AN: Wow, 101 followers that's awesome! :D This chapter is based on Season 5 Episode 19 "The Lives of Others." Thank's to everyone for following, favouring, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. Don't forget to Review. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.

Castle and Mini Beckett on the Case 2.0

I was sitting at Castle's kitchen counter and eating a bowl of cereal. Castle was groaning as he tried to scratch his foot that he couldn't reach because his knee is in a brace. He received the brace when we went skiing a couple of weeks ago.

"Almost there, Castle. Just another two weeks," my aunt said as she sat across from him.

"It's already been two weeks. Two weeks is an eternity," he said.

"Well, maybe next time we go skiing, you're not gonna be such a show-off."

"I wasn't showing off…"

"You kind of were," I said chiming in.

"Okay, I was showing off a little bit. But I swear to you, I can do a tail-grab with my eyes closed, and without breaking my kneecap," he said.

"Mmm-hmm," my aunt and I said together.

My aunt was cleaning up Castle's breakfast plate and cup, and placed them in the sink. Mrs. Rodgers came down the stairs and said, "Well I am off. Now the retreat is out of cell phone range, so if I don't call you on your birthday, it is not because I have forgotten."

"I won't think it's because you've forgotten. I'll think it's because you made other plans," Castle said.

"Now, wait a minute. You and Katherine were supposed to be celebrating in Bora Bora this week."

"No, you're right. Have a great time on your retreat. On your only son's birthday."

My aunt came over to where I was eating and leaned against the counter, watching Castle give his mother the guilt trip.

"It is a spa trip, darling, not a guilt trip," his mom gave him a kiss, then she looked at Aunt Kate and said, "He's all yours. See you in a week. Bye Emily."

"Bye, Mrs. Rodgers," I said.

"Bye," Castle mumbled.

My aunt went over to Castle, hugging him from behind, and said, "Come on, Castle. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. I'll get us a reservation. I'll take you somewhere nice for your birthday."

"As nice as Bora Bora?" he asked.

She shrugged with an, "Mmm…"

Mrs. Rodgers opened the door and said, "Oh! Katherine, your ride is here."

"Oh, great," my aunt said.

"Ride?" Castle asked.

"Yeah we had a body drop. I asked the boys to pick me up so I'd have enough time to make you breakfast," she said.

"I'm missing another case? No, come on. Guys, take me with you," he whispered.

"No! Not until you get better," my aunt said.

Ryan and Esposito came in to the apartment, looking at Castle's busted leg.

"Castle, how's the knee?" Ryan asked.

"It's not the knee so much as boredom," Castle said.

"Yeah, he's like a baby," I said.

They chuckled at what I said. Castle looked over at me and said, "Quiet you."

"I thought you writers like being alone," Esposito said.

"Yeah, if I could write. But the painkillers make me a little loopy," Castle said.

"A little," I mumbled.

I got a glare from Castle and I went back to eating my cereal.

"Anyway… Last night, I used the word "speculate" three times in the same sentence," he said.

"Hmm. You must be bored. You've actually gone Rear Window," Ryan said as he picked up the binoculars Castle had by the window.

"Alexis got me those as a joke to cheer me up. I have not yet resorted to voyeurism," Castle said.

"Then you are missing out," Ryan said, whistling as he continued to look out the window.

"What? Let me see," Esposito said as he went to grab the binoculars from Ryan.

"No. Hey!" Ryan fussed.

"Give me the binoculars!" Esposito said.

"Dude, she was just about to take off her towel," Ryan said.

"The towels off. Yeah," Esposito mumbled.

"Unless the body that you're looking at is dead, I suggest you drop those binoculars. And there's a child in the room," my aunt said as she stood behind the two.

"She's almost eleven," Esposito said.

"Still a kid," my aunt said, then walked over to Castle, "Okay, Castle, I will call you and check on you soon. Emily, behave and watch over Castle."

"Will do," I said as she left.

"Hey, what if I consult by the phone? We can pretend I'm Charlie and you are my angels," Castle called after them.

Esposito and Ryan stopped at the door and posed like the ladies of Charlie's Angels. Then they were gone and Castle and I were all alone. I put my bowl in the sink and then walked over to a sulking Castle.

"So Castle, What do you want to do?" I asked him.

"I want to go help with the case," he pouted.

"Yeah I know. So do I, but I promised I'd hang out with you since I'm off for spring break."

"Yeah… At least I have someone to keep me company."

"Yep."

It was silent and we just kind of looked around the room.

"I'm bored," he said.

"Me too," I agreed.

"Ooh, I have an idea."

"What?"

"Go get my helicopter."

"Okay."

I went to fetch his helicopter and a few minutes later I brought him the remote control and the reddish-orange helicopter. He started flying it and said, "Looks like we've got some beautiful clear skies with us today. A nice tailwind's gonna get us there right away, folks. We'll be there at zero dark thirty, zero dark quarter to."

"Really, Castle?" I asked.

"Got a better idea?" he asked.

"Nope, continue."

I continued to watch him play with the toy copter, and he continued with his story, "Nice, Red Five. You're looking good. Oh, no! I've got something wrong!"

Castle started making the copter go haywire, "Oohh, that's not good."

I made a face and said, "No it's not."

"Evade! Evade, evade!" he said as he desperately tried to take back control of the helicopter.

It crashed into the side of one of his chairs and a few pieces flew off the copter.

"NO!" he shouted.

"Nice one Castle," I said.

"Eh… Thanks," he said looking at his broken helicopter.

He rolled his wheelchair over to the wreckage and picked up his broken toy, "Survivors?"

"No one's coming back from something like that," I said, looking at the helicopter in his lap.

He sighed and looked over at the table which held his binoculars.

"You're not going to go all peeping tom, are you?" I asked.

"No… Maybe. I mean it could be fun," he said.

"You're gross."

"I'm bored."

"I understand. You gonna do it?"

He looked at me and then rolled over towards the table with determination. I decided to join him at the window and we sat together. He was looking through them and looking at different windows.

"What do you see?" I asked, getting kind of excited.

This was so bad, yet it was so much fun. Getting to invade on people's privacy. Man, Aunt Kate would be furious right now.

"Hmm. Must be writers," he said.

"Writers?" I asked

"Yep," he said.

"Writers are strange."

He cleared his throat and glared at me. My eyes went wide and I said, "I mean they are, not you, you're cool."

"Uh-huh," he said and went back to looking through the binoculars.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Give me a second."

"Okay."

"Oh, that better be for a sick child."

"What? What should be?"

"A maid is stealing money from someone's dresser drawer."

"No way."

"Yeah way."

"Isn't that a crime?"

"Yeah."

"Shouldn't we tell someone?'

"Then we'd be admitting to peeping."

"Oh, right."

Castle looked through the binoculars again and said, "Oh, to be young and underemployed."

"Huh?" I asked.

"This is not meant for young audiences."

"Aww man."

"You have about a month and seven years before you can see this."

"I hate being young."

"Enjoy it while it lasts."

"I guess so."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys, slow down. It's not a race. Maybe close the blinds."

"Are you really watching that?"

"Hey, I'm cooped up in here with a busted kneecap. This is the most entertainment I got in weeks."

"Gross."

He laughed at me and continued peeping, "Mmm-hmm. All right, you kids, you have fun."

Castle got a serious look on his face and straightened up, "Someone's home early."

"What?" I asked.

"There's another man," he said.

"Eww…"

"Not like that. Wait... how do you? Never mind. I think the girl is cheating on her husband."

"And the husbands home!?"

"Exactly."

"That's not good."

"No its not."

"What's going on?"

"She's hiding the other guy under the bed."

"They are so gonna be busted."

Castle chuckled and said, "Maybe… Really? You're gonna kiss him now?"

"Seriously?"

"Oh yeah."

"Now what?"

"Her husband went to the bathroom. Now the other guy is bolting towards the front door. Maybe next time they'll think twice about being cheating cheaters," He said with a chuckle

"You're so weird," I said.

He smirked and gave a shrug.

"Uh-oh… Someone's got some 'splaining to do," Castle said.

"Now what?" I asked, on the edge of my seat.

"Husband found a hat that clearly isn't his."

"Ooh… Busted."

"Oh yeah."

For the rest of the day we stopped peeking at the people across the way and hung out with each other. Castle tried to write some more, but he wasn't getting anywhere. Night came and we were back at the window, but nothing entertaining was happening. Castle was playing with a magnifying glass and decided to call Aunt Kate.

"Where are you?" he asked.

There was a pause and then he said, "You said you were bringing home dinner."

"Aunt Kate, I'm starving," I said as I leaned over Castle to talk into his cell phone.

"So when are you leaving?" he asked as he continued to play with the magnifying glass.

"When's soon?" he asked.

"Fine," he said grumpily and hung up.

"When is she coming home?" I asked.

"Half an hour."

"Ugh… I'm hungry."

"Me too."

"Those toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch weren't even good."

"You made those, mini Beckett."

"I know."

He smirked and said, "Well, we'll be getting real food soon. I hope."

"Me too."

Castle went back to peeping at the window and I said, "Now what are they up to?"

"Making dinner," he said.

"Ugh, don't mention dinner."

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

"He is so on to you," Castle said as he continued to watch, "Ah, uh-huh. Here it comes. The inevitable huge breakup."

"What?" I asked.

"He's going to confront her."

"Ooh, cool. Tell me what happens."

"Will do… No, no, no, no. Don't, don't. Don't take the knife. Don't…"

I looked at Castle with wide eyes and said, "You're playing with me, right?"

"Look," he said.

I took the binoculars and saw the dude with a knife.

"No way," I mumbled.

He took them back and all he could say was, "uh…"

I looked out the window and barely saw something happening across the way. Whatever it was, it didn't look to good. Castle quickly reached for the phone and called, who I'm assuming, Aunt Kate. He put it on speaker and it rang a few time before aunt Kate answered, "Castle, I'm not gonna get there any faster…"

"No, no, no. Beckett, Beckett, listen. I think we just saw a murder," he said.

"Yeah," I said chiming in.

All was silent and she said, "Okay, we'll go check it out."

We heard the sirens about fifteen minutes later and watched from across the way as Ryan and Esposito checked it out. Aunt Kate was with us and standing next to me.

"Why aren't they arresting him?" Castle asked.

My aunt just rolled her eyes and walked away from us. A few minutes later Ryan and Esposito came in and told us there was nothing.

"I know what I saw," Castle said.

"It did look pretty real to me," I said, defending Castle.

"Yeah, he took a knife and followed her into the bedroom," he said.

I nodded along to what he said and Ryan said, "I looked in the bedroom. Everything was fine. No blood, no body, I swear."

"Did you look under the bed, in the closet?" he asked.

"Castle, the guy was relaxed and fully cooperative. He let us poke around without a warrant," Ryan said.

"So he probably hid the body. If he was completely calm, he could be a psychopath," Castle said.

"What did he say about the girl?" Aunt Kate asked from where she was sitting at the kitchen isle, drinking a cup of coffee.

"He admitted they had a fight. They broke up and she left," Esposito said.

"Not possible. We would've seen her," Castle said.

"So, you two were watching the whole time?" Esposito asked.

"I… We…" he stuttered and said, "Well, not the entire time, I had to…"

"So she could've left and you guys didn't see?" he asked.

"It's possible, but…" he started.

"Because he called her. Handed me the phone, I spoke to her. She confirmed his story. She was in the car on her way to her mom's house in Philadelphia," Esposito said.

"All right. Thanks, guys," Aunt Kate said as she came up to us.

Ryan and Esposito left and something still didn't feel right about this whole thing.

"I'm not crazy," Castle said.

"Me either," I said.

"No, but you two do have a vivid imagination, and Castle, you've been stuck inside for two weeks. What were you doing looking out the window anyway?" she asked.

"Emily told me to," he said.

"Hey, I did not," I said sitting next to Aunt Kate.

"I was..." he started.

"Bored? So you saw what you wanted to see? Then dragging Emily into this," my aunt said.

I shrunk down next to her and she continued, "When did you take your last painkiller?"

"I was not hallucinating. Emily saw it too," he said.

"Yeah," I said.

"Come on Castle. You're here with a broken leg, binoculars, a ten year old, and seeing a Rear Window scenario play out across the way. I mean, what are the odds?" she asked.

"Astronomical," he said sadly.

"All right, I'm gonna make us some dinner and then get you both to bed," she said.

"Yes dinner," I said happily.

She smiled at me and then placed a kiss on Castle's head. She made us some dinner which I scarfed down in record time and then she got me to bed like she promised. She tried to explain to me that I didn't see anything happen next door, so I told her that I understood, but I still believe what Castle and I saw was 100% real.

I went down stairs in the early morning hours to see if I could catch something in the window. When I got there, it seemed I wasn't the only person still curious about what we saw. Castle was asleep in his wheelchair, holding his binoculars close to his cheek, snoring away. I chuckled at the sight and Aunt Kate came out in her night clothes and said, "Seriously?"

Castle startled awake and said, "Oh. I can explain."

"Please don't," my aunt said as she walked over to the kitchen.

"Listen, he was pacing back and forth in his apartment, and he kept looking towards the bedroom. Then he slept on the couch. Now, why would you sleep on the couch when you have a perfectly good bed?" Castle asked.

"I could ask you the same question," my aunt said as she poured herself and Castle some coffee.

I took a seat at the kitchen island, watching them talk this out.

"I'll tell you why. Because he had a dead body in there. Ryan and Esposito didn't find it because he hid it," Castle said.

Aunt Kate whipped around, carrying the two cups over to Castle, and said, "Do you realize what you're doing? You're obsessing over this because you have nothing else to obsess about. Why don't you just come with me to the precinct, focus on a real murder instead of wasting your time on an imaginary one?"

"Well, actually, I was thinking about just trying to do some writing today," he said.

"Okay. As long as by writing, you don't mean staring out the window and ogling at your neighbors," Aunt Kate said.

"No. That would be immoral and intrusive," he said as he received a hug from Aunt Kate.

"Yeah, like you've never done that before. That goes for you too, Em," she said.

I rolled my eyes and said, "Yeah I know."

She went to get ready for work and I made myself a bowl of cereal. Castle was looking at the window, and I knew he desperately wanted to continue watching the neighbor across the way. I was eating breakfast and Aunt Kate came out in her work clothes, getting ready to leave.

"Bye you two. Be good, have fun, and no window watching," she said as she gave us each a kiss on the head.

"Okay, bye Aunt Kate," I said.

"Bye," Castle mumbled.

After she left I said, "You're not gonna listen to her, are you?"

"Of course not," he said as he got his binoculars and started looking out the window.

I washed my bowl out and then joined Castle at the window.

"What do you see?" I asked.

"He bought rope and a tarp. What would you need a tarp for?" he said.

"Moving a body," I said.

"Mm-hmm… It's blood!"

"What? Let me see."

"No. You're washing away the… He's washing away the…"

Castle put down the binoculars and grabbed for his phone, dropping it in the process. I picked it up for him, and handed it over. I grabbed the binoculars as he called Aunt Kate and watched the guy across the way, wiping his hands clean.

"She ignored my call," he said, looking at the phone in frustration.

"Do you blame her? She thinks we're nuts. Try again," I said.

"I'll call the precinct," he said.

"Good call."

Castle got a hold of Aunt Kate and about an hour later she showed up with anger written all over her face.

"This is not an emergency!" she yelled at us.

"I caught him red-handed. Literally red-handed," he said.

"So then it's gotta be blood," she said.

"What else could it be?" he asked.

"Paint," I said.

"Hey, who's side are you on?" he asked

"Mine," I said

"She's right, it could be red paint, tomato juice, beets, red velvet cupcakes," she said.

"He bought a tarp and a rope. He brought them into the bedroom, where I'm betting, right now, he's cutting her into portable pieces. Get a warrant. Search the place before there's no evidence left," he said.

"Esposito spoke to the girl. We know she's alive," she said.

"How do you know it's the same girl? It's possible he paid someone to be his alibi," he said.

"He's got a point," I said.

"Or it's possible something else entirely is going on here," she walked behind Castle and said, "Look, I know that you're lonely and that you miss me. You only have a ten year old for company."

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing," I said.

She sighed with a roll of her eyes and said, "I miss you too. But you don't have to keep making up things to have me come back here."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You think this is a ploy to get you here?" he asked.

"Look, I don't mean to be…" she started, but was cut off by Castle, "No, I know what you mean, all right? And I know what I saw."

"All right, you know what? I have to get back to the precinct," she said as she walked off.

"Wow. You really don't believe me," he said.

"I'll be back later" she said.

"You know what? Don't worry about it. I'm fine," he said going back to the window.

Aunt Kate looked at him with guilt on her face, she crooked a finger at me and I walked over, "Watch him Em. Don't feed into Castle's theories, okay?"

"Fine," I sighed.

"I'm serious."

"I know."

She patted my head and left for the precinct.

For the rest of the day, I played on my Nintendo DS, ever so often watching Castle at the window. He was really drawn into what happened next door, and I'm not going to lie, so am I. I really want to watch with him, but maybe Aunt Kate was right, maybe we are seeing too much into this.

It was getting late so I decided to hit the hay.

"Night Castle," I said heading to bed.

"Mmm-hmm, night mini Beckett," he said and yawned a bit.

I laughed silently at him and went up to the guest room I was staying in.

I woke up about a few hours later and went down to get something to drink. I opened the fridge and got a bottle of water. I walked over to Castle and saw him sleeping. He dropped his binoculars on his leg and groaned out an, "Oh!"

He looked up and saw me starring and yelped. I laughed at him and he looked at his phone, "Emily, it's three in the morning. What are you doing up?"

"I was thirsty," I said showing him the water bottle.

"Oh…" he said as he looked out the window with the binoculars again.

"You're still watching?" I asked.

"Shh…" he said.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to see from afar.

"He's getting rid of the body," he said.

"Seriously!?" I said trying to see.

"Beckett's gonna have to believe me now," he said, putting down the binoculars and picked up a camcorder.

While he tried to record, I grabbed the binoculars and saw the man dragging a tied up carpet out the door.

"Whoa, that doesn't look like he's carrying just carpet," I said still eyeing the man.

He messed with the camcorder trying to get it to work, "Where's the… There we go, here we go."

He started filming and said, "No, no, no!"

"Please tell me you got something," I said.

"What do you think?" he asked.

He closed the camcorder in frustration and looked out the window with anger.

"Welp, I'm going back to bed," I said.

"But you saw that, right?" he asked.

"Well, yeah. But you know Aunt Kate. She's going to have a reasonable explanation about what we saw."

"Yeah, you're right… Goodnight," he sighed.

"Night," I said, heading off to bed once again.

The next day came around and Alexis was here. Castle explained everything to her and she was on the fence.

"If you thought he was getting rid of the body, why didn't you call Beckett?" she asked.

"Well, she thinks it's all in my head, a by-product of my imagination and pain pills. But mini Beckett saw it too," he said.

I nodded and she said, "It's like that time you were convinced my art teacher was a serial killer?"

I gave Castle a strange look. He shrugged and said, "Come on. He looked just like the guy from America's Most Wanted."

"Did you ever stop to think that maybe there's an innocent explanation for everything?" Alexis asked.

"All right, what is an innocent explanation for rolling up a rug and taking it out of your apartment at 3:00 a.m.?" Castle asked.

"Yeah. That is pretty weird," she said, looking out the window.

"Right? And then he didn't come back until 4:30 this morning. Where'd he go?" he asked.

"I don't know, but he's up now," she said.

"What's he doing?" Castle asked with suspicion.

Alexis grabbed the binoculars and said, "Uh… He…"

"What? What do you see" he asked.

We went over to the window, trying to see what she was seeing.

"He's taking off his clothes,' she said with a smile.

"Eww…" I said, shaking my head.

"What? Give me those," Castle said.

"Oh, he's cute," she said.

"Adults are weird," I said.

"All right," he said grabbing the binoculars from his daughter.

"No, I…" she said, protesting her fathers actions.

He gave her a look and said, "Seriously."

Alexis grabbed her own binoculars and went back to the window.

"You shouldn't be watching this," he said.

"Yeah, neither should you," she said.

I tried to see from behind him, but I could barely make out the dude without the binoculars.

"What the…" Castle mumbled.

"That's creepy," Alexis said.

"I can't see," I pouted.

"He's got a mask on and putting on gloves," Alexis said, filling me in.

"Oh," I said.

We made some popcorn and were eating it by the window.

"It's been two hours. What's he doing in there?" Alexis asked.

"Getting rid of evidence. Blood stains, trace DNA. Pretty soon there's going to be nothing left," Castle said.

"Oh! Here he comes! Here he comes!" she said as she looked through her binoculars.

I perked up and waited to hear what the guy was up to now.

"What's in the bags?" Alexis asked.

"What bags?" I said, trying to see.

"Garbage bags," she said.

"He took the body out in the rug. That could be clothing, bedding. That's her purse!" Castle said.

"If they broke up, no way she left without her purse," she said.

"She did not leave that apartment, at least not alive. And now he's obliterating her identity!" Castle said.

"Wow," I said.

"We need to call Beckett," Alexis said.

"I agree," I said.

"And tell her what? That we saw a man donning gloves and a respirator? For all we know, he was cleaning the bathroom. No. If I'm gonna convince Beckett I'm not crazy, I need proof. Something solid," he said.

Castle got the look of an idea on his face and I knew this was going to get messy.

Turns out Castle's plan was to break into the guys place. I was all for it, but this could go so many way's. Plus Aunt Kate will be livid with us if she finds out.

"Dad, you can't break into his apartment," Alexis said.

"All the evidence we need is in that shredder. It'll tell us who the victim is. We can prove she's missing," Castle said.

"I kind of agree with him," I said.

"Yeah, but guys… What if he catches you?" she said.

"He won't. Not if I have your help," he said.

"Can I help?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure, you too. Next time he leaves, I'll slip over there. You two keep watch, make sure he's not coming back. I go inside, I get whatever's in the shredder and I get out. Two minutes, tops," he said as he hobbled on his crutches.

"On crutches?" Alexis asked.

"The doctor did say I need more exercise," he said.

"What if I go? I'm smaller, faster and younger," she said.

"Yeah, me too," I said.

"No, no, no. If you get caught, you get a B and E on your record, and you'll never become president. And you mini Beckett, your aunt would kill me," he said.

"Dad…" she said.

"He's getting away with murder. You got a better plan?" he asked as he handed over the walky-talky.

Alexis took it and I wasn't taking no for an answer. I wanted to help too, and it would be so fun sneaking around in another person's apartment. So, I waited a few seconds after he left and snuck out to follow him over to the other apartment building. It didn't take me long to catch up to him since he was on crutches.

When we got there, Castle noticed I was with him and said, "Emily, go back."

"I want to help," I said.

"Argh… fine. Just stay close, be alert, and don't get caught."

"Sir, yes sir."

He rolled his eyes and Alexis said over the walky-talky, "All clear. Over."

We got off the elevator and went to the man's apartment. Castle started to pick the lock and I kept an eye out, making sure the potential killer wasn't coming back. Castle smirked out the window to Alexis once he finished picking the lock and we headed in.

We went straight to the shredder. Castle was going to look in, but then he looked over at the bedroom door.

"No Castle, we only came for the shredded evidence. We'll get caught," I said pulling on his tan coat.

Alexis broke in on the walky-talky, "Dad, no. Just get the stuff and get out of there! Over."

"It'll only take a minute. Over," he said.

"We're doomed," I said.

"Stay here," he said and started hobbling towards the bedroom.

I followed him to make sure he didn't do anything stupider.

"I told you to stay," he said as he reached the door.

"I have your back," I said.

"Fine."

He started opening the door and I was nervous as to what we would find. We went in there and all looked semi-normal. The bed sheets were missing and it looked clean, but a little to clean. He hobbled to the closet and I stayed close. When he opened it, there was paint, a plastic bag, and a bleach bottle.

"Bleach and paint," he said

"He was definitely cleaning something, "I said.

"Yep, definitely. What is he trying to cover up?" he said.

"Blood," I said.

"More than likely."

He went to investigate further and took a look at the wall.

"Bloodstains," he whispered.

"Whoa," I said, peering at the wall from behind him.

"This is it! This is where he killed her! This is why Ryan didn't see any blood! It was all in here!" he said with excitement.

"Sweet," I said.

Castle got a little too excited and next thing I know he's falling backward and I'm still behind him. He groaned and we both toppled to the ground. As we laid on the ground, Alexis chimed in on the walky-talky again, "Dad! Emily! He's coming back!"

I got up and tried to help Castle up to get his crutches.

"Get out of there! Get out now!" she said.

"Come on Castle," I said still trying to help him up.

I was way too small to help him up and it just wasn't working.

"Dad? Dad?" Alexis said.

I knocked over his crutches, and thankfully he was able to stop them from clattering to the floor, so it didn't make a lot of noise.

A phone started ringing and the man we were going after answered it with a, "Yeah?"

This was so not good, we're so doomed. Either we're going to be caught and killed, or caught and thrown in jail. I'm too young to go to jail, but I guess there's still juvie.

"He's coming in! Dad? Dad, he's coming in!" Alexis said.

Castle gave me a silent signal, and we quickly went under the bed. I went under first, then Castle following me with his crutches. We made it just in time because the man entered the bedroom.

"No, I have it handled for now, but I can't leave it there forever… No…" he said as he walked around the room.

Castle put his index fingers to his lips and I kept myself quiet.

"Well, I was thinking Jimmy's boat… While he's at work… He'd never know," the killer said and then went into the bathroom.

We quickly crawled out from under the bed and tried to get out of there as quick as possible. Castle grabbed the shredder and took out the plastic bag. My heart was racing and adrenaline was pumping through my body. This was exciting and scary all at once. Once he grabbed the bag, we bolted to the front door, well I bolted, and he hobbled quickly.

I opened the door and Castle closed it behind him. I was so thankful we weren't caught, but maybe we're one step closer to finding out the truth.

Castle called Aunt Kate and she came back to his apartment and we told her what we did and found.

"Wait, you did what? And you two helped him?" she said.

Alexis and I nodded at Aunt Kate.

"I did… I… Okay, this is not about what we did. This is about what he did. And check this out," Castle said.

We all went over to the table where Castle was able to reassemble an invoice.

"Now, I wasn't able to reassemble the credit cards, but I found this in the bag," Castle said.

"An invoice from a storage facility. So?" Aunt Kate said.

"Not just any storage facility. This one's open 24 hours," Castle said.

"Yeah, and look what time he rented the space," Alexis said.

"3:43 a.m.," Aunt Kate said,

"Last night at 3:00 a.m., Mini Beckett and I watched him pull a rug out of his apartment," Castle said.

"Wait what were you doing up, Em?" my aunt asked, giving me a stern look.

"I just came downstairs to get a drink of water," I argued.

Her lips went into a thin line and her eyes held a sharp, piercing glare and she said, "Sure."

"Anyway… You know what fits in a rug?" Castle said.

"A body," Alexis and I said together.

Castle snapped his fingers and said, "That's where he's storing her until he can figure out what to do."

"Or the rug belongs to his girlfriend who asked to keep it in storage until she's ready to pick it up," my aunt said matter-of-factly.

Alexis rolled her eyes and walked away.

"All right. Then explain the bleach. The paint. And we overheard him say, "I can't keep it there forever." Castle said.

"Dad, look. Someone's coming," Alexis said as she looked across the way with the binoculars.

Castle hobbled over to Alexis, taking the binoculars, and looked across the street.

"That's him. That's the guy she was having an affair with," Castle said.

"What!?" I said as I ran over to stand with Alexis and Castle.

"He's looking for her. He wants to know where she is," Castle said.

Aunt Kate came over and grabbed the other binoculars.

"If you leave now, you can catch him. You can ask him where she is," Castle said.

"Castle…" My aunt said with annoyance.

"Look, if she's really visiting her mother, wouldn't the guy she's having the affair with, who broke them up, be the first to know?" Castle said.

Aunt Kate gave him a look because she knew he had a point. Aunt Kate went down to talk to the cheater and the three of us watched from the window. Castle took out his binoculars to get a better look at what was happening. Aunt Kate looked up at us after the guy left and I think she was starting to believe us, at least a little.

She came back up and said, "So, his name is Brent Lansky. He and Emily have been taking a class together at Pace. And he's been texting her for the past couple of days, but so far there's been no response."

"What about her parents?" Alexis asked.

"Ryan tracked them down, but they haven't heard from her either," Aunt Kate said.

"So, I'm not a drug-addled crazy," Castle said.

"Look, I know it sounds suspicious, but without a body or a missing person's report, I've got nothing to go on," she said.

"Well, while you're waiting for something to go on, he's already taken most of the evidence away. But luckily, I know what he's gonna…," Castle said and took the invoice from Alexis, "Thank you… With the body in the storage unit."

"You're talking about an illegal search," my aunt said.

"When you do it, it's an illegal search. When I do it, it's just illegal," Castle said.

"Can I come?" I asked.

"No," my aunt said in a stern voice.

"You stay with me Emily," Alexis said.

"Okay," I said.

I wanted to go and help them check out the storage unit. But no… I have to stay here and go through a hundred different scenarios of what could possibly be in that carpet and storage unit.

A few hours later Aunt Kate dropped Castle off and Alexis left.

"How'd it go?" I asked.

"Don't ask," he sighed.

"That bad."

"Yeah, then we got caught and Gates let me have it."

"Ooh, rough…"

"Tell me about it."

"So, we're back to square one?"

"Yep. But maybe we were wrong."

"You think?"

"Yeah…"

The next day came around and it was Castles birthday. I couldn't get him anything, but I did give him a cupcake with an unlit candle for lunch. It was night time and my Aunt Kate and Castle were getting ready for dinner. Castle was ready first and wearing a snazzy black suit with a tie that had tiny red polka dots.

Castle looked across the way with his binoculars and said, "Well, I don't say this often, but I'm sorry. Sorry I got you into trouble, sorry I lost my mind."

"You know what, Castle? It's okay. Your overactive imagination has actually brought a lot of people to justice. In fact, it's one of the things I love about you," my aunt said as she came out of his room.

She was dressed to the nines. She had on a pretty, strapless black dress and black heels to match. Her hair was pulled back and she looked absolutely beautiful.

"Wow. And wow. Happy birthday to me! If that's my present, I can't wait to unwrap it," Castle said.

"Eww," I said, making a disgusted face.

They laughed at me and Aunt Kate addressed Castle, "Later. Right now, let's just forget about the murder, go to dinner, celebrate your life, come back and celebrate some more."

"Sounds perfect," he said.

"You look beautiful, Aunt Kate," I said.

"Thank you, Em. You do too," she said.

"I still don't know why I'm wearing this when I'm not going with."

I was wearing a dark purple, sleeved dress, which went to my ankles and paired with my black flats.

"Maybe we'll do something later," she said.

"Okay."

"How do I look?" Castle asked me with a pout.

"You look very handsome, Castle," I smiled.

"Why thank you. You look adorable too, mini Beckett," he said.

"Thanks."

"Okay, so the cars gonna be here in 15 minutes. Would you like a drink from the fridge?" she asked, walking to the fridge.

"The fridge," he said.

My mouth went agape, he hid her body in the fridge. Why didn't we think of that before?

"What?" she asked.

"He just got a soda from the cabinet," Castle said.

"So?" she said.

"So why get it from the cabinet? Why not get it from the fridge? Why not get ice?" he questioned.

"Oh, no," she sighed.

"She's in the refrigerator!" he said.

"Oh, God," Aunt Kate said.

"Those plastic trays in the closet! Those weren't plastic trays. Those were refrigerator shelves," Castle said as he went over to the window.

"Castle…" Aunt Kate said, trying to get through to him.

"I don't know who gates was talking to on the phone, but that was not Emily. Emily is in the fridge," he said.

My aunt went over to Castle and said, "She's not in the apartment. She is not in the fridge. There is no body!"

"Yes, there is," he said as he looked through his binoculars.

"Castle you just apologized to me," she said.

"I rescind the apology. I take it back. She's in the fridge."

"You know what? Let's just go downstairs and wait for the driver there," she said as she tried to pull his wheelchair from the window.

"I am not going anywhere until I see what's in that fridge," he said, standing his ground.

"What? You're gonna stay here and wait for him to open it?" she yelled.

"If that's what it takes."

"Okay, fine."

"Where you going?" he asked as she walked away.

She turned around and said, "Castle, I made plans for you. I dressed up for you. And I'm not gonna let you ruin this night."

"So what are you gonna do?" he asked.

"I am going to go over there and open that bloody fridge, and then you and I are going to dinner and never talking about this again," she said.

"No, don't do it. It's too dangerous," he said.

"Yeah," I said, agreeing with him.

"Not as dangerous as me if you blow my plans," she said.

Her face said it all, she wasn't messing around.

"What if he doesn't let you in?" he asked.

"Look at me. He's gonna let me in," she said as she walked off.

"Not if there's a body in there," he said.

"There's not a body in there!" she argued as she went to the front door.

She left and we were left here to see what she found across the street. We looked out the window with the binoculars and Aunt Kate was going to the man's door. After she knocked on his door, she looked over at us and stuck her tongue out.

The guy opened the door and Aunt Kate was talking to him, trying to get herself into the apartment. She walked in and was talking to the man some more. She went to go to the kitchen and the guy jumped in front of her, trying to deviate her from the room.

"No, no, Beckett," Castle said.

"This isn't good," I said watching.

"No, it's not," he said.

She tried to push past the guy and he grabbed for her. He pulled her by the arm and she looked frightened. She grabbed for the fridge and Castle said, "No."

She barely got the fridge opened before the man grabbed her by the waist, pulling her from it.

"No," Castle and I said together.

The man reached for a knife and Castle said, "Beckett, no!"

"Aunt Kate," I said, watching with horror.

Everything at the apartment went dark and I was completely scared.

"No!" was all Castle managed to say.

Castle called the precinct and we quickly went over to the apartment building. They arrived by the time we got across the street and we tried to head inside the building.

"Where is she?" Esposito asked.

"She's upstairs! She's in the apartment!" Castle said.

"Come on," Esposito said.

"Wait for me!" Castle said.

"And me," I said, following after.

"NYPD! Open up! Open up now!" Ryan and Esposito yelled as Ryan banged on the door.

Ryan tried to bang open the door with his shoulder, but it barely budged.

"Kick it. Yeah!" Castle said.

"Kick it! Kick it! Kick it!" Ryan said.

Esposito busted down the door and they went in with guns drawn.

"Beckett!" Ryan and Esposito yelled.

"Beckett! Beckett, you there?" Castle yelled.

It was still pitch black and you could barely see a thing.

"Beckett! Beckett!" Castle called out.

"Aunt Kate!" I called out.

"Beckett, where are you?" Castle said.

The lights turned on and everyone was there saying, "Surprise!"

There were black and white balloons, a cake, and a black banner that had the words, "Happy Birthday Castle," in white lettering.

I think it was a surprise for the both of us, we so weren't expecting this scenario. They were all applauding and cheering, surprising him for his birthday.

"Happy birthday!" Aunt Kate said with a big smile.

The two men were there, the cheater and the husband, and they looked really chummy. Then the dead girl came out from the bedroom and was very much alive.

"It was all fake? Nothing was real. You…" Castle said glumly.

Everyone's face fell slightly and he continued, "You let me think I was crazy? You let me think you were gonna die!"

Aunt Kate walked over and said, "Yeah, but, Castle, you were so bored over the past couple of weeks, stuck at home with no case to solve, and I saw this apartment was for rent, and I… I thought that I…"

"Richard…" his mother said as she came over.

"No. No. This is, without a doubt, the greatest birthday gift of my life!" Castle said with excitement.

Aunt Kate smiled and everyone was cheering.

"How did you do it?" he asked.

"Well… I did have a lot of help," Aunt Kate said.

"Yes. You did, indeed," Mrs. Rodgers said.

"You were all in on it?" he asked.

"Mmm-hmm. Michael, Brent, Emily, my brilliant acting students. I, of course, was the director," Mrs. Rodgers said.

"And the boys?" he questioned.

"Yep," Esposito said with a tight nod.

"Oh, yeah, they were great. Except you didn't have to kick down the door," Aunt Kate said.

"I was in the moment," Esposito said.

"We wanted to be convincing," Ryan said

"Alexis, you, too?" Castle asked.

"It's why I bought you the binoculars," she said.

"Even Captain Gates?" he asked.

"Yeah, she jumped at the chance to dress you down for any reason," Ryan said.

"Where is Captain Gates?" he asked.

"She couldn't make it," Esposito said.

"Good. How about you mini Beckett?" he asked.

"No. I was duped too," I said sadly.

"I'm sorry, Em. You know I couldn't tell you," she said.

I looked away from her and she said, "Em… Please…"

I looked up at her slowly with a sideways smile and said, "I'm just messing with you. It was pretty awesome."

She rolled her eyes with a smile and hugged me to her.

"Wow," was all Castle said.

They kissed patiently and Esposito said, "All right!"

I left the two love birds alone and went to mingle with everyone. I'm not that mad that Aunt Kate didn't fill me in, I understand why they didn't, but it still felt awkward to be out of the loop. At least I was with Castle during this whole crazy ride.

The party was a blast and I liked the way Aunt Kate threw this together for him. I wonder what she has in store for my birthday.