I have no idea where this came from. One minute, I'm studying Theater of the Absurd. The next, I'm typing this out. The title is a reference to the Fourth Wall, the boundary between a fictional work and the audience. And this wall is broken multiple times in this story. It's a definite crack!fic and not meant to be taken seriously.
Spoilers for "Punked", "Poof! You're Dead", "To Live and Die in LA", and probably a ton of others.
Enjoy.
Breaking Walls
He found her lying on her car, with both arms under her head. Castle glanced around nervously. There were absolutely no other visible characteristics about the place. It was just Beckett's car underneath the blanket of the night sky. It was quite eerie actually. And he didn't like it, not one bit.
"Beckett?" he asked tentatively. "Where are we?"
"I don't know. I just found myself here."
"Oh."
Silence followed. He shifted uncomfortably and leaned against the car. He crossed his arms, uncrossed them, and then crossed them again. She didn't notice; she was so deep in thought.
"Penny for your thoughts?" he asked. She didn't answer right away.
"Do you ever feel like maybe we're not alone?" she said eventually. Her voice was so far away.
"Like aliens?" he asked. "I think you already know my position on that."
"No," she shook her head. "More like," she paused, trying to think of the words. "More like somebody is constantly watching you."
Castle frowned. "What do you mean? Like when I watch you work?"
She shook her head. "It's bigger than that. It's like there's always somebody watching my every move. Especially on Mondays," she wrapped her arms around herself. "It's always worse on Mondays."
Castle climbed onto the hood of the car and lay down next to her. "How so?" he prodded.
"Not only do I feel like I'm being watched, I always hear music playing. Sometimes it's intense violins and ominous clarinets. Sometimes it's just pop music…" she trailed off. "I know this sounds insane, but when I came out of the pool in 'To Love and Die in L.A' I swear I heard Sloan's 'The Other Side.'"
"Wait. What does that even mean?"
She didn't seem to hear him. "Lately I just feel really out of sorts," Beckett sighed. "Maybe it's because the season is coming to an end."
"Maybe you just need some sleep."
Beckett rolled onto her side to look at him. She propped one arm under her and furrowed her eyebrows. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"
He gulped. "No, no… Never."
"It's okay. I think I'm crazy too," she sighed. "I mean, what kind of psycho doesn't remember how she met her boyfriend?"
"What?"
"The first thing I remember involving Josh is in 'Punked' when he came to get me at the precinct. At the time I felt like I knew him for weeks, maybe even months. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I can't remember anything about him from before."
"I don't follow…"
"It's almost like Lanie and Esposito," she began. "You know they're together and trying to hide it, right?"
Castle nodded.
"But do you remember the moment when you realized that they were dating?"
Castle stopped nodding.
"Do you remember ever discovering their secret? Do you remember ever discussing it with anybody?" she continued. "Or did you just get up one morning, and just know. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. And you have no idea how you know. You just do."
"Now that you mention it…"
She rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. "At least it's almost the end of the season. I'm so ready for summer."
"Anything special planned?" asked Castle.
"I'll be able to recharge emotionally during the four month hiatus," she said. "Unless of course there's a cliffhanger…"
"Cliffhanger?"
"Just think, Castle," she said. "Just a few more days…"
A/N: Thoughts?
