Hello folks - happy new year!
A new year brings a new story. This is one idea I've had in my head for quite a while now - probably even before "The Bexhills" came to fruition. I didn't envision the initial plot line being this complicated however! lol. But that's me I guess, thinking mainly about Caskett, and usually very little about the case.
Hopefully it turns out to be interesting for you all to read though, and as always, responses are so very appreciated.
Disclaimer: Do I Live in California? No. Live in America? No. Live in Castle Land? Yes. Hmm, One out of Three - Damn, not quite close enough to be able to say I own them :-(
Beckett felt warm and contented as she yawned softly and rolled over in the large expanse of the satin sheets. Still, she couldn't yawn or stretch away the churning of nerves, nestled in the pit of her stomach, unprepared to relocate to a more convenient location.
She swallowed a lump as she braved herself for her first look at him, of the day. Turning tentatively, preparing herself for that all-familiar feeling of wanting for the man next to her, the man she'd coveted, for four years now; not that he he'd been privy to that knowledge of course.
As if lady fate had read her thoughts, she arranged for the one thing Beckett wished not to happen, to happen. He was awake already, and was taking her in with those piercing blue eyes of his.
Her heart raced to see him, to be so near to him. It would be cruel to reach out and touch him, to kiss him even; if she had no intention of following it up with anything - right? She'd had many moments of weakness, where she had experienced similar, fleeting thoughts. She was a woman after all, and he was a man - was it so wrong?
Yes, yes it was, she reminded herself. Because, she was keeping a secret from him. A secret that would shake the very foundation their relationship...friendship...partnership, was built on. Before she acted on her feelings for him, she had to make it clear to him what they were, where they were at and that she was aware he shared those feelings for her. That she had been aware of them for a year now, for almost a year to the day, in fact.
"Hey" he murmured, breaking her from her thoughts.
Oh crap. Richard Castle + morning voice = Katherine Beckett in trouble.
She blinked up at him, realizing she was doing a lot of staring and very little speaking. "Uh, hey, morning", she smiled weakly.
His gaze held a certain softness reserved only for her.
"How are you?" He smiled back, gently.
She inhaled through her nose and nodded her head a little. "I'm hanging in there, you know."
She felt his body shift, evidently preparing to decamp from the bed.
"How are you?" She asked, trying to mentally restrain him, not ready to lose his warmth just yet.
He cleared his throat. "Probably selfish of me to say but...", he licked his lips, parting his mouth like often he did before saying something to break a case.
"I've never been better", he winced slightly, fearing a repercussion.
Slowly though, surprising him, and even herself, she smiled; the kind of smile that made her eyes crinkle cutely.
For ten seconds - though really it could have been ten months; Castle and Beckett's eyes joined in a familiar dance of uncertainty, longing and finally, at least on Beckett's part; decisiveness.
That decisiveness was not the kind Castle was expecting from his long-desired, never-captured partner.
Sedately, she moved her hand to his shoulder, and used it to pull herself to him. His jaw hit the floor (or the mattress), as she practically came to lie on top of him.
Moving slower than a wet week, she brought her face close to his, the faint hint of a smile, dressing her lips. Seeing the ghost of that smile, coupled with the expectant raise of her brow, gave him the encouragement to lean forward into her.
Both breathed, practically sighing, both, only partly aware of what they were doing, the other part of them, being driven by some magnetic force that neither of them was willing, nor able to control.
They discovered Beckett was the one who wanted this more than even he, as she hummed before their lips could even meet...
21 HOURS EARLIER
"Hey Lanie, what have we got?" Beckett approached the M.E with the air of confidence, of control she always felt when allowed that special entrance through the yellow tape, that the rest of New York would be denied.
"Victim is Brent Tolliver, I.D puts him at thirty-five. Singular gun shot wound to the head", Lanie made a face as she lifted his chin forward to examine the man's skull, where the bullet had torn his head apart. "Body temp puts time of death at two hours ago, so..." the M.E looked at her watch. "Round 7 am."
Beckett looked down at the man lying on his back, on the cold hard tar of the city sidewalk. His brains had spilled out of him, and were now sprawled beside him on the pavement. "Killer knew where to shoot to cause maximum damage", Beckett mused.
"And maximum grossness", the voice she'd been hanging out all morning for, rang out behind her.
Castle came to stand beside her in his typical casual way, holding two large cups of coffee, handing one to his partner.
"Nice of you to join us Castle", Beckett muttered to him out of the corner of her mouth, she took the hot beverage from him.
He grinned. "Is it?" He held the vowels longer than necessary.
She narrowed her eyes at him, a small smile on her lips, and turned back to the victim. "For those of us who were tardy, this is Brent Tolliver, male, 35, GSW to the head, resulting in, well..."
"A hot damn mess. His head's been near taken clear off. Shooter knew what he was doing... actually, it looks like", Castle shuffled back and forth on his feet, not really wanting to say it.
Beckett rolled her eyes at him. "Come on you guys, we've been through this before... it looks like a professional hit - a sniper", despite her attempt at indifference, Beckett's throat did constrict as she said the word.
Lanie and Castle shared a glance, and Lanie nodded. "Yes, it does. So we can assume this wasn't a random hit, unless the sick son of a batch o' cookies was out looking for target practice."
Castle shook his head. "No I think you're right, Tolliver is a name I'm familiar with. There was a Tolliver clan in Chicago who got done for human trafficking. Heard they skipped town, and Illinois cops lost all trace of them, not exactly the same as jumping on the next ship to Taiwan, but I guess New York is big and obscure enough to hide in.. Don't know about you two ladies, but if this is one of the Chicago Tollivers, I think I'm in favor of the sniper."
Beckett's brow furrowed as she knelt beside Lanie and took the man's I.D from her. "Surely, if the Tolliver family moved town, they would have taken the time to get new identities. A family that sly? Acquiring new names would have been a cinch".
"Well sure, they would've just stolen the identities of some of their victims." Castle frowned.
Beckett nodded and stood. "OK, thanks Lanie, we're going to go check out Mr. Tolliver's history. We'll see you at the morgue, a little later."
As she said goodbye to the medical examiner, Castle noticed that she looked up around her, her eyes darting around as she surveyed the skies and tops of nearby buildings.
As he joined her in her stride, he leaned into her. "Next time I'm tardy, you are most welcome to spank me, by the way."
Beckett shook her head, and grinned. Good, his plan worked.
"Oh no, I've got the perfect punishment for you, Castle..." She stopped and came close to him, tantalizingly close, leaning into his ear, she whispered. "Paperwork."
He glared at her teasingly as she bit down her grin and pushed him out of her way.
He followed her, smiling.
...
Back at the precinct, they caught up with Esposito and Ryan.
"Yo!" Esposito's usual brand of greeting broke through the bustling of the Homicide devision.
"Victim's fingerprints came back... unfortunately, our victim is not Brent Tolliver."
Beckett huffed. "No, that would have been far too convenient. So who is he then?"
Ryan shrugged. "Prints aren't coming up in AFIS, seems our vic was one of the good guys."
"Or a bad guy that was smart enough to never get caught", Castle added to the equation.
The three cops made faces at him.
"Bad guys may think they're smart, but belonging to a life of crime is not exactly the mark of wisdom", Beckett voiced, writing "John Doe" on her murder board, above a most gruesome picture of a barely recognizable face.
"So. Where does this leave us?" Beckett asked the men.
"Uh, we're going over trajectories now, but the site is difficult to locate, it appears the shot came from between two high-rises. One that's just in the final stages of completing construction." Ryan told her.
"Between?" Castle's eyebrows raised. "If one of those buildings has been under construction, it could be that the shot came from something mobile, like a crane."
"If that's the case, it could take us weeks to find it", Ryan groaned.
"Can we get hold of the landlords of those buildings?" Beckett asked
"No probs", Esposito said.
"Ok, you two get on to that, Castle and I will delve into the Tolliver case, find out why that I.D was used and if there is any connection from them to this victim."
Esposito and Ryan left the room and Beckett turned to Castle who was watching her with a smile, and a certain look in his eyes - what was it?
"What?" Beckett questioned him.
He shrugged, but the smile didn't leave his face. "I'm just...I'm proud of you."
Ah. Pride, that's what she could now identify the look as.
Beckett's brow furrowed, and she blushed. "Why?"
"Handing off the sniper side of the case to the boys, something so personal to you, it couldn't have been easy."
Beckett shrugged, trying to hide how pleased she was - but really, is it so shameful to be happy when your partner expresses pride in you?
Probably only when you're in love with him.
"Yeah, well. I probably would've been compromised. I'm just trying to do what's right for the case, and for the victim."
"I'm still proud of you", Castle smiled with dopey looking eyes, the kind that told her more than those three words in the cemetery ever could.
...
Later that day, Ryan and Esposito returned to the precinct with the names of the two owners of the high-rise buildings. The owner of the building under construction was Eddie Mayer, who had inherited a truck load of wealth from his grandfather, who had been a 1900's steel tycoon, from Springfield, IL, curiously enough. The other building was owned by a man named Carlton Magetti, the straight laced CEO of the insurance firm "Vesper Insurance."
"Only in America can you name an insurance company after a martini and have people place their life savings with you", Castle joked solemnly.
"This Vesper Insurance, they have a good track record?" Beckett asked the boys.
"Oh yeah, every client in the books only seemed to have good things to say about them. Trusted them completely", Esposito told her.
"What about you guys? You getting anywhere on "Tolliver?" Ryan asked his senior detective.
"No", Beckett shook her head, sighing as she sat down on the corner of her desk. "We're going to release his face to the media in the morning", she said.
With a quick look at her watch, Beckett noted that it was six o'clock already. "Why don't you guys head off. We'll all come back with fresh eyes tomorrow, kay?"
"You got it boss", Esposito gave her a nod and went to put his coat on.
"I'll go make us some coffee", Castle told her.
"Castle, you're a guy, aren't you? Go home."
"I'll leave when my partner leaves", he said simply.
Beckett chuckled internally. "I'll be at it til late and then I'll probably just sleep on the couch", she said.
Castle shrugged, and looked around the room. "Then, I'll take... Detective Carter's chair, it looks the most comfortable."
Beckett shook her head at him. "Castle, you have a family to be getting home to", she moved from her seated position on her desk.
Just then, the glass behind them both, shattered.
People screamed as a cop on the other side of the bullpen fell back.
Castle tackled Beckett to the floor, and then grabbed her by the arms, so that she slid underneath her desk with him.
Castle looked at her in shock, she was as white as a sheet and shaking.
"Are you hurt?" He asked, not bothering to ask her if she was "OK"; he knew that she wasn't.
"No", she barely choked.
"Castle, Beckett, you guys alright?" Esposito yelled out.
"We're not shot, Espo, we're alright, you guys alright?" Castle yelled back.
"Yeah, we're fine", Ryan yelled.
He could hear other people asking each other if they were OK. Slowly, the cops began to rise out from underneath desks and behind shelves, some drawing their weapons, unaware where the bullet had come from.
But Beckett and Castle knew that it hadn't come from inside the 12th, and probably from no where nearby, either.
Beckett sat still, seemingly unable to move. "Stay here", Castle ordered her, she didn't protest.
He stood to look around the room, people had gathered around a young officer, sprawled on the floor, he'd taken the bullet in the shoulder.
"Officer Petty's been shot", he said, looking down at her. "Only hit him the shoulder though", he reassured her.
She nodded up at him, shakily.
"We should get out of here", he told her, bending down and offering her his hand.
She shook her head.
"Come on Kate. I'll stand in front of you. I'll walk you downstairs and we'll go home, OK?"
Beckett swallowed, tears now stinging her eyes. She offered him her hand though, and he dragged her out, and pulled her to her feet, his arms half encasing her for support. They stood facing each other for a while.
"Th-thank you Castle. If you could just walk me downstairs, I'll get a cab and go home."
"Like hell", Castle told her plainly. "You're coming home with me."
She didn't argue, she couldn't, her vocal ability had been ripped apart by the sound of that bullet breaking through the glass. The glass in nobody else's window, but hers.
...
The two of them sat in Castle's living room, on couches opposite one another, both with full wine glasses in their hands. Castle had poured the wine an hour earlier but neither of them had been prepared to cloud their judgement or acuteness, tonight.
Instead they sat in mute silence, until finally, Beckett could hold it in no longer
"I've been seeing a therapist for ten months." Her voice shuddered as she told him.
He raised his head in surprise. "You have?"
She didn't nod in response or say anything to affirm, she just let tears roll down her cheeks. "And in one millisecond", she grit her teeth. "It's all been put to waste."
His heart broke as he watched her crying on his couch. "I'm so tired, Castle", she whispered out.
He knew she wasn't just talking about her current sleep deprived state. She was tired of walking around on eggshells, tired of jumping at every sound on the street.
What he may not have known, because only her and Dr. Burke knew this; was that she was tired of waiting to die, when she ought to be living.
Castle walked the five steps it took to be at her side. He offered her his hand. She stared at it for a moment and then looked up into his eyes.
"Come on", he told her in the most gentle way.
On autopilot, she extended her hand and let his grip it loosely, pulling her up off the couch. He took the wine from her hand and set it down on the little side table next to them. Silently they moved to his bedroom. She never said a word. He guessed she was too shell-shocked or too tired to protest.
But the truth was, she just didn't want to be alone anymore.
7 HOURS LATER
Beckett felt warm and contented as she yawned softly and rolled over in the large expanse of the satin sheets. Still, she couldn't yawn or stretch away the churning of nerves, nestled in the pit of her stomach, unprepared to relocate to a more convenient location.
She swallowed a lump as she braved herself for her first look at him, of the day. Turning tentatively, preparing herself for that all-farmiliar feeling of wanting for the man next to her, the man she'd coveted, for four years now; not that he he'd been privy to that knowledge of course.
As if lady fate had read her thoughts, she arranged for the one thing Beckett wished not to happen, to happen. He was awake already, and was taking her in with those piercing blue eyes of his.
Her heart raced to see him, to be so near to him. It would be cruel to reach out and touch him, to kiss him even; if she had no intention of following it up with anything - right? She'd had many moments of weakness, where she had experienced similar, fleeting thoughts. She was a woman after all, and he was a man - was it so wrong?
Yes, yes it was, she reminded herself. Because she was keeping a secret from him. A secret that would shake the very foundation their relationship...friendship...partnership, was built on. Before she acted on her feelings for him, she had to make it clear to him what they were, and that she was aware he shared those feelings for her. That she had been aware of them for a year now, for almost a year to the day, in fact.
"Hey" he murmured, breaking her from her thoughts.
Oh crap. Richard Castle + morning voice = Katherine Beckett in trouble.
She blinked up at him, realizing she was doing a lot of staring and very little speaking. "Uh, hey, morning", she smiled weakly.
His gaze held a certain softness reserved only for her.
"How are you?" He smiled back, gently.
She inhaled through her nose and nodded her head a little. "I'm hanging in there, you know."
She felt his body shift, evidently preparing to decamp from the bed.
"How are you?" She asked, trying to mentally restrain him, not ready to lose his warmth just yet.
He cleared his throat. "Probably selfish of me to say but...", he licked his lips, parting his mouth like often he did before saying something to break a case.
"I've never been better", he winced slightly, fearing a repercussion.
Slowly though, surprising him, and even herself, she smiled; the kind of smile that made her eyes crinkle cutely.
For ten seconds - though really it could have been ten months; Castle and Beckett's eyes joined in a familiar dance of uncertainty, longing and finally, at least on Beckett's part; decisiveness.
That decisiveness was not the kind Castle was expecting from his long-desired, never-captured partner.
Sedately, she moved her hand to his shoulder, and used it to pull herself to him. His jaw hit the floor (or the mattress), as she practically came to lie on top of him.
Moving slower than a wet week, she brought her face close to his, the faint hint of a smile, dressing her lips. Seeing the ghost of that smile, coupled with the expectant raise of her brow, gave him the encouragement to lean forward into her.
Both breathed, practically sighing, both, only partly aware of what they were doing, the other part of them, being driven by some magnetic force that neither of them was willing, nor able to control.
They discovered Beckett was the one who wanted this more than even he, as she sighed before their lips could even meet...
Following the sigh, came a sound even more unexpected by them. This sound didn't come from Castle's bedroom, however, but from his living room.
A scream from his living room.
Their heads instantaneously whipped around to look in the direction of the living room, as if they could see through walls. They both spoke at once.
"Alexis."
Numbly, they jumped out of bed and raced to the living room; emergencies don't wait for people to wake up or make themselves decent.
Beckett, with her gun drawn, dressed in one of Castle's shirts, Castle in his t- and boxers combo, now holding his daughter in his arms; leaned over the dead man in front of them.
To be continued, or not to be continued? That is my question. :-)