Beckett's Sister: A Castle AU Fanfiction

Chapter 4

A few moments of silence passed before either of the two women spoke again. The tempo of the music had picked up and the lights were dancing to the beat. The dance floor was packed, not an inch of space between anyone. Camille was curious to know more about Kate's shooting and Kris in general since she didn't really know all that much about the woman. She sat quietly, staring into her half empty glass.

Kris eventually broke the silence, noticing Camille's hesitant look. "Our mother was murdered 15 years ago. Kate was 19, I was 12. We were supposed to meet her for dinner that night, she never showed. We came home to a police officer waiting for us. I didn't really understand at the time what was going on but I'll never forget that night as long as I live. That was the first time I ever saw my father cry. I think what haunts me the most though were Kate's screams. I never knew a human being could sound like that."

Camille stared in shock, not knowing what to say. She couldn't imagine losing a parent, especially at such a young age. It broke her heart to imagine a young Kris, not realizing at the time that her entire world had just been turned on its head. Finally she found her voice. "I'm so sorry, Kris. I can't even being to imagine what you guys have been through. Did they ever find out what happened?"

Kris gave a small laugh before speaking. "The cops wrote it off as gang violence and left it at that. Kate never bought it, I didn't know any better. All I knew was my mom was gone and she was never coming home. Dad started drinking, which left me to pretty much take care of myself. Kate was pre-law at Stanford before mom died but she ended up coming back home after her second semester was over. Since dad was incapable of functioning, she had to pretty much finish raising me."

"Neither one of us handled it well, I acted out a lot and Kate kept everything bottled up. We had it out so many times that I thought one of us was going to end up permanently handicapped." Kris said, laughing as she thought back to the many fights she and Kate had had while growing up. "The sad thing is, the one thing that tore our family apart was what eventually made me and Kate inseparable. There were so many times we wanted to kill each other, but it only made us stronger."

Camille sat there, taking in everything the younger Beckett woman was telling her. She could see Kris and Kate having it out with one another. They were both strong headed and focused so she could see how their personalities could clash. Curious to know more, she asked "So, how did all of this lead to Kate getting shot?"

Kris looked up from her glass with an amused expression. "The thing you have to know about my sister is she's stubborn and she doesn't back down from anything. She obsessed over our mothers case for years. From the time she graduated from the academy, it was her main focus. She spent every second she could combing through the files, trying to find something someone missed. She couldn't let it go. After Castle came along, they started looking into it together and eventually started filling in the blanks."

Kris took a long sip from her drink before continuing. "Long, long story short, Kate got too close to the truth and the people responsible decided to try to stop her... for good. Almost a year later, as fate would have it, it caught up with her again and she was right back to obsessing about it. We fought and fought over it, I begged her to let it rest. Told her mom wouldn't want her throwing her life away like that. Of course, being as pig headed as she can be sometimes, she didn't listen. She almost died, again. Then she almost died a third time when I found out. I swear if Castle hadn't grabbed me I probably would have beat her to death with one of her Jimmy Choo's."

Camille finally laughed at that. She was pretty sure Kris wasn't joking about trying to kill Kate. She looked around at the beauty of Kris' club, thinking to herself how well both Kate and Kris had done for themselves despite the hand that life had dealt them. Eventually she said "She seems pretty put together now, I never would have imagined."