I was struck randomly with inspiration for this story, and it is definitely an . . . unexpected type of story, but I'm excited about it, and you should be too. It will be filled with strange murders, plot twists, and high-running emotions. It even has a bit of a The Shining by Stephen King element. I just hope you all like it as much as I do. :)

Disclaimer: As said by ThePossibilityOfMagic, I don't own Castle...but I'm pretty sure Castle owns me.

In a beautiful home in the Hamptons with a gorgeous view of the sea and the ocean breeze blowing through the open, spacious rooms, a man lay dead in a pool of blood, surrounded by broken glass and scattered dust.

Detective Kate Beckett and author Richard Castle walked into the crime scene, the latter peering around curiously and the former asking the ME, "What happened here?"

"You always get the weird ones, Kate," Lanie sighed, shaking her head.

"Yeah, well, I like a challenge. So do we know what happened to this guy?"

"I think so, but I'll have to get him back to the lab to be sure about the time of death and order of events. But what I do know is that he's got blunt force trauma in the head, which probably killed him." Lanie showed Beckett the marks on the man's head, both on the back and the temples. "But then there are these gunshot wounds." The medical examiner turned over the body to show the detective, and that was when Beckett saw their vic's face.

Beckett gasped. "Do we have an ID on this guy?" she managed to get out.

"Not yet," Lanie said apologetically.

"Because . . . I think this is Castle's dad."

Lanie stared at her blankly, and she could feel Esposito's and Ryan's eyes on her. From across the room, Castle called, "I heard that!" He sauntered over. "Clearly you're wrong though. I don't know my dad." He snorted. "I don't know if my mom even knows my dad."

"So you can't give us an ID on this man?" Beckett stepped aside to allow her quasi-partner to see their vic.

Castle, for the first time in a while, was speechless.

The man was an older version of Rick Castle. His haircut was different and graying, and he had a snowy beard complete with white mustache. But underneath the hair, the face was literally identical in structure. Added to the blood smeared across his face and into his beard, the man's general look was . . . creepy, really.

Castle and Beckett both shuddered. For both of them, the idea of a dead Castle was horrifying, unthinkable.

Castle shook his head sharply. "No. No, I don't know him."

Lanie eyed him, then nodded. "Okay. I believe you."

"Same," Esposito added. "We'll go figure out who this really is." He and Ryan left in search of identification.

"Lanie? Murder weapon?" Beckett asked, suddenly all business.

"Oh, yeah. Well, the gunshot wounds are from a 9mm, judging from the size of them. "'Course, I can't be sure if that was the murder weapon . . ." she trailed off.

"What was he hit in the head with?" Castle winced openly at Beckett's grammar, but let it go.

"That's the weird thing . . . I think it was a pepper shaker. Weird, right? Can I please just get him back to the lab though? I'm dying to figure out what really happened," Lanie begged.

"Kind of morbid," Castle muttered.

"And who's the murder novelist here?" Lanie snapped.

"At least I don't hang out with corpses all day," Castle teased.

"I am paid to hang out with corpses all day, thank you very much." Lanie redirected her attention to Beckett. "Time of death, like I said, is uncertain, but I'm guessing sometime last night between five and eight."

"Thanks, Lanie. You can take your new best friend now, as long as CSU is done," Beckett smirked.

Lanie made a face at Castle and Beckett and stalked off to check with CSU, muttering about being mocked and underappreciated.

Beckett stared down at the body for a moment, her face unreadable, and then shook her head. "That's so creepy."

"Tell me about it," Castle muttered. "I feel like that's me in twenty years."

Snorting, Beckett said, "Except you won't be murdered."

"You'd be surprised . . . Do you realize how many death threats from fans I got after I killed off Derek Storm?" Castle joked.

Beckett laughed with him, but to her, death was no joke. "Don't worry, Castle," she offered casually. "I won't let you get killed."

"Aw, thanks, Beckett," Castle said, beaming. "You're starting to actually like me now, aren't you?" He poked her in the arm teasingly.

His voice was joking, but just in case, she added sweetly, "Nah. I'm saving your death for myself."

She would never let him catch on to her real feelings. Not until she was ready.

"So much for partner-ly love," Castle muttered. "Oh well, I guess I already knew that." He followed Beckett as she moved around the body, examining but not touching the glass around the older Castle. He watched as she straightened up and looked around the apartment.

Grabbing a random uniform's arm, Beckett asked, "Did our vic live here?"

Before the uniform could answer, Castle made a weird sound behind her. "Pssh! No."

"How do you know?"

He cocked his head, a confused look on his face. "You don't know? Beckett . . . this is my place."

Thanks for reading and venturing into a strange world of Castle fanfiction! Please, please, please review! I cherish reviews with all my heart. And if you've got any ideas to throw out there for me, I'm always open. :)