A/N: And here we go again. This is a rather long chapter, but you won't be disappointed. At least I hope you won't.

I've been over it a few times, I hope I managed to find all typos, sorry if I didn't.

Enjoy reading!

(Edit: Again, corrected all the missing names...-.-")

Chapter 4

"So? You got any theory on why Nicole suddenly lives with her father?"

Castle looked over at Beckett with a wide grin.

"Why detective, do you need my help?"

"No Castle, I just want to see if you have something. I can very well figure it out by myself. You know our precinct worked pretty well too before you came along."

"Sure it did. But it wasn't as much fun."

She couldn't tease back there because Castle was absolutely right. She'd even told him that herself. After a quick glance his way she set her eyes back on the street again. For some reason the streets in New York were always far too busy and it took them a while to get from the Upper West Side down to Manhattan.

Beckett tried to avoid the most crowded streets but it didn't really help that much. At a traffic light she stared out the side window and caught a glimpse of a young couple. The red headed woman was pushing an empty buggy and the father was holding the child in his arms. But the family didn't look all that harmonious, it seemed like the parents were fighting. Something about that picture seemed oddly familiar to the detective but she couldn't place it. She blinked and looked over again but the couple had vanished out of her sight.

Just then, the light turned green again and she drove away.

"Beckett? Hello, earth to Beckett?"

With a confused look on her face she realised that she had just missed the junction to Mrs. Downing's apartment.

"You know, you could have said something," she said with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey, I did! You were like totally off the planet. Which, by the way, is not very safe on the street. You should let me drive!"

Beckett threw her head back and let out a laugh. "Yeah right. This is how you try to convince me? Forget it, Castle."

She turned on the next corner, found a parking space and got out of the car, still grinning. Castle followed right behind her and together they entered yet another building to meet yet another relative of the victim. His mother.

Again when they knocked at the door they were greeted knowing they would come but still surprised. But there was something else as well. Mrs Dwoning seemed rather hostile and her high pitched voice didn't do any good to cover it..

"Detective Kate Beckett, Richard Castle," Beckett introduced themselves. "May we come in?"

"I'd rather not. I was just about to leave so would you mind coming by another time?"

Beckett suppressed a confused look. "It's about your son."

This took the woman by surprise and she opened the door some more. Beckett got a good look at the inside of the apartment and immediately understood why was trying to keep them outside. It didn't look very much like a home. There was a lot of furniture missing and lots of cardboard boxes were piled up.

Carrie Downing sighed deeply and then fully opened the door. "Well okay, come in."

Beckett smiled lightly and walked through the door, Castle followed her. Once they entered the apartment he let his gaze roam around the place. What Beckett had seen before was just a small portion of the chaos and emptiness. It was the opposite of her former husband's apartment. From what Castle could see as they were led into the living room, this flat was not very carefully taken care of. He wondered for how long Carrie had been living out of these boxes and why. In the living room there were only four wooden chairs and a table left standing, there was no couch, no television. Nothing.

"Please, take a seat," Mrs Downing said and pointed at the chairs. "I'm sorry for the mess. I'm moving out and well, I didn't expect visitors anymore. You said you were here about my son?"

Her voice was calm nothing indicated that she was in any way concerned like Mr Downing had been.

Beckett nodded. "Yes, we are. Mrs Downing, we found Matty this very morning. He was killed last night."

This time there was a slight change in Carrie's expression but again it was so unlike her ex-husband's. She seemed surprised for a moment but not very shocked.

A sudden smile spread across her face. "So Frederick was right all along. Matty was alive the past few years. I bet he's going to love to rub that in my face…"

Castle and Beckett exchanged a muddled and astonished look with each other. It seemed like Mrs Downing did not think very highly of Mr Downing which was odd considering that there had been no hostility on his side. At least they could not detect it. Then again, Nicole was supposed to live with her mother and didn't anymore so there probably was a reason for her to hate him.

Mrs Downing now looked at her two guests.

"Excuse me," she said, "I should not talk like this I know. My therapist always tries to tell me I need to stay calm but well, I can't. You said Matty was killed?"

Beckett nodded again. "Yes. Mrs Downing, when Matty disappeared, did you have any suspicions at all? Or can you think of any reason why the kidnappers would have kept your son alive?"

The woman shook her head. "I mean, Matty was a sweet boy. I never understood why anyone would take him from us. As for why they would let him live…? Same reason, he was a sweet boy."

At this, she got up again. "Look, I know I must seem like a terrible mother but I put this all behind me years ago. When we never heard from Matty again, I had to. I could not have lived on like Frederick did, always hoping against hope. Then again, I didn't really live on anyways. Look where it got me. Losing my daughter as well, being thrown out of my home." She stopped, realising she had said more than she wanted to. Her hands were balled to fists and she gritted her teeth.

"Please, I need some time to process…," was all she said.

Beckett just got up herself and gave a short nod. Then she handed her card.

"In case you remember anything," she said. Mrs Downing accepted the card and put it on the table and then led Beckett and Castle back to the door.

"You know, when I said "this was odd" after we left Mr Downing's place I did not expect this…"

Castle nodded his agreement as he got into the car.

"It's like she's hiding something," he added. "Like she does have some kind of theory but doesn't want to share or is scared or something."

"Mhm…" Beckett furrowed her brow. "Something definitely is going on, something very strange. I can't imagine a woman being so detached from news like we just gave her. She wasn't interested in any details."

"You think Frederick threw her out of the apartment?" Castle asked but Beckett shook her head.

"No, when they got divorced, he had to give that apartment to her so there must be another reason. And I don't think that the state of her place only changed very recently. A woman like her would not live like this if she couldn't help it. We've seen Frederick's flat, I'm sure it was Carrie who did all the decorating and arranging and stuff."

They sat quiet for a while, both thinking what had seemed so strange.

"Beckett?"

"Yes?"

"I promised Alexis I'd be home early today so we could make a father-daughter evening. Would you mind dropping me off?"

She looked at him, surprised. It was not like him to leave that early when they were in the middle of a case.

"Sure," she said anyways. Somehow she thought it in fact had to do with the case. After all he had acted weird in the morning already. That was probably when he had promised Alexis a father-daughter evening. After they'd found out that he even knew the victim's parents he had appeared a little more quiet. Now that she thought about it, he had stayed rather quiet during both interviews which was unusual.

His loft wasn't far off so they got there in no time. Beckett slowed down, stopped and let Castle get out.

"Kate? Call me if there is anything new."

She smiled and nodded. "Don't I always?"

He nodded as well. "Well, most of the time…" he said and gave an apologetic smile for leaving her already.
"Say hi to Alexis for me, will you!" she told him before he closed the door. Castle gave her a thumb's up and watched her drive away.

Once in the elevator he sighed. He knew that Beckett had realised something was off with him but he couldn't even quite explain it himself. It probably was just the case; it was just that this one bothered him more than any other one ever had. Except maybe for Johanna Beckett's.

He now opened the door to his loft and went inside. He was met by a delicious smell and he realised that he was actually hungry.

"Hey dad!" his daughter greeted him.

"Hey pumpkin. How are you?"

"I actually wanted to ask you that question. You sounded… different this morning."

"It's just the new case," he said with a tired smile. "Have you talked to Nicole Downing lately?"

Alexis shook her head. "No. Why?"

"Well… I'll tell you over dinner. It smells delicious and I'm kinda hungry."

His daughter laughed. "When are you not…Come on, I made Ratatouille."

Together they sat down at the counter and ate in silence for a while.

"Dad?"
"Yes, sweetie?"

"Why were you mentioning Nicole? Did something happen to her?"

Castle shook his head. "No, not her. Do you remember her brother?"

"Matty? Yeah. I sometimes saw him in the park with her when their parents were on a business trip again. She always had to take care of him. And I remember that she was devastated when they never got him back. But again, why are you asking me all that?"

"Well. We found Matthew today. He's our new case."

He told Alexis just a little bit of what he knew, he didn't want to tell her everything since he was worried enough for both of them. But Alexis was a clever girl so she immediately saw why her father had been acting so different. She tried to comfort him and in the end managed to persuade him to watch "The Ring" with her.

It was easier to be scared of something that wasn't real.

After she had dropped Castle off at his loft, Kate Beckett drove back to the precinct. She had do debrief the Captain and see what news the boys had been able to get from the old kidnapping case.

But her thoughts were with Castle. She wanted to do something to make him feel better, less worried for that matter but she knew that the only way to really do that was to solve this case.

They'd only had it for a day now and it was already bothering her a lot. She just didn't understand why the boy had only now returned. What was the reason, where had he been kept before, what had happened that he could come back now? The abuse must have been the reason for him not to come sooner but why had the kidnappers let him live for so long anyways? She had absolutely no answers yet and knew the questions would only get more.

With a heavy sigh she stepped into the bull pen. She couldn't see Esposito or Ryan so she first went to the Captain's office.

She knocked and stuck her head inside. Captain Gates was bent over her work and only looked up when she heard Beckett's voice.

"I'm back," she first said. Since Castle and her had been put into a basement handcuffed together and had almost gotten eaten by a tiger, she'd felt like a teenager again when it came to Gates. The new policy she had instituted was just annoying. Letting Gates know when she went out, when she came back again, where she went, with whom she went... It was like being followed and Beckett had never liked that.

Gates nodded. "Did you find out anything interesting? You know, Mr Downing is very well known in New York. It was a tragedy when his son went missing. I want this case solved as soon as possible."
"Yes, Sir, we all want that. And we haven't found much on the victim himself but I would like to bring Mrs Downing in tomorrow. She wasn't very cooperative today and I think she's got quite a lot to tell."
"Well, bring her in then," Gates said and then began scribbling on her papers again and thus dismissing the Detective.

Beckett then went to see where Ryan and Esposito were and found them working in the conference room, the table covered in case files and the two looking very tired.

"Hey. You still up for the job?" she asked with a teasing smile.

"You know, you could persuade your partner every once in a while to go over the files so we could get a break and do the leg work for once," Ryan moaned and Beckett laughed.

"Yeah well, Castle has a way of disappearing whenever something on paper is involved. I do sometimes wonder how he ever finishes his books. You got anything?"

The boys then filled her in on everything they had found out. Matty had been seen in the park, playing with some friends that day. He had also been seen walking around on his own. No one noticed that he was missing until he didn't get home in the evening. He had promised his sister to be home at 5pm for dinner but he never came. When his parents came home later in the evening he still wasn't home and they called the police. Like with every missing person's case they didn't get any help then because Matty had only been missing for a few hours and his friends were still out. The next morning the family had found a letter, written with cut out paper letters, very cliché as Espo commented, that only said that "they" had their son and nothing more. The police had then finally gotten involved but no real lead turned up. Everyone had been interviewed, the mother, the father, the daughter, friends etc. but no one had a clue what might have happened. It was soon clear though that Matty had gone missing from the park. He was never supposed to wander off alone, he had told his friends he'd be back in a few minutes but when he never returned they assumed he had changed his mind and gone home already.

As Ryan and Esposito talked, all three went back to the bull pen and started working on the murder board. After a while both detectives were tired of talking and Beckett told them to take a break. She started going over all the files herself. Again not because she didn't trust the boys to be thorough but because she knew how tiring the work could be and that at some point it was not easy to spot the odd socks, so she just went over with less tired eyes.

The boys returned and helped her again. The next time they looked up it was almost 10pm and Beckett sent them home. She needed her team to be fresh and ready in the morning.

"Only if you promise to go home too," Esposito claimed while Ryan nodded his agreement. She gave them a tired smile and nodded. It was probably a good idea to get some rest. She looked at her fellow detectives and at their seriousness. This was her family, they took care of each other like a family.

"'Kay, let's call it a night."

Once Kate made it home she realised how exhausted she really was. She threw her keys on the kitchen counter, kicked her boots off and fell onto the couch, letting out a heavy sigh.

She just sat there and didn't do anything. She wasn't even sure what she was thinking, if she was thinking.

Images started to flash before her eyes. A magic shop, the park, a busy street, the lake in the park and many more. Everything started to mix together as the images started to spin, then they slowed down again and focused on one picture.

She was sitting at a table of a street café with a friend. The two of them were talking and watching the streets, wondering about the lives of the people passing by. Basically they were doing what every teenager liked to do. Tatter.

On the table next to them was a young family, the parents both looked to be in their early-twenties. The little girl in the buggy was sleeping tightly. Kate thought she looked totally sweet with her hair that was as fiery-orange as the mothers and she looked so peaceful.

Liz, her friend, giggled and Kate turned towards her again with a questioning look.

"Cute, huh?"

"Yes, very. I bet she's a real charmer when awake…"

"She? I'm not talking about the kid, I meant the father!" Liz said and Kate had to put her hand in front of her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud.

"Liz! He's too old! And married as well!" Kate replied almost breathless.

"How would you know? He could look older than he is and they might not be married…"

"Yes, they are. Don't you see the wedding rings?

"Oh…yeah. How come you always see that stuff? Really, I would not even think about looking."

"Well, I'm sure you will someday. And in the meantime I don't really know how I see it. Mom always says that as a lawyer she has to have eyes and ears everywhere. One never knows when and where something important might come up. And when I do miss something significant she comes and says "I told you so" so I try to see as much as possible."

Liz laughed. "Yeah, I know you hate when she says that."

Kate was looking over to the family again. Something bothered her about them. That's when the girl started crying and her father reached out for her. The little girl reached out her arms and smiled at her father, completely forgetting why she was crying. He took her in his arms and made a face at her that made the girl giggle and he placed her on his lap.

He then looked up and met Kate's eyes. She blushed slightly, after all she had somehow intruded a very private moment between a father and his kid, but the man smiled at her and when she smiled back she looked at the girl. It was quite unmistakable that she was the daughter of these two people. The mothers red hair and the fathers bright blue eyes.

She turned around quickly and saw that Liz had been watching them too.

"You're right…he is cute …But still, too old, taken and he's got such a sweet daughter!" Kate said and now tried to ignore the family again; it really was none of her business. Thankfully Liz had the same thought and asked her: "So Katie, do you have anything planned now, for your 16th? I mean, it is sweet 16 after all…"

Kate shook her head. "I think Mom and Dad have something planned that I shouldn't know about so I'll pretend not to know but apart from that I have no clue what to do."

She checked her watch. "God, why does Maddy always have to be so freaking late…"

Her gaze went back to the family because something had caught her eyes. It seemed like the parents were arguing over something. She knew she shouldn't listen but she couldn't help it.

"Rick, I need this! I'm not the stay-at-home wife. I miss my job and you can very well work from home," the woman said.

"Daddy?" the little girl asked.

"You're upsetting her," Rick stated, holding the girl tight. "Can we please discuss this some other time? Maybe when Lexi is sleeping?"

The woman raised her hand aggressively to call one of the waiters and let Rick paid the bill, all the while staying quiet.

"Meredith, I know that you really want to go back to work and I'm fine with that. I just think that maybe it's not the best thing for Alexis."

"Oh, now we are discussing it?"

The woman called Meredith got up and loosened the breaks on the buggy as Rick tried to grab his coat and hold Alexis in place.

He watched his wife walk away and followed in a hurry. "Mer, wait! We're adults, can we settle this like them?"

She let out a laugh. "Richard, an adult…Really? Okay fine," she stopped where she was and turned around to him. "Let's settle this. I'm going back to work. You can work from home just fine and you can take care of Alexis. I'll still be coming home, won't I?" With these words she stomped off, her red hair swaying and making her look even angrier.

Rick stood there, perplexed, his daughter still on his arm and he shook his head. The girl was clinging tightly onto him and Kate could see that she felt uncomfortable. It wasn't fun for her to see that scene, now imagine being a little girl who doesn't even understand what just happened.

Kate had had a strange feeling from the beginning and now she knew why. The girl's mother was so unlike her own. She didn't think that her daughter needed her mother and that was something Kate could not really understand.

Her eyes caught sight of something lying on the ground next to the table where the family had sat before and as she looked closer she recognized it as a notebook. Somehow she was sure it was Rick's.

She got up and picked it up. "Katie, what are you doing?" Liz asked her and Kate waved with the book.

"I'll be right back. I think that's his," she said and pointed to where Rick had been standing just a second ago. "Damn it…" It slipped her mouth before she could stop it but then she let her gaze roam around the people and she caught sight of the little girls red mane and ran after them.

"Hey! You!" she called out to get his attention. "You there, with the kid!"

This made him turn around with a questioning look but when he saw her waving his notebook at him his expression turned to shocked first and then relieved.

Kate reached him then. "I think that's yours, Sir," she said, handing him the notebook. He took it gratefully as his daughter looked up, curiously looking at Kate.

Kate smiled at the girl and got one in return.

"Thank you so much," Rick said, "You may have just saved my life."

She had no idea how saving his notebook had anything to do with saving his life but she just shrugged with her shoulders.

"No problem, Sir."

"No really, thank you," he said again and the little girl mimicked him by saying "Thank you" as well.

That made Kate laugh and she shook her head. "Well, then I'm glad I could help. How old is she?" she asked, not knowing where her curiosity just came from.

"Two."

She nodded and then heard the familiar voice of her best friend calling out for her.

"Well, I gotta go again. Have a nice day," she said.

He nodded. "Thanks again and same to you," he answered as his daughter waved at Kate with her tiny hand.

Once she was back at the café, Liz and the newly arrived Madison looked at her.

"What was that all about?" Maddy asked.

"Well, I just saw that he lost his notebook and returned it to him."

"Mhm," Liz stated with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face.

"Oh Jesus! Just because you would have done it because he's attractive doesn't mean I had the same reason. I just felt kinda sorry for him."

Madison and Liz both laughed but Kate didn't care and sat down again.

She woke up feeling rather uncomfortable and realised she had fallen asleep on the couch. That would not have been a problem, her couch was quite comfortable to sleep on but she was sitting on it, not lying. Her every limb hurt and her neck felt stiff. She tried to move it gently while at the same time trying to shake off her confusion of this dream.

She had had them more often lately and had no idea why or where they came from. Not even her therapist knew about them. At least not yet.

Were they things she had seen? Or things she had imagined seeing at some point? Or things she wished had happened?

All those dreams appeared to be so real that Kate just had to believe they were some lost memories from her childhood. How she had never remembered them was a complete different matter.

But then again, she knew the brain was a mysterious thing. How could she remember such a brief encounter with someone she didn't even know back then. It would be as if Castle recalled every single autograph he ever gave. Or well, almost like that.

She got up to move around a little, get the feeling back in her legs. Then she took out her phone and saw that it was almost 3am. Far too late… she thought but she still typed a quick message. She looked at it. No, she couldn't send that, not at this time of night, he would definitely read something into that…

Was just thinking of you, hope you're okay…

No, that really wasn't good. She didn't even know why she had typed that. She deleted the whole thing and started again.

Just had a really weird dream. Made me think of you and your stories…See you tomorrow

Before she could think any further she sent the message and almost immediately hated herself for doing it.

Somewhere in Manhattan a phone buzzed and woke the man. Castle looked up, sleepy, wondering what was going on. He picked up his phone and saw the message Kate Beckett had just sent him and although he was still half asleep a wide smile spread across his face.

The change he had witnessed going on with Kate had not just been imaginary, he was sure about that now.

Well, that was it for chapter 4. Thanks for reading! Like it, hate it? Feel free to review!

I'm always happy for some constructive criticism ;)

The next chapter is already in progress but with my last semester of college I can't promise too many updates. I'll do my best though! =)

xx