Chapter Two Heading Nowhere

Disclaimer: Yeah, I do own Castle…when I'm daydreaming.

So here's the second chapter. From this chapter, the main storyline will be built and the plot unfolded. Comments are appreciated. Plz help me improve. Thx! :)

Kate Beckett cannot sleep, thinking nothing but the man slowly slipping away. Castle's different. She can sense that, and even the boys become suspicious. He's still Richard Castle, the writer. But he's being more and more of a Richard Castle, the stranger. She can barely recognize him bereft of the jokes, puns, smart but wacky comments and her usual cups of coffee. Whenever she speaks to him, he responds with those icy cold blue eyes, eyes which used to be full of warmth, care and…love. Something went terribly wrong, but she just didn't realize what on earth she broke subconsciously. So how can she fix it?

Lanie and she had a whole night's talk days ago. The girls' conversation was closed with Lanie's encouragement which is played again and again in her mind.

"He's pulling away. But I don't know why." Beckett said, depressed, and took a swig from her goblet of wine, feeling the liquid burn its way down her throat.

"Maybe he's just tired. God knows how long our writer boy has been waiting." Lanie shot her a comforting smile, running her hand up and down Beckett's back. "Why don't you simply open your heart and tell him how you really feel?" She paused, and then went on, "You do know that he is crazy about you, huh? This man's shattered when you got shot… though you don't remember much"

"No, Lanie", Beckett swallowed hard, feeling a lump forming in her chest, "I lied. I lied to you all…I remembered everything. The gunshot, the pain, the warmth and hope he instilled into my body… by holding me and… and saying those three words."

"Oh girl!" Lanie was obviously taken by surprise, "You…you remembered? And he actually made a confession?"

Beckett nodded silently.

"Then why? What's the lie for?"

"I am… was not ready. I thought it was merely… an encouragement to make me hang on. I was so afraid to face him after the shot, not sure whether he meant it the way I wanted. I don't wanna lose…what we've had. And with my mother's killer still out at large, how could I settle down in a real relationship? If it's a real one. I…We've never been on the same page, the timing is always wrong." And when she finishes that entire venting thing, she feels a heavy stone removed and plenty of air rush so rapidly into her lungs that it hurts.

"Come here" Lanie leaned over and enclosed Beckett in a tight hug. "Does he know that?"

"No, don't think so."

"You really should grasp the chance, you know, before he's gone forever."

Beckett did make her decision to confront him the next day, which was not easy but became extremely hard when she saw Castle drive a blonde to the crime scene in his Ferrari.

He had moved on. He was gone.

When finally she mobilized her courage, he jumped to the next page.

After all the memories are replayed and then fade away gradually into a reassuring blur, Beckett at last feels her sleep kick in. But she hasn't at peace for nearly an hour, before the buzz of her phone yanks her out of her rare rest.

"Beckett"

"It's Esposito. Better go now. We've got a vic."

When Beckett arrives at the crime scene, which is at an underground parking, Lanie, Ryan and Esposito have already been there, doing their job.

"Hey, guys. What have we got?" She says as usual, trying to push all her previous thoughts away. To be honest, she does need to work, though that means someone, innocent or not, doesn't get lucky and is paid a visit by the Death. Work keeps her engaged and precludes her from thinking of things and people that she shouldn't think of.

Lanie looks up from the body, "You alright?"

"Yeah, perfectly fine. Why?"

"You look awful."

"Just… just a… lack of sleep. That's all. So?" Beckett flounders, digressing from the topic.

Lanie stares at her friend with suspicion, but decides to let go. "We've got a John Doe. White male. Probably over 40. One shot in the chest by a 38. It's a near shot and fatal. "

"Any idea of the time of death?"

"About 2:30-3:00 this morning. Cannot be sure until I take him back to my lab."

"So it's been over an hour. Who finds the body?"

"Work shift. One of the security guys found it. Poor man's freaked out." Esposito says, writing something down on his pad.

"Where's Castle?" Ryan walks over and asks, but regrets immediately.

"Bro, what's your problem?" Esposito nudges him, whispering.

Beckett, jerked out of her reverie, takes all her efforts to hold back her overwhelming disappointment and tries to sound relaxed. "Call him at this hour? Come on. He'll be at the precinct later in the morning. You find any possessions on our vic?"

"Not many", says Ryan, "Just a wallet, no ID. The money's still in there. So, it's not a robbery. I just talked to the security. Thought the cameras here might catch something. But it turned out they'd been physically destroyed long before the murder."

"Destroyed? How could they be destroyed with no one's realization?"

"Well, I should say, the security men are rather imprudent about their job. They say normally the cameras are just for show, not really working. So nobody's paying attention to whatever happening down here."

"Great, we are going nowhere." Beckett says ironically. "Ryan, I want you to search the surroundings. See what we can find. Esposito, talk to residents in the near community. Ask what peculiar things they've noticed or heard."

"Okay, on it." The boys answer simultaneously.