A/N- The story is all plotted out and everything happens for a reason. Shout out to Craig for guessing part of my reasoning. :)

I appreciate every single one of your reviews/follows/favorites. Thank you so much for reading. (Jan and Joanna thanks for all the extra encouragement!)

Jo- thank you so much for being an awesome beta.

Disclaimer- Castle is not mine, but all the mistakes are.

The More Things Change…

…the more they stay the same. Kate Beckett is bored with life, but when a serial killer starts dedicating murders to her- someone enters the scene to aid with the investigation and her life may never be the same. Season 2- AU Caskett meeting.

Chapter 11

Kate flung the door to her apartment open, stalking in and slamming it shut behind her. The sheer exhaustion of what had just occurred washed over her body and left her crumpled on the ground in shock. Why the hell was the media hanging around outside Castle's place? An author wasn't top tier in the paparazzi food chain, so what were the odds that they had just so happened to be on the street when she was trying to leave unnoticed?

She didn't regret a second of what had happened with Castle. Her body was still buzzing from the memories of last night. But was it too much to ask for it to not be part of the 24 hour news cycle? Her cell phone rang in her purse while her mind was still trying to process what had happened.

"Beckett."

"Kate, I'm so sorry. I have no clue how the press would've known. I have never had people waiting outside for me." His voice was a mixture of frantic and apologetic. The concern she could feel through the phone washed away any indirect irritation she had with him.

"Castle. It's not your fault. I'm not blaming any of this on you. It just doesn't make sense. You're not that famous." If she wasn't so upset by the situation, she may have laughed at her inadvertent joke, but any humor was lost within the madness of the morning.

"Well I do alright. I mean, I end up on page six and people take my picture all the time—it just hasn't been that crazy before."

"Do you think someone tipped them off?" she asked.

"Maybe—but I mean I have women at my place all the time. You're not the first woman I have—I think I'm going to stop talking now."

"I think that would be wise." For being a writer, his word choice sometimes failed him.

"Sorry."

"Hey, I know you're not a virgin. We both have pasts, Castle. I just don't like the idea of my sex life being broadcast across headlines of a newspaper."

"I can call my publicist and have her try to put out any fires this may cause," he suggested. He was trying to fix this for her, she could tell; but he was tripping over his words. Was he nervous that the careful house of cards that they built would suddenly crumble from the added weight of the media attention?

"But is it really such a slow news day that there would be reporters waiting outside your loft?"

"Maybe they just heard from neighbors what a great time we were having last night and wanted to catch a glimpse of the afterglow," he teased. He was rewarded by an unexpected smile forming on her mouth though through the phone it would go unseen.

"Really? That's what you're going with? That we're so amazing together that the media was alerted?"

"Seemed like just as good of an excuse as any."

"You're ridiculous," she laughed.

"Maybe, but it did make you want me a little more."

"You would think that."

"Hey, you were a little vocal during round three—"

"Castle!" Heat flushed over her body. Even talking about last night made her crave more. She should be freaking out about this more than she was, but talking to him had a remarkably calming effect on her panic. Maybe she should just open up to him about things with her family; he could probably help her think straight. They could look into it together.

"You're thinking about it, aren't you," he guessed.

"Among other things. Look Castle—" A knock on the door behind her broke up her train of thoughts.

"Katie, are you in there?" Was that her mom? She never just showed up.

"Yeah, Mom, I am," she answered her through the door. "Castle, I have to call you back."

"Don't worry about it. I'll see you at the precinct with coffee."

"Even better. Bye." She pulled herself off the ground, set her cell phone on the table, and opened the door to find her mother completely disheveled. "Mom! Come in. What's wrong?"

"I'm so happy you're okay." Johanna nearly cried, walking through the door with a large bag in tow. She placed the bag next to the door and quickly shut the door behind her. Johanna's eyes darted around the room and turned back to look through the peephole.

"Yeah, Mom. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, more confused than ever. She walked next to her mom and gently tugged at her arm.

"They're following you, Katie."

"You're not making any sense. How do you know someone is following me?"

"Because I found this under my door last night." Her mom handed her a photo out of her bag, of her date with Castle from the restaurant. They were laughing as they ate their meal. Her gut feeling hadn't been wrong. There was someone watching them there. The thought of someone spying on such a private and cherished moment made her skin crawl.

"Mom, come sit down. Who was following me?" she asked while leading her to the couch.

"That's not the worst part, Hon."

"And the worst part would be?" She flipped over the picture and written in ransom lettering was the phrase: 'Do you know where your daughter is? We do…'

"So I panicked. I'm sorry." Johanna's voice was near a whisper. Kate could see the fear carved into her features.

"Mom, this is a little strange, but what do you have to be sorry about? I feel like I'm only getting half of the story."

"I called a tip line," she blurted out.

"You did what?"

"From the paper. There's a phone number. If you spot someone—"

"You're the one that notified the press?" Kate asked, trying to keep her voice even but her mind raced at the implication of her mom's statement.

"Yes, but—" Johanna tried to explain, but anger flared in Kate's system and she cut her off.

"How did you know I was still with him? How could you do that?"

"Katie, I didn't know. I hoped you were with him, because I didn't want you to be alone."

"That's no excuse. Do you know what you've done?"

"Listen to me—I figured if the press was on the lookout, well then there would be too many eyes on you guys. There wouldn't be a chance for them to get to you."

"Who is going to get me? Who sent you this picture?"

"The people that killed your father."

Kate's eyes widened. The people who killed her father. What the hell was her mom saying?

"What-" she asked before pausing to control her words; her emotions.

"I don't know all the details. I wish I did, but these people are powerful." Johanna paused and started to pace through Kate's living room before she continued her rambling explanation. "They're connected. I stumbled across this while digging into a case all those years ago. I got too close. They sent me an anonymous warning, but I didn't listen. I wanted justice; I wanted the truth. So I kept searching, but then the accident happened. At the time I really thought it was an accident, but then I received a letter. They said it was their warning. Next time it would be you and then me. I couldn't let them hurt you, Katie. So I dropped the investigation, I hid all my research." She walked back over to the bag that she'd brought with her.

The words hit Kate like a ton of bricks. Her father's killer had run free for all these years because her mom wanted to keep her safe. All those years where she could have gotten justice for him. She could have helped her solve it.

"You brought your research?" she asked, motioning to the bag in Johanna's hand.

"I brought you copies. Just in case something happens—to me, to my apartment. I just—"

"Nothing is going to happen to you."

"I just need you to keep this safe. Promise me. Just keep it safe, but you have to stop looking into it. At least for now," she pleaded.

"I'm a cop. I can't just let this go. Not if I know that they're threatening you or me. These people were responsible for Dad's death. We can't just let that go—"

"And I know that. Trust me I know that, but somehow they always know when someone is digging. Something must have tipped them off—"

"I looked in the records room at the precinct," Kate admitted.

"Someone must have seen you."

"I didn't find much, but Mom, after I saw that box at your place. Something didn't add up, so I had to look. But now knowing for sure? I can't just let Dad's killer run free. He deserves justice. How can you be okay with just leaving it alone?"

"Because I can't let them hurt you. That's why I left it for all these years; I was trying to protect you. I didn't get far enough to really have any proof against them, but it was enough to set the ball in motion. After Dad's accident, do you remember that someone broke into the apartment?"

"Yeah and nothing was stolen… except your research, right?"

"That's what they took, but I couldn't tell the police. So they think they have it all, but I had another copy."

"So obviously what the precinct had wasn't that valuable if it was still there."

"There was enough there to show proof of the accident and death, but items were removed from that version. So it was safe to leave as a record, but when someone found out that you were down there—"

"I set the ball in motion again."

"Yes."

"Mom, I can take care of myself. We can solve this, but I'm worried about you."

"Katie, I'm fine and we'll solve this; you and me—just not today. We need to let them think we're dropping it. I don't even know if they're still watching you."

"Castle—" She couldn't let him get hurt because of her history.

"I wouldn't put it past these people to go after him, but he's a little more high profile. So maybe they will leave him alone—"

"If we stop," she said, trying to finish her mom's sentence.

"For now. Not forever. You just can't tell anyone. Even if you think you can trust them, no one else can know. It's safer for everyone."

Keeping everyone safe, by lying to him about the most important thing in her life. Her mind was completely jumbled. Her mind was at war with her heart yet again. Last night set the dominoes to fall, one by one. She needed Castle in her life and she didn't know how long she could just keep him at arm's length. Especially by keeping something from him that could potentially put him in danger.

"Mom—"

"Just promise. Just stop for now," Johanna insisted. She pulled Kate into a hug and held her close. Picking between a budding relationship and her family, it wasn't a choice she wanted to make, but she had to respect her mom for now.

"Not forever," Kate promised.

The day at the precinct was busy with a new case so she barely had any time to think about her mom's conversation. She tried to push it all out of her mind to keep a certain degree of normalcy. Men's skin care guru, Damien Wilder, had been found murdered in his apartment. Castle seemed to be a little more distraught than normal about this particular victim; he was apparently a fan of his shaving cream.

Walking into her apartment at the end of the day, Kate laughed to herself. She was learning something new about him every day and today was the discovery of his attachment to high end men's skin care.

It was nice that there was no awkwardness between them at work and no one seemed to have noticed the change between them. Ryan continued to hang on every word Castle said while Espo looked at him like he was an alien half the time. Everything had been normal. All the media attention she'd been confronted with at work was about Wilder's murder and there didn't seem to be any indication of Kate's morning activities leaving Castle's loft.

Lost in thought now that she was home at last, Kate kicked her shoes off and aimlessly walked over to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. Taking a small sip, she felt the weight of the day suddenly hit her. The silence of her apartment burst the bubble that she had tried to hide in all day long.

Her father was murdered. It wasn't an accident.

Someone was watching her. Someone was watching her mom; possibly watching Castle.

Castle. Things were developing at a rapid pace with him even though she had initially wanted to keep it simple. Keep it uncomplicated, but now there were pictures of them. Pictures that could be used against them.

She took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair. Maybe a bath would be exactly what she needed? Walking toward the bathroom, she was interrupted by someone knocking at the front door. She padded across the room in her socked feet to the entryway and leaned over to the peephole to see Castle in the hallway.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked, while opening the door.

"Figured I'd surprise you."

"We were together all day, Castle."

"Yeah, but we were working a case, so I couldn't do this—" he explained as he leaned down to steal a kiss from her lips. This was definitely toeing the line past casual. When the kiss broke, she looked up at him with a shy smile.

"I guess that's a pretty good reason for stopping by," she said with a small laugh, opening the door further for him.

"So I talked to Paula today." He pulled her with him to the couch and she shook her head at him. The way he was with her, always touching her now—she shouldn't like it. But she did.

"And who is Paula again?"

"My publicist."

"Ah yes. Okay."

"Paula said she'll try to keep the pictures out of the paper, but—"

"Well that's good—wait, but?"

"She doesn't know if they'll go for it. She thinks the idea of me and you - writer and muse—the idea may be too scandalous to avoid." He looked at her with a wince and dropped the hand that he was holding.

"It's not your fault."

"Kate, I'm sorry. If I would've known—"

"I know Castle, but I'm honestly not blaming you." She tried to reassure him, because she couldn't be mad at him. This was her mom's doing, not his.

"I don't want this to ruin—this," he sighed, running his hand down her arm. "I know we aren't official and we've only had one date. This is so new."

"And I want to keep it between us," she finished his train of thought.

"If it comes out in the paper..."

"Then it's out and I look like a Richard Castle groupie," Kate stated while closing her eyes. "But it's not your fault. I chose to stay at your place, Castle."

"Yeah, but you didn't want that fact printed in the paper."

"No." She took a deep breath and released the puff of air from her lungs.

"Will Montgomery kick me out of the precinct?"

"Oh God. I didn't even think of work or the boys!" Her head fell into her hands. This was a mess.

"I'm so sorry."

"Castle, please stop apologizing." It was only making her feel worse. The weight he was carrying around wasn't his to carry and she couldn't explain to him why it wasn't his fault.

"Paula is doing everything she can. She's doing damage control even though she doesn't want to."

"Doesn't want to?"

"She thinks that it would be great press for the new book. 'Real life merging with the page', she said," he explained with air quotes.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that. Maybe another politician will be caught with his pants down."

"Fingers crossed," he laughed, turning to place a kiss into her hair. She looked up at him with a hesitant smile. Just having him next to her, it felt right. She moved her body so she was leaning onto his chest and he pulled her even closer. She would keep him safe. Keep them safe. Keep this safe. Her mind wandered to the evidence that lay hidden in the back of her closet. The evidence she had promised not to touch until the smoke cleared. She had promised her mom, but it was more than just for her. It was also for him. To keep him safe.

"Fingers crossed," she agreed, words meaning so much more than he knew.

TBC

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