A/N: Over 80 followers. Freakin' awesome, thankyou. From the looks of the reviews, I take it you guys liked the last chapter. Well, I'm glad and thankyou everybody for their kind words. Several people mentioned it was their favourite. Considering how much time and effort was put into it, that is very mollifying for me. Thanks, too, for the faves and just plain reading (over 16000 views - holy crap). Just a quick update to let you all know what's going on. I'm at the tail end of year twelve and therefore my upadates are going to be fewer and farther between for the next month or so. Don't worry; there are several installments for this series that I want up before the Season Premiere in the States (you lucky Americans only have to wait a few more weeks. Curse you), so hopefully, that'll be enough motivation to get them up. In the meantime, you can check out "Too Many Ways", which contains extra content that didn't make it into the series. I'm also still in the middle of that other fic I've been mentioning. Hopefully that'll be up in the next couple of weeks. Otherwise, there's also a plethera of talented authors and wonderful stories to choose from, particulay in light of That Promo. Damn right, they liked it. Oh, man.

I decided not even to try to compete with the last chapter and just concentrate on making this story be what it needed to be, on its own terms. This is not about milk. It's designed to be paralell to 47 seconds.

Upload Date: 1 September, 2012

Rating: K+ (mentions of violence, murder)

Chapter Summary: Beckett interrogates a key witness, unaware Castle is listening in the next room.

#11

"Sometimes... a guy just loses his cool, ok?" said Hastings, sweating profusely. "I never would have killed her, though."

"I don't know, Joel," said Beckett, as she calmly placed the photos of Joe's girlfriend, Tammy, bruised and beaten.

Hastings winced.

"What did I miss?" said Castle on the other side of the mirror.

"If you can lose your cool this easily, who's to say you didn't lose it completely?"

"Well, nice of you to join us," said Ryan.

Hastings shook his head adamantly. "No, no."

"Hey," said Castle defensively. "this isn't my job. I have obligations outside this precinct, you know. I have my own work and family commitments. I can't be here every second."

"Who's to say she didn't just push you a little too far?"

"Oh, and what obligations did you have today?" Ryan asked with interest.

"We've got four witnesses who put you at her apartment on the night of the murder, your fingerprints on the murder weapon and a history of violence against the victim. It doesn't look good, Joel."

Castle looked sheepish. "Alexis had a hankering for doughnuts."

Ryan smirked.

"I know how it looks, ok? But I swear, it wasn't me."

"She's in the middle of a marathon study session; I'm just being a good Dad," Castle said defensively.

"You know what, Joel? I believe you."

"So, is this our suspect?" Castle inquired.

Hastings straightened. "You do?"

"Gates thinks so," Ryan replied. "Beckett doesn't buy it. She thinks he knows something he's not saying, though."

"Yeah. Stab wounds point to the perp being left-handed. You're right-handed. There are no hesitation marks. And there are no signs of a struggle, no other marks on her body, no skin under her nails. This was a pre-meditated attack, not a crime of passion. You don't fit the profile."

Castle nodded, watching Beckett do her job in admiration.

"But the D.A will find ways to argue that out of court. We need another suspect. And I think you can help."

"I'd tell you if I knew anything."

"No, I don't think you would. You know why? Because you're a coward. Only a coward would do something like this," she said, indicating the photos.

"I don't know anything," Hastings maintained.

"Or, you know, what? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you did kill Tammy."

"No," said Hastings. "I would never kill Tammy. I loved her."

"Don't you dare," said Beckett in a low voice. "You don't get to use that word. No one would do this," she pointed to the picture again, "to someone they loved."

"Like you said, I lost control -"

"You want to talk control?! Someone very dear to me was shot in a Hangar. I was there, and I wanted so desperately to save him, I didn't care about my own personal safety. But somebody else did. He held me back. I was kicking and screaming. I'm trained in combat. He isn't. I could have overpowered him. But that would have meant giving him an unbelievable thrashing and I could not bring myself to do that to him. Just the idea makes me physically ill. That's love."

Castle stared.

Ryan raised his eyebrows. "You know what? I think your good in here. I'm just gonna... go – away." He tapped him on the shoulder on the way out."

Five Minutes later

Beckett was very surprised when she exited the interrogation room to find Ryan gone and Castle there in his place.

"Uh... hey," she said. "I thought you had a family emergency."

"Taken care of," said Castle, fighting of a smug smirk.

"Alexis like the doughnuts?"

"How did you know?"

She simpered, but the smile faded slightly. "How long were you standing there?"

He smirked again. "Long enough to hear you declaring your undying love for me."

Beckett took a deep breath. "I don't recall saying, "undying,"

"So... you're saying it will die eventually?"

"I didn't say that, either," she said, avoiding his gaze.

He took her chin in his hand, gently guiding it so that she had to look at him.

"Well, what are you saying?"

She shook his hand off. "Not at work, Castle."

"Kate."

She glared half-heartedly at him.

"Beckett," he amended.

"Come on, Castle," she said on her way to the door, "we've got a case to close."

He nodded, turning to follow her.

"Oh, and Castle?"

He looked up.

She smiled sheepishly, turning red slightly. "My love for you doesn't have an expiration date."

His eyebrows went up substantially before the words really started to sink in and he beamed.

Havea great apple and sandwiche!