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Lines of Responsibility	By : BlueHarlequin Category: 1 through F > Castle Views: 2774 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Lines of Responsibility
Author: BlueHarlequin
Chapter 2 – Fight or Flight
Disclaimer: Nothing of Castle belongs to me; this is not for profit. No copyright infringement intended.
Warnings: graphic sex between men, angst, references to molestation, violence, and drug use, may contain triggers
A/N: unbeta'd. Please be kind. Updates are always posted in my profile. Feel free to PM me with comments or leave a review, I love hearing from ya'll!
Javier Esposito x Kevin Ryan
Summary: Ryan receives a surprise from his past that throws his entire world into turmoil. He finds out that he has a 12yo year old daughter when her mother suddenly dies and he gains custody of her. Jenny flips out and springs divorce papers on him. Esposito finds out they’re separated and his repressed feelings for his partner start to come out. Kevin tries to cope with the sudden pressure of being the father of an abused pre-teen and Javier is there for him.

Castle watched as a man stopped Ryan in the hallway. The process server handed him a manila envelope and the detective grudgingly signed a sheet of paper on the clipboard thrust at him. Ryan walked back to his desk and opened the packet. The writer watched as the younger man’s eyebrows moved up in shock and he dropped the paper in his hand onto the desk after reading it. Getting up he moved behind the man and looked over his shoulder, “What’s the matter? Is everything ...” Castle stopped as he saw what was on them.
“Court order to take a paternity test.” Beckett spoke, startling them both. She had snuck up behind them as they were distracted. She was looking at Kevin with an expression that was a cross between amazement and amusement. “I would have thought Castle or Esposito would get one of those long before you.”
Esposito walked up and saw the two huddled around his partner, “What’s going on?”
Before anyone could answer they were interrupted by a curse, “Damn!” A severe looking lady with black glasses was standing in the doorway frowning at the lot of them. She walked up to the detective’s desk and plopped her briefcase down on it. “Mr. Ryan? I’m Simone Palmer, I represent Harmon Trust International. Congratulations, you’ve just inherited a twelve year old.” The entire group gaped at the woman who began pulling papers out of the brief case.
“What?” Ryan sputtered.
The lawyer took off her glasses and put them in her breast pocket. “I see you have been served the papers for the paternity test already. Do you remember Kelly Brennan? She named you as the father of her child on the birth certificate and her will states that you are to be in control of the child’s trust until she turns twenty-one.” She looked at the detective who just looked back at her in stunned disbelief. “Mr. Ryan, do you have somewhere we can discuss this in private?”
“Ah … um …”
Esposito could see the man was still processing the strange turn of events. Looking at his expression he thought ‘a deer in headlights’ could not have been any more of an appropriate description. “Ma’am? I think you two can talk in here.” He gently hauled his partner up by the arm and herded him into one of the empty interview rooms. He shut the door behind them and pulled out the chair for the lady. Ryan dazedly sat down in the chair across from her.
The lawyer regarded the Hispanic man curiously. “Mr. Ryan …”
Kevin finally regained his senses. “Javi stays. Anything you say to me can be said in front of him.”
She nodded. Sliding the papers over to him she began speaking. “I have been retained on your behalf to defend your custody of one Maeve Brennan. Her stepfather claims that he is the real biological father of the girl and the control of the trust belongs to him. In response to this he has demanded you submit to a paternity test to determine if she is your biological child.” She handed him a battered white envelope. “A friend of the family asked me to deliver this, he found it in Neil Brennan’s papers and it was addressed to you.”
“Wait, wait! Back up, you said Kelly Brennan? I haven’t seen her in years and just now I find out all of this? What happened?” He dropped the envelope on the table with other papers.
The woman regarded him speculatively. “Detective, besides being Maeve Brennan’s lawyer I am a family friend. Her uncle Neil, Kelly’s brother, was a friend of mine. I believe you were his friend as well?” She sighed heavily. “It seems that after your relationship with Kelly she became pregnant. She married Robert Foley to hide her condition from her family. Two days ago he killed the entire family and the only reason Maeve survived was pure chance.” She tapped the folders in front of him. “These are the police files from the incident. They illustrate everything that happened. Now Kelly swore up and down to a group of us that you were the father of her child and I don’t doubt that. But before I go through with anything I need to know if you are willing to take this on. Do you even want to take responsibility for this little girl? If the test comes back that you are her biological father then the law is on your side. But if you don’t want her then Robert Foley does and I can tell you he is not a nice man. Ultimately because of his crime, he will lose custody of her and she will become a ward of the state, but her trust will still be in his control. Even though access to the money will be limited it is a hefty sum.”
Ryan looked overwhelmed for a second but then his face hardened. Esposito knew that look, it was the one his partner adopted when he was about to dig his heels in and hold on for dear life. Javier had dubbed it his ‘stubborn face.’ “If she’s my daughter I want her. I don’t want some murderer dictating her life.” He picked up the police file, “Where did you get these?”
Simone smirked, “The arresting officer is my best friend and was Neil’s friend as well. He told me they won’t be missed if I’m just borrowing them. I’ll leave them with you. Maeve is staying with him, I can arrange for you to meet with them tomorrow. Nathan needs to talk to you about her situation before you get acquainted with her.” She made a peculiar face and both detectives looked at each other sensing there was something more to the expression. “Would it be okay to bring them by tomorrow at this time?”
Kevin nodded and the lawyer looked him over once more. She raised her eyebrow when she saw the ring on his finger. Esposito could see the wheels spinning in her head. He wondered exactly what she was seeing. Sure, Kevin looked a little haggard, but didn’t they both? It seemed that the past few months of brutal cases had caused the younger man to lose a bit a sleep. Javier looked at him a little closer; it seemed that Kevin had also lost some weight, but then again running around the city constantly could do that. Simone turned to him and sized him up as well. “You’re his partner and his friend, right?” Javier nodded warily. “Good, Mr. Ryan’s going to need strong friends. It’s one thing to care for a baby from birth, it’s another to suddenly have to take care of a pre-teen.”
Javier wondered why she didn’t mention Kevin’s wife helping out. He decided to point it out just to see what she was getting at. “I’m sure Kevin and his wife can take whatever is thrown at them. We’re all friends here so it shouldn’t be too bad.” He missed it as his partner blanched. Looking at the lawyer he asked, “Are you speaking from experience?”
Simone ‘hmm’ed’ under her breath then nodded, “Kids are surprisingly resilient, it’s grownups that need to learn how to change. We’ve already learned how to figure out whom to trust, children do it unconditionally. It’s very easy to abuse that.” She frowned and pulled a couple more files from her briefcase. “I was going to let Nathan give these to you …but I think you might be better prepared if you look them over beforehand.” She stood and shook both of their hands. “Until tomorrow, gentlemen.”
Esposito watched as Castle and Beckett looked at them inquisitively as the lawyer made her way out of the station. He turned to his partner, “Do you want to explain it all at once or wait to have Castle pry it out of the either of us?”
Kevin looked at him tiredly and Javier had to repress the urge to ruffle his hair in reassurance. He had managed to train himself into not touching the man any more than necessary; it worked better for his sanity that way. “Go ahead and call them in.” He grimaced. “Should I tell Gates as well?”
Esposito frowned, “Hell no man, this is personal, family only.” He hung out the door and motioned to their partners. Kate and Castle came in and sat down, the writer’s attention immediately focused on the police files scattered on the table.
“So what’s up?” he asked.
Since it looked like Kevin was still trying to collect himself, Esposito told them the part he knew. “Kevin may or may not be the father of a girl who just inherited a lot of money.”
“May or may not?” Castle looked intrigued.
“That’s what the paternity test is for. Apparently another man alleging to be her real father is contesting his claim.”
Kevin took a deep breath and they all turned to face him. “Kelly Brennan was the daughter of an investment banker who lived in my neighbourhood. I guess you could say her family was kind of well off. We only dated for three weeks and everything seemed fine then suddenly she upped and dumped me for Robert Foley. His father was a family friend and it was sort of understood that he and Kelly were supposed to be together. I never thought ...” He stopped short. “Her family was really conservative ... she could have told me.”
Beckett chimed in, “So you were the boy from the other side of the tracks?”
Ryan shook his head, “It wasn’t anything as dramatic as that. She was actually pretty wild so when she asked me out it was kind of a shock. Her family wasn’t considered super rich, we just didn’t run in the same social circles.” He picked up the letter Simone had given him. “Maybe this has some answers.”
Castle looked at him, “How did you not know she was pregnant?”
“I didn’t know her for very long. I had always thought it was really strange she broke up with me so abruptly. She married him a month later and then moved away right afterwards.” He opened up the envelope, inside was Maeve’s original birth certificate and a letter. They all sat in silence as he read through it. “She wrote it right after we broke up.” He read it out loud for them:
Dear Kevin,
I don’t know why I’m writing this seeing as I’m never going to send it to you. Maybe this letter is more for me than you. I know this may not be much of an apology but by now you know how I am. I’m sorry I broke up with you without so much as an explanation but I thought it was for the best. I’m pregnant and I know it’s yours. I know you have plans for your future and I don’t want to ruin that. You’re a good guy and I know you would try to do the right thing. However, I’m not sure I’m ready to be the wife of a police officer.
Best wishes,
Kelly
Ryan smiled in resignation, “She was really selfish. From what I remember about her this is exactly what I would expect.” He picked up the case file on the murder; he skimmed it giving them the overview. “It seems that she and Robert were having some marital problems and she was staying at her parent’s house. He came over early in the morning and shot them while they were eating breakfast. Maeve survived because she was in another part of the house with a family friend. When Robert approached them, the friend who happened to be a local police officer, took him down.”
Esposito picked up the other files the lawyer had left with them. “There’s got to be more to the story than that.” He opened up one of the folders and frowned. “I think you have your work cut out for you.”
“What is it?” The Hispanic man handed him the papers. It contained domestic violence reports and copies of emergency room visits. A bunch of photos dropped out onto the table. Kate picked up one of them and held it out for them to see. It was a picture of a bunch of bruises around a little girl’s throat. Ryan gathered up the rest of the photos and looked through them. “So this is what she meant by him having to ‘talk to us about her situation.’”
His partner pulled one of the pictures out of his hands, “Bro, she’s got your eyes.” Kevin examined the picture closely, the little girl had black hair like her mother but there was no mistaking the deep blue eyes.
Beckett made an executive decision. “We don’t have any active cases at the moment. Ryan, take the rest of the day off. I’ll talk to Gates.”
Kevin nodded and Esposito jerked his head, “Come on bro, I’ll give you a lift.”
The Irish man twitched slightly, “Ah ... if you don’t mind, I’d like to stay here a bit and go over these.” He looked between Beckett and Javier as if seeking permission. Castle noted that it seemed like Ryan was extremely reluctant to leave.
“Yeah, sure. But just remember you’re off the clock.”
“Bro, mind if I stay?” Esposito looked like he wanted to say something else to his partner but instead he turned to Beckett, “Think Gates will mind?”
Kate tilted her head, “She doesn’t have to know, but if we get a case ...”
“Yeah, I got ya.” Beckett walked out with Castle in tow and Esposito turned to his friend. “So what’s your next move?”

tbc
Ugh, utterly and totally sick when I wrote this so please excuse any errors, hopefully it's coherent as well ...
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Lines of Responsibility