John shifted uncomfortably in his seat, straightening up as he looked at Castle with a doubtful expression. "Are you telling me that changing a baby's diaper is harder than killing someone?"
Castle looked at the clueless new dad in front of him, his sense of superiority practically overflowing. "Haha, you'll see soon enough. Whether it's a boy or a girl, no matter how much you're looking forward to meeting them now, it won't be long before you're wishing you could send them to the other side of the world. Just imagine—sleeping all day, crying all night, driving you and Gianna crazy with the noise, and torturing your senses with dirty diapers. Haha, John, I hope you're ready to be strong…"
Castle continued his relentless teasing, hoping to scare the first-time father.
"John, you have to understand, once the little one is born, that's not the end, it's just the beginning. Bottles, diapers—these things will soon replace the Glock and Benelli you're used to handling. You won't have any free time anymore. You'll have to grab every moment of rest you can get, or you'll burn out in no time…
It's not like your old jobs where you could just grab your gun and rush in. You'll have to be careful every day, nurturing that tiny little human. Haha, I can't wait to see how you handle being a dad!"
John was now sure that this jerk beside him was deliberately trying to scare him. Even though he had mentally prepared himself for fatherhood, Castle was clearly exaggerating the difficulties of being a new father, trying to freak him out because he was bored while driving.
With a resigned sigh, John decided to play along with Castle's antics. "Alright, what do you want? Just say it."
Castle, who was thoroughly enjoying himself, burst out laughing when he heard the hint of emotion in John's usually flat tone. "John, you think I'm joking? No way, man, I'm serious. Don't think just because Alexis is so smart and well-behaved that all kids are like that. When she was little, she was a little terror, driving me insane. Meredith wasn't around much; she was always off in Hollywood, so I had to juggle writing my books and taking care of her. That's when I learned that all kids under ten are little devils, determined to make your life hell…"
This was the first time John had heard that the always well-behaved Alexis had ever driven Castle to his wit's end. Intrigued, John, who had never really dealt with or studied children, finally found something that piqued his interest. If you asked John to take someone out, he would do it without hesitation, but handling a crying baby? He had absolutely no experience. It's not like he could just pull out a gun and tell the baby to be quiet, right?
So, for once, the usually aloof John found himself genuinely interested in the topic Castle had brought up. After all, Alexis was an impressive young woman, and many times John felt like Castle was the child, while his not-yet-sixteen-year-old daughter was the mature adult.
However, John's thinking was completely wrong. The reason Alexis was so mature was out of necessity—having an immature father like Castle had forced her to grow up quickly. So, the idea of seeking fatherly advice from Castle was like asking a blind man for directions.
But John didn't know that. He had been drawn in by Castle's deliberately provoked discussion and was now seriously considering asking Castle for advice on how to be a good father.
Castle, on the other hand, hadn't expected his little prank to backfire so spectacularly. He was now frantically trying to come up with something useful to say, knowing full well that most of his parenting experience consisted of messing things up and letting Alexis clean up the mess. Just when he was about to start fumbling for words, a timely phone call saved him. Seeing that it was Beckett calling, Castle was a bit puzzled but didn't hesitate to answer.
"Castle, where are you right now?" Beckett's voice sounded tense, which immediately made Castle worry that his encouragement for Beckett to secretly investigate Senator William Bracken might have been discovered.
Quickly getting serious, Castle replied, "I'm driving on the highway to Long Island. What's happened?"
Beckett's voice remained odd as she continued, "Do you remember that case on the rooftop of the Metropolitan Tower? The one where six people were killed? You insisted that we stay out of it, so we handed all the evidence over to the FBI."
Castle immediately remembered. It was the case where Mr. X from the Brotherhood of Assassins was killed by the Cross, the one where Castle had even consulted his unreliable System. According to the System, the assassins from the Brotherhood had a special technique that allowed them to curve bullets, but it wasn't as over-the-top as in the movies. The only truly dangerous one was the Cross, who could snipe someone's head off from a great distance. Castle had insisted that Beckett and her team hand over the case to the FBI to avoid any unnecessary risks, especially since the ordinary police officers wouldn't stand a chance against someone like Fox or the Gunsmith.
So why was Beckett bringing it up again? What was going on now?
Beckett explained the reason for her call. Apparently, the 12th Precinct had just received a report of a fight on the light rail involving three people—two men and a woman. The witness claimed that the woman, dressed provocatively, had pulled out a high-end M1911 and fired a curved bullet. One of the men, the older one, had also fired a bullet that curved. This detail had reminded Beckett of the rooftop case, which Castle had been so anxious about, so she called to see if these three were connected to that case.
Of course, they were connected. As soon as Castle heard the description, he knew who the three people were—Fox from the Brotherhood of Assassins trying to recruit Cross's son, Wesley, only to be intercepted by Cross himself, leading to a fight on the light rail.
Thinking it over, Castle realized it was still just a case of internal strife within the Brotherhood of Assassins. By the time Beckett's team reached the scene, Cross, Fox, and Wesley would have already left. As long as they didn't dig too deeply, there shouldn't be any danger. Having figured this out, Castle casually told Beckett his opinion: send officers to the scene since they had received a report, but not to pursue the case too seriously afterward.
Beckett was already numb to how well-informed Castle always seemed to be. Upon learning that the older man involved was the same super sniper who had taken out the suited man from several kilometers away in the earlier case, Beckett knew there was no way her team could handle the case. After chatting with Castle for a bit longer, she hung up.
John, who had been silent the whole time, looked at Castle curiously. "So, you've been involved in a case with those idiots from the Brotherhood of Assassins recently?"
Castle, who hadn't bothered to hide the conversation from John, gave him a knowing look. "Yeah, I've heard that this Brotherhood, which worships a loom, is having some internal strife. Their top assassin, Cross, has defected, and they're trying to use his son to get to him. Can you believe these idiots?"
John Wick, the former world's top assassin, sneered in disdain. "Who would follow a loom? These morons have been brainwashed. I'm just amazed that in this day and age, where everyone has a smartphone, there are still freaks like the Brotherhood of Assassins around."
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