I have a few things to say before this starts:

1) I've been toying with this idea for a while and this prompt gave me an excuse to polish it up on my drive and finish it.
2) This case is probably going to be bs, the main focus on this is Ryan now being a woman and all that fun stuff.
3) The witches part was inspired by Firestar385's The Spellbound Affair so I hope you don't think I'm ripping off your story! Hers is a million times better than mine and actually happens to be my favorite fic. (There's a little easter egg in here for her fic, lmk if you find it:) )
4) This fic is really just an excuse for me to write Kevin as a girl and all that fun stuff that comes with it. There will be laughs and smiles, but there will also be angst and whump and drama so prepare for a ride!

Beckett had to keep for rolling her eyes as Castle entered the apartment with her. He was jumping with excitement. You'd think after over ten years of investigating murders, he'd be able to control himself a little better.

But this time, it was a little different. Castle had gotten the text not because he was a private investigator who could lend his opinion, but as a friend who Ryan could fanboy with. About what, God only knew.

She walked in and saw Esposito talking to a uniformed officer. Beckett waited for Esposito finish his conversation before she said, "Thanks for the text."

"What text?" Esposito asked Beckett. He looked at her in confusion, she rarely showed up at crime scenes now that she was Captain.

"Castle, you're here! Come look!" Ryan's voice filled the room before Beckett could answer and Esposito sighed. Of course, why didn't he think of his partner…

Castle grinned and hurried over to where Ryan was standing in their vic's bedroom doorway. Once they were gone, Esposito turned to Beckett and said, "Captain, please excuse my partner."

Beckett just shook her head with a smile. "Just tell me what we have here so this trip isn't a complete waste."

"What, seeing me didn't brighten up your day?" Esposito teased before leading her to where Castle and Castle Jr. disappeared to. "Vic is a 24-year-old girl. Nellie Summers. Found dead on her bedroom floor this morning by the landlord. Repairman was knocking on her door for an hour and no answer."

Beckett pulled on her gloves as she took a look around the well-kept apartment. "Any sign of breaking in?"

Esposito shook his head. "That's the thing. There's no sign at all of anyone forcing themselves inside."

"So she knew her killer," Beckett guessed.

"If there was a killer."

Beckett stopped walked and stared dumbly at Esposito. "What are you talking about?"

"There's no GSW or stab wound or noticeable head trauma. Nothing. Lanie has no clue what killed her."

"Okay, maybe it was natural causes or maybe something below the skin," Beckett said reasonably.

Esposito nodded quickly. "Believe me, Captain, I know it's something explainable. But my partner that follows your husband around like a lost puppy? He had other ideas because of the bedroom...decor and all."

Beckett's eyebrows furrowed. "Decor?"

Esposito sighed. "Just follow me." He led Beckett into the vic's bedroom where Lanie was kneeling over the body. But Beckett's attention was dragged to the small table by the bed where the vic had an interesting setup.

Castle noticed the two had joined them and he said to his wife, "After this, I think Ryan deserves a raise. He solved this case all in no more than five minutes." Ryan smiled proudly at the writer as he clapped him on the back.

"Oh, not this again," Esposito mumbled.

Beckett narrowed her eyes between her three boys and said, "Okay, what's going on?"

"Ryan, and it seems now writer-boy, think Summers killed herself." Esposito crossed his arms over his chest.

Beckett looked over at the body, not knowing what was so odd about that. "And?"

"I wasn't finished. They think she killed herself with witchcraft." Esposito finished, looking embarrassed on behalf of his partner.

There it was. Beckett rolled her eyes and turned to her two most imaginative boys. "So, witchcraft?"

Castle nudged Ryan's arm. "Tell her, Kev."

Kevin nodded and with a smile, he explained, "There are no signs of any outsiders involved in this. Her windows and doors were locked. No one was seen entering her apartment all night. And her body shows no signs of a typical murder. So the only other solution is that she killed herself, but she did not commit suicide."

Beckett raised her eyebrows. "You lost me."

"Our vic was a witch. She was in the middle of a spell when she killed herself.

Esposito just shook his head. "I know, that doesn't help explain it either."

"What's hard to understand?" Castle asked. "She was messing around with a spell and it went wrong. Instead of killing her intended target, it killed her."

"We haven't figured out how yet, but we will figure that part out," Ryan added quickly.

"And while those two play Scooby-Doo, I'll be the one actually solving the murder." Esposito rolled his eyes. "I already found a card with a woman's name and number. I'll give her a call." He handed the card to Beckett.

"Callie Barnes," Beckett read out loud as Castle read over her shoulder.

"Looks witchy to me," he said.

Beckett handed the card back to Esposito. "Check her out."

Castle, Esposito, and Ryan walked into Callie Barnes' apartment after she opened the door. Esposito ignored everything around them, but Ryan and Castle stared openly at her apartment. It looked like an honest to God, witch's lair.

"What can I help you with, detectives?" She asked, leading them to her living room. "Sit." She gestured to the couch. The boys sat side by side on the small loveseat while she sat across from them in an armchair.

Ryan and Castle finally stopped staring around to focus on the woman.

"Can I get you anything to drink? I have some freshly made lemonade in the kitchen," she offered.

Ryan shook his head. "No thanks, ma'am. We just had a few questions for you about a woman named Nellie Summers."

Callie furrowed her brow. "I can't say I know whom you're talking about, I'm afraid."

Esposito pulled out a picture they had of their vic and handed it to her. "She was found in her apartment this morning."

Callie raised her eyebrows, a moment of recognition passed through her eyes. "Oh, what happened?"

"We don't know yet-."

"Do you know if she was involved in extracurricular activities?" castle asked, causing Esposito to roll his eyes.

"Like what?" She responded calmly

Castle stared right back at her and didn't say a word. Ryan spoke up next to him, "The usual, cooking, bowling, golf...witchcraft."

Esposito groaned and was embarrassed to be sitting on the same couch as those two. Before Esposito could apologize for their toddler-like behavior, Callie was laughing out loud. "Her? Puh-lease." She waved her hand. "She wouldn't know witchcraft if it hit her upside the head."

Esposito turned to Castle and Ryan. "See? I told you-."

"Though she claims to know what she's doing."

Castle grinned. "So she does do all that witchy stuff."

Callie shrugged her shoulders. "She tries. But she could never keep up."

"So why did she have your contact card?" Esposito questioned.

"I'm one of the best in the community in the five boroughs. They all come to me for help."

"Other witches?" Ryan asked.

"Obviously," she said with a snort.

Ryan turned to his partner with a proud grin. Then he turned back to Callie. "Do you know of anyone that may have wanted to sabotage one of her spells?"

"Sabotage?"

"Could a spell performed by her kill her? Maybe without her knowing the consequences?" Ryan asked, leaning forward, looking too excited to be discussing a murder.

"With someone as careless as her? Entirely possible."

Esposito put a hand on Ryan's arm and pulled him back. "But you still didn't answer his question. Do you know of anybody that would want to hurt her."

"Of course not, I barely know the girl." Callie rolled her eyes. "Will that be all?"

Esposito eyed her for a moment before standing up. Ryan and Castle followed behind him. "We'll be in touch if something comes up. Don't think about going anywhere."

"The guilty run."

"So I guess we won't have a problem then." Esposito waited a moment before walking toward the door. A second later, there was a small crash behind him. He turned around to see Callie grabbing onto Ryan's waist as if she just fell.

Esposito readied to take her down, but she quickly straightened up and chuckled. "I apologize. I am so clumsy sometimes."

Esposito looked over to Ryan and they had a silent conversation. Once he knew Ryan was okay and Callie hadn't tripped on purpose to hurt him, he jerked his head towards the door. "C'mon, Ryan."

Callie watched the two with interest as Esposito waited for Ryan to stand in front of him. "I'm happy I could help, detectives. Good luck with everything."

Esposito didn't like how she said that, but he wanted to get the hell out of there so he pushed Ryan forward with a hand to the small of his back. Ryan looked at Esposito in confusion before he nodded goodbye to Callie. Castle made sure he said goodbye as well because there was no way he was pissing off a with.

The moment they were out f the apartment, Esposito turned to Ryan. "What was that about?" His eyes trailed over Ryn to find something wrong.

Ryan rolled his eyes and started walking so Esposito couldn't stare at him. "I'm fine. She just tripped and I caught her."

Esposito huffed and followed behind him. Castle was grinning right next to them "Okay, but, we just met a witch! I can't wait to tell Beckett, 'I told you so'."

"A witch? Are you serious?" Beckett asked as they stood in front of the murder board.

"Hey, Ryan and I called it from the first minute," Castle boasted jokingly.

Speaking of Ryan, Esposito looked over to his partner. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet ever since they left Barnes' apartment He also looked much paler than usual. He was no longer happy about finding a "real witch". He actually looked pained...or constipated.

Beckett continued to talk to Castle about all the things they figured out while the boys were interviewing Barnes, but Esposito didn't hear because he was too focused on his partner. Esposito watched Ryan bring a hand to his stomach and Esposito was about to ask him if he was okay, but Ryan stood up from the desk he was leaning on. "Excuse me," he said, before rushing towards the back of the precinct where the restrooms were.

Esposito's eyes followed him as he disappeared. Neither Castle nor Beckett seemed to notice. Castle continued to talk about witches and Beckett continued to tell him to shut up.

Esposito wasn't about to go chasing his partner into the bathroom, maybe he just had to go. Maybe he went to that shady place on the corner of 54th that Esposito told him not to go back to the last time he got food poisoning.

He was arguing with himself for a few moments until Beckett got his attention. "Espo, are you even listening to us?"

Esposito shook his head. "What? Oh, um, I'll be right back." He turned to go follow Ryan, but then Ryan was making his way back to the desk, looking a little better.

He made his way back to the group slowly. "Sorry," he apologized. "Where are we?"

Good thing Castle was paying attention because there was no way Esposito knew what had happened. "Beckett says we can't go back to Callie."

Ryan furrowed his brow and turned to their captain. "What? Why not?"

Castle rolled his eyes. "She's not really a witch, she's just crazy and we can't get caught up in whatever she's doing, blah, blah-."

"I don't want you two chasing around a witch instead of solving this case." Beckett looked sternly between Castle and Ryan.

Ryan actually pouted. "Beckett, but-."

"Am I clear, Detective?" Beckett rarely pulled the "Captain" card, but when she did it was serious.

Ryan didn't take it too personally. "Yeah, crystal."

"Good. I've got to get to meeting at 1PP, so I'm leaving you three to finish the case." She turned to Esposito. "Keep an eye on them," she said before walking into her office.

An hour later, the boys were sitting at their desks snaking on a bag of chips. All they had from Lanie was that she couldn't find anything wrong with the body except that her heart just seemed to stop.

"So when Beckett was talking to us before, you both heard her tell us to go back to Callie's apartment and spy on her, right?" Castle said, popping a chip into his mouth.

Esposito rolled his eyes. "We can't spy on her, Castle. But there was something sketchy about her I didn't like. I think she's definitely more involved than she's letting on." He turned around to Ryan. "What do you think, partner?"

Ryan wasn't paying attention again. He was back to looking pale and clammy in his chair. Esposito was really starting to get worried. Maybe he was coming down with something. "Kev, you okay?" Esposito put a hand on Ryan's leg.

Ryan jerked up and nodded his head quickly. "Yeah, sorry. I'm fine."

"Ryan, don't you lie-."

The ringing of Ryan's phone cut Esposito off and he quickly picked it up. "Ryan. Uh-huh...really...okay, thanks."

Esposito sighed, he didn't want Ryan to get off the hook so easily. "Ryan-."

"That was CSU. They got fingerprints back on Summer's witchy things. Besides for Summers, guess who else's?"

Castle grinned and sat up straighter. "Callie Barnes?" Ryan nodded. "Great! Then that gives us a reason to go see Callie!"

Esposito eyed Ryan carefully and then turned to Castle. "I don't know, man. Beckett wanted us to stay away and she's not back from her meeting yet." He was only trying to keep them in the precinct because he didn't really think Ryan could handle the moving around and commotion when he looked so pale and sick.

"I know you want to arrest her just as much as I want to take down a witch, Espo." Castle didn't seem to notice his partner's odd behavior.

Ryan seemed to know why Esposito was hesitating and sat up straighter. "C'mon, Espo, we need to solve the case. Barnes probably has the answers we need." He didn't wait for Esposito to shoot him down before Ryan stood up from his desk. His knuckles were white as he held onto the desk.

"Ryan,-."

"I'm fine," Ryan said in a clipped voice. He didn't wait before he was leading them to the elevator. Castle followed him with a smile and Esposito grudgingly followed the two. If Beckett didn't those two when they got back, Esposito surely would.

It didn't take more than fifteen minutes for them to reach Callie's apartment. The entire time, Esposito kept a close eye on Ryan using the rearview mirror. Ryan was pouting in the back because Castle called shotgun.

"So her prints were all of Summers' witchy stuff. I mean, how much juicier can this get." He paused. "Although, I'm not too excited to be pissing off a witch that can turn me into a frog."

"Or maybe she'll turn half of you into a frog. That would stink." Esposito chuckled as he pulled up in front of Callie's place.

Castle gasped and his hands flew to his crotch. "As long as it's not my bottom have because I doubt frogs have their manly goods."

"They don't," Ryan confirmed.

Esposito's eyes flickered to the back seat because why the hell did Ryan just know that? Honestly, some of the things he said really, really alarmed Esposito.

"Oh, God, I'd be scaly, and slimy, and have no penis!" Castle was wailing on with his melodramatics.

Esposito rolled his eyes, told him to shut up and started to get out of the car. He waited for Ryan to leave the car and kept an eye on him. He didn't look too pale, but he was moving sluggishly. Hopefully, this would be a 1-2-3 thing and they'd be back in the precinct before Beckett new they were gone.

Castle was complaining about something that Esposito chose to ignore as they went up to her door. He should have left the writer home. Esposito knocked on her door and waited a few seconds before knocking again. Thankfully, this time she opened the door and didn't look a bit surprised to see them.

"Oh, hello, boys. How are you?" She made no move to let them back in her apartment.

"We need to speak with you. We can do it here or we can bring you to the precinct. Your choice." Esposito raised his eyebrows.

She smiled in a way that made Esposito's stomach churn and stepped to the side. "Of course, come in."

As they stepped through her doorway, Esposito didn't like the way her eyes focused and followed Ryan. He cleared his throat, eager to get the attention away from his partner. "If you didn't know our vic, then why were your fingerprints all over her stuff?"

"She came to me for help, doesn't mean I know the girl." She huffed impatiently.

"Well, excuse us for not believing you," Esposito sneered.

Callie raised hands, looking undisturbed. "Really, I am being honest. She needed help with a spell, I gave her what she needed and then we were done."

"What spell?" Castle asked.

"Wouldn't tell me. But from what she was asking for, it was something more advanced. Something she wasn't ready for. And judging from her now being dead, I was right." Callie shook her head. "Spellwork takes skill and patience and energy. It's not just some joke."

"You just let her do this when you knew it would hurt her?" Ryan finally spoke up and Callie grinned as she turned to face him. She completely ignored his question.

"Tell me, Detective, how have you been feeling today?" Callie crooned. Now that Esposito really looked, he could tell his partner looked worse than he did in the car.

"Bite me," Ryan growled with narrowed eyes.

Callie just ignored him again and said, "Upset stomach, pounding headaches, drowsiness."

Ryan fidgeted and rolled his jaw. Esposito could clearly see that Callie had hit his symptoms on the head. "I'm just fine."

"No, you're not. You're not fooling a soul here, my dear."

Esposito raised his gun. "What did you do to him?"

Callie barely blinked at the weapon aimed at her and she replied to Ryan, "Check your pocket."

Hesitantly, Ryan slipped a hand into his pocket and a second later, he pulled out a small cloth bag. He held it in his hand like it was more fragile than glass and inspected the strange markings on the bag.

Ryan was silent so Esposito spoke up for him. His voice was harsh, "What is that?"

"I've told you. He knows," she replied smugly.

Castle shouted over to Ryan, "Drop it!"

Callie laughed as Ryan turned his wide eyes to her. "You can drop it, sweetie, but that won't do you any good. He's already started the spell by holding that with him. Now it's my turn." She closed her eyes and started chanting in Latin.

Immediately, Ryan fell to his knees with a gasp of pain. His head was bowed and he curled in on himself. The more Callie chanted, the worse Ryan got. Esposito lowered his arms and was by Ryan's side in no more than a second.

He grabbed Ryan's shoulders to try and pull him into an upright position, but he refused to budge. "Come on, just look at me, man." Ryan just hissed in pain.

"That's not gonna work, you gotta take out the source," Castle said to Esposito. Behind them, Callie continued to chant on. She was speaking fast and loud now. Ryan was shaking uncontrollably in Esposito's arms.

Castle made the quick decision to charge at Callie and tackle her to the ground. They hit the floor with a thud. She finally stopped speaking and Castle snapped his head over to the boys. Ryan no longer looked in immense pain. He was on all fours, shaking slightly as he attempted to push himself up again.

"I stopped her!" He shouted over to them but didn't pick himself up from her.

A low chuckle brought Castle's attention to Callie. She was lying limp underneath him close to unconsciousness. A slow trickle of blood was leaving her nose. "You didn't stop me. I finished the spell."

Castle scoffed. "Looks like you finished yourself too."

"Everyone needs a legacy," she said with a soft cough.

Castle didn't feel the need to stay over her because she wasn't getting anywhere in her shape. He got to his feet and hurried over to the boys' sides. He watched Esposito speak softly to Ryan, but couldn't hear what he was saying. "She's down over there," Castle said. "You're gonna need to cuff her, but I don't think she's going anywhere."

It took Esposito an extra second to rip his attention off of his partner. "What happened to her?"

Castle kneeled low by Ryan and held onto to his arm to help keep his balance. "Too strong of a spell she's working. She used just about all her stamina."

Esposito huffed and Castle narrowed his eyes. "You can't honestly still tell me witches aren't real. After you saw this."

Esposito made sure Ryan was stable with Castle before he began to stand up. "I don't know what the hell is going on right now, Castle. But I do know that her ass is being thrown in jail and Ryan is going to Lanie for a check-up."

"I'm fine-," Ryan started to say but then cut himself off when he shoved Castle off him and threw up by Esposito's feet. There wasn't much for him to spit up, but then that just left him dry heaving until he fell to his side.

"Oh, yeah, you're fine, Ryan." Esposito was not happy.

Castle grabbed Ryan's arm and lifted him carefully. Once he was away from the vomit and Castle had a hold on the slightly shaking Irishman, he said, "You're not winning this battle, Ry," Castle said. "Espo will probably drag you down to the morgue by your ear."

"Beckett will know then. I'm fine," Ryan repeated, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I don't give a shit if Beckett finds out. She's going to know anyway now that we're bringing in Callie." Esposito turned to Castle and said, "Sit with him while I get the bitch."

"I'm not a child." Ryan huffed.

"Well, then stop acting like one. You're going to Lanie whether you like it or not." Esposito stood up and his words were final.

Castle rubbed Ryan's back in sympathy because of his over protective partner. "We'll get to the car."

Esposito nodded and went over to where Callie was still lying on the ground, moments from passing out. Unlike with Ryan, he roughly pulled her up to her feet. "C'mon, you've got a cell with your name on it waiting for you."

"What do I owe you boys the pleasure of visiting me?" Lanie asked as she watched the three slowly make their way into the morgue. But, when she saw Ryan being supported by the other two, her mood grew serious. She rushed over to them and asked, "What happened?"

Esposito scoffed. "You wouldn't believe us if we told you."

Lanie just brushed his answer off and said, "Bring him to my table. You're lucky I don't have a body right now."

Castle and Espo followed her over and helped Ryan up on the examining table. He wobbled slightly as Castle and Esposito let go of him. Esposito's hands shot back to steady him, but Ryan shoved him away. "I'm fine, just a little tired."

Esposito caught Lanie's eyes and gave her a look. "Don't listen to this stubborn idiot."

Lanie pushed Esposito and Castle away from the table. "Give me some space." She turned back to Ryan and looked him over. He looked pale and clammy. She gingerly brushed her hand over his cheek. She could feel the thin covering of sweat over his skin. "What happened?"

Ryan and Castle both answered with, "Witch."

Lanie paused and raised her eyebrows. "Okay," she said hesitantly, "Now, you two have that same active imagination, but what about you?" She turned back to Javier.

For a moment, he didn't speak as he tried to wrap his mind around what happened. He knew what he had seen, but how was that even possible. In the end, he settled for only knowing what happened, not how. "A witch."

Lanie laughed when Esposito spoke. "You three almost got me good. Especially you, Ryan, I don't know how you got yourself to look this sick, but it's completely believable. You had me until Javier Esposito said it was a witch." Her laughter died down when the other three weren't speaking. "It is a joke, right?"

"She said some sort of spell. It hurt." Ryan sagged his shoulders and Lanie's attention was brought back to him.

She didn't care what hurt him, no matter how unrealistic, Ryan was hurt and he needed her help. "Where does it hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore. Just kinda...sore," Ryan admitted.

Ryan, just like all of them, was never quick to say he was in pain, so to hear him even mention being sore, Lanie knew it was serious. "Where are you sore?"

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. "All of my muscles. I just feel tired, like I could sleep for years."

"Can you just take off your shirt? I'm going to give you a check-up." Lanie didn't use her bag of medical instruments for the living often, but she always kept it close by just in case a time like this ever happened.

She placed in next to Ryan as he pulled off his button down shirt. She let him keep on his white t-shirt. She checked all of his vitals and didn't see anything out of the norm. "I don't see anything too alarming. Your temperature is a little high, but hopefully, the fever will break. Just keep an eye on that. But you may want to go to an actual doctor to make sure."

"I'll be fine, I just need to rest up. I'll just tell Beckett I'm feeling sick and hopefully, she'll let me go home."

"Wait a minute, Beckett doesn't know what's going on?" Lanie scoffed. "You boys are unbelievable. Especially, you Castle. How could you hide this from your wife?"

"We're not hiding it from her...we just weren't supposed to go see the girl," Castle admitted. "We'd rather not get in trouble."

"You're crazy if you think you're going to get away with this." Lanie turned back to Ryan to check on him.

"Oh, come on, Beckett will never find out."

"Beckett will never find out what? That you three went behind my back to go get a suspect when I told you not to?"

Castle jumped and hid behind Esposito. "Hey, honey, we were just visiting Lanie."

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Save it, dear. I saw LT and he told me you had him put Callie in holding."

Esposito cursed under his breath. "Damnit."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Now, would you lie to tell me what happened?"

Castle knew they weren't getting out of this one, unless...they could pull the sympathy card. Ryan was the baby in the group even if he was thirty-four years old. "Beckett, we just needed Ryan to get checked out."

Beckett's arms dropped and her eyes widened. "Ryan? What's wrong with Ryan?" She walked around Castle over to Lanie at the table with Ryan still sitting there.

Ryan knew exactly what card they were trying to pull and put on his 'pain' face. Beckett put a hand on his arm. "What happened?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out myself," Lanie mumbled.

"It was Callie with her witchy powers," Castle said. "She started mumbling all of this Latin and then Ryan was on the ground."

Beckett just shook her head. "Castle, I really don't have time for your stories right now. Not only did you go after a suspect after I told you not to, but one of my detectives got hurt because of it."

"He was going to get hurt anyway. She had a hex bag in his pocket. She was just finishing the job."

"Castle," Beckett said with an edge of warning in her tone.

Castle stared at Ryan and Ryan quickly made an attempt to catch Beckett's attention. He coughed weakly. Castle smiled at him when Beckett stopped giving him the look.

"That's it, you're going home."

Ryan shook his head. "Just let me stay until the end of shift. I want to be here when she gets hauled away."

Beckett sighed. "Ryan, I would really feel more comfortable if you went home…"

Ryan looked up at her with his big eyes and asked again, "Please, Beckett. I'll be fine and the moment I need to, I will go home. I promise."

"Fine, but you're not going inside. You're watching with Castle as Espo and I crack her." Beckett was leaving no room to argue.

"Ms. Barnes, it's nice to see you again," Beckett said, taking a seat from across Callie.

Callie was slumped in her seat and she looked as fatigued as Ryan did. "I don't have much time left, so let's cut to the chase, huh?"

Beckett raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Callie scoffed. "Please, you can't really be that dumb." She waved her hand at Esposito. "I'm sure, he's told you what happened with your partners."

"I heard, but I can honestly tell you I don't believe a word of it."

"Neither did he," Callie challenged. "Now ask him. I'm sure he believes."

"I believe you're a bitch," Esposito growled.

Callie rolled her eyes. "You'll be thanking me tomorrow. Just you wait."

Esposito leaned forward. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Callie rolled her eyes. "It's not that difficult to understand. You, humans, do the same thing. You invent things, cure diseases, all for what? You want to be remembered."

Beckett and Esposito stayed quiet as Callie continued on.

"Witches want the same thing. We want to be recognized for our work. And I've been working with my spell for a few years now. I had to get it perfect."

"What spell?" Esposito urged her to answer him. He needed to know exactly what was wrong with his partner.

Calli ignored him. "A few months ago, I went to the doctor. Turns out I have cancer and he gave me no more than six months. I'm almost out of time. But I needed to leave my mark in the witchcraft world."

"This is where I find you hard to believe. You're a witch with all these powers, but you can't cure cancer?"

Callie narrowed her eyes. "We're not gods."

"Maybe if you weren't such a hag, I'd feel bad," Esposito said. "Now, tell me, what did you do to Kevin?"

Callie grinned. "Kevin? Oh, your partner will be fine. In fact, he'll be more than fine." Beckett grabbed Esposito's arm before he could flip out on her. "What I can tell you is that I didn't kill Summers. Your two little Sherlocks figured that one out already. She did it herself with a little faulty spellwork. Amature work, really."

"Why would you tell us?" Beckett asked. "And how do you know?"

"I've been doing this for a while, sweetie. I've seen it before with someone like her. It didn't come as a surprise." She shrugged her shoulders. "What I left for my kind took a lot out of me, so I know I'm not lasting much longer. And letting myself go down as the murderer of another witch will not do me well."

Beckett and Esposito stared at her. "You're not going to tell us, are you?"

Callie smiled as she let her eye drift close. "You'll find out soon enough."

"You're sleeping in my bed."

Ryan laughed. "Javier Esposito, if iI didn't know any better, I'd say you were flirting with me."

Esposito rolled his eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. I just want you to sleep somewhere comfortable." He watched as Ryan walked into his living room with his eyes already drooping. "But, it looks like you'd fall asleep on my wood floor right now if I let you."

At that, Ryan tried to make it look as if he wasn't exhausted, but it wasn't working well. "I'm fine. I'll be back to myself after a good night of rest."

"Oh, so tomorrow you'll be highly annoying and unbearable?" Esposito laughed at Ryan as he stuck out his tongue. "I'm kidding, just go throw on comfortable clothes and go to bed before you drop dead."

Ryan didn't even argue and walked slowly towards Esposito's bedroom. Esposito followed slowly behind him to make sure he got to his room without falling over. "Do you always have to be so irritating."

"What?" Esposito feigned innocence.

Ryan just ignored him and walked into Esposito's room. He stopped and turned around to face his partner with a grin. "I'm going to get changed in private. Unless you want to see that too." He shut the door on Esposito.

"Just don't fall over and crack your skull open," Esposito said to the now shut door.

Ryan's voice came back muffled "No promises." Esposito rolled his eyes and left Ryan alone while he did what he needed to do in the bathroom. By the time, he finished, Ryan would be done with his changing and then he could get a turn in the bathroom.

A few minutes later, Esposito took his time so Ryan would have the chance to get ready. He stepped out and walked back to his bedroom door. He knocked twice and said, "Ryan, you done yet?" There was no answer and he started to get worried. No matter how much he insisted he was fine, Esposito couldn't get the image of what happened earlier that day out of his mind. Something horrible could happen to Ryan at any moment. Esposito had to keep his eye on him. A little more frantically, Esposito knocked on the door harder. "Ryan, you okay?" Ryan didn't answer so Esposito yelled, maybe a little too loudly, "You better be decent because I'm coming in."

He shoved open his door and his eyes immediately went to the floor where he Esposito feared Ryan fell. But his floor was clean, besides for Ryan's suit he had left thrown on the floor by the foot of the bed. Which just showed how exhausted his partner truly was because he would never throw his suit on the floor.

His eyes traveled to his bed next and Esposito was relieved to see Ryan lying in bed. And it wasn't a position he could have passed out in, but he was curled on his side around Esposito's pillow. Esposito took a moment to calm his breathing before he walked to Ryan's side.

He looked at him for a few long seconds just to make sure his chest was rising and falling at a normal rate. "Christ, Kevin, you scared the shit out of me," he said even though he knew he wouldn't be heard.

Esposito sighed heavily and pulled his blankets out from underneath Ryan so he could cover him. If anyone could see him now, tucking in his 34-year-old partner, he would bury himself in a hole of embarrassment and never come out.

But snuggled under the blankets, wearing his a little too big sweats and t-shirt, Ryan looked kind of cute.

Wait, what?

Esposito dropped the blanket in his hand so it settled on Ryan and he took a huge step back. There was no way he just called his partner cute. That was not happening. Not because he didn't think it, but because he couldn't. He wasn't about to ruin their partnership because Esposito failed to keep his girly emotions in check.

Esposito sighed once more before grabbing a change of clothes. He looked back at Ryan to make sure he was really sleeping before he pulled off clothes. He tried to keep him off his mind as he got ready for the night, but Kevin refused to leave him alone.

Before he left the room, he used the back of his hand to brush across Ryan's forehead and check his temperature. He still felt hot under his touch, but Esposito hoped he got better in the morning. With one last glance at Ryan, Esposito shut the light off and left the room. He'd have no problem with sleeping on the couch. As long as Ryan was comfortable.

Thank you for reading! I hope yu enjoy my fic and let me know what you think.

Until next time,