They both stand on the roof, objecting against the cool late spring wind wafting through the air, thick with the exhaust and brake dust of the city.
Castle stays close but a respectable distance as she regains her visual appearance and professional composure. She spends a few minutes as he paces and kicks around the rocks in the gravel checking her makeup and pulling on her hair to straighten out the frizz where she was pressing her face against his chest to use his shirt as a handkerchief. Now that her emotions are settled and she's calmed down, the storm over and passed, it's an odd air between them; both having to accept it really happened and yet, having to pretend it didn't for everyone else.
Once she finishes checking over her appearance in her phone's camera, she looks at him, seeing him pace a few feet away from her with his hands tucked into his back pockets, and chuckles nervously. "Not every day you have someone break down like that, huh?" She jokes with him, wanting him to say something funny to get her spirits back up.
He smiles softly and nods at her with his neck craned. He isn't sure where to go from here. She wants a chance to earn his trust back, so all he can do is let her take the lead again. He rocks back on the balls of his feet and shrugs, "Not since Alexis' hampster died when she was eight. So, can't say every day, no."
In her state, she lets a smile spread across her face and a belt of laughter shoot out of her lungs. And he feels a smile matching it forcing its way onto his face that he tries to hide by craning his neck even more. And when she tastes the air between them, the awkwardness, she knows she has to machete her way through it. He gave her a chance to win him back, she can't get scared now by a simple nervousness between them now.
"No, really, Castle," She begins softly and reaches over with her arm before deciding what the consequences would be, and puts a hand on his elbow, holding it there for a long moment. It's when she waits for him to look her in the eye that her heart stops beating. Because when he does, after looking at her hand grasping him and then looking into her eyes, she feels that connection, that special connection with him that goes straight to the core of her soul. It's felt like a lifetime since she last felt it with him. "Thank you."
Always, his heart says to her, but his cowardly mouth doesn't say it. He can't be angry at her like he was yesterday. He can't be resentful and bitter toward her attitude toward their relationship, not as much as he was when her lying to him was haunting him like a bad childhood nightmare come true. She wants a chance to earn his trust back, something she lost two weeks ago in the observation room of interrogation. And after all, maybe he was wrong and she does at least want to trust him with more than her safety.
"Don't worry about it." He platitudes, saying something neutral so's his passion for this woman doesn't take off by being too charming, vying for her attention as he always is.
She nods, feeling the connection with his eyes, and his heart, broken and lets her hand fall back down to her side. She didn't expect him to open back up to her completely. She knew it would take time and more effort than she had ever put into their minced words and subtext of a relationship before. She always knew he was ready to take that leap and all she had to do was work through the thicket of her life enough to where she could take it with him. But if she had known that she would have to work twice as hard to convince him to take the leap at all, she might have worked a lot harder, forcing Burke to push her more and more just to be with him.
At least that's how she looks back on it now. If she had known any of this was going to happen, that he was going to fall out of love with her, that her actions would convince him that she doesn't care about him at all, she would have taken the leap with him at the swings.
So, deciding to make the effort slow, she turns toward the door and flings it open, taking the stairs and hearing his steps right behind her. "Does anybody else know about Williams?" He asks, jumping down on the platform to start down the stairs next to her.
She shrugs her shoulders and guides herself down with the railing. Being with him, in his arms and letting his heartbeat and his words lull the memory of the pain away, she had almost forgotten about the goliath that is the situation in front of her. "There was a voicemail waiting for me from the prison when I got here this morning. Once I heard, I..." she trails off and looks over to him, letting him fill the gaps of her dashing off as quickly as she could into the stairwell to avoid eyes prying into her falling tears.
And he understands, his storytellers mind quick enough to finish without her. "Yeah." He murmurs. He's not sure where to go from here. He doesn't know where she stands on mustering up her usual confident stride, strengthful posture, her unwavering determination to find the truth and get justice. He's always known she's had to keep things bottled up, but he always assumed that she vented it out little by little as she needed to on her own.
It would have broken his heart to know she was keeping all of it inside and had to let it break her down like that before with no one there to catch her. He fell for her strength and determination but knows she can't be like that all the time. Even despite what she needs to tell herself, she's still human, she still feels.
But even in his life, there were times when he needed someone to hold, just to let him know that there was someone around, that cared and not only wanted things to be better but wanted to be there regardless of if they were or not.
He can't keep hitching onto this train of thought. Before, it would push him to constantly change himself to suit her wants so he could have that kind of relationship, to make himself into someone she'd stick beside regardless. But now... all it does is sour his insides with resentment and bitterness. He violently shakes the thoughts away, the motion of his head shaking invisible to her as she swings the door to the murder division open. There's work to be done.
As Beckett pans the bullpen, it's clear that everybody has heard.
Gates is standing with her arms crossed in front of Ryan and Esposito, Ryan leaned against the side of his desk and Espo standing next to him with a file in his hands. Castle trails closely behind Beckett as she strides back into the bullpen. "Sir," she announces herself.
"Detective Beckett," Gates says, amazingly soothing for her, as she softens her usual stern expression and steps between the two detectives, who part for her, "I'm afraid I have some bad news."
"I heard, Sir. The prison already called me." Beckett says as she stops in front of her captain.
"Yeah," Ryan chimes in by crossing his arms and turning around against his desk, "we just prove the guy's innocence and he ends up shanked in a prison riot."
Castle watches as Espo, on cue, slaps his partner's arm with the file in his hand, reminding him not to say what they all already know. But Gates shoots a look over her shoulder before looking back to both Castle and Beckett. "That's not it."
"Then what is it, Captain?" Castle asks, stepping up to her, putting himself close to her shoulder, but still behind, enough to let her know that despite it all, he still has her back.
She can tell that whatever it is Gates has to tell her, she isn't going to enjoy say it, and whats more is going to have a hard time saying it at all. "Williams' family, on the advice of their attorney, are filing a civil suit against you."
"What?!" All three male voices shout, Espo stepping around Gates to look her in the eye with a fiery anger, Ryan jumping off his desk, and Castle's heart surging with the ghost of the same feeling he felt that day one year ago. Something is out there to get her and it's his job to save her, his own well being not on the table of factors.
But Beckett, her stomach just turned into a rock, her throat closed and all she can feel is all her hidden failures she couldn't see before, all opened their eyes to her like predators glaring at her from the darkness of the forest. Anyone of them could jump out at her and take the lunge.
Gates quiets her detectives with a simple raising of her hand. "Williams' wife is bringing a wrongful death suit against you."
"So what?" Espo raises his arms. "They're looking for a payout now?"
"This wasn't Beckett's fault, Sir." Ryan urges from behind.
Beckett can just stay silent.
Gates crosses her arms, shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head, obviously as frustrated with the situation as everyone else is. "They are claiming that because Detective Beckett was the one who made the arrest, his death in prison is her responsibility. And as for their terms-"
"How much do they want?" Castle asks over her, cutting her off, putting as much seriousness into his voice as he can. And it catches his partner's attention, making him the first person to earn her full attention since she was thrown into this hell just a few minutes ago.
She looks over her shoulder to him to see a sternness in his blue eyes and a firm set in his jaw. She adores his inner child, his humor, and his laughter, even his incredibly stupid jokes. But she fell for his heart; the love he has for his family and how much he cares about those close to him. It's enough to make a smile want to spread onto her face if she was feeling like her face could even move.
"Mr. Castle, it's not that simple," Gates says, raising her brow to him.
"However much they want, I'll pay it!" He shouts.
"Mr. Cas-"
"So generous, Rodgers." A slimy voice interrupts the captain.
All eyes, including Ryan and Espo's, go to the elevator and see William's lawyer, Craig Vernon standing with a set of papers in one hand, dressed in a pressed suit.
Every single muscle in Castle's body tenses when he sees the man, and he quickly turns to face him and puts himself in between her and Vernon.
Vernon just smiles that same stupid smile he did in high school as his hand flies up toward Beckett, flicking the papers at her with the flick of his wrist. "Captain Gates, the Williams family are seeking seven million for the death of Ned Williams and they want Detective Beckett relieved of duty."
Before he can think, Castle's right fist balls and flies across Vernon's face, punching him perfectly, with every fiber of his weight, across his left cheekbone.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Espo says loudly as both him and Ryan quickly spring into action to wrap their arms around their friend's shoulders, pulling him back as he struggles against their hold to keep going after Vernon. Vernon's hand is holding his nose, his perfectly gelled hair disheveled and his smirk gone, replaced by a darkened look of hatred, shooting directly at Castle. "Easy, bro. Take it easy." Espo says in a harsh whisper as Castle continues to strongly struggle against their grasp.
Beckett's never seen him like that. Her heart doesn't know what to think. If they were alone, or ever had the chance to be alone, she'd do for him what he did for her just minutes ago. Wrap her arms around him until he knows it was going to be alright.
As the lawyer, hunched forward and still holding his face, shakes out his jacket and looks at the blood staining his hand, his eyes go from Castle to Captain Gates, then back over to Beckett. "You've been served, Detective." He says in a congested, nasally voice before looking over to Castle, who's stopped struggling against Ryan and Esposito. "Never pegged you for a brawler, Rodgers." He continues as he takes a step backward toward the elevator.
"Believe me, I should have done that years ago!" Castle shouts back as he enters the elevator.
When the elevator departs, Beckett limply holding a set of papers she couldn't care less about at the moment down by her side, Esposito gives Castle's arm a strong pat of support as both he and Ryan let him go. And Ryan is the first to look up at Castle and ask, "You two know each other?"
"Let's just say it was a long time coming." He answers through clenched teeth.
Beckett sends eyes of warning over to Espo and Ryan, warning them not to prod any further, and it sends them stepping back a few steps. Gates, looking stunned and missing her chance to discipline the lot of them, lets out a sigh and crosses her arms. "We'll fight this every way we can, Detective." She says and takes the papers from her. "Don't worry, you have the whole precinct behind you."
"And Castle's mean right hook." Ryan jokes with a smile.
"In the meantime," Gates silences the chuckling, "we still have a killer to catch. They don't have your badge yet, Beckett, so as far as I'm concerned, you're still a detective of my precinct. With the Bradley's statement, we could break this case wide open. We're still coordinating with the police that picked up the newest set of bodies, but if we're going to solve this case, I need boots up there."
She can't think of anything right now. She feels like a shell. "Castle and I will leave as soon as we can, Sir."
Castle would verbally agree, might remind her that he can't be gone more than a few days. But she just had her whole life thrown at her, she doesn't need him pestering her. "But first," Gates stops her, "I want you and Castle to start digging into Williams' life again."
"Why is that, Sir?" Castle asks.
"Because if we can prove him guilty of something, we might be able to get this thrown out." She says, waving the papers in the air.
"Sir," Beckett starts, "the Bradley's statement clearly exonerates Williams of the murders. Both of them said that Williams had the wrong build. They described their kidnapper as at least six feet, Williams was five foot eight."
"Your gut said that he was guilty." Gates tells her. "Now, if he wasn't guilty of murder, what was he guilty of?"
All Beckett can do is nod and recross her arms over her stomach. After that, Gates gives them all a silent nod and turns to head back into her office. Ryan and Esposito soon follow her, getting a look from Castle to give them a minute. With one long breath being let out of her shaky lungs, she watches as Castle shoves his hands into his pockets and paces his way in front of her.
"I don't suppose you could lend me seven million dollars?" She jokes darkly.
"I'd be happy to if I knew thirty percent of it wasn't going to that giant walking used tissue suing you."
Beckett looks up ahead of him, her expression void and her eyes staring off into space before she looks at him. And when she looks into his eyes, a part of her knows, he's the one person she can always count on. He's always been right beside her, backing her up. Even now, after everything she's done to destroy his trust in her, he's still here. When she sees him having met her eyes and sees a small, very soft smile tease the edges of his lips as he blinks, her heart tells her that it's going to be okay.
"You think we can really prove Williams is guilty of something?" She asks, the waggle of her brow giving away that it's a challenge.
And with that cute waggle of her brow she's giving him, he lets his soft smile grow into a smirk. "I do." He answers her, rolling his shoulders back confidently. "And after that, we're going to find the real killer. Because Gates is right." She raises her brow and moves her head to the side, gesturing him a question. "Your gut said he was guilty and from my experience, your gut is very rarely ever wrong."
She smiles softly at him in return and takes a step forward, putting herself at his side. She then meets his eyes again, putting a hand on his bicep when she's next to him. "It's been wrong before, Castle."