A/N: Back again! Thank you again for embracing this story, I'm so glad you're enjoying it. I hope you all enjoy the 'new blood' I promised. Here we go! :)

XXXXXX

Chapter 7

"The senator?" Rick spluttered incredulously.

One and the same.

"The senator who's all but announced he's running for President?"

That's the one.

We'd like to make sure that doesn't happen.

"I always knew there was something not quite right about him," Martha mentioned.

"I remember you saying that, Mother," Rick said. "Is there something specific about him you don't like?"

Martha thought.

"No, he's very charismatic. Maybe that's why I thought something was off when I first saw him on the news. He's clearly acting – and he's not particularly good at it – though I'll grant you I never in a million years expected murder."

Johanna smiled. Trust an actor to see through a charlatan.

"All right," Rick said, turning to the ghosts and clapping his hands. "Before we get on with your explanations of why you think – or rather – know he did this, I'm going to go get that whiteboard. Mother do you want to stay up here? Or even come with me?"

Martha sighed and gave Kate a furtive look. She didn't want to anger the ghost, or make her feel even more guilty, but…

"No, Dr. Kinsman wanted me to take it easy. So I think I'll start that movie marathon I mentioned to her."

Kate's face fell, and Martha noticed.

"Kate, I do accept your apology and I do understand that you didn't mean to do it. But I am getting tired, and honestly, I don't know how to do the research Richard does – either for his books or something like this. The only time I really do any research at all is if I'm portraying a biographical role in a play, and half the time that's still quite fictional anyway. I think it's best to stay out of the way while you three are working, and then come up and talk to you and your mother or ask Richard later."

She smiled, still not quite as ebullient as usual, Rick noticed, but it was real.

Thank you so much for coming up and meeting us, Martha. I know it wasn't easy learning you weren't alone in this house, and worse yet, the interlopers weren't even alive. But please, don't feel guilty or stupid for not breaking the door down. You did what you thought was best for your child.

"Thank you, Johanna," Martha said a little stiffly, as if she couldn't quite accept that her lack of looking into the door was for the best.

I look forward to talking with you later, Martha.

Johanna faded away – much to Martha's consternation.

"She's tired too, Mother," Rick explained. "She can't manifest as long as Kate can. The two of us will take care of things until you've both rested."

Martha simply nodded and went downstairs to lie down.

"And I'll be back in a couple of hours or so with the whiteboard."

Great. Make sure you get one on wheels so you can move it around. I know we didn't wreck your laptop – thank goodness – but I'd rather not see if prolonged exposure causes damage.

"I appreciate that. I'll be right back."

He departed and Kate was left standing alone.

XXXXXX

Captain Javier Esposito jumped awake, the papers on his desk leaving creases and one small cut on his face.

"Huh? Wha'…wha' just happened?"

Lieutenant Kevin Ryan entered the office.

"Lanie called," he answered. "She said you didn't come home last night." He paused, looking down. "You can't keep doing this Cap."

"Lieutenant," Esposito began.

"No, Captain…Javi… Lanie's worried about you – I'm worried about you. It's been nearly a decade…"

"How am I supposed to turn it off, Kevin?" the captain asked. "How the hell have you turned it off?"

He glared almost accusingly at his friend.

"Oh no, you don't get to do that to me, Jav. Even after so long you know I'm mourning as much as you are. But Beckett – Kate wouldn't want us to obsess over this."

"She did. Obsess over her mother's case."

"And look where that got her."

The glare intensified.

Ryan relented a little.

"Captain, I'm sorry. There's not much I'd rather do than dive into this with you. But I've got a family now. And may I remind you – so do you."

"Lanie knows why I have to do this."

"Yes, she does. And she understands. It doesn't mean she's not worried. She wants you to see someone."

"She told you that, did she?"

"Well, she can't tell you, you're never around."

The two friends stared at each other until a stony mask formed on Captain Esposito's face.

"Lieutenant, I am fine," he said formally. "I'll call my wife as soon as I've had a shower and coffee. I don't appreciate you two conspiring behind my back, but I'll let it slide because you've both been where I am."

"Tell you what, Captain." Ryan said. "You collect what you have – the files, your thoughts, whatever you've got – and I'll come over to your place tonight and we'll go through it. Put it all in one place. Maybe something will jump out at me or Lanie. Nothing wrong with taking a cold case home to work on it – as you've told me multiple times."

"The operative word being 'home'?" Esposito asked, a little sarcastically.

"Yes, Captain. Home. I'll even leave early so you and Lanie can 'talk'."

"Fine. I'll run it by Lanie when I talk to her in a few."

He stood and stretched.

"You're lucky you're my best friend, Lieutenant. I could probably write you up on insubordination, you know."

"You won't though," Ryan grinned then grew serious. "And I don't think you'd do that even if we weren't friends, because you know I'm right."

Esposito waved him off and left the office to head to the locker room to shower.

XXXXXX

Walking to the subway station, Rick decided to make a detour. It was out of his way, and would be more than a bit surreal, but once the idea struck him, he couldn't get it out of his head. He checked the subway schedule app on his phone to make sure he got the right train, then made his way to the Bronx.

He was going to visit Kate's grave.

XXXXXX

When he arrived at the cemetery, Rick began having second thoughts. Not only was it weird to visit the grave of someone he talked to 30 minutes ago, but maybe it was a little creepy? What was he doing here? Satisfying his own morbid curiosity? What, was he hoping to run into Jim Beckett? What the hell would he say to him?

"Hi, your wife and daughter are haunting my house. You wanna come by and say hi?"

He'd be in a rubber room before nightfall.

His waffling hadn't stopped him from dropping by the cemetery's office and asking where the graves were though, nor did it keep him from continuing when he got the directions. He still wanted – needed to see the graves.

To his surprise, when he arrived someone was there.

A woman – a few years older than he was – was standing in front of what turned out to be Kate's grave, talking.

"So, yeah, I'm worried about Javi, Kate. He's like you were with your mom's case. He just won't give it up. He didn't come home last night – again. I mean it's not like the case wasn't solved when he shot the sniper, but for some reason he's convinced there's more to it. And I don't know what I can do to change his mind. Kevin is helping a little, in trying to get Javi to at least leave on time, but he thinks there's something hinky about the case too."

The woman sighed.

"I saw your dad the other day. He's doing as well as can be expected. He is staying dry, but he doesn't want to. He told me he just wants to drown himself and the only reason he's not, is his promise to you. I also think he's hoping that Javi's on to something as well. That if you had to die, there was a reason other than a senseless rampa…"

She broke off when she saw Rick.

"Can I help you?"

Rick jumped; a bit embarrassed to be caught eavesdropping.

"I apologize," he said, holding out a hand that the woman didn't take. "I'm Richard Castle."

"The author?"

"On my better days."

"You know, normally I would tell you that I love your books. Normally, I would tell you that you have a real gift with the details of death. And I should know, I'm a medical examiner."

"That is so cool!"

"Is it? Because let me tell you what I'm seeing right now. I'm seeing someone who's a bit of a ghoul. Coming to a cemetery and listening in to a private conversation – for lack of a better term – with someone who's in mourning."

"That's not…"

"Really? Then start talking Writer Boy."

XXXXXX

The two went to a café after Rick paid his respects. In hindsight he should have brought flowers, but because this excursion hadn't been planned, he hadn't thought about it.

"So, Ms. Parish…" he began.

"Please, it's Lanie. Ms. Parish is my mother." She took a sip of her Oolong tea.

"Lanie."

Suddenly he was at a loss. How could he tell this woman what was going on?

His mother's earlier question came to mind.

Are you trying your hand at true crime?

In a sense, he supposed he was.

"While I don't have any real plans to change genres in my writing – murder mysteries are my bread and butter after all – I thought it would be interesting to look into a real case."

Lanie's defenses went up and her tea went down. She folded her arms and scowled.

"Let me stop you right there, Mr. Castle. No one in Kate's family – and I am including myself in that group – will ever consent to some sensationalist crap published for all the world to see."

She stood and picked up her coat.

"Lanie, Ms. Parish…"

"No, do not 'Ms. Parish' me, Mr. Castle." Lanie seethed. "How dare you do something like this without permission from the family?"

Rick was silent. While he did have permission to look into this, he couldn't exactly tell Lanie who gave it to him. She'd file a restraining order in nothing flat and have this Javi person deliver it to his door.

"I haven't published anything, Lanie."

The M.E. just glared at him.

"I've just done a little research – that I'd like to show you. I'd never publish without Mr. Beckett knowing, and I'd stop if he told me no. In fact, if he'd been at the cemetery, I would have backed off. I would never have approached him."

"What's this 'research' you've got?" Lanie asked, suspicion practically oozing out her pores.

Rick pulled his ever present notebook and pen from his pocket.

"I don't have it with me," he replied to a roll of Lanie's eyes and a muttered "Of course not."

"The visit to the cemetery was a spur of the moment thing," he explained. "I was on my way to do an errand a bit closer to home – in Brooklyn. I was thinking about it and just decided to come here."

He began writing.

"This is my address and phone number," he said, tearing the page out and handing it to her. "I live with my mother, Martha Rodgers, perhaps you've heard of her? Bring this Javi and Kevin you mentioned with you. I would never harm you, but coming to a strange man's house is…"

"Dumb?" Lanie's eyebrow raised in disdain.

Rick nodded.

"So, if you want protection, by all means bring some."

Lanie glanced at the writing on the paper.

"I suppose you want the police files of the case?"

"Well, I won't lie, that would be helpful, but I won't expect anything like that until you see what I have."

"No promises, Mr. Castle."

"Fair enough."

He stood and held out his hand. This time Lanie took it.

XXXXXX

When Rick returned from the office supply store a few hours later, he began to haul the package up the stairs. He understood why Kate wanted a wheeled board, but jeez this thing was heavy.

"Richard?"

Rick jumped, but fortunately didn't drop the board.

"Mother! Did you have a nice nap?"

"Well, I was, until you started crashing around. What on Earth are you dragging upstairs?"

"I'm sorry, Mother, I didn't mean to disturb you. This is Kate's whiteboard. She wanted one with wheels so I could move it after writing all the info we have on it. Kate doesn't want to risk wrecking my laptop."

"Oh, I see," Martha still seemed to be a little reticent about the ghosts.

"Mother, you don't have to ever talk to them again if you don't want to. I think Johanna would like to talk to someone closer to her age – or what age she was when she died. If she was alive, I think she'd be older than you are, but still you're close. Sorry, I know I'm rambling. She'll understand if you don't want to come back up, and Kate will too. But, please, don't say you've changed your mind about me helping them."

"No, that's not it at all, Richard. I'm still trying to get my head around the concept of 'ghosts'. I still want you to help – and now that I've met them it's not just because I want them out. I can't imagine being stuck in one place for what? Nineteen years in Johanna's case? I might well have broken more than just that one person's arm."

Rick chuckled. She must have read the file again.

"Well, I wouldn't doubt that at least at times she wished she'd done more too." He heaved the box up the next step. "I've got to get this into the hallway and set it up. I'll let you get back to your rest, if you're going back to it. I'm sorry I disturbed you."

"You're a good man, Richard Castle. I don't know how I managed it with everything."

"I had a good mother," he smiled and turned back to finish his job.

XXXXXX

Rick was a little wary as he dragged the package into the hallway. He knew he had to tell Kate about his meeting Lanie and what he had heard her say about Kate's father.

He'd deliberately not told his mother as he was wrangling the board up the stairs. He needed to tell Kate first. And Johanna too.

But what would Kate say about his going to her grave? Would she think it was weird like he had when he got there? Would she be angry like Lanie had been – thinking he would confront her father if he'd been there?

Hey Castle, you took longer than I thought you would. Did you have a hard time finding a store that carried wheeled boards?

Rick jumped through the roof, squealing like a 5 year old girl meeting her favorite princess at Disneyland.

Kate's laughter burst through his introspection – and rapid heartbeat.

"Geez, Kate! Between you and my mother screeching when I was going through the window, I'm going to have a heart attack!"

Kate grinned.

Just doing my job, Castle, she pointed out. Ghost and all that.

Rick glared at her. She just smiled unrepentantly.

So what took you so long? And what's got you so inside yourself now?

"I went somewhere before I went to Staples," he admitted slowly.

Where?

"To visit you."

XXXXXX

"You think he's on the up and up?"

"I don't know. He didn't seem to be lying or anything. But then, I'm not the cop. I can't read people quite the way you do."

Javier Esposito and Lanie Parish were having a late dinner after Lanie put the kids to bed. Javi was late – of course – but he'd promised he wouldn't spend another night at the precinct. He'd called Ryan and postponed his coming over to look at the case. Lanie wanted to talk.

"What did he say when you ripped a strip off his hide?" Javi asked.

"He was contrite," answered Lanie. "Swore up and down that he'd never publish without Jim's permission."

"And you believe him?"

"Well, like you said, I pretty much ripped him a new one. He's the son of Martha Rodgers…"

"The Broadway actress?"

"Yep."

"The apple doesn't necessarily fall far from the tree," Javi pointed out.

"And just because he's not an actor professionally doesn't mean he can't act, I know," Lanie nodded.

"But you want to meet him anyway."

"I'd like to see what he's got," Lanie eyed her husband. "For Jim's sake if nothing else."

"When?" Javi was all cop now.

"As soon as possible. When are you free? I'd like you to come with me."

"I agree it should be within the next couple of days." Javi thought for a moment. "Unfortunately, I have meetings the rest of this week and next at 1PP, so I won't be able to come that soon. Have you talked to Jenny recently? Anything upcoming with their kids?"

Lanie was confused at the apparent non-sequitur.

"Sarah Grace had a recital last week, but nothing coming up. Why?"

"Take Kevin with you. He'll have your back and he's just as invested in this as you and I are. I hate to sound like a cop, but if you can get a copy of everything he has, I'll read it and we can decide if he's a decent guy and give him the case files. Maybe he's got something we don't, and maybe we can pool resources. If not – well, like you said, we're protecting Jim."

"I'll call Mr. Castle in the morning," Lanie said. "Now we really need to talk about Jamal's grades."

XXXXXX

You visited me? What do you mean?

Rick winced, not sure exactly how to tell her, but she cottoned on, fading a bit as she realized where he'd been.

Can I ask you a stupid question?

"Of course."

Why? You'd just talked to me – you can talk to me – why would you go to my grave? Unless…

Rick steeled himself for her possible ire.

It didn't come.

Instead, her image brightened and she leaned toward him.

Did you run into anyone I might know? Did you see anyone else at the gravesite? Was it weird?

Rick smiled in relief and a little surprise at her excitement.

"I'm glad you're not angry with me for going, I didn't tell you I was, after all."

I figured you would eventually. I'm a little surprised you hadn't already.

"It was a spur of the moment thing. It wasn't planned. But to answer your questions – yes. To all three."

Kate's smile was everything Rick could ever want in a smile. He could live on that smile forever.

He mourned that if everything went according to plan, he would lose that smile.

Rather than dwell on something that hadn't happened yet – she was here now, he wanted to savor that, he told her who he met.

"Lanie Parish."

Lanie! Oh, my God, she's my best friend! Did you talk to her?

"I did. She wasn't too thrilled to meet me at first. I was kinda eavesdropping on her conversation with you."

You were? What was she saying?

"She was talking about some guy named Javi, and she mentioned a Kevin…" he broke off when he saw what looked to be ghostly tears shining on her cheeks.

"Are you all right?"

Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan. They were my team at the precinct. Did she…did she mention my dad?

"She did, but…"

Oh, God, if she mentioned him he's still alive! How is he? Is he still sober?"

"Kate," Rick tried to get a word in edgewise.

Hang on, let me see if Mom can manifest. She'll want to hear this.

"Kate!" Rick was trying not to laugh at her exuberance, but it was a close thing.

What?

"I kind of invited her over? Your partners too if they want to come? I told her about my researching what happened to you, and said I wanted her to see it. I didn't out and out say I was writing a true crime book, but it was inferred, and she took it as such."

That's why she wasn't happy about it.

"Wasn't happy is an understatement," Rick said with a wry smile. She was pissed off. If she'd had her scalpels, I'm sure I would have been eviscerated."

She told you she was a medical examiner?

"Yes, she did. After she called me a ghoul for eavesdropping on her."

Kate chuckled, then realized what he'd said.

She's coming over here?

"Well to be fair, she said no promises. But she was intrigued – and I think she wants to make sure I don't do anything to hurt your father. I told her I hadn't published anything – and wouldn't without his permission – I didn't mention I already had yours. I just thought you might want to hear about your dad from her."

Oh, I would. I can't tell you how much I would.

"So, until she calls and we set everything up for a visit, how about I get the whiteboard set up?"

XXXXXX

45 minutes later, Rick finally finished assembling the whiteboard. Kate had enjoyed watching him struggle, doing her best not to giggle at his fumbling – she was a ghost and a former cop – Katherine Beckett did not giggle. To her consternation, the play of his muscles along his back just added an arousing aspect to the show.

Kate didn't like that. She hadn't known she could still have those feelings – and was annoyed that she couldn't do anything about it. She didn't want to feel anything for Rick, no matter what her mother said. It was why she'd tossed Rick out of the hallway in the first place. She couldn't have it, and it hurt. It was like teasing a man dying of thirst with pictures of water.

Kate had told her mother that any pretend (because that's what it would be) relationship wasn't fair to Rick, but it also wasn't fair to her. She was dead. Nothing was going to bring her back to life.

And even if it was possible, what would she be? A zombie? Would the universe suddenly go back to 2009? Or 1999 if she could wrangle her mother's resurrection?

And would she want that? As much as she mourned her mother's death – and her own, she didn't think she would want a universal reset. Good – and bad – things had happened to her after 1999 that helped define who she was. And her obsession with her mother's death notwithstanding, she liked how she turned out. Not to mention, would she have ever met Castle? And if she had, at the time he'd been (and in many ways still was) a huge playboy. Combined with the age difference – would he even ever look at an older woman?

No, it was impossible. Not even worth thinking about.

Don't fall for him, Kate. Don't enjoy the view, either. It's all a reminder of what you can't have. What you can never have.

She was afraid it was already too late.

She suddenly disappeared from the hallway, leaving a confused Rick who had just turned to her in triumph at finishing setting up the whiteboard.

I'll be back, Castle. Her voice reverberated in his mind. I just need to get away for a bit.

"Was it something I did?" he asked aloud, worried she was angry about his going to the cemetery and meeting Lanie.

No, was the only answer he got.

XXXXXX

A/N2: So, what do you think? There's a possibility for some Lanie/Kate interactions in the next chapter, stay tuned!