Castle: Shattered, Castle/Beckett, Fic
Title: Shattered
Rating: T
Warning: spoilers for season 2.
Characters: Castle/Beckett, Alexis, Esposito, Ryan, Martha
Summary; While worrying over her reaction to the new cover art, a call from Esposito shatters his world, tilting it off it's axis.
Shattered
"'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away"
-Broken, Seether
"Come on, Dad. I mean, how long have you been working with her now? You can't seriously think she'll be that mad, can you?"
Alexis Castle was sitting in a wooden kitchen chair, her ankles crossed. The girl was facing her father and leaning forward in the chair, a curious expression settled on her face. It was somewhere between disbelief and bemusement at her father's antics. Her mouth twitched in amusement.
"You didn't see the cover art, Alexis." Richard Castle was sitting atop the kitchen counter with a bowl of Froot Loops and a spoon. He thought that the cover art for the new Nikki Heat novel was fantastic, but he hardly thought she'd see it the same way. He had no doubt that Detective Kate Beckett was going to kill him. Or worse. She might just make his life a living hell for the duration of the time that they'd be working together.
Though, if he got to 'be on her case', for lack of a better term, he wasn't sure that he'd mind the endless torture.
"Hiding it will only make it worse, Dad." Alexis warned him, astute as always. It seemed that his daughter was always attuned to what was on his mind. She paused and raised her eyebrows before saying, "What could possibly be that bad? It can't be that bad."
"Oh, oh yes it can." The writer placed down his bowl of cereal next to him on the kitchen counter. "Remember the last one?"
"The 'strategically placed' gun?"
Castle nodded.
"That bad, huh?" Alexis leaned her elbow on the table.
"That bad." There were only about two months left until the release of the second book in the Nikki Heat series that was the result of his following Detective Kate Beckett. His 'muse' as his publicist called her, hadn't taken too well to the cover of the first book in the series, and he doubted that the second, which was much to the tune of the first, would be taken any better in her eyes. "When I don't come home today, know that she killed me."
The first Nikki Heat book had remained on the bestseller list for far longer a time than he'd ever imagined. And while he'd never thought he'd be grateful to have taken this offer over a certain British spy, he'd made the correct choice.
It was only seconds later when Castle's phone rung and a grin took over his features. The writer raised his eyebrows comically at his daughter as he picked up the cell. "Guess who's about to get to go on a case." He answered the phone without a look towards the caller idea, something that he'd remember later on and wonder how he'd been so naïve about it all.
He would wonder how he didn't see it immediately; feel that there was something different and something wrong in the air, something about this phone call that wasn't right.
But he didn't. Richard Castle did not suppose anything out of the ordinary as he flipped open the cell and expected to hear the detective's voice on the other end of the line.
"Castle." He answered, winking at Alexis, who rolled her eyes.
"It's Esposito." Something in his voice stopped Castle cold. "Kate's missing."
And the world spun violently off its axis.