Twins

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, or the Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice. I do have a library card, though. Rating: K Time: Before Castle's The Late Shaft.

Author's note: I have written other crossover stories featuring Simone Renoir, the vampire, and the Castle universe. This is not one of those. Simone has never met any of the Castle characters before this.

Simone Renoir hurt all over from her battle with Dracula, but managed to roll over just in time to see her hated enemy die in a pillar of fire. She staggered to her feet and ran to her love.

"Flynn. You did it. You…"She stopped as the horror before her sunk in. Flynn Carsen was dead, his neck at an angle that Simone knew meant that Dracula had used the last reservoir of his strength to break his neck. Simone screamed in rage and horror. She turned to all that was left of Vlad Dracula, a few charred scraps of his clothing and stomped on them, uselessly.

She picked up the Judas Chalice, determined to throw it into the bayou and be lost forever. Then she remembered that Flynn had come to New Orleans, to her, to bring the Chalice back to the Library. Tears filled her eyes as she tucked the Chalice down her blouse and gently picked up Flynn's corpse.

She walked back to the abandoned plantation house that had been Dracula's headquarters. Once inside she found, as she had expected, that Dracula had had a room prepared for himself to protect him from the sun's rays. Simone placed Flynn on the bed and settled beside him. As the sun rose, she closed her eyes.

She awoke at nightfall. She put Flynn's remains on the boat that had brought them here and headed for New Orleans. Once there, she headed for her apartment to settle in before sunrise. Using her immense strength, she easily carried Flynn with one arm, making the cab driver think that Flynn was just drunk.

Using her many contacts, she arranged to Flynn to be sent to a mortuary in New York. Then she arranged for a private plane for herself, and a room in an expensive hotel in New York where she would be safe from the sun. The hotel was used to wealthy, eccentric guests.

At nightfall she headed for the Library. She strode in, carrying the Judas Chalice. "Excuse me, I need to see Mr. Judson about the Flynn Carsen and the Judas Chalice." She said to the receptionist.

"How can I help you, Ms. Renoir?" Someone said from behind her.

She turned to find Mr. Judson standing behind her. She took a deep breath. "Flynn Carsen is dead. He died to keep the Judas Chalice from Dracula, who is also dead. I have fulfilled his mission by bringing the Chalice to you. Now, if you will excise me, I must leave."

Judson held up his hand. "Ms. Renoir, please. If Flynn is dead, we need to know what happened in detail. And we need to know where his body is. There are many things we must do. Can you please come with me?"

Judson led her to a comfortable, but rather messy office. "You're also a vampire, Ms. Renoir?"

There was little point in denying it to the man who ran the Library. "Yes. I was turned by Vlad Dracula in 1628. My only desire in life has been to destroy him, and that is done."

Judson pulled out some forms from his desk. "I realize this is difficult for you…Perhaps you could come back tomorrow night?"

Simone shook her head. "No. I need to do this and I need to do this now."

Judson filled out a seemingly endless amount of paperwork, and asked her to either initial or sign page after page.

"There. That's done, Ms. Renoir. But, I will need to see the Judas Chalice. I doubt that it's a copy, from what you've said, but we need to be careful and we need to make sure nothing goes wrong. Would you come with me, please?"

Judson walked through a seemingly solid wall and Simone followed him, clutching the Chalice tightly. They walked through endless halls filled with all manner of odd things. Finally, Judson stopped.

"This is the Biblical Section. If you'd care to sit? The chair over there is quite comfortable, at least King Solomon thought so."

Simone sat for hours as Judson went from one end of the Section to the other, doing many, many incomprehensible things. At last he was done.

"Done. This is it. The Judas Chalice, made from the thirty pieces of silver Judas got for betraying Christ. It also made Judas the very first vampire. It's the Holy Grail for vampires, I suppose. Makes them more powerful.

Simone sniffed. "It did nothing for Dracula, Flynn killed him with the branch of an aspen tree."

"What are you going to do now, Ms. Renoir?"

"I thought I'd go outside and see the sun."

"Um? The sun? Isn't that awfully dangerous for a vampire?"

"Yes, it is. But I am very weary and after over four centuries, my soul needs a rest."

Simone walked with Judson to the entryway to the Library and shook hands with Judson. "I hope that Flynn's sacrifice was worth it."

"I hope so, too."

She walked outside and felt the suns rays strike her skin for the first time in centuries. She opened her eyes and saw the sun shining down on Manhattan. She smiled and waited.

Nothing happened.

Simone looked around her. The sun was shining. She was a vampire. She was still alive.

"This is not possible." She said.

"Ms. Renoir?" That was Judson. "Were you in close contact with the Chalice?"

"Of course, I never let it out my sight. I held it so I always knew where it was."

She realized what had happened. "The Judas Chalice changed me. Am I no longer a vampire?"

"Perhaps if you'd come with me, we can investigate just what happened."

Simone followed Judson back into the Library and was given a number of odd tests.

Finally, Judson came to a conclusion. "You are still a vampire, Ms. Renoir. Sort of."

"Sort of? How can one be sort of a vampire?"

"It appears that sunlight won't kill you, no matter how much sun you get. You are still technically dead, no heartbeat, no blood pressure."

"I thought the Judas Chalice was supposed to strengthen a vampire?"

Judson shrugged. "A vampire who can go around in the daytime would be more powerful, I suppose. I'd like to do some more tests. Can you…?"

Simone shook her head vigorously. "No. I have to think about this…this…change."

Simone walked all the way back to her hotel, marveling that she could walk in the sunlight. Once in her room, she opened the curtains, then opened her small suitcase and took out a vial of blood. She drained it. She felt better. "I'm still a vampire." She said.

Simone sat in her suite and thought for three days. She had no idea what to do with her new life. Finally, she returned to the Library and allowed Judson to test her some more. Endless tests proved she was a vampire who could be in the sunlight.

"Could we impose on you, Ms. Renoir?" Judson asked.

"You have been very kind and helpful. Certainly, if I can be of assistance to you."

"Do you know who Eratosthenes was?"

"No."

"He was the first ever geographer, back several centuries BCE, before the common era. A man wants to sell us his map. It's quite useful in finding places. But we're not sure we can trust him. He won't be wary of a woman and you do have some useful talents."

Simone smiled. "Simone Renoir? Muscle for the Library? But of course."

The man was untrustworthy and he did try to rob Simone, much to his regret. From then on, Simone did occasional jobs for the Library.

She moved her financial assets out of New Orleans to New York. She moved from the hotel suite to an expensive condo in Tribeca. She also found that, in working for the Library, that she now had a purpose in life to replace her centuries long hunt for Dracula. Working for a place that used its extensive powers to further human happiness appealed to her.

All was well until one day she was leaving her building when a man slammed into her.

"Now I've got you, you unholy bitch." He yelled as he swung a sharpened stake at her.

Simone, guessing the stake was aspen wood, easily dodged the blow, then kicked the man in the balls. He bent over in agony. Not wanting to attract any attention to herself, Simone decided to run, but it was too late. People were already calling for help and for the police and several were dialing 911. Jimmy, the doorman of her building, rushed to her side.

"Are you all right, Ms. Renoir."

"Quite, Jimmy. He wasn't that dangerous. Perhaps drunk?"

"The cops are here. They'll take care of everything."

Simone turned around. Two uniformed police were headed her way.

"Arrest her." The attacker screamed, pointing to Simone. "She kicked me."

As soon as he spoke, a dozen witnesses spoke up, insisting that the man had attacked Simone.

"She's a damned vampire!" He screamed. "Run, before she kills us all. Officer, shoot her."

"She's a vampire?" One cop said, "And it's not even a full moon." He cuffed the man. "You sit in the back of our unit while we take statements."

"My family has been tracking them for decades. She's a vampire. Kill her. Kill her now."

The man was quickly hustled into the back of the black and white.

"If I can have your name, ma'am. I'm Sergeant Ed Collins."

"My name is Simone Renoir and I live in the St. Thomas." She pointed to the building they were in front of. "Unit 1434."

"You're French, Ms. Renoir?"

"No, I'm an American, but I was born in rural Louisiana where French is spoken more often than English." She was only shading the truth a bit, after all, she had been in New Orleans on November 20, 1803 when Louisiana had become part of the United States. She smiled at the sergeant. "Some men find the accent to be sexy, non?"

Enough to make a man forget he's happily married. Sergeant Collins thought. He took a brief statement from Simone and from the other witnesses. "Ms. Renoir, I'm afraid we'll have to take you to the station to take a formal statement from you. Are you injured? We can stop at an ER if you'd like."

The last thing Simone wanted was a doctor looking at her and noticing she was dead. "I have my own doctor, but thank you."

Simone sat in a standard, uncomfortable, metal office chair while Sergeant Collins asked her questions.

"Hey, Beckett. What are you doing down here?" The questioner was a tall, lanky and balding plain clothes officer.

"I beg your pardon?" Simone said, her accent very noticeable.

"Oh, shit. Are you undercover, or something?"

Simone just raised an eyebrow.

"Zenger, this is a vic, Ms. Simone Renoir. Some nutcase tried to kill her, saying she's a vampire."

"Really? Except for the hair, she looks exactly like Detective Kate Beckett up in Homicide. She's a dead ringer."

Simone smiled at the apt description.

"No kidding." Collins said. "There's a cop here who looks just like Ms. Renoir?"

"Sure. Haven't you seen her?"

Collins shook his head. "Since I made sergeant and came over from the Four Four, I haven't even had time to find the coffee machine."

"The coffee on this floor is crap. Go up to Homicide and get a cup from their new machine. And check out Beckett. You'll see."

Once he had gotten Simone's statement and sent her home, Collins went to Homicide. The coffee was great, but all of the detectives were out, so he didn't see Beckett.

Simone was happy that the incident was behind her until she got a call from Sergeant Collins two days later.

"Ms. Renoir, this is Sergeant Collins from the 12th Precinct, I have some bad news for you."

TBC