"So, hypothetically, what do you need to talk to her about?" He asks carefully.
I decide to 'hypothetically' tell him. "Hypothetically," I emphasise, "I might be here to ask her if she's my sister."
"What? Really?"
"No, not really. Hypothetically."
What happens when a teenager shows up at the precinct one afternoon claiming to be Beckett's sister? Pure chaos, that's what. But, will this very smart, cheeky, feisty teenager be able to give Castle and Beckett that little push they need? Oh, and Mini Beckett gets involved with the bets, of course… And starts up the (More Than Three) Casketteers, which will involve a few characters we haven't seen in a while… (Kyra and Maddie … and a certain actress on a certain detective's list that pissed them all off (go figure who)! Yay!)
Chapter 1
Disclaimer: Own none of the regular characters or Castle, but I do own Hannah. Wish I owned all of them, but…
"Excuse me?" The teenager asks a passing detective as she steps off the elevator into the 12th Precinct homicide bullpen. "Can I ask where I might find Detective Beckett?"
"Sure. That's her desk there." The small male detective with mouse brown hair and blue eyes points.
"The one with the elephants." The man with him says. The other man is under average height but well built – arm muscles visible through the shirt he's wearing – has tan skin, brown eyes and a shaven head.
"Thank you."
"No problem. She just went into interrogation so just wait at her desk and she should be out in about fifteen minutes." The detective with mouse brown hair says.
"Ok. Thank you both very much. Oh, and can I ask what your names are?"
"I'm Detective Ryan, and he's Esposito." Ryan answers.
"Thanks." The girl turns and begins walking to the desk, but the voice of the dark detective stops her.
"What's your name? Just for future reference. And so Beckett doesn't shoot us."
She turns. "Hannah. My name's Hannah."
"Is there a last name to go with that?" Ryan asks.
"I don't know."
"How do you not know?" Esposito asks.
"I've been in state care for as long as I can remember."
"Oh." Esposito says.
"So how come you're here?" Ryan asks carefully.
"Because, I ummm… Detective Beckett told me to come in if I remembered seeing anything suspicious." She says, remembering the boys said she just went into interrogation, so they must have a case.
"Oh. Ok. Well, we have to go so we'll see you later, maybe." Ryan says before he and Esposito walk into the elevator.
The girl walks over and sits in the chair beside Detective Beckett's desk.
I sigh as I slowly sit down in the chair beside her desk. I look carefully at the elephants. I pick the smallest one up and slowly, carefully, turn it over in my hands. I reach into my bag and pull out my elephant. It is identical to the small one I found on the Detective's desk. The only difference is that my elephant is slightly smaller.
I let out a breath of relief at this small piece of proof that my wild stab-in-the-dark might be right. I hope it's right.
I put my elephant back in my bag and put Detective Beckett's on her desk along with the four other elephants, all increasing in size.
The elephant, other than my name, is the only thing I have from my birth family.
I see a photo on the desk and pick it up. It is of Detective Beckett, a man with brown hair and piercing blue eyes, a teenage girl with long red hair and the same piercing blue eyes as the man, and an older woman with short red hair and the same blue eyes.
There are five more photo frames spread across the desk: one of Detective Beckett and an older man with grey hair, one of the blue eyed man and the teenager, one of Detective Beckett and the blue eyed man, one of Detective Beckett, the blue eyed man, Detectives Ryan and Esposito, and a shorter woman with dark brown eyes, black hair and tan skin, and one of a younger looking Detective Beckett – no older than 20 – with a woman who looks awfully like her. The woman has green eyes, straight dark brown hair, and the same face shape as Detective Beckett… and me.
I place the picture of Detective Beckett, the blue eyed man and the two read heads down and pick up the one of young Detective Beckett and the woman I'm guessing is her mother.
I look carefully at the two women behind the piece of glass. Same face shape: check. Same skin colour: check. Same wavy hair as Detective Beckett: check. Same hazel green eyes: check.
"Oh my God." I whisper as my suspicions are further confirmed. Now I want to run. I want to stand up and run out of this precinct. I want to run out of this city. I do that a lot. I want something and get so close to getting it, but I chicken out and run. All the time. But I can't do it this time. I can't run from this. I need to know.
"Excuse me, are you alright?" A man's voice says and a hand gently touches my shoulder. I turn and see the blue-eyed man from the photos.
"Yeah," I answer. "Just waiting for Detective Beckett."
"How long have you been here for?" He asks.
"Ummm…" I look down at my watch, "Ten minutes. Make that eleven."
He smiles at my exactness. "Does she know you're here?"
"No. Detectives Ryan and Esposito told me she went into interrogation and should be out in about fifteen minutes. That was eleven and a half minutes ago."
"So she has three and a half minutes left?"
"Exactly." I smile at the man.
"So, how come you're waiting for Beckett?"
"Because I need to talk to her about something. Something personal. I don't know how she'll take it. I don't know how I'll take it if I'm right."
"So, hypothetically, what do you need to talk to her about?" He asks carefully.
I decide to 'hypothetically' tell him. "Hypothetically," I emphasise, "I might be here to ask her if she's my sister."
"What? Really?"
"No, not really. Hypothetically."
"Oh. Okay. So, hypothetically, would you want me to give her a heads up or just let you tell her?"
"Hypothetically, I would like it if you just pretended we didn't have this conversation. If she's anything like me, she'll freak out when I tell her."
"So, do you actually know that she is your sister?"
"No, I don't. I've been in care since I was three months old. I'm a minor and she's not my parent, so they wouldn't release any of that stuff to me."
"So, do you know that her… your mum is…?"
"Dead?" I ask him.
"Uh…" He fumbles at my bluntness. "Yeah," He nods his head.
"Yes I do." I point to the woman with Detective Beckett in the picture on my lap, "Is that her?"
He nods his head.
"She's beautiful." I whisper, running my index finger over her image.
"Yeah, she is. And so's Kate. I think you'll like her."
"I'm more worried that she won't like me." I admit, having completely forgotten to reiterate that our conversation is completely hypothetical.
He shakes his head. "No, I think she'll freak at first, but then she'll like you. I mean, she absolutely hated me when we first met, but we've been partners for four years."
"So, are you guys going out or something?"
"Uh, that's a long story…" He sits down in the swivel chair in front of the desk.
"I'll have the short version, thanks."
"No, we're not going out. Never have. Probably never will."
"See, how hard was that?"
"Harder than you'll ever know." He whispers.
It suddenly clicks what he said to me: 'never have. Probably never will.' Wow, this guy is optimistic.
"I wasn't talking about the words you said, I was talking about compiling it into a short version." I say. "But, how do you know you probably will never go out with her?"
"Because it's Beckett. You wouldn't understand."
"Actually, I probably would. Try me." I challenge.
"Ok. She's stubborn, she's single-minded, she's shut-off, she's private, she's secluded, she gets annoyed easily, she has this wall around her and doesn't let anybody in."
"Okay. I have two points I would like to bring up. Firstly, by look of those pictures, especially that one," I point to the one of just him and Detective Beckett, "It looks like you already got past her wall. And secondly, they were all negative things about her. What are her positives?"
He thinks for a second before quickly answering. "She's funny, she's smart, she's passionate, she's caring, she's friendly, she doesn't judge people, she's beautiful, she trusts me, she understands me, she listens to me. She's extraordinary." He finishes, somehow managing to fit all of that into one breath.
"So, what makes you think you'll never be together?" I smile gently at him.
"She deserves better than me and she knows it." He whispers.
I shake my head. "I don't think so. I think she's scared because she thinks you deserve better than her."
Yes, I am talking from experience. But that's history now. Can't go back and change it, no matter how much I wish I could.
"You really think that?" He asks.
I nod my head. "I know that. A: I'm a Beckett. That is actually my last name. B: I've been in this situation before."
"How can you have been in this situation before? You're what? Sixteen?"
"Fifteen next month." I correct. "And you'd be surprised what sort of shit we go through in the system. The fact that we're actually in there shows we've been through some sort of crap that we shouldn't have been through."
He nods his head in agreement. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Hey, look. I need to go to interrogation now, but if Beckett completely freaks as we both suspect she will, you can come and stay at my house. I have a seventeen year old daughter and I reckon you'll like her."
"That her?" I point to the red headed teenager in one of the photos.
"Yeah." He says, smiling.
"What's her name?" I ask.
"Alexis… Actually, that's something I haven't even asked you. What's your name?"
"Hannah. Hannah Marissa Beckett."
"So your last name is actually Beckett?"
"Yeah." I nod my head. "What's your name?"
"Rick. Rick Castle."
"As in the author?"
"That's the one." He answers. "You've heard of me?"
"I've read all of your books. We're not supposed to read anything with sex scenes in care, but… I've never really been good at following rules. As they say, 'rules are meant to broken'. Besides, your books are addictive… Oh my God! The KB you dedicate the Nikki Heat series to, that's Kate Beckett! Isn't it?"
He nods. "Yeah."
"So, um. The… naughty scenes… between Nikki and Rook…?"
"Purely made up, as much as it pains me to admit. My mother, Alexis and Beckett can all vouch for that."
"Huh." I say, biting my bottom lip. "You have a good imagination." I wink at him.
His jaw drops. "You're fifteen!" He exclaims. "That is so dirty!"
I roll my eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be going in to help Detective Beckett?"
His eyebrows shoot up at how quickly I change from one subject to the next. "I…uh… Yeah. Goodbye." He stutters, standing up and walking away.
My shoulders begin to shake as I silently laugh at the man who's so obviously in love with my sister.
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