Claim:*
I've decided to come clean. I just can't keep misleading the good people here on FFnet.
It is true, I own the TV show Castle. No, really, it's true. I own the entire show.
I also own a mansion and a yacht.
Now, if you don't mind pwease be vewy vewy quiet, I'm still hunting dat tweachewous dubbuh-cwossing scwewy wabbit.
Huh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh
"She seems to be feeling much better." Kate observes.
"I think so." Castle says hopefully.
"While she makes her calls, I'll call Hastings" Kate says pulling out her phone. "Would you get me a coffee in my travel mug so I can get going?"
"You bet but it'll cost you." He says leaning close with a pucker on his lips.
She rolled her eyes at his childish antics but paid his fee gladly as she held her phone to her ear. "Hastings. Kate Beckett. Are you free for a couple of minutes?" she spoke into her phone.
"Good good. No, I just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes. I've got a friend who I think would benefit from your classes, do you have room for two college age girls?" ... "Sure, both seem to be very responsible women and surprisingly adult." ... "You're sure you've got room?" ... "If one or both of them needed personal instruction, I'd be willing to come in and help you, would that be an option?" ... "That's great. You're right, I was skirting the issue. Before I continue, I need your promise that these girl's identities, our conversations, and anything else about this is kept confidential. The only people other than these two girls who can discuss this with you are me and Castle himself until told otherwise." ... "I'm glad, thank you. Here's the deal, did you hear about Castle's daughter?" ... "Okay, I'll save the bulk of the story for another time. In short, she and another girl were kidnapped" ... "Yes, I really mean it, snatched from the streets of New York, tossed into a van, taken overseas and ransomed." ... "Anne? No, I'm not joking, Paris France." ... "Like I said, I'll make sure you know everything before the class. Castle's daughter, who'll use the name Lexi Rogers for now, asked me about getting some basic self defense classes and I suggested that she talk to you. The other girl we've not heard back from yet so her attendance is still up in the air." ... "I'll tell you how this came up in a minute, you'll like that part. Lexi's doing pretty good but she is still having some issues from the whole ordeal and she might need a little extra attention which is why I'm offering to help you with the classes." ... "Great! I'll tell them. How much do you charge for the classes? No, I mean when it's a one-on-one class, I know that's higher." ... "Sorry, the deal is off if you don't get paid. No! I mean it. How much?" ... "Okay, I'll make sure you have a check for that in a couple of days. What about application forms, releases and such?" ... "Seriously? Hang on." Pulling the phone away from her ear, she turns to Castle "Hey Rick, your lawyers are on retainer right?"
"Yeah, why?" he answers from the kitchen with a narrowed eye-look of 'what are you thinking?'
"If they were to put together a really simple application and release waiver form for Anne's classes, would it cost you anything?" she asks and he's getting the picture already.
"No, not at all. Tell her I'll have my lawyers contact her today to make an appointment. Even if it costs, I'll absorb the fees." he offers.
Smiling now and winking at Castle, she gets back on the phone "Anne? When do you get off shift?" ... "Three O'Clock, Good. You'll be getting a call from Castle's lawyer today when you get off. He'll take care of getting releases and forms for you." ... "I know you can't afford it. That's why Castle's giving it to you." ... "Anne? Anne? What?" ... "No, I'm not kidding." Kate looks at Castle and gives him a thumbs-up sign and runs her index finger down her cheek from her eye indicating that Anne is taken by the offer.
"No Anne, I'm not promising without asking him. Here, I'll prove it." then, out loud while walking towards Castle and holding her phone in front of her "Castle, come and reassure Anne I'm not making this up."
Taking the phone "Hi Anne! How are you?" ... "Good, I'm glad to hear it. Kate tells me you're engaged, best wishes to you and your writer!" ... "Thank you. Now, to business. Yes, Kate has my approval for everything she's said." ... "Anne? No need to cry, really." ... "My lawyers are on retainer, I pay them to sit around and do nothing so this won't cost me a cent, I can assure you. They'll make sure your business is protected and all the bases are covered." ... "Like I said, Kate has the authority to speak for me." ... "Good. I'm glad. Let me turn you back over to Kate, she's got some more things to talk about with you." ... "Yes, good bye and thank you."
Handing the phone back to Kate he smiles.
"See Anne? Told you so." then with a slightly childish air "Muse's honor." she laughs "Yes, I know. I try not to tell him things like that too often though, it goes right to his ego." ... "Not at the moment, I'm on some special project so my hours are a bit later in the morning. No, I'm heading in now. I'm at ho... Um..." she clears her throat "About that. We are making an effort to keep this quiet so please don't talk about it. I'm at Castle's place." she says suddenly pulling the phone from her ear. "Hastings! Cut that out!" she says blushing "Yes! No! I'm not telling you! If you asked that it means you have money riding on it too and I'm not helping." ... "FINE! You'll just ask Doctor Parish anyway." Kate sighs heavily and continues "When I got suspended." she says rolling her eyes. "I don't want to hear this Anne. Really, do you want people betting on your personal life?" ... "I'm obviously not going to win this argument." she says with another heavy sigh.
"Anyway Officer Hastings..." she says trying to sound put-out in an attempt to regain control of the conversation "Remember you told me that you were looking for a new place to hold your classes?" ... "Did you find one yet?" ... "I didn't think so, it's hard to find a place for what you do." ... "I know, I don't want you to have to stop either, that's why I'm asking. How would you like a nice place closer to downtown that doesn't smell of testosterone and sweat?" ... "No, it's larger than a phone booth too. Here's the deal, do you know the actress Martha Rogers?" ... "Yeah! That's her! She has an acting school that is empty during nights and parts of the weekend." ... "Yes, I know her too." ... "No, this was a package deal. She's Castle's mother." ... "Oh she'll be delighted to hear that!" Kate says then pulling the phone away from her ear partially she says out loud "Hey Rick, Anne thinks Martha's too young to have a son as old as you!" and smiles when he starts to protest but he already knows to keep it to himself.
"So, I asked Martha at dinner last night" ... "I know, it's still a little weird for me too." ... "So, at dinner last night, I asked her about her school and she said for you to contact her to discuss using the school during off hours. The entire school is almost all just big empty rooms. There's props and such but they usually move but you and Martha can discuss it." ... "Ah, the cost. That might be a problem." she says with a slight chuckle "Martha has already said that she'd give you one month of usage for each of the two girls and Castle said he'd triple it. So, that right there gives you eight months of free use." ... "I know, I just added the two and six months without his permission." ... "I don't know how the scheduling or anything else will work, you'll have to work that out with Martha." ... "Yes, I'll text you her contact information and you can give her a call. She's already told me to have you call her." ... "Please don't mention Christmas to Castle, he's insufferable about that holiday but yes, I can see how you'd say that." she says smiling.
"I'm glad Anne. I know Al... Lexi will be very happy to hear this too." ... "Okay, you get back to work, I've got to get going too. You can call me if there's any questions about any of this of course. I'll also send you Castle's contact information too." ... "Right." ... "You're very welcome. I can speak for Rick too, he appreciates you working with his daughter." ... "I know you can keep a secret but I'll tell him for you anyway." ... "No! I don't want to know how much you won in the pool. Sheesh!" ... "Thanks, talk to you later. Good-bye." as she hangs up.
"I have never heard of so many people betting on a relationship as ours." she says shaking her head as she crosses the room putting her phone away. "I'm going to get my stuff together so I can get into work. The DA's office should be able to answer my questions by now."
"I guess all these wagers represent another way for the universe to tell us we took too long." he laughs "Here's your coffee." putting it on the breakfast bar as he opens the newspaper. "Alexis should be done any time now."
"If I don't see her before I leave, you can tell her that she's in the class. Anne agreed before I let her know all the other benefits." Kate calls out from the bedroom.
"That's great! I guess Anne's another case of the universe working things out for the better. Here she was doing things that were not good for a cop to be caught doing, she straightens out her attitude and things fall into place for her." he says while skimming the paper.
Alexis appears from the office at the same time Kate comes out of the bedroom with her shoes and coat.
"Hey Alexis. I talked to Anne Hastings and she said you're in the class." Kate says.
"That's great! Thank you."
"You're welcome, she said Sarah's in too if she wants."
"I'll be giving her a call a bit later on, I'll tell her about it then." Alexis says heading into the kitchen.
"Great!"
"So dear daughter of mine, how'd it go?" Castle asks turning his attention to her.
"Seems okay. I have to meet Lanie at noon for a couple of hours and then we have an appointment with Doctor Stewart at three. Does that work for you?"
"Works for me. I'll find space in my oh-so busy schedule." Castle says grinning foolishly.
"Good. I told her what you said, she'll meet with us both and decide on the best course of action after that." Alexis says.
"So you talked to the doctor herself, this early?" he asks her a bit surprised.
"She said that she has early hours. She starts at seven in the morning"
"Well, that's a work ethic." he smiles.
"She took my call after I said I was referred by Disney and she said that Detective Smoot had sent her a message saying someone special would be calling." Alexis says a bit humbled.
"I think we'll have to send a thank you to Smoot too." He says as a thought out loud.
"Well Castle, now you have things to do." Kate says. "I'm going to head into work and you're going to have your lawyers contact Doctor Stewart's office right?"
"Yes, that's the next thing on my list. I'll also have them arrange to talk to Hastings. Oh, wait, can't do that one until you send me her contact info."
"Right, will do that as soon as I get into a cab." Kate says.
"Okay, looks like we've got a plan in place." he says. "Alexis, for the moment, until you decide otherwise, Anne will know you as Lexi Rogers."
"That's fine for now. I'm not much on that nickname." she says getting some juice from the 'fridge.
"Sorry Alexis, that's my fault, I did it on the fly while talking to Anne." Kate apologizes while she continues getting ready to leave.
"Oh, that's okay Kate, I know and understand. It's a good temporary solution to hide my true identity." the girl says smiling. "At least you didn't choose Rumpelstiltskin or something foolish like someone else we know might have chosen." she says nodding at her dad.
"Darn! Wish I'd thought of that twenty years ago!" he says smirking back at her.
"Truth is Kate, for some reason, people in my circles find the six letter name that I have too difficult to deal with so they shorten it. I've gotten accustomed to it. I really don't understand it but that's for another day. I've been called everything since I started college. Lexi, Lexus, Alex, Lex, Al, Aly, most of them are just foolish it seems, people trying to shortcut the shortcut."
"Thanks Alexis. I figured you can work it out with her later. Would you mind telling Martha that Anne will be calling her this afternoon about the use of the school?" Kate asks.
"No, not at all. As a matter of fact, she said she has to go in for a couple of hours to handle some business and I was thinking that I might go with her to get some air." Alexis says. "A short time out again might be good for me."
"That's great! I'm glad. Enjoy it. Remember to take your time. Speaking of going out, when's your mother showing up?"
"Another few days. I've asked her to move her visit out a bit so that I can be ready to go outside with her. Like we discussed, I want to be able to talk with her in a comfortable setting and I'm not quite ready to spend too much time outdoors right now."
"Was she okay with that?" Castle asks.
"She was. I explained it to her and she took it well, I think she actually understands a little." the girl explains.
Castle joins in "Good. Don't let her push you too hard or take you too far out of your comfort zone. You need to be able to retreat to safety whenever you want. If it helps, take the car service and use one of the bigger SUVs with the window curtains if you want." he offers.
"Good idea!" Kate adds.
"We'll see how I do today with Grams. When you took me out last night" she says to Kate "and we went into the bakery I could feel the difference and it felt better so I know I can retreat to some places already." Alexis says.
"Okay, good luck. I've got to get going." Kate says donning her coat and getting her bag.
"Thanks again for everything Kate." Alexis says going and giving her a hug.
"You're very welcome, I'm glad to be able to help." She says hugging her back. "And thank you for our conversation last night." she says with a wink.
"I'll walk you out." Castle says approaching them at the door.
"'bye Kate." Alexis says heading back into the kitchen.
As they walk to the elevator he wraps his arm through hers. "Thank you for everything you've done for Alexis."
"No need to thank me." she says gently.
"Yes there is. As you said to Hastings, you got stuck with a package deal. I know you weren't ready for me, much less, a ready-made family." he continues as he presses the elevator call button.
Kate turns quickly realizing he might have misunderstood her. "Rick, I was not complaining to her, not one bit. I..." there's a long pause while she thinks of what she wants to say and how to express it. "How about we table this part of the discussion for another time. Let me just say this, I don't think I've ever been so happy. I'm thrilled to help her and it gives me something in return. And we'll leave it at that if you don't mind."
Smiling now "Okay, for now you've got a deal." he gives her a kiss as the elevator doors open. "Call if you're bored." he says as she steps in.
"I will. I should be back on normal duty soon." she says giving him a warm smile and a wink as the doors close.
*Author's Note:
What? Did you really think I was serious?
I just had to do it to rail against the idea of putting a disclaimer on each and every chapter. :)