Disclaimer: I don't own Castle… though I would love to meet the cast. ;) :P

A/N: This chapter is approximately seven and a quarter pages on MS Word. I hope that's long enough to quench some of your thirsts for this story. ;) For those of you who didn't see, I did well on my Physics final – I got 83% on my final and an 82% overall in the class! Woot! After thinking about it, I'm still not sure on an update schedule or if I'll even really have one, but you guys can be assured that there won't be too long of a wait between each… With that said, I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter and please leave a comment if you can!

Previously in If…

"After you killed off Derrick Storm, you went on to write about Jame-," Beckett explained, "That certain British spy."

"No, I didn't," Castle shook his head.

"She should know, she's more of a fan of yours than me," Lanie muttered, but the acoustics in the interrogation room were so good, everybody heard her.

"Lanie," Beckett's cheeks grew a tinge of bright red.

"I know," Castle acted like it was no big deal and Beckett whipped her head around, shocked at the news. Castle kept on with his story, "I was struck with inspiration for my new character Nikki Heat."

"Nikki Heat?," Beckett raised her brow at the unfamiliar name.

"My character," Castle said, "My character based on you. I shadow you guys for research. You're all in my book. Lanie, you're Dr. Lauren Parry. Esposito, Ryan, you two are Ochoa and Raley aka "Roach" and Montgomery, you're Captain Montrose."

"We're all in a book?," Ryan was flattered. A small smile started to crawl on his lips.

"He named you two, 'Roach'," Lanie pointed out.

"Yeah, but we're still in a book," Ryan defended.

"You stay here a moment, Mr. Castle," Montgomery said and ushered everyone else out the door. Castle sighed and nodded as everybody herded out the door.

"This is crazy," Montgomery stated the obvious.

"You can say that again," Esposito agreed.

"Now, I don't want this interfering with our work, so I just say we play along with this until we figure out what his game is," Montgomery ordered.

"You mean, you're going to let a civilian run around with us while we investigate homicides?," Beckett asked, "Don't you think that would raise some legal problems, sir?"

"I'm sure Mr. Castle's lawyers will take care of it," Montgomery shrugged, "He has the money for it and he assumes he's done this all before. If he becomes a liability, I'll see what the proper mental authorities can do about him."

"Right," Beckett gave a small nod, but Montgomery took it as her agreeing with him. He nodded back and went to his office. Beckett watched him leave, "Wait… what just happened?"

"I think you just agreed to have the writer tag along with you," Lanie stated.

Beckett sighed.

Now in If…

Chapter 2

"Hey, writer boy," Lanie stuck her head in the interrogation room. Castle immediately stood up, "Yeah?"

"Looks like you're tagging along with Detective Beckett, but you have to deal everything out with your lawyers first," Lanie said.

"I've had all this straightened out for years," Castle said.

"Right," Lanie started to think that this author had really gone off the deep end, "But for the Captain's piece of mind, you should really do it again, just to be safe."

"Um, all right," Castle nodded and walked out the door with Lanie, "If a vic shows up while I'm down at my lawyer's, please have Beckett call me."

"We'll need your number," Lanie said.

"Right," Castle sighed, "Well then, I should probably get my phone back from Ryan and Esposito."

Hours had passed and surprisingly no victims had shown up anywhere in the twelfth precinct's district. Lanie headed back down to the morgue to get ahead on some work while Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito got ahead on their paperwork. Castle even convinced his lawyer to let him sign the waivers to allow him to shadow his friends. As far as Castle was concerned, the whole world had gone nuts or had lost their memory. He just had to play along if he wanted to find out what happened. He got back to the precinct just as he saw Beckett exiting Montgomery's office.

"I'm all set," Castle greeted Beckett.

"Set?," Beckett asked, as she pulled herself into her desk, continuing some of her paperwork.

"I saw my lawyer and I'm all set to follow you around again," Castle said and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Tell me something," Beckett put her pen down and folded her arms on her desk, leaning toward Castle.

"Shoot," Castle smiled.

"Why do you think that you've been following us all around for the last couple of years? And how did you find out all that information on us?," Beckett asked.

"Because I have been following you all around and you told me," Castle answered truthfully.

Before Beckett could say anything else, Ryan and Esposito appeared at the desk. Esposito spoke, "Lanie called, we've got a new vic."

Beckett got up and put on her jacket, as Castle did the same. She followed her friends down to the elevator to go to the crime scene with Castle on her tail.

"So, you're really going to follow us on this case?," Ryan asked Castle when they got on the elevator.

"It won't be any different than any other day," Castle said. He was going to find out what was going on if it was the last thing he did.

Ryan just nodded and shared a look with his partner. Once the elevator doors closed, Beckett rolled her eyes and sighed. This was going to be one long case.

Crime Scene

"I see we have an extra guest," Lanie greeted.

"Yup, he apparently got everything settled with his lawyers," Beckett said sarcastically, eyes wide. Then she decided it best to get directly to the matter at hand, "What've you got?"

The eyes of the victim stared blankly ahead. The side of her head was covered almost completely in blood and she was leaning against an empty dumpster. She was dressed somewhat formally and her hands were folded in her lap. She was barefoot with what appeared to be some dirt on the soles of her feet.

"Your specialty," Lanie replied, gesturing to the body, "We've got a freaky one."

"Beckett likes the weird and unusual cases," Ryan leaned over to Castle.

"I know," Castle said. This was going to be one long case. If he was going to prove to his friends that he knew what he was doing in this tag-along, he might as well get started and show them. He took the lead, "What's her name?"

"Anna Snow," Lanie answered, a little surprised at Castle's initiative to take the lead.

"COD?," Castle asked, walking around the body.

Lanie looked to Beckett as if asking permission to answer him or not. Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito looked just as shocked at Castle taking the lead as Lanie. She shrugged and motioned for Lanie to answer. All the while, Castle just waited for an answer, "Uh, it looks like she died from temporal hemorrhaging, not to mention the side of her head split open."

"That'd do it," Esposito commented.

She kneeled down and gestured to Anna's forehead where now they could see a red line where the blood originated from, "It looks like she fell on a sharp surface… or someone pushed her."

"They moved her," Castle observed. There was a lack of blood around her body on the ground.

"Yeah," Lanie said, "You really know this stuff."

"I should," Castle said, walking closer to the ME and the victim, "I've been following you all around for three years."

"Do you have a time of death?," Beckett asked, ignoring Castle's last comment. He was going to repeat that as many times as he thought necessary. Maybe if he was insistent enough, they'd believe him.

"I'd say anywhere between 10:30 and 12:30 last night," Lanie replied.

"How old was she?," Ryan asked as he wrote evidence down.

"Twenty-two years old," Lanie answered, standing back up, "She has a fiancée named Adam Hatch that lives in the upper-east side."

"Okay, I'm going to…," Beckett started and then looked to Castle and corrected herself, "We're going to go check her fiancée out and you two, find out everything you can about Anna Snow."

"Got it," Ryan said.

Beckett headed back to her car with Castle faithfully following. Lanie turned to the boys, "Do you two think this writer boy is for real?"

"I don't know what to think," Esposito replied truthfully.

"Me either," Ryan shrugged, "but he does seem to know his way around a crime scene."

"Call us if you find anything interesting once you get her back to the lab," Esposito said.

"As always," Lanie nodded.

Beckett's Car

"You seemed to really know what you were doing back at the crime scene," Beckett started, her eyes focused ahead on the road.

"Yeah, well, I've been to enough of them with you," Castle smirked.

"Why do you keep on insisting that you've been following us all around when we know you haven't?," Beckett asked, "I think I would've remembered an author shadowing me."

"Especially your favorite author," Castle teased.

Kate blushed a little and it didn't go unnoticed by Rick.

"I know you all think I'm crazy, but I remember shadowing you all and I even helped solve some of your toughest cases," Castle said, "I've even saved your life a couple times."

Kate shook her head. Reluctantly agreeing with Lanie's voice in her head about having fun for once, she went along with him, "You? You've saved my life? How?"

"Well, the first time was when I tackled you to the ground before you could get shot," Castle replied, counting on his fingers, "A big time was when I called you before a bomb went off in your apartment, then I shot a gun out of a mad man's hand that was about to shoot you. I tackled you again from getting shot in a warehouse as well as jumped on a man so he once again couldn't shoot you. And most recently, I kept you as warm as I could in a giant freezer so you wouldn't freeze to death and… stopped a nuclear explosion."

"You've got some imagination, Castle," Beckett laughed, with a small shake of her head.

"Yes I do, but that's not the point," Castle said, shifting in his seat so he could somewhat face her, "I'm telling you the truth. I don't know what happened, but it seems like you all forgot about me or I've somehow gone insane."

"I think it might be the latter," Beckett grinned.

Castle was cut off from his next comment by his cell phone ringing, "Hello?"

"Dad? Where are you?," Alexis' voice was on the other line.

"Oh, hey, sweetheart," Castle smiled. Beckett turned her head at the term of endearment. Who was he talking to? What did she care? He was just an annoyance that she had to deal with for this case until they could figure out what was wrong with him.

"Where are you?," Alexis asked again.

Castle opened his mouth to answer his usual 'With Beckett', but realized that if everybody at the precinct seemed to have forgotten about his shadowing, his daughter probably didn't either. It would also explain his mother and daughter's strange comments to him that morning, so he replied, "Uh, I'm doing research for one of my books."

"You're not with any of your sources that have threatened to kill you, are you?," Alexis asked, ever the concerned daughter.

"No, I'm fine," Castle replied.

"When are you coming home?," Alexis wondered, sitting on the couch.

"I'll be home later," Castle answered and looked over at Beckett who turned back to look at the road from looking at him. He turned his attention back to Alexis on the phone, "I'll tell you all about the research later, okay, sweetheart?"

"All right, just be careful," Alexis knew her dad, "Love you."

"Love you too," Castle smiled and they both hung up. He looked over to Beckett and could read her expression, "That was my daughter."

"I didn't ask," Beckett said, looking ahead.

"You weren't asking very loudly," Castle smirked, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

Upper-East Side

"You are here only because I have been ordered to have you follow me. Understand? And when we get inside, could you do me a favor and not speak?," Beckett asked, "I'm sure that's how it worked in your little dream world of shadowing me, right?"

"In theory," Castle replied, as they started walking up to the apartment building where Anna Snow's fiancée lived.

"What do you mean 'in theory'?," Beckett turned to him, as she opened the door.

"Well, you always tell me not to say anything, but I always do and more often than not, it usually leads to a break in the case," Castle answered.

"So, in other words, you're telling me it's pointless to try to tell you to not talk to Anna's fiancée? Is that what you're saying?," Beckett asked as she pushed the button for the elevator.

"Yup," Castle said, "Just like it's pointless to tell me to stay in the car, for future reference."

"Noted," Beckett nodded as the elevator arrived. They rode on the elevator in comfortable silence until they reached Adam's floor. The duo made their way over to his apartment and Beckett knocked on the door.

A man with brunette hair and a goatee to match answered the door, "Yes? Can I help you?"

"Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD," Beckett showed him her badge, "I need to speak with you about your fiancée Anna Snow."

"Is she okay?," Adam asked, as he widened the door, letting the detective and the author inside.

"I'm afraid we found her body this morning," Beckett replied, turning to face Adam.

"Body?," Adam, looked blankly ahead and slowly sat down in a chair.

"When's the last time you saw her?," Castle asked.

"I-I saw her yesterday morning," Adam replied, "We were going to take a little vacation this weekend, get away from everything… before the wedding."

"I'm sorry," Beckett gave her condolences. She really did hate this part, "What happened the last time you saw her?"

"Everything was normal," Adam shrugged, "We had breakfast at our usual diner, Linda's and we both headed off to work."

"Did she seem off at all?," Castle asked. Beckett looked to him and he gave her a look to tell her he told her he wouldn't be quiet.

"No," Adam shook his head and then furrowed his brows, "Wait, actually, there might have been one thing."

"What thing?," Beckett prodded.

"She seemed nervous about something," Adam replied, "And not her usual nervousness about planning the wedding, it was something else."

"Any idea what it was?," Beckett urged him to continue.

"No, but when we had our breakfast, she seemed in a hurry," Adam said, "Like she had to be somewhere and she was trying to get rid of me. I didn't think anything of it at the time. I just thought she had an appointment with the baker or the florist or another detail for our wedding before she had to go to work."

"Do you have any idea where she went after she had breakfast with you?," Castle asked, hands clasped, as he leaned toward Adam.

"I figured she just went to work or to an appointment with someone for our wedding," Adam said again.

"You don't seem to know a whole lot about the details for your own wedding," Castle observed and Beckett gave him a look.

"That's because Anna didn't want me to," Adam gave a small smile, tears starting to form in his eyes, "She wanted to plan it all herself, she wanted her dream wedding and told me that I shouldn't have to worry about anything…"

His voice started to crack, "And now she's dead."

"Where did Anna work?," Beckett asked.

"Uh," Adam composed himself, "She worked as a secretary at Oakland Elementary School."

"Thank you, Adam," Beckett stood up and shook Adam's hand. "If you remember anything else, or if you just want to talk, call me."

She handed him a card and headed out the door, "Come on, Castle."

Castle started to follow her, but turned around and asked Adam another question, "This might seem like an odd question, but when you had breakfast with Anna and you said she seemed nervous, was she focused on anyone or anything in the restaurant?"

"Castle," Beckett called for him to come with her and not bother their witness anymore.

Adam looked down, thinking, "Now that you mention it, she did keep looking over at the table across from us."

"Who was at the table?," Castle asked.

"I don't know," Adam shook his head, "I didn't recognize any of them."

"Was there anything about them that stood out?," Castle asked.

Adam shook his head, "Not that I can think of."

"Thank you, Mr. Hatch," Castle nodded and exited the apartment with a stunned Beckett behind him.

"Is that what you meant about usually leading to a break in the case?," Beckett jerked her thumb back at Adam's apartment.

"Exactly," Castle smiled.

TBC

The start of a new case – Castle is going to have to prove himself. I hope I do this case justice. Even though this is my second Castle story, this is my first time writing a full-fledged-episode-type murder and I hope I do okay. Please tell me what you think! Did you like their little conversation in Beckett's car? The "déjà vu" comment about 'not asking very loudly' – I thought it'd be a nice touch to throw lines in there from previous episodes. ;) Please comment!

Thank you to those of you who are simply just reading this story. You mean a lot to me too. :D

Clois and Caskett Forever! :D