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When Esposito finished telling Beckett his connection to the suspect she groaned, "Esposito why didn't you tell me earlier? Anyway until his alibi checks out he's a suspect and you need to eliminate all contact with him."

"Not a problem considering we broke up two weeks ago," he said bitterly.

Beckett squeezed his arm, "Maybe it was for the best."

Castle chose that moment to come strolling through the doors with an excited smile, "What do we have? Anything new?"

Beckett gave Esposito a flat look before turning to Castle, "We found our suspect but he gave us an alibi, we also found out who Esposito has been seeing."

Castle frowned in confusion for a moment before his eyebrows shot up, "Our suspect? Oh my God this is so juicy. Where is he?"

"Bro, seriously?"

Beckett opened her mouth but paused when two officers ran past her. "What's going on?"

"Holding. We've got a riot."

Esposito's eyes widened and he, Beckett, and Castle ran for the stairs to the basement. Javier's heart was pounding in his chest, how could this be happening? Would he even still be alive when they got there? Everyday he had wanted to see those blue eyes and now that he had he might never see them again.

Everyone burst into holding and came to a screeching halt in front of the cell. "What in the world?" Castle whispered.

Every single person in the cell was lying on the ground broken, battered, and bleeding and in the center of them was Ryan standing there panting and flexing his hands that now contained bruised knuckles. He looked over and grinned at them, his teeth stained red with blood and his hair sticking up wildly, "You should have an officer down here. Little guy like me could get hurt."

Esposito let Beckett and Castle talk because if he opened his mouth right now who knew what would come out of it. Seeing Ryan in front of him panting and grinning and looking entirely too cocky with his victory made his jeans feel way too snug. He knew Ryan liked to fight, liked the adrenaline and the excitement and while he had never seen him actually throw fists he had been told by him there's only one way to burn off the energy of a good fight and that was a good fuck, and even though he was pissed at him right now all he could think of was taking him right here and right now.

When their eyes met he knew Ryan was aware of what he was doing to him and hated that this man could read him so easily. Forcing down his lust, which took some doing, he looked at Beckett who he realized was still talking.

Castle began to laugh as Beckett shook her head in disbelief, "How did you manage to take out all these men?"

His grin grew as he shrugged and held up his fists jokingly, "I watch a lot of boxing."

Beckett elbowed Castle to get him to stop laughing and looked at Esposito, "You're in charge of him while we get this cleaned up. He doesn't leave your sight or the precinct until we check his alibi. Handcuffs on and attached to your desk."

Esposito swallowed thickly at the idea of cuffing Ryan and nodded before shifting uncomfortably as more inappropriate thoughts assaulted his mind. After opening the door and handcuffing him he led him to the elevator, "I thought you were gonna be toast."

Ryan didn't answer until they were inside and the doors had slid shut, "I can handle myself if need be. It's good to see you."

"I wish I could say the same but after you dumped me and showed up as a murder suspect the shine has kind of worn off."

The handcuffed man sighed heavily, "I'm sorry Javi, I wish I could tell you what happened but I can't. I've missed you, I never wanted it to go down like that. I know you missed me, it's written all over your face."

Esposito shook his head angrily, "I'm supposed to say everything's cool? You insulted my partner and I. You work for the mob bro."

Ryan turned to face him better. "Look at me, look me in the eyes," he pleaded desperately. "You know me, you know there's more to it than that. Forgive me please? I can't stop thinking about you, about us. I made a mistake."

The dark skinned man stayed quiet as he led him to the bathroom to get him cleaned up before bringing him to his desk and handcuffing him to it. Once they were settled he looked at Ryan who was looking dejectedly at the handcuffs and pulling gently on them as he tested his boundaries. "I did it for you," he whispered.

"Did what?"

"I didn't want them to hurt you." Not knowing what else to say on the matter and not wanting to pressure Esposito too much he looked around at the desk, "So this is where you work? Seems right boring to me, I think I like my job better."

Esposito snorted.

"At least at my job I get to drink. You know I wanted to be a detective when I was younger. I was six and was walking home from catholic school when I saw these guys grab this couple. They pulled them into an alley and all I could do was watch. I was so scared that I just stood there and watched as they stabbed them over and over." His eyes glazed over as he recounted his story. "The lady, she looked at me right before they slit her throat. She looked right at me and knew that I let her die."

"You were six Kevin, there's nothing you could have done. They would have just killed you too. I know you said something about your job being chosen for you but why stick with it?"

He shrugged and tried to manage a grin, "Guy like me? I'm not made for what you do. I watch bad things happen, I don't prevent them."

"What bad things do you watch happen?"

To his surprise Ryan kept speaking quietly as he stared into space, "Horrible, horrible things. Things no one should ever have to watch, to think about. Nightmares, horrible nightmares that you wish you could wake up from. So much blood. You think after time you'd grow numb but you never do, you never do."

"Who does these things Kev?" Feeling bad for taking advantage of Ryan's emotional hypnosis but wanting to help him he kept his voice low and even. He watched as he opened his mouth but just as he sounded the first letter a detective shouted across the bullpen, "Esposito!"

Ryan sucked in a sharp breath and looked around wildly as he jerked his arm in the handcuff. "Ow," he groaned when it wrenched his wrist. "What just happened?"

"You kind of spaced out there for a minute. Hang on." He rose from his chair and walked over to the other detective as Ryan sucked in deep breaths trying to calm himself. His attention was grabbed a second later by a pretty redhead stepping out of the elevator.

Alexis walked out of the elevator and looked around before releasing a sigh when she didn't see anyone she knew.

Ryan saw where she was looking and sat up straighter, "Looking for Beckett or Esposito?"

She walked over to him but stopped a few feet away when she noticed his cuffed hand, "Rick Castle actually."

"He's down in holding with Beckett, there was an incident down there. Since you're here could you do me a favor?"

She frowned heavily but didn't move away.

He leaned to one side to grab his wallet but remembered it had been taken along with all his other belongings before they put him downstairs. "Could ya grab me a soda from the machine? I'll pay ya back." Seeing she wasn't moving he smiled softly, "I promise no funny business and you won't get in trouble, please?"

She sighed before walking around the corner and returning a moment later with a can of cola. She passed it to him and after he took a sip she crossed her arms, "What are you doing here handcuffed to Detective Esposito's desk?"

"Well until my alibi checks out, and I promise it will, I'm here on murder charges. So how do you know Castle?"

Finding she couldn't ignore his Irish charm and honesty she sat down in an empty chair a few feet away. "He's my dad."

"Really? Must get your red hair from your mother then? My sister has hair just like yours, or at least she did last time I saw her. Been quite a few years."

She frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that. My mom and grandmother have red hair. I'm Alexis by the way."

He leaned forward and grabbed her hand gently when she extended it, "Kevin, pleasure to meet you. So what brings you down here today?"

When the elevator opened Castle and Beckett exited just in time to see Alexis sitting next to Ryan laughing at what he was saying. She slapped his arm and he laughed harder before pointing to her and saying something, which made her shake her head in disbelief. Castle ran forward as Beckett looked for Esposito, "Don't talk to the murderers honey."

Alexis rolled her eyes and looked at a grinning Ryan. "He assured me he didn't kill those two people."

"Yes of course he did," he mocked as he gently steered her away from him.

Beckett approached and crossed her arms, "What were you talking about? She's a minor."

Ryan looked truly offended, "Just friendly conversation, I'm not a sicko. You leave me here with nothing to do like some sort of criminal. Everybody keeps looking at me like I belong in the zoo."

Esposito came around the corner with a cup of coffee and looked at Beckett who was glaring at him. "What did I tell you to do? He was talking to Alexis."

"I was gone for like five minutes and he's handcuffed to a desk, what's he going to do?"

Ryan nodded earnestly, "Yeah, what am I gonna do?"

She rolled her eyes and sat down on the edge of the desk near Ryan, "Listen carefully. You are here and not being transferred as a courtesy to Detective Esposito and because I'm afraid you're going to permanently maim everyone in lockup. If you give me a reason to I will find something to put you away for."

Ryan met her gaze steadily, refusing to back down.

She leaned down closer to him, "If you want to play I'll play. Evading law enforcement, assault on a police officer, obstruction of justice, aggravated assault on multiple counts. Shall I go on?"

The seconds ticked by until Ryan leaned back in the chair and smirked, "I'll be good Detective."

Castle reappeared after sending Alexis away and handed him a copy of his latest book, "You read?"

He snatched the book out of his hands and opened it. "I'm not illiterate if that's what you're asking and thank you. Treat me like an animal…" he mumbled. The trio watched him for a second more as he began to read until he stopped and looked up at them, "Stop staring, it's creepy. You all need to learn proper etiquette because your hospitality sucks."

Everyone walked away except Castle who dropped down into Esposito's chair and stared at him quietly before Ryan began to feel uncomfortable. "Can I help you with something?" he finally asked in an awkward tone as he set the book down on the desk.

"I'm Rick Castle," he offered in greeting. "Esposito never told us about you, well he did but only vaguely and didn't really go into detail. You're different than his past boyfriends."

"Different how?" he wondered aloud before slapping himself mentally for asking such a ridiculously question that clearly displayed his insecurities.

Castle eyed him up and down and Ryan couldn't help but fidget a little under his gaze. "He usually goes for men with dark hair and eyes but that's just superficial stuff. You..." he trailed off as he seemed to be warring with himself on what to say. "I'm trying to decide if you two are compatible."

His bluntness threw Ryan for a loop and he could only stare with a slack jaw before dumbly asking, "Are we?"

The writer tilted his head a little and his eyes narrowed before he leaned forward, Ryan unable to not also lean a little as he awaited the answer. "Not at all. You two are complete opposites that I really can't even picture having anything truly in common. I imagine you two would argue about everything."

Ryan slumped a little and offered a small accepting nod but snapped his eyes back to Castle when he continued, "That's why you two are so perfect together though. No one wants to spend time with themselves, we'd all go crazy. I'm guessing your calm/crazy thing you have going on keeps him feeling young and he offers you the stability that, based off your file, you don't have. You're two sides of the same coin, completely opposite yet necessary for the other to survive. He's strong and silent, and you're more delicate and definitely more talkative."

His eyebrows rose slightly as he thought about everything he said until he frowned, "I'm not delicate."

Castle just nodded, "Yes you are. Compared to Esposito, physically, and from what I can tell just from our interactions, emotionally."

Knowing he was on the losing end of this discussion he shrugged and tried for nonchalance, "Well none of it matters. We broke up two weeks ago."

Castle grinned and shook his head, "Regardless of what you two think, you did not break up. Well I'm off to find Beckett." Whistling a jaunty tune he hoisted himself out of the chair and walked around the corner as Esposito reappeared and claimed his seat. No words were spoken between the two as the detective got back to work and Ryan slowly picked up the book again, his mind far away from the smooth cover under his fingers.

An hour later Ryan set down the book and looked at Esposito, "What're you working on?"

He glanced over before looking back down, "Paperwork for the last case."

"Don't be mad bro. Give me another chance please."

Esposito threw down his pen and leaned over so their conversation would be more private. "You're hiding things that I can't be a part of. It's like you're another person Kevin," he spat.

Ryan wanted him to understand, needed him too. "I never lied about who I was."

A pair of high heels came into view and he looked up at Kate Beckett. "Mr. Ryan your alibi checks out you're free to go, for now." She undid his cuffs and dropped his belongings next to him before walking away.

He rubbed his red wrist and looked at Esposito who wouldn't even look up from his paperwork. With an accepting nod he whispered, "No matter who I am I'm still yours Javi," before grabbing his belongings and turning and walking over to the elevator. With one final glance back at the man who wouldn't even look at him he slipped inside and disappeared.

As soon as the doors closed Javier looked up and gritted his teeth against the emotions that were clawing their way to the front of his mind. His heart told him to run after him, to try again to make this work because he was secure enough to acknowledge that their relationship had been something truly special but his mind kept him firmly seated. It just hurt too bad, it was too confusing with Ryan dumping him in an alley with absolutely no explanation then showing up and begging for them to be together again.

Two days went by until Esposito couldn't stand it any longer. He had to talk to Ryan, had to know the truth about everything. Remembering the last time he had tried to go to the bar he made sure his gun was loaded and on his hip before exiting his car and walking into the bar. When he entered he walked over to the counter and was surprised to see a woman instead of Ryan.

She smiled cheerfully as she walked over, "What can I get for you handsome?"

"Where's Ryan?"

She frowned, "Boss said he called in sick today. Can I help you with anything?"

Before she even finished the sentence Esposito was sprinting out the door, his heart in his throat. 'I don't call in sick ever' repeated over and over in his mind as he ignored his car and fell into a full sprint down the block. He had never ran so fast in his life and after a hectic knock on Ryan's apartment door and no answer he tried the handle and cursed that it was unlocked. One look at the door jamb and he could see where someone had jimmied their way inside. Esposito burst inside and looked around before noticing numerous dirty and unfamiliar footprints across the entire apartment. He pulled his gun from the holster and quietly walked through the apartment room to room checking for the intruders and more importantly, Kevin. The last room to check was the bathroom and with caution he grasped the closed door handle and slowly turned it. When the door swung open he could only stare in horror at the site in front of his eyes, his forearm automatically covering his mouth and nose to keep himself from gagging at the sickly metallic smell of blood.

Kevin's blood.