Love's Journey

Originally by The Muse of Apollo, now carried forward from Chapter 8 by Castlefan6 with permission from author

Authors Note This is set before the end of season 2, but after Tick Tick/Boom. Chapters 1-7 are the work of the original author The Muse of Apollo, following chapters are work of Castlefan6

I don't own Castle, I only use the characters for amusement purposes only

Chapter 10

Previously

For the first time in forever it seemed there is life after the 12th now he had to seize it. Upstairs Jess is silently thanking the Supreme Being for bringing Rick into her life, she doesn't know who would be such a fool to throw him away, but she's glad he is available to not only spearhead this project, but also spend time in her company, Wait, don't get ahead take it slow he has been hurt badly so proceed slowly she keeps repeating to herself as she hums her way into the shower,

As Martha makes her way onto the elevator, Kate is in the Ladies Room losing whatever it was she had for lunch and crying her eyes out. She had just been dressed down by a Pro and deserved every word if not more. Ryan and Espo are starting to worry when 30 minutes go by and Kate has not emerged. Ryan turns to Espo, "Bro, get Lanie up here now, God knows what she can do with her state of mind, and Castle is not here to talk her down." Espo spits out, "Talk her down? Hell, Bro he probably caused this, I don't know how but if he hurt her I swear I will kick his Ass from here to Sunday." "Just get Lanie up here and now Javi, we will figure out the blame later" Ryan counters.

Finally, after almost an hour Kate and Lanie come out of the Ladies Room and Espo is immediately shut down by a glare from Lanie, who quietly says "I'm taking Kate home, and if any bodies drop tonight, you boys are on your own, got it?" The boys nod not that Lanie was waiting for their acknowledgment anyway. Kate walks almost trance like to the elevator with Lanie right by her side, with red and puffed eyes and still sniffling. Once out of the building Kate starts her protests, "Lanes I am fine, so just go about what you had planned, I am fine, or will be once I get home and get a shower to wash this day off." Lanie doesn't even respond, just shoots her Girl I am gonna smack you Eye Roll, so Kate relinquishes, she has no fight left tonight. Once they arrive at Kate's apartment Lanie uses her key and opens the door, as Kate stumbles to the bathroom with another crying episode. Lanie just goes about getting the couch set up for herself, putting out some soft foods, and water for Kate along with two ibuprofen which Kate is surly going to need tomorrow.

Kate comes out of the Bathroom dressed in her bed clothes, oversized sweat shirt, and jogger pants with NYPD on the side, one look at Lanie and she is on the couch crying once again. Lanie sits beside her, holds her for a while then gets tough on her, telling her she must eat something and acting this way isn't going to get Castle back so shape up. Eventually Kate either cries herself out or she starts listening to the constant verbal stream coming from Lanie, and puts her hand up, "OK, ENOUGH Lanes, I know I screwed up, now what I need is How do I undo all the hurt I have caused." "Oh, Honey I don't know if you can, not this time" Lanie says softly. "You know what you have to do, so just do it", "How Lanie, he won't even answer a text, he has already moved on, I know he has." "And just how do you know this Detective" Lanie challenges. "Do what he has done, DON'T give up, you have to admit that man had took a TON of your abuse and always come back, so maybe it's your turn to chase, that is if you care about him at all"

Kate finally is in good enough emotional state that Lanie feels she can safely leave her alone. One final shot as she leaves, "I call you answer you got it, if not I will be over here kicking your skinny ass, understand?" Kate knows her best friend is only doing what she can to protect her, so she gives her a half hug as she mumbles "Thanks Lanes, don't know what I would do with out you." Lanie just replied "work on Writer Man before you drive us all crazy girl," and with a wave of her hand she is off.

Left to herself Kate begins to think how did this go so wrong so fast, was she really that naïve she would spread her legs like a typical Badge Bunny would do for a good looking, smooth talking cop? Did she even consider for a moment her partner, and oh God some of the remarks she had made to him were unforgivable and just cruel? She had traded a man who showed her love in so many ways for a chance in the sack with the new good-looking guy, what the hell was she thinking. She needed to talk to Castle to beg his forgiveness, grabbing her phone she hits 2 for his speed dial and prays he will pick up.

Castle is sitting as his desk replaying the first Good Day he has had in months in his mind, when his phone chirps that familiar ring tone, Beckett. Not even waiting for the rings to go to voice mail he declines the call. Beckett hears the call go to his greeting except this time it is not his normal cheerful voice, it is the standard greeting from his carrier stating the number reached and options to leave a voice mail. That is not like Castle, so she ends the call and dials again, with the same results except this time it doesn't even ring meaning Castle is deliberately screening her calls. God, she screwed this up big time. She types out a quick text, Castle I know you are there and refusing to answer, please pick up, I need to talk to you Please Thx KB.

The phone chirps with notification of a new text, Castle knows who it is without looking and hits delete without even opening it. Kate puts the phone down and then has one last thought, maybe she could reach him on his land line, pulling her cell she quickly dials the house phone only to be greeted with the message "Calls from this number have been blocked by the subscriber, please hang up and do not attempt to call again. Thank You Worldwide Services Notification 4747". She is shocked, and throws herself into bed, wishing this day would end and she would wake up to find it was a bad dream. Castle would NEVER block her number, but the message says she is so wrong again. It is a long sleepless night as Kate relives every insult, every barb, by both her and Boy Toy Deming, she is so ashamed and hurt that she would ever treat this man this way.

Rick is just about to turn his phone off when a new tone chirps, checking the caller ID it is from a Boston Area Code, he opens the text and a smile breaks across his face, Just getting into bed and wanted to Thank You for everything Rick, I had a great evening, hope to spend many more with you, I'll call you in the AM, sleep well X Jess. Rick leans back in his chair, and smiles, yes it would be a good night after all. He adds the number to his Favorites along with a picture he had managed to take while Jess wasn't looking, and she is even more beautiful now than when they parted, God Slow Down Rick, you have obligations to take care of his inner voice screams. He showers, and prepares for bed, for the first time without stopping by his bottle of Single Malt in weeks, he was pretty sure he wouldn't need it tonight. He was right as he drifted off to the most peaceful sleep he had had in ages, with a certain new lady running though his mind all night.

Kate looks at the clock, again, it's been 10 minutes since last she looked, and at 3:00 AM there isn't a lot of options for her to do, so she turns into her pillow trying to block out Richard Castle completely, revert to the days before he wormed his way into her life. That's what she wanted wasn't it, well she said it enough times so maybe this time it came true, she sits upright in a cold sweat from a dream where Castle is the one killed trying to save her from her apartment explosion. For the life of her she cannot explain her actions for the last 8 weeks, it was almost like she was drugged and acting like a different person. No wonder Castle left, the only question is how he took her abuse as long as he did, and why. He had to have Loved, (Past Tense), her to put up with half of the abuse.

Finally, at 5:30 AM Kate gets out of bed, showers and heads into the precinct, at this point she is not even sure she is scheduled to work, but she does what she always does when she runs, hides in her work. There is always something she can do to keep her mind off Castle, right? There must be. She greets the Night Shift Sargent as she makes he way up to the 4th floor to Homicide. She is drawn to the Murder Board for the case they were working on yesterday and sees minimal notes added. She's not hiding, she is working, there is a difference, anyone knows that.

She buries herself in the notes getting caught up from yesterday when she hears a voice, "Hey Beckett, thought you were taking the day off" Espo asks. "Yea well looks like this case will be open for ever if I leave it to you boys" not realizing just how harsh it sounded till she saw the wince on Espo's face as Ryan walks in and joins him. "I'm sorry Espo that's not what I mean, and you know it," "No sweat Beckett, Ryan and I will buck up today and pull our load" he mouthed without a smile. God what is she doing, she must get hold of herself. Offering a peace offering she yells "Espo, Ryan I'm going to get coffee can I get you one," the reply comes from each of the detectives in unison who never even raise their heads, "No Thank You." It's going to be another long day for Beckett.

A/N Please review I have an idea where I am taking this story but would like to hear constructive feedback. I don't want to get into Beckett, Castle Bashing, just what arc of the story or how can I improve, Many Thanks Tim

SPECIAL KUDOS to The Muse of Apollo for his help in not only the story but also for his patience in assisting me in setting up Fan Fic Account, Thank You Matt, If you have not read his work, go there NOW, you won't be disappointed