700. Chapter 700

After The Fast and the Furriest

Episode 5.20

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Bigfoot and UCSBdad who owns Castle. Which one doesn't exist? Rating: K Time: See above

"Come on babe, just a little bit further."

"Castle, I'm tired. Lemme rest." She slurred.

"No. No, Kate. I think you probably have a concussion from when you fell off of the platform and onto the tracks. Don't worry. I can see an old abandoned subway station up ahead. We'll be able to get out of here."

New York City has miles of abandoned subway tunnels as well as miles of old sewers, storm drains and old, forgotten basements. The perps they were hunting for had found the old subway a perfect place to lie low until the heat was off and the police stopped looking for them. They were really all set up. Castle thought. Some sleeping bags and air mattresses, a propane stove, plenty of food and they had tapped into a power line so that they had power for a refrigerator and even a TV. But someone saw a guy going down into an old storm drain and told Beckett. We never made a connection between him and our perps. Beckett thought there were some homeless people down here, perhaps. We were just going to check and then we ran into the whole damned gang. And now they're after us and Beckett's hurt.

Castle checked Beckett's Glock for the hundredth time since she'd fallen and hit her head during the chase. Maybe I could fire some shots and attract someone's attention? No. We're too far underground and the traffic overhead is so bad, they wouldn't hear cannons firing. Maybe I should find a place to hide.

But then he was at the old subway station. He gently lifted Beckett up onto the platform and then pulled himself up and looked around. Nothing. The damned place was a wide open space. The ticket booths and whatnot that had once been here had been torn out and the stairs going up were closed off by thick steel bars. But, there was a door that was partially open. He got Beckett to her feet and headed for the door. He opened it and walked right into a wall. A furry wall.

"Oh, hello." Said the wall.

Castle, for once in his life was absolutely speechless. He did manage to open his mouth and move his lips and tongue, but not sound came out.

"I imagine you're surprised to see me."

Castle nodded. "You're a Bigfoot."

The being looked down at his feet. "I'd prefer to think of myself as a normal foot. You, I'd call a tiny foot."

"Look, we're in trouble. This is my girlfriend, Kate Beckett, she's a cop."

"Oh, dear." Said the Sasquatch. "Are we being arrested? We have been living on city property for years, but we aren't thieves or anything. Perhaps we'll get off with a fine? First offense and all that?"

"We're not here for you. We were chasing a gang of thieves who hit high end jewelry stores. Last week, they killed two people. They've been hiding in an abandoned subway station, waiting for the heat to die down. We stumbled on them and she fell off the platform and hit her head."

"Castle? Tired." Beckett muttered.

"It'll be okay, Kate. I'll get us out of here." Castle looked around. "Maybe we can hide here?"

"They went up here. I saw 'em" Someone outside yelled. "There! The door. Shoot at the door."

Before anyone could shoot, the Sasquatch kicked open the door, grabbed a hunk of concrete and threw it with unerring accuracy into the chest of a man with a submachine gun. He flew backwards, his chest caved in.

The Sasquatch grabbed both Kate and Rick and ran for the subway tunnel. The crooks were so surprised, they didn't fire a single shot. He carried them to a doorway some fifty feet down the track and opened it. They were in a large room that had probably once held some sort of equipment for the subway, but was now empty.

"Jesus. We're trapped in here." Castle moaned.

"Not at all. Look." The Sasquatch pulled back a tarp to reveal a hole that had been hacked through the concrete floor. "We'll just go down and we'll be away."

Castle looked. "I don't see any rings or anything to hang onto. How'll I get Beckett down? And how far down does it go?"

"About a hundred feet." The Sasquatch stopped and listened. "They're coming." He grabbed both Rick and Kate in one massive arm and started down, finding hand and foot holds that Castle couldn't see. At the bottom, he put the two down and rolled a massive boulder away from a tunnel entrance. He led them into the tunnel and then rolled the boulder back. "I don't think they'll move that."

Sasquatch had to carry Kate by now and he led Castle through a bewildering maze of tunnels, both man made, natural and Sasquatch made. Finally, he arrived at what appeared to be an underground lake. "Honey, I'm home."

Mrs. Sasquatch and three little Sasquatches came out to greet him and their guests.

"How….How did you get here?" Castle finally asked, after checking Beckett.

"The same way that coyotes and other wild life get into Central Park. We had no choice."

"Are there others like you….underground?"

Mrs. Sasquatch nudged her husband. "Um, perhaps we shouldn't discuss that, Mr. Castle."

"How do you live? How do you speak English? How…."

"You'd be surprised what people throw away. We get newspapers every day and books…" The Sasquatch stopped. "I know you. I have some of your books. You're Richard Castle and she's…Nikki Heat."

"She's Kate Beckett, actually."

Sasquatch pulled out two worn copies of Unholy Storm, Heat Wave and Frozen Heat. "Um, could I possible ask you to autograph these?"

Castle promptly pulled out a pen. "Sure. No problem." He glanced at Mrs. Sasquatch, who, like her husband was naked. Castle guessed she must be about a 90FFF and hoped he wouldn't have to autograph her chest, not with all of that hair. "Um, you just have the three books?"

"It's not like we can just drop by the library or a book store. These are the only ones people have lost that we found. But, we have several radios that people lost and even a TV. The reception was terrible at first, but then I managed to tap into a cable TV system. I really love sports."

"What kind?" Castle was imagining Sasquatch running through and offensive line to the end zone.

"Golf. And tennis."

"I like the cooking shows." Mrs. Sasquatch added.

"So, how do you get your food? If you don't mind me asking?"

"We find money and we salvage things we can sell down here. There's a guy who brings us food in trade for stuff we find. He thinks were survivalists waiting to live in one of those post-apocalyptic wastelands after aliens invade, or whatever." Sasquatch laughed.

"Have you ever thought about…coming out?"

They shook their heads. "We don't think people are ready for us yet. Maybe someday."

Castle checked his watch. "We should be getting back. I'm worried about Kate. I need to get her to the ER."

"No problem, we're just a few yards from an active subway line. I've got a disguised entrance to it. You'll be out in no time."

The next day at the Old Haunt, Castle put a glass of wine in front of Beckett. "You sure you should have a drink?"

"Rick, I still have a headache. A glass of wine won't hurt." She reached over and took his hand. "And thank you again for saving me."

"Hey, it's what partners do."

"This partner will have a little reward for you tonight." Her eyes traveled past Castle. "Here's Ryan and Esposito."

The two detectives sat down. "We got 'em." Espo proudly announced. "One was already dead, but the others gave up without a fight."

"How come you had to kill the one guy?" Beckett asked.

"They said he was killed yesterday by some hulking monster who crushed his chest with a hunk of concrete."

"They're just too macho to admit that Beckett nailed that one. I'd taken her gun when she fell, but she grabbed a hunk of concrete and threw her famous fast ball."

She shook her head slowly. "I still don't remember that at all."

"Concussion." Castle said, innocently.

Later that night, Castle backed his car into a small alley. Then large, shadowy figures came out and emptied the trunk of food and other supplies.

"What's this?" Sasquatch asked.

"Autographed copies of all my books, as well as cook books for the Mrs. and books for the kids."

"Wow. Thanks a lot."

"It's the least I could do for my biggest fan."

Author's note: Seven hundred chapters and over a million words. If I'd known what this would be like when I started, I'm not sure I would have done it.