298. Chapter 298

AU After Deep in Death

Episode 2.01

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I'd be in deep doo-doo if I said I own Castle. Rating: M Time: See above

"He apologized to you? That's it?"

Kate kicked her legs while sitting on the autopsy table and tried to come up with a good reply to Lanie's question.

"Honey, he hurt you about as bad as I have ever seen you hurt. I mean you are not easy to read, but that man hurt you badly. Fess up. What happened?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe it's because he hurt me so badly."

"Do you have a fever or something, because you are making no sense at all? Do you even hear what you just said?"

Kate wished she had kept her mouth closed, but now she had to say something. "He hurt me so badly because…I was kind of getting to like him. I know, he's an immature, totally self-centered jackass at times. But he can be fun and …interesting. He is good at being a cop, or good at being whatever the hell he is when he's with me, and he does care for his daughter and his mother, which I never expected, because he comes across as a woman chasing playboy who can't think past his next super model, and he sits there and tells me how great sex with his ex-wife is, and did you see her? My God! I thought Castle was shallow, but Meredith…" Kate stopped and looked at Lanie. Her best friend was sitting there with a smirk on her face.

"So you like him."

Kate shook her head. "No! I mean he is interesting, but nothing could ever…" Lanie was still smirking. "Besides, I'm a cop. I do my job no matter who gets hurt, even if it's me."

Lanie nodded. "Like I said, you like him."

Kate hopped off the autopsy table. "I have work to do."

"Yeah. Castle should be coming in any time now."

Kate walked out without another word.

Castle very carefully put Kate's coffee and bear claw on her desk and stood back. Kate took the coffee without looking at him and took a sip. Castle decided he wasn't going to die at once and risked sitting down. There was no reaction from Beckett except for her taking a bite out of her bear claw and then a sip of coffee.

Castle sat there very quietly, wondering if she was ever going to say anything to him. He looked around, but Ryan and Esposito were gone and all the other detectives were studiously ignoring him.

Kate finished her coffee and bear claw. Without looking at Castle, she spoke. "Montgomery asked another precinct to review the evidence you found. He doesn't think anything will come of it. I agree." Kate stood up. "Do you have copies of the three autopsy reports and the report your doctor did?"

"Um, they're at the loft." Castle said, standing as well.

Without another word, Beckett headed for the elevator. After a second, Castle followed her. Beckett drove to his loft and stopped. "Get the files." She hadn't looked at him once the whole way. Castle nodded and went upstairs, coming back a few minutes later with the files. Beckett took them and read through them. Castle noticed she had a copy of her mother's file with her.

They drove to the three other crime scenes, and then to the place where Johanna Beckett had been killed.

"I don't see any connection between the crime scenes." Beckett said.

"Me either." Castle said, softly. So far, so good. We don't have a fifth murder scene yet. Yet? What am I thinking?

Beckett turned on her heel and walked out of the alley where her mother had died and her life had been changed irrevocably. Castle followed her.

"We'll see if we can contact the next of kin." Beckett still looked straight ahead. She hadn't looked at him the whole time.

The sister of Johanna's former law student was not help. "Johanna Beckett? Never heard of her. And I'm afraid all of my sister's papers are long gone. I mean why would I want to keep them? I'm not a lawyer."

The husband of the other attorney had remarried. It looked like his new wife did not like being reminded of the old wife. She sat in their living room with her husband and glared at Beckett and Castle.

"No, I'm sorry, Detective, I don't recall her ever mentioning a Johanna Beckett. She might have, but it's been ten years. She mentioned a lot of people, but I have no memory of that one."

"Did you keep any of her papers?" Castle asked.

"No." The wife answered. "We wanted to make a fresh start. Neither of us are lawyers. And I'm afraid you won't find any at her old law firm. They went out of business years ago. The one partner was found in bed with the other partner's wife. It was quite a scandal."

Beckett thanked them and left.

The next of kin of the dead documents clerk was an uncle in upstate New York. Beckett got him on the phone. He sounded drunk and was definitely no help. "Why the hell don't you cops catch criminals instead of harassing honest citizens?" He yelled before hanging up.

"One more place to look." Beckett said. "My place."

"Your place?" Castle was surprised.

"I still have some of mom's old records. Personal things. Maybe you'll see something I didn't."

When they got out of the car at her place, Beckett pushed Castle up against the car. She shoved her face into his and glared at him. "I am still angry with you. Hell, I'm furious. But I'm a cop and this is what I do. Do you understand?"

Castle didn't understand, but he nodded and followed Beckett into her building.

Beckett took a large box out of her closet and spread the contents out for Castle to look at. Castle saw nothing that would tell him anything. He noticed Beckett had taken out a folder with photos in it. Photos of Kate and her mother, mostly.

Without thinking, he said, "You were adorable." He braced himself for Beckett's response.

"These are the last photos of my mom ever taken. Just before Christmas."

Castle let her stare at the photos. But he noticed something. Kate was crying. He could see tears splashing onto Kate's hand as she held the pictures. The tears fell faster and he could hear her sob. He reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. To his surprise, she collapsed against him, putting her arms around him.

"Hold me, please, Castle. Just hold me." She said between sobs.

For the first time Rick Castle saw Kate Beckett not as the kick ass, tough, determined cop, but as the teenaged girl whose life had been nearly destroyed. He held her gently and stroked her hair with one hand and rubbed small circles in the small of her back as she sobbed against him. He tried, but was unable to think of anything to say to make her feel better.

"It's been so damned long, Castle. So damned long." She whispered.

"Ten years, I know. But we'll find something."

"That's not what I meant. It's been so long since someone held me and comforted me. Since someone was there for me. Thank you."

"Whatever you need, Kate. Just ask. Whatever. Anything at all."

She moved and he removed his hands from around her.

"No. Hold me, Castle. I just want to get comfortable." She pulled herself up on his lap and rested her head against his shoulder. He went back to stroking her hair and back as she sobbed.

They sat like that for a long time, but finally Kate stood up. She took his hand and led him into the bedroom. She began unbuttoning her blouse.

"Beckett?" Now Castle was really confused.

She tossed her blouse on the floor. "Castle, there are times when I wish you would go away and never come back. And there are times when I think we could really be friends. But right this second, I need you in my bed. Inside me." She took off her bra. "Are you going to get undressed?"

He started to undress. "Kate, whatever happens with us here, this is about more than sex. At least it is to me."

She sat on her bed and began taking off her boots. "Right now it's about sex, though."

She was undressed before he was, and sprawled back on her bed, watching him finish undressing.

"You are incredibly beautiful, you know."

She smiled. "And you're an expert, I think." She stretched sexily. "So what do you think? A six, maybe a seven?"

"On a scale of one to ten, you're infinity." He lay beside her on the bed.

"Enough talk, Castle."

He kissed her, finding her mouth open. He was excited and entranced by her taste, wanting to explore her mouth and tongue endlessly. He began stroking one breast and then the other, teasing her nipples into tiny erections. He broke the kiss and moved his mouth to her boobs, sucking gently on one, then the other. He sucked her nipples into his mouth, then blew on the wet nipples, causing her to shiver. She reached out and grasped his erection, moaning as she did so. She pulled him to her, but he resisted.

"Not yet." He said huskily.

He kissed his way down her torso, stopping to tease her navel with his tongue. He slid down her body and put his hands under the globes of her ass, lifting her up. He lightly ran his tongue over her slit once or twice, then pushed his head between her legs and pushed his tongue as far inside her as he could. Then he lifted his head and concentrated on her engorged clit, running his tongue over it and then nipping at it with his teeth.

Kate had been moaning, but now spoke. "When I said I wanted you inside of me, that's not the part I meant. Now, Castle. Now!"

"Just a bit more." He said, biting her clit ever so softly.

"No, now!" She grabbed his hair and pulled him up over her body. She grabbed him and inserted him into her. He slid all the way into her and began stroking very slowly.

Kate wrapped first her arms around him and then her legs, trying to pull him deeper and faster inside of her. He increased his stroke.

"Castle! It has been so fucking long. And I need this so badly. And you make me so fucking hot. So damned fucking hot!" Kate felt an unaccustomed warmth start between her legs, then spread to the rest of her body. "God! Yes, Castle. I'm almost there. I'm….Castle. Oh fuck! Castle." She tensed as the orgasm went through her body.

Kate's body sagged onto the bed. It was a bit before she realized that Castle was still inside her, still hard and still moving gently in and out of her. She wrapped her arms and legs around him again and ground her body against his until she felt him climax.

He rolled off of her and pulled her close. He kissed her and then began to stroke her cheek.

She surprised him with what she said. "Will you still shadow me?"

"Why would you ask that?" He was genuinely puzzled.

"Your book is almost done, and we have made love." She was looking at him curiously, as if she didn't quite understand the conversation.

"I meant what I said, Beckett. This, us, is about more than sex. At least it is for me."

"Me, too. But I still don't understand what I feel for you. Or rather, I feel different things about you. Sometimes I can't stand you and other times, I enjoy having you around more than anyone else I know. I don't quite know how this happened, but since it has, I'm happy it did."

"Well, now that we're lovers, let's work on being friends, and partners."

"Partners?"

"I meant everything I said, Kate. Everything."

Kate looked confused.

"While you were crying, I told you that whatever you need, you just have to ask. I meant that."

She nodded. "I hope you do mean that, Castle. If your friend is right, this is a professional killer we're after. Someone who's killed four people ten years ago. No telling how many he's killed by now."

"We'll get him, Kate."

"You and me, Castle."

Kate rested her head against his chest and drifted off to sleep as Castle watched over her.