A/N: Does owning a plastic medieval Castle count?
XxXxXxXxX
Rick shifted nervously from foot to foot in some sort of obscure dance as he mustered up the courage to knock on Beckett's door.
"Dad. She's not going to murder you. At least not with me as a witness." Alexis reasoned, grabbing her father's arms in an attempt to still him. "But if she sees you standing here like a creepy wimp at the end of her hall who is too afraid to talk to her, I'm totally fine with waiting downstairs." Over the past few weeks, Alexis had grown to like the detecive, especially because of the changes she'd begun to see in her father.
Whether it was the discussion she'd had with him just before Beckett had crashed into their world or the aftershocks of meeting such a hurricane of a woman, she wasn't sure. But she did know that her father was much more content with his life as of late. Alexis was pleased whenever she saw the light in his eyes as he talked about the investigations the detectives were working on. That light had been out for far too long, in her opinion, and if the woman who lived in the hallway they were currently lurking in could keep that light there, she was all for a potential relationship. It was just a matter of making the two stubborn adults open their eyes.
"That's it," Alexis sighed. "I'm knocking, whether you're manning up or not."
Rick lunged a moment too late, and Alexis was already in front of Beckett's door before he regained his bearings.
"Alexis!" he whined as she rapped lightly on it.
Upon hearing the footsteps approaching the door, Alexis quickly paled. "You do it, dad!" she whispered harshly, shoving him in front of her.
"What happened to being brave and not creepy?" he whispered back, steadying himself for the inevitable.
Alexis giggled from behind him. "I realized that she owns a gun."
XxXxXxXxX
Kate had just finished rinsing the breakfast dishes when she heard a knock on the door. Not expecting anyone to drop by that day, she cautiously approached the door and peered into the peephole.
"What are you doing here, Castle?" she sighed, opening the door to reveal the writer and his daughter. "Hey, Alexis." she greeted the redhead with a small grin. "What's going on, guys?" she asked the duo, letting them into her apartment. It wasn't nearly as big as the Castle family's loft, Rick immediately noticed, but it was definitely above the salary of the average cop. He smiled at some of the family pictures on a shelf before Alexis cleared her throat.
"Dad needs to show you something." Kate chuckled lightly at the glare that Castle shot at his daughter before, still extremely confused as to why they were both so nervous.
Alexis pulled her laptop out from her bag and powered it up on Beckett's counter. But before Kate could begin interrogating the two people in front of her, Jonah appeared at the end of the hallway.
"Mom, I can't find my Kronwall shirt. Have you seen it?" Noticing the two other people in the room that hadn't been there when he'd gotten into the shower, his face brightened. "Hi, Lex! Hi, Mr. Castle!"
They both smiled at him. "Hey, Jonah. Kronwall shirt?" Castle asked, unfamiliar with the term.
"Niklas Kronwall. Red Wings." Jonah informed him. "Best defenseman ever." When Castle looked at Beckett curiously, she shrugged her shoulders. "My dad grew up in Michigan, moved here for college. But he never lost his love for the Wings and passed it on." She turned her attention to her son. "I haven't seen it since I washed it, but I can help you look if you give me a sec."
"I can do it." Alexis interrupted, smiling hastily at the detective. "It's no problem. I'm awesome at finding things."
Rick nodded, accepting the fact that his daughter was abandoning him. "She really is. She found a missing sock that I hadn't seen in years when she was a toddler. She tried to eat it." He laughed as Alexis slapped her hand over his mouth in embarrassment and headed towards Jonah to help him in his search.
With each of their children gone, Kate watched Rick critically as he quickly clicked a few buttons and pulled up an familiar website. Her eyes widened and became glued to the screen. "What are these, Castle?" When he didn't respond, she looked up from his fansite's messageboard questioningly. His head was low and he was nervously shifting from side to side. "Castle." she said firmly, the forcefulness in her voice making his head snap up. The look on his face would've made her laugh if it wasn't so damn forlorn.
"Beckett, I swear, I didn't mean for any of this to happen. You have every right to be pissed at me but-"
"Stop it. Stop it, right there." She cut him off, and he felt the dread he had buried rise up like bile in his throat.
They sat in silence for a few moments, the pictures of the two of them on the screen mocking them. Castle wondered how such an innocent and carefree moment between the two of them, talking as they waited for the crosswalk lights to change, and turned into something so ugly. He couldn't help but remember the conversation he'd had with his daughter only a half an hour before.
"Should I be planning on getting bunkbeds, or…?"
"What are you talking about?"
Alexis turned her laptop around to face him. His face drained of color. "Oh, shit. Beckett's going to kill me."
"What happened yesterday?" Alexis asked, brow furrowed. "They're all saying that she's your newest conquest. You and Kate aren't-"
"No! No, it's not like that, Alexis. We'd just been booted from the precinct. I thought it'd be nice to take her and Jonah out to eat, do you know who took these?" His eyes hadn't left the screen, his voice hushed as he spoke intently.
"Not a clue. They popped up on a message board at…" Alexis clicked a few buttons. "6:08pm. They're a little doctored, though. See that watermark? At least these can't be used in gossip rags. They were probably taken by someone with a camera phone. From the 1800s."
"Thank god." he breathed out. Still, from what he knew about Kate, she was a very private person. He had no clue how she'd take having her face splashed all over almost every Richard Castle fansite. He didn't even want to look at the things they'd been saying about her.
"Can you take them down?"
"I can't, no. I have a friend that might be able to, though. Want me to give him a call?"
"Yeah, do that. Once we're in the car." Rick told her, grabbing his keys.
Alexis's brow furrowed. "In the car? Where are we going? At least get dressed first." she called after him.
After dressing quickly, Rick slipped his shoes on and answered her question. "We're going to Beckett's. She can't hear about this from anyone but me."
He was brought back into the moment when Kate slowly began to speak. "I'm not mad, Castle." she whispered. "Not at you, at least. You didn't tell them to show up there and follow us. You were doing something nice for me and my son. If I were to be mad at anybody, it'd be the person who took those pictures, okay? So you'd better get rid of that little rain cloud over your head and think of a way to make it up to me." she teasingly bit her lower lip, redirecting his gaze from her enchanting eyes to her mouth. Her face turned serious once more as she spoke again. "Castle, a few weeks ago you went you agreed to shadow me on this job, embracing both the good and the bad parts of it. It's only fair that I extend you the same courtesy. Whether I like it or not." she teased once more, shyly dipping her head to focus on a loose string on her pants.
Rick just gawked at her before murmuring lowly. "Katherine Beckett, you are extraordinary."
"What was that?" Kate frowned. She'd lost herself in another world for a few seconds and completely missed whatever he had just said to himself.
He jumped, afraid he'd been caught. "What? Nothing! I just, thought you were gonna shoot me. Or take my head off. Or bar me from the precinct for all eternity."
"All in good time, Castle." She smiled, before schooling her features. "And don't call me Katherine."
"Can I call you Kate, then?" He asked hopefully.
"Nope!"
Moments later, Alexis reappeared, announcing that Jonah's shirt had been located and he was changing as they spoke. Rick assured Kate that his publicist would do damage control, and that many of the sites were about to be pulled down for maintenance. It wouldn't stop the people who had already saved the images, but at least they'd be pulled off of active websites and blocked from being uploaded to them again.
Alexis looked apologetically at Kate. "I could only delete them from his official site. It's the only one I can access without help."
Kate assured her that it wasn't her problem to deal with, but teasingly decided to make a point to Rick that it wouldn't be happening again without bloodshed. After a few more minutes, Alexis reminded her father that she had a lunch date with some girlfriends and that he himself had to turn in the first few chapters of the new novel. Significantly more at ease, the two Castles left, leaving Kate alone with her thoughts until her son wandered back out. "What did Lex and Mr. Castle want?" Jonah asked, sitting next to her on the couch. Kate tucked her feet under her son's legs.
"Nothing you need to worry about." she informed him, kissing the top of his head. She reached behind her and grabbed the remote, tossing it to him. "Come on, I think Fresh Prince is on."
XxXxXxXxX
The funeral was on Monday. Kate kept Jonah home from school, helping him into the three-piece suit she had bought him for an old friend's wedding only a few months earlier. From the time she let her arms drop from adjusting his tie to the moment they walked back into the apartment over two hours later, he had refused to let go of her hand. They had met both Ryan and Esposito in front of the church before walking in, Captain Montgomery and his wife already seated inside. Kate and Jonah sat sandwiched between the two detectives and a cluster of students about halfway back.
It seemed to go by so slowly. From the solemn pallbearers, to the priest's gently words, to the memorial video projected in front of the altar to the final goodbyes. Kate had already given her condolences to the freshly wounded family at the precinct, but that didn't make it any easier to witness their grief. Mrs. Nichols gave her a watery smile from the first pew, and Kate gently laid her free hand on her shoulder before she approached the altar.
She watched her son's eyes fill with tears as he laid a yellow rose on Aidan's casket, along with all of the other Hunter students in attendance and she swore that her heart was going to shatter. He walked back with a few schoolmates by his side, yet still anchored by her hand. He hardly spoke word until hours later, after she'd made an early dinner for her the other two detectives, and the two Becketts had finally been left alone in the silence of their apartment.
"I don't like it when people die." he had said softly, stabbing his fork forcefully into the cake batter ice cream. His mother took his hand in hers, agreeing wholeheartedly from her place at the opposite side of the counter.
XxXxXxXxX
Rick slumped down in his favorite chair and let his eyes slip closed. He'd attended the funeral of the young boy who had been murdered only a week before, and it was something he never wanted to experience again. If the tiny casket wasn't enough, the memorial video absolutely destroyed his plan to not let any tears betray his feelings. He'd seen Beckett and Jonah only from a distance, in the midst of the rest of the Hunter students and their parents, who had been given the day off from school to grieve. He admired Kate's resolve to stay strong for her son, but he wondered if she would ever let her emotions out, even if it was just to herself. Resolve firmly in place, he picked up the phone and pressed the assigned speed dial number. It rang for several long moments, and just before he disconnected in defeat, the ringing stopped.
"Hey, Castle." she answered the phone tiredly. She had been relaxing on the couch when the phone rang, enjoying the silence after Jonah had retired to his room early to recoup.
Hearing the exhaustion in her voice, he reconsidered his decision to call her at such a semi-late hour. "Hi. Um, were you sleeping? I can call you ba-"
"No, no." Kate said, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. "It's fine, What is it?"
Suddenly very self conscious, Rick spoke softly. "I was just wondering. About how you were doing. And no lying."
Kate sighed. "I'm fine, Castle."
"I saw you today at the funeral." he revealed, still haunted by the memory of the small casket adorned with flowers. He knew that if one of these types of cases affected him this badly, that several could destroy a person.
She frowned. "You did? I didn't see you."
"I was in the back. I heard that the insensitive sister-in-law was a fan, didn't want to cause a scene." Unbeknownst to Kate, he had arranged for several pristine, personalized copies of his Derrick Storm novels to be publically auctioned off in the young boy's name, and he had a meeting with a board to discuss the possibility of an Aidan Nichols Memorial fund to be started with the proceeds.
"Ah," Kate said understandingly. With all of his public appearances, it was so surprise that Castle would have to be worried about being recognized in the most inappropriate of places. Like on the sidewalk after breakfast on an innocent Friday morning. It didn't make it okay, she rationalized, but it all was a part of the Richard Castle package.
They lapsed into a silence until Rick spoke again. "Do you have cases like this often?"
"Like what? Murders? We obviously have plenty of those." Kate weakly deflected, her emotions still raw.
"Kate." he said seriously. "You know what I mean."
"Yeah," she murmured, leaning her head back into the couch and convincing herself that no harm could come from sharing a little with him. "Not too often. But when we do, they're like knives in my gut. Every single time."
"The what-ifs." Rick said softly.
Kate nodded, voice coming out in a whisper. "The what-ifs." she cleared her throat before continuing on. "There was a case, just a few years ago, weeks before Jonah started 1st grade. A little boy had been found in a shallow grave at a construction site. He'd went missing in the three blocks between his house and the bus stop. I still refuse to do anything but drop Jonah off directly in front of school. It took me weeks to squelch the urge to call the office every morning to make sure he was safe and with his class. I even parked outside in a squad car for a few days until the administration took notice."
Castle chuckled. "How'd that go?"
She smirked on her end, and even though he couldn't see her, he heard it in his voice. "Well, if a child isn't present within 10 minutes of class starting, they start making phone calls. It probably pisses a lot of busy parents and truant kids off, but it's worth it."
XxXxXxXxX
When Jonah walked into the kitchen on Tuesday morning, he found his mother standing in front of the toaster, using it for a mirror as she hastily applied a coat of lip gloss. Jonah shook his head, "We have a hundred mirrors in this apartment and you have to do that here?"
"This lip gloss was down here in my purse." Kate explained as he pulled open the cabinets in search of something to have for breakfast. "And the toaster was the closest thing, so get off my case."
"Get off my case." Jonah mimicked her, ducking a swat from the dish towel as he opened another cabinet, his mood obviously improved from the day before. Shaking his head again, he pulled out a bag and began opening it up.
When she realized what he had chosen, Kate scolded him."Cheetos don't count as breakfast."
"It's all we have." He shot back, popping a stale, cheesy snack into his mouth. When she frowned at him, he pulled open a cabinet to reveal an empty space where the cereal and pop tarts were supposed to be. "And even if we did have cereal, we probably don't have any milk." Jonah moved over to the refrigerator and opened the door to prove his point. "See? I drank the rest of it last night."
"Ugh, I'm sorry, buddy." Kate groaned. "I forgot to go to the grocery store after I made dinner yesterday."
"And I didn't remind you." Jonah scrunched his face up before popping another Cheeto into his mouth. "We should know better than to invite Uncle Kev and Uncle Javi over without a backup arsenal of snacks."
Kate chuckled as she pulled her jacket on over her blouse and firmly clipped her badge to her waistband. " Or at least order a bunch of pizzas instead of using up all of our own food. Hey, I put thirty dollars on your school lunch account last week." Kate reminded him, pouring herself a glass of water. "Eat lunch at school."
Jonah frowned at her. "Today's Monday. Monday is fish stick day."
"So?" Kate asked. "You like fish sticks."
"I hate fish sticks."
"You do not." Kate chided, rinsing her glass in the sink. "You love fish."
"I do like fish. Fried fish, grilled fish, and even that fish stew you sometimes make, but not fish sticks." Jonah protested, wrinkling up his nose. "They're so weird."
"You're so weird" Kate laughed, checking her reflection in the toaster again, "Don't they serve sandwiches in the cafeteria, too?"
Jonah quickly checked the menu that was hanging on the refrigerator and then said, "Peanut butter and jelly. I don't like their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They put too much peanut butter on them."
"Well, you'll survive." Kate teased. "Just scrape some of it off."
"Mo-om," he whined.
"Joh-nah," Kate whined right back, stealing one of his cheetos. "Ugh," she made a face. "I don't know how you can stand these."
Jonah shrugged and popped another one in his mouth.
Looking at her son in amusement, she checked the time. "Hey, get your book bag and lets get out of here. I'll grab us some doughnuts on the way if you hurry."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Perpetuating the cop stereotype, are you, mom?"
"Oh shut up," she told him, snapping the dish towel dangerously close to his rear end as he walked away laughing.
XxXxXxXxX
"You know, Castle, you really don't have to be here." Beckett informed him, looking up from her stack of paperwork. It was shaping up to be another long, boring day full of paperwork. She knew that Castle was probably itching for a body to drop, and she felt herself hoping the exact same thing, as sick and morbid as it may have seemed.
Castle made a face before speaking. "Actually, I kind of do." Off Beckett's confused look, he continued. "Mother's getting ready for an audition, and I'm not in the mood to read the part of the slutty old lady. Which apparently isn't my mother, by the way." And under his breath he jokingly mumbled. "They say play what you know."
Kate bit back a grin and shook her head. "I don't know, add some more wrinkles and a few liver spots..." she pretended to scrutinize his face.
"Hey!" he looked at her, faking offense. "I don't have any wrinkles. Do I?" He worriedly pulled out his phone to look in the tiny mirror on the back.
"You are such a girl, Castle." she teased.
"Well, I was raised by one, so, yeah." He slipped his phone back in his pocket triumphantly. "See, I knew it. No wrinkles!"
She rolled her eyes. "Please, you're more of a girl than I am."
He eyed her up and down, a pretty flush staining her cheeks at his perusal of her body. "Nah," he smiled so the corners of his eyes crinkled. "You're definitely more girl."
"Could you two please stop flirting?" Ryan whined from his desk, as both writer and detective froze. Esposito's grin was smug as Ryan teasingly huffed at the pair.
Rick, deciding to deflect with humor, smirked at him. "Jealous, Mr. Ryan? I can always flirt with you too, if you're feeling left out."
Beckett couldn't help but laugh at the appalled expression on Ryan's face as he quickly refocused on his own stack of paperwork.
XxXxXxXxX
Jonah sighed as he walked down to the bathrooms with the rest of his class. The funeral wasn't had horrible as he'd thought it would be, but he was still feeling a little sad. He hadn't known Aidan at all, but he had been a familiar face around the school. The other second graders were still in daily counseling sessions, but the other students at Hunter College Elementary seemed as normal as could be. As Ms. Eberheart was perched like a hawk halfway between the classroom door and the bathrooms, Jonah idly wondering if she had seen the less-than-flattering cartoons some of the boys had drawn of her. Her demeanor certainly seemed less pleasant than her usual porcupine-like self.
"Hey, was that really your mom?" Jonah's best friend, Matt Costello, asked him, bumping his shoulder as they walked together.
"Was what my mom?" Jonah asked, confused. Matt huffed out a breath and grabbed Jonah's arm, dragging him further down the hallway. Matt stopped in front of the bulletin board, gesturing to a picture. One of Richard Castle and Kate Beckett from the previous weekend. The picture was fairly low quality, but he could tell that, in the photo, his mother's eyes were trained on the mystery writer. A smile lit up her face at whatever the other man was saying as they stood at a crosswalk. Jonah himself had been behind them at the time so he wasn't pictured, but anger flooded the young boy's body.
Sometime during Jonah's stare down with the offending piece of paper, a group of 4th and 5th grade boys had surrounded him. Amidst the catcalls from several of the young boys and the curious chatter of the rest of the students, Jonah vaguely remembered all the times his mother warned him about the dangers of letting his emotions getting the best of him. The times she'd told him it was best to not make a scene and solve things as quickly and privately as possible, no matter what the problem may be.
Inhaling deeply, Jonah tried to calm himself. "What is that?"
"I dunno," a girl named Chloe shrugged from his left side. "I think it's been here since school started."
"Well who put it up there?"
Chloe shrugged again. "Who's that guy with your mom?"
Jonah shifted uncomfortably. "Just a friend."
"Well I don't see what the big deal is." Chloe giggled. "It's just a picture."
"Yeah." Jonah said, the calm conversation with Chloe had caused the flush that had crept up his neck to almost fade. That is, until one person sidled up next to him on his opposite side.
Zach Riley, the boy he'd told his mother about only nights before, who could never pass up an opportunity to make his schoolmates suffer. "Dang, your mom's smokin', Jonah! I'd love to let her spank me."
Before Zach could even laugh at his own tasteless joke, Jonah had leveled him with one punch, causing Chloe and the rest of the girls to shriek as the boys watched in awe.
So much for not making a scene.
And, done. Hope no one tries to kill me hahah.