Down for the Count by Castlefan6
Authors Note: This is my AU version of events immediately following the end scene of Countdown where Kate is in the arms of Josh watching Castle walk away after several near-death experiences. He believed she had almost confessed she loved him, but she lost consciousness one second too soon. This story is dedicated to Norman, hope it is close to what you wanted my friend. We both had severe anxiety when Beckett just watched as Castle walked away watching her in the arms of Dr. Motorcycle Boy. WARNING: Caskett is NOT a guarantee in this AU story.
I don't own Castle, I use the characters for amusement purposes only
A/N I have addressed several reviews about bashing Kate, me not being for Caskett, and I am tired of reiterating that this is AU, if you want a rewrite as seen on TV then write it. Also when you see multiple chapters posted and start bashing something that is clarified in the next chapter expect to be called out. This is my hobby for fun, don't like it, then move on Thanks one reviewer who I blocked but it's best for us both if you return to writing your own stories, mine are not for you.
Chapter 11
Previously
Jacinda steps from the table, takes Rick into her arms and kisses him sweetly, gently and pouring all the passion in her heart into her lips, whispers "It'll be OK Rick, I promise you, not today, not tomorrow, but it'll get better" "You asked me a question before, the sex is the best I have ever had but there's more to this than that, BUT you're not ready Love, you may think you are but you aren't." "You're still in love with Kate, and until that ends it's not fair to you, or anyone to even begin to start more than a physical relationship, and Rick?
Harry's Steak House
Los Angeles Ca 8:00 PM Local time
Same Day
The driver pulls into the parking lot of a neat but not fancy building, that appears to once have been part of a National Chain, with minimum decorations on the exterior of the building.
"Uncle Rick did the driver mess up, or is this your favorite restaurant for sure?" Beth asks shyly
"No Sweetie, this is it, come on, I think you will like it, once you get inside."
Rick, ever the gentleman holds the door for the ladies each saying thank you except Jacinda, who just kisses him sweetly as she walks in. Immediately from behind the Cashier Desk comes a short Italian man Rickeeeeeee, you are Back, I thought that you went hunting and the ducks ate you, Rosalee Come see who finally came back. A short heavy woman comes from the kitchen and proceeds straight to Rick with a big embrace and kiss on his cheek,
"How are you Rosalee, doing OK? And how's the lug over there, is he doing what the doctors are telling him?"
"Shhhhh Like anyone can tell him what to do, you know him better than anyone, and we are rude who are the lovely ladies you brought us this evening"
Rick introduces each one and each receive the hug, and the European kiss from both Harry and Rosalee, so Rickeee
"Which one is yours?" Harry jokes
Much to everyone's surprise Rick replied, "This one but I'm still in training, not in her league yet" as he kissed Jacinda. Beth is giggling and trying to get a picture and Courtney is smiling from ear to ear.
Harry takes them all through the kitchen to a private beautiful room, there with pictures of Rick from his earliest books to his latest, all adorning the walls. Each picture has a handwritten message and signature by Rick, obviously this couple is very special to him. They are seated and a whole staff of waiters are there in a minute,
"What's your dish here Uncle Rick? Beth asks politely,
"I'm not sure if you like steaks but this is the only place that can get mine done without making it as tough as a shoe, so I have the porterhouse, but all the dishes are great"
"How's Miss Alexis Ricky, growing like a weed, I bet,"
"Yes, she is Harry she is one year younger than Beth and will be graduating early so that means Dad is going to be alone soon, not needed at all"
"That's not true Uncle Rick, if anything we girls need our Dads, or special Uncles even more when we get to this age"
Jacinda and Courtney smile over at Rick, while Jacinda just squeezes his hand gently under the table
"That's sweet Beth, thanks honey," Rick says quietly.
"Guess you are wondering why this restaurant, why here, and why all the pictures," Well when I moved out here thinking I was supporting my family and Meredith's acting career, I needed to supplement my income so Harry hired me to play piano for the bar crowd, and allowed me to write back here, then it was more of a storage space but it was quiet, Rosalee watched Alexis some days or I never would have been able to publish my first novel."
"I was homesick for New York and they had recently moved here from a neighborhood near where I had lived, never short of friends or relatives visiting, so it brought comfort. When I caught Meredith cheating Harry and Rosalee took us in till I decided to go back to New York, the next month the book was on the best seller list and I come here for each new book, for good luck."
Harry speaks up then "He makes it sound like we did all the helping, I was sick and almost lost the restaurant, Ricky paid the bills for a year, then when Rosalee got the cancer we never saw one bill he paid everyone and he comes here for book launch parties to keep new customers coming into the restaurant, he is our adopted son and we love him, he's a good man"
Courtney is shedding a tear, and Beth is sniffling fighting back tears, as Jacinda just looks lovingly into his eyes, while holding his hands,
"You have such a big heart Richard Castle, you've made it your job to help others along the journey in life, and I am so proud to be part of your life, in anyway", then she leans in and whispers we all love you"
Somewhere between the speech and seeing the joy on Beth's face to get something she so deserved, Rick knew he had found his next project. He was going to devote his work to raise funds for young students like Beth, some had lost parents, some parents had lost jobs regardless he was not going to let these young minds go to waste. There were so many good young people deserving of a college education, without the means to pay for it.
He would need to sever his contract with Black Pawn, which meant one final Heat book, no worries there he had plenty of research material, he could have the boys do the vetting of the cases to insure they weren't too close to actual ones worked, leaving Beckett to live her life without him as she had wanted all along. If he could forget Kate, he knew that Jacinda would be more than friends with benefits, the big if, can he get over Beckett and how.
The evening goes by far too quickly and then the goodbyes and hugs are made to Harry and Rosalee, such a sweet couple and a very big part of Rick's life. Jacinda was making her mental notes, she wants Rick, but not on the rebound, he has to be over Kate, she's already had her heart broken once but that will remain silent for now
When they return to the hotel, there is no pretense where Jacinda is going to be, Courtney leans in and says good night to both, kissing Rick on the cheek, and embracing Jacinda, Beth is more dramatic, "Auntie J, have a good time, but be sure to be good to Uncle Rick, he gives so much to everyone we have to make him happy, and I think you do," she winks, then hugs Rick, "Thanks Uncle Rick that was special tonight, leaning something about you no on else knows, Thank you! And then kisses him good night"
Four Seasons Penthouse
11:30 PM Local Time Same Day
Jacinda walks with him hand in hand to the Penthouse, and as soon as the door closes turns and kisses him passionately against the door, "Rick, don't say a word, just let me hold you for a few minutes, I need you just to remind myself of all the good that is in this world.
No matter how crappy a hand life dealt you, the heart just got bigger to help others, how do you do it? I mean I thought my history was tragic, but I never knew your wife cheated on you right after your daughter was born, My God what kind of woman does that?"
Rick just stands and holds Jacinda comforting her as she weeps softly on his shoulder, "Care to talk about it, not being nosey, bur here if you want to talk, ok"
"Yeah, give me just a minute and I will be back, we need to talk about this before things go any further" Now Rick looks worried, as Jacinda steps into the master bath.
She returns a moment later, looking more together, but still Rick could tell something was deeply troubling her,
"I'm not pushing doll, I am right here to listen to as much or as little as you want to share"
"Rick, how did you get over the cheating, how did you go on?" Jacinda asks in a small voice
"I didn't for a long time, I hated her for everything she did to me, my pride was hurt, but then I realized that by hating her, I was creating an environment that I never wanted my little girl to witness, so it was either forgive her or kill her." Rick smiled,
Jacinda snuggled under this arm, and pulled his other arm around her, "With you I always feel safe, I am going to tell you things only Courtney knows about me, if you get to a part you don't want to hear, just hold up your hand OK?
"Of course, What you say here stays here, I trust you the same way,"
"Well you know I was engaged before, for a long time, it was almost 2 years, and we still hadn't set a date. I had just switched careers from Modeling to Flight Attendant when I met Jim, he was polite, and very respectful, but after we were together for awhile we had different ideas of what my role in the marriage would be. He thought we should buy a farm and raise a bunch of animals as well as kids, something that was out of the question to me. We had discussed my views on parenting when we were just dating, and thought we had the agreement that I didn't want kids"
Tears begin falling harder now, "Rick I'm not a bad person because I don't think I could be a good mother and I don't want my kids to go thru what I did, Am I? Mom strung out on drugs and alcohol, father never home, cheating on her constantly, hell if that was marriage then I didn't want it."
"Finally, Jim had enough and broke it off, and to be honest, it was the best thing that could happened. I wasn't even sad, I was relieved, and just threw myself into my work, getting multiple promotions in just a few years."
Rick sits with his arms around Jacinda, quietly and gently rocking her as he would a child, "Well about 6 months after making Senior Attendant, I met Ray, and I knew then that he was my soulmate. We spent every minute we had together, had the same taste in art, theater, political views, almost like I ordered him out of a catalog."
"I was so afraid I was going to lose him, he asked was there anyone in my past that he should know about, and I said no. He then rephrased it to say, So, no old boyfriends, fiance, no relationships that could pop up later, and again I said No, it was so stupid, and of course he found out that I had been engaged, shortly after he moved in. I had cleaned a space for his clothes out, but a bunch of letters, including the one announcing our engagement in the local paper had fell down and when he pulled out a shirt one day he found them."
"He asked me once again in a slow casual tone that I had no idea what he had found when I said no, he put the letters in my hand and said Good Bye, that was 11 months ago, I haven't seen or heard from him since".
Rick clears his throat, "so just to be clear, it's not only me who has to get over Kate, but you need to get over Ray before we go any further is that right?" "And It's OK if that is correct, I just want to be sure."
Tears flowing from Jacinda's eyes now and as Rick shifts, she thinks he is pulling away, she sobs "Please Rick, just hold me, please don't pull away from me"
"Sweetheart I'm right here, Thanks for being brave and honest, I know how hard it is to completely bare your soul, you told me no strings attached, you took me as the mess I am, do you think I am going anywhere now?" "I just think we need to revise one of your statements, it's both of us who are not ready for the next relationship, well not yet, but we are working on it," He leans in and kisses Jacinda sweetly and just holds her till all the tears subside.
"How do you feel now? Rick asks about 25 minutes of just sitting staring at the stars on the balcony
"Honestly? Totally Drained, physically, mentally and emotionally" "Thank you that was the first time I could get through the entire story, even Courtney doesn't know some parts."
"Jacinda, I'm not judging but I would bet that that Ray didn't fall out of love with you, I know how damaged my emotions get once I discover a lie, and sorry Hun that was a lie, not a little one either" We've talked about how Kate lied to me, I would bet that the last time Ray asked that question he was praying that you would come clean."
"Rick, I know that now, but that ship sailed I screwed up, and now I have to be sure you don't repeat my mistake. Don't get me wrong, I care about you, a great deal, but I won't be the reason that you and Kate are apart as long as there is a chance for you both." "The love in your voice, the things you have done for and with her, those aren't puppy love trinkets. Rick, I know what I am getting into, work it out with her if you can, I'll be here for you whenever I can, you can always fly free to see me, and we still have Beth's graduation in 3 weeks, you're still coming aren't you?
Rick smiled sadly, "Of course I'll be there as long as she or you want me, as for working it out with Kate, that might not be possible, but I owe it to you to try, really try and if things don't work out then we re-visit us, deal?"
"Deal", as Jacinda seals it with a deep kiss
There wasn't much talking the reminder of the evening as each felt a sense of freedom and Jacinda wanted to cram every minute of love in her final day, she could always sleep later.
A/N This chapter took on a whole different direction than I had planned, but it is needed for future developments, sorry for lack of Kate, we will get back to her soon. Thanks for the comments, reviews, favorites Appreciate it Greatly Tim