895. Chapter 895

After Clear and Present Danger

Episode 7.03

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: It's transparently obvious that I do not own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

The smoky, neon lit pool hall quieted immediately when he walked through the door. They all took in the tall, slender frame, the mass of hair flopping over his forehead and the killer blue eyes that surveyed them all. He smiled and walked towards the table where the really good players were, a case with a titanium pool cue in his hand. People got out of his way when he moved.

"It's him." Whispered a bartender, in awe. "It's the Faircroft Kid." The heart of every woman, except one, in the room beat faster.

He stopped and looked at a slender brunette with hazel eyes. "Want a game, Rebel Becks?" He asked.

She scowled at him, then turned the scowl to a glare. Seeing no response, she nodded. "Rack 'em up."

Rebel Becks was good, everyone in the place knew that. They had seen her win against the best that the city had to offer. But she was no match for the Kid. On those rare occasions when he missed a shot, he'd leave Rebel Becks with an impossible shot to make.

As he won game after game, he began to show off. He shot left handed after starting out from the right. He bent over backwards on the table and sank balls from upside down. Once, when he had sunk every one of his balls but the eight ball, he left Becks with another impossible shot. She missed, then he proceeded to sink all of her balls with one shot. The last ball to fall was the eight ball. Everyone gathered around the table cheered, except for one person. She handed him the last of her cash and headed for the ladies' room. But he was very observant. He could see that she was holding back tears. The Kid didn't like to hurt anyone. Not in a friendly game of pool.

She glared at him when she saw him standing there waiting for her. She tried to walk past him, but he stuck right to her side. "Kate, can I talk to you?"

She turned to face him. "How did you learn my name?" She demanded.

"I asked around about you. They told me that you were in pre-law at Stanford, but your mom was killed and your dad….has a drinking problem. I don't like to hurt people. If you need money…"

"I don't need your charity." She snapped.

"It's not charity, I want to pay you for…."

She slapped him, hard. "What the hell do you think I am?" She hissed.

"I think you're a pretty good pool player who knows the locals a lot better than I do. Look, I'm good, but I also do my homework. I don't want to beat some guy who's going to get mad and come at me with a knife. I've had that happen with sore losers before. "He held out five one hundred dollar bills. "Just sit with me, have a beer with me and let me know what's going on around here."

Kate was angry, but she did need the money and his request made sense. This was not charity. She nodded. "There's a table in the back."

She told him all she knew about the local pool players. The information came in handy sooner than either of them expected.

"You the Faircroft Kid?" A tall, bulky, odiferous man asked. He wore a black leather jacket, oil stained jeans and a battered pair of black motorcycle boots. His stomach bulged out over a dirty tee shirt.

"That's me."

"They call me Doc and you took my girlfriend's money, so hand it over and get out of here."

Kate stood up between the two men. "I'm not your girlfriend, Doc. And I'm having a beer with my friend, so get lost."

Doc smiled evilly. "You are my girlfriend and he's going to get lost."

The Kid stood up, "Look, I don't want any trouble here."

Doc smiled. "See he's a pussy and a ….."

Before Doc could finish the sentence, the Kid rammed his pool cue into Doc's solar plexus, doubling him over. A second blow to the kidney dropped Doc. "Will someone take him outside?" The Kid asked.

"I thought you didn't want any trouble." Kate said.

The Kid shrugged. "It wasn't any trouble from my point of view."

Word that the Faircroft Kid was in town and looking for a game soon spread.

Two men came into the pool hall as the Kid was teaching Kate a few pool tricks. Kate leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Two men just came in. "Irish" Ryan and his partner, Javi "El Toro" Esposito. They're good, but not as good as you. El Toro will talk a lot of trash and threaten you, but he won't start anything."

Rick turned and smiled. "Hi, can I interest you gentlemen in a game of pool?"

Irish Ryan was a slender and intense man. He took his time, looked at the table from all angles, then slowly set up his shot and took it. El Toro was loud and aggressive, moved around the table constantly, and would spend ten minutes setting up a shot, only to shoot from an entirely different side of the table. And both men lost to the Kid.

As time went on, the Kid and Kate became closer. She still found him to be somewhat immature, but a nice guy in spite of that.

Players came and went. A guy named Dumming came in, but he had wanted a swimming pool and cried when told there was no place for him to float his rubber ducky. Rick, feeling sorry for him, gave him bus fare to the Jersey Shore with tragic consequences. Dumming was bitten by a Great White shark. The shark died horribly.

A wealthy amateur who went by the name of Eric Idle dropped by and soon had to go back to work to recoup his fortune.

The local dog catcher, who had some sort of political ambitions, came by and lost all forty seven dollars of his campaign war chest. He left, kicking a stray dog as he left. Arrested by a vigilant Officer Montgomery, he was sent to prison and learned how it felt to be treated like a dog.

An odd couple, who called themselves Mr. and Mrs. Threekay, came to the pool hall certain that they'd win easily, but Rick beat them so badly that their confidence was shattered and they ended up living on the streets until accidentally picked up and crushed by a garbage truck driven by a very angry driver named Slaughter.

Then one day, Kate looked up and gasped. There was the one person she knew the Kid couldn't beat. "Kid, it's her. The one I told you about. That's Queen Victoria. She's never been beaten. They say she sold her soul to the Devil to play pool like she does."

Victoria and the Kid looked at each other. Kate racked the balls. They shot for who would go first and Victoria went first. She broke and the balls began flying all over. Literally flying, going up in the air, circling the table and then dropping into the pocket that Victoria had called. With one shot, Queen Victoria had run the table.

The Kid smiled and then he was able to shoot. He sank a solid and proceeded to run the table, sinking the eight ball after kissing three sides of the table. Victoria glared at him. She had never lost before.

And so the game went on. For hour after hour, first one player and then the next was ahead. For the first time in memory, people saw Queen Victoria sweating. Then it happened. As Victoria broke, the balls flew around the table and the eight ball dropped neatly in a pocket before the other balls had been pocketed. Queen Victoria looked around her, opened her mouth and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Kid had won.

The Kid and Kate kissed passionately, but then a voice interrupted them.

"This game is over."

The Kid and Kate turned to find a slender redheaded girl standing there. "Dad, you need to get back to writing your books, you've had enough research for now. And you need to take Kate with us and marry her. I'll drive you to the wedding in case we run into any black Escalades. We're going now."

As Alexis walked away, he turned to Kate. "Are you coming, Beckett?"

"Always."