And this is the part where I panic and pray to God that you all like my OC and don't find her abhorrent and want her to die.
"Hey, Lanie."
The medical examiner looked up from where she was going over their Jane Doe.
"I don't have anything yet, Esposito, so you better march your butt right back upstairs." She replied, eyeing the junior detective.
"That's not why I'm here." Esposito replied. "It's about Beckett."
"And her behavior at the crime scene? I noticed." Lanie said. She sighed and set down her tools. "First day back from suspension and she gets a copycat case of her mother's murder."
"It sucks." Esposito declared.
Lanie shook her head, staring intently at the dead woman's face. "I don't like it, Javi."
Esposito frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that there's something going on here. I can sense it." Lanie said. "And I… I'm so scared for her…"
Lanie's eyes unexpectedly filled with tears, and Esposito automatically crossed the room to pull her into a hug. The M.E. didn't resist him, allowing him to envelope her and make her feel safe.
"It's not going to be like last time." He promised her. "We're going to keep her safe."
"But if she rushes headlong into things–"
"She won't." He cut her off. "She won't do that, Lanie."
"She's my best friend, Javi." Lanie said. "I was a black girl from Harlem who dreamed of being a doctor. My friends said I was stupid. I didn't have time for games and dates and hanging out at the mall. I was too busy studying. She's my first friend since the third grade and I can't lose her."
"You won't." Esposito promised her. "You won't."
She let him hold her like that for a long while, before gathering herself together and pulling back, awkwardly thanking him and getting back to work. He mumbled an excuse and left, shoving his hands into his pockets so she wouldn't see that they were clenched into fists.
::::::::::::::::::::::
"So what've we got?" Beckett asked Ryan as he approached.
"I…" He trailed off when he saw Esposito glaring at him from his desk. Beckett gave Ryan a look and he resumed speaking. "We got a hit on our Jane Doe. Her name's Viola Baker – formerly Viola Allanwood. She was raised by her single mother and married one Joshua Baker about eighteen years ago. He died under mysterious circumstances about thirteen years ago. It was ruled as an accident – death by allergic reaction – but the officer in charge of the case was suspicious so he sent me some of his personal notes."
Beckett took the packet Ryan offered her and began leafing through the papers. "Anything else about Viola?"
"Her mother's dead, as are her parents-in-law. Natural causes, all of them. Her mother got cancer and her mother-in-law died years before Viola and Joshua met. His father passed away about three years after their marriage from heart failure."
"Any jobs, friends, any way we could talk to someone who knew her?"
"She was actually kind of a recluse. She used to work for one Senator Rickman back when he was Mayor of NYC, which is where she met her husband. About six months after Joshua's death she quit her job and dropped off the face of the earth. We've managed to trace her various places of residence over the last two years but nothing before that."
"What do you mean 'various places'?" Castle asked.
Ryan shrugged. "That woman's been everywhere. All projects or other not so nice areas of New York, but she's stayed in the state for the last two years, as I said. There's some evidence that she was in other states before that but nothing solid. She doesn't have a phone or credit card, and when we talked to her current landlord he said she paid everything in cash. From what we've managed to learn she worked stuff like waitressing jobs and other minimum wage stuff."
"In other words, jobs that were easy to find, easy to work, and easy to leave." Castle noted. "You don't think she's conducting an investigation to write a book about blue collar workers, do you?"
Beckett gave him a look at his reference to their previous case involving one of the Mayor's assistants. It had also ended up involving a sex line. Not exactly Beckett's favorite case.
"What about the kid?" Beckett asked.
"What kid?" Ryan asked in return.
Beckett frowned. "Her daughter."
Ryan gave her his best blank look.
"There was a daughter, or some other female, living with her. We saw the evidence in her apartment." Beckett said, that tone of impatience creeping into her voice.
Ryan flipped through his notes. "Um… I'm sorry. There's nothing here about any kids."
Beckett frowned. She and Castle had canvassed the apartment just a couple of hours ago. They'd found nothing in the living room or kitchen to suggest however many people were living in there, although the state of the furnishings had shown how tight money was. In the single bedroom, however, they found two twin beds on opposite sides of the room, a tiny closet with stuff that would fit a girl that was one size, and a dresser filled with clothes that would fit a woman with a completely different body shape. There had also been two suitcases, two sets of different sized shoes, and two toothbrushes in the bathroom sink. That and other clues pointed to two people, both female (and one almost certainly younger) living in that apartment.
Ryan left the information with them and hastened back to his desk. Beckett frowned, turning to Castle.
"There was someone else in that apartment." She said. "But if it wasn't her daughter, then who was it?"
Castle frowned. "Look, I may be male but I have a daughter. I know how to recognize a parent-child relationship when I see it, and although those clothes in there were cheap they were the same style that Alexis wears. I know the signs. There was a younger girl living there."
"But if there was, why didn't she hear the gunshots?" Beckett asked.
"Maybe she did. Lanie said there was a witness. Someone tried to save Viola Allanwood. What if that person was the same girl sharing her apartment, not some random stranger?"
"But then why did she run?"
"Why was Viola murdered?"
They were at a dead end, and they knew it. Unless they found their witness, and Viola's roommate – who might or might not be the same person – they had nothing.
"Um, Mr. Castle?" Officer Karpowski strode up. "There's a young lady asking for you. She's being rather insistent."
Beckett and Castle looked at each other, sharing the same thought. This could be their mystery girl.
"Let her in. We'll put her in Interrogation Room Three." Beckett said.
The girl sitting at the table when they walked in sat rather calmly. She had dark, downy brown hair cut short, some of which was flopping in front of her eyes. The eyes themselves were dark brown, and a little translucent, which was odd. Her skin was on the dark side, like she had mixed blood. In olden days she might have been dubbed 'mulatto' by an intolerant society. She wore a clean, dark red shirt and faded blue jeans with muddy sneakers. She had a backpack at her feet, which she kept possessively nestled between her legs.
"You wanted to see me, Miss…?" Castle paused.
"Perdita." The girl said. "Are you Mr. Richard Castle?" She asked.
Castle nodded. "This here is Detective Kate Beckett – the finest cop in the NYPD. She lets me partner up with her on cases as a consultant."
The girl nodded politely to Beckett before turning back to Castle. "Is it all right if I ask that no cameras be on? And no one is watching on the other side of the glass, right?"
Beckett turned and tapped on the glass. They still had no idea why this girl was here, so they had no real right to watch her or record anything. Ryan and Esposito turned off the tapes and quietly filed out of the observation room.
"We're alone." Beckett said.
The girl nodded again, and then began to do the strangest thing. She took out a washcloth and began to rub at her face, wrists, and hands. She scrubbed for several minutes before placing the washcloth to the side.
She was now as Caucasian as Castle.
Next came the eyes. She took out the contacts – which explained the strange, translucent quality – revealing big, bright baby blues.
Beckett started. The girl looked straight at her, those blue eyes shining, her hair flopping into her face… she was like someone she knew…. But before Beckett could seize a hold of the thought, the girl lifted her hands to her hairline and tugged, yanking off the tight-fitting wig and showing her true, blond locks, held in a tight bun. When the girl undid the pin, her hair went cascading down around her shoulders.
Finally, the wax lips and putty nose, giving the girl the physical features to match the darker skin color, and before them stood the spitting image (despite the blond hair) of the dead woman cooling in Lanie's locker.
"Sorry to lie, but I had to be sure." The girl explained.
"Perdita." Castle breathed. "From Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale."
"Her mother died because of her father." The girl said. "Unfortunately for me, my mother isn't faking."
Beckett felt her heart stutter. Her mother wasn't faking, either. "Why the disguise?" She asked. "And why is there no record of your existence?"
"My mother got someone to erase me." The girl explained. "Oh, I'm sorry – my name's Eddie. Eddie Baker. My dad died when I was five, and that's why my mom started the whole moving around thing. She always claimed that there were people after us. She taught me how to disguise myself, and what to do if someone came looking for us."
"Why did she 'erase you', as you put it?" Beckett was in interrogation mode now.
"She always worried that they – whoever they are, I still don't know – would find her, but if I didn't exist, then they wouldn't look for me. So I would be safe." Eddie shrugged.
"You tried to save her." Beckett said. "You did CPR on your mother. Did you see anything? What happened?"
Eddie shrugged again, her eyes watering. "I don't know. Mom was just taking out the trash while I ate dinner. I heard the gunshots, so I ran out and found her there. Bleeding… dying… she couldn't breathe, and I couldn't think of what to do, so I just started CPR. I know it was stupid but it was the only thing that I could think of. But it didn't work." The girl stared at her hands resting on the table, her eyes red.
"Why did you want to talk to me?" Castle asked.
Eddie sniffed, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "There was a burner phone. In my Mom's underwear drawer. I never even knew that she had a phone. It was ringing, right before she died. There was someone on the other end – a man – trying to warn us. He knew that someone was going to come and kill her, but he was too late. When my Mom died he told me to go to you. He said that you would keep me safe."
"Keep you safe? From what? And why me?" Castle asked.
"I don't know." Eddie shrugged again. "He just gave me a safe phrase, something to convince you to take me in."
"And what was that?"
Eddie looked up, her gaze steady even with tears still threatening to spill over. Her eyes met Castle's and locked.
"He said to tell you that Sophia did not lie about everything."
:::::::::::::::::::::::
Ryan and Esposito stood outside the door of the observation room, both a bit miffed that they were missing out on whatever was going on in the interrogation room. The silence was not filled with the usual camaraderie, however, but tense and thick with resentment and remorse.
It was Ryan who broke the silence, as always.
"Look; I don't know what to say to you to convince you of how sorry I am. I just wanted to protect you. I knew you were going in there blind, and I wanted to get you backup!" Ryan said. He was defiant, and while Ryan would normally back down pretty quickly from his tough-guy mode, there was the rare occasion when he would refuse no matter what. The time he'd been nearly drowned in water was one of them. This was another.
Esposito leveled his best glare at his partner, but Ryan didn't budge. After a minute, Esposito cracked.
"Why didn't you trust me?" He demanded. "I felt like a kid again, y'know? Ratted out to the principal. Why didn't you trust that we could handle it?"
"Because you're my best friend, man! I know you! I trust you with my life but when it comes to yours you're reckless and you don't think!" Ryan burst out. "You care about the lives of others more than yourself – you always have! And while it makes you a great cop it means you constantly put yourself in danger or don't take care of yourself. I mean, look at what happened with Lanie!"
"Don't you dare–"
"Yes, I dare! What happened between you two wasn't you not wanting commitment or any bullshit like that. You loved her, I know you did, and maybe you still do but the reason it all went south was because you don't care about yourself, and that includes your relationships. You've been pushing Beckett and Castle together since day one but you and Lanie? You didn't take the time. And that's the way that it always is.
"Do I trust you with my life? Yes. Do I trust you with Beckett's? Sure. But your own? No way. And that's why I called for backup. 'Cause I knew if I didn't, it would be your coffin I'd be carrying, and maybe even Beckett's, too, without you there to reign her in."
Esposito looked at Ryan for a long time. Ryan braced himself for a ferocious punch that never came. The former Special Forces just stared, and stared, and stared, until finally…
"You're right, man."
One man-hug and pats on the back later, and they were back. Ryan and Esposito, best supporting cast to the main crime-slaying duo in history.
Although, if they ever found out that Castle and Beckett had once dubbed them 'Shaggy and Scooby', they would have been absolutely humiliated.
::::::::::::::::::::::::
Castle stood in the entryway of the loft with Beckett and Eddie, watching his daughter explain her schedule to him in rapid-fire.
"…I have to start my reading for the semester, of course, and I've set myself the challenge of writing a hundred essays, each on a different subject, by the time the summer's over…"
"Alexis."
"…Teacher's aid, and the elementary school…"
"Alexis…"
"…Camp counselor, and a peer counselor at…"
Castle cleared his throat. Alexis didn't hear him.
"…In charge of that, as well as the park cleaning initiative…"
He looked over at Beckett, who gave him a look that clearly said, she's your daughter.
"…Improving school lunches program…"
Castle and Beckett started a facial expression war as to who would try and get the teen's attention next.
"…Sports for special needs kids…"
Eddie watched the silent exchange with infinite interest, her backpack straps clutched tightly in her hands.
"…Hospital, although I'm still working with Lanie… And I'm considering training to become a volunteer firefighter as well, but I think that will have to wait until…"
Castle won and Beckett rolled her eyes violently enough to nearly roll them out of her head.
"…Various museums… Library…"
"Alexis, honey?" Beckett started.
"…Tutoring and reviewing essays…"
Beckett tried again.
"Alexis."
"…Assisting Gram, although Paula and Gina will keep me plenty busy…"
Beckett sent Castle an exasperated look, which he returned with one of his own as if to say I told you she's impossible to stop.
"…Guide dog trainer… …Girl Scouts…"
"Sorry – she tends to get like this." Castle apologized to Eddie.
The blonde teen shrugged. "No worries. Tell me, does she ever run out of oxygen from talking in a single sentence like that?"
"…Magazine contributor…"
"Not that I know of, but it could happen." Castle mused.
"…Senior citizen center… …food drive…"
Castle stepped forward to physically force his daughter to stop her pacing and explaining.
"…And, of course, continuing my fund-raising for various charities." Alexis finished.
"Tell me, will you have time to sleep?" Eddie asked.
Alexis frowned. "Um… Dad? Who's she?" There was no accusatory tone or jealousy in the redhead's voice, only curiosity. She was used to her father's surprises by now, and had learned to just take them in stride. Besides, she had far too much trust in their relationship to ever worry about someone taking her place.
"Alexis, pumpkin, this is Eddie. She's going to be staying with us for a while." Castle explained.
Alexis gave him a look that showed she clearly expected an explanation. Castle sighed.
"She's… well, it's complicated, but I kind of knew her mother from years back. She…" Castle really didn't see how he could beat around the bush, and he didn't want to lie any more than he had to. "She was murdered last evening, so Eddie's going to stay with us until she can find a permanent home. We don't want her going into the foster system and her eighteenth birthday's only a couple of months away, so it's a lot easier this way."
The two girls eyed each other with suspicion, although for entirely different reasons. Alexis trusted her father and Kate, but this strange girl with a dirty, well-worn backpack held together with duct tape and spit and this weird, hunted animal vibe? Yeah, not so much.
Eddie, for her part, was more suspicious of how someone could look that put together and even attempting to cram everything into one summer that Alexis was going to do. Not to mention that Alexis, for all her soft, kind face and open demeanor, was still one of the girls that Eddie had alternately envied, resented, and poked fun at growing up.
However, the man had told Eddie to trust Castle; that this mystery author, of all people, would keep her safe. And Alexis' trust for her dad and for Kate won out over any reservations about their new houseguest. So both girls decided to play nice. For now.
"It's nice to meet you, Eddie." Alexis stuck out her hand.
"Likewise." Eddie shook it firmly.
"See? I told you they'd like each other." Castle whispered to Beckett.
The girls stared at each other like rival cats, and Beckett raised her eyebrows.
"You haven't won the bet yet, Castle. Just you wait." She assured him.
I doubt anyone other than Alexis could pull this off. Don't worry, I know that she's only human and will eventually have a breakdown of some kind. *evil smile*
So… how's everyone liking Eddie? She's not a Mary Sue, is she?