Going Batty

A mid-season 4 tale. AU in the sense that it doesn't overlap with any of the episodes that aired originally. Beckett and her crew are confounded by some costumed crazy swinging between the skyscrapers of Gotham…er, New York.

I may own 20 guitars, but I have no claim on anything Castle.

AN: Just for fun.

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Detective Kate Beckett had just barely sat down at her desk and booted up her computer when her partners Detectives Esposito and Ryan came off the elevator. They were arguing, as usual, as they approached their respective desks. Javier sidetracked to Kate's desk and dropped a folded newspaper on her desk.

"Looks like that crazy Batboy is at it again. Someone even got a phone photo of him swinging away this time."

Beckett rolled her eyes as she grabbed the paper and unfolded it. It wasn't any banner headline or anything, but he'd made the second page, lower left corner this time. It was only a few paragraphs of type and a photo of a dark blob swinging out of frame on some sort of cable. After a quick perusal of the article Kate tosses the paper into the trash can.

She shakes her head. "Just like before, Mr. Wannabe Hero didn't stick around until the police arrived and give any testimony as to what happened. The victim was nearly hysterical so her testimony wasn't much help. Why does he think that tying the suspect to a light stanchion and putting a note in his pocket will allow the police to arrest the suspect?" Kate just shakes her head in disgust. "That's not how the New York legal system works"

Suddenly the ding of the elevator interrupts her thoughts. She glances up as the doors part. A smile comes over her face as she sees her partner come toward her with her cup of coffee and a bag that she assumes contains a bear claw. She really has the perfect partner. Of course she'd never tell him that. Richard Castle's ego is big enough already.

He strides confidently up and slides into his chair next to her desk. He places the cup of coffee, made just the way she likes it, on the corner of her desk and hands her the bag.

"Thanks, Castle." She quickly takes a deep draught of her coffee then moans in pleasure. She sticks her hand in the bag and pulls out the expected pastry and takes a bite.

Beckett salutes her partner with the bitten bear claw, then takes another gulp of her coffee. "I don't care what anyone says, Castle, I think you're alright."

Castle looks at the beautiful detective with a frown on his face. "Who says I'm not?"

She just laughs at him and turns back to her computer.

"So, what have we got?" He rubs his hands together like a child expecting a treat.

Kate shakes her head. "Nothing yet." She reaches down into her trash can and pulls out the somewhat crushed newspaper. "Here, amuse yourself for a bit."

Esposito piped up. "Yeah, there's a piece on that Bat guy psycho."

Castle opened up the paper, and turned to the second page when Beckett motioned him to. "I don't know why you are so down on this guy? He's just trying to help, right?"

Kate glared at him. "One, he's an unknown. No one knows his real motives. Two, vigilantism is illegal."

Castle quickly interrupts Beckett. "But what about being a Good Samaritan, and why is there the ability for someone to invoke a Citizen's Arrest if they don't want average people to help?"

Beckett dropped her head in her hand. She took a deep breath and raised her head caught Castle's gaze. "Don't get me started on Citizen's Arrest. Do you know how murky and ambiguous those statutes are? More and more states are pulling their CA laws. New York's go back to the 1970's."

Castle shrugs. "So?"

Beckett rolls her eyes. "Because you wind up with wording like 'may use physical force as justifiable'. Not exactly very clear. It could mean anything from knocking someone down to… killing them. There have been several cases where the 'Good Samaritan coming to the rescue has wound up on the wrong end of a lawsuit."

Castle wiggled uncomfortably in his chair. "Well, that's not right."

Kate shrugged. "Who knows, maybe the rescuer over reacted and caused some serious injuries which weren't 'justified' by the situation." She used her fingers to quote in the air. "What's worse, there is an escalation of cases were bigots and racists are using the cover of an attempted Citizen's Arrest as the cover for a murder. The so-called Good Samaritan in their attempt to capture a burglar or some such perpetrator had to kill the suspect because they feared for their life."

"If a Citizen's Arrest case ever hits the papers, the lawyers come running."

Castle was strangely quiet until they finally got a call from dispatch that directed them to a body drop.

The team made it back to the precinct quickly. The canvas was negligible as the crime scene was in the middle of a block of abandoned buildings slated for demolition. There had been no one to interview and a cursory check didn't show a security cameras that hadn't been vandalized long ago. There didn't seem to be anything there aside from the body. A body that was missing his wallet.

But this just didn't feel like a robbery that led to a murder. First off, the location didn't feel right. The victim had to have been brought here. This wasn't an area where someone would casually choose to take a walk. The only thing that made sense was his wallet was taken to keep his identity unknown. If he wasn't in the system his fingerprints wouldn't give them a name.

Beckett was just starting to get frustrated when she noticed that the man was wearing two different socks. They weren't blatantly different, but they were different. One was a plain tan sock, the other was a tan sock with a different thread pattern.

"Hey, guys." She waved Esposito and Ryan over. "Look at his socks."

They both leaned over, looked, then stood up and shrugged. "So he was in a hurry. They do look pretty similar." Espo looked up at his boss. "You think it means anything?"

Kate shrugged herself. "You're probably right, but what if he wanted to tell us something by this?"

Beckett shook her head. "I don't know." She turned to the M. E. who was her best friend. "Lanie, who undresses the bodies before the autopsy once they are at the lab?"

Dr. Lanie Parish stood up from her examination and looked to her fried. "Whichever assistant is on duty at the time."

Kate knelt down next to the body. "Are they instructed to look for anything unusual that could be evidence?"

Lanie frowned. "They are supposed to, but not all of them are that through and they just figure I'll find anything they missed during autopsy."

Kate made sure her gloves were on tight. "But you don't see any of the clothes once you have him on the table do you."

Lanie shook her head. "I won't, but they are supposed to go over the clothing to look for anything that could be stuffed into a secret pocket, or any such thing."

Kate nodded as she slipped the shoes off her victim. She reached her hand in and thoroughly felt all around the inside of each shoe and the soles. Next she pulled off the plain tan sock and turned it inside out. There was nothing. Then she took the other sock and did the same. A sheet of paper, folded over a couple of times was tucked into the other sock.

Beckett handed the slip of paper to her partner. "What do you see?"

Castle smoothed it out a bit before reading it. "Hmm, it reads; Martin Buxton. Then under the name it reads; SDB 437 Lexington National." He hands the note back.

Kate looks at the twinkle in his eye. She knows he knows what she saw. She gives the note to Esposito and Ryan who glance at the writing. "What do you guys think?"

Ryan pipes in immediately. "Well, Martin Buxton is currently under suspicion for stock fraud. He's a big shot with Hammer, Schotz, and Buxton. Something about manipulating foreign exchange rates."

Esposito scratches his chin. "Isn't Lexington National a bank?" Kate nods and Castle smiles. "So it must be safe deposit box 437. So what does this have to do with our victim? We don't even know who he is."

Lanie pats Esposito on the chest. "Well we'll just have to hope he's in the system when we get him back and run his prints." A medical examiner's van rolls up. "That's my ride. I'll let you know what I find out." Lanie waves at everyone as she follows the body back as it's put in the back of the van.

Beckett and Castle head back to her cruiser and they head back to the precinct.

Once they were back, Castle immediately when into the break room to make a cup of coffee for Beckett. She booted up her computer and checked the alerts. There is was. The alert came out two days ago. It simply said that Major Crimes was interested in any information that would connect Martin Buxton to international foreign exchange manipulation.

Kate leaned back and tried to stretch the kinks out of her neck. Suddenly a steaming cup of coffee appeared on her desk, and a pair of strong hands began to massage her shoulders and neck.

"Oh, god, Castle. That feels great. You're missing your true calling by being a writer."

"So you like that do you, Beckett?"

She cocked her head to give him a glare. "I thought I just said that." She took a calming breath, then grabbed her cup of coffee and took a deep drink. "Maybe you should be a barista, Castle. You true talents seemed to be wasted as an author."

"Gina might agree with you." He sat down in his chair beside her desk. "So what do you think we're looking at here?"

Kate shrugged. "We'll have to wait and hope he's in the system so we can find out who he was. Then if we can tie him to Buxton somehow, then we can use that to get a court order for that safety deposit box." She took another drink. "Right now, it's just a lot of waiting until we get some answers. You might as well go home and work at your third best talent."

Castle smirked. "Oh Detective, by your count that would be my fourth best talent. You actually missed number one."

Beckett leaned back in her chair. "Oh, and what would that be?"

Castel just stood, wiggled his brows, and then turned to go.

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It was approaching 10:00 p.m. when Kate Beckett finally shut her computer down for the day. It had been taken most of the day, but now she would be ready to wrap this up tomorrow.

Fortune smiled on them when it was found that their victim was in the system. He was busted on a drunk and disorderly about 4 years ago. His name was Terrance Stuckey, and he was employed by Hammer, Schotz, and Buxton. He was a lead accountant. That seemed to fit in very well.

On a hunch, Beckett checked with Major Crimes for the names of any 'associates' connected to Buxton. Turned out Martin didn't trust a lot of people, but he did have a full time driver. Nine times out of ten, a full time driver was also the body guard.

His name was Frank Lorenz, and he had a rap sheet. Some digging by the trio managed to get Frank's address, and names of some places he liked to frequent while not on the clock. Kate sent Esposito and Ryan out to see if they could find him.

The boys found him at the second bar they checked out. Frank was belligerent, but was too drunk to be able to resist. While Frank may have been a good driver, he wasn't the brightest bulb in the pack. While escorting him out of the bar, Kevin noticed Frank had blood on his shoe.

So now, Frank was in lock up until morning when they'd get the results of the DNA tests on the blood. If they showed it was Terrance's blood, they had their killer. Then Kate would have to have a talk with Major Crimes.

Most likely they would freeze her out, but if Frank pulled the trigger at Buxton's behest, he would also go down for the murder of Terrance Stuckey. Problem was, they would only be interested in whatever was in the safety deposit box. They wouldn't care about the murder charge… not sexy enough.

Well, all that would keep till tomorrow. It was late, and she wanted to get home.

Since it was late, she decided to drive her cruiser home. She pulled out of the precinct garage and turned onto 42nd. For New York, the traffic wasn't too bad. She also chose to drive through a less than better part of town. It would save her a good ten minutes on her drive home.

Just as she passed a particularly dark alley, she heard a scream.

"Shit!" Kate slammed on her brakes and threw herself out of her car.

She ran down the alley, her gun in one hand, her badge in the other. "Police!"

As she approached she could make out a couple of dark figures down the alley. They were in some sort of tussle. One appeared to be a woman.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed another figure coming from the nearby roof top. Kate swore under her breath. The figure was coming down a zip line. It had to be that crazy ass Batman wanna be.

Old Batman's aim wasn't the best. He wound up crashing into both of the persons involved in the initial attack. They were all sprawling on the ground, each trying to get up before the others. Kate was almost there.

Suddenly a shot went off.

Kate halted a few feet away and yelled as loud as she could. "Everyone on their knees, Police!" She had her gun out and was doing her best to keep everyone covered at the same time. "Stay on your knees."

She circled around until she came upon the one figure that was laid out on the filthy alley. He was obviously the masked vigilante. He was groaning and holding his side. Kate didn't see any blood, but it was dark so she wasn't sure.

She walked around until she was beside the counterfeit hero but could still see the other two. "Were you hit? Are you hurt?"

She reached over and flipped up his cowl. "Castle!"

In her moment of shock, the other two ran off in opposite directions.

"Stop!" They didn't listen.

Kate rubbed her eyes. She was getting a massive headache.

"Castle? Castle!" She pulled him to a sitting position.

He shook his head and moaned, while holding his side. He turned toward her. "Kate?"

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Kate had helped Castle to his feet and half-dragged him to her cruiser. She then argued with him all the way to the loft. She wanted him to go to the hospital, but he refused. Kate knew he'd been shot, but there was no bloody wound so she assumed he'd some sort of protection. Still, he was obviously in pain.

Castle had directed her to park in the underground garage. That way he didn't have to go past which ever doorman would be on duty. He did his best to walk along side of Beckett but he leaned on her heavily. He was hurting, but how serious it might be was not known.

After getting him into the loft, and situated on the coach, Beckett turned and glared at him. "Is anyone else home?"

He shook his head. "They're both at the Hamptons." Her glare came back.

"Look at you!" She gestured in astonishment. Castle looked like he'd just come off the set of the last Batman movie. His suit was mostly some sort of rubberized black mesh over what she assumed was a leotard of some sort. The black cowl currently hung down his back. Kate was shaking her head as she paced in front of him, pointing at the 'utility belt' around his middle, and finally, the bat chest logo. "Where did you get that outfit?"

Castle smirked. "I know a guy."

Beckett winced as she pressed her fingers against her temples. She thought her head would explode. "What is wrong with you? You could have gotten yourself killed!"

She bent over him and slapped his side. He grimaced in pain.

Castle waved her to the couch. She sat at the other end, glaring at him. "You were shot!"

He reached out and put his hand on her arm. She pulled away. He sighed.

"Beckett… Kate, this suit has a Kevlar mesh imbeded in the rubberized fabric. It's better than my vest that I wear when I'm with you at a take down."

"That's just great, Castle. So instead of being dead for being stupid. You only have a couple of broken ribs."

"Well, isn't that better than being dead?" Her glare intensified. Castle cringed.

Beckett stood up and paced in front of him. "The point is not to put yourself in dangerous situations like this. Why are you playing at super hero?" She reached down and ran her hand over the costume. "Where do you even get a suit like this?"

"Like I said. I know a guy. He used to work with costuming in movies, but before that he worked with the military. He was responsible for designing tactual gear for Navy Seal teams." His enthusiasm, like a little kid, was ramping up.

Beckett shook her head. "But why?" She sat back down next to him. "Isn't working with the NYPD, being a part of our team, being my partner enough for you?"

Castle pulled the gloves off and grabbed Beckett's hand. "You have to know that I believe that working with the NYPD, that being your partner is the greatest thing I've ever done."

"Then why play hero?"

Castle dropped his head, took a deep breath and captured her eyes with his. "I want to do more? I want to be more."

Kate squeezed his hand. "Castle… Rick, when you are out swinging around playing the part of hero. I can't help you. We are partners. You have my back, and I have yours." She stood and began to pace in front of him. "What would have happened if I hadn't happened along when I did tonight?" Castle opened his mouth to respond but she pushed ahead. "You would be lying in that dirty alley trying to catch your breath. Then, most likely, the perp would just put a bullet in your head. All because you had to be a hero by yourself."

Castle let himself get excited. "We could still be partners. I can have my guy whip up a cool costume for you. You can join me!"

Beckett gave him her annoyed eye roll. "What, I'm supposed to be Robin?"

Castle waved off her sarcasm. "No, you can be…Batgirl."

Kate raised her brow. "Bat… Girl!

Castle waved his hands. "No, no, I mean you could be Batwoman."

Her other brow raised. "You do know that Batwoman hasn't been seen in comics since the 60's. I can't really see myself swinging through the skies of New York late at night in a bright yellow costume."

"It's so cool that you know that."

"Shut up."

Castle had the grace to look sheepish.

Beckett smirked. "Besides, I see myself as more of a Catwoman."

Castle smiled. "Yeah, you could be Catwoman!" He frowned. "But Catwoman has short hair."

"Seriously, Castle? Focus. This isn't about cool Halloween costumes. This is about your life. You keep doing this and you will most likely die, and I can't have that."

"Kate, you're not responsible for whatever might happen to me?"

She continued to pace in front of him. "Aren't I? Do you think that's what your mother, or your daughter would say when they ask if I knew about this? Of course not, they would blame me, and rightly so. You're not only my partner. I'm your partner too. That means if I see you doing something that I know is a danger to you I have to intercede."

Beckett came over and sat next to him again. She gathered his hands into hers.

"Rick, Lanie is my best girlfriend, but you are my best friend. I am comfortable sharing anything with you. You know more about me than my dad does, and I think I know more about you than anyone outside your family." Castle was surprised to see a tear slid down Beckett's cheek. "If something ever happened to you it would destroy me. I gotten used to you being by my side and I can't imagine what I'd do if you weren't there anymore."

Castle reached out and captured her tear on his thumb. "I never knew."

She punched him in the shoulder. "Really! You know me better than anyone. You know I'm not good at opening up to people, but I thought you knew me. I thought you understood me."

He allowed himself a slight smile. "Maybe I need a refresher course."

She punched him again. "Not until you get out of that costume."

Castle grimaced as he stood. Kate shook her head.

"Come on, Castle. I'll help you get out of that rubber suit and then I'm taking you to the emergency room to get those ribs checked out." She took his hand and led him toward his bedroom.

"What should we say happened? I don't think saying I was out in my costume trying to foil a mugging when the bad guy shot me, and my suit saved me front serious injury."

Kate shook her head. "No, I think we'll have to come up with something else. I think between the two of us we'll be able to think of something a bit more… believable."

It took the couple more time than Beckett would have thought to get Castle out of his Batman costume. It was in several pieces and his injury slowed down the process. But eventually they got him into her cruiser and headed toward the nearest hospital.

Castle was pouting as he sat next to her in the passenger seat.

"What's the problem now, Castle?"

"If I retire as a costumed crusader, what am I going to do with the costume?"

Kate reached over and patted him on the knee. "Tell you what, Castle. You get your buddy to make me a somewhat less imposing Catwoman costume and at this year's Halloween party we'll come as our own dynamic duo."

He grinned. "That would be so cool, but…"

She reached out and put her finger to his lips. "I'm not cutting my hair short."

Fin

SPECIAL BONUS ALTERNATE ENDING!

Kate finished closing the hidden fasteners that secured her tight fitting costume. It was Halloween and she was almost ready to head to Castle's for the big party.

She walked into the bathroom to make sure that everything was fastened correctly. She had only tried on her Catwoman costume once before today. While Castle might not mind it, she didn't really want it coming apart during the party.

After their talk on the way to the emergency room, he asked for her general measurements, which she was a bit bashful to give to him. But she knew he needed them to give to 'his guy' so he could fashion the costume for her. It wasn't the overblown hero suit that had been made for Castle, but her suit looked pretty cool. All black and very sleek.

She made sure her cowl was properly attached at the back of her neck. She didn't plan to pull it up until she got to the party. As she gave herself a once over in the mirror she found her fingers sliding through her short, dark hair.

She still couldn't believe that she let Castle talk her into cutting her hair.

Fin 2

AN: Of course it was Castle. I never intended that to be a surprise. I admit to being an old former comic book geek. I spent 26 years working with the group that put on the MCBA comic book conventions up in Minnesota. I was more a Superman guy rather than Batman (Actually I was a Lois Lane guy. I have all the original "Lois Lane: Superman's Girlfriend" comics.), but a comic book guy is a comic book guy.

Thanks to any who read and review. I hope you enjoyed this.