Welcome, dear readers, to the first chapter of A Shot in the Dark! Beta-ed by Iris and Amanda (aka Unputdownable and KrissaBelle7

Kate Beckett was characterized in part by her traditions. An outsider probably would not notice them at first glance, but the people closest to her definitely did. The one person who knew her traditions best was her husband, and it was the only thing he never joked about to her.

Kate's husband, best-selling mystery novelist Richard Castle, had been trained to know better than to joke about his wife's traditions. Unlike many people who had traditions imbued with happiness and fond memories, most of Kate's were steeped in dark thoughts and the sorrow of her past. Although Castle helped to add a little light and joy back into her traditions, he could never make the darkness completely dissipate.

There were small traditions that Kate did almost every day. She would, for instance, drink coffee in the morning to "charge her batteries" for the day to come. Whenever she saw her husband after being apart for more than an hour, she had to kiss him "hello." In fact, whenever she saw her husband, in general, she had to kiss him (but that was almost primal need).

One of Kate's biggest traditions centered around her job. Crime scenes invoked special ones that Kate would never relinquish. Right before crossing that yellow tape, no matter whom she was with or how urgent the matter was, Kate had to pause and take a deep breath before ducking under that police line. Every time she went to a job, she was transported back to the same memory: that rainy night, January 9, 1999, when she was nineteen and carefree.

And then she wasn't.

Now, every time she crossed over into the world of murder, she remembered that night and was reminded that someone had lost a family member or a friend.

Today was no different. The call came in around three in the morning and cut Kate and Castle's sleeping time very short. Kate groaned after she hung up on dispatch and buried her head back into the pillow. She lifted it up straight after that though and nudged her partner. The couple rolled out of bed and got ready in silence, both too tired to make conversation.

"So where are we going?" Castle asked once they were in the car and each of them had taken a few sips of coffee (very, very strong coffee).

Kate started the car, pulling out of her parking spot and the garage onto the dead streets of the city that never sleeps. "Columbia University," she told him, her voice laced with caution. She looked at him intensely, willing Castle not to let the emotions threatening to break through take control of him.

"Kate," he said to her. How he could fill one word with a book's worth of emotion, she had no idea.

"Let's just get there first," she told him. She moved her hand to his knee and gave him a quick squeeze.

Castle turned and stared blankly out the window. Streetlamps bathed the roads in dirty yellow light. They highlighted where people left their trash out for the cleanup crews. Native New Yorkers loved their city; even its less than friendly characteristics made the city unique and exciting. All Castle could see tonight, however, were the grimy sidewalks and the dark figures partially hidden in alleyways.

114th Street cut right through Columbia University's campus. Kate turned off Broadway and headed eastbound on 114th until she saw the shiny yellow tape and the bright lights. Esposito and Ryan were already at the scene; she recognized their car—the bloody red sticking out against all of the other, dark Crown Victorias.

Once parked, Kate and Castle got out of their car and headed over to the crime scene. As always, Kate stopped just before the tape and closed her eyes for a moment. Usually, Castle would duck under and give her a moment alone. This time, however, he stopped as well and mirrored his wife.

"Yo, Beckett!" Esposito's call cut through the silent tradition.

"Hey, Espo," Kate said. She dipped her head to go under the tape and Castle followed, lowering the tape back to its original height after he went under it.

"So what've we got?" Kate asked the Hispanic detective. The air clouded for a split second when she spoke, a sure sign of the storm the weather channels had been predicting all week.

"Student. Lanie's doing the exam now, come on," he told them both.

Instead of following, Kate backtracked to where her husband was standing and pressed in close to his side.

"Alexis is at home in bed, Castle. She's safe," the female detective said quietly.

"I didn't-" Castle shook his head.

"Yes, you didn't very loudly." She put an arm around his waist and leaned close to him, something he reciprocated. "Come on, we have a job to do."

They walked, fingers entwined for comfort, to where the Medical Examiner was hunched over the body.

"Lanie," Kate greeted her friend. She addressed the group, "So what have we got here?"

Ryan spoke up. "Her name is Elizabeth Sanders, twenty years old. She's a student here, but she's from up in the Boston area."

"GSW?" Kate asked.

"Just one," Lanie said, "Unfortunately she died slowly and recently. My guess is that if the call came in about half an hour earlier, she may have had a chance, albeit a small one."

Kate blew out a breath that showed itself in mid-air. The girl had died slowly and alone. The library was barely a few steps from this spot. Her blood was already starting to frost at the edges.

"No witnesses?" she asked the group.

"Nope," Esposito said, "But of the few people in the library—that's where Elizabeth was last—we got a lot saying that there was an amped-up muffler sound about an hour ago. Elizabeth might have been shot then and they'd have never heard it. And there are security cameras so maybe we'll get lucky."

"Do we have a time for that muffler?"

"Yeah, about one forty-five, two o'clock. "

"Sounds right with the time of shooting. Though a muffler at the same time as a gunshot? That sounds like pre-meditation," Castle added in to the conversation.

Kate frowned and nodded. "All right. Ryan, get on those security cameras and see what you can find. Espo, cover the surrounding buildings and see if anyone saw or heard something. Corroborate that muffler with other witnesses. Castle and I will start digging into Elizabeth's life."

Her orders received nods from everyone and the group broke up.

"Early start to the day," Kate said to her husband on their drive to the precinct.

"Yeah."

"Got any theories on this one yet?" she asked.

"No."

"Any other words?"

"No."

Kate drove the car into its parking spot and turned off the engine. She did not open the door up, though.

"Hey," she said to Castle, putting her hand on his arm, "Is everything okay?"

"Fine." He did not look at her.

"Rick."

Castle sighed and turned to face his wife. Their eyes locked with one another, blue on hazel, and conveyed more than even Castle could put into words.

"She was shot on campus. She was walking back from the library like any other normal student. Kate, that could have been Alexis," he told her, his voice cracking on the name of his daughter.

"Normal students, Castle, aren't shot in what is looking like pre-meditation. Alexis is safe and at home. She is a normal student. She is not Elizabeth Sanders. Now come on, her roommate is coming up to be interviewed," Kate said to him. However, she would be lying if she did not admit to herself that part of her felt the way Castle did.

The car doors closed behind them, the sounds mixing in with the daily traffic around the Twelfth. Riding up to Homicide was a quiet affair, but Kate entwined her fingers with Castle's just like at the crime scene and squeezed their joined hands a few times.

It's no different from any other case, she reasoned with herself, So why has this one hit us both so hard?

Reviews are much appreciated! Next chapter will probably come in a week or so. I have to finish finals before I write anymore! 3