Ok so I must give full credit to LittleLizzieZentara for coming up with the bachelor auction story line. Last year she was telling me about her idea but needed help getting if off the ground. I thought it was a fantastic idea and I encouraged her to write it. I immediately started coming up with ideas on how to start it, how the auction could go. If anything I think I frustrated and confused her more. Ha ha. She liked my ideas but didn't think they would fit with her story line. However she did think that I should write my own version of her story. I was worried about plagiarism but she was leek well no I am giving you permission, so go ahead. I still wasn't sure but I was like no I want to read your version it sounds awesome. In the end she wrote the story for me as a Christmas present. Definitely one of my better presents. Her story is also called Bachelor Auction, so please check it out. Without her this would never have come about. So thanks Lizzie and thank her by going and reviewing her story too.

Hey Liz here is the secret story I was sorta telling you about. Hope you like it, thanks for letting me write it.

Big thanks to Lewis inNC for the very quick Beta which allowed me to get this story to you guys in time for Castle Monday .

Enjoy!

Bachelor Auction

By

Natalie Elizabeth

Beckett glanced at the empty seat beside her. It was a plain, ordinary seat—a little bit old—and she was surprised it hadn't been replaced with something better—more expensive. Regardless she still stared at it. She tried to tell herself the only reason she was looking at the chair was to take her eyes off her computer screen. Eye strain! She was trying to prevent eye strain. It had been a long day and she had been at her computer for a while writing up the notes from the last case. The truth was she had to look at her screen to avoid Castleless-chair eye strain.

He hadn't come in.

It wasn't like he came in for every single case. Sometimes he would ask the specifics, and if they were too mundane for him, he would stay home and write. Except he hadn't come in for a total of four murders.

Four!

What made things worse was that this murder was Castle-flavored. Superman had been murdered—well obviously not the real Superman, but a man dressed up as him. The victim had been celebrating his 30th birthday with a "Heroes and Villains" costume party. Well he had been until he was found dead in his bedroom.

She had called Castle when she had gotten the call. She even called him again when she had arrived at the crime scene. He still refused. So she had done something unthinkable, something so Castle. She had taken photos of the crime scene and sent them to him. It was a vain attempt to entice him to join her. He still refused. Not even a witty comment about the fact that Superman could have been killed by Kryptonite because there were no visible signs of trauma.

Nothing!

He just said he was busy writing. It was his job after all and she still had a job to do. They could solve cases without Castle; she just didn't want to. The truth was, if her mind hadn't been on Castle, the case may have taken longer to solve. Thinking about Castle and all his crazy theories had her coming up with one of her own. She had noticed that Superman was wearing lipstick, or at least there were smudges of it on his lips. Beckett recalled the episode from the Lois and Clark series where Superman had been kissed by a woman wearing Kryptonite-tainted lipstick—not that she thought for one minute that the victim had been killed by Kryptonite, rather than poison. It turned out Wonder Woman wasn't puking her guts out in the toilets because she was drunk. In between her retching she had confessed to the murder, probably because she thought she was going to die too. Once they knew what the poison was, Wonder Woman was able to be treated and was expected to make a full recovery—in jail.

Yet still Castle hadn't shown up.

Something was wrong. Something was different. Yet when she asked him, he gave her the same redundant reply. "Everything is fine."

Everything was not fine.

She knew that for a fact because that was her line. That was her line she had used on Castle when everything was far from fine.

Beckett shook her head as she tore her eyes away from his empty seat and back to screen. She was tired and really needed to get some sleep. She had been called out at 11 p.m. and had yet to go to bed, and it was now 3 p.m. Thankfully, once she was done she could go home. Blinking a few times, she forced herself not to look at his chair. It didn't help. Even staring at her screen, she could summon up the image of his chair or him.

When the elevator pinged, Beckett automatically looked up and was shocked when she saw Castle walk out. Surely this was an illusion, except she knew it wasn't. His face didn't hold the usual joy and delight she was so used to seeing.

What was he doing here? He had said he was busy. Was he there to see her? Beckett stood up and sent a smile his way. Castle stopped suddenly when he saw her. He then averted his gaze and walked over to one of the other officers. Beckett watched as he handed the female officer a piece of white paper. He then started walking around the precinct, handing over papers to all the female officers. Beckett frowned at him. What he was doing? He started walking towards her and she assumed he was going to hand her a piece of paper too. Was there some fundraiser he was trying to encourage people to go to? Or maybe some publicity event for the Nikki Heat novels. Instead he turned and headed towards the break room. Beckett followed him snatching the paper from one of the female officers. She perused the printed details and her eyes widened as she saw red. Beckett stalked into the break room. Castle was handing another officer a flyer. Since when did so many female officers work at the 12th?

"Castle what is the meaning of this?"

Castle turned to look at her as the officer scurried out.

"I think it's pretty obvious," he told her.

Beckett looked down at the paper in her hand.

"It says you have entered a bachelor auction."

Castle nodded at her and tried to walk past but she stopped him.

"Why are you entering a bachelor auction?"

Castle shrugged. "Well I am a bachelor, and it's for a good cause."

Beckett held up the paper for Castle to see. "Castle, it's to send 12 girls and their coach to L.A. to compete in a basketball championship."

Castle nodded. "Yeah, they need money for flights and accommodation."

"It's 12 girls. You probably spend more money on hair products in a month than what it will cost to send them to LA. Why are you putting yourself up for auction? Why not just donate the money?"

"I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone."

Beckett's brows rose. "Excuse me?"

"This way I help out their cause and I get a date out of it."

Beckett gulped. First he dates that dumb, slutty, blonde flight attendant and now this. What was going on?

"So you're doing this for a date?"

Castle shrugged. "Yeah. I've been single for a while now. Mother is always busy with her acting school, and Alexis will be going off to college soon. I'm starting to feel a little unloved."

Beckett was shocked and angry. "So, what? You think you're just going to fall in love with some random stranger who bids on you at an auction?"

Suddenly a scowl appeared on Castle face. "Yeah, well I tried to fall in love with a friend but that didn't work out to well, did it?"

He then pushed past her and walked over to the elevator.

Beckett turned around and watched as Castle walked away from her.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? He had tried to fall in love with a friend—tried, as in past tense—as in, no longer. What had happened? He had to be talking about her, unless he had fallen in love with Esposito. What did she do? Lanie said he was sick of waiting, but why now? Now, when she was so close.

Beckett walked out of the break room to go after Castle. The elevator pinged and he entered quickly. Castle's eyes locked with hers as the door to the elevator closed. She gasped. Was that pain she saw in his eyes? No, she was reading more into it. She was spending too much time with Castle, reading more into the situation. Beckett shook her head; no she wasn't wrong about this. It was because she spent so much time with Castle that she knew she was right about the look. He wasn't happy. He was in pain. She had to go after him. Beckett started striding towards the stairs.

"Ahh, Detective Beckett."

Beckett gritted her teeth.

"Yes, Sir," she turned to face Gates.

"Where are you going? You haven't finished your report yet."

Beckett sighed. "Just stretching my legs. I'll get back to it now."

"Mmm hmmm."

Beckett returned to her desk and this time didn't even glance at Castles chair. She quickly set about finishing her report. Once the report was done she could figure out what the hell was going on.

Beckett pushed through the swinging doors at the morgue.

"Lanie, look at this."

Beckett slammed down the piece of paper that was causing her so much grief.

"Hello, nice to see you too." Lanie looked up from the files she was going over.

"Look at it." Beckett pointed at the paper in front of the ME.

Lanie looked down and sighed. "Kate, I do not need to bid on a bachelor. What Javi and I have is complicated, but it works for us. Okay, is it healthy? Probably not mentally, but physically, wow. Javi does this thing where he twists—"

"Lanie."

"What?" Lanie asked, coming out of her dream like state.

Beckett shook her head. "No, Lanie. This isn't about you and Espo. Look at the names of the bachelors."

Lanie picked up the paper and read over the names.

"Mr Cooper, Vice Principal. Mr Quinn, Science teacher. Mr Bray, Abbie's dad." Lanie shook her head. "Am I supposed to know these people?"

Beckett's temper was increasing. "Look at the last bachelor."

Lanie looked at the paper again and then frowned when she saw what had made Kate so agitated.

"Castle! Why is he entering? It's not like this is some big celebrity auction; it's just for some school kids."

Beckett ran a hand through her hair as she began to pace. "Exactly."

"Castle's shoes probably cost more than what it will take to send these girls to L.A."

"I know," Beckett repeated. She then turned to look at her friend, distress clearly painted on her face. "What's going on Lanie? How did everything get so messed up?"

Lanie got up and walked over to her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We talked about this Kate."

Beckett stepped away from her friend. "No, Lanie. NO! There has to be more to it. Castle, tired of waiting for me, makes no sense. This wasn't a gradual thing over time; this was sudden. Something had to have happened for him act like this. We don't go from holding hands at his mother's play and building theory to Castle making comments filled with subtext and him turning up at a crime scene with a DSB."

"DSB?" Lanie asked.

Beckett rubbed a hand over her face. "It stands for Dumb Slutty Blonde. I read it on the internet somewhere."

"Well at least he didn't sleep with the DSB."

Beckett's head snapped up. "He didn't? Wait, how do you know that?"

Lanie shrugged. "I asked Alexis."

Beckett's eyes widened. "You did what? Lanie!"

"Hey, I want to know what's going on with Castle too. You are not the only one around here who misses him."

Beckett bit her lip. It was true. The guys were acting a bit antsy and miserable. She thought the lack of practical jokes would make the work go faster. It didn't.

"So, what did Alexis say? I mean it's not like he's going to tell his daughter he's sleeping around."

Lanie sighed. "Well, I asked Alexis if she knew why he was acting different, and she shrugged. I think she knew why but didn't say. I then said we were worried that this DSB, as you call her, was after her father's money. Alexis said the only way that would happen was if she got pregnant, and there was no chance of that because they weren't sleeping together."

Beckett shook her head. "But it's not like she would know. I doubt Castle would flaunt his DSB in front of his daughter."

Lanie shrugged. "I asked the same thing. It seems Alexis had a little talk with her grandmother. Martha firmly believes nothing happened between the two of them. She says that Castle is too sad, too hurt, to do anything sexual. He also gets this I-just-got-laid look in his eyes and Martha hasn't seen it."

Beckett took a few deep breaths. So, Castle hadn't slept with that woman, which made her feel a bit at ease, but there was something that was still troubling her. Lanie said he was too sad and hurt. What had caused that? Did she do something, say something? If she didn't know what was going on then she couldn't fix it.

"So he didn't sleep with her, fine. But he did say he was looking for someone to love."

Lanie smiled at her.

"Then it's about time you told him to stop looking."

Beckett's lip trembled. "But Lanie—"

"The only butt is me kicking yours, girl. What are you afraid of? Loving him or losing him?"

Beckett shook her head.

Lanie took a step closer to her friend. "Stop lying, girl. You wouldn't be here otherwise."

Beckett took a step back and threw her hands up in the air. "Fine, okay. Both. I am scared of both, okay. I am scared to love him because I am scared that I'll lose him."

"You're losing him either way Kate."

Beckett ran a frustrated hand through her hair and turned to look back at Lanie.

"So what do I do?"

Lanie walked over to Kate and wrapped an arm around her.

"First you go home and get some rest. You look like crap, girl. Then you go to the ATM, withdraw as much money as you can, and you go and bid on your man."

"Lanie."

"Go."

Beckett ran a hand through her hair once more. Love and lose him, or lose him. Love him and lose him. Lose him. Beckett suddenly felt like throwing up. Love him.

"Okay."

Coming up next...

Licking her lips Beckett took another deep breath. "Castle is here to look for love. I came to tell him he can stop looking."

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