A/N: There's no place better to begin than the first episode. This is another course things might have taken. I wrote it just for fun, because I couldn't get it out of my head. More episodes to follow as soon as my schedule allows. Without further ado…
Flowers for your Grave
He kissed me. Richard *freaking* Castle just kissed me. On the cheek, but it's still a kiss, right? Not only that, but he gave me an advance copy of his latest book. Maybe he's actually human under this bad boy thing he's got on. Pull yourself together, Kate, and get back to work, Beckett thought. Then it came to her and the smile was wiped off of her face. He'd been looking at her case files! And he'd brazenly admitted it, too. "He didn't!" She scrambled to see if anything was missing. Indeed, some of the crime scene photographs and CSU reports were gone. He had taken them! Kate Beckett was beyond pissed now. The first thing she did was run to the precinct's entrance. She found no sign of Richard Castle in the street outside.
"I'll find him," she fumed. "And then I'm going to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. You fucked with the wrong gal, Mr. Castle, and now you're going to pay the price."
Of course, she had to find him first. He was famous, a bestselling author. His whereabouts were pretty much a matter of public record, so how hard could it be? She'd find him and make sure that his next bestseller would be written in a prison cell. There was one problem though: She couldn't very well put an APB out on him without risking either unwelcome publicity or interference from above, and probably both. No, she'd investigate on her own. Where would he go? Probably home, to enjoy the loot at leisure. So, Kate picked up her phone and dialed a number. It went straight to voicemail. This left her with just one more option and she took it, dialing another number.
"Hello?"
"This is Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. Is Mr. Castle there?"
"No, he isn't. I'm his mother. Would you like to leave a message? I can pass it on."
"Thank you, but the matter can't wait."
"Hold on, did you say your name is Kate Beckett?"
"Yes."
"He called earlier saying he knew you'd be calling and left a message for you."
"I'm listening."
"He says he's sorry for what happened earlier, and asked me to tell you that he'll meet you back at the precinct. He'll explain everything and he thinks you'll understand."
"He's coming back here?" Kate asked incredulously.
"Dare I ask what the matter is, dear Detective Beckett? What has he done this time?"
"Let's just say that he'll be under arrest the moment he steps into the building."
"Oh boy, I'd better come over there to bail him out."
-o-
Kate was impatiently waiting for Castle to arrive. So far no one from the mayor's office had called demanding that Castle be left alone. She took it as a good sign. He hadn't stooped to having his highly placed friend help him out of the fix he got himself in. Then she saw him step out of the elevator.
"RICHARD CASTLE! You are under arrest for felony theft and obstruction of justice!" She held up her handcuffs.
"Ooh, bondage. My safe word is apples."
"Dad! Can't you take anything seriously?" The question came from the same teenaged redhead that Kate had seen at the book launch party she'd picked up Castle from the other night.
"It's OK, Alexis. Detective, please hear me out and then you're free to decide on how to proceed."
"I know that look of his, dear," Martha Rodgers added. "He's on to something juicy. And it's nice to finally meet you in person after talking to you on the phone, Detective."
"And I'm Alexis Castle, his daughter. You might have noticed me at the party the other night."
Talk about awkward. Kate was being formally introduced to, and shaking hands with, the mother and the daughter of the man she was hell bent on arresting. "Uh, hi," she offered lamely. "You have five minutes to convince me not to arrest you, Castle."
"I'll only need two," he replied cockily. "Kyle Cabot is innocent."
"But…"
"Yes, I know what you're going to say. I was there when you found the evidence, remember? But some things just don't add up. He never left a trace at the crime scenes, yet he sends me a letter with his prints all over it? Some may dismiss it as a byproduct of his delusions, that he believed I would not betray such a loyal fan. But I'm not convinced."
"Huh?"
"Strike two was the Pitney crime scene. Like I said there, the dress was blue in Death of a Prom Queen."
"Yes, I remember."
"Strike three were the forensic reports on the Fisk and Tisdale crime scenes."
Kate thought about it for a minute. "The selection of victims has bothered me, too. He starts with a murder of convenience, and then escalates to a murder of somebody he knows very well, and then goes back to a murder of convenience? It doesn't make any sense."
"They set up Kyle to take the fall," Castle continued. "Somebody who knew enough about his fixation with me to use it to get away with murder. That means we're not looking for a serial killer. We're looking for an old-fashioned murderer, someone with motive."
"You think the victims are somehow related?" Alexis piped up.
Castle shook his head. "No, the Police would have found it by now." Beckett nodded in agreement, and subtly encouraged him to continue. "No, if I were writing the story, the killer would have only wanted one of the victims dead. He would have killed the other ones just to cover up the crime."
"How do you get away with one murder by committing two more?" Alexis insisted. Ever observant, Beckett noticed how Castle had positioned his daughter. He had allowed her to sit with them, but from where she sat had no direct view of the murder board and the crime scene photos displayed on it.
"At one death, you look for motive. At two, you look for a connection. At three, you look for someone like Kyle. At three, you don't need motive, because mentally unstable serial killers usually don't have one."
"That makes about as much sense as Mousetrap," Martha spoke for the first time. "I did that play eight times a week for a year. I still have no idea what it's about." General laughter followed the statement.
"How are you so sure Kyle Cabot's been set up to take the fall for this?" Captain Montgomery asked.
"Kendra Pitney was the first clue," Castle replied. "The dress is the wrong color. And the roses on Alison's body were wrong, too. They were Grandiflora, not Hybrid Teas as in the book."
"Castle's right," Kate said. "If he was trying to follow his books, then the roses on Alison's body were wrong. And Fisk should have been suffocated by a plastic bag, not strangled with a necktie. And Kendra's dress would have been blue, not yellow. For an obsessive it would have been impossible not to get the details right." Castle was nodding in total agreement.
"Well, if it wasn't him, who was it?" Esposito asked the natural question.
Castle took the cue. "The killer had to have known both his intended victim and Kyle fairly well. The only victim that had any real knowledge of Kyle's obsessive condition would have been Alison Tisdale."
"Alison is the key," Kate agreed. "She's the one the killer is trying to hide."
"Well, as far as we know she wasn't seeing anyone and none of her other case files fit the profile," Esposito supplied.
"But someone had to know something about her," Beckett insisted.
"So, if the killer found out about Kyle through Alison, then Alison must have been the intended target. Somebody wanted Alison dead. I just have to figure out why," Castle mused.
"Whatever you do, work with Detective Beckett, Dad. If I have to keep bailing you out, which is what I originally came here for, you're going to have to raise my allowance. By a lot," Alexis said.
"Mine too," Martha added.
"I suppose it's too late to ask you to refrain from further interference with the case, Mr. Castle," Montgomery said.
"Sir," Beckett addressed her superior. "I no longer intend to file criminal charges against Mr. Castle."
"So, what are we going to do next?" Ryan asked.
"We have an advantage here. The killer doesn't know we caught on to his ploy. I suggest you keep holding Kyle, as a smokescreen."
"While shifting the focus of the investigation away from him and towards finding the real killer," Beckett finished the suggestion.
"Exactly. Well, it's getting kind of late and it's a school day tomorrow. Alexis has homework to do. Ladies and gentlemen, if you'll excuse us…" He shook hands with Montgomery and led his mother and daughter out of the bullpen and towards the elevator.
"Just don't do anything by yourself, Castle," Kate yelled just before the elevator doors closed. "And answer your phone next time I call you!"
This prompted him to check his phone. It was off and needed a recharging.
-o-
After the arrest of Harrison Tisdale…
Castle approached Kate from behind and cleared his throat to announce his presence. She turned to face him.
"Well, I guess this is it," she said.
"It doesn't have to be. We could go to dinner, debrief each other."
"Why, Castle? So I can be another one of your… conquests?" Kate smiled.
"Or I can be one of yours," he deadpanned.
She offered her hand. "It was nice to meet you, Castle."
He took it in a firm grip. "It's too bad. We would have been great."
She bit her lower lip and smiled wider. Then she stepped closer and whispered in his ear. "You have no idea." After that she went to rejoin her fellow officers and detectives, with a noticeable spring in her step.
Castle stood there watching her and then smiled before turning to walk away. His writer's block was a thing of the past now. He made his way home and began typing away on his trusty laptop.
He had been hard at work for a few hours. Then, it came to him while he was writing. He saved his work, grabbed his jacket and keys, told Alexis he was going out and went to get his car.
-o-
"What's he doing here?" Ryan asked Esposito when they spied Castle exiting the elevator.
"I don't know, bro, but I'm sure going to find out." He stood and went to greet the writer.
"Detective Esposito, hello. Is Detective Beckett here? I have some things I need to ask her about the case."
"She'll be right back. She went to check on some stuff before heading home."
"Good thing I caught her before she left, then. Do you mind if I wait for her here?"
"Be my guest."
"Thanks. By the way, do you know a restaurant she likes to go to?"
"Why?" Esposito asked suspiciously.
"Like I said, I have a few questions for her, regarding the case. I might as well buy her dinner while discussing them."
"Take her to Remy's." Esposito scribbled the address on a piece of paper and handed it to Castle. "She loves the burgers and shakes they have there."
"Thanks again." Then he spied Beckett and smiled.
"What are you doing here, Castle?"
"My offer for a debriefing dinner still stands. And I need to talk to you. I hear Remy's offer excellent burgers and shakes. My treat."
Kate Beckett hadn't realized how hungry she actually was, until the mere mention of Remy's offerings had her salivating. "OK. But remember, I'm carrying a gun, so don't try anything funny."
"Lead the way, Detective."
-o-
They made it to Remy's without incident and she led him to her usual booth. A waitress soon came to take their order. While waiting for their food, Castle launched the conversation. "I was at home writing when it came to me… Given my active participation in the case, is it possible that I will be called to testify in Harrison's trial?"
"I never thought of that," she admitted. "But it's possible, especially given how much you're mentioned in the reports. After all, you helped with the investigation and you also helped arrest Harrison Tisdale. Plus, I don't think the prosecutor will pass up the opportunity to have a celebrity testify, if only to impress the jury."
"You answered my biggest question, Detective Beckett. Thank you."
"You are welcome. But apparently you have other questions you want to ask me."
"Yeah, but they're more about police procedures. It's for my new novel."
She smiled. "Ask away." Little did she know about her being the inspiration for his new main character or what was about to transpire. But she would find out in the morning.