Well, hello there! I can't believe I whipped out two chapters in a day! What can I say, these two won't shut up in my noggin ;)
DISCLAIMER: Of course, I don't own anything, blah blah.
"Castle, listen. I know you care about her, and want to help, but don't you think this is a bit overboard?" Montgomery asked the writer from across his desk.
"Sir, she hasn't been herself for weeks now. I can't sit back and let her do this to herself. She doesn't say she's hurting, but I can see how it's affecting her. I've tried talking to her, telling her I'm here for her—that we all are—but she doesn't want to bother anyone with her problems. I know her. She will keep this inside until it breaks her. She already has way too much going on to let this burden her. I'd hoped it would pass, but I think it's time I intervened." Castle answered sincerely, and with a bit of obvious remorse for seeing the detective hurting. He stood and leaned forward on his hands on the top of the desk.
"I understand. But I will warn you. She will give you wrath for doing this. I hope you're right about this. It has a big chance of blowing up in all of our faces. She's a hell of a detective, and I don't want her to break from this. She's strong, but everyone has a point where they can't stand back up. She does have too many vacation days adding up, though, so I'll let you give it a shot. Just don't mess this up, Castle."
"Thank you, Sir. I know, I won't push her too much. I just…I lo—care about her. A lot. You won't regret it." Rick stood again, shook the man's hand and dashed out of the office. There was a lot he needed to do to set this up, and if this was going to go as planned he needed to hurry.
Beckett was back at her desk when he emerged from the captain's office ten minutes later.
"You drown in there or something, Castle?" Kate asked, glancing up from the paperwork briefly. Castle squirmed a bit. He hadn't realized it would take that long.
"Ha! No…Just stopped in to see Montgomery real quick. Just saying hi."
She narrowed her eyes a bit, trying to figure out what the author was actually up to. Shrugging her shoulders, she placed her highlighter down. Other than the boyfriend, they had no solid suspects, and the uniforms won't be bringing him in until later that day. For the time being, she needed a break.
"Want to go to the Old Haunt for lunch?" she asked Castle, who was busy looking at something on his Smart Phone.
"Huh? Oh, no thanks. I actually have to…go pick something up for Alexis. Plus, I think my lack of sleep is catching up to me." He faked a yawn that she hopefully didn't see through. Beckett looked up, surprised at the decline of her invitation, just in time to see him waltzing out at a quick pace. Staring after him, she shook her head and decided to order lunch in instead. It was probably better this way; she could catch up on paperwork and such. He'll probably be back later…Right?
He felt bad for leaving Kate like that, but he had to make sure everything was in place for the next day. So he knew she would understand eventually…Hopefully. As he headed down to the morgue in the elevator to talk to Lanie , he took that time to make a few necessary calls. Once he was down in the basement, he hastily made his way toward the ME's section. He found her in concentration over the body of the vic they discovered earlier that morning.
"Lanie. Can I talk to you real quick? It's about Beck—Kate." He used one of his charming smiles, and Lanie set down her tools and removed her mask.
"This better be important. I was just about to open her up." The doctor replied, raising an eyebrow as Castle automatically cringed a bit.
"It is. I need a favor. Well, Kate needs a favor rather… She just—well, she doesn't know it yet."
"Alright. Now you've got me intrigued, writer boy. Spill."
"Writer MAN. But okay. You know how Kate's been acting a bit down lately? She obviously hasn't been sleeping well, and seems overall more stressed and on edge than she usually does. I want to help her. The freezer left her with some fears I think. Whenever we're somewhere that is remotely cold, she gets this glazed look and completely shuts down. Of course she says nothing about it, and I try to make her see that I went through the same thing and that she is NOT alone, but I think she needs a break from the 12th for a few days. It's overdue for her to have some fun, and I know just the place. We need a place for her to replace the bad memories of the cold with fun times. But you know as well as I do that she won't just come along easily, especially if I ask her to pack for cold weather. That's where you come in."
Lanie had been standing there silently with one hand on her hip and the other hand resting on the metal table with her medical supplies. She looked at him through her autopsy goggles, lips pursed slightly, trying to decide what to tell him.
"Alright." She sighed as Castle let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding.
"I'll help you," she continued, "but if you hurt her, I WILL find you, and it won't be pretty, ya hear?" Castle nodded silently, looking like a child on Christmas trying desperately to behave for Mom and Dad.
"So what do I do?" Lanie asks, leaning closer, curious what his full plan is.
"I need you to go to her apartment tomorrow during lunch and pack a bag for her with plenty of winter clothing. I'll distract her somehow... We'll go out to lunch maybe. Anyways, if she doesn't have anything you think she needs, you can get it. It's on me. I want her to be comfortable." Rick took out his leather, warn-in wallet and handed one of his credit cards to the ME as she took it and looked it over carefully.
"Mmm-m! Beckett doesn't know how good she has it." She said with a small twinkle of mischief and appreciation in her eyes as she pocketed the card swiftly. A smile tugged at Rick's mouth.
"Feel free to get yourself something as well. I appreciate your help. I do."
Lanie nodded and Castle took this as a dismissal. He backed out the door heading to the elevator.
"Oh, and Dr. Parrish? Can you keep this quiet? I don't want this spreading around. We aren't going on a romantic getaway or anything like that. I just want to help her. She deserves it. Quite frankly, I'm not doing much better than she is. I just have Alexis and Mother to come home to. That helps. I just don't want the 12th to think I'm trying to seduce her or for her to be embarrassed about her image."
"Get outta here, Castle. I know. I won't blab. She's my best friend. I know she's not doing too well right now, and the last thing I want to do is to make it harder on her or you by starting rumors. I won't tell anyone...Okay, maybe Javi., but he knows something is going on with her anyways." The doctor lifted the mask up over her nose and mouth and slapped her gloves back on as Castle gave a swift nod and walked out of the morgue.
That had gone better than he had thought it would. Next step? Text Alexis. She was sleeping over at her friend's house tonight, but he needed to know she was going to be okay with him leaving her with her Grams for a few days. He was sure it wouldn't be a big deal knowing Alexis, but it was his fatherly duty to know she was comfortable with him spending a long weekend away, especially with no prior warning.
After he ran a few errands, he came back up to the 12th to find Beckett in interrogation with the vic's boyfriend. He stepped into the observation room, where Ryan was standing, watching the interactions between the suspect and Esposito and Beckett. Between the two of them, the man didn't stand a chance, Castle thought. They'd crack him if he was guilty. Hell, they'd be able to crack him even if he wasn't.
"…I didn't know, okay? I didn't know she got herself involved. I didn't think anyone would get hurt. It was just a way for me to get cash quick." The victim was slumped in the seat, with his thumb and forefinger to his forehead and elbow resting on the metal table. Beckett and Esposito exchanged a quick glance, communicating sentences with a swift jolt of their eyes.
"Then who are your suppliers, Tom? We need to know in order to catch who killed Ms. Donelton." Beckett was leaning forward now, with her notepad ready. Tom was obviously debating his options in his head.
"If I tell you, do I get a deal?" he asked, his eyes showing a hint of hopefulness underneath the layers of remorse, confusion, and guilt.
"Yes," Esposito said without hesitation. "Now. Tell us the names, Tom."
If you're lucky and I have time I might end up writing another chapter tonight :)
Oh, how did everyone like the Noir episode?
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