A huge thank you to my friends Janna, encantadaa, and Jill (jstar1382) for their help, suggestions, and encouragement! You guys are amazing!

From the precinct to the crime scene

"Where's the body? Where are we going?" Castle was as giddy as a schoolboy on their way to the crime scene. He had been wasting time at the precinct instead of paying attention to the release of his latest Derrick Storm novel, which was finally in stores. Bothering Beckett was much more fun.

"What is it, Castle? Is the book terrible or something?" Kate asked as they drove downtown to where the victim was found.

"No, why would you say that?" Castle shot back at her defensively.

"Because this- shadowing me- is not how you make money, and writing books is. And yet, you're avoiding your author responsibilities and taking part in this. There must be a reason." Castle knew she was teasing him just to get under his skin, so he was going to give it right back.

"No reason. I just like solving murders with you," he said with a lift of his eyebrows. "So tell me, where are we going?"

"An apartment downtown."

"Any other details you'd like to share?"

"I don't know anything else yet. We'll have to wait until we get there."

"I'm too excited to wait," Castle was certainly anxious, like a child at Christmastime, and the longer they were in the car, the more immature he became. It wasn't exactly normal to be excited over a murder victim, unless you wanted them dead yourself. However as a mystery writer, all the cases were fascinating to him.

"Castle," Kate said, glaring at him. "A man is dead."

"Oh right, sorry."

"So you still haven't told me why you're avoiding your book release," Kate said, changing the subject.

"I told you, no reason," he responded, looking out the window. Castle didn't want to say why he was feeling anxious about his book release. He certainly didn't need to give her any more ammunition to tease him with. "I'm just more excited by a fresh case, that's all."

From the crime scene to the precinct

"How'd you know who he was?" Beckett asked Castle on their way back to the precinct shortly after he had immediately identified the victim.

"He's been on bus ads all over town," Castle answered. "He's running for re-election to city council. You know the ones – 'Re-elect Horn for City Council.' Not exactly catchy, but still gets the point across."

"Wow, not bad, Castle," Kate responded. She paused for a moment, then continued. "I'm glad your book sucks, and you were here to help with that." She just couldn't resist teasing him and getting him back for all the relentless jokes he annoyed her with on a daily basis.

"I'm not really sure how to react to that. Thank you?"

Kate smirked. Even when she tried to annoy him, she really couldn't.

From the precinct to see Mrs. Horn

"Time to break the bad news to Mrs. Horn," Kate commented as they drove to Jeff Horn's apartment to see his wife. At this point, the news of his death managed to stay out of the press and she wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.

"This isn't going to be good for his campaign," Castle joked, chuckling, trying to get her to lighten up a bit.

"That's a little insensitive, Castle, don't you think?" Kate scoffed, a twinge of annoyance in her voice.

"Sorry, bad timing."

"Not just bad timing. Not everything is a joke, Castle."

"You're right. I'm sorry," Castle murmured. He actually did regret his joke. It was easy to tease when you're not the one affected by the crime, but he had to remember that Kate was affected by every murder she solved in one way or another.

"Yeah, well, we have to make sure we tell her before the media gets hold of it and she finds out while watching the evening news."

"Do they have any kids?" Castle asked. He was thinking of his own daughter, and what it would be like for Alexis to lose him.

"I'm not sure, but I guess we'll find out soon."

"I don't know if that makes it easier or harder," Castle commented.

"How so?"

"If they have kids, the wife doesn't have to go through it alone, but is left to raise them by herself. On the other hand, the kids don't have a father, but the mother has a reason to keep going. It's a Catch 22."

From the campaign headquarters to Mr. Creason's hotel

"Is there anyone you don't know Castle?" Kate asked as they drove to Mr. Creason's hotel. Creason was someone who had reason to possibly have killed Horn, or at least wanted him dead.

"Obama… but I have been invited to the White House. I've just been too busy," he quipped, resulting in an eye roll from Kate. "Interesting about Creason, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

"People will do anything for revenge and money." Castle had already been thinking of all the possibilities with this new suspect, even though they had yet to even speak to him.

"We don't know that he killed him, Castle. You're taking a big leap. We haven't even talked to him yet."

"You just told Nesbit, just because he had a beef with him, it doesn't mean he didn't kill him."

"I know what I said, Castle," Kate sighed. "Just relax. You're just being a little too eager, don't you think?" Kate knew from past experience not to jump the gun on any potential suspects – it was never that easy.

"I'm just excited by the case, that's all."

"Why Castle? Why are you so excited? Even more so than usual."

"No reason."

"No reason again, hmmm. You keep saying that. And the more you say it, the more I know it's not true. Do you have a copy of the book on you by any chance? What is it called again? Storm Fall?"

"No, why?"

"Maybe you're trying to hide something. I'd just like to see for myself."

"Now, what on earth would I be trying to hide?" he asked innocently.

"Maybe this is the plotline of the book, and you staged the murder for publicity!" she teased.

"Geez, Beckett."

"Hey, like you said, people will do anything, right?"

From the precinct to campaign headquarters

"The election was fixed?" Castle asked incredulously. He and Kate were on their way once again to the campaign headquarters for Jeff Horn. She had been given a little bit of information during their interrogation with Creason, but not quite enough.

"Not exactly," she said, not looking at him as she focused on the road.

"What does that mean?"

"No stuffing or hiding ballot boxes or anything, just a good old fashioned scandal."

"Oooooh what is it? Anything good?"

"I don't know. That's what we're going to find out from Bolinger." Kate wasn't sure exactly what it was yet, and she didn't want to make any presumptions to stir the pot.

"Any guesses?"

"No," she said with a sigh. She had already told him what she knew and there was no reason to keep repeating herself.

"It's gotta be an affair, right? It's always an affair."

Stopping a red light, Kate turned to Castle. "You've been divorced twice, Castle. What happened with you? Was it affairs?"

Castle looked directly into her eyes. "Not on my side," he said quietly, turning away solemnly to face the window.

Kate had actually succeeded in ruffling him, but not in the way she had hoped.

From Bolinger's office to the precinct

"It's amazing what they can find on the internet these days," Castle said.

"Yeah it's a whole new version of online dating," Kate answered, disgusted by the entire incident. Prostitutes advertising on the internet – it made her sick.

"How do they get away with stuff like that?"

"What?"

"Openly running a prostitution business. It's illegal, isn't it?"

"There are always loopholes, Castle. When they call themselves an escort service, for example." Kate refused to make eye contact with him throughout the entire conversation. It wasn't exactly making her comfortable to discuss this topic with him. She wouldn't have been comfortable discussing it with any man, for that matter.

Castle must have sensed her discomfort, because he didn't say anything else about it. He reached to the center console, turning the radio on, and the two rode in silence for the rest of the way to the precinct.

From the campaign headquarters to the precinct

"He's hiding something," Castle commented as they started driving back to the precinct. They had just talked to Horn's campaign manager and friend, Frank Nesbit, again, but hadn't gotten much information beyond what they already knew.

"Who?"

"Horn."

"Of course he is, Castle. Why do you think I said that line about things getting out into the open? It's just like the Tisdale case. I can always tell when someone's not being completely truthful." Kate laughed a bit. Of course she knew he was lying.

"Oooooh. Nicely played, Detective," Castle said, sounding impressed.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't that hard to figure out. He had a lot of tells."

"So you think he did it?"

"Not willing to go that far yet, but he just jumped up a notch on the suspect list."

From the precinct to crime scene, then to arrest Nesbit

"So it was Nesbit. You were right," Castle said, complimenting Kate on her case-solving abilities as they drove to the campaign headquarters to arrest him. "Nice job."

"Well, without the confession from Mrs. Horn, who knows if we would've gotten there," Kate stated, giving credit where credit was due.

"So what do you think? Is he gonna go down easy, or is he gonna be a runner?" Castle asked, suddenly no longer pensively thinking about the case, but instead getting excited about the arrest.

"Hmmm, it's hard to tell with some guys. I'm going with simple arrest," Kate added. With the case solved, there was nothing wrong with having a little fun with it.

"Nah, I think he's gonna run. I don't know what he thinks he'll accomplish, but he's gonna run."

"Wanna bet on it?" she asked, a not-so-innocent gleam in her eyes.

"Okay., If I win, I get to drive him to the precinct."

"I was thinking more like $5," Kate said.

"What's the matter, Detective? Afraid you'll lose?"

She looked at him and smiled. "Haven't I lost already?"

"You've won, you just don't know it yet."

With that, she rolled her eyes, but kept smiling.