"You mean, you'll put down your rock and I'll put down my sword, and we'll try and kill each other like civilized people?"
-The Man in Black, The Princess Bride
He was surprised when his phone rang, but he quickly reached for where it lay on the coffee table. His eyebrows shot up when he saw the caller ID.
"Katie!" he answered the phone, trying and failing to keep the surprise out of his voice.
"Hey, Dad," his daughter's voice held the telltale tremble that gave away just how nervous she was to be calling him, and his heart broke for her.
"How are you?" he asked with the tone he used to use when she was a child woken by nightmares. He heard her intake of breath, knew she was trying for a smile. When she spoke, he could hear relief in her voice, the kind that came when she discovered he wasn't angry like she'd expected him to be.
"I went to see my therapist this morning," she replied, hesitant as ever to talk about needing help, but he knew. They had both learned the hard way that some things were too big to deal with alone.
"I'm so proud of you, Katie," he couldn't hold the words back, feeling strongly, once again, that he didn't tell her often enough.
"Thanks," her reply came through a hint of a self-depreciating laugh.
"Did it go ok?" he prompted her. She expelled a breath into the phone, causing a crackle down the line.
"Yeah, it was good. Helped me understand some things," she finally said.
"That's good," he said, waiting for her to take the lead on this conversation.
"I was wondering..." she began nervously.
"Anything, Katie," he responded quietly, smiling as he heard her give a breathless, startled laugh.
"Well, in that case..." she teased, leaving the sentence hanging on purpose, and they both laughed. When she spoke again, her voice held more confidence. "I was wondering if you and Mom are free to have dinner tonight, since we all missed out yesterday."
Jim closed his eyes, tried to keep his gratefulness at her capitulation out of his tone and nearly succeeding. "I think that'd be great, Katie. I think your mother would really appreciate that, too."
Her response was noncommittal. "We'll see."
He shook his head a little, grinning to himself at his daughter's stubborn nature. "Your place, then, tonight?"
"I was actually thinking maybe somewhere slightly more neutral. Martha's out tonight, and Castle isn't expecting Alexis, either, so he suggested we come here," her voice had a forced ring to it, like she was trying a little too hard to be happy. He knew better than to call her on it, though. He could feel the strain down the phone line.
"Dinner tonight sounds perfect. Around 6?" he asked instead. He heard her exhale again; another crackle down the line. Her voice was laced with an almost palpable relief.
"See you then," she said.
"See you then," he echoed, and a moment later, the line went dead.
The body dropped at 1.45 that afternoon.
Literally.
Off a rooftop.
With a knife lodged firmly in the young man's back.
By the time three detectives and their intrepid shadow had been to the crime scene, talked to Lanie about initial findings, talked to witnesses, sent uniforms out to canvas the area, and gone back to the precinct to set up the murder board, the afternoon was ticking on.
Kate hung up the phone with a sigh, turned to the boys. "That was Lanie confirming both time and cause of death. Any luck yet with IDing our vic?"
"That's a negative. So far no hits on his fingerprints in any of the databases. Hopefully Lanie will have more luck with his dental records," Esposito replied from across the room. Kate turned to study the murder board for a long moment. Castle appeared out of nowhere, handed her a steaming mug which she accepted without much more than a distracted lift of the corner of her mouth. He leaned against her desk next to her, felt her shift towards him almost instinctively.
"And we're still waiting on the warrant for that security footage?" The building's manager had not been overly helpful.
"Still waiting. This time of day, we'll be lucky if it comes through before the morning," Ryan stretched in his chair.
"I guess there's no point in sticking around here, then," Kate said, eying the murder board wistfully.
All three of the boys froze.
There was a moment of shocked silence. She turned to glare at them.
"Are you...?" Castle began at the same time as Ryan stage whispered to Espo, "Did she just...?"
She looked at each of them in turn, then sighed and gave in. "Ok, yes, I don't like stopping here any more than you do, but I have some really important dinner plans that I don't think I should cancel."
Ryan and Esposito turned to look at Castle questioningly.
"Hey, I'm not the one... It's not..." he babbled and then stopped short, turned to his partner. "You have dinner plans?" he glanced around the bullpen to make sure that no one besides their immediate circle was listening. He leaned a little closer, lowered his voice. "Am I invited?"
Biting her lip did nothing to prevent the shy smile that bloomed across her face. She glanced over his shoulder and saw the boys were still straining to hear every word. "You know those plans we cancelled last night?"
"Uh huh," his eyes darkened, fixed on her mouth.
"I called my dad this morning, rescheduled for tonight."
He snapped his eyes up to meet hers, wide and surprised and so very blue, but the surprise melted almost immediately into something warmer, softer. A purely Castle blend of love and pride and devotion and desire.
She swallowed the urge she was fighting constantly these days to kiss him in the middle of the precinct, and glanced at the boys who were still listening in. She raised an eyebrow at them, and they turned back to their desks. Kate lowered her voice to a whisper anyway. "I need you to do something for me, though."
"Anything," he breathed without hesitation. She smiled to herself, reassured again and again of his love for her.
"I need you to find some time at some point to entertain my Dad. You know, so my Mom and I can talk. Maybe patch things up," she said, hope and trepidation warring in her eyes.
"Truly extraordinary," he murmured almost to himself, fisting his hand when he realized it was half way to reaching for her without conscious thought. She ducked her head a little and nearly turned back to the board, when a thought occurred to her. She gripped his arm tightly.
"I forgot to tell you. Dinner's at your place."
When they got home, after a quick stop by the store, Castle wisely left Kate to her own devices in the kitchen and set about making sure the rest of the loft was acceptable for entertaining. She approached the chicken she was preparing in a similar manner to the way she would normally approach an interrogation- focused and determined. He secretly wondered what that said about him, that he was more than a little bit aroused by her demeanor, as well as being simultaneously more than a little terrified, too.
When the loft was presentable- it didn't take long, as he liked his home to be orderly- he carefully approached the bench, sliding onto a bar stool to watch her flying and hovering about.
"Anything I can do?" he asked cautiously. He couldn't tell whether even that much would be welcome.
She didn't so much as glance in his direction. "I'm fine," she replied abstractly.
"Oh, you're that all right, Detective," he replied smoothly, unable to stop the words if he tried. She looked at him then, eyebrow raised, but there was just the barest hint of a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth. He took that as an invitation, moving around the island and into her space, sliding his arms around her from behind. She heaved a sigh and leaned back into him, but he could still feel the tension in the lines of her back and shoulders. "You're going to be great this evening," he murmured into her hair, before nudging her hair away and trailing his mouth down her neck. She shivered, melting into him briefly, but just then, there was a knock on the door. She froze. He didn't, enjoying his occupation.
"Castle!" she hissed.
"Mmm?" he mumbled from that rather engaging spot at the top of her spine.
"My parents are here!" she exclaimed in a panicked whisper.
He paused in his ministrations. "It's not like they can see us from the other side of the door," he pointed out reasonably, before nipping at the juncture of her shoulder. Her breathing was becoming more rapid- whether from what he was doing or the thought of her parents catching him doing it, he wasn't sure.
"Shouldn't they be on this side?" she squeaked as he moved her shirt aside and gently bit down on her shoulder, before soothing the area with his tongue.
He heaved a regretful sigh and straightened up, pressing his lips one last time to the top of her head. "Spoil sport," he murmured fondly, before crossing to the door and opening it.
"Jim! Johanna! Welcome! Come on in," Castle's manner was easy and inviting, the perfect host.
"Good to see you, Rick," Jim smiled as he removed his coat. "Where's Katie?"
"Busy making something smell amazing in the kitchen. She wouldn't let me help," he sighed comically, moving to gallantly assist Johanna with her coat. She smiled at him engagingly, and he couldn't help but notice an uncanny resemblance to her daughter.
"That's my girl," she laughed. Johanna Beckett had the ability to light up the room with her laughter.
"Takes after her mother- stubborn and independent," Jim teased, winking at Castle.
"The independence I'll claim. The stubbornness comes from both off us," she replied firmly, but there was a sparkle in her eye.
At Castle's gesture, Jim lead them further into the loft, and they congregated around the breakfast bar as Kate looked up at them and smiled a greeting.
"How're you doing, Katie-bug? It smells wonderful," Jim said.
"I'm doing great. Should be done in about ten minutes, so make yourselves comfortable. Castle, drinks?" she prompted without skipping a beat from what she was doing. Castle moved around the counter, and the two of them danced around each other effortlessly, in sync as always, as he fetched glasses and selected a bottle of wine.
"This ok?" he asked Jim, waving the bottle slightly to ask if it was ok to drink in front of him. He asked every time, no matter how many reassurances both Jim and Kate gave him. "We have apple juice, too. Kate made sure to get your favorite."
Jim gave a small nod and a grateful smile, noting again how thoughtful Castle was with the people he cared for. It eased his heart to know his daughter was with a good man.
"Oh, wine sounds lovely. We'll definitely have some," Johanna said with a smile, her tone inclusive.
There was an awkward pause as both Kate and Castle glanced at Jim, who sucked in a breath as if he'd been punched.
"Mom!" Kate hissed. Johanna looked between them, confused.
"Apple juice is fine," Jim said weakly. Castle poured the juice first, nudging it over to Jim, before pouring three conservative glasses of wine, chatting animatedly all of a sudden to ease the sudden tension.
"Well, we've had an interesting day today. A guy dropped off a rooftop with a knife in his back- very Julius Caesar, only with added gravity. Sounds like the kind of thing I would write. Not all of our murders are that colorful, although Beckett here does seem to attract the more unusual cases. We've had some adventurous ones, haven't we, Kate? But that's why I shadow her, inspiration for my writing. Speaking of writing, Jim, I was wondering if I could pick your brain for a moment. I have a question about property law loopholes I need for the next Heat book. My notes are in my study, if you ladies will excuse us? We won't be long. This way, Jim," he led the way towards his study, throwing a wink back at Kate as he went. Jim followed along, looking slightly dazed at the volume of words and quick subject changes they had just been subjected to, leaving Kate alone with her mother.
There was an awkward silence as Castle's voice faded into muffled background noise with a distinct click of the office door. Kate turned back to the stove to stir one of the pots.
"Katie..." Johanna began, but Kate whirled around, her eyes blazing.
"How could you be so thoughtless, Mom?" she demanded.
"I forgot. I'm sorry-"
"Well, you should be. It took him five years to crawl out of the bottle, and even now he has days where he struggles. That's what Castle was asking- if it was ok today," Kate fumed.
"Kate, I told you I was sorry. I'm still getting used to all of this, too," Johanna said sharply, before her voice softened. "It was good of you to ask us here tonight, considering."
Kate sighed heavily, turned away to check the pots on the stove more as an excuse to avoid her mother's steady gaze. "I'm still mad at you. Everyone keeps telling me I can't avoid you forever and that we'll have to work it out sometime, but... I'm just not sure I can handle you back in my life again after fourteen years, now that I've finally learned to live without you."
She glanced over her shoulder to where Johanna had slid onto a bar stool. She was staring at the counter top, avoiding Kate's eyes. When she spoke, her tone was withdrawn.
"Do you really mean that?" she asked.
Kate swallowed. "Yes? But I don't not want you, either. I just... it's going to take some time for me to trust that you're not going to leave again."
Johanna lifted eyes full of hurt and compassion. "I understand. I really do. But Katie, I'm not going to live forever. I might get hit by a truck tomorrow crossing the street. You can't cut me out of your life because of what might happen," she said gently.
"It's going to take me a while to trust you again," Kate warned.
"I know, Katie-bug. It's been traumatic for all of us. We need to get to know each other again as who we are now, and give each other permission to have grown and changed. I don't mind taking things slow if that's what you need. But I would very much like to be a part of your life again," there was just the slightest hint of a catch in her voice. It was that, if anything, that convinced Kate that Johanna really meant what she was saying.
Kate turned off the stove, judging everything to be ready, and came to lean against the counter opposite her mother. "Ok," she said. Johanna's smile bloomed across her face, and Kate felt a weight lift inside herself. Her mother's smile had always done that to her. She held up a warning hand though. "We do need to get to know each other again. But we do this slowly, ok? I need time to adjust to all of this."
The door to the study flew open somewhere in the middle of her words, and Castle came bounding out, full of enthusiasm. Behind him, Jim followed at a more sedate pace, smiling.
"That's what we were thinking, too!" Castle said excitedly, having caught only the very last of Kate's words. "Jim just suggested that the Beckett clan goes away next weekend to the cabin, to get the whole family reacquainted."
Kate turned to him, alarmed. "Castle, that's not what I-"
She was interrupted by him pulling her into his arms and planting an enthusiastic celebratory smooch on her mouth, before pulling away and looking down into her eyes. She could see he was laughing because he was really on the verge of tears- the good kind- and lifted her hand to smooth her fingers along his jaw.
"Kate," he whispered, voice full of awe. "He included me in that. He wants me to come, too!"