Reborn as Richard Castle in Criminal Minds

Castle's mind was preoccupied with the thoughts triggered by Fatty's remarks, speculating about which faction was behind the tracking of the drones controlled by Fatty. He was so engrossed that he didn't even have time to check the rewards from the side quests issued by his mysterious system. He sat on the sofa in Fatty's house, contemplating how to respond if the military or intelligence agencies showed up, or if it was military-industrial corporations like Northrop-Grumman or Lockheed-Martin. Castle fell into a deep silence, and Fatty, knowing he might have brought big trouble to his Uncle Rick, also sat quietly, hoping Castle would come up with a good idea to face this crisis.

Castle, lost in his thoughts about how to handle those interested in his drone designs, finally noticed Fatty looking at him with wide, anxious eyes. Seeing Fatty's pitiful expression, Castle couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, Fatty, stop looking at me like that. It's fine, I'm not blaming you. When I handed the drones over to you, I foresaw this day might come. I just didn't expect these guys to be so sensitive and show up so quickly..."

Fatty looked uncertainly at the relaxed Castle. "Uncle Rick, is it really okay? You know, even if we're using drones privately over New York City, it's illegal!"

Castle reassured the bewildered Fatty. "It's fine, really. You have to understand that they're coming to us because they want something. If they want the flight control programs or anything else we have, they'd better behave. Do you think they would accuse me of endangering national security just because I flew two self-made drones? Don't worry, I wasn't worried earlier; I was just guessing who is so interested in our drones."

Fatty, reassured by Castle, quickly returned to his carefree self. He picked up the gold brick he had dropped earlier and resumed admiring it on the sofa. Castle couldn't help but mock him, "That thing is yours now. If I were you, I'd hide it somewhere safe before anyone comes knocking. Don't forget, it's loot from today's heist in New York. Do you want to be seen openly playing with stolen goods from the Federal Reserve? If they find out you have one of the gold bricks stolen by Simon today, those bigwigs from the Federal Reserve will come after you. They might turn you into a dried corpse before they're satisfied."

Fatty, finally realizing the gravity of his actions, hurriedly took his 'souvenir' into the bedroom to hide it. Castle continued to sit on the sofa, pondering who he might face soon. Would it be the military, the CIA, Homeland Security, or military-industrial corporations like Northrop-Grumman?

To Castle's and Fatty's surprise, no one showed up at Fatty's house by sunset. This puzzled Castle. Could it be that the people tracking Fatty's drones really lost him? That didn't match Castle's impression of the Global Hawk. If it were so easy to shake off a drone loaded with so much reconnaissance equipment, it would have been overhyped.

Castle decided not to overthink it. Whether the interested parties were genuinely thrown off by Fatty's maneuvers or were gathering detailed information to take advantage of him later, he didn't want to wait any longer. After a tiring day helping Officer John McClane take down Simon's top bomb expert and his girlfriend, and even shooting Simon in the arm, Castle needed a break. He also anticipated a severe 'interrogation' from Beckett once she finished her current tasks. So, he decided to go home and rest instead of waiting for potential trouble.

Before leaving, Castle instructed Fatty not to deploy the drones to monitor Vincent's warehouse that night. With New York on high alert, he didn't want to be misunderstood as Simon's accomplice, especially by the CIA, which failed to recruit Simon and Faris-Targo. They might seize the opportunity to label him an accomplice using his drones. After giving these instructions, Castle drove away from Fatty's house. Unfortunately, Castle completely overlooked the black SUVs with tinted windows parked nearby, silently watching his departure.

Castle wasn't cut out to be a top agent. Despite his skills, his behavior and thinking were still those of an ordinary person, lacking a clear understanding and alertness to the dangers around him. However, the black SUVs didn't seem to be targeting Castle, who boldly drove away, but Fatty, who was still in his bedroom drooling over the gold brick Castle had brought back.

Less than ten minutes after Castle left, while Fatty was still mesmerized by the gold, seven or eight figures in black urban combat suits with night vision goggles silently surrounded his house. Three of them used some decoding device to unlock the garage door, where Castle's two drones were stored. The rest quietly approached the house, heading for the bedroom where Fatty was admiring the gold brick.

These intruders underestimated Fatty's security measures. As Fatty admired the gold from various angles, a sudden alarm from the garage snapped him out of his trance.

Since storing the advanced drones in his garage, Fatty had secretly upgraded his garage's security system. The dynamic monitoring system he installed was now alerting him to an intrusion.

Fatty was terrified. Despite being a god at his computer, in real life, he was just a defenseless nerd. But his reaction was quick. As soon as the alarm sounded, he pulled out a smartphone and pressed a large 'K' on the screen, a shortcut for emergency communication with Castle.

The intruders outside, hearing the alarm, switched from stealth to a full assault, breaking in and rushing toward Fatty's bedroom.

Fatty barely had time to shout, "Uncle Rick, help!" into the phone before several masked men in combat suits stormed his bedroom, pinning him to the bed.

These men didn't seem intent on killing Fatty. One of them pulled out a strange-looking tranquilizer gun and shot Fatty in the buttocks. As the tranquilizer took effect, Fatty's consciousness quickly faded.

___________________

Read Ahead

[email protected]/Mutter

_________________________

Get 33% off all subscription levels from March 8–11! Use code: DBD62