386. Chapter 386

After Under the Influence

Episode 5.11

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I am not under the influence. I just don't own Castle. Rating: T Time: See above and below.

Author's note: Okay, if you're going to get all technical on me, this really does take place before Under the Influence.

"Javier Esposito." The teacher looked at the boy slouched in the chair in front of him, a very practiced look of boredom on his face.

"Yeah." Javier said.

"You failed the test today. Got a zero."

Esposito shrugged. "I'll survive."

Mr. Colon nodded. "Maybe. Just to be sure, I want to give you another test."

Javier sat up. "That ain't fair. No one said anything about another test."

"One thing you should learn, Mr. Esposito, life is not fair."

Javier laughed. "That's one thing I know. I know it damned well."

"So, Mr. Esposito, today I'd like to see if you really are stupid."

Espo bridled at the perceived insult. "I'm not stupid, even if I can't pass your stupid tests."

"Well, let's see." He handed a sheaf of photos over to Espo. "Take a look. You know both of them."

Espo looked at the photos. They were very graphic photos of a crime scene. He did know both of the victims. Both had left school without graduating the year before. There were also what Espo would later recognize as photos from the autopsies. His stomach churned, but his face remained impassive. I'm not going to do anything in front of a teacher. He thought. Instead he shrugged. "Shit happens. So?"

Mr. Colon sighed. "Perhaps you are stupid, Mr. Esposito. Perhaps you really are. Because what you're seeing here is your future."

Esposito shrugged again and got up and left. But he thought about it. He thought about it a lot.

….

"Private Esposito!" the Drill Instructor bellowed in Esposito's face. "Did you clean this rifle?"

"Yes, Drill Instructor. I cleaned that rifle." He yelled back.

"Private Esposito, I have been in the US Army for sixteen years and I have never seen a rifle that exceeded your rifle in cleanliness. There is no rifle on this Earth that is cleaner than Private Esposito's rifle." The Drill Instructor took a step backwards. "Do you people understand me?"

"Yes, Drill Instructor!" The platoon bellowed back.

"Do you know what this means, Private Esposito?"

Esposito had no idea. "No, Drill Instructor."

"It means that you will show the members of the platoon how to properly clean their rifles. You will start with Private Davis who was apparently unable to find the latrine and crapped in his weapon rather than cleaning it." The Drill Instructor looked over at Davis. "Isn't that right, Private Davis?"

"Yes, Drill Instructor!"

"You admit to crapping in your rifle, Private Davis? Drop and give me fifty!"

When the drill sergeant had left, Esposito took Davis' rifle. "Did you even run a patch through this?"

Davis, a tall, heavily muscled California surfer dude smiled. "Sure. Probably. Maybe. How come you spend so damned much time on your weapon, Espo?"

"Back home, in the 'hood, a weapon could save your life. A surfboard ain't gonna save your ass, bro."

Davis smiled. "A rifle aint gonna get you laid like a surfboard can, bro." Davis shot back.

Espo shook his head. "Let's try to get this weapon clean, okay? Maybe you'll live long enough to get laid."

….

"Sergeant Javier Esposito?" Warrant Officer Pham said. "You've done okay in sniper school, and at Bragg, but things are different out here. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." Esposito shot back.

Pham shook his head sadly. "No, you don't. But you will. You will, or I'll send your young ass to some leg unit. Probably some National Guard leg unit."

Espo smiled. He was not going to some leg unit of any kind.

"We'll grab some gear from the arms room and head for the range." Pham said.

Once at the range, Pham pointed to a group of cardboard targets bunched together way, way down range. "There's your target, and here's a photo of him. An actual Al Qaeda leader. Just to make it more interesting, we put the target with his photo on it in the middle of a bunch targets with photos of civilians, mostly kids. Just put one through him and not anyone else and we can go home. I'll be your spotter."

Espo spent five minutes working to figure out the range to his target, figuring out the crosswinds all the way to the target, atmospherics, air pressure, and a dozen other things, all with the help of his spotter.

"Okay." Espo said.

Pham nodded. "Send it."

A shot cracked out and Pham checked with his spotting scope. "Nice, Esposito. Looks like you hit the photo of a nice Sunni schoolgirl right in the head. In the real world, which is just outside the wire, you'd have half of Anbar Province after your ass. This could be a very long day."

Espo nodded. Like hell. It isn't going to be that long a day.

….

"Cadet Esposito! Why do you want to be a New York Police Officer?" His instructor asked him.

"To make things better." Espo replied.

"And why, Cadet Esposito, do you think that you, of all people, can make things better in the fair city of New York?"

"Because I know how bad things can be. Back in the day, I helped make them bad."

The instructor nodded. "I read your juvie jacket, Esposito. You were a bad ass. A minor league bad ass, but back then, you probably thought you were real thug. Didn't you?"

Espo nodded. "I thought I was the baddest dude in all of the Five Boroughs."

"And now?"

Espo smiled. "If you've seen my juvie record, you've seen my military record. You've probably even seen the photo of my tattoo that they took."

The instructor nodded and quoted the words tattooed on Espo's chest. "Lo, though I shall walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For I am the evilest motherfucker in the whole valley." The instructor slapped Espo on the shoulder. "You'll either do damned well, or you'll be the biggest fuck up the NYPD has ever seen. Now get back to your class."

Todd Blackledge, who had gone to law school and hoped to end up as the Chief of Police, stared at Espo. "Do you actually have that tattooed on your chest?"

"Of course."

Blackledge just shook his head. I've got to get myself to One Police Plaza as soon as I can.

…...

"Detective Javier Esposito?" The hot detective asked, looking at Espo's records. "You want to be a homicide cop?"

"Yes." So, this is Detective Kate Beckett. He thought. Hot as hell, just like they said. And tough as nails they also say. And the youngest detective ever. That's something. And, according to reliable rumor, she has no social life. Something about her mom getting killed. She puts it all into the job. Normally, I'd take a run at her, but she being my boss, it's not a good idea. And probably I'd get nowhere. But, still…She is hot.

Kate Beckett looked down at Esposito from her four inch heels. "You're partner will be Detective Kevin Ryan. He came over from Vice a while ago. So, you'll be the junior man on the team. And I am the boss. If there's any doubt of that in your mind, forget about it. If you don't think I can and will send your ass off to being a school crossing guard on Staten Island, just try me. Got it?"

"Loud and clear, boss."

"Okay. Let me start by showing you around the Twelfth and introducing you to everyone."

….

"Detective Esposito?"

Espo looked up. It was that writer. How in the hell had he ever gotten himself assigned as a ride along with a homicide team? No wonder Beckett had gone ballistic.

"Castle, isn't it?" Espo asked with a smile. "What do you want?"

"I just need to know what's going on here. I'd kind of like the fifty cent tour so I can get my bearings. For some reason Detective Beckett wasn't interested in showing me around."

Espo nodded. "She's very busy, but I'll be happy to show you the parts of the 12th you haven't seen." And I can goof off for an hour or so. After all, this bozo won't stay here longer than a week, tops. Beckett will see to that.

….

"Lieutenant Esposito?" Kate said, frowning at Espo.

"Yes, Captain Castle?" He said with a straight face.

Just as he expected, she smiled, then giggled. "You know you won't be able to get away with distracting me like that forever."

"I just like the sound of it."

"So do I." She admitted. "So, you in for the Little League game on Saturday?"

"Am I in? How would they do without their manager? Do you think Rick can teach them baseball?"

Kate leaned back in her chair and looked at him. "You know, somehow, you've become an adult authority figure."

Espo thought about that. He thought about it a lot.