A/N: Hello Readers! Normally I'll put my notes at the end, but I feel like I needed to address a few things before the next chapter. Through all of your reviews (thanks for that by the way!), I got a few comments with some concern about the story line. First of all, I would like to address that this story's past is set at the end of season two, yet after Kate's shooting. Someone had brought up that it would be unlikely for Castle to run with Gina again, and yes, I completely agree, but I guess this person didn't catch on that it hadn't happened before, and that this was the first time it had happened. Another reader brought up how they didn't like Esposito and Ryan's reaction, and all I can tell you is, keep reading, because that has an interesting turn out that I think you'll enjoy. So, now that those things are cleared up, here's the second chapter, per your request. Enjoy!
One Thousand Coffees
A Castle Fanfiction
Chapter 2
Castle sat alone in the loft that evening. It had become a usual occurrence for his mind to drift off and think of Kate. In the midst of his thought, his phone started ringing from his bedside table.
"Castle," he answered.
The voice he heard on the other end was unexpected.
"Rick? I need you," said Kate.
She sounded like she was hurting, but the one thing that Castle was stuck on was that she had called him. She'd called him over Esposito, or Ryan, or even her father.
"What's going on?" he asked.
She gave little to no explanation, just that she'd called to talk to her father but it didn't go over well, and that she'd explain more when she got there.
Kate swept in the doors of the loft within five minutes of the phone call. Surprisingly, she still knew her way around the Castle loft. She made her way to the bedroom where she saw Castle waiting for her. She was reluctant to go to the bed, and it showed.
"Come on, we'll go to the couch," Castle offered, practically leaping off of the bed.
Smiling, Kate followed him through his office and into the familiar living room. She sat there, watching Castle move through the kitchen.
"It's not going to be your latte, but you look like you could use some coffee. You want anything else?" he asked.
"So I now owe you one-thousand and two coffees now? They're just adding up!" she laughed. "But no, Castle, I'm fine."
He laughed, too; the laugh she had come to miss.
"So your phone call was a little worrying. What happened?" he asked.
He sat down next to the female detective, who still looked a little shaken, but she had definitely settled down since her arrival at the loft. Her eyes darted at the mention of the issue, but her body language remained the same. Something in his eyes, though; it just comforted her, told her that she could let him in again.
"I called my dad to tell him about, well, this and he told me to walk away while I still could for the most part. I haven't exactly talked to him since you left," she explained.
Castle's eyes softened, but he didn't say anything. He wrapped his arm around Kate and pulled her close to him.
"Castle…" she murmured.
"Don't talk, just sleep, Kate," he replied.
The brunette closed her eyes and lay motionless against the writer. Castle felt her breathing as he ran his fingers through her hair until she fell asleep. He'd missed this, just being near Kate, even if it was just for work. Her absence had taken a toll on him, too. He missed shadowing her every day, the daily phone calls saying that there was a murder, giving her a hard time, the cute face she made while she was studying the murder board, and especially the way her face lit up when he brought her a cup of coffee.
It was about one in the morning when Kate woke up again. She didn't know where she was at first, but remembered when she felt Castle's grip tighten around her when she almost fell from the couch.
"I should go, Castle," she said softly.
He looked for an excuse for her not to leave, but he was having trouble finding one.
"It's late, maybe you should just stay. You can borrow one of my shirts, sleep in my bed. I'll just take the couch," he said before he thought it through completely.
"I can't, not tonight. I've got to be at the Twelfth early tomorrow," she said as she walked back through the office to retrieve her bag.
"Until tomorrow, Kate," he called after her.
"Night!" she said back.
The next day at the precinct, Kate was almost falling asleep at her desk and the morning had barely begun.
"Long night?" Ryan asked.
"You could put it that way, yes," she sighed.
"Yo, Beckett," Esposito called from his desk. "We've got a case."
The team walked to the elevator, all three of them preparing themselves for what was to come.
When they arrived at the crime scene, Kate saw that the press had already arrived, along with the medical examiner, and Kate's best friend, Lanie Parish.
"What do we have?" Kate asked as she approached her friend.
Lanie looked up at her and gave a look that signaled that this case was nowhere close to good.
"Female, fifteen, Jane Doe," Lanie listed.
Kate examined the body. There were lacerations all over, not to mention signs of strangulation and a hell of a lot of bruising.
"Signs of sexual assault?" she asked.
Lanie shook her head.
"I'd have to check once I got back to the lab. There are so many marks on this body that I can't even determine cause of death. Your time of death is going to be somewhere around four this morning," she informed the detectives.
Kate nodded reluctantly, telling uniforms to canvas the area before heading back to the Twelfth. When she got there, she did a search through missing persons. Normally, she would've assigned this task to Ryan, but something told her she should take this one into her own hands. She was sitting in front of that computer for what seemed like hours, and all she wanted was to see Castle again. The way she felt for the writer was even more than what it was three years ago, even more than it had ever been, all after reconnecting at a coffee shop. She wondered if it was just coincidence. Picking up her phone and taking a quick break, she sent a text to Castle: You. Me. Coffee shop. I'm off in two hours. He responded quickly with a yes, which took the edge off of Kate's shoulders as she turned back to face her computer.
"Beckett, I think we've got an ID," Esposito said, tossing the victim's wallet to her.
The victim's name was Angelina Marks. Kate entered the name into missing persons, and sure enough, their victim was there. She'd been missing for over a month.
"Damn," Kate muttered.
There were no trails, no clues, nothing. They didn't even have a cause of death. They were at square one. First thing was to call next of kin, but she left that to Esposito since she was off the clock.
"Where you gotta be, Beckett?" Esposito asked as he watched Kate walk to the elevator.
"Coffee date with you know who, Javi," she called back, watching as a disapproving look appeared on her friend's face. "Get rid of the look. I'll see you tomorrow."
When Kate arrived at the coffee shop to see that Castle was already there, her mood was instantly lifted. She saw him sitting at the same table they sat at the other day. She slid into the chair across from Castle as his eyes met hers.
"How was work?" he asked.
"Same old, same old. We've got a new case, it's pretty brutal. I hate to admit it, but I kind of miss having you around all the time," she admitted.
"Is that so?" he pressed.
Castle winked at her as she laughed, finding that she was actually glad that they had ended up running into each other and that it wasn't someone else that she'd been trying to find in the weeks before.
"How are Ryan and Esposito? It's been a while," Castle inquired.
"Um, well, they're good. I told them about seeing you again," Kate said slowly.
"Oh? How did that go?"
Kate could tell that Castle didn't expect a good answer.
"They weren't all that excited to say the least," she mumbled.
Castle expected as much. After what had happened before he left, he didn't expect either of the boys to want to be around him. After all, he had just left leaving little no explanation as for why. Not to mention he'd hurt Kate by leaving, and they both thought of her as a sister; they wouldn't put up with it.
"Well, maybe someday we can look past all of that, catch drinks with everyone from the Twelfth or something," Castle shrugged.
"You think Gates would want to join you for drinks?" Kate joked, causing Castle to crack a smile.
"Well, we just wouldn't extend the invitation that far," he chuckled.
The pair sat at the coffee shop for a while, just enjoying each other's company, wanting nothing more than to stay there for as long as they possibly could. When the shop was closing, Kate offered to take Castle back to her apartment, which he accepted. When they arrived, Kate ordered Chinese and Castle made his way to her wine cabinet, also finding two glasses and a bottle opener.
"So, you know how you were saying that you wish I still shadowed you sometimes?" Castle said.
Kate turned to face him. What did he have in mind?
"Yeah, sure," she began.
"Well, I was thinking. What if I started writing Nikki Heat again? You know, I never did give her a proper ending," he suggested, looking at the female detective with the face that he knew was irresistible to her back in the day.
"Castle… Gates would never go for it. You don't have the relationship with her like the one that you and Montgomery used to have," Kate replied.
Her heart twitched at the sound of her former captain's name rolling off her tongue. It was unfamiliar to her at this point, almost forgotten, like Castle had been before a few days prior.
"I'm still close with the mayor, we could find a way around it, Kate," Castle said.
He was determined, acting like he really wanted to be back at the Twelfth. Not that Kate didn't want him there, she did; she just wondered how her colleagues would react to it. What she really needed was to get Lanie's opinion of it all; however, all that mattered at that moment was her evening with someone she cared about. It was all great until they heard a knock on the door.
"Beckett, its Esposito," a voice called from the other side of the door.
Kate shot Castle a 'run and hide' look as she began the walk towards the door.
"Becks, come on, it's case related, we gotta talk," Esposito yelled again.
Kate swung the door open and Esposito's expression changed immediately.
"Castle? What the hell?"
A/N part two: Leaving it there for now! Got such a brilliant response today/yesterday that I felt like I had to give you a quick update, so here it is! Again, let me know what your thoughts are and what you would like to see in the upcoming chapters. Thanks! x