Chapter One.

"Castle, I'm not guessing."

"Guess."

"I'm not guessing."

He had been like this since Beckett had picked him up from the loft this morning. Apparently he had some major news, but he couldn't just tell her, no. That would be too easy, too normal. She had to guess. The trouble was that this was Castle, meaning it could be anything. Where would she start? At first his perseverance was admirable, a little cute even - not that she'd ever admit to it, of course. But now it was plain annoying.

Thank God they were almost at the Precinct.

Oh, brilliant. A red light.

How on Earth could there be this much traffic at 8am.

"I'll give you a clue."

"I don't need a clue, because I'm not guessing."

"Come on! It's Nikki-related!"

That got her attention.

" I am not posing for 'Frozen Heat' cover art."

"Good idea! But that's not it."

Now she was overcome with down right I'm-Going-To-Throttle-You frustration.

Finally, green.

She hadn't been called in this morning, but she had a tonne of paperwork littering her desk and she could hear it calling her name. By some unknown miracle, Castle had been roped into coming along to help her. That, coupled with the fact that the coffee was extra good this morning was the reason he was able to nag her for 20 minutes straight and still have an ear on either side of his head.

Now he was stomping his feet on the passenger side floor of her Crown Victoria and whining.

"Beeeeeeeeeeckeeeeeeeeeett!"

She slammed on the breaks having almost rammed into the midnight purple Sudan ahead of them.

She turned to glare and him, eyes narrows and the vein on the left side of her forehead pumping adrenaline. It looked ready to burst.

"WHAT!?"

Castle swallowed around the terrified lump in his throat.

"Umm.. I.. Uuhhh .. Doesn't matter."

Kate turned back to the road, loosening the death grip she had on the steering wheel and watching as her knuckles returned to their usual colour.

"Yeah. Didn't think so."

They pulled into the Precinct car park a mere 5 minutes later, Castle hadn't so much as squeaked since her little outburst. She felt sorry for him in a way, he was just excited, like a kid at Christmas. A spoilt, whiny kid with a book on '1001 Ways To Piss Off A Detective' under the tree. And Beckett had a feeling he would have said book memorised by Boxing Day. Hell, he probably wrote it.

The ride up on the elevator was as awkward as awkward could be. The accidental elbow bumps every time the lift jolted, they were awkward. The stolen glances when one thought the other wasn't looking, they were awkward. The overall silence that somehow managed to pollute the air - awkward. She couldn't take it anymore.

"You're getting a puppy."

"Wha .. I .. Huh ..?"

"You wanted me to guess, I'm guessing."

The elevator stopped and Beckett strode into the Bullpen, Castle at her heels. Following the swish of her hips, the bounce of her curls that tumbled across her shoulders and her cream coloured turtleneck and the click clack of her 4-inch boots across the aged wooden planks.

She lowered herself into her chair after setting her coffee down on her desk and unravelling her scarf.

Castle followed pursuit, he set down his coffee, he discarded his coat, he sat down, he pulled out his iPhone.

He was still lost for words - hah, imagine that. A writer , lost for words- she was actually playing along!

He regained his equilibrium, kinda.

"Oh .. Uuhh .. No, no puppy. Alexis doesn't think I can handle the responsibility." he sulked. "But no, it has to do with Nikki remember?"

She looked up from the first load of paperwork she had just begun.

"Oh, of course. Uumm .. Nikki's getting a puppy.?"

"Who's getting a puppy?" It was Ryan, he had just arrived in a snazzy new grey sweater vest - from Jenny no doubt - , phone in one hand, ' Heat Rises' in the other.

Castle cut in. "No one. No, Beckett, It's not a puppy."

"Okay guys, what's going on?"

"Well, I've got big Nikki News, but I'm not telling until our fine Detective here guesses."

Ryan still had a puzzled look about him, but decided to let it go.

'Right." And with that he left Castle to his Angry Birds and Beckett to her paperwork, so he could tend to the ever growing pile on his own desk.

Kate looked up from beneath her lashes and furrowed her brow.

Cute.

"Uuumm .. Okay, not a puppy. Don't tell me you've returned to your 'Stripper by day, Cop by night' thing."

He seemed to consider that one for a while before he was the concern flood her eyes.

"Nope, too late in the series for that now."

Beckett breathed a sigh of relief, filled out the last of the page she was currently working on in her unreasonably neat block letters and flipped to the next sheet.

She was just about to ask if Nikki had gone to the Dark Side, when Ryan interrupted.

"Espo's on his way in. He sounds spooked."

Both Kate and Castle looked confused.

"Why?" asked Castle. "It's supposed to be his day off."

"That's why I'm worried."

Rick focussed his gaze back on Beckett, her eyes were glazed over and she was staring into space.

"Beckett?" He shook her arm.

No response.

"Kate!" He shook harder.

That seemed to bring her back to Earth.

"Hmmm ..?"

Just as Castle was about to ask where she disappeared to just now, Esposito walked in.

He walked with a certain urgency, and all the colour appeared to have been drained from his face. His skin was now a terrifying waxy white pallor.

He opened his mouth but the sound barely carried. "We've got a body."

The three other members of the team began to gather their coats.

"Wait."

They all halted and looked to him; questions plastered all over each of their faces.

"It's Karpowski."