Mr. Right
Disclaimer: The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC.
Author's Note. Another Au set after the freezer/dirty bomb incident. With Kate wrapped up in Josh Castle finally has had enough. He walks away without telling anyone. Paula, his agent knows him and can sense that something is wrong and she is pretty sure what it is. She gets an Idea, Get him on stage, and get him a slot on Mr. Right. This is not a crossover story per se but there will be minor appearances from Commissioner Reagan and Erin Boyle from CBS television's Blue Bloods.
Chapter One
Castle has had enough. After all he and Beckett have been through he thought she might finally see what she meant to him and maybe find that he meant something to her, something more than a partner. But there she was, walking away with Josh. He didn't even have enough emotion left to call him Dr. Motorcycle boy.
Actually he'd had more than enough. He was done. If she wanted a man who was gone more than he was here, a man that didn't put her first in his life, if she couldn't see that Castle was always there to support her, there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't stop loving her, he was smart enough to know that but that didn't mean he couldn't learn to love someone else or at least care for someone else enough to share a life with her.
He was not meant to be a loner. He enjoyed the company of women but the time working with Beckett had changed him for the better. The hedonistic life style of a playboy no longer appealed to him. He never was as into it as his publisher and the tabloids had made out but he wasn't anywhere near celibate either.
He had been celibate for some time now, waiting for Beckett. Well that had been a waste of time. No more celibacy either. As he walked off, he heard Esposito and Ryan call out to him.
"Hey Castle, Hey Bro." He didn't answer them he just waved and kept walking.
He caught a cab and on the ride back to his loft, thought about what he was going to do. He realized that he liked working with the department. It gave him a renewed sense of purpose and dedication. He liked who he had become. He was going to take a hiatus for a month or two and then ask Montgomery to recommend a new division to work with and his friend the mayor to aid with the commissioner if necessary.
He got home and called Paula, his agent and told her that he would finish the Nikki Heat book he was working on, and then he wanted her to break the contract for any more. He also told her that he was going to his cabin in the Adirondacks for a couple of weeks, not the Hamptons house and not to tell anyone where he was. He also told Martha where he would be but not to tell anyone. He emphasized anyone. Nor should she admit that she talked with him.
The last thing he had to do was talk to Captain Montgomery before he left. He didn't want to burn all his bridges with the NYPD. He needed the captain to understand and accept his decision if he wanted his help later. The captain answered his phone on the second ring.
"Captain Montgomery speaking. Oh, Hi Castle. What can I do for you?"
Castle took a deep breath. "Captain, can I speak to you in complete confidence? He received the captain's assurance.
" In the time that I've been shadowing Detective Beckett I think that I've become a much better man than I was and I like to think that I've been a benefit to the precinct. Unfortunately, I've developed strong feelings for Beckett. Oh hell, I love her. But she just sees me as her partner, at least when she's not seeing me as a pain in the ass.
I don't want to quit working with the department but I can't watch Beckett making out with her boyfriend's right in front of me. So I'm going to leave the 12th. I'm taking a few months off and then I'd like to come back. Perhaps you could go to bat for me, either in another precinct or perhaps a division other than homicide. Oh and could you sit on it for a week or so?"
Captain Montgomery sighed heavily. He'd seen this coming but couldn't interfere with his detective's private lives. He hated to lose Castle's services for so many reasons beyond the significant rise in closure rates since he'd been here.
"Okay Castle, I completely understand and I'm sorry as hell that you feel that way. However when you're ready to come back I'll be glad to give you any assistance I can. I know for a fact that the department will welcome you back anywhere you want to go."
Kate Beckett was given a few days off to recuperate from the freezer and bomb incidents. She was happy to spend those days with Josh now that he'd come back from Haiti. She thought that they really had a chance for something and completely dismissed castle from her thoughts. Until she got back to the precinct. She walked into the precinct, a little late that Monday fully expecting to see Castle smiling at her from his chair with coffee and a bear claw sitting on her desk.
She was unpleasantly surprised. No bear claw, no coffee, no Castle. She noticed Ryan giving her a strange look.
"Hey guys, have you seen Castle today?" She asked. Ryan and Esposito both shook their heads.
"He hasn't been back or checked in with us since the dirty bomb." Esposito said.
"Yeah not since you…" Ryan stopped in mid- sentence.
"Not since I what?" Beckett asked.
"Er.. Nothing, never mind." Ryan looked away.
"Not since I what?" Beckett said, this time with emphasis.
"Not since you walked off with your arm around Dr. Motorcycle Boy, completely ignoring a man who saved all our lives." Ryan snapped. Beckett was shocked. Mild mannered Kevin Ryan never talked back to her.
Esposito chimed in. "He's right you know. That was pretty cold." Beckett got defensive.
"What did he expect? Josh is my boyfriend, you know."
"Yeah, we know but Castle deserved better from you, of all people." Esposito said.
Kate started to snap back at Esposito and Ryan but stopped, when she realized just how selfish her actions had been.
She immediately pulled out her phone and called Castle. It rang once and went directly to voice mail. "You have reached the mail box of Richard Castle. I am not available at this time. Leave a message. I'll reply if I think that it's worthwhile."
Beckett was shocked at the cold tone of the message. It was totally unlike castle. She sent;
"Castle its Beckett. When are you coming in? Call me." By the end of the day, there was no return call. She called five times the next day and the next. With the same results. By the end of the week she was frustrated and angry. How dare he ignore her?
Friday evening she stormed off to Castle's loft and knocked furiously at the door. After a long wait, the door finally opened, Martha Rodgers standing there. Martha had always been nice to Beckett so she controlled her tone.
"Good evening Martha, is Castle in? I would like to speak to him." The usual warmth was gone from Martha's voice.
"He's not here Detective Beckett and I don't know where he is. He left me a note saying that he was taking a short vacation to think about things. He does check in with Alexis every night. If he calls me I will tell him that you dropped by. Good evening Detective." Martha closed the door.
A chill ran down Kate's spine. Think about things, just exactly did that mean. Could it mean that he wasn't coming back to the precinct? That he wasn't coming back to her? Coming back to her. How could she think something like that? She was with Josh. Josh made her happy, didn't he?
Josh. Oh my God. Her date with Josh was in an hour and she hadn't gotten ready. She had to hurry home. She went home, took a quick shower and changed into the sexy red dress that Josh liked. And waited and waited. An hour later she got a call from Josh. He was sorry that he couldn't make the date but he was in an important meeting. He would call her in the morning. Kate barely restrained herself from hurling her phone against the wall. Her nice dinner date in her sexy red dress turned into an evening on the couch with a bottle of red wine.
Saturday, her nice little fantasy world imploded. Josh called up and said that he was sorry about the date but something had come up. He knew that he'd told her that he'd come back from Haiti for her but doctors without borders had called him and that he was desperately needed in Africa. It was only for three months but then he'd be back and they could go on from there.
Kate's temper exploded and with that explosion came an epiphany. She was never really in love with Josh. She liked him a lot, even loved him but it wasn't the kind of love she needed and she just might have ruined the one chance for real love she had.
"You Know Josh, it might as well be three years. We are over. Don't bother calling me again. Don't try to see me. Your stuff that's here will be in a bag in the lobby."
She immediately called Lanie. "Lanie, I need you to come over here, right now if you can. I've made the worst mistake of my life and I need your help." Lanie arrived with two bottles of wine, a bottle of vodka and an extra- large meat lover's pizza. It was going to be that kind of afternoon. Kate Beckett was not normally a crier but as soon as Lanie set the pizza down, the floodgates opened. "Oh Lanie, she cried, I've blown it, I've totally screwed my life up and I don't know how or even if I can fix it. I just broke up with Josh but I broke up with him too late. I ignored Castle, I even pushed him away and now he's gone. He won't take my calls, he's not at his loft and Martha won't tell me where he is.
Lanie said; "I tried to warn you, tried to tell you Castle loved you but you wouldn't listen to me. Everyone in the precinct could see it except you. Or you could and wouldn't admit it."
Kate hung her head. "I know, she whispered. And I love him, I don't know why I acted the way I did."
"Do you want him back Kate, really want him back? Are you willing to do whatever it takes?"
"Yes I do. I want him back but not just as my partner. I want him in my life. I want him in my bed!"
"He'll be back in the city soon, you know how much he loves this city. When he gets back we'll figure out a way to get want you want but it won't be easy girlfriend."
By late afternoon, two women were both thoroughly drunk.
Kate had been foolishly hoping that Rick's anger would only last a few more days and then she'd be able to reach him and start on the path to rekindling their relationship and taking it far beyond the level it had been at. Taking it to the time she was Mrs. Kate Castle. As soon as she arrived at the precinct, Monday morning she went into the break room and made a cup of coffee. It didn't taste right, somehow it was bitter.
The coffee wasn't the only thing that was going to leave a bitter taste in her mouth that day. Captain Montgomery stepped out of his office. He cleared his throat to get his officer's attention.
"I am sorry to announce that Richard Castle has informed me that he will no longer be working with the 12th precinct. He thanks you all for your kindness to him in the past. That is all."
Kate jumped up and ran to the bathroom, not caring who saw her tears. She leaned against the counter, her shoulders heaving with the force of her sobs. Our kindness to him? What a crock. If I'd be kind to him I'd be sipping my coffee right now, looking at that goofy smile."
Richard Castle spent a month in his cabin, finishing the book, exploring the woods and doing a little shooting at a local range. Very few people knew that Lieutenant Richard Rodgers had spent four years after college in the U.S. Army's Tenth Mountain Division, stationed at Fort Drum New York. He'd never seen combat and was discharged after four years after a back injury. Not serious enough to permanently disable him, but enough to end his military career. But during his time in the army he'd developed a love of the woods and a keen interest in firearms and marksmanship.
So after getting his head straight he packed up and headed back to the loft. Arriving at the loft he found both Alexis and Martha waiting for him. He grinned at his daughter and pulled her into an embrace. "Miss me Pumpkin?"
"Yes, I did. Damn it Dad, you can't just disappear like that, it upset a lot of people." Castle scoffed. "Besides You and the vulture at Black Pawn, who? Mother knew that I wasn't too far away and I called both of you every night. Paula knew where I was too."
Alexis rolled her eyes. Castle knew where she picked up that mannerism and he didn't like it.
"Who was upset dad? Let's see; Gina, Uncle Bob, Commissioner Reagan, Chief McDaniel's, Detective Beckett, Detectives Esposito and Ryan, Dr. Parish just to name those who called here."
"Okay Pumpkin I get the point but in reality, I don't have to answer to any of them. I will however, call Bob and Frank they're old friends and do deserve an explanation. I'll probably call Captain Montgomery as well." Martha spoke.
"What about Detective Beckett? She stopped by here four times don't you owe her some courtesy?"
Castle grimaced. "Not really. She probably hasn't found anyone else to bring her treats. Besides, Congreve's most famous quote doesn't only apply to women. You know, the misquote that's usually attributed to Shakespeare."
"Starting tomorrow I'm going to move out to the Hamptons house for a couple of months. I want to work on a couple of different story lines for a new series and I don't need the distractions of the city. I may even decide to go back to the Nikki Heat series if I can find a way to go with her. I have a new phone. I want you two to put the number in your phones. I 'm leaving the old phone here. Not getting rid of it, just taking it out of service for a while. Right now I'm going to take a nap. Tonight I want you two to get dressed to the nines, for a fabulous dinner and that new musical."
