AN: I was going to skip this episode, but I thought it'd be fun to mess with, and it'll help me lead into the next couple of chapters I have planned. And Happy Holidays!

This chapter is based on Season 8 Episodes 3 "PhDead". 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.

Professor Doofus

Today was just another ordinary school day, and I was eating my breakfast at the kitchen isle like I always do. There was a small pile of mail to the left of me, which contained several letters and a medium sized, square package. Castle wasn't up yet, he's been kind of mopey since aunt Kate left, and I didn't blame him. I missed having her around as well, but there's not much we can do to bring her back.

A little while later, I heard Castle exiting his room, so I turned in my seat and said, "Good morning, Uncle Rick."

"Good morning, mini Beckett. What are you doing up so early?" he asked with confusion.

"It's a school day."

"Oh… Is it really?"

"Yes, it is."

"Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'll be fine. I can walk like I usually do."

"Okay," he said before his eyes landed to the package on the counter, "Oh, boy, oh, boy! She's finally here!"

He took off all the envelopes that were on top of the box, and placed them on the counter, before he grabbed an X-Acto knife to cut the box open.

"What's that?" I asked, as I watched him open it with giddiness.

"You'll see," he said as he pulled out the product that was covered in two blocks of Styrofoam to protect it.

He pulled the two pieces of Styrofoam from the item, revealing a pyramid shaped device that almost looked like the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas that I've seen in several different TV shows. Castle smiled at me before he grabbed some batteries, placing them inside the weird looking contraption. Once he was finished, he placed the pyramid back at the far-left side of the counter, before turning it on with just a press of a button. The base and tip of the pyramid turned blue, and Castle smiled before going to the opposite side of the kitchen isle, to face his new piece of technology. He leaned on the table, folding his arms in front of him, as he placed his chin on his hand, looking at the item with excitement.

"Hello. I'm your new home-operating system. My name is Lucy. What's yours?" the automated voice in the Pyramid asked.

I rolled my eyes as I remembered seeing several commercials of this home-operating system for the past couple of weeks. It's been really popular lately, and I should have known Castle would want to get one.

"Uh, my name is Rick Castle, and… And…" Castle zoned out for a second until he continued in a depressed tone, "my wife just left me."

"Yikes. Sucks to be you, Rick," Lucy said.

I started chuckling at the little voice box, and Castle looked at the machine strangely. I happened to check the time on the clock, and noticed I was going to be late if I didn't leave soon. I was so amused by Castle's new toy, that I wasn't keeping track of the time. I cleaned my mess up quickly before I grabbed my backpack and said to Castle, "See you later, Castle. Have fun with your new friend."

Castle rolled his eyes with a smirk and said, "Have a good day at school, Emily."

"Thanks."

I left the loft, and headed off to school for another day of the eighth grade.

I went to school, and was hoping to meet up with Mike before class started. Things between Mike and I have been really strange lately. Ever since he went off to summer camp, he hasn't been talking to me, or hanging out with me as much as we used too. Now that we don't have the same classes anymore, we barely see each other at school except for before and after, and occasionally lunch. I was wondering if I did something wrong since he's been avoiding me lately, but I'm sure I didn't though.

I was waiting by my locker like usual, and the bizarre sight that greeted me was one I definitely didn't see coming. My boyfriend, my best friend, had his arm around another girl, and not just any girl, it was Stacey who quickly became the most popular girl after her parents decided to send her here last year. I had no idea that Mike was even into her, let alone in her league. They were laughing together, and chatting to some of the other popular kids in our school. I stood at my locker paralyzed with shock as I watched him mingle with the in-crowd.

Once I snapped out of my daze, I decided to go up to them, and find out why Mike was hanging out with her and the popular kids. This didn't even seem real, not in the slightest. When I reached them, I tapped my friend on the shoulder and said, "Hey, Mike. Make new friends?"

"Uh… Hey, there Emily. I um… Yes," he said.

"Oh, so can I join you guys?"

Stacey stepped in and said, "No you can't. We don't accept losers like you in our club."

"What!? I don't see how I'm a loser. I never even did anything to you."

"Not yet, but come on Emily, there are so many stories of you going around this school, and they aren't very good, you should know that."

"What stories?"

"All your little horror stories. Your kidnappings, your involvement in so many people's deaths. It's quite disturbing."

"I didn't kill anyone… I just... I…"

"See, you can't even deny your involvement with anyone who dies around you. You're like a plague, an angel of death, and honestly, we don't want that bad aura around us. And Mikey here is lucky to get away from you before he meets his untimely demise."

I looked over at my friend and asked, "Is that what you think?"

He looked around at his new friends, before he said to me, "let's talk over here."

He pulled me over to a spot where there were less people, and I asked, "Are you breaking up with me?"

He nodded solemnly and said, "Yes… I'm sorry Emmy."

"Why her?"

"I don't know. We happened to go to the same summer camp, and something happened between us. I really like her, and now there are rumors going around that we might be the most popular couple in school."

"I can't believe you right now. I thought you'd never stoop to their level… I thought you never even wanted to be popular."

"I mean, I never really thought about it, but I like it. Plus, I grew over the summer, and became a different guy."

"Uh-huh sure… I honestly don't care, have fun with your new friends. But when she dumps you for someone else, don't come crying to me."

"Emily, don't be like this… We had to move on sometime…"

"Yeah, but I was hoping we could do that without losing our friendship, and everything we had together. Not just throwing it away like it was nothing."

"You're being dramatic."

I rolled my eyes and said, "You want to see dramatic…" I ripped off the bracelet he bought me for Christmas last year, and threw it at his chest, "Now that's being dramatic."

"Come on, Emily," he said with a small sigh.

"Don't talk to me, ever…"

I walked away from him, and as I passed the popular kids, Stacey said, "Hope he let you down easy."

I glared at her and said, "Screw you."

"Hmph… I'd keep walking if I were you Emily, we don't want you getting kicked out of another school."

I controlled my anger to the best of my ability, turning on my heel, so I could head to my first class. The whole time I was in first period, I couldn't stop thinking about how Mike dumped me for someone like Stacey. I knew it was going to be a long day after getting news like that, but I was going to do my best to push it out of my mind.

Today I thought it'd be just another ordinary day, like it usually is, but it seems I was oh so wrong. I guess since aunt Kate and Castle kind of broke up, my relationship with Mike was pretty much doomed too. Sure, we were young, and only in the eighth grade, but we were best friends, and now he was throwing it all away for her. I don't know what's so great about Stacey anyway. Well, she is extremely pretty, blonde, already wearing a non-training bra, and her parents are filthy rich with a big house and a pool. The only reason she had to come to a public school like this was because her parents didn't want her to turn out to be a well off, trust fund kid, who got everything handed to her. So far, it doesn't seem like any of the lessons they are trying to instill in her are sinking into that pretty blonde head of hers.

The whole walk home I thought about all the ways to get Mike back, and every name in the dictionary that I could call Stacey. When I got back to the loft, I was met by a very strange sight which made my mouth go agape. Castle was about to head out, but not in any usual attire, he was sporting a sophisticated looking jacket, a dress shirt that was buttoned up all the way to the top, an ugly maroon tie, and nerdy glasses.

"Um, Castle. Did I just enter a weird dimension or am I losing it?" I asked.

Castle chuckled and said, "No, mini Beckett. I'm winning back your aunt Kate."

"By dressing up sophisticatedly, because we all know even in that getup, you aren't fooling anybody."

"Well actually… Wait a minute… No… I am highly sophisticated, and I don't need this outfit to prove it. I'm going to become a guest professor at Hudson University, so I have to dress the part."

"I was kidding Castle. But seriously, how is this going to get aunt Kate back?"

"This is actually a ploy to get onto a case that the 12th is currently working on. A student from there was recently killed, so I figured I could get some info, help out your aunt, and show her why we need each other."

"Let me get this straight, you're becoming a guest professor to try and solve a case, so you can show aunt Kate that you two are meant for each other, because solving cases is one of the many reasons why you two got together."

"Exactly! See even you get it."

"Well, I understand. I don't think she's going to go for it though, but it's worth a shot."

"I think she'll be amazed by my assertiveness to work with her, solving a case just like old times, and she'll come back to me in no time."

"Uh, I hate to burst your bubble Uncle Rick, but it is aunt Kate you're talking about. According to previous events such as this, she wasn't to fond of you weaseling in on her cases, and now that she really wants some space, I think she might be even more opposed to this."

"Possibly, but I'm sure she'll see that she truly needs me, and we'll be able to rekindle what we once had."

"Hmm… sure."

"Anyway, I must be off. I have to meet with the Dean in 15 minutes, and I don't want to be late," Castle said as he got ready to head out the door.

"Good luck with your plan, Professor Doofus," I said with a small chuckle.

I earned myself a glare before he swiftly went out the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts. We didn't get any homework today, which was great, but I still had Mike and Stacey on the brain. So, I wound up flopping down on the couch with a long and loud sigh, trying to get them out of my mind for good.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked.

I looked over my shoulder at the small pyramid, staring at it questionably, before I answered, "Nothing?"

"You don't sound certain."

"I'm not talking about my problems to a robot."

"I'm not just a robot, I am a specialized home-operating system, and have been programmed to help with anything you might need, including advice."

"Uh, well… Lucy… I have had a pretty rough day at school today."

"How is that Emily?"

"How do you know my name?" I asked the creepy robot.

"I have been programmed to recognize and pick up voices. Rick said your name earlier, so I picked up your voice and applied it to the name."

"Wow… Okay. I never thought I'd say this, but technology just got a whole lot scarier."

"Anyway, what happened at school?"

"Well, my boyfriend broke up with me."

"More relationship problems."

"Yes, this loft is filled with them."

"I say move on."

"That's it. You are a semi-sentient robot, and out of all the advice that could possibly be built up in your database and within your connection to the world wide web, you pick, "move on"."

"I only have so much information to go through, even with all my connections. And you are young, are you not?"

"Yes… I'm 13."

"So, the only possible advice I can provide for you is to move on, and that you have time."

"Thanks, I don't think I could have figured that out on my own."

"You're welcome."

"I was being sarcastic."

"Sorry, I still have trouble picking up certain voice patterns, which includes sarcasm."

"Right… Sorry."

"It's fine."

"Any more advice, or is that all you got?"

"I have one more."

"What is it?"

"To talk to someone you are close to. Supposedly a family member."

"I guess it couldn't hurt to get some advice from a real human being instead of a machine, no offence."

"None taken."

I smiled a bit and said, "Thanks Lucy. You're not so bad."

"Thank you, Emily."

"I'm going to head out now though, so uh… Bye…"

"Okay, goodbye."

I left the loft once again, and decided on who I was going to see to get some one-on-one advice, and maybe a small pep talk.

I got to Castle's office and what greeted me made my mouth go agape, just like it did not too long ago back at Castle's loft. Alexis was about to leave her dad's P.I. office, and she was now sporting bleach blond hair, with some dark highlights, and dark makeup which included some purple lipstick.

"Okay, this is the second time today I've been caught off guard by people's appearances. Am I really not going crazy?" I asked more so to myself than Alexis.

"It's just a wig Em," Alexis said with a small chuckle.

"Oh, okay. And why are you wearing a wig?"

"Dad asked me to help him with a case."

"Got it… So, he's roping you into his plans too."

"Yep, I have to try and get a potential suspect to talk about the victim. See if he knows anything."

"All right. Good luck with that."

"Thanks, Em. Was there anything you needed before I go?"

"No, I was just wondering about the case," I lied with a small smile.

She smiled with a short shrug and said, "Okay see you later, Em."

"See you," I said as I waved goodbye to her.

Once she was gone, I plopped down in the leather sofa Castle had, and let out a duplicate sigh from earlier. I stared up at the ceiling as I laid on my arms which I had behind my head, and thought to myself out loud, "Maybe, I should just move on. Mike was fun to hang out with for a while, but we're both growing up, and growing apart, so maybe him going out with Stacey isn't such a bad thing. I'll just have to make new friends and focus on school work."

I let out another sigh, and said, "Maybe I'm just in denial right now… Or did I skip it and go straight to acceptance. I have no clue, I'm not a psychiatrist. I just know, that whatever may happen between here and now, I'll move on completely and will be doing my own thing. At least I hope…"

So, Castle was still trying to figure out this case, and trying to win back my aunt Kate. Castle and Alexis went to a frat party last night along with Esposito and Ryan. Of course, I had to stay home, because it was a school night, and frat parties aren't really appropriate for 13-year old's, so they say. At least I finally managed to get Stacey and Mike out of my head until I happened to see them canoodling at school today. It felt like every time I passed them in the halls, Stacey deliberately tried to get me jealous as she snuggled closer to my ex-best friend.

I managed to ignore them though, but if I have to deal with this for the rest of the school year, I don't think I'll be able to hold back on Stacey. If I do happen to lash out on her, I'll be in serious trouble with my family, especially if I get kicked out of another school. I just have to keep my head held high, and make it until we go off to high school next year. And hopefully I can pick a high school that neither of them are attending because I don't want to deal with that for a whole four years.

Since Castle has been busy with his plans to win back my aunt, I decided to pay a visit to said aunt at the precinct. I walked into her Captain's office and said, "Bonjour, aunt Kate."

She raised a brow at me, as I plopped down into one of the seats that was in front of her desk, and she said, "Hi Em. What are you doing here?"

"Can't a niece visit her aunt when she misses her?"

"Well, yes, but…'

"It's been awhile since you left, you know. So, I thought I'd stop bye, and pay you a visit."

"Mmm-hmm, it's only been a week and a half since I left."

"Still too long in my book."

She sat back in her chair, looking at me carefully, before she asked, "And this has nothing to do with Castle working on this case?"

"No, I had nothing to do with that. It was all his idea."

"I can believe that. Seriously Em, what's up?"

"Nothing is up. I just wanted to see you."

She was about to say something else, but was cut off by none other than Castle himself, "Yet another case closed courtesy of Richard Castle Investigations."

We walked out of aunt Kate's office, and into the hall, where we found Castle leading a woman in handcuffs over to us.

"I'm so glad I decided to drop bye," I said with a snicker.

Aunt Kate gave me sharp look before she asked Castle, "Um, who is this woman? And are you in handcuffs?"

"This man abducted me," the woman aid with anger.

"It's not an abduction. It's a citizen's arrest. Please get it straight," he said to the woman before answering aunt Kate, "Beckett, please meet Dr. Lillstrom. She was Peter's teacher with benefits. The real kinky kind, too. But when Peter ended their trysts, she locked him up in a secret, underground prison experiment, which is where I caught her. You're welcome, honey."

"You went to an underground prison? Alone?" Aunt Kate asked him.

"No, not alone. I had Alexis with me."

"Oh, well, since you had backup. Are you kidding, Castle? Your daughter?"

"When you say it in that tone, I sound like a bad parent. Regardless, Dr. Lillstrom is a suspect. Trust me."

"Fine," she said before she handed off Dr. Lillstrom to a uniformed officer.

Aunt Kate turned to Castle and said, "There's protocol. You know that. If you had a lead, you should have called us."

"Oh, believe me, I wanted to, but they locked us up in a cell," he said.

"No, I mean, you should have called us be… wait, they locked you up? You know what? Never mind. I don't want to know. Just go find Ryan and Espo and take them to the prison."

Castle walked off to find Esposito and Ryan, and Dr. Lillstrom said, "That man is insane. I'm innocent."

"If he says you're a suspect, then trust me you are far from innocent. Let's go," Aunt Kate said as she walked past her, heading to the holding cells.

A little while later, Castle, Ryan, and Esposito returned with empty hands. Apparently while Castle was bringing in the Dr., the students at the prison cleared the place out as fast as they could. Castle was currently pacing in front of my aunt and I, apologizing about messing up the case, "Sorry, Beckett. I screwed up."

"Yeah, you did," she agreed.

"And I jeopardized the entire case."

"Again, yes. But you know what? If it wasn't for you, then we'd still be thinking that Peter's prison uniform was a Halloween costume."

Esposito made his way over and said, "So, I've been digging into Dr. Lillstrom. Did you know that for the past decade, she's been contracting with the army, working psy ops?"

"Wait a minute. The Navy funded the first, the original Stanford Prison experiment. Maybe the army is behind Dr. Lillstrom's modern-day incarnation," Castle suggested.

"That would explain how the place was scrubbed so quickly."

"Now, why would the military be interested in a bunch of college students playing prison?" Aunt Kate asked.

"Well, the government's in need of new counterterrorism techniques aimed at the millennial generation how to get into the minds of young terrorists and break them."

"And what better source of lab rats than the millennials here at home?"

"But we'll never get those surveillance tapes back, so how do we prove that Lillstrom left the prison to kill Peter after he escaped?"

"We need a confession."

"Well, the doc likes mind games, right?" Castle mentioned.

Castle and Aunt Kate came up with a plan to get Dr. Lillstrom to talk. Once they figured it out, Aunt Kate went to the holding cells to try and get the doctor to speak. Thankfully the plan did manage to get her to speak, and we found out who Peter was really sleeping with. It turned out to be none other than the dean herself, Dean Feller. They brought her in for questioning, but that didn't really lead to anything, except for more questions, and the main one still being, who killed Peter?

"You're not buying this, are you? No confession. No smoking gun. It's just Not clean," Castle said to aunt Kate as she made her way over to us.

"Well, that's how homicides are sometimes. You know that," she said.

"Yeah, but something's still bothering me. There's a part of the mystery that hasn't been solved yet. We're missing part of the story."

"And how do you suggest we find it?"

"The same way we always do. We start at the beginning, back at the prison."

"You just want an excuse to get me alone."

"No, Beckett, I just want the truth. What really happened to Peter that night."

Castle and Aunt Kate left for the prison, and I knew Castle's true intentions were to get Aunt Kate exactly where he wanted her, but he did want to solve the case as well because he liked knowing how the story ends. I just hope he doesn't push aunt Kate any further away while he's working on his plan to get her back. But I know my Aunt Kate, and whatever she's dealing with right now, she'll eventually finish it, and come back to us when she's ready, at least I hope.

Eventually, Aunt Kate and Castle came back with word on who the killer was. It turned out to be Peter's cell neighbor, Emily. They formulated a plan and happened to escape together, but instead of running away, she killed Peter, before returning to her cell. Apparently, the experiment messed with her head so much that she just snapped, and killed him. It's pretty depressing when you think about what they went through in there, but at least we were able to put a stop to this experiment before anyone else got hurt.

I was back at Castle's PI office, along with him and Alexis, and they were pouring themselves a small glass of Scotch in the back room. Alexis handed over the bottle to her dad and he said, "That is… Fifty-year-old Scotch."

"Yeah. I bought a case of it," she said.

"Alexis, that's expensive."

"Relax, dad. The company paid for it," she said before making her way over to Castle's desk where I was currently at.

"Oh, okay…. W-wait. That means I paid for it," he said as he walked over.

"To closing the case," she said as she raised her glass.

"To generous expense accounts," he said as they clinked glasses and took a sip of their Scotch.

"So, any progress with Beckett?"

"You know, at the prison, we, um, sort of had a moment."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah. I think my plan is working. I mean, it has to, right?"

It was silent for a between the three of us before Castle got out a cigar box and said, "Um, you know what? We're gonna start a tradition. For when we solve a case together."

"I don't smoke, and neither do you," Alexis said.

"Who said anything about smoking?" he questioned her before he blew on the cigar, making bubbles come out and float around us.

Alexis and I chuckled at him, before she grabbed one of her own and joined her dad, blowing bubbles into the office air. Castle chuckled as well, and said, "Go ahead mini Beckett. Join the fun."

"You don't have to tell me twice," I said as I grabbed one of my own bubble blowers.

We continued to blow bubbles together for a little while, and even though the last few weeks have been crummy, I at least have a few people in my life that I could still have fun with, and forget my worries until the next one comes along.