A/N: Yes, I know some of you may be wondering where chapter 19 of Realizations is, but don't worry, it's coming. Very slowly. This is just something I came up with after watching 3x04, to give poor suffering Caskett fans a less angsty explanation of what's going on with Beckett's new guy.

I may write a second chapter, delving into Castle's head regarding the whole thing, if this proves popular.

Disclaimer - I don't own them, obviously.

Whatever It Takes

Kate navigated the police tape across the temple doors and entered. CSU were already there, milling around with a sense of great purpose. She spied Lanie kneeling by a pair of bodies in the central aisle, and hurried towards her, glancing at the upturned coffin curiously.

Esposito and Ryan were standing nearby, but when they saw her, they did little more than nod tightly before Esposito suggested they start questioning witnesses. Kate ground her teeth slightly as she watched them go. This really isn't fair, she thought. It had been going on for three days now. Cold looks from her guys, even Lanie had been snippy with her. She knew why, and she silently cursed Josh for turning up at the precinct so unexpectedly. They'd agreed to go on a ride together, as he wanted to show her the house he'd bought and was renovating out in Westchester. She'd been eager to go of course, eager to spend time with him, after their hectic schedules had made it so difficult to get together since he'd been back in her life.

It had been something of a surprise when Josh had called her, in late July, telling her he'd moved back to New York and he'd love to spend some time with her, to reconnect, after more than twelve years living their own lives. Unfortunately, he was still as impetuous and bullheaded as he had been when they were teenagers. Josh ignored her text telling him where to meet, and came to the precinct, intent, it seemed, on meeting the man she'd barely been able to stop talking about each time they'd met up over the summer. The man who she had not seen now since walking out of the precinct with Josh three days ago. She'd felt his absence keenly, and there had been more than one moment where she'd almost panicked, thinking he was going to disappear from her life as surely as he had that horrible day before the summer.

At least he was on his way, though. Kate had called him to let him know they had a murder, the first since the ill-fated duel in the park, and he'd sounded friendly and upbeat, telling her he'd be right there. Her heart had soared at that, after suffering the last three days wondering when he was going to appear, what he was going to say.

She could have gone to him, could have explained. She could have explained it to all of them, and not had to face this gauntlet of stern looks and turned backs, but her damnable pride wouldn't let her. It was none of their business what she did outside work, or who she saw. What gave them the right to judge her conduct at all?

Certainly, he didn't have the right, not after dropping that bomb on her back in May, and not after revealing that he was still with the woman now. Kate couldn't help but hope that he might finally have gotten the message. She wasn't going to be hanging around waiting for him to do something. If he wanted to be anything more than friends, he had to act, had to give her some sort of sign that she should believe. But, his marked absence from the precinct didn't really reassure her that the message had gotten through at all.

Shaking herself slightly, she crouched next to Lanie, "Hey, what've we got?"

Lanie glanced up, smiling briefly. "Looks like a stowaway. Puncture wound here, on the back of her neck. Can't tell what sort of implement was used, but it was sharp."

Kate peered at the gash on the woman's neck. It looked pretty messy. "So, who's the other one?" She gestured towards the other corpse. An older man, grey hair, wearing a yarmulke.

Lanie cocked her brow, and told her, "Not a victim at all. Abraham Greenebaum. It's his funeral. The vic's body was stashed in the coffin with him."

Kate sat back on her haunches, surprised. "Well, that's a new one." Before she could say anything more, she saw Lanie's eye shift away from her, and fix on something over her right shoulder.

At that same moment, she heard Esposito say, "Morning, Castle. We've got a good one for you here." Kate froze, waiting to hear his voice. It was never quite the same through a phone line. Something about the timbre of it didn't make it through the signal.

"Stowaway corpse?" He asked, the glee evident in his voice. Kate shivered slightly, wishing he didn't have this effect on her. Especially not when he was getting as excited as a boy on Christmas morning about their latest murder case. "Oh man, are they lucky they didn't opt for an open casket ceremony."

Kate took that opportunity to turn and give him a stern look. He looked… gorgeous. He always did, these days. Damn him! Why does he affect me like this? She took a moment to gather her wits, and then said, "Castle could you have some respect here? If not for the murder victim, then at least for the poor soul who was being laid to rest." It came out more acerbically than she'd intended, and she winced inwardly when he looked stricken, just for a second.

Then, his expression cleared, and he nodded. "You're right, detective. I'm sorry." He glanced across at Esposito, and continued, "So, the victim was hidden in the casket? How long had it been set up? A day? Two days?"

Kate frowned, taken aback by Castle's apology. And now he was grilling Esposito about the case? All business today, I guess, she thought, and couldn't figure out why that made her feel just a little sad.

Esposito seemed unfazed, though. "It was set up yesterday afternoon. The body can only have been dumped last night." He glanced down at Kate, and then away again. "We've got uniforms checking the place for any signs of forced entry."

Castle nodded, moving over to look at the coffin. "Expensive," he mused, and Kate smiled, remembering a conversation they'd once had about his casket research. "So the dead man's family were wealthy, then?"

"Seems so." Ryan appeared beside Esposito. "Just spoke to Mr. Greenebaum's daughters. Turns out this guy was on the board of directors at Bellevue, gave shed loads of cash over the years."

Kate blinked. Bellevue. That's where Josh works. The coincidence was a little uncomfortable, and as she realized they might have to speak to some of the staff there, the discomfort grew. She cleared her throat. "Any I.D on the vic, yet?"

"Nada." Esposito answered, shortly.

Ryan nodded in agreement. "Mystery woman, but she looks like she had a bit of cash herself, if the clothes are anything to go by."

"You know much about women's clothes do you, Ryan?" Castle enquired, a mischievous look on his face. Kate fought the urge to smile along with him, and shook her head as she half listened to Ryan's response. Belatedly, she realized that Lanie had stood and made her way back towards the exit, leaving Kate crouching on her own. She hastily got to her feet, and frowned after her friend. She was getting sick of this. Ryan and Esposito drifted away as well, leaving her alone with Castle.

Looking over at him, she decided to broach the topic that was uppermost in her mind. Well, one of them, at least. "So, Castle, I've not seen you for a couple of days. Nothing wrong, I hope?" She tried to sound as casual as possible. Friendly.

He looked back at her blandly, and after a long moment he answered. "Well, you've not had a murder case in a couple of days. Not to my knowledge, anyway."

Kate grimaced a little at his tone. So easy and level that it made her teeth itch. That wasn't why he'd been gone for three days, surely. Not the only reason, anyway. "Well. No, we haven't." She said, hesitantly. "But that's never stopped you from bothering me before." She smiled at him, waiting for the comeback.

It didn't arrive. He just flexed his lips briefly, in what she supposed was meant to be a smile of his own. "I've been busy. And I know you don't like me hovering around when you're trying to do paperwork."

Kate nodded, but felt her spirits sinking. It seemed like the coolness that had infected Esposito, Ryan and Lanie had been contracted by Castle as well. She tried again. "So it wasn't just too many late nights then? No one keeping you up?" She dreaded the answer, but knew she needed to hear it.

Again, that bland, friendly expression. "No, not really. Last night Alexis and I watched a movie and then I turned in at around midnight." He looked down at the body again, and pointed. "Is that the only wound? The one on the neck?"

Kate sighed, now thoroughly miserable. "Yeah, looks like it. Come on, let's go and see what witnesses we've got." She set off down the aisle, heading for the big double doors that led outside, and felt Castle fall in just behind her. She twisted her head, to try and make eye contact, feeling the need to establish a connection, to break through his indifference. No luck, he was gazing off to his right, seemingly in a world of his own.

Kate took a deep breath, and decided they had to deal with the elephant in the room. She stopped, and thrust a hand out, which stopped him short as well. Turning to face, him, she quickly checked that no one was within hearing range. "Castle, listen," She paused, unsure of how to continue. "About the other day… about Josh…"

He shook his head, and fixed his mouth into what she assumed was meant to be a smile. "Hey, don't worry. I got the message. You don't want me sticking my nose into your private life." His face twitched as the apparent effort of holding the smile took its toll.

Kate opened her mouth to speak, to tell him he was wrong. She shook her head. "Castle, that's not…."

He interrupted mercilessly, still holding that smile, though it looked more like a grimace now. "We're colleagues, you want to keep things on a professional basis, that's fine. You don't need to tell me about your boyfriend, I won't mention my girlfriend." With that, he stepped around her briskly, and hurried through the exit, leaving her grinding her teeth in frustration. He's so goddamned stubborn! She thought accusingly, trying to ignore the pain that had ignited in her chest when he'd mentioned his girlfriend. As if I could ever forget, she thought bitterly.

Fine. If that's the way he wants to play it, Kate decided. She had been planning on telling him the truth, that though Josh was an old boyfriend, the emphasis was now firmly on 'friend'. She'd used their dates over the summer to talk out her frustrations and heartache over what had happened before the summer, and whilst Josh had clearly been hoping for more, he'd settled into the role of buddy and confidante, and had even suggested that they try to make Castle jealous, to prompt some sort of reaction out of him.

Kate had declined the offer, though it had been tempting, but apparently Josh had decided to go ahead with it anyway, and whilst she'd yelled at him for it, she couldn't deny the surge of warmth that had flooded through her when she saw how off kilter Castle had become when faced with her new 'boyfriend'.

Still, the way he was acting now was unforeseen, to say the least. Beckett hurried after him, determined now, more than ever, to make him see what she was trying to show him, what he was too pig headed to recognize. Whatever it took, he was going to know the truth. She was in love with Richard Castle.

And, whatever it took, she was going to find out if he could ever feel the same way about her.

A/N: So, Josh is an old boyfriend, which is a pretty popular theory around the various Castle sites, and he's not a boyfriend at the moment, another popular theory. Do I think they're correct? Maybe, maybe not. But I guess I'd like them to be.

Oh, and Beckett is willing to do whatever it takes, apart from, you know, talking to Castle. Because that would just be too easy wouldn't it?

Please review