Title: Rock Foundation

Disclaimer: I do not own the Castle characters or their story lines. I just borrow them for fun.

Summary: A Sequel of sorts for my one-shot Rock Solid. Kate and Rick deal with the aftermath of Knockdown and move forward with their lives, learning to balance their partnership with their budding relationship.

Author's note: So, we're entering the land of the case now. This is my first actual attempt at a crime procedural, so feedback is more than welcome. I hope you enjoy this chapter, which is much shorter than the last, but I wanted to save some good stuff for the next one too.

Chapter VIII

How's your night going?

Rick glanced down at his phone from his position with his feet on his desk, laptop suspended between his knees and his stomach, and smiled. He grabbed the gadget and replied:

Good. Quiet. Alexis is out. You?

Just got back from dinner with Lanie.

Rick chuckled.

Has she seen the paper yet?

He turned back to his laptop and wrote a few more lines. Nikki was currently making her way through the sewer with Rook, in a bit of a nod to the Old Haunt's history.

She did. And don't think you won't be hearing about it from her too. She must have grilled me for forever. And then, of course, we rehashed Josh. It was a girl-talk extravaganza.

Rick smiled and put his laptop down, saving the document for another quiet evening. He made his way into the kitchen and grabbed some apple slices from the fridge before he sat down on the couch and hit speed dial 3.

"What's up, Castle?"

"Nothing, just calling. You typed out extravaganza in your text. I figured I could spare your hands; don't want you getting 'blackberry thumb' now, do we?"

"Blackberry thumb?"

"I swear it's the medical term for carpal-tunnel in the thumb!"

Kate laughed. "If you say so."

"What have you been up to since dinner? It's getting late."

"Relaxing. Just finished Tick Tock actually."

"Did you like it?"

"It was good, no Storm Fall or anything, but it was good."

Rick grinned and gave her a laugh. "Thanks. Oh, and speaking of late!" he exclaimed as Alexis came in, looking exhausted. "Hey Honey, how are you?"

"Good. Tired. Too much studying," Alexis mumbled as she came over and gave him a kiss on the head. "Night Dad. Night Kate." With that she stumbled up the stairs and out of sight.

"How did she know it was me?" Kate asked.

"I have no idea," Rick replied, staring after his daughter. These women, they would kill him one day.

"Well, I should probably go to sleep," Kate said after a moment.

"Alright. Goodnight, Kate."

"Until tomorrow, Rick."

The line went dead and Rick simply stared at windows. It was shaping up to be a very good week.

…

The phone woke Kate a mere five hours after she'd gotten off the phone with Rick. With a groan, she rolled over and grabbed her cell from the nightstand, holding it to her ear with great effort.

"Beckett," she mumbled into the mouthpiece.

"Sorry to wake you Detective, but there's been a murder."

"S'fine. Where?" Kate yawned as she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of her bed.

"688 Madison Ave, Apartment 541."

"Got it. On my way. Thank you," Kate told the dispatcher. She closed her phone and gave a great sigh, glancing at her alarm clock. The glaring green lights winked back at her: 4:07am.

Kate stumbled into the bathroom and put herself together, deciding to pin up her hair and cover the bags under her eyes. She threw on a comfortable black turtleneck and was hopping into her work slacks when she glanced at the bed and saw her phone. Would Rick really want to wake up now to go to a crime scene? She bit her lip and thought for a moment. Well, if she was going to be miserable, she wasn't going to do it alone.

She hit number 4 on her speed dial and went into the kitchen to grab a granola bar; coffee would have to wait.

"Castle," came the sleepy reply.

"Sorry to wake you, Castle, but we've got a murder," Kate told him while she put her shoes on and grabbed her gun. "You can go back to sleep if you want."

"You're a bit late, Detective," he replied. Kate could hear him rustling around on the other line.

"Excuse me?" Kate asked, holstering her gun.

"And it's not raining," Rick continued as Kate heard the distinctive sound of drawers opening and shutting. "But I'll take it."

She gave a small laugh. "I'll be there in 10. Be ready to go," she told him before she hung up and grabbed her jacket.

She drove with the windows cracked and the cold air blasting as she made her way through the nearly deserted streets of Manhattan just before the morning traffic rush. She parked outside of Rick's building and sent him a text. Within two minutes, he was sitting, bleary-eyed beside her.

"So, what are we investigating today?" he asked as they sped away toward Madison Ave.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Kate replied. "I just got the call telling me to come down."

"They never wait for a decent hour, do they?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "I'll let the murderers of Manhattan know that you don't appreciate their timetable, Castle."

"Thank you."

They pulled up to the building and parked across the street. Esposito, who looked none-too-pleased to be awake, met them at the door to the building, and brought them up in the elevator to the 5th floor.

"What have we got?" Kate asked as they stepped out and met Ryan.

"Woman, mid-thirties, by the name of Sarah James."

He showed them into the apartment and brought them over to the kitchen, where Lanie was hunched over the body.

"What can you tell me, Lanie?" Kate asked, crouching down to examine the body while the boys stood off to the side.

"I'd say the COD was blunt-force trauma. Either she was hit with something or she took a nasty tumble and landed on the corner of the counter. Whatever it was, it killed her pretty instantly."

Kate glanced over at the counter, which was dented with items strew all over it. "Any signs of a struggle?"

"She's got contusions on both of her arms," Lanie said as she lifted the woman's sleeve to show the bruising, "and there's some scratches on her face. Her lips don't look too good either."

"Someone tried to kill her using her lips?" Rick asked from behind Kate.

Lanie looked up at him without humor. "More like someone tried to bite them off while kissing her." She brought her gaze back to Kate. "You bring him just to annoy me?"

Kate suppressed her smiled and shook her head. "Ryan, how did someone find her?"

"Next-door-neighbor, Jonie Pritchard, called about an hour ago to report a disturbance. Apparently, Sarah wasn't too happy with whoever she was in here with. Jonie said there was a lot of screaming, and then, suddenly, there wasn't."

"Thanks, Ryan, Lanie," Kate said as she stood and walked around the apartment. "There's no sign of forced entry, or a struggle anywhere other than the kitchen. And," she pointed to two wine glasses and a crumpled blanket on the couch, "it looks like she and whoever she was with were having a pretty nice evening. Have CSU sweep the place, see if they pick up any prints. Have the glasses tested."

"Excuse me," a man called from the doorway. His eyes fell on Sarah's body and he let out a strangled gasp. "Is that Sarah?"

"I'm sorry Sir, this is an authorized site. Who are you?" Kate asked as the boys moved past the stranger to make their calls.

"I'm Keith Cloves, Sarah's best friend and Howie's Godfather." Kate nodded to one of the uniforms to have him check Keith's identity. "Is she dead?" he asked quietly.

"I'm sorry to say that she is," Kate told him gently.

He took a shuddering breath and slumped against the wall by the door, dropping his gym bag and putting his head in his hands. "What happened?"

"We're still not sure," Kate replied. "It looks as if there was a struggle and she hit her head on the counter in the wrong way. When was the last time you saw her?"

Keith looked haunted. "Last night. We had dinner, some wine," he gestured to the glasses on the coffee table, "and watched a movie. Her husband, Will, and son, Howie, were visiting his mother, but Sarah had a meeting, so she couldn't join them."

"When will her husband get back?" Kate asked.

"Later today. I think they were supposed to be back by 3pm."

"Did anything seem off last night?" Rick asked him.

"No, no. She was in a really good mood. The meeting'd gone well and she'd just gotten a bonus. It was a fun night."

"How long have you known Mrs. James?" Kate asked.

"Since college. We were roommates for a few years, and then we moved to the city. She met Will at her first job, at the Met. He's a musician," he pointed to the French horn in the corner. "They got married a few years ago, and had Howie in 2009."

"When did you leave last night?" asked Castle.

"Um, around 1, maybe?" he sighed. "I'm sorry I can't be more specific. We tend to lose track of time."

"Can anyone corroborate that?" Kate asked gently.

His head snapped up. "You don't think I killed her, do you? My God, she's my best friend! I'm her son's Godfather."

"I'm sorry, it's simply protocol," Kate told him. "But we need to know."

Keith ran a hand over his face. "I bumped into my neighbor, Paul Sterik, as I was going back to my apartment. I'm sure he could vouch for me. We live two floors down."

"Alright, thank you," Kate nodded to Rick, who went and told the uniforms to check out Keith's alibi.

"Can I leave?" Keith asked after a moment, glancing at Sarah's motionless body.

"Of course. Just give your information to Detective Ryan in the hall, and we'll be in contact," Kate replied.

Keith nodded and left quickly, looking close to a break down.

"What do you think?" Rick asked Kate once Keith had disappeared.

Kate was about to reply when her phone rang. "Beckett. What have you got? Okay. Yep. Thanks." She closed her phone with a sigh. "The building doesn't have surveillance anywhere but the lobby, so once anyone's in the elevator, that's it. CSU will be here in 15 to do the sweep, and they'll let us know," she relayed to Rick. "We may as well head back to the Precinct and find out what we can dig up about this family."

Rick nodded and followed her out and down to her Crown Vic. They were silent for a few minutes of the drive as they slogged through the rush hour traffic.

"You okay?" Rick asked.

She glanced over at him and gave a small smile. "I'm fine. I'm tired, and this'll be a long one."

"How can you tell?"

"There was very little struggle. It happened in a building without proper surveillance. There's no murder weapon, and the last person to see her alive didn't notice anything suspicious going on. She must have let the killer into the apartment, so it's someone she knew, and that's difficult. Hopefully the lobby surveillance will shed some light, but it's unlikely."

"We'll figure it out," he told her, laying a hand over hers on the seat.

Kate looked at their hands. When she and Will had worked together, she'd had a strict 'don't touch me' policy. With Tom, they'd been less than discrete. And now, with Rick…well, there wasn't really anything going on with Rick, so to speak.

"Is this okay?" Rick asked quietly. He really could read her mind.

Kate felt a wall break somewhere and fought a smile. "I'll need it back when we make a turn," she replied evenly.

She caught sight of Rick's enormous grin before he managed to get his facial features into submission. She would have giggled, but it would ruin the 'playing it cool' vibe she was going for, so she resisted, and they drove for another 10 blocks in silence. She reluctantly removed her hand from beneath his as they turned into the garage at the 12th.

They got out of the car and walked into the Precinct to the elevator. They stood close together, nearly touching, as was their norm; but there was something else that crackled between them until the bell dinged, letting them know that they were approaching the bullpen. Rick stepped a few inches away from her, and when the doors opened, Kate felt a shift in their interaction. They were Beckett and Castle again, or rather, they were only Beckett and Castle now. Rick and Kate would get to see each other at lunch, if they were lucky enough to get that, and maybe after work.

"Yo Beckett!" Esposito called when they reached her desk.

"What have you got for me, Espo?"

"One Sarah James took out a restraining order against a Matthew Collins two weeks ago, and guess where he lives?"

"Vic's building?" Rick put in. Kate suppressed a smile as Esposito rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. And, check it, no alibi. They're bringing him in now."

"Great. Thanks," Kate told him before she sat and opened her email to read up on the suspect.

"Coffee?" Rick asked. Kate looked up at him hopefully. "The strongest, largest coffee I can make?"

"Please and thank you," Kate replied. Rick nodded and made his way into the break room.

Kate studied Collins' profile. At the tender age of 27, He'd already done a nickel upstate for theft and aggravated assault, and had restraining orders from not just Sarah James, but also a few people in his past work places. He'd had a troubled childhood, had no living relatives, and had been a foster kid. Profile wise, he definitely fit, especially since one of his assaults had been a sexual assault charge; it would certainly explain the bruising on Sarah's lips.

Rick placed her travel mug down on her desk and sat down in his seat. "A massive quantity of caffeine, at your service."

"Thank you, Castle," Kate said as she hurriedly took a sip and closed her eyes at the instant relief (yeah, caffeine wasn't a dangerously addictive drug at all) it brought to her system.

"Feel a bit better?" Castle asked.

"Definitely. And," she beckoned him over and he stood and looked at the screen over her shoulder, "Collin's looks like our guy."

"Aggravated assault, restraining orders, nickel upstate? Wow! He's a winner," Rick said, his face very close to her ear.

Kate turned to look at him and found herself much closer to Rick than she was expecting to be. They stared at each other for a moment before there was a cough to the right of Kate's desk.

"Am I interrupting something?" Ryan asked, a smirk on his face.

"Not really," Kate and Rick replied together. Ryan's eyebrows rose as Rick quickly sat back down and Kate shuffled papers aimlessly on her desk. "What have you got for me?" Kate asked, her cheeks slightly pink.

"Collins," Ryan replied. "They just brought him into the interrogation room."

"Alright Castle, looks like it's time to arrest a guy for murder."

"My favorite!" Rick exclaimed. He jumped up and together they made their way to the interrogation room.