a.n. Thanks to everyone who has left a review or hit the follow/fav button. You folks are awesome. I do a terrible job of responding to you individually, and I'm sorry about that. I still love each of you.

This one is one you guys aren't going to like all that much, though the end gives us all hope.

Disclaimer: Nope.

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Chapter Eleven

Previously…

It had been on the back of her mind for weeks now, but she could no longer ignore it. She had been so focused on establishing - or at least laying the ground work for - a relationship with Castle that she thought she could just wait for a while until she could focus on it completely. But she had to do it now. It was distracting her and it needed to be out of the way so she could truly put her focus on what mattered: Castle.

She had to do this. She had to solve it. She just hoped that there wouldn't be any surprises waiting for her along the way. Bracken had to go down.

xxxx

That wasn't Bracken's voice on the tape. She'd listened to it several times now, and she had no idea who the man was ordering her mom's murder, but it sure as hell wasn't Senator William Bracken. What the hell do I do now?

There were other major differences too. Montgomery wasn't on the tape at all. Instead it was another unidentified male. The words however, were the same as they had been before. Great. So now all I need to do is identify someone by their voice. That shouldn't be hard at all, she thought sarcastically as she sat in her living room, staring hopelessly at the tape deck she had used to play the tape. She'd had a plan. Listen to the tape after retrieving it, take it to 1PP's IA department due to Montgomery's involvement, finish the investigation as they had last time, and then arrest Bracken. It was simple.

Now she didn't know what to do. She had no idea who was behind her mother's murder. It had taken her over a decade to find that information the first time around, and while she at least had the proof she would need to take the bastard down, she had no identity. She was also having a really hard time imagining William Bracken as an innocent man. It was just too weird after knowing for years that he had been the one to order her mother killed.

Running a hand through her hair, she decided that she needed to get some sleep. It had just passed one in the morning and she was on call, so she had no idea how long she'd be able to sleep. Pulling the tape out of the deck, she walked into her office and locked it in the safe underneath the desk. She wasn't taking any chances.

After getting ready for bed and lying down, she stared at the ceiling thinking about where she should go next. Before closing her eyes, her thoughts turned to Castle and how he might be able to help her. All she wanted was him by her side. Always.

xxxx

"Beckett," she said, groggily answering her phone. Listening to Montgomery give her the address of a new crime scene, Beckett internally groaned. She hadn't slept well the last two weeks after discovering the tape and the differences it held over the last time around. Adding on top of that, she hadn't seen Castle for more than a couple hours that entire time, as he had been tied up in publisher meetings almost every day regarding his new book and the next contract. To put it simply she was miserable. She missed him. She hadn't had the chance to talk with him about any cases, let alone the tape she that could solve her mom's murder.

Jotting down the address of the crime scene, she took note that Montgomery hadn't said anything about a body. Instead he'd said they had a situation and that she'd been requested to help out with the case. Thinking back, she remembered that situation. It had ended with a little girl who had been kidnapped by her own mother. Groaning again, she hung up the phone and made her way into the bathroom, rubbing her hands over her eyes. As she went over the case from before in her mind, her thoughts came to rest on the FBI agent who had been assigned to the case: Will Sorenson.

Oh God. She remembered letting Will kiss her in the Candela's apartment during that case. She remembered Castle walking in on them. She remembered him being jealous. God, I hope that doesn't happen this time.

xxxx

She half expected Castle to not show up after how busy he had been these last two weeks. But there he was with a coffee for her in one hand and a bear claw in the other. Just as he was before.

"Montgomery called me and said you might need your partner this time. Sorry for not being there these last two weeks," He said, handing her the coffee and her breakfast.

"No problem, Castle. I know you have other responsibilities. I don't know what's going on with this one. The captain didn't say anything about a body, which is weird." Together they walked into the building and into an apartment on the first floor.

"Sir, what's going on?" Kate asked Montgomery as soon as she spotted him in the apartment.

"2 year old girl, named Angela Candela was reported missing by her parents around eight this morning."

"Where did they find the body," Castle asked.

"They didn't"

"This isn't a homicide?" Beckett asked.

"All we know is that the girl was taken."

"Okay, if it's not a homicide what am I doing here?" she asked, knowing exactly why she was here. She had already spotted Will Sorenson in the background talking to the parents of the little girl.

"The feebs directly requested you," Montgomery responded, looking at her knowingly. "You may even know the agent in charge."

"I see him, dammit."

"Kate, don't let your past get in the way of this one. We've got a little girl missing. You need to focus on that, alright?"

"Yes sir."

She bypassed her captain and made her way towards the waiting FBI agent, Castle following behind her as always. She expected him to ask what their past was, but as she had discovered with this new Richard Castle, he was much more reserved.

"Hello, Kate," Sorenson said, when they appeared in front of him.

"Hello, Will. How long have you been back?" She asked, not caring about the answer.

"Couple months."

She simply nodded. "Will, this is NYPD Consultant Richard Castle. Castle this is FBI Agent William Sorenson."

xxxx

"Kate?" Castle asked a few hours later, as they got back to the precinct.

"Yeah, Castle?"

"What's your history with Agent Sorenson? He didn't seem to like me that much and I don't think I did anything to deserve that."

Kate sighed as the elevator stopped at the fourth floor. "You didn't. He was jealous because he think you and I are together."

"So you two…"

"Yeah. Six months before he left me for a job in Boston."

"Sorry," he said, giving her a sympathetic glance as they approached Ryan and Esposito.

"Don't be. It wasn't meant to be. He wasn't the one, you know?" she said, turning her attention to her two colleagues. "So what do we have on the parents?"

"Theresa and Alfred Candela. Married 10 years, with the one child."

"That's quite a tie there, Detective Ryan," Castle said, smirking, causing the others to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah. It's a gift from my girlfriend." The tie is an obscene contortion of the color spectrum.

"Girlfriend?" Esposito asked. "You been holding out on me, bro? Since when do you have a girlfriend?"

"Hey, I date!"

"Guys!" Becket shouted, interrupting their argument before it could get started. Though she was really more amused than annoyed, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "We have more important things to discuss than Ryan's new relationship, though gift giving is a big step in a relationship."

"Two weeks," Ryan said, holding up his hands. "Today is our two week anniversary."

"Ooh! Two weeks," Esposito teased. "Is that the paper or the silk?"

"Yeah, yeah, guys. Seriously. Angela Candela, two years old. Adopted."

Getting back on track, Beckett asked "Adopted?"

"Yeah. Two years ago right after her birth. Mom, is a fund manager at a big firm downtown, and the dad is a relatively unsuccessful small time artist. He seems to stay at home with the kid," Ryan said, holding out a folder for her to take with all the information he had just summarized.

xxxx

The case was nearly identical as it was the first time. The only details that were different had been the amount of money the kidnappers had asked for, $1 million instead of $750,000; and the fact that Theresa Candela didn't have a sister. She had a brother instead.

Castle was right about one thing, for sure, Sorenson hated him. Every time the author would open his mouth, the FBI agent would cut him off or make a disparaging remark. It was driving Kate crazy because there was no need for it. But she also needed to keep Will's head in the game. While he might be a jealous douchebag, he was still the best at this sort of thing. So when he and Castle got into a pissing match about their first suspect, she'd had enough. She not only needed to protect the case, she also needed to spare Castle from any more guff from the FBI agent.

"What do you want me to do?" Castle asked after she had sent the boys to check out Eller's alibi.

"I need you to go home, Castle. He's just going to keep trying to piss you off, and I can't have him distracted, okay?"

"I-" he started, but seemed to change his mind. Shaking his head he said, "Okay."

xxxx

After making a few phone calls and doing some background on Ellers, their suspect, she decides to go back to the Candela's apartment to wait for a call from the kidnappers and to check in with the parents. She's getting worried. While the case isn't exactly the same as it was before, events are still playing out very similar to how they did the first time around. I need to stay away from Sorenson, she thought, collecting her things.

Once she arrived at the apartment, she went into the kitchen and startled when she found Sorenson making himself a cup of coffee. Groaning to herself, the scene very familiar, she walked up to him.

"Hey," she said, unenthusiastically.

"Hey, yourself. Want a cup?"

"Sure."

"Ellers is a dead end," she said, taking a sip of the coffee he'd handed her. "He was at a Diner on East 62nd street."

"Too bad, would have made this much easier," he said, looking down into his coffee. "So what's going on between you and Castle?"

"Nothing." Yet, she thinks, but doesn't say.

"So you're not together?" She really needed to put a cork in this conversation. She knows where it could lead and she doesn't want to take the chance that Castle could walk in and see them like he did last time. But she's out of ideas on how to stop this runaway train.

"No."

"I meant to call. I just…Didn't think you'd want to see me."

"You hurt me, Will, when you left. So you were probably right in not calling."

"Boston was a great opportunity."

"I know. But that's the choice you made. It was that or me and you chose the job. It was a long time ago anyways."

"I missed you, you know?" Forcing a smile, unable to believe that he still wasn't taking the obvious hint, she turned away from him, hoping to avoid what she knew would happen next. "I missed us. Sundays in the park. Those neon ice skates you used to take to Rockefeller Center. Those were ridiculous."

Turning back to him, but putting a little distance between them, she said, "Those skates are awesome."

"You're awesome," he said, getting closer and smashing his lips to hers.

"Oh! I'm sorry," Castle said, turning to leave just as Kate shoved Sorenson away. Dammit! Just one time couldn't the differences this time around play in my favor? She thought acidly.

"Castle!" But he was gone.

xxxx

He wasn't answering her calls. He wasn't at the loft (she had checked with Martha). He didn't own The Old Haunt yet. Where the hell is he? She hadn't been able to extricate herself from Sorenson fast enough to catch him before he left the Candela's apartment. Deciding she needed to put an end to Sorenson's jealousy, she lashed out at him, telling him that they were over and that they wouldn't be getting back together.

Now she just had to find Castle. In a way this reaction gave her hope. If he was really so upset at seeing her kissing another man, he must be at least a little bit jealous. On the other hand, she really could have done without having to explain this to him now.

Finally giving up, she headed back to the precinct. There she found Ryan and Esposito who were still looking though the Candela's relations to see if there were any possible suspects.

"Hey, you guys seen Castle?" She asked, walking up to their desks.

"Yeah, he's in the gym, or at least he was. He came in and told us to check out the biological parents," Esposito replied.

Breathing a sigh of relief at having found her partner, she asked "The biological parents?"

"Yeah, apparently the mom or dad would have access to the adoption records, and might have decided to get their daughter back," Ryan said.

"Okay. That's a good idea. I'm going to go talk to Castle."

Sharing a look, Ryan and Espo went back to work.

xxxx

He was in the gym beating the hell out of a punching bag. Shaking her head at the physicality of this new Richard Castle, she approached him cautiously.

"Rick?"

Grabbing ahold of the bag to steady it, he looked at her. "Detective? Got a lead?"

"No. Well maybe the one you gave Ryan and Esposito. But that'll take some time. What are you doing down here," she asked, not really knowing how to approach this situation.

"Needed to clear my mind, so I decided to do this. It's what I do." He started to unwrap his hands, while walking over to a bench and grabbing a bottle of water.

"You know it didn't mean anything, right?"

"What?" he asked, the confusion showing on his face.

"That kiss. He kissed me, I pushed him away."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Kate. You're an adult, and we're not together, so kiss whoever you want."

"I want to kiss you," she said, before she could stop herself.

xxxx

a.n.2. I promised myself that I wouldn't end on a cliff hanger. I lied even to myself. But dammit, there was no good place to end it, and what comes next deserves its own chapter. I hope that you guys won't kill me. Remember, murder is against the law.

Reviews are much appreciated. Please let me know what you think. Also send along your hate mail. I can take it.