~ Always ~
Richard Castle smiled. It was early morning yet and he hadn't even opened his eyes but the ringing of his phone at this hour could only mean one thing. A case; he'd be spending the day with Kate.
He grabbed the phone off the nightstand and slid his fingers across the screen, eyes still shut, then put it to his ear. "Good morning," he said warmly.
"I'm not sure it's really all that good."
Castle's eyes flew open at the sound of Esposito's voice. "Hey man, what's up? And why isn't Beckett calling? She seems to get a perverse pleasure in hauling me out of bed before my alarm most days."
"The news isn't good. There's been a murder - "
"And this is news, how?"
"The vic is Vulcan Simmons."
"Oh." Castle sat up, heart suddenly feeling sore. He hated seeing Kate in pain and anything to do with her mother's murder took a heavy toll on her. "Is Beckett at the crime scene already?"
"No … " Esposito paused. "She's … a person of interest on this case and has been brought in for questioning."
"What? You can't possibly think she had anything to do with it," Castle practically yelled.
"I don't know all the details but I gather there's some evidence. I think you'd better get down here as soon as you can."
xxxxx
"Where's Beckett?" Castle demanded, the moment he stepped off the elevator.
Ryan and Esposito, at their desks but standing looking lost rather than immersed in work, both met his eyes briefly then looked away. Ryan half shrugged.
"Where is Beckett?" he demanded again.
Montgomery stepped out of his office suddenly, nearly hitting Castle with the door. "Go home, Castle. There's nothing you can do here."
"The hell there isn't. This was our case … "
"Our? In case you've forgotten, you're not even a cop. You're here on sufferance, because I say you can be." The captain crossed his arms over his chest. "Now I'm telling you to go home. This case is no longer yours, in fact you'd better stay the hell away from it or I'll charge you with conspiracy."
"You charged Beckett with the murder?" Castle asked incredulously.
"Not yet."
"That's ludicrous. You know she didn't do it."
"I know nothing of the sort, Castle. This is police work. We rely on evidence, not gut feelings."
Castle fumed but wisely stopped arguing. "Can I see her?"
"Absolutely not."
"Come on, just for a minute."
"No."
"Please?"
"No!"
"Pretty please?"
Montgomery sighed. "It's against protocol."
Castle swallowed hard. "I'm her partner. She needs me." Montgomery gave him a skeptical look. "Even if she doesn't know it," Castle added. "Anything to do with her mother's murder is hard on her. She needs a friend right now."
Montgomery's eyes narrowed and his lips pursed. "Two minutes. That's all you get. And if I think you're … "
"Where is she?" the author-cum-detective interrupted.
"Interview room two."
xxxxx
She looked up at him as he entered, eyes unreadable.
"Hey." He sat opposite her.
She didn't smile. "Hey. What are you doing here?"
"I couldn't pass up a chance to see you on the other side of the table," he teased, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
Her eyes glittered angrily, though there were dark circles ringing them. "More fodder for the next Nikki Heat novel, Federal Heat?" she asked acidly.
"You remember that?"
"I seldom forget anything, Castle. You should know that by now."
Her defences were prickly; a sure sign she was hurting inside, so Castle backed off. "I heard you were in a bit of trouble so I thought I'd come see if there was anything I could do."
Kate's jaw softened and her shoulders lowered a fraction. "You could start with some coffee. Montgomery's orders were to head straight here, no stopping at Go and no collecting two hundred dollars. He said if I did he'd lock me up and throw away the key."
He smirked. "Damn! I hurried over so quickly I forgot the coffee."
Kate reached out and touched his hand, covering it with her own. "It's okay. I was just kidding."
"I wasn't. I'll bring you some later." Their eyes locked and Castle felt a shiver go down his spine. "Um, Esposito told me Vulcan Simmons was dead and that they're questioning you about it."
She nodded. "He was shot in the head. That's all I know."
"It couldn't be a suicide?"
She shook her head. "Execution style."
"Oh." He swallowed. "They don't think you did it, do they?"
She looked around the room. "Use your brain, Castle. If I weren't a suspect I'd be the one doing the questioning."
"Of course. Yeah. Sorry."
She sighed and slumped back onto the couch. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault. I shouldn't be taking my frustrations out on you."
Castle's eyebrows arched. "Well until you find someone better, you can keep abusing me. We both know I love it or I wouldn't keep coming back for more."
She smiled, a real smile that lit up her eyes and showed off the sadness behind them. An ache began to grow in his chest.
"I know you didn't do it," he said softly. "It's crazy to even suggest such a thing."
"Maybe I did," she said archly, teasing him just a little.
He shook his head firmly. "I know you. You couldn't have done this."
"Do any of us really know each other that well?" she asked softly, almost as if reflecting to herself rather than asking him.
"It's doesn't matter what anyone says. I won't believe it."
She swallowed hard and he could almost see the glint of tears in her eyes. "You're a good friend, Castle. Have I ever told you that?"
He thought about it for a minute, playfully putting his head to one side. "I don't think so. Feel free to tell me again though. It sounds pretty good."
Kate chuckled and he could hear the barely concealed tears. He longed to pull her into his arms and hold her and was just about to throw caution to the wind and do it, to hell with the consequences, when Montgomery opened the door and stuck his head in.
"Your two minutes are up," he said brusquely. "Scram."
Castle stood, feeling helpless.
"Beckett. Interrogation room one. Now."
Kate stood as well and Castle watched, in awe, as it took her barely a second to go from a vulnerable and needy friend to a diamond-hard professional investigator. He admired her for it; knew himself how hard it was to put on a mask when your insides felt like they were crumbling.
As she walked towards him to the door, he touched her arm and briefly leaned close to her ear. "I'm here," he whispered. "Don't forget that."
Her eyes lifted to his. "Always," she mouthed, bringing him suddenly back to the moment they'd shared in the ambulance. He looked down as his hand. The scars weren't quite healed yet.
"Castle, you're dismissed," Montgomery said.
"Can I stay … you know, talk with Ryan and Esposito for a bit?" he asked as he walked into the hallway.
The captain sighed audibly. "You won't go away even if I order you to, will you?"
"Not a chance."
"Don't get into any trouble. This one's going to be delicate. We've got to play it with kid gloves."
"I promise I'll behave." Castle smiled his thanks and jogged across the bullpen to Kate's desk to join the other two.
Montgomery frowned. "Why don't I believe that?"
xxxxx
"You guys aren't doing the interrogating?" Castle asked.
"Are you kidding? Cap'n wouldn't let us touch this with a ten-foot pole," Esposito said.
"We're too close to it," Ryan added. "So are you."
Castle held up his arms in surrender. "Hey, I'm not doing anything. I just want to help Beckett, however I can."
"We all do, bro," Esposito said, voice softening. "But if we're not careful we'll get her into more trouble."
The phone rang before he could ask how. Ryan picked it up.
"Uh huh. Yep. Right away."
"Let's go for a walk," he said quietly to the other two.
"Why?"
"Where?"
"That was Lanie. She's got details for us."
"Let's go."
xxxxx
Esposito stood right beside Lanie, almost close enough to be touching her. It was obvious to anyone around them that they were together, no matter how much they might prevaricate or try to evade the truth. Did people think the same thing about him and Beckett? Castle flushed slightly, realizing that he too often stood close enough to touch her and that they frequently seemed to be in each other's personal space. They weren't together not yet but he could certainly see how people could mistake them for a couple.
"So what's the news?" Ryan asked without preamble.
"It's not good." Lanie held up a petri dish with a bullet in it, forcing Castle's eyes away from the big man lying on her dissecting table. He couldn't feel sorry for the man, knowing that he spent his life ruining other people's, and particularly despising him for Johanna Beckett's murder. He knew without having to ask, that Kate felt the same but despising someone and being angry with them was a long way from murder.
"The bullet's definitely one of ours," Lanie said. "I almost guessed it from the entry wound alone. No one on the street uses the same weapons we do." She swallowed. "I ran ballistics on the bullet and on Beckett's gun - at Montgomery's orders," she added apologetically. "They're a match."
"Are you sure?" Esposito asked.
She nodded. "Absolutely. I did the test twice."
Castle felt as if he'd been punched in the gut. He wanted to protest, to say it couldn't possibly be so, but his mouth just wouldn't seem to work.
"Beckett killed Vulcan Simmons?" Ryan asked incredulously.
Lanie nodded sadly. "It would seem so."
TBC