A/N: Hope you guys like this :) Chapter Beta by Diana(Dmarx) and Kellie(Freewheeler) who are both Awesome.
Disclaimer: Not mine!
It was slightly before eight in the morning when a chime sounded throughout the bullpen as the elevator doors opened on the homicide floor at the Twelfth Precinct.
Richard Castle strode out, nodding politely at a few officers that he knew as he usually did. He headed across the relatively empty bullpen, taking in the peaceful ambiance. In another hour or so, the place would be bustling with activity, but not right now. He could enjoy the quiet hum while it lasted.
He normally didn't come into the precinct until later in the day, but he had missed out on a crime scene early that morning – the call came in at three am - and Castle had just gotten back from an event at approximately two in the morning, so he told the boys he'd catch up with them later in the day. He woke up to a text from Esposito, telling him this was a case he did not want to miss.
Dropping off his jacket by the chair set between the two detectives' desks, Castle headed to the break room for his daily coffee fix. Nowadays, he forewent picking up coffee before heading to the precinct. He hadn't done that since she left.
The boys were setting up the murder board when Castle joined them, steaming mug of coffee in hand. "So, what do we have today?" he greeted the grim-faced detectives.
"Victim was Jenna A. Mays," Esposito began the rundown, pointing to a DMV photo of the girl, "Art Major at NYU. She was staying off campus - alone for the weekend. Her roommate had gone away for a few days, coming back early this morning only to find Jenna's body in their apartment. There were no signs of a break in, and based on Lanie's preliminary examination on-scene, COD was strangulation."
Castle looked over to the picture of the victim taken at the scene and couldn't help but notice that the victim was posed as though she was lying peacefully in a coffin.
He had a bad feeling about this.
"Did she dye her hair recently?" he asked, gesturing at the blonde in the crime scene photo and back at the redhead in the DMV shot.
"Roommate confirmed that she was still a redhead before she left for the weekend, and Jenna didn't let her know of any plans to dye her hair," Esposito replied in a somber tone, realizing that Castle was catching on quickly.
Blood drained from the writer's face, leaving him ashen as he swallowed before asking softly, "Do we know what she was strangled with?"
This time, it was Ryan who answered, "Reports came in an hour ago, since this was put onto the priority list. The victim was strangled with a three strand, twisted, quarter-inch, green and white nylon rope."
Castle staggered backwards, sitting against the desk behind him with a thump, putting down his coffee mug.
The silence hung heavy in the air, only to be broken moments later by Castle, who whispered what was on all their minds, "It's Jerry Tyson. 3XK is back."
"There's one other thing, Castle," the Irish detective started, "Jenna A. Mays? Her full name is Jenna Alexis Mays."
"It's probably just a coincidence?" Esposito added, although he did sound a little unsure of himself.
"What? With 3XK? No way," Castle's voice raised considerably in pitch, reaching for his phone immediately, speed dialing his daughter.
"Alexis? Where are you? Are you with someone? Stick with your friends, okay, we have reason to believe 3XK is back," he rattled off into the phone.
"What? Dad, what are you talking about? Slow down."
Calm down, she's fine. She answered the phone, so she's still okay, Castle thought to himself. He paused for a bit, composing himself and walking a few steps away to continue his conversation.
"Alexis, where are you right now?"
"I'm with my friends, heading for class. What's going on, dad, you're worrying me. Did you say something about the triple killer?"
"Yeah, we think he's back, and I can't share case details with you over the phone, but you're not safe. I want you to come home with me. Where are you? I'll go pick you up now."
"Dad, you can't- I can't do that," she told him, exasperated. "I've got an important presentation later today. Besides, how can you be certain that the triple killer's back? He's been gone for years, dad."
This wasn't going well. He knew that she had a point, and that he had jumped to conclusions, but this was the triple killer they were talking about. That psycho had tried to kill him when his plan for revenge had failed years ago. No way was he taking a risk with Alexis' safety.
"I just- it's just a gut feeling that I have. Alexis, I'm not messing around, it's really not safe for you," Castle repeated.
Alexis mumbled something to her friends. He couldn't make out what it was because it was muffled over the phone.
"Dad, I know you're worried, but I really can't just drop everything because of a feeling that you have. Was it a direct threat, or did you think that it was a threat?"
Castle remained silent and Alexis took that as a sign, sighing into the phone as she continued, "Alright dad, let's compromise, okay? You let me finish classes today without calling me every half hour or so, and I promise to stick with my friends at all times, and I'll call you after my last class of the day and we can further discuss our options. How's that?"
"Are you sure you won't let me pick you up? Maybe you could talk to your professors, I'll talk to your professors, see if you can make up your classes another time?"
He knew that she wouldn't take it, but still, he had to try.
"Dad, come on. We need to compromise. Please?"
Castle dropped his shoulders in defeat, hanging his head as he bargained with Alexis. "At least let me call you every hour?"
"I'll be in class! How about I call you in between classes?"
"Fine, send me a copy of your timetable so that I'll know when you're free."
"I'll do that right away, dad. I gotta go now, okay? I'll talk to you later. Love you, dad."
Hanging up, he turned back to the boys and asked them, "So when did you guys suspect it was him?"
"We had a bad feeling the moment we saw the crime scene, so we told Gates straight off. Since we didn't have conclusive evidence that it was 3XK, she didn't think it was necessary to call you in the middle of the night and send you into a panic. But, she did bring this case to the top of the priority list, so we could rush the analysis of fibers found in the strangulation marks," Esposito supplied.
"We're to bring her up to date when she comes in," Ryan added, nodding toward the Captain's office that had just lit up as Gates entered her office.
Wasting no time, the captain headed over to the trio standing in front of the murder board. They exchanged a brief greeting, and Captain Gates cut straight to the chase. "Where are we on the case from this morning? Are the results for the fibers back?"
Nodding, Ryan handed her the reports, telling her grimly, "Results came in about an hour ago, Sir. The fibers were a match. M.E. compared the ligature marks with the triple killer's previous victims, and they were identical too. Besides that, the victim was laid out in a funereal pose with her hands clasped in front. Sir, it's his MO."
"We may be dealing with 3XK, a copy cat, or it could all be a coincidence; but I want you guys to go through this case with a fine tooth comb all the same. We need to be able to account for the possibility that it might not be the triple killer. I need to report this to 1PP and the higher ups, check and see if there were other victims that the other precincts picked up," she stated with a frown marring her forehead, turning to leave.
"Captain, there are a few peculiar changes to his normal MO that we think may be pertinent to this case," Esposito cut in before the Captain could leave. Pausing in her tracks, she turned and gave them her full attention once more.
"The victim is shown as a blond at the time of death, but she was originally a redhead and her roommate said that she's never heard Jenna mention wanting to dye her hair. So she died a blonde but it was dyed that way. Oh and one more thing, Jenna's middle name is Alexis."
"And knowing 3XK's fixation on me," Castle added, "I think it's a safe bet that this might be more than a coincidence."
Nodding in agreement, Gates told them, "You have a point there. If this really is 3XK and he's back, you and your family are an obvious target. I'll place a protective detail on your mother and daughter immediately."
Castle managed to squeeze in a quick, "Thank you, Captain," which she acknowledged with a curt nod before making a beeline to her office.
The three of them spent the rest of the morning filling up the board with details compiled from interviews, CSU reports, the M.E.'s report, and an initial canvass of the crime scene. They also called for all previous cases related to 3XK to be brought up from storage.
Halfway through their morning, Captain Gates told them that the FBI had been briefed, and they would be sending their specialist on 3XK to take point on this investigation. The agents were due to arrive later in the day, and the 12th Precinct was expected to give their full co-operation in bringing them up to speed.
"Great, the last thing we need now is for the Feds to come in and try to pick up this case," Esposito grumbled after the captain left.
"Who are they to waltz in and take lead over whichever case they fancy? No one knows 3XK as well as we do. We know what he's capable of and what his style is. Handing this over to the Feds is just going to mess up the investigation," Ryan added, agreeing with his partner.
Castle had mostly been silent throughout the day, his mind otherwise occupied with safety concerns for his family, but he did finally give voice at this point of the discussion.
"I don't care who takes lead in this case, just so long as we get the bastard," he said darkly, "and if the Feds get in the way, then we'll just have to do things our own way. He's not getting away this time, no matter what."
As the day progressed, the boys scrubbed through video footage that had been collected. Unfortunately, there were no promising leads to chase after. Jerry Tyson was just too prepared - planning everything down to the last detail as usual. The stakes were high, and the tension riding even higher.
The boys were intent with focusing on their work, completely tuning out the rest of the world.
So, it came as no surprise that the arrival of the Federal agent was unnoticed by the two detectives and writer. The Federal agent headed straight for the Captain's office to alert her of their presence and report their attendance. With the formalities out of the way, Captain Gates led the agent to the detectives.
Clearing her throat, Captain Gates garnered the attention of the boys at last, breaking them out of their reverie.
The three of them stared slack jawed at the federal agent. Eventually, Ryan was the first to find his voice. "Beckett? What are you doing here?"
Castle felt like he'd been kicked in the gut. He knew he was staring, it was just…
Just… Three years down the track, and nothing had prepared him for this moment.
Scenes flashed through his mind and he couldn't stop them: memories of their last fight, how the engagement ring burned with an even greater intensity, sitting back in his pocket once more after she turned down his proposal. How it felt to watch her as she walked around the loft for a last time, collecting what belongings she kept at his place into a too-small box.
Just before she walked out of his life.
Now, time seemed to be coming to a standstill as she turned her gaze to him after greeting the boys. They looked to Castle to be shell-shocked too.
The boys were turning, probably to watch his reaction. He doesn't blame them. God knows they bore the brunt of his recovery from the breakup. They'd be curious to se how this little reunion was going to pan out.
"Uh…"
God. He could barely get a word out.
Truth was, now that she was looking at him, it's like the years between, the anger and hurt had never happened. And he cringed a little, because he knew he was standing there slack-jawed, dazzled all over again.
She looked amazing.
Tired, like the work was tough. It's bound to be. A little older, and she'd lost weight.
But God, she still looked so good.
He didn't know till this moment how much he'd craved the chance to see her again.
"Castle!" Ryan nudged him none-too-gently in the ribs, indicating subtly with a roll of his eyes towards the Captain, who was taking in the scene in front of her, eyes narrowed.
With a flush warming his cheeks, Castle found his tongue. "Beckett, what are you doing here?"
Keeping her face blank, she replied, "I was sent over by the Attorney General's Office." Looking at their blank faces, she added, "I've been assigned to take over this case."
The boys looked to Captain Gates, silently asking if she knew about this information beforehand. Their own captain would not betray them, would she?
Captain Gates arched her eyebrow, as though daring the boys to question her authority. At long last, she said, "I wasn't informed of the agent's identity, only that they were sending their expert on 3XK over. Special Agent Beckett's presence came as a surprise to me as well, but you know your orders."
The thinly veiled threat of getting bumped down to traffic duty if they misbehaved was there and both Ryan and Esposito unconsciously straightened up, standing taller.
They put up a professional front, but their minds were in a turmoil. What sort of reaction would a situation like this entail? Were they supposed to be happy to be reunited with an old friend, albeit by unnatural circumstances? Should they be angry with her for turning up without giving them a heads up? Were they expected to sweep away all the unresolved issues from three years ago just like that?
Satisfied with her detectives, Gates turned her gaze toward Castle and narrowed her eyes. You could almost see the cogs turning in her brain as she deliberated what to do with him.
When in doubt, employ the poker face. Castle quickly schooled his features, and Gates came to a decision.
She looked once more to the four individuals who used to make up her best homicide team, saying, "I'll leave you to it."
The four of them were now alone.
Awkwarddd.
Beckett stepped in and took the reins of command, telling them in a politely civil tone, "My team and I have just arrived, and they're still sorting out our equipment and setting things up. You can brief me and bring me up to date on what you know so far, and I will share it with my team when I meet them. Tomorrow we'll regroup and go on from there. Okay?"
The two detectives gave a curt nod. Gone was Detective Beckett, leaving only a federal agent in her place.
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