So, this chapter takes place a week after the accident, in case you couldn't tell by reading it. The start of the end of a subplot begins in this chapter... Hope that makes sense! Hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter Nine
Castle woke up to the sound of his cell phone that morning. Normally he didn't get calls this early unless it was Beckett at a crime scene. Problem was, he knew she was up in his bed, so where did this call come from?
As he looked at the Caller ID, though, he saw it was Esposito.
"Castle," he answered on his end.
"Yo," Esposito replied. "How's Beckett doin'?"
"She's doing well," Castle answered the question.
"Listen, I'm callin' because we got something that you and Beckett might be interested in."
"We'll be there as soon as possible."
"Cool." Esposito hung up the phone.
Castle put down his phone and popped some bagels in the toaster. Once the coffee was getting brewed, he headed up to let Beckett know they had an appointment at the precinct. What the appointment was, though, he had no idea.
Castle knocked lightly on the door. "It's me, Castle," he said through the door. He didn't know if Beckett was getting changed or not, and he didn't want to be rude and just walk in. He learned that the hard way with his ex-wives.
"Just a sec," Beckett replied. She was just buttoning up her shirt for the day. Wearing her tee-shirts was getting a bit tiring, and she felt like looking nice today, even if she wasn't going anywhere. There are those days you just need to do something different, and this was one of them. When she finally did the last button, she walked over and opened the door herself.
Castle wasn't expecting Beckett to open the door, he was just waiting for the affirmative to come in. What Beckett was wearing, though, was gorgeous. A light, but bold blue collared button-up top untucked with neatly rolled-up sleeves, coupled with jet black pants. It was a nice look on her. Castle found himself staring a little longer than he probably should have, though, and caught himself before the moment got awkward.
"Esposito called," Castle started. "They want us to come down to the precinct."
"Really?" Beckett inquired. She took a small step back and shifted her weight, like she was thinking about the situation. "What's it for?"
"I dunno," Castle stated, "He didn't tell me anything else."
Beckett inspected Castle visually just like she would a criminal. His body stance was open, and the tone of his voice was serious, nothing to indicate he was lying. This meant one of two things: He was doing a really good job covering, which she knew he could do from their poker games, or he was telling the truth. Knowing it was Esposito only made it harder, since she knew how they had their moments. However, Castle looked sincere in the moment, and since she doubted he hadn't been to the precinct she had moved in temporarily, it was a safe bet he didn't know what was going on behind those doors.
During the whole time Beckett was inspecting, she realized not a word had been spoken. She took the first initiative to speak up after the silence that lingered. "So, should we get going?"
Castle nodded his head. "Yeah, we probably should," as he stepped off to the side and allowed Beckett to be the first one out.
"Thank you," Beckett said as she walked out in front of Castle, giving a small nod to show she appreciated the gesture. Castle came up on her left side, walking alongside her down the steps and to the kitchen.
"Lemme just get our breakfast ready," Castle stated as he got the bagels out of the toaster and put them on napkins. He headed over to the coffee machine after to get it ready in travel mugs. As Castle was pouring the first cup, though, he noticed Beckett had taken the knife and started spreading the cream cheese on the bagels.
"Thank you," Castle shared.
"Anytime," Beckett replied, smiling as she looked at him. When the coffee and bagels were ready, they were out the door, ready to see what Esposito had called them down for.
When they arrived at the precinct, breakfast finished along the way, Esposito came up to greet them.
"Nice to see you," Esposito addressed to both Castle and Beckett.
"Nice to see you," Castle nodded his head.
Beckett was more curious as to why they were called down and wanted to get down to it. "So, you said you wanted to see us?" she inquired.
"Yeah." Esposito started. "In addition to closing another case, we've been doing a little... extra work."
"What do you mean?" Beckett asked. Castle had a confused look on his face with that comment.
"You know the guy who sent you to the hospital?" Esposito returned to Beckett.
Beckett put an arm across her abdomen. Even though it had been a week, just the mention of it made her want to be protective of that area. The words were enough to bring back the memory, or lack thereof.
"When we were off duty here at the station, we used that time to try and find him. No one gets away with what he did," Esposito explained. Beckett smiled at his reasoning; the corners of Castle's lips turned up as well. "It took some investigating, but now," Esposito paused a little, as the group was standing outside the door to one of the interrogation rooms. "We finally caught the guy who was driving that car."
Beckett wasn't expecting Esposito to deliver that kind of information; she expected someone from another department to be telling her this. Then again, they were a close group, so she could see how Esposito and Ryan asked to investigate into this case themselves. The idea that Esposito and Ryan always had her back, even when she wasn't working, made her feel special to be a part of this homocide unit.
"We've been holding him because we thought you guys might wanna see us book 'im," Esposito continued. "We felt it was only fair, considering the situation," implying that Beckett was a victim and would want to see this guy get his justice served.
"Hit him hard," Beckett replied as she opened the door to the observation room, ready to witness this guy getting booked. Castle followed behind her, wanting to see this guy get his just desserts.
