Hi again! I really loved your reactions to the last chapter, so I got my but in gear and wrote you another chapter. This one has a little bit of everything, so I hope you enjoy!
She woke in an empty bed. She was on call today and she usually spent those days with Castle. But he wasn't there. She frowned and got up. She walked into the living room, in search for him.
She spotted him in the kitchen, apparently very busy.
"Morning," she said. "What are you doing?"
He turned around and obvious disappointment painted his face.
"I was going to wake you with breakfast in bed," he pouted. He looked so disappointed that she cursed herself for waking up.
"Well, I could go back to bed, if you want me to," she offered.
"No, that would be pointless," he said. "The element of surprise is gone."
"Well, it's the thought that counts and I think it's very sweet," she told him and she kissed him good morning. "I'm sure you'll get another opportunity to surprise me with breakfast in bed."
"I'm counting on it," he smiled and gave her another kiss. "I love you, you know that."
"Hmm, love you too," she murmured. It had been a week since he first told her he loved her and he hadn't held back after that first time. He told her at least once a day. She'd been playing with the idea of saying it back, but it had never felt natural enough. Today it did. So she said it.
His face lit up with the most amazing smile. It was like she hung the moon for him. "You do?" he asked.
"Duh, you think I would've put up with you all this time if I didn't?" she winked.
"I knew it!" he exclaimed childishly. She smirked.
"Now, what's this special breakfast you're making, lover boy?" she asked him.
"I made you banana and chocolate chip pancakes!" he announced with flourish and placed a plate in front of her. It smelled amazing.
"Wow, Castle, this looks amazing," she said.
"Yeah? I wasn't sure if you'd like it, but it's one of Alexis's favourites."
"I'm sure I'll love it, thank you," she said sweetly. She reached up and over the kitchen island to kiss him thanks.
After breakfast, she suggested they'd watch a movie. She wasn't in the mood for anything more exciting. She just wanted to curl up together and watch TV.
Castle didn't complain so that's how they spent most of their morning; cuddled up on the couch, watching Les Intouchables on Netflix.
Until she got a call that there'd been a murder.
Castle groaned. "Really?" he whined when her phone rang.
"Come on," Kate said, "if we solve this case quickly, we might salvage some of our day."
She hauled Castle up by his hands. He stumbled into her and grabbed her waist to keep them both upright. The warmth of his hands burned through the soft cotton of her shirt and she had some trouble keeping her mind in check as she stared up at him.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" she breathed.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said, but his eyes twinkled mischievously.
She hummed disbelievingly and took a step back. "Let's go."
The crime scene was quite close to her apartment and they arrived soon after the ME. Ryan and Esposito were there already too. The moment they exited the car, Beckett realized they'd make a mistake arriving together, but it was already too late. Ryan and Esposito had already seen them and waved them over.
"Carpooling, huh?" Espo teased.
"It's not time for lunch yet, what were you doing together?" Ryan asked.
"Shut up, guys. I just picked him up on the way," Beckett explained. It was a flawed explanation, since the scene was closer to her place than his, but she hoped that they would accept it.
She saw Esposito's eyes narrow in suspicion, but he seemed to decide to leave it alone for the time being. "Victim's Sloane Davis, Lanie's up with the body in the apartment," he told them. Beckett nodded to him, both in acknowledgement of his statement and a thanks for letting go that she and Castle arrived together.
"Sloane Davis, twenty-six years old," Lanie told them when they entered the apartment. "COD is blunt force trauma to the back of the head. Seems like she was pushed and fell over. Her head must've hit the corner of the coffee table." She indicated the visible blood on the corner of the table. The apartment was trashed, so there must've been a fight.
"Time of death?" Beckett asked.
"My preliminary estimate is between eleven and two last night," Lanie said.
"Boyfriend?" Beckett asked.
"Don't know anything about this," Castle said in a throwaway comment and Lanie's eyes flicked between them. She raised an eyebrow at Beckett and Beckett suppressed a smile.
"Oh, I know where you were between eleven and two last night," Kate winked at him. "No, I wasn't talking to you. Is it possible that a boyfriend did this?" She rephrased her question for Lanie's benefit, though she was sure Lanie had already understood it the first time.
"You're the detective, you tell me," Lanie answered. "By the way, we need to talk. I'll text you when I get back to the morgue. Then we need to have some serious girl-talk."
As Beckett and Castle moved further into the apartment to assess the situation, he said, "You know, I know what you meant back there."
"I know you did, just don't do something that obvious in front of the boys," she muttered.
"I wouldn't dare," he gasped, mocking her. She rolled her eyes at him and he grinned.
Background check on their victim gave them a family to interview. Ryan and Esposito went to talk to her brother Shaun while Castle and Beckett talked to her parents.
Mr and Mrs Davis lived in a penthouse on the Upper East Side. The place was enormous. If Castle thought his loft was big, but it was tiny in comparison. These people must be loaded.
Castle and Beckett sat on the expensive couch as they told them the bad news. To say that the couple was crushed when they heard it would be an understatement. Mrs Davis kept saying that she didn't understand how this could've happened and Mr Davis seemed to have lost his tongue.
"Well, that was useful," Castle murmured when they were back in the car. "I hate telling the family."
"Yeah, me too," Kate said. "Let's hope that Ryan and Esposito have gotten more information from Shaun."
They had. Shaun had told them about the boyfriend, Ray Torres. Shaun told them that Torres was a Spanish immigrant who had only been interested in his sister for her money. They got his address from him and decided to go meet the man.
"He seemed a very well-mannered man," Ryan said as he handed her a photo of Ray Torres.
"That doesn't mean he didn't kill her, though," Beckett said and posted the photo on the murder board, adding the information.
"Well, at least he wasn't only interested in Sloane Davis's money. He was distraught when we told him the news," Espo said.
"Alright, call the parents and see if they can tell you anything about Ray Torres," Kate told them as her phone pinged.
Girl-talk NOW!
"I'm going to meet Lanie at the morgue," she said. "Castle, stay here, help the boys."
"What? What did I do? I'm sure they don't need my help making a phone call," he protested. He was still a bit hesitant with being alone with Ryan and Esposito after they'd cornered him in the break room. They needed to get that bromance back that had been there before the summer.
"No, but you guys need to rekindle," she told him quietly. "They won't bite." She grinned at him and walked towards the elevator.
The drive to the morgue didn't take too long. Rush hour had passed, so she managed to ease her way through traffic. Lanie was already waiting for her when she walked through the double doors of the morgue.
"Sit," she said with a stern voice. Kate saw no reason not to do what she said so she sat down, preparing herself for Lanie's interrogation. "Talk."
"About what?" Kate said, like she had no idea what her friend was talking about.
"Castle," Lanie said.
"What about him?" Kate asked, knowing very well that she was annoying Lanie.
"Stop it! You two arrived together this morning and you made a comment about knowing where he was between eleven and two last night, so spill."
"Lanie, he's my boyfriend. It's quite normal for a couple to spend the night together, you know," she teased.
"How's that going?" Lanie asked, ignoring the jab.
"Honestly?" Kate asked and Lanie nodded, looking a bit worried. "It's amazing. I'm always very fond of my alone-time, but with Castle I don't seem to need it. We can to nothing together and it's still amazing. When we were in the Hamptons we could spend hours in his office. Him writing and me reading. It was comforting just knowing he was there."
"You haven't talked about it much," Lanie said, referring an earlier girls night. "I was starting to worry."
"I just didn't want to jinx it. Thank you, for not saying anything to anyone, by the way. We've really needed the alone time without anyone knowing. Well, without many people knowing," she corrected herself. "Castle ruined the anyone when he asked me if I wanted popcorn or cracker jacks." She laughed at the memory. The panic that had overtaken her the moment Lanie realized that she was with him was still fresh in her memory.
"You do know I kind of already knew you were with him, right?" Lanie said.
"Yeah, I do now. Not then. I had no idea you had talked to him that night. Wait, how did you know I was with him?" she suddenly asked.
"Well, I knew he was going to try something and if you hadn't gone with him, you would've talked to me about it. So I figured his plan had worked. How did he manage to persuade you to come to the Hamptons with him?" Lanie asked.
Kate smiled, remembering the night she had suddenly found her on her doorstep. After weeks of silence, he had just been there. And he hadn't left her side for more than a day since. "I had had a terrible day. Montgomery had kicked me out and I was still feeling the wine from the night before. I remember planning on taking a bath and order some dinner. I was really looking forward to it, actually. But then he showed up with a caramel coffee and he sweetest smile. You know what he said to me? He said that I was a sight for sore eyes. I almost slammed the door in his face. Then he said he wanted to apologize. He told me what had happened the night before and honestly… There was very little persuasion needed to get me in his car.
"We didn't get together for a couple of days. At first, we just hung out and caught up. Then one night, the storm caused a power outage and apparently I ordered him to get in the bed with me in my sleepy state. Next morning, I wasn't thinking and I kissed him."
"Wow," Lanie said. "At least you guys have a decent story to tell the grandkids."
Kate blushed. It was way too soon to be thinking about grandchildren, but she really liked the sound of it. Their grandkids.
"Might have to sensor all the times you two almost died, though," Lanie said and Kate laughed.
"Might have to sensor a lot of things," she told Lanie with a slight blush.
"Like the things you two were doing between eleven and two last night?"
"For starters, yes," Kate grinned cheekily.
"You look good, you know? Happy," Lanie told her. "He's good for you."
"You're not the first one to tell me that," Kate answered with a smile.
The sound of her phone ringing reminded the girls that they were in the middle of an investigation. Sloane Davis was still dead and still deserved justice.
"Hey, Ryan," Kate answered her phone.
"Beckett, the parents weren't fond of Ray Torres. In fact, they were trying to convince Sloane of the fact that he was no good for her," he said.
"Okay, thank you," Beckett said and hung up. "Sloane's parents didn't approve of her boyfriend."
"Well, her head trauma was caused by the corner of the coffee table. Judging by the angle she fell on it. My guess is that she was pushed with quite some force," Lanie told her.
"Did you find anything else?" Kate asked her.
"In fact, I did," Lanie said and beckoned her over to the table where Sloane Davis was laid. "Look here." She pointed at a tattoo on the girl's rib.
"Libertad," Kate read. "That's Spanish for freedom. You think she wanted to flee with her boyfriend?"
"It's possible," Lanie said.
"Alright, I should head back," Kate said.
"Hey, Kate?" Lanie stopped her.
"Yeah?"
"I totally forgot to thank you for those Q3 tickets you gave me. Javi and I had a wonderful night," Lanie grinned.
Kate answered her grin with one of her own. "You're very welcome, Lane."
She had almost forgotten about the e-mail she had sent Lanie before her time off, but she was glad that Lanie and Espo had a good time at the benefit. Everything seemed to be falling into place in their lives.
Thoughts?