AN: I loved the idea of Ryan having found his couch on a street corner and the love and appreciation he and Esposito have for the scavenged piece of furniture. Also the horror on Espo's face when he finds out where it came from was brilliant. So I decided that it would be fun to analyse how much a couch or sofa means to the people that own it or use it when it gets violated. as I know for a fact I take mine for granted, but if it were ruined I would get nostalgic about it.
Warning this is the first piece of fanfiction that I've written that involves a crime, but it takes a back seat and then I got bored and wound it up pretty quickly with an effortless Castle-esque explanation, he rides in says something people don't understand, but in the end is the truth. I by far preferred the reactions people had to the lack of couch. Please enjoy xx.
It had been through a lot, he had to admit that as he sat opposite it on his worn out arm chair. He had been lucky that he had managed to find it. Not only find it, but to then get it to his apartment before some other vulture snagged it. It was perfect just what he had wanted; it was big, red and worn in all the right places even before he had taken it. Now though it was broken in to perfection. The perfect living room companion, the seats comfortably shaped so you can sit and lounge with ease and the arm rest dented from elbows playing the X-box and heads that have used it to sleep on. He really loathed to get rid of it, it was his pride and joy; but that was now out of his hands. It wasn't as if he had a choice in the matter. The Crime Scene Unit weren't really big on you keeping evidence that pertained to a case away from them. Also there was the blood stain it didn't really make the couch look very homey any more.
It had seemed like an age since he had come home and found it, but in reality it had been only about half an hour. As always he had taken Jenny home and seen her up to her door kissing her goodnight ever so softly, then he had driven to the takeaway to grab a midnight snack. On getting back to his building he took the stairs instead of the elevator; not because the thing was broken, but he felt it justified the eating of the takeaway. He'd opened his door and swung it inwards hitting the light switch shedding light on the hell that was before him. Everything he owned was scattered all over the floor, glasses broken all his new Richard Castle novels that he had got Castle to sign one after the other shredded and strewn around the table and counter top. Man he was going to have to plead with Castle to get the books for him free of charge this time. He wouldn't have to ask too much to get them signed though. Castle would do that in his sleep, if Richard Castle had an ego problem the problem was his ego was far too big! Maybe this time though he could get Castle to leave off the smart ass remarks in the To Kevin bit of the signing as Esposito had not been happy with the "Please invite Beckett and I to your wedding to Esposito as you make the cutest couple since Barbie and Ken" for some reason he thought it was hilarious… they however didn't agree.
The worst thing though in this whirling mass of entropy was the body on the couch. Once she must have been beautiful Ryan had to admit, but now the poor girl was badly beaten, her lip was swollen and split and her hair was bedraggled and falling over her shoulders in a frizzy brown mass. The worst part however was the scarlet trail from her chest to the floor seeping in to the couch at the top of her legs. She had been positioned like a doll her head resting against the back of the couch leaning to the side her glassy eyes staring across at the TV set that had the end of Gladiator playing on it. Her arm was he assumed supposed to be propping her head up so she was sat in an almost disinterested manner, but that too was slumped against the backrest, her elbow at right angles where Rigor Mortis had set in. Her right arm however was limply lying on her lap palm down with a piece of the shredded Storm Fall under it the text smudged with blood. Being a Homicide detective he had seen scenes like this so many times that nothing surprised him, but he couldn't quite get his head around how much seeing this scene in his own place surprised and scared him. He was so turned around that he didn't even call the station direct with his badge number, he went the civilian way. And didn't that just confuse the girl on the other end and prompted her to then go,
"Isn't this Detective Ryan?" For some reason that sounded weird, but he had responded,
"Uh yeah it is, anyway I've had a break in and there's a body could you send someone around?"
"It's already done sir, you aren't hurt are you?" At this the girl sounded worried, for the life of him he couldn't work out why, he had no recollection of her voice so why did she even care.
"No I'm not I wasn't home when it occurred." The girl on the other end sighed,
"Thank goodness,"
"Yeah," Was all he could reply with as he hung up falling in to his arm chair; he knew he shouldn't it was evidence too, but he was all over his apartment so the CSU were just going to have to suck it up and deal as he was not going to stand in the hallway waiting for everyone to arrive. He was first on scene so he had to make sure it was secure and no better way to do that, than to sit in the thing.
Idly he thought that if he ever got the couch back he was going to have to re-cover it, which was a shame since he had just got it to the perfect shade of red. When he had first snagged it off the street it had been a bright pillar box red, now after years of use it was a dusky, lighter shade that he liked, breaking in a new couch or new fabric was going to be a pain.
Man how many hours had he spent sitting on it, pondering cases, beating Espo at Madden, watching TV, not being at work and snuggled in to his girlfriends. It had really seen a lot. So many memories, if he never got it back it was like a piece of him was gone. If he was honest losing that thing was like losing Espo, it was his partner even if other people thought it was sad. It was always there, it was always welcoming, it was always warm and it had his back. He shook his head man it was as if the couch was actually a real thing, he needed a break… a holiday… something to get him out of the city. After the case he had to know why this had happened to him of all people.
He sat staring at the girl as her blood dripped soundlessly off the couch; spreading the pool of blood across his hardwood floor. He would have dated her in life, she was just his type and most likely he would have kissed her on that couch. The first kisses on that couch were always the sweetest in his opinion from the ones with the law clerk when he had just moved in to the apartment to the drunken night that neither he nor Espo spoke of. It was odd that even though they were blind drunk after work it was the clearest in his memory. That was maybe why the Barbie and Ken comment bugged him as much as it did. Being partners crossed a line, it wasn't just friends, it wasn't just colleagues; it was something more, something confusing. Putting your life on the line for someone always muddled the clean cut lines in relationships and twisted them, nothing was as straight up as it seemed.
He smiled to himself softly, they had always gotten along. He had seen Beckett go through a slew of partners and she had an issue with each one of them so when Detective Javier Esposito had transferred in to their precinct he had worried how things were going to turn out especially when they were put together. However as soon as his new partner walked in to the bull pen he knew he had nothing to worry about, there was this huge laid back yet still fiercely intelligent aura about him and as soon as he spoke that was it. Ryan had found him the guy he knew would have his back when it was needed and he knew that he would have Espo's back no matter where things went. Recently things had been a little weird after the whole Internal Affairs guy being crooked thing and Espo's old partner being on the scene, but now things were back to normal, so he had no idea why he was thinking about that again.
They had closed a really long case, but it hadn't been one of the good ones the body count was high and so many families were broken. The pair had got drunk at their favourite bar trying to get some of the images out of their heads. They had spent so long there that the last train had gone so he had offered his couch up to Espo so he didn't have to pay cab fare. They had both crashed through the door arm in arm trying to stand up straight and then they had fallen on to the couch in a tangled heap. When they unwound themselves from the odd shape they had managed to get themselves into all he could see were Espos' warm, dark brown eyes, the loosened tie hanging out from under his collar and the waist coat opened just a little. Ryan knew it was wrong, but he couldn't stop it.
He shook his head slightly and brought himself back to the present. He looked over to the door and saw the barrel of a gun; he recognised it instantly even without the panicked voice that came with it,
"Ryan where are you!?" His partner shouted worried,
"I'm here Espo don't worry," he watched as Esposito came around the door his eyes wide with shock and the gun in his hand shaking slightly. "It is all clear you can put the gun down." He heard the gun slide in to his holster and then his friend was in front of him hands on his shoulders.
"Are you okay bro?" He asked shaking Ryan slightly,
"Yeah… I think… but look the couch," Ryan replied pointing to it.
"I think you're in shock," Esposito said,
"But look it's my couch!" The dark head in front of him turned around,
"Well now you can get a new one,"
"Do you still think it's gross?" Ryan asked,
"What that you found it on the corner of 54th and Lex?" Ryan nodded, "Yeah a little," he laughed, "But since I like the thing so much as gross as it is that you took it off the street and called it road-kill I'm sort of sad to see it look that way." Ryan nodded again with nothing better to do.
"Wow I wish I had written something like this!" An excited voice said,
"Could you not be so happy about this," A cold female voice responded, "He is one of my colleagues."
"Mine too don't forget!" The excited voice replied.
With that Castle and Beckett walked through the doorway and looked over at Ryan and Esposito. Castle was dressed up in his Sunday best, as if he had just been dragged out of a high class party and Beckett was, well Beckett. When their gazes fell on Ryan they both relaxed visibly, Ryan had no idea what the three of them had been told, but it seemed like the receiving officer had said something had happened to him directly instead of his apartment.
"Do you know her?" Beckett asked pointing at the girl and Ryan shook his head.
"The perfect mystery," Castle said and then his face fell, "Did they rip up my books? Really was that needed?"
"I think it may be necessary," Beckett replied a smirk on her face.
"That coming from the person that has read ALL of my books that seems a little hypocritical."
"I haven't read all of your books!" Beckett replied sounding appalled
"Oh really…" Castle drawled "I beg to differ" he finished with a small movement of his eyebrow,
"If you are quite finished?" Lanie asked trying to get through the door "I have a body to see too," she got to the couch and then glanced as Ryan, "Hey sweetie you okay?" Ryan nodded numbly, Lanie turned back to the girl, "Well honey they made a real mess of you didn't they."
It was almost wrong walking in to Ryan's place without the couch. It had always been his favourite thing in the place, except for his partner that is. Esposito walked through the door and looked at all the powdered surfaces with lift marks in the midst of them. The CSU had made a mess of the place that was for sure. The place was a bomb site, but at the same time it had been gutted entirely, anything that Ryan had ever put in the place had been taken out it was just an empty shell now. It broke Esposito's heart.
"You nearly done in there?" he called out to the bedroom.
"Yeah," was the weak response, "The only thing that CSU left were my clothes and even at that I can't find the ones I want!"
"Just grab anything,"
"Thanks for letting me stay at your place," Ryan said from his bedroom doorway a small smile on his face,
"What are partners for?" Esposito said. "It's wrong," he added,
"What is?" Ryan asked throwing a bag over his shoulder,
"That they did this to you, to the couch. Man it was a good one."
"Yeah it was," Ryan agreed. "Let's go partner, I don't want to come back here till clean up has come through here." he added looking at the congealed red stain on the floor.
"Okay let's get out of here." They both left the apartment in silence with one wondering what to do next and the other that was stuck in the past.
It had been a good few years since Esposito had first walked through the door of his partner's apartment, it had been one of those days the ones that didn't end and when it did, he was too tired to go all the way across town to go home and since Ryan said it was okay to crash at his. He took it as a good thing he didn't have to. As soon as he stepped over the threshold he had been envious of Ryan. His couch was a thing of beauty. Plush and red it was just big enough to seem cosy, but small enough not to dwarf the room. As soon as he had sat on it, he felt as if he was home, it was as cosy and as comfortable as meeting a long lost friend after an extended absence.
As soon as his head had hit the head rest he had fallen asleep and it was one of the best night's sleep he had got since transferring to the new precinct. That was the thing about that couch it was far too comfortable. It didn't matter what they did it was always far too comfortable. It was perfect for playing X-box since all the cushions were just so, it was perfect to watch the game and it was perfect to sleep on. It was all too perfect.
Even when he had found out that Ryan had taken it off the street; he had still loved the couch, not that he would tell Ryan that. If he could have he would have had that couch cloned and put in his own apartment. If he could get one in the same condition as Ryan's he would be happy.
He looked over to his friend and saw that the crystal clear blue eyes were watching him closely.
"What is it?" Ryan asked softly.
"What are you going to do about the couch?"
"Who knows I haven't thought that far ahead." Ryan replied his eyes now on the floor, "I just want to get this case finished with," Esposito put a hand on his partners shoulder,
"Yeah me too man, me too."
Ryan had been stood in front of the murder board for hours the words now swimming in front of his vision. Nothing added up it was all circumstantial, all speculation. It was all: dates, times, places and people who only seemed to cross each other with the smallest of details. Not even Castle and his infinite imagination could make the crime sound at all rational. It just didn't make sense. He wanted a smart board, not so that the answer would come to him, but so that he could move the evidence around without having to wipe it off and rewrite it.
Why had she been at his apartment? Who had put her there? Who had beaten her and then shot her? What did it have to do with him? Why did they need his couch? No matter how the questions started out in his head it always ended the same. It all came down to the fact that he didn't have a couch any more. Clean up had done good by him and his apartment was now all clean and shiny, but in the centre of the room where he should be able to put his body was an empty space, an expanse of floor that he couldn't fill. An expanse he wanted to fill but couldn't.
CSU had apologised to him that they had to cut his couch apart, but it didn't seem like enough. He knew it wasn't their fault, but it didn't make it easier. He felt in some way that they should give him the remains, but then he thought again and didn't really want to see how it had been violated by CSU after the initial violation done by the killer. He was stood staring at the murder board and was so engrossed in it that he didn't realise that his partner had walked in behind him.
"Anything new?" Esposito asked and Ryan jumped,
"No nothing," Ryan replied and felt a gentle hand on his shoulder,
"Have you seen Jenny recently?" Esposito asked staring at the murder board over his shoulder,
"Um no," Ryan mumbled glancing at the long fingers still on his shoulder.
"Why not?" Esposito asked his husky voice holding an edge of his darker nature.
"We aren't together any more," Ryan almost whispered turning his head away from his partner so that Esposito wouldn't see the tears in his eyes.
"Why the hell not?!" Esposito asked flabbergasted.
"She thinks that it's too dangerous to be dating a cop after she found out what happened; I don't blame her for thinking that way, it's just the way it is."
"You didn't fight for her?" Esposito's voice was laced with pure malice,
"If she was worried for her safety what good would it do to force her to stay with me?"
"What good does it do you too not have her around!?" Esposito asked grabbing his friends shoulder in a tight fingered grip. Ryan sighed deeply.
"It's just like the couch," He replied shaking his head, "Once broken, there is no need to fix it." Esposito's grip loosened,
"If that is what you think partner I'll let you, but just so you know I do not agree with you one bit." Ryan turned to him and smiled,
"Well we can't agree on everything right Jav?" Esposito smiled at his other nickname that was used less frequently than Espo.
"No we can't; can we Kevin? That would make the world far too dull."
"Who's dull?" A voice with an obvious smile and mischief asked, the pair turned around to see Castle watching them closely his eyebrows raised, "Obviously not you two," he said waving his hand between the pair. "I think I have a new back story to explore in the next Nikki Heat novel." The pair jumped apart and Castle smirked all the more obviously. "Ooooo this keeps getting more and more interesting," Ryan shook his head his blue eyes sparkling with humour now instead of pain.
"So do you have anything new Castle?" He asked looking at the author.
"Well you see… I was wondering. If you had nothing to do with the girl and none of us did, why was she put in your apartment? Then I started to wonder other things, like why was she beaten and shot? I mean if it was to send a message the beating would be enough, that or the being shot. Doing both was overkill. That or it was a mistake… all of it." Esposito and Ryan looked at each other,
"Bro what are you talking about?" Esposito asked sitting on the edge of his desk.
"Well let's look at it this way, if I were to write this it would be the perfect murder… there is seemingly no motive; there is no connection to anything. It is in essence completely random." Castle threw up his hands and as always was overly dramatic, "Which is its downfall, it's almost too random and unconnected; we thought that maybe she was positioned… well I think the page from my book was, but that was it."
"I don't get it," Ryan stated wearily looking from the murder board to Castle,
"We aren't supposed to," Castle laughed, "That's the whole point, the page wasn't for us. Whatever was on it from my book was for her alone, but the techs can't tell us what it said." The pair shook their heads in disbelief.
"Will you ever talk straight.?" Esposito asked
"Is it bad that in some small way it makes sense to me?" Ryan asked at the same time.
"No," Castle said looking at Esposito, "And no," he said looking at Ryan.
"Oddly hearing that from you is not a comfort," Ryan replied primly and Castle grinned,
"Did you canvas the whole building?"
"No we didn't just Ryan's floor, why?" Beckett asked from over Castle's shoulder.
"Because someone who knows the victim will live on the top floor of Ryan's building. I can bet on it. She wasn't reported missing because she doesn't spend too much time in that building so no one has noticed she's gone." he finished his hypothesis with a quip of his hand and a broad smile.
"You're on!" All three detectives called out and they left the bull pen.
Ryan walked over to Lauren Water's family his face sombre and his mood almost the same. They looked up when he sat down and as always all parties smiled politely even though they didn't want to be there.
"I'm Detective Kevin Ryan," He said standing and shaking all the families' hands, "I was the one who found your daughter," he continued nodding to the parents, "your sister." he finished nodding to the small girl who was sat huddled against her mother. "She was in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend and she was trying to get away from him. She had fought back hard during one of the arguments they had recently and knowing I was a police detective, she ran to my apartment to get help. To get him to stop; only I wasn't there she tried as hard as she could to get in and eventually she broke down the door. Only it wasn't enough by the time she had gotten in to my apartment to hide her boyfriend caught up with her. For reasons of his own he thought that we were having an affair and that was how she had got in to my apartment. Because of this, he drew a gun and shot her. After that he tore up my apartment so that it would look like a burglary gone wrong so that we wouldn't know. Your daughter did all she could she was brave and she fought hard till the end."
"But it just wasn't hard enough," The mother said, "I knew there was something wrong. We phoned her last week and she was shaken up, but she said everything was fine. She came to the city on her own; she wanted to spread her wings so of course we didn't want to crowd her. I only wish now that I had asked her to come home. Oh my baby," She began to cry and so did the youngest daughter.
Ryan always hated this part. It totally undid all the good they had done. Yeah they had caught the killer, yeah he was behind bars and yeah he was going to be lucky if he ever saw the sky again. However that made no difference because the broken family before him could never be fixed. There was always going to be a hole, a wound that no manner of patching up would mend.
"She loved you very much," Ryan said, "She left this for you," he handed them an envelope and smiled softly. "I'm so sorry for your loss. I wish I could have done more," The husband grabbed Ryan's hand and held on tight,
"You did so much, thank you detective," The father said his voice breaking.
"You're very welcome," Ryan said standing. "If you need anything please don't hesitate to call." He handed over his card and the father nodded. He smiled at the youngest daughter that was shaking a little and she smiled back. With his Irish magic spell working on the daughter he ducked out and headed to the coffee machine.
"Here," Castle said passing Ryan a cup "I thought you were going to come in here sooner or later." Ryan nodded and took the cup graciously.
"Again I say he never makes me coffee," Esposito whimpered. "Oh bro I have something to show you after work if you aren't too busy."
"Since we closed the case I'm free." Ryan replied sipping the hot coffee slowly.
"So what is it you wanted to show me?" Ryan asked as he got in the car,
"Wait and see my friend wait and see."
"You know I hate it when you drive," Ryan moaned, but got in the passenger side anyway.
"Well it's not like I can direct you, it'll spoil the surprise."
"Okay, okay, but you owe me a beer for all this cloak and dagger crap."
"Deal bro," was all Esposito said and put the car in gear. They seemed to be driving forever through the rat race of streets as the sun went down and then they began to slow down, on the far side of town. "I know this isn't the couch, it isn't our couch, but you know it was close so I thought you might like it."
"I don't know what you are talking about…" Ryan began and then he looked out the front windscreen. There in front of them on the pavement was a big comfy, red couch, just waiting to be taken. "I thought you said it was gross!?" Ryan asked on the verge of hysteria.
"Things change," Esposito answered with a small shrug.
"Thanks bro," Ryan replied his voice wavering, "This really means a lot."
"Well you know I missed our couch too, so let's start making this one feel like home."
"Yeah," Ryan replied his blue eyes warm, "Let's do that."