Javi's POV...
"What are we going to do guys? He's starting to really worry me." I looked out the window in the break room. Ryan was still hunched over his desk.
"I'm not sure there is much we can do, Espo." Beckett said, coming over to me. "He's not willing to talk about whatever is bothering him and we can't make him talk to us." She took a drink of her coffee.
"Yeah, Espo, we want to help Ryan, but if we push him, he will just push back." Castle said, coming stand on the other side of me.
Suddenly I got an idea. I smiled. Thank you, Castle. "You're right, Castle." I patted his shoulder. "If I push too hard, he'll let something slip." I laughed. Castle was very useful. "You're a brilliant man." I said, before turning to leave.
"Wait, I didn't mean to say that." I opened the door. "Espo, don't do it!" He called after me, but I kept moving. I was going to get Ryan to talk. I just needed to stop being so gentle about it. He was going to spill the truth, whether he liked it or not.
I walked over to his desk and leaned on the side of his desk and stared him down. I knew I had to be looking like a creeper, but right now I didn't care. After several seconds of my intense staring, I noticed Ryan starting to shift. He was going to crack. I knew all the right buttons to push. He couldn't hide anything from me. I knew him all too well.
He looked up at me, and quickly looked back down, and turning away from me. He should know better than that. Like I would really walk away that easy.
"So what do you have planned for tonight?" I asked, as casually as I could manage.
"Uh, I got plans." He said, digging his head further into his file.
"You seem to be busy most of time lately."
"Yeah." He said, getting up. "I need some coffee." He started walking away.
"Yeah, I'll come with you." I followed him into the break room. It was empty. "So you got a date or something?" I asked, trying to get something out of him.
"No. I just have some things to do."
"Anything I can help with?"
He stopped pouring coffee and looked at me. For a moment I thought he was going to tell me something. "No." He looked back down. "I don't need any help." He picked up and cup. "Thanks for the offer, man." He said, before walking back out.
Okay, being subtle wasn't helping. I needed to give up on it. It was time to take it up a notch.
I walked back to my desk. On the way, I saw a file on his desk. I looked closer to see that it was Tessa Harper. I looked at it kind of confused. What was he doing with her file? I looked over to see him back, so I walked to my desk and sat down. What was he up to? That case was closed. He knew that. Okay, I was going to get to the bottom of this.
"So" I got up and walked over to the side of the desk her file was on and sat on it. "Got any plans this weekend?" I asked.
"Uh, I don't know. I might." He kept looking at the spot I was sitting. So this is why he has been secretive.
"I was thinking we could chill, its been awhile." I said.
His eyes were getting bigger and bigger. This was too fun.
"Yeah, maybe. I will let you know." He squeaked. "I have to get back to this paperwork." He said, not taking his eyes off the file. I nodded.
"Alright, bro." I scooted off the desk, making sure I would knock the file to the floor.
As soon as it dropped, I saw his eyes widened and he nearly jumped out of his seat and tackled me.
"Whoa, bro. Don't worry, I got it." I grabbed it before he could and placed it on his desk. "No worries." I tapped him on the shoulder and went back to my desk. This was going to be great.
I heard him sigh a breath of relief.
I faced my chair towards him. This was going to be great. "So Ry, why do you have Tessa Harper's file on your desk?" I asked, with a smile.
That made his head pop up. "What?" He squealed.
"Tessa Harper. Her file, fell on the floor. Why do you have it?" I leaned back in my chair. I had him right where I wanted him.
"I, uh, was...just.." He stammered. This was awesome. I tapped his shoulder, which caused him to jumped like a little kid watching a scary movie. He turned around and faced me. I made sure to have a blank expression. He looked like he may be sick.
"Has that case been opened again?" I asked with mock curiosity.
"No." He looked away from me.
"Why do you have it then?"
He sighed and then looked at me.
"Can we just keep this between us?"
I leaned forward. "That depends, what is this?"
"Can you keep a secret?"
"Bro, don't be stupid. I can keep a secret better than anyone."
He looked around before leaning in. "I'm working on the case."
Did he really just say that? "Why?" I asked.
He sighed. "Cheyenne." He said, as if that cleared everything up.
"What?" I asked. What the hell was this?
"I'm doing this for Cheyenne."
"She asked you to?"
He shook his head. "No, we aren't really talking anymore."
"Why?"
"Javi, its complicated."
"Complicated? Well try me, I love a challenge." I wasn't letting him off the hook.
"I can't tell you."
"What? Why not? I'm your partner. You can tell me anything."
"I know, but this is just something, I need to do on my own."
"Why, bro? We could do this together." I slapped him on the arm. "You know we are unstoppable."
"Then why didn't we solve it the first time around?" Okay, that was a fair point.
"Alright, but you can't do this alone. I know we can solve this together. We know a lot more now than we did back then." I knew he knew I was right.
"Javi," He started to protest, but I shut that down.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I told you."
"Yeah, but why?"
"She needs closure."
I sat back. I couldn't argue with that.
"Listen Javi, I need to do this for her. I ruined it once before and I need to fix it now."
"Is this why you guys are not talking? Cause she's talking to me and technically, I ruined it just as much as you did."
"No, she isn't to blame. That was all me. I pushed her away." He said, sitting back in his chair. That was an odd choice of words.
"Pushed her away? You made it seem like were in a couples fight." I laughed.
His face turned blank and red. His jaw was clenched. "Wow." It finally clicked.
"Javi," He started to beg.
"You've got to be kidding me?" I jumped forward. "You and munchkin are together?" I couldn't believe it. They couldn't be dating. Ry would have told me.
He shushed me. "Javi, keep it down." I looked around to see a few people looking towards us. I shot them a look and then they turned away.
"Tell me. Are you and munchkin dating each other?"
"I don't know." He said, turning around in his chair. I grabbed pulled his chair towards me.
"What do you mean you don't know?" I wasn't an idiot. Although, I should have figured this out.
"I got mad at her and stormed off. We haven't talked in awhile."
"You got mad at her? What did she do?"
"She lied to me. I didn't know Tessa was her sister. I mean she lied about it."
"So?"
"So I was mad she lied to me."
"Was?" I repeated. "You aren't mad anymore?"
"No. I said, some things to her that I shouldn't have and it seems like the only way I can get her to forgive me, is to fix this." He put his head down. Wow. He was really hurting. I sat up in my chair.
"Well, this isn't going to be easy. I mean, do you have anything to go on?"
"I don't know. I might." I shook my head.
"You haven't told her about this?"
"No." I shook his head. "And neither can you." He demanded.
"I can't lie to her." I said, picking up Tessa's file. I looked at her, trying to find pieces of munchkin, but there was nothing. "How are they twins?" I asked, confused.
"Cheyenne used to look like that, but I guess, not too long after Tessa was killed, she changed her appearance."
"Why?" It didn't make sense.
"She said, she couldn't stand looking in the mirror and seeing Tessa. She said, it was too painful, when people would tell her how much she looked like her." He ran his hands through his hair.
"I guess that makes sense." I shook my head. "Damn, she even changed her last name."
"Yeah."
"We are going to solve this case." I said, putting the file down.
"We?" He asked, with an amused look.
"Yes, we. We're going to get closure for Tessa and Munchkin. You got it?" I pointed at him.
"Thanks, man." He laughed. I knew he needed help. Thankfully, I was more stubborn than him.
"Let's get started." I tapped him on the shoulder.
Munchkin had to be in some serious pain to go to the lengths she did. I couldn't imagine the pain she had to still have. She was good at hiding it. She was stronger than I gave her credit for. In a weird way, I had a newfound respect for her.
We were going to solve this case. We couldn't let it fall out of our hands again. She deserved answers. She would help, if the tables were turned. She was like family, and you never let your family down.
"So?" I asked, moving over to his desk.
"So, what?" He asked.
I raised my eyebrows. He looked over.
"What?"
"You aren't that stupid. Spill."
"Right now?" He asked.
"No, how about 10 years from now?" Sarcasm came as a second language to me. "Duh."
"Well, it started about 5 months ago. Almost 6." He sat down his pen and faced me.
"What the hell? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, we didn't want everyone to know."
"What kind of excuse is that? We're partners."
He looked at me and tilted his head. "What about you not telling me about you and Lanie?" He questioned. Damn him.
"Well, Lanie and I were not in a relationship, it was just more of an arrangement." He said, trying to get back on track. Our arrangement ended when she called it quits, out of nowhere.
"Arrangement?" His eyebrows shot up and he had a grin on his face.
"Yes." This was awkward. "Dude, we aren't talking about me and Lanie. We're talking about you. So was it serious?"
His grin disappeared. "Um..yeah. It was very serious."
"Very serious? You mean like you loved her or something?"
He smiled. "I still do." He said, tapping the desk with his hands. Love? They were in love with each other and I didn't notice it? What was I so busy with, that it past right by me?
"Love? So she loves you too?" I asked.
"I don't know." He hunched his shoulders. "She did at one time."
"Bro, you know, I don't really go in for this whole sharing your feelings thing." I used quotations, with my fingers. "Why don't you just go see her? Or if you don't want to do that, at least call her."
He shook his head. "I can't, Javi."
"You said, you love her."
"I do."
"Then go make things right. I am sure if you apologize, she will forgive you."
He shook his head. Why did he have to torture himself?
"Why not?"
"I need to fix this Javi. I want to see her so bad. I miss her like you wouldn't believe."
"I believe it." I cut him off. He looked like a wreck. Now that I knew more about what was going on, I knew that he wasn't just a wreck, but someone who had their heart broken. Just like munchkin. That's why she looked so different at lunch the other day. I shook my head, how stupid was I?
"I can't go to her, until I can tell her I caught the person who killed her sister." He sighed. "I have to make it right, Javi." He leaned back in his chair.
"We will, bro." Not only did I say it, but I meant it. We could do this. The only question was, how long would it take before, Beckett, Castle, or Gates found out?