A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews thus far! I hope that this doesn't feel too rushed. Enjoy, and please review :)

Disclaimer: A girl can only dream...


Chapter 9- Fired Up

"Like I said before, I don't know how to explain any of this." He began to sweat. He had made up his mind that he would not share their secret. He had enough faith in Kate that she would solve this thing without him divulging their relationship.

"There are two other exits in your building that are not in sight of your doorman. It is completely possible that you left the apartment after the others and killed Bethany Steincrass."

"Pull the videos. All of the exits are monitored, I insisted on that a few years ago. I don't know what is going on, but I am being framed by someone. I wouldn't kill anyone!"

"Mr. Castle, your prints are on the weapon, your DNA is in the apartment. There isn't a jury in New York that wouldn't convict you based on that information."

"Look, I didn't do it. I was in my home all night, I left around 8 this morning to come here. I stopped to get coffee as I always do, when I was in line, Detective Beckett called to let me that there was a case. I made my way to the apartment then. That was the first I had seen the victim or the apartment. I have no idea why my fingerprints were on the knife, wait a minute. Did the knife have a broken tip?"

Kate watched from behind the glass, great he was going to incriminate himself because he knew a detail about the knife.

"As a matter of fact, it did. Would you like to tell me how you knew that detail?"

"I threw away a set of knives a few days ago. The butcher knife had a broken tip and I wanted a new set anyway, so I tossed them. Of course my fingerprint would be on it, they were mine."

Kate was quickly putting the pieces together in her mind. Rigsby had to have seen Rick throw them away and dug them out of the dumpster. Castle just needed to tell Gates to check his computer, but she knew there were files he didn't want anyone to see, but especially Gates.

That is a very convenient story Mr. Castle. Do you have sort of proof back this up? Because here is what I see from my perspective. I have a knife used to stab a fan repeatedly. The knife is found in the apartment, not 20 feet from the body. Your fingerprints are all over the knife. You know details about the knife. Your DNA was found on scene. You have no alibi. I'm sure that the D.A. will take this case and run with it.

Kate's heart sank. She knew Gates was right, he needed an alibi. She knew what she had to do. She stood up and walked into the interrogation room.

"Detective Beckett, I believe that I told you that you were not allowed in this room."

"I know, but I need to say something. Castle did NOT do this."

"Kate, don't do this," his voice was pleading with her.

"Castle, I have to."

"No, you don't." He sighed, he knew that nothing he said would convince her otherwise.

"Captain Gates, Richard Castle was with me last night."

"Yes, he has said that, and you left with the others at 11:30. He had more than enough time to make it to Ms. Steincrass's apartment and kill her."

"Actually, no, I didn't leave at 11:30." Her voice was much softer than she had planned, almost breakable. She let the statement soak in, giving herself a moment to firm her voice. "I stayed, I stayed all night."

She couldn't see the looks on Ryan and Esposito, but if she could, she would see them slack jawed and speechless. Lanie was going to kill her over the fact that they know knew before she did. She didn't care about the response though. She didn't want their secret out yet, but that paled in comparison to Castle being arrested, and she was positive that Gates was only moments away from booking him.

Castle just sat with his head in his hands. He really didn't want her to have to do that. He wanted to say something, but there was nothing more to say. He needed to touch her, needed to know that things between them were ok. She was a runner and a builder. Would she try to run, or rebuild the wall that he felt like he was finally helping her tear down?

Gates was furious and so flustered that she could barely formulate a full sentence. In fact it came out in several snippets of a sentence. "Detective Beckett. A word. My office. Now!" Gates marched out, Kate glanced over her shoulder Rick had his head in his hands.

"Castle? It's going to be ok." She said as she followed Gates to the office, the door slammig behind her.

Ryan and Esposito entered the interrogation room. "Bro! When did you plan on letting us in on your little secret?" Esposito asked.

Castle sighed. "I don't know, it was all so new. We just wanted to get used to the idea first. This is not how we planned on telling you guys."

"Don't worry, Kate will hold her own in there." They heard the beginnings of a shouting match through the thins walls.

Gates paced the room too angry to speak at first. "Are you telling me that you and Mr. Castle are sleeping together?" Gates spat at her. "Is that why you two were so damned determined to keep him here, so that you could play out some fantasy workplace romance?"

"Sir, I was providing you with the alibi that he wouldn't admit to because he wanted to keep our private business private. I can tell you with 100% certainty that he never left his apartment. I was with him until 7 when I left to come here. As for your other accusation, no, this was not something we had planned nor something that had been going on long. This is a very recent development." She had overcome what weakness she had shown in interrogation. She was back to the Beckett that wouldn't take anything from anyone, even her own supervisor.

"Do I look like an idiot Detective Beckett?"

"No, sir."

"You do realize that it is not acceptable to date someone within the precinct? There are policies against this sort of thing for a reason. Emotions get involved and then someone gets killed."

"I know the policies, sir. However, Castle is not a cop, and is not even a paid consultant, therefore I am not going against any of the written policies." Kate is glad she had the forethought to check this out, she had in fact looked into it months ago.

This Detective Beckett had some nerve spouting policy to her. "Look, as much as I would love to lock that man up, I can't go against an alibi provided from one of my own, so I am releasing Castle." Her anger rose again as she considered how much of an embarrassment Beckett was to her right now. She needed some time to figure out what to do with her. "You, Detective Beckett, are to take the rest of this week off, report to my office next Monday morning and we will deal with this... this situation then. Now the two of you need to leave this precinct NOW!" She opened the door, and motioned for Kate to leave the office.

Kate knew better than to say another word. She was pretty sure there was actually smoke coming from the woman's ears.

She walked back to the interrogation room, avoiding the eye contact of everyone except Rick. In an instant, he melted her insides. "Castle, let's go."

The guys looked at each other dumbfounded. "Kate?" Castle asked.

"Gates is releasing you, and I am out for the remainder of the week. Esposito and Ryan, follow up with Rob in the tech lab. He should be able to find enough evidence for you to book Stella Rigsby on. Call me if you need to, but you better not let Gates know. Oh, and let her cool off a bit. I'm not sure she has ever been that mad." The three men continued to stare, not able to form words. She grabbed Castle's hand and dragged him to the elevator.


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