(Fic) Black Edelweiss—Chapter Five: Ignorance is Bliss
Thursday, 8 September 2011 01:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
black_sluggardTitle: Black Edelweiss
Series: Zeitgeist
Follows: One Giant Leap
Wordcount: 3,372
Summary: Two weeks after Claire Bennet's televised leap from the Ferris wheel, the 12th handles it's first case delving into the strange world of specials. Evidence points the investigation toward a former Company Agent, a man Noah Bennet would swear up and down doesn't exist.
Details: Minimal details due to inflation. Full details in main post.
PREV: Interlude Two // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude Three
Chapter Five: Ignorance is Bliss
From ignorance our comfort flows.
The only wretched are the wise.
—Matthew Prior
"I don't care if it's obsolete," Kevin maintained as he exited the car, "two-hundred-billion songs on your phone is awesome, but a thousand years from now vinyl will still be cool."
Looking across the roof he saw Javier shaking his head. Lord knew this conversation had taken place at least a dozen times before, but even an old argument was more fun when you had an audience. Especially an appreciative one. It was one of the things Kevin had loved about having Castle join their team. Ms. Strauss, it turned out, was much the same, though her sense of humor held a drier, more sarcastic edge. Kevin had to guess that, with a partner like Bennet, she didn't get the chance for a lot of joking around.
Unfortunately for the three of them, their investigation of Barbara's workplace had turned up little. She hadn't come in to the office that morning. Apparently, she was missed. Most of her co-workers had mistaken Tracy for Barbara at first, and asked if she was alright, coming in so many hours late. They had all seemed quite sympathetic when Tracy told them about the death of "their" father, and how they were still looking for Barbara to give her the sad news. With that sort of climate, Kevin and Javier had needed to keep their questions regarding Barbara's character subtle. As far as they could tell, however, Barbara was apparently quite stable, and very well liked around her place of work. She was sociable, hardworking, and it sounded like she spoke of her father often. Her work desk hadn't yielded them any leads either: no unusual appointments on her calendar, from what her closest neighbor could tell, and none of her things seemed to have been tampered with. Barbara wasn't officially a suspect in their investigation, however, and they weren't quite ready to drag out "assaulting an officer" just yet, so they weren't able to collect her computer for a closer look.
Though Ms. Strauss had seemed oddly certain that they shouldn't worry about that detail.
With that search yielding them a big fat egg in the leads department, that left them Zimmerman's hotel as the next clear task. It was already past three in the afternoon, though, so they had taken fifteen to grab a late-lunch-early-dinner something on the way. The weather was surprisingly mild for the season, their case was really interesting, and so far as Kevin was concerned the Specials Affairs people were easily making this the most pleasant instance of shared jurisdiction his career had ever seen. Despite the lingering headache from Barbara's disappearing act, Kevin was in a pretty good mood... It was just a pity Javier didn't seem to be sharing it.
Shaking off his dismay, Kevin tried to put it from his mind, determined not to dwell.
"So, uh, Ms. Strauss..." Kevin began casually, or tried to. Probably he only succeeded in looking over-interested in the drink was still nursing from lunch.
"Tracy, please."
"Tracy," he agreed with a smile. He saw Javier roll his eyes. "I don't know if this is an indelicate question but... If your sister is a special, does that mean that you..."
From the way her smile twisted, Kevin guessed she had been expecting the question to come up for some time. Still, the light in her eyes was an amused one, and Kevin didn't think he'd offended her.
"Yes," Tracy answered, frankly. "I have an ability."
Kevin was unable to keep his own smile from broadening into a grin. He must have looked like a total dork, but he honest to God couldn't help it. Thankfully, that didn't seem to insult her either.
"So," Kevin asked, eagerly, awed, "what's your power?"
Tracy tilted her head, expression briefly thoughtful before she reached out a finger, touching the bottom of the paper cup in his hand. Then her mouth pulled into a tight smirk and she turned away, walking toward the hotel. Kevin stared after her a few moments, confused. It wasn't until he took a sip from his straw and got nothing that he realized with a jolt that the contents of the cup had frozen solid.
"Awesome..."
When he turned around to see if his partner had caught the exchange, Kevin came up hard against Javier's disapproving look.
"What?" Kevin asked, not seeing his partner's problem. "What's wrong with a little flirting with a woman who's going back to DC after the case anyway?"
Javier's eyes narrowed slightly, though there was a twist of uncertainty in the lines of his forehead.
"I don't know, bro, Jenny?"
The reminder was obvious, but Javier's voice was unexpectedly harsh.
"Javi," Kevin defended softly, hurt, "you know I'd never cheat on Jenny."
At least, he had thought Javier knew that. Staring back, Kevin saw the intensity bleed out of Javier's eyes. His partner looked away, drawing in a sharp breath.
"I know that," Javier admitted finally, after an uncomfortable beat had passed. "I know, but does Jenny? Do we really want another scene like Natalie Rhodes?"
Kevin bit off a groan, remembering. No, the fit his fiance had thrown at the station hadn't been pretty at all. It still amazed him how such an innocent joke could have come back to haunt him. Kevin had named Natalie Rhodes as part of his "Freebie Five" years ago... Long before Castle had arrived and made them second-hand celebrities through his novels, back when it had seemed practically impossible that he and the actress would ever cross paths. The Five had been a joke, and Kevin had thought Jenny understood that when he shared it with her. Fast forward to two months ago, when Rhodes had shown up to prepare for her role as Beckett-inspired detective Nikki Heat, and it had still been funny. Right up until Jenny was glaring up at him between closing elevator doors, betrayal on her face.
God, he could have died right there...
"Jenny knows better, now, bro. She trusts me," Kevin insisted, ignoring the skepticism in his partner's eyes. He threw Javier a light smile. "Anyway, c'mon. She's got superpowers. How is that not cool?"
Javier didn't respond, though he looked like he was turning over possible answers in his head. As though the question were actually important. Even mindful of the weird issues his partner had with the Specials Affairs people, Kevin thought that was kind of ridiculous.
"Aww, is that it?" Kevin eventually joked, hoping to defuse the conversation. "You don't gotta be jealous, man. I still love you."
From the shuttered expression Kevin got in response, somehow it was exactly the wrong thing to say.
Watching his partner disappear into the hotel ahead of him Kevin chucked his frozen drink into the trash with a sigh. Looking back, he knew there had been a time when he could read his partner flawlessly. Kevin remembered those days very clearly. However, a few months ago, for no reason he could readily identify, their partnership had gone suddenly and unmistakably off balance. Things between Javier and himself had become oddly strained, though for the life of him he couldn't figure out what was causing the tension. It had been subtle to start with, and at first Kevin had thought that it might all have been in his head. He would say something, make a suggestion, crack a joke, and Javier would laugh or react almost like he used to... Only it would seem strangely forced.
And Kevin couldn't begin to imagine what it was that could possibly have changed, but obviously something had.
As time drew on it had become harder and harder to ignore. Suddenly silences were uncomfortable, and more of their arguments began to hold a genuine edge. Jokes that normally would have been let go without a second thought had become as likely to offend as amuse. They had started to talk less on the job, and spend less time together outside of it. And of course Kevin had wondered whether he might have done something to upset his partner, he might have just asked—except Kevin had slowly come to realize that those moments of hesitation, those pauses on Javier's part, often felt almost guilty. As if Javier were the one who thought he had done something wrong. Kevin couldn't even begin to understand that. Worse, he hadn't had a clue what he was supposed to do about it. He had become afraid to push—his attempts to get close enough to understand the problem had only seemed to make Javier retreat further away. Unable to fix anything and unwilling to risk driving his partner away entirely, things had hung like that, locked for almost three months in a stalemate of mutual defeat.
It had finally come to a climax only two months ago, changing yet again—for what Kevin hoped was the better.
There was nothing concrete to base it on, but Kevin knew in his gut that the breaking point had been that night almost a week after his proposal to Jenny. The night he had invited Javier out for a drink, just the two of them, and almost been declined save for a spark of concern in his partner's eyes. Javier must have sensed Kevin's desperation. And Kevin never could have imagined that he would feel more nervous about asking Javier to be his best-man than he had about the proposal itself. Before that strange and inexplicable divide had sprung up between them, Kevin had never even thought he would have to ask. But, that night, Kevin had sat across from his partner in the booth at the bar, waiting for the answer and utterly terrified that he would say no. Wondering, not for the first time, how had it ever gotten that bad between them.
Javier had watched his face, and whatever his partner seen had finally managed to soften the withdrawn hardness that Kevin had seen in his eyes those past few months.
"Of course, Kev," Javier had said, visibly shaken.
And his voice had sounded oddly surprised, as though he were remembering suddenly something he never should have forgotten.
Things were better after that. It had taken time to fall back into step, but eventually they had, and Javier had finally stopped trying to pull away. It was about a week later that Kevin had found out about the thing with Lanie—which had to have still been fairly new at the time. Javier and the ME simply knew too many of the same people, and the wrong kind for it to stay a secret for long. It was odd, but Kevin had felt almost grateful. Things were finally starting to even out, and if Lanie could keep Javier's mind off of whatever had been eating away at him, that put her amongst Kevin's favorite people in the world.
So things were good again, though they still weren't the same. Their partnership and friendship still held strong even if, like most things repaired, one could still see where it had broken.
This morning the wind had changed yet again. Kevin had felt it strongly, and he knew it was more than just the breakup with Lanie. Javier had seemed fine when they had met up at the station that morning, but at the crime scene he had started acting strange—not just off, but someone-walked-on-my-grave weird. And whatever it was that had spooked him, Kevin felt that distance beginning to stretch out between them once again.
Oddly, something about it reminded Kevin of the Racine case.
Even now, Kevin had difficulty imagining what it must have been like, seeing all the ugliness that had surrounded Thornton's death dragged out for them to see. Javier's continuing belief in Ike's innocence had left his partner feeling cornered, threatened—and isolated, though by all rights he shouldn't have, not when Kevin had his back. That part had really killed him. That case more than anything else in the history of their acquaintance had taught Kevin that Javier didn't handle helplessness well. He was the type of guy who needed to feel like he was in control, or capable of gaining control, and learning that Thornton had been alive the whole time had struck him badly off-balance. Kevin thought that, in that moment, handling things on his own had been the only way for Javier to reclaim his reality after it had been torn violently from his grip.
What his partner was displaying now was a different distance than before—closer to anxiety, Kevin thought, expectant. Like Javier was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Still, his behavior now mirrored his behavior then in a lot of ways. The snappish, defensive hostility was familiar, though not something his partner had displayed either before the business with Thornton or since. The argument with Montgomery had been noticeably out of character, but Kevin thought that if he had been paying closer attention he might have seen it coming. Something about this case made Javier uneasy, and Kevin thought that maybe involving the Feds threatened the only means his partner had of wielding some control over it. The scene between him and Bennet had born that theory out well enough, Javier's unfriendliness a pitch-perfect echo of his interactions with Holliwell during the Internal Affairs probe.
At least Javier's bad temper hadn't fallen on Tracy that strongly. That would have made the afternoon more than a little difficult.
One thing that could be said about Ms. Strauss, she wasn't above using the "hot girl" card in a professional setting. By the time he and Javier met her in at the front desk, she already had the hotel manager wrapped around her little finger. Not that he had a lot of motivation to be uncooperative, but it greased the wheels pleasantly nonetheless.
Zimmerman, it seemed, had booked his room around 1 am the night before his body was found in Chelsea. He had only paid through the next day. Kevin's hunch suggested that probably meant a late arrival in New York, with plans to stay elsewhere in the near future. The victim hadn't been carrying more than his wallet, and a quick search of the room uncovered a single small suitcase—only one change of clothes, loose toiletries, and no razor, books or other odds and ends. Zimmerman had packed light, and probably in a hurry. According to the manager, he had arrived alone—and left alone less than an hour later. Lanie's estimate put the time of death somewhere between 1:30 and 3 am, which seemed in line with the manager's memory so far as they could tell.
Almost nothing in the room had been touched. The sole exception was a pad of hotel stationary, from which a single sheet had been torn out. A set of directions had been jotted down hastily, the pen digging the paper deeply enough that only the right lighting was needed for them to recognize a partial address: "--- A.M. 21- Ree- St. #7". The location of the crime scene was not difficult to recognize. "A.M." seemed to suggest he'd been meant to be there at a specific time.
Perhaps meeting someone there, Kevin thought. Possibly his killer.
His next thought had been to rib Javier—See? A lot of people write their ones like that—but his phone rang before he could even start that one. It was Kate. She and Castle had finished their sit-down with Mrs. Petrelli. Apparently, their day had been much more...enlightening. He was encouraged to learn that they were waiting on some old Company files. While normally he would be impatient at such a wait, Bennet confirmed that they would in all likelihood contain photos which could be used to ID Reichardt.
Besides that, Kevin thought, they were bound to make for an interesting read.
Kevin took out his notepad as Kate filled him in on what they did already know. Despite his focus on capturing the details, Kevin was aware of Javier. Tension had crept into his partner's stance as soon as he realized Kevin was taking down notes, watching with what Kevin could only feel was a quiet dread. It was distracting, just then, the concern Kevin felt for his partner. He missed a few words of what Kate was telling him—Kevin wasn't sure how being "forgettable" qualified as a superpower—and would have to get clarification on them later.
Kevin got the gist, however. He snapped his phone shut and turned to Javier, who was waiting, visibly anxious, to hear what the others had learned.
"This case just keeps getting freakier and freakier," Kevin said, shaking his head as he reread his notes.
Yeah, they still said the same thing...
"What?" Javier asked.
The nervous edge to his voice would probably have been lost on most people. Kevin wasn't most people.
"Beckett's interview with Mrs. Petrelli confirmed that Zimmerman and Reichardt clashed during their time at the Company," Kevin informed his partner, trying to keep his voice unconcerned. "Reichardt was even the one who sued for Zimmerman's dismissal. Only..."
Javier leaned in, and Kevin decided he couldn't feel sorry for the set up. His partner needed this.
"Our suspect was at Auschwitz," Kevin told him. "Only it turns out he was a guard."
Javier blinked.
"You're kidding me."
"Nope."
"So..." Javier began, faint disbelief in his voice. "Nazis..."
"And superpowers," Kevin finished.
Kevin literally couldn't have kept the grin off his face any longer, not to save his own life. Javier shut his eyes with a pained groan.
"Castle is going to be impossible after this..."
Kevin nodded, patting his partner on the shoulder sympathetically. Behind Javier, his eyes met Tracy's, and her eyebrow raised in a interested expression that, for some reason, had Kevin blushing to his hairline. Javier turned his head, following his gaze.
"Aw, don't stop," Tracy said, the corners of her mouth turning up in a wry smile. "I think it's cute when couples finish each others' sentences."
Just like that, Kevin saw Javier retreat behind his walls again, the way he had at several points during the case.
"Uh, Tracy," Kevin spoke before he knew what he was going to say, which left him silent a few moments as he completed the thought. "Do you think you could work you magic on the manager one more time, see if he's got those security tapes?"
Technically, they had to be thorough, but none of them thought those tapes would lead anywhere. Still, he thought Tracy must have picked up on the changed vibe between them, because she left without question. Turning back around to face his partner, Kevin looked him over for a brief moment, noting the wary shift in his posture.
"Okay, seriously, what?" Kevin finally asked, throwing his arms wide in a helpless gesture.
"'Seriously what' what?" Javier asked, though he looked as if he had a very good idea exactly what.
Kevin sighed.
"Look," Kevin said carefully, trying not to make the line of questioning feel like an attack, "don't pretend there's nothing going on. You've been acting weird ever since this case opened. And don't even try to tell me it's Lanie, bro, I can tell something's got you really freaked out."
Javier didn't say anything, but he didn't open his mouth to deny it either.
"I mean, you've clearly got some problem you're not talking about," Kevin continued after a while, "but I can't tell if it's a problem with me, or the Specials Affairs people, or maybe just the case, because you're sending out all these crazy mixed signals, and if you don't just go ahead and tell me what's up I'm not going to be able to focus on the job."
Kevin paused, then, taking a breath as he looked his partner over carefully.
"And if I can't focus, then Kate will have to kill me," Kevin finished finally, taking a step back to an emotional DefCon 3, "and I know you don't want to be an accomplice to murder, so spill."
Javier snorted a faint laugh. It failed to release the tension from his shoulders, but he did manage to look Kevin in the eye.
"C'mon, bro," Kevin coaxed softly, holding onto that eye contact like a lifeline. "You know I've got your back no matter what. Whatever it is, there's no reason you should have to deal with it alone."
Kevin saw the tightness around his partner's eyes—could almost feel him hesitating—but finally Javier dipped a shallow nod.
"Okay," Javier said, quietly enough that Kevin almost had to lean in to hear. More than anything else, Javier sounded resigned. "Okay, but it's going to have to wait until we're back at the station. We'll ditch Barbie Two, and then we can have that conversation. Because..."
Javier trailed off, shaking his head with a faint laugh.
"Trust me," Javier said after a few moments. "It's going to be a long, complicated story..."
PREV: Interlude Two // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude Three
Series: Zeitgeist
Follows: One Giant Leap
Wordcount: 3,372
Summary: Two weeks after Claire Bennet's televised leap from the Ferris wheel, the 12th handles it's first case delving into the strange world of specials. Evidence points the investigation toward a former Company Agent, a man Noah Bennet would swear up and down doesn't exist.
Details: Minimal details due to inflation. Full details in main post.
PREV: Interlude Two // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude Three
Chapter Five: Ignorance is Bliss
From ignorance our comfort flows.
The only wretched are the wise.
—Matthew Prior
"I don't care if it's obsolete," Kevin maintained as he exited the car, "two-hundred-billion songs on your phone is awesome, but a thousand years from now vinyl will still be cool."
Looking across the roof he saw Javier shaking his head. Lord knew this conversation had taken place at least a dozen times before, but even an old argument was more fun when you had an audience. Especially an appreciative one. It was one of the things Kevin had loved about having Castle join their team. Ms. Strauss, it turned out, was much the same, though her sense of humor held a drier, more sarcastic edge. Kevin had to guess that, with a partner like Bennet, she didn't get the chance for a lot of joking around.
Unfortunately for the three of them, their investigation of Barbara's workplace had turned up little. She hadn't come in to the office that morning. Apparently, she was missed. Most of her co-workers had mistaken Tracy for Barbara at first, and asked if she was alright, coming in so many hours late. They had all seemed quite sympathetic when Tracy told them about the death of "their" father, and how they were still looking for Barbara to give her the sad news. With that sort of climate, Kevin and Javier had needed to keep their questions regarding Barbara's character subtle. As far as they could tell, however, Barbara was apparently quite stable, and very well liked around her place of work. She was sociable, hardworking, and it sounded like she spoke of her father often. Her work desk hadn't yielded them any leads either: no unusual appointments on her calendar, from what her closest neighbor could tell, and none of her things seemed to have been tampered with. Barbara wasn't officially a suspect in their investigation, however, and they weren't quite ready to drag out "assaulting an officer" just yet, so they weren't able to collect her computer for a closer look.
Though Ms. Strauss had seemed oddly certain that they shouldn't worry about that detail.
With that search yielding them a big fat egg in the leads department, that left them Zimmerman's hotel as the next clear task. It was already past three in the afternoon, though, so they had taken fifteen to grab a late-lunch-early-dinner something on the way. The weather was surprisingly mild for the season, their case was really interesting, and so far as Kevin was concerned the Specials Affairs people were easily making this the most pleasant instance of shared jurisdiction his career had ever seen. Despite the lingering headache from Barbara's disappearing act, Kevin was in a pretty good mood... It was just a pity Javier didn't seem to be sharing it.
Shaking off his dismay, Kevin tried to put it from his mind, determined not to dwell.
"So, uh, Ms. Strauss..." Kevin began casually, or tried to. Probably he only succeeded in looking over-interested in the drink was still nursing from lunch.
"Tracy, please."
"Tracy," he agreed with a smile. He saw Javier roll his eyes. "I don't know if this is an indelicate question but... If your sister is a special, does that mean that you..."
From the way her smile twisted, Kevin guessed she had been expecting the question to come up for some time. Still, the light in her eyes was an amused one, and Kevin didn't think he'd offended her.
"Yes," Tracy answered, frankly. "I have an ability."
Kevin was unable to keep his own smile from broadening into a grin. He must have looked like a total dork, but he honest to God couldn't help it. Thankfully, that didn't seem to insult her either.
"So," Kevin asked, eagerly, awed, "what's your power?"
Tracy tilted her head, expression briefly thoughtful before she reached out a finger, touching the bottom of the paper cup in his hand. Then her mouth pulled into a tight smirk and she turned away, walking toward the hotel. Kevin stared after her a few moments, confused. It wasn't until he took a sip from his straw and got nothing that he realized with a jolt that the contents of the cup had frozen solid.
"Awesome..."
When he turned around to see if his partner had caught the exchange, Kevin came up hard against Javier's disapproving look.
"What?" Kevin asked, not seeing his partner's problem. "What's wrong with a little flirting with a woman who's going back to DC after the case anyway?"
Javier's eyes narrowed slightly, though there was a twist of uncertainty in the lines of his forehead.
"I don't know, bro, Jenny?"
The reminder was obvious, but Javier's voice was unexpectedly harsh.
"Javi," Kevin defended softly, hurt, "you know I'd never cheat on Jenny."
At least, he had thought Javier knew that. Staring back, Kevin saw the intensity bleed out of Javier's eyes. His partner looked away, drawing in a sharp breath.
"I know that," Javier admitted finally, after an uncomfortable beat had passed. "I know, but does Jenny? Do we really want another scene like Natalie Rhodes?"
Kevin bit off a groan, remembering. No, the fit his fiance had thrown at the station hadn't been pretty at all. It still amazed him how such an innocent joke could have come back to haunt him. Kevin had named Natalie Rhodes as part of his "Freebie Five" years ago... Long before Castle had arrived and made them second-hand celebrities through his novels, back when it had seemed practically impossible that he and the actress would ever cross paths. The Five had been a joke, and Kevin had thought Jenny understood that when he shared it with her. Fast forward to two months ago, when Rhodes had shown up to prepare for her role as Beckett-inspired detective Nikki Heat, and it had still been funny. Right up until Jenny was glaring up at him between closing elevator doors, betrayal on her face.
God, he could have died right there...
"Jenny knows better, now, bro. She trusts me," Kevin insisted, ignoring the skepticism in his partner's eyes. He threw Javier a light smile. "Anyway, c'mon. She's got superpowers. How is that not cool?"
Javier didn't respond, though he looked like he was turning over possible answers in his head. As though the question were actually important. Even mindful of the weird issues his partner had with the Specials Affairs people, Kevin thought that was kind of ridiculous.
"Aww, is that it?" Kevin eventually joked, hoping to defuse the conversation. "You don't gotta be jealous, man. I still love you."
From the shuttered expression Kevin got in response, somehow it was exactly the wrong thing to say.
Watching his partner disappear into the hotel ahead of him Kevin chucked his frozen drink into the trash with a sigh. Looking back, he knew there had been a time when he could read his partner flawlessly. Kevin remembered those days very clearly. However, a few months ago, for no reason he could readily identify, their partnership had gone suddenly and unmistakably off balance. Things between Javier and himself had become oddly strained, though for the life of him he couldn't figure out what was causing the tension. It had been subtle to start with, and at first Kevin had thought that it might all have been in his head. He would say something, make a suggestion, crack a joke, and Javier would laugh or react almost like he used to... Only it would seem strangely forced.
And Kevin couldn't begin to imagine what it was that could possibly have changed, but obviously something had.
As time drew on it had become harder and harder to ignore. Suddenly silences were uncomfortable, and more of their arguments began to hold a genuine edge. Jokes that normally would have been let go without a second thought had become as likely to offend as amuse. They had started to talk less on the job, and spend less time together outside of it. And of course Kevin had wondered whether he might have done something to upset his partner, he might have just asked—except Kevin had slowly come to realize that those moments of hesitation, those pauses on Javier's part, often felt almost guilty. As if Javier were the one who thought he had done something wrong. Kevin couldn't even begin to understand that. Worse, he hadn't had a clue what he was supposed to do about it. He had become afraid to push—his attempts to get close enough to understand the problem had only seemed to make Javier retreat further away. Unable to fix anything and unwilling to risk driving his partner away entirely, things had hung like that, locked for almost three months in a stalemate of mutual defeat.
It had finally come to a climax only two months ago, changing yet again—for what Kevin hoped was the better.
There was nothing concrete to base it on, but Kevin knew in his gut that the breaking point had been that night almost a week after his proposal to Jenny. The night he had invited Javier out for a drink, just the two of them, and almost been declined save for a spark of concern in his partner's eyes. Javier must have sensed Kevin's desperation. And Kevin never could have imagined that he would feel more nervous about asking Javier to be his best-man than he had about the proposal itself. Before that strange and inexplicable divide had sprung up between them, Kevin had never even thought he would have to ask. But, that night, Kevin had sat across from his partner in the booth at the bar, waiting for the answer and utterly terrified that he would say no. Wondering, not for the first time, how had it ever gotten that bad between them.
Javier had watched his face, and whatever his partner seen had finally managed to soften the withdrawn hardness that Kevin had seen in his eyes those past few months.
"Of course, Kev," Javier had said, visibly shaken.
And his voice had sounded oddly surprised, as though he were remembering suddenly something he never should have forgotten.
Things were better after that. It had taken time to fall back into step, but eventually they had, and Javier had finally stopped trying to pull away. It was about a week later that Kevin had found out about the thing with Lanie—which had to have still been fairly new at the time. Javier and the ME simply knew too many of the same people, and the wrong kind for it to stay a secret for long. It was odd, but Kevin had felt almost grateful. Things were finally starting to even out, and if Lanie could keep Javier's mind off of whatever had been eating away at him, that put her amongst Kevin's favorite people in the world.
So things were good again, though they still weren't the same. Their partnership and friendship still held strong even if, like most things repaired, one could still see where it had broken.
This morning the wind had changed yet again. Kevin had felt it strongly, and he knew it was more than just the breakup with Lanie. Javier had seemed fine when they had met up at the station that morning, but at the crime scene he had started acting strange—not just off, but someone-walked-on-my-grave weird. And whatever it was that had spooked him, Kevin felt that distance beginning to stretch out between them once again.
Oddly, something about it reminded Kevin of the Racine case.
Even now, Kevin had difficulty imagining what it must have been like, seeing all the ugliness that had surrounded Thornton's death dragged out for them to see. Javier's continuing belief in Ike's innocence had left his partner feeling cornered, threatened—and isolated, though by all rights he shouldn't have, not when Kevin had his back. That part had really killed him. That case more than anything else in the history of their acquaintance had taught Kevin that Javier didn't handle helplessness well. He was the type of guy who needed to feel like he was in control, or capable of gaining control, and learning that Thornton had been alive the whole time had struck him badly off-balance. Kevin thought that, in that moment, handling things on his own had been the only way for Javier to reclaim his reality after it had been torn violently from his grip.
What his partner was displaying now was a different distance than before—closer to anxiety, Kevin thought, expectant. Like Javier was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Still, his behavior now mirrored his behavior then in a lot of ways. The snappish, defensive hostility was familiar, though not something his partner had displayed either before the business with Thornton or since. The argument with Montgomery had been noticeably out of character, but Kevin thought that if he had been paying closer attention he might have seen it coming. Something about this case made Javier uneasy, and Kevin thought that maybe involving the Feds threatened the only means his partner had of wielding some control over it. The scene between him and Bennet had born that theory out well enough, Javier's unfriendliness a pitch-perfect echo of his interactions with Holliwell during the Internal Affairs probe.
At least Javier's bad temper hadn't fallen on Tracy that strongly. That would have made the afternoon more than a little difficult.
One thing that could be said about Ms. Strauss, she wasn't above using the "hot girl" card in a professional setting. By the time he and Javier met her in at the front desk, she already had the hotel manager wrapped around her little finger. Not that he had a lot of motivation to be uncooperative, but it greased the wheels pleasantly nonetheless.
Zimmerman, it seemed, had booked his room around 1 am the night before his body was found in Chelsea. He had only paid through the next day. Kevin's hunch suggested that probably meant a late arrival in New York, with plans to stay elsewhere in the near future. The victim hadn't been carrying more than his wallet, and a quick search of the room uncovered a single small suitcase—only one change of clothes, loose toiletries, and no razor, books or other odds and ends. Zimmerman had packed light, and probably in a hurry. According to the manager, he had arrived alone—and left alone less than an hour later. Lanie's estimate put the time of death somewhere between 1:30 and 3 am, which seemed in line with the manager's memory so far as they could tell.
Almost nothing in the room had been touched. The sole exception was a pad of hotel stationary, from which a single sheet had been torn out. A set of directions had been jotted down hastily, the pen digging the paper deeply enough that only the right lighting was needed for them to recognize a partial address: "--- A.M. 21- Ree- St. #7". The location of the crime scene was not difficult to recognize. "A.M." seemed to suggest he'd been meant to be there at a specific time.
Perhaps meeting someone there, Kevin thought. Possibly his killer.
His next thought had been to rib Javier—See? A lot of people write their ones like that—but his phone rang before he could even start that one. It was Kate. She and Castle had finished their sit-down with Mrs. Petrelli. Apparently, their day had been much more...enlightening. He was encouraged to learn that they were waiting on some old Company files. While normally he would be impatient at such a wait, Bennet confirmed that they would in all likelihood contain photos which could be used to ID Reichardt.
Besides that, Kevin thought, they were bound to make for an interesting read.
Kevin took out his notepad as Kate filled him in on what they did already know. Despite his focus on capturing the details, Kevin was aware of Javier. Tension had crept into his partner's stance as soon as he realized Kevin was taking down notes, watching with what Kevin could only feel was a quiet dread. It was distracting, just then, the concern Kevin felt for his partner. He missed a few words of what Kate was telling him—Kevin wasn't sure how being "forgettable" qualified as a superpower—and would have to get clarification on them later.
Kevin got the gist, however. He snapped his phone shut and turned to Javier, who was waiting, visibly anxious, to hear what the others had learned.
"This case just keeps getting freakier and freakier," Kevin said, shaking his head as he reread his notes.
Yeah, they still said the same thing...
"What?" Javier asked.
The nervous edge to his voice would probably have been lost on most people. Kevin wasn't most people.
"Beckett's interview with Mrs. Petrelli confirmed that Zimmerman and Reichardt clashed during their time at the Company," Kevin informed his partner, trying to keep his voice unconcerned. "Reichardt was even the one who sued for Zimmerman's dismissal. Only..."
Javier leaned in, and Kevin decided he couldn't feel sorry for the set up. His partner needed this.
"Our suspect was at Auschwitz," Kevin told him. "Only it turns out he was a guard."
Javier blinked.
"You're kidding me."
"Nope."
"So..." Javier began, faint disbelief in his voice. "Nazis..."
"And superpowers," Kevin finished.
Kevin literally couldn't have kept the grin off his face any longer, not to save his own life. Javier shut his eyes with a pained groan.
"Castle is going to be impossible after this..."
Kevin nodded, patting his partner on the shoulder sympathetically. Behind Javier, his eyes met Tracy's, and her eyebrow raised in a interested expression that, for some reason, had Kevin blushing to his hairline. Javier turned his head, following his gaze.
"Aw, don't stop," Tracy said, the corners of her mouth turning up in a wry smile. "I think it's cute when couples finish each others' sentences."
Just like that, Kevin saw Javier retreat behind his walls again, the way he had at several points during the case.
"Uh, Tracy," Kevin spoke before he knew what he was going to say, which left him silent a few moments as he completed the thought. "Do you think you could work you magic on the manager one more time, see if he's got those security tapes?"
Technically, they had to be thorough, but none of them thought those tapes would lead anywhere. Still, he thought Tracy must have picked up on the changed vibe between them, because she left without question. Turning back around to face his partner, Kevin looked him over for a brief moment, noting the wary shift in his posture.
"Okay, seriously, what?" Kevin finally asked, throwing his arms wide in a helpless gesture.
"'Seriously what' what?" Javier asked, though he looked as if he had a very good idea exactly what.
Kevin sighed.
"Look," Kevin said carefully, trying not to make the line of questioning feel like an attack, "don't pretend there's nothing going on. You've been acting weird ever since this case opened. And don't even try to tell me it's Lanie, bro, I can tell something's got you really freaked out."
Javier didn't say anything, but he didn't open his mouth to deny it either.
"I mean, you've clearly got some problem you're not talking about," Kevin continued after a while, "but I can't tell if it's a problem with me, or the Specials Affairs people, or maybe just the case, because you're sending out all these crazy mixed signals, and if you don't just go ahead and tell me what's up I'm not going to be able to focus on the job."
Kevin paused, then, taking a breath as he looked his partner over carefully.
"And if I can't focus, then Kate will have to kill me," Kevin finished finally, taking a step back to an emotional DefCon 3, "and I know you don't want to be an accomplice to murder, so spill."
Javier snorted a faint laugh. It failed to release the tension from his shoulders, but he did manage to look Kevin in the eye.
"C'mon, bro," Kevin coaxed softly, holding onto that eye contact like a lifeline. "You know I've got your back no matter what. Whatever it is, there's no reason you should have to deal with it alone."
Kevin saw the tightness around his partner's eyes—could almost feel him hesitating—but finally Javier dipped a shallow nod.
"Okay," Javier said, quietly enough that Kevin almost had to lean in to hear. More than anything else, Javier sounded resigned. "Okay, but it's going to have to wait until we're back at the station. We'll ditch Barbie Two, and then we can have that conversation. Because..."
Javier trailed off, shaking his head with a faint laugh.
"Trust me," Javier said after a few moments. "It's going to be a long, complicated story..."
PREV: Interlude Two // MAIN // NEXT: Interlude Three
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Date: Friday, 9 September 2011 04:53 am (UTC)From:Yeah, my roommate did that for me. He was obsessed with NCIS and kept watching it when I was in the room, and the next thing I knew I was hooked... That show's dangerous.
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Date: Friday, 9 September 2011 09:00 pm (UTC)From:I'm liking NCIS so far, seems a little...sharper? More polished? Some perception that I can't quite manage to put into words than seems really natural, but good. XD
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Date: Friday, 9 September 2011 09:14 pm (UTC)From:Funnily, my grandmother's the reason I started watching Castle.
I was a rabid Browncoat, but wasn't really into procedurals then, and wasn't sure if I could watch the show just for the Fillion. But I thought it might be fun to introduce him to my grandmother through the show, because she loves mysteries, and after that Castle became our weekly together thing.
And, of course, I found our boys. :D
The first slash fic I ever wrote was actually to get a copy of Naked Heat for her birthday. Not that she knows the sordid details of the story contest that won it. ;)
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Date: Friday, 9 September 2011 10:00 pm (UTC)From:That's awesome. And winning with your first fic, I'm impressed! And a little jealous, my attempts at slash fic never even get finished. XD
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Date: Friday, 9 September 2011 10:22 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Friday, 9 September 2011 11:50 pm (UTC)From: