Author's Note: My FIRST Castle fic. Could it be my last?
Castle ladies – For you!
Thanks GCatsPJs for the read through and honesty.
Disclaimer: I don't even own this.
oOo
Rick. He never had a problem attracting woman. He'd wine and dine them, take them to all the hotspots in New York City. Sometimes he even treat himself to a tryst while on a book tour. With two ex-wives, he figured it was justified, indulgent.
Castle. Crazy people did crazy things, but always made for a fantastic story. Being a best-selling crime novelist, it was understandable that real detectives would need his consultation. Like his fictional detectives, he doesn't rest until the killer is caught. He figured this case would buy him some time. He was good with women, he understood them.
Until he didn't.
Insert Homicide Detective Kate Beckett. She pulled no punches. She saw cases through to their very end, making sure they couldn't. . . they wouldn't fall apart in court. Her personal history allows her to empathize with the relatives and it makes her rise above to do her job better.
Castle needed her. Not for research, not for police procedures, not for his personal gain. He needed her to love him. Every single day, he hoped it was that day. The day they got things right, the day they got to the same page, they day they got their moment. But neither said anything about it. They talked around it. They both knew. They have confronted it before but that ended badly.
Castle lost Beckett once. He said it, he went there. Oh, Kate. Shh. Kate ,please. Stay with me, Kate. Don't leave me, please. Stay with me, okay? Kate, I love you. I love you, Kate. While he stood there in that hospital wing waiting for word she would be alright, that his Kate would come back to him, he wondered something; Why did he back down in front of her so many times? Was it because he was afraid of what she would say? Was it because if he had to he'd settle for this rather than nothing at all? Was it because he couldn't fight anymore? He loved her. He told her. Did she already know? Did she hear him? Would she love him back?
oOo
Kate. Fractured, broken. Her mother, her amazing mother was taken from her so suddenly. She vowed to find person that took her away, forcing her to grow up faster than most. Taking care of her father, getting him past his depression and alcoholism. She had no one to lean on. Until, she became a detective. She was able to help those victimized find closure, even if she couldn't have it or find it for her own peace of mind.
Richard Castle's Derek Storm novels helped Kate get through the pain, the loss, and unknown of her mother's murder. She waited in line for every new book. She would look at the autograph, each starting with "Kate. . ." then a line and finished with his famous scribble. It was oddly comforting. Sometimes she would just run her fingers along the spine of all his books to bring back the power that their contents had over her . He held answers to questions she hadn't thought about. He helped her survive, but he would never know that.
Beckett. If you a wanted a murder solved, you put Beckett on the case. She finds the truth, the evidence and the guilty party. She is one of the best at her job. Her trauma fueled her work. It is what kept her driven. Paired with her sidekicks, Espryan, they were unstoppable. When Richard Castle, came to consult on an unsolved case, she knew her professional and personal lives would intersect again. After all, some things can't be separated. Of course, having Castle around the 12th turned out to be a good thing. He picked up on random, crazy outlandish things, but that's what made him a great asset to the team. That's what drew the focus from the mundane to the outrageous. Though she figured after one case, he'd be gone. That didn't happen. Four years later, he was there mostly every day. Side by side they worked to together to bounce ideas, theories, and motives in a rhythm that triggered excitement with every word.
Sometimes cases leave an indelible mark. Sometimes good cops get caught in ugly things. They have to carry it with them forever. Once again, the lines between work and play are blurred. Self-preservation saves you. Beckett had to protect her family. She stood there, spoke about her Captain and gave her emotion laden speech from her heart. She didn't hear the shot aimed for her. It happened so quickly. It was a split second and she felt Castle on top of her, begging her to hold on. She was trying to hold on for herself, her mother, her father and Castle. She wasn't finished. She didn't have closure. Castle held her tightly. She felt his breath, she heard his words. She had to stay. She wouldn't leave him. She loved him. She didn't tell him that. She wasn't ready.
She had a brick wall fortified around her. He was the one that had the hammer. Eventually, it would have to come down.
Let me know if stumbling into the Castle fandom was mistake. Or not!