A Future Caskett
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: You know this by now, right? Rating: K Time: See below.
Kate found the rest of the party boring, but held onto Castle's arm the whole time as people talked about their possessions while Castle made an occasional witty remark. She could well understand why some people were so glad Castle came to these parties.
When they finally left, it was snowing hard. Thankfully, the town car driver had the heater turned way up.
As they pulled away from the party, the driver called them on the intercom.
"Mr. Castle, I've been talking to dispatch. It's been snowing very hard in Miss Beckett's neighborhood and her street is especially slick. I'm not sure we could make it there."
Castle looked at her. "You could stay with us. We have spare bedrooms. You'd be okay."
"I know I'd be okay. I'll stay at your place tonight."
They had been driving for only a few minutes when Kate spoke. "I am so glad that's over. Most of the men were undressing me with their eyes and half the women wanted me gone. And how long will it be before they find out I'm just Detective Kate Beckett from Junktown?"
"I don't know. There is a rumor circulating that you're an Imperial Princess, travelling here incognito."
"An Imperial Princess? How could a crazy rumor like that get out?"
"Count James "accidentally" referred to you as Princess Katherine before his wife firmly reminded him that you were Miss Beckett. There was a drinks waiter near them and he heard it all. The gossips pay the staff to bring the tidbits like that. Jimmy has quite a sense of humor."
"And how long will it take them to find out I'm not Princess Katherine?" Kate said angrily.
"Probably forever. When Andrew the Great founded the Empire some 500 years ago, he made all of his brothers and sisters and all of his children princes and princesses. And he decreed that all of their descendants, forever, would also be princes and princesses. Aside from the current Emperor's immediate family, the Imperial Court won't release any information about the many thousands of princes and princesses out there. If someone were to ask them if you really are a Princess, the Imperial Court would be deeply insulted."
"You put him up to it, didn't you?"
"You don't need to thank me." He replied.
Alexis seemed to be thrilled that Kate was staying the night and rushed around putting clean sheets on the bed and finding various things Kate would need.
"Kate, I have a toothbrush for you and toothpaste. Oh, and mouthwash and there's a new bar of soap in the bathroom. And I have this for you to wear. It's a nightdress that I got as a gag gift at party a few months ago. It's big enough for the two of us. Is it okay?"
"Everything's just fine, Alexis. You didn't have to go to so much trouble for me."
"No trouble." The redhead replied.
When Kate went to bed that night, she intentionally left her bedroom door open. When she awoke alone in her bed the next morning, she was both pleased and disappointed.
She quickly got up, used the bathroom and went downstairs to the kitchen. Not sure what Rick and Alexis liked, she began cooking a little bit of everything. After a while, Castle came down, bed-headed, and wearing a robe over his pajamas.
"Beckett, what are you doing?"
"Making breakfast. What does it look like I'm doing?" She teased.
"You don't need to do that."
"My mother taught me how to cook, and after all you and Alexis have done for me, it's the least I can do. Now go get dressed. Breakfast will be in a little bit."
"Breakfast?" Said a sleepy voice from the top of the stairs. "Kate's making breakfast?"
"I am. So, you'd better hurry up and get dressed."
Kate had decided that staying overnight with the Castles had to be a one time thing. She refused to get involved with a man when it was obvious that it would end and end quite soon. But a week later Kate had gotten into a computer game against Alexis. The game pitted Alexis' knowledge of the game against Kate's hand-eye coordination and tactical knowledge. By the time Kate finally won, it was very late.
"Kate, you look exhausted. I shouldn't have kept you up so late. Why don't you stay the night?"
Kate wanted to tell Alexis no, that she'd be fine, but she could hardly keep her eyes open. She allowed the girl to lead her upstairs and to bed.
Kate began staying with the Castles more and more often. She rationalized it by telling herself that since Castle was busy writing the book, he was spending less time at the precinct. He only came in when there was an interesting and complex case. She did enjoy the friendship of Rick and Alexis and nothing was going on between her and Rick, so why not be with them more?
She soon found that her bathroom at the Castles was acquiring a lot of expensive lotions, body washes, shampoos and perfumes that she never could have bought for herself. She also found that the party dresses Castle had bought for her had migrated to her closet, along with underwear, hosiery and wraps. Then new and expensive clothing began filling her closet, allegedly bought by Alexis on one of her shopping trips.
"Oh, Kate. "The redhead said. "I saw this and I knew it would look perfect on you. I hope you don't mind that I bought it for you. It didn't even make a dent in my allowance."
Although she was positive that Rick was behind the presents, she found she couldn't turn Alexis down and her closet slowly filled up as did her chest of drawers.
When Castle suggested that she start using his car instead of her usually broken down cruiser she had tried to argue with him.
"Castle, that's an expensive car. What if I had an accident?"
"It's insured, and what do I need with a car with a police comm system, computer, an EMT kit and all the rest? And if you had an accident, you're a lot less likely to get out of it unhurt than in that death trap the police gave you."
She had argued further, but to no avail.
Her car, her new and expensive wardrobe and her new social life had caused some resentment with her so called team. And just as quickly as it had arisen, it faded away. Her team seemed suspiciously happy with her newfound situation. A little checking revealed why.
Captain Montgomery was getting a half a dozen bottles of expensive whiskey a month from Castle. He certainly was much mellower than Kate had ever seen him in the past.
Detective Kevin Ryan was a cardplayer. He had been given an expensive membership in a card club that Castle had told him he'd won but couldn't use as he preferred to play cards at home with his old friends. Ryan seemed to have a gift for finding a weak card player and his income rose noticeably.
Esposito, a fan of the Rowdies fastball team, was given two season tickets that Castle told him he had bought for a friend who had suddenly been recalled to the Commonwealth Capital. Since he couldn't use them, he asked if Espo could use them.
Karpowski had gotten front row season tickets to a sports club that featured women's bare knuckle boxing. Karposwki's hobby didn't surprise Kate at all.
Lockwood and Marks seemed to be flush with cash these days, as well.
A month later, Kate was finishing doing the breakfast dishes when the doorbell rang.
"Castle. Someone's at the door." She called again and got no answer. She looked into his office and found out why. He was deep in his writing zone and probably wouldn't have heard a cannon go off. She went to answer the door. Standing there was a tall, fashionably dressed blonde woman. Quite attractive as well.
"You must be Kate Beckett. Is Rick in?"
"And you are?" Kate asked, suddenly suspicious of the woman and of Rick.
"I'm Gina Cowell." Seeing no hint of recognition, she continued. "Deputy Assistant Product Supervisor with the Ministry of Culture?" Then she added. "I'm basically Rick's editor for his books."
Feeling a bit foolish for keeping the woman waiting at the door, Kate quickly let her in.
"Rick is in his office writing."
"I imagine he is. This is the first time in years that I haven't had to come to his house to complain about him being late with his promised chapters."
"I'll let you be alone with Rick since you have business to discuss." Kate started to walk away.
"Oh, no, Miss Beckett, you come with me."
Kate wasn't too happy about this, but soon found herself in Rick's office with the blonde.
"Rick, "Gina said, taking something out of her bag, "here is the final proof of Storm's Challenge. It's all set to be published. Everyone, and I mean everyone, at the Ministry loved it. The Minister himself even asked for a copy. Even grumpy old George Brewer thought it was good. And that's about all the praise you'll ever get from him. But, I did want to ask some questions about some of the crimes mentioned as the background. Are you sure those were real crimes that you heard about from Kate, or did you make them up?"
"Kate's right here. Why don't you ask her?" Rick replied, smirking.
"I intend to do just that."
Kate was then grilled about crimes she had told Castle about and one that they had investigated together. She was getting a little angry at Gina as she seemed to disbelieve everything Kate said.
"I thought so." Gina finally said. "Sorry I had to play devil's advocate with you Kate, but I thought there was a definite feminine note to Rick's writing that has never been there before. You seem to have had quite an effect on him. And for the better." She turned back to Rick. "I have to go now, Rick. You let Kyra get away, which considering her family was a good thing. You should have let Meredith go ten seconds after you met her. Don't let this one go, Rick. You two are so much more than the sum of your parts." And with that, Gina left.
"You probably want to know about Kyra and Meredith." Rick said, uncomfortably.
Kate shook her head. "No, you don't owe me any explanations." Although she really wanted to know.
"You'll hear about them anyway, and I rather you hear about them from me." Rick stared at the ceiling, gathering his thoughts. "Kyra was my first love. We met in college just as I was starting to write my first novel. We were inseparable. And her mother, Sheila, hated me. No mere writer, even one with a best seller, was good enough for her daughter. One day Kyra said she was going on a trip to clear her mind. I didn't see her again for about fifteen years. When I did, she was married to some guy from old money. People who'd always had money. To me, he was about as exciting as a mashed potato sandwich on white bread, but Kyra seemed happy. Maybe she was just glad her mother wasn't constantly complaining about her choice of men."
"I don't think you would have been happy with Kyra."
Rick laughed. "That is 100 percent true, Kate. Now Meredith was my wife. She was bright, funny, adventurous and an actress, so our careers sort of meshed. One day when Alexis was about seven…."
"I was six, Daddy." Alexis said from the door.
"Pumpkin! What are you doing home from school?"
"Half day school, remember? Teacher's meeting."
"Okay, Alexis was six. We'd been out at a concert but the lighting in the theater went out just as we started. They couldn't fix it, so we headed for home. When we got here Meredith was on the couch with some producer. They were…." Castle looked at Alexis and blushed.
"Kate, they were fucking." Alexis said.
"Alexis! We do not use that kind of language in this house."
"That's exactly what they were doing. You can't expect me to call it making love, can you?"
"Alexis, you apologize to Kate this instant for using that word."
"Rick, Alexis, I'm a cop. I hear worse than that every day. You don't…"
Castle cut her off. "You do not hear that from my daughter. Alexis, apologize."
"Kate, I'm very sorry I said that word in front of you. I respect you enormously for what you've done with your life and for what you've done for my dad and me. Please accept my apology."
Kate wasn't sure what she had done for Rick and Alexis, but she decided this was not the time to ask. "Alexis, I accept your apology."
"Anyway, Meredith was on the couch and we were…upset." Castle finished lamely.
"Meredith was screaming and I thought that man was hurting her, so I ran over and hit him. He hit me back." Alexis said angrily.
"To make a long story short, Meredith decided a producer made more sense than a writer, so she filed for divorce. She got a lot of money and I got Alexis."
"The only time she ever contacts us is when she needs a favor from Daddy. I haven't heard from her on my birthday since I was six."
"And to cover all of my bases, Gina and I did date. It wasn't successful and it didn't last long. When I wanted to have fun, she wanted to talk about how many chapters I was behind. When I was brimming over with ideas for a new Derrick Storm, she wanted a quiet dinner. We're much better as writer and editor."
"You didn't have to tell me all this, Rick, but I'm glad you did. Thanks."
"And now, you have to read the thrilling adventures of Derrick Storm in Storm's Challenge. You can curl up on the couch and we won't bother you."