Cold Cases: A Solid Ground Companion


Ryan


He looked over the grainy crime scene photos, trying to focus on reviewing the particulars of the cold case, but all he could think about was his missing friends. Kevin Ryan liked to think of himself as an optimist. No matter how dark things got, there was always light at the end of the tunnel. That was his philosophy. He'd been one of the few to have a front row seat to the unorthodox partnership/relationship that had quickly blossomed between his friend and colleague, Detective Kate Beckett, and the best-selling mystery author Richard Castle, who'd become one of his closest friends.

It had been interesting to watch. Ryan had been there for all the ups and downs. He probably didn't know half of what had actually happened, but he knew enough to be able to gauge when things had been off. The first sign that things were bad between the two was when the teasing stopped. Ryan could still clearly remember the time a year ago when Castle had turned cold and clinical whenever Beckett had been around. Those had been tough days. Both Javi and him knew something had gone wrong—terribly wrong—but they'd been left in the dark, only to guess.

Ryan couldn't speak for his friend, but no matter the outcome, he'd been determined to remain friends with both Castle and Beckett despite the schism between them. Whatever it was that had come up between them that had caused Castle to temporarily shadow another detective (which Ryan was not afraid to admit he'd taken personally—it had almost been like he had been cheating on them), it had been resolved, because soon Castle was back to teasing Beckett and attempting to drive her crazy with his wild theories. Ryan would be the first to admit that sometimes he was a little too gullible. Though, he'd been genuinely pleased that Castle's zombie theories weren't serious, but were, in fact, meant to drive Beckett nuts. It had felt like old times, and Ryan could help but smile at that.

Becoming friends with Rick Castle had come as a somewhat surprise to Kevin Ryan. It just sort of happened. One day he'd been Beckett's annoying, but sometimes amusing, tag-along, and then the next day he'd become part of the team, a friend and colleague. Ryan often found himself siding with Castle whenever they came across a case with a particularly weird vibe to it. Esposito had once called him mini-Castle. He had taken it as a compliment, instead of the barb it had been intended as.

If Ryan had had more say over his groomsmen, then Castle would have been part of the bridal party. But Jenny's family had been quite insistent on some things. So, he'd relented when Mr. O'Malley handpicked his best man. Javi had been miffed about it, as he had believed he should've been the best man—to which Ryan had readily agreed—but he hadn't wanted to get into a fight over it just before the wedding, wanting everything to be perfect for his lovely bride.

Ryan remembered the wedding reception so well, mainly because he couldn't forget any second of the first moments Jenny Scout Duffy O'Malley had become Jenny Ryan. Both Castle and Beckett had shown up minus a plus one, and appeared to have decided to simply be one another's plus one. It had been the first time he'd seen them behave in a manner that so obviously screamed 'we both secretly want to be more than friends'. Jenny had noticed it too, and had leaned close, whispering in his ear, "Is it true there's a running bet at the precinct about when those two finally admit they're crazy about one another?"

When Beckett returned from her suspension, something had been different. They'd all noticed. Esposito had tried to get Lanie to talk, but they were still sort of on the outs, so no dice there. It eventually came out that Beckett had a new boyfriend, and she was keeping him a secret, which of course drove Ryan and his best bud crazy. They even got Castle to help them tease her about it.

But then came that case, the one that Castle had stumbled upon while he was up in the Hamptons for a weekend writing getaway. Ryan would never forget that one interrogation. Once he found out that Castle had a woman with him, the pieces just started to fall into place. So he kept pounding the guy for information, relentless and unyielding, until it was crystal clear that the woman who'd accompanied the famous mystery novelist Richard Castle was Detective Kate Beckett of the NYPD.

"Son of a—"

He'd been so shocked and surprised. Yet, at the same time, there had always been a small part of him that had known. It had been the little things—the lingering looks and touches, the quiet words and slight blushes. They clearly had chemistry, and they had, in fact, seemed to be a lot closer after her suspension. In truth, he'd been happy for them. He considered both to be close friends. And they both deserved to be happy. So, he didn't out their secret, respecting their privacy.

Ryan sighed, and shook his head, trying to rid himself of this melancholy. But it couldn't be helped. He missed them, deeply. Solving cases, especially the weird ones, just wasn't the same. That's why he was sort of happy that Captain Gates had assigned them to look over cold cases while they didn't have any active case to investigate. It gave him something to do, to distract him from the two empty chairs a couple of desks over from his. Knitting his eyebrows together, Ryan tried to concentrate on the file in front of him, only vaguely hearing the frustrated groan of his colleague, as he put one file down and reached for another.