Coming Out or Going In

by Castlefan6

Authors Note: From a fan prompt (Castle was lent out to Robbery temporarily to work cold cases while Demming is on suspension. Lead Detective Joy Park, a woman with a big secret causes friction between our couple. COMPLETELY AU, Some Scenes and events used to enhance the story,

I don't own Castle; I use the characters for amusement purposes only, except the ones I create.

Also, we take MANY liberties with the timeline from Canon and use events from other Canon episodes to make this a more believable fiction, thanks.

Chapter 12

Castle's Loft

New York City

/_/

Kate Beckett was in shock, Rick Castle had said many things to her, including some crazy theories but he had never been rude, well until a few minutes ago. She could still hear the slamming of the door as he closed it giving her absolutely no opportunity to enter the loft.

What the hell was the deal with Park, God, she had interrupted something, maybe that was why Rick was pissed off so badly. No, after years of Espo and Kevin interrupting them, he was used to it, and still never lost his patience. He was really angry, his eyes even blazed, then she remembered the last thing he knew; she was dating, well shacking up with the stockbroker. No wonder he was angry, he was trying to enjoy some female company and she had interrupted him and Detective Park.

She turned and made her way down to the lobby, Eduardo was waiting for her as she stepped off the elevator, with a scowl on his face.

"Detective Beckett I need to speak to you in private, will you follow me please?" as he headed to a small office behind the concierge desk. Once they were inside, he turned to her, and said sadly,

"I'm very sorry Detective, Mr. Castle is very upset that you showed up to his loft without calling or being cleared. He's instructed us to place you on the restricted list, which means you will need to be escorted to his door after we announce you for all future visits.

"I can honestly say, I have never heard him as angry as he was a few minutes ago. If you try and succeed getting past my staff, we have orders to call the 54th Precinct to have you arrested for trespassing." He said sadly,

Kate was still in shock from the slamming door and now the words Eduardo had just finished saying. Her shock was now turning to anger, Who the hell does he think he is, throwing me out, threatening me with arrest, and who the hell does he know at the 54th? Her mind raced with those thoughts, and her anger continued to build.

She started walking home, thoughts of Royce raced through her mind, glimpses of their one night spent together, the look on Castle's face the next morning, when they arrived together, it didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. Her anger built, why didn't he say something, not one damn word, he couldn't care, or he would have gotten jealous.

Then the case pulled from her by Roy, guess she knew now, maybe she wasn't such a hot detective after all. She cursed herself, not for making love to Royce, but for doing it, under those circumstances, she had let her damn walls down, because of the hots for her former TO.

Then she thought, as she almost walked into a couple of guys headed her direction, why was she angry at Castle? What had he really done besides obeying her wishes, stay out of her personal business? God damn him, why did he have to listen to that instruction at that particular time.

The guys were leering at her and one started to say something, she wasn't in the mood but perhaps kicking some ass would help her work some of her anger out. She slid her coat back to allow a clear line of vision of her badge and gun, one man backed off, but the one Romeo want-to-be started some vulgar accomplishments he wanted to achieve.

She wasn't in the mood, "If you value your life move on and keep your vulgar comments to yourself,"

"Why baby, you know you want it from a real man, unless you're one of them que" he never finished the word, Kate had kicked him in the balls, twisted his arm behind his back, shoved his face into the dirty concrete and waved a passing patrol car over.

A few minutes later the Casanova was on his way to the precinct for lockup after Kate gave an account of what happened. The man was screaming to go to the hospital, the patrol officer laughed, "for what, a kick in the nuts, you're lucky the mood she's in that she didn't cut them off and stuff them in your big mouth, now shut up."

Kate reached her apartment, still angry, and frustrated. The relief that came from putting that loudmouth in his place felt good for a few minutes but did little for her in the long run. She remembered the Patrolman removing that ugly fucking chair of Castle's, she should have known he was done with her at that point.

She poured herself a double shot of vodka and sat on the couch summarizing her successes of this evening. First, she got in touch with her former TO, found out he had stolen Police Property not only from the precinct, but when it was in her possession, then had a long night of sex with her.

They showed up at the precinct the next morning, she might as well have put a flashing neon sign around her neck, Yeah, we fucked all night. The look of Rick's face, she could still remember it, now thinking back it wasn't anger, it wasn't jealousy, it was disgust.

He had changed since that morning, withdrawn, some days not showing up at all, and taking hours if not a full day before answering her texts or voice mails. The answer was always the same, "You do know I have a real job I have to work, don't you?"

They had just made some progress, at least she thought they had progressed from her debacle with Demming before Royce appeared. She knew Rick spent the summer alone, and her lie drove a huge divide between them. To this date she still didn't know why she had lied to him, she never had any idea it would blow up in her face so badly. Remembering now the look on his face when she walked back into the precinct with Royce, no one had to say a word, they knew, they all knew what had happened.

She wasn't complete yet, no she had to march over to Castle's home, interrupt his private time to try to force him to talk to her, she wasn't clear about exactly what. She did want to know what the hell he and his lover were doing in Los Angeles with her, well, her ex TO. That went over oh so well didn't it Kate she chastised herself. She got to experience the anger of Rick firsthand and for the first time be treated with some reaction to her own rudeness. She had it coming, and now, she would have to be cleared, and escorted to his door, IF he would ever see her again. Things couldn't get much worse she thought, (oh but if she only knew, they were about to, and soon).

XxX

NYPD 12th Precinct

Robbery Division

Next Morning 7:00 AM

Rick and Joy were up early and honoring Roy's request to be at the precinct early to review the latest developments before the entire force got there. They met in Joy's office on the third floor, too many snitches and leaks on the homicide floor, even with Esposito gone.

Rick and Joy arrived a full ten minutes early surprising Roy who had been in his office since 5:30 AM. He noticed Beckett's workspace light up around 6:15 AM, but kept his door closed, a signal to all, do not enter. Joy buzzed him when they were settled, Kate noticed he walked down the stairs, not saying a word which was unusual for him.

His routine was to get two cups of coffee, one to blend with the bottle of whiskey in his drawer, the other to drink straight, and he always at least grunted some form of acknowledgment her way, but not today. Something was definitely up, things seemed to be caving in on her, first Javi, now Roy acting suspicious, not to mention the fact that she saw with her own eyes Rick's affection was now directed towards the new detective in the robbery division, not even willing to talk to her last night.

She wondered why Roy took the stairs, then it hit her, he was headed to the robbery division and he didn't want her to know about it. She knew better but she couldn't resist, she rode the elevator down to the third floor, holding the door open long enough to see Joy, Rick, and Roy's back in Joy's office. She pressed one, headed to the first floor, she would walk out to her car pretending she had forgotten something. She nodded to the Desk Sargent as she passed, mouthed "be right back, forgot my charger" as she scurried towards the garage.

She was finally free, at least for a few minutes, to let her emotions out. She was always part of the inner circle, in the know, Roy's right hand, it sucked to be on the outside looking in and left to wonder just what the hell was going on. She was a far cry from where she was just a few months ago, all for some stupid decisions, and, hell just say it Kate, your lies, the fucking lies.

She sniffled, got her emotions in check, and headed back up to her desk, the only thing she knew was what she had suspected, Roy was meeting with Rick and Joy, nothing else. All she could do now was wait for the official announcement if there ever was one coming.

XxX

Robbery Division,

7:00 AM

"Good morning Rick, Joy, thanks for coming in earlier than you have seen in a long time I'm sure Rick" Roy kidded his friend,

"Hey, I have you know I would have been here at least two hours late if it wasn't for this one, as he poked Joy in the ribs softly, as she grabbed his hand but didn't let go.

"Good morning Roy, what's up, it has to be important to be meeting here instead of your office?" Joy asked,

"Well, I met with your, eh, our financial planner now Rick, and he was able to work it out, I have six weeks until I am officially retired. Evelyn is over the moon and already planning our first month and where we can go" he laughed,

"That's great Roy," Rick and Joy replied in unison, as they looked at each other, locked eyes for a moment, then remembered they, well at least she was at work and broke the eye contact.

"You two aren't fooling anyone, and just so you know, I'm happy, whatever arrangement you have you both seem so happy. I got a call last night from Ryan, it seemed like you two met and he's on board with your firm, congrats Rick, you got a good man." Roy said

"Thanks, Roy, just so you know the first condition out of his mouth was we couldn't leave you in a lurch, he wouldn't take it if he had to do that, so yeah, I got a great young man to complete the operation. He told me he was going to inform Beckett of his resignation this morning so she could choose two candidates instead of one for a team.

"Commissioner Boyle had short-circuited that, he has alternate plans for Beckett, I won't release until I discuss with her, but honestly I think he's looking out for her future"

"Captain, have you submitted your papers through HR, you know it's an information highway down there, so it won't be long before it's all over the station what's going on," Joy asked,

"Good catch Joy, Commissioner Boyle is handling it personally, so if there's a leak someone is going to be retiring along with me" Roy smiled, "so what're your plans, when are you heading out. I have a great replacement if you want to start the process today, and give her say 5 weeks or so?" Roy asked

"Five weeks is great Captain, it's actually sooner than I thought it would be, can you divulge who the replacement is going to be?" Joy asked,

"Well, since I already talked to her, it wouldn't hurt for you to know, Roz Karpowski is sick of homicide, and she came to me wanting to quit, but I offered her this, she accepted immediately, and it's been cleared through the brass," Roy said,

Joy turned to Rick who couldn't stop smiling, "Sounds like we have some work to do quickly eh, Joy?" she fell into his arms into a big hug.

"You bet unless you've chan"

"Don't finish that if you value your wardrobe, I swear I will burn every shoe you own if you ask me one more time if I am sure. I am positive, OK? "Rick smiled,

She kissed him, right in front of Roy, hell she was quitting and so was Roy, she wiped a tear from her eye, and laughed. "It looks like it's all working out. What should we say if we are asked about any of this Captain? I'm not sure but Beckett came pounding on Rick's door last night after 11:00 PM, and I was surprised when he told her they had nothing to talk about and slammed the door in her face."

"Tell them to direct all questions to me, until it's announced it's just another rumor," Roy said softly, "well you two better get to it, I'll get Roz introduced as soon as I talk to Beckett, really looking forward to that," he said sarcastically. "Well, let me know if things start going south for you, and thanks for making this easy on this old man, like Roz said, this isn't fun anymore." He turned and headed to the elevator,

Homicide Floor

10 Minutes Later

Kate saw Roy walk quickly back to his office, and then reappear for his two cups of coffee, as was his normal routine. As he walked by, he said "Good Morning Detective,"

"Good Morning Captain, I was wondering, could we talk for a few minutes, sir?" Kate asked already starting towards his office when she heard the words that shocked her,

"No, not now Beckett, I'll let you know when I'm free" as he walked on to the breakroom.

Kevin showed up a full 30 minutes early and headed to Roy's office, something was going on, and she hated being the one out of the loop. She could almost understand why Javi became the busy body that he had been.

She watched as Kevin entered, closed the door, and said something. Roy smiled, walked over, locked the door, and lowered his blinds. Well, that part was out; she would just have to wait until she could grill Ryan one on one. She knew she could break him, just as she had done so many times before.

She didn't get a chance to execute her plans of interrogation, about ten minutes later, she heard Roy's door open and he call her name,

"Beckett, my office now" as she had heard so many times before

She collected her coffee and made her way to Roy's office, "Sir you wanted to see me?" she asked,

"Come in Beckett, close the door, and lock it. What we are about to discuss is in confidential, and remember I know how many people have knowledge of the facts. Anyone breaching this type of sensitive information is subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal, are we clear?" Roy asked, waiting for her reply,

"Sis, yes Sir" she answered quickly but wondered what the hell is going on

"Well, we'll start with the bad news first then work our way up to more news, so with that Detective Ryan please begin," Roy said solemnly

"Kate, I know things have been tough, first Javi's suspension, then the jerk's decision to apply for other jobs, leaving us all shorthanded. I told you a few weeks ago that these long hours had to stop, I had a family to go home to, and, well it's going to come out anyway, I had a second job to help pay some medical bills.

"You were pretty good for the first five days, then you must have gotten amnesia, you started demanding ungodly amounts of work, knowing full well there was no way either of us could complete them in our normal shifts. What I guess I'm trying to say, Kate is this is my two weeks' notice, I'm leaving NYPD." He looked her straight in the eye the whole time he was speaking,

Kate's face fell, and she suddenly felt faint. "Kevin why didn't you come to me, and tell me about your problem, we could work something out, we still can" she was pleading now, desperate to hang on to any piece of her team remaining.

"Kate, we talked, as I said, it registered for a few days, then it went right back to the same old story. Do this, got to have that, don't forget to check this, it was too much Kate, I even told you so. I even warned you that if push came to shove, don't make me choose between work and my family, well you did. I'm sorry but I'm gone in two weeks, and there's no changing that." He said, still looking her in the eye, where had this shy young Irishman go?

She hung her head for a few minutes, then realized no one was talking, "I'm sorry Kevin, I apologize I can see that your mind is made up. I appreciate you working your notice out, and can I ask where you're going?" Kate said timidly,

Kevin glanced at the Captain who gently nodded, "Well, you're going to find out sooner or later, Rick Castle has hired me to run the New York operations of his Private Investigation Operations. The offer allows me to be home every weekend, and I actually get to manage an operation, not just be the gopher." He said softly,

"Well, I knew Rick and I weren't in the best of shape, but I never thought he would pirate one of my team members from me, where did you come up with this idea in the first place?" Kate asked, her anger showing now towards Castle.

"Don't blame Rick Kate, you said it over and over to Javi and I both that nobody was irreplaceable, I finally heard you. Rick knew more about my personal life as a friend and reached out to help, so cool you jets trying to deflect your fuck up on someone else, especially Rick" Kevin came out swinging,

"I see, I didn't know you were so close, to Castle, I beg your pardon." Kate threw out the sarcasm, she knew it was wrong but she was hurt, and she wanted to strike back

"About what we thought Captain, she's in her poor Beckett mood. Sir, I'm going to go to work, I have a lot of things to do, and I don't have time to listen to someone whine about everyone when the one who has caused the whole mess is looking right back at her when she looks in the mirror. May I be dismissed, sir?"

"Dismissed, NOT YOU BECKETT, we still have things to talk about," Roy said,

TBC