AUTHOR'S NOTE: I expect that this story will run somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-30 chapters. The first 14 have been completed. Some of the early chapters are fairly short. I'll post a chapter every day or two. This story is the third in my NCIS series, where Kate is still alive & has rejoined her team, following the Long Lie and Convergence. The story is mainly a crossover story between NCIS & Castle. There are some minor appearances from the folks at Bones, and the folks at Burn Notice, and a short (one sentence) shout-out to 24. Mostly a Case Fic, though there is plenty of character development in there as well. I'd like to thank my friend & roommate JMAC for his ideas, & for being a sounding board for me on this story. Any mistakes found within are mine & mine alone. As always with one of my stories, comments and criticisms are appreciated equally. I hope you enjoy, G

JOHANNA'S STORY

CHAPTER ONE – A Body in the Sewer

Kate Beckett was enjoying her first quiet day off in more than three weeks. She was in the tub, a hot bubble bath, her long legs stretched out as far as she could manage, her head tilted back against the edge, eyes closed, a Chopin piano concerto playing softly in the background, her shoulder length auburn hair pinned up, and a glass of pinot noir on the stool nearby. Next to the wine was a hardcover book. She'd decided to re-read some of Castle's earlier works, in this case Storm Season, applying her new insight, gained from their recent partnership, to see if she might notice things she'd missed in earlier reads.

The man had a way of making her absolutely crazy, and yet making her feel totally safe and warm at the same time. He'd been working with her team for over a year now, and she still couldn't figure out how he managed that particular trick. Hell, she could barely figure him out at all. Not what made him tick, not what he was thinking most of the time, not why he was still sticking around. He was halfway through with Summer Heat, the second Nikki Heat novel. He surely didn't really need to follow her around for more inspiration on the character. He had to have a handle on Nikki Heat by now.

On the other hand, she had a few suspicions about why he might be hanging around. He made no secret of the fact that he found her attractive. Extraordinary, the small voice in the back of her mind supplied. In his dedication for Heat Wave he called you extraordinary. No man had ever used that word to describe her before. Pretty, beautiful, smart, gorgeous, tough, sure, she'd heard all of those before, but never extraordinary.

Most of the time she was able to resist his charms, but there were moments that she was close, extremely close sometimes, to giving in to the feelings he'd awoken in her. She'd pretty much buried her heart after Will had left for Boston. In the ten years since her mother's death, she'd ever only given her heart to him, and then he'd left. Since then, the only man who'd come close was Castle.

She shook her head to clear her mind. She'd had enough of thinking about this, about him. She reached for the pinot and took a good-sized sip. Setting the glass back down, she started to reach for Storm Season when her cell started ringing in the other room.

"Damn!" she said, under her breath. She took a deep breath, letting it ring once again, before levering herself up, stepping out of the tub and wrapping herself in a large towel. She padded, on damp, bare feet into the next room and scooped up the annoying phone, flipping it open. "Beckett," she said.

"Hey Boss," Esposito said. "We caught a body."

"Why isn't Reynolds' team handling it?" Kate asked. "They've got the duty today."

"They already got two others today," Esposito said. "Captain said we should take this one. He said it has your name all over it anyway."

"Alright," she said. "Where?"

"Corner of fifty-third and Market, there's a sewer grate. Body is in the sewer underneath."

"The sewer?"

"Yup," Esposito confirmed. "DPW crew found it about half an hour ago. Ryan and I are leaving now. Lanie's already on her way. You want me to call Castle?"

"No," Kate said, dropping the towel to the floor and walking toward her bedroom. "I'll get changed, call him and pick him up."

"You got it," he said.

"See you in twenty," she said, cutting the connection and hitting her speed dial for Castle as she pulled a pair of jeans from a drawer and tossing them on the bed. It was gonna be an interesting day.