Title: Richard and the Chocolate Factory
Author: Zelda Ophelia (
zeldaophelia)
Fandom/Character: Castle; the gang's all here
General info: Not mine; K+
Words: 400
Summary:
featherjean gave me Castle, chocolate for the
alphabet meme. Castle says he has a strong stomach.
"So, where's the body?" Castle asked, rushing to catch up with them in the factory. He was unwrapping, of all things, a candy bar with a very familiar logo. Beckett rolled her eyes, unsurprised, turning back to follow the uniform. But Esposito couldn't pass up the opportunity.
"What'd you do? Stop at the gift shop on the way in?" He asked, nodding in the direction of the chocolate factory's entrance.
"Maybe. It's the best chocolate in the city," Castle managed around a mouthful of candy. "Why?"
"You might want to finish that before we reach the body," Ryan suggested, pressing his lips together to avoid laughing as they followed Beckett back.
"Nah, it's okay. I've got a strong stomach."
"Sure you do, Castle," Beckett interrupted from above them. She was standing on the catwalk above a vat and talking with Lanie, who was pointing at something he couldn't see.
Holding the candy bar with his teeth, Castle climbed up the stairs to the catwalk to see what they were doing. "Where's the body?" he asked around a mouthful of chocolate.
"In there," Lanie said, glancing up at him and shaking her head.
"In where?" He mumbled around his candy bar, following her gesture towards a vat of dark, brown, gooey stuff where he could pick out a shape that looked distinctly like a hand. Despite not being certain he wanted to know, he couldn't help but ask, "What's that?"
"Chocolate."
He glanced over at Beckett, trying to see if she was pulling his leg. Except, as he reminded himself, half the time he couldn't read her poker face. "Chocolate?" he asked, barely catching his candy bar as it dropped from his mouth.
"Uh-huh," Beckett didn't look over at him, instead studying the area around the vat. "The factory manager says the sooner we get the body out, the sooner they can get back to processing it for candy."
"For candy? But- but- but there's a body in there!"
"Yeah, but the heat will kill any microbes. And he thinks that they should be well below the limit of allowed contaminants," Lanie explained matter-of-factly as she directed her assistants to retrieve the body.
"Below the allowed limit?" Castle glanced at the chocolate bar in his hand, then back at the vat of chocolate. He rewrapped the candy, tucking it into a pocket as his stomach churned. "I'm never eating chocolate again."
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