Hey, this is an AU story about Castle and Beckett and how they would meet if she wasn't a cop. Hope you enjoy! comments are always welcome!
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle but I love it!
Kate Beckett was the best lawyer in New York. She won every case she had. She had put so many criminals in the big house that she had totally lost count. She took after her mother who had retired after her many years of service. Kate lived alone in an apartment on the edge of New York city. She had had many relationships but had trouble staying in them because of her job. She was always busy. Always working to put away the murderers of New York. Truth was she was lonely.
Kate had just broken up with her heart surgeon boyfriend Josh who seemed totally perfect because he also worked weird hours but that seemed to only make matters worse for the relationship. What had seemed great at first turned into a relationship where they never saw or spoke to each other which really wasn't a relationship at all. Josh ended the relationship saying that he needed something more and that she was not putting enough effort into their relationship. Kate was furious at his accusation but a part of her thought that he was probably right. She never left time for love. Every time she got into a relationship it was like something held her back from giving the man her whole heart.
It was early Monday morning and Kate was heading down to the courthouse to prosecute a man who had supposedly suffocated his mother. She walked in and prepared herself to make her opening statement against one Richard Castle.
The man called Castle was brought in about an hour after Kate had taken her seat in the large courtroom. She looked at the man she was about to prosecute. He didn't look like most of the men she sent off to jail. He looked kind and scared. Odd she thought to herself. He was actually quite attractive, even clad in the orange jumpsuit provided for all criminals you could tell that he had good physique. His thick brown hair and gorgeous eyes added to his attractiveness. Kate suddenly realized that she was coming horribly close to fantasizing about a murderer. She shuddered and went over the case file again.
Richard Castle was a bestselling author of the series Derek Storm. He lived in New York with his mother, now deceased, and daughter. Castle had had a weak alibi for the murder of his mother. He had told the police that he had been in bed sleeping but of course it would have been very easy for him to get up go over to his mother's room place a pillow over her head a suffocate her without his daughter, the only other person in the apartment, noticing. Police who investigated found Castle's fingerprints on the pillow which was still laid across his mother's face when she was found. His daughter Alexis had been the one to call the police when she found the body. Although Alexis believed that it was impossible for her father to commit the murder the evidence against him had been too great to overlook. He had been the police's lead suspect from the beginning. There had been hardly any investigation on anyone else. Kate found it surprising that someone who wrote about murder had been so pathetic at committing one himself.
She looked over at him again and saw that he was looking at her. She tried to see the killer look in his eyes, the glossy stare of a murderer but still she saw nothing of the sort. His eyes looked wet with tears. He broke his gaze with the lawyer and she saw him turn to look behind him. Kate saw a young red-headed teenager give him a thumbs up. She also had very wet eyes but seem determined not to let the tears fall from her eyes. Kate realized once again that she was having odd feelings towards this man.
The court recessed after both sides made they're opening statements. Kate got up to go to the washroom when the defence lawyer walked over to her. "He wants to talk to you" James Walkin said. Kate stared at him confused "Who?" James looked over at Castle who was still sitting in the prisoner's box watching them talk. "Castle?" she asked. James nodded and began walking back over to the other side of the brightly lit courtroom. Kate decided to follow him and went over to talk to the convict.
"Ms Beckett" Castle said as she reached his seat. "Mr Castle" she nodded. "I've heard a lot about you. I've always thought that if I were ever to need a lawyer I would use you but you didn't take the job." Kate smirked "I don't defend murderers, Castle, I put them away" Castle nodded and chuckled to himself as he looked down at his cuffed ankles "In another life you would have made a great character for my next book" "That's very kind of you Mr Castle but if that's all I really have to…" "I'm being framed" he cut her off. He had raised his head so that their eyes met and she saw a fire in them. "Mr Castle I.." "Please Ms Beckett, I have a teenage daughter who will have to live with her crazy mother if I go to jail. Please, I know you have friends that are cops if there's anything you can do to get them to look at other suspects. They thought it was me the whole time, the ones that were on my case, they didn't look at anyone else. You saw the file. Please Ms. I know you pride yourself in putting away New York's worst but it's not me. Just look into it. If you don't find anything you can lock me up and throw away the key." Castle looked desperate. She was his final chance to clear his name.
"Mr. Castle it was nice to meet you. I really enjoyed your novels." Kate said as she turned and made her way to the courthouse washroom. As she was washing her hands in the shiny white sink she stopped and stared at herself in the mirror. Something Castle had said had hit her. Something about his case didn't seem right. What was the harm in looking into it? She picked up her cell phone and dialed a the number of a man she had known for a long time.
"Hey Espo" she said when he picked up, "I need a favour."