Last First Time
Chapter 4 – Family Dinner
Summary – What I think should happen – a "family meeting" to clear the air.
Acknowledgements- Thanks Luv2sk87, you keep me straight and make my stories better.
Disclaimer-ABC and Andrew Marlow own Castle, I only own this story.
RC KB RC KB RC KB
The air in the office felt charged as three detectives and one writer sat in a circle staring at anything but each other. Things had been tense since everyone had arrived and it was decided that they would talk before even thinking about eating. Lanie had quickly volunteered to watch dinner and everyone had moved to Castle's office.
Rick and Kate sat side by side in chairs that they had pulled into the room. Kevin and Javi had settled into the arm chairs that faced the flat screen putting them in a circle. Castle's knee was bouncing at a rapid pace, hands folded in his lap. Kate reached over and dropped her hand onto his knee, trying with her touch to calm her partner.
He looked over and met her eyes, sending her a half smile as he dropped his hand over hers. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
She smiled back, flipping over her hand and wrapping her fingers around his.
Ryan, who had been watching them closely, saw the exchange between Castle and Beckett and smiled to himself. He automatically turned his head toward his partner, only to close his eyes and draw in a deep breath when he was met with a blunt rebuff. "Javi…please, bro, I didn't have a choice."
"Like hell, you were looking out for yourself, both of you," he mocked as he turned and set stone faced, lower lip tucked in his mouth, eyes facing forward.
Kate released Rick's hand and stood up. "Enough, Javi…Rick and Kevin are not our enemies. We are a team."
"No, we were a team," Espo sneered, standing up and facing Kate. "Where were they…what were they doing, Kate? One of them deserted us and one of them ratted us out to Gates. How can I ever trust either one of them to have our back ever again? Huh? Answer me that Ryan…Castle." He threw an angry glance at each of them then returned his eyes to her.
"No, Javi…this mess…it's my fault." She walked over and dropped her hands on Castle's shoulders, "Castle didn't abandon me. I…I chased him away…hurt him really badly."
"Kate, I don't need you to …" Castle blurted out, trying to stand.
She pushed against his shoulders and held him in the chair, "He tried to make me see that I couldn't win the fight against these maniacs." She absentmindedly massaged his shoulders as she went on, "He tried so hard to convince me but I wouldn't hear what he was saying. He begged me to stop, gave me a reason…a reason that should have made throw myself in his arms and never leave. But I didn't listen and look what happened. You were knocked out cold and I was thrown off a roof. Just like he warned me, they tried to kill me and almost succeeded…again."
Espo grunted and crossed his arms across his chest, leaning back in his chair.
Kate walked over and stooped down in front of Javi, "I know how you're feeling. I have thirteen years of experience feeling that way. The anger, frustration, it clouds your judgment and while I can't say that it's totally gone, I've found that I have something more important now." She looked up at Castle and smiled then turned back to Espo. "Hanging off that roof, it just became so clear, my life…Javi, my life is more important than my mother's death."
Espo leaned forward, "But he shot you. He threw you off a building. How am I supposed to just forget that, Kate?"
"You don't, I won't… but I'm not willing to risk your life or Rick's or Kevin's or anyone else anymore. That's what I did when I let the case make me forget everything I knew about how to be a good cop. It makes me reckless…" Kate's eyes were bright with tears, "Javi, I could have gotten you killed. If Ryan hadn't shown up when he did…we both would have been dead and it would have been my fault." Tears ran down her cheeks unchecked, her lower lip trembling.
Glassy eyes stared back at her, Javi frowned, his words coming out between gritted teeth, "Whoever is behind this needs to be stopped. How can we know that they won't come after you again?"
"Castle…" Kate looked at him and nodded.
He stood up and walked over behind her, pulling herup and back against him, her flats allowing her head to tuck under his chin, "Right after Kate came back to work, after she talked to that arson guy, I received a phone call. He said his name was Smith and that he was a friend of Roy's. He said that the Captain sent him files, files that he used to ensure Kate and Roy's family's safety. He said that she would be safe as long as she stayed away from her mother's case."
Kate raised her eyebrows, "So he sweet talked me into letting it drop, said we didn't have any leads…that we needed to give it time."
"Time…turned out to be a ticking bomb that exploded in my face with the break in at the captain's house. When it became apparent that it was starting up again and she wasn't going to stop, I went to her, told her about what I had done, about the deal I made to keep her safe. As you can guess, the conversation didn't go so well and I was off the case." Rick took a breath and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "But she forgave me. I hope you can too, Esposito. Because it's gonna take a while for me to forgive myself." Rick held out his hand.
Javi stood up and grabbed Castle's hand, shaking it vigorously, "I'm still trying to forgive myself for letting that chucklehead get the drop on me. I shouldn't have let him take me down like that. What I can tell you is that he's special ops…that move he pulled on me, text book." He took a deep breath, "He's not going to stop. He's going to come after you."
"I'm done" Kate insisted, "Rick can call this Mr. Smith and tell him to pass that message to them. We won't be investigating it any further…none of us."
Javi frowned, "Okay…I agree for now. This person, the dragon, he's high up and he scares people that aren't usually frightened. At this point we don't know who we can trust."
"Speaking of trust…" Rick turned and looked at Ryan, "I haven't thanked you, for being there when I wasn't."
Kevin's adam's apple bobbed as he looked around the room at his teammates, his eyes settling on Castle, "I tried to call you…thought you could help me, she listens to you but when I couldn't reach you…I knew that I had to go to Gates. I only told her the bare bones, what I had to so that I could get back up and get to you both as fast as I could, try to make things right."
"Kevin, you did the right thing when I couldn't," Kate smiled, reaching out her hand and squeezing his. "I will never forget what you did for me."
"Right, I got you both suspended for God knows how long," Ryan said.
"No, Kevin, you saved their lives and I am going to keep repeating it until you finally believe it. Actually, I was wondering what color do you want?" Castle asked.
"What?" Ryan said, confusion spreading on his face.
"For your Ferrari, I owe you man, so much more than you know." Rick huffed as Kate's elbow connected with his rib cage. "Ouch, Kaaatteee, that was so not fair."
She shot him a stink eye over her shoulder, "I'm hungry," Kate turned, heading toward the door of the office, stopping when she realized that no one was following. "Hey, you comin?"
Castle nodded then quickly turned and followed her out of the office.
Kevin snickered to himself, 'Castle has it bad'. He took a deep breath and glanced over at his partner, "We all right?"
Esposito lips were pursed, "Time bro, you'll need to give me time." He said, turning and walking out of the office.