Alternative Route Taken
by Castlefan6
Authors Note: Another What If based on the episode, A Deadly Game, what happened if Rick didn't return to the precinct after leaving and this was really their last case. What would each other's lives have looked like? The story starts with Canon dialog, courtesy of Dust Jackets Dot Com, then goes quickly and completely AU. The journey continues with a new Kate and Rick, hope you enjoy!
I don't own Castle; I use the characters for amusement purposes only, except the ones I create.
A/N This may or may not end up as a Caskett fic, if that bothers you, please wait for updates to see which direction the story goes. Respectful comments are always welcome, trolls will be deleted.
Also, we may take liberties with the timeline from Canon and use events to make this a more believable fiction, thanks.
Previously
"Just promise me you'll be safe as possible, I know you will be in danger, but at least it won't be from stupid crime scenes, or chasing after someone who couldn't care less if you're dead or alive. Is that why you're doing this, really, to get her out of your system once and for all? If it is, then as long as you keep your promises, Mom and I will take care of each other, OK?"
Rick let out a deep sigh, he hadn't realized he had been holding his breath, one thing that he loved more than anything in the world was his little girl. She pulled him into a group hug, with Gina, and said,
"Daddy, you know there are more people who really love you than she don't you? I know you and Mom are divorced, but I also know you both love each other and me, but you have a lot more people than you know about. So, what are we going to do about this weekend at the Hamptons?"
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Chapter 5
Saturday, May 23rd
Memorial Day Weekend
Beckett's Apartment 9:00 AM
Kate's POV
Well, it was official, Kate Beckett was bored out of her mind. She had walked home from the precinct, re-playing the events of the last few months over and over, making mental notes where she should, even as a friend, have defended Castle. Hell, the man opened his home, his family and helped her with the legal part of her insurance claim to get a more than fair settlement once she survived the bombing.
Speaking of surviving, she was positive that Castle had saved her life, that day, and how did she repay him? Lead him on with a few weeks of kindness then throw him out like yesterday's garbage when Pretty Boy Deming showed up. It was ironic, he was lousy in bed, and would be brought up on charges for sexual harassment, the only way he could get his feels in, well until she fell for his line. She had been overheard, on purpose extolling the man's virtue in bed, in reality, Castle's writing brought her to a climax more than her former boyfriend ever did.
She had gone for a run, showered, cleaned the apartment, twice, paid all her bills, read the last two Patterson books, done her yoga, all trying to eat up something she had far too much of, time alone. Hell, she even drug out the old guitar and busted the string, had to be the G string, of course, before she tossed it back into the closet. She still had 65 hours plus to kill, she had to find something, to do.
She noticed the city had a deserted look to it during her run, as it did every long weekend, everyone was trying to get a patch of sand or beach someplace, especially those like Castle who had huge estates in the Hamptons. Spending the weekend in the city would almost be a sin to those in his class.
She was out of options, having been rejected to take the duty shift from Detective Choy, his response was,
"Beckett, are you nuts, my wife's family is with us, the entire weekend why do you think I volunteered to take these shifts? Find your own time killer, you could always crash Castle's bash in the Hampton's, I'm sure that would go over really well", as he laughed, and hung up on her.
Kate was cleaning out her desk, for the fourth time, this time she found a journal she had to keep for a college psychology class for senior year, it was on the topic of forgiveness. It all came rushing back to her, she was still hurting from Maddie's betrayal, stealing Brent Edwards from her, all the time pretending to be her friend, even serving as her confidant. She knew exactly what Kate wouldn't give up, and what she needed to do to get him.
FLASHBACK High School Senior Year
It was all through school, kids, laughing, others talking behind her back, she had checked her clothes to be sure she wasn't showing anything, but yet the behavior continued. She had just walked into the small office the Student Office Aides used to store their personal belongings when she heard the noise, what the hell was that?"
As she approached the closet, she heard Maddie moaning, then God, NO, it was Brent and he was thrusting against her, right there in school. Half of Maddie's fake tits were falling out of her bra, but Brent kept pounding until they heard her shriek in horror, then both tried to cover up in a hurry.
"Kate, it's not what you think" Brent tried calling out as he zipped his pants up, "Please, let's talk about this, please. Give me a chance to explain"
"Explain why you're fucking my best friend, right in school, two days after I turned you down and said no, you found someone who would? What's to explain Brent, we're done. Oh, you may want to make a Doctor's appointment, last week Maddie fucked that basketball player who came down with VD, hate to see that happen to you, you Bastard."
Maddie constantly tried to call her, text her, with each time Kate rejected the calls and texts, deleting them all, voicemails without listening to a word she had to say. There was no excuse for what she had done, she had her choice of guys, even those that didn't know that all it took was two beers and a compliment to get into her pants, why did she have to ruin the one relationship Kate ever had?
Kate had rushed home and cried her eyes out until her Mom came home early from the office. She sat and held her as she told her the entire story, her Mom stroking her hair, gently wiping her tears away, and just rocked her gently.
"Sweetie, sometimes people do things that hurt us without thinking, or sometimes they see something or someone they want so badly, they justify any action they take as just, as long as they get what they want." She said quietly,
"But Mom, I was confiding in Maddie, telling her exactly why Brent and I were having problems, he wanted sex, and well, I wasn't ready for it, at least not now. Of course, Maddie, heck she lost her virginity 3 years ago at Church Camp of all places, she didn't hesitate for a second to give him the one thing I wouldn't. I thought she was my friend, I would never do that to her, never, no matter how badly I wanted something. It isn't fair Mom; it just isn't fair."
"You're right Katie, absolutely, it's not right, but baby life isn't fair, sometimes good people do bad things, it doesn't make them bad, other times, people are just cruel. You have to decide if your 6 years of friendship with Maddie is worth forgiving her, regardless of how you feel about Brent.
"Each of them hurt you, Brent, perhaps the most since he was your first serious boyfriend, but Katie, it's not wrong to say no, and stand by it. Any man who doesn't honor that doesn't honor you, so from a Mom's eyes, you dodged a bullet by him doing what he did. If he cheated while dating, he will cheat in a more serious relationship, you don't want that and sadly men don't change their ways.
"It's up to you, but I think you should at least hear Maddie's apology, then decide if you accept it or not. I wouldn't look for or accept one from Brent, write him off as garbage now and move on. You're better than that, you deserve better, OK?" she asked as Kate's tears had finally stopped. Her Mom always knew just what to say, what to do.
PRESENT TIME
She blinked her eyes, and the vision of a younger version of herself along with her Mom was gone, even though she could still hear her, that voice so strong, yet so compassionate, she reached for a tissue, to dry the tears she hadn't realized she was crying.
She began to read the entries, then her notes from class alongside the entrees, the Professor had nailed her and her actions. Kate had never allowed anyone else to penetrate her heart, even the boyfriends she had after Brent, she had always broken up with them BEFORE they could break up with her and bring that hurt back.
She lived her life in a defensive pose, and as for Maddie, she did honor her Mon's request. She listened to her, then stood and walked away, stopping to tell her to go to hell, she never wanted to see her again.
Did she just do to Castle what Maddie had done to her, well in a roundabout way, did she use Tom to try to get Rick to notice her, fight for her? Every time he had tried to move their friendship to the next level, she stopped it, perhaps the cruelest was what she just had done, flaunting another man in front of him after all he had done. The pain of seeing Maddie in Brent's embrace, well him nailing her against the wall, was that the hurt that Rick felt when he saw her and Deming making out on the stairwell? What an ass she was.
Well, the joke was on her, the guy she chose was high on physical attraction, a complete dud in the bedroom, and now to find out a sex pervert. God Kate, you can sure pick them she chastised herself. Even if she felt nothing for Rick, which she was pretty sure she did, and not just a little, but even if she felt nothing, she had hurt him deliberately.
She recalled how she had felt, no wonder he walked away, and it was her fault. The question was how did she truly apologize in a way that he would know she was sincere, she knew that the lip service of a fake apology only added to the hurt and hatred.
She picked up the magazine next to her, HOG, (Harley Owner's Group) and then the idea came to her how she could kill some time, Her Bike needed to be blown out on the highway, she hadn't ridden in forever, so she grabbed the bag she kept her leather gear, helmet, and chaps in and drove to the storage locker she kept it in. After cleaning the plugs, and a few tinkers here and there, thank goodness her Grandpa had taught her how to maintain her bike, she was ready for a ride.
She donned her safety gear, and headed towards her Dad's cabin, he would enjoy the surprise although be pissed she was riding her motorcycle, well at least she didn't have to think about Castle and the Hamptons, she thought.
Xx
Saturday, May 23rd
Memorial Day Weekend
Hampton's Beach House
Rick's POV
Everyone had really enjoyed the first night at the beach, Javi and Lanie had snuck away for a stroll, not noticing they walked right into Kevin and Jenny doing the same thing. They laughed, then had a little mini-reunion of partners, to let Jenny learn about who Kevin talked about daily.
Rick, Roy, and LT had left for a fishing trip at 4:30 AM, why so early, hell no one knew, but they were in the water and headed to a private fishing spot by 5:30 AM. Captain Montgomery finally began to relax and LT showed he wasn't always the quiet one. He had quite a sense of humor, and could easily have been a stand-up comic. Roy almost fell overboard when he did his Black Jeff Foxworthy routine, changing it from you might be a redneck if, to you might be a brother if.
Roy was the winner of the day landing his limit for striped bass, and one huge mackerel he was going to have mounted. LT wasn't far behind, and Rick enjoyed seeing his friend let their hair down and enjoy the morning. They stopped by the pro shop, Rick knew the guy, hell he knew a guy everywhere, and they could pick up the cleaned and filleted fish in a few hours. Roy picked out the mount for his mackerel, including a picture of the three of them, to be included along with the date and weight and length of the fish. It would be ready tomorrow, which worked out perfectly.
"One last thing guys, we will never be allowed anywhere near the house smelling like this. The showers are right over here, so the extra change of clothes I had you bring will get us back to the ladies". He laughed,
"Something tells me you learned the hard way with this one Rick." LT laughed,
"Well, let's just say your new wife doesn't appreciate the exact same things you do, especially if she hates seafood, to begin with. Gina hosed me down in the yard before I could even get to the pool showers, I think we had been married maybe a week" he laughed, as his eyes looked back into time remembering the day almost like yesterday.
They returned home, with the fish, cleaned, packaged, and smell free in the cooler LT was carrying about an hour later. They were walking up the beachfront, when they spotted two ladies sunning themselves, and a series of local men walking up, stopping for a moment and then turning around without saying a word. When they got closer, they realized the women were Roz and Ann, both showing off what God and the plastic surgeon had given them, leaving little to the imagination.
"Hey Ladies, having a good time?" Rick called out as they were approaching
"Hey Rick, having a blast, we had some interruptions but Ann fixed it and we're enjoying the privacy of your private beach." Roz smiled as she lifted her sunglasses, and sat up, revealing why so many men were stopping by. God, she was built, she was barely covered, but hey good for her.
"Hey Rick, Ann popped up, slightly less built but more Rick's type, God her nipples reminded him of every Friends episode that had a close up of Jennifer Anniston, god you could poke an eye out with those things. "Thanks again for the invite, we never get this much privacy in the city."
"I can see, so who bothered you, and what did you do? Rick asked as they got closer before he saw the sign, in Ann's neat script printing, "We're not into men, we're cops and have our own guns that don't go off prematurely, turn around and leave us to celebrate our engagement," Rick busted out laughing,
"You're posing as lesbian lovers to keep the guys away from you Ann? That's different I can say that"
"Well, we almost had to take one asshole down, he lives two houses down and was insistent he was a good friend of yours and we would want to meet him, he was a very important person out here," Roz said,
Roy and LT were laughing and trying not to look too hard, knowing their wives would kill them, and were probably watching them as they stopped,
Rick started laughing, "That's Vincente, he's the only plumber around so I guess he is pretty important. Hey, we're going to round everyone up soon for lunch, then a rest session, then some beach volleyball, you ladies in?"
"You bet," they both popped up, with Roz popping out for a brief second until she re-secured the girls,
"Well, and I hate like hell to say this, but I have some T-shirts you will have to wear over your suits to prevent sunburn or Evelyn having your boss's ass for staring", he laughed,
Roy and LT were playing it safe and had already headed back towards the house, by the time Rick caught up with them.
"It's a good thing you and Gina aren't married anymore, she would have killed you for checking out those life rafts", Roy said smiling. "I could feel Evelyn's eyes on us and after 22 years you know when to walk away,"
"Well, married or not, she's still jealous, so I expect to get at least a little grief, that's OK, it just shows she still cares." Rick smiled,
"Man are you blind?" LT asked, I don't know, nor do I want to, but if you ever envisioned one man two women, those two were more than hinting. Either one would take you in a heartbeat, Rick, be careful, Gina may have access to sharp knives, married or not"
When they reached the house, Gina was the first to greet them,
"I see you at least showered, Thanks Rick, I didn't want all the guests to think we were uncouth" she said, and kissed him just a bit longer than usual, it wasn't lost that Ann and Roz had just appeared in all their glory heading to their rooms to shower and change, both showing more flesh than usual.
Evelyn and Mela, LT's wife didn't say a word, but their looks were enough to tell their men, stand down and keep it down,
Xx
The remainder of the day went off without a hitch, Rick demonstrating his skills on the outdoor grill, Gina helping and keeping her eyes, and hands when she could on him. The volleyball game was a lot of fun, especially after the buxom twins appeared in Rick's Derrick Storm T-Shirts. They could concentrate on the game, rather than, well other distractions.
The end of the night was capped off with the first of three fireworks displays Rick put on. It was more spectacular than the city of New York did for July fourth. A great day for all, well all in attendance. Once again, no one mentioned Beckett, her absence or reason why. By now, they all knew of Deming, his re-assignment, after Kate broke up with him, and Rick's refusal to stay. None knew what his plans were for the future, they did know they were enjoying being with their friend as much as possible for now.
TBC