Castle woke up chilled, lying alone in his bed. He had just caught up on sleep from the last case he and Kate had worked on. Together.
He smiled when he thought about her. The way her hair fell on her shoulders and the way she smiled when he brought her a daily cup of morning coffee. That reminded him of why he had to get up this morning. He threw on clothes and his heavy jacket and rushed out the door.
Or, at least, he tried.
"Where are you going this early?" Martha called from the kitchen. He walked into the kitchen with his hands raised in a confused way.
"What are you doing up this early?" he asked, glancing at the clock. Beckett's already at work. She needs that coffee!
"Well, you know me. I'm an early riser!" Martha exclaimed.
"No, you're not, actually," Castle said, trying to figure out the quickest way to the door from where he was standing.
"Ah, well, I thought I'd give it a try," his mother said, stirring her tea with a spoon. Soon, there were footsteps running down the steps.
"Alexis? What are you doing up?" Castle asked his daughter. She sat down next to Martha and made herself a cup of tea.
"You know me, Dad. I'm a early riser!" she said.
"What's going on?" Castle asked the two suspicious characters sitting in front of him.
"Nothing," they chimed together. After a minute of silence, Castle thought it was safe to leave. He closed the door on two snickering women. He shook his head and headed off to the coffee shop.
Kate was sitting at her desk, examining nothing in particular. She was waiting.
"Morning," Ryan said, walking up to Kate. She smiles up at him.
"But not a good one?" she asked.
"Not precisely, Kate. Look at the paper," he said as he threw that morning's newspaper on the desk in front of her. Kate read over it quickly.
"55 year old Amanda Trender found dead in her home. Daughter unconscious?" Kate said looking up at him. Ryan nodded and Kate continued on. "At 9 A.M. yesterday?"
"They missed the deadline for the morning paper, so they put it in today. It's all over the news," Ryan said, sipping his coffee. Kate put her eyes down. Why was she sad about coffee? It's just a cup of coffee.
"Trender…" Kate said to herself. She stood up and walked to her white board. She taped the paper up on it and wrote the name Trender under it in red marker.
"The wealthy business woman," Ryan answers.
"Who Amanda Trender? Heard she was murdered," Esposito says, walking up beside Kate. He threw a wink at her and looked at the article. He had a mug in his hand too. Kate looked at her board again. C'mon Kate, it's a coffee. This is a case, focus.
"Hey, Rick!" called Travis from behind the coffee shop counter.
"Hey, Travis!" Castle said back, pretending to look at the menu. Travis simply pretended to clean the counter, already knowing Castle's order. "Ummm, I guess I'll have…"
"The usual, Castle?" Travis asked. Castle smiled, looking down at the cashier from the menu board.
"Yes. Just the usual."
*A/N Alright, I don't have a lot of this written, but here is the beginnings of a Castle fanfic. Review if you want me to write more!*