A/N: Thanks for being patient waiting for the next chapter! I did meet Nathan Fillion yesterday at Comic Con and everything everyone says about him is true - he is such a nice/great guy! I got his autograph first and was able to tell him that I loved Castle and he thanked me for watching. Then, a few hours later, I got my picture with him and he remembered me! f you guys read my Tumblr Blog (skygirl5) I'll be posting a full recap later today!
Now on to the story!
Twelve
The next morning, when Kate's alarm sounded at the inconvenient time of 5:50 a.m. she considered hitting the snooze button. After all, that was the exact reason she gave herself the extra ten minute window, particularly for mornings like that, when her sleep the night before had been fitful and interrupted at best. It happened to her on occasion, particularly when she was deep in a case. Her mind would race, thinking through the evidence at night, and no matter how much she tried to turn it off, she always seemed to fail.
Unfortunately, that morning she did not feel she had the luxury of the snooze button. She needed to get up and get going, especially since for the first time in quite some time she was not alone in her apartment.
Groaning as she pulled on her robe, she stuffed her feet in her slippers and tip-toed as quietly as she could into the kitchen. She pressed the button on her single-cup coffee maker (her favorite gift from her father the previous Christmas) and leaned against the counter for wait for it to brew. As she waited, her gaze drifted towards her sitting room. Upon sight of the mess, her eyes widened and she wasn't sure she would need coffee that morning to wake up.
Though the sun had not yet risen she could plainly see Castle's outline from the glow of the television, which he had evidently left on. He lay on his back with one arm folded over his chest and the other dangling towards the floor. Similarly, one leg was fully covered by the sheet while one stuck out, foot resting on the floor, knee bent ninety degrees. One of the sheets appeared to be balled up at the end of the couch opposite his head. On the floor by the coffee table she spotted two more small piles, which she assumed to be his jeans and button-down shirt. Shaking her head wordlessly, Kate picked up her coffee mug from under the dispenser and carried it with her into the bathroom.
Forty minutes later, Kate emerged, fully dressed, makeup on, and hair falling in large curls just below her shoulder. She walked to the kitchen, rinsed her coffee cup in the sink and then turned to the freezer to pull out her frozen pack of English muffins. As she waited for them to toast, her eyes drifted back to the sofa, where Castle was still sleeping.
As she watched his hand on his chest rise and fall with even intervals, Kate thought about how peculiar their situation was, but not in the obvious way. It was peculiar that he, an escaped felon, was residing in her apartment (albeit temporarily) and that was certainly not a scenario she was keen to repeat under any circumstances. However, to her, the more peculiar thing was that she had absolutely no problem with him, a virtual stranger, staying with her.
Ever since her youth, Kate had always been one who was slow to warm up to people. Friends, teachers, coworkers—it didn't matter. She was always polite and possessed the cursory level of friendliness, but would not go out of her way to warm up to someone until months after she'd met them. Her parents used to joke that she began practicing to be a lawyer straight out of the womb, and she couldn't say she disagreed.
In addition to keeping her emotions and opinions close, Kate was particularly selective about who she let in her home. Even after weeks of working with or even dating someone, she did not like to have them in her house for an extended period of time, particularly not overnight. She always feared feeling uncomfortable around them and, generally, she did end up feeling uncomfortable around those she did not know well. Except for Castle.
She couldn't explain it despite several sessions mental discussion in attempt to figure it out. Right from the beginning, she felt comfortable with him. Comfortable enough to risk her career and life as it was to help him. Comfortable enough to join him at her father's cabin and comfortable enough to invite him into her own home without even a second thought. After not even one week, she felt more comfortable with him than other's she'd known for months which was a thought that, if she let it fully process in her brain, would absolutely terrify her.
After slathering half her English muffin with peanut butter, Kate took it with her into her bedroom when she went to retrieve shoes and the earrings she'd forgotten. Back in the kitchen, she at the other half of her breakfast and glanced at the clock on the stove. She really needed to be leaving soon or she would be late, but she also didn't want to leave without speaking to Castle. She'd hoped he would be awake, especially with the noise she had been making—not to mention the aroma of coffee—but it appeared he was a heavy sleeper.
With a sigh, Kate walked in to the sitting room, crouched by his head and tapped his shoulder. He grunted. She tapped it again; he grunted again. Finally, she said "Castle." He mumbled something incoherent.
"Castle, listen to me—I have to go to work. I want you to stay in the apartment. You're not allowed to leave. Or call anyone. Or go in the internet and email anyone. Got it?"
He grumbled.
"Castle!"
That tone, her time was sharp enough for him to open his eyes and wave his hand at her. "Yeah, yeah, I got it."
When he shut his eyes once more she stood and planted her fists on her hips. "Castle, open your eyes and look at me." She felt like a mother trying to rouse a teenage son. When he did as she requested she asked, "Did you hear what I said?"
"Don't leave. No internet. Bye." With that, he rolled over to face the back of the couch.
Rolling her eyes, Kate decided that was the best she would get out of him. She grabbed her oversized purse, badge, and service weapon and then headed towards the door. When she reached it, she glanced back over her shoulder once before opening it, silently thinking he needed to obey her request—or else.
Stepping in to the FBI main room, Kate felt like she was waking up from the haze of a dream. For the prior thirty-six hours, she hadn't lived in a world where she was a duty-following FBI Agent. Instead, she had both feet firmly planted in the gray area of life, where she was still an investigator, but plainly operating outside the law.
Trying to make as little contact with her coworkers as she could, she hurried to her desk, booted up her computer, and scanned that morning's briefing. It told her something she already knew: Richard Castle was still on the run. Though they were still receiving tips, very few of them were credible enough to follow up on and even fewer of those resulted in viable leads.
Before she forgot, Kate used her work email to draft a request for the NYPD precinct employment records she and Castle wanted to further Detective Ciardi Senior's investigation. True, by requesting the information through the FBI, she ran the risk of Banner discovering her request and prying into her actions, but that was a risk she needed to take. At that point, nearly a week after the murders, time was of the absolute essence. She could not waste one minute longer than necessary going through back channels or coming up with a convenient way to request the information without Banner's knowledge. She was merely banking on the fact that Banner was much too distracted with hunting the fugitive writer than to check every copied data request the came into his inbox.
She finished the email just in time for the morning briefing meeting. Grabbing her coffee, two pens and note pad, Kate filed into the conference room with the rest of her coworkers. She sat down, took a deep breath and coached herself into having a non-expressive face. No matter what Banner said, no matter what took place in that meeting, she would not react.
When Banner stepped in front of the group, he did not immediately begin speaking. Instead, he stroked his mustache and stared down at the table in front of them. "Listen, team, I'm not going to sugar coat this shit for you: the situation isn't good. This son of a bitch is still on the loose and we're no closer to catching him than we were on Friday."
"Are we still receiving tips, sir?" Ling asked.
"Yeah but they're all shit! Nothing credible…just a bunch of wild goose chases. It's getting to be do-or-die time, folks. Upon reviewing the evidence, it has been decided that when he is caught, among other charges, Mr. Castle will be charged with Capital Murder."
Kate felt her chest constrict at his words and it took every ounce of self-control in her body for her eyes not to widen and her jaw not to drop. Normally, as an investigator, she would have cheered such a charge, but in this case, the prospect of something that dire terrified her beyond words.
"Mr. Castle's actions both before and after these murders clearly indicate premeditation, and we remain confident that a conviction will be reached on that charge, but we have to catch the bastard first!"
Banner continued the meeting by rehashing the evidence against Castle and ended with an atypical rah-rah speech in an attempt to rally the troops and renew their motivation to find the suspect. Kate paid little attention. She mainly focused on exchanging carbon dioxide with oxygen while keeping her heart rate at an even pace and her face expressionless.
Back at her desk, Kate attempted to process what exactly the results of the meeting meant for her and Castle's investigation, when her thoughts were interrupted by the ring of a cell phone she didn't recognize. Oddly, it sounded as though it was very close to her. For a moment, she searched her desk area, befuddled, until, with a pang of horror, she remembered the burner phone she'd left in her purse. A cold sweat breaking out on her forehead, Kate dipped her hand into her bag and answered the phone as quietly as she could.
"Hey, question." She heard Castle's chipper voice on the other end. "What's the name of the salon where Pamela Mackey worked?"
"Why," she asked through gritted teeth, trying to keep her voice low.
"Because I'm going to visit to see if I can talk to her boss. I looked up the address before I left your place, but now I can't remember the exact street number and I thought if you could tell me the name I could just figure it out on my own."
Kate took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, counting to three. Resisting the urge to scream out his name into the phone she instead growled, "Where are you?"
"A train platform in Jersey."
"Be more specific."
He hesitated a moment before reading off the street signs he was closest to. Kate informed him that he was not to move and she would be there as quickly as she could. She ended the call, dropped the phone in her purse and stood quickly from her seat. She turned to see agent Ling eying her curiously. "Ah…family emergency," Kate told her quickly. Then, she scurried out of the office as fast as she could without drawing too much attention to herself.
Standing underneath the bright pink awning of Bonnie's Stylz wearing his beard disguise, Castle leaned casually against the brick wall, occasionally looking right and then left to see if anyone was watching him, but no one was. In doing so, he reviewed the area and determined it to be an acceptably nice area to be. Granted, nice for Jersey City wasn't exactly Manhattan-nice, but he imagined that Manhattan-nice came with a much heftier price tag than nice in that area of The Garden State.
After almost twenty minutes of waiting, he spotted a black sedan approaching and caught a glimpse of Kate behind the wheel. Upon deciding not to follow her instructions and wait at the train station, he'd texted her burner cell and told her to meet him at the hair salon. She pulled down a side street a block from the salon and Castle walked up the block to meet her.
When he rounded the corner, grin on his face, he found her standing outside the car with one hand on her hip and the other clutching her handcuffs. "Hey…whatcha doin' with those? You look like you're gonna arrest me."
"Oh, I'm thinkin' about it," she responded, taking a step towards him.
He took a step back from her. "Wha—Kate, you wouldn't!"
"What did I tell you?" She demanded.
"Well see-"
"What did I tell you?!" She repeated, louder.
His expression fell. "I know you said not to leave, but-"
"But nothing!" She shoved her cuffs back into their case and paced around the side of her car. "Jesus Christ, Castle, it's like you want to get caught. Do you know how serious this is? Do you have any idea? This morning in the briefing they said they want to charge you with Capital Murder. Do you know what that means, Castle? Do you?"
He swallowed hard and felt some beads of sweat collect on his brow. Unfortunately, he did know what that meant. "But…I thought they needed premeditation to-"
"They do and they have it—the feds say the receipt they found in your pocket for the gun proves you went with the intent to kill both Pamela and Tony. Not to mention the fact that you escaped police custody after you were arrested."
"But that receipt is totally bogus!"
She folded her arms over her chest. "Yes, I know that, and you know that, but you'd have to convince a jury. You wanna risk that?"
"No," he mumbled. Then, after a moment, he held out the coffee he'd been holding as though it were a peace offering, which, conveniently, was exactly what he needed in that particular moment. "Mid-morning pick me up?"
She eyed the cup then looked back at him. "What's this?"
He smiled at her. "Latte with soy milk and two pumps sugar free vanilla."
Somewhat startled, she gave the cup a double take. "You went into a Starbucks?!" Her tone was accusatory, though she did take the drink from him.
"Hello—disguise!" he said, pointing at the faux beard on his face.
She grunted at him before walking back towards the salon. "C'mon; let's just get this over with."
Scurrying after her he asked, "Are you mad at me?"
"Extremely."
"But why?" He whined. "I thought interviewing Pamela's coworkers was something we needed to do."
"Something I need to do; not we!" she insisted. When she reached the entrance to Bonnie's Kate stopped short and stared at the door. Turning around, she gaped at him. "This place isn't even open."
"Not until eleven; it's ten 'til," he said, after checking the clock on his burner phone.
"No, Idiot," she snapped. "Not on Mondays!"
Castle looked back at the sign and his chin dropped to his chest. The white sign taped to the inside of the glass door clearly stated that Bonnie's was open from eleven to seven Tuesday through Thursday, eleven to five, Friday and Saturday and was closed on Sunday and Monday. "Damn it," he sighed. When he looked at her, he saw such fury he knew that if she possessed magical powers he would have been vaporized instantly.
"So, just to recap," she began sharply. He took a step back. "You left my apartment after I specifically told you not to. Traveled to another state, risking being spotted and identified all so you could question the employees of a shop that you didn't remember the name of and, as it turns out, isn't even open today! Do you see how I could be more than a little angry with you, Castle?!"
Castle threw his hands down to his sides with a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't fully think this through, and that's my bad, but can you just for one second put yourself in my shoes? At this point, my only two options if I don't want to spend the rest of my life in prison—that is assuming I don't get sentence to the death penalty when I'm wrongly convicted—are staying in your apartment forever or solving this thing myself. Don't get me wrong, your apartment is nice, but I'd like to see my mother and daughter again at some point. Not to mention that I have a lot of really cool stuff in my apartment that I'd kind of like to have!"
Kate couldn't resist letting out an almost laugh at his final sentence. With a tiny shake of her head, she bit down on her lip and grasped her coffee cup with both hands. She couldn't begin to imagine his frustration with the situation, but she also knew this was not the way to go about it. "You're forgetting one thing, Castle; you don't have to solve this thing all by yourself." He gave her a half smile and she continued. "I know this probably isn't moving as fast as you'd like, but-"
"Hey!" he interrupted her, pointing behind her and into the salon. "There's someone in there! There's someone inside!"
Kate spun around and squinted through the bars on the glass door to see that he was right; someone was indeed inside. She scooped her hand down into her pocket and pulled out her badge. She tapped it against the glass until she caught the attention of the woman inside, who nodded and approached the door. Kate turned to her companion and said, "For the love of god, just don't say anything. The last thing we need is this woman recognizing you as the man who killed her employee. Got it?"
"Fine."
The woman inside the salon unlocked the door, opened and asked with a thick Jersey accent, "Hello? Can I help you?"
"I hope so. My name is Agent Kate Beckett; I'm with the FBI. I was wondering if I might ask you some questions about Pamela Mackey."
"Oh my god," the woman gasped, pressing one hand to her chest and fully displaying the two inch fake fingernails she wore in a color that could easily be described as "Hooker Red." "Come inside please! I can't believe the FBI is investigating Pammie's death. I thought that famous guy did it!"
Kate could only imagine the incredulous expression on Castle's face as she stepped inside and said, "I'm just following up on some things. This is my, ah, associate, Mr. Richard." She added as she gestured to Castle. She could see the woman eye him oddly and realized if anyone could spot an absurdly fake beard it would be a hair dresser. "So, Ms.…I'm sorry, what was your name?"
"Bonnie," the woman said, extending her hand to Kate. "This is my place. Pammie worked here for five years. I just…I can't believe she's gone, you know?" She fanned both hands in front of her face before excusing herself and returning a moment later with a tissue. As she sniveled into it, she walked back to the front door, locked it, and then sat down in one of the chairs in the waiting area. Kate and Castle sat as well. "She was just such a sweet girl, you know? Such a sweet girl."
"I am sorry for your loss," Kate said with a sympathetic nod. "Can you tell me a bit about her? Would she have had any enemies that you know of?"
"No! Not at all! Pammie was a sweetheart! She had a ton of regular clients. I just don't know what I'm going to do—I hope they don't leave the salon. I had so many calls last week—people just couldn't believe it happened! She was always so happy—never a care in the world."
"Did she have a boyfriend?"
Bonnie nodded. "Donnie—Donovan Donatelli. I saw him Saturday and, my god, he is just devastated. Absolutely crushed. Pam was his whole world, you know? It was heartbreaking to see him."
"Did they live together?"
The woman shook her head as she dabbed a few tears from her cheeks. "No, Donnie lived with his grandma and his grandma doesn't believe in living together before marriage. She's old fashioned, you know?"
"Were they engaged?"
Bonnie let out a little laugh. "No, Donnie was a nervous nelly when it came to that. He'd been married before and his bitch of an ex-wife screwed him over."
"So…you don't think Mr. Donatelli wanted out of the relationship?"
When Bonnie caught Kate's implication, she gasped and leaned back in her chair. "You don't think Donnie had anything to do with this, do you? Because there's no way. Absolutely no way! Donnie never would have hurt a hair on Pammie's head. He was nothing like that asshat she dated a few years back."
Kate's ears perked at the mention and she felt Castle incessantly begin poking her back. She had, of course, caught onto the comment and smacked his hand away as subtly as she could. "And um," Kate cleared her throat and took a sip of her coffee, trying to appear as casual as she could, "who was that?"
"'Big G,'" Bonnie said with air quotes. "Giovanni…ah, I'm sorry, I don't remember his last name. He was a total douche."
Kate nodded and tapped the name into the notes section on her phone. "About how long ago was Bonnie with him?"
"Oh gosh, I don't know. I know she was with him when she started here, but he's been gone for years. I don't think he could have done it, either, if that's what you're thinking—they broke up because he went to prison."
Kate nodded again and put her phone away. "I really appreciate your help, Bonnie. I just have one more question: do you have any employment records we could look at? You know, place of residence, emergency contacts—that sort of thing."
"Oh sure but…doesn't the FBI have all that already?" Bonnie asked.
Kate flashed her a reassuring smile. "I just want to check, if you don't mind." Bonnie shrugged and waved for them to follow her. They walked back through the salon through a back doorway. As they walked, Castle tugged at the sleeve on Kate's coat and, once again, she slapped him away. She stopped at the entryway to a small office and watched as Bonnie retrieved a file folder from a filing cabinet next to a petite desk holding a laptop.
Kate thanked Bonnie for her help and stepped aside so she could step out of the office and continue walking down the hall towards the back exit of the shop. When Bonnie was out of earshot, Castle leaned in and said, "Kate did you-" but Kate pressed her index finger against his lips silencing him as she breezed through the file. Unfortunately, there was no mention of anyone named Giovanni. Instead, Bonnie's emergency contact was listed as her mother in Hoboken, and Kate already had that contact information thanks to the FBI.
After returning the folder to the desk in the office, Kate walked towards the back of the shop where Bonnie was surveying a delivery of hair products in half a dozen boxes stacked side by side in the narrow hall. "Thank you so much for your help, Bonnie; I really appreciate it."
"No problem. You guys mind just going out the back door? It's unlocked."
"That's fine," Kate nodded. "Thanks again."
Kate could almost feel Castle's body buzzing beside her as they stepped into the alley and made their way towards the side street on which her vehicle was parked. Only once they were out of earshot of the shop did he squeak out, "Did you hear? Did you hear what she said?"
Kate responded calmly, "Yes, Castle. I was there; I heard her."
"But this could be the guy! He could totally be the guy!"
She turned her head to look at him and said, "Or, he could not be the guy. Don't get your hopes up too much. And for the love of god, get rid of that stupid beard!"
He pulled the beard down to his neck and gave her an 'are you kidding me' expression. "His nickname is Big G, Kate—Big G!"
She shrugged and continued walking. "So? Maybe he's got a big-"
"Watch out!" Castle shrieked, grabbing her by the shoulders and shoving her against the building's brick wall. Taken aback by the unexpected jolt, Kate's coffee cup slipped from her hand and she looked up just in time to see a black SUV barreling towards them. Her mind flashed back to the same style SUV that had attempted to gun them both down outside the salvage yard almost a week before.
Instinctively, she moved her hand to her hip holster, but once again Castle was in the way, pinning her arms at her sides and pushing his body against hers tight enough to press them both into the wall. Kate tucked her chin, shielding her face under Castle's jaw, as the SUV passed, traveling close enough to them to kick up a significant wind. Fortunately, there were no bullets; the only thing flying their way was a tornado of gravel mixed with a few stray bits of trash.
"Jesus Christ—learn to drive asshole!" Castle shouted at the back of the passing vehicle. He turned his gaze back to Kate, who was wide-eyed and breathing heavy. Noticing that a speck of dirt had landed on her cheek, he brought his hand up to cup her jaw and brush it away with his thumb. "Are you ok?"
Kate could feel her heart slamming against her ribcage and hear the blood pounding through the veins in her ears; she could categorically say she was not okay, but not because of the SUV. No, much to her bewilderment, it was because she could feel his body close to hers, his left hand around her bicep, his right cradling her face. Their hips separated by mere inches and their gazes locked together.
In that moment, together in a Jersey City alleyway, Kate could not explain it, but she felt it. An inexplicable force pulling her closer, deeper and suddenly, without another thought, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. She felt him respond immediately, drawing her in with his hand gently on her neck and his other slipping around to her back.
Their lips dueled until a honk from street traffic drew her back to reality. She stepped to the side and out of his embrace. He stared at her unbreathing for several moments before he breathed in sharply and exhaled with a, "So…to the car?"
"Y-yeah, the car…" Not wanting to litter, Kate bent over and scooped up her spilled coffee cup. She shook out the rest of the contents onto the street and carried it with her back to her vehicle. Behind her, Castle trudged along, still trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. All thoughts of "Big G" had vanished from his mind and suddenly the only case he wanted to study was that of Kate Beckett's lips against his.
P.S. This chapter is my favorite in the whole story :)
