A/N. Thanks to all have reviewed, followed & favourited. You inspire me - but perhaps case fiction isn't my strong point? Wrapping it up now and the next few chapters will revert to family conversations.

Finding a Date – Chapter 7. It's not a case

Castle rubbed his eyes surreptitiously, upset by the scenes from the traffic cam. They'd had no idea of Sandra's route to the crime scene so he had tracked back down the street from the shop doorway. He found her quickly enough; staggering from side to side, she'd immediately drawn his attention on the quiet street.

She reached the ATM point and leant heavily on the keypad panel then one more lurching step and she'd reached the shop doorway, sinking gracelessly down against it and not moving again. The timestamp read 24.00 hours.

Watching someone's last moments was a gut wrenching experience. He hadn't known this woman but inevitably his mind returned to a cemetery and another woman dying in front of his eyes

"Kate, shh… Kate. Stay with me, Kate. Don't leave me, please. Stay with me, okay?

Kate, I love you. I love you, Kate."

He shook himself mentally and put up another screen capture trying to guess the direction from which Sandra would turn onto that street. He was lucky, after a few minutes moving back and forth through the recording he found her again. Her gait was erratic, weaving amongst the few people moving in this part of town at such a late hour.

He wound the film back, catching sight of their victim as she crossed the street not looking either way, narrowly avoiding being hit by a delivery van. She walked several hundred yards until she fell heavily near an alleyway. She got up but Castle realised she no longer had her bag.

He loaded the next recording finding her almost immediately then fast back tracking until he lost her. She seemed to appear on this street quite suddenly, then he realised what he was looking at. He stopped the recording and rewound it until the scene was focused on the exit from a Subway station. Sandra's head and body appeared at the top of the steps but she seemed to trip on the top step and fell heavily thumping the side of her head against the end of the metal handrail.

Castle winced, running the short sequence again. There was no one else around, she'd simply fallen. It was all a tragic accident. He ran the tape on, watching her stumble to her feet and continue along the sidewalk, touching her hand to the side of her head.

He ran it back, starting from the beginning where the timestamp read 23.47. As she exited the subway, she tripped and fell, got up and continued on her way. He followed her uneven progress until she moved no more. Then, to be certain, he fast forwarded until the taxi driver leaned over her and used his phone, the timestamp corresponding with the time of the 911 call received by emergency services.

He looked around the bullpen. Beckett and Esposito were still out. He swallowed hard and stood straightening his jacket. He could do this, he needed to do this.

He tapped hesitantly on the glass window in the door of the captain's office. She beckoned him in. He remembered being called into his Headmaster's office after another of his pranks had been discovered, it felt much the same. He hoped it wouldn't end the same way. That time he had been expelled.

Taking a deep breath he opened the door but stayed by the entrance. "Mr Castle," she greeted him evenly.

"Um Sir, er...Captain you need to see this," he indicated with his thumb at the desk he'd just left.

She slipped her glasses off, placing them on her desk. "Show me," she said, following him back to the screen.

"I've been checking traffic cam footage and I've found our victim She wasn't attacked, it was an accident." Now accustomed to the system he expertly found the start point as Sandra Armitage appeared from the subway.

"She trips," he told Gates as she stood behind him watching the footage. "Cracks her head, and then gets up and goes on. She can't have realised how badly hurt she was. She reappears here," he fast forwarded to where she crossed the street. "She falls again, she's obviously concussed she drops her purse by the alleyway but gets up, goes on. " The tape showed the young woman stumbling along the sidewalk. "She's getting weaker," Castle narrated, "till she collapses in the doorway. She doesn't move again, there's no one about and she's hidden from passing traffic by parked cars. It's not until the taxi driver uses the ATM that anyone sees her. "

Gates sighed heavily and reached for the phone. "I'll get CSU to check that handrail and see if there was any reason for her to fall up that step. I agree, Mr Castle, it doesn't look like this one's a homicide." He puffed out his chest and sat up straighter. Maybe she was warming to him after all.

"Call Beckett with the news." she instructed him.

The victim's sister accepted her personal effects from Esposito as he explained the tragic circumstances. Sandra's hair had been found on the metal handrail at the top of the subway stairs. It was definitely there she got the injury but there was sign of any fault with the step. No one was to blame.

He showed Ruth out, once again offering his sympathy.

Detective Beckett put down an empty take out carton on her desk and licked her lips appreciatively. She reached for a much-needed mug of coffee. As Castle cleared the murder board, Gates came out of her office having just explained their latest findings to the Commissioner.

"Apparently the Commissioner had no idea his son was seeing their nanny. And he'd forgotten about the phone. He thanks you for resolving this matter so speedily." She eyed the TV high on the wall seeing the news report from outside the Commissioner's residence from earlier, gratified to note the change in Esposito attire.

"You've done the precinct proud," she told them, "the paperwork can wait. Go home, people."

"I solved it!" Castle announced for the umpteenth time as Officer Whitaker walked by on another task. He'd been telling anyone who would listen how he'd tracked the victim's route.

"No you didn't, Mr Castle." Gates rebuked him firmly. "No murder, no case, nothing to solve."

He pouted, "That's so not fair!" Beckett claimed her coat from the back of her chair. "Let's go home," she said, "I'll cook dinner, that's fair!"

She turned as she neared the elevator realising her partner was still packing away files.

"You coming, Castle?" He dropped the last picture on the heap in the box and hurried after her.

He knew he'd helped and he thought back to the months and years they gone their separate ways after work; worse, sometimes she'd gone with Demming or Josh and he'd pretended not to care. He would promise he'd see her tomorrow and step into the elevator before his bravado snapped. Just as well he had inherited a soupçon of his mothers acting skills, he had so needed them back then.

It had all been worth it, his patience had been rewarded and whilst enjoying a dinner with his fiancée was always special, just going home with his fiancée was recompense enough.

"Can I choose dessert?" he murmured suggestively, placing his broad palm in the small of her back and ushering her into the elevator.

Esposito watched the pictures running on the TV again. He fingered the knot of his tie; all dressed up-might as well use it. He looked consideringly towards the technicians' room then sighed and pulling his cell from his pocket pressed the call button for the first number that came up.

"Hey Chica!" He asked hopefully, "Got any plans for tonight?"