A/N: This is Castle/Stargate sequel to This Never Happened and I Wish This Never Happened. Reading the first one (a Castle/Stargate crossover) would help with this story. The second one (a Castle/Chuck crossover) is referenced, but is not necessary to follow this story. This story is set a few weeks after Castle 3.17, Countdown, and although this story contains Stargate SG-1 characters, it contains Stargate spoilers up to Stargate Universe 2.15, Seizure.

This story will have some humor, a lot of banter, a little action, and even some Stargate-style technobabble. Romance? Well, I don't want to spoil anything that may or may not "happen." This is the This Never Happened series, after all.

How we got here:Yesterday was a bad day for Beckett. She made two arrests for two murders, but no one was actually murdered. One murder never "officially" happened, and the other murder victim woke up in the morgue from couch lock. While her planned stress-free afternoon was fun, it was not stress-free due to her obsessing about how it evolved into a "non-date" with Castle. Last night, they went out for drinks again, so what happened the next day?

Disclaimer: Nobody else owns anything here, so why would I?

Disclaimer 2: No beta. Why would I sucker/obligate/subject anyone into reading this when they didn't want to? However I always correct mistakes I find or am told about later.

Published: 27 Apr 2011

Chapter 1 - Not Again

BRRRRRRINNGGGGG! BRRRRRRINNGGGGG!

Detective Kate Beckett rolled over to stop the obnoxious noise that roused her from her sleep. Grasping around her bedside table, she finally got a hold of her phone. Still splayed across her bed on her stomach, she slid open the offending object.

"Beckett. … Where? … Ok, I'll be there in thirty."

Kate groaned and rolled onto her back. She tried to remember how she got here. The last thing she remembered was laughing with Castle at his bar last night, having way too much fun. She checked and saw she was still clothed in her slacks and blouse. That was a good sign. Rolling out of bed she saw the note next to where her phone had sat.

"Good morning, sleepy head. Don't worry. I was a good boy. No sense in giving you a hickey if I wouldn't have a matching one. I enjoyed our day and look forward to the next one like it. I took your spare key so I could lock your dead bolt. I'll return it next time I see you, which I hope will be soon. –RC"

Kate didn't know what to think. She remembered a little more now. Sometime after the second drink (her "fourth round" of the day), she got very tired. It wasn't the drink. It was the frustration of the day catching up with her—a combination of the case that didn't happen, the afternoon non-date with Rick, and the case that she wished didn't happened. All of this was capped off with another non-date with Rick that evening. Of course he remembered their misguided flirting from early in the day…

"We need to work on hickeys to match the last time we were visited by men in black."

"Check back with me after the fourth round."

He might not be letting her live that down, but at least he did not follow through with it. In fact, he had been a gentleman. He made sure she got home safely. He removed her coat and shoes so she could sleep comfortably, but he still preserved her modesty and did not take advantage of her. He even thoughtfully placed a glass of water and aspirin by the note for when she woke. She didn't need it as she wasn't really hung over. It still was thoughtful. He even made sure she was locked up safe and sound. He was sweet.

Of course Rick would say he wanted another day like yesterday, filled with men-in-black, clone/brother-in-laws, government conspiracies, drunken cover bands, and DEA/CIA raids. He liked the crazy. He also might have been referring to the time in between… the non-date during which Kate enjoyed herself too much. That would mean he was effectively asking her out on another non-date. No. She didn't want to think about that possibility. Asking someone out ahead of time made any non-date into a real date. Non-dates had to be spontaneous and unplanned. Since when had she become an expert on non-dates?

Kate was ready to go and heading out the door when she realized she hadn't called Castle. She'd been thinking about him all morning, but somehow forgot to call. She was obviously still a little tired and wasn't sure she could handle the full "Castle effect" until her head was clearer. She decided she'd call him after the crime scene and meet up with him at the station.

The crime scene was only four blocks away from the scene yesterday morning. Two murders in two days. If this was becoming an unsafe area, any witnesses in the neighborhood would be even less cooperative than normal. Kate sighed. It was time to be Beckett now.

Half way between her parked car and the crime scene tape, Beckett was ambushed. "Good morning, Detective. Sleep well?"

Beckett smiled slightly as she took a coffee and bear claw from her partner. "Thanks, Castle."

"Last night I thought you would drink me under the table," Castle teased. "I can't help but notice that did not happen."

"It would have, if I hadn't been so exhausted," Beckett rebutted. "How did you know about this?"

"Ryan said you sounded out of it, so he called in your stead."

"I'm sorry I didn't call. I was in a hurry to get here and was going to have you meet me at the station." She paused as she took a sip. "I am glad you're here." Beckett surprised herself because she meant it. Castle gave her a pleasant smile.

Beckett and Castle stopped at the barricades and crime scene tape that was blocking off the alley. She took another bite of the bear claw before returning it to the bag. She placed the bag and coffee by the patrolman guarding the scene so any evidence would not be contaminated.

Beckett and Castle approached the body that Dr. Lanie Parrish was hunched over. They had to stand back a few steps as the face-down body was surrounded by a large pool of blood. Beckett asked, "What have we got?"

"Male, mid-thirties, some kind of violent attack," Lanie replied.

"Are those knife wounds?"

"No. These appear to be bite and claw marks. It looks like he was running and was attacked from behind."

"Like an animal attack?"

Castle interrupted, "What kind of animal in Manhattan could do… that?"

"I don't know. The bite could be a Rottweiler, but the claw marks look too big. Once we get him back to the lab, I'll try collecting samples. I'll probably have to bring in the department's veterinary specialist."

"If this is an animal attack, do we still investigate? Or is this something for animal control?" Castle asked.

Beckett answered, "We still investigate until we have enough information about the animal to pass along to them. The attack could have been orchestrated by someone, so we could still have a murder." Castle nodded in understanding.

Other than the body in the middle of the alley, and some random trash, the only thing of note in the area was a dumpster, which two CSU techs were digging through. Beckett turned to reclaim her coffee when she saw Detective Javier Esposito jog up.

"We found another one," he said.

Castle and Beckett followed him back to the street and to the next alley. Detective Kevin Ryan was finishing directing some uniformed officers to cordon off the area. In the middle of the alley laid the lower body of the second victim. A large blood trail led away from the legs to the fire escape of the north side building. The fire escape ladder was pulled down partially right where the trail ended.

Castle covered his mouth. Some scenes were still a little much for him—typically the juicy ones.

"You ok?" Beckett asked.

"Sure. I just need a minute. That definitely was not caused by a dog."

"It doesn't look like it." Beckett thought it was best to change the topic for a minute while he regained his equilibrium. "Thanks for last night."

"Don't mention it. I've always got your back. Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Castle held out a key for Beckett, attracting the curiosity of Esposito and Ryan.

"You keep it. Next time maybe you won't have to bust in my door to save me after a bomb detonates." Beckett gave Castle a smile which he returned with less nervousness then she was probably showing.

Castle reached into his pocket pulling out a different key. "Then maybe you should take this instead." Beckett didn't need to be told what it was. She only hesitated a second before taking the key to his loft from his hand.

Ryan and Esposito seemed amused by the whole exchange. "Something we should know?" Ryan asked.

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Shut it, boys. How many years ago did you two exchange keys? It's what partners normally do. Or do I need to tell Lanie and Jenny they should be jealous?" Beckett told herself it only made sense for partners and best friends to exchange keys. It didn't mean anything more.

Ryan's phone rang, saving him from the conversation. The call was short, but left him looking slightly concerned. "I've been called back to the station. Sorry."

The next half hour was filled with the usual crime scene police work—as much as two adjacent crime scenes could be considered usual. Beckett had IDs for the both victims, so she and Castle headed back to the station to run backgrounds in case there was a connection. They were also going to check pet registrations in the neighborhood, although with the second victim, that theory seemed unlikely. Castle was sticking with his sewer alligator theory for now.

Back at the station, Beckett saw Ryan standing nervously by his desk as a brunette woman worked away on his computer. That must be why Ryan was called in. The woman looked a little like Noreen Hixton, but Beckett couldn't quite place her. She'd have to check on Ryan after reporting to the captain.

Castle took her coat (she was noticing more and more how he did these little things for her), and she went to get a fresh cup of coffee. The break room was full of more people she didn't recognize. The group consisted of three men and a woman. Two of the men looked similar except one wore glasses. The woman sat on the table wearing a long sleeve-black T-shirt, blue cargo pants, and a dark blue light jacket, from which she was trying to remove the tag with her teeth. She was also swinging her legs, trying to get the attention or distract the man with the glasses. The third man was the odd one. He was a large black man dressed in a full New York Yankees uniform, complete with baseball cap and pinstriped pants. The only variation from the standard uniform was his heavy black boots he wore instead of cleats.

As Beckett started to fill her cup, she overhead the first man speak. "You know Sam isn't going to be happy when she finds out we're here."

"Come on, Mitchell," the woman spoke. "I believe the common Earth expression is 'It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.' I think she'd just be glad to see us."

Earth expression? That can't be right. She must have said 'English expression.'

"Vala, she's going to know you just came for the shopping," the man with the spectacles said.

"How is she going to know that, Daniel?"

This time the Yankee clean-up hitter responded with a movie-trailer deep voice, "Perhaps because of the two shopping bags you have with you."

"Hey!" Vala protested. "You have one as well. And you seem to be happy with your new outfit."

"Indeed."

Mitchell said, "You know, Teal'c, I think the pants might be a little much, but the look works for you. At least the hat blends in better than the stocking caps, cowboy hats, and fedoras you normally wear."

"Perhaps we can watch the Warriors of the North do battle with Red Stockings this evening."

"I don't know if they're in town, but if Sam doesn't chew us out too much and we finish up quickly enough, I'll see if we can get tickets." Mitchell replied.

"Oooo, men in tight pants. I can't wait."

"Jack can probably get us tickets," Daniel suggested. "Although, he might be better at getting us hockey tickets than baseball."

"You're assuming Sam doesn't narc on us," Mitchell said.

"I think us being in New York will be a big clue."

"Yeah, but we kind of snuck here."

"You don't think Sam tells Jack everything, do you?"

No one responded immediately, and Beckett's coffee was finished. She figured she couldn't get away with eavesdropping anymore and really needed to get back to work. Leaving the break room, she realized something. Sam and Jack… Nah.

Beckett found Castle waiting at her desk looking over at Ryan. The detective looked even more anxious than before. "What's with Ryan?"

"I don't know. We'll check in with him after we're done with the captain," Beckett replied.

Beckett walked over to Captain Roy Montgomery's open door, Castle in tow. Right as she was about to knock, she saw he already had a full house.

"Come on in, Beckett. You too, Castle." Montgomery motioned them in.

Montgomery was sitting behind his desk with a serious, but otherwise unreadable expression. He had three other visitors, all standing, making the room very crowded. Sure enough, there was Colonel Samantha Carter and the mysterious suspect from yesterday.

Not again.

A/N: This story was originally going to be another one shot, but ended up way too long. Enjoy the ride.