Chapter 2

Esposito caught up to Officer Asshole quickly. The officer ran his mouth more than his body. And Esposito kept his own in excellent shape. It was only a matter of dragging him back to the crime scene and making him apologize to Castle. Ever since the incident, Castle had attracted the attention of every cop who had something against werewolves. It seemed some days that every cop had something against them.

Esposito knew it was only a matter of time before he did something bad enough to get disciplined. It rubbed him the wrong way when he saw Castle getting bullied. That had nothing at all to do with any left over guilt he was feeling. Nothing at all.

After the asshole apologized, Esposito started to make his way away from the crime scene. Going back to the precinct to officially get this investigation underway.

"Hey, Javi. Can I talk to you for a moment?" He was walking past the gym's front doors when Beckett caught up to him. They must be done at the crime scene, he thought.

Esposito slowed his pace slightly to give Beckett a chance to catch up. It concerned him that she was using his first name. She only did that when it was important. "Yeah. What's up?"

"I wanted to thank you for what you did."

"He shouldn't have done that. It was my pleasure to get him to apologize."

"Not that. Not just that. Thank you for everything."

Oh, this is *that* conversation, Esposito thought. "You don't have to." He looked away from her, hiding his face so she wouldn't see the guilt there.

"I do. Because of you I have my husband right now. Thank you for shooting Castle to save me. It was the right call then and it's still the right call." Beckett put her hand on his shoulder. Something she must've picked up from Castle. In all the time he had known her, physical gestures had never come easy to her.

"Kate..."

"No." Beckett choked up a little. "At the scene, I said some things that I am not proud of. I'm sorry. You deserve better from me."

"It's all good. We're good."

"Thank you."

"How's Castle doing anyway?" Esposito worked closely with Castle, but it seemed they never talked about anything outside of a case anymore. He was making an effort to give Castle some space.

"The doctor took him off the last medication. You remember, the one that gave him the tremors?"

"How could I forget? He managed to fumble hot coffee down my back. Twice."

"This one is leaving him fuzzy and slow." Becket paused, thinking, questioning what she was going to say next. "I can't help but think, what if they don't get it under control? Even on the medications he still hasn't passed a single stress test. And even if he did, what about these side effects? Is it even worth it if he's not Castle anymore? I'm sorry you don't need to listen to... to my irrational fears." It killed a small part of Esposito to hear the hurt in Beckett's voice. Her emotions must've been building for a long time for them to just come out like that.

"If I didn't want to know, I wouldn't have asked. He's my friend too. Ryan and I haven't gone to the Old Haunt since... everything. It's not the same without him. We just have to have faith that things will work out." Faith was not something he took much stock in normally, but it was all he had left.

Esposito put his hand in his pocket. Fingers curled around a small business card. "I might have something. Do you remember Shannon Moonlight?" After Beckett nodded, he continued, "She's fallen in with some bad people but she gave me her number to give to him. She said she can help him, but I don't know that I can trust her."

"Is it that you can't trust her? Or is there another reason?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"He doesn't hate you, you know. Castle, I swear, doesn't know how to carry a grudge."

"He should hate me. I shot him!" Esposito said. "You are not my psychiatrist. And I am not talking to you about this." Esposito took a few steps away from Beckett, fully intending to walk away from this conversation.

"I know one thing. If Castle doesn't get help soon, he is going to kill himself. Give him the choice. I can do it, if you can't."

Esposito paused, looking at his reflection in the gym's windows. "No. I'll do it."

"Hey, Castle. Jenny made you a casserole. It's in the break room fridge. She's worried after the last time we saw you," Ryan said as he passed Castle sitting in his normal chair. Jenny had been quite adamant that he get his casserole.

"It's this new medication. I get nauseous when I eat."

"Just take it. It'll make her feel better." It would make Ryan feel better too.

"Tell her thank you for me. It's good to know the next time I'm hungry, there will be something good to eat. I love Beckett, but she is not a chef."

"We've got an id on our vic!" Esposito called out across the bullpen. He half jogged to get to the murder board and hung up a DMV photo. "Kayla Brown. She moved to New York City three years ago from Buffalo to go to New York University where she was in her junior year. Her roommate, Sam Redding, dropped out of the same school six months ago.

"Parents still live in Buffalo and haven't heard from our vic since last week. They said she told them she was being followed, but nothing else. They just encouraged her to go to the police. They had no idea she had become a werewolf."

"I don't get it. Why go ahead and kill her if he was just trying to get rid of the wolf?" Ryan asked.

"It depends on what is being purified. If Kayla is being purified, then yes. Why indeed. But if the killer is trying to purify, say humanity, then this may just be the start." Castle didn't sound convinced by his own explanation.

"Maybe they're trying to get her into heaven? They think because she's a werewolf she can't?" Esposito, like Ryan, knew the catholic church's official stance was werewolves couldn't get into heaven.

"It's a possibility. But we need more information." Beckett picked up some papers, then put them down again. They didn't sit flat on the table. Ryan knew she was hiding something. He exchanged a look with Esposito. "We should go talk to the roommate. You two try to find out our vic's last known movements. Someone must've seen something."

Esposito hung back as he watched Castle and Beckett go. When they had gotten out of sight, he removed the papers to reveal a dog collar.

"Those bastards are still on it!? They need to be thrown out for harassment."

"We can't. You know that. Castle doesn't really work here."

"Then they are harassing a civilian!"

"He's not a perp. And if we bring this up then getting rid of Castle is easier than disciplining cops, who are protected by the union. You know that. Our hands are tied. Don't do anything stupid, Esposito." Ryan poked a finger at his chest with each word. "Besides everyone knows the best revenge is petty revenge."

Castle grimaced. His feet still weren't quite healed from his run that morning. He just hoped Beckett wouldn't notice. He settled further into his chair. At least the ones here were more comfortable than the ones in interrogation.

"Mr Redding. Can you think of any reason someone would have killed your roommate? Has she been acting strangely lately? Has anyone new come into her life?" Beckett leaned forward in her chair, hoping her presence would put pressure on Redding.

Sam Redding was not a tall man. His dark brown hair was hair sprayed into submission. Brown eyes popped with just a hint of makeup. Makeup that was now running and smeared at the news of his roommate's passing. Castle could smell the heavy scent of grief in the air. Redding wasn't faking.

"Nothing much." Redding blew his nose. "I'm sorry. This is just hitting me hard. Kayla has really helped me out since I got kicked out of school. She was my best friend.

"There was a man who came by the apartment last week. He was looking for Kayla, but she was in class. I never got his name."

"What did he look like?"

"Tall, taller than me anyway, blond. He was wearing a uniform. Like a janitor or custodian." Sam's eyes glistened, threatening more tears. "I'm sorry. I don't remember much."

"It's ok. Any information will help us find out who could have done this. Would you be willing to work with a sketch artist to give us an idea of what he looked like?" Beckett had pulled out her gentle voice.

"No problem." As Redding said that, Castle had to close his eyes against unwanted images that rose up from his subconscious. He missed part of what was said as he shook his head to clear it.

"Her parents told us that Kayla was concerned with being followed by someone. Could this be that man?" Beckett threw a worried glance at Castle. His movements weren't as unnoticed as he would've liked.

"It's possible. She didn't tell me she was being followed. But last week she took a phone call. She was in her room, but left the door open. I only heard her side of the conversation. She said, 'I know who you are. I know what you've done. I know you killed her.' I don't know what who ever was on the other side was. She told me she was helping a friend practice lines for a play on campus. I didn't think anything of it.

"Kayla didn't deserve this. She was the best. Going through pre-med. She was going to be the best doctor." Redding blew his nose again.

"Why were you kicked out?"

"Kayla had nothing to do with that. I made some foolish choices and cheated on some exams."

"Just a few more questions and we'll set you up with that artist. Did you know Ms Brown was a werewolf?"

"She was infected from a dirty needle in a lab last year. She did three months in the werewolf hotel and moved back in. It's part of the reason she's let me stay. She would've lost the apartment if not for me."

"Thank you for your time, Mr Redding. Call us if you remember anything else." Beckett handed over a card.

"Hey, David! Long time no see."

"Hey, Juan. I was just in here last week. I must've missed you!" David excitedly moved towards Juan. "Today's the day. I'm going to ask out Bella."

"Good luck, man!" The conversation continued to where David was taking her and what he had planned. He needed to hang out with Juan more often. He missed it.

David waved to more people as he moved through Hammond's Grocery store. The aisles were bright and colorful. The store was close to his apartment and had almost everything he could want for everyday meals. He looked over his list.

David made his way through the aisles. He grabbed some items off the shelves and put them in his cart. He stopped when people said 'Hi' to him. Mr Glasser asked about his vacation in Mexico. It was nice. The weather had been phenomenal, warm and sunny. About as far from New York's rainy, damp late fall as one could get.

Mrs Kaplan asked about his ex-wife, Sarah. He didn't really want to talk about her, but she meant well. At least his 13 year old daughter, Christine, was finally doing better. She had even gotten an A in Math for the first time since the divorce was finalized. They had celebrated by getting her two tickets to her favorite band. It made David feel old, but he could never remember the name of it. Next A would earn her a dog.

David checked his list again. Milk, eggs, sugar and cinnamon were all that was left. He needed them for the cake he was making Christine this weekend. He had missed her birthday and was making it up to her.

But first the Deli counter. The real reason he was making this trip. David had found out that Bella was working that day.

"Hey, David. Like the new tan. It looks good on you." Bella, said the name tag, greeted him as he stepped up. A tall woman, David had seen her around before he had left for Mexico. They had flirted, but, back then, he wasn't ready for a relationship. Bella was really the one person he was looking forward to talking to.

"Thank you. Thank you. I'm just glad I didn't come back looking like a cooked lobster."

"How was Mexico?"

"Magical. I really needed that away time." David listed a few meats and cheeses he needed for the week. Steeling his courage, he asked, "Will you be free later? I'd love to get you a coffee."

"I get off in an hour. Where did you have in mind?"