A/N: Soooooo, hi again! I got too impatient so I'm gonna start publish this first chapter now... I've been working on this little fic for the whole of this year and I'm at chapter 10 so hopefully I'll be able to keep up with some kind of schedule and finish it for you guys to read it frequently.
This is set from season 1 but with a kinda big twist. I hope you'll enjoy this fic just like you've enjoyed many of my old ones in the past. I really look forward to read what you guys think! Anyway, until next time xxxxx
"Mr. Castle?" Kate says as she approaches the writer and prays he doesn't recognize her.
"Where would you like it?" he questions as he turns around, a pen in his hand, and the way his eyes squint when he sees her almost takes her breath away.
"Detective Kate Beckett, N.Y.P.D. We need to ask you a few questions about a murder that took place earlier tonight," she states, keeping her cool and keeping her voice professional. She's doing her best to stay professional.
He's quiet for a while, too shocked by her statement, and probably wondering why she looks familiar, before he actually answers. "Okay," he says and to her surprise he doesn't say anything about knowing her.
She leads him to her car and she tries her best not to look at him while she drives them to the station. But she can tell he's observing her. She can feel it. She also feels her nerves acting up, scared he'll find her out, afraid he's going to remember and then he'll just know… somehow. Once at the station he follows her quietly into the interrogation room and she can't remember him ever being this quiet.
"Sit down Mr. Castle," she tells him before grabbing the file her coworker and brother-in-arm hands to her. "Thanks, Espo."
She starts skimming it through, pretending as though she's reading it all for the first time. Even though she's been keeping tabs on him ever since it all came to an end.
"So, you've got quite a rap sheet for a best-selling author," she starts reading it off of the file. "Disorderly conduct, huh, resisting arrest?"
He shrugs his shoulders and smirks a bit. "Boys will be boys."
She bites together her teeth, reading that one report that had made her want to kill him that first time she saw it. "It says here you stole a police horse?"
"Borrowed," he quickly states and smirks at her, his eyes still observing her every move.
"Ah," she tries to keep pretending this is all a first time reading. "And you were nude at the time."
"It was spring."
She takes a few deep breaths. "And every time, the charges were dropped."
She sits down in front of him, the file opened in front of her on the table and he looks at her again, this is the first time they're face to face with good light. He looks at her with his eyes squinting in observation until they suddenly go wide and he drops his smirk, a gulp going down his throat.
"Kate?" his voice is hesitant and he looks a bit pale. "Is… is it really you?"
Kate looks down into the papers, avoiding his eyes. Those blue eyes. She can't help but wonder if they still look like the ocean. She thinks about lying, saying it isn't her, that she doesn't know what he's talking about, that she's never met him in her entire life. But she knows it won't work.
With a big sigh of resignation she bites her lower lip before she looks up and meets… his ocean eyes. "Yeah, it's me, hi Rick," she says before she bites her inner cheek.
"I ca-how are you? Where have you been? How's…" he stops himself and she knows it's her dad he was trying to mention.
"I'm good, better than last, and dad never fully became an alcoholic, we-I mean I managed to stop him in time," Kate answered, lying. Well, not telling the complete truth about what had happened after their relationship ended.
"That's good," he continues to observe her and she looks up again only to meet his eyes. As she feels her cheeks get warm she looks away again, praying none of her coworkers are actually watching from behind the mirror. "You cut your hair, and in that book party darkness… that has to be why I didn't recognize you," he's more mumbling to himself than saying it to her, probably trying to understand how he hadn't seen the resemblance sooner.
"Anyway, I have a case to solve and we need your information," she says, trying to get away from all the questions he could come up with if she doesn't take control. "Do you recognize her?"
Kate pulls out the photo of Alison Tisdale and puts it in front of him. He picks it up and looks at the woman.
"Mm-no, I don't think so, then again I don't remember half the people coming to my book signings," he says and she nods while taking out the next photo.
"What about him?" She hands him the photo of Marvin Fisk and his forehead wrinkles that same way it always did when he hit a writer's block.
"Uhm, no, I don't… what do they have to do with me?" he asks, not seeing the connection.
"I didn't put it together until we saw the Tisdale murder tonight," she says and pulls out the crime scene photo.
His eyes immediately got bigger. "Flowers for your grave," he states with shock.
"Yes, and this is how we found Marvin Fisk, right out of Hell hath no fury," she says and shows him the next crime scene, the first crime scene.
He looks up at her with eyes filled with surprise. "You read my books?"
"What? No," she immediately says but can tell the blush on her cheeks exposes her.
"You read all my books," he states and a smile is slowly getting bigger, to her horror.
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did, Hell hath no fury, only hardcore Castle groupies have read that one," he says and he's grinning now.
She takes in a hard breath and collects herself, takes back control. "Do any of your groupies send you letters?" When he nods she quickly adds, "Disturbing letters?"
"Oh, all my fan mail is disturbing, an occupational hazard," he says and she rolls her eyes.
"Because sometimes in cases like this one killer attempts to…"
"Killer attempts to contact the subject of his obsession," he says and she looks at him with wide eyes. "I'm pretty well-versed in psychopathic methodologies, another occupational hazard. You know, your eyes are still as gorgeous as they were back when we…"
"Stop," she says and holds up her hand. "Just, stop. Mr Castle, would you let us look through the letters?"
"Mr. Castle? Why…"
"This is my job, just… answer the question," she cuts him off again.
He looks at her with disbelief in his eyes, a sort of sadness in there too, but she can see he's trying his best not to ask all the questions at the tip of his tongue.
"Yeah, of course you can look at the letters, I'll have them sent to you as soon as we get out of here," he says and she starts to assemble the photos to put them back in the file. It's first when she's about to stand up that he's reaching across the table and takes her hand. "Kate, can we talk?"
Her heart bolts at his touch and her breath hitches but she quickly shakes his hand off and stands up with determination.
"We're done here Mr. Castle, thank you for your cooperation."
She makes quick work of leaving the interrogation room. And as soon as she's out of there she lets go of a deep exhale as she's heading for her desk and the murder board. Once there she takes his picture and moves it from person of interest to the side, she never really suspected him. She knows it's been years, and she knows he has this outside celebrity persona but she knows him. He's not a murderer.
"You didn't tell us you know him," Ryan says as the two detectives come up to her.
"Yeah, what's up with that?" Esposito questions.
She shrugs, tries to dismiss it the best she can. "I didn't think he'd remember me."
"Girl, you were blushing in there," Esposito says and she wants to just disappear.
"Don't you have something else to do?" she questions and then shakes her head. "You know what, let's call it a night. We won't get the fan letters until tomorrow anyway."
The two agree and say good night before collecting their things and leaving. Kate looks through the files she has, stops at the sight of the crime scenes again. They are exactly the way she pictured it from the books. Every rose petal and those symbol markings. It's… scary how they managed to use his books. Gosh, she'd spent so much time reading those books. She'd never admit it to anyone but… he had been her favorite writer ever since she'd read that first letter years ago.
"Kate?"
At first she thinks she's imagining his voice, thinking back to their interview. She bites her lower lip, a part of her wishing she hadn't…
"Hey, Kate, I was thinking, would you want to go grab a drink?"
This time she looks up and sees the writer standing in front of her desk, hair slightly out of place as if he's been running his hand through it multiple times. Like he used to do those first times they went out.
"A-Mr Castle, what… how did you get up here?" she asks and looks around to see that no one else is in the bullpen. Which reminds her she needs to get home.
"I-uh, told the officer downstairs you were… expecting me," he says slowly with those puppy eyes he always used when he knew he'd done something he shouldn't. Like that time when he looked through her photo albums at her parents' cabin.
"Mr. Cas…"
"Please don't call me that, Kate, why are you making it so formal?" he cuts her off and she shuts her mouth.
She swallows and takes a deep breath in. "Because it's my job. I have a job to do, and we haven't seen each other in a very long time."
"Eight years and ten months," he says and she looks at him with shock filling her insides.
With her mouth slightly open she starts stammering. "I-wh-y-what?"
"It's been eight years and ten months since we last spoke."
"You kept track?" Kate's voice breaks a bit and she feels her insides shatter.
"Of course I did," he says and the intensity in those ocean blues makes her lose her breath.
"I need to go, I gotta get home," she starts packing her bag and shuts off the computer, organizing her desk before she stands up and starts towards the elevator. Him right behind her.
"So, you don't want to go out for a drink?" he carefully asks and she shakes her head as they enter the elevator.
"No, I have to go get… I have work in the morning so I have to go home," she says and pushes the button for the lobby and the button for the garage.
"We could grab a late dinner, do you still like chinese?" he asks and she wonders why he still remembers that.
"No, I mean, yes I still like chinese but no, we can't," she says and when the elevator doors open at the lobby she's gesturing him to get out. "Thanks for your help Mr. Castle, now it's time for you to go home."
He was about to say something but she just gives him the look, and just like with the food he seems to remember that look. He walks out slowly with a small smile on his lips.
"I hope to see you again, Kate," when she gives him that look again he straightens. "I mean, detective Beckett."
She nods at that, not willing to say it back. Even if that's how she feels, deep down. When the doors close again she lets out an exhale and leans against the wall. She can't believe work has forced her to contact him again. It was all going fine, now she has a feeling she won't get rid of him as easily. Or perhaps she will because he might just forget all about tonight and move on with his glamorous life.
When finally in her car she hits the call button as she drives out of the garage. She's already so late and she's thinking about ways to make it up to her as she's listening to the beeps.
"Hey Katie."
"Hey dad, I'm sorry I'm late, I'm on my way! Have you eaten dinner yet? Well, of course you have, but is there something you'll want?" she rambles, she knows she's rambling, but she can't help it.
"Don't worry about it Katie, we're having a great time. She is getting tired though," her dad, Jim Beckett, says and she hears the girl in the background.
"Mommy!"
A/N: So, what do you think so far? Like I stated I hope to be able to publish about once a week, and hopefully I'll be finishing it up soon so I have the whole fic ready. Hope you enjoyed it, until next time xxxxx