OK. This is going to be a short one. Probably only two chapters
I do not own Castle or any of the players. Some other demented people do
No infringement. All players are fictitious
I only do this for the laughs.
I hope you laugh with me
BEFORE you read this, remember I like funny more than angst.
No remarks blasting any player for what they do or don't do
Just sit back and enjoy
You're Bringing A Date?
The team is sitting in the break room taking a well-deserved lunch hour. Castle looks up from the coffee machine to see the shock of Kevin Ryan drinking what can only look like a mixture of Hudson River water and something green
"What are you drinking? Toxic Waste?"
Kate can't help but let out a chuckle since Rick is totally right in his description of what is in the bottle in Detective Ryan's hand
We are doing a cleanse "Jenny answers "Kevin forgot his bottle and I brought it to him"
"OH. Forgot it?" Rick responds with a note of sarcasm in his voice
Ryan gives an answer about it being water mixed with lime and that he never felt better bringing a noticeable reaction of disbelief from the other three in the room
Jenny finally speaks "I have to go. Mom is freaking out about the place cards and after her and Kevin make google eyes at one another and kiss she exits the room
"I know we are disgusting"
To which Javier reacts "Well I am looking forward to meeting all of Jenny's sorority sisters"
"Well that's good since Lanie RSVP'd plus one" Ryan informs the group
Esposito was obviously not expecting that "what…how…? We just broke up"
That brings out another reaction this time from both Castle and Beckett
Detective Beckett has been glancing over a copy of a grocery store check-out counter magazine while Richard Castle sits at the next chair beside Kate playing with his coffee cup.
The two detective brothers who had standing at the coffee machine with the comments flying around halt when Esposito's cell phone rings and he steps away from the area
After the Hispanic detective is out of ear shot Kevin turns back toward Rick and asks, "Jenny tells me you RSVP'd plus one?"
With a simple nod of his head and he answers to the affirmative
With a jerk of the neck that could easily snap someone's head off, Beckett looks over at Castle "Your bringing a date?"
"Um Hum"
"WHO?" her voice almost fills with panic
"Well, she is beautiful ….and intelligent…and her smile just melts my heart"
A long poignant silence and chill in the room finally filled by Kevin Ryan in a very concerned voice asks also "Jenny needs a name. So, who?"
All eyes are fixed on Castle but he seems unmoved by the line of questioning "well, I don't want to spoil it for anyone because she has not promised to be my date yet"
Panic sets in to Beckett when he uses the word 'She' and he described a woman that would make any man swoon. That can only mean he is taking a famous woman with him to Kevin's wedding on Sunday.
Then a saving thought enters her mind "Oh. I get it" Kate tries to fill in "you are bringing Alexis" wording it more like a statement than a question
"No actually" he responds quickly "she has a date with a boy to go to a private family concert with Lady Gaga. There is no way I can compete with that and I won't even try"
After another moment that Kate is spending trying to get her heart started again, after being broken into a million pieces "OK, Martha then?"
"Oh No. Same date. It seems that my mother and daughter were wooed by the proprietor of a fancy-dress shop and his teenaged grandson. Those two men took my original escorts away from me for the evening so I had to come up with an even better plan"
"OK Castle" Kevin begins "Jenny is going to need the names for the place cards as soon as possible"
"You will have to wait until I can confirm the date, but as soon as I know the answer, I will let Jenny know. OK?"
"OK"
The last few minutes of the lunch break are spent in silence. Kate never takes her eyes off the tabloid paper in front of her. In fact, she never even turns another page
Detective Esposito returns to the room "We got a fresh one in a fruit cart"
The four all get up to leave for the crime scene
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The trip to the address is filled with cool silence. Castle is playing with his phone and Beckett is trying hard to see what he is doing. She is trying to determine see if he is texting someone and who it might be, or just playing games but he is keeping his phone at just the right angle to prevent her from seeing what he is doing at the moment
When they get to the murder location and begin investigating, Dr. Parish is giving them the early report when she asks a co-worker to take some trace to the van.
Esposito immediately thinks this must be the plus one. It is almost like he is obsessed with finding that person
No one notices that Beckett has begun doing the same thing to Castle. Trying to determine who he is communicating with
While checking out the hotel room for evidence, Beckett jumps when she hears Castle's phone chirp indicating he has received a text.
He casually removes the phone from his pocket, reads the text and smiles then deletes it and returns the device to his jacket pocket
As they roam around the room and discuss how the victim in this case had sex just minutes before being tossed out the window, Castle points out that this was probably a case of a mantis eating her mate while they are copulating
Kevin Ryan remarks that he is glad he is in a healthy relationship when Rick destroys that thought by stating "I am sure male praying mantis think they are in a healthy relationship too"
This comment does bring a level of levity to the current investigation but not in Kevin Ryan's mind
After completing the initial review of the hotel room, Castle and Beckett head back to the station to await the results from CSU. During the trip, Rick's phone chimes once again and he removes it from his pocket, reads the text, laughs, replies then erases the message before dropping it into his pocket once more
After a moment of complete silence, he looks across the seat at Kate who has a dead pan look on her face. He can tell he wants to know what is happening
"That was Alexis asking me about Sunday. Wanting to make sure I was OK with her not going as my date to Ryan's wedding and I assured her is would be great, that I was working on a plan B"
After taking in a very deep breath Beckett responds. "I didn't ask"
"I know. You were 'NOT' asking very loudly"
/\/\/\/\/\/\
After determining the owner of a fingerprint found at the crime scene the case takes more turns the Lemans race
It is determined that the victim was a playboy of sorts picking up random women and having mindless sex and then moving on to the next one
At one point during the investigation Kate had the chance to do something she had not done since the magic shop case and that was to pick Castle's pocket and retrieve his phone. Once she had moves a safe distance she quickly flipped thru his messages and found nothing incrementing, just several messages to and from Alexis and…OH! WAIT!
There were several messages to and from his ex-wife and publisher Gina. But before she can read any of the texts, she hears Castle speaking loudly "Has anyone seen my phone? I think I dropped it in the break room"
Closing the screen, she returns to the bull pen "Here it is. I found it on the floor"
He takes it from her then looks at the screen as if to make sure nothing private has been disclosed
Taking a deep breath, Beckett finally gets up the nerve to ask "Well, have you set up your plus one yet? I know Jenny needs a name" trying to deflect from her own panic
"Not yet, but I hope to know soon" He closes the screen and drops it back to his pocket "Listen, I need to go to Black Pawn for a little while. Gina needs me, so I will call you and see where you are on the case later"
He turns and walks to the elevator, presses the button only to have the doors open instantly. He enters the cab and with the closing of the doors, disappears
'OH. So Gina NEEDS him' Kate is thinking
Then she drops her head and resumes looking at the case file
Oh BOY!