Disclaimer: If I owned "Castle" do you seriously think I'd still be living with my parents and asshole brother in a tiny little Australian suburb known primarily for its enormous drug problem instead of borrowing, cheating and stealing my way into the house next door to Nathan Fillion's… (with an unobstructed view of his bedroom from mine?) :P
A/N: I know nothing about the features, places and services in New York and in the surrounding states. Saying anything more than that would give it away…
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Kate Beckett furiously blinked back the harsh fluorescent light that was invading her blurred vision. It was the same light that illuminated the meticulous notes spread across the whiteboard in front of her. Surrounded by the darkness of the late and unseasonably warm New York night, she cut a lone figure in the deserted police precinct. Her colleagues had left several hours before, unable to convince her to go home and get some sleep and well aware that their presence would only serve to irritate her while she closely scrutinised every aspect of their most recent case. A young woman who had embezzled millions of dollars from company pension funds had been suffocated with a pillow in her hotel room. With six million dollars hidden from the authorities and vengeful former employees out for blood it seemed that they were spoilt for choice when it came to suspects. Twenty in all who hated her enough to want her dead and who had no alibi for the night of the murder, including the victim's ex-husband and estranged sister.
And so here Beckett was, staring at her murder board, desperate to make the pieces fit together. The fact was she had hit a wall with the case days earlier but had refused to admit to herself, let alone anyone else. Because to admit that she was stuck meant entertaining another more unsettling thought. That Castle would be able to solve it.
But Beckett didn't want to think about him. The charismatic writer who had weaselled his way into her life and who, against her better judgement, she had developed romantic feelings for. Feelings that were shattered as she watched him walk out of the precinct arm-in-arm with his ex-wife on their way to enjoy an extended 3 month vacation at his home in the Hamptons. A vacation that was meant for her. And as much as she tried Beckett couldn't hide her tears of sadness and pain from her friends who stood behind the glass door of the break room watching the entire scene unfold. Her only saving grace was that they knew her well enough to know she wouldn't want to talk about it afterwards. They had left her alone to channel all of her energy into her work and being angry at him.
But she soon realised that it really wasn't him she was angry at. It was herself. Angry that she allowed herself to feel any feelings for him at all. Angry for not jumping at the opportunity when Castle had invited her. Angry for being jealous of Gina because she was there with him. And amidst all that anger, guilt, for not realising just how much her relationship with Tom had hurt him. She really had been completely blind to the idea that Castle had real feelings for her until Esposito had called her on it. And then when she ran the events of the last few weeks back in her mind Beckett was astounded and ashamed at how she missed all the signs. His long, sorrowful gazes, his quiet demeanour. All leading up to the startling bombshell he had dropped on her when he said that he wanted to take a break from their partnership. It was only then that Beckett truly understood just how much she cared for Castle. How much she truly enjoyed having him in her life every day. That all this time she had just been too afraid to admit it to herself. But by the time she realised that she couldn't deny her feelings any longer, it was too late. Now she had to face the real possibility that they would never work another case together again.
It was this sobering fact that forced Beckett to stop thinking about him and focus back on the case. But before she could, her thoughts were interrupted by the shrill, incessant ringing of her cell phone.
"Beckett." She answered sharply, her overwhelming fatigue significantly decreasing her tolerance for interruptions.
"Is this Detective Kate Beckett?" A male voice asked authoritatively.
"Yes." She acknowledged tentatively.
"You're a police officer with the NYPD?" He probed.
"A homicide detective. Who is this?" She demanded, not enjoying the sinking feeling that had begun to take hold in her stomach.
"My name is Doctor Jeremy Simon. I'm calling from the emergency department of the Princeton University Medical Centre. Are you familiar with a young woman named Alexis Castle?"
TBC…
Oh! I know! I'm cruel!
Show me compassion and review anyway :P
Foghorn_clj87 (aka Hot4Fillion)