Chapter 1
The team of NYPD three plus one raised its bottles and toasted to a case well solved as they stood huddled around Kate's desk in celebratory mood, Montgomery's early departure that afternoon having permitted them the indulgence. It'd been a particularly difficult case, one involving a victim far too young and far too innocent, and its resolution had certainly earned them the dose of decompression.
"I still can't believe you kicked that dirtbag in the balls like that, Castle," Javi lauded with delight.
"It was pretty epic," Kevin chimed in in agreement. "Guy never saw it coming."
Rick blew on his fingernails and rubbed them across his lapel with conceit. "Stick with me, gents, and I shall learn you my many wondrous ways."
"The guy was already on the ground gasping for air, Castle," Kate pointed out, reminding him of his place. "You'll be lucky if he doesn't sue."
"Jealous I beat you to it, huh, Detective?" Rick retorted, immune to her attempted burst of his bubble. "I'll let you take the next package, how about that?" Javi and Kevin snickered in unison, and Rick's smug grin only grew with their encouragement.
"How about you zip it and I might let you stick around for the next one," Kate snapped, quieting the peanut gallery as she reached for her buzzing cell phone. "Hey, Dad," she answered, and the men clinked their bottle necks together yet again. "What time am I...shit, that's already this weekend?" The volume of her voice caused every head in the bull pen to snap in her direction, and her eyes drifted to Rick who looked back inquisitively, causing her to swiftly break away. "No, Dad, of course I'll be there," she assured him, sounding utterly miffed. "I'll call you when I leave here tomorrow. Yeah, love you, too, bye."
She stared crossly at her phone after she hung up, as though cursing it for delivering the reminder. "Everything cool, Beckett?" Javi asked. "You going somewhere with your pops this weekend?"
Kate pushed back from her desk and out of her chair. "We can deal with the rest of the paperwork tomorrow, you guys. I'm taking off." She grabbed her keys and her jacket without another word and walked off for the elevator.
Javi gave Kevin a look and they both gave Rick a look in turn, so he took off after her, catching her with one foot in the elevator. "Hey, that was all pretty sudden. Are you okay? Is your dad?"
"He's fine, Castle," she said in a tone that reflected anger with herself, not with him. The elevator door beeped at her, irritated at being held open longer than it cared to be. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"I guess, yeah, later," Rick agreed, hesitatingly so, and she disappeared from view.
xxxx
Kate left the precinct and headed for home, her options for the weekend she'd agreed weeks ago to be a part of preoccupying her mind. There were many things about herself she didn't understand, and the "plus one" RSVP she'd returned for this party was now forefront among them. At the time, she thought it would be easier than dealing with all the inevitable questions; she was so sick and tired of being asked about a man in her life, as though having one was some sort of magic wand that made everything better. She'd had men. It didn't.
And her Aunt Theresa-the birthday girl- was the worst one of all, the one who always asked if she could give out Kate's phone number to men she'd met at the market or engaged her in absurd conversations about what happens to a woman's body when it goes too long without sex. If she was anyone else's relative, Kate would surely find it amusing, but she wasn't, and it was exhausting.
She drove the unmarked home, knowing she'd have to bring a weekend bag with her in the morning, and she turned onto her street, circling the block twice in an unsuccessful search for a parking spot. She finally stopped in front of a fire hydrant and flipped on the hazards, pulled her phone from her pocket and called up Rick's number. She exhaled a sigh and had nearly pressed the button to dial before being distracted by a couple walking by. They were hand in hand and blissfully enamored of one another, and Kate turned back to her phone, to his name. It had to be face-to-face. Knowing him, there would be too much explanation involved and too much to make clear. Twenty minutes later, she pulled up to his building.
"Why, Katherine, hello," Martha said when she pulled open the loft door and found Kate on the other side. "To what do I owe the pleasure of an NYPD detective's visit this evening?"
"Hi, Martha, I'm sorry to just show up like this. He remembered me at the desk downstairs, so he said I could just come up."
"Well of course you should, darling, and look at you, for goodness' sake. Of course he remembered. Believe me, my son isn't the only one on whom you've made an impression." She reached out and gently tugged Kate inside. "Come in, come in," she said. "I was just about to pour myself a glass. Would you like one? If you're not on the clock, of course."
"I'm fine, Martha, thanks," Kate replied, furtively glancing around the loft for any sign of Rick.
"Richard said you all solved a big case today, congratulations. Well, to be honest, he took most of the credit. I imagine you're terribly shocked to hear that," she added wryly, leading Kate towards the kitchen. "You know, I don't believe I've properly thanked you for what you've done for him, Katherine. He truly is like a new man these days."
Kate looked at her curiously. She'd only known Rick for a few months and couldn't imagine what she'd done to deserve such glowing recognition. "I'm not sure that has much to do with me, Martha. I'm just-"
"Nonsense," Martha interjected with a swish of her hand. "You are far too modest, my dear. Now, it is true, my son has a gift with words, yes, but in the months before he met you, he had lost his love for them, and whatever spell it is you've cast has restored their connection. As his very proud and grateful mother, I offer you my thanks," she said, holding high her as yet empty glass.
Kate truly didn't know how to respond. Praise wasn't a place of comfort for her, especially when she felt it unwarranted. "Well, I'm glad to hear that, Martha," she offered as a hopeful out. "Um, speaking of Castle, is he here, by any chance?"
"Oh, not yet, darling, no," Martha said as she poured. "He phoned a little while ago to say he was stopping to pick up something for dinner, though, so I expect him shortly. Are you sure I can't get you something?"
Kate's mouth suddenly felt dry with the anticipation of his arrival. "Maybe some water, if it's not too much trouble."
"Beautiful and sensible, you see? It's no wonder you serve as such divine inspiration," Martha beamed. "One water, coming right up."
The loft's door opened just as Martha uncapped the water bottle to empty into a glass, and Rick kicked it shut behind him, a bag in each hand. "Thai has arrived, Mother," he called out, having not yet caught sight of her or their unexpected guest.
"Hello, Richard," she replied at half the volume. "Hope you brought home enough for three. Look who's come by."
"Beckett," he said, stopping in his tracks. "What are you doing here? I thought you went home."
"I'll get the plates," Martha mumbled, purposely ducking away, though no one was really paying any attention.
"Hey, Castle," Kate said as he made his way over. "Yeah, I did, but then...there's actually something I wanted to talk to you about, if you have a minute."
Rick set the bags of food up on the bar and pulled off his jacket. "For you, Detective, I have two, but maybe some food first? I bought enough for a football team, as usual."
"Honestly, Richard, there are people going hungry all over this city," Martha chimed in with her back still turned to both of them.
Kate smiled softly as Rick stuck his tongue out at his mother without her knowing it. "You don't have to feed me, Castle. I just need a few minutes, really."
"Oh, so now it's a few minutes? Well, I'm sorry, but I solved an important case today for the NYPD and I'm starving. I'm not sure I can make it through a few minutes without something in my stomach, so..." He pulled out one of the stools and gestured for her to sit. "Thai then talk, deal?"
Kate rolled her eyes for a multitude of reasons, but sat nonetheless. "You solved an important case today, huh? You know, I'm surprised a supposedly talented writer such as yourself has never heard of the pronoun 'we,' Castle," she teased, striking out at his grandiosity. "When's your birthday? Maybe I'll buy you a dictionary."
He pulled out the stool next to hers and dropped onto it. "Want to know the first word I'll look up? Sarcasm," he lobbed back with another flash of his tongue.
xxxx
Martha excused herself after they all had a bite to eat, her exit preceded by a motherly admonishment to Kate to work on accepting recognition when recognition was deserved. Kate accepted the advice with a smile and hoped Rick hadn't overheard, but, unfortunately, she wasn't that lucky. All she wanted was to get the embarrassment of what she'd come to do over with and get the hell out of there.
"What was that about, what Mother said? Oh, wait, if she was trying to pull that whole life coach thing on you, I'm telling you right now, do not sign up, not on an NYPD salary, which, in an ironic twist is a crime, if you ask me." He reached for Kate's plate but stopped before pulling it away. "Sure I can't get you any more? For someone who didn't want to eat, you sure did impress-and, yes, that was deserved recognition," he remarked cleverly.
"She wasn't pulling anything, Castle, and thank you, I've had more than enough...of a lot of things," she groused, though playfully so. "No, we were just, you know, having a little chat before you got home about how I've single-handedly turned your writing career around. That's all." She sipped from the wine she'd eventually conceded to, taking in his reaction from beneath her lashes. "I tried to tell her how silly a notion that was, but she just wouldn't listen. Selective hearing must run in the family."
Rick continued to busily wipe down the counter in the ensuing lull. "I'm sorry, did you say something, Detective?" he quipped, flicking her with droplets of water from his damp fingers. "I kid, of course, but Mother wasn't, actually," he continued, pivoting for the sink. "You have done that. Who knows what the hell I'd be doing if you hadn't come along. Well, besides continuing to grace the world with my endless wit and charm, I mean." He stepped back towards her with waggle of his brow. "I'd be more than happy to demonstrate just how grateful I am, if you're interested."
She thought on it a moment-or pretended to for effect-and left him stewing in her silence, realizing as they stared each other down that that was her way in. "Come to think of it, Castle," she began, and he pushed in closer across the counter, "there is something I'd like you to do."
"I like the sound of this already," he broke in enthusiastically. "Name it, and do it slowly."
Suddenly, all the uneasiness Kate had arrived with faded away. She knew well enough by now how to play his game, and how to beat him at it. Pushing in towards him from her side of the bar, they were within inches of each other, her eyes on his, then on his lips and back up again. The realization that she could probably get him to do just about anything for her in that moment instantly fueled her buzz, and she liked it.
"I want you...to come with me..." she said deliberately, seductively even, before pushing the rest of her thought out in rapid-fire fashion, "to a family event upstate this weekend and to pretend that we're dating."
Rick never broke eye contact, never flinched, never changed his expression, and though she masked it well, he could tell how rattled she was by it. "Okay," he replied simply, and that was all.
Kate backed away from him with the distinct look of a suspicious cop. "Okay?" Her tone-it almost seemed she didn't understand.
"Sure? Yes? You bet?" he offered whimsically in its place. "Would you prefer one of those?"
"You're agreeing just like that? No questions asked?"
Rick swallowed his grin, wholly amused by her reaction to the answer he assumed she came there for. "Look, Beckett, I may not be the smartest man out there, but I'm certainly not stupid. A very hot woman just asked me to go away and play with her for the weekend. Why the hell would I pass up a chance like that?"
Kate raised her finger in objection before he even finished talking. "A very hot woman with a gun just asked you to perform a service as a friendly favor, Castle. And you should make sure you understand that distinction right now or, I promise, you risk injury."
"Tomayto, tomahto, hot woman. Either way, I'm in." He spun again on his heels and tossed the sponge across the kitchen into the sink like a basketball. "Sexy, right? I do have one requirement, though, and it's a deal breaker, Detective."
"What do you want, Castle?" she asked with a sigh of irritation.
"Well, and that question sounds good on you, by the way," he said interrupting himself, "yours truly gets to drive this time."
Kate shook her head, having expected something exactly that adolescent. "Fine, but don't get used to it, Castle, because it won't be happening again."
"Oh, this is gonna be fun," he chirped.