A/N- Thanks to Jo for being an awesome beta and for telling me that my idea wasn't crazy. Thanks to Joanna and Megan for being great encouragement with this. And thanks to all the readers of my little story.

Disclaimer- I do not own Castle or some of the dialogue that is taken from one of the episodes.

The More Things Change...

...the more they stay the same. Kate Beckett is bored with life, but when a serial killer starts dedicating murders to her- someone enters the scene to aid with the investigation and her life may never be the same. Season 2- AU Caskett meeting.

Chapter 3

Blinking in disbelief, Kate lowered her gun so she didn't accidentally shoot the uninvited guest at her door.

"I thought you could use the company and some wine," he greeted, motioning to the bottle in his hands on the way to her kitchen.

"Um—wha—what?" She stammered a bit, staring at the writer making himself home in her apartment. "Castle, why are you here? I mean, how are you here? Who told you where I lived?"

"The Medical Examiner. The one from the crime scene—Lanie? She said you guys were friends and that you wouldn't mind me stopping by—" he called over to her, opening one of her cabinets. She was still in a state of shock standing with her hand on the doorknob.

"Of course she did—" Beckett muttered to herself with a roll of her eyes and retreated to her couch.

"Did you say something?"

"No, but seriously Castle. I was just about to go to sleep," she replied, watching as he poured out two large glasses of wine. Turning her head to the file on her coffee table, she jumped a bit when she found him next to her a moment later.

"Here," he smiled, handing her the glass.

"No—no, Castle. I'm really fine," she tried to object. Wine in her apartment with Richard Castle; this was the stuff of fantasy, but she lived in the real world—not fantasyland.

"Jordan said you needed to decompress. Nothing decompresses like a 2000 chateaunef-du-pape," he countered with a wink. She could tell he was really trying to lay on the charm, but what she caught was a glimpse of something else in his eyes. He almost seemed nervous; maybe the charming playboy façade was just that, an act.

"Oh, well. If Special Agent Shaw said so," Beckett teased with a roll of her eyes.

"I thought Jordan said she put a protective detail on your place?" Rick asked, ignoring her previous objection.

"Yeah—I sent them home when I got into my apartment." She shrugged as Castle's jaw dropped.

"She had them here for a reason, Kate. Jordan was trying to keep you safe. It's her job."

"Oh, it's Kate now?" she countered, avoiding the Jordan praise.

"Well, I figured we're outside of your precinct, enjoying a glass of wine. Kate was more appropriate." She frowned, unwilling to acknowledge the flutter of nervousness in her stomach that made itself known when he used her first name.

"Uh, yeah—I guess it's fine. But, Castle, why are you here?" she asked, changing the topic back to safer topics; work—and the case.

"Why did you send the detail home?" he repeated, meeting her eyes as he asked the question, and creating a spark of tension in the room.

"Castle, I'm a cop. I can protect myself. I don't need your muse sending people to babysit me. Is that why you're here? Did Shaw send you?"

"I wouldn't call Shaw my muse, per se. And contrary to popular belief, I don't listen to everything Jordan tells me to do. So, no, she didn't send me. I just honestly wanted to make sure you were okay. I've seen enough cases following her around to know that usually the killer doesn't leave the object of his obsession alone. The obsession drives them until the final confrontation…" his voice broke away and he looked down at his glass.

"That's considerate, really. But, I can take care of myself. I'm perfectly capable." Maybe it was the confidence of her voice or the strength in her words; but his head popped back up to look at her. The way he looked at her—it was electric.

"Not saying you're not. You seem—" Castle paused for a moment—he must have felt it too. That tension; too much, too soon. She watched him gulp down a quick drink of his wine and continued. "Yes, you seem more than capable." He gazed at her for another second, but Beckett avoided his eyes.

Taking one small sip of her wine, she scooted a little further away from him. They just met today yet there was something about the man sitting on her couch that had her smitten. No, she wasn't smitten. This was just a case and he was just consulting. Once it was closed, he would be out of her hair and she would go back to her normal, structured life. The silence of the room was putting her more and more on edge.

"Can I ask you a question?" At least he cut the tension.

"You just did—but I'm assuming that wasn't what you meant," she smirked.

"Why do you wear a man's watch?" Oh. Not the question she was expecting. Though, she wasn't entirely sure what she thought he was going to ask, but her watch? Furthest thing from her mind.

"It's my father's," Beckett faltered for a moment but then she saw the flash of concern in his eyes. "He died almost 11 years ago."

"Kate—I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No, Castle. It's fine. It was just an accident, or so we were told," she replied, looking down at her hands and fidgeting with her nails.

"We?" Kate looked up from his question. Apparently they weren't dropping the subject.

"My mom and I. She was my rock throughout the entire ordeal. I was really close with my parents, so I was devastated to lose my Dad." The confidence in her words was wavering. She hardly knew this man and yet she was baring her soul to him.

"Seems completely understandable when you lose a parent. But why weren't you convinced it was an accident?" he pressed.

"I am now. My mom and I went to family counseling sessions—helped ease some of the conspiracy theories that I had racing around in my nineteen year old head. It all just seemed so off at that time—" His expression as she spoke was completely sincere; his brow knitted together, and he seemed worried about her.

"Is that why you became a cop?" Castle's expression changed as his eyes lit up with curiosity; like he was trying to write her story in his head.

"Partially. I wanted to help others find answers when their family members were killed. Maybe find them answers that I could never truly find. But the other part was my Mom," she sighed.

"She wanted you to become a cop?"

"No, of course not! She wanted me to be a lawyer like she is, but I didn't want to live in her shadow. She's amazing at her job and I knew I could never compete with that. Plus I still had a slight dose of rebellion coursing through my veins—so that played into it a bit." She tried to joke, but anytime she talked about her Dad the pang of remorse and devastation hit her hard. "Just wish I hadn't been in my rebellious phase when he died—my wild child phase was the last thing he knew about me."

"Beckett—" Castle tried, but she cut him off with a shake of her head, trying to push away her emotion by clearing her throat. "Kate?" She gave him a small, tight smile.

"I'm fine, Castle. So, the case…"

"Yes—sure. The case." Castle nodded, but she could see a flash of something in his features. Confusion? Concern?

"It doesn't make sense. Why did he take the body? He left all the other victims where they were killed. Why not this girl?" She flipped through the file, her teeth grazing against her lip.

"He's changing it up," he considered, apparently content to move on to the safer conversation topics.

"Or she's special?" Kate wondered, but her thoughts were cut off as he continued to talk.

"Jordan didn't think that she was special."

"Well if you're so impressed by Shaw and her smart boards and her fancy technology—" Shoving the file onto her table, she glared at him with a little more annoyance then was probably appropriate for someone she had just met. Someone whom she had just spilled her secrets to…

"The FBI has more tools at their disposal, but Kate, it's not a competition. Jordan works differently than you from what I've observed."

"Then go build theory with her, Castle. I didn't ask you to come over to my place," she snapped, sounding a bit like a jealous girlfriend. The words were falling from her mouth before she could suck them back in. What was this man doing to her?

"I have built plenty of theories with her. She's intelligent and that's why I pulled so many strings to be able to follow her, but Kate—"

"That's great, Castle. Then why aren't you with her now. Go build some more theory with her so I can go to bed." She stood, her heart thudding in her chest as she struggled to rein her anger in.

"I'm here because just watching you work is inspiring. The computers do most of the heavy lifting with Jordan and her team; but not you, Kate. It's all in your mind. Today has been fascinating to be able to see you in action…" She had no clue how he had done it, but in a matter of seconds she went from fuming to flattered. Kate's cheeks flushed with embarrassment and she bit her lip to suppress the smile that wanted to break free. "And it doesn't hurt that you're hot."

And there it was; she had been waiting for it, and now the other shoe had dropped.

"Castle!" She glared at him and shook her head, mustering as much calm as she could while motioning to the door for his exit. "I'm going to bed. So thanks for all the kind words and pick up lines, but it's been a long day."

"Oh, I'm not leaving. I'm here to protect you," he objected, resituating himself onto the couch.

"What—with your vast arsenal of rapier wit?"

"There is a madman gunning for you and you called off the protective detail. I am not going to leave you alone."

"Okay, fine. I'm too tired to argue. But if I see that doorknob turn, I will have you know, Mr. Castle, that I sleep with a gun," she replied, a tight smile forming on her face.

"Understood." He smirked at her while adjusting a pillow on the couch. In shock, Kate stared at him as he laid down onto the cushions, before she willed her body to move into her bedroom. How was this her life? Richard Castle was going to sleep on her sofa to be her bodyguard? Pinching the back of her hand hard, she jumped from the pain.

Yep—still real.

Cracking her eyelids open, Beckett woke up in a haze. Still half asleep, yet at the same time she was entirely too aware that Richard Castle was sleeping in her living room. She turned toward her nightstand to see the clock's digital display. Seven A.M. It looked like she couldn't avoid leaving her room any longer. Agent Shaw had told her to go home last night, but now—she had a body to find.

Tip-toeing out of her room, Kate craned her neck out her doorway to see if she could catch sight of the uninvited houseguest. She was surprised to find the couch was empty with no evidence of him. He must have left already, to her — disappointment — relief? She took a deep breath, wiped the remaining sleep out of her eyes, and made a beeline to the kitchen to make coffee.

Oh.

He was standing there in her kitchen. And she was in her pajamas. Perfect!

"You're still here—and you're making pancakes…" she stuttered in disbelief.

"I was hoping for bacon and eggs, but your eggs were expired and your bacon had something furry on it," he responded, making a face regarding the ancient food in her fridge.

"Um—yeah well I mostly order in. Coffee?" she sighed, not ready for mental sparring with Mr. Martha Stewart before her first cup.

"Yes, coffee's brewed. I think your filter's broken though. I can order you a new one if you'd like?" She stared at him. He had made himself completely at home in her kitchen and now he was going to order her a part for her coffee maker? What? This man, who had been a complete stranger to her less than two days ago, was cooking her breakfast like it was the most normal thing in the world. At this point, the amount of times she had pinched herself—it was surprising she hadn't started forming bruises.

"Castle—you're talking a lot. And I haven't even had a sip, let alone a cup," she retorted, regretting the outburst when he winced.

"Sorry. I just wanted to make you a good breakfast before you headed into the precinct. Figured, long day and all?" He gave her a hesitant smile. Damn, this man really was sweet and he was actually trying to be a nice guy. She really needed to set aside her preconceived notions of him and his status. Maybe without her blinders on, she could admit he was being helpful.

"Thank you, Castle. This was all very thoughtful. Kind of perfect." She patted his hand after taking a drink of her freshly poured mug.

"Not perfect, yet. I forgot the paper!" Of course, the newspaper would be an important part of the writer's morning.

"Castle, it's fine. We don't have time for the paper—I still have a body to find," she objected as he opened the front door.

"Oh!" He jumped back with a startled screech. "Looks like it found you."

Shit!

Before long her apartment was swarming with NYPD and FBI alike; questioning, gathering evidence, and examining the body. Ryan and Esposito couldn't control their smirks when they arrived at the scene to find Beckett in pajamas and Castle in last night's clothes. She knew she would NEVER hear the end of this.

"Well isn't this cozy," Ryan laughed as Beckett stood uncomfortably in her own kitchen.

"Ryan—just take my statement so I can get dressed for the day," Kate snapped at him, while bringing an arm across her body, feeling a bit exposed.

"So you had just gotten up—"

"Yeah, Castle just finished making breakfast and he went to the door…"

"Castle, huh? I didn't realize you were that close. I thought you just met him yesterday…" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, we did just meet yesterday…" Beckett responded, ignoring any implication he was trying to make.

"I see. Met yesterday and this morning Castle was making you breakfast," he chuckled before schooling his features. "What kind of breakfast?"

"I'm sorry?" Beckett questioned - or apologized. At this point she really wasn't sure what she was saying or why. Ryan knew her, but she also feared that both he and Esposito had the wrong idea about what had - or hadn't! - happened between her and Castle.

"What kind of breakfast was he making?"

"Pancakes." Kate looked at Ryan. Why did the type of breakfast food matter to her statement?

"Well isn't that domestic," he smirked. Maybe, they just enjoyed messing with her. She was definitely leaning toward that as a theory because it appeared that Esposito was having just as much fun getting Castle's statement.

"Ryan—cut it out. From what I can gather, the killer had about a three hour window to leave the body. The paper is delivered at four and we were up around seven," Beckett explained, trying to avoiding anymore of Ryan's mock judgment.

"And what time exactly did you and Mr. Castle go to bed last night?" he asked trying to hold back his laugh.

"I think we're done here." She glared at him and walked over to take another sip of coffee. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Agent Shaw pull Castle off to the side; she didn't appear to be too pleased.

"I told you to go home Castle. I didn't tell you to sleep with one of the Detectives on the case," she hissed loudly enough that Beckett could hear the conversation.

"We didn't sleep together, Jordan. Not that it's any of your business, but I came over out of concern for her safety. I slept on her couch. End of story."

"I promised you wouldn't interfere with the case. Don't make a liar out of me!" She stormed away toward the body, when Beckett caught Castle's eye. He looked a bit like a toddler who had just been reprimanded for not playing well with others. Mouthing the word, 'Sorry' to the writer, she met the Agent by the body ready for her wrath.

"Shaw—nothing happened. Castle just stopped by yesterday for support and to talk about the case."

"Detective, I don't care what you and Castle do. I just don't want it disrupting finding this killer," Jordan replied, her voice even, void of emotion.

"Once again—there's nothing, so it won't." She had never been in a position before where she had been lectured for being anything less than professional on a job. This disapproving stare that Shaw was giving her was more than infuriating. If it hadn't been for, Castle showing up uninvited—she could shoot him. Hell maybe she should have when he'd shown up unannounced. But he was standing off to the side, and he looked almost as upset as she was feeling. This definitely wasn't his fault.

"So I guess we know now why he took the body," Jordan said, snapping back into the case.

"I know where you live," Kate almost whispered.

"That and he's blaming this one on you. You didn't stop him—so this is your fault," she explained. Kate knew she was just profiling the suspect, but it didn't make her feel any better about the situation. She should have caught this guy by now. He was just toying with her; making her look like an idiot.

"Once they get the slugs back at the morgue; hopefully we'll have more to go on." Beckett snapped out of her internal rambling. They needed to find this guy before he could hurt anyone else.

"Yes, I'll meet you two back at the precinct. Once you're dressed of course," she commented, leaving Beckett to hope that it would be the final dig on the circumstance they had found themselves in this morning. She needed to get some distance between Castle and the domesticity of the situation as soon as possible.

After everyone cleared from her apartment, Castle hung back for a moment to say goodbye.

"You know I can still finish making you the pancakes?" he said before she shot him down with a glare. "Okay that's a no to pancakes—got it." Castle laughed, as she stormed off to her room to get changed.

By the time she made it into the precinct, she found a fresh travel mug of coffee waiting for her on her desk. A small smile broke out onto her face at the thoughtfulness of Jordan's shadow, but no one was anywhere in the bullpen. With all the Feds huddled in the conference room, Beckett figured this would be the perfect time to run down to the morgue to check in with Lanie.

"So I heard you and a certain mystery writer were making pancakes when the body dropped." Lanie smirked at her as Kate walked through the door.

"Doesn't anyone say hello anymore?"

"Fine. Hi, Kate. Now spill!" she demanded, turning to face her friend instead of the corpse on the table.

"Lanie, there's nothing to tell. After finding out where I lived, no thanks to you—He came over because he wanted to help with the case. Then he refused to leave—then the body and now I'm here," Kate explained as straightforwardly as possible.

"I have a feeling you're leaving out a few details. But fine, keep it all inside until you get an ulcer the size of Cleveland," she quipped.

"He's sweet, but he's just here to help out with this case. When it's done, he'll be gone and life will go back to normal." At this point, Kate wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Lanie or herself.

"You mean go back to being boring! Girl, I haven't seen you with anyone in years. And what about that guy I tried to set you up with a couple months ago?" Lanie countered.

"The firefighter?"

"Yes- the firefighter that saved a puppy! And you managed to focus solely on the case while you were at dinner with him."

Yeah that had been an awkward evening. The guy had been hot, but they had had nothing in common and her mind couldn't focus on anything aside from the investigation she had been in the middle of.

"You found out about that?" Kate winced at the thought of what her date had to say about her.

"Of course I did. Brad gave me an earful. Told me the next time I set him up with someone it better be with someone who was actually interested in being out on a date."

"Ouch. That bad?"

"Yes! I'm just saying. From what the boys were telling me, this guy seems fun and you could definitely use some of that in your life."

"Like I said Lanie, he's just here for the case. He's not interested in some cop when he could have his pick of any random woman," Kate paused and gave her a half hearted laugh. "I will bet you that when we catch this killer—I will never see or hear the name Richard Castle again unless it's on a book jacket."

"You never know—"

"Anyway—what was on the slugs?" Kate interrupted, moving them back on topic.

"I already told Agent Shaw and your writer boy—" she smirked with a raised eyebrow which earned her an eye roll. "The slugs spelled out burn…"

"Kate will burn…" Beckett cringed at the final message. That was a haunting threat.

"You okay?" she questioned. Shaking her head, Beckett tried to remove the dread from her system.

"Yeah, that's just a little creepy. Anything else you found on the body?"

"Embalming fluid," she said.

"Embalming fluid? Odd. I'm going to go see if Shaw has anything further."

"Yep, but Kate. Seriously think about it. He could be good—" Lanie started to circle back to her lecture, but Beckett shot down her train of thought.

"There's nothing to think about, Lanie. I'll talk to you later." She called over her shoulder on the way out the door.

Reaching the homicide floor, Kate found Espo and Ryan hovering by her desk. They both had a look of concern on their faces and she could only assume that they had heard what the bullets spelled out. Sure they were partners, but at the end of the day, those two were more like protective brothers.

"Guys?" She glanced between them, neither one seeming to know what to say.

"Beckett—" Shaw called over to her from the conference room. Kate turned back to the guys and gave them a tight smile.

"I'm okay. Let's just catch this guy." She gave them an encouraging nod and headed to be briefed by the FBI. When she entered the room, she saw Montgomery off in one corner strategizing with a couple of agents, but Shaw waved her over to the board.

"We were able to piece together and trace the evidence to Ben Conrad," Shaw explained, catching Beckett up on everything she had missed while she was talking with Lanie at the morgue.

"Known address?"

"Confirming it now. Let's go catch this bastard," Jordan responded, turning to her team to finalize the plan. Kate looked around the room and saw Castle hanging back in the corner. Intrigued to why the nosy crime novelist would be avoiding the front line of the investigation, Beckett paced back to check on him.

"Kate will burn?" Castle whispered to her, the worry apparent on his features.

"You heard?" she asked, trying to laugh it off.

"Of course I heard. Beckett—" She shook her head and stopped him from whatever he planned on saying.

"Hey, not everyone can have as many fans as you do, Castle," she said, trying to keep her smile sincere to cheer him up. "It's fine. We know who he is now. Go help Shaw. Let's catch Mr. Conrad."

TBC

Once again wanted to mention- that this case is almost done but the story has a long way to for reading :)