Castle had always admired his partner's ability to switch from personal to professional, from daughter to detective, in a smile and a hair flick. But never more so than when she strode out of the Observation Room and made her way to Ryan's desk, her eyes never once diverting to either the Conference Room or Gates' office. He smiled proudly before following her path and coming to stand beside her, just far enough away to ensure he didn't touch her. Her composure was hanging on by its proverbial fingernails and he didn't want to push it or her.
"You wanted to show me something Ryan?" Kate asked, slightly more softly than usual but the boys knew her well enough to ignore it.
"Yeah, you aren't gonna like it though boss." The younger detective warned. Kate nodded.
"Thank you for the warning but I can handle it, Kev." Ryan nodded before pulling a sheet of paper from his desk and holding it up for Beckett to read. She paled slightly and it was all Castle could do to not sweep her into a hug. Her hand shook imperceptibly to everyone but the writer, as she handed him the piece of paper.
"We ran her phone records, just in case; the phone company gave us a list of her most recent text messages." Castle read the sheet in its entirety before his eyes stopped behaving and he found himself staring at the silent Conference room.
"Beckett you have to tell Gates." Kate stood, frozen. "Kate." She turned with a start to find his eyes. "Gates. They'll put her into a group home until they find her somewhere. She isn't safe." Kate nodded numbly before looking back to her team. Both boys were nodding.
"Protective custody is her best option Beckett." Esposito told her softly. She nodded once more before slowly making her way to her Captain's office, hoping beyond hope that she could convince Gates to let her keep her for the night, her brain not allowing her to even contemplate the alternative.
Kate knocked twice to announce her presence and waited until she heard the woman inside call for her to come in. She needed this to go well and barging into her office wouldn't be a good start.
"Ah, Detective, what can I do for you?" Gates asked, getting straight to the point when she saw her best detective hovering in her door way, paper in hand, something that looked almost like fear on her face.
"I, uh, where is the woman from CPS?" Kate asked, knowing she was stalling but needing that information first.
"Taking a phone call, she will be back in a moment. Is everything okay Beckett?" Gates asked almost kindly, the tone throwing Beckett off slightly.
"No." She sighed. "No it isn't." Kate came further into the room and laid the sheet of paper in front of her boss. "I think you should read that. It's Hannah Tyler's text messages for the last fortnight." Gates regarded her for a moment before slipping on her reading glasses and reading the page before her. Kate could pinpoint the exact moment she read the fifth text by the horror written on her face.
"'You can't hide forever. Even if you do she can't. Pay up or I'll take what you owe me from that baby of yours'?" Gates read allowed and Kate all but collapsed into the chair in front of the desk, her knees no longer able to support her. Gates watched her carefully. "Okay, I will let Chrissie know about this threat and..." Kate shook her head vehemently.
"I won't let Children's Services take her. She can stay with me." The Captain began to protest. "Sir. Her mother is still missing, how do we know for sure she isn't in immediate danger?"
Gates sat back in her chair and if Kate didn't know better, she would have sworn that her Captain's eyes sparkled.
"Fine, Detective. I will tell Children's Services that she is under our protective custody. For tonight." Gates warned. "They will be back, Beckett." Not if I prove she's my sister. Kate thought, more than a little nervous at the prospect. After all, how many women in their thirties could say they had just found their seven year old kid sister? "Take her home Detective. Your team are more than capable of working this until the end of play. Having a child in the homicide Conference Room is not a good idea." Kate nodded and stood.
"Thank you, Sir. I mean it." Gates nodded before going back to her work. Kate smiled and made her way out of the office.
"Castle?" Kate asked as she crossed the room to her desk. The writer looked up from his phone.
"How'd it go?" Kate bit her lip and avoided his eyes. "That bad?" She shook her head.
"No, not bad it's just..." Kate tailed off on a sigh.
"Kate, whatever it is, you can tell me." Castle told her, gently laying his hand on her arm where she had them crossed across her chest.
"I uh, may have accidently invited Nevaeh to stay with us for tonight." She tentatively took his gaze, only to find him giving her the most tender smile she'd ever seen.
"Kate, you living at the loft makes it your home too. You can invite whomever you'd like to stay." She smiled shyly.
"But what about..."
"Alexis is at school until next weekend and Mother is barely there anymore. I don't mind Kate." She smiled softly.
"Then can we go home? Gates gave me the rest of the day, having a minor in Homicide isn't great." Castle nodded.
"Sure. You let the boys know and I'll get Nevaeh?" Kate nodded.
"Thank you." Rick kissed her cheek gently.
"Always."
Once she had said goodnight to the boys and thanked them for working the case in her absence, Kate slipped on her jacket and slid her bag onto her shoulder before going to see where Rick and Nevaeh were.
Kate's heart near on melted when she stopped in the Conference Room doorway.
Rick was sat on the floor beside a still sleeping Nevaeh, gently slipping off her second shoe before putting it on the floor beside him, next to its pair. He then slid off his jacket and set it on the arm of the couch before noticing Kate in the doorframe.
"Hey, can you put these in your purse?" Castle asked quietly, holding up the pair of tiny ballet pumps. Kate nodded and came into the room to collect them from him. "I didn't have the heart to wake her." Kate smiled.
"You're going to carry her?" Castle nodded before standing up and expertly scooping up the seven year old and holding her chest to chest, her head resting on his shoulder, her deep steady breathing keeping his neck warm.
Kate smiled again as she picked up her partner's jacket and slipped it around the young girl's shoulders, holding her secure while Castle adjusted his hold, so as to keep the jacket in place too.
He nodded once he was comfortable- one hand under her, the other across her back holding her close- and Kate held open the door while they passed through it. She followed, flashing a smile at the boys as they watched the writer confidently carry the small girl across the floor to the elevators where he waited for Kate to push the button.
Kate opened the front door to the loft and held it open while Castle carried Nevaeh through.
"Darlings! Just in time. I was just..." Martha called as she came to greet them, Kate putting her finger to her lips, before closing the door, halting her sentence mid-flow. Martha looked from Kate to her son, cradling the little girl and her jaw slackened.
"Her name is Nevaeh." Kate told her softly. Nevaeh murmured and Castle quickly turned his head into the young girl and shushed her softly, stroking the hand on her back up and down in slow steady lines. He tilted his head back towards the staircase and Kate nodded. "I'll be up in a moment." They exchanged smiles and Castle slowly ascended the stairs while both women watched him.
"Tough day, my Dear?" Martha asked knowingly, months of living with the detective affording her the knowledge that it was sometimes best not to ask. Kate nodded wearily. Martha patted her shoulder. "Well, I am off out. Don't wait up." Kate smiled as the flamboyant woman jangled her way out the door Kate had just closed. Kate shook her head at the woman's antics before locking the door and following Rick up to the guest bedroom.
"Hey." Kate murmured from the door. Castle turned and smiled as he pulled off Nevaeh's socks and put them on the floor in front of the bedside table. "Mother gone?" Kate nodded as she came to keel beside him.
"Yup, in a cloud of Chanel no 5." She smiled. Castle chuckled quietly.
"What did you tell her?" Kate shrugged, standing and leaning over the bed to pull the covers up under Nevaeh's arms.
"She didn't ask." Castle nodded, walking into the adjoining bathroom and coming back with a glass of water. He set it down on the bedside table before opening the little draw and talking out a notepad and pen. "What are you doing?" Castle smiled.
"The next question out of your mouth was going to be 'what happens if she wakes up in the night and doesn't know where she is', right?" Kate looked at him dumbfounded, still more shocked than she should be by now at his mind-reading abilities. She nodded, making her partner smile.
"Right, so I'm writing her a note." He twirled his finger in the air and Kate got the message, turning so he could lean against her back. A few moments later he tapped her on the shoulder and she turned back to face him. "'Nevaeh, the glass of water is for you, the bathroom is just through the door in the corner if you need it or want another drink. Kate and I are downstairs, yell if you need us.'" He read aloud before raising an eyebrow in question. Kate nodded.
"Sounds good." Castle grinned, laying the note book beside the glass. When he turned back, Kate was gone. He presumed she had gone to get ready for bed so he took the moment to watch the young girl sleep. It had been a long time since he'd had such a little girl in his house.
He had just lost himself in memories of a seven year old Alexis when Kate came back through the door, swab and evidence back in hand.
Castle watched curiously as Kate gently ran the cotton end of the swab around Nevaeh's slightly open mouth with practised ease before shutting the cap on the end and popping it into the evidence bag, sealing it before facing him.
"And you found time to pick up those when exactly?" Kate smiled.
"Just before I called my dad. I grabbed them and stuck them in my purse. I'll drop in on Lanie in the morning and explain the situation, see if she'll run it against mine for me." Castle smiled gently. "I need to know Castle, once and for all." Castle kissed her temple as he led her out of the room, pulling the door to.
"I know."