a.n. Here's the next chapter. Its fluffy and mostly filler, but it is needed to show the relationships between our characters.

Special thanks to Her Pegship who did her absolute best with this travesty. You should go check out her Castle stuff, it's great.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

-:::-

August 4 2010

Kate sat down on the couch in Rick's living room, laughing. "I can't believe you did that."

"Well, it made him laugh, so of course I did," Rick said petulantly, flopping down beside her. "Besides, he likes it when I make up stories about people."

"Well, yeah, that's always been entertaining, but you should have kept your voice down a bit."

Rick laughed. "Yeah, turns out sound travels quite well in a theater, who knew. But I can't help it if the movie you chose was boring."

"Hey, Alex wanted to see it too!" Kate protested. They'd gone to see The Last Airbender, but it had turned out to be...well, boring. So Rick had taken to making up stories about the rest of the people in the theater, which had caused Kate and Alex to giggle through most of the movie. The real problem had come during the quietest part of the movie when Rick had told a story about one of the other patrons. Everyone in the theater, including that patron, had heard the story.

It had caused Alex to laugh really loud, which in turn got them kicked out of the theater. But it had been worth it. Overall, they'd had a grand time despite the poor choice of film. Alex had been a little down because they hadn't been able to arrange for him to see his new friends again before the start of school, so they'd needed something fun to do.

"So, how's it going, Kate?" Rick asked. "You don't normally take vacations. Was it weird going back to work after so long?"

"It was, but...I'm glad I did it. I feel so much closer to Alex now. Going back did feel odd after so long. The boys gave me some guff about being a slacker, but they couldn't say too much given that Montgomery gave them time off too."

"That's Ryan and...Esposito?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me some more stories, would you?"

Kate laughed. Rick had been curious about her job since they'd truly began rebuilding their friendship. At first it was weird, because no one should have that much fascination with murder, but she'd come to find it completely adorable, even if she wouldn't admit that to herself or Rick. Ever.

The two spent another three hours together, trading stories. Kate shared some about her job and a few about the ten years she'd been out of his life; Rick shared stories of his time with Alex and some of the funny and difficult moments he'd had during their ten year estrangement.

By the end of the night, each of them felt much closer to the other, and they felt that their friendship was almost as strong as it had been when they were kids.

-:::-

August 11 2010

She was surprised when Rick asked to talk to her privately in his office. Alex had been sent to bed a few minutes earlier, and they were waiting for him to finish his nightly routine before tucking him in. She had planned on staying around for another hour or so before heading home. She and Rick usually had a good time talking or just watching TV after Alex had got to sleep.

The invitation to Rick's office was unusual, and it set her on guard a bit.

"So, what's going on?" she asked once she'd closed the door behind her. "Rick, why do you look so serious?"

He was kind of scaring her. Was he going to keep her away from Alex? Her biggest fear was that Rick would eventually remember how terrible she was and send her away, never to see her child again.

"I...uh...I'm not really sure where to start," Rick said finally.

"The beginning is always a good place," Kate said. "That's what you always used to say."

Rick smiled. "Yeah." He took a deep breath, "I have a question to ask you. I'm really hoping you'll say yes, because this is so cool, but it's okay if you say no. I mean, it'll mean a lot of work will have been wasted, but that's okay - it won't be the first time I've done this and not used it. I really like it, and Gina said it was the best work I've ever done...and..."

"Rick."

"I've already written about three quarters of the first book..."

"Rick!"

"And it's okay if you don't like it..."

"RICHARD RODGERS!"

Rick looked at Kate, eyes wide. Then he blushed. "Sorry."

"That's okay," Kate said with a smile. "But maybe you want to tell me what you're talking about before you start freaking out."

He took a deep breath again and said, "I've written some new material, about a new character. She's based on...well, she's based on you. I've been messing around with the concept since we met again in November, and I think it's really good. But...I didn't want to make a deal with Black Pawn if you were completely against the idea."

Kate stared at Rick in shock. "You wrote about me?"

"Well, I wrote about a character that is based on you."

"B-but you don't even know about my job, or at least you didn't before these last few months. Wait...is that why you've been asking so many questions about my job?"

Rick nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. Don't get me wrong, all the stories were very interesting, but it was also great research."

Kate wanted to be angry at him. She felt as though he'd been using her, but she was still in shock at the mere idea of him writing about her that she couldn't muster any anger towards his duplicity.

"Can...can I read it?"

Rick smiled. "Sure." He walked over to his desk and picked up a giant stack of paper. "This is just the first part of the novel, so it's not complete. I'm thinking about using the title Heat Rises. It plays on the character name I've chosen and with the storyline."

"Wait, your character name is Heat?" Kate asked, taking the printout.

"Yeah. Nikki Heat."

Kate narrowed her eyes at him. "Tell me you're joking."

"No, of course not, why would I joke about that?"

Kate stepped forward, toe to toe with him, and gave him her best glare. "If you're going to do this, if you must, you're going to change that...that terrible name. I will not have a character based on me with a stripper name."

"It's not! A stripper name, I mean. It's not. And think of all the cool title possibilities!"

"I don't care, Rodgers, change it. Or else."

Rick cocked his head to the side, a small smirk playing on his lips. "Or else, what?"

"I'll shoot you. I have a gun. It'll even be worth the paperwork. My ME friend will help me make it look like an accident."

Rick gulped. "It's a good name. I..."

"Rick..." Kate growled.

He squared his shoulders. "I like the name, Kate. You will too. Look, just read what I have so far. If you don't like the name after you've read some of it, I'll think more about changing it."

Kate groaned. "Fine. But I'm telling you right now, you need to start thinking about a better name."

Rick smiled. "Good. Good. We should get upstairs. Alex is probably waiting for you."

Kate nodded sharply and stalked out of Rick's office, clutching the pages of the manuscript to her chest. She may not like the name (because seriously, Nikki Heat?), but she was thrilled that he'd written about her.

It was something he'd done before, of course. When they were younger and Rick had just started writing, he'd often write about real people, and he often called her his muse. But it was never anything like this.

Not that she'd tell him her feelings on the subject. There was no way she'd enlarge his ego by telling him that she was quite happy to be his muse.

-:::-

September 17 2010

Eleven years old. Her son was now eleven years old. It was hard to believe. It also caused the guilt that she'd been burying for the last ten months to bubble up to the surface. When she woke up the morning of her son's birthday, that guilt was almost overwhelming.

Her son was eleven and she'd only just begun to have a relationship with him. It was mortifying. She could remember the day Alex was born so well. Yet she didn't have the memory of so many other important moments.

Holding him for the first time (she'd stubbornly and horrifically refused to do so after he'd been born).

His first time crawling.

His first birthday. His first minor injury or illness. Teaching him to read and write.

As she sat up in her bed, it hit her again just how much she had missed. Intellectually, she knew that there was nothing she could do now that could change the decisions she'd made when she was 19. All she could do was be there for him now. And she would. She'd miss no more firsts.

-:::-

"Alex! Are you ready to go?" Rick yelled up the stairs.

"Coming, Dad!"

Rick sighed. They were running late. They were meeting Kate for a birthday lunch, and then they were coming back to the loft to prepare for Alex's birthday party. Rick had already done a lot of the prep work, but he left the decorating so that Kate could take part. He knew that she'd want to play a role as much as possible in the first of Alex's birthdays she'd been around for.

Alex bounded down the stairs, a happy grin on his face. The boy had always loved his birthday (Rick had a suspicion it was because there was always cake).

"You ready, bud?" Rick asked as he looked his son over critically. He hated to admit it, but at ten years old, his son had quite a bit of a fashion fetish. Rick could also admit that it was partly his fault. He'd always supplied Alex with an overly full wardrobe. Despite his protests, Alex was not at all uncomfortable with the vastness of his clothing collection.

"Yes, Dad. I had to find the right shirt. You said that Brian and Sally are going to be there, right?"

Rick smiled. "Yeah. They'll be at the party tonight. They're going to stay for the whole weekend. They and their parents will stay in the guest rooms. I've already cleaned out the one we use for storage. Now, come on, we've got to go or your mom will get worried."

Alex grinned. "What do you think she got me?"

"Probably a sweater," Rick said dryly. "Or maybe some new shoes."

"Dad, don't even go there," Alex said, rolling his eyes.

The two bantered as they left the loft, caught a cab and made their way to Remy's. Kate was already at a booth in the back when they walked into the restaurant.

"Hey guys," Kate said as she stood up to greet them. She knelt down and hugged Alex tightly. "Happy birthday, sweetheart."

Alex hugged her back. "Thanks, Mom!"

Rick smiled as he watched the scene in front of him. It was a little bittersweet for him. This was something that should have been possible every single one of Alex's birthdays. If Kate hadn't been so good over the last ten months about making herself a part of their son's life, Rick knew that he wouldn't even consider having her a part of Alex's birthday celebrations. As it was, he felt like she'd earned her spot at Alex's side, and while what she had done would never be forgotten, she had been forgiven for it over time. It made him happy that they seemed to finally be creating the family they should always have been.

-:::-

a.n.2. Let me know what you guys think of this chapter in the reviews. I'm not all that happy with some of the wording, so let me know what you think.

Next chapter is the last of Part 2. It's already written and is being beta-ed right now. The cliff hanger is brutal, I'm just warning you. Before that part, we see Thanksgiving and some more time with Grandpa Jim.