How Much? Postscript

An AU look back on the aftermath of the unusual wedding proposal from Richard Castle to Kate Beckett that was supposed to be a joke. At least that's what she had thought.

A/N: Since I had a few readers ask for a bit more of Castle's unusual proposal to Kate and her answer to it after being convinced it wasn't a joke. So I thought I'd provide this reminiscing of the whole crazy time by the wedded woman.

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Kate Beckett-Castle leaned back in the comfortable lounge chair that sat in one corner of Rick's study/office. She had the day off and was relaxing by reading his latest novel… again.

Even after five years together it was still hard for her to believe that she was married, married to Castle, and the incredibly crazy way it came about.

Every so often, she would find herself reminiscing over the unbelievable circumstances that put her in this chair, in this luxurious loft, with that gorgeous ring on the third finger on her left hand.

She had thought for sure it was joke, a prank, he was pulling on her. No one, not even Castle would ask someone 'how much would she charge to marry him'. She had been in the right mood to play along with his joke so she gave him a number. And she didn't come cheap.

When he only took a few moments to consider her answer before he responded with a smile and a shout out of 'done'. She had been startled, but now the game was on. Only it hadn't been a game. He'd been serious.

And the beginning of a whirlwind of unbelievable events began.

He'd come over and laid his heart at her feet. She'd had no idea that he had such feelings for her. Sure, she knew he was attracted to her, but his reputation as a ladies man provided for that.

But his words, and honest revelations of his true feelings had overwhelmed her. At the time she could barely admit to herself that for all his occasional unpredictable actions, she had grown to like the guy. She had considered him a friend. But he had wanted more. He had wanted her… for always.

After finally having her belief that it had all been just another crazy Castle prank come completely unraveled, things began to move quickly.

Her thoughts drifted back to that critical phone call she received from Lanie.

FLASHBACK to five years ago:

Castle had just left. Kate was still reeling with the fact that Castle's joke marriage proposal had been real, and that he'd already called her dad, and talked to Lanie. The ringing phone had to be Lanie.

"Hello Lanie." Kate answered with just a touch of a smirk.

There was a squeal which caused Kate to pull the phone away from her ear. Once quiet was restored she put the phone back to her ear.

"Girlfriend, I'm so mad at you. How come you never told me you and Castle were together, and planning to Get Married?"

Kate rolled her eyes, which was lost on the physically absent friend. "Hold on to your anger Lanes, today is the first that I heard anything about it."

"Say what?" Lanie was silent for a few heartbeats. "So, how is it that he told me he was going to ask you, but you had no inkling? And exactly how long have you two been dating without telling me?"

Kate let go a long sigh. "You aren't going to believe me."

"Just tell me."

Kate shrugged. "Okay, first, we've never dated unless you count going to Remy's for lunch on occasion a date. And last, Castle sprung this whole marry him thing on me just this morning when he came into the precinct. I thought he was joking."

"Joking?" Lanie's tone expressed her disbelief. "How does someone joke about a thing like that?"

"It's Castle."

She knew Lanie was smirking on the other end of the phone. "So why did you think it was a joke?"

So Kate proceeded to tell Lanie the whole story about how Castle came in and asked her 'how much to marry him. And how Kate thought it was a joke but decided to play along.

"So you only asked for 7.5 million? Girl you undervalued yourself." Lanie shot back. "Hell with the money that man has, you could have easily gotten much more."

Kate found herself rolling her eyes again. "Lanie, I thought it was a joke?"

"Apparently not." There was a pregnant pause. "So, if you guys weren't dating, why did Castle suddenly ask you that?"

Kate flung her hands out in a gesture that Lanie also couldn't see. "I don't know? It's Castle. He came over and confessed his feelings for me, and hoped that I somehow felt similar, if not the same."

"And how do you feel about him?"

Kate bit her lip. "Honestly, I'm not sure. After the first couple of months he, sort of, grew on me. I saw what a good father and son he was. I got to see behind his quips and immature actions. In a lot of respects he was a scared little boy who was constantly yearning for acceptance."

Lanie chuckled. "It sounds like you are willing to give him that acceptance."

"I have no problem calling him my partner and my friend." Kate took a breath. "It's just this whole marry me thing has my head spinning." She was gesturing again. "I mean, we haven't even dated. It just came at me out of the blue."

"Really, you believe it just came out of the blue?" Lanie clucked her disbelief.

Kate frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Come on girlfriend, half the precinct thinks the two of you should be playing 'pack the pickle', and the other half thinks you already are."

"Lanie!"

Lanie chuckled. "Kate, when you are together enough electricity comes off the two of you to light up the whole floor during a black out."

"Now you're just talking nonsense, Lanes."

"Wanna bet?" Lanie giggled. "I dare you to ask anyone. Well, anyone except Javi or Kevin. They've already learned to keep their heads buried in the sand."

That actually got a laugh from Kate.

"So girlfriend, what are you going to do? I know what I'd do if I had the chance you've been given." Kate could almost hear Lanie's head shaking. "You just don't get that kind of jackpot handed to you every day… or ever."

Kate was chewing on her lip again. "I will have to say that he was pretty persuasive this evening. But, even if we had been dating, which we haven't, I can't see myself jumping into this by Saturday. And even if he was so sweet before he left."

Lanie hummed into Kate's ear. "So, before I get to my sage advice to you girl, did he show you the ring?"

Kate was sure Lanie could envision the grin on her face. "Oh yes. And it's beautiful."

There was a chuckle. "Oh course it is." There was a brief silence. "You're wearing it now, aren't you?"

Kate felt a flash of embarrassment. "Yeah, I am."

"Doesn't that tell you something, Kate?"

Kate shrugged again. "It tells me that it's a beautiful ring and it fits perfectly."

There was another chuckle on the other end of the line. "It tells me that you are definitely considering Castle's proposal, but that old Beckett skittishness is coming to fore."

Kate was now pacing. "But Lanie, how can I agree to marry a man that I hardly know. We've never gone out together, we've never made love. Hell, we've never even had sex. It's all too much too soon. He's planning this for Saturday. I can't make a decision like this that soon."

"Then don't."

"What?" Kate was surprised. "I would have thought you'd be on Castle's side. You've teased me enough about him."

Lanie snorted. "Oh course I'm on his side. But I'm on his side because I'm actually on your side. I think you two are great together, and I believe that you'd be missing out on a wonderful life if you let this man slip away from you." There was an inhale of breath. "But, if it's too soon, and too fast for you to assimilate it all right now. Then tell him. Tell him you need more time. You want to be wooed, and courted like any woman would."

Kate just breathed heavily into the phone as Lanie continued. "Tell him you want to have some dates, and not just lunch at Remy's. Tell him, that you need to learn more about him, and…" Kate could tell that Lanie was smirking at her again. "…take him for a few test drives before you commit. If he loves you like I know he does. He'll give you the time if you show him that you are seriously considering what he has asked you."

Kate pursed her lips together before she was able to answer her friend. "How'd you get to be so smart, when you don't even have a boyfriend of your own?"

"Because I know you better than you know yourself. I've never had a nearly perfect man show interest in me, but I'd know what to do if it did happen. While you always run from commitments by nature. You are too afraid of being hurt to risk a chance at real happiness." Lanie sighed. "Don't throw this chance away, Kate. The man loves you, and I know you have feelings for him. Ask him for some more time. Do what lovers do until you are sure. Then lock that man down forever." Lanie ended with a laugh.

Kate had a tear sliding down her cheek. "How can I ignore such good advice?"

"You can't. You just need to listen to your heart… and me."

Kate laughed. "Then I guess I know what I have to do."

"Yes you do." Lanie added. "And you need to call me after every date, and tell me all the details."

Kate continued to laugh. "I'll take that under advisement. Thanks much, Lanes. Things are much clearer now."

"I'm glad I got through to you. Now just don't mess this up."

Kate bit her bottom lip. "I won't. Thanks a ton, Lanie."

Kate hung up with a sigh and let her eyes roam the room, then they stopped at her left hand. The engagement ring that Castle had given her gleamed in the weak light provided by the few lamps she had on. Slowly a smile creased her face.

"You'd better be prepared Richard Castle, because I'm coming and I have a few more conditions that I'm going to want met before we add that other band to this finger."

END FLASHBACK.

A smile came over Kate as her memory of that fateful phone call from Lanie faded.

She had taken several of Lanie's suggestions to heart. The first being telling him that she'd wear his ring, but the actual wedding would have to be wait a bit. She needed more time to get to know him better.

So they had dated. They had fun dates, where Castle took her to amusement parks, skating rinks, and even a circus. There were several movies, from light comedies to heart tugging dramas. She even managed to drag him to a baseball game and Rick showed his complete ignorance of the game, but he allowed Kate to give him pointers on strategy and any rules that weren't obvious. He enjoyed himself, but she was sure her presence was mostly responsible for that enjoyment.

They dined often. Remy's was the go to place for the quick lunch break from the precinct. But Castle was able to show off his knowledge of the various top of the line restaurants in town, but even more enjoyable for Kate, were all the little known, out of the way gems, that Rick seemed to know. Places where he was well known, but treated like a friend rather than a celebrity.

More and more, Kate was exposed to the Rick Castle that she had always hoped existed under the glitz and glamour that was all that showed in those page 6 stories with the rent a model on his arm. She was pleased that there were no more of those kind of dates for Castle, though she was snapped out with him once and wound up in one of those stories. Luckily, they didn't know who she was and she was never named in the paper.

Kate was hardly a prude when it came to her sexual habits, but her reputed wild child youth was as much parental disagreement as it was to actual actions. Not to say that Kate and Rick didn't get to the exploration of each other's bodies.

As it turned out, it was one of their favorite ways to end a date, or a hard day at the precinct, or a simple conversation, or… Thursdays.

It didn't take Kate long to realize that she did have feelings for Rick Castle. If fact, she was able to look herself in a mirror and was able to admit to herself she was in love with him, and better yet, she was able to say it to him.

Once she had the revelation, and was able to grasp the idea of getting married things began to move quickly.

Her dad hadn't been a problem. He and Rick had had conversations before Castle put forth his crazy proposal. Jim Beckett had liked Castle from the start. Without ever being someone who followed the page 6 journalists, or the carefully invented playboy reputation that had been invented for Rick to sell books, Jim measured Castle by the man he saw before him.

Even without the quick wedding that Rick had originally proposed, Kate had no desire to have some big showy ceremony. Which ticked off Rick's publicist Paula, and his publisher, and ex-wife Gina. They were greatly annoyed that they were completely left out of not only the planning for the wedding, but the wedding itself. And all the publicity it would garner.

Him and her, family, and a few good friends were all that had been invited, and all that either Rick or Kate wanted or needed. Lanie had stood as her maid of honor, not that Kate actually had a choice in the matter. And Rick, not really having many men friends, asked Roy Montgomery to stand as his best man.

Rick had rented a luxurious shuttle and a driver to deliver all the folks coming to the Hampton's beach house to attend or participate in the ceremony. As he had mentioned to Kate that first day, Castle had managed to get his friend the mayor to marry him and Kate.

Jim had produced Kate's mother's wedding gown, and Kate looked beautiful in the classical design of the dress. Which, to nobody's surprise, fit Kate like it had been made especially for her.

Kate couldn't stop a big smile as her mind replayed the wedding that finally happened.

But things for Castle and Beckett hadn't all been wine and roses during their early days together as a couple.

There had been the case where she accidently came across the man who had killed her mother on a case. He was a professional gun for hire, and her mother's death wasn't random by any stretch of the word. She was targeted. She was murdered at someone's behest. That had hurt her a lot, but having Castle always nearby helped her survive that case.

But like every time she thought she had a possible clue to her mother's murder, something intervened. And this time it was the fact that she had to shoot Dick Coonan to save the life of her man, leaving her with no chance to find out who might have hired him.

Then there was the betrayal by Captain Montgomery that she found out about. He'd been roped into a situation by two veteran detectives when he was a rookie. The two detectives had worked up a scheme to kidnap mobsters from the too plentiful supply that existed on the streets of New York. They would take them, rough them up a bit, then ransom them back to their 'family'.

Montgomery was young and gullible, and he followed the two older cops into a very bad situation. As it turned out, things got worse for Montgomery and the two veteran cops when a superior found out about their little blackmail scheme and took it over for his own advantage.

And as always happens when things become more complicated. There was a screw up. And an extra mobster was at the location that the detectives had planned to stage their hostage kidnapping.

Shots were fired and one of the mobsters was killed. But Bob Armen wasn't really a mobster. He was an undercover FBI agent. So to protect themselves the other mobster, Joe Pulgatti, was framed for the shooting and was sent to jail.

This gave the detective's superior the leverage he needed to 'own' them. And that person became the only one who profited from the illegal behavior.

Unfortunately, Johanna Beckett was a do-gooder, victim's rights defender and somehow had become involved with Joe Pulgatti's case and was killed for her efforts.

When one of those old veteran cops was murdered as he was about to give Kate the real story about how her mother came to be murdered, the whole cover up began to unravel.

Montgomery was later killed protecting Kate and his family from 'the Dragon', as the man behind it all was designated.

At her captain's funeral it all came to a head. She was supposed to give the eulogy for Roy Montgomery. As she stood there ready to speak, she held her hand out for her husband who was standing several feet away from her. With a slight smile to match hers, he moved over next to her.

During the eulogy Castle did what only Castle could do. He saw a flash of light. A flash that only Castle would put together as a reflection from the scope of a sniper rifle. With a shout of warning Castle shoved Kate to the ground as screams and chaos reigned.

The amazing thing was, Kate was unharmed. She'd been pushed to the ground and the shot had missed her completely. Unfortunately Castle wasn't quite as lucky. The sniper's bullet grazed Rick's right shoulder causing him some real pain, which led to even more pain when Gina found out he'd be unable to write for several weeks while his shoulder healed.

The sniper didn't have a very good day either. With his attention focused entirely on Kate, his target, he didn't notice a curious grounds keeper coming up behind him wondering what he was doing there.

When the shot went off the grounds keeper understood immediately what had happened and he bashed the sniper in the head with the shovel he'd been carrying. The sniper, who was later identified as Cole Maddox, was out cold, and soon trussed up by Esposito and Ryan.

As it turned out, Maddox was shanked in prison. He never gave up who had hired him, and they made sure he never would.

About a month after the shooting incident Rick received a phone call.

FLASHBACK to the phone call.

Rick was being lazy, and he kept trying to keep Kate in bed with him. But Kate had other plans, she had to get ready for work. That meant, getting out of her warm bed, detangling herself from her husband, and making it into the shower before he pulled her back to him.

The ringing of his phone startled both of them.

Kate leaned back toward Rick as he answered. "Hello?"

Kate, curious as to who would call him this early in the morning, placed her head against his. She could hear the deep voice on the other end.

"Mr. Castle, I was a friend of Roy Montgomery's. You can call me Mr. Smith. Before he was killed he sent me a package that he had. A package of bits and pieces of evidence that he'd collected and had been using for years to protect himself, his family, and Detective Beckett."

Kate gasped. Rick angrily shot back at the mystery voice. "Yeah, a lot of good that did. Kate was inches away from being killed by a sniper. Where was your protection then?"

"I was out of town at the time. I received the package from Roy after the shooting. I'm sorry I wasn't able to stop it. You and Detective Beckett were lucky you weren't killed or badly hurt."

"So what's this call about?" Rick was still angry. Kate was biting her lip.

"I'm calling to tell you and your wife that I've made contact with the person behind Roy's death, and the attempt on the detective's life. He knows that I now have the information that Roy had been holding, and I've made a deal with him." There was a pause. "I won't release the information if he agrees to leave Detective Beckett alone. But only if she drops the investigation into her mother's death. If he finds out she's working that case in any way, the deals off and she will be put back in his cross hairs."

Rick could feel that their caller was about to hang up on him so he quickly interrupted. "What kind of information are we talking about here? Why is this person so afraid of it?"

The voice on the phone was getting impatient. "It's a collection of paperwork and statements which show dealings that are, at the least, suspicious and several point toward illegal activities. It obviously is damning enough for this person to be willing to allow Roy to use it to keep his family and Detective Beckett safe all these years. There's even a mini cassette with the papers labeled 'copy '."

Kate raised her brow while Rick stayed angry. "What's on that tape?"

"I have no idea Mr. Castle, I don't have any way to play it back. But it must be worthwhile if Roy was keeping it. And with the implication that there's an original copy out there somewhere."

"Okay," Rick continued. "In your opinion, is the evidence you have there enough to put this person behind bars for a long, long time? Or is it just something that would be terribly embarrassing to him and might just foul up his big plans but not put him behind bars."

"I'm pretty certain that the evidence that Roy compiled would derail any grandiose plans this person would have but I can't be sure he'd be imprisoned long enough for you and your wife to be safe from his vengeance. That's why we're playing this blackmail game."

Kate finally made herself heard. "Are you in danger by doing this for Roy, Mr. Smith?"

"I can take care of myself."

Kate rolled her eyes. "That's not what I asked, but it does answer my question." Kate took a breath. "This person you are dealing with is not going to stop looking for you, and that information. Your life will be in constant danger. Let me offer you an alternate plan."

She didn't allow him to respond. "I think you should find yourself a tape player that will allow you to find out what actually is on that tape. If Roy kept it, it has to be important. Then you need to go through those papers carefully. If what you have looks like it would put this man behind bars for the rest of his life, then I want you to contact a Jordan Shaw with FBI and turn it all over to her. Don't play the game with this vile creature, just end it."

There was silence for several seconds. "Mr. Smith?"

"I'll take your thoughts under advisement. I'll not have any other contact with you, but you'll know what I decide to do."

He disconnected the call.

Rick turned toward Kate. "What do you think?"

Kate shrugged. "I think we have to wait and see what happens."

END of FLASHBACK

A contented smile formed on Kate lips as the memory of that life changing phone call finished playing in her mind. She had been late getting to work that morning.

It was only a few weeks later that the news feeds were overwhelmed with the breaking story of Senator William Bracken's arrest for a laundry list of crimes.

And Kate had been center stage for the moment.

She'd been contacted by Jordan Shaw a couple days prior to Bracken's arrest. Apparently the mini tape contained an unintended admission of Bracken's responsibility for the death of her mother. Jordan asked Kate if she'd like to be the one to make the arrest. It had been epic.

The sword of Damocles that had been hanging over Kate's head had finally been lifted. So one might think that her life would settle into a blissful sameness from that point on. Not so.

Kate was a cop, and Rick was her partner as well as her husband. They'd had their final duel against Jerry Tyson and his new psycho girlfriend who had fixated on Kate's face.

The woman was a plastic surgeon and had decided that changing herself into a Kate clone would allow her and Jerry to escape their legal problems and be able to disappear for good.

Castle had other plans. Once again, her brilliant husband had outwitted Jerry Tyson which had ended in Esposito shooting Tyson before he could kill Castle.

Kate had managed to free herself and escape the dire end that the crazy doctor had planned for her. Even though she had been able to come out the winner in that final battle, she wasn't able to allow herself to feel victorious until Castle came bursting through the door and came over to hold her, and comfort her.

Kate knew that being a cop, she would always run the risks inherent in her job, but she couldn't help but feel that her life was at a cross roads of some sort. Alexis was in college and living at the dorms. Martha had finally managed to get her apartment over her acting school finished to her satisfaction and had moved out.

It was just her and Rick now, and she loved her life. But she had to wonder what was next for them. She had been extremely lucky to have met him and that he was as certain as she was that they were destined to be together, always.

Kate could no longer imagine her life without Richard Castle in it. By now, just the fleeting thought of not having Castle as her other half was painful. But that would never happen. Their future was whatever they wanted it to be.

Most of the battles have been fought… and won. Now it was down to decisions as to how they saw their future.

Her eyes rolled in an unconscious response to the case they just closed. She couldn't believe that agent from the Attorney General's office actually thought he could tempt her away from her nearly perfect life with such a lame and obvious sales pitch. What a tool.

No, her future was in New York, with her husband. And who knows, she was still young enough. Maybe someday in the not too distant future there just might be another little Castle or two, or three, causing chaos in the loft.

Together their options were endless, and Kate was looking forward to it.

FIN

A/N: I hope the readers enjoyed this little addendum to the previous story. One has to wonder just where Kate would wind up without Lanie around to tell Kate what she really wants.

All Readers are Appreciated, Review if you wish