The Eyes Have It

by Castlefan6

Authors Note: This is AU; Builds on Episodes 3-14, 16, and 17. Castle sees what he thinks is the event to seal his departure from Beckett, but do his eyes deceive him? Sometimes things aren't the way we see them.

I don't own Castle; I only use the characters for amusement purposes, except the ones I create.

Also, we take liberties with the timeline from Canon and use events to make this more believable fiction, thanks. Remember This IS AU. Timelines, Events, and Outcomes may vary from the Original Script.

**************************************************************************/

Chp 2

12th Precinct

Later That Week

Kate arrived early as was her custom, and the precinct was quiet as she approached her desk. The click-click sound of her high heels was louder than her aching head could handle, especially before she had her fix of caffeine. It had been two days, and two sleepless nights since the incident in Castle's loft, and things were far from normal between them. It was almost like back in grade school, they were polite but possibly too polite to each other.

She had her doubts that he would show up the next morning, especially after she realized the commonality of her escapades with Demming and Josh in front of him, God what a fool she was. The biggest regret she had was what she had said about having a chance with Josh, hell he stayed home from one DWB, and only after they had fought about it for a week.

When Rick did arrive, it was very awkward between them, nothing like normal, and of course, the boys picked up on it. "Bad Night Beckett? Esposito asked as he saw Castle making his way down to her desk almost like a timid suspect would approach the police.

"Call it a bad career, Espo, don't you have work to do rather than pass judgment on how my night went?" she shot back.

She had been as or more nervous as he had been. At first, she thought he was going to be a no-show, after turning around every time the elevator dinged to be disappointed. She kept sneaking looks at the elevator out of the corner of her eye, meanwhile pretending to busy herself with desk duty. When finally, the doors opened her heart skipped a beat knowing he had been true to his reluctant promise to do so.

He came back, she picked up on the smell of his aftershave and she was almost transported to the loft and his kiss once again. She had to shake it off and remain professional, hell she had a boyfriend, Rick knew that, and he would never ask her to cheat.

Their eyes locked as he advanced to her desk, then he smiled softly handing her the usual cup of coffee like a peace offering. The first sign of normalcy came with such a routine event, he brought her coffee. Her anxiety drained off of her at such an ordinary routine and she smiled back at him gratefully.

It appeared that he was doing what she asked him to, forgetting the kiss ever happened. After all, that was what she wanted, wasn't it? If it was, why did she feel so low? How could he forget it so easily, and she had spent two sleepless nights, wondering what she could have done differently, or what she should do. Where did Josh fit into all of this, and why the hell couldn't she reach out and grab the opportunity for whom she wanted?

It was just her luck that New Yorkers became all civilized this week, and there were no cases to work, only paperwork, or cold cases. After only an hour he excused himself to go home to his "real job, the one that paid the bills." This wasn't out of the ordinary, since day one, Castle was a no-show when it came to paperwork, she thought to herself.

It wasn't weird at all, she thought at first, he had a book to finish, and it was not the first time he had left to write when they were not caught up in a murder. He had left on some occasions like this under her orders, God she could be a bitch she thought. In her defense, she did remember that paperwork bored him, and a bored Castle usually pestered her to no end, preventing her, and often her team from doing their job.

Then the next day he did it again. He was all smiles when he arrived, actually until he started down to his chair, then his mood changed. He became more serious, polite, and cracking polite jokes, but nothing like before the bomb case.

He had come into the precinct all smiles with the usual coffee, stopping to converse with Sargent Davis about the hockey game his son played in and was featured on the evening news. Then she heard his phone chirp, she watched him read a text, then he left muttering about Gina and the deadlines.

The next morning was a repeat, actually the evening as well, she tossed and turned, unsure of what she could do to keep her partner, and her boyfriend, or even if she wanted one more than the other. That answer was clear, if it came down to choosing one or the other, Castle would win hands down. Her problem now was whether he would want to stay. Things were certainly different than before, and she was at her wit's end trying to figure out what to do to correct them.

She had stepped away to get some aspirin from the medical cabinet, and when she returned, she pinched her nose, and swallowed the two tablets, with her coffee. Her coffee? It was still hot, meaning Castle had just dropped it off. Damn headache.

"Where is he?" she asked, nodding toward the cup.

They looked at what she was referring to. "Oh, you mean Castle?" answered Ryan, pocketing his phone

"He's in the Captain's office he's been in there for a while now," he explained gazing in the direction of Montgomery's office and narrowing his eyes as if he could see through the walls into the room. "Wonder what that's all about," he added suspiciously.

Yeah, she would like to know too. She stole a glance in the direction of her boss' office, then dropped down in her chair heavily. She earned two pairs of eyes focusing curiously on her again. "Don't you guys have some work to do?"

Esposito cleared his voice. "I'm heading to the morgue to check some files." he casually said, rising from his chair and gathering some stuff from his desk, then headed towards the elevator.

"You have to admit Kate, he's becoming a good liar. How long do he and Lanie think they can conceal their little love fest" Ryan asked when his partner was out of earshot.

She took a sip of warm coffee. "I don't know, but someday they are going to find out that we knew from day one," she noted, smirking at Ryan while she booted her computer.

When Castle left Montgomery's office some minutes later found Beckett sitting at her desk, drinking her coffee while shuffling through some pages of papers in various files, clearly not finding what she was searching for.

"Paperwork just sucks, uh?" he asked, offering a smile.

Her body jumped as she sat in the chair, obviously lost in her world and frightened out of it by his voice. "Yeah." she sheepishly grinned back at him, then opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it right away, not sure what she really should say. She paused for a long minute, then opted for a safe subject. "How's the book going?"

"Good. I wrote 4 chapters these last few days," he said cheerfully. "By the way, if we don't catch a body soon, I'm heading home to put on paper some ideas I got last night."

Kate was beginning to see a pattern developing, gone were the days where he would hang out at the precinct regardless of caseload, or not, and now he seemed to be searching for a way to leave as quickly as possible. She knew it would only get worse, if they didn't talk, really talk about where things were between them.

Beckett eyed him suspiciously. Twice is a coincidence, thrice is a pattern.

"Castle, what's-"

She was ready to ask him directly to come clean, tell her what the hell was going on, and why did he want to stay away from her as much as possible when she was cut off by the shrill sound of the phone. She let it ring a few times, pondering if she should just ignore it and continue speaking. Rick knew the questions were coming so he motioned for her to answer the call, so she did.

"Beckett," she answered without averting her gaze from his face, and for a while listened silently to the person on the other end of the phone. "Ok, we'll be there in twenty minutes," she promised hanging up.

"We've got a body," she explained, getting up from her chair and putting her jacket on. He stood up and followed her. Guys, Castle and I will meet you at the crime scene, preserve as much as you can," she yelled as the guys were already halfway down the stairs, not waiting for the elevator.

She thought that the ride to the crime scene would allow him to talk, about them, about whatever was bothering him, hell she knew what but maybe he had an idea that she hadn't thought of. The ride to Central Park was as quiet as the park itself at this hour. No screaming kids, no young couples making out under the sun, not one word from Castle other than to ask "So our crime scene is in the park?"

That was the extent of the noise until they came upon a group of people, actually early runners and dogs out for a walk with their respective owners.

"Rick, you were meeting with Captain Montgomery, was it about withdrawing your resignation? I don't mean to pry, but I hope I made myself clear, I need you as my partner." She said, waiting for his typical smart remark, none came,

"Kate, we need to talk, but well, not here, there's the crime scene", he said as they rolled up on a site where a young male cop stood just behind the tape restricting the crime scene, eying the sparse crowd with bored eyes and making sure no curious soul could enter without permission. As she approached Beckett flashed him her badge and he raised the tape for her and Castle to allow access.

Their line of sight of the actual crime scene was blocked as they approached with Lanie, Ryan, and Esposito hovering over something on the ground. As they got closer, actually no more than ten feet from them, the small group parted, and he swore he noticed Beckett's step falter for a moment to absorb the horrific sight she was approaching.

Castle had seen many bodies, and how different cops reacted to different crime scenes. It didn't matter how trained you might be, death always struck you, in some cases more than others. Before them, the body of a young woman was wrapped in a transparent plastic bag, probably from a dry cleaner, or a furrier. She wasn't completely buried in the ground, her head was prominently displayed almost as if leaving the head outside of the bag, the killer was sending a message.

Her face was white as a ghost, her face absent of all color and displaying prominent cuts and scratches starting from behind her ear and leading to her forehead. The killer had erected a homemade marker for his victim, with the date, and two words painted in what appeared to be the victim's blood. It was placed just a few inches above her head and stood up from the dirt, the two words written were 'Rotten Bitch'.

They always said that Beckett enjoyed the freaky ones, this definitely fit that category, even Castle had bent down to get a better view of the dead woman, his gloved fingertips touching almost reverently the dried blood on the wood. His face looked wounded as his fingers traced the words.

Beckett could sense how this case touched him, no matter how gruesome., or how often Derrick Storm had faced death, this was the real thing with a real person no longer alive. She died in a horrific way, and now it was on them to find her justice.

This crime scene was not ordinary. Not just the usual body dropped somewhere after a struggle or hidden not to be found. This one was carefully planned; the creepy epitaph spoke volumes. This murder could have been taken from any of the top murder mystery writers, including Castle, but she knew the way it impacted him, he could never harm another human in this fashion.

"What have we got, guys?" Beckett asked as he turned to Ryan and Esposito.

"Nothing so far. No witness or evidence other than the blood on the board, which is probably the victim's, there's nothing useful up here," replied Esposito, who gestured towards the forensic team that they were clear to extract the body. "The forensics guys were waiting for your approval, to start digging," he explained.

Beckett nodded and she and Castle took a few steps back to make room for the team to begin their work. "Do we know who she is?" Kate asked,

Ryan shook his head no. "I requested the list of women reported missing during the last six months to check if someone match the profile of the victim. We should be updated any minute now."

Beckett looked at Lanie, who was taking notes on her iPad. "Can you place the time of death, Lanie?"

"Not until I can properly examine the body," replied the ME casting a glance at her, "but if I had to guess I'd say no more than twenty-four hours."

"What about the inscription? Or even the board itself" asked Castle.

Esposito shrugged. "She may be a prostitute, but it's too early to say, bro."

"It suggests some kind of retribution, for not doing as she was told," observed Castle, "maybe she did something our killer disapproved."

Beckett set her jaw pensive. "You might be right." she conceded, as Ryan's phone rang, and he excused himself to answer. "Who found the body?"

Esposito pointed out to a man in a sweatshirt and joggers talking to a cop not far from them. "Peter DeSoto, he was running with his dog when he stumbled across the body. He immediately called the police."

She started towards DeSoto when she noted Castle wasn't following, still captivated by the inscription on the board. "You coming or not Castle?"

He wordlessly nodded and caught up with her. Esposito and Lanie stared at the duo walking away silently, their posture stiff, and both extremely careful in maintaining a proper distance between them.

Lanie was the first to speak her mind. "What's up with him? He's uncharacteristically less than excited about a body, especially a freaky one. Not one wild suggestion this morning,"

"I don't know. He's been acting strange since the bomb incident. He and Beckett did go through a hell of a lot, maybe it's catching up with him"

"And he's not the only one," interjected Ryan, who joined his colleagues. "Do you see how Beckett is edgy around him?"

Both Lanie and Esposito turned toward him with a quizzical looks on their faces. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I just happen to notice things, that's what I'm paid for." he shrugged. "Plus, I have two sisters." he further explained.

His phone rang again, he answered it then put his hand over the mouthpiece and said, "Oh, by the way, we've got an id."

"Sharon Tracy, aged 27, went to work yesterday, didn't come home, and was reported missing by her mother, and the birthmark on the left leg, and tattoo, on the lower back match. She's the victim, the mother will be down to make a positive ID, as soon as Lanie notifies her, she is ready.

"OK, thanks very much, yes, we'll keep you posted, OK, you as well, Goodbye" as Ryan hung up.

"We got lucky with that ID, but the mother said she didn't have a boyfriend and hasn't since

she broke off her engagement 4 years ago because her fiancé was cheating," Kevin added,

Three Hours Later

New York Medical Examiner's Office

Kate and Rick arrived at Lanie's office in the morgue when she called that she had something for them.

"What do you have Lanie, anything that is going to make this any easier to solve?" Kate asked,

"Sorry to disappoint you sister, but I narrowed the window for TOD down to between 7:00 PM and 11:00 PM last evening, and the last thing she ate was a slice of pepperoni pizza," Lanie replied,

"What about the toxicology or any trace evidence," Kate asked, as she shot Castle a look, was he even here? He seemed zoned out, looking at his phone about something.

"Both clean, no drugs of any type and we swept the body for any hair of fiber evidence, and she WASN'T sexually molested Castle, BUT the blood on the board was hers." Lanie looked over, he was still in his daydream, or somewhere other than here. Not only was he not asking any questions, but he also wasn't responding to comments made directly to him, something was off between the two.

It appears as though some flesh-eating zombie has driven a spike through her, just like in one of Castle's books," Lanie said, waiting for a reaction. Hearing his name being called shook him out of his trance all of a sudden.

"What did you say, Lanie? Did you mention my name?" he asked, suddenly coming out of his stupor.

"I said she was stabbed to death three times in her chest with a screwdriver or something of a similar shape. The killer hit major arteries and organs which would have caused a great deal of blood loss, and given the minute amount at the scene, it's safe to say that was not your kill zone."

The ME put the white blanket back over the young woman's body and turned towards Beckett.

"Uh?" Castle looked up into the faces of both Beckett and Lanie, If the scowling expression the two women had painted on their faces was of any indication, he was busted.

"Aren't you a little old for daydreaming, Castle?" asked Lanie, leering at him.

"Sorry, but I got a text from work. I wasn't daydreaming but multi-tasking is not my strong suit," he said, trying to defend himself.

"Any sign of sexual assault?" asked Castle, his undivided attention now aimed at the body.

"Castle, as I previously stated, no sexual assault, the tox screen is clean, I found no fingerprints, no hairs, nothing." She repeated now that he was back with the living.

"That's strange," remarked Beckett. "The unusual weapon and the multiple stabs suggest a crime of passion but the lack of evidence and the unconventional way the murderer disposed of the body imply premeditation."

"Castle, let's go speaking..." she trailed off momentarily distracted by his intense gaze. She quickly recovered, hoping Lanie hadn't paid attention, "...to the victim's mother's to see if she-."

She was interrupted by the ringing of Castle's phone, he shot her a look and walked out into the hallway to answer the call.

"It's not hard to guess what he was daydreaming about after all, uh?" Lanie teased as she watched Castle leave the room.

Beckett turned to her in astonishment. "What? What are you talking about Lanie?"

Lanie didn't need to look at her friend to know she had an outraged expression on her face. "Maybe it wasn't a what after all, maybe it's a who?" Lanie's barb hit home with Beckett,

"What?" the detective asked again, even more, flustered than before, succeeding only in making Lanie smile like the Cheshire Cat. That was the very same scenario that made Castle hesitate as he peeked into the room a moment later ready to say something.

"Is everything ok, ladies?" he inquired curiously from the door.

"Yeah, fine," Beckett reassured him, narrowing her eyes to Lanie silently daring her to say one more word.

Lanie just nodded in agreement; she had pushed Beckett about as far as she dared.

Castle shrugged. "Seems I'll miss the interview, Beckett. Paula just called; she needs to see me in her office asap." he explained "See you tomorrow." And with that, he was out of the room again.

Beckett stared dumbfounded at the two-way heavy door of the morgue, still bouncing on its hinges. Much to Lanie's surprise just a moment later she stormed out of the room as well. She was going to find out what the hell his problem was, is, or going to be.

TBC