A/N: So I decided to do another chapter since there seemed to be some interest. I'll keep going as long as I have the ideas to continue and people are interested. Thanks so much for the support. Also I decided to take a cue from Jon Huertas in this regarding Espo and Beckett's history.
/
She walks into the precinct the next morning feeling like she's been run over by a truck. Lanie's words hit her hard and she knew they were true. She had to own up to what she had done. But she didn't know if it would make a difference. She knew he wasn't interested in anything she had to say or if he would ever be. She sits down at her desk and fellow detective Javier Esposito walks up to her.
"Hey, where's your shadow?" he asks, "Did you find out why he didn't come back?"
"Castle isn't coming back." She says
"What do you mean?"
"I don't want to talk about it." She says as Kevin Ryan joins them
"Talk about what?" Ryan asks
"Nothing." She mumbles and heads to the break room
"What's going on?" Kevin asks his partner, "Where's Castle?"
"I don't know." He replies and heads to break room himself
"I said I don't want to talk about it." She says again as she pours a cup of coffee
"Beckett, you and I go back a long way. We were unis together when we first started." He says, "What's going on?"
She looks at him tears spilling from her eyes, "I hurt him, Javi. I hurt him so much and he isn't coming back."
"He'll be back." Javi says softly not pushing further on the details, "Whatever it is, he'll cool down and be back."
She shakes her head, "Not this time."
/
Castle sits at this desk trying to write but only ends up staring at an empty page with the curser blinking back at him. Was this really what he wanted? Yes, he's angry with her and rightly so. But does he want to banish her from his life forever? She told him she loves him. He wants to believe that it's true. Because the truth is, he still loves her. But he's not anywhere near ready to jump into a relationship with her. Not even close. But did he want to close that door for good? He is startled out of his thoughts by a familiar voice.
"You wanna talk about it, kiddo?" Martha says from the doorway
"Mother, I'd rather not." He says
"Well then, just listen." She says coming over and sitting in the chair in front of his desk
"Mother, please."
"No, listen." She says, "I know what you told me happened when she came over here yesterday. But is this what you really want? She did apologize and told you she loves you."
"It's not that simple." He says
"I know." She acknowledges, "She was wrong, no doubt about it. But you were wrong once, too."
He sighs heavily
"You know what I'm talking about." Martha says with knowing eyes, "You looked into the mother's case after she asked you not to. But she forgave you eventually."
"So, tit for tat?" He asks, "I have to forgive her now?"
"I'm not saying you are obligated to." She says, "I'm just saying, whatever reason she had for lying to you she thought she was doing the right thing. However misguided that was. You thought you were doing the right thing, too."
"That's…that's…"
"Different?" Martha finishes for him, "How?"
"I was trying to help solve her mother's murder, to put a killer behind bars and give her closure." He says, "She just lied because she didn't have the guts to be honest. I can understand at first she needed time to just heal from being shot. But for all these months afterward she continued to lie."
"I guess you've got some thinking to do then, kiddo." Martha says as she gets up and walks out of the room
Around lunch time he decides he's wasted enough time staring at his laptop and walks into the kitchen to fix something to eat. He's stopped when he hears knock at the door. He walks over to open it to find her on the other side.
"Kate, I…"
"Please just let me in. I won't take long, I promise." She pleads
He reluctantly pulls back the door to allow her to enter.
"I actually came by to bring you these." She handed him a pair of gloves, "You left them at the precinct. Your best ones."
He takes them from her, "Thanks."
"Look, I know you're angry and hurt. You have every right to be. But do you remember when you looked into my mother's case?
"Of course I do." He says
"And I forgave you." She says
"Kate, if you're looking for some quid pro quo."
"No, I'm not." She says looking down at her hands, "But I remember what you told me when you came back to the precinct."
"Yes, I know what I said, too."
"Well, then." She pauses, "I was wrong, I didn't consider your feelings at all and I should have. I was selfish and if we're not going to see each other again you deserve to know how truly sorry I am."
She gives him one last look and makes her leave. Castle stares at the door for a moment then looks to the stairs when he hears footsteps.
"Well kiddo?" Martha says
/
The day was turning into a long one. They caught a murder just after lunch and so far they were coming up empty and it was a weird one. A guy is found dead in a parking garage with human bite marks on him. Esposito is going through the camera footage and finds something he can't quite explain.
"Yo, Beckett, you gotta see this." He says and she doesn't answer, sitting at her desk staring into space, "Beckett."
She finally looks at him, "Huh?"
"This footage from the garage, you gotta see this."
"Okay." She gets up and walks into the room
"So this is about the time Lanie estimated David Lock's time of death." He starts playing the footage, "Now, look there, do you see what I see?"
Kate moves closer to the TV and squints her eyes, "Is that a…"
"I don't know." He says, "But it sure looks like it."
The screen shows a figure walking toward the garage in Victorian era clothing and a close up of his face reveals what looks to be a zombie.
Later that afternoon Kate, Espo and Ryan are at the murder board trying to make sense of that video.
"There are no zombies, so that has to be someone in a costume or something." Beckett says, ever the voice of reason
"You don't know that." Ryan says, "Anything is possible."
"Man, come on. There are no zombies, what's the matter with you?" Epso says
"Well, Lanie should have some answers soon." Beckett rubbed her temples, "Answers based in reality."
"In the meantime we could sure use some out of the box thinking on this." Ryan says
"Bro, what is wrong with you?" Espo says, knowing what Ryan meant
"Maybe I can help with that." A familiar voice comes from behind her and they all stare for a moment
"Castle?" She says softly and looks at him in surprise
"We need to talk, but not now. Just fill me in on the case." He says handing her a coffee
She offers a hesitant smile and she takes her coffee, "Thank you."
He nods and takes his seat in the chair beside her desk, "So, what's going on with this case?"
"Well, I think we better just show you." Ryan says and they all head to the conference room
"So this is what we found." Ryan plays the video footage and the three watch as Castle's expression morphs from shocked to an ear to ear grin, "Zombies! You have a case where the killer is a zombie?! Yeesss! Best case ever!"
In spite of the churning in her stomach Beckett laughs along with Ryan and Esposito but as they walk out he pulls aside.
"Let's talk." He says
"Okay." She agrees and leads him to Gates office as she is out at a seminar
"Castle I…" She begins
"No, wait. Let me says something. I'm still hurt, Kate but I can't deny that I love you, too."
She smiles slightly
"But I'm not ready for a full blown relationship. I need time. I need to trust you again." He says
She nods, "I know and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to earn that trust back. However long it takes."
He moves closer and takes her hand and kisses her forehead gently, "I know."