"Come on, find me in daylight."
"Castle's coming in today," she said offhand as she filled her coffee cup in the break room Monday morning. She tried to make it sound like it didn't matter, like she was simply stating a fact, when in reality she was throwing a glance at the elevator every fifteen minutes to see if he was here yet.
"Really?" Esposito asked. "And you're okay with this?"
Beckett raised her eyebrows. "What do you care? You had him working with you when I did mind."
"So you don't mind now."
She rolled her eyes and took her coffee to her desk, but when she got there she found that it was already occupied. Of course he would show up during the two minutes that she was in the break room. "Out of my chair, Castle," she commanded him in greeting.
He looked faintly like a puppy who'd just been hit with a newspaper. "My chair isn't here anymore. And you already have a coffee." He pointed sadly at the cup he'd already set on her desk. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
She raised her eyebrows. "What is it?"
He started to smile. She was testing him, and he was about to pass with flying colors. "Grande skim latte, two pumps sugar free vanilla."
She couldn't help the smile that spread across her own face. She had yet to drink from the cup she'd poured for herself. "Ryan," she called to the other detective at his desk, "coffee?"
He nodded. "Sure."
"You got an extra chair over there?"
He looked around. "Uh, yeah."
"Bring me it and you can have the coffee."
Castle grinned. "Making him work for it. I like your tactics."
Ryan brought the chair and put it beside Beckett's desk, right where the old chair had been. As promised, she handed him the mug and took the to-go cup that Castle had brought. She took a sip and wasn't surprised to find that it was significantly better than the break room's coffee, even taking the espresso machine into consideration. "Thanks," she told him. "Now get out of my seat."
But before he could, Montgomery's voice came from the rough direction of his office. "You four. My office."
He hadn't gestured or made any specific gesture to indicate which four people in the crowded bullpen he was referring to, but by this point it wasn't necessary. Every detective in the precinct knew who "you four" was, including the three detectives and the writer in question.
"Sir?" Beckett asked when they were all gathered in the office, the captain eyeing them sternly.
"Are… we in trouble?" Ryan piped in.
"Not this time. At least, not yet." He looked at Castle. "It's okay with you that he's here, Beckett?"
She nodded. "Yes, sir. He's here by my invitation." She frowned. "Should I have… checked with you first?"
"No, no. Not necessary. It's just that the last time he showed up unannounced the four of you kind of made a scene, and I'm hoping to avoid that happening again." He eyed his detectives meaningfully. "Ever again."
Ryan and Esposito looked down guiltily, and Beckett blushed. "Be assured that it won't, sir," she said.
"That was my fault, Captain," Castle said, although Beckett noticed with unease that he was looking only at her. "But she's right. It will never happen again."
There was something heavy about his tone, like he wasn't just referring to the incident at the precinct, although she couldn't have been sure of that, especially because she was purposefully avoiding making direct eye contact with him. She could tell he was doing that thing, that blue-eyed boring into her soul thing that he was so adept at, and she refused to allow it. She was at work, in her captain's office. Now was not the time.
"Okay," Montgomery said. "Good. Now that we have that out of the way." He looked at Castle. "How's Alexis doing?"
He nodded. "She's better. A lot better. Thank you for asking. She's still on crutches, but she's back at school now. Today was her first day back. Big milestone for her. She's a pretty tough kid."
Montgomery and the other two detectives expressed their relief and happiness, but Beckett was looking directly at Castle now, and there was neither relief nor happiness on his face or in his voice. He was faking it well enough for the others, but his smile was forced. It wasn't real. It didn't agree with his words. Something was wrong. "She's still mad at you?" she asked him softly.
The question was intended only for Castle's ears, but the space was small and Ryan overheard. "Alexis? Why would she be mad at you?"
Castle stared determinedly at the floor. "She… found out about what happened. With Caroline. A few days ago."
"Ooh." Esposito clapped him on the back. "That sucks, bro."
The captain just shook his head. "You're all free to go." He looked at Castle again. "I'm glad Alexis is doing okay."
He nodded. "Thanks."
As they all left the office, Beckett was still watching Castle. Whether he'd admit it or not, he was upset, and maybe he did deserve it, but that didn't make her feel any better. She'd always loved how close Castle and his daughter were, closer than she and her own father had ever been, and closer than they would ever be. Alexis meant more to Castle than anything else in the world, and she liked that about him. It was the one, and maybe the only, thing about Castle that was consistently mature. He was a good father. It had to be killing him that they were fighting, especially because he hadn't done anything wrong, not recently, and the thing Alexis was upset about had nothing to do with her.
Beckett couldn't help but feel like the so much of this was her fault, and she wasn't one to take responsibility for something without paying for it. That would've negated everything she stood for, who she was. She wanted to do something. She wanted to help.
The problem was, she didn't know how she could help, especially because she didn't necessarily want Castle to know that she was feeling responsible. If she knew him, he'd only disagree. He'd say she hadn't done anything wrong and consequently didn't have to do anything to make up for it. But although she wasn't quite ready to admit this to him, she had been wrong. It was true that he shouldn't have been with Caroline. She was a suspect connected to a case, and he had made her life more difficult professionally. At the same time though, she had also overreacted. She'd acted like a high school girl, jealous of the girl who got the boy she had a crush on. It wasn't like they'd been dating, they hadn't. That possibility hadn't even been mentioned, not by either one of them. They'd both been wrong. They'd both made mistakes. And now they both had to deal with the consequences of their actions.
It wasn't long before Castle interrupted her thoughts. "So," he said cheerfully, "my first day back on the job. What exciting things do I have to look forward to? Building theory? Arresting suspects? Interrogation?" He quickly looked around, and his glanced rested on the blank whiteboard. "The murder board is blank. Why is the murder board blank?"
She couldn't help but smile, which he apparently found suspicious.
"What?"
She shook her head. "Nothing."
"No, what?"
She shrugged. "It's good to have you back." And it was. Unlike the awkward few days that he'd been shadowing Esposito, it felt completely natural, and she was grateful for that.
He nodded once and smiled as well, and this time it looked a little less forced. "It's good to be back. Now, why is the murder board blank?"
"I don't have a case right now." She gestured to her desk. "Paperwork."
He raised his eyebrows defiantly. "My first day back and all I get to do is watch you do paperwork? And you think this is acceptable?"
"Sorry, Castle. That's why I usually call you when something exciting happens." She watched him lightly kick the leg of her desk in agitation, and suddenly an idea occurred to her. It was ridiculous, of course… but Castle liked ridiculous. At the very least, it would distract him from his personal problems and get him out of her hair so that she might actually be able to get some of her paperwork done. "You know what? Maybe I do have a case."
His eyes lit up. "Great, what is it?" But then as he processed what she'd said, his eyes narrowed. "Wait, what do you mean maybe? Either you have a case or you don't. You're homicide, there isn't a lot of gray area. Did someone die or didn't they?"
She almost laughed, which would've answered his question on its own. She was never one to laugh about murder. "Okay, no one died. And I don't have a case, but you do."
"I'm intrigued," he said, but he looked more suspicious.
"When I was on the phone with you the other day one of those two jokers kicked my shoe." She nodded at Ryan and Esposito, who for some reason she was afraid to ask about were both at Ryan's desk. "Big scuff mark right across the toe, and neither one of 'em will admit to doing it. I promised them I would figure out who it was, and then kill him."
Castle raised his eyebrows. "Katherine Beckett, since when are you that precious about your shoes?"
She smirked. "Hey, I like those shoes. You do not mess with my shoes." She was half-joking. But only half.
"Okay, fine. But allow me to address another side of the issue. Ryan and Esposito are my friends. Why would I help you figure out which one of them to kill?"
She rolled her eyes. "Please. They're my friends too. You don't really think I'm going to kill either of them. But they're also my colleagues and I told them I'd figure out which one of them it was. How could I expect them to have any respect for me professionally if I didn't at least attempt to make good on that?"
"How could they not—" he started, but she cut him off.
"Come on, Castle. You said you wanted a case, didn't you? Now you have one. Your very own. Enjoy."
He smiled. "Fine." He looked down. "Do you have the evidence?"
She shook her head. "I'm wearing different shoes today, and I cleaned those ones off anyway."
"Come on! How am I supposed to crack the case without evidence?"
"Question your suspects. How many times have you been in interrogation with me? You know the drill. You can even use one of the interrogation rooms if you like." She remembered Montgomery's previous warning about using them for personal business and amended. "Although you do so at your own risk."
He grinned. "This isn't personal, this is official police business. Which means I can use official police resources."
She smiled in spite of herself, enjoying how much he was enjoying this idea. She'd known he would. "Your choice. But if you get in trouble, leave me out of it. And don't bother the guys if they're busy." But even as she said this, she glanced toward Ryan's desk and saw Esposito point at the computer screen and laugh. "Though I don't think that's likely," she muttered.
But Castle also saw and, unsurprisingly, was intrigued. "I'd better go check this out. Could be my first lead."
She rolled her eyes. "Go do that. Maybe I can actually get something done."
Relieved of her writer, Beckett actually was able to get some work done, but that wasn't to say she wasn't keeping half an eye on Castle and his "case." Even with the absurdity of his assignment, he was still so absorbed, so passionate. She watched him take each of the boys into an empty interrogation room in turn, and during his interrogation of Ryan she watched Montgomery enter the observation room, no doubt trying to figure out what exactly was going on, and she braced herself for scolding. But the captain looked more amused than irritated when he came out again, and went back to his office without saying a word to her.
She was surprised at how long it was apparently taking Castle to "solve" his "case." Besides the glimpses she caught of him hard at work, she barely saw him. As she wrapped up her paperwork for the day she began to look for him more earnestly. If she was going home for the day, there was no reason for him to be here working on the fake case she'd assigned him.
But no sooner did she begin looking than she saw him heading toward her desk, happily waving a very official-looking piece of paper. "I got it!" he declared. "I got a confession. It was Esposito. He messed up your shoe."
She narrowed her eyes as she took the paper from his hand. "How did you get a confession form?" She looked at it more carefully and saw that it was a photocopy. "A fake confession form?"
"Ryan let me borrow a real one and I made a copy. Cool, huh?"
"So cool." She said it sarcastically, but she was a little impressed at the lengths he'd gone to for his assignment. She should've realized he would, though. Castle was nothing if not thorough.
"So now that we know who it was… what's his punishment? Lethal injection? Electric chair? Throw shoes at him? Ooh, if that's it, can I help?"
She smiled. "Don't worry, I'll think of something fitting. I was just about to head out for the day, though. Can I give you a ride home?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."
Ugh. Sorry. Who would've thought I'd actually have less time for writing in the summer than I did while I was at school? Not me. But that seems to be the case, or at least it has been lately. I think my life is calming down a bit now though, so maybe that'll change. At least, that's my hope. :)
Not many thoughts on this chapter, except this. It's not a filler chapter. Parts of it might seem that way, but it isn't. I swear. The plot movement is subtle, but it exists. If you can't see it, just trust me. With six (or maybe possibly seven, depending on how the end goes...) chapters to go, I don't have time for filler chapters.
Let me know what you thought! (Step 1: Locate the review button at the bottom of your screen. Step 2: Click said button. Step 3: Type review. Step 4: Click "submit." Step 5: Recieve many virtual hugs of gratitude from a very happy author.)
As always, thanks for reading! :)