I do not own Castle or any of the characters from the show. The characters I create are mine, as is the plot - however crazy it might be.
This first chapter is pretty light and fluffy - but the story will soon turn much darker. It will include lots of angst and whump. For those of you who don't know my writing - my stories can contain heavy duty, detailed whump. If you don't like this, please don't read - or at least don't complain, as you've been warned.
"Call me", he murmured as he kissed her goodbye. "I wish I could go in with you."
"Mmm, me too", she said softly, slowly trailing her lips down his neck. "But you have to finish that chapter."
"I know." He shivered and thrust his hand in her hair. "But it could wait – a little while."
"No", she let her tongue trail back up, until she reached the roughness of his jaw. "I can't be late my first day back."
"Why not", he asked, unbuttoning the top button of her blouse. "They'd understand."
"No they wouldn't", she answered, tilting her head back to allow him access to the dip between her breasts. "We had three weeks – three glorious weeks – on a tropical island. It's time to go back to work."
"Tell me that's what you want", he told her as he nudged aside her bra, "and I'll let you go."
"Castle!"
"Yes Mrs. Castle?" he smirked, letting his tongue glide over the rosy peak of her nipple. "You can't can you?"
She groaned and let him lead her back to bed. What the hell – they weren't going to fire her for being a few minutes late. It wasn't as if she made a habit of it.
"Hey Beckett!" Ryan called out to her. "Welcome back!"
"Hi Ryan", she grinned. "How's everything going?"
"Fine just fine. How was – uh – your honeymoon?"
"Hey man, you don't ask a lady a question like that!" Javi walked up behind his partner. "Hey Beckett, you're lookin' good."
"Thanks guys. And to answer your question Kevin – my honeymoon was great!"
"I assume that's why you're late Detective?" Captain Gates was standing in the doorway, a frown on her face. "Welcome back but don't think that you can come in anytime you want, just because you're married to some rich author now."
"I don't Sir", she answered, biting her lip, although whether it was because she was nervous, or because she was trying not to smile, well she'd never tell.
"Fine", Gates nodded. "We missed you Kate. You're looking good."
"Feeling good Sir", said the tanned and relaxed looking detective, breaking out in a smile. "And ready to get back to work. And sorry about being late – uh -"
"No need to explain Detective", Gates smirked. "I know what it's like to be a newlywed. Now, get to work."
After the Captain was gone, a rather red-faced Kate turned to her partners. "So – how's everything?"
Both men were looking at her, brows raised and knowing looks on their faces. They didn't say anything – just stared.
"Oh for heaven's sake", she said, sitting down at her desk. "Get your minds out of the gutter."
"Gutter?" Javi turned to his partner. "Hey Bro – my mind isn't in the gutter. Is yours?"
"Nope. Just standing here, minding my own business. Can I help it if Beckett thinks we even think about things like that?"
"Oooh", Esposito wrinkled up his nose. "Us? Think about Castle and – hell no." He grinned. "Welcome back partner."
"Thanks guys", she shook her head, but a small grin appeared on her face. "Miss me?"
"Miss you?" Esposito looked surprised. After a glance at Kevin he turned back. "Hell ya. Things weren't the same without you. So tell me, how was that private island in the Maldives?"
"It was -" she got a faraway look in her eyes. It was only on Ryan's cough that she came back to the present. "Uh – sorry. It was amazing. The most beautiful place you've ever seen."
"You actually saw it?" Javier asked with a smirk.
"So what did you do?" Kevin asked, giving his partner the evil eye.
"Okay, now that's just not cool", his more world-wise partner told him. "First you ask how her honeymoon was and then you ask what they did. Man – didn't you just get married a couple of years ago? Don't you remember what you did on your honeymoon?"
"Well of course I do", Ryan said with a roll of his eyes. "But that's not all we did. We did some sightseeing too and swam and – you know, all the stuff you do on vacation."
"Guys – my honeymoon was great. We swam and read and ate and rode around the island. I'll show you some pictures when we have time, okay?"
"Really?' Espo asked. "Won't Castle mind."
"Oh for God's sake!" she shook her head. "Do we have a murder? Please tell me we have a murder?"
The rest of the day Kate spent looking over a couple of cases that had occurred while she was gone and that hadn't been solved. The rest of the time was spent fending off the well-meaning teasing of her colleagues. It wasn't just Javier and Kevin – everyone seemed intent on making sly innuendos or sometimes being downright – suggestive – in their comments. Most of them knew they'd been living together before the wedding, but that didn't seem to matter. They were enjoying the teasing way too much. A couple of times she wished Castle were here with her, but she quickly forgot that. It would have been worse if he'd been present.
She wondered suddenly if that was the reason for his sudden need to write. He probably suspected that they'd have to endure all sorts of teasing and that's why he decided not to come to the precinct. Oooh – she'd get him for that.
"Hey, what's up girl? You look like you're about to arrest someone."
"Lanie!" she cried, standing up and hugging her friend. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here? I came to see my best friend, who couldn't be bothered to step over to the morgue to see me!"
"Uh – that sounds rather creepy you know", Kate wrinkled her nose. "And I was going to stop in – I've just been dealing with a couple of cases – and everybody harassing me."
"Well of course they're harassing you Kate. We all watched you go through years of avoiding Castle's attempts at seduction and then two years of you dating and being", she shivered, "all cozy with each other. We have a right to tease you now that you're finally married." Lanie looked around and then pulled her friend towards the coffee room. "Okay – spill. I want all the details."
"Of my honeymoon?" Kate asked, her brows raised in disbelief.
"Well of course your honeymoon", Lanie said, rolling her eyes. "What else do you think I mean. Was it good? Was he – romantic? And tell me, what's it like to have your very own private island for three weeks? Girl, if you weren't my friend I'd slap you silly out of jealousy. I'll be lucky to go to Atlantic City for my honeymoon."
"You're going to have a honeymoon? Don't you need to have a boyfriend, then get engaged and then get married for that?"
"Kate, do not try and change the subject. I want to know what happened down there. Did you walk around naked or were there people around?" She frowned – "or maybe you walked around naked even with people around?"
Kate shook her head and smiled. "You want some coffee?" she walked over to the coffee maker – the one that Rick had purchased – and began to make a cappuccino.
"I want details Kate, details. If you won't tell me I'll have to ask Castle."
Kate laughed. "You think he's going to tell you?"
"Yeah, of course. So come on, tell."
Kate sighed and set a cup of coffee in front of her friend and then sat down herself. "There's not a lot to tell. It was gorgeous. We had this tiny tropical island to ourselves – except for the small staff that looked after the place. There was a cook and a lady who cleaned and a guy – I guess you could call him a butler. They were attentive but disappeared when we didn't need them – which was most of the time." She grinned at the memory of their quiet time together. It had been so –
"KATE!"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. Well, I told you, the place was gorgeous. It was right by the water and had windows on all sides. Most of the time it was warm enough to leave them open and let the ocean breeze just waft over us. There was a swimming pool and a whirlpool, but most of the time we swam in the ocean."
"Bathing suits?"
Kate grinned and shook her head. "Nope."
"Yes!", Lanie squealed. "I thought so! So – what else?"
"Well, the food was delicious. There was a chef and he made the most delectable meals – anytime we wanted. We had an amazing stereo system, a movie room, access to the internet – so we could watch whatever we wanted. But mostly we just relaxed and spent time together. It was – nice – not to have any interruptions or anything from the outside world to bother us. We talked and listened to music. I was able to read some novels I've wanted to read for a while."
Lanie raised her eyebrow. "Girl, are you telling me you watched movies and read books on your honeymoon?"
Kate stood up and set her cup in the dirty dish tray. With a smirk she looked at her friend. "Only when we were really - tired", she said. With that she turned around and sauntered back to her desk. Lanie laughed, finished her coffee and followed her.
"So – tired?"
"Very tired and very happy."
"Good! That's what a honeymoon should be. Not this reading crap."
Kate laughed again. "You in for a girl's night out?" she asked, knowing they both had to get back to work.
"Of course. What about Castle?"
"Nah, I don't think he would really like a girl's night – at least not with anyone but me."
"That's not what I meant and you know it Kate Beckett. He won't mind you going out?"
"Of course not. He'll probably enjoy a guy's night. He hasn't played poker with his writing buddies for a while. I'll suggest he call them up. It'll be fun."
"Yeah, it will. It's good to see you looking so good Kate. I'm happy for you."
"Thanks Lanie", Kate turned and gave her friend a hug. "I'll show you some pictures of the island", she told her friend.
"You had time to take pictures?"
"Yeah – between – other things."
Laughing again, Lanie made her way back to work, more than pleased for her friend.
Castle called once – he told her he was being good to not but her – but texted her countless times during the day. Most of them were funny – or sweet – and made her either laugh or want to hug him. By the end of the day she just wanted to return home. She was becoming a total sap – she missed him after just one day.
"Hey", he called when she walked in. He quickly moved over to her and gave her a kiss. "I missed you."
"Mmm – me too. I think I want to go back to the island", she told him. She grabbed a hold of his shirt and reached up and kissed him.
"That would be nice – although it might be a tad expensive."
"Was it?" she asked, suddenly serious. She had known it must cost a small fortune, but she hadn't had the courage to ask exactly how much. "Rick, tell me you didn't spend a fortune on our honeymoon."
"Nope, didn't spend a fortune."
"Rick", she chided. "The truth. We're married now so you have to tell me."
"Really? I don't remember that from the vows."
"Rick!"
"Okay, okay. No, it didn't cost a fortune", he repeated. "In actual fact, I didn't pay much at all – just had to pay for the staff and food and the plane tickets."
"What? How come? Rick, what did you do?" she asked suspiciously.
"Hey – nothing illegal, I promise. The owner of that island is a Middle Eastern prince, who happens to love my books. He invited me to come to his estate in Bahrain for a book reading and we kind of got to know each other. He's always wanted me to write a character after him. When I was thinking about our honeymoon I remembered him mentioning the island – and that he was hardly ever there. I called him up and asked if we could use it. I then happened to mention that I was thinking of using him as the basis for a character in my next Nikki Heat book. The next thing I knew he told me we could use the island, and we only had to pay for staff. So – there."
"Wow! And this character – you're really going to do it?"
"Of course." He suddenly got a devilish grin on his face. "I'm gonna make him the villain."
"Rick! You're not?"
"Yes I am – and he'll love it. He likes to be thought of as a bad boy. I'll just make sure to make him smart and debonair. Villains are almost always more fun to write anyway."
She shook her head and gave him another kiss. "More fun than Nikki?"
"No one is more fun than Nikki", he answered, kissing her back.
"Well, I'm at least I'm glad to know you didn't bankrupt yourself for our honeymoon."
"Ourselves and nope – not quite, although you did eat a lot."
She swatted him. "For that you get no sex tonight", she told him.
"That's the way to keep him in line", Martha's voice interrupted their teasing as she walked into the room.
Kate could feel herself go red. "Martha – I'm sorry, I didn't know you were home."
"Oh, don't worry about me", the older woman said, heading over and giving Kate a hug. "Welcome home. I hope you had a good trip – although Richard, if your bride of three weeks is already threatening to withhold sex, it wasn't as good as it should have been."
He shook his head in mock disgust and took off his jacket. "Mother – did no one ever teach you how to behave in polite society?"
"Of course they did – and when I'm in polite society I act perfectly respectably. So, was the honeymoon good?"
"It was wonderful", Kate answered. "I was just saying I wished we could have stayed longer."
"Longer than three weeks? My, it must have been a good honeymoon.
"Oh, it was!" her son smirked. He reached over and grabbed his new wife and pulled her to him. "How could it be any different with Kate as my bride?"
Martha sighed and headed towards the stairs. "Well, if you're going to get all mushy now, I'm going to go to my room. And don't get carried away you too. The last thing I want is to walk down and catch you two cavorting." Martha waved her hand at the two love-birds as she tossed her words over her shoulder and headed to her bedroom.
"And I thought it would be okay to have my mother and daughter live with us?" Castle asked gloomily.
"You love them", Kate gave him a peck on the cheek. "Come on, what's for dinner? I'm starving."
"You coming in with me today?" she asked, rolling over and trailing her finger down his bare chest. "I missed you yesterday."
He groaned and grabbed her hand. "I'd love to, but I'm just about finished the next chapter. I tell you what, let me work on it this morning and I'll head over and meet you for lunch."
"Okay", she sighed and pushed herself up. "And no, don't try and detain me. I almost got into trouble for being late yesterday morning and I can't do it two days in a row."
"You did it for way more than that on our honeymoon", he told her suggestively.
She swatted his hand away. "I meant being late. No", she stood up quickly. "As much as I'd like to stay, I really do have to get going." She leaned down and gave him a swift kiss, but stood up again before he could react.
As she headed out of the shower and into their bedroom she saw that Rick was just getting up. "Is your mother around this morning?"
"No – she's spending the day with a couple of old acting friends of hers. She told me she'd be home late."
"Well then, you should get lots written", she told him. "With Alexis gone for the rest of the summer and your mother out, it'll be nice and quiet around here."
"Too quiet", he muttered, sounding aggrieved.
"I thought you liked writing", she laughed.
"I do – it's just – I'd rather be solving murders with you today."
"Well, if I get a new murder I'll call and you can come in, okay?"
"Alright." He accepted a goodbye kiss from her and then headed into the bathroom.
Once showered and changed he had a quick breakfast and made his way into his study. Sighing, he sat down and booted up his computer. He really did love writing, but he had to be in the mood for it and today, well, he just wasn't.
After an hour spent trying to figure out a single scene he finally gave up. Maybe if he went out and got a bit of fresh air it would help. He glanced at his watch and realized it was already ten o'clock. He'd have to head down to the station in a couple of hours to take Beckett out for lunch.
He put his computer in sleep mode, grabbed his keys and made his way to the door. He'd head down the street to the coffee shop and grab himself a drink. He didn't need to – he had a perfectly good machine at home – but he wanted to get out and clear his brain. Maybe walking down the streets of New York would put him back in the mood to write about murder. Right now he still had too much of the tropical island – and Kate - in his mind. His mood was too soft, too gentle to be dreaming up murderers.
He walked slowly down the street, enjoying the warm summer sun. It wasn't as nice as the Maldives, but it was home, and there was something vital about a New York summer. He took a deep breath and wanted to laugh. Yup, he was home.
He was walking past a small alleyway just down from his building – more of a lane than anything – when he heard a faint noise. At first he didn't think anything of it, but when it happened again he turned his head – and almost jumped back in surprise. A man was standing almost directly beside him and it had scared him.
"Sorry", he said quickly. "I didn't see you there. Daydreaming I guess."
The man laugh and a weird sense of foreboding came over him. Figuring it was just his overactive imagination, he smiled. "Uh – have a nice day." He took a step forward when the man's hand shot out and gently took his arm.
"No Richard, don't leave."
This time he felt an actual shiver of fear streak up his spine. He recognized that voice, although he couldn't quite place it. But when he looked he was sure he didn't recognize the face. "What do you want? Who are you?" he asked, pulling his arm away. He tried to take another step, glancing around to see if anyone was near. For once the street was empty of people.
"Why Richard, I'm devastated. I was sure you'd remember me." Barely moving, he man reached into his pocket and took out a pistol. "Why don't you come with me and we can get reacquainted", he said softly.
"It's you, isn't it?" Castle whispered, suddenly figuring it out. "I knew you didn't die."
The man laughed. "You are smarter than you look. Of course I didn't die. I just wanted to – disappear. I had the whole thing planned."
"If you'd wanted to disappeaer, why are you back? Why are you letting me know you're alive?"
"Because you and I have some unfinished business. I've been watching you since before your wedding but this was the first chance I've had to find you alone. It's not that I wouldn't welcome that beautiful bride of yours, but for now it's just you I want. Enough already – I told you to come with me." He gestured with his gun.
"I'm not going with you. Do you think I'm insane?" Rick took a step away, flinching when he saw the gun move. He could easily get shot, although he suspected that the man wouldn't chance shooting him here, now where someone could happen along at any moment. However, if he was stupid enough to follow him then he was pretty sure he wouldn't live long.
"So suspicious." The man shook his head. "Well then, I'm afraid I have no choice." He lifted the gun and pointed it directly at Castle's chest. With a small laugh, he squeezed the trigger.
Rick watched as the gun rose, and wondered briefly if this was it. Was he about to die? He watched as Tyson – it could only be him, even if his face was different – pulled the trigger. He heard a noise, although it wasn't as loud as he had suspected, and felt a burning pain in his chest.
Damn it. He'd just gotten married. This was so unfair. As he fell lifelessly to the ground, his last thought was of Kate and Alexis and his Mother. God – he was so sorry.
Jerry Tyson looked down at him and smiled. With a glance around, he pocketed the gun and reached down to pull Castle into the shadow of the alley. The fun was just beginning.