They met outside the Old Haunt and took a taxi to Beckett's place, just the four of them - Castle, Beckett, Espo and Ryan. It was a horrible quietness. Beckett told the cab driver where to go and Ryan made smalltalk when he spoke to them, but he seemed to get the message pretty soon that they didn't want to talk. The cabbie put the radio on, and their trip, reflecting on Montgomery's life and the case that had brought it to an end, was juxtaposed with the latest pop hits.
Ryan glanced around the cab. He could tell Beckett had been crying, she had the same redness in her eyes that he and Espo had. Castle didn't, but he was sat in complete silence, completely still save for the motion of the car. It was like someone had put him in standby mode. Beckett was the same, though she was moving more often, every now and then moving from the position Castle was in to putting her head in her hands, and then a minute later going back. Espo was staring out of the window, biting his tongue or his bottom lip, looking like he wanted to punch something.
They'd taken two steps into Beckett's apartment when Castle collapsed. He went down like a rock, knees buckling beneath him, his left arm trying to reach out for something to grab on his way down, something to stop his fall. Beckett rushed over, and Ryan and Esposito made a movement to do the same, but stopped when they heard short, wracked sobs coming from the crumpled mass of his body. Espo closed the still open door quietly, breathing slowly through his nose to stop more tears of his own forming in his eyes.
"It's not fair!" Castle slammed the floor with his fist. "It's not- it's not."
"Shh, shh, shh," Beckett said, soothing him. She put an arm around him, lightly rubbing his shoulder like a mother would a distressed child. Espo crouched down by him as well, putting a hand on Castle's back.
"I know bro," he said "I know."
Ryan could hear Castle's staggered breaths, the occasional sharp inhalations that marked his quiet sobs. It was weird, disturbing, to see him like this. He'd never seen Castle lose his cool before, even when he was angry. If he was upset he was the type of guy to go quiet, to see him like this, it... it was heartbreaking.
"He shouldn't be- he shouldn't!" Castle pounded the floor again. Ryan moved over to crouch on the floor with the rest, in a weird kind of circle, heads bowed close together. The tears were coming back to him and he tried to blink them away.
"I know, man, I know," he said.
"He was the best," Beckett put in.
"The- " Espo broke off as the tears began to well "The very best," he nodded.
And the four of them stayed there, huddled together as one, and cried.