A/N: An update! Yay! So, I'm planning on updating this at least once a week, and usually on a Wednesday. I am currently back in classes now (college is tough), so this may vary slightly but I am hoping to do my best to stick to this schedue. I now have a beta, so shout out to wolfergirl for all her help!

Disclaimer: Does this look like something the Castle writers would put into their show? No. I don't think so.

Rick groaned as he slowly roused from his sleep. Not again. This was getting bad. Really bad. He had just woken up and already he had a headache and could feel the shakes coming on. He needed a hit. But it was too early. And he didn't have anything on him. This was bad.

Maybe there was something left over, something he could scrounge up to take the edge off. Just a little bit would do it.

He rolled over in the bed and was met with something cold and wet. Frowning, Castle felt around blindly until his fingers met with something fleshy. He could help the slight feeling of pride that came over him. So, it had been another crazy night, huh? He had absolutely no memory of what had happened after the point where he had left the book launch party last night. That should probably bother him more than it did- scare him, even- but right now, all he could think of was the drugs and the curious woman next to him. Briefly he allowed his mind to wonder if it was a blonde, brunette or redhead this time before opening his eyes to discover the answer.

It took him a moment to register the scene around him.

When it finally did register, he was in complete and utter shock. Then came the horror, closely followed by having to fight back his urge to vomit. He was unsuccessful, and lost the contents of his stomach over the edge of the bed. He tumbled out and plopped onto the floor, scrambling as far away from the bed as he could until he eventually backed up against the wall on the far side of the room. Rick took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. Breathed in and out, in and out. Finally he steadied his breath and was able to detach himself from his surroundings.

Funny. From his current angle, he couldn't see above the edge of the bed. It was almost as if she wasn't even there- only a slight bump in the crease of the comforter betraying her presence. Her cold, dead, bloody presence.

Rick found that he was much more sober now.

Once he felt like he could think clearly, he contemplated his predicament. He couldn't remember much of anything, but he racked his brain anyways. He remembered leaving the book launch with a couple of women, though not the same one as this one. He remembered going to a bar, at some point meeting this woman, then coming back to her apartment vaguely and trying to become... amorous. That was it. Nothing else. What the hell happened?

He had to call the cops. As soon as the thought struck him, he searched frantically for his phone. Yes, 911. They would know what to do. He found the device and fumbled to punch in the numbers. It rang.

Suddenly, a cold pit formed in his stomach as he thought logically about his situation. They would think it was him.

There was a click as the line picked up almost instantly. "911, what's your emergency?"

A cold sweat broke out on his brow. Oh, God. They would suspect him, question him, arrest him. They would find out about his drugs. He'd be caught.

"Hello? Is someone there?"

He knew it would cause him untold tumult. He knew it could possibly ruin his life and destroy his career. But his only other option was running, and that would only make things look worse.

"Please do not call this number unless there is a real emergency-"

"Wait! Uh, no. I just... I," he swore under his breath, not caring what she heard. "I don't know what to do. I don't even know what happened."

"Sir, is there a real emergency or not?"

"There's... there's a woman... I'm at her apartment. I don't remember how I got here or when... and she's..." Castle's voice trailed off.

"She's...?" the operator prodded.

"She's dead!" Castle blurted in a panic. "I think."

The operator's voice suddenly took on a different tone. "You think she's dead?"

"Ah, no. No, I don't think. She's actually dead. I'm one hundred percent sure she is. I just... I woke up and I was next to her and I don't remember anything that happened last night and all of a sudden I realize there's blood everywhere and I don't even know why and she's not just sleeping, she's actually dead!"

"Sir, I'm going to ask you to calm down. Okay? I'm going to need some more details. A squad car is already on their way, but I'm going to send some more detectives down to your location."

Rick took a few deep breaths, trying to dispel his shakiness. "I-I don't know where I am. I guess I could sift through some of her mail or something, maybe find something that says an address-"

"No, I wouldn't recommend that you tamper with anything else. We can trace your location through your cell phone. If this is going to be an investigation, then don't touch anything if you can help it."

The enormity of it all came crashing down around Castle. His heart was pounding, his hands were shaking, his eyes went wide. He swallowed drily. "Okay. Okay. I can do that. I can do it. Oh, god, I don't even remember..."

"Sir? Stay with me, sir. Can I get your name?"

Castle nodded silently though the phone. "It's Richard-" his eyes widened in horror and he quickly clammed up. How could he give her his name? Gina would kill him if word got out. She was already pissed enough at him for all the parties and rumors floating around. But could he lie to the cops? Stealing a horse was one thing. Murder was something else entirely.

Murder. The word hit him like a ton of bricks. This was really happening. He was sitting in a room with a woman who'd been murdered. Suddenly he realized what it must feel like to be a character in one of his books.

"Richard...?" she prodded for more.

His eyes darted back and forth as the words slipped out. "Rodgers. Richard Rodgers."

"All right then, Mr Rodgers. I'm going to have to ask you to stay where you are until the police arrive, alright?"

He ran his shaky fingers though his hair and nodded again. "Okay. Okay, I'll stay here."

"They're on their way now. Will you be okay, sir?"

"Okay. I'll be fine. Okay."

"Richard? Mr Rodgers? I need you to stay calm, all right? I need you to be in control."

"I think I'm gonna throw up again."

"Would you like me to stay on the line with you?"

"I don't even know what happened," Rick repeated to himself, going into complete shock.

"Rick... Can I call you Rick? I need you to stay calm still. I know this is a big deal but it will do you a lot of good if you don't freak out right now. Why don't you tell me a little about yourself. Do you have any family? Kids, wife..."

"A daughter," he confessed, a cold, distant tone in his voice, as it all finally started to sink in.

"What's your daughter's name, Rick?"

"Um, Alexis."

"That's a pretty name. How old is she?"

"She's... she's fourteen... She just started high school last week..." Oh, god, how could he put her through this? She would be an outcast at her new school, and worse, she would never look at him the same again, even if he insisted he didn't do it. He tried to keep his brain from going to that dark, panicked place and focused on the easy, mind-numbing questions about his life.

"That's a fun age. Did her mom take her on a shopping spree before she started?"

Castle frowned, thinking how odd of a question that was. "Uh, no. Her mother's not really in the picture. She's been on location for the past five months anyway."

There was a brief silence as the woman on the other end of the line took that in. "I see. Does she miss her mom? I know mine miss their dad sometimes."

Rick snorted as he sat on his left hand to try to stop the shaking. "Meredith? Missed? I don't think so. She's asked me to send her away before."

"I bet Meredith misses her, though."

Castle's eyes widened once more as he realized what she was doing, how much she had just gotten him to reveal. How'd she get him to do that? He had been so focused on just staying distracted, and she had taken shameless advantage of that fact... He had been so determined not to give too much away.

"Mr Rodgers? You still there?"

"Yeah," he choked out, running a hand over his face and no longer caring how shaky his hands were. He rested his forehead into the cradle of his hand and closed his eyes for a moment. "I think I'm just realizing how big a deal this actually is. God, I'm dead. Gina's gonna kill me."

"Rick, listen-"

"I can't afford to be involved in a murder case. They're gonna think I did it. I didn't do it, you know. I didn't kill her!"

"Mr Rodgers, if you would just stay calm and listen to me for a few more minutes, then-"

Castle wasn't hearing a word she was saying. "I mean, they'll know it's not me, right? I wouldn't have killed anyone like this. I mean, I wouldn't even ever kill someone! But especially not like this."

"I-I'm sorry?" the 911 operator sputtered. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Well, for starters, I'd like to think I would remember it!"

"Richard, focus! Okay? If you don't think you did it-"

"I DIDN'T! I swear I didn't!"

"-Then your best option would be to cooperate with the police as best you can, and to do that you have to stay where you are and stay calm. They are there to help you. If you'd like, there are ways to keep things confidential but understand that it might paint you in a bad light to make such a request."

Castle swallowed hard. This was only going downhill for him. This could end him. "I understand."

"Is there a particular reason why you feel uncomfortable with the public finding out so much? Because you know all arrests are in the public record and anyone can access them."

"Believe me, I know that."

There was another short silence on the other end of the line. "Is there a particular reason why you know that?"

Castle snorted. "Uh, yeah. I mean, no! Not any particular reason. I mean, I've never... ugh. How do you keep getting me to spill all this personal information?"

"It's a Jedi mind trick," she deadpanned.

"Cute. You've got humor and mind prowess in one."

"And you're charming," the sarcasm was obvious in that remark. "Mr Rodgers, is there anything you're holding back on? You know these phone calls are recorded, right?"

Castle gulped as her voice continued to drone on. Not only had he given a lot about himself away, but he had successfully incriminated himself quite a bit as well.

"Mr Rodgers? Mr Rodgers? Are you still there?"

His voice cracked as he spoke through the dry mouth he was currently experiencing. "I-I gotta go. I'm sorry."

"Wait! Mr Rodgers-"

Rick hung up the phone and the call disconnected on her voice. Then he froze, in spite of his tremors. He had no idea what to do, where to go from here. He knew the 911 operator was right, that he should stay here so that the police wouldn't think he did it - or at least give him a fighting chance. They already had his name and information on record- well, his information, anyway. The operator had gotten the wrong name at least. Maybe he could still make a break for it- no, wait. Fingerprints. Damn. Of course they would figure out it was him from those. He was on the record, this wouldn't be the first time he was placed under arrest. Of course, it was the first time an arrest might stick.

He shuddered. Murder one was a tough one to get around. Charming his way out of a murder rap might not be as easy as it was to get off the charges for stealing a police horse. Naked. Man, now that had been a fun night. Rick looked around himself. This night... not as much. God, he was in so much trouble. How could this have happened? Sure, he'd taken some hits last night- well, wait. Rick frowned. Actually, he didn't remember taking any hits last night. He had thought about it getting ready for the party, but hadn't taken any with him or snorted anything then and there. He didn't have anything at the party, except alcohol. And as far as he could remember, he couldn't remember taking anything after, either.

That was unsettling, but he decided to catalogue that thought for later contemplation.

He didn't even think anything had happened last night between him and the dead body- er, girl. They'd tried, but as far as he could recall, even though it was kind of fuzzy, they'd just sort of passed out when they reached her bedroom. And now she was dead. And not just accidental overdose-dead. Murder-dead. Dead-dead. Bloody dead.

So. Rick had an indeterminate amount of time before the police got there, a dead body, and a cell phone. The way he saw it, there were two options. The first involved quickly scouring this woman's apartment and cleaning up after a crime scene he didn't commit, essentially wiping away his existence except for the phone call and basically hanging a bright flashing sign around his neck and shouting "It was me! I did it! I'm a murderer!" He huffed an irritated sigh. Come on. The cops would totally figure the crazy guy who called the murder on himself and then wiped down the apartment and ran was their guy. Not to mention, he'd essentially be helping the killer out by removing any remaining trace of him from the crime scene- eliminating any proof or idea that there was a second killer at all. There would be no one else to blame but him. But running was still an option.

On the other hand, he could stay, cooperate with the law enforcement and pray that they took his willingness to help as a sign of his innocence, not vice versa. Of course, that would mean putting himself directly at risk of a murder charge, putting him in the way of an investigation, exposing himself to mass scrutiny by the media and cops and potentially expose his drug habits. God, it was a rock and a hard place. No, worse. He was between a murder rap and a warrant that made him a fugitive.

Richard Rogers was a dead man walking. And he had a horrible feeling that Richard Castle wasn't far behind.

A/N: Finally some action! Review please, and you'll find out sooner about what happens next!