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In this story, we meet Detective Ryan's eldest niece Ava Ryan. Ava is visiting the precinct over Spring Break when a case breaks involving Ava's best friend. This episode would be about midway through season 5, and would be a two-part episode.
(Ryan answers his ringing phone) "Hello? Mhmmm… okay, send em' up. Thanks, bye." "Who was that?" Beckett asked a suspicious look on her face. Or was it something else? She looked almost excited, like she knew something he didn't. "What are you smiling about?""Oh, nothing."
"Oh no, did you invite Jenny over for coffee again? Because you know she doesn't do well with caffeine, and-"
"Ryan! Calm down! I didn't invite Jenny over." Suddenly, Ava stalked quietly behind Ryan, signaling Beckett to not say anything.
(Covering Ryan's eyes) "Guess who?" Ava said in her best impression of Jenny's voice.
"Is it my beautiful wife Jenny?"
"Nope!"
"Oh, thank God!" Ryan said, relieved.
"Excuse me!?"
Frantic, Ryan begins to turn around. "Uh- I mean, uh- Ava!"
"Well duh!" Ava embraces Ryan, almost as if he was her best friend whom she hadn't seen in years. And really, that was exactly what it was. "Oh my God, how long has it been? Two, three years?" Ryan asked, both surprised and overwhelmed to be in his niece's arms yet again.
"Who cares!? All that matters is that I'm here now. So shut up and hug me!" Ava said grinning.
The truth is, Ava hadn't seen Ryan since she was fifteen. She had moved to north Queens when she was in high school, and there had been too much going on the weekend of Ryan's wedding. It had also been a few years since she'd been to the precinct to visit. Yet somehow, she knew where everything was in the gigantic building, with its coffee scented air, and its hustle and bustle of detectives and officers moving in and out of their offices.
"Good to see you Ava!" Kate said, a look of amusement spreading across her face.
"Good to see you too!" Ava said, rushing over and hugging Kate. "Especially after your accident. How have you been doing?
"A lot better, thanks." That was just like Ava, always concerned for other people, just like her uncle. It had always been like that, but even more so after the accident. "Oh, by the way, I brought you guys something." Ava turned and reached down into her backpack, and pulled out two small boxes wrapped in silver wrapping paper.
"For Kate, and for Ryan." Even though Ryan was Ava's uncle, she had been heard him called Ryan so many times, that she was used to calling him that. Suddenly, Esposito walked out of office, seeming a bit more tired than usual. Then again, it was fairly early in the morning. "Hey guys anything new happen yet?"
"You mean, other than the fact that I'm here?" Ava asked, peeking out from behind Ryan.
"Ava! No way! Mi poco amigo!" *For those who don't speak Spanish, that means 'my little friend'* Ava ran to him, and hugged him tightly. Esposito, being Ryan's best friend, had met Ava a handful of times. To her, he was just like another uncle.
"Hola Esposito! Como estas?" *How are you.*
"Not bad chica, how 'bout you?" Esposito said, looking down at Ava with a mixture of surprise and glee on his face. "Not bad, how 'bout you, mi gran amigo?" *My big friend*
"I'm doing' pretty good too." He replied, finally breaking their Spanish-speaking chain. "Oh, by the way, I have a present for you!" Ava said, pulling a third neatly wrapped box from her coat pocket. "Alright, on three you can all open your presents." Ava said, her eyes practically lighting up with happiness. "Okay, one, two, three!" Almost in unison, the three detectives pulled the tops off their gift boxes and dug through what seemed like mountains of wrapping paper. Kate was the first to pull out her present. It was a small silver ring with the word 'bravery' scripted on it in beautiful lettering. "Ava, this is so beautiful!" Kate said, a wide toothy grin working its way across her face. Esposito was next to dig his present out. He pulled out a dog-tag necklace with the word 'soldier' printed on it in large lettering. "Wow! This is so cool! Gracias chica!" Esposito said, giving Ava another small hug.
Finally, Ryan sat staring at his gift, a small gold ring with the word 'honor' scrawled across it in a rolling text. "Ava, this is- it's- perfect!" Ryan said, getting up and enthralling his niece in a warm embrace. "I was hoping you'd like it." Ava said, nestling herself against her uncle's body. There was something about the way he hugged her that made her feel so safe, like nothing could touch her. It was the same sense of security she had felt when he had embraced her so many other times when she had awoken from nightmares, or had been frightened by the haunting memories of her near death experience. But once he let go of her, she lost that sense of security. He held her shoulders and stared into her deep blue eyes, eyes that had seen so much pain and suffering, had been blinded by terror, and had been stained with her tears. They stayed that way for a moment, just staring at each other, grinning ear to ear. "So," Ava said, breaking the silence, "got any new cases in?" She asked almost brightly. "Well, surprisingly, not much has been going on lately. Crime rates have gone down a little this spring, which is a good thing for us." Kate said, stretching her feet up on her desk, when her office phone suddenly rang. "Then again…" She sighed, running into her office and picking up on the third ring. Her door shut a few moments later. Suddenly, the elevator rang, and Rick Castle stepped out of it, carting a small case of coffees. "Hey, sorry I'm late. I wanted to try getting coffee from somewhere else today, so my route was a little different." When he looked up, Castle saw a young girl about Alexis's age sitting at his desk. "Um, who is this?" Castle said, motioning his head towards Ava. "Oh, of course!" Ryan said, getting up from his chair. "Castle, this is my oldest niece Ava Marie. And Ava, this is-"Ava cut him off. "Richard Castle, I know." Ava stretched out a small, gloved hand to him. He shook it firmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Castle. I'm quite a fan of your novels. A Skull at Spring Time is my most read book." Ava said, almost giddily. "Well thank you." Castle replied in a calm voice. "Oh, and you can call me Ava. Marie is my middle name." Ava added quickly, looking over at her uncle. "Well, Ava, it's nice to meet you." Suddenly, Kate burst through her office door. "We've got a fresh one, 1198 Clear Lake. Girl by the name of Charolette Wood." When Kate said this, Ava's head shot up. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and her face grew three shades paler. "D-did you say Charolette Wood? " She said in a stutter. "Um yeah, why?" Kate said, looking confused. "Because, Charolette's my best friend!" Ava said, tears welling in her eyes.