353. Chapter 353

After Heroes and Villains

Episode 3.02

By UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Being mild mannered as I am, I would never claim to own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

Rick Castle waited nervously in his garage for Kate to arrive. In the distance he heard the roar of a Harley and smiled to himself. She was here.

Kate roared into the garage and came to a halt in front of Castle. She took off her helmet and shook her hair out, then smiled at Castle.

"You were right." Castle said with a smile.

"About what?" She asked, curious.

"The sight of you in skin tight leather astride a Harley is too much for me."

She laughed. "I guess I should leave then?"

He shook his head and took her hand. "No." He pulled her into a kiss. Even now, after more than a month together, he had trouble believing they were together at last.

"Are you sure you want to learn how to ride? This isn't just an excuse for you to grope me?"

Castle looked as shocked as he could manage. "Why, Detective Beckett. I no longer need an excuse to grope you, do I?"

She just laughed again. "And you've never ridden before? Ever?"

Castle looked away, knowing he shouldn't have.

"Castle? You're not telling me something. Talk! Or do I have to bring my interrogation skills out?"

"There was this one time when I was in college. I rode a dirt bike."

"Okay, so you do have some experience. Where did you ride it?"

"Into a lake." Castle said softly.

"Into a lake?" Kate grimaced. "How far did you ride it?"

"All the way into the lake."

Kate merely raised an eyebrow.

"About twenty feet. But we got the bike out of the lake. And fixed it."

Kate smiled. "Okay, put your helmet on and get on behind me. We're just going to ride today. Get you used to it. Okay?"

Castle hopped on the back and put his arms around Kate.

"Make sure your hands stay there. You do not want to distract me. Not the way New York traffic is."

They rode for a while and ended up eventually at Central Park where the New York Philharmonic was providing a free concert. They parked, spread a blanket, got out a picnic lunch and listened.

"I meant to tell you." Kate said during intermission. "Ann Hastings made detective. She'll be going to the Three Eight."

"So they'll have a super hero, too?"

"Too? Not at all. Lone Vengeance hung up her costume for good. And who's the other…?" She stopped as she realized who Castle must be referring to.

"I am not a super hero." She said firmly.

"Of course you are. You roam the streets, striking fear into the hearts of evildoers. You even have a comic sidekick. All the best super heroes have one."

"Name one." Kate shot back.

"Detective Motorcycle Girl." Castle said quickly.

"One, there is no Detective Motorcycle Girl. And two, wouldn't making her Detective Motorcycle Girl defeat the purpose of having a secret identity? That would be like Batman deciding to call himself Bat Billionaire Industrialist, or Superman deciding to call himself Super Mild Mannered Reporter for the Daily Planet? And, Detective Motorcycle Girl, if there was one, which there isn't, needs a boyfriend and not a comic sidekick." She gave Castle a quick kiss.

"Good ideas." Castle said, momentarily stopped. He thought and then had an idea. "Of course! She'll just be DMG! All of Metropolis will wonder what the letters stand for."

"Metropolis? Really? It's been taken, you know."

"Gotham City? Raccoon City?"

"Why not just New York City?" As soon as she had said it, she knew she had made a mistake. But, the orchestra began to warm up and she dropped the subject, hoping Castle would as well.

He didn't.

A week later Castle showed up at her door to take her to dinner. He also had something in his hand.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Something I worked up for you. You'll like it."

"Are you sure?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

He held out a piece of paper. The heading was DMG in bold print and under that was a drawing of a woman dressing in very skin tight leather astride a '94 Harley soft tail. In spite of the rather brief mask, Kate saw that it was her.

"Well?" Castle asked.

"If this ever gets out…"

"It never will." He said quickly. "These are the only copies. And they're yours."

"Who did the drawings?" Kate asked suspiciously.

"Paul Whittaker, actually. And since we know who Lone Vengeance really was, his lips are sealed."

Kate examined the drawing. "It's a good likeness of me. At least you didn't give me huge boobs and cleavage the size of the Grand Canyon." She smiled. "I think it's cute."

"Look at this one." Castle held out a second sheet of paper. This one showed a masked man who was clearly Richard Castle, riding a dirt bike underwater, looking up at DMG who was flying over the water. "Aquadude." He said proudly. "A genetically manipulated super hero. He lives under water and can never be with his lady love, DMG."

Kate felt sad. She and Castle could have been together so much earlier if she'd just listened to her heart. "Castle, I wish I could have…"

He cut her off. "If it was really going to be a series, I'd have a brilliant scientist figure out how to allow DMG and Aquadude be together. He held up another sheet of paper. The brilliant scientist was clearly Lanie Parish, but called the Black Wizard.

"Lanie must never, ever hear about this, Castle. We'll both die horrible deaths if she ever does." She looked at the drawing. "Those boobs are…" She thought better of completing the sentence.

"Agreed." Castle quickly held out another sheet. "Of course even a super hero needs friends and associates. Batman has Commissioner Gordon, Superman has editor Perry White, Spiderman has another editor, Jonah Jameson and DMG has, General Javes Espier." The drawing was obviously of Epsosito's face, but the rest of him looked more like the movie version of General George S. Patton.

"Espo would love that. Except the general should have a green beret, not a helmet. And, no, don't have Paul change it." Kate warned.

Castle nodded. "And there's also…" He held out another sheet of paper, "…. Super Leprechaun!" The green clad super hero was Kevin Ryan to a tee.

"What's his super power?" Kate asked. "Does he hit villains with rainbows? Drop his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow on evildoers? Does he hit them with a shillelagh while singing the Notre Dame fight song?"

"He's a very gentle super hero. He breathes on miscreants and the aroma of Irish whiskey incapacitates them."

"I doubt if Jenny will be pleased. Or is she in this?"

"No. But we have one character left. What's a super hero without an evil super villain to subdue?"

Kate could see it coming. "You didn't…"

"I did. Here's the Evil Captain Permafrost!" The cold villain, complete with wild hair, broken teeth, bloodshot eyes and a penchant for demanding that people call her, "Sir.", was obviously Captain Gates.

"If this one ever gets out…" Kate let Castle's imagination supply the rest of the sentence.

Castle shuddered dramatically. "Never, that's why I want you to have them. So I won't be tempted to show them to anyone."

"But, as I said before, DMG doesn't need a comic sidekick. She needs a boyfriend."

Castle handed her the last sheet of paper. It showed DMG and Aquadude embracing. Aquadude was telling DMG, "I love you."

"That's so very sweet." She kissed him again. "Thank you. DMG and I have a boyfriend now. I hope we have more than that one day.