"Good morning, Detective Beckett!" Castle said as he set down her coffee on her desk.
"Oh, yeah, hi" Kate said her head buried deep in paper work.
"What are you working on?" Castle said slightly curious.
"Oh just tying up some loose ends on a case" as she took a sip of the coffee.
"Anything I can do to help?"
"No, I'm almost done" she said looking up finally.
Castle smiled at her and said, "any murders over night?"
"Nope, not a one. It's strange too because I expected with the full moon last night there would be more than one. So I'm just catching up."
"Oh, well if I can do anything let me know. It doesn't have to be work related either" Castle said with a sly smile. Beckett just looked at him. By now she'd heard all his innuendos and jokes and it really didn't phase her when he said this. She just went back to doing her work.
The phone rang. "Ah maybe that's the murder we've been waiting for!" Castle said expectantly. "Beckett" she said grabbing the receiver. Her face was stoic for a few seconds, then her brows knit together as Castle had seen her do so many times when answering the phone. "Yes" was all she said, then "when?" Then she looked directly at Castle with a worried look. "Oh this can't be good" Rick thought to himself. "Yeah, ok, we'll be right there" as she put the phone down gently. Kate didn't speak and didn't move for a second. "What?" Castle said. "Castle, Alexis goes to Marlowe Prep, right?" "Yes, what, what?" "Well there's a hostage situation at the school and one person is dead, but no one knows who it is yet only that it's a female." Kate thought she might as well be honest. He would find out soon enough. "What!" Castle said as he grabbed his coat and started putting it on. Kate knew how worried he was just by the look on his face. She was too, but needed to keep a calm front up for him. "Castle listen to me! I know how scary this is for you but you need to listen to me this time! I know I can't keep you from coming with me and if I told you to go home you'd just show up anyway, but when we get there you cannot try to rush into the school. SWAT is there already handling the situation. I probably won't be assigned this case because of conflict of interest, but I will be there for backup". Castle just looked at her in a daze. He seemed to snap out of it, got his cell phone out and was waiting for Alexis to pick up. "Please pick up, please pick up!" No answer. All he said was "Alexis call me!" "Castle did you hear me?" "Yes I heard you!" He said with a snap. "I mean it Rick, you can't jeopardize those kids and staff in there, understood?" "Yeah ok" he said a little calmer. "Let's go already" he said almost out of breath.
They both got into the car and sped off. "Kate if...if anything happens to her, it will be the end of my life." Tears were welling up in Castles eyes almost ready to spill over. "Nothing is going to happen to her, everything will be ok." Kate said but she didn't know if she believed that herself. Too many years as a cop taught her everything was not always ok. She reached over and took his hand. He looked up. Even with all that was going on, there was a moment of electricity between them. She had to let go, one because it was hard to drive and two, because she couldn't reveal her emotion right now. They had come so far recently, almost to the point of saying how they both felt, but not quite yet.
"Castle maybe you should call Martha". "I don't want to worry her yet." "I know but it will be all over the news in about an hour and I think it will be better coming from you then hearing it that way." "Oh I hadn't thought of that." Castle dialed Martha's cell. No answer. "Mother when you get this message please call me" in a voice as calm as he could muster. "When are we going to be there? It's taking forever!" "Hold on Castle we are almost there!" Kate said with some confidence. She kept glancing at him to try and gauge his emotion. She knew he was close to the breaking point but trying to keep himself calm. She turned the corner and there they were. SWAT, tons of police, onlookers and students. They were almost a block away from the school. She looked at Castle. He didn't look good.
His face went white. It was overwhelming even for her, a trained police officer to see all this activity. A helicopter circled overhead and was drowning out all other noise. She didn't see any press yet but knew it was a matter of time.
She parked and flashed her badge as she and Castle went under the barricades. "Detective Beckett" she said holding her badge, talking to a uniform. "Where is the command center?" "Just up the street a way" said the officer. "Castle you doing ok?" "Yeah, I guess." He was quiet, too quiet and she was worried about him. She had never seen him look like this. They got to the command center and she flashed her badge again. "Detective Beckett, what's the latest?" she said to another detective she recognized. "Ah Detective Beckett, nice to see you again", the older Detective said to her. "This is Richard Castle, his daughter attends this school, can you give us an update?" "Oh I'm sorry Mr. Castle, I'm sure you must be worried sick. Well not much update, other than SWAT is getting a phone into the suspect to try and talk him out. We know one female has been shot and is deceased." "Do you know who she is? A student? A teacher?" Castle said rapid fire. "No unfortunately we don't yet, but some students have been able to call from their cell phones to parents and all they have heard are shots, haven't seen anything" the gray haired detective said. "They are barricaded in the library." "Thank you Detective March" Beckett said gratefully. "Castle we will find out as much as we can" she said in sympathetic voice. She was thinking about the first time she had met him. Her feelings toward him had changed dramatically, even if she didn't let on too much to Castle about that. She wished she could take away his pain and anxiety right now, but knew she couldn't. She was worried about Alexis too, but the odds were she was ok in there. With all those people it was highly unlikely it was Alexis that was the one shot.
Castle's cell rang and he almost dropped it trying to answer it quickly. He saw it was from Martha, not Alexis and his heart felt like it weighed 50 pounds. "Hello? There was a pause so Kate knew she probably hadn't heard yet. "Mother listen to me, Alexis school is on lock down, there is a guy holed up in there." She saw by look on Ricks face Martha was in a panic. "I know Mother, I'm here at the school with Kate trying to find out what is going on. Mother please don't panic but there is a female dead in the school. We don't know if it's a teacher or student, but I'm sure it's not Alexis." His face said it all in how Martha was reacting. "Hold on Mother let me ask". Castle turned to Beckett, "can my Mother come down here and wait with us?" Kate knew it wouldn't be a good idea, but how could she say no? She knew if it were her family member she'd want to do the same thing. "Sure, have her come to where we parked and I will go and meet her. She won't get past the barricade without me." Castle gave instructions to Martha and pushed end on his phone. "She said she'd be here in ten minutes." "Ok we'll head down there in a few minutes then."
They saw the SWAT team making some movements. "Are they going in?" Castle asked worriedly. "No I don't think so, just preparing I think." Kate said assuredly. Detective March walked up and said. "they've got a cell into him now and the hostage negotiators are talking to him now." "Any word on what he's saying?" Beckett asked "No not yet" Detective March said. He was a seasoned detective and had been in this situation before. It ended well before no injuries or deaths but this time was different. They knew already a female was dead. A student had seen her body from a distance but couldn't tell if it was a teacher or student. This was the extent of the information on the suspect or victim. Castle just stood and stared at his cell phone. He didn't know what to do. If he called again he might put his daughter in jeopardy if he didn't he might go out of his mind with worry. "Castle I think we should head back down to the barricade to meet your Mother". "Yeah" was all he could say. They walked down the street not saying anything. As they got there they saw Martha running toward the barricade. "Oh my God Richard do you know anything?" Beckett flashed her badge again and explained to the officer Martha was with her. Martha slid under and hugged her son. "No Mother we don't know anything yet. They got a cell phone into the guy and hopefully he will talk to them." Now it was Rick who had to be calm for his Mother's sake. "Come on guys, let's head back up to the Command Center" Kate said putting an arm around Martha's shoulder. "I'm so glad you are here Kate" said Martha.
Kate left them for a few minutes to try and see if she could find anything more out. They had a mobile unit set up and she held her badge up again as she walked in. "Hi, I'm Detective Beckett from the 12th. I'm here with the Father of a girl who attends this school. Can you tell me anything?" "Hello Detective Beckett, yes our negotiators are talking to the suspect and he seems to be cooperating somewhat." "Any word on the vic?" "No just that it is a female" said the Sargent. "Ok, thank you" Kate said as she stepped down the stairs and walked back to Castle and Martha. "They are talking to him and he seems to be cooperating right now." "Do they know who the woman is in there?" Castle asked excitedly. "No nothing yet." Beckett said trying not to sound worried. "I couldn't go on if something happened to that dear girl" Martha exclaimed!
Half an hour went by with little to nothing happening. Castles phone began to ring loudly. Both women turned their heads at the same time to see Castle looking at his phone expectantly. It said ALEXIS. "Alexis!" Castle practically jumped out of his skin while answering. "Where are you?" "Oh thank God!" Castle practically gasped for air as he said this. "Oh I forgot you were going there today! Why didn't you remind me this morning?" he said angrily. "Hold on a second" he said, looking at Martha and Kate, "she's ok, she is on a field trip at the Natural History museum." "Oh that's great Castle!" Kate said as she hugged half his body." "Oh my God I'm so relieved!" Martha uttered. Castle was still on the phone with Alexis explaining what had happened. None of the people on the field trip had heard yet. Castle told Alexis to come straight home and don't go anywhere near the school. She agreed and was upset that this was all happening at her own school. Castle gave a relived and grateful look to Beckett. "Go home Castle. Go see your girl!" "Ok, but can you leave?" "I will stay here for awhile to see if there is anything I can do to help and get more information. I'm sure their will be no school tomorrow for sure and maybe the next few days so I would call the school to find out." "Yeah I will" Castle said. Martha was hugging Kate and thanking her for her help. "I'm just sorry this isn't over and feel bad for whomever was killed in there." Castle said sadly. Kate just returned the look and nodded. "Can you call me with any info? Alexis' friends are still in there." "Of course, I'll keep you all updated." Kate said with a slight smile.
"Sweetie, I was so worried about you." Castle said as he hugged Alexis as she walked through the door. "Honey this must be so scary for you" said Martha who joined in the hug. "Dad all my friends are still in there! Can't I go there with Detective Beckett and wait?" "I don't think that would be a good idea sweetie. Kate will call us with any updates." Castle said sweetly. "I can't believe this is happening at MY school! I mean how does someone just walk in with a gun? I'm going to turn on the news to see if anything is going on." Alexis' phone began to ring, distracting her. She never made it to the TV. "Hello? Oh my god Ashley! Are you ok?"
Castle went over to the TV and turned it on. The reporter said, "So the crisis is over and the suspect has come out unharmed." Castle's phone began to ring. "Castle" he said knowing already it was Kate. "Castle have you heard? It's over!" "Yeah I just saw on the news." "Apparently the woman who was killed was the ex-wife of the suspect and a teacher, Mrs. Jones. None of the other teachers or students were hurt. I'm not needed here anymore. I'll stop by if that's ok." "Of course, please, come over." Castle said always ready to be in her company. Alexis was saying bye to Ashley and texting someone as she said "It's over? Who was the person killed?" "A Mrs. Jones, do you know her?" Castle asked. "No, but I know who she is, she taught English. That is so sad. Is the guy in jail?" "Yeah he is." Castle was glad he was able to reassure her she was safe now. He felt so helpless waiting to see if she was ok. "What would make someone do something so crazy and destructive?" Martha asked with a flash of anger. "I don't know Mother, what makes anyone do anything?" Alexis hugged them both and was crying a little bit. Getting all those text messages from her friends saying how scared they were upset her. "Honey I'm sorry I got mad at you on the phone earlier, I was just so worried." "I know Dad. I love you!" hugging him a little tighter." Castle tried to lighten the mood by asking if anyone was hungry. It was close to dinner time and he realized all he had eaten that day was an a piece of toast and the coffee he brought to the precinct. Martha said she was and Alexis nodded sadly a little. "Well dinner it is then!" Castle needed the distraction from all that had happened. Pasta was a good choice he thought, comfort food. He was cooking and Alexis went to her room to text all her friends, Martha in the other room watching TV reports.
The door bell rang. He put the towel he was holding on his shoulder. He opened the door to find Kate holding a bottle of wine. This was a surprise since he figured she would be all business and cop like. "I figured you may need this after today." "Yes, very much so!" Castle said taking the bottle out of her hands. "Have you eaten?" "No not yet. How is Alexis? Is she here?" "Yeah she's upstairs texting all her friends. She's upset but I think she will be ok. I'm making dinner and you are eating some with us." "Ok I am kind of hungry. So seems the guy had been threatening his ex-wife because they recently had gotten divorced and she was ignoring his calls. She filed for the divorce, not him. He went into the school armed and when she threatened to call security he shot her. She was alone in the class. No one saw her get shot this is just what he said happened." Martha came into the kitchen just then. "Kate I didn't expect to see you here! Do you know what happened?" Kate explained all she had just told Castle and Alexis came downstairs half way through the conversation, which Kate caught her up to speed on. "I know this must be hard for you Alexis" Kate said. "Yeah, I'm just glad no one else was hurt especially my friends. Does anyone know why he did this?" "Well all we can do is speculate of course, but I guess some people just snap for no apparent reason. I've been told that your school will be revamping their security so this doesn't happen again." "I should hope not!" Martha blurted out. Alexis was getting another phone call, so she excused herself and went in the other room.
Castle poured three glasses of wine and set them down by Martha and Kate. They were all silent for a couple of minutes reflecting on what had happened. "I think dinner is done. Everyone grab a plate."Alexis came back into the kitchen holding her phone, ready for it to ring again. "Aren't you on duty still Kate?" Martha asked knowing Kate would not drink while on duty. "No I'm done for the day, thank goodness!" Martha thought it kind of odd that Kate was having dinner there and hanging out. She never did this. Even when forced to be there she didn't seem entirely comfortable. "My, my the tables have turned" she thought. Maybe they are getting somewhere finally! She knew from Richard that Kate was no longer seeing Josh. What a happy day for him that was. He was smiling all day. He had just said he found out from Kate but that it was a slip and she hadn't meant to tell him. Martha didn't say much to her son about it. She figured it really wasn't any of her business and she knew they would find their way eventually.
They all had finished eating and were clearing the plates. Kate insisted on doing the dishes and they all three had had more wine. It was a little relief for all the stress they had all felt that day. Alexis went to her room to talk to Ashley some more and do homework even though she knew she wouldn't be going to school the next day. Martha was going to see one of her friends in a play that evening. So Castle offered to help Kate. They were side by side at the sink. They could have put the dishes in the dishwasher but there wasn't that many so they decided to do them by hand. "You are a good cook Rick." "Why thank you Miss Beckett!" She had never heard him call her that and it struck her as funny. The wine was messing with her head a little and she began to laugh a little bit. Rick looked at her. It was nice to see her laugh. She didn't do nearly enough laughing. "You find that funny Miss Beckett?" Kate let out a bigger laugh this time. She looked him straight in the eye, still smiling. He stared at her back. "God she is so beautiful!" Castle thought as he was looking at her. She lowered her eyes to the dishes she was washing and kept smiling. He took a dish from her to dry and said "More wine?" "Ok, but just a little bit. I have to be able to drive home." "I'll just call a uniform to come pick you up if you are too drunk to drive." "Oh and that wouldn't ruin my professional reputation at all?" She asked rolling her eyes and smiling.
Was it just the wine he thought? For someone so serious most of the time she sure seemed to be happy to be there, especially after the days events. He remembered though this was her job. She didn't have a kid trapped with a psycho in a school. He felt sobered up all the sudden and she was just starring at him. "Hey are you ok?" She asked. "Yeah, sure!" he lied. She took his hand and led him to the couch and sat down. "I was just thinking how fragile life is and how we are all bound by time. I've had Alexis for all these years and then one day she can just be taken from me, just like that! I know I've followed you around for a long time and seen a lot of murders, but it's different when it could be your own flesh and blood. What am I saying? Of course you know going through it with your Mom." Kate looked at him adoringly and said "I know what you mean Rick and it is different. You can sympathize with someone but until you are in the thick of it you can't know what it's like." "It just brought home to me how little time we have here, how complacent we get. We don't say enough and we say too much. We run and run and don't enjoy the time in the here and now because we are always thinking about the next run. I don't want to waste anymore time, Kate. On anything." Kate looked him in the eye. "Castle...I" she said in almost a whisper.
"I'm going to tell you something Kate that I feel like I should have told you a long time ago, but then maybe it wasn't the right time until now. Maybe now isn't the right time either but, like I said, I don't want to waste time anymore. Kate I'm in love with you. I don't know exactly how you feel about me and I could be ruining everything by telling you that, but besides all that happened today I just couldn't keep it in anymore." Kate was looking at him very seriously and he was afraid of what she was going to say. "Rick I've been waiting for you to tell me this for a long time, but you are right it wasn't the right time then. I feel closer to you now than I ever have. At first you annoyed me, and I couldn't take you seriously for a long time. I thought you were a playboy with no true feelings but you proved me wrong time and time again. You were so sweet to me on so many different occasions and saved my life many times. I began to miss you when you weren't there. I know I'm not the easiest person to get attached to, I push people away. I'm getting tired of that though. I need to let you in, I want to let you in! I've felt so alone for so long, even with other guys. I feel accepted and wanted around you. I can't go back to being alone anymore." "You don't have to and I never want you to." Rick said taking her hand. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. She felt her heart start to race. They both looked in each others eyes as if to ask is this really going to happen? He moved closer to her on the couch and moved her hair back from her face a little bit. He was so tender in his actions she had no doubt he really meant he loved her when he said it just a couple of minutes ago. They both moved closer until he lightly met her lips. He just brushed them with his, not even really kissing her, more like a graze. He felt tingly all over. Almost what it feels like before you pass out. She reached for his face and kissed him full on the mouth. She couldn't take it anymore. She felt such love and passion for him in that moment. He pulled away just to look at her and smiled a little bit. She returned his smile and he leaned in and put his arm around her waist and kissed her as if he had never felt like this for anyone else. Their lips and tongues found each other over and over again. He kissed her neck and she let out a little sigh. He knew he needed to stop now, but after waiting this long he couldn't.
Finally he pulled away and said "Kate you know I want to, but I don't want to take advantage and I want to do this right. I want to woo you!" She smiled inwardly at this but didn't want to ruin the moment. "I want to take you on dates and wine and dine you! I want to take it slow. We can't mess this up, you mean too much to me." This was a lot to take in in just a few seconds. A couple of minutes ago they were just friends, at least on the surface and now everything had changed in thirty seconds. Kate meant it when she said she needed and wanted to let him in. "I love you Rick. I probably have almost the whole time I've known you. I was scared to let you in because I knew this was the real deal. It scares me to feel this strongly about you, but I do and I can't let go this time. I want to take it slow too, just let things happen naturally. You are my best friend and it would kill me to lose that. I don't want to risk our friendship with a relationship." "I know. I don't want to push you in anyway, I'm willing to just see where things take us, but just know it is serious for me. I'm not playing any kind of game with you."
"OK I'm not either." Kate said happier than she had ever been. She kissed him lightly on the lips and then all over his face, gently, lovingly. They just sat and smiled at each other for awhile and he folded her into his arms. After almost falling asleep, Kate got up and said, "It's late I should go now." "OK" Castle said. "Will you go out with me on a date this weekend? There is a restaurant I want to try that I heard was good." "Sure, Castle I'd love to!" With that she walked out the door. He knew he would see her tomorrow but when he saw her then he knew it would almost be seeing her for the first time.