ONE

The rain pounded hard against the windows of the taxi. Kate Beckett shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around herself, wishing that the driver would turn up the heat as the sleet spattered against the windscreen and ran backwards over the windows in streams. The radio played softly in the background and she could see the driver's head bobbing along to the beat of a tune that she didn't know. She rubbed her hands together in an attempt to keep warm, thinking all the while about what she could be doing right now if the sheer amount of cases that had come into the precinct lately hadn't caused her to be called in on her day off.

She'd left Castle with Luke this morning and was already missing the four year old. She'd promised that the three of them would go to Central Park and she hated to think how disappointed Luke would be when he found out that Mommy was working again. She sighed, thinking about how much time she had missed out on with Luke in his first four years of life. He spent most of his time with Castle or at Pre-School and she was always working, only seeing her son for an hour before bed or for twenty minutes during her lunch break. Just last night Castle had been telling her how excited Luke was to go to Central Park and now she had to let her son down again, just like she'd had to do on most other occasions due to her occupation.

"Just here, thanks," She said to the cabbie and he pulled into the nearest parking spot.

"Twenty bucks," he mumbled and Kate pulled two ten's out of her pocket and gave it to him along with a few coins and dollar bills as a tip. She pulled the hood on her coat up over her head as she got out of the cab and bowed her head against the wind as the rain soaked through her coat in seconds, leaving her shivering within moments of the taxi pulling away.

She didn't have to look far to see where the crime scene was. Like most homicides that occurred inside buildings, this one was swarming with uniformed cops at the entrance. There were even a few cameras and news hosts milling around, waiting for a detective to show. They were by no means paparazzi but she knew that someone inside the building must've needed cash in order for the press to get there so quickly. Kate braced herself as she pushed through the crowd towards the police tape, clenching her teeth together to prevent them from chattering. She pulled her badge out from an inside coat and flashed it at a uniform, who nodded and lifted the tape for her.

The moment the badge left her coat, however, was when she heard shouting from the news hosts.

"Detective, what can you tell us about this homicide?" she heard from behind her,

"What can you tell us about the victim?"

"What can you tell us about the killer?"

Kate sighed, turning to face the microphones that were being shoved in her face, "No comment," she said, "Just go home, I've got work to do."

She turned and walked into the buildings, feeling the cameras flash on her back. She ascended the stairs, walking past apartments with open doors and worried neighbours standing around, waiting desperately for news. Somehow they knew that Kate didn't have any. She smiled comfortingly at them as she walked past, waiting for the tell-tale uniformed cops and police tape that would let her know where her crime scene was.

She didn't have to walk for much longer before she found it.

"Hey," she said upon seeing Esposito bent over what was unmistakeably blood spatter and a trail that lead into a nearby apartment that was cordoned off with police tape. Esposito looked up, his eyes brightening when he saw her walking towards him.

"What, no Castle?" he asked curiously.

"I left him with Luke," Kate said as Esposito stood up and fell into step beside her, "It's a rarity I get a call in case."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Lanie was in the middle of feeding Isiah breakfast when the body dropped. We had to drop him off with Jenny when we picked up Ryan. Thank god she's not opposed to taking in last minute babysit requests. She even said she'd take Isiah to visit with Olivia at the hospital."

"How is Olivia?" Kate asked curiously, "Is Lanie with her now?"

"Nah Lanie caught the case too. Unfortunately Perlmutter is assigned to ten already and they had to practically beg her over the phone to pick up a shift. She called her mom in to stay with Liv until one of us can get back."

"Her surgery went okay then?" Kate asked as they rounded the corner into the hallway of the apartment.

"Yeah, not a problem," Esposito said cheerily, "She's going to need close monitoring for the next few months and possibly another operation but she's out of the woods for now."

"That's great, Espo!" Kate said with a grin, happy to see a smile on her friends face for once, "When can we visit?"

"As soon as you've got a break," he said, "She's in recovery and everything," he smiled widely and Kate saw no pain behind his eyes like she had been seeing for so long.

"I'll call Castle and we'll drop by after this case," She said as they arrived next to their vic and Lanie.

"Hey Lanie, what have we got?" Kate asked as she took in the amount of blood surrounding the body.

"Your vic is Simon Gilbert, sixteen," Lanie said and Kate could hear the tiredness in her voice.

"Is this all his blood?" Kate asked, incredulously, looking around at the blood soaked mattress and the crimson carpet.

"That's the interesting thing," Lanie said, "Simon here, he's B negative, matching the blood you can see on the mattress. But all that blood on the carpet and out in the hall. That's O positive blood and it's most likely the blood of your killer."

"So he fought back?" Kate asked, "I find it hard to believe that someone who'd have lost that amount of blood could pump him full of holes," she muttered. Lanie shrugged. "Have you got cause of death?"

"Despite the fact that he's got a ton of bruising around his neck and on his arms – all perimortum by the way, the cause of death was multiple GSW's to the chest with a 45," Lanie said quickly, pointing out the wounds on the man's chest, "Based on lividity and body temp, I'm also estimating time of death at around three to four am."

"Who discovered the body?" Kate asked.

"Simon's younger sister," came Ryan's voice from behind her, "Danielle Gilbert, fourteen. She slept over at a friend's house last night, came home around seven this morning because she forgot her insulin, her room is next door to Simon's and you can fill in the rest of the story from there. She called 911 at 7:09 this morning, we've confirmed it."

"And the parents?" Kate asked.

"At a wedding in the Hamptons, according to Danielle," Ryan said, "We've called them with the news, they're on their way back down now."

"Okay, you and Esposito canvas the area, talk to neighbours, the doorman and whoever was on security between midnight and 6am. Get security camera footage too. I want to know where Simon was last night and who he was with."

The two boys nodded and walked off, Esposito giving a quick kiss to Lanie on the way out of the room. Kate moved towards her friend on the pretext of looking closer at the body.

"Hey, Espo told me about Olivia," Kate asked softly, "Good news, huh?"

Lanie grinned and nodded quickly, "They fixed the defect for now but as she grows they'll need to keep up to date with it so she's not completely out of the woods but she'll be fine for a couple more years until the next one."

"That's great news, Lanie," Kate smiled, "You don't mind if Castle and I pop down for a visit after we've wrapped the case?"

"Be my guest, Liv's been missing her Aunty Katie," Lanie said with a smile, taking down some notes on the body on her clipboard. Kate smiled as Lanie used the name that her goddaughter called her.

"I'll see you soon, okay, I gotta go interview the sister," Kate said, giving Lanie a wave as she turned around and walked out into the hallway where Uniform cops stood with a young, sobbing girl. She motioned to the uniforms to let them know that she was going to handle the situation.

"Danielle Gilbert?" she asked softly and the sobbing girl nodded, "I'm detective Kate Beckett with the NYPD. I'm going to be investigating your brother's homicide… shall we?" she motioned to the couch. Danielle nodded, wiping her nose with her sleeve and trying to calm herself.

"Can you tell me what you were doing when you found the body?" Kate asked as tenderly as she could, hating herself more and more with each word. She knew it sounded insensitive, especially since Danielle was only fourteen, but it was what she had to ask.

"I'd just come in from my friend's house," she said quietly, her voice still shaking, "I've got Type 1 diabetes and I forgot my insulin when I went over there last night. I saw the blood on the carpet in the hallway and I got suspicious so I yelled for Si, and when he didn't answer I figured he was asleep so I unlocked the door and then I saw the blood trail leading to his room…" Danielle trailed off, sobs wracking her body in waves. Kate's heart broke for her as she watched the already slender girl become even slighter as she sunk back into the couch, trying to stem the tears. "I-I'm sorry, d-detective." She apologised, wiping her eyes.

"It's okay, Danielle," Kate said comfortingly, she couldn't bring herself to make the girl recount what she had seen, "I can fill in the rest from here… Can you tell me what Simon was doing last night?"

Danielle shrugged, "Studying, probably. He's got dyslexia so he has to work doubly hard to match the other kids. But I don't know, he keeps to himself mostly."

"So you weren't close?" Kate asked.

"He talked to me sometimes," Danielle said, "But it was more of an 'I won't talk to you if you don't talk to me' relationship. Last time I spoke to him was to ask if I could sleepover at Bella's last night."

"How did he seem when you asked him?" Kate asked, noting down Danielle's relationship with her brother.

"Distracted," Danielle said, "He normally gets me to write down the details of the house I'm staying at just in case he needs to contact me."

"You don't have a cell phone?" Kate asked, finding it unusual that a fourteen year old girl wouldn't have a cell in this day and age.

Danielle hesitated, "… I failed my entry test into high school, my parents took it away until I pass one."

Kate made a note of it, not knowing how it may be relevant to the case at all, but she'd found in the past that it was best to keep a record of everything.

"You mentioned that you always asked Simon if you could stay at your friend's places, are your parents away a lot?" Kate asked, pleased to see that Danielle was becoming more comfortable in her presence.

"My parents travel a lot for work," she said, wiping her nose on her sleeve, "When we were younger they used to get our Aunt to babysit but since she moved to Florida, every time they go away Simon's been in charge."

"And how long has that been for?"

"Since he was twelve, maybe thirteen. Mom and Dad were always saying he was more trustworthy than most," Danielle said, "We may not have interacted much but he was always nice to me, Detective."

Kate smiled at the girl, writing down everything that she had just said in shorthand.

"Detective?" Danielle asked timidly.

"Yes?"

"You will find him, won't you? The guy who did this to my brother."

"Of course, Danielle, I've got my guys working on it right now, we'll find who did this… and I'm sorry to have to ask you this but where were you last night between three and four am?"

"Detective… I didn't kill my brother if that's what you're asking," Danielle said slowly.

"I know, Danielle, but we need to clear you off our list. This early in the investigation we have to rule everyone a suspect."

"I was at Bella's place…" Danielle said, "She lives two apartment blocks down, number 12."

"Okay, thank you Danielle, we'll be in touch if we find anything of interest," Kate rose to her feet and stuck out her hand for Danielle to shake. The girl sniffed and took it gingerly, sinking back into the couch as Kate turned to leave. As she watched Danielle draw her legs back up to her chest she was transported right back to January 9th 1999 as Detective Raglan gave her and her father the news of her mother's death. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to thinking of things other than the still unsolved homicide that had haunted her every move for the last fifteen years.

Her phone buzzed and she fished in her pocket for it absent-mindedly, glad for a distraction from what she was thinking about. A smile crept across her face when she saw that it was from Castle.

Look at him, Kate. Aren't you proud?

Attached was a picture of Luke sitting down and tying his own shoelaces. Kate felt her smile grow wider, her little boy was growing up. She gave Lanie a wave goodbye and walked out of the apartment, keying her response to Castle.

So proud. Give him a kiss from Mommy xx

She put her phone back into her pocket and made her way back downstairs, hoping to catch Ryan and Esposito before they finished their canvas. She didn't fancy getting a taxi back to the precinct. She felt her phone buzz again and whipped it out, rolling her eyes when she'd seen what Castle had sent her.

Does daddy get a kiss from mommy?

Kate laughed and bit her lip as she keyed back

Later.

And hit send.

"What are you smirking at?"

Beckett looked up to see Esposito walking towards her, arm outstretched, "Let me see that." Kate stowed her phone safely in the inside pocket of her coat.

"Not for your eyes, Espo," she said and Esposito immediately pulled his arm back, a disgusted look on his face. Kate laughed, "Did you find anything on Canvas?"

"Neighbours in apartment twenty one said that they heard banging at around 2:30am when they got up to go to the toilet but they didn't think anything of it because apartment twenty two, next door, is renovating. Rest of the neighbours didn't hear a thing."

"Okay so we know that the struggle started at around 2:30… nobody heard any gunshots?" Kate asked, puzzled as to how there could be so much blood and a body full of holes without anybody hearing a gunshot.

"That's what I thought too," Esposito said, "Nobody reported hearing gunshots but three neighbours reported waking up suddenly between 3:15 and 3:17 this morning. They all said they went straight back to sleep."

"Anything of interest from the doorman and security?"

"Doorman said that he knew everyone who went through the doors last night to be a tenant in the building… Security says the same thing, but he's sending CCTV as well as a list of tenants over to the precinct now."

"Great," Beckett said, moving towards the door, glad to see that the press had taken her earlier advice and pissed off, "Come on, I don't want to be here any longer than I have to."

"Ditto to that," Ryan said, finishing up with the security guard and dotting the end of his sentence with a flourish, "This building may be fancy enough to have a doorman but it doesn't seem to be fancy enough for heating."

"Come on," Esposito said, jerking his head towards the door, "Car's out the front."

"Espo," Kate said, putting a hand on his arm and stopping him from moving, "Why don't you go and pick up Isiah from Jenny's place and take him to see his sister. Ryan and I have got point on this one."

"Jenny's gonna take him," Esposito said quickly and Kate could sense from the way that he dismissed it so quickly that he wanted to go and spend time with his son and daughter.

"Go, Espo. We'll be fine," Kate demanded. She could see Esposito's flimsy stance weaken a little more as he started to splutter.

"Are you sure, Beckett, I mean it's a pretty high profile case," he said.

Kate rolled her eyes at him, "Just go."

"I – alright but as soon as Lanie finishes her shift I am back and you two better have some goddamn leads," he said.

Kate laughed, "Have fun, Espo."

"Poor guy," Ryan said as Esposito stepped out into the rain and sleet, "Can't imagine what he's going through."

"Neither," Beckett said, watching the Hispanic detective walk out of the building and jump into his car, a smile on his face. Kate felt a small smile spread across her face as she watched him drive away. She hadn't seen Esposito so happy for a good year.

"Reckon you can give me the same treatment for Sarah-Grace's tonsils?" Ryan asked. Kate rolled her eyes,

"Come on," she said briskly, hitting Ryan on the arm and walking towards the door, "We've got a murder to solve."

Author's Notes: I really hope you enjoyed this story so far! I'm trying to balance the case and personal life in this story so if you think it's leaning too heavily on one or the other please let me know and I'll be sure to fix it. I hope my characterisation wasn't too off and if you think it is just let me know. Also, I'm not American and I've tried to use American lingo in this but it's probably minimal, so if you see anything glaringly un-American just let me know what you call it over there and I will change it accordingly.

Anyway, I would absolutely love to know what you thought of the first chapter and would love it if you left it in a review.

Best Wishes,
Nayla xx