Oh man I am beyond late with this update so I am so sorry, my followers. This is my chapter for Armed and Dangerous which means hat LittleLizzieZentara will be next and I know she'll be better timeline-wise.
But while I've got you here, I have a new series called 'Undercover Lovers' which you can find in my proile (or on my blog) that I'll be updating every single week.
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Enjoy
Esposito looked up as the elevator chimed, again. Beckett was late; she was never late unless something was wrong. Still neither he nor Ryan was willing to call her until there was really cause to worry. "I'm sure she's just caught in traffic or something." His partner tried to assure him even as he glanced up with the elevator's ding.
"Yeah I'm sure. But it's almost nine and if she was running late she would have called." The elevator on the other end of the precinct announced a presence and they looked up to watch Castle and Beckett stepping off the car with matching coffee cups in hand and smiles to go along with them.
"Morning, boys." Her tone was light but serious and solid. They echoed the greeting, exchanging knowing glances that a blind man would have seen. "What?" She stopped at their desks, Castle falling at her side, equally as confused.
"Nothing it's just, you two look very domestic this morning." Ryan placed the tip of his pen to his tongue and signed yet another document for some court document that he really wasn't paying attention to.
"What the coffee?" Castle lifted his cup. "I always get Beckett coffee in the morning."
"That's not what he means." Esposito smirked at their confused expression – almost identical – and looked them up and down. The duo followed his line of sight, appraising their choice of outfit this morning. His standard black dress pants and shirt perfectly matched her purple Burberry top – one that had quickly become a favourite of hers for the way Castle eyed her in it. She hadn't even thought about her wardrobe choice when she was dressing this morning and clearly neither had he when they stopped at his loft.
"Well, uh, wha-um, you see…" Ryan and Esposito were so close to losing their composure and bursting into laughter at Castle's stuttering until Beckett rolled her eyes and it was back to business.
"Someone broke into my apartment last night." Esposito raised a scrutinizing eyebrow at her. "It's the truth."
"Well then why didn't you report it?"
She sighed, stepping over to her own desk while her boys waited patiently and Castle followed. "Thing is, I know who broke into my apartment. I know what they did while they were in my apartment and I know that there won't be any fingerprints and if there are, they won't be in the system – that's just how these guys work – what I want to know is how the hell they got into my apartment." They watched her run a hand through her hair even as her cell phone chimed with a new text message. "Lanie has something for us." She informed her partner. "I need you guys to talk to my landlord – we didn't get a chance to do it when we left this morning – find out if he saw anything or if there's some back way into the building. And maybe take a look at the security footage; Mr. Grimes is usually pretty good about helping us out when we need him."
"What was Castle doing at your apartment?" Ryan bit his cheek at the panicked look the pair of them carried when they perked p and then quickly looked around to make sure no one had heard him.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you said when 'we' left this morning. What was Castle doing at your apartment?"
As with most things, Castle turned to Beckett for an explanation but she really just wasn't in the mood to justify her actions so
she grabbed up her coffee cup and headed towards the elevator, assuming that Castle would follow her. "We have to go see what Lanie wants. Let me know if you find anything out."
Ryan and Esposito exchanged amused looks.
"I have been up to my elbows in dead bodies these last two weeks so I missed it in my preliminary examination." Lanie explained as she led the duo through to a back room. "Your Jane Doe has a temporary tattoo on the underside of her arm." She lifted the girl's right arm in demonstration. "It's partially rubbed off but I got the words 'Casket' and 'Ship' out of the smudge." She passed her friend a photograph of the tattoo knowing Beckett's shadow would be right there to peek over her shoulder.
Of course Castle was hanging over his muse's shoulder, partially to observe the photo and mostly to inhale her new shampoo – or body wash or perfume or whatever it was that gave that that sweet, dark smell. Lanie caught it and shook her head, crossing her arms.
"Well?" She looked pointedly at the writer.
"What?"
"What crazy theory do you have?"
Castle narrowed his eyes at her teasing but already his mind was working up a story. His eyes widened. "What if she's a foreign agent and that's why we've been unable to I.D. her body? She could have been working on some body transport ship and left us a clue to start with?"
Beckett pursed her lips, obviously disturbed. "I don't know about that last part but the part about her being foreign is actually" she swallowed "legitimate." Back to business "we should reach out to Interpol and see if they know anything on their end or"
"Hold it guys." Lanie stepped in. "I hate to burst your bubble but 'Caskett' is spelt with two t's." She pointed it out on the photo. They all fell silent for a moment, the cogs turning and spinning out an explanation. Castle and Beckett both jumped (though later, neither would admit to that fact) when Lanie released a burst of laughter. "No, I was just thinking." She explained "Caskett is your perfect shipper name." Beckett narrowed her eyes at her friend even as she blushed "what? Javi and I can't be the only ones to get a shipper name. He told me all about it when you were working that case on the Temptation Lane set."
Despite herself, Beckett smiled, thinking out loud "you know it is kind of perfect for us; it's both morbid and romantic."
He hadn't stuttered this much because of a girl since the eighth grade when he tried to ask Amy Fanning to the school dance. "Um, wha-uh…can-can we use a shipper name if we-we're not really a couple yet?"
She crinkled her nose in that ridiculously adorable way that he loved to distraction. Then her eyes softened and he swore she was asking him a silent question that he couldn't quite decipher. But just as quickly the look was gone, replaced with the ever-loved detective look. "Do you think we should look into the soap opera case?"
"I think" he took a deep breath. He really had to get a hold of himself "I think that someone went to a great deal of trouble to leave that clue in your apartment and we should follow that lead."
Her expression was gentle and smiling, almost like she was proud of him. What was with her today? She had been smiling at him all morning as they went about their various activities and she was constantly brushing against him when she found the opportunity. He wasn't complaining – he would be a fool to – but he just hadn't expected it, any of it. This case must be getting to her; he knew it was getting to him.
"You didn't say anything about a clue when you talked with the boys this morning." Beckett raised an eyebrow at her friend and Castle watched their silent exchange briefly before Lanie caved. "Esposito texted me the moment you guys left." She smiled "I'm really glad you're alright though I should warn you: we will be talking about what happened between the two of you last night – and maybe even this morning." Castle blushed though the rational voice in his head told him there was no reason to; nothing had happened last night – but he wanted it to, another voice told him.
But Beckett was already out the door, thanking Lanie over her shoulder. "Don't think you're getting out of this, Kate Beckett." The medical examiner called even as the doors closed behind her friend. Lanie sunk into her hip with an amused expression.