Kate Beckett sat looking through what seemed to be endless amounts of paperwork that had been left to be filled out during the cases. Since there was currently no case, there was no need to babysit Castle, but without the fully-grown eight year-old to watch, she had to admit that life would be more interesting if Castle were there. She didn't look up when her door opened; if the person wanted to speak with her they would have to do so to get her attention. The time passed and she began to think that she had just imagined the door opening. Unfortunately for her, she was wrong. She glanced at her cup of coffee and realized it was empty. She looked up and found herself inches away from Castle's face. She scowled but otherwise chose to ignore him. Kate picked up her coffee cup and walked into the break-room. She knew Castle would follow her because he didn't like to be ignored. Without thinking she filled up her coffee with the expresso machine.

"Ha!!" came Castle's triumphant cry from behind her.

She scowled and made her way back to the office, part of her wishing that the rest of her was not so adamant about disliking him. Castle of course followed her and dragged a chair into the room before sitting down beside her. He was now breathing down her neck, but Detective Kate Beckett was stubborn and no matter how much she wanted to she would not give in to his game. Now he was more like a dog than an eight year-old, she thought. Any kind of attention is good attention; he even seemed to like the negative attention. Her phone rang.

"Beckett," she answered after flipping the phone open.

"Do we have a body?" Castle asked and she shot him a glare.

"Wait," Kate said, "What do you mean?"

She paused, her mouth slightly open as she took in what Lanie had said.

"No, I'll be there. I just have to…" Her voice trailed off and she snapped her phone shut.

Kate looked down at her desk for a moment her sight slightly clouded by her emotions. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying in front of Castle, something she knew she would never live down. Hurriedly, she slipped her jacket on and made her way to the women's room. She leaned back against the sink. She could feel her chest constricting as she let the tears fall.

"Why," she choked quietly her hands running over her father's watch, "Why him?"

"Kate!" she heard Castle yell from outside the door, "Kate, do we have a case or not?"

She made her way to the door after she wiped the tears out of her eyes and opened the door.

"Castle, if you have any pride in your appearance, don't push me," Kate glared at him her voice dangerously close to breaking.

She saw Castle get a curious look on his face and hoped he'd have the tact not to ask. At least he seemed to have some sense of her emotions because, for once, he didn't speak. She made her way to the car quickly trying to focus on the fact that she had another case and that she was at work. This was just like any other homicide. It was just one of the "freaky ones" that she liked. She slid into the seat of the car and put the keys in the ignition. Castle got into the passenger seat and stared straight forward for a while as they pulled out of the precinct and onto the road. Kate kept her gaze focused on the road in front of her. She could feel Castle's eyes on her observing her.

"What, Castle?" She turned her gaze on him for a moment before looking away from him again not wanting the man to see her pain.

"Kate," he started.

"I told you to call me Beckett," She snapped at him.

"Kate, what are we investigating?" He asked.

"A man was found dead in Central Park this morning. I don't know all the details. He used to be a cop at the precinct. He was from Manhattan," She replied working impossibly hard to keep her voice even.

"Manhattan?" Castle asked.

"Yes, Manhattan, Castle. Do I need to repeat everything twice for you?" She turned to him for a moment and then focused on the road again.

Castle didn't reply but she could tell he was still looking at her. Now she chose to ignore him emptying her mind so she thought of nothing but the cars around her. She felt a tear run down her cheek but flicked it away in annoyance. Why him? She thought again.

"Kate?"

"Castle!"

"Are you alright?" Castle asked.

Kate didn't answer. She'd chosen to ignore him again. Her phone wrung again.

"Beckett," she answered. She paused for a moment to listen.

"I'm taking the case, Esposito! Don't try to talk me out of it. I can deal with it. The least I can do is make sure this doesn't end up another cold case. I'm going to bring to justice whoever did this. I can…" She stopped for a moment as she noticed Castle was staring at her again and she flicked a few tears away from her cheeks.

"What, Castle?!" she yelled at him. He looked away immediately.

"Esposito, I'm coming, and no amount of your concern is going to stop me. I will be the detective on this case!" She snapped her phone shut before the man on the other side could say anything else.

Everything seemed to be in a fog. She could feel her heart physically hurting. How could this have happened? I knew he had some enemies; anyone in the police force picks up enemies especially if they're in narcotics like he was. I suppose it's just something you don't expect to happen until it does. She was running over everything she knew about him thinking about those he'd offended or taken into custody. Why couldn't she think of anything?!

"Beckett!" Castle yelled.

Kate slammed her foot onto the break realizing she'd almost driven through the red light. Castle flew forward out of his seat, his head colliding with the windshield and his stomach hitting the dashboard.

"Wow, do you think you could do that a little more carefully next time?" Castle complained.

"What did you want me to do, drift halfway into a New York City intersection? Wear a seat belt Castle," she snapped back, irritated at herself and him.

"You are really distracted today, Beckett," Castle commented.

She didn't comment but rather glared at the traffic light as it turned green. She lifted her hand to her forehead for a moment trying to think of anything but this investigation. She turned into the park and drove to the crime scene. The yellow tape was everywhere tied from trees to lamppost to benches and then back to the trees. Kate stopped the car and slowly got out. She ducked under the tape and walked to where Lanie knelt beside the body of a man lying on his stomach face down.

"Beckett's here," she heard someone announce but it was not the same tone as it usually was. Somehow it seemed reluctant as though the other detectives would prefer her not to have appeared. Lanie stood and walked over to her.

"Are you sure you want to see this? You don't have to take the case, someone else can always…"

"Lanie you're a good friend but I need this," Kate paused and glanced over the ME's shoulder, "I can't go home and become like all those other victims families. I can't sit around wallowing in grief knowing that there's something I could be doing."

Lanie looked at her for a moment seemingly unconvinced and then said, "Fine."

She stepped aside and Kate made her way to the man's body. She knelt down for a moment and noticed that there was something written in dotted letters on the inside of his wrist and forearm.

"Lanie, did you notice this?" She asked trying her best to sound unaffected.

Lanie walked over to her and tilted his wrists upward. What seemed to be a code was scrawled there. There were many different figures all seeming to pertain to something in nature. The writing was not solid but rather seemed to be made of dots. There three rows of them too.

"Whoa," Castle had come up and knelt beside them. He was now staring at them in awe.

"We'll have to roll him over and see what is on the rest of his body."

"Do you have a C.O.D. yet?" Castle asked.

"I wasn't allowed to turn him over until Beckett arrived. There are no indications of trauma on his visible skin. I'm assuming that if there is any evidence of the cause of death it will either be under the clothes or visible on his front." The ME answered.

"Are you positive of his identity?" Kate asked her professional voice slipping for a moment.

"Esposito," Lanie turned to him and held her hand out.

Kate watched as Esposito handed a wallet to Lanie. Lanie opened the wallet and handed it to her. She looked down at the license.

"Thomas Karl Beckett," she whispered almost too quietly for anyone but her to hear.

"Wait…" Castle spoke, "This is your… Dad?"

Kate looked up at him for a moment and then turned back to the body. Lanie gave her a questioning look and when she nodded gestured to a couple other people. She began to roll the body over so his face was upward. She had to turn her face away now. Kate couldn't look into her father's face, see him lying there in the grass like so many of the other victims she'd worked on.

"He has a sharp blow to the right temple but it doesn't appear severe enough to kill him," The ME commented, "I can't see anything on him but that… wait," Lanie reached out and grasped his wrist where there appeared to be a accidental red dot instead of the black dotted figures over his arms, "This small wound here looks as though it was caused by a needle,"

Kate looked now, at the small red dot among all the black more intently. It did indeed look as though it had been made by a needle.

"Alright, let's get him into a bag and take him to the lab. There's more to this than there seems to be," the ME ordered.

Kate turned around and made her way quickly back toward the car. She leaned against it trying to control her anger. She balled her hands into fists inside the pockets of her red coat and stared in absolute determination at the ground.

(Later)

Kate sat at her desk looking aimlessly at her computer screen. "Microsoft" bounced off the imaginary walls inside the window. She hardly noticed anything around her. She was so tired. It was three AM and she'd still not left. She thought if she left she might not have the will to come back. If that were to be the case then her father's murder would not be solved. Of course that wasn't entirely true; someone else probably would but she wouldn't have the satisfaction of successfully putting away her father's killer. She stood and walked over to the murder board. In the top left corner there was a picture of her father in his cop's uniform. There was nothing else there but for a few notes about the figures they'd found covering his arms.

Kate opened one of the pens and began to write. With each new name she added was added another story. How had she managed to start thinking like Castle? First she wrote down his enemies, then his friends, and then the people he had convicted. A name in the list leapt out at her, Marvin Whitting. She vaguely remembered it. It was on both the friends and the enemies list. That would be her first stop tomorrow.

Kate moved back to her computer and opened up the police files to see if he had a record. She carefully typed in the name. There was a note about drug dealing but there had been no conviction. Nothing else came up but a D.U.I. charge from six years previously. Still, from that she might be able to find out where he lived. She opened the file. It took some searching but finally she came across the address. He had or did live in the Bronx. She made her way back to the rooms where the precinct kept files on all of their cases. She was driven by a curiosity and anger she didn't know she had. It was her mother's case file that she was after. If she was going to look into her father's murder than she may as well look into her mother's too. Kate leafed through the files and pulled out all of the "B" "E"'s. She carried them back to her desk where she began to read the headings on them and look at the pictures on the fronts of the folders.

(Castle's Apartment)

"You've been extremely quiet tonight," Alexis walked into the room, "Did you watch your 'inspiration' do paperwork again today. Even then you usually have something to say. What's up?"

"We have a new case," Castle replied to his daughter still staring at his computer.

"Do tell. It does not seem as though it is very interesting if this is the way you are reacting to it. What's wrong?" his daughter inquired.

"An Ex-cop was killed," Castle replied.

"Uh-hum?"

"His name was Thomas Karl Beckett," Castle looked up from his computer and at his daughter.

"Related to Detective Kate Beckett, I'm assuming."

"Her father," he replied.

Alexis was staring back at her father with a bit of surprise in her eyes.

"We're working the case," Castle said.

"She's the detective of her own father's murder?" Alexis replied in shock.

"Yes,"

"Why?"

"Her mother was killed and they never solved the murder," Castle explained to his daughter and then stared into the folder in his lap. He picked it up and showed it to her, "This," he paused, "is her case file."

"You are working on her mother's case. Is that why you have been writing less frequently?"

"How do you know I've been writing less?"

"Usually if you're writing a lot you insist upon telling me things I don't want to know," Alexis looked at him, "Plus I can usually here you tapping away on your computer in the next room. Lately that's stopped."

Castle smiled at her for a moment before returning to a look of absolute concentration.

"How did you get that anyway? I thought you had to be a cop to review old cases," his daughter continued her interrogation.

"You would make a very good reporter," Castle commented, "You do have to be a cop to review old cases."

"You stole something else. I thought you only stole evidence,"

"Well nothing's beyond me, plus one of the other detectives gave it to me," Castle set the folder on his desk.

"So, how far have you gotten on solving it?" Alexis asked.

"I haven't had much luck, there's a reason it became a cold case."

"What was to COD?"

"You've been listening to me too much,"

"COD is not that uncommon a term,"

"Really, I haven't heard it that much in medical shows or cop shows," Castle argued.

"You use it in your books," Alexis pointed out, "And in any case I want to know how she died."

"The cops that found her decided it was gang violence. She was stabbed to death. They said that without evidence or leads as to who had done it, it would be nearly impossible for them to find out who the killer was," Castle answered.

"They didn't even really investigate?"

"No, they threw together a file and looked through some records. Then it got put on the back burner and the killer went free,"

"Dad," Alexis came closer and looked at him.

"What?" he looked up and saw that she seemed worried.

"Don't let it mess up your partnership," she advised.

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on, Dad, do I really have to explain your own feelings to you?"

Castle raise an eyebrow.

"Either you really like police work, or you really like Detective Beckett, and personally I don't think it's the former," Alexis fixed him with the teenagers "you really can't be that blind look" before turning to leave.

"Do you really think I'm going to let you get away with analyzing me?" he reached out and grabbed her elbow before spinning her around.

Alexis groaned and then leaned on the desk again.

"What's my punishment then?" she asked cheekily

"I get to analyze you," he grinned.

"Wow, you are really whacked," she commented in mocking exasperation.

"And I'm loving every minute of it," Castle replied.

"Alright, make your analysis so I can get to bed," Alexis sighed

"You, my dear daughter, have a boyfriend," Castle gave her a smug smile.

"We're going to be here a while if you are going to pursue that subject,"

"Oh are we?"

"Only because you won't stop asking questions," Alexis stood and walked out of the room.

"We are not done talking about this. I want to meet him. Sometime…" Castle sat back down and stared at his computer. He'd written nothing, absolutely nothing.

(The Next Morning)

"Beckett?"

Kate opened her eyes and lifted her head from her desk. Actually it was not her desk but rather a large stack of folders. She looked around realizing just how stiff her neck was. Sitting up, she put her hand on the back of her neck and rubbed it for a moment.

"So this is how you look when you get up in the morning,"

The detective groaned as she realized who had woken her. She placed her hand on top of the pile of folders and then looked at the other folder on her desk. The words didn't make sense to her. Why was her father's name on one of her case files? That was when, with a shock she remembered. Kate lifted a hand to her mouth for a moment before recalling why she had been looking through files last night. She also knew from her early morning recollections tha she had not been able to find her mother's file.

"I can't find her," The detective turned her face toward Castles for a moment.

Suddenly, she wondered how he'd gotten in so early. She couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours because the sun had still not risen and not even the captain had gotten there.

"You can't find who?" Castle asked with genuine concern in his voice that surprised her, but as he had said, he was a wise-ass, not a jack-ass.

"I can't find my mother's case file. There was something about my father's case that reminded me of hers but I can't remember what," She looked down at her desk and opened her father's file again. The answer was there somewhere.

"Your mother's… why would you look for that in relation to your father's case?"

"Something about his reminded me of hers, Castle. I just said that. Were you not listening? Why would you be so interested in why I wanted to find it anyway? You pounced on that far too quickly for you to think that it was anything but something you know about," she commented and the look on Castle's face told her exactly what she needed to know.

Kate wasn't sure what to think. Everything was spinning around in her mind too fast for her to digest. Her father was dead, murdered and she was the detective on his case, solving his case. Her… shadow had something to do with the reason she couldn't find her mother's folder and she'd been up most of the night trying to remember every enemy her father had ever had.

"Castle, you better give me a good reason for why I can't find my mother's case file," She stood up, losing her temper in her confusion, and grabbed the front of his shirt.

Castle actually seemed scared this time, but she released him and backed away to at least allow him to explain before she killed him.

"Do you remember when you explained to me what happened to you, when you explained to me that it was you mother and not your father that was killed?" Castle started.

"Of course I remember that. I remember just about every case I've ever had," she replied to him narrowing her eyes, "That was Melanie Cavana, the mother who was murdered by her husband, and then frozen for five years before being dumped at a construction site."

Castle blinked for a moment, "I went to Esposito after you left and asked him to give me your mother's file."

"Why would you find it necessary to do that?"

"I had thought that I might be able to make some headway on it but so far I've found nothing,"

For a moment Kate looked at him, wondering why he was being this honest with her. She supposed it was because this time she actually had just lost someone very close to her. She thought about him for a few seconds before turning away from him and looking at the board. The detective heard the man let out a relieved breath before he commented on the nature of the board.

"Did you do all this last night?" he asked.

"I made a list of the people we should located and possibly talk to. I couldn't get my mind to rest last night so I did this instead," Kate replied quietly.

Something closed around her hand and she looked down to see Castle had taken it. Startled, she looked at him, but he either did not notice her gaze or ignored it.

"Why is this Marvin Whitting on both the friends and enemies list?" Castle asked pointing at the name with his other hand.

She turned her gaze back to the board and considered her answer.

"I was never sure where he and my father were. Sometimes they were on friendly terms and others they weren't speaking. As I recall, Marvin had a problem with drugs and my father arrested him for dealing. He was able to miraculously go free and then asked my father for help. As far as I know, he made a couple big mistakes after that. Most of those were related to drugs, as far as I know. I think he was never able to fully break the habit." She narrated to Castle.

He nodded, "I think if we go to see anyone first it will be him."

"He was the first stop on my list for today," Kate looked at the board again, "Anthony Ponly was a smuggler from Cuba. Father arrested him the year before my mother died. He was convicted but I'm not sure whether he has been released. He is the next person for me to check up on."

"You seem to have given this a good deal of thought. How late were you up last night?"

"It depends, what's the time?" the detective looked away from the board and at the man beside her. He lifted his right hand and shook back his sleeve.

"It's… six o-clock." Castle answered.

"Then I was awake until four at least," Kate replied.

"You should get some sleep then," Castle advised, "I'll drive you back to my apartment and you can sleep there. I'll have breakfast ready when you get up."

Kate narrowed her eyes again and scowled at him, "I won't be able to get any adequate sleep until I catch the murderer who killed my father. That won't change whether I'm here, at my apartment, or at your's." She lowered her eyes to the floor for a moment as her emotions hit her again.

The light seemed to be slowly filtering through the doors from the street outside. It cast a grey glow into the precinct hallway. Kate looked toward the door has she heard the sound of a car. The brakes brought it to a stop and then the sound of another car being put in park came from outside. The door opened and Ryan and Esposito's voices echoed down the hallway.

a/n- dramatic beginning. I hope I did the character's justice. Everyone was to a certain extent OOC but consider the circumstances. Kate's dad is dead. He was murdered and now they are working his case. I thought it would make and interesting twist as well as case. Please tell me what you think.

Tabitha

P.S. this is my first TV show fic. Cut me some slack. I'll try to update as fast as possible but I'm very busy right now. And yes this will eventually be a Beckett/Castle fic but for now I'm just giving you hints.