176. Chapter 176

After Tick, Tick, Tick Again

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Marlowe would really be ticked off if I claimed to own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above

"I'm usually not wrong when I profile someone." Jordan Shaw said.

Kate frowned. "You weren't wrong. You said that Ben Conrad wasn't the type to kill himself. He wasn't, he was murdered."

Shaw shook her head slowly. "Not Ben Conrad or our killer. I was talking about you and Castle. From what I'd heard about you two, and from briefly knowing you, I saw you as a couple. But, apparently, you're not."

"We're not a couple. Some people think we are, but we're not. He just shadows me and writes about it."

"Just?" Shaw said with a slight smile.

"Okay." Kate frowned. "They're best sellers and soon to be a movie."

"That's not what I meant. For instance, you have no problem with Castle sleeping in your apartment when there's a serial killer after you. But, you object to the possibility that he'll see you in the nude when your apartment gets blown up. Now if it was me, I'd have been out of that apartment like a shot. I wouldn't have cared if all of Manhattan saw me naked." Shaw laughed softly. "On the other hand, all of Manhattan would probably rather see me fully dressed rather than nude."

Kate looked at the ground. "Castle has been a gentleman with me. Oh, he occasionally makes some risqué remarks, but I went through a lot worse than that when I was the "hot rookie. As far as me complaining about him seeing me nude, I was upset and mad at myself and at our killer and…everything. I over reacted and took it out on Castle. The next time my apartment is blown up, I'll react better."

"I'll tell Castle that, Beckett." When she saw Kate's reaction, Shaw grinned. "Not really."

"Castle told you about…When he ran into my apartment?"

"Yes, I had him brief me about it. I wanted to know everything he'd seen, heard, smelled, felt or tasted, including what you said and did in detail. Which leads me to another interesting thing about Castle and you."

"What?" Kate was curious, in spite of herself.

"You seem to have no trouble criticizing Castle, but he doesn't seem to be able to say anything bad about you. He discounted the fact that he was standing in a burning apartment and he did his best to minimize your complaints about seeing you nude."

"He manages to criticize me." Kate said shortly.

"I'll take your word for it. But why are you so ready to criticize him? He is useful. Is he ever useful! He figured out the key to the code from the bandage. He was the one who figured out that Ben Conrad wasn't the killer. You didn't. I didn't. No one in the NYPD or the FBI did. A crime writer did."

"I told you he was surprisingly useful." Kate was beginning to hate this conversation. "Why is this so important? Does it help catch the killer?"

Shaw shrugged. "I don't know. Running into Castle has been like, oh, running into a new computer program. It looks useful and you try it a few times and it is useful. You manage to save a detective's life with it. But you don't really understand its strength and weaknesses."

"I'm perfectly willing to admit that Castle has been useful." She aid shortly.

"Well, Beckett, you admit it, but how perfectly willing you are, I'm not sure." Shaw looked at her notebook. "I've talked to some of the officers in your precinct. When I read the Cosmo article and the other things about Castle, I saw him as a celebrity writer occasionally tagging along with you and your team. Oh, certainly he'd share an insight with you, perhaps use his connections to do a favor for you. But what I found was guy with a protective vest that says "writer" who goes everywhere with you. And goes without a weapon. If I asked an agent of mine to go around unarmed…Well, you can imagine what kind of a reply I'd get. So why does he do it, Kate? Why?"

Kate had thought a lot about that, and still had no clear idea. So, she used Castle's explanation." He's here for the story."

"The story? Like for a newspaper article?"

"No." Kate shook her head. "He says that every killer has a story. And that the key to catching the killer is to know his story. Why he does what he does. One thing he does and does very well, is take all of the facts we develop and weave them into a coherent narrative. The story. And when we know the story, we know the killer."

Shaw wrote something in her notebook. "Finding the story. I'll have to remember that." She looked up at Kate's apartment. "Looks like the fire department is done. I'll go talk to the battalion chief and make sure." Shaw got up and headed for the burned out building.

She's right about so many things. I knew perfectly well that Castle was not going to come into my bedroom. Telling him that I slept with a gun was just an insult for the sake of insulting him. So were my complaints about the possibility of him seeing me nude. Why do I do that?

He's been on my team for a year now. And he is on my team, not just hanging around. He does like me. He even says I'm remarkable, which is ridiculous. I'm just a cop. I do push people away so that I won't get hurt again. I couldn't handle getting hurt like that. Is that why I do that to Castle? To push him away so he can't hurt me? Kate had another thought. I do like him, most of the time, although he can be a pain in the ass, but he can be sweet and nice and…Am I insulting him to see if he likes me enough to stay even if I'm nasty to him? I hope I'm not doing that. I'd hate to think I'm that kid of a person.

Oh, hell! I need to see what's left of my apartment.

Jordan Shaw walked over to where Castle was standing. "Mind if I ask you a few more questions, Mr. Castle?"

"Sure. I'm here to help." Castle smiled.

"Do you think that Beckett was jealous of your interest in me and my FBI toys?"

That was about the last thing Castle had expected to hear. "Um…Jealous? I really…No…I can't think of any reason…No. She wasn't."

"But you did say she said you shouldn't "build theory" with me without running it by her?"

"I think she just wanted to be kept in the loop." Castle said shakily.

"How do you feel about Beckett? Personally?" Shaw said quickly. "Tell me. Now."

"She's…remarkable."

"That's an interesting word to use. Remarkable."

Shaw turned away and walked to the burned out building. I'm going to have to keep an eye on these two. They should be interesting. And remarkable.