One Simple Decision
He watched her face as she watched the victim's widow, he knew she was studying her for any movement that might seem unusual, any movement that might lead them to gather more information as to why her husband was murdered.
"And you are sure nothing looked different when you returned home?" Detective Kate Beckett asked politely.
"Nothing unusual, I even checked my jewellery box before you arrived and it is all still there." Clarissa Baker answered, her hands folding and resting upon her lap.
"Had your husband spent long periods away from home recently?" Rick Castle questioned, in response to Clarissa's comment about her jewellery, clearly the woman thought that that was her most prized possession and he knew that jewellery was sometimes what a man bought when he was in trouble, something they bought to placate an angry woman's temper.
In response to his question, Castle received a dark look from his partner and an almost silent sounding Clarissa Baker replying, "A few weeks here and there."
Before he could ask another question, he felt the buzz of his cell-phone hidden deep inside his pocket, he fumbled around for the phone, before reading the caller ID, it was Alexis, "I'd better take this," he whispered in the direction of Beckett, before she smiled and he crept from the room and out into the long hallway. As he pressed answer, he heard Beckett ask a loaded question, he smiled to himself; she was pressing the widow for everything now. "Alexis," he answered with a cheerful tone, "How is France?"
"Dad, it's wonderful," came the crackling voice down the phone, Castle sighed and pulled the phone away from his ear, there was only one bar of cell service, so much for being in one of the better class of apartment blocks in New York City. "Dad, can you hear me?" Alexis asked, her voice breaking up into static in the middle of the question.
"One second," Castle replied as he headed for the stairwell, another problem with this apartment block, the elevator was out. He thanked his lucky stars that they were only on the second floor and quickly made his way down and out into the busy street. "Okay," he said into the phone, "I can hear you now, how is France treating you?" he questioned, "Have you tried the snails yet?"
"Really Dad?" he heard her ask, he could see his daughter's eye roll as if she was right next to him instead of miles away. "You forget the time we had snails one Halloween, snails are not new to me."
"I'm so sorry, I'd all but forgotten the vomiting Halloween party." Castle answered with a laugh.
"I'm glad you have," Alexis replied, "because I certainly haven't."
Their conversation continued, until Castle was distracted, a car he recognised was pulling up next to him, lights flashing, sirens blaring. "Alexis," Castle said calmly, "I've got to go, I'll call you later," he added, ending the call before her response, dropping the phone back into his pocket.
"Bro," Detective Javier Esposito called, as he leapt from the driver's side of the unmarked police vehicle, "Laine called with news, where's Beckett?" he questioned.
"She's in with the widow," Castle answered, "What's going on?"
"Laine found an unsolved," Detective Kevin Ryan answered as he landed on the pavement next to Castle, "One David Scott was murdered fifteen years ago in the same way as our vic."
"Scott?" Castle questioned, the name Scott hadn't been mentioned at all in this case.
"Clarissa's maiden name was Scott, David was her father. He was killed just days after revealing that he was cheating on our widow's mother." Esposito answered, filling Castle in with all he needed to know.
Suddenly Castle felt ill in the stomach, "Beckett," he said quietly, "I left her up there alone, she was asking about the victim and him spending time away from home."
Both Ryan and Esposito's hands reached for their weapons, making sure that they were there and ready if needed, the three of them then raced back into the lobby. Ryan and Esposito headed for the elevator, as Castle headed for the stairs, "It's broken," he called over to them and they soon caught up to him and began to race up the stairs, each of them taking two steps at a time.
Somewhere between the first and second floor, Castle felt a hand block him from moving forward, "There's someone there." Ryan replied, answering Castle's unasked question.
"Stay behind us bro," Esposito told Castle, as he and Ryan pulled their weapons and held them in front of them.
The three moved up the stairs silently, until they could see who the person was.
Castle felt his breath catch in his throat and his heart slow, Clarissa Baker was standing on the top step, swaying slightly, in her hand she held a large knife, and from the knife dripped bright red blood. He wanted to vomit, he'd made a decision to leave Beckett alone to talk to his daughter and he'd left Beckett alone with what now seemed to be a double murderer and from the look of the blood on the knife, Clarissa Baker had tried to keep her secret once again. Would this be one simple decision that would change everything? Castle noticed the look that Ryan and Esposito shared; he could read what they were thinking.
"Ms Baker," Ryan began, "Put down the knife."
"You don't understand," Clarissa began, her voice tense and wary, her hand still gripping the knife tightly; "He was cheating on me, just like my father did."
"We know about your father's murder." Esposito answered, as Clarissa stared at the three of them.
Castle knew what Ryan and Esposito were doing, they were trained police officers, they were trying to disarm the suspect without anyone getting injured, without having to shoot her, but all Castle could see was the blood on the knife and all he could think of was Beckett. With thoughts of her clouding his brain, he pushed past Ryan and Esposito and leapt at Clarissa Baker, one hand reaching for her arm that held the knife, the other hand shoving her down pushing her to the ground.
The knife fell, catching on the top step before clinking down to fall at the feet of Esposito, "Take her," Castle said loudly climbing to his feet, as Ryan managed to clip a handcuff around one of Clarissa's hands and then the other to the banister of the stairwell.
Once he saw the handcuff, Castle forgot all about Clarissa Baker and shoved the stairwell door open, he cursed the length of the hallway and with Esposito on his tail he raced towards the apartment where he had left Beckett. He could hear Esposito calling for an ambulance, repeating more than once that they could have a possible officer down situation. Castle's mind turned to this morning, to he and Beckett waking up in his bed together, her hair fanned over his chest, her slow and steady breath blowing over his stomach as she spoke to him. Her smiling face as the two of them ate waffles in his kitchen, the way she hit his hand with the spatula as he tried to steal her waffle after devouring his own. The way she'd rolled her eyes at him when he'd suggested going to the precinct in yesterday's clothes, her voice telling him that even though she suspected that her colleagues knew that they were together, turning up with the same clothes would have been a dead giveaway, and not the way she wanted them all to find out about them.
"Fourteen," Esposito said loudly, dragging Castle from his thoughts and back to the long hallway, "this the apartment?" Esposito questioned.
Castle nodded, his hand reaching down for the handle, it moved but nothing happened, he threw himself against the door and still nothing happened. "Beckett," he yelled loudly, hoping upon hope that she would be able to open the door, still there was nothing.
"Move." Esposito said with a grunt, shoving Castle from the doorway, Castle watched as one sharp kick from Esposito had the door shuddering, but still the lock held. Esposito held up his hand, "On three Castle, we kick," he told him firmly and Castle nodded, "One, two, three," Esposito counted quickly, and two feet pounded the lock quickly, it worked and the door swung open, shaking from the force of the impact.
Castle ran inside the apartment, heading for where he had left Beckett, the sofa was empty. "Beckett," he called, desperation evident in his voice, "Beckett," he called again as he ran towards the kitchen, "Kate," he finally called, "Kate," he called again, still there was no reply.
He turned to look at Esposito, "Where is she?" he asked, almost begging Esposito to know the answer. Esposito shook his head, he knew as much as Castle did. Suddenly there came a small groan and once again Castle felt the breath catch in his chest, he headed for the sound and fell to his knees at the sight.
Slumped in the doorjamb between the bathroom and the hallway was Beckett, Castle could see that she was bleeding, deep red, almost crimson flowed from a wound at the top of her leg. He could see that she had managed to drag herself along the bathroom floor, leaving a trail of blood behind her. He threw his coat from his shoulders and wrapped it around her leg, the blood soon seeping through. Esposito did the same, wrapping his coat around Castle's, one hand holding Beckett's leg tightly, and the other hand holding his radio as he screamed instructions into it.
"Kate," Castle whispered as he slid himself closer to her, one hand reaching for hers and squeezing, the other reaching to brush her hair from her face, her breathing was shallow, as he moved his face closer to hers, "Kate," he whispered once again, "can you hear me?" he asked, squeezing her hand, "please open your eyes, please," he questioned, his voice wavering in and out.
Her eyelids fluttered, giving Castle a small glimpse of her green eyes, before a breathless sound came from her lips, "Castle," she'd managed to say.
"I'm here," Castle replied, his hand clenching hers, "you're going to be okay," he said reassuringly, unsure of whom exactly he was trying to reassure. He looked towards Esposito who nodded, as he kept the pressure on the wound.
"Clarissa," Beckett managed to stutter, "she killed her husband."
"We know," Castle replied, "Ryan is with her."
"Your man here jumped her," Esposito added, "I don't know if that was stupid or brave."
"I think," Beckett began, before she shivered slightly.
"Beckett," Castle began as he moved his arms around her, cuddling her face into his chest, silently pleading that the paramedics would arrive soon.
"They know about us," Beckett whispered as she tried to take steady breaths, breathing in Castle's familiar smell.
Castle nodded, "I love you," he whispered, kissing the top of her head, his hand squeezing hers again.
"Same," Beckett whispered, breathing shallowly.
It was then that the paramedics finally arrived, taking over from Esposito, who then pulled Castle away and held him back as they placed an oxygen mask over Beckett's face. "She has to be okay," Castle said quietly, "she just has to be. I shouldn't have left her alone." Castle told Esposito, "I should have stayed with her," he repeated, "Please tell me she's going to be okay," Castle questioned the paramedic.
"Sir, we won't know anything until we get her to hospital," the paramedic told him, compassion and urgency in her voice.
"Lift," the other paramedic said, as they slid Beckett onto the stretcher and rolled her quickly out of the apartment and down into the long hallway.
Castle followed, his legs unsteady and his eyes unable to focus, he could feel hands on his chest, his breathing was shallow, he couldn't concentrate and he fell backwards to the floor, his head consumed by darkness.
"Beckett," he whispered as he came to, the smell of lavender and honey filling his senses.
"That's my name," she answered him quietly, "You told me you were getting dressed before we went back to my apartment, not going back to bed, to sleep."
Castle opened his eyes, blinking at the bright light; her eyes were staring down at him, one of her arms slung over his chest, one finger drawing lines over his chin, the rest of her slim body pressed up against him.
He reached for her leg, sliding his hand downwards, searching for the wound that he had pressed his coat to only moments before.
"Castle," she said firmly, slapping his hand away, they didn't have time for another round of pleasure, no matter how fun the previous night had been, there was after all work to do. "Castle," she repeated, noticing the shocked look on his face, "Rick are you okay?" she asked soothingly, pressing a kiss to his neckline.
"You were stabbed," he said quietly, trying to reassess what was happening, "I left you alone with Clarissa Baker, she killed her husband. She attacked you."
Beckett shook her head, "No Castle," she whispered, "I'm fine, I wasn't stabbed. You must have dreamt it," she told him soothingly.
Castle shook his head, "How do I know this isn't the dream?" he questioned, his eyes wide.
Beckett stared carefully, before leaning in close to him, kissing him firmly, he responded to her, one of his hands sliding into her hair, pulling her close, she began to pull away and as she did she nipped at his lip, her teeth catching his skin, he flinched immediately.
"You're okay?" Castle questioned again, as one of his hands went up to touch where she had bitten his lip.
Beckett nodded and smiled, her head sliding down to rest on his chest, as her arms wrapped around his stomach.
Castle felt his breathing return to normal as he dropped a kiss into her hair that smelled of lavender, "I love you," he whispered to her, "I was so worried about you."
This time it was Beckett's turn for her breath to catch, it wasn't the first time he'd said that to her, but every single time it still felt like she was hearing it for the first time. "I love you too," she replied, turning her head up to look at him.
"You're going to run background on Clarissa Baker aren't you?" Castle asked.
"Definitely," Beckett answered, "all the checks I can think of."
"I'm glad," Castle replied, smiling at her.
Beckett smiled back, before saying, "Up, it's time you did what you were supposed to do."
"And that was?" Castle questioned, a glint in his eye.
"Get dressed," she answered quickly as she slipped from his bed, "I need to pick up clothes before we go to the precinct."
"You know," Castle began, "In my dream everyone had already worked out that we are together."
Beckett rolled her eyes, reaching for one of his pillows as she did so, "Castle," she said before lobbing the pillow at his head, "this isn't your dream."
He grinned back at her, "You waking me up in my bed was something I'd dreamed of before it actually happened."
Beckett groaned, "Unless you get dressed it isn't going to happen again," she said as she left the bedroom, headed for where her clothes had been hastily discarded last night. She smiled as she heard his feet immediately hit the floor and the wardrobe door swing open.
"I'll be ready in two minutes." Castle called after her, determined to make sure that Kate Beckett woke him up again, more than once.
So what did we think of the twist? I should say that part of this story is an actual dream that I had. I guess that's what watching six episodes of Castle in one day and reading Heat Wave does to you, not that I minded one little bit!