A/N: We know that Richard and Kate have had their share of miscues and misunderstandings. Were they truly that or the result of some of Kate's mean-spirited designs? I decided to mix in some moody Kate Beckett. She has good reasons this time, but Rick doesn't know that yet and no inkling of how far reaching it's going to get. I want the two to have the kind of buddy-to-buddy talks that most normal couples might have; the kind of things that explain certain behaviors seen in the series and expressed in canon, but were never seen, only implied, maybe. This chapter starts the set-up for a number of things coming.

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle – all credit goes to Andrew Marlow and the writing team for ABC's Castle; my thanks to them for providing a foundation for this little exercise.

Chapter 2

Sunday morning dawned bright and hazy; not that Castle would have noticed, since he slept till about ten-thirty. He would have much preferred the experience of a new day to have taken place in the Hamptons with Kate Beckett either still sleeping at his side or rummaging around in the kitchen. As he awoke, he noticed the computer still on the nightstand where he apparently had set it, also still in the 'sleep' mode to conserve the battery, which is something he should have done much sooner during the night than he actually did. Then he remembered he had dozed off somewhere near four o'clock in the morning. After an attempt to get himself more or less civilized, he found his phone and sent a text to Kate: 'Sorry again for how things turned out yesterday, hope you're not [still] mad at me.' He figured he'd get a return ping while he was fixing brunch for himself, but brunch came and went and still no reply.

He figured that if texts weren't going to get the job done then a voice call probably didn't stand a chance either. Around noon, he decided to call the number at the precinct and by the way it rang, he could tell it rolled to another extension.

"NYPD 12th precinct, Agent Karpowski speaking," the familiar voice answered.

"Wow, how professional", quipped Castle as he heard her voice. "I guess there's only a skeleton crew in there today."

"You've got that right", Karpowski quipped in return, "but keep your skeletons to yourself Castle", she continued, using only the last name, which had become a custom among the homicide teams and the supporting staff.

"Well, speaking of skeletons, I've checked my closets and found none; which means I've got a problem. Do you know where Detective Beckett might be; have you heard from her today?"

"Yes, I know part of the answer", Karpowski replied cryptically, just to pull Castle's chain a little bit, as well as to determine the degree of closeness in the relationship, because she, like every other woman working in the 12th precinct who had met Richard Castle, shared the common opinion that they were indeed in the good company of a ruggedly handsome and successful man. "I've heard from, or rather, I've heard about Kate this morning."

"Do tell, Karpowski", pried Castle.

"Well, what I can tell you is this: Kate and her team were called out for a case involving something very nasty that went down in Central Park. Precinct 22 decided to ask for our help this time since they've transferred some to us in the past."

"Well, that's because they know we specialize in the really-off-the-wall, twisted ones . . . I think they should consider that payment enough . . . that we took some messy ones off their hands," he said as he thought to himself: just as well that we came back last night since Kate would have responded to the call and demanded that they come back to cover the case anyway. I just hope she woke up this morning feeling better than last night.

"Sorry Castle," Karpowski continued, "I don't have any more details than that. They took off outta here around nine o'clock this morning. Don't know where they went exactly, and as you well know, Central Park is a big place."

After he concluded the call, Castle glanced at the readout behind his desk for his little personal weather station that he had installed on the rooftop: ninety-two degrees already, and humidity at eighty-six percent. It looked like it was going to be another hot and uncomfortable afternoon in NYC with an opportunity for yet another thunderstorm.

As if provoked by the attention being paid to the objects on the credenza, the cell phone began to ring. Castle jumped for it, first by the surprise of the sudden sound, and second with the hope that I might be Kate Beckett; however, his spirits dove and then soared when he saw the caller ID.

"Hello daughter!"

"Hello father", came Alexis' familiar and cheerful voice.

"Did you have a relaxing time up state?", he asked, already knowing the answer by the sound of her voice.

"Of course I did. So now I'm ready to tackle the fall semester; and when I get home, I want to talk, and I mean serious talk dad, about what I want to do for graduation."

"Alexis, sweetie, you're only starting on your fall semester with the required classes, and you already want to talk about graduation? I mean, isn't that rushing things a bit? After all, life should be fun. You should take some time to savor this part of your life; you know, maybe share in some of those adventures that you won't be able to tell your children about."

"Dad! We've already talked about that . . . back at the final Derrick Storm book launch party, remember I told you that I thought you had experienced enough of those for the both of us. No, the reason I want to talk about this now is because it's going to take some time to get everyone together, or at least try to get everyone together, and you know how hard that can be.

"Which tells me you want your mother involved this time. How do you hope to pin her down firmly enough to make sure she shows up?"

"Well, that's the point. I figured that with enough advanced notice, and enough reminders of just how important this will be to me, and that it will only come around once, because who knows if I'll go on to graduate school or not; just maybe I can get a real commitment.

"OK, pumpkin, it's your plan. I wish you all the best with it. Just remember, all of that applied to your high school commencement and you saw how that turned out. And yes, I promise to give whatever it is you have in mind my full attention and commitment."

"OK, thanks dad. Maybe I'll see you later tonight, but you don't have to wait up for me."

Since Alexis had been gone for so long and Richard had been feeling lazy in a domestic sense, the loft needed some basic cleaning and maintenance. Apparently, Martha hadn't found any motivation in that department either, so he began with his bedroom and office. He could have called in someone to handle the task, but it was a weekend after all, so he decided that he could tackle it himself for a change. The work slowly expanded to the living room and the kitchen, but as he was tending to the somewhat mindless tasks his brain was churning out scenes from the events leading up to his daughter's graduation ceremony. He remembered how distraught she had become in her attempts to compose a decent graduation address to the class but also how beautiful, in character, and heart-felt it had turned out; and how he had not known at the time that Kate Beckett was hanging from the side of building ready to fall to her death; and how it seemed that all of that had happened like it was just yesterday. And that was exactly what worried him. A very important slice of his life had slipped by almost unnoticed, unappreciated to the degree it should have been; and the two people he cared about more than anything in the world seemed to be caught in the current which carried the experience ever further down the stream of time.

After the physical work, he figured that some time at the computer doing some writing might be a form of rest if not a way to kill time till Alexis came home or Kate Beckett decided to call or send a text. He went back to the notes section and added some more Heat and Rook dialog. . .

"Nikki, how long have we known each other?", Rook asked seemingly out of nowhere.

"Rook, why did you have to ask that right now; can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"

"OK Nikki, maybe we'll talk later; but I've been thinking how many times our intentions to talk later have been thwarted, interrupted, or otherwise forgotten. Time's going by Nikki, no, it's flying by and someday it's gonna be gone for us."

That was enough. He needed to get out of the loft. Sunday night or not; Alexis arriving or not; he decided to take a trip over to the Old Haunt. Anything for a change of scenery and hopefully a change of mood.

A/N: To be Continued . . . looks like it might extend to 18 or 20 chapters. Outline looks promising. Hope you all enjoy the ride.