Hi everyone! Thank you so much for the feedback and support on last chapter, here's the next one. I hope you'll like it! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of it...
Chapter 26
Next Monday Kate sat at her desk in the precinct with her mug in her hand, staring ahead into thin air. No body has dropped so she decided to delay starting on her paperwork just a little longer, choosing instead to think back on her conversation with Lanie during the weekend.
„He did what?" her best friend asked incredulously.
„He sent me cupcakes. As an apology gift." she said, fully aware how ridiculous it sounded.
„That's so... Castle."Lanie stated with a smirk on her face. „What are you going to do?" she asked and Kate sucked in a deep breath.
„I don't know, Lanie. Obviously I can't be mad at him for a date going wrong... Maybe we were just not meant to be. Or whatever they say..." she mumbles.
„That's crazy, girl. Everyone with an eye can see the chemistry you two got going on..." Lanie shook her head, leaning back into the cushions on Kate's couch.
„Well it seems like it wasn't enough. I don't know what happened, really Lanie, I have no idea. Maybe I messed something up. I just wish I knew what it was..."
„You gotta talk about this, Kate. Have you called him?" Lanie asked and Kate looked away. „What? You haven't even sent him a text?"
„No I... I wasn't really ready to talk to him. I figured we'd have to talk on Monday anyways." Kate muttered, shrugging.
„Kate! For all we know, the guy thinks you're furious and hate him with all you have." Lanie said and the brunette sent her a pointed look to let her know she was exaggerating a little bit. „No seriously, honey, he might not even come back to work..."
„I don't know what to do anymore, Lanie..." Kate sighed, hoping that her friend was wrong.
This was why she feared goig on that date with Castle in the first place. What if she just lost her friend? Her partner? No matter their differences in the beggining she did love working with Castle, he was not great at solving puzzles and seeing the bigger picture, but he made the most tedious or horrible moments of this job just a bit more bearable.
„Yo, Beckett! We got a fresh one!" Esposito's voice cut through her daze and her eyes snapped up to see the guys standing in the doorway.
„What about a little respect for the victim, Espo?" she suggested as she got up and put on her jacket.
„I'll text you the address." Ryan told her as they made their ways to the elevator.
„Thanks, Ryan." she nodded as she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She knew she had one more thing to do before she set off to the crime scene. One thing she always did when they caught a new case. One thing that made her stomach tighten in anxiety now. „I'll call Castle."
She waited until she split up with the guys in the parking lot and got into the relative safety of her own car. Only then did she pull her phone from her pocket and dismissing the icon signaling one new message she went to dial Castle. Without realizing she was doing it, she waited with her breath held for him to pick up and she fiddled nervously in her seat when he didn't even after the tenth or eleventh ring.
"Honey, he might not even come back to work..."
Lanie's words echoed around in her head and she swallowed hard as she finally hung up. With a scowl she threw her phone onto the seat next to her and pushed her keys into the ignition maybe with a bit more force than necessary.
She didn't depend on Castle, she didn't need him. She could do her work just excellently without him, she had done so before and she could do it now too. Right? Right, she didn't need him.
"Beckett, I hate to say this but... I think we need Castle. We could use him and one of his crazy theories because this case is...a mystery. A closed book, if there ever was one. Closed and locked." Esposito sighed, rubbing his forehead as he bent over the table in the conference room. They were scanning through bank and phone records, client lists and family members and other legal documents, all turning out to be completely useless in solving the case.
"Where is he, anyways?" Ryan asked as he came into the room with yet another box full of folders. He dropped it onto the table and looked at her expectantly.
"I don't know, I tried calling him this morning but he didn't pick up."
"You not worried?" Esposito asked and even though she wasn't about to admit that out loud to them, in fact she was. About more than one thing frankly.
"Nope, we don't need him. Maybe he's got something more important to do..." she shrugged, pulling another folder in front of her and checking her watch with the same movement. "Anyways, it's only been a couple of hours since then, it's possible he didn't even see my call just yet."
"Is everything okay? Between you two I mean..." Ryan asked.
"Yeah, weren't you guys supposed to go on a date or what Friday night?" Espo chimed in, interrupting his partner and making Kate's head snap up in surprise.
"How did you... Lanie." she answered her own question. There was a reason she and Castle decided to keep it somewhat of a secret that they'd be going out but of course her best friend just couldn't keep her mouth shut.
"Yeah, sorry... But really, what's up, Kate? Date didn't go so well?" Esposito asked.
"I don't want to talk about it. I called Castle, okay? So he'll just have to notice it and decide for himself if he still wants to work with us..." she said and to let them know she considered the subject closed, she immersed herself in another list of names and information.
"Dad?" Alexis's voice called through the quiet loft but he didn't even bother to answer. "Dad? Dad!" she came closer and noticed him lying on the couch, staring into thin air. "Dad, come on, you gotta stop beating yourself up over this. You can't do this all day and I have to go to school." she told him.
"She hates me, Alexis." he murmured.
"No she doesn't. Maybe she's still mad but you did all you can, you apologized." Alexis tried to console him, perching on the armrest of the couch by his head.
"I sent her muffins. No cupcakes. Because she likes those..." he smiled then almost instantly it faded.
"Okay, dad. You gotta get up from there. Take a shower, go for a walk, drink coffee. Please. This is ridiculous, even for you." Alexis rolled her eyes, knowing her father was overdoing being sorry for himself just a little bit. "You could perhaps go to the precinct, I'm sure you can talk with Detective Beckett there."she suggested.
"I couldn't... I'm sure she doesn't want me there." he whispered miserably.
"That's not true, dad."
"It is, if she wanted me, she would have called... I'm sure they have a new case."
"How can you be sure? Maybe she's just caught up in a load of paperwork and...umm..." she answered, trying her best to reassure her dad. She looked around the living room, desperately searching for something that might distract her father and that was when she spotted his cell phone on the side table, just out of his line of sight with a little light blinking on the top of it, signaling a missed call. A grin spread on her face as she hopped up and grabbed it. "And hey, look. She did call you." she handed her dad the phone, hoping that it was indeed Beckett.
"Oh my God, she called! She called and I didn't notice. I didn't answer... Oh crap." he raved on and pushed up from the couch, grabbing his phone and quickly checking his call list. "Now she thinks I don't want to talk to her, damn it." he muttered, much to himself as he stood from the couch, looking over himself and deciding that his current attire- his blue flannel pajamas- wasn't really appropriate to go to the precinct.
"Dad? Dad!" Alexis called after him when he headed off towards his bedroom in quick strides. "Dad, I really gotta get to school!" she said moving after him.
"Oh, okay, sure. Thank you, pumpkin. Have a nice day!" he smiled at her a little absent mindedly, stepping back to press a kiss to her cheek.
"Love you, dad." she said but he was already in his room. She rolled her eyes then grabbed her bag that she dropped next to the couch and headed off to school.
An hour later Castle walked into the twelfth precinct with a bag of pastries in his hand and a knot in his stomach. He tapped his foot nervously during the elevator ride up and he tried really hard not to imagine how Beckett would react when he showed up. He didn't call her back, didn't want to waste time on in instead he just came. Only stopping at the bakery around the corner. It was nearing eleven o'clock and he guessed the detectives didn't have any breakfast, as usual.
When he stepped out of the elevator the main floor was buzzing but he couldn't see either of his teammates at their desks. He scowled, wondering what he should do until he waited for them to get back. It was rather unusual for all three of them to go out on the field at once so he moved further into the room and that was when he caught sight of the conference room and Ryan and Esposito hunched over the table covered in papers.
He paused in the doorway, hesitating as a rather uncomfortable thought came to his mind. What if Beckett told them all about the date?
"Yo Castle!" Esposito noticed him first and beckoned him inside.
"Where have you been, man? Beckett called you." Ryan asked.
"Yeah, uh, long story... I didn't hear her call." he muttered, scraping his temple.
"What? Had something else to do?" the Esposito questioned, narrowing his eyebrows suspiciously.
"No, no I was just...uh, napping." he said, deciding he couldn't really tell the guys about his self-pitying state in the morning. Or well, all weekend for that matter. "I brought some bearclaws!" he offered, holding the bag up and for a moment longer the two guys eyed him curiously then he decided to take the bribe and drop the subject. "So, new case... What do we have?" Castle asked, looking around at the various boxes and piles of files around them.
"The victim is Sean McLain, high end real estate business owner. He was shot twice in the chest and left in his office in the middle of the night. We're still waiting for Lanie's report but she estimated the time of death around two AM. We're looking through his accounts, bank records and any possible suspect but so far we have nothing. This guy seems clear as the day." Ryan told him then shrugged helplessly.
"Where...Where is Beckett?" Castle asked, the one thing that has truly been on his mind since he stepped into the room.
"She's..." Esposito started but was cut off when the brunette woman came in herself.
"I'm right here. Hey Castle." she said and everything seemed to freeze for a second. The tension in the air was palpable as blue and brown eyes stared into each other, so many things unsaid and questions unanswered.
"K-Kate I'm.." he stammered but she shook her head.
"Not now, Lanie just found DNA evidence on the body, we gotta go." she said.
"Wait! Whose DNA?" Castle asked.
"A guy named Billy West, he had time in prison for drug charges and attempted murder. Been out for two years. Unis saw him entering his building ten minutes ago. " Beckett stated and before Castle could try to say anything else she turned on her heels and walked out towards her desk, the boys rushing after her.
"Do we have a warrant?" Esposito yelled as they all grabbed their guns and safety vests, heading towards the elevator.
"On it's way. We gotta be careful, this guy could be dangerous." Beckett said then paused just outside of the elevator and looked back. "You coming, or what?" she asked from Castle and snapping himself out of his daze, he nodded and jogged to catch up with them.
That night they were all gathered around the white board in the bullpen, looking at possible suspects and theories they came up with during the day.
"Okay, so Billy West and the assistant alibied out and the wife said Sean called her just after midnight that he was heading home. What was he doing for another one and half hours in the office?" Beckett asked, plopping down on the edge of her desk.
"What if he wasn't in his office at all?" Castle suggested, an idea coming to his mind. "Remember the bag Billy was talking about? Where did it go? Sean had it with him when they met up at eight and we saw him entering his office building with it at nine thirty. But it wasn't there on the crime scene, was it?" he pointed out.
"No, no...see, this woman.. uh, Clarie Renner comes in just before ten and she leaves with the bag. Sean's assistant said it was some sort of paperwork and brochures for a new apartment building the company bought. Sean was supposed to meet Clarie earlier but she canceled and said she would just drop by for them later." Esposito said.
"So he was at work. No security cameras in his office though..."
"None. There's one in the hall but the angle's not very good." Ryan explained. "Someone could have easily slipped past it, especially if they knew which way to go..."
A heavy silence fell upon them, everyone deep in thought, grasping for something, anything really to go on with. Minutes passed, only interrupted by Castle taking a deep breath as if to say something when he had an idea only to let it out again, realizing it wouldn't be good for one reason or another.
"Okay guys, I think this is it for tonight." Beckett finally broke the quiet. "We won't find out any more today and we're all tired. Let's call it a night and go home." she suggested and after a moment both Ryan and Esposito nodded in agreement.
"Let's hope we can move forward tomorrow." Espo murmured.
"If nothing else comes up we'll have that security footage from the office building to watch and also the test results from the labor will be back." she said as they all went to get their jackets.
"Okay, see you all tomorrow. Good night!" Ryan said.
"Night Beckett! Castle!" Esposito waved to them before both of them walked off.
The homicide floor was almost empty, the lights dimmed and barely a few people around. Castle watched as Kate put her files away, arranged everything on her desk, threw out the takeout coffee cup and very purposefully didn't even look his way. He stood on his spot for a couple of more moments, just watching her and feeling his heart beat out of his chest and letting the immense wave of regret and annoyance at his stupid self wash over him before she finally stopped fidgeting and looked at him.
"Oh Castle...you're still here? I thought you'd gone home." she muttered and he knew that this was her way of politely saying she hoped he wouldn't be there. Of course she must have known, she must have felt his presence...
"Kate, I was hoping we could... talk." he hesitantly said, stepping up to her desk and standing a little awkwardly beside the chair there.
"Castle." she sighed.
"Kate I'm so sorry, really, I am. I don't know what came over me, I know I screwed up badly I just... I felt like I needed to apologize in person too. I uh...I sent you..."
"Cupcakes, yes. I got them. Thank you." she nodded.
"So...umm.." he didn't know what else there was to say. He didn't really know what he wanted to accomplish here, all he knew that he really needed to know that she wasn't angry at him. Or at least that she would forgive him with time.
"Castle, I don't know what to say. I guess it wasn't all your fault I mean, I was there too. You could say I let you.. hm... screw up as you put it. It's done now, nothing to do about it. You apologized and I really appreciate that so let's just... forget it, okay?" she said, finally meeting his eyes for the first time since the conversation started.
"Forget it?" he asked back.
"Yes, we still have to work together. Of course, that is if you still want to continue your work with the NYPD..." she trailed off, sounding unsure.
"Of course, Kate! If you'll have me..."
"Yes, I'd like that." she nodded, a small smile on her face.
"So...umm... friends?" he asked, cringing internally how clumsy it was, knowing it was kind of the worst thing to say even though he meant it with the best intentions.
"I-uh... yes, friends." she murmured. She didn't know why it felt like a stab to the chest. It wasn't like she wanted him to try and woo her some more, right? It was clear that didn't work out the first time around. No she didn't want him to ask her on another date that was sure, she wouldn't even agree to go. However, somehow this didn't feel quite right either. But she didn't want to dwell on it any further. "I think... I think I should get going now." she said, pushing her chair back and grabbing her jacket and phone. "Goodnight, Castle."
"Of course. See you tomorrow, detective." he said and there it was. That something, that feeling that still lingered in her whenever he was close, that tingling that she had in her stomach whenever he spoke to her. But well, they gave it a go and seemed like it wasn't supposed to work out. So all she could do now was leave it behind her and move on. No matter how good it could have been...
So what do you think? I hope you enjoyed it. All feedback is very much appreciated!
I'm working on the next chapter now, which will actually be the last one and it'll be very long. Then there's an epilogue after that. So we're actually quite close to the end now... Anyways, thank you for reading, I'll do my best to post next chapter soon! :)