Thank you to my awesome friend Jill (jstar1382) for all your help and encouragement!

From the crime scene to the parents' house

Castle and Beckett had just scoped out the crime scene for a murder of a teenage boy named Donnie. While there, Beckett noticed that Castle had a different look about him than normal. This case had their youngest victim to date – someone close to his daughter's age. He had tried making jokes to make himself appear un-phased, but the more Kate got to know him, the more she knew solving actual murders wasn't getting any easier for him.

"So where are we off to Beckett?" he asked, as they entered her police cruiser together for the first time that day.

"To talk to Donnie's parents." With those words she took a slightly longer than normal breath. Maybe she wasn't taking this one well either.

"Has anyone told them yet? That their son died?" he inquired nervously. This was going to be the first time he was there to break that kind of news. The kind of news he hoped never to hear himself.

"No, that would be our job." Kate took a breath and glanced at him as they drove to Donnie's parents' house. Castle was becoming more and more nervous at the prospect of doing this. "Castle, don't worry. I've done this before and I can handle it. All you have to do it sit back and be kind and supportive. It'll be fine."

He looked at her and let a small knowing smile creep onto his face with a nod, but he knew this was not going to be fine. At least for him.

On their way from the parent's house to the school.

"So just how many schools did you attend Castle?" Kate asked as they got into the car. He had said he was kicked out of all them…how many was all?

"Oh I don't know, I lost count. Maybe six or seven?" He seemed very nonchalant about this, although to Kate that wasn't very surprising.

"And what exactly did you do to get kicked out of all these schools?" Now she was curious. Despite having been slightly rebellious herself at that age she couldn't imagine breaking a rule so horribly that it would result in expulsion and more importantly, a lack of tuition payment for the school.

"Oh nothing too serious Beckett. Some pranks here and there, little white lies, not going to class, that sort of thing. How about you? You ever do anything in high school that your parents wouldn't want to know about?"

Kate cringed at that question… the mention of her parents. She had yet to tell Castle about her mother's death. "Nothing too serious for me either. Maybe cut a class here or there," she answered quickly to avoid giving too much information about exactly how rebellious she had been.

"Oh Detective Beckett, you rebel."

"Without a cause," she said with a smirk. "So is Reading on your alma mater list?"

"Just for a short while my sophomore year."

"What got you kicked out of that one?"

"Was it the fire or the cow? I really don't remember…"

From the school to the park

"Where are we going?" Castle asked as he followed Kate out of the school and back to the car.

"Back to the park. Ryan and Espo said they found something I need to look at."

"So where'd you learn that ear trick?" Castle was still rubbing his own after Kate had twisted it in an attempt to get him away from her phone.

"Oh just a little something I picked up," she teased. "Let that be a lesson - don't mess with me Castle."

"Ah yes, plus how could I forget the nose incident from a few weeks ago?" Castle put his finger to his nose, remembering how she had squeezed it the last time he had aggravated her.

"Men…they never learn."

"So…a drug dealer killed him, that's what we're thinking right?"

"That's what it looks like," Beckett answered, driving away from the school back to the park.

"Seems pretty easy and predictable," Castle responded. He almost sounded bored as he said it, disappointed that there wasn't going to be more to the story.

"We like easy and predictable Castle. It makes our job a whole lot easier."

"Oh Detective, I don't believe that." She glanced at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "You like a challenge."

She didn't know how to react to that. A minute ago she was joking with him and suddenly she was thinking about just that – a challenge. She had had her fair share of difficult cases, some which had been left unsolved. No, easier was definitely better.

"Not all the time Castle."

From the park to the precinct

"Interesting turn of events," Castle commented as they started to drive back to the precinct.

"What, that there's drugs involved? I'm not too surprised Castle," Kate responded. "A lot of murders deal with that sort of thing, or at least, something else illegal."

"Not that. The fact that a drug dealer tried covering it up. Ever seen that before?"

"No Castle, I haven't," Kate answered nonchalantly, only half listening. She was more concerned with who the drug dealer was and what would make him kill a well-off teenager.

"I guess there's a first time for everything," Castle stated as he stared out the window. He suddenly turned to her with a thought. "Unless there's a lot more to it that we haven't figured out yet."

"Well Castle, that's usually the case. It's hardly ever so cut and dry that we find the drug dealer slash murderer the same day, case closed."

Castle sat silently for a few moments, thinking about the story. If this were his story, how would he write it? What was the motive? Money? Fear of getting caught? "Well, now how do we go about finding this supposed drug dealer?"

"Espo tracked down the 911 caller. He's going to call her in to look through mug shots and help us identify him."

"Smart… What if she can't identify him? Or he's not in the system?"

Kate looked at him and took a deep breath. "Let's just hope that's not the case, alright Castle?"

"Fingers crossed!" he answered, that sarcasm he loved to use just oozing out.

From the precinct to the school

"So how are you going to approach this with the kids?" Castle asked Kate on their way to the school to re-question them. Donnie's friends had lied to them about what had happened the night before. They were with Donnie that night when he was shot and were covering it up.

"I'm going to tell them what I know. They were probably scared, and when I tell them I know they lied the truth will come out. They're not mature enough to continue knowing how to keep up the lie for too much longer." Kate sounded confident, knowing exactly what to do. She must have questioned hundreds of people since becoming a detective and this would be no different.

"What if they all have a new story? They've had all day to come up with something new. They had to know we'd figure it out."

"We'll get them. Come on Castle, you have a teenage daughter, haven't you ever caught her lying?"

"Alexis?" Castle asked, scoffing at the prospect of her ever getting into trouble. "No way, she's never lied to me about anything."

"Are you sure about that? Do you follow her wherever she goes?"

Castle shifted slightly in his seat. "Well, no…but…"

"As good as some kids are, there's always some secrets Castle," Kate said, thinking about secrets she had kept from her own parents.

"No I'm telling you, Alexis is an angel!" He was becoming quite defensive. When Kate noticed this she backed off a bit.

"Okay Castle, sorry. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about with Alexis. But just in case, take notes on the interrogation," she winked.

From the precinct to Romy's house

"Aren't you glad I'm here?" Castle asked as they drove to Romy's house. She knew more than she was letting on and they had to discover the truth.

"Castle, I'm never glad you're here. Why should I start now?"

"Because I cracked the case open!"

"Don't gloat, it's not becoming." Kate said, sounding slightly annoyed. Though even she had to admit he was starting to grow on her. Even if what he thought was charm was in reality just being obnoxious.

"So do you think Romy will tell us what really happened?"

"I think she's scared just enough to reveal a little bit more truth," Kate responded with confidence. It wasn't the first time she had to go back and requestion a witness. In her experience, every time the witness would get a little more nervous and suddenly remember more details to the story.

"What if she doesn't?"

"Then we take separate testimonies from everyone and find a hole somewhere."

There was a short lull in the conversation as both Castle and Beckett were thinking about the case and the situation they were in. "I talked to Alexis this morning," Castle finally stated. "She was the one who made me think about them not loaning Donnie the money."

"Smart girl you got there."

"Yeah."

"Castle, don't worry. I'm sure Alexis won't get herself into any trouble, or drug dealing, or something else kids like her DON'T do."

"I know, I know." He nodded. "But it's nice to be sure."

From the precinct to the school

"So do you think Brandon's our man?" Castle asked. They had just questioned another member of the group, Spencer, who had a solid alibi as long as it was corroborated.

"Spencer was too nervous…too innocent. It's not him."

"Which leaves just Brandon and the girls."

"Well I'd say Romy is out. Those tears didn't seem fake to me." If Kate said believed it, Castle knew it must be true. She certainly had the experience to back it up.

"But if Spencer is telling the truth and Brandon was at the club with him last night how could it be him?"

"Maybe he left early…maybe he even slipped out without him noticing. Or maybe it wasn't him after all and it was Amanda."

"Brandon seemed really calm the other day. Romy was crying, Amanda was upset, Max was shaking…but Brandon was perfectly calm. He was the one telling the others to tell the 'truth.'" Castle kept running through the events in his mind, replaying the scene over and over. He knew something wasn't right about Brandon, but couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was, until now.

With a sudden understanding and connection with Castle's idea, Kate looked at him and responded, "Which means he probably came up with the story to begin with." She was smiling and nodding now, seeing how all of it was coming together.

Castle smiled. "This just keeps getting better and better." That statement caused Kate to glare at him. "Aside from the fact that two teenagers were murdered of course," he stammered, trying to cover up both his excitement and horror at the situation.

From the precinct to the school

"This is some sick psychopath we're dealing with here isn't it." Castle had written about psychopaths before, but had never seen one in the form of a teenage boy.

"I can't think of any other explanation." Kate responded as they started off again for the school. They had just questioned Amanda, Donnie's ex-girlfriend. Unlike Brandon, she showed actual emotion and horror at the thought of being accused of staging the murder. In the heat of the moment it had also been revealed that Brandon was the one who told her to shoot the video that night.

"Why would a sixteen year old kill two of his best friends? And stage such an elaborate plot? What, is nothing good on TV anymore?"

"Kids just aren't entertained like they used to be. Baseball, movies, bowling…instead they have to resort to murder."

"What I want to know is, did he do this thinking he would get caught? That one of his friends would? Or that he'd just get away with it and move on as if nothing happened?" As a writer Castle was able to get inside the heads of his murderers and wanted the same privilege here.

"Well I think the more we interrogate him the more answers we'll get in respect to that."

"Hmmm," Castle paused. After a beat he told Kate what happened that day with his daughter. "Alexis confessed something to me this morning."

"She's killed Donnie?" Kate tried making a little joke to lighten the mood.

"Ha no… she jumped the turnstile once."

"Rebel," Kate answered sarcastically. How could he even be upset about that?

"She actually swiped her card twice the next day and grounded herself for a week."

"Geez, talk about a guilty conscience. What punishment were you going to give?"

"Ice cream for breakfast," Castle answered straight faced and serious.

"Well I guess next to murder, your punishment would fit the crime."

"If we have time later do you mind if we stop for some? I've had this craving all day."

Kate just rolled her eyes as they took the turn onto the street of the school to once again, question Brandon.

From the school to the precinct

"Yup, garden variety psychopath." Kate said as they left the school for the precinct. Their interactions with Brandon were becoming more and more creepy. He didn't seem to care at all that two of his friends had just been murdered and was even starting to make jokes.

"He practically dared us to prove he murdered them."

"He didn't practically dare us. He did dare us Castle." Kate took a sharp turn, letting her frustration and anger get to her.

"So now what do we do?" Castle inquired. They had questioned everyone – there was no one left to ask. What other clues could they find at this point?

"Well Castle, now you get to see the other ways we find evidence. It isn't always interrogation and getting inside people's heads. Sometimes it's good old fashioned scouring of paperwork."

"Great," Castle said sarcastically. Kate smiled to herself. "He was right you know," Castle said after a beat.

"About what?"

"You are pretty hot."

Kate tried her best to look annoyed, even rolling her eyes, but she couldn't hide the faint grin on her face.