A/N: Wow, I've never gotten that many reviews for one chapter before. Thanks so much!! Sorry I couldn't update sooner, I've been super busy. The next chapter's already written so expect it on Sunday or Monday (I would post sooner but I don't have time). Thank you SO much, again!
Richard Castle sat on his couch, staring blankly at the screen of his laptop. He watched as the words "You should be writing" flashed across over and over and over again. He just couldn't concentrate. He was worried about Kate. He had a horrible feeling, and he knew what would have happened if he was writing this story. It would certainly not be pleasant.
"Hey, Dad."
Castle tore his gaze away from the irritating screensaver in order to look up at his teenage daughter, who had appeared out of no where. "Hey sweetie."
Castle patted the cushion beside him and Alexis sat down.
"So any new cases?" She asked, folding her legs underneath her and facing her father.
"Well actually yes." Castle replied. He sat his laptop down on the coffee table and positioned himself so that he was facing Alexis.
Alexis raised one eyebrow. "What, no details?"
Castle just shrugged. "It's really not that interesting of a case."
His eyes focused on the wall on the far side of the room and his thoughts began to roam again, ultimately ending up on Beckett. He knew her, and he knew that she would stop at nothing to solve this case. He was just hoping that she didn't do something completely stupid and get herself hurt…or worse.
It had been horrible at the precinct after Beckett yelled at him in the car. She had mostly avoided him, and Castle had had a very hard time trying to talk to her. He got to say about a word before she would run off to do something. It was driving him crazy.
"Dad? Hellooo?"
Castle blinked, noticing the hand waving in front of his face for the first time. He looked at Alexis and smiled. "Sorry."
"Mhm." She stared at him with one raised eyebrow. "There's obviously more to this case than you're saying. So spill."
"There's nothing else. Honestly." He said, giving her his most innocent face.
Alexis rolled her eyes. "Dad, c'mon. I can tell something's bothering you. Just tell me."
Castle leaned back into the couch and sighed. "If you must know, my oh-so-persistent daughter, it's Beckett that's bothering me."
"Detective Beckett?" Alexis looked confused. "Why? I thought you two were a great team."
"Under normal circumstances we are. But a lot has happened in the last few days and now she refuses to talk to me."
Alexis stared at him for a moment before hitting his shoulder. "Dad! What did you do? I told you to stop irritating her! If you get thrown in jail again then I am not going to bail you out."
"I didn't do anything!" Castle said defensively. "And you know you'd bail me out. You'd miss me too much." He winked. Alexis rolled her eyes and smiled.
"But seriously, what did you do?"
"I tried to convince her that she should let some other detective handle the case we're working on right now." He explained. He decided that she didn't need to know about the whole Melissa-Beckett jealousy thing.
"Why?"
"Because." Castle sighed. "When we were looking at the body I saw something in her hand. I told the medical examiner about it and Lanie found a note. It just so happened that it was a note telling Kate that she was next."
"Next to…die?" Alexis couldn't quite comprehend what he was saying. "You mean someone is threatening her?"
Castle nodded. "And she's determined to solve this case. She's not worried about her own safety at all."
Alexis bit her bottom lip. "Wow." She said quietly. "That's horrible. Who would go after a detective?"
"Someone who has a grudge against her." Castle shrugged. "Someone who she's made angry recently. Some psycho."
"Or an ex-boyfriend."
"Nah, Beckett doesn't seem the type to have psychotic ex-boyfriends." He said. "And speaking of boyfriends, how's it been going with Owen?"
"He's not my boyfriend." Alexis said, avoiding eye contact.
"Mhm." Castle grinned. "When do I get to meet him? I have a few things to tell him about my little girl."
Alexis's cheeks began to turn red. "Dad, you wouldn't!"
"I just have to set down the ground rules." Castle's grin widened mischievously. "I could inform him that I have some friends who are cops...who have guns."
"Dad!" Alexis exclaimed, her face now a new shade of red. She jumped off the couch and leaned down to kiss her father on the cheek quickly, and then nearly sprinted out of the room. "This conversation is over. I'm going to bed. Love you."
"Love you too, sweetie." He called after her, watching her take the stairs two at a time. He raised his voice and called louder, "And tell Owen about the guns!"
"Dad!" The voice echoed down the stairs, followed by a frustrated groan. Castle just smiled.
"Hey, Lanie, it's Beckett." Kate said as soon as the other end of the phone line picked up and she was greeted with a tired "hello?".
"Beckett?" Lanie's groggy voice responded. "What is it? Everything okay?"
"Yeah, fine. I was just—," Kate happened to catch sight of the clock in the lower right hand of her computer and mentally kicked herself. "Oh my God, Lanie, I'm so sorry! I had no idea it was so late. Did I wake you up?"
"Nah, I was up." Lanie said, but Kate definitely heard her yawn.
"I'll just go." Beckett said quickly. "You go back to sleep."
"No, no, no. Just tell me what is so important for you to call me at three in the morning."
"It's nothing. Never mind. I—,"
"Kate! You woke me up already; now just get on with it!" Lanie demanded.
"Well…I was wondering what else you found out about the body of Rachel Anthony. I didn't get a chance to talk to you earlier."
"She definitely put up a fight." Lanie said, stifling a yawn. "She had bruises on her arms, legs, and torso. Nail marks and scratches up and down her arms. That's about it besides the mark from the necklace that she was strangled with."
"Oh, okay. Thanks Lanie." Kate said.
"Are you still at the precinct?"
Kate hesitated to answer, but finally said. "Yeah. This case has been bugging me and I think that maybe if I could go back to the crime scene one more time that I'd be able to figure something out or see something else that I didn't notice before."
"Beckett." Lanie said quietly. "Kate. Listen to me, as a friend, okay? You need to go home and get some sleep. Do not go back to the crime scene. It isn't safe for you, especially after everything that went down today. Just go home."
"I…," Kate trailed off. "I have to solve this case."
"No, you don't. There are other detectives."
"But I can't—,"
"Can't what?" Lanie cut her off.
"I can't be useless."
Lanie fell silent, and Kate leaned back in her chair and sighed. She hated the way that everyone at the precinct was looking at her, with eyes full of worry and concern. She was a strong and independent woman; she had been her whole life. She didn't need other people to try and protect her. She could take care of herself.
But maybe, just this once, it would be nice to have someone take some of the burden off of her shoulders…someone to tell her that it would be okay, and someone to comfort her worries. Kate hated herself for thinking of Castle.
"Are you serious?" Lanie seemed to have recovered from her shock, and now she was ready to talk again. "Beckett, you have solved more cases than any other detective in this precinct, and you're calling yourself useless? Girl, don't go there."
"But—,"
"Don't you 'but' me." Lanie cut her off again. "People won't think you're useless just because you admit to being scared. There's a freaking killer after you! I'd be scared too. And you know, it's not like you have to go through this alone. You have everyone at the precinct, and you know that I'm always here, and Castle would do anything to protect you."
Kate opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it. Her hand tightened around the phone. "I know that."
"Seriously, girl. I don't know what happened with you two at that party, but I suggest getting over it. He's so in love with you that I don't think he cares what you say or do to him, he wants to be near you."
Kate's throat seemed to constrict. She swallowed and choked out a, "What?"
"You're not telling me that you haven't noticed!?" Lanie exclaimed. "Kate! He's head over heels for you! And you know what? I'm pretty sure you like him too."
"I do not!" Kate exclaimed. She felt a blush creep across her cheeks and was glad that she was the only one at the precinct. "Listen Lanie, I think I'm going to head home. Thanks for everything."
"No problem. See you tomorrow."
Kate ended the call and leaned back in her chair. She wasn't going home. It didn't matter what Lanie or Castle or anyone else said, this was still her case, and she would solve it.
Grabbing her coat, a flashlight, and the key to the hotel apartment that the murder was committed in, Kate headed out the door and to her car. It was only a short drive away from the precinct and soon she was unlocking the door to the room.
Kate flipped on her flashlight and shone it over the room. She let the door fall shut behind her as she quietly walked inside. She kneeled down by a bunch of scattered papers and sifted through them, before realizing that there was nothing to help her there. She moved on to the opposite side of the room, looking around for anything that might relate to Rachel's murder.
This wasn't the first time that Beckett had come back to a crime scene after everyone else had left. She always did this when she was really stuck on a case. Usually it wasn't three in the morning, but right now she didn't care.
Kate was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the creak of the door as it opened or the soft footsteps behind her. She probably would have never noticed the presence of someone else had it not been for the sudden pain that erupted in the back of her head as she was smacked hard with something. The flashlight went flying, and Kate saw spots. Whatever hit her the first time hit her again, and everything went dark.
Castle walked into the precinct and headed straight for Beckett's desk, two steaming lattes in his hands. He had decided that it was time to forgive and forget, and he was going to suck up to Beckett until she couldn't help but forgive him. It was time to turn on the charm full force.
When her desk came into view, Castle was surprised to find her computer turned off and no Beckett sitting in the chair. She was usually always there before him. He sat the lattes down and turned to Ryan, who was walking by reading a file.
"Hey, Ryan. Where's Beckett?"
He glanced up. "We figured that she was with you." His brow furrowed. "Isn't she?"
Castle shook his head, and ignored the worry that clenched in his stomach. "I'll call her."
"Good." He nodded. "She's probably just…just sleeping in or something." Ryan tried to grasp at something believable to ease both of their worry, but it just didn't work. Beckett didn't sleep in. She loved her job and she didn't come in late.
Castle dialed her cell phone number, and heard ringing coming from her desk. Ryan walked over and leaned down, disappearing from sight for a second, and then reappearing with the familiar cell phone held in his hand. Castle then dialed her home phone, but just got the answering machine.
Ryan and Castle looked at each other, both thinking the same thing.
"Esposito and I will go check her house, you go talk to the Captain." Ryan said, slipping the phone into his pocket and walking towards Esposito's desk. "Esposito!"
Castle didn't bother to argue, even though he would have rather went to check her house with them. He approached the office and tapped on the door before walking in. Montgomery looked up from his papers.
"Castle, what brings you in here?" He asked. "If Beckett hurt you then I'm guessing she had a good reason, so I don't want to hear your complaining." He smiled, completely at ease.
"She didn't hurt me because she's not here." Castle said. Montgomery's smile faltered slightly. "We called her but her cell phone is here and I got her machine from the home phone. Ryan and Esposito were going to go check her house." He paused. "I was wondering if you got a call from her or anything?"
Montgomery shook his head. "Beckett never misses work."
"I know."
Montgomery stood up from his desk and began pacing around the room. "They're not going to find her at home. If Beckett's not here, then something happened. I think," He looked up at Castle. "I think she's been taken hostage or else," He swallowed, not wanting to believe it. "or else murdered."
Castle felt his stomach knot up and his chest clench. One of his worst fears just came true.
A/N: You guys were all right, things can always get worse. I couldn't remember if the guy Alexis liked was named Owen or not, so if the names wrong then oh well. That's why it's fanfiction haha. Thanks for reading and please review! :)
