This is my first Castle-fanfic with several chapters. Again, English isn't my first language, so thanks to Angie for beta-reading and the encouragement.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Castle," and all the characters belong to Mr. Marlowe and ABC.

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Chapter 1 – Captain Gates

"Mr. Castle, can I have a word?"

Castle looked up from his phone, having played Angry Birds for the last 30 minutes because paperwork really was not what he had in mind when it came to having fun.

"Sure."

He got up from his seat in the break room and followed the Captain to her office. He didn't dread those meetings anymore since lately she seemed at least to tolerate him. On his way Castle saw Beckett taking her jacket from the back of her chair and leaving the precinct. An uncomfortable sense of déjà-vu let him frown for a second but then he remembered how angry he still was at her. It wasn't his business anymore why she leaves work so shortly after lunchtime.

Castle entered the Captain's office, a forced smile on his face. Everything was forced these days.

"Take a seat, please."

"I'd rather stand."

Captain Gates paused for a moment, taking in the man standing before her. He lacked the usual charming and easy-going smile, and behind the cocky attitude of his short answer he looked tired. He looked as tired as the cop she just sent home early.

"Listen, Mr. Castle, I don't know what happened between you and Detective Beckett," Castle's gaze hardened at the mention of her name, "but I suggest you two sort it out because it's affecting the work of my people."

"There is nothing to sort out, sir," he said in an almost rude tone.

She looked him straight in the eyes for a few seconds and then she stood up from her chair.

"Don't try to play games with me, Mr. Castle. You have proven yourself a helpful member of the team in the last months, but I will kick you out if you don't change the attitude you have going on over the last two weeks. No more showing up and disappearing whenever you want, leaving the people who count on you hanging – either you work with those people or you don't. I am not interested in the personal drama between you and Detective Beckett, but I will interfere when it affects her ability to do her job because she spends five straight nights on the couch in the break room rather than going home."

Castle looked up, concern fleeting over his face before he could stop it. Five days. He thought back to five nights ago, the night after they wrapped up the case with the British Scotland Yard detective – "The Slimey," as Castle called him in his head after he saw him flirting openly with Beckett.

Beckett came to his loft that night, wanting to talk to him, but before she could say anything, Rick had told her that there was nothing left to say, that he knew she lied and that he wasn't interested in her excuses. He saw all color leave her face, and she had stumbled, forced to seek support at the kitchen counter where they stood. His long trained instincts almost made him jump to help, but the boiling rage in him forced the feeling down. She had tried to apologize, but he had cut her off, and finally she had left his apartment.

Gates' voice shook him out of the memories.

"A word of advice, Mr. Castle. Inflicting pain on someone you care about isn't going to solve anything, especially not if it is about getting even. So, I suggest you rethink your strategy, because I will not sacrifice a damn good detective for your petty revenge game."

She looked hard at him, trying to see if her words had any effect, but Richard Castle had a superb poker face, and he used it much too often these days.

"Now get out of my office. I don't want to see you out there for the rest of the week."

She dismissed him, and Castle felt like a reprimanded schoolboy as he left the office. He took his leather jacket and went to the elevator, taking the same way out Beckett had earlier.

He didn't plan on coming back.

tbc...

AN: I plan to do several short one-shots about how their fallout affects the people around them. Reviews are very welcome as I'm not sure if I get the voices of the characters always right. And I can't say right now if this will become a fix-it fic; I have to see where the characters want to go.