So this is just a little one shot I came up with while trying to sleep. I don't know if this idea has been done before but I hope you like it. Any mistakes made are my own.
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle although like most of you I wish I did.
Richard Castle, best selling author had been sitting in his office for two hours now. He had been staring at the documents that had arrived for him that morning. He stared down for what he guessed was the hundredth time that morning and sighed, no they were still the same. Kate Beckett had served him with divorce papers.
As he looked down at them again something inside him snapped. He didn't want this, and he knew that she didn't either. He would die before he signed the simple piece of paper stating that they were no longer married.
He stood up forcefully from his chair and made his way out of the loft that he shared with his daughter, his mother was on tour for the next few months. Kate had moved out the month earlier and hadn't returned. He grabbed his keys from the bowl and headed to the one place he hadn't been for the last month, the 12th precinct.
On the drive to the precinct Rick had gone over in his head what he was going to say to her, but he couldn't work out what it was he wanted to say. No matter how much he begged and pleaded, he knew it would take a lot for Kate Beckett to walk back into his life. It had taken a lot the first time round for him to show her just how much she meant to him.
He parked his car near to the precinct, put money in the meter and headed in the direction of the entrance. Walking through the doors the receptionist watched him carefully, she smiled but her eyes said what's he doing here? She wasn't the only one either many of the occupants on the ground floor watched him warily. But he didn't take any notice he decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator, and with that he began his slow ascent to Kate's floor.
It was quiet on the way up, he yet again had more time to think. Not only would he have to face Kate, but Ryan and Esposito too. Who had all but killed and buried him about staying away. He had seen the hurt in their eyes when they said it, they were Kate's friends first, and they had to protect her. Whatever the cost. Then there was Montgomery, he was like Kate's surrogate father at work, also very protective of her. He stood at the door for her floor, took a deep breath and walked into the quietness of the bullpen.
When he opened the door and looked around, it was as if he had never left, everything still looked the same. He saw her desk, she wasn't there, he then saw Ryan and Esposito in a very heated discussion. He had dreaded this moment on the way up, more so than seeing Kate. He hesitantly walked towards them and stopped when they looked up. He was mere feet away from them, but it felt like he was much further away.
"Castle, what are you doing here?" Ryan finally asked.
"I'm looking for Kate." A simple statement, but he knew they wouldn't tell him.
"Well sorry, but we aren't telling you where she is." Esposito jumped in.
"Look guys, you can do whatever you want to me, after I've seen her. I really need to talk to her." He looked at them, sadness written all over his face.
"Well she doesn't want to talk to you."
"I don't care right now, I'm going to talk to her regardless, of what you think." He started to look around for her, but with no luck couldn't find her.
"She's not here dude." Ryan told him, leaning back in his chair.
Rick took in a deep breath. "Look, I know right now you hate me. But right now, I need to talk to my wife."
"Pulling the wife card, how low can a guy get." Esposito shook his head.
As Rick stood watching them, he knew they weren't going to tell him anything. "Fine I'll just wait for her."
"You'll be waiting a long time."
"I've got plenty of time to spare." He countered.
Just then someone bumped into him. "Oh sorry."
Rick looked around, just as Kate looked up from the file she was reading. As their eyes met she moved back. "Actually I'm not."
"We need to talk." Rick told her.
"Sorry, not got time," She pointed around the room. "Working." She stated.
"I don't care, I'll drag you out of here if you really want that."
"Don't even think about it."
She walked towards her desk and sat in her chair. Rick stood his hands in his pockets. "Please Kate, can we talk."
"Sure, when's the divorce proceeding take place? We can talk then."
"Sorry, but I'm not signing the papers."
"Why do you have to make things harder than they have to be?"
"Because I love you, and I'm not going to let you go without a fight."
"So now you realize that do you? How long did it take?"
Rick looked around and noticed almost everyone on the floor was watching them. "Can we go somewhere private?"
"No if you have anything to say, you can say it in front of everyone." She folded her arms, and leaned back in her chair.
He looked at her. "You once told me a long time ago, that you were a one and only kinda girl. As much as it pains me I don't want to see you with anyone else."
"Yes I did, and how wrong about that was I?"
Rick looked at her. He didn't know what to say, all the ways it could have planned out, he didn't expect it to be like this. He had worked all scenarios out in his head, but that didn't work.
"Kate, please just hear me out okay?" When she didn't answer he started talking to her. "I've already been divorced twice, those times meant nothing. This is it for me, if you leave I don't know what I'd do. Meredith and Gina I didn't care for them like I care for you, I could stand losing anyone, but not you."
She stared at him for a long time, her tongue shot out of her mouth and licked her lips. She was just about to say something when she was cut off.
"Daddy?" The voice was soft and quiet, he wasn't quite sure he heard it.
Rick's head shot round, the first thing he saw was Lanie. The smile on her face had slowly disappeared, he then looked down and his heart swelled a little.
"DADDY!" The little girl smiled and ran for him.
Rick kneeled down and his four year old daughter jumped into his arms. He encircled her in a hug and picked her up. He hadn't seen her since the weekend, he kissed the top of her head and she wrapped her arms around him. The smile on Rick's face said it all.
"I've missed you."
Rick looked at her. "I've missed you too Sam."
He gave her another hug before he settled her down on the floor. "Sam, how about you go talk with Ryan and Esposito, while mummy and I talk. Okay?"
She smiled at him, god he loved that smile. It reminded him of his Kate. "Okay daddy, but don't go anywhere."
He chuckled slightly. "Okay sweetie."
Sam went and sat with Ryan on his lap and Rick turned back to Kate. He sighed softly. "Where did we go wrong?"
She took a deep breath and looked at him. "I really don't know Rick. All I remember is the arguing over stupid things."
He kneeled beside her and took her hand in his, she flinched slightly. "Listen Kate, I know a simple I'm sorry and flowers isn't going to fix this. I also know that you aren't going to jump back into married life again. But the loft is empty without you and Sam, I miss the movie nights we have, Alexis too. But I want to fix this, not just for us, but so Sam can grow up with both her mother and father."
Kate took a breath and looked at him. That's when she saw it, the sadness in his eyes, the way he looked like he was going to cry any minute. "Okay." She said it quietly and he had to look at her fully.
"You won't regret your choice Kate." He reached into his pocket and pulled something from it. It was her engagement ring, and her wedding ring. "I want you to keep these safe, until you've decided that I'm worthy of them again."
She took them in her hand and looked at him. "So now what?"
"Now you let me take you and Sam out for dinner."
With that said Kate stood up and Rick followed her, they took Sam with each hand and headed for the elevator.
Rick looked back to see Ryan, Esposito and Lanie watching. "Don't worry guys I still mean what I said. You can do whatever you want to me."
Ryan and Esposito smiled at him and shook their heads.
"I'm confused, does this mean we still hate him." Esposito said as he looked around, feeling a sense of déjà vu.