Decisions and Dominoes Chapter 21
The 9th precinct was unusually quiet, which left Detective Allie McMurphy plenty of time to reflect on everything that was going on around her. It was an odd situation really, she felt that she had not been a participant in the most recent events in her life, but that she been more of an observer trapped on the peripheral. It was true that her boyfriend had been shot by a serial killer, but she felt as though she had been kept at arm's length by those closest to him during the aftermath, and at times by Castle himself. She understood that she was new to this group of friends, and the situation had been extremely traumatic for everyone involved, but she found herself wondering about the boundaries, or lack thereof, that existed between the players. If she was the paranoid type, she might have felt that they were running interference for someone.
Then there was the return of Kate Beckett to the arena. This development added a whole new layer of complexity to a situation that Allie already felt was pretty intricate. Castle had been open about his relationship with the detective from the 12th. There had been a long dance between the two that had created a lot of baggage for them as a couple. The fact that it had taken them four years to get together and only one to implode; spoke volumes.
When she and Rick had "the" conversation about past relationships, he had made it clear to Allie that he was done with that part of his life and had no intention of returning to a situation where he was deemed insignificant and disposable.
Kate was the true wildcard in the mix. Allie didn't know her, but she knew of her. Her reputation for being intelligent, ambitious, driven, and laser focused when she had a goal in mind preceded her. Castle had never gone into detail about what happened when she left, but Allie did know that Kate had not only left Castle to take the job, but rejected his marriage proposal and offer to go with her to DC. And now she was back at the 12th. Allie had been shocked when she heard that Beckett had officially resigned from the AG's Task Force. It was a move that didn't really make sense if you looked at it through the lens that was Kate Beckett.
Another out of character moved related directly back to Allie herself. This whole weird dynamic with Castle and his friends roused her detective instincts and she had decided that there could be no better source of information on the group than Richard Castle himself through the vehicle of the Nikki Heat books. In a way she had gotten more than she bargained for, but every key player was there in one form or another. Allie pretty much got a disconcertingly detailed look at the feelings Jameson Rook – aka Richard Castle – had for Nikki Heat – aka Katharine Beckett. She knew Castle well enough to hear his voice while she read. It wasn't pleasant for her and when she came to page 105 – she skipped ahead.
"Thinking about Sherlock?" a raspy voice interrupted Allie's thoughts.
She smiled looking up at Slaughter, "I'm springing him from the hospital today. Did you ever go and see him?"
Slaughter perched himself on the side of her desk, "Nah, I don't like hospitals; too many dead people."
Allie laughed softly, "At least Rick didn't end up one of them."
"So, you helping Sherlock and the Scooby Gang with the 3XK thing?"
Allie knew why Slaughter had "dropped by", "No, the captain couldn't spare me right now."
Slaughter made a show of looking around the not busy squad room, "Kicked to the curb so soon by the return of the tasty Kate Beckett?"
Allie stopped smiling, "Shut-up Slaughter. You're such an ass."
"I knew that woman was too much for Sherlock when we worked that Jamaican severed heads case a while back," Slaughter continued to talk anyway.
Allie didn't try and hide her annoyance, "What can I do for you, Slaughter, so you will go away?"
"That's no way to talk to your partner," Slaughter shot back.
"I'm not your partner," Allie kicked right back.
"Oh, that's right," Slaughter admitted still smiling annoyingly.
"What do you want?" Allie was clearly annoyed.
"Fine," Slaughter finally let it go, "I was actually here to see about Sherlock."
"Liar," Allie accused.
"You're really going to make me do this?"
Allie stared him down, "I was wondering how you were doing, Mac. I heard that Beckett was back at the 12th and as soon as Sherlock is back on his feet, he will be too."
Allie eyed him suspiciously trying to decide if he was setting her up, "That's all true."
It was Slaughter's turn to eye Allie, "That's all you have to say about it?"
"What do you want me to say? It is what it is," Allie didn't want him to see that she was indeed concerned about that very situation.
He watched her carefully before speaking, "Hey, she ditched him. It's not likely she's gonna want seconds."
Allie looked at him wondering if Slaughter actually believed he was helping or he was just being, well…. Slaughter.
"What makes you think that you and I even have the kind of relationship where I would discuss my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend with you?"
Slaughter gave her a smirk, "I'm just so easy to talk to."
Allie actually laughed out loud, "Look if I ever need a shoulder to cry on, I can promise that it won't be yours."
Slaughter feigned disappointed, "Now that hurts."
Allie ignored him, "If you will excuse me Slaughter, Rick is waiting."
Slaughter started to speak, but Allie cut him off, "No, you can't come with."
Slaughter watched her leave with his customary smirk, but as she exited out of his sight, legitimate concern crossed his face. He knew what it meant when a man had the kind of feelings Castle had for a woman like Kate Beckett; feelings that tended to never really be over, but merely hibernating waiting to offer up unsuspecting participants the next Sucker Punch.
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Allie arrived at the hospital quickly clearing the check points that had been set up to keep Castle safe on a non-critical care floor. After all, she had been to visit him each and every day of the last two weeks.
When she entered his room, she found him dressed not in jeans or sweats as she expected, but in slacks, a cobalt blue dress shirt and sport coat, "Wow, you dressed up for me."
Castle looked up from something he was doing on his phone and smiled at her, "There she is, my police escort."
Allie moved to where he sat on the side of the bed and stood between his knees slipping her arms around his neck, "You ready to get out of here?"
He smiled into her eyes and kissed her softly on the lips, "You have no idea. These last two weeks have felt like two months. I'm going stir crazy."
"Let's get you home and see if we can't do something about that," Allie teased him pulling out of his embrace and picking up his overnight bag.
"I'm all signed out, so we can escape any time," he told her.
"No wheel chair ride?"
"No way, might tarnish my new badass image with the press," Castle joked.
"Press?" Allie hadn't thought about that.
"Well, I am a crime novelist and I was recently shot by a serial killer. I think there might be a camera or two," he chided her.
Allie chewed her lip thinking, "If you are not up for that, I know a secret squirrel way out of here."
Castle raised his eyebrows interested in what she had in mind, "Sounds good to me."
"Great!" she said grabbing his right arm with her free hand.
"There's just one thing, Mac. I don't want to go straight home," Castle stopped her before she could open the door.
Allie was curious, "Really? Where do you want to go?" She was pretty sure she already knew.
Castle hesitated not sure how she was going to take his request, but he was determined, "I want to drop by the precinct."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Allie decided that supporting Rick, not questioning his decisions was the best route take with him.
He looked sheepish, "You don't mind?"
"I'm not your mother, I'm your girlfriend. If you want to visit your friends at the precinct, then that's what we'll do. Let's get your uniformed security detail and get out of here."
Castle smiled more broadly than he had in days. He had been worried that he would have to convince Mac that going by the precinct was something that was important to him, but she had surprised him and just supported him – and it felt good.
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Espo and Kevin didn't know what made them turn and look at the elevator when it dinged this time, but they were glad they did. For the first time in weeks, Castle was in the precinct.
Beckett was at her desk on the phone and she looked up just in time to see the boys tripping over each other to get out of their desks and over to the elevator, "What's going…," Beckett's question died on her lips.
Kevin grabbed Castle first in a hug meant to be sincerely welcoming, but painless, "Castle, man, it is so good to see you walk out of that elevator again."
"It's good to be walking," Castle was grinning from ear to ear.
Espo gave Castle a shoulder bump, careful to use the right side, "Hey, bro, it's about time you busted out of that place and got back to work. Things aren't the same around here without you."
"Mac, thanks for bringing him by," Kevin said embracing her warmly.
"It's not like it was my idea. He was pretty set on the precinct being his first stop," Allie explained as she got the same exuberant welcome from Espo.
No one noticed that Beckett couldn't take her eyes off the scene.
It took a few minutes for Castle to get through all of the greetings, well wishes and welcome backs from everyone in the precinct that had gathered upon hearing he was in the building. He was glad he had come. It made him feel like things really could get back to normal.
"Mr. Castle," a familiar address caught his attention.
Castle grabbed Allie's hand and moved toward the break room where Captain Gates was standing in the doorway, "I don't think you have been cleared for duty as it were quite yet."
"No, not yet, but I just had to come by and say hello to everyone," Castle explained needlessly.
"I'd say this calls for a cup of coffee," Kevin announced. There was agreement all around and the five moved fully into the break room to celebrate Castle's return with everyone's favorite beverage.
Still sitting at her desk pretending to work, Beckett watched through the break room window as Javi, Kevin, Gates, Castle and his new girlfriend toasted his return with coffee. That hurt, and Kate tried really hard not to let it show on her face. As she watched them laughing and interacting with one another, she was jealous, plain and simple. This was the first time Kate had seen Javi and Kevin relaxed since she had returned to the precinct ten days ago. She recognized them; the partners she knew before DC.
Then there was Castle. She hadn't seen him since that day they fought in the hospital. He looked thinner and tired, but he was smiling a heartfelt smile and she knew his eyes were sparkling the way they did when he was really happy.
Finally, the group moved from the break room to the detective area; each with their coffee. Castle saw Kate as he turned toward Javi and Kevin's desks to find his chair, "Beckett."
Kate got up and moved toward the group, "Hey, Castle." Kate's eyes locked with his, absently dropped to his coffee, and back to his face.
Castle stumbled over his words, "Umm, uhh…Kate, have you met Detective Allison McMurphy from the 9th?"
Kate made eye contact with Allie and extended her hand, "Not officially."
Mac met Kate's gaze evenly, "Yeah, things were a little crazy that Saturday you arrived with your team."
All three men were silent, transfixed by the two women greeting one another amicably enough, while knowing there was a whole lot more going on beneath the surface.
"It was crazy that day and they're not my team anymore," Kate was smiling at Allie. "You're looking at my team."
"So I hear," Allie responded smiling right back. "Welcome back, detective."
"Castle, can we talk?" Beckett asked breaking the spell that had fallen over the men.
Castle looked at Javi and Kevin. The boys looked back at Castle with a look that said he was on his own with this one, "Yeah, of course," he answered following her as she walked into the nearest office, waited for him and closed the door.
"What's up?" Castle asked wanting to get the conversation going quickly.
"I heard from your dad," Beckett kept her voice low.
Castle had kept a good ten feet between them, but when she said that, he closed to within two, "Where is he? What did he say?"
"He's tracking Tyson's electronic footprint. He managed to track down this hacker kid who has worked for Tyson on multiple occasions," Kate was all business as she laid out the story.
"That's closer than we have come in the last year," Castle was intense.
"After some convincing, the kid gave up Tyson's hacker name and a website he trolls and uses to send messages to people who help him," Kate felt some of the old energy come back as they talked about the case. "So far, he did manage to find a guy who sold Tyson a gun after your shooting and he's working that avenue as well."
"He bought a gun after my shooting?" Castle was obviously hungry for information about his dad and Tyson, but Kate sensed a subtle shift in his mood and demeanor. "Anything else?"
"Only that he was calling in some favors from the internet terrorism guys to try get closer to Tyson or find another accomplice who might know more," Kate relayed everything she could remember while watching Castle's body language carefully.
"We might actually catch him with my father's help before he…," Castle's focus faded suddenly and Kate could tell he was obviously somewhere else. He was beginning to sweat, blinking rapidly and a glaze had settled over his eyes. He then let his hand touch his upper left chest area where he had been shot.
"Castle?" she reached out and put her hand on top of his. She knew instinctively what was happening, "It's okay, Rick," she spoke softly recognizing that distant wild eyed look mixed with anxiety and fear.
He jerked himself forward from that night in his loft to the present and backing away said, "I have to go."
Allie, Javi and Kevin had been chatting outside, but all of them knew something was wrong when Castle came barreling out of the office looking like hell, "Rick, what's wrong?" Allie was immediately at his side.
"I think I over did it. I need to go," Castle explained urgently.
Allie didn't ask any more questions, but she did shoot an accusatory glance at Kate, "Let's just get you home."
Beckett didn't take her eyes off Castle until the elevator doors closed.
Kevin had to ask, "What the hell was that all about?"
Espo added in, "Yeah, what happened in there?"
Kate offered a warning born of personal experience, "Guys, Castle's in trouble."