A/N: Wahhh, I start my first big girl job next week! I can't believe I'm already working after having just graduated uni a few months ago. DX So if I'm late with my next update, this is why. Gotta work to pay for the internet bill to upload these chapters. :P

Oh, to clear something up: I know a few of you had questions regarding the last chapter and why Alex thought he would get arrested when there were no evidence against him. I'm sorry I wasn't able to answer them until today but hopefully this chapter clears some things up. If not, here's just a little of how I see the story: Alex is a professor; he doesn't shadow Beckett like Castle does on the show. Though he may write about murder, he's still not exactly privy to the details of a murder investigation (particularly this one). The most he knows about the investigation is that there is someone out there aping his books and he thinks he's being framed. Even though he knows he's innocent and we know there are no evidence against him, he doesn't know that and truely believes Kate is investigating him, despite his logic and reason. In the last chapter, he was too overwhelmed with the thought that he was going to be arrested that he didn't consider the facts and how they could possibly have any thing of his tieing him to the scene(s). I'm sorry I didn't make that feeling more explicit but hopefully this chapter clears some things up. Please enjoy and thank you everyone for all your reviews! ^^

Chapter 10

It was dark and stormy night. No it wasn't. But it sure felt like one in Rodger's head and heart, melodramatic prosaicism and all. Since his failed lunch date, Alex has been holed up in his study, waiting for his inevitable doom. Stop it. How could you, and not fictional you, be implicated in this? He just couldn't wrap his mind around it—I didn't do anything wrong!—but knowing that he's innocent doesn't change the end of Kate's conversation that he overheard at the diner.

They're gonna go arrest the guy and they think it's Richard Castle and that's me. Alex couldn't bear to have Kate—no, the police—arrest him at work so instead he called in sick and gave instructions to his TA's to lead his lectures and seminars. But in hindsight now, maybe he should've just gone to work. He could have certainly used the distraction. His daughter was out with some friends—he even made sure to highly encourage her to consider staying over at her friend's house (so she might avoid witnessing his arrest)—and his mother, well she was probably at some stage production. Surprisingly, she still found a way to go out despite her leg in a cast and herself in a wheelchair. But either way, he had the whole loft to himself and his mind is started to spin a little out of control.

Will Kate just call him already? She said she would right? Maybe he should call her? No wait, if they're arresting him, doesn't that mean she'll show up at his doorstep unannounced? Would she call ahead to warn him? No no, she can't do that; she could lose her job, especially if he made a run for it after she called. Oh, should he make a run for it? He has enough money; he knows enough people. But, oh god, what would Kate think? What does Kate think? Would she think he's been using her? What—?

The incessant buzzing on his desk must have jarred him from his internal monologue because he just snapped at the inanimate object vibrating on his desk. Oh god. It's Kate isn't it?

Glancing down at the caller ID, he let out a very loud sigh of relief. Only his mother.

"Hey kiddo," spoke the voice on the other end of the line.

"Mother. How can I help you?"

"Alexander, a little birdie told me she was almost kicked out and told not to come home until tomorrow so I just want to call and tell you not to wait up; I'll be staying with some friends tonight after the production. You can go ahead and invite that sweet detective of yours over without any interruptions from us."

Rodgers could almost hear the wink in his mother's voice as she spoke and tried very astutely to ignore that extra comment and its implications. Oh she'll probably be coming over alright; but not for reasons I'd like her to. But as much as he would like his mother to stay away, he was a little concerned about her, what with her recent accident and all. Besides, if he was arrested tonight, he wanted his mother to find the note he planned on leaving and make any arrangements necessary, not his daughter who would probably find it first if they both stayed out tonight.

"Mother, what about your leg? You should be taking it easy; I shouldn't have even let you go out tonight. I'm not asking Kate over, I just need to get some writing done."

He knew the writing excuse was feeble. They never bothered him before when he was writing; now shouldn't be any different, especially when he doesn't even have a book to write since he already turned in his last manuscript. He just hoped his mother wouldn't pick apart that logic.

"Oh, like I need your permission to go out. I'm just being courteous, son! And don't worry about me or that book of yours. Invite that detective over and have fun! Live while you're both still young. I am."

"But your leg—"

"It's fine. I have it covered. You deserve some happiness, Alexander. Go get some."

The double entendre in his mother's last statement was not lost on him but before he could form an adequate reply, the beeping on his phone alerted him to another call. His heart quickened when the name on the screen confirmed his suspicions. It's Kate on the other line.

"Look, mother, I have another call; I'll get back to you. Just, be careful please? And ... I love you."

Time to face the music. With the tap of his finger against the smartphone's screen, he switched phone calls and awaited his doom.

"Hey Alex! I'm sorry I ran out on you at lunch," Kate greeted the minute she heard Alex pick up her call. It was a long day at the precinct, but they did it. They cracked the case and caught the guy responsible for those three murders.

"Hi Kate." Huh, was his voice softer than normal?

"Trust me, if I could've stayed, I would've. Lunch with you sounds infinitely better than raiding some psycho's apartment."

"Excuse me?"

"Ahaha, yeah. Being a detective isn't all fun and games," she smirked. "Killers aren't as simple or easy as books make them out to be; sometimes we get people who are just disturbed. But the important thing is we caught our guy so that means I have all day off tomorrow after I finish the paperwork for my case. Let me make it up to you for today; are you free for lunch tomorrow?"

Kate wasn't really one to initiate dates, but she did feel genuinely bad for ditching Alex back at that diner. And the backward glance she gave him as she was exiting the place illustrated a guy who looked pretty heartbroken. You had a job to do; you couldn't help it. No matter how many times she told herself that throughout the day, she couldn't help but see his crestfallen face everytime she closed her eyes. So she decided, once they booked the guy—a Kyle Cabot from Brooklyn—she was going to call him and ask him out. With the murderer off the streets and her image of her favorite author intact, she had cause to celebrate; who better to do that with than Alexander Rodgers?

"You caught the guy?" There was a hint of incredulity in Alex's voice that Kate couldn't exactly place. She had just asked him out, and that's what he chose to focus on?

"Yeah. Is that a hint of doubt I detect? Are you questioning my abilities as a Detective, Professor Rodgers?"

"What? No! Never!" The high-pitched defense Alex gave made Kate's tease worthwhile. Maybe it was just all in her head.

"Good. Because trust me, you would not want me investigating your crime if you committed one."

"Ahaha," Alex awkwardly laughed. Sounds like she still knows how to make a guy quiver in fear. "So can you tell me about the bust? You can discuss your case now, can't you? Since you already caught the guy?"

"Well technically, the case is still open since we only just caught the guy today; I still need to finish off the paperwork for it before I can say it's officially closed. So, I still can't say much but let's just say, you should be rest assured that a murderer of three is off the streets of New York," Kate practically beamed as she told Alex that. She's never had a guy this interested in her work.

"Three?"

"Yeah. Our killer was killing people the way an author did in some of his books. In the end though, it was just some crazed fan who wanted to emulate his work. Good thing we caught him before he chose to show his appreciation with more casualties," Kate explained, realizing Alex wasn't going to let it go. Are all professors of literature this voracious for the finer details in things? "That's all I can tell you, Alex. Really. The fact I even said anything at all was a little too much. So what do you say to that date?"

"Haha, thank you detective. I would love to." Finally, she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Great! I should be done before noon. What's your teaching schedule like?"

"I have a morning lecture and an afternoon seminar, but I'm free in between so noon works for me. I can pick you up from your precinct?"

"That's okay, I can come to you."

"What? Are you embarrassed your coworkers will see me?" It was cute that Alex was trying to tease her again. She had been a little worried when the phone call started off kind of somber, so she was glad he seemed to be back to his normal self.

"Fiiiine. I'll see you then. Have a good night, Professor Rodgers."

"Until tomorrow, Detective Beckett."

He's off the hook? And yet, why did he not feel happy or satisfied? The police are no longer investigating him—they shouldn't have in the first place, he was totally innocent—but something didn't settle well with him. He didn't know what; it's just this gut feeling he had.

Shaking his head—honestly, he should really stop sticking his nose where it doesn't belong; they already caught the guy and it wasn't him—Alex finally decided to get out of his slump in his office chair and stretch his legs a bit. Maybe get a glass of water. After sweating bullets from the anticipation of his almost arrest, he most certainly feels dehydrated now. And a little silly. Really, how could he think Kate had his prints? He didn't even know about the murders, let alone been around one long enough to leave any fingerprints behind. Three Alex, there were three bodies, not one. And that's what surprised him. He knew there was the Tisdale murder and he suspected there may have been one before that, but he didn't know the police had up to three bodies. No wonder Gina was so worried for him; it was serious.

By the time Rodgers made it to his kitchen and was opening his refrigerator door, he was still in his head so he didn't hear the front door open to reveal his mother and daughter. It wasn't until they called out to him that he realized they had even come home.

"Dad, what's going on?"

"Alexander, is everything alright?"