A/N: This is a sequel to my Caskett wedding story Mr and Mrs Castle. You don't have to read it to get this one but it can't hurt. This will be a case based fic that is a play off a spec script that I wrote and fell in love with. That being said there will be plenty of fluff and fun times between our favorite couple. Please let me know what you think. The story is all mapped out so updates are scheduled for once a week. ENJOY.
Kate Beckett was no longer. In her place stood Kate Castle. Richard Castle was her husband. She was now a wife, a partner in crime, someone's better half. Even hours later sitting in the back of the limo it didn't seem real. She was married to her one and done. Finally.
Looking out the window as the city blurred by in a string of lights and color Kate's mind was lost in the memories of one of the best days of her life so far. From the look on his face as she came towards him down the aisle to the quickie they snuck in during their reception the day had been perfect.
Turning to her new husband, squeezing the hand she hadn't let go of for hours, she was struck by the love in his eyes. If she could spend the rest of her life seeing that look in those blue eyes she would be happy. "What are you thinking about Mr. Beckett?"
"How beautiful my wife looked today." he replied softly pulling her across the seat until their thighs touched through their wedding clothes.
Looking up at him wryly she couldn't resist teasing him. "You're married! What am I? Just your piece of ass on the side?" The instant reversal into their playful banter deflated the overcharged energy in the car immediately.
"While you do have a very nice ass you might know my wife. Pretty girl, thinks she can leap tall buildings in a single bound, carries the weight of the world on her shoulders, yet...still manages to laugh at some of my jokes. Oh and she made me the luckiest man in the world today by finally letting me become her one and done."
Kate let go of his hand trapped in hers to reach up and cup his cheek. Pulling him towards her she couldn't help the whispered I love you that slipped from her lips before they were pressed to his. Sighing as the kiss deepened Kate rolled to straddle his lap enjoying the feeling of Castle's strong body beneath hers. Just before they could escalate things further the car stopped in front of the loft.
"Take me home Mr. Castle. You're wife needs you."
Castle walked into his, their bedroom the next morning smiling at the sight in front of him. Kate Beckett-Castle, his wife of less than 24 hours was standing in nothing but a towel putting yet another shirt into the suitcase that was open in front of her. "Castle. Are you going to finish packing or are you going to spend the next two weeks naked?"
Castle did a double take, as Kate hadn't looked to see he was in the room. What kind of witchy powers did this woman have? How did she know he was behind her enjoying the view that the small towel allowed? "You walk around like an elephant herd. It's hard not to know where you are."
She turned to smile at him as he finally unglued his feet from the floor and made his way towards her. "For the record that mind reading thing you have going on is creepy. And I would be ok with you spending our honeymoon naked."
"I'm sure you would." She rolls her eyes as he moves past her to the closet pulling a closed suitcase out and setting it on the bed next to hers. Using the proximity to his advantage he pulls her to him kissing her softly. She moves to kiss him again as her phone rings on her dresser. "Don't answer it." Her reply is coated in her disappointment "You know I'm on call until 5. It's not my fault I couldn't get all of today off. Maybe it won't be a body." Reluctantly he releases her to go answer the offending device. "It's always a body. I just wish that for once couldn't the murders of New York hold off until after office hours?" She smiles sadly at him as she answers.
With her distracted he goes about pulling some of her more covering outfits out of her bag. He goes about closing the significantly less packed bag when he hears her say, "We're on our way."
Castle can see by the look on her face as she approaches that this is not how she wanted to spend the first day as a married couple either. The kiss she places on his lips is soft and full of regret. She backs away still wearing nothing but a towel towards the closet. She's preparing herself to become Detective Beckett again and not Mrs. Castle, the one who had been with him minutes ago. At this sight he makes a decision. Case or no they are newlyweds and they are leaving today for their romantic tropical honeymoon. They will act like the people they were before her damn phone rang.
Moving quickly to catch up with her just as the towel hits the floor he grabs her from behind pushing her further into the closet before turning her around to kiss her. The kiss lasts until both of them are gasping for breath. She recovers first, much to his dismay, and says "Rick we don't have time for this. There's a body waiting for us across town."
Kissing her deeply again until they are both lost in groping hands he pulls back slightly to tell her "Kate as your husband I am telling you that you can take a little time on the first day of your honeymoon that you have to work to enjoy the perks of being married. Now stop talking Mrs. Castle and let me show you how good married life is going to be."
Forty five minutes and a second shower later Kate crosses under the crime scene tape with her new husband at her back. A flush creeps up her cheeks as she remembers what happened earlier with him behind her and the steam from the shower clouding her vision. The haze is lifted when Castle opens his mouth again to continue the whine he had started when they pulled up to the crime scene moments before. "Kate we are supposed to be on a plane in less than 10 hours. We should be packing, or in your case unpacking, and getting ready to head to a tropical paradise. In no story should we be going to yet another crime scene to investigate yet another murder."
Kate turns quickly to glare at Castle. "Not that I don't care about the justice that this poor person deserves." At Castle's sheepish look Kate continues past the uniforms and CSU techs that fill the small apartment. "Castle, you know this is my job. I can't just not do it because we got married yesterday. We will go but not until we solve this case. I promise."
Kate's not surprised when Castle remains pouting as she approaches Lanie who is squatting next to their victim. "Hey Lanie. What do you have for us?"
Lanie doesn't raise her head but from the way her eyes squint Kate knows that the next words out of her mouth are not going to be case related. "I'm going to have your butt if you don't let that husband of yours take you away from all of this. Some of us don't have private islands waiting for them." Before Kate can even respond a more cheerful Castle is responding from his position with Esposito and Ryan. "Thank you Lanie. I sometimes don't think she understands."
"Oh I'm not doing this for you Writer Boy. Our girl here needs a break. And that wedding wasn't enough."
Sending glares to the two of them while trying to stifle the smile that wants to escape at the memory of yesterday, Kate tries to return the room to the task at hand. "The victim Lanie. What do you have on the victim?"
"Alright. Victim is Melissa Carson, 25 years old. Cause of death as you can see looks to be a single GSW to the chest."
Kate doesn't notice her husband's approach until his voice is right behind her. "Looks like it went straight through the heart." She looks closer at the wound to see that the placement is very close to where the marred skin lies on her chest. Unconsciously her hand comes up to rub on her own scar as she asks Lanie "Sniper?" Castle's hand on her shoulder brings her back to the present and a quick squeeze in thanks is all the exchange needed. Castle would understand what the sight would do to her; he's been with her through it all. That mark on her skin signifies more than just the bullet that ripped through her. It was the starting point that put her on the road to Castle.
She would like to believe that it was inevitable that they would be here together today but had she not been forced to face feelings long repressed by his confession on that green grass they might not have been. That bullet changed her life just as the bullet that killed their victim changed hers. That is why they are here. One life has been changed forever but it's those around them who are left to live without them that deserve someone fighting for them and the justice they seek. The way Castle would have for her and she did for her mother.
She is snapped back to the present when Lanie answers her question "No, shot appears to be from close range. Shell casings indicates a .357. I'm putting time of death between midnight and 2 am. Defensive wounds on her arms indicate she put up one hell of a fight."
Kate rises from the spot next to Melissa's body "Thanks Lanie." She turns to find Ryan talking with Castle and walks over to them. "Hey Ryan. What do we know?"
Ryan looks at the notepad in his hands before saying "No signs of forced entry. Looks like our killer used a pillow as a poor man's suppressor but no signs of a gun. Door was locked when a co-worker arrived to check on her. Landlord was the one who let her in. Ms. Carson was a dedicated worker and when she didn't show up today they became concerned." Kate looks from the pillow being bagged by a CSU tech and around the rest of the room trying to replay the scene in her head when Castle asks, "Where did she work?"
"Lewis and Associates. They are a financial consulting firm based in the Upper East Side."
Kate takes one more glance around the apartment before responding, "Ok, you and Espo canvas the building. See if any of her neighbors saw or heard anything last night. Castle and I will go check out her work."
Castle is starting to get frustrated. He loves his wife. He has a wife. But he is getting frustrated with this whole case. It's not going to be a fast solve and they have plans. Sexy plans involving little to no clothing and a private beach. But as Kate parks the cruiser in front of the high rise holding the work place of their newest victim he is ready to be anywhere else.
"Kate this is not what I had in mind when I told you I wanted to take you places for our honeymoon."
"I know you didn't Castle but this is where we are." she sighs.
"But we have plans. What about them?"
"We will follow through with them when we find the person who shot Melissa Carson."
"But Kate." he whines.
Kate turns quickly at the whine in his tone clearly not amused. She really is sexy when she's angry but not so much when it's directed at him. He can tell by the hushed tone of her voice in the lobby that this is not something he's going to like. "Castle listen to me. I get it. This is not what I had planned either but here we are. An innocent person was murdered last night and it's my job to find the person who did it. Please just help me do my job right now and we will get to back to the happy newlywed couple we were a couple hours ago."
The elevator has reached the floor they need by the time Kate is done and Castle can't decide what is better. That Kate is feeling the same back and forth that he is or that she is just as happy now that they are married as he is. She's not hiding from their honeymoon with this case she's just struggling to do the job that she has. Trying to mask the emotions rolling through him and maintain their usual working relationship Castle can't help but tease her just a little bit more. "Come on Kate. How about we compromise? A quickie on the way back to the precinct after we finish here. We haven't christened the back seat of your Charger yet."
Kate rolls her eyes at him but he can see the smile she is trying to fight. "In your dream Writer Boy."
"It's Writer Man and how many times do I have to tell you Mrs. Castle? My dreams come true."
He discretely grabs her hand squeezing it once as they both smile. His dreams came true again yesterday when she walked down the aisle towards him and became his wife. Just like his dreams came true the night she showed up on his doorstep soaking wet and wanting him or the day that she said yes to him at their swings and put his ring on her finger. Yes his dreams have been slowly coming true since she walked into that book party and took him in for questioning. Castle can't help but believe that his dreams have always been about Kate he just didn't know it at the time. He is snapped back to reality when they are being escorted back to an office and Kate finally releases his hand but not before flashing him a smile over her shoulder.
Kate really doesn't like the slime ball sitting across from them. Brian Lewis looks every bit the wealth maker image that he wants to portray. His seat at the oak desk is surrounded by pictures of most of the Fortune 100 wealthiest people but she's not impressed. In her career Kate has learned to see past the image and into the person beyond. Her partner seated next to her is an example of what happens when she does. As it is in this case all she sees under the exterior is a man who wants the power and wealth his clients have. "Mr. Lewis, I understand you sent someone to check on Melissa when she didn't show up for work today. Was it that uncommon for her to not come into work that it required someone to go there personally?"
"Yes I did Detective and yes it was. You see Melissa was my right hand. I brought her in three years ago. She's been my personal assistant since."
"In those three years you two must have learned a little about each other. Do you know if she has any family or a boyfriend we can get in contact with?"
"Melissa was orphaned at 16 when her parents died in a car accident. She never mentioned having any other family and I assume by her being put in the system there wasn't any. We all spent most of our time here at work but I believe she may have been dating someone. I can't be sure though. There have been some office rumors about it but I don't put much weight into those."
Kate sat a little straighter in her chair. Something about the way Brian was acting wasn't adding up. Before she could put her suspicions into words Castle spoke up. "What kind of rumors?"
"We tried to have a professional relationship Mr. Castle."
Before Brian could finish his thought Kate pounced. "Tried to? You were her boss, her employer, what wasn't professional about the relationship?"
"Spending as much time with someone as we did you get to know them as more than just an employee."
"So you knew her as more than an employee but you can't be sure if she had a boyfriend? Which is it Mr. Lewis?"
"Both I suppose. We talked but she never brought it up and I never asked."
"Do you know of anyone who would have wanted to hurt Melissa?"
"Melissa was loved by everyone. I don't know who would have done this to her. She will be greatly missed around here."
It is clear to Kate that they won't be getting any more out of Mr. Lewis. With a small nod to Castle they both rise from their seats extending hands in his direction. "Thank you Mr. Lewis. I'll be in touch if we need anymore information." Brian shakes their hands quickly. As they begin to walk towards the door he clears his throat stopping them. Kate looks over her shoulder as Brian says, "Can you let me know when her body is released? I would like to give her some kind of funeral."
Kate is stunned by the slightly odd request but has the state of mind to respond. "I'll have the medical examiners office get in touch with you." As they resume their walk out of the office Kate turns to see the same puzzled look on Castle's face. Why would an employer be concerned about an employee having a funeral unless the relationship went beyond the office?
Castle can tell that Kate is getting more than a little annoyed with his continued text message conversation as they drive towards the precinct. So what if he is calling in reinforcements to make sure that Kate is willing to get on that plane tonight? She will thank him when they wake up tomorrow morning to the ocean air blowing through the windows. After he catches her third glare in less than five minutes he decides it's time to distract her from his ongoing text conversation and back onto the case. If nothing else maybe they can solve this one fast and he can have some alone time with her at the loft before the flight. God he wants her.
"Why would a guy who rubs elbows with that kind of money want to pay for a funeral for his assistant?"
Kate seems to be caught of guard by his sudden question and the red tint to her cheeks points at her thought process following his to the activities they shared in the shower this morning.
"Maybe he cared for her and without any living family he feels compelled to."
"Or maybe they were having an affair and he feels guilty for it so the funeral is his way of washing his hands of it forever. Oh, maybe he killed her to hide the affair and it's way of absolving himself."
"I'll buy that the affair is plausible but I don't see Brian Lewis as the killing type. I don't think he can tie his own shoes without someone's assistance. Wouldn't want to get those pretty hands of his dirty."
"Why Detective Beckett I do believe I am rubbing off on you."
"You did a fair amount off rubbing me off last night. But we haven't tried you rubbing off on me."
Castle almost chokes on the sip of coffee he had just taken. Did Kate really just say that? He loves this woman. Even in the middle of a case she is teasing him. They need to get home and fast. He is about to respond when her phone rings. He answers for her when he sees that it's Esposito driving, putting it on speaker. "Beckett."
"Hey Beckett. Looks like our vic had a boyfriend. Grant King. He lives in Hartford. I'm sending you his information now. Canvas also popped a guy in the building approaching our vic's apartment during our time of death window. Witness is with a sketch artist now."
"Great. Any news on the murder weapon?"
"No gun was found in the apartment but we have uniforms checking nearby dumpsters. Looks like this may have been a robbery gone wrong. Some electronics are missing. CSU is finishing up as we speak so we should have the full report soon."
"Ok let's look at traffic cams for any signs of our guy when we get the sketch. Also run a comparison to her boss Brian Lewis. I got a vibe from that guy."
"I'll look into his history as well. Why don't you two stop and grab some food on the way back? We're starving." his voice becoming distracted near the end.
"Will do."
Castle hangs up the phone and gives Kate an eyebrow wiggle when she looks at him. "Don't even think about it Castle."
"Come on Kate. The loft is five minutes away and on the way to the station. We can stop into your favorite deli from there. No one will ever know."
He can't believe it when it looks like she is actually considering it. Kate Beckett sneaking away from a case to have a quickie. But he isn't dealing with Kate Beckett, this is Kate Castle and she is full of surprises. When she parks in front of their building he wastes no time in exiting the car and rushing her into the lobby.
Esposito hangs up the phone after finishing with Beckett and turns expecting to fill in Ryan on their next steps. Captain Gates interrupts him before he can even speak. "What do we have gentlemen?"
"Melissa Carson looks to have been killed in a robbery gone wrong. A few items were missing from her apartment and we still haven't located the murder weapon. We believe that he surprised her, she fought back and he shot her. We have a witness that saw an unknown male leaving the building quickly during our time of death window."
"Where are we on a sketch?" It comes out as a question but both men know she means it as an order. How she manages that tone, no one can understand.
Esposito answers for his partner. "It should be done shortly. We are going to compare it to the video from the area as well as her co-workers and boss."
"Looks like you two have this under control. I would like to wrap this case quickly and allow Mr. Castle and Detective Beckett the opportunity to make it to their honeymoon."
They reply in unison with a yes sir as she returns to her office shutting the door. Espo is sitting at his computer uploading footage when Ryan says, "She might actually like Castle now."
"I don't know man, a couple weeks of not having to watch the newlyweds make goo goo eyes at each other might be nice."
"Jealous much Javi? Wish it was you and Lanie?"
Espo doesn't reply but turns back to his work ignoring the pain that flares in his chest. If only it could be Lanie and him.
Thirty minutes and one amazing trip to the loft later Kate sees Castle coming out of the deli, bags and coffees in hand, as she finishes up her call. She rubs a hand down her face in frustration. All the relaxation that Castle had managed to achieve not twenty minutes ago was lost during that call.
It's never easy to notify a victim's family that their love one is gone but it's even worse when it's over the phone. Without chance to reassure people in person the words of condolence and promises for justice seem hollow and fall of deaf ears. The call to Grant King hadn't been any different. He was heartbroken and the only thing she could do was work her hardest to find the killer.
Castle stumbling into the car breaks her from her reverie. He manages to right all the bags and hand her a coffee while sitting in his familiar seat. He's always here when she needs him and he must pick up on her mood. Without looking at her he manages to pinpoint her grief in a single word. "Boyfriend?"
"Yea. He didn't take the news to well. He's catching the next train back into the city."
"Can't be easy living that far away from the person you love."
How does he do that? He manages to find the one thing that hits the hardest. What if it had been Castle to receive that phone call when she was in DC? What would he have done? "We did it for a couple months."
"And do you remember how hard that ended up being. Thank god for phones with cameras and waterproof cases."
She can't help the smile that comes out. The gratitude for this man who manages to make her smile in the face of death, who can break her out of her own head so quickly. This is why she showed up and why she married him. But his comment can't come without repercussion so she smacks his chest. He grabs her hand before she can manage to bring it back to the steering wheel. He places a kiss to the back of it before allowing her to continue driving.
This man who loves her so fiercely and has all of her love deserves more than she can ever give him. That is why they are getting back to the precinct as fast as possible to finish up this case. She has plans for her husband that have nothing to do with this case and everything to with the little black number she hid at the bottom of her suitcase when they were at the loft.
TBC…