Disclaimer: Yeah right. I don't own Castle.
A/N: [If anyone does review: please no spoilers.] The will be case mentioned in these snippets, can't really work this story without them; but this is not a case fic, the details are irrelevant to the story so I'm going to gloss over them. There will also be a call out though, to one of my favorite stories ;-) If you are just finding this story now, please take the time to read from the beginning - I cannot imagine how the premise will make sense order out of...
A/N 2: This one feels a little clunky, apologies in advance; a little too twisted in upon itself like some sort of hyper-chapter, to wrapped up in itself to make sense? Maybe?
When things went wrong for Kate they went very, very wrong; some things through fault or causes of her own, some through fault or efforts of others. Sometimes she hated her life, even the real breathing one she had now.
Then sometimes she loved it though. There were days when everything went right, such as the day after Rick returned her call for the first time, that was one of the days to truly love. She hadn't felt so happy in a long time, maybe ever; well, no, she knew that wasn't true, but those happier peaks generally involved being naked with Rick and she doubted that was likely to happen any time soon. So she'd take this cuurent happiness, embrace it and run with it.
The day was made even better when Captain Gates called her into her office and informed her she'd be moving to the narcotics squad the following week, permanently. Narcotics wasn't homocide, but it was closer. It didn't involved wearing a belt that was supposed to pass as a skirt, and that was a big plus in her book.
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Weeks and month passed, Beckett worked her way into the new squad, built rapport, gained credibility in the particular case work specific to narcotics. It was a squad she'd never been involved in before, and she found the newness of everything intriguing.
Kate's rebuilding of her friendship with Rick was slow at first, but it exposed a shiny newness between them too. She stuck with her promise to herself; everyday she reached out, a phone call, a joke text, occasionally a forwarded gag video. She was biding her time, there was no need to push things faster than he was willing to go. He had built walls between them over the years she had been gone, and she was more than willing to take her turn scratching way at them.
Eventually things progresses beyond simply electronic communication, to occasional meetings at coffee shops in the morning or when she had a long break. She was clear, these weren't dates; she just wanted to there for him, to rebuild a friendship that had disintegrated. He heart beat a little faster at that, she absolutely knew she was lying to herself, she wanted far more than friendship; but she wanted him to think of her as a friend first, wanted him to trust her again.
She even asked about his dates, trying to be supportive despite the jealousy it invoked in her. He asked about hers in return, but she had none; simply had no interest in dating, not even for drinks or dinner.
When she asked about anyone serious it ended up setting them back, he had told her simply: No. Nobody serious, there was no point in serious for him. He explained bitterly, everyone he'd ever been serious about had dumped him, either to go find themselves or to advance their careers. He had relegated his dating life not to finding temporary company, without the hope of anything serious or lasting. It was hardly a subtle dig, but she'd apologized already, and had no interest in dragging the topic up again; he was talking to her now, and so she thought leaving the comment unaddressed would probably be best. Instead, that had ended that particular conversation, he'd left the little coffee shop where they'd met, and ignored the phone calls and messages for the next week. On the one hand the conversation, and the cold follow up hurt; on the other hand she welcomed it for what she had discovered: he had nobody serious in his life.
Slowly things got going again, the hard work resumed, progress and a little warmth returned. Slow was good; slow was forward, careful progress.
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"Beckett, we got a case. Let's go." Detective Jones, her partner of more than five months now, grabbed his weapon and jacket, gesturing Beckett to precede him into the elevator.
They both leaned against the back wall as she asked, "What's the run down?"
"Robbery primarily, upper east side apartment, armed robbery, was called in by a neighbor. Owner of the apartment was found unconscious, not our problem normally, but the robbery team on site found two kilos of coke on the coffee table. I kid you not."
"Who's lead on the case Jones?"
"Dunno, just got the call; robbery is lead, we'll get the details later."
It got even more farcical after that, when they interviewed the apartment owner he tried to deny the drugs were his, claimed they were planted. Not by the cops though, no he was being burgled before the robbers actually showed up, held at gun point by three individuals, short so he guessed women, though he was distracted by the cat masks and tails they were wearing. They were there apparently to steal the art work, a couple of Matisse etchings, and a Picasso; they also stole his pet ferret which seemed to irritate him all the more. Just as they were about to leave, tying him to an antique chair; that's when the second crew of robbers kicked in his door.
It was an absurd story, completely unbelievable; but the guy just stuck with it, would not be shaken. She had to call Castle. He had to hear this. After clearing it with Jones and briefly with Gates, she called Castle to meet them at the precinct, where they'd head after checking out the crime scene. He was going to love this, she was sure of it.
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Castle had hesitated when he'd heard Beckett's request: come work this case with me. Sure, not exactly her words, but for once the between the lines subtext was pretty clear. Well he thought so, but then he'd gotten the wrong impression before.
While the last several months had generally been good, except when she brought up the serious relationship question, he was still extremely nervous about how long things would last. How long she'd stay this time, stay in New York, or even stay his friend.
He arrived at the precinct promptly, likely beating Becket back, and headed up to the second floor narcotics bullpen, but was told she'd be on the third floor since it was actually a robbery led case. He perched on a random, but unoccupied desk on that floor to wait, looking around at unfamiliar surroundings; observing, noting, creating stories to explain anomalies where he saw them
"Richard Castle! What are you doing here? Long time since I've seen you around." Detective Tom Demming, or Schlemming as Castle preferred to think of him; well he was now stood right in front of him. All Schlemmingy. Castle couldn't help but just stare, observing his sheer Schlemmingness. It was actually kind of awesome.
"Hey Rick? Focus for a minute, you zoning out on me? Why you here? You heard Beckett's back too? I only just found out, we're actually working this case together, my lead actually."
That made Castle blink, "You are lead on her case?" Why would she ask him to come in on a case with her ex? Was this some kind of death match plan? Put two of her former boyfriends in the bull pen, may the best man win? What was she up to?
"Castle, I gotta ask. I know you two were involved, I mean everyone knows you were. That still going on? I mean I got dumped by her for another guy a few years back, she ended up hooking up with that doctor right? It was great fun while it lasted though; wondered if there's anything going on between you now. Just trying to be up front with you, like last time, not ruffle any feathers."
Yeah, Castle remember the last time, when she'd chosen working with Demming over him, building theory with him instead, chosen to go away with him for the weekend, then dumped Demming for Josh some time over the summer. Yeah, he remembered that bitterly, and now it seems she's decided to rub it in his face all over again.
"So? Castle? Hey!"
"Sorry, distracted, no there's nothing going on between us, we spent too long apart, we're just friends. It's just like last time, no flag on the play Tom; but thanks for being straight with me, I needed that." Castle shook his head, stood, "Look, if you see Beckett tell her I had somewhere else I needed to be."
Castle was frustrated, he didn't understand what was going on, he'd thought they were rebuilding a friendship at least, why would she do this to a friend? Just then, the elevator doors opened, and there she stood. Kate.
"Rick, sorry, Castle at the precinct ok? So happy you made it, you are going to love this case," with that she grabbed hold of his arm and towed him back over to the white board.
There had actually been nanny cam footage at the scene to back up parts of the story; a crazy story it may be, but the facts were actually starting to back it up, "Cat burglars Castle! Dressed in cat costumes. This is right up your alley."
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Kate thought Rick has been a little cold the rest of the day, but perhaps it was just the unfamiliarity with the turf, he'd not worked a case of any sort that she knew of in years, the other detectives were unknown to him. That one of them was Detective Demming, an unfortunate reminder of a distant past for her too, well that probably didn't help much either.
Most of all she thought he was probably stressed by working a case with her, this was the most time they has spent in close proximity for years, she wasn't really surprised that would throw him a little off his normally charming game of wild theories and speculation.
They had wrapped up what little they had for the night, Castle excusing himself a little earlier for his weekly dinner with Alexis; promising to be back in the morning with coffee and donuts.
After he left, and a few other details had been put to bed for the night, Demming turned to face Beckett, "So Kate, you want to go grab a drink? Unwind?"
Beckett turned to face him at that, asking incredulously, "You serious Detective Demming?"
He tried to flash a charming smile, but her tone was a little disconcerting, "Yeah, why not? You're not seeing anyone right? You aren't involved with Castle, I asked him, he said you were just friends. It's funny, he told me the same thing as last time, no flag on the play."
Kate took a short step closer after that, and spit out at him, "You talked to Rick about this harebrained idea? Let me be perfectly clear, you want a relationship with me, then talk to me. Not that it is ever going to happen! There is a damn flag on the play as far as I'm concerned. I'm working hard here, trying to rebuild something with him, and it's hard and slow work; you mess with that and a pass interference flag will be the least of your worries. Got it!?"
Stepping back to ensure a safe zone from her anger, he raised his hands slight, taking on a placating tone, "Whoa! I was just asking you out for a drink, no harm meant. You're really that serious about him?"
She actually smiled at that, really smiled, "You have no idea."
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It wasn't until later that night, sat on her couch in her sparse apartment that she made the connection. Demming spoke to him, he was more distant after that. What did Demming actually tell him? It didn't matter, she'd deal with it whatever had passed between them.
Her first thought was to head over to the loft, but she hesitated. She hasn't been in the building since the proposal incident, and she had no desire to raise that issue yet, in case it upset the careful progress she was trying to maintain. There would always be a chance that she'd run into Martha, and she hadn't faced her since the frogmarched exit scene. Didn't even know if Castle had told Martha they were talking again, probably he had, he didn't really keep secrets for her. That didn't mean she'd be happy to see Kate at the loft though.
She sipped her wine again, weighing and balancing. She'd talk to him tomorrow.
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The next morning Beckett was already sat with Jones and the robbery team, at her temporarily commandeered desk on the third floor. The had all been running leads, chemical traces on the drugs, costume shops for recent tail sales, and nothing was panning out. When the elevator dinged and Castle arrived with donuts and coffee everyone clustered around him grabbing at the sprinkled and raspberry filled favorites. He handed out the coffee individually, and Beckett grasped hers in both hands, taking a first life saving sip. It was plain black coffee.
Beckett blinked, sniffed, doubled checked. Yes it was, it was plain black coffee, but the cup definitely had her name written on it. No mistake. This was so not good.
She stood abruptly, "Castle, I need to talk to you." She walked, stiff backed glancing over her shoulder to ensure he was following along, and led him to a secluded corner by the stairway.
She dragged him into the corner, perhaps a little closer than strictly necessary, "Rick, what's going on? You withdrew a bit yesterday, I could feel it; almost like when you found out about... anyway, what happened? Was it something Tom said?"
Castle squinted at her, "Tom? Tom is it? Why did you call me in for this when he was here? Last time up we all worked together you spent all your time building theory with him, not me. Why? Did you just want to let me know that you were seeing someone and didn't want to tell me to my face, just let me find out by accident like so many other times? I just don't get it Beckett!"
Demming. Not Tom. Demming. Demming. Demming. She still hadn't established what he had said, but whatever it was had clearly brought back memories, memories probably of things that weren't actually true, "Rick! I didn't know. Honestly, trust me please, I didn't know he was involved until after I got back here and you were about to leave. My calling you had everything to do with this case, nothing to do with Demming."
Rick paused, seemed to actually relax a little, "You really didn't know?"
"Honestly Rick, I didn't know. If I had, well you'd have still loved the case, but no, I wouldn't have put you two the same room. That's clearly not all though is it? Something more than just him being here is bothering you. What did he say to you?"
Rick slumped back a little, leaning on the wall behind him, "He just brought up the last time, how you chose him over me, he was your boyfriend, I get that. Still I hoped you'd go with me, that's you'd prefer to go to the Hamptons with me than spend the weekend with me. You picked him, and then dropped him for Josh; I came second behind the guy that lost you."
"Rick listen to me, I didn't choose him over you. I broke up with him before you left, I was going to go with you Rick, to the Hamptons, to give us a chance of a relationship."
He whispered in a slightly confused and shocked tone, "What?"
Leaning towards his slumped form a little she spoke softly, "I admit I picked the job over you, and that was a mistake I've apologize for. But Rick I never picked Tom over you, it was so long ago, but when I faced that choice Rick, you won."
"What happened Kate? Why didn't you tell me?"
Smiling wanly, she continued, "Just a missed opportunity Rick, I was going to tell you right when Gina made her appearance and dragged you off. I don't blame you, I did at the time, I was angry, but it was mostly my fault. I shouldn't have expected you to wait around for me to change my mind."
He actually seemed to inflate a little at that, expand with some sort of sense of relief, "So if not for my ex getting in the way, we'd have been together earlier? Why do exs always have to get in the way and ruin everything."
They both stopped and stared at each other then, before both speaking at one, "I know who did it!"
Castle kept going, talking over Beckett for a change, "It's the ex, the ex-wife, her involvement makes everything fall into place!"
"Yeah, there is no way two different groups burglarized that apartment and left thousand of dollars of coke out in the open."
They both spoke simultaneously, "Unless is wasn't about the money."
"It was all a misdirect Castle, the drugs, even the etchings, they were all to distract."
"Kate, she wanted the ferret!"
"Sure, why not? People have done worse for dogs they've lost in divorces before."
"The poor little critter is probably at a vet in some kind of weird ferret kennel until the heat all blows over."
Kate grinned at him, "We build the best theory together!" Then she dropped her Beckett face back into place, before hitching her head in the direction of the bullpen, "Shall we?"
They both headed back to the bull-pen, where Beckett spoke up, "Detective Demming. It's a frame up, everything just meant to appear like he was drug dealer who'd been robbed. It was just an interfering ex trying to get back her what they had in the past, and to ruin everything else."
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There was a lot of work to do in order to prove their theory, financials to be run down, and a ferret to trace. After a couple of days of digging though, the case had finally been wrapped up. By way of modest celebration, the robbery and narcotics teams gathered for a congratulatory slice of pizza, all provided by Castle naturally. After eating, Demming stepped forward, hand outstretched, "We'd all like to thank you Castle, for your valuable assistance. It's been along time since you've helped the twelfth precinct, and we hope it won't be the last."
The other detectives his hand with a quick world of thanks, some muttered, some actually meant. Castle firmly shook every hand offered, he'd actually enjoyed being back, enjoyed being involved in saving a case, and more than anything enjoyed the stories and secrets he'd discovered.
When Castle reached Beckett he stuck out his hand once again, "Until tomorrow Kate." He did not withdraw his hand so quickly from her's as he had from the other detectives, and when he did his finger tips drifted slowly across her palm and along her digits until no further touch remained. He didn't break eye contact with her until a moment after that, leaving both thier fingers and eyes missing the connection that had been shared.
Wow, her hands were tingling after that, and judging from a twinkle in Rick's eye so were his. Things were moving forward alright, maybe not so slow after all.
She stepped closer as he stepped back towards the elevator, whispering, "Rick? You want to go grab a drink? We could debrief each other over the case."
