CHAPTER 4

The morning coffee in his hand, Castle had joined Esposito and Ryan at Tompkins Square Park. A well-dressed middle-aged man was lying on the ground behind a bench, next to a briefcase. CSU had already started collecting evidence and Ryan and Esposito had finished chatting with officers on the sidewalk when they entered the park, followed by Castle.

"Oh, this blood..." Ryan said, wincing at the sight of the pool of blood around the victim.

He turned around for a second as though he was feeling nauseous.

"What's happening, bro? Since when did you get so sensitive? It's not the first dead body you've seen," Esposito asked, surprised.

"He's right," Castle said swallowing his sip of coffee as he walked around to take a look at the body. "Though I understand it may be a little early for this..." he added, wincing in his turn.

"No, it's... I've seen a video of... a woman giving birth to her boy. In preparation for... You know," he said looking nervous. "Now every time I see blood, I can't help but think about this video! I shouldn't have watched it. But Jenny wanted me to be ready..."

"I remember when Alexis was born. I almost passed out... but when I saw her beautiful little face, I forgot everything else, I just couldn't leave sight of her," Castle smiled. "Don't worry, it's gonna be fine. You guys have already picked a name?" Castle asked softly.

"Nah, we're still... undecided. Jenny's about originality, I'm more about ordinary."

"Compromising is the key. Or a double name," Castle joked.

"I heard one the other day... Eva-Sophia," Esposito suggested.

"Ava-Sophia," Castle said. "Remember she wants originality. Ava... is more original than Eva."

"Seriously?" Esposito asked as he didn't seem to like it much. "Think about the kid. She's gonna have to live with it. Eva's good," he said looking towards Ryan who was looking successively towards Castle and Esposito.

"Guys, calm down. We don't even know if it's a girl," Ryan said.

"Well... don't ask Espo for advice. Run your ideas by me," Castle gave him a wink, before checking his phone.

"She hasn't called back yet?"

"No," Castle answered looking up at Esposito. "She's probably busy."

"Oh, oh..." Ryan did as he saw a vehicle approaching.

He knew right away it was bad news, even though he had no idea why they would be interested in this case.

"The cavalry's coming..." Esposito sighed.

"Great! Feds..." Castle rolled his eyes when he saw the black SUV park just outside the crime scene perimeter, with all the lights on.

"CSU already collected the majority of evidence so let's hope they'll realize they have nothing more to do here. And they can just... go... home."

"Well, let's hope they sent their worst agents. Fingers crossed for two green-" Castle stopped, his eyes stuck on the two women getting out of the car.

It couldn't be. Was this a coincidence? For sure, it was an unexpected encounter. The women shared a look as they noticed Ryan, Esposito and Castle staring at them. Two women would have to order three men around... Not any men. But it was not any women. Castle stood still in his tracks for a moment. He wanted to go meet them but he couldn't move. Her. Among so many agents, it had to be her.

"You knew she was coming?" Esposito asked.

"I..." Castle started, bewildered. "No," he simply said before looking at Esposito.

He looked stunned. It was definitely a surprise. Good or bad, it had yet to be seen. After a few seconds, Castle eventually walked towards the two agents.

"Hi," he said.

"Mr Castle, nice to see you again," agent Rachel McCord said with a warm smile as she held out her hand to him.

She was a tall and thin woman with long brown hair. She was wearing a suit and had her sunglasses on. The perfect Fed look, that you would notice miles away.

Castle gently shook her hand. They had met before. In Washington, two months earlier. He was waiting for Kate outside of the building and had met agent Rachel McCord, who was walking out at the same time. He had had the chance to meet Kate's new colleague, who was also her mentor and her direct superior.

"Hey," Kate Beckett said softly.

When she had learnt she would have to go to New York, she had hoped for any crime scene, as long as it did not involve her former team and her fiancé. So much for that hope...

"Sorry, but as you may understand, we're here to take over the crime scene... and the investigation," agent McCord said with a smile. "No evidence must leave the scene without us taking a look at it first. Our service will process them directly."

"Wait, huh... Why are you guys interested in this case? What's going on? Who is this guy? How do you know about him?"

"So many questions! Shall we...?" agent Rachel McCord said, pointing towards the scene.

Without even waiting for the answer, she started walking towards the boys who were still staring at them from the distance. Awkward. The whole situation was awkward.

"Kate?" Castle said as though he was expecting some explanation from her.

"Not now, Castle. Please..." she answered, ill-at-ease, before following agent McCord.

She wasn't comfortable with this situation but she had to do her job anyway. She walked to join her colleague who was introducing herself to her former colleagues, a few feet away.

"Guys..." Kate said.

"See, I knew it! I told you, one day you would come to take a case from us..." Esposito said half-joking.

"Oh yeah, we're the big bad wolf here..." agent McCord mocked. She sounded like she had heard this complaint many times in her career. "Don't worry, detective Esposito, we're used to being hated," she said with a smile.

"How do you-"

"-know your name? I've heard a lot about you. About you two... or you three, I shall say," she said giving Castle a smile. "Was there a briefcase next to the body?" she asked more seriously.

"How do you know?" Ryan asked.

"So there was one. Good. Where is it? Have you looked inside?"

"CSU collected it, along with other evidence-" Ryan couldn't finish his sentence that agent McCord was already gone to meet with CSU and order them to stop everything they were doing.

Beckett noticed the boys's look on her partner. They were happy not to work with her every day.

"Captain Gates's a Care Bear next to her, believe me," Kate said, confirming their thought.

"So... can we at least have some explanation?" Castle asked.

Beckett looked at them successively. She wished she could explain. She knew she owed them an explanation. She would hate being in their position. But she just couldn't.

"Sorry guys, classified. All I can tell you is that it's a very sensitive case. We got put in a plane as soon as our director got the news... No mistake allowed on this one, that was his only warning for this mission. No mistake allowed," she repeated his words. "Do you know who it is?" she said pointing at the victim being put inside a body bag.

"Not yet, he didn't have any ID with him," Esposito said.

"Good," Kate simply said without adding anything more. It sounded like them not knowing the identity of the victim was a good news. "You should find yourself another case to work on. It's just an advice from a friend... I'd say this case is nothing but trouble," she told them before Rachel McCord joined them again to set conditions, and limits not to cross.

To Be Continued...

Reviews are always appreciated! :)

A/N: Please, be patient. I've already written most of the next chapters. To answer a Guest's review: [spoiler]Yes, Kate will open her eyes and get her head out of her *** at one point.[/spoiler] Again, please, be patient. :)