Thanks, everyone for all the great reviews! They're a great motivator. Also, kudos to guitar73girl for catching the truth serum reference in the last chapter!

Hope you like this next installment!

Chapter 17 – Don't thank me

There was nothing strange about this case. You know, besides the fact that a perfectly healthy twenty-four year old woman lay dead on her boyfriend's living room floor.

The call came in just after 3:00 AM after witnesses heard the shot and called 911. Multiple witnesses reported seeing someone who matched the boyfriend's description fleeing the scene shortly thereafter.

Beckett, Esposito and Ryan arrived at the scene all within 20 minutes of getting the call. Perlmutter was already collecting the evidence and easily placed time of death around the same time witnesses heard the gun fire. The team assessed the scene and collected some additional evidence. Beckett made a quick call to Castle—he sometimes listened in to the police scanner if he was up late writing. She didn't want him just showing up at the crime scene, then whining because it was so typical.

Kate knew they'd have to notify the girl's family, but she figured she let them enjoy a final few hours of peaceful sleep before she opened the door to the perma-hell that she knew all too well. She also knew that their suspect would hunker down, and if they wanted their suspect's family and acquaintances to cooperate, they'd stand a better chance if they roused them for questioning in the morning. She sent the boys home to get a few more hours shut-eye and promised to do the same after delivering the evidence to the precinct for processing. She'd complete all the necessary paperwork now, in hopes that her evidence would be first in the queue. Though they kept one tech on overnight, she doubted her evidence would be addressed until morning.

Paperwork processed, Kate began building her murder board. There wasn't really much to put on it, and she was done in a matter of minutes. She decided to make good on her promise to Ryan and Esposito. Knowing the break room would be a popular place in about an hour, Kate sought out the small conference room. She pulled a blanket from the drawer in the end table and settled onto the small couch.

She loved her desk, but this room had become her favorite room at the 12th. Though it had taken on a bitter-sweet dynamic, it held a special, wholly comforting appeal. They'd celebrated so many closed cases in here. Stayed late to work through tough cases—pizza always making an appearance. It had seen its fair share of beers and tears. They'd read Castle's fan mail here. It was where she'd told him what she never told anyone—about the life she'd saved and the life she lost. It was where she'd learned her mother had been assassinated and where she'd challenged "Oh, I don't need to drink to take him," before watching him walk away.

Still, this was also where they'd helped reunite one lucky, if not forgetful Mr. Preswick with his first love. Here, Castle read to her Nurse McClintock's lovesick letters to his imprisoned fiancée. I love you. Here, she'd regaled Castle's heroics to the boys and the captain after he yanked the wires from the bomb. Esposito had told them "You don't know how lucky you are." Actually, I do. Here, she smelled like cherries, and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

The boys weren't surprised to find Kate in the meeting room, and though they didn't want to wake her, they knew she'd be pissed if they let anyone else find her sleeping there. After a quick Paper, Scissors, Rock challenge, Ryan made his way to get coffee. Unlike Castle, Ryan actually had been a boy scout, and he knew better than to wake a woman—well, this woman—without coffee in hand. Be prepared. At Ryan's quiet mention of her name, Kate was immediately alert. She stood, already folding the blanket and asking if they had any news on their suspect.

Ryan handed her the coffee, while offering an apologetic, "No." He told her Esposito was checking with the lab, trying to get an ETA on ballistics.

"We need to track this guy down. I want to talk to him. Today. Start with family, and see what you get from there." She caught a glimpse of herself in the window where the shades were down. "I've got to notify our victim's family, get positive ID." But first, I need to run a brush through my hair.

Kate made her way to the door. "Call me if you find anything."

"Will do."

Less than an hour later, Kate sat back at her desk. It was never easy telling families that their loved ones weren't coming home. In this case, Mailin Chen's family consisted of just her mother and younger brother. Mrs. Chen didn't speak English, and Kate had been grateful for the brother's presence. He'd been amazingly strong. They'd asked few questions, which was good because Kate had few answers for them. And they'd been unable to answer her questions about the boyfriend. Beyond his name (Blake Li), a general description and knowing that he was into body building, they didn't know anything about him—far less, in fact, than Detective Beckett had learned in the last five hours.

The boys were still out trying to track down Li's whereabouts. She called them, wanting to know if anyone had mentioned what gym he attended. Later, she'd start there. The boys hadn't known, but promised to stop back by Li's apartment to see if they could find out. In the meantime, Kate started running his financials. She wanted to know everywhere he'd been in the last two months. An hour and a half later the boys came back, still no suspect, but they had the name of a gym. Different place than she had uncovered in his financials.

Lanie called Beckett to say she was on her way up with the bullet from the vic and details on what she'd found. There was nothing on the body, so she hadn't bothered calling them down. Kate went to get her friend a coffee. While she stood waiting for the espresso machine, she glanced at her watch. She knew it was still too early for Castle. Too bad, really. He was much better at operating this thing than she was. Still, it gave her something to do.

Kate hadn't seen Castle since Saturday. Well, not entirely true. She'd seen him Sunday when she'd dropped Alexis off, but he'd been asleep on the couch. They hadn't noticed him at first, but when Alexis ran up to her room to retrieve Kate's CD, she'd wandered to the living room, intending to rest her feet after a long day off shopping.

Instead, she found herself staring down at Richard Castle's face, torn between wishing he'd wake up and standing mesmerized by the lines on his face. Even in his sleep, his face was such an odd mix of man and boyish charm. He still had the deep lines around his face and, even relaxed, she could see where his dimples were. She knew how they'd deepen if he discovered she was watching him sleep. She wouldn't admit this to anyone, but she was fascinated with the lines on Richard Castle's face. Especially the lines at the corners of his eyes, how they crinkled when he was amused. The one that most fascinated her, though, was the deep crevice between his brows, slightly off center. What had caused that groove? Never had her urge to press her thumb into it, to trace her fingers along his face been stronger. Thank God Alexis came back when she did.

"Kate? You okay?" Lanie asked, pulling Kate out of her reverie.

"Yeah." Kate smiled. "Just making you coffee so you'll be nice and palpable and tell us all we want to know."

"Yeah, like I hold back. Come on. Writer Boy just got here."

"Castle's here?"

Lanie raised her eyebrows. "Isn't he always? And he brought flowers."

"Wh-what?"

"It's true. One for me. One for you." Lanie reached up to grab two glasses from the cupboard, which she filled with water.

"Why?"

"Ask him. And carry my coffee."

As they walked out of the break room, Kate immediately took in the boys. They were laughing heartily about something. She headed toward the murder board beside her desk knowing they'd all end up there anyway. Lanie walked to the boys to retrieve the file she'd left on Esposito's desk and took a moment to put the flower Rick had given her in one of the glasses.

Rick chose that moment to head to Kate's desk. He'd set his own coffee down already, but he had her coffee and flower positioned in one hand and the pastry bag holding a bear claw in the other. He wanted the pleasure of handing these goodies off to her and watching her squirm over the flower. He'd get away with it because he gave Lanie one, too.

Kate looked up at him. "Castle. You're here early." She said accepting the coffee and the pastry bag. She hadn't seen the flower the way he'd positioned it behind the coffee. Rick watched as her eyes narrowed when they closed around the cup and encountered the stem. She slowly turned the cup to reveal a pink carnation. Then she peeked in the bag.

"Castle what did I do to deserve coffee, a bear claw and the carnation?"

"The coffee's a given. Bear claw because I knew you had an early morning. Haven't eaten have you?" She shook her head slightly. "And the flower is just to say thank you."

"Thank me?" Kate wasn't sure the liked where this was going.

"You know. For taking Alexis shopping. It meant a lot to her. And to me."

In an instant, Kate dropped the pastry bag to her desk and had her hand on his chest, and she pushed him into his chair. "Castle," she said, leaning down to put her face directly in front of his. ", If you ever—and I mean EVER—thank me for spending time with your daughter again, I'll—"

"Shoot me? Giving a pretty lady a flower is hardly a shootable offence."

"No, Castle. I'm not going to shoot you. Again, not worth the paperwork." She crossed her arms and smirked. "Pull something like that again, and I will make sure your fans know where to find you for a solid week. You'll be holed up at home."

"You wouldn't.

"I would."

"You wouldn't because I'd be with you."

"I'd take a vacation."

"Then you wouldn't know where I am."

"I could track your phone."

"Or take me with you."

"Keep dreaming, Castle."

Ryan, Esposito and Lanie chose that moment to walk over. They were, of course, wondering what Castle had done to get Beckett all riled up—again. "What's going on over here?" Esposito asked.

"Well, after I thanked Beckett, here, for helping Alexis find a prom dress, she threatened me with death by fan-icide and then offered to take me on vacation with her."

"Really, Castle? That's what you took from that conversation?"

"Selective hearing." He shrugged.

"Fan-icide?" Ryan questioned.

"Later." Beckett said, scowling at Castle as he started to stand. "Lanie, what have you got for us?"

"Bullet was lodged in Ms. Chen's breast bone. I was able to remove it still intact. The cartridge is a .45 ACP. I can tell you with a bullet that size, she wasn't shot at close range, or it would have gone through and through. Plus there's no GSW to suggest otherwise. Grooving indicates Glock, and I'm already running it through NIBIN to see if we get a match. Also, there's no evidence that the bullet passed through any other structures or materials before entering our vic."

"That matches with what we saw at the scene," Esposito said. "Could have shot her from the far end of the hall—even the other side of the bedroom."

"Why'd he do it though?" That was Castle. Always after the story.

"We'll be sure to ask him that when we bring him in, Castle." Beckett said snidely, before turning to Ryan and Esposito. "Li's whereabouts? Any leads?"

"We're still following up with some of the family members. Want to get in a couple of callbacks before lunch."

"Okay, I've got a few calls to make myself. Let's do that, then take an early lunch? Lanie, you in?"

"Remy's?"

"Is there any other place?" Esposito asked.

"Sounds good. Been eons since we all made it to lunch together. An hour?" she asked the group.

"We'll be ready. Unless we get a location on our vic."

They parted ways, looking forward to lunch.

If the case detail stuff isn't up to snuff, forgive me. I need a little bit of it to propel the story and tried to get the details right, but, it was taking a while to research. So I tried to balance getting it exactly right, with getting another chapter up. For example, I think in reality a bullet that size would have blown through the vic, but that detail would have required more explanation than just pulling it from the vic. So, I hope you're all okay with this…let me know! Reviews are appreciated! Still need an idea as to how to kill an upcoming vic, so if you have one…let me know. Has to be Beckett/Castle flavored…