Hey! So urm this is the first time I've written any Castle fiction and I'm not 100% happy with it so sorry if the characters aren't completely in character. Anyway, hope you enjoy it and please be fabby and drop me a review :D
"So, what've we got?" Beckett queried as she stifled a yawn, only for another to come out seconds later.
"Late Night Beckett?" Esposito jeered as he walked past with Ryan and nudged her gently in the ribs. Kate closed her eyes momentarily and shook her head disapprovingly,
"Lanie? Please tell me there's a dead body for me so I can get away from these idiots" she sighed as the pathologist walked towards her. Lanie studied her friend's pale features with forethought as she relayed details to the team.
"Right children; thirty five year old male, wallet was found at the scene - so probably not a robbery, cause of death is unknown but to me it's evident that he's been tortured, and it's safe to say that he probably didn't choose the cologne himself" she added with a smile.
"What do you-" Beckett wondered before Lanie interrupted,
"You best come have a look."
Ryan and Esposito turned the corner as the women hung back slightly. Lanie took the detective's forearm gently, stopping her in her tracks momentarily and quietly enquired,
"You alright babe?" Beckett replied with a curt nod, attempting to brush off her friend's concern. "Seriously Kate, the bloke lying on the floor round there looks in better health than you, are you sleeping alright?"
"Lane I'm fine alright, just leave it." Lanie rolled her eyes as the detective continued around the corner of the alley, only to be greeted by a rather unusual sight, even in her eyes. In front of them was a middle aged man, not one item of clothing covering his grey-blue skin as his body lay face down on the concrete floor, his arms brought up above his head, unnaturally, so his palms were touching and his legs crossed so that each foot was brought round to touch the opposite knee. There was a halituous smell in the air around the body which became stronger as Beckett approached. She screwed up her face as the stench hit her lungs and coughed as it filled the atmosphere.
"What is that?" Ryan queried, covering his face with the sleeve of his suit.
"Rotting fish guts" came a deep yet familiar voice from behind them.
"Ahh Castle, I was wondering when you'd turn up to give us your exciting theory on this one" Lanie greeted him sarcastically.
"And good morning to you too!" he replied, equally as acrimoniously. He turned to Beckett with two take-out coffee cups in his hands, just in time to watch the colour drain from her face. "Kate, are you alright?" he asked, his voice laced with a new tone of concern. The detective closed her eyes and breathed deeply as she tried to calm her whirling stomach, the putrid stench of the rotting body covered in fish along with the rich yet overpowering essence of coffee left the detective turning on her heel swiftly and running around the corner, to the nearest bin.
"Not a word Castle" Beckett ordered as she leant over the bin breathing deeply as her stomach settled. The writer mimed locking up his mouth and throwing away the key which Kate saw from the corner of her eye, making her smile.
"What's up Beckett?" Castle asked, placing a caring hand on her back and handed her a bottle of water.
"Nothing" she replied sarcastically, "I just vomit when I'm happy." Castle rolled his eyes and chuckled at her as she straightened herself out and took a long drink of the cool water.
"Seriously Kate, you look like crap. Get in the car and I'll tell the others I'm taking you home" he told the detective simply. She just looked back at him skeptically and said
"You do realize I have an actual job right? I can't just pick and choose my hours like you writers." Castle laughed again and threw her the keys,
"Get in. I'll be back in a minute."
"So?" Castle began as he drove along the bright morning roads of New York, "What's going on? And don't tell me you ate something dodgy because we both ate the same Chinese last night." Kate gave him her trademark glare and huffed as they came to a stop at some traffic lights.
"Fine" she began as she picked at her finger nail, "I think. I mean, I might…maybe. It's possible that-"
"Katherine Beckett, are you pregnant?" Castle interrupted in a mock authoritative tone. She sighed again and replied sheepishly,
"I don't know" as a single tear glistened in the corner of her eye.
Back at the precinct Ryan and Esposito were delving deep into the details of their latest case, the murder of thirty five year old, Ukranian, tuna boat worker – Mykola Andreichenko.
"Anything on CCTV from the alley?" Ryan called as Esposito strutted back in holding a pile of paper.
"No" he replied, "but Lanie just called, she's got post-mortem results for us." Ryan nodded in response and joined his colleagues in the walk down to the morgue. Casually, as they reached the elevator, Ryan asked
"Javi…do you know what's going on with KB?" Esposito replied with a brief snigger and
"About as much as you do bro. Something's definitely not right though; she's been tired, cranky, then today…" Ryan's eyes widened suddenly
"Jesus." Esposito raised his eyebrows and shot his partner a look of confusion,
"What?" he queried, not clicking onto Ryan's realisation. Ryan gulped and held Esposito in the elevator for a moment and whispered,
"She's pregnant." Esposito thought through the possibility in his head momentarily before he replied,
"nahh, she can't be…surely she can't be."
As the pair walked into Beckett's apartment Castle placed his hand gently on her back and ordered softly,
"Go and get in your jammys, I'll make you something to eat and then we can have a little chat." Kate turned around to face him as the front door clicked shut,
"Castle I'm fine, just-" before he interrupted her and continued to walk through her flat into the kitchen singing
"la la la la la I'm not listening", to which she sighed, rolled her eyes and turned into her bedroom.
As Castle stood waiting for the kettle to boil in the kitchen he heard a bang as the bathroom door slammed shut and the sound of Kate heaving and coughing. He quickly jogged across the lounge and went to open the bathroom door. As the handle began to turn Beckett shouted in a panic,
"don't come in!" before falling forward and vomiting into the toilet bowl again.
"Hey" Castle greeted her softly, handing her a glass of fresh water as she peered her head around the bathroom door. She almost silently replied,
"Thanks." Sipping at the cool water as she silently walked back into the lounge and the pair sat on either end of the brown leather couch.