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.

Previously

"We already booked the Plaza; it's been good luck for us for the last three releases. Is there anyone you want to be sure is at the Launch Party, or leave the invite list to Paul, Alexis and I?" Gina asked hesitantly,

"Gina, if you're asking should you invite Beckett, the answer is no, send her the advanced copy of the book, but only Captain Montgomery and the ones that joined us in the Hampton should be invited, including LT." Rick actually smiled as he was talking,

"OK Smart Ass, you always knew when I was fishing so we'll take care of it." She laughed back

"Alexis, before you ask, yes I read Beckett's letter. It was nothing new or unexpected so I kept my promise to you" he laughed,

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A/N When reading this chapter just remember 4 words from Canon, "You can watch Castle"

Chapter 16

The Plaza Hotel

Saturday Book Launch of Raging Heat

Kate's POV

The two days had flown by and the day of the book launch was upon them. Gina, Paula, and even Alexis had seen to every detail, and they were right, all Rick had to do was show up, and do his thing. This was unexpected to many since he only announced the new book three weeks ago, and now the launch party was about to begin.

FLASHBACK TO WEEK IN THE 12th

The guests from the 12th precinct decided to meet at Captain Montgomery's home for the pickup, and EVERYONE was and had been careful not to mention a word of it to one Kate Beckett. She had resolved herself to accept the situation, and not make a scene, which lasted until the boys stopped talking for the third time when she approached them last Thursday.

"God Damn it, Ryan, Espo, I'm not blind and I'm not an idiot, I know about the launch party, and I also know why I wasn't invited so go ahead and talk about it, stop treating me as a child who didn't get invited to the popular kids birthday party. I'm a grown woman, and Castle is free to invite whomever he pleases, just stop treating me like the idiot that doesn't know about it, OK?" She exploded a bit louder than she had planned,

She heard the Captain call out, "Beckett, my office NOW!" which meant she was in trouble, great Castle wasn't even here and she still got into trouble because of him. She made her way to his office and knocked,

"Sir, you wanted to see me?" she played innocent

"Come in and sit-down Detective" he replied, oh no he's pissed he didn't use her name, first or last she thought.

"Yes Sir" as she sat, still playing innocent,

"Do you mind telling me what the hell that was? Dressing down your detectives in front of the entire bullpen because they were trying to protect your feelings?" Roy asked peering over his glasses

"Sir, I didn't mean to come across that strong, but it's been frustrating since I found out that the entire homicide department was invited and I was specifically left off the list by Castle himself. I'll apologize to the boys, Sir,"

"Well, everyone on this floor Kate saw what went down between you, Castle, and your boyfriend, and I caught hell for not stepping in when I should have, rightly so. I should have reprimanded you and sent Deming packing with the first insult, but I trusted you as lead detective to keep your personal feelings out of the workplace, it was my mistake that won't happen again.

"Now, if you're feeling sorry for yourself, you earned this Kate, as I recall I had to threaten you with a suspension to get you to even attend the first party, so why should Rick waste a ticket on someone who clearly doesn't want to be there? Go apologize to your detectives and when you are in my house, you do your damn job, keep your personal life out of the precinct, understood?" Roy wasn't holding back

"Sir, yes Sir" she replied, and didn't have an opportunity to say anything else before she heard him bark,

"Dismissed, Detective" as he went back to the file on his desk.

She rented some movies and bought some extra wine for tomorrow; she didn't need Castle or anyone to have a party. She'd party all by herself, it would be better anyway than to get into an argument with someone at the hotel. She also had the entire library of Rick's books sitting nearby just in case she needed to fall back on them. Yeah, who needed Castle anyway.

Xx

PLAZA HOTEL PARTY DAY

Rick's POV

The group arrived, and were treated to the Red-Carpet treatment, as the exited the limo, flashbulbs went off all around them, with reporters and photographers all yelling to turn this way or that way. They were told to ignore any comments about Beckett, and just keep smiling. Just when they thought they would make it into the entrance some jackass yelled out, "hey where is Detective Beckett, she's the muse for Nikki Heat?" They all kept to the script and made it inside the doors to be greeted by Rick, Gina, Paula, and Alexis.

Rick looked different, much different, he wasn't the writer who had enjoyed double cheeseburgers daily with ice cream, he was toned, buff, and wore a pair of expensive sunglasses which made him look even sexier, well according to Ann and Roz who were almost drooling by the time they reached him.

"God Rick, you look great, how much have you lost and man those shoulders, I would love to make sure it's not just the suit," Roz said,

"I can assure you, he's real, 100% Real what you see is all Rick" Gina interrupted and answered the question throwing a bit of cold water on Roz and Ann's fantasy. They were dressed to the nines, showing off what God and in Roz's case her surgeon had given her in breasts.

"Good evening ladies, you both look lovely," Rick said, but he didn't stare, or even look twice, even though a hard breeze would have revealed more than either lady would be allowed to show by law. The dresses were hanging on by a piece of nipple tape but still was more revealing than they had ever worn before.

Gina was cordial as she greeted them after they made their way to their tables Alexis leaned in and whispered, "Bet you the tape doesn't hold the entire night, look out for the pics coming" Gina smacked her lightly as she laughed,

"Just as long as they're not mine or yours sweetie, I don't care." As Alexis walked her to the back of the stage,

Paula's voice could be heard over the crowd without the microphone, but with one she was commanding everyone to be seated.

"OK, take your seats, the bar is closed until after the presentation so it won't do you any good to hang around there, sit down you three lushes over there" as the crowd snickered, and three men faces red found their seats quickly,

"OK, Thanks for your attention, I would like to introduce the lady largely responsible for tonight, Gina Castle Cowell, yep Rick's ex-wife, and I didn't screw her name up, that's how she wants it and made it so legally," as more laughs rang out,

Gina stood at a small podium with a microphone and smile on her face as the lights turned her way,

"First, thank you all for coming, we put this together rather quickly, and before we go any farther, I want Paula to address the elephant in the room, the absence of Detective Katherine Beckett., Paula if you will?"

"Thanks, Gina, we want to thank Detective Kate Beckett for her assistance in the Nikki Heat series and wish her continued luck and success. She has made it clear that she doesn't enjoy being in the spotlight, so to honor her wishes, there will be no further information shared about Detective Beckett, allowing her private life to remain private.

"We wish to remind all, that Rick Castle has drawn on his experiences from multiple members of NYPD's 12th precinct, who are in attendance tonight. You can recognize these guests with the American flag and number 12 on their name tags. Please thank a cop tonight before you leave, back to you Gina."

"Thanks, Paula, and to close this topic out, there will not be any questions taken concerning this subject. Now I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the man of the hour, our own best-selling author, and philanthropist, Rick Castle" Gina stepped back as Rick appeared. It wasn't rehearsed, but he took her hand in his and kissed her sweetly before he strode to the small podium.

Rick stood for a few moments with the applause and oohs and ahhs of those who hadn't seen him for a while, all the while smiling and completely comfortable. "Thank You he finally got the crowd to settle back down,

"Wow, what a greeting, thank you all for coming, it's great to be back in New York for even a short time, but I promise you, once our project is over, we'll be back for good. I missed so many of my loves, he paused, looked into the air, as the crowd thought he would be naming people names. He continued, "Nathan's, Remy's, Old Haunt" just to name a few as the crowd broke into laughter.

"Seriously we are doing some good work, and I would encourage anyone who hasn't yet, to make a pledge to Mercy Flights, but back to the entertainment and business at hand. Where is Lisa Closter, is Lisa with us tonight, she's the winner of the VIP pass and backstage pass," suddenly a blood-curdling scream as a young lady slightly older than Alexis was jumping up and down, yelling, "I'm Lisa, I'm Lisa."

Rick laughed and said "Paula can you get Lisa her pass and maybe talk her into being just a little excited," as the crowd laughed. "Hang on Lisa, I promise you, we'll show you a good time, and thank you for your support.

"Turning to another matter, would Detectives Ann Hastings, and Roz Karpowski please stand" as he caught them completely off guard, they turned to each other then stood, and waited,

"Folks these two beautiful ladies are actually Homicide Detectives at the 12th and have provided support to me since I first shadowed active officers from there. Please give them a round of applause as well, they were patient and kind when I had questions, as were all of the personnel at the precinct. Thanks, Ann, Roz, I appreciate the extra effort to get this to press on schedule. You know I love you both" as the applause grew louder, he had officially replaced Kate Beckett with two detectives and the entire precinct as his muse, a nice way to quell the rumors.

"Before we get back to the festivities, there is someone else that needs to be thanked publicly, please welcome my daughter Alexis who is bringing her Mom out of the shadows, she hates this, and I'm sorry Genes, but if I told you, every excuse in the world would be given to keep you out of the spotlight. Alexis was walking out with her arm around Gina's waist.

"Please join me in a huge round of applause for the real brains of my books, my ex-wife, my editor, my love, and the Mom to our daughter, Gina Castle Cowell." Gina's blush could be seen even through her makeup,

"Gina, after Alexis pointed out how much you do for us, and how little I acknowledge you, I got to thinking. I hope you like this", as he turned and took a beautiful charm bracelet, with a charm designed in the form of each book cover they had published together all 21 books.

From the audience, all they could see was the bling of gold, real gold, but to Gina, she saw each charm each book, she lost it, and hugged Rick as she cried into his shoulder,

Rick had a picture of the charms projected on the large screen, "I think she likes it" he deadpanned, "None of these books would have been possible without this lovely lady, so I owe her everything, I hope you like it."

Gina had recovered enough, wiping her tears away thanks to the tissues supplied by Alexis, "I love it Rick, but you know you're a dead man, you made me spoil my makeup" as the crowd erupted in laughter, "Time to party folks Bar is Open" she closed and turned and just held Rick and Alexis in a group hug for a long while.

Alexis said first, "I'm sorry Mom but when Dad suggested it how could I NOT go along with it? Forgive me?"

"I forgive you, stinker, but I owe you one, just remember" she laughed,

Rick posed for pictures with the gang from the 12th, under a sign that read, These Are Real Hero's Thank A Cop. Gina frowned when one picture was being taken, but knew she couldn't say anything, Ann and Roz had sandwiched Rick in the middle and kissed each cheek. LT, Ryan, even Esposito forgot about his allegiance to Kate Beckett and enjoyed the evening.

As soon as Rick stepped off from the photoshoot, he took Gina into his arms and kissed her, this time on the lips, his subtle answer to Roz and Ann, that he loved his ex, perhaps not enough to live together but a hell of a lot more than most ex-spouses. The remainder of the night was a huge success, Gina couldn't take her eyes off her bracelet, every book was represented by a charm, he couldn't have picked a better gift for her if he had given her the keys to Fort Knox.

"Well Rick, I see you're trim and fit, how are the Mercy Flights going, and don't think for a minute I buy that crap of a cover story," Roy asked when they were alone

"I have no idea what you're fishing for Roy, you know the game, and for the record look at the news videos, the flights are going great," Rick answered still a little pissed at how Roy had allowed Beckett the free hand that he had.

"Rick, look I know you said everything was good when Evelyn and I left the Hamptons, by the way, thanks for the great weekend, I'll never forget it, but I know you were pissed, well disappointed in me. I'm sorry, I did let Kate get away with far too much, and again, I am really sorry."

"Roy, it's water over the damn, I really don't want to talk about Beckett, she apologized in a letter, I replied, eventually after being yelled at by Alexis and Gina, so it's a closed matter as far as I'm concerned." Rick tried to close the subject,

"She knows too Rick, she's worried about you," Roy said and stopped,

"I'm sorry, knows what too? Why should she be concerned now Roy, we saw her with her flavor of the month when Gina and I were out last."

"Rick, next time you come from the field, be sure your flight suit matches Mercy Flights, she picked up on it the minute she saw it, and she even went to see Doctor Burke, the department psychologist. Apparently, there were three days all she could see or hear when she closed her eyes was you yelling for help, bright lights exploding, and a lot of noise, not something you would think you would see on a Mercy Flight." He said and stared at Rick in the eyes

"Look, Roy, let's drop this subject if I know you, you've already exhausted anything Bob Weldon will tell you, and you're fishing, I'm asking as a friend, to pull your rod out of this pond, go fish somewhere else." He had a look on his face that Roy knew that part of the conversation was over.

"Rick, I'm sorry I pushed, but I wanted you to know you left a lot of friends at the 12th and as screwed up as Beckett is, she cares for you Rick, she really does. I'm glad you answered her letter, although I'm sure it wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"Oh, just for the record, she's been out twice, both times with a Doctor she met during a motorcycle run, and well, once she saw you and Gina at the club, let's just say the good doctor decided not to make any more house calls," Roy said searching his eyes for any emotion,

"Well Roy, I'm sorry for her bad luck, but she'll have another candidate lined up soon, she's never been short of men wanting to take her out, she just has to decide what she wants before she ruins someone else.

"Gina and I both know, this is as good as it will ever get, love each other yes, sex, NO, because it will just string out her searching for someone who loves her the way she deserves. Beckett needs to get herself fixed, then work on dating, you can't love anyone else until you love yourself.

"I'm not a shrink but as I told her, the doctor was the best idea she has had. She does need to figure out what's important to her, and when the hell did, she start lying so much, Roy? Why do you allow that?"

"That's the thing, Rick, she never lied before you came along, almost like she was afraid of getting close to you, somehow you would reach the heart that has been cold as ice since her mother's murder," Roy said

"Roy, even you know that's bull shit, you don't lie to someone you have or pretend to have feelings for, and how long has it been since her Mom's murder. I'm not saying for her to get over it, not in the least, but I am saying it doesn't give her a pass to treat people like shit, or for you to allow it.

"You fucked up Roy, big time and you know it. It's like a kid, if you wait to start disciplining them till age 16, it's too late. You let her have far too much freedom when what she needed was someone who would call her on the bad behavior."

"Rick someday you'll know the entire story, but I could never make Beckett stand down, you're right, I did fuck up., but she loves you, Rick, I know you don't see it, hell it would be hard for anyone to the way you were treated, but keep an open mind, just for me, as your friend. I'm not asking for anything more, let her put in the work, and if she does, just promise you will keep an open mind when it comes to her."

Their conversation was interrupted at that point when Evelyn Montgomery walked up,

"There you are, I just wanted to say congratulations on the new book, it was a surprise to me as well. Roy, the group is waiting for us, Jenny wants to get Kevin home while he can still walk" she smiled,

"I'll walk you guys out", as Rick accompanied them to the gang from the 12th. Roz was barely still in her dress and Ann was singing a song that didn't match the music being played so he knew they had a good time,

"I'll talk to you soon, take care and be safe all" he said

He was greeted with a chorus of bye Writer Man, bye Rick, love you, and some other words he couldn't make out as the elevator door closed and they were on their way home via the limo.

He felt two arms around his waist, he looked up and Alexis was hugging him,

"Mom said whenever you were ready Dad, we can leave, she and Paula have the staff taking care of the cleanup,"

"Good, let's go home, "he said as he wrapped his arm around this young lady, his little pumpkin now all grown.

TBC