PLANE

Chapter 10

Kate was finally getting some real sleep after she had taken Lanie's advice and gotten new batteries for her vibrator. It wasn't the same as Castle but it took the edge off so she could think.

Now she was walking toward Montgomery's office with all she needed. Kate knocked first and then entered. "My psych evaluation, my gun range target, and sign off." Kate handed over both of them to him.

All Roy really needed was to see the signatures but he looked at her target and as usual he was impressed. It was just one big hole dead center. "Welcome back, Detective Beckett." Roy fished out her badge and service weapon. But then he noticed something a little off. "Is that a bruise, Beckett?"

Kate touched her face. Apparently she hadn't used quite enough makeup to hide it. "I needed something to do and take the edge off during my two weeks, so I went down to the gym. He got in a lucky shot. …Sir. It's just a little bruise."

"Just so long as the other guy looks worse, Detective. Ryan and Esposito already have a new case. Go join them. And Beckett, let's try not to dance like this again," Roy asked her. "I prefer waltzes especially with my wife."

"Yes, sir, I'll work on that." As Kate left his office she put her badge where it belonged, checked her weapon and holstered it, and headed for the elevator after calling Dispatch to find out where to go.

.x{O}x.

Kate raised an eyebrow at this one. A dead woman, likely naked under all that. Rose petals everywhere with sunflowers on her eyes. Kate knelt down to look at her. "Who are you?"

"Allison Tisdale, social worker, 24, grad student at NYU," Espo told her.

"Nice place for a social worker." Kate took a quick look. It was much better than her place, but still not Castle's place.

"Daddy's money," Ryan added.

Lanie joined them. "He even bought her flowers. Who says romance is dead?"

"I used to, every Saturday night," Kate whispered to her.

"How are you holding up?" Lanie was no fool. This Kate Beckett was in love.

"I'm…holding it together." Kate was all set to say FINE. But Castle hated that word so she was trying to change just for him.

"What did he give her besides flowers?" Kate questioned.

"Two shots to the chest. Small caliber." Lanie showed them to her by moving enough petals.

"Does this look familiar to anyone?" Kate couldn't quite place it yet. "I've seen this before." She had it finally!

"You've seen this before?" Ryan was perplexed. He didn't remember a case like this one.

Kate gave those two a clue. "Roses covering her body, sunflowers over her eyes." She looked at them expectantly. "Don't you guys read?" They were letting her down here.

.x{O}x.

Kate wasn't sure she was looking forward to…this. She feared greatly that he was going to look just like her Castle. However, once she spotted him that sort of went away. Her Castle was growing a beard just like she had asked him. It was that Spock beard in an alternate reality. It wasn't finished yet but she was looking forward to seeing it when it was.

"Mr. Castle?" Kate walked up to him and watched him turn around with a Sharpie in his hand.

Rick plastered on his fake smile. "Where would you like it?"

Kate showed him her badge. "Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. We need to ask you a few questions about a murder that took place earlier today."

Then a young woman with long orange hair in a red dress popped up and took his marker from him. "That's new."

"Alexis!?" Kate was stunned to see her. She was on a different plane. Back with her Castle. She stood back up again.

"Yes?" But to Kate this Alexis looked younger and her dress spoke to that she was a flat-chested 15-year-old teenager with a book or something open in front of her.

Kate tried to talk her way out of it. "My mistake, sorry. You look familiar to me is all."

.x{O}x.

"Mr. Castle, you've got quite a rap sheet for an author." Kate had his file and stepped into Interrogation knowing someone was in Observation watching and recording all of this. "Disorderly conduct, resisting arrest." Kate had already read all this before but he needed to know that she knew.

Rick tried to look smug and cute. "Boys will be boys."

Kate glanced down at his rap sheet again. "Says here that you stole a police horse?"

"Borrowed," Rick countered.

"Borrowing something suggests consent from the owner and since you had no such consent, you stole it. And it says here you were nude at the time?" Was that right?

"It was spring," Rick fired back.

"And yet the charges were all dropped." Kate closed her file and sat down.

Rick shrugged. "What can I say, the mayor is a fan." That was how he had gotten out of it. "But if it makes you feel any better I would be happy to let you spank me." He did his best to look cute again.

"Mr. Castle. Your little bad boy game doesn't play with me. I happen to like men, not boys who haven't yet left grade school. Now, shall we discuss why you are here?" Kate was ready to get this over with.

Not too much later Richard Castle was released. Kate was glad he was gone. He wasn't their suspect and besides being able to write a good book, Castle was clearly an ass.

.x{O}x.

"Your boy is here." Espo nodded at Captain Montgomery's office which had Kate turning to look.

"Oh shit, what is he doing here?" She had gotten rid of him.

"Maybe he likes you," Espo suggested and left her just as Roy called out to her.

Kate came up to the doorway into his office. "Yes, sir."

"Mr. Castle has offered to assist in this investigation," Roy told her while Castle stood there looking all smug and happy. It made her sick.

"Really?" She was almost a hundred percent certain he just wanted in her pants.

"Considering the nature of the crime scenes I think it's a good idea," Roy said and turned for his desk.

Kate looked like she had steel for a spine. "Sir, I'm not doing this."

Roy stared at her. "I'm not asking you, Beckett, I'm telling you." And now Castle looked even more smug.

"I see." She only needed one more week, just one. So she took her badge off her belt and tossed it onto his desk. She walked past Castle and into his office. Took out her service weapon, ejected the clip, and placed that on his desk. Then pulled the slide back to make sure it was empty and laid her weapon on his desk.

"Then you give me little choice, sir. I resign, effective immediately." Kate turned to leave. Castle's smug look was gone and replaced with utter devastation. "Go try to get into someone else's pants, Castle. You're not getting in mine."

Kate went looking for an empty box and found one. She walked to her desk, dropped the box on it, and opened a drawer.

"Beckett, don't do this." Roy was right there. He needed her to stay. She was damn good at this job.

"You can't!" Castle was there too.

"I can and I did. Maybe you can't see that all he wants it sex, but I can, and I'm not dragging his smug ass all across town trying to solve a murder while fending off groping hands or anything else he does. You like him, let him follow you around." Kate took what she wanted to keep out of her drawer and dropped it in her box.

"Beckett, we can talk about this." Roy was only just now thinking maybe he had pushed her too far.

"We just did." Kate snatched up her elephants, carefully put them in the box and opened another drawer to go through it. She wasn't all that surprised that she didn't have much personal stuff at her desk.

"Beckett, you do this and you might not get your job back." 1PP might override any desire Roy had of hiring her back.

"I don't want my job back. You want Castle to work this case, send him to the Police Academy for six months, give him a badge and a service weapon, and let him work a case. Just so long as I get to keep my pants on. Playboy Castle gets shot while working with the NYPD. Good luck with that one. 1PP will have my badge anyway.

"I'm out of here." Kate closed her final drawer and picked up her nearly empty box. Head held high, she headed to the elevator to go home where she would wait a week and then finally go home.

"Do something, stop her." Rick needed her. He had thought up a whole new character and needed her to provide inspiration for it.

The elevator door closed on him just as he reached it. That had him turning and looking for the stairs. There had to be another way down. Spotting them he hustled to them and walked quickly down them. He didn't want to turn an ankle and never reach the ground floor expect in a heap.

He didn't see her so he went outside and watched her get into a taxi and close the door on him. Frozen in place, he watched it drive away. His new character was just driving away. So, okay yes, he wanted in her pants, but that wasn't the primary reason.

.x{O}x.

Rick was back upstairs after making it past the Desk Sergeant again and was back in Roy's office. "Do something," the writer demanded.

"I did, and she resigned. I should never have let you talk me into this. She could be the best this city has ever seen and look what happened." Roy looked at her badge and weapon and knew just where he had gone wrong.

"What's her address? I'll talk to her. I'll get Alexis to talk to her. I'll get my mother to talk to her. I'll get the Mayor to talk to her."

"Sorry, Castle, the NYPD doesn't give out that kind of information." Roy sat down in his chair and needed to think about what to do about his mess.

Rick kept trying. "Doesn't she have to fill out forms or something? Sign something?"

"Nope. I have to send her paperwork but she doesn't have to sign anything," Roy told him and watched him leave. He might have just really screwed up. However, he did know where she lived, and so did Dr. Parish. It wasn't over just yet.

.x{O}x.

Kate dropped her box and finally looked in it and couldn't believe just how few things she had at her desk worth keeping. Should she have done what she did? She knew she was going back and leaving work yet again. So did it really matter just when she actually left the NYPD again? This time it was just a little more formal instead of just up and disappearing.

Kate was looking for a glass of wine since she was pretty sure she had a bottle around here somewhere. Finding it she opened it just as her phone told her she had a text.

It was from Espo. Did you just resign?

Kate considered ignoring it but he was one of her friends. Yes. Castle just wants in my pants.

Couldn't you just kick his ass or something? Espo inquired.

Explain that to Captain Montgomery. Kate sent that right back and turned her phone off. Now she needed to figure out what to do for one more week since she didn't have a job to keep her busy and distracted.

.x{O}x.

Kate was looking at her small DVD collection, rethinking what Castle had suggested. Bring back every movie she could find and open a movie theater and show movies from the Prime Material Plane.

It was just to do that meant buying at least hundreds, maybe even a thousand DVDs. Find a DVD store, buy everything they had, clean them out. Even if she did that how would she get them all there? It was never all going to fit in her apartment.

She was still thinking that over and wondering if there was another option when someone pounded on her front door. "That better not be Castle." She didn't think he knew where she lived but she couldn't discount it.

Kate peered through the peephole and opened her door. "Hi, Lanie."

Lanie charged in, ready to demand just what her best friend was thinking. "YOU RESIGNED!?"

"News travels fast, I see." Kate closed and locked the door to keep everyone else out. "I did."

"You want to explain this to me?" Lanie needed to understand.

"Castle – not my Castle, the author Castle – managed to talk my captain into letting him follow me around to assist with the Tisdale case. Montgomery wasn't willing to listen that all Castle wanted was into my pants. Or listen to the possibility that since I'm chasing down a killer, what happens if Castle gets himself killed? NYPD LETS FAMOUS AUTHOR GET KILLED." Kate used her hands to display the big banner or headlines in the paper and late night news. "1PP would crucify me. Probably even get Montgomery fired. Besides, in one week I'm going back to my Castle and I don't know when I'll be back." Kate really didn't know when or even if coming back was possible.

Lanie wanted to fight back, she really did. Kate had just put an end to her career in the NYPD. Maybe get a job in a different city but she was done here if she didn't go back.

"You love him that much?" Lanie tilted her had and studied her closest friend.

"I miss him, Lanie. I'm having trouble sleeping and my vibrator isn't really helping all that much. I want to be in his arms. I want him to kiss me.

"You asked me once just what I was waiting for. I think I said something about wanting to find someone I could jump in with both feet with and not look back.

"I found him, Lanie. It was an accident, but I found him and I'm going to do it. I know if it doesn't work out it will destroy me but I think it will. I want it to work out."

Kate watched as Lanie walked over to her then hugged her. "Then do it, girlfriend. Just try and find a way to send me at least a post card once in a while." Lanie kept hugging her.

"I'll try, Lanie, and thanks for understanding." Kate hugged her best friend tightly and was ready to cry because this was the biggest thing she had ever attempted in her life.

Lanie let go of her. "One week, then? So what do we do for your final week? We have to get you drunk."

"So I can puke all over or spend the next day in the bathroom? Yeah, no thanks. I'll pass on that. We could have a movie marathon. Wine and ice cream." Kate waited expectantly.

"DEAL! Tell me when and I'll be here," Lanie agreed easily. "But you really need to explain this to Javi and Kevin. They aren't taking it well."

"I will, I promise. I'll do it before I leave. Turn off the power, turn off the water, and let this place sit." Something suddenly struck Kate. "Unless you want to use it," she offered. "You just have to pay for the utilities."

Lanie stared at her. "You really are thinking of not coming back."

"Maybe just for a quick visit, but no, I'm not staying," Kate confirmed.

Lanie jumped at it. "Then I accept. You can leave everything. I'll think of what to do with all of it. I have just one question left… Does he have a twin brother?" Lanie smiled at her.

Kate burst out laughing. "You know, I don't actually know. He didn't say anything about a family member save for his daughter."

"Little Castle babies, huh?" Lanie teased.

"Down, Lanie, I'm not even married yet."

Lanie rolled her eyes. "Like being married had anything to do with being pregnant."

That was when it suddenly hit her. All that sex. All those times he had climaxed inside her and she knew she hadn't been taking her birth control pills and they hadn't used a condom. For all she knew she could be pregnant right now. That had her thinking. Her period should be showing up really soon. Like in two days.

Just in time for it to be over when she went back home.

.x{O}x.

Kate had had her phone turned off just in case Castle managed to learn her phone number. Thankfully, she had no voicemail messages. Only a few missed text messages from Espo and Ryan and one from Lanie. None really needed to be answered right away so she turned it back off again.

It had been two days of peace and quiet. No dead bodies, no phone calls telling her about yet another one. While she did care who had killed her she didn't care enough to let Castle follow her around and help her with that case.

She still had some food but she had felt like pizza and since she had been out for a run, she had stopped to get one and bring it home. Just take a quick shower and then eat it.

Then she noticed someone standing in front of her door. "Sir!?" Montgomery looked to be knocking on her door. "I'm not coming back and let Castle help me with that case," Kate told him again and handed him her pizza box so she could find her keys and unlock her door.

"Thanks." Kate took her box back, let him enter, and dropped her box off in her kitchen. "Something on your mind, sir?"

"Yes, talking you into rethinking this rash decision," Roy replied.

"So I can let Playboy Castle who has a twenty-something hanging off of him in the paper nearly every week try and get into my pants? No, sir. The answer is still no. Castle is your problem, not mine. For some reason you thought this was a good idea and thought you could force me to do it because it says CAPTAIN on your door. No."

"He might have been useful to you," Roy persisted.

"A playboy author playing homicide detective. Tell me again why I had to attend the Police Academy to even get a job when all I had to do was ask you?" Kate challenged him. But he took too long to answer her. "That's what I thought."

"Lanie's moving in and I'm moving out. I have plans now and I'm not putting an end to them just so I can take Castle to bed and ruin everything. Was there anything else, sir? I need to take a shower so I can eat my pizza."

"I still think this is a mistake, Beckett, but no, no other questions. I wish you luck, Kate, in whatever it is you're doing." Roy walked over to the door and stopped since Kate was right behind him. "You want to know why I agreed?" Roy asked her. Since it didn't matter, he could explain it to her.

"Not really, no. Shower. Pizza." Her pizza was getting cold and she still had a shower to take.

Kate closed and locked the door behind him. She leaned against it momentarily and then hurried to her bedroom to strip down and take a shower.

.x{O}x.

Kate was on her first piece of pizza when there was a knock on her door. "Can't even eat in peace." She looked first. "You have got to be shitting me. …GO AWAY, CASTLE!" Kate yelled through the door.

"No, you need to listen and reconsider. I don't want into your pants." Technically, that was a small lie since he did want sex but that wasn't the primary reason.

"Go away, Castle, or you can add another line to your rap sheet," Kate threatened him.

"Just listen to me," Rick begged.

.x{O}x.

Kate was just finishing her first piece of pizza when there was a new sounding knock on her door. Castle hadn't gone away and was until just recently been knocking on her door and yelling through it.

"NYPD!" someone yelled though her door. That had Kate stuffing her mouth with the last bit of pizza and opened the door to find a single uniform officer.

"Ms. Beckett. This your guy?" He stepped aside to let Kate look out and down the hallway where she saw another uniform officer holding Castle who was clearly in cuffs behind his back.

"Beckett, please!" Rick yelled.

"That's him. I'll sign." Kate took his little ticket book and signed it. "Thank you, Officer. My apologies for forcing you to show up."

"Not a problem, Ma'am. If we have questions we'll contact you." He let her go and went to join his partner and take this guy named Richard Edgar Castle to Booking.