A/N- Thanks to Jo for all the beta help. Thanks to Joanna and Megan for being awesome cheerleaders. And thank you to everyone who is reading, following and reviewing. They all make me smile. I appreciate all the support!
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 4
The caravan arrived at the scene and the Feds flooded into the streets. Beckett and her team followed close behind, but Shaw stopped her before Kate could finish putting on her gear.
"You can holster your gun. You're staying here," she instructed and then turned to Castle. "You too, Castle."
"Agent Shaw—" Beckett tried to protest.
"Wait, what? This is the final take down!" Castle objected.
"You're the target, Detective. I'm not going to have you compromise the team and Castle—this should be nothing new to you. When have I ever let you follow me into a take down?" Shaw said, walking away to meet the rest of her team near the building's entrance. Castle glared toward the structure.
"I will never get used to her freezing me out like that," he pouted. Beckett looked at him; opened her mouth for a second in disbelief. Shaking her head, she found her words.
"Freezing you out? I'm a cop and I'm not able to go up there. You're just a writer who's shadowing her—I think if anyone has a right to be offended, it's me!"
"No—no. I get it. It's just, I feel useless down here," Castle whined.
"Shaw's right to bench me and also one hundred percent correct in not letting you go into the line of fire. I'd do the same thing if you were following me," she said.
The pair watched as Agent Shaw and her team stormed the building, but only moments later her voice boomed through the walkie-talkie.
"Conrad's dead." Well that was certainly unexpected. She turned to Castle, whom seemed just as shocked as she felt.
"He's dead." She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "Guess it's safe to go in now. Let's go check it out."
"I thought you'd never ask," Castle smirked, motioning to the building, but her skin crawled as they stepped out of the vehicle. The feeling that they were being watched…
"Castle, does something seem off to you?"
"Now that you mention it—I feel a little bit like we're in a fishbowl at the moment." He didn't even finish speaking before she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.
"Hey—" she stated, fighting to keep emotion off her face. "Don't make any drastic movements, but there is someone at the top of Conrad's building looking down at us—and the person appears to have binoculars."
"I'll text Jordan and make her aware." Castle reached for his cell. They stood on the street corner next to the structure for what seemed like forever before Shaw responded. "She said to come up to the apartment. It's safer than being sitting ducks on the street—she's sending an agent up to the roof…" He read to her.
Beckett looked around for a second more, mentally noting anything she could, and she headed into the building. When they walked into Conrad's apartment, agents were already sweeping the area for any amount of evidence they could find.
"I should get CSU to come out here," Kate told Shaw when she found her near the body.
"No need, Detective. My agents will gather all the information we need—along with whatever is going on upstairs on the roof."
"Looks like they were trying to make it look like a suicide," Castle concluded, looking down at Conrad's corpse.
"Castle, look around. Or this guy was the one behind it and it was a suicide. He seems a little deranged." Beckett waved, indicating to the room.
"Then who was the person watching us from the roof?" he argued. Maybe he was right. If Conrad committed suicide and was behind all the murders, the random person on the roof wouldn't have been there.
"If someone was watching for us, we may have found Conrad sooner than we were supposed to. Maybe we jumped ahead in the game?" Kate hypothesized.
"Maybe Conrad had a partner?" Castle suggested. She watched as he investigated the scene. He was on her wave length of thinking and was slowly building theory with her.
Looking around the room, she was trying to find something the FBI may have missed. Something that would make her feel useful to this case; make the NYPD necessary to finding the answers they needed to solve it. "Guys—look at this." In her search, she had come across a false wall in the back of the closet.
"Or maybe Conrad was just another victim?" Castle continued, looking between Shaw and Beckett as they explored. The false wall led them to a small compartment where it appeared someone, possibly Conrad, had been held. Duct tape and rope was still attached to a pipe in the space.
"Whoever is behind this wanted us to think it was Conrad—" Beckett stated as she walked back into the main room of the apartment. Finally taking a good look at the area the agents blocked earlier, she took in the chemicals, blueprints, and wires that were scattered across the tables.
"Why would the person kill Conrad then, if the real killer was trying to frame him?" Castle asked, walking next to Kate. Looking at the same disarray of items, Castle found what appeared to be a phone. Pressing one of the buttons down, an electronic message rang into the air. 'Goodbye Kate, Goodbye Kate'. He turned toward her with wide eyes and panic washed across his face. "That's chilling…"
"He apparently wanted us to think this was over." She shuddered.
"He wanted to catch you with your guard down," Shaw said. "This guy is smart. He went through the trouble of finding victims connected to Conrad, all in an attempt to get to you when you weren't looking."
"I think the word you're looking for is creepy." Castle stated.
Before they finished up at Conrad's apartment, Jordan received word that the man from the roof was gone without a trail. No evidence or prints remained. From everything they found at the scene in Conrad's apartment, the only prints they had found were Conrad's as well. It didn't make sense. Who was this person and how was he so careful that he hadn't left a single print anywhere?
After interviewing Conrad's family and sorting through information with the FBI's computers, they were able to piece together enough items to lead them to a man living under the identity of Chris Doherty on the block of Downing and Varick. The apartment was full of pictures and articles on all of Beckett's cases. Aside from that, there were articles on other murders from other areas in the country.
"Looks like he's been doing this in other areas, too. Multiple killings and framing someone—then he disappears and he starts over in a new area," Castle speculated.
"Yeah—doesn't make me feel any better about this little shrine right here." Beckett sighed, motioning to her picture splashed onto his wall.
"Hey, we'll get him. He has to come back to his place sometime. Put everything back where you found it," Shaw said.
They set up surveillance outside and waited for the suspect to return back to the apartment. Beckett was stuck in the van with both Shaw and Castle an awkward silence surrounding them. But it was more than that. Her mind was reeling from the thought of this man staging these murders just to get to her. All of this because he had formed some unhealthy fascination with her...
That was enough to process, but then there was the added mental stress of Castle. He was chipping away at her resolve. She had to focus—catch the killer, bring justice to the victims, do her job. Staring at the screens, there was no signs of the suspect, but she felt like someone was watching her.
Turning her head away from the screen, she caught Castle gazing at her. He'd been caught red handed but he didn't shy away, just winked with a smile. Apparently he could go from helpful to cocky in a split second and she still couldn't decide if that was why he was getting under her skin. Throughout the case he's gone from annoying playboy to insightful and helpful and back again, a couple times over. However, now in the close quarters, he was back to driving her crazy. Tapping his foot, humming, and messing around with Shaw's equipment; the fidgeting was almost too much to bear.
"How do you handle it?" Kate snapped at Shaw.
"Handle what? Castle?" she asked with a tight smile.
"Yeah? He fidgets and touches things!" She glared over at Castle.
"You know I'm sitting right here, right?"
"Yeah, he does, but he's been surprisingly valuable on some cases," Shaw laughed. "He's very observant." Jordan's focus was still intent on the screen; not even turning to acknowledge either of them. Castle opened his mouth to respond, maybe defend himself, but instead he just stared right at Kate with the intense gaze that heated her cheeks. Her mouth started to go dry when her eyes met his piercing blue ones.
"Yeah—yeah I can see how he observes…" she stammered for a moment, but regained her composure turning back to the screen. "Isn't having someone on the roof with binoculars a little obvious?"
"Agent, tell the unit on the roof to stand down. He's going to blow our cover," Shaw commanded over the radio. The response that followed sent them all in a bit of a panic. 'We don't have a unit on the roof' "Shit, our cover's blown. All units, our suspect is on the roof of the building. Let's go," she called over the speaker. Turning back to Beckett and Castle, she smirked. "You two, stay put."
"I feel a bit of déjà vu." Castle joked as Jordan fled the van, leaving the pair alone. Kate looked from the closing door, to the screen, and then back at Castle. Fantastic.
The silence that stretched between them was doing nothing to break the tension that she felt. She was doing her best to deny any possibility of an attraction between them; and it was failing miserably.
"Castle—" She turned back to look at the screen, avoiding his eyes.
"Kate, what's going on?" It was a loaded question. One she didn't really know the answer to. Then again, maybe he just meant the case. Maybe he didn't feel it too. It didn't matter—they were in the middle of an investigation.
"Castle—look!" She pointed at the screen to show their suspect jumping down the fire escape. "He's getting away…" Beckett jumped up, un-holstered her gun, and headed for the door. "Stay here, Castle."
"Like hell. I'm not letting you go there without back up!"
"Castle, I'm not letting a civilian go with me unarmed. Stay here, please," she instructed and ran out the door. Keeping her eyes on the man, she watched him make his way to the sidewalk, but she wasn't subtle enough, and he spotted her, taking off at a sprint. Damnit.
She was racing down the streets of New York, trying her best not to lose the psychopath, but he was faster than she was. He didn't care who he knocked down on the way, while she was doing her best not to injure any innocent bystanders. Her duty was to the citizens of the city she swore to protect. Yet her duty was the reason she was losing this guy. From out of nowhere, Castle tackled the suspect to the ground. She hadn't even noticed Castle leaving the van, let alone how he found a way of cutting the guy off. How the hell did he manage to catch up? Maybe he was more than just a pretty face.
She walked up to Castle and gave him a nod of thanks. "I don't know who you really are, but you have the right to remain silent. So shut the hell up," Kate barked at their suspect as she snapped the cuffs onto his wrists.
His name was Scott Dunn. From what they uncovered, Mr. Dunn was responsible for countless murders, probably too many to count, all across the country. He always found an object for his obsession and accordingly, always found someone else to take the fall.
After they arrested Dunn and posthumously cleared Conrad of charges, Beckett's apartment was swept by the FBI. Evidence came out that the detonator they found at Conrad's place was meant for a bomb planted in her apartment. The thought was haunting; a bomb in her apartment, and it could have easily killed her if they hadn't figured out that Conrad was framed.
"You know you probably saved my life…" Kate admitted to the writer standing next to her. She gave him a genuine smile, one that he reciprocated.
"Probably? I definitely saved your life," Castle joked with a wink.
"And now I regret giving you a compliment." She smiled and pushed his shoulder.
Agent Shaw walked over to Beckett as the rest of the Feds packed up their equipment to leave the homicide floor, returning the Twelfth Precinct back to its FBI free-state.
"Agent Shaw, it was a pleasure." Beckett smiled at the woman.
"Same here, Detective. I'm glad we could help."
"Yes, very helpful. Opened my eyes to a few new techniques as well," she admitted, walking Jordan to the elevator.
"Glad to hear. Hopefully we don't have to do it again or maybe we can see each other on more pleasant terms," Shaw replied, holding out her hand.
"Agreed. Thank you," Beckett said, returning her handshake.
"Castle?" Shaw asked, but he shook his head.
"I'll be catch up with you later, Jordan," he responded, as the elevator doors closed. Castle turned back to Kate with a smile, stepping closer next to her. "This has been really great Kate, but maybe it doesn't have to end."
"Castle, that's probably not a good idea," she objected, wracking her brain - why was her instinct to turn him down?
"Why not? You've been very inspiring." Oh. He was talking about his writing. Of course he was; she was just a cop.
"What about Agent Shaw? You're following her around for your new character, Castle. Isn't it for the new book series? The Derrick Storm spin-off, the first one was just released…" The words fell from her lips before she could shove them back in to avoid further embarrassment.
"Perusing the Richard Castle fan sites are you, Detective Beckett?" His eyes sparkled as he teased her.
"I may have heard through the grape vine," Kate defended. "But isn't that the reason you're following her around?" It didn't matter. Yet it did and she refused to acknowledge why.
"Yes, the FBI inspired the new book's current characters. Publisher's suggestion and all - but Shaw's alter ego may only be good for one book," he flirted, causing her cheeks to redden.
"Is that so?" God—what was she doing?
"Yeah, I think I may have found someone who I find a bit more inspiring," Castle husked into her ear, before he stepped into the waiting elevator car. Giving her a heart-stopping smile, the door shut and she was left alone, stunned.
Her heart sped up and butterflies fluttered into her stomach. One case—and she was already done for.
TBC
A/N pt 2: Case is over. Now the fun begins.