Maybe it was just his nerves interfering with his creative juices, but it seemed to him that every person in this coffee shop was painstakingly boring. New Yorkers tended to pride themselves on being unique, but looking around this place, you'd never know it. It was a sea of black three-piece suits, monochromatic ties, and identical tidy hairstyles. The workers broke up the monotony a little, with their beige t-shirts and green aprons, but two-tone wasn't a whole lot better than one. This was why he didn't write in coffee shops. He frequented them, obviously, but only to pick up coffee. For writing, he preferred places with a little more ambiance, or at least places that weren't so distractingly blah. It was like every single person in here made it their life's mission not to have an interesting story. To do exactly and only what they were supposed to, according to society and the various other boring forces in their lives. The whole vibe of this place was just so uninspiring.

He was early and needed something to distract him while he waited, so he cast around, searching in vain for someone, - anyone, really - who he could invent some sort of story about to amuse him for a few minutes. Anyone who stood out, just a little, from the surrounding masses. Finally, he found her. In her black pea coat and pinstriped pants, her brown hair wound into a tight, professional knot, she did blend in at first, but there was something about her that was different. Less corporate. Like many other people in here, she seemed to be looking for someone, but there was something about her posture that set her apart. She was too rigid. Uncomfortable. She didn't really belong here, and she was well-aware of that fact.

He let his imagination take over, filling in the details that his eyes wouldn't provide. She'd been a very successful Broadway dancer, but her show had closed, and she was temporarily unemployed. Her boyfriend recently broke up with her to take a job on the west coast, and after too many weeks of celibacy, a friend had set her up on a blind date with a successful but boring lawyer. Castle joined her in trying to identify the man she was meeting. He had to be around here somewhere.

Before he found the guy, the woman who'd so entranced him turned around, and he finally got a clear view of her face. He smiled as he realized that he did know the man she was meeting, and waved a hand to get her attention. No wonder she'd entranced him. She'd been entrancing him for the past three years.

"Good morning, Detective Beckett," he greeted her, purposely using her professional title in order, he hoped, to get her into the correct state of mind for the impending hearing.

She smiled nervously and sat down at the high-top table across from him. "Morning, Castle."

He slid a coffee - skim latte with two pumps of sugar-free vanilla, her old usual - and a pastry across the table to her. She picked up the coffee gratefully before he'd even taken his hand away, so that their fingers brushed for a second. Her bottom lip got trapped between her teeth for a second as her nervous smile faded a little, but then she met his eyes and said a quick, "thanks."

"So what do you think?" he asked. "You ready?"

She set the coffee cup down and picked at the edges of the pastry. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Good... good." He sipped his own coffee.

When he'd made the plan to meet her here last night, it had seemed so important that he see her before they got to the courthouse, to have coffee, just as they had in the Hamptons. If nothing else, they'd both gotten a lot more comfortable around each other while they were there. But now... all that seemed to have gone away. The seriousness of the impending hearing hung in the air, and there was nothing to say. Nothing to do but drink coffee and hope that everything went smoothly. Meeting early like this just felt like prolonging the experience. He briefly considered filling her in on her lost career as a Broadway dancer, but now didn't seem like the time. So they sat in silence for what felt to him like hours.

"Castle?"

He hadn't realized he'd been avoiding looking at her until she said his name. At that point he looked up quickly, startled. "Yeah?"

"I really appreciate how much you've supported me these past couple of weeks."

He was thrown off by the formality of her tone. "Yeah, I know, you've said that already. And it's really not necessary, that's what I'm here for."

She ignored him and continued on with her speech. "And no matter what happens today, I need you to know that you'll always be my partner."

He frowned. "Of course I will. Kate, I don't know where this is coming from, but I'm not going anywhere."

"Yeah you are. You're going home."

"What?"

"Go home."

"No. I'm a witness, I'm coming to the hearing."

"You're not required to be there."

"I don't care if I'm 'required' to be there. I'm going to be."

"No, you're not." Her expression was beginning to look pained, and he wasn't happy about that, but he wasn't about to give up, either. "I need to focus in there, and as much as I'd love it if you were there, it would be distracting."

"Why haven't you mentioned this before?" Her whole speech was well thought-out. He was sure she hadn't just decided this now.

"Because I knew you'd fight me on it."

"Well, you were right. No amount of persuasion is gonna keep me away. I don't know how many times I've told you, I want to help."

"So go home. Please."

"No. I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

"What if I promise to call you as soon as the hearing ends?"

"You won't have to, because I'll be there. I won't say anything to mess you up, I promise."

"No, I know that..." She sighed. "You really want to come?"

He met her eyes. "I really do." For two whole weeks, they'd been planning to go through this together. Why would that suddenly have changed?

"Okay." She finished her coffee and put the cup down on the table. "Then let's go."

Castle was having trouble reconciling the woman beside him as he entered the courthouse with the woman he'd spent so much time with in the Hamptons. He guessed that the way she was now - professional, distant - was closer to the Beckett he'd known for three years than the woman who'd opened up to him so much in the Hamptons, but still, it was weird. From the time they walked through the courthouse doors, she never so much as looked at him.

It was a big building and it took a few minutes to figure out where they were supposed to be going, but he knew they were in the right neighborhood when they were met by two very concerned detectives. Until now, he hadn't considered the fact that Beckett's teammates hadn't seen her since before the incident. He assumed that Lanie had talked to Esposito, who'd talked to Ryan, so they hadn't been fully in the dark about what had been happening, but this was the first time either of them had gotten to talk to her directly.

"Hey, chica," Espo greeted her with an encouraging, puppy-eyed smile. "You'll be great in there, okay? It'll go fine."

Castle sensed her nervousness, and he was pretty sure the other two did as well, but she smiled, a genuine smile, in spite of it. "Thanks, Javi."

"New York isn't gonna lose its finest detective today," Ryan put in. "There's no way."

She made a noise that sounded like it could've been trying to be a laugh, but didn't quite get there. "Thanks."

"We shoulda been backing you," the younger detective added. "This is partly our fault."

"No, no one's fault," she said, glancing quickly but pointedly at Castle. "We're a good team, the four of us. Just let them try to break us up." She swallowed hard, forcing a smile, and once again he got the feeling that he was missing something.

But before anyone could say anything else, Montgomery cut it short, directing them toward the courtroom. Castle tried to follow, but the captain stopped him. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

There was an unexplainable uneasiness in the pit of his stomach, but he nodded. "Oh yeah, sure. What's up?"

"You should go home," he said sternly. "This is no place for you to be."

He frowned. Now Montgomery didn't want him here, either? "What are you talking about?"

"I thought I was clear. Go home."

"I can't do that."

The captain seemed to struggle with something for a minute, and then relented. "Fine. If you're determined to stay, I won't force you to leave. But I think it would be better for you and for Beckett if you did."

He sighed. Why did no one trust him? "I've already had this conversation with Beckett. I'm not going to say anything that I shouldn't."

"I didn't say you would. Look, I understand that you want to support her. But sometimes the best way to support someone is just to let them do their thing. I'm here, Detectives Esposito and Ryan are here. Even if you leave, she won't be alone in there."

If he was going to leave (which he wasn't), he'd sure as hell need a better reason than he'd been given so far. Roy was his friend. He'd been his friend since before he'd ever met Kate Beckett. So why was he trying to push him away? "Listen, Roy," he said, his voice so low it was near a whisper, "I've been with her for the last two weeks. I've seen her relive everything that happened that night over and over again. I've watched her worry about this hearing, the one that's happening today. Now. And I was there with her when everything happened. I'm the one who called you, remember? I'm the reason she's here today, I'm the reason her badge is in danger. Is there anyone else in this building, or anywhere else, who can say that? I've been through this whole process with her, and this is the final step. You know me, Captain. Do you really think I'm going to walk away now?"

Montgomery stared at him for a long moment, and sighed heavily. "No, I don't."

"Good. Just as long as we're clear." He started toward the courtroom, but he'd barely taken a step before Roy called him back again.

"Castle?

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for taking care of her these past couple of weeks."

"I didn't-"

But the captain didn't pause. "I'm sure it wasn't easy for her, for either of you... but I'm sure that it coulda been a lot worse than it was. You've been a fine partner for her. A welcome addition to our team."

Montgomery's words were touching, but his tone made him nervous. It was the same one that Beckett had been using in the coffee shop. There was something final about it, and he didn't like that. But he swallowed his uneasiness and nodded. "Thanks, Captain. Always happy to help."

The older man patted his back in a vaguely parental way and ushered him toward the interrogation room. But before he got there, an African American woman in a conservative suit (she would've fit in nicely at that coffee shop) and plain black heels clicked past them. She eyed Montgomery and nodded cordially. "Roy." Her tone conveyed familiarity, but definitely not friendship.

"Victoria," he greeted her, his tone a little cold as well. "Good to see you again."

Her eyes narrowed, and Castle got the impression that she didn't necessarily share the sentiment, but she entered the courtroom without another word, the doors closing behind her.

"Who was that?" he asked a still-frowning Montgomery.

"Victoria Gates, Internal Affairs. Your worst nightmare."

A/N: I really like cliffhangers. They make me feel powerful. *evil laugh*

On a completely unrelated note... I miss Montgomery. A lot. Hopefully I did him justice in this chapter.

Reviews are always appreciated!