Chapter three – Ninja Assassins

Summary – This story falls between Undead Again and Always. Kate and Rick are finding their partnership again. Sorry for the wait. Always happened!

Acknowledgements-As usual thanks to Luv2sk87, you make my stories better.

Disclaimer: Andrew Marlow and ABC own Castle, I owe this story.

RC KB RC KB RC KB

Flashing lights and the sight of uniforms, let them know that they had found the scene of the crime. Pulling her squad car behind Ryan and Esposito's, Kate put the car into park, hit the button for her seat belt, grabbed her coffee and jumped out, leaving Castle fumbling to get out. She had walked five steps before realizing that he was not beside her and turned. "Hey, you comin?" She called back.

"Yeah, seat belt stuck. Guess the feds didn't fix everything," he said as he hurried to catch up with her. "Have you talked to Alexis lately?"

"Saw her at the morgue late yesterday, why?"

"I got some awesome news last night…she's decided to go to Columbia. Told me when I got home. Then she shot me with the lazer gun and proceeded to beat me two out of three games."

Kate smiled over at him. "That's wonderful, Rick. Not that you're terrible at laser tag but…"

"Hey, I resemble that…" He grinned, "But yesterday…on a scale of one to ten…I'd have to rate it a hundred, definitely."

Kate laughed as she turned and entered the alley thinking about her conversation with Alexis at the morgue yesterday.

"Detective Beckett, you have a minute?" Alexis called.

"Sure and please, it's Kate." Kate answered with a smile.

"I'm worried about my dad. It's always been just the two of us. Every time I talk about leaving for college he gets this look on his face. I've narrowed down my list of colleges to Stanford, Oxford, and Columbia. I've gone over and over class offerings and extra activities and Stanford and Oxford are the best choices school wise but I just can't hit the acceptance button for either one of them. I keep seeing that face and I can't push it."

"Alexis, your dad loves you. He only wants what's best for you. I know the look you're talking about; I've seen myself a couple of times over the last few of months. Trust me, it's a parent thing. My Dad was beside himself when I left for Stanford, he would get that same look on his face as your dad. Now my mom…she told me to think about what I wanted to get out of college. She told me it was not just about the next phase of my education, it was about making decisions that were going to affect the rest of my life. She said I needed to think about everything, not just moving away from home or where my friends were going. The decision needed to be about what was right for me. At that time, Stanford was my choice, the pre-law program was top notch and my dad's parents were only twenty miles away."

"How did your dad take it?" Alexis asked.

"He was good…after a couple weeks but he cried at the airport. He doesn't know I saw him but I did. That made it really hard to get on that plane the first time. Then I came home for Christmas break and my mom…well you know the rest. I went back and actually finished out the rest of my freshman year. But then I came home that summer, my dad was a wreck, what I wanted out of life had changed, so I applied and was accepted to the police academy and the rest you know."

"Would you make the same choices now that you made then?" Alexis questioned.

"Honestly, I don't know. I was really going through a rebellious stage at that point of my life and I'm not convinced I didn't choose Stanford, just to get away from my parents and be on my own." She reached over and took Alexis's hand, "This is your decision and I am not going to tell you what to do. Just please, think about what you really want and don't be afraid to make a decision and stick with it. Your dad loves you and will back whatever you decide to do. Kate squeezed her hand then let go and smiled.

Alexis stood for a moment staring at her then lunged forward and pulled her into a bear hug, "Thank you, Kate," she whispered in her ear. "Thank you."

"Kate…hey, where were you? I asked if you thought I would be able to keep my promise." Rick stared.

"What? I'm sorry…thinking about…uhm, the case…sorry what did you ask me?"

He looked at her with confusion. Before he could say anything further, Esposito's voice caused them both to turn toward the crime scene.

"Beckett, the body's down here. Name's Glenn Sheffler, he was 47 years old, married, and part owner of Shefford Enterprises. Wallet with cash and credit cards still in his pocket, doesn't look like a robbery." He looked back up from his pad and glanced over at Castle, "Bro, I can't wait for you to see this." Esposito grabbed his arm and pulled him toward Lanie's crouched form.

As they stood around the body and stared down, Castle bit down on his lower lip and pointed toward the victims neck, "Is that what I think it is?" the writer shot a questioning look at his partner.

"Castle, there are no ninja assassins in New York." Beckett frowned.

"That is a shuriken, you know that little, sharp, shiny, metal star sticking out of his throat. That is the weapon of choice of ninja…"

"Castle…stop." Kate held her hand, frowning at him and turned to Esposito, "You and Ryan canvas the area. See if there are any cameras on this alley or any witnesses. We'll go and talk to Mrs. Sheffler then we'll meet back at the station.

"Lanie, you got time of death?" Kate kneeled down by the M.E. and looked over the body.

"I would say between nine and eleven o'clock last night."

Quietly, Kate whispered, "Could that thing really be the murder weapon?"

Lanie lifted her left eyebrow, "Possibly, there is a fairly large blood pool here. I'll know more when I get him back to the morgue."

Both women stood up and turned toward the writer. He was bent over his phone, fingers flying. "Here it is. In Calm Before the Storm, I had a Japanese Ninja working with the Russians but you know that don't you. Anyway, I did a lot of research on ninjas. The shuriken is Japanese and the word literally means 'sword hidden in the hand'. A quality shuriken is extremely hard to find. We need to find out where that one came from and I know just the man." Castle smiled happily.