Reminder- Out of respect for Andrew Marlow's creation, I thank him for allowing the fans to play with the characters he created.
Tuesday night
Richard Castle spent the evening writing in his alternate universe. If he couldn't be with his beloved Beckett, he poured himself into writing her fictional counterpart. His daughter hesitantly interrupted him when he surfaced from the sea of words for a break.
"Dad, if you can stand a little additional ghoulishness, I need a refresher course on The Raven."
"Are you entering into a moody teen phase so you can go off to college as a Goth child to experience all the wild wonders you'd never allow yourself as Alexis the super student?" The father teased his near perfect teen whenever possible.
"The super student is working on advanced credits, and she is doing an Into to Psych for independent study. I have to find deviant personas of 6 famous subjects and present a basic personality profile for evaluation." Alexis was always serious when it came to her studies. "My first attempt is the narrator from The Raven. "Anyone who tortures themselves by asking questions that can only lead to further despair must be a masochist.
"Don't sell the narrator short. He lost his greatest love, Lenore. She did not leave him by choice; she was ripped away by death. However sudden or slow was their parting, bereavement is a profound rendering that topples the best of people for some period of time." His focus was distant. A few years ago such topics were academic tidbits of research for his books. Having gained a heartbreaking understanding of their effects, he prayed his daughter would never understand such loss for many, many years.
Her single-mindedness kept her unaware of her father's sudden melancholy. "I keep going in circles on how to format my paper."
He answered easily, "You have two choices. Approach it like an author where you know the conclusion (he tortures himself with dark and brooding thoughts) and then look for confirmation from the text that provides reason for his actions."
He smiled as he continued, "The other way to do it is like a cop. Look at the all the behavior (his intelligence, wealth, and dark and brooding thoughts), then draw a conclusion based on the evidence and actions, or lack of actions."
She kissed her father instead of verbalizing her appreciation. "I was going to do Haley Blue, the musician, next, but at some point I was hoping to interview Detective Beckett about a serial killer for one of my subjects."
But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling. "Alexis, I don't often deny you, but please don't ask her about the Triple Killer." He kept the heaviness in his heart hidden from the fiery haired teen. He fixed himself a stiff drink and welcomed the burning liquid down his throat.
The teen understood only her father's words, not his unspoken message. She asked for clarification, "Do you think it is selfish of me to ask Kate to spend her free time talking about murderers, and would it make her feel like she has to say 'yes' because she's your girlfriend?"
"I don't think it is wrong to ask. Personally I'd guess she'll be happy to help with a school work. She's always worried about spending time here and interrupting our flow as a happy family."
A faraway looked graced little Castle's features. "Good to know. This may be a way to demonstrate we would like her to be around more." The baby bird gave her father the feed me gesture.
Matching her gesture, daddy bird shared his pain. "She would accuse me of putting those words into your mouth if she heard you speak thus."
Wednesday
Castle held the door open for his girlfriend. The first meeting for Castle Inc. was at the lawyer's office. It was a firm used to handling celebrities and unusual circumstances like riding a police horse naked through Central Park. This office was opulent with an ornate carved desk and plush wingback chairs and sofa. A hidden ventilation system circulated a vanilla scent and rustled each purple curtain.
Castle shot Beckett a worried look, whether because of the beautiful dark skinned woman or the substance of the meeting, either way Castle was nervous. After the formal introductions and handshakes, Beckett spoke, "Castle has been reluctant to introduce me to you, Ms. Parker." Beckett's thoughts were: 'no wonder given your good looks'.
"Mr. Castle and I have rarely met. My father usually handles Mr. Castle's legal and business issues, but he is in court today. It is my stated purpose to convince you to allow me to represent your interests, Detective Beckett."
Beckett was surprised but said nothing.
Castle whispered to her, "It's been less than a minute and the sharks are circling."
Beckett was going to smack him but he retreated to download games on his new phone. "I wasn't aware I needed an attorney."
"Everyone needs an attorney. I assume the settlement between you and the insurance company over your apartment explosion was not as complete as it could have been. Your father's right to privacy may be called into question in the near future. These are issues I can name without ever having spoken with you as a client."
Beckett's jaw was set and she was controlling her reaction. If privacy was a concern for herself, throwing her father into the mix hit hard. She made no comment to the attorney. She ignored the worried looks coming from Castle.
Ms. Parker continued, "While Mr. Castle has made it a habit to disregard legal advice, I hope you understand things differently. Regardless of whom you choose to represent you, as a relevant party to Castle, Inc., I prepared 2 briefing papers for your review. Your rights to privacy have changed and a work related lawsuit is quite likely."
Again, Beckett was hit hard by the topics. "You prepared briefing papers for me and about me?" This was a little surreal. She deflected her comments allowing herself time to recover.
"Mr. Castle made it very clear that we have limited access to you. This is the most expedient way to get you large volumes of information."
Beckett was out of her element and it began to register with her. She was grateful when a staffer brought in trays of food for lunch. The attorney got up to get a beverage and let Ms. Beckett have a moment to process what she was hearing. Castle also got up and put a quarter of a sandwich and some fruit on a plate for Kate. He brought it over to her as an excuse to get close to her. "I love you…" he whispered in her ear as he set the plate down. He filled another plate for himself and retreated back to his chair.
Ms. Parker returned and sat beside the author's girlfriend. "May I point out a few things in these briefs that are especially important?"
Beckett nodded and they started through the booklets. After a few minutes Ms. Parker became aware of Castle staring at them. She ignored it wanting to give Ms. Beckett her full attention, but she was concerned what was drawing the notice of Mr. Castle.
Beckett spoke before the attorney could. "Just ignore him."
"I beg your pardon?"
"If he is staring, just ignore him. He stares at me at work everyday. I tell him it's creepy, but he still stares."
Now Ms. Parker was uncomfortable. She could not ignore a multimillion dollar client even if she was trying to sign Beckett. The detective read the attorney like a perp and said, "It only gets worse if you give him attention."
Castle had his opening and took it. "I am imaging you two beautiful women together in a courtroom. If I were a judge, I'd be grateful for a long robe to hide my admiration."
Beckett just rolled her eyes, but the attorney was incredulous.
Castle continued, "Of course, you wouldn't have to be in a courtroom to draw my notice. The two of you over there both wearing blue tops, sitting ever so close makes me think of think of…"
"Castle, shut up! You are obsessed with lesbians this week. You have the guys at work in an uproar with your stories." She gave an eye roll but otherwise ignored the writer.
"He talks like this while he is at work with you?" the attorney was interrogating the detective.
"This is pretty mild compared with some of his antics. You would have been appalled at the time he tried to chart my menstrual cycle based on reactions to his jokes."
"Why do you put up with it?" She asked with penetrating judgment.
"In the beginning I tried to call it quits several times, but I was powerless because of Castle's connections. I should have given up sooner. I have so much more control of him now!" She shot Castle a look who smiled and pulled out his phone to play games again.
The rest of the meeting passed quickly, and the couple was out the door in exactly 60 minutes. Beckett started laughing as soon as they were in the car together. "Really, Castle, sexual banter in an attorney's office? Do you feel no shame? Do you know no boundaries?"
He smiled at her. "She was being way too intense. It was like a shark was circling. Would you rather I hum the musical theme to Jaws or pull your pigtails?"
Castle pleaded for an extra night together, and Beckett relented. He knew she was going to curl up with the attorney's papers, and Castle wanted to diffuse her if necessary. The evening turned into a poker match with Rick trying to read Kate's tells, and Beckett being neutral to the point of frustrating him. "What do you think?" He was reduced to an outright question.
"About what?" Beckett responded without looking at him.
"What do you think about the briefs you're reading, your first visit with people from the corporation, or anything else about the visit to the law firm?" Castle was tentative.
"I liked the curtains. They were a beautiful shade of purple." Beckett still ignored him and his deeper question.
"Beckett, if you want to dance, let me put on music."
"I'd like to tango." She put some not so subtle sexual innuendo with the words.
"I'd like to talk." Castle tried using sincerity to get her to open up.
A low, sultry voice whispered, "I can talk dirty to you."
Castle tried to make a last stand to get her to talk about the day before his body caved to the eye sex she now unleashed on him. "Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore - Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore."
He partially succeeded. She paused to meet the intellectual challenge. "Hmmm. Poetry. From the perfectly matched meter and identical end words, I'm guessing Poe."
His mouth was agape, "It is so sexy that you know that!" His previous plan to engage her in conversation instead of sex just reversed. "It is an obscure line from the Raven. The only reason I can know it is because Alexis chose those lines to put on a Father's Day card she made me many years ago." If he couldn't reassure his girlfriend intellectually, at least he could soothe her emotionally. He delighted as his hands caressed her body, and he thrilled with the privilege of being intimate with her.
Now that she had her lover distracted, she answered his earlier queries. "I am reading the brief about the NYPD getting sued because of me. An allegation might be made that my high closure rate assumes I use questionable tactics with suspects, or I benefit from greater levels of police intimidation because of my public persona. Any settlement or disciplinary action by the department allows suspects legal standing to sue me as an individual. Your law firm supposes the department will deal more harshly with me than other detectives to insulate them from these perceptions. Every time I go rogue it creates a paper trail that can come back to haunt me. No matter what I do it will be questioned at some point. It seems it is only a matter of time before my professional reputation is in tatters" She acted impervious to the possibilities.
The substance of her words chilled Rick as readily as a cold shower. "Oh, Kate! I know how useless it is to say how much I regret these effects I have on your life." He looked at her with sorrow and wondered if he should have never tried to engage her affection.
"Oh, Rick, the heart wants what the heart wants." She read his mind and led him to her bed. "We resisted each other longer than anyone thought possible. We'll face tomorrow when it comes."
