Author's Notes: Ever since the episode "The Lives of Others" aired, I couldn't help imagining what the "off-screen" action must have looked like. After far too long, I've managed to beat this thing into submission. I hope you enjoy!
Behind the Scenes
The curtain falls back into place behind the doctor as Katherine Beckett tries to stifle a sigh. So much for Bora Bora. She looks at her boyfriend, propped up in a bed in the ER.
"There goes our vacation plans," Richard Castle sighs.
"I'm afraid so," Kate agrees. He already looks so upset she can't bring herself to remind him about how his own stupidity landed him here in the first place. If he could just refrain from showing off sometimes… She leans over and kisses Rick's forehead. "We'll go later in the year."
"Won't be the same," he mutters.
"I know," she tells him. He, heck they had been looking forward to spending his birthday away from the city, just the two of them. And their plans for his birthday night… Well, maybe she can come up with something to make up for this.
By the next morning, they're back in the loft. While Rick sleeps under the influence of painkillers, Kate leafs through the day's paper and sips her coffee. She skims the real estate section, noting how rentals in different parts of the city have gone up or down. An address catches her eye: the building across the street from the Rick's loft has a few openings. In fact… Kate looks up from her spot on the couch. If she's not mistaken, she can actually see the windows of some of these apartments. An idea tickles the back of her mind.
"Good morning Katherine!" Martha's voice interrupts her thoughts. "How's our boy?"
"Still sleeping." Kate turns to look at the other woman. "He woke up in the middle of the night when the painkillers wore off."
Martha winces, clutching her own coffee mug closer to her chest as she settles onto the other end of the couch. "Yikes." Her eye takes in the section of newsprint sill in Kate's grasp. "Surely he's not so bad you're considering moving out?"
Kate chuckles. "No, I'm not. Actually, I just saw something that might be useful." She keeps talking, outlining her idea. Martha listens attentively and offers a few suggestions. Kate can feel her excitement building as they talk. Of course, the idea is just that, an idea, until she has a chance to check out a few things.
"Can you see me?" Kate asks, looking out the window of the apartment.
"Perfectly," Martha's voice filters back through the cell phone speaker. "Can you go in to the bedroom?" Kate does as requested. "Yes, I think that will do quite well."
"Great. I'll talk to you soon." Kate hangs up and returns to the living room. The building super, a tall gentleman named Lonny, watches her with an amused expression. "I'll take them both," she says, referring not only the apartment they currently stand in, but also the one two floors up they checked out first.
"Whatever you say, Detective," he replies. He'd listened patiently as Kate outlined her proposal, and had been nothing but helpful. But she can tell he thinks she's a little crazy. "I do have some paperwork you'll need to fill out. If you'll come back to my office?"
"Lead the way."
Over the next few days, preparations move quickly. Kate works on getting her team at the precinct involved, while Martha holds auditions at her acting school for the three major and assorted minor roles that need filled. Once the three leads are cast, Martha begins rehearsing with them. Rehearsals of sorts also begin for the non-actors, or at least as much as they can. Kate pulls in Alexis to start brainstorming contingency plans; after all, this little drama they're planning won't be scripted every step of the way. Some, like Captain Gates, will have a very short, defined role. Others, like Ryan and Esposito, have to be more flexible.
With input from Martha and permission from Captain Gates, Kate gets a couple of the tech gurus from the 12th to bug not only the loft but also the lower-level apartment, or as Martha insists on calling it, the Stage. The monitors are set up in the upper-level apartment, the Lookout. That way, Martha will be able to monitor the action in the loft and direct her actors in the Stage accordingly. Kate also reaches out to the owner of a 24-hour storage place a short distance from the apartment building. Jimmy Stevenson has known her dad for several years, and is happy to help out once she explains her plan.
Somehow, Rick remains oblivious to all of the plotting going on around him. Then again, he spends the first couple of days mostly in bed. The bugging of the loft is accomplished when Kate takes him to a doctor's appointment. An actual case for the 12th pops up five days after things get rolling; Kate is grateful that it provides something of a distraction for him as he pesters her with seemingly endless questions about the details.
Of course, just because there's police work to be done doesn't mean work stops on the surprise. In odd moments of quiet, Kate and the boys review the various ways things could play out. Captain Gates insists on rehearsing her part at least once. LT graciously stands in for Castle; later, he tells Kate that he hopes to never be on the receiving end of Gates' temper.
Finally, the day comes when everything is as ready as they can be. Kate gives Alexis the go ahead to give Rick the binoculars as a "joke". Martha prepares to depart the loft for her "spa trip". And the curtain rises.
Kate's phone blares to life only moments before her alarm. Somewhat awake, Kate sits up, silences the latter, and answers the former. "Beckett."
"We've got a body." Espo's voice is almost apologetic; he clearly remembers that things are supposed to start moving today.
"Of course we do," Kate sighs, glancing at Rick to make sure he's still asleep. Thankfully, he remains dead to the world. "Where?" Espo provides an address while Kate makes her way to the bathroom. "Think you and Ryan can swing by and pick me up? I want to make breakfast for Castle, and you can start Plan A when you get here."
"Sounds good, Boss. See you in a bit."
"Plan A is a go." Martha reads Kate's text to herself as she rides the elevator up to the Lookout. Entering the apartment, she finds her three leads, Brent, Michael, and Emily, in costume and ready, chatting with the other members of the class who will take part. The whole group looks at her as she steps inside. "Curtain up, darlings!"
As the day drags on, Martha gives thanks that she made sure her students had whole days' worth of actions worked out. Richard doesn't even look out the window until late afternoon, and after the opening scene his attention wanders again. Even with all of their preparation, Martha can tell this will be a long three days.
Kate can't quite believe it when Rick tells her to not worry about coming back to the loft towards the end of the second day. Not that they didn't plan for this, but it still stings. Before she gets back to work on her case, she texts Alexis and Martha. "I'm out for the night. Plan C."
Even though she knows everything has been staged oh-so-carefully, that none of it is real, Alexis can't help but get a little nervous when Dad insists on searching the Stage, particularly once he disappears into the bedroom. She knows Gram won't let anything happen to him, but still… As Dad finally gets into the elevator to head for the ground floor, she speaks out loud, knowing the bugs will pick up her words. "Well played, Gram, well played."
As soon as Kate and Dad leave the loft, Alexis speaks to the bugs again. "Scene change! Storage unit is a go. I'll let the Captain know to expect them soon."
The moment that worries Kate the most, has worried her since they planned things out, is when Castle is supposed to conclude the body is in the fridge. She knows what he's supposed to see, but she has no way of confirming it for herself. Hence what she feels is quite possibly the single most obvious line in the history of the world: "Would you like a drink from the fridge?"
Thankfully, she apparently worried over nothing. Rick immediately takes the line and runs with it exactly as they'd hoped.
Kate and Michael did manage to rehearse their confrontation a couple of times, something she feels incredibly grateful for now that it's time for the performance. As soon as the lights turn off, Brent, Emily, and others emerge from the bedroom with red-tinted stagehand's lights, laying out food, hanging the banner, and setting out the rest of the decorations. Within moments, everything is set, the flashlights are turned off, and they settle in to wait.
The best part of the whole night is Rick's smile. Sure, it wasn't Bora Bora. The kiss he gives Kate, though, tells her just how great a job she'd done with the replacement.