reminder why it was better to slash throats than stab skulls - and the demon slid to the floor, dead.
"Those are usually mercenaries," he said. "Someone's got money. Or kittens."
Vi growled, but Beckett shook her head. "Kittens… Of all the things, they want to be paid in kittens..."
"Well, they are apparently tasty, far easier to handle than souls, and used for Kitten Poker…" Castle said, rushing after Vi, who had rushed on. He found her listening on the next door.
"They're behind this door, it's the big hall. About a dozen I'd say."
Those were not great odds, but they could handle a dozen. After a glance to check that Beckett was ready - she was; her face was set and she was holding her shotgun with the muzzle pointed at the floor - he nodded at his Slayer. Showtime.
Vi opened the door - it was unlocked, so she didn't have to use her boot this time - and Castle blinked.
In front of them were about a dozen demons, servicing three vans, all with different colors and ads on them. One was made light-proof, another was getting cleaned of what looked like blood, and a cage of kittens was getting unloaded from the third. There was a lot of crates and other containers around as well, all sorted in different groups. There was an explanation for all the stops they had to check, and the half a dozen warehouses they had visited, but...
"Did we just discover a demon trucking company?"
*****
"Do I want to know what you and your colleagues were up to after I left last night, or should I simply ask for the results?" Beckett said after sliding on the backseat of Castle's - and it was his, no matter what Vi thought - Shelby.
"You wound me, Detective!" Richard Castle said. When she narrowed her eyes at him, he added. "But maybe we shouldn't bother you with the details of our information gathering. Rather boring, really." He cleared his throat. "We've been tracking the van the demons used, and we have mapped its route, and the likely locations they might have transported the seal to."
"You've been busy then."
Was that appreciation in the woman's voice? Yes, it was! Castle smiled. "We've done our legwork."
"Yep. Like detectives." Vi grinned.
"Private eyes." Rick hastened to add, then glared at Vi. His Slayer just smirked.
Beckett rolled her eyes. "But you haven't found the place yet."
Castle pouted. She could have at least asked, instead of assuming that they hadn't had any success yet. "No, we haven't", he admitted. "There are a lot of locations in New York that would suit such a ritual."
"We've checked the most likely so far, but without any luck," Vi said. "Willow's spreadsheet was a bust."
"Those demons might be a bit smarter than I thought." Rick sighed. "It's really annoying when cultist intent on causing an apocalypse are no idiots." He rubbed his chin. "Although in this case, I wonder if they deliberately avoided the most obvious locations, or if they simply didn't know them, being foreigners."
"If they act dumber than they are, then that's cheating according to Buffy" Vi nodded.
Beckett stared at them. "I don't know if I should be glad or worried that you're apparently joking about an upcoming apocalypse we have to stop."
"Well, I was always fond of dark humour, as should be evident in my writing, but..." Rick started to say. Then he saw her expression, and quickly turned his head towards the Slayer who was sitting behind the wheel. "Vi, hit it!"
*****
"I must admit that as a bestselling author, I do feel vexed that those demons visited so many abandoned warehouses and former industrial areas. As lairs, those are utter cliches." Castle was shaking his head. That was the fifth such location they were visiting. So far they hadn't found the demons they were looking for, but had dealt with one vampire nest and a scared a group of teens doing drugs.
"My heart is bleeding for you, Castle," Beckett said. "Such a burden you have to bear."
"I know." Castle sighed loudly. "It's so vexing when the real world follows literary tropes instead of being original."
"It's not actually a literary trope, but more of a televisonary one," his Slayer said.
"That's not a word, Vi," Castle said.
"Sure is! I just used it! I couldn't have done that if it wasn't a word."
"Buffy is a really bad influence on you." Castle was shaking his head.
"I'll tell her you said that." Vi stuck her tongue out at him.
"I'll deny it and bribe her with new shoes." He grinned.
"That's unfair."
"That's smart, young grasshopper."
"Grasshopper?"
"It's a figure of speech."
"Must be a misshapen, ugly, unwanted one. 'Grasshopper'... what's next, you calling the detective 'bug'?" Vi snorted.
"Why would I call her that?" Castle still was surprised by how Vi's mind worked at times.
"She's bugging us all the time!"
"I'd rather say that Castle is bugging me," Beckett cut in.
Rick pouted, but before he could rectify this accusation, they arrived at their next stop.
"Yet another abandoned warehouse. This one even comes with a partially caved-in roof!" Rick muttered as he grabbed his shotgun from under the seat.
"No flamethrower this time?" Beckett asked, checking her own shotgun. Actually, Castle's, it was just on loan, but he wasn't certain that it would be a good idea to mention this when she was holding it.
He shook his head. "If there are too many, then we might have to run quite quickly, and the Ack Pack would slow me down too much."
"Meaning, he couldn't outrun you, Miss High Heels," Vi added.
"I wouldn't outrun her, Vi. I would bravely cover our retreat," Rick said.
"You'd bravely protest while I throw you over my shoulder and carry you out while the Detective does her duty to serve and protect and distracts the enemy," Vi said.
"How many demons would be too many for you?" Beckett looked straight at Vi. "Two or three?"
Vi gasped, then grinned. "That was almost a decent zinger - for a newbie. Keep it up and you can rival Alexis."
Beckett was about to say something, but Vi suddenly froze and held up her hand. Castle saw the Slayer's nostrils flare, and her expression showing eagerness.
"Demons."
*****
They were out of sight of the warehouse - even the average demon apart from a Hellmouth was not quite as dumb as to not pay attention when a car drove up to their lair - but they were apparently close enough for Vi to smell them.
"Do you recognise the scent?" he asked.
Vi shook her head. "No. It's more a general stench."
"None of the particularly smelly ones?" Castle asked.
"No."
"Do you actually identify demons by their scent?"?" Beckett asked, staring at Vi.
"Sometimes," the redhead answered.
"She's like a bloodhOW!" Castle winced, rubbing his arm. "I need that arm for fighting!"
"Then don't risk it by calling me a bitch." Vi huffed.
"That's not what I meant!" Castle protested.
"You didn't mention that in the Vampire Hunter books," the detective said.
"No, I didn't. I didn't want to clue the enemy in." Castle grinned. "Many of the older vampires grew up in a time without TV, and are therefore quite fond of reading."
"So, like your age?" Vi said.
That hit a bit close to home. Castle frowned at her. "As a former librarian and current bestselling author, I would be fond of books no matter if I were half my age."
"Can we now deal with the demons, instead of hashing out Castle's midlife crisis?" Beckett was tapping her shotgun with her fingers.
Castle would have made a joke about the life expectancy of a Watcher in the field being half his age, but that would have touched upon the Slayers' life expectancy, and some things you didn't touch if you were not Slayer yourself. So he said: "Making deals with demons is generally ill-advised." When the woman frowned, he added: "But I do think we should, as the teenagers say, 'get a move on'."
"We don't say that anymore, gramps," Vi said.
"You're not a teenager anymore either."
"We didn't say that when I was a teenager." The Slayer wasn't relenting.
"Let's just go and kill some demons," Castle said.
Before Becket lost her patience. It was the detective's first apocalypse, so she was understandably a bit stressed.
"How do we do it? The Xander way, or the Buffy way?" Vi asked.
"We're pressed for time," Castle said, "so we'll use Buffy's method." With a glance at Beckett, he explained: "Breaking down the front door and marching in."
She blinked. "And the 'Xander way' would be?"
"Scouting beforehand, and having multiple entrance methods." He saw her expression, and added: "Both methods have their uses. Xander's is often overkill for a demon den."
"Not always though," Vi said.
"Yes." Castle remembered those occasions well enough without the reminder.
Beckett sighed. "Let's just do this."
"That's the spirit!" Castle cheered.
They didn't actually kick down the front door, though. With Vi in the lead, they made their way to the back of the warehouse, sticking to the walls, until they reached a side entrance that looked like the last time it had seen better days had been back in the Great Depression. He saw Vi eyeing the roof, and shook his head. "We don't split up." Not with just one Slayer, and without the heavy weapons.
Vi pouted - she liked climbing and breaking and entering, which Castle felt he should have to worry about, if it wasn't so useful for their work, then nodded, and moved to the door. A few kicks later, the door was no longer barring their way. Or being much of a door at all.
"I didn't realise you meant it literally when you mentioned your plan," Beckett said.
"Oh, I didn't. We're not kicking the front door open, after all," Castle said, grinning as he followed his Slayer inside. He couldn't hear a response, but he'd bet that Beckett was rolling her eyes behind him.
They were in a narrow hallway, with a few doors - storage rooms, bathrooms, he guessed. He didn't want to guess in what state they were, after demons had used the building for some time.
At least their entrance hadn't been that loud, so if no one was in the office part of the warehouse, then they might not have been noticed yet. Still, they'd better hurry. They turned around a corner, and a door was opened practically in their face. A demon - a M'Fashnik Demon, Castle noted - was staring at them, obviously surprised. It opened its mouth to yell or roar, but Vi buried her steel-toed boot in its stomach and knocked the air out of it. All it managed was a whimper. Then her sword went up into its wide-open mouth, and out the back of its head. For a moment, Vi kept the demon upright, then pulled her sword out - she hadn't got it stuck this time, but he made a mental note to that she might need a reminder why it was better to slash throats than stab skulls - and the demon slid to the floor, dead.
"Those are usually mercenaries," he said. "Someone's got money. Or kittens."
Vi growled, but Beckett shook her head. "Kittens… Of all the things, they want to be paid in kittens..."
"Well, they are apparently tasty, far easier to handle than souls, and used for Kitten Poker…" Castle said, rushing after Vi, who had rushed on. He found her listening on the next door.
"They're behind this door, it's the big hall. About a dozen I'd say."
Those were not great odds, but they could handle a dozen. After a glance to check that Beckett was ready - she was; her face was set and she was holding her shotgun with the muzzle pointed at the floor - he nodded at his Slayer. Showtime.
Vi opened the door - it was unlocked, so she didn't have to use her boot this time - and Castle blinked.
In front of them were about a dozen demons, servicing three vans, all with different colors and ads on them. One was made light-proof, another was getting cleaned of what looked like blood, and a cage of kittens was getting unloaded from the third. There was a lot of crates and other containers around as well, all sorted in different groups. There was an explanation for all the stops they had to check, and the half a dozen warehouses they had visited, but...
"Did we just discover a demon trucking company?"
*****
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