Author's Notes:
Thank you for reading my story, I hope you enjoy it.
This story is a reposting of one I did on another Castle FanFic site.
It takes place somewhere in the fourth or fifth season timeframe. No particular reference points needed. No spoilers.
I decided to just post it as one long story instead of breaking it up into chapters. I hope that it doesn't detract from it.
Disclaimer:
All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Beckett and Castle are riding in her cruiser, heading back to the station after checking up on a suspect's alibi. It's late and they've been going non-stop on this case since early in the morning.
"You know, I was sure that his alibi was going to fall apart." Sighed Beckett.
"You were sure? I bet on it with Esposito! I now owe him a bottle of tequila!" Grouses Castle.
"Well, I'm at my wits end for the night. How about you Castle?" Beckett asks.
"Yea. I figure a good night's sleep and start fresh in the..." screaming "LOOKOUT!"
Beckett deftly controls the car swerving to avoid another car careening through the intersection.
"Son of a bitch!" Yells Castle spilling his coffee all over himself.
"I really hate idiots like this." States Beckett, reaching down to turn on the lights and siren. The driver pulls over. "This is Lincoln fifteen, I have a vehicle stopped, New York plate, Ocean Ida Nora Thee Four Five"
"I want to charge this idiot with my cleaning bill. Next time, I'm checking to make sure the cover is on tight on my coffee." Says Castle, trying to clean up the coffee he's spilled all over himself.
"Wow, you're a mess. I know I don't need to say it but stay here. There's napkins in the glove box." Smiles Beckett at Castle.
"Wow, a traffic stop, this is a first for me. I wish I could stand up without looking like... well, you know." Castle says more to the cosmos than to anyone in particular.
Beckett closes the door and approaches the car. Hand on her weapon, she taps on the driver's window. As the window goes down, she backs off fanning the air in front of her face. Talking to the driver, she has him turn off the car and hand her the keys, she puts them on the roof of the car. Waiting, the driver gives her some papers. Obviously his license and registration. She backs away from the car toward her cruiser.
She opens the door and gets in. "Wow Castle, you don't do anything half-way do you?" Smirking.
"Detective Beckett..."
"Yes? You were going to say?" She asks curtly challenging him humorously.
"Nothing Detective Beckett. Nothing at all. I have nothing to say. I'm just going to clean up this mess." He says continuing to mop up the spilled coffee.
"Good idea. Meanwhile, I have to get uniforms down here to take this guy in. I could have gotten a contact high from just standing outside his window. It smells like his last meal was hydraulic and 100 proof with a quick something from Columbia." Picking up her microphone she calls in for a uniform cruiser to take the guy into custody and a tow truck to pick up the car.
"Well Castle. The good news is we have a few more minutes until someone shows up for you to clean up your mess. The bad news is I still have to do paperwork on this jerk."
She pulls out a clipboard and begins to do the paperwork for arresting this guy. Just then, the uniforms show up in another cruiser. She gets out and starts to talk to the uniforms who arrest the guy and take over the scene. Beckett hands them the license and registration and another piece of paper from her clipboard. She shakes their hands and gets back into her car.
"Hey Scooby, finished making a mess?" She smirks.
"Y'know Beckett, I never thought I'd see your mean side come out like this." Castle says with a glint in his eye.
"Come on Castle. Stuff happens. At least you finally took my advice and left a change of clothes at the precinct. You can change while I finish the paperwork for this stop and then I'll take you for a burger and give you a ride home. Sound good to you?" She asks turning off the police lights and pulling the car back into traffic.
"Thank you. Yes, sounds good to me." Castle agrees.
A little later, at the precinct, as our dynamic duo get off the elevator...
"Castle! Nice suit! Is that one of those high-class works of performance art?" Laughs Ryan.
"Beckett, do we need to get him a big bib?" asks Esposito.
"I can see I'll be hearing about this for a few days." Sighs Castle.
"Oh Castle, I wouldn't worry about it, this is going to be good for more than a few days, we can milk something like this for a couple of weeks." Laughs Beckett.
"Great. I feel like a drowning man being tossed an anvil." says Castle under his breath as he empties his pockets into Beckett's desk drawer. "Hope you don't mind. I have to go change."
"That's fine Castle, I'll watch your goodies." Suddenly realizing the double entendre meaning of what she said. "From your pockets! Go change!"
Smiling at her, he heads for the locker room. She quickly turns and starts to type on her computer blushing a bit. A couple of minutes pass and she hears her phone ringing. She picks it up and it's not her's. It's Castle's phone that he left on her desk. She sees it's Alexis and she answers the call. "Hi Alexis, sorry, your dad had to ... WHAT? Where are you? We'll be right there!" She springs to her feet grabbing Castle's wallet and money, sticking them into her jacket pocket, she charges into the locker room yelling "CASTLE! CASTLE! Emergency, Alexis needs you!"
He comes around the corner with his shirt still unbuttoned and his shoes in his hands. "What's going on?"
"She just called you and said she needs help. Come on!" Beckett barks.
They run to the elevator and he starts to put his shoes on as the doors close.
Beckett is driving fast, lights and sirens going. Castle has his phone to his ear. "Alexis! We're on our way. What's going on? Are you alright? Do you have anyone around you? Good! Don't leave the crowd. We'll be there in a couple of minutes. Do you know who he is?" Listens "John Hyde. Got it. Is your friend also okay? Good, keep her awake and sitting up. I'm going to hang up for a few minutes. Don't worry, we're almost there." He hangs up his phone and starts to button his shirt as Beckett swerves through traffic. They pull up to a bar and jump out of the car. Alexis is sitting on the curb with her friend who's vomiting.
"DAD!" She jumps up and they hug. Then holding her at arm's length and sees a big bruise on her face.
"How'd you get that?" He asks, obviously panicked.
"After I figured out my and Kim's drinks were spiked, I started to drag her out and he, this guy, John Hyde, said she was going to stay with him. I told him no and started to take his hand off of her arm and he slapped me calling me a bitch and some other things." Alexis says, tears welling up in her eyes but she's maintaining remarkable control over her voice.
"Castle! Stay with Kim and call dispatch for an ambulance for her!" Beckett yells pointing to Alexis' friend. "Alexis, come with me. I want to meet this guy."
Alexis looks at Castle and he nods to her for reassurance. As Beckett and Alexis head into the bar, Beckett takes her shield off of her belt and puts it into her coat pocket and pushes her gun further back on her belt. Inside the bar, Beckett holds onto Alexis' hand as they move through the crowd heading to the guy who hit her. Alexis points to a big guy, obviously an athlete, handsome and loud. Beckett motions for her to hang back. She walks over to the guy who didn't see her approaching and starts to talk to him turning on her charm and smiling. The guy's obviously thinking his magnetic masculine attraction is working when Beckett, still smiling, points to Alexis and the guy looks back at her and yells at Beckett, "That slut's a lying tease!" and he begins to turn, lifting his arm in a manner that Beckett uses to her advantage. She takes the guy apart in a couple of easy motions driving him to the floor smashing his face down blooding his nose. She kneels on his back as she pulls out her cuffs and puts them on him.
"Who the hell do you think you are you little bitch?" he screams.
"I'm the little bitch that just kicked your ass! You should have asked that before you decided to assault a police officer." Beckett yells loudly so everyone can hear it.
She starts to check his pockets and finds a small bottle of pills, obviously, unmarked and not something he should be carrying. "Hey idiot, these rufies?" she says waving the bottle at him.
Two bouncers come up to her and she pulls out her badge identifying herself. Then she yells over the din, "Alexis! Is this the guy who hit you?"
Alexis yells back "Yes Detective, that's John Hyde, he's the one who slapped me and was trying to pull my friend away from me. He's also the one who bought these drinks for me and Kim."
Beckett points to the bouncer and then to Alexis, and he understands right away to escort her. She points at the other bouncer then at the suspect on the floor and he immediately helps her pick the guy up by his other arm.
"Alexis, where's your drink?" Beckett asks.
"I kept it, right here. I also have Kim's. I figured that we might need them." Alexis offers showing the drinks in her hand.
"Alexis, your father's going to be very proud of you." Beckett says. She heads to the door with the two bouncers and the suspect in cuffs to a roaring round of applause and cheers.
As they go out the door, she starts to read this guy his rights as Castle springs to his feet and rushes for the guy with his fists clenched. Beckett and Alexis stop him in time.
"I want that bastard!" Screams Castle.
"Don't worry Rick, he's not walking away from this mess he's gotten himself into." Says Beckett to Castle's face. "Did you get the ambulance?" as she says it, she hears it pull around the corner and arrive. Two uniform cruisers appear also. Beckett takes the guy in cuffs and walks him over to one of the uniforms and starts reading his rights to him again from the beginning.
"Alexis, I'm so glad you're safe." Castle says, squeezing her a bit too much.
"Dad. Thanks for coming. I was really scared. I was actually more worried about Kim, because I didn't know if I'd be able to keep her awake and moving to get her out."
Again, Castle squeezes her in a bear hug. "Dad! Boundaries! Let's do that later!" she says smiling.
"Okay, would you please go sit in Beckett's car? I suspect they'll need to question you too. Why do you still have those drinks, I think you can throw them away now." as he reaches for them.
Alexis pulls them out of his reach "NO! They're evidence. This is my drink and this is Kim's. I told Detective Beckett I had them."
Castle smiles at his little girl. "We're going to have to ask for a DNA test one of these days to make sure you're really my child. Meanwhile, go sit in her car please. Love you pumpkin!" he calls after her.
The EMTs starts to tend to Kim, putting her on a gurney and checking her out. Beckett pulls the little bottle of pills from her pocket and the guy's wallet and gives them to the uniform officer. She waves over one of the bouncers and begins to talk to him and the officer. They both nod at her and she leaves them to head to where Castle is. "How's Alexis?" she asks.
"She's good, she's pretty shook up and she's probably going to have a shiner tomorrow when that bruise really starts to show." Castle says, obviously coming down from the adrenaline high.
Beckett begins to verbally run through a quick checklist "Let's see, she's got their drinks. I have the two uniforms taking him into custody and I'll get the other officers to impound the drinks for evidence. I've asked the EMTs to take a blood sample from Kim and bag it for evidence. Castle, you stay with Alexis and make sure she's calmed down. I'll have the EMTs check her and get a blood sample when they're done with Kim."
She walks over to the other uniform cops and talks to them then heads to the ambulance crew and talks to them pointing to Alexis in her car. As she walks back towards Castle, she pulls her phone out and makes a call. "Lanie? Beckett. Are you still in the office? Great, would you mind waiting for me? I'm going to have some evidence brought in for analysis and I want to make sure there's absolutely no mistakes. You might want to do that thing with a lab-tech as a witness." Smiles "That's why I called the best. I'll tell you all the details when we get in. I think we're about fifteen minutes away." ... "Thanks Lanie. You're a great friend." she says as she hangs up her phone now standing in front of Castle.
Looking at him and trying to lighten up his state of mind she says smiling "Hey, Castle, you know, I really don't mind a quiet night occasionally. You don't have to show me a good time every time we're together."
He looks at Alexis, now being checked out by an EMT, over to the jerk in the back of the cruiser, back to Kim on the stretcher, then back at Beckett. He smiles at her and begins to cry and, choking, says "Thank you." obviously unable to say anything else. She pats his arm. Without blinking he grabs Beckett in a bear hug and lifts her off her feet. Putting her down he turns and heads to the car where Alexis is.
Inside the precinct, Alexis is talking to Lanie and a lab-tech, explaining which drink, now in evidence bags, is which, and the story behind them. Lanie puts the evidence bags down on the table and picks up her camera to take pictures of Alexis' face and the bruise pattern. On the table is also an evidence bag with the small bottle of pills in it and two more bags each with a tube of blood taken by the EMTs. Lanie carefully strokes Alexis' hair back and looks concerned as she takes the first of many pictures. The pain on Lanie's face is almost worse than the pain Alexis feels.
Meanwhile, in the bullpen, Beckett is typing up her report on the incident when Castle walks up and puts a coffee on her desk.
"Thank you Castle but I..." she begins
"It's decaf." he smiles at her.
She smiles knowing what it means. "Thanks Castle."
He sits down in his chair, slowly. Obviously fatigued. Hunched over, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees.
"Kate." he starts to say quietly.
"Rick. You don't need to say anything. I'm just glad we could be there for her and you." She leans in and whispers to him.
He doesn't move. He just reaches out and squeezes her arm.
She pats his hand and smiles. "It doesn't matter if he has done this before and skated. This time, he met his match in Alexis and he's going down for it. She did a remarkable job of collecting evidence and staying in control."
"She's amazing isn't she?" He says still staring at the floor, tears in his eyes.
"Castle, have you ever considered getting a DNA test done to make sure that she's really your child?" she says playfully giving him that warm smile that melts his heart.
"I said the same thing to her earlier." he says smiling back at her. "Do we need to do anything else, reports, tests, anything?"
"No, in a little while Lanie will be done and I'll have one of the SVU cops get her statement and Kim's."
"SVU? Why? He didn't..." Sheer panic rising in his voice.
"No. No. No. Calm down. Nothing like that. I know we could question her but the SVU team is specially trained to question someone who's been in a situation like that, they know better than we do what the drugs do and how they affect the person's perception. Just remember, they question victims, we interrogate perpetrators. I also think that it would be smart for us to be able to prove that our involvement in the case has had minimal influence on the outcome. I suspect that this isn't the first time this guy's tried this but I'm sure it's the first time that he's been trapped and unable to weasel his way out of it. SVU might be interested in learning more about him."
"You know, you're a pretty smart lady." he smiles at her.
"Well thank you for the complement Mr Castle." Kate says smiling a little shyly.
"Just so you know, that was two complements. Pretty and smart." Castle says quietly. "When Alexis is done, I say the three of us go get those burgers. You interested?"
"It's a date." she says winking at him "Meanwhile, I am going to finish this report."
"That's fine by me. If you don't mind, I'm going to just sit here and keep you company so you don't feel alone." He says leaning over in his chair resting his elbows on his knees again and closing his eyes.
"Always." she smiles at him patting his shoulder "Oh, by the way, should you call Martha?"
"I'm going to wait until Alexis is done or should I say everyone's done with Alexis so that she can talk to her directly, it'll cause her less panic." He says.
"There you go again making sense and acting like a grownup. You scare me when you do that." Beckett says without missing a beat while she works on the report.
"Thanks. I only do it to keep you on your toes." He says, a smile his only change in countenance.
"DAD!" Alexis calls running from the elevator.
Jumping up, Castle wraps her in a big hug. "There's my pumpkin! I'm so glad you are okay." Kissing her head.
"Me too! I was so scared. Do we know that Kim is going to be alright?" Alexis asks concerned for her friend.
"We haven't heard from them yet. They were going to interview her after you." says Beckett.
"Detective Beckett. Thank you so very much for everything. Especially the sight of him being slammed into the floor. That was sweet. I can't wait to tell Kim what you did." Alexis says to Kate.
"Alexis, I'm very glad to have been able to help. We can talk more but I think you need to call your grandmother first. You can use the phone in that conference room over there." Kate says pointing to the conference room.
Alexis goes and calls her grandmother. When she's done, she comes back to Beckett's desk. Just then. Beckett's desk phone rings. "Beckett." ... "Really? Well, that's good." ... "How many?" Smiling and looking at Castle and winking at Alexis "I'll pass that on to my team, thank you. So Kim is going to be okay?" ... "That's great. I'm so glad. Is she going to stay overnight? We'll check in on her in a little while. Thanks for letting me know and taking care of this situation. I'm glad he's finally met his match." ... "I'll tell her, thank you, 'bye." She hangs up the phone, sits back and smiling, looks at the two Castles and says "Well. Y'know Ricky, I think you really need to hurry up with that DNA test. It seems that this guy has been accused of rape and attempted rape a number of times and no one has ever been able to nail him. He's also suspected in about a dozen more cases of sexual assault and drugging women. He's got a good lawyer who's been able to keep him from getting charged each time. In some cases, even paying off the accusers, until he ran into one particular red-head who did more to build a case against him than a team of SVU detectives ever could."
"Really?" Alexis says, looking a little scared "Do I have to go to court or anything?"
"No, it doesn't seem so. The detective from SVU says that they're pretty confident that this guy is going to cop to a plea to minimize his jail time but he's still going to be a registered sex offender officially and his days are really numbered as a stud. He'll probably be bounced out of school for it too. You have saved a lot of girls and women a lot of heartache and likely worse. The SVU detective wants to know if you want a job." Beckett finishes the statement with a wink.
"Wow Dad, I think I see why you like this." Says Alexis.
Castle smiles proudly at Beckett. "A real chip off the ole' block isn't she!"
Beckett rolls her eyes "Castle, I have one thing to say to you. D-N-A" she says smiling at him.
"Alexis, do you want a ride to see Kim?" asks Beckett.
"Yes, that'd be great, thank you."
"I should ask, did Lanie ask you to come back tomorrow for more pictures when that bruise really blooms?" Kate asks pointing to Alexis' bruised eye.
"No, she didn't mention it. If you need me, just call, I can come over between classes." Offers Alexis.
"Hey pumpkin, we're going for burgers at Remy's after we see Kim, do you want to come with us?"
"I'd love to dad. Thanks. We should invite Grams, she's going to need some face-time." Says Alexis, thinking of her grandmother worrying about her.
"We'll swing by and pick her up first. She might want to hear what Kim says too." says Beckett as she gets up and grabs her keys starting to head for the elevator with Alexis.
Beckett smiles back at Castle and says "Hey Ricky, you comin' with us?"
"Always!" he says as he runs after the two women as they head for the elevator.
### The End ###
Thank you for reading my story, I hope you enjoyed it.
By all means, please leave me feedback/reviews on this or any of the other stories I've posted here. I'd like to know what's good and what needs improvement.