Intro Note: I know I am in the middle of another story, but this came to me and moved out the first. Actually I have a severe writer's block on that other story so I figured that I might unblock it by doing almost a totally out of series work. It needs less attention to series detail. In Castle time it takes place in season 6 after Beckett is back in NY.

The Castle characters are not mine. Their use, or the use of, or resemblance of any other characters, to any persons, living or dead, and the words and opinions they may speak are my creations just for the story and should not be attributed to them.

Ten year old Joseph Beckett Singer was playing on his iPod in the Amtrak waiting area of Penn Station. He and his mother had just gotten off a very long train ride from Burlington, Vermont. They left early, early in the morning because JoBe's mother (that is what everybody called him) wanted to get an early, early start in New York city. She told JoBe that she had a surprise for him in the City. He was a little skeptical (for a ten year old, he had a pretty large vocabulary) for three reasons.

1. What was so special for him (them) in NY City? He and his mother had never ventured this far south. In fact they had never left the Lake Champlain region of NY and Vermont in his life.

2. His mother had made the decision to take this trip very, very suddenly. Today was Wednesday and his mother had told him they were taking this trip yesterday morning. She insisted at going right away at night. It was less expensive, but more important, she said, was that they would get an early start in the City. In addition, whenever they went anywhere, they always took two suitcase, one for her and one for JoBe. This time there was only one. When he asked his mom why, she replied because they were in a hurry.

3. He was missing school. JoBe had never missed school for anything other then a severe illness. Even with the sniffles, he went to school carrying many small packages of Kleenex.

JoBe and his mother were going to stay at YMCA for a night or two. It was the only place they could get in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. JoBe's mother was hoping to stay with a friend, but could not get a hold of them on short notice and she wanted to be certain to have a place to stay. He was waiting here because just after they got off the train, she got a text message. After she saw it, she told JoBe she had to go to the bathroom and then would find out how to get to the YMCA.

Almost 40 minutes had passed, when JoBe thought he heard his mother call his name. He got up from his seat and took the handle of the wheeled suitcase with him. His mother would be very mad if he lost it. By the time he got to the front of the waiting area and maneuvered the suitcase through the turnstyle, a large crowd had gathered in front of the waiting area. JoBe managed to sneak through. When he got to the center of the crowd, he dropped the handle of the suitcase and yelled, "MOM!"

Kate Beckett had gotten up early. She had stayed at her apartment the night before, packing some things. She and Castle were going to meet Martha at her family's cabin in Keesville, NY. Actually, that was a mailing address. The cabin was one of the very few private ones allowed to exist in Wickham Marsh wildlife management area, a NY State Park in the Lake Champlain area. Her mother's family had owned the property in the woods for over 80 years. Kayle, Beckett's maternal grandmother (Kate was named after her) was the youngest of 6 children. Kayle's family lived in that area since they emigrated to the United States. She was the only one to leave there. Although she settled in Brooklyn, where her mother grew up, Kayle never lost touch with her family upstate. Her maternal grandmother left it to Kate's mother and it will be eventually left to Kate. Kayle stipulated in her will that although her husband, Thomas Houghton, could use the cabin for his life, it was to go Johanna after her death. In her will, Johanna made sure that the property would pass through the female line and only in the event that no female was born, then to any male heir.

Beckett was at Penn Station to pick up railroad tickets. She was getting a round trip for her and Castle and a one way for Martha as she was already near the cabin doing some summer stock. Alexis and Pi were invited gracefully declined. As much as Alexis had stopped being mad at her father and her father was on his way to accept Pi, there was still a ways to go. This was the underlying reason for not attending Thanksgiving in Keesville. The given reason was that Alexis and Pi had friends from Europe and Asia. They were staying in New York City over the holiday and had never celebrated Thanksgiving. Alexis and Pi invited them over for a fruitarian holiday dinner, complete with Pumpkin pie. (Even though not a fruit, Pi loved pumpkin pie).

When Beckett saw the crowd, she moved quickly through it to see what was causing the commotion. At the same time she first glimpsed the older woman on the floor, she heard JoBe yell, "MOM!" Pointing to a by-stander, Beckett commanded, "You, get the Port Authority police here right away. Tell them a woman is hurt." To the rest of the crowd she said, "I am a detective with the NYPD, please stand back." As she did so, she flashed her badge. Then she saw JoBe shaking his mother's arm. He was not crying, but Beckett could tell there was fear in his eyes. He would not move away from his mother.

Kate moved to check the woman's vitals. She had no pulse. Beckett turned her over and checked to see if she was breathing. She was not. Then Kate started mouth-to-mouth and CPR. Beckett continued for a few minutes until three Port Authority Police officers came over. Beckett showed them her badge. One of the PA officers had emergency medical training and took over the CPR. JoBe had not moved since Kate got to his mother. When she was relieved of the CPR duty, Beckett went over to JoBe took his hand and said, "They will take care of your mother. Why don't you come over here with me." As she took JoBe's hand, Beckett noticed something. A very small red spot on the white coat, near the woman's waist. Curious, she thought.

Normally JoBe would not have moved. He was taught not to go with strangers. Only police in uniform. He did here Beckett declare herself as a police officer. He did see her badge but she was not wearing a uniform. Still, there was something in her eyes and her voice that hit him deep inside. This "thing" spoke to him and told JoBe he could trust this woman. He asked Beckett, "Can I go get the suitcase? My mom will be very mad if I loose it."

"Sure, just wait a second and I will go with you." Kate turned to a PA officer and told him what she was going to do and that she and the boy would come right back. After that they moved over to the waiting area and found the suitcase. While walking over, Beckett asked, "What's your name, young man?"

"Joseph Beckett Singer, but everyone calls me JoBe."

Kate stopped for a second. 'Beckett' she thought. Not a common middle name. Not even that common a last name. She was taken out of her thoughts by a tug on her hand.

"Hey, what is your name?" JoBe asked.

"Kate Beckett" she replied.

"Just like my middle name. Are you really a policeman?"

"Yes, JoBe." She showed him her badge again. "I am a special kind of police. A detective. We do not wear uniforms all the time."

"Oh, ok. How is my Mom?" Beckett looked over the crowd at the PA Police in the center. They had stopped the CPR. Beckett took a deep breath and knew, JoBe's mother was dead. She motioned to one of the PA Officers to come to her.

PA Officer Penny Martin came over to Beckett and JoBe. Beckett showed Officer Martin her badge and whispered something to her. Then Beckett said, "JoBe, this is officer Penny Martin. See, she does have a uniform. She will stay with you while I go to make a few phone calls to see how your mother is. I promise that I will be back in a few minutes. In fact, I am going just over there where it is a little more quiet so I can hear better. You will be able to see me, ok?"

"Ok."

Beckett then moved away and made some calls. First she called Lannie. She quickly explained what happened and why she thought it was suspicious. Lannie said she would be there right away. Then she called Ryan and Esposito to come over too, giving them the same explanation she gave Lannie. Just as she was about to call Castle, he called her.

"Hey, its cold here. I thought you were coming back with the tickets and some Starbucks coffee."

"Castle, something happened at Penn Station while I was here. I already called the boys and Lannie."

"Are you ok?"

Now he was worried, Beckett could tell. "I am fine, but something is very weird here. I need you to get here. I could use some of your strange theories." She looked at JoBe and then continued, "oh, and I could use some coffee. Would you also pick up some hot chocolate and a bagel or two?"

"No bear claw?"

"Oh yeah and that too."

"Ok, be there in 15."

Castle hung up and quickly got ready. As he did, he tried to think why his fiancé asked for hot chocolate and bagels. Was she pregnant? That would be great, but she would have broken it to him in a different way. Did she miss him last night and need the chocolate as a poor woman's substitute? If that were the case, he would leave early today and fix up the loft in the most romantic way possible. That had to be it. He could hardly wait.

End Note: I will try and be more consistent with posting next chapters. My goal is to always be a chapter ahead. I do have another one done, and will post as soon as finish a third. As much as I love doing this, I have to get back to my job, so I can pay the bills, so I can continue to write. I would love to hear all your comments, good bad or indifferent. They help me to be a better writer.

Even with spell check and grammar check, I do not think I have caught all the typos, misspellings and grammar faux pas. Please forgive me. I will continue to strive to do better.