A/N : The second part of Hollander's Woods in The Seven Pointed Star universe.
Disclaimer : Castle comes from the writers of Castle and ABC. I just like what they produce and write this in appreciation. Again a lot of the dialogue from Hollander's Woods appears in this chapter with some small changes in places. I like the story so much that I couldn't change it.
The Loft
Castle sits at his desk, in his study and reads through the old, slightly crumpled pages in front of him. Even today he can remember sitting down to write the words on these pieces of paper when he was little Richard Rodgers aged all of eleven years.
"Death in the Woods" is the story's title and was truly his first ever piece of writing of any length. Even back then, as he reads through what wrote, he can see a glimmer of the writing style and imagination of Richard Castle, world famous mystery author, that eleven year old Richard Rodgers would become. That this story is the source for all the titles he can see on the bookshelves in front of him and for the award from his peers that he is soon to receive disturbs him.
It disturbs him because this source to all that has followed is itself steeped in one of the darkest, most frightening and, as it turns out, most defining moments of his life. Now, with Noah Lewis on the run, he is close to the answers that have eluded him for so long. Answers he had given up on ever getting.
Why does the masked man of his childhood kill? Why does he do it the way they he does and, especially, why did he let Castle live all those years ago? Maybe, finally, when they track down Noah he'll be able to ask him and bring himself some peace.
As if his life hasn't got enough going on with itself at the moment. As he sits here Kate is at her performance review and, despite his joking with her about an award, he shares his wife's trepidation at the timing of the review. Despite what Captain Gates had told her he is sure it's got something to do with her Captain's exam results. He just hopes it's good news. He sure could use it about now. Him being so close to becoming an Auxiliary Detective, plus coming so close to putting to rest the greatest mystery of his life and now this stuff with Kate. It seems like so much is coming to a head in his life right now.
A knock on the study door has him looking up at the welcome sight of Alexis standing in the doorway and he puts down the pages from his younger self.
"Hey!," he greets her with a smile.
"Hey...Are you busy? I can..," asks Alexis hesitantly before Castle interrupts her, waving away her obvious hesitance to interrupt.
"No, I was just , um...reading something I wrote a long time ago."
Alexis steps further into the study and looks curiously at the pages on his desk before looking up into his face pensively as she asks, "Dad, how old were you when you knew?"
"Knew what?" he asks curiously.
"That you wanted to be a writer," she responds with her own look of curiosity on her face but with a hint of some inner turmoil that is plaguing her.
Castle looks down at the pages on his desk and thinks that the universe is really trying to reinforce his belief in coincidence. Just as he pulls out these pages his daughter has to come ask him about the start of his writing that these same pages are the source of.
"Since I was a kid, I guess. Why?"
Alexis sighs before answering him, "I'm finishing my junior year and I have no idea what to do. By the time you were my age you'd already published your first book and now you're winning this amazing award because you followed your passion. How can I be amazing if I can't find mine?"
Castle sees the desperate look in his daughter's eyes as she pleads for guidance and his heart breaks a little at seeing his normally confident, not so little girl, so uncertain.
"Trust me, you will or it will find you," he tells her as he thinks of the pages on his desk and of that night in Hollander's Woods. If he hadn't found that body that night, if the killer hadn't found him and if he hadn't written the story in front of him would he be sitting here, offering this advice to his daughter. Then again something else found him once that has had an enormous influence on the course of his life. That something was a certain hazel eyed detective walking into his book launch party close to seven years ago now. That is a much more pleasant passion to be thinking about.
He continues, "And one day you will look back and you will realize that every experience you ever had, every seeming mistake or blind alley was actually a straight line to who you were meant to be. And whatever you become there is no question in my mind you are going to be amazing and you know how I know?"
As Castle is speaking he gets up from behind his desk and walks around it until he is standing in front of Alexis as he askes her his question.
"How?" she asks him looking up at him with her blue eyes. Eyes that have looked at him for guidance and reassurance for so many years and for, he hopes, for many years to come.
"Because you already are," he states earnestly, making it clear that in his mind it is the most obvious and true fact there is. He pulls her into a hug and again he is a father giving comfort to his daughter and she is that little girl that looks up to her daddy for all the answers. As they tighten their grip on each other they each, in their own way and for their own reasons gain some peace from the turmoil of their present thoughts from the other.
"Thanks, Dad," whispers Alexis into Castle's shoulder.
After a moment she, reluctantly pulls back from the hug to look up into his face and asks tentatively, "And what if the passion that finds me is something that you might not approve of?"
Castle looks at her as if she is crazy, "Pumpkin, whatever it is, because it's you, I promise to support you."
Alexis gives him a look as if to say that she's heard that before as she counters with, "Oh yes? Like you supported my decision to be with Pi two years ago?"
"Ok, Ok. I promise, to at least, not voice any objections I may or may not have with your future career too loudly," acknowledges Castle, cringing at the memory of the time he and Alexis became estranged over her relationship with the fruitarian. He ends by offering her a proposal and a promise. "But I do reserve the right to continue to offer fatherly advice from time to time, deal?"
Alexis gives him a smile as she reengages the hug and responds, "Deal."
One Police Plaza
Beckett sits nervously outside the room waiting to be called into her 'performance review'. Her instincts still have her on edge about this meeting. Something in the back of her mind is telling her that what she is about to experience is not going to be a typical review of her work performance for the past year. That despite what Captain Gates said her gut is telling her it has something to do with her taking of the Captain's exam.
Then, on top of it all, the last thing she wants to be doing right now is sitting in some room and be going over her past year's worth of cases, with a bunch of strangers, as they pick apart every little action and decision she's made. No, right now she wants and needs to be with her husband as he deals with this monster from his childhood that has him so up in his head. Even more so than usual.
She can see in him that this case from when he was a child in Hollander's Woods has the same hold over him that her mother's case used to have over her. He helped her with putting her mother's case to rest so she is going to help him put this monster to rest. They'll find Noah Lewis and when they do she hopes Castle will find the same peace she found when she slapped the cuffs on Bracken.
Her thoughts are interrupted by the opening of the door to her left and a young, dark haired man in a suit calls to her, "They're ready for you, Detective."
Beckett walks into the dark, wood panelled room and tries to give off the usual air of confidence and fearlessness that she always does when she walks into the interrogation room at the 12th. Her outward demeanour is at odds with what she is feeling on the inside and the room she enters doesn't help. If she didn't already think she was on trial then the layout of the room only serves to reinforce that impression in her mind. She approaches the large wooden bench that runs along one wall of the room with the seal of the State of New York on it's front. A bench that reminds her of a court room and where a judge would preside. In the place where the judge would sit a bald African American man is sitting studying some papers. She didn't think 1PP had a room like this.
She goes to stand next to the sole chair placed in front of the bench and looks at the two men seated behind the bench. To the left of the bald man there is a dark haired Caucasian man in suit and who is regarding her appraisingly.
The bald man glances up from his perusal of the pages in front of him and says, "Take a seat."
Beckett does so and tries to still her nerves and unease as she clasps her hands in front of her. Neither men are familiar to her or in uniform and that is telling her that, as her gut had warned her, this isn't a normal performance review. At all her previous reviews she has recognised or known at least one of the panel undertaking the review. Plus there are usually more than two people that undertake a review and several of them are usually senior officers in uniform. These two men in their tailored suits do not look like senior cops to her. They could be civilians tasked with undertaking independent oversight of the NYPD but there still should be some senior officers here as well if this is to be a review of her performance as a cop.
The bald man puts down his papers, sits back in his high backed leather chair, regards her and then says, "So, Detective Beckett. Says here you took the Captain's exam?"
"Yes, sir."
The man takes a breath before asking, "What makes you think you are qualified to be a Captain?"
Ok, Beckett thinks before responding, this is a standard review question and it looks like she is right and it is about her taking he Captain's exam. Time to give them a standard, confident review answer, as she looks away and almost gives a smile at the familiar lines she is about to use, "My experience at the 12th precinct has made me comfortable in a leadership position and at this point..."
The bald man interrupts her, rudely and aggressively asks, "What I mean is, what makes you think you're even qualified to be an NYPD detective?"
She is gobsmacked at the sudden and negative turn this meeting has taken. Angry as well at the implications of the question.
"Sir?" she asks seeking clarification of the man's questions and not quite believing what she heard. No one, other than the occasional criminal in a vain attempt to get under her skin, has challenged her qualifications as a detective like this.
"Your job is to enforce the law yet you have repeatedly ignored it. In Los Angeles you investigated a case outside your legal jurisdiction...," continues the bald man with the same confrontational tone.
Beckett tries to get her own interruption in to try and give her side of the case he is referring to, "But I..."
The man ignores her attempt and continues on as if she hasn't spoken, "You used your badge to pursue a personal vendetta against Senator Bracken, crossing the line and endangering the lives of others numerous times."
Oh, no, she thinks. No one talks about her mother's case or THAT man and not let her respond as she replies indignantly, "Sir, that man was a murderer!"
The bald man continues as if she hasn't said anything and if there something that's sure to get under Kate Beckett's skin it is to be ignored. She continues to listen to the cruel dissection of her life, however, as there seems to be nothing she can do about it.
"You withheld case information from your superiors and flown in the face of authority whenever it suits you. Not to mention your working relationship with Richard Castle. Tell me, Detective, how often have you let your personal feelings for your husband dictate your actions in pursuit of a suspect?"
Again Beckett tries to get a word in to defend herself, "Sir, that isn't fair. I never let..."
The man refuses to hear her as he interrupts, again, talks over her and returns to his character assassination of her, "And when he went missing you used your position and a great deal of the taxpayers money to search for him, enlisting the aid of fellow detectives. Then there his plan to become an Auxiliary Detective. How much of a role did you have in your husband's pulling of strings so that he could become the first person to hold that position? All for his own self-promotion and profit, no doubt. And, well, you are infamous for being the inspiration for being the inspiration for the fictional NYPD Detective, Nikki Heat, who spends more time on her back than she does pursuing killers." The man ends with distaste while also challenging her with the look in his eyes as if he knows he is saying exactly the right things to upset her.
Beckett shakes her head in disbelief at the suddenness and fierceness of the verbal attack on her and her husband. She is particularly upset at the reference to Nikki Heat because she has always had some slight insecurities at how those in authority view her literary alter-ego. It all goes back to when Castle first started shadowing her and came up with Nikki. Back then she feared what such a depiction of her would do to her reputation. A reputation of a professional and accomplished detective where her gender was not an issue. It was hard, and still is sometimes, to be a woman in what some old-fashioned few still see as a male profession. Then Castle comes along with Nikki and her insecurities at how she could be perceived by others, as a result, become much more present in her mind. It was one of the things that kept them from becoming as close as they are now back in those early days.
Now she has nothing but pride for Nikki and Castle's writing but it is obvious that the man in front of her is intent of pushing all her negative buttons. If she didn't know better she could swear that he'd gotten hold of her file from Dr Burke to be so accurate in his attacks on her and her insecurities.
"Sir, If you would just look at my record..." she tries again but, yet again, the man doesn't let her get a word in.
"We are looking at your record," he responds angrily. "You are not qualified for a Captaincy and, if you want my opinion, you are not qualified to be a Detective." The man finishes with a plain look of contempt on his face.
Beckett is beyond shocked. She can't believe what she has just heard. All her self doubt of what others think of her and her husband has been laid bare. Attacking her quest to bring to justice her mother's killer. Then, to top it all, he questions her basic ability to be a detective. This isn't a review, it's a public shaming.
Before she can even begin to formulate a response the bald man speaks dismissively to her, "Thankyou. You can go."
Beckett gets up, her mind still locked on everything that has been thrown at her in such a short time and starts walking out of the room. She has only taken a couple of steps, however, before she stops and her spine and shoulders straighten.
NO! She is not going to just meekly walk away and accept all that has just been thrown at her. If they think she shouldn't be a Detective and she is about to loose her job anyway then she's going to let them know exactly what SHE thinks. No one says those things about her and Castle and gets to have the last word. Oh, no. Not if her name is Katherine Beckett-Castle they don't.
Still turned away from the two men she says in her clearest voice, "You're wrong, sir!"
The bald man takes the bait, "Excuse me?"
As Beckett turns to face the men she responds just as clearly, "I said you're wrong."
She takes several purposeful steps towards the bench until she is standing directly in front of both men and much closer than the chair she had been sitting in as she was berated. While walking she is looking the bald man straight in the eye as she gives her reply to him, unflinchingly.
"In every case you have referenced I have not only successfully brought the killer to justice but I did so with the utmost respect for the law and for the department I represent. And regarding my relationship with Mister Castle, he has proven to be a brilliant partner and he's always had my back. He will be the very best first NYPD Auxiliary Detective because he cares about the work we do and the people of this city. All without any thought for himself and definitely at no profit. And as for his fictional representation of me. I'm proud to have been his inspiration and I am proud to be his wife."
She continues to stare the man down as she continues with absolute conviction in what she is saying, "You asked how do I expect to lead? By continuing to fight for what is right not for what is easy. My job is to protect the citizens of New York and I will do it by doing my job better than anyone else and by getting results. I don't cross the line I put myself on it and if you have any other questions you can ask the families of the victims I have served."
At that she turns on her five inch heels and proceeds to storm out. If they are going to fire her then at least she's answered every half backed accusation they threw at her and she can walk out with her head held high. Screw them. She doesn't need them. She has a man that loves her and supports her and she can do anything she puts her mind to. She doesn't need the approval of jerks like the people these men represent.
Before she is all the way out of the room the other man, who hadn't said a word before now, calls out to her receding back, "Detective Beckett!"
Beckett considers just ignoring him and keep storming out of the room but something makes her stop and turn to face the men again.
"Sit down," the dark haired man asks politely.
Reluctantly Beckett resumes her seat as before but with undisguised ill grace and fixes the men with her patent glare, again, as the dark haired man speaks.
She listens, at first, with contempt and then with a return of the surprise she felt earlier during the 'review' except this time it is a pleasant surprise. She can scarcely believe that the whole 'attack' by the bald man was some strange form of audition. That the two men represent political forces that have watched her and see a bright future for her. Boy, if the knowledge that some unseen figures have been watching her career wasn't unsettling enough then the fact they decided they needed to test her by throwing every possible negative piece of commentary at her to see how she would react really astounds her.
Sure, ever since encountered Zhang she's been searching for some new challenge for her life. That others she didn't even know were thinking the same was starting to make her believe in the universe that Castle so firmly holds true. Then, to add the cherry to the top of the shocks that this 'review' has been for her, the next sentence of the bald man caps it all.
"We'd like you to run for New York State Senate."
Night time in a small park in Manhattan
Castle and Beckett sit, side by side, in the same swings that have already seen so many significant conversations between the couple. Castle is sitting in one facing one way while Beckett is sitting in another facing in the opposite direction so that they can look at each other easily as they talk.
"State Senator?" asks Castle in surprise and with a hint of pride in his voice that his wife would be considered for such a post.
Beckett nods, he face mirroring his in her own surprise at the job offer, "And they say it's just the start. Apparently the party has had their eye on me for a while now. They think that people are looking for someone like me." As she finished he voice betrays her own thoughts of self pride yet astonishment that others would consider her so.
"And what do you think," asks Castle eagerly as he holds back, with a great effort, the thrill this news is for him. And that's without even mentioning how this could mean that those predictions of Simon Doyle might actually be true. If they are then there is something else they have to look forward to. Three very small somethings or, rather, someones.
Beckett shakes her head and looks at him ruefully and slightly disbelievingly, "I don't know, Castle. I'm a cop not a politician...Did I ever tell you I was in model UN when I was a kid?"
Castle shakes his head and awaits with anticipation for a rare tid-bit from the past of Kate Beckett.
"My mom was one of the chaperones and after watching me she said, 'You know, Katie, you can grow up and be anything you want.'...I just wanted to be her. Just wanted to make a difference," recounts Beckett shyly yet proudly as she recalls a long held memory of her mother and how she has always wanted follow in her mother's principled footsteps.
"And you have," responds Castle, not for the first time. He remembers saying something similar to her when Zhang was here. To him it is so obvious. Before he met her he doesn't think he's met someone with such drive to seek justice for others. That's not to say that he doesn't agree that she could do even more with that drive. "Question now is, can you make a bigger difference?"
"Ahh, Castle, if you saw the way that they attacked me in that room and in a campaign it would be only worse. You, Alexis, my Dad, Martha, you guys would all be fair game," she cautions him as she thinks back to the verbal assault she just experienced. She almost wishes Castle had been in the room at the time. She knows that, with his deep seated sense of protectiveness towards the people he loves and his writers vocabulary, his response to what she experienced in that 'review' would have been truly something to hear.
"We're a tough bunch," he responds, dismissing her warning as this idea of Kate becoming a State Senator grows on him. He can so see her arguing on the floor of the Senate with the same fierce passion that she tears down a suspect's alibi in the interrogation room.
"So you think I could do it?" she asks him, honestly wanting his thoughts on whether he thinks she can do this. There is no one whose opinion she values more in this than his.
"I know you can,' Castle responds with absolute conviction.
"What about you becoming an Auxiliary Detective? If I head off to Albany then your main reason for becoming one is gone. Will you still go ahead with it if I choose to run?" she asks apologetically as she knows how much work he's put into it and if she does this it will all be for nothing.
Castle nods in agreement at her words but responds with continuing conviction, "Don't worry about that, Kate. This chance for you is so much bigger than my plans to keep following you around as an Auxiliary Detective. I might still graduate and try working with the boys anyway. With you off making laws it will be up to some of us to keep enforcing those laws. Regardless of whether I still go ahead and graduate I'm behind you and whatever you decide, one hundred percent. Anyway, being an Auxiliary Detective will still only be part-time. I'll still have plenty of time to write all your speeches."
"They did also say that I aced my Captain's exam. I could probably have my own precinct within the year so you becoming an NYPDA Detective might not be for nothing yet. That is if you think you can stand working under me that is," Beckett tells him proudly and finishes with a salacious twinkle in her eye at her implication at the end.
Castle gives her an answering salacious grin, "Working under you is my favourite position. When do you have to decide?"
"Soon," she responds with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Well, whatever you decide," he leans in for a kiss, "I will back your play," he tells her reassuringly.
Beckett smiles in gratitude at his words and as she leans in to meet his kiss she whispers, "Thankyou."
As their lips move together two things happen simultaneously. Beckett's phone rings and at the same time there is a loud 'Crack' and their kiss is unexpectedly broken as Castle is suddenly dumped on his butt.
Beckett jumps up in shock at the sight of her husband on his ass in the spongy material at the base of the swings and asks with concern, "Are you all right, babe?"
Castle looks up at her, embarrassed, and then at the broken link in the chain of the swing that had so unceremoniously deposited him at his wife's feet and interrupted their kiss. Sitting up he waves away her concern as he replies, "Yeah, I'm fine. Must be all that muscle I've added during those weight training sessions with Espo. This swing is only designed to take the weight of your average primary schooler and not a fine physical specimen like me."
Seeing that he is not hurt except for a slightly bruised ego, Beckett giggles at her husband's justification for the failure of the playground equipment and the sight of him on the ground as she pulls out her phone and answers it, "Beckett!"
The smile on her face changes slightly as she hears the good news that Espo is telling her. That they've caught Noah Lewis. The smile goes from amusement at her husband's predicament to anticipation at soon being able to confront the monster of her husband's childhood. She holds out her hand and helps Castle off the deck as he rubs his tail bone tenderly.
With the smile of anticipation growing on her face and squeezing his hand, she tells him, "They found him!"
At the same time in Commissioner Hayward's office at One Police Plaza
"Ok, thanks, Aaron. I appreciate you telling me. See you next weekend," and with that Commissioner Hayward hangs up the phone.
He leans back in his high backed leather office chair and contemplates what his friend, Aaron Stokes, has told him. How did that happen, in his own headquarters, without him knowing? He picks up his phone again and presses the direct call button for his assistant.
"Charlie, find out the details of a meeting that was held here today between Detective Beckett and Keith Kaufmann and Paul Gibney from the state party? Apparently they did it under the guise of a 'performance review' however it was anything but. I need to find out who organised it...Thanks, Charlie."
Hanging up the phone he looks at his diary as he tries to find a free meeting time in the next few days. This proposal that Aaron has just told him about will put a serious kink in his plan for a new unit. If Kate Beckett runs for State Senate then he'll need to find someone else to lead it. That would be a shame because, from what he's heard from his sources, she and her team are progressing well on the case that the State Police has passed to them as a secret test for this new unit. In fact initial reports indicate that they may be on the trail of a serial killer and are close to bringing him down.
Plus her entering politics will mean that he and the department will loose one of their best detectives regardless of the plans he has for her professional future. Before she makes up her mind to become a Senator he has to find a time to sit down with her and most likely her husband as well to put his own pitch to her. A pitch for her to accept promotion to Captain, stay with the NYPD and to head this special unit he wants to create.
He's not going to let some scheming politicians do an end run around him and snag one of his best people right from under him. Oh, no, not if he can help it.
A/N : You may notice that almost the only change I made to the scenes of Hollander's Woods that appear in this chapter is the inclusion of a blooper that happened during the filming of the swings scene. Just a bt of fun and I had to do something to make this AU from canon beside the few lines I've added. Then again I'm not sorry because I just love the speech that Kate gives to defend herself during her 'review'.
Thanks yet again to everyone that is reading this, following and favoriting. This is the largest number of favs and follows that I have received for my writing. Thankyou again.