#it's totally okay for him to sacrifice everything including himself in a bid for power | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pollylynn · 4 years

Text

Just About, Chapter 7—Just About Glad: Linked Season 1 Caskett Drabbles (Complete)

Title: Just about, Chapter 7—Just About Glad WC: 1700

A/N: Another random number of words, but I think this is done now. This is more or less where, lo those many years ago, I saw this as winding up.

He’s surprised when she says yes to poker night—and without even too much hounding from him. He’d really worked on ratcheting back the hounding, because she’d come entirely of her own volition the last time. And because the last time had ended on a kind of weird note, courtesy of his mother, Mistress of the Unwelcome Weird Note.

He’s surprised again when she actually shows up, promptly and bearing a bottle of wine, though he’d told her not to bring anything. He’s surprised at the easy way she lets him take her coat and greets his mother.

He had, in fact, had the distinct impression that his mother had made her downright skittish by shining a light on the fact that Kate Beckett, Chez Castle, had become a not entirely irregular thing. He’d found himself on the receiving end of some sharper than strictly necessary barbs and a few more exasperated than warranted answers to perfectly reasonable questions, as though she’d been trying to reset the annoyance clock all the way back to Day 1.

But she’s here now, of her own free will. Unless the Captain ordered her here or something. That’s . . . an awkward possibility, and not solely because he’s suddenly paranoid when it comes to interfering parental figures. It’s possible—it’s just possible—that he overdid it with the hard sell when he’d invited the four of them over for a game.

He’d made a point of asking them as group, rather than singling her out. He’d leaned hard into the amenities of a friendly game at his place could offer, and in a desperate, covering-all-the-bases moment, he’d noted that it would be a good research opportunity to see them all with their ties loosened and their sleeves rolled up. It’s possible—it’s just possible—that the Captain might have taken that as a request from a friend of the mayor, not just a request from a friend, if that’s what they are.

That’s what he thinks they are. Him and her. Him and all of them, up to and including the Captain. They’re friends, or at least well on their way to being that. He thinks so, but now he’s totally muffing a round of betting, because he’s too busy studying her for signs that they’re not friends at all—that she’s here under duress—to pay attention to his cards.

They’re lousy, it turns out. They’re just awful, and he ends up having to bluff his way through to the end, all the while wondering if means anything that she’s the only one without a drink at her elbow, if she’s been counting the hands or surreptitiously looking at her watch, trying to find a time when she can reasonably leave.

But for all his divided-attention theater, he pulls it off. He takes Esposito for most of what he has left. They all crow over the good detective’s pouty face, and she crows right along. She’s relaxed and into the evening, he decides. She came because she wanted to come, and she’s stayed because she’s having a good time, and he’s glad about that.

The night proceeds and he’s glad. He feels like they’ve recalibrated, like things had gone a little off the rails after the first time she’d come here—after she’d told him about her mother and he’d spent some quality time under a bare, swinging bulb discovering in grisly crime scene photos that she looks like her mother to a heart-stopping degree. And then he’d lured her here and her presence had thrown into sharp relief the glaring fact that falling into old habits with Meredith was a mistake he no longer wanted to keep making.

And then his mother . . .

Well, the less said about that, the better. She’s here and they’re friends, or they’re at least on their way to being friends, and Oh shit, he seems to have just thrown what turns out to be the last hand of the night.

And that’s not exactly something he does for his friends.

*************************

His mother outs him. He wonders if it’s some kind of bid for assisted suicide. He also wonders where the volcano nearest Manhattan might be and if its resident gods accept definitely non-virgin sacrifices. But mostly he wonders if he is going to survive an elevator ride with a Kate Beckett who is riled up enough to get right up in his personal space, because there are several different ways that might kill him.

He does survive though. He does more than survive. He gets her to accept to yet another invitation to his home. They lock horns in full view of all the string-pullers and power-brokers orbiting around the two of them, and what’s happening with them—between them—has nothing to do with that.

He doesn’t know what’s happening between them—and then she throws the last hand of the night and he super extra doesn’t know what’s happening—but it doesn’t have anything to do with whose friend he is or who she works for. It doesn’t have anything to do with his mother’s meddling or even his own casting about blindly, figuring out what he definitely does not want out of life at this juncture.

It’s strange, whatever it is. It’s sharp edged and awkward. It’s challenging and humbling and damned uncomfortable a whole lot of the time. But it’s also exhilarating and it makes him laugh and want to work harder than he ever has in his life. It’s fun a lot of the time. And it’s between them. It’s just between them.

That’s the conclusion, such as it is, that he comes to during the last of the poker games they play for the time being. It’s not at his place this time. It’s at hers, he supposes, but also at theirs, and that pleases him. She slaps down the jumbo-sized bag of Gummi Bears, and he slaps down the rubber-banded deck on the corner of her desk that they share, and it pleases him

The late-night atmosphere of the bullpen hums along in the background. Phones ring and voices float out from the break room as the two of them battle back and forth and the elevator occasionally dings. It’s not long before things get ridiculous. Anything so pedestrian as Texas Hold ‘Em or Five-Card Draw falls by the wayside. They’re eating their banks and one-upping each other with the ridiculous Dealer’s Choice rules they each call in turn.

“It’s late,” she says at last. It’s at once too soon and far later than he thought it would be. He’s also pretty sure that it has more to do with the fact that they’ve eaten the last of the green Gummi Bears than her actually having any burning desire to break up the evening. “Should probably call it a night.”

“Probably,” he agrees, even though he doesn’t agree at all. He has various, wild, sugar-addled, sleep-deprived points of disagreement, but he rises when she does. He stands by with his hands firmly shoved in his pockets, waiting, as she wrestles her clumsy, tired way into her coat and heaves her bag on to her shoulder. He doesn’t do anything so ridiculous—so very nearly suicidal—as try to hold her coat for her, much as he’d like to. He doesn’t offer her his arm.

He simply waits, happy that she seems to take it as a given that they’ll ride the elevator down together, they’ll head out on to the street together, they’ll spend a few more pleasant moments of a thoroughly pleasant evening—together.

He feels close to her. It’s such a simple statement of fact, and yet he finds himself sincerely, strangely moved by the phrase as the elevator car glides downward and the reality hits him—he feels genuinely close to her and that’s . . . for him, it’s a rare thing.

He studies her. She’s tired to the point of nodding off a little bit in the corner where she’s propped herself. He remembers not knowing what to make of her at first—not knowing what to make of everything he was feeling about her. He still doesn’t know. He has no idea what will become of them, and that seems suddenly wonderful.

He turns to tell her so, to say something ridiculous that will be as much a surprise to him as it will be to her. He turns, but the doors ding open just then. He follows her through the lobby and the revolving door. He faces her for what’s poised to be a perfectly cordial, if somewhat perfunctory goodnight between friends—between people who are on their way to being friends, at least.

That’s fine. It should be completely fine, but he can’t let the moment go. He’s compelled not to let it go.

“You know, I’m glad you turned me down after that first case,” he says quickly enough that her mouth is still opening to say Night, Castle. It’s still opening, then it’s closing with a snap as he rushes on. “I’m glad there was no . . . debriefing.”

Her eyes narrow and he knows—he just knows—she’s going to tell him there was never any possibility of that. He knows that’s what she’s going to say, just as surely as he knows it’s not true. There was a possibility. There is a possibility. There will be a possibility until the moment that it’s more than that, so he goes on, confident now.

“It would’ve—“ he has an ill-timed pang of longing that he has to power through. “It would have been great. But then maybe we wouldn’t have had this.” He gestures between them, tasting Gummi Bears on his tongue. “And this is really great. So I’m glad.”

“Glad,” she echoes. She sounds utterly baffled. “Great. Okay?” She shakes her head as if to clear it and comes up looking utterly baffled. “Night, Castle.”

She turns to go, casting one puzzled look over her shoulder.

“Until tomorrow, Detective,” he calls after her. He stands a minute, watching her recede. He is glad, he tells himself. He’s just about glad. A/N: Just about glad we didn’t have that fling, or so says Declan McManus, International Art Thief

#Castle #Caskett #Castle: Season 1 #Castle: Ghosts #Kate Beckett #Richard Castle #Martha Rodgers #Roy Montgomery #Javier Esposito #Kevin Ryan #Elvis Costello #Fic #Fanfic #Fanfiction #Fan Fic #Fan Fiction #Writing #Feh

10 notes · View notes

shirtlesssammy · 5 years

Text

8x02: What's Up, Tiger Mommy?

Then:

Dean Winchester is back from Purgatory, and he’s tan, rested, and looking better than ever. Oh, and he’s BFFs with a vampire.

Now:

Chicago, IL

An elderly man heads to a bank to access his safe deposit box. He’s had it for a verrrry long time. He opens the box while the bank attendant is still there.

She sees what he pulls out and it appears to be a very old bone. She’s taken aback but remains professional. She asks if there’s anything else she can help with and gets hit with the blood cannon.

Sam, Dean, and Kevin are on the run and Kevin wants to check in on his mom. Dean hates the idea. He knows that Crowley is just waiting for Kevin to show up at her house. Kevin just wants to make sure she’s ok. Dean wants to find the tablet and blast Crowley away. Then it’s all “sunshine and sandy beaches.” #season15beachvacation He relents though and they head off to Linda Tran’s house in Michigan.

In their completely inconspicuous car, the trio stakes out Mama Tran’s house.

They see her from the window. She seems fine. Dean then points out the mail carrier has put mail in her box three times already. And the gardener is over-watering the plants. Demons.

They corner and kill both demons (it’s moments like this that make me sad about how many humans the brothers have killed with that knife. RIP, Carl the mail carrier).

Mrs. Tran is inside talking with a friend when there’s a knock on her door. She opens it to find Kevin. Their beautiful reunion is briefly interrupted when the brothers throw holy water on her to make sure she’s not possessed. Resume hug.

Sam and Dean check out the house because they smell sulfur. The demon possessing Mrs. Tran’s friend starts to escape (and tell Crowley where Kevin is) but Sam reverses the exorcism spell and then Dean stabs the friend. Uh, teamwork?

Later, they try to explain to Mrs. Tran what Kevin’s life has been like for the past year. “Prophet of the lord? It does have a nice ring to it.” No, Linda, no it does not. She agrees to go with them, but not to a safe house. They have to find the demon tablet. The boys argue that it’s too dangerous, but Mama Tran isn’t budging.

Time to get inked up!

Next they head to a locker in Wyoming. The tablet is there though. Cut to later, the boys are in their fed suits and are interviewing a security guard who informs them of the break-ins with all the lockers. The guy who did it is in lock up downtown. The boys head there next.

In the interrogation room, the brothers play Good Cop/Dude Who Spent a Year in Purgatory and Would Do Anything to Track Down His Angel Cop. In other words, Sam asks questions, Dean flashes back to Purgatory. Benny and him have captured a monster and Dean asks it, “Where’s the angel?” In the present day, Dean takes his tie off and strangles the prisoner while pulling the demon knife on him.

For Pure Science:

The man tells him about a pawn shop. We cut back to Purgatory, where the monster tells Dean of a stream in a clearing. “You’ll find your angel there,” he finishes. (You’ll find your angel there...you’Ll FInd YoUR anGeL thErE...YOU’LL FIND YOUR ANGEL THERE. coolcoolcoolcoolcoolcool)

Dean kills him. They leave the holding cell without Dean killing the man.

At the pawn shop, the surly shop attendant is decidedly unhelpful until Mrs. Tran lays some hard truths about his newly acquired car that is clearly not registered.

They get the address to where the tablet is headed next. It’s there that a dapper dressed man greets Kevin and introduces himself as Beau to Kevin’s mom. He’s not here to take Kevin. He has an invitation for him to an exclusive auction of rare items --the tablet included.

Dean asks what they have to bid. They don’t have anything. Then Sam looks at the Impala and the brotherhood crumbles to pieces, end of show.

Sam then realizes that the items will be on display before the auction. All they have to do is have Kevin memorize the spell.

They head to the auction and take a look at the items up for sale. Mjolnir! And the tablet which is covered from full view. So much for their plan.

And then Crowley shows up. Just great.

On the plus side, Crowley hits on Linda Tran. On the extra plus side, she hauls off and smacks him in the face, warning him away from Kevin. I love her. Dean levels some serious side eye at Crowley, but gets waylaid from the group by a young man in a garish Wiener Hut uniform. It’s Alfie, also known as Samandriel!

Samandriel is an angel, and is there to procure and protect the word of God. He asks about what happened to Castiel. “We iced Dick Roman and got a one way rocket ride to Purgatory for our trouble.” Dean then replies to Samandriel’s subsequent inquiries about Castiel’s escape by clenching his jaw dramatically. Oof.

“There are some in Heaven who still believe, despite his mistakes, Castiel’s heart was always in the right place,” Samandriel says and I die a little. “Too much heart was always Castiel’s problem,” he follows up with and I wake up six months later buried in the earth.

Dean is also FINE with this emotional trigger and definitely does NOT flash back to Purgatory and that one time he finally found Cas after tracking him for like a year.

He spots Cas in a clearing and calls out to him. Castiel looks around with apprehension before standing and facing Dean. There’s a hug! “Nice peach fuzz,” I mutter in my underground coffin. “Nice...peach fuzz.” (Boris: I’m still having war flashbacks to Cas’s fist clench here.)

Dean introduces Benny to Cas and asks Cas if he’s feeling okay. Castiel gets the implication immediately. “I’m perfectly sane,” he tells Dean. “But, then, 94% of psychotics think they're perfectly sane, so I guess we'd have to ask ourselves, ‘what is sane?’” Valid!

Benny gets right to the point, asking Cas why he flapped away. Dean defends Cas and we get a peek at the story he’s imagined for Cas during their separation. Cas clearly got jumped by a monster that first day but has now kicked its ass and...lives by the water now? “I ran away,” Cas says abruptly.

Disbelief and anger emerge in Dean. “I prayed to you, Cas. Every night!” Cas defends his actions. He’s being hunted by everything in Purgatory but mostly...he’s been hunted by leviathans. His goal in running was to keep them away from Dean.

Castiel tells them to leave but Dean tries to make a case for a different plan. He’s got a way out, and he’s taking Cas with him.

“I need you,” he tells Cas. And the leviathans can fucking BRING. IT. “Let me bottom line it for you. I’m not leaving here without you. Understand?”

Castiel looks at Dean and, with weight to his words says, “I understand.”

For Emotional Reunion Science:

Back in the present, oh my god where even WERE we? I have been on a journey, my friends, and I have SEEN THINGS.

The auction starts. The Winchester crew fumble in their wallets like total noobs while Crowley sits back by Samandriel and taunts everyone. When the bidding for the first item starts on “three tons of dwarven gold” the Winchesters and Trans realize that they are in way over their heads. (Soooo when do we meet gold-smithing dwarves?) Dean heads off to the restroom which here is code for “following a demon and looking for the secret treasure storage vault.” Dean handily pickpockets the demon, swipes the key, and opens the door.

The room has a couple of demons in it, and one very discomfited Dean Winchester on its threshold. Wherps. The tablet is there, though. Back in the auction room, they set into auctioning off Thor’s hammer. Sweet. Mr. Villi from the cold open throws out a bid of a frost giant’s fingerbone and when that fails, tries “five-eighths of a virgin.”

Dean returns, mutters to Sam that “plan C tanked,” and Crowley tells him that “you should try plan "D" for dumbass.” I’m SORRY for quoting this whole episode but I love it.

The Word of God comes to the auction block and Crowley and Samandriel throw out bids, including:

Three BILLION dollars (cue Austin Powers pinkie finger)

The Mona Lisa

The REAL Mona Lisa (where she’s topless - that explains the smile)

Vatican City

Alaska (but the auctioneer is NOT sold on Palin’s wilderness and WOW a Palin joke omg)

The moon (“You think a man named Buzz gets to go into space without making a deal?”)

The auctioneer mourns that the reserve price has not been met. He’s adding an item: Kevin Tran, Prophet of the Lord. Kevin gets zapped to the front of the room, bound in magical chains. Linda offers up her material possessions - her savings and her house - but the auctioneer isn’t into it. Then Linda bids her soul.

Crowley offers up as many souls as they want, and Samandriel announces that angels guard the souls in Heaven and won’t use them for barter. The owner is enticed by Linda’s sacrifice. Her soul is everything to her, and is therefore the most valuable thing to him. Crowley bids his soul and the owner laughs in his face and tells him that he doesn’t have a soul. Ouch.

When the bidding closes, the Winchesters talk to Linda about losing her soul. It’s no big deal, “you’ll just wish you were dead.” Um. Thanks, guys. Good talk. She asks for a minute alone to compose herself before handing it over.

Samandriel approaches her and offers to protect Kevin, but she quickly puts him in his place. She watched a whole flight get killed and Kevin kidnapped. So thanks but no thanks...she’s putting her money on the Winchesters.

Linda gets ready to sell her soul when Dean notices something odd on Linda’s arm. A burn mark. Her eyes glow red and Crowley says hello with her mouth. Beau, the smiling salesman, is in cahoots with Crowley. He burned the anti-possession tattoo off her arm, then Crowley jumped in and took control. Y I K E S.

Crowley grabs the tablet and Dean brandishes the demon-killing knife. The Winchesters defend Kevin from Crowley, who splits with the tablet. Dean races after Crowley and Sam protects Kevin while Beau shoots up the place. He’s leveled his gun on Kevin when Sam comes out of NOWHERE and smites him with Thor’s hammer.

GLORY GLORY! Mr. Villi asks for the hammer back, but Sam looks at it, then asks where he got five-eighths of a virgin. He smites Mr. Villi in retribution. YEAH SAM.

Crowley and Dean fight and Kevin races for his mom when Crowley smokes out and emerges moments later wearing his usual body. He carefully dusts off his clothes, taunts the Trans, and warns them about the Winchesters. “‘Cause the Winchesters – well, they have a habit of using people up and watching them die bloody.” Urg. Kevin, you deserved better.

Kevin’s got a pretty good head on his shoulders. He shuts Dean’s platitudes down, because Dean tried to kill his mom when she was possessed. Life ain’t all desaturated extremes, Dean Bean.

The Winchesters head out to give Kevin some alone time with his mom. Sam asks Dean if he would have really killed Linda. Yeah. Dean totally would have done it to kill Crowley. “What’s one more nightmare, right?” Oh Dean bby no. Sam gives him sad eyes in response.

A few moments later they head back into the room. Kevin and Linda are gone but there’s a note. Dean reads between the lines. Kevin will never trust the Winchesters because the moment Dean doesn’t need him, Kevin’s gonna die. (I’m just gonna...pound my head on a brick wall for a while, okay?)

Dean then flashes back to Purgatory and Castiel calling out to him desperately as their hands separate.

______________________________

I’ll Bid a Doodle of Dean and Cas Kissing for These Quotes:

All we need to do is find the tablet, whip up the spell, and – boom! – sunshine and sandy beaches.

What? Like it’s my first tattoo.

You hid the Word of God in a diaper bag?

Rest assured that we have a strict "no casting, no cursing, no supernaturally flicking the two of you against the wall just for the fun of it" policy.

Is that even a planet anymore?

I think too much heart was always Castiel's problem.

You know what's better than one private island? Two private islands.

I don’t wanna hear any more of your crappy speeches.

_____________________________

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive!

#spn recap #spn rewatch #spn 8x02 #what's up tiger mommy?#dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #cas #kevin tran #linda tran #crowley #benny lafitte #supernatural season 8

27 notes · View notes