-Attention- longer authors note coming

Anytime I watched Castle, especially earlier seasons, I was always bothered by the fact that Rick more or less kowtowed to Kate. I mean, I know he's in love with her and doesn't want to lose her but still, it made him look weak. So, going by this basis, this chapter is an attempt to make him stand up more for himself, be more egoistic.

For this to work, this chapter makes the following changes to the actual canon: Kate is more – lets say – bitchy and Rick doesn't take her crap. And Rick has already broken up with Gina. This piece starts in the morning after the kiss between Rick and Natalie Rhodes. The case is only hinted at.

Hope you enjoy it :)

Disclaimer: bla bla, not owning Castle

When Rick handed her the coffee cup, she looked at him and saw the I-just-got-laid look in his face when he sat down on his chair. Realizing that enough was enough, she decided to force the issue.

"Castle, I need to talk to you."

"About?"

"Natalie Rhodes."

"What about her?"

"I want you to stay away from her."

"What? Why?"

"Because... It interferes with your performance in this investigation."

"How? She's working with us and even helped us with these handbags."

"But she's weird. Dressing like me, looking like me."

"She's going the extra mile with learning the role. What is so bad about that?"

"Because." 'she's taking you away from me.' Kate finished the sentence in her head.

"Because...?" Rick said, giving her a hand motion for her to continue.

"You know what? It doesn't matter. I don't want you to meet with her outside this investigation."

"You can't be serious. Why do you care what I do in my spare time? I can meet whoever I like."

"You have two choices. Either keep it professional with her or leave."

Castle only thought about it for a few seconds.

"Fine." he sighed. "Then the choice is easy."

"I knew it would be." Kate said and smiled. Her smile faltered though, when Rick got up and grabbed his jacket.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving."

"What? Why?"

"You said it was either that or do what you want. So, I'm leaving. I let a lot of things slide, because I like you and I like working with you. But you have no right to interfere in my private life just because you don't like what you see."

With that, he stormed off, taking the stairs so he wouldn't have to wait for the elevator. He never looked back.

"Why did he run off like that?" Natalie, who had just walked in as Rick left, asked.

"Um, he had an errand to run."

"Okay. Listen, I wanted to talk to you."

"What about?"

"Castle."

Kate had a sinking feeling in her stomach. She desperately needed to talk to someone but the woman sitting in front of her was the direct opposite of who she needed right now.

"I can't talk right now. Excuse me, I have to run an errand."

Kate stormed into the morgue without hesitation, looking for the one person she needed right now. She spotted Lanie sitting at her desk in her office, filling out paperwork. She saw nobody else around and went right into Lanie's domain.

"Hey girl. To what do I owe this visit?" the cheerful medical examiner inquired.

"I need to talk to you."

"About?"

"About Cas..." Kate started and stopped talking immediately. What could she say?

"Yes?"

"It's like..." Kate started again and paced through the office, flailing her arms around in an attempt to sort herself out.

"Okay girl, stop!" Lanie shouted, causing Kate to do exactly that. "First of all. Breathe! Then start from the beginning."

"Well, it started when Natalie Rhodes started following me around..." Kate began and was interrupted by her ringing phone. "Damn. Beckett!... … Okay, I'm on my way." She turned to Lanie. "Sorry, I have to run."

"Not so fast girl. You can't come in here, looking like someone killed your puppy and then run away again. This evening, you will visit me at my apartment. And then you will talk. And don't try to weasel your way out of this. I know where you live."

"Okay. Bye." Kate said and left the morgue, leaving Lanie with her paperwork and a lot of confusion on her mind. After thirty minutes, she grabbed her jacket and left the morgue as well.

Rick sat in front of his laptop, staring at the screensaver that should compel him to write when he heard a sharp knock on the door. Since Alexis was at school and his mother was out with a friend it couldn't be either of them, especially since they wouldn't knock in the first place. He hadn't ordered anything and he wasn't expecting visitors.

Natalie Rhodes? He wasn't sure if he wanted to see her, since she was the spark that led to the reason for his dark mood right now. He knew it was unfair to her. Yes, she was beautiful with her piercing eyes and her voice had that sexy timbre that he liked.

Kate? He wasn't sure what he would do if she was on the other side of the door. He was pretty mad at her and he probably would have to fight hard not to slam the door into her face. He at least wanted an apology from her but he knew that his feelings toward her would influence his decision whether or not to forgive her right away or not.

He was so ensconced in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear the second set of persistent knocks. He got up and went to the door to find a certain cheerful medical examiner standing in the hallway after opening it.

"Lanie? This is a surprise. What brings you here?" he asked her while letting her in.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay. Want something to drink?"

"Water please." Lanie said and Rick went into the kitchen. After a few seconds, he came back and handed her bottle, making himself comfortable on the couch while Lanie sat down in one of the chairs.

"So Lanie, what's up?"

"Well, a female detective we both know came to me today. She was quite in distress because her partner apparently walked out on her..."

"Hold on." Rick interrupted. "I like you Lanie, you're a good friend. But don't put this on me. She's the one who was completely out of line."

"Castle, I'm not here to bring down the hammer of judgment upon you. At least not yet." she added with a wink. "But I have never seen Kate like this. It was like someone killed her pet. When I asked her what she wanted to talk to me about, she started to say your name and something about Natalie Rhodes. But then she was called back to the precinct before she could tell me anything more. So I came here because obviously something happened. And since you are here, something must have really gone wrong. So what is it?"

Rick sighed and looked at Lanie. She seemed completely peaceful, no outwards sign of anger towards him. He figured that it couldn't hurt to confide in someone who wasn't family.

"Well, you know that Natalie Rhodes is following her around to learn the role of Kate Beckett for the movie, right?" he asked and Lanie nodded.

"Yes, go on."

"Her desire to perfect the role is not just restricted to learning how the procedure works but also how Kate acts around others and the way she moves and stands. As if that wasn't both strange and kind of alluring, she got a make-up kit and a wig plus a set of clothes and completely made herself to Kate. Same hair, same clothes.

"That wasn't enough for her apparently. I offered her to carry her belongings when we finished for the day and after stepping into the elevator she told me she really wanted to get into the role. Seems the way she envisioned it was to seduce and then have sex with me, so she kissed me in the elevator as the doors closed. I broke the kiss a few seconds later and told her it wasn't going to happen. Next thing I know I hand Kate a coffee the next morning and she starts berating me about my private life. And get this. She actually forbade me to see Natalie. Says it's "interfering with my performance in this investigation". Can you believe that?" Castle says, quoting Kate's accusation from the morning.

"Seriously?" Lanie interrupted. "She really said that?"

"Yes. Then she gave me a choice. Comply with her order or leave. So I did what I had to do and left. It's that simple."

"Wow. Will you go back tomorrow?"

"No. She would need to apologize first and then explain to me why she acted the way she did. You don't do that to other people."

"Didn't you try to talk to her about that? Do you really want to throw away two years because of something like this?"

"Let me tell you something Lanie. I like Kate. I really like her. A lot. But if someone puts a metaphoric gun to my head, it's a red flag for me."

"Why?"

"You know my reputation in the tabloids, right?" he asked, causing Lanie to nod. "Well, I think you know by now that this persona is more or less fake. But even as a playboy, haven't you ever wondered why I never had a steady girlfriend for more than a month, apart from my two former wives?"

"I kinda wondered about that, yeah."

"Usually, when I got together with women, they started demanding outrageous gifts for mundane things. One wanted a diamond necklace for our one-week anniversary. Another a car for the one-month anniversary. Every time a woman wanted something like that I told them no. Then they got mad and told me to either buy them the thing they wanted or they would leave me. So I let them go. Because if you give in to such demands, the people who made them know they can make those every time they want something.

"So when Kate did that, I saw red. I had flashbacks to my failed relationships and I couldn't handle the fact that Kate had stooped that low. It broke my heart when I got up but this was something that went against my core principles. I have no problems with compromise but a demand like this isn't a compromise."

Rick slumped back into the couch, feeling extremely exhausted after pouring his heart out like this. He realized that it felt good to let it all out, even if these information would probably find her way to Kate.

"You love her, don't you." Lanie asked, to Rick's total shock at her bluntness. He looked at her with tired eyes for over a minute before settling for the simplest answer possible.

"Yes."

"Do you think she knows that?"

"I have no idea. Maybe. But it doesn't really matter, she has a boyfriend."

Lanie was silent for a minute, trying to digest what she just heard. She couldn't believe that Kate would do such a thing. If a person tried to demand things from someone else like this, it was usually reserved for partners in life, be it spouse or girl- or boyfriend. But having Kate behave like this confirmed for Lanie what she suspected for a while.

"Listen Castle, I need to get back to the morgue." Lanie said and stood up with Rick following her. After she stepped into the hallway she turned around. "And you might not believe me but for what it's worth, I can tell you one thing I am a hundred percent sure of. Kate loves you. The problem is that she is probably too thick headed to realize it. So please, don't throw away your partnership about something like this. Talk it out."

"Thanks Lanie. But she will have to come to me and apologize first."

"Bye Castle. Take care and say hello to Alexis for me."

Kate sat down at her desk again, her coffee cup in hand. It was the first time in a while that she actually had to get her own and although it was the same one Castle got her every day, it tasted different somehow. Before she contemplate more, Natalie sat down at her desk.

"Can I ask you a question?" Natalie asked her.

"Sure." Kate said and took a long sip from her cup.

"Is Castle gay?"

This caused Kate to spit out her coffee.

"What? No. No." she managed to get out between coughs.

"Then you two are an item but you're sworn to secrecy, right?"

"No, we are not an item. Why?"

"Last night I invited him back to my place and he said something to me I have never heard from a man before."

"What?"

"No."

"No?"

"I don't get it?! He's into you but you're determined not to give in to these feelings that you clearly have for him. So he fantasizes about you through his writing. It's literally verbal masturbation."

"I don't have feelings for him."

"Oh please. The looks you are throwing me since I got here tell me enough. You want him but you do everything you can not to give in."

"For your information, I have a boyfriend."

"Really? No picture of him on your desk?"

"No. I think, it doesn't belong there."

"Why? Detective Ryan has one of his girlfriend on his desk. Do you have one in your wallet?"

"No..."

"Who's on your number one speed dial?"

Kate murmured some answer. Natalie leaned in closer.

"I didn't quite catch that."

"It's Castle, okay? What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that usually it's your loved ones at the top. Parents, kids, spouses, you name it. But although you claim to have a boyfriend, your work partner is the first."

"I need to go...over there." Kate said and left her desk, leaving Natalie sitting there. That conversation gave Kate way too much to think about, things she really didn't want to contemplate.

She was saved from her thoughts by Ryan who again demonstrated his ability to interrupt anything happening in terms of Castle and Beckett by bringing her new information about their case that ultimately lead to the arrest of the perpetrator. Strangely enough, it was Natalie who talked him down from killing himself, allowing them to arrest him.

After they told their goodbyes to Natalie and watched Ryan propose to Jenny, Kate went home to shower and mentally prepared herself for her talk with Lanie. Knowing her, Lanie would probably chew her out all the while giving Kate good advice that she really would like to follow but was too stubborn to do.

It was 6 pm sharp when Kate knocked at Lanie's door and was promptly pulled into the apartment right after the door was opened. She found herself face to face with her best friend who had a stern look on her face and two glasses of wine in her hand, one of which she handed to Kate.

"So girl, drink up and then start talking." Lanie ordered, the tone in her voice allowing no argument. "Start from the beginning."

"Well, it's like this..."

And Kate talked. And talked and talked. This was something that very few people ever experienced when it came to Kate Beckett. She poured her heart out to someone else. Lanie noticed that Kate was blinking away tears a few times, especially when she recounted the events where Castle got back together with his ex-wife. Lanie realized she should have been more specific because Kate really talked about everything since Castle started shadowing her. Finally she came to the part Lanie was interested in, the whole Natalie Rhodes thing.

"... and when I returned from the vending machines, I hear a thud coming from the elevator. I looked there and what do I see? Natalie Rhodes and Castle, embraced in a kiss. Can you believe that? Not only does she dress up like me, complete with wig and everything, she also has to steal my man. So I put my foot down. I told Castle he could either stay away from her or leave. And he left! He actually left! After all we have been through together, he grabs his things and leaves me."

Kate finished and Lanie saw a runaway tear on Kate's cheek when she practically collapsed on the couch. She handed her a tissue and sighed in satisfaction. Everything she had suspected about Kate and her feelings towards the writer ever since the hard-nosed detective sat on her slab for the first time and complained about him got confirmed this evening.

"Oh honey. I know it's hard to see the man you love kiss someone else but it's your own fault. Even worse, you're doing it to him too." Lanie said, provoking a surprised gasp from Kate.

"What? I'm not in love with him."

"Oh, you aren't?. Have you even listened to yourself during the last thirty minutes? You recounted everything that happened between you and him in minute detail, down to what he looked like in the morning during those breakfasts you had together while you were living with him."

"Lanie, I have a boyfriend."

"Which you never mentioned once during your speech. Kate, you don't have a boyfriend. Doctor motorcycle-boy is home like what, a week or two and then gone again for another two months? Yet I never have seen you take a day off to spend it with him. Nor does he seemingly take a day off from his work or even considers not going to Africa or South America or wherever to stay with you. Believe me when I say that what you have is basically an extended booty call."

"No... you're wrong." Kate said quietly.

"Just the way you said that tells me I'm right."

"Lanie, I came here to get some advice, not for you to examine my relationship."

"Fine, you want advice? Go apologize to Castle."

"What? Why should I? He's the one who walked away."

"Yes, after you pushed him out. Tell me something, if Castle had told you he didn't want you to see your "boyfriend", what would you have told him?"

"That he had no right to dictate to me what I do in private."

"And yet you do the same to him and strangely don't see anything wrong with that?"

"But..."

"But?"

"It affects the integrity of the investigation."

"How?"

"He... I … We work well together, bouncing ideas around, building theory."

"You mean that thing you do where you finish each others sentences and take a step closer after each one?"

"Who told you about that?"

"Javi did."

"Lanie! I need to know what to do."

"I already told you. Go to him and apologize and ask him to come back. But it might be hard. As hard as it might be to believe, he's a man of principles. After you left the morgue I visited him today and we talked a bit. Tell me something since you know him for more than two years now. What kind of man is he behind the playboy persona he used to portray in public?"

"Um, a caring father, generous, loving son. A family man, more or less. A good friend. Loyal."

"Right. But not many people get to look behind the facade. Think about it, why doesn't a man like him have a steady girlfriend?"

"How would I know?"

"Well, he told me a reason. When he had one, they usually started demanding outrageous gifts for their one-week or, in rare cases, one-month anniversaries. When he didn't cave in they put a gun to his head, figuratively speaking. It always was a either-give-me-or-I-walk demand. And guess what? He let them go."

"Why? He could afford giving them gifts."

"For the same reason you or I would leave someone who makes such a demand. If you acquiesce once, your partner knows he can make those demands again. In Castle's eyes, you put a gun to his head and he left."

"I can't just go to him and beg his forgiveness."

"Why not? What, except your pride, is stopping you?"

"Uh..."

"I thought so."

"I need to go and think about this. Thanks for the talk Lanie." Kate said and stood up, giving Lanie a hug on her way out.

"You're welcome, girlfriend. My final advice. Dump the doctor and grab the writer or the latter will be gone for good."

"Lanie!"

When Lanie closed the door, she smiled brightly at the shocked look on Kate's face.

"Dad?" came his daughters voice from outside his office.

"Yes pumpkin?" he answered after looking up from his smart phone.

"Is everything okay? You haven't said pretty much anything since coming home. And by the look on your face something bad must have happened."

Rick thought about what to tell Alexis. He didn't want to upset her because she actually liked Kate but he has had one rule with his daughter since she was old enough to make rational choices. He always told her the truth.

"Actually, something did happen. As of today, I'm no longer shadowing Detective Beckett and her homicide team."

"What? Why?"

"She put a gun to my head, so to speak."

"Like those women you dated years ago?"

"Yes."

"I can't believe she would do that. What exactly happened?"

"Remember when I told you we were shadowed by Natalie Rhodes so she could learn the role of Nikki Heat?" he asked, getting a nod from Alexis.

"Yes, go on."

"Apparently, Natalie takes her research to extreme levels. Part of it was dressing up like Beckett, complete with brunette wig and same clothes. But she took it a step further. When I helped her carry a box with her clothes to her car, she told me she wanted to research the relationship between Heat and Rook and in her mind that meant she had to sleep with me."

"Ew Dad!"

"Hey, let me finish. I never had the intention of actually doing it. But for the first moments, I was flabbergasted. After we stepped into the elevator, Natalie basically pushed me against the wall and kissed me. I broke the kiss after a few seconds, but it seems that Beckett saw us kissing before the elevator doors closed."

"So, nothing really happened?"

"Nothing, except the few seconds of kissing. Anyway, the next morning I gave Kate her usual morning coffee and she flat out told me that she wanted me to stop seeing Natalie, something I wasn't even doing."

"What reasons did she give you?"

"She said something about it interfering with the investigation, which is bull. I called her on it and she didn't give another reason but instead told me to stop seeing her. And if I didn't comply, I should take my things and leave. So I left."

"Why didn't you explain it to her?"

"Because I shouldn't have to. She has no right to order me who to see."

"But what now? I thought you loved her."

"What the...? How...?"

"Dad, a woman knows. Actually, grams knows and told me and I have to concur. It's evident in your eyes. So again, what now?"

"I don't know. I won't go back until I get an apology from her. And knowing Beckett and her thick head, an apology is a long way coming."

"What about your books?"

"Actually, I have enough material for dozens of books. And maybe now I will even be able to write them. And I won't have to watch her gallivanting around with that boyfriend of hers." he added the last part with bitterness in his voice.

"Well, I'm going to bed. Good night dad." Alexis said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Good night pumpkin." he answered back just as the door bell rang.

"I get it dad. Probably grams who forgot her keys again."

After Alexis left the room, Rick went back to his phone. He had barely pressed two buttons when someone knocked on his open office door. He looked up and saw the last person he expected.

"Hey Castle. I wanted to talk to you." Kate said with a shy smile.

Lanie was just about to step into her shower when her cellphone rang. She cursed and went back out into the living room and saw the face of her best friend on the screen. She quickly accepted the call.

"Hey girlfriend. What's up." she asked and her eyes went wide when she heard Kate's voice. It sounded as if she was or had been crying.

"Lanie, I went to Castle to talk to him and get him to come back."

"And? What happened?"

"He said no! He actually said no!"

Gasp! What happened during that talk between Rick and Kate that made him say no? The answer will come in the next chapter ^^

Review please. Be gentle :)

A/N: I'm sorry this took so long. My days were so busy the last few weeks, I was barely home :(