Last Chance
Rick checked his phone as he left the office of his local attorney. It was just some simple paperwork. He had an hour to kill before his next appointment. Hopefully she had just what he needed. Even if he didn't know exactly what it was he needed. Maybe she could read minds. He was afraid several women could and if they could read his they'd run away or shoot him.
"Shoot me." That brought up a long forgotten thought about Beckett. He had no idea where she was now and up to now, and maybe even including now, didn't care.
"Coffee, I need coffee." He didn't know this area very well and had only lived in this city for a short time. So he dug out his cell phone, did a search, and came up with a coffee shop not far away. "At least it's in a decent area." There were parts of this city that he wasn't sure he wanted to set foot in even in the middle of the day like it was now. Yes, some sections had gangs and he might look like a good mark to them. Others were filled with homeless people. While he felt for them, he wasn't going to give them all of his money.
The coffee shop was just a couple of blocks down and he reached it, triggering a memory. Something had happened near here not long ago. If he remembered correctly the entire block had been sealed off by the police. It had made getting to his lawyer a real challenge that day.
Maybe this area wasn't a true coffee city since it was barely half full. Still the smell alone had him going up to the counter. "Jamaica blue mountain estate, black please, and one cherry danish." He thought maybe he should eat something with his coffee.
It was a new city so he should be drinking and eating something different. New city, new Richard Castle. Even if he did feel like the old Richard Castle.
Paying for his drink he turned to find a place to sit and headed for the front window so he could watch the cars and people go by. Doing a little people watching and guessing what careers they were in.
"Beckett?" She was sitting in a corner with coffee and looked to have a lot of paperwork spread out almost smilingly everywhere.
Rick watched her look up and saw the shock on her face. "Castle?" He was the very last person she would ever expect to find in this place, let alone this city. Seeing him immediately brought back so many memories.
"What are you doing here?" As she watched he sat down across from her and even made room on her table for his coffee and danish.
"I live here now. What are you doing here?" Last he knew, and that had been a while, she was still in New York working as a homicide detective.
Kate waved her hand at the mess the table top. "Paperwork. I needed to come back and do some follow-up on a case."
"I didn't know you worked for the San Francisco Police Department." He wondered when she had quit and moved out here.
She shook her head. "I don't, I'm with the FBI now."
"FBI, so you're a Special Agent now. Working with your old FBI squeeze, I presume?" Rick never understood just what Kate saw in that guy. Square jaw, flat head. That was a boring as it got.
"Will? I haven't seen him in years. I have no idea where he is now. When did you move to San Francisco?" As far as she knew he was still in New York City.
"Alexis got accepted to Stanford finally so I moved out to be closer to her without actually trying to smother her. She lives in the dorm. I see her every few weeks when she doesn't have a class. So FBI, huh?" Rick was curious as to just how that happened.
"Yeah, I got a lead for a job so I applied. I never really thought they'd accept me, but they did. It gave me my biggest break I'd ever had." Kate was happy for that part at least.
Rick had been watching her and she looked darker than ever. Not so much focused on whatever she was doing, but darker. Worse than after he'd first met her.
"Solve any major cases, Special Agent Beckett? Ones that you can officially talk about, naturally." He knew the FBI were closed off and didn't talk to anyone. Barely even other FBI agents, he was betting.
"A couple, I suppose. …I finally caught my mother's killer." That was about as big as they got for her.
"Really!" Rick was shocked. He was sure she was never going to solve that case. It was all dead ends.
Kate nodded. "Remember the Bracken case a few months back?"
"Bracken. The corrupt Unites States Senator? If I remember correctly he was busted on drug charges. How does that solve your mother's murder?" Drugs and murder might go hand in hand but not when it came to her mother's case.
"It doesn't." Rick watched her get darker and sadder. "I know he did it, but I could never prove it in court. I got him on the biggest drug bust in U.S. history, though." It was the biggest feather in her cap. She'd even got a commendation from the director himself for that one.
"So you did and didn't solve your mother's case." He was betting that didn't sit well with her. Her mother's case was all she cared about in life. Nothing else and no one else mattered.
Rick saw her sink back into the booth she was in. "So how's the gang? Ryan, Esposito, and Lanie?" He changed the subject thinking maybe that would brighten her mood. Except it didn't.
"I don't know." Kate could see his look of shock on his face and he appeared to be pressing her for more information. "I lost contact with them after joining the FBI." It had been all her doing. All her fault. Joining the FBI had given her new access to tools to find her mother's killer. She'd jumped in with both feet and never looked back.
At least not until after she had caught him. Then her cell phone rang and the caller ID said she needed to take this call. "Davidson." Kate listened for a while. "I have a flight out tomorrow. I'm just finishing up the paperwork now." Kate nodded even though they couldn't see her and said, "I can do that, thanks." Then she hung up.
"Davidson?" That was the wrong name for her.
"I got married." Kate saw Rick look at her left hand. She took it off the table and hid it in her lap. "I'm divorced."
Rick studied her for a moment. "You said you were a one and done kind of girl."
"Yeah." Kate looked even darker and maybe depressed in a way he had never seen before. "He was a nice enough guy so I married him. However, I never really gave him a chance after that. I was consumed with my mother's case and I blew him off. He filed for divorce and I signed the papers." It was one of her darker hours.
"Your rabbit hole," Rick noted since her mother's case always did consume her.
"My rabbit hole." Kate knew she was still in that hole. She couldn't even see any light any longer she had been in it for so long. She did her job and went home. Then she usually ate something, read a book, and went to bed. Repeat over and over again.
Rick's alarm sounded and he got out his cell phone. He had thirty minutes to get to his appointment. "I have an appointment coming up."
Kate suddenly saw a way out of her rabbit hole. It was just that it meant being someone else. Doing something different and while that scared her a lot, it just might be her one and only chance.
"Are you married?" Kate inquired.
"No, two divorces seemed like enough. It's just the three of us. Me, myself, and I," Rick admitted. "Not including all my toys to keep me occupied. I have to keep procrastinating, you know."
That had Kate smiling a little. The first in what felt like a really long time. "I remember. You always did like to touch things."
Rick recalled what Jordan Shaw had told him once. "Put-the-taser-down!" Kate laughed a little and it felt weird.
He saw a little glow come back but was gone just as quickly. "I should leave you to your work. It was nice seeing you again." Rick was done here and needed to go to meet his appointment.
"Castle!" It was now or never. She needed to risk it. To take a chance or her life was never going to change. She was never going to find what she'd said she wanted after solving her mother's murder.
"Can we… Would you like to go out on a date somewhere? …Someday?" Way to be forceful, Katie. Very decisive decision you made there.
"A date?" Rick really didn't need to think that one over. "No, thanks."
Kate felt her small light of hope blow up in a nuclear explosion. "I see. You're not interested in me any longer." She supposed she knew he would say no. Hell, she would say no if she was him.
"I'm over you. I learned after I left that I was never going to be number one in your life. Your mother's case was always going to be first. I was going to be lucky to be second or even third. No, your job takes first place in your life. A leopard never changes its spots, Special Agent Davidson." Rick had not called her Beckett on purpose.
"Good luck with your job, Special Agent." Rick left what was left of his coffee behind and got up and left.
Kate saw her dark walls crumbling in around her. Her rabbit hole was collapsing and soon she wasn't even going to be able to breathe. The light was long gone and now the air was leaving her as well.
She scrambled to gather up her papers in any manner that she could and shoved them into her case. Then she was up and running for the door to catch up to him.
"Castle. Rick, wait. …Please." Kate actually saw him stop so she plowed ahead. She had to do this, she just had to. This one chance encounter might be the only real chance she had. "I can change the spots into stripes or something. It's just a date." She needed to start somewhere.
"You left Ryan, Esposito, and even Lanie. You buried yourself in your mother's case. So where's Jim?" If she had cast aside everyone she really was a lost cause.
"My dad? I see him about once a month when I make it to New York City. Even Dad didn't care that I caught him. Catching Bracken wasn't what I thought it would be. Catching him left this big hollow space. There was no one to celebrate with. The guys I work with celebrated, but it was cheap and empty." It was almost like catching him was the very last thing she was ever going to do. Her life was over now.
"So why are you telling me the truth. If all that is the truth." He knew her life was filled with lies.
Kate knew he had her. She always told lies to protect her heart. Well, she'd caught Bracken and her lies were all catching up to her. Telling the truth was all she had left.
"I don't have a choice." The truth was all she had left to work with.
"The answer is still no, Kate. You've lived your life behind lies. No one can scale your walls to reach you. Even if we did go out on one date, it would never be about me. Not meaning to sound selfish but I would never be number one to you. Even if it's not your mother's case it would be your job or something else. No." Rick wasn't interested.
"You're not even going to give me a chance to change." Kate had no illusions, okay maybe she did have a few, about it taking a lot of work. She had spent years getting to this point in her life.
He was going to be her last chance to change. To be someone else instead of who she had turned herself into.
Rick sighed loudly and it gave Kate some instant hope; she tried to brighten up and smile.
"Where do you live? Where do you work?" He was betting it wasn't here so that meant it was never going to work.
"DC." For the FBI it was the best posting possible. There was no higher city to be in. The most she could hope for was going up in grade within the FBI. "I'll apply for a transfer. San Francisco has an office. I'll move, find my own place." She had moved before, she could move again.
"You'll become another Jordan Shaw and get sent to this city or that city and be gone for weeks. Your job will still be number one to you." Even if she did move, it was never really going to include him.
Kate was starting to panic. What could she do to change his mind? Rick was all she had.
"Please." She was willing to beg. God, but how low she had fallen. The cost of her mother's case was really adding up. "I pushed you away because you were the only one that stood a chance of scaling my walls. You were scaling my walls.
"Okay, I made a mistake." There, she had admitted it.
Rick was actually shocked. Kate Beckett didn't ever admit mistakes even if she did make one. Still it didn't change much. People didn't just change. Serial killers didn't just suddenly go straight. Smokers didn't suddenly just quit. Alcoholics didn't just suddenly stop drinking.
"Who killed your mother was your obsession, Kate. You'll just replace it with another one. Another case will come along that will trigger it and back down the rabbit hole you'll go." Rick was still out and not interested in dating her.
Kate thought of a card she could play. It was a big one and if Rick didn't go for it, she was going to be left hanging out to dry. No job and no way to afford where she was living. She had a determined look on her face. She got out her cell phone and scrolled until she found who she wanted.
"Hi, Rachael. …I resign. Pull out the forms for me to sign and email them to Docu-sign for me." Kate listened to her. Even Rick could hear her voice and some of the words she was saying.
"Yes, I'm serious. Very, very serious. I've met someone, or more accurately re-met someone. I'm quitting and moving. This is it Rach. This is my one chance. It's this or I become…you." She didn't mean it the way it sounded. It was just that the two of them had talked a lot.
Rachael had given up everything to be an FBI agent and she knew why Kate had joined. She had gotten Bracken and Rachael knew she needed to get back out or she was going to turn into her and she didn't want that. No one should follow her footsteps.
"His name is Richard Castle. …Yes, the author. The very famous author." Kate grinned since she just knew that would swell Rick's ego.
"No, I don't want to transfer to a different city. I'll bring in my follow-up report and leave it on your desk. Then I'm going to pack and move. And no, I don't know where just yet. Please understand, Rach.
"I hope so, I really hope so." Kate so wanted to change who she was. Her only real fear was making it last a really long time. "I don't know yet. Maybe join the police force. Go back to being a homicide detective. …Perhaps I can talk them into letting him follow me around again." Kate grinned again and looked at Rick.
"I fly out tomorrow. …Yes, I'll talk to you before I leave. Thanks, Rach." Kate owed her big and she knew it. She hung up, looked at Rick, and waited.
"I…I…." Rick didn't know what to do now. He knew he wasn't truly over her, even if he had moved on past her. Then his phone sounded again. Looking at his phone told him that now he was late for his appointment.
"I have to go, I'm late." What he needed now was a taxi since he hadn't driven to get here.
"Can I come?" Kate didn't want him out of her sight. She needed to convince him that she was serious. She needed him to say yes to their date.
"TAXI!" Rick saw one and climbed in and found Kate right behind him. "2609 Ocean Avenue," Rick told the driver then sat back and said nothing. He really needed to think. He was doing just that until Kate put a hand on his thigh.
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Kate got out of the taxi first and saw where the driver had stopped. "Portal World Travel?" She waited for Rick to pay the driver and open the door.
Veronica had been waiting for him. "Mr. Castle, I have everything ready for you. Berlin to Prague with a five night after voyage to Krakow and Warsaw. Two nights in Berlin, one in Potsdam, followed by a river cruise down the Elbe river to Prague, then a train to Krakow and Warsaw. Fifteen days in total." What she hadn't expected was to see a lady with him.
"River cruise?" This was his appointment? Kate had to admit that she had never been to any of those places and since she was almost officially unemployed…she quickly decided to go with him. "Do you have two cabins available?" If she was going to talk him into dating her she needed to prove that she was serious and going with him on a vacation cruise was about as serious as it got.
"I… Let me look." Veronica shifted gears and began checking if the ship had space and what rooms were still available.
"Kate?" Rick wasn't sure he was ready for this.
"I'm serious, Rick, and you need to accept it. We still need that date, though." Kate hadn't heard the dates yet so didn't have any idea when this was.
"I have Mr. Castle in a Veranda Suite in category AA at $12,800 plus $700 in airfare. Then another $3,200 for the hotel in Krakow and Warsaw. …I have a French Balcony Suite in category D at $8,800 plus $700 in airfare. I need to look up the hotel in Krakow and Warsaw if you'll give me a few minutes." This was going to take a little work and time.
"Kate?" This wasn't a cheap trip. Traveling solo meant paying double which Rick was willing to do since he could afford it.
"I may not be rich like you but I'm not poor, Rick." Though at these prices her bank account was going to take a serious hit. But if this saved her from herself, it would be worth it. Of course she was going to need money to spend while she was there.
Rick sat there and waited without saying anything. His mind was still reeling from even meeting Kate in the first place. Let alone her going with him on his vacation. She was quitting her job and moving to San Francisco. He had no doubt that if the police had an opening they would snatch her up in a heartbeat.
It wasn't every day you got access to an accomplished ex-New York City homicide detective that had just left the FBI.
Veronica was back. "The best I can do is the same type of room in the hotel as Mr. Castle at the same price. Plus the airfare back from Warsaw."
"When's the trip?" Kate still didn't know that.
"It starts August 13 and lasts for 15 days."
"I'll take it!" Kate dug through her bag for her credit card.
"You'll need a passport that can't expire before thirty days from the end of your trip. You'll also need to acquire your own visa and health certificates for the Krakow and Warsaw section."
"I have a passport and can get the others." She had access to FBI stuff still so it should be easy.
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It took an hour and a half before either of them could leave but each was leaving with most of their travel documents. Save for their airfare information. That would come later.
"Now I need a place to stay. Can you suggest a good hotel. One that I can afford?" Kate looked at Rick. "One that isn't too far away from you." She wanted to be close so she could have access to him.
"You're sure about this?" What she was doing was very serious life change.
"Very!" Rick hadn't stopped her so she was doing this. "Would you give me your address and phone number? So I can tell you when I'm leaving DC."
"Um, sure." Rick took her phone and input the information for her to use.
"706 Mission Street, Apartment 7B." She had no idea just where that was but she could look it up. "Phone?" Kate held out her hand. She needed to input where she was so he could contact her.
"I'll find a hotel while you plan our first date." What she was thinking of doing was kissing him for this. He was saving her life and she needed to thank him. But she chose not to. They could kiss goodnight after their date.
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Kate walked into work and went to her desk first. She had an empty box so she could pack up every personal item she had at her desk which wasn't all that much. While she was packing Rachael came to her desk.
"You're sure you want to do this?" Kate was an excellent agent. One of, if not the best she had ever seen.
"Yes, I have to. I need to. I've made enough mistakes in my life I don't need to add another one. I let my mother's case rule my life for long enough. Rick was right, I'm still very deep in my rabbit hole. I need out, I want out." Kate was done boxing up what she needed in just a couple of minutes.
"You just need to sign these then. But I have a question. Do you even love him? You married Josh. I would hate for you to repeat yourself." Kate was a friend. One she planned to keep track of.
"Josh was a mistake from the beginning. I pushed Rick away because he got too close. I just need to allow him to get close again and this time not push back. Josh never really was anywhere near as close as Rick got."
Kate found a pen, signed her resignation papers, and dropped the pen. Just like that she was no longer an FBI agent. She took out her badge and weapon and placed them on her desk as well.
"Where are you staying while you decide if this is a good idea?" Rachael asked her.
"Rick lives in the Mission District and I couldn't find any extended stay hotels anywhere near there so I'm across the bridge in Oakland. I just need to buy a car." She was going to be draining her bank account fast and if she screwed this up somehow it was going to be a very painful lesson. Financially painful as well as emotionally.
"And your stuff at home?" Rachael queried.
"All I have are mostly clothes as sad as that sounds. The apartment came furnished. The stuff I bought like a better coffee maker can just stay. I don't even really have any food in the kitchen. …God, I'm in such sad shape." She was still eating take-out after all this time.
"Well, I wish the best for you, Kate. You're going to be missed around here. I've got one more thing for you to take with you." Rachael handed her an envelope.
"What's this?" Kate took it but didn't open it.
"Your letter of recommendation for the San Francisco police department," Rachael explained. "You mentioned something about going back to being a homicide detective."
"Thanks." She wasn't sure she needed it but it might help. Thanks for everything." Kate hugged her and realized she was actually going to miss her. Rachael was pretty much the only friend she still had.
"You know where I live and have my numbers. I expect an update on how things are going. You have a question and I'll be here. I may not have an answer but I'll still be here." She had given up what Kate was now chasing: A life outside of the FBI. She really hoped it worked out for her. One of them needed a life.
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Kate put her quarters in the machine and got herself a cart to carry her bags from the taxi into the airport and paid extra because she had way too many suitcases for a normal person.
Then she repeated it from the baggage claim out to the airport shuttle that took her to her extended stay hotel. It was at the hotel where she had to take her bags in trips from the check in desk to her room.
She didn't even bother to unpack before she was back out front and taking a taxi to a dealership. She needed a car. Any car would do so long as it wasn't too old and broken down. What she needed was a car that said San Francisco.
If she was going to make a change, she was going to change everything.
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Kate walked onto the lot after getting out of her taxi and began looking around. Naturally she gravitated toward the first sports car she saw, which happened to be a Corvette.
A salesman joined her. "Looking for a 'Vette today?"
"Yes. No. Definitely no." If she was going to change, she was changing and that was going to include her car. "I need a city vehicle. Something to get from San Francisco to Oakland and around." She realized now that she really should've thought this out better.
"So you want a car that has good gas mileage. How many people are we talking about here?" He needed information if he was going to narrow this down for her.
"Just me," Kate said firmly. "Well, two really." Rick needed somewhere to ride when she drove.
"So two seater that reminds you of a 'Vette." He walked off forcing Kate to follow. "How about a BMW Z car? Big engine but nice gas mileage. Enough trunk space for two. This one is a three year lease return so only one original owner."
It looked odd to her. Really long hood and a short, almost no rear end that only seated two people. Then she saw the sticker that had the price. "No, thanks."
"Okay, something more fashionable, maybe." He walked a few cars over. "How about a Porsche? This one is also a three year lease return. I have this in three different colors. I've got this dark blue with gray interior, red with a beige interior, and white with a black interior. The blue is an automatic while the other two are manual."
Kate found herself gravitating to the red one and opened the door to look inside. She had long legs so she needed to make sure she would fit in it. She saw that it was a five speed. She had fit in Rick's Ferrari and she fit in this one, too.
"Are we ready for a test drive?" She nodded. He went to get the keys and a plate while she found the hood release and the trunk release. The hood held this little box to put maybe one suitcase into while the trunk held the engine.
She was soon checking her mirrors and revving the motor while looking at all the switches. The salesman tried selling it. "2.7L H6 24V MPFI DOHC. Leather seats. Alloy wheels, 13,412 miles. 225 HP."
Kate looked and sure enough it had 13,412 miles. After a three year lease that told her whoever had it hadn't driven it much.
"The biggest change for this year model was the addition of the Variocam. It's a variable valve timing mechanism. The horsepower was increased, however, there was a 2% reduction in fuel consumption. Nineteen city, twenty-eight highway."
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It took her almost three hours to fill out all the paperwork and she told a white lie by giving them her salary as an FBI agent even if she had just resigned. She had the money to purchase it so she didn't think it mattered. Yes, she now had a car payment but she could afford it. She had to get car insurance before she could drive away so that increased the cost.
While she was doing paperwork they cleaned her car, filled it with fuel, and made it ready.
She was finally using a map to drive for her extended stay hotel. Once there she looked up where to get a GPS unit and drove there and got something to attache it to the windshield so she could get around and not use maps any longer.
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Rick during this time found himself being restless. The Kate Beckett he knew didn't do things like this. She didn't talk about herself. She didn't get herself involved with anyone. Okay, she'd gotten married but then he'd been married twice so that was no big deal.
Except it was a big deal. She had told him she was a one and done kind of girl. Yet she was divorced and Davidson had divorced her, not divorced him. Knowing her she had planned on toughing it out since she hated to admit defeat in anything.
So why was she quitting the FBI? To his way of thinking that was the ultimate job for her. Changing to being a homicide detective had to be a step down instead of a step up. The Kate Beckett he remembered wasn't interested in a step up but definitely not a step down.
Then there was someone at his door. A quick look told him who it was. "Alexis!" He opened the door and was happy to see her even if he wasn't expecting her.
"Hi, Dad." Alexis walked in and let him shut the door.
"Don't you have classes? I didn't move here for you to watch over me." Rick really didn't want to smother her. He was willing to allow her to grow up and be someone. He had learned his lesson.
"Not today and all my friends have plans but I chose to spend my day off with you. So what should we do? We could go boating. Parasailing, maybe, though it's a little cold for that. A ball game, perhaps?"
She stopped talking and stared at him. "What's happened?" He wasn't excited like he should be.
"Nothing," Rick answered quickly. "Let me shower and change and we can think of something." He hurried into his bedroom.
Alexis wasn't really buying it. Something was off, she just didn't know what. "Where's your computer?" She needed it to help her plan what to do today.
Alexis was searching and was finding a couple of things they could do that they hadn't done together yet. Then there was a knock at his door. Since her dad was in the shower she went to answer it. "Detective Beckett?" Alexis was shocked to see her. She was the very last person she ever expected to show up at her dad's door.
"Hello, Alexis." Kate was not expecting to see her. At least not now. She needed to get ready to meet Alexis. She wasn't ready for her.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were in New York City. You have no jurisdiction here." If she was here to mess with her dad she was mistaken.
"I'm not a homicide detective any longer. I haven't been for a while. I'm here for my date." Kate prayed Alexis didn't try and stop her. She really was the one person that could ruin everything.
"A date? With my dad? Since when?" Alexis was still blocking the door and not letting her in.
Kate decided on the truth since she really needed to get used to telling the truth as difficult as it was. "I ran across Rick by accident a couple of days ago and asked him for a date. He gets to choose where and I get to pay for it.
"You can come with us if you like. I don't know what Rick has planned but surely you can come too," Kate offered on the spur of the moment. "It might just be dinner, I don't know."
"A date with Dad." Alexis was still processing that information. "Why?" Alexis didn't trust her any farther than she could throw her.
Kate knew why but if she told Alexis she would likely try and stop her. "Because I wanted a date with Rick." One date could lead to the next, and the next, and the next.
Alexis finally noticed that Kate was calling her dad by his first name instead of his last like she always had. Did that mean something? She dismissed that thought.
"Dad agreed to date you today. Don't you live in New York City?" She knew from experience that long distance relationships didn't work out.
"I live here now. I have my car downstairs. It only seats two people though, sorry. Maybe Rick can drive us." Kate really did want Alexis to come with them now. Convincing Rick was going to be hard and she knew it. Convincing Alexis was likely going to be even harder. She needed to start somewhere.
"I don't think…" Alexis didn't want to go on a date with Kate and she didn't really want her dad anywhere near this woman. She was nothing but trouble.
Kate decided on one more truth. "I'm actually unemployed at the moment. I quit my job. I haven't even started looking for a new one yet. It's just a date."
"Alexis?" Rick walked out of his bedroom after a quick shower and putting on some very comfortable clothes since what they would likely end up doing would be very casual.
Alexis turned to look at him. But doing so exposed who was at the front door. "Kate?" He knew what she had said, but he wasn't really sure she meant it. Yet here she was.
"We have a date. Alexis can come, too. In fact I want her to come." Kate needed to prove to both of them. "My car only holds two, though." Meaning he was going to have to drive.
Rick saw each of them were dressed very casually. "You said yes to this?" Alexis asked her dad who nodded. Alexis turned back to look at Kate. She really didn't know just what to do. She was really tired of having Kate in their lives, but she couldn't tell her dad what to do.
Alexis caved in and would fight for her dad later if she needed to. "I'll go tell my friends that I'm available after all."
"No, please. You can come. I want you to come with us. Spend time with your dad. Where are we going?" Kate looked at her watch and saw it was going to either be a late lunch or a very early dinner.
Rick hadn't even tried to think of where to go for any date with Kate or his daughter.
"She can come, too, I guess. I was thinking of a chocolate factory tour," Alexis suggested. "It's here in the Mission district. We might be able to walk it." It was nice and public and Kate couldn't do something stupid like try and kiss her dad.
"I like chocolate," Kate said and tried to sound upbeat since it was Alexis's idea.
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Walking there had turned out to be no go. It was almost six miles away so they were forced to drive. "My car." Kate pointed to it since it was parked in the visitor parking area at the moment.
"Porsche Boxter." Rick was impressed. Even Alexis was impressed that she owned a Porsche, let alone a car at all. She hadn't owned one in New York City.
"It's used. Three years. It has less than 14 thousand miles on it," Kate smiled, pleased that she'd gotten a good deal. "I have a GPS if we need it."
Rick shook his head. "No need, I have one. I'm still getting used to getting around this city. So where are you staying?"
"Oakland for now, just across the bridge. I have a view of the water, if I look hard enough," Kate chuckled.
Rick and Alexis had never heard Kate talk like this before. She'd always been so deadly serious. Something was wrong. Alexis was even more curious and fearful.
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They got to watch chocolate being made. From seeing the size of the fruit the beans came from. To the drying, roasting, crushing into a powder, then being whipped into chunks that looked more like real shit falling to finally real chocolate.
"I'm not sure I'll ever look at chocolate the same way again," Alexis commented after seeing chocolate look like falling shit.
"Not me!" Rick didn't have a problem and when it came time for the taste testing he tested all of them. Dark Chocolate, Extra Dark Chocolate, Sea Salt Dark Chocolate, Orange flavored Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Chocolate with Macadamia Nuts, White Chocolate, Orange flavored Milk Chocolate. Apparently they had to be taste tested them in this order or it would ruin the taste of the others if you mixed them up.
Rick had a pile of chocolate at the checkout counter which left Alexis and Kate out in the buying chocolate section and other items like t-shirts area.
"Why are you here, Detective?" Alexis asked her. She had an ulterior motive for being here she just knew it.
"It's a date and I'm not buying all that chocolate." Kate nodded at Rick who was still in the checking out phase.
"No, why are you here? You made your choice long ago. You played with Dad's emotions then threw him out. He's finally moved past you and suddenly you show up again." There was a reason, she just didn't know what it was.
"I'm trying to change, isn't that enough?" Kate argued. "I may have made a few mistakes but who doesn't?"
"A leopard never changes its spots and you, Detective, have never admitted to making mistakes. You're here for a reason and if it has anything to do with Dad…" Alexis was a lot like her father. She wanted to think that everyone had a good side. It was just that Alexis had learned that Kate would never display her good side. It always remained hidden.
"I'm trying to change my spots into stripes. Make changes in my life. …While I still can." Kate added the latter very softly. So softly that Alexis almost didn't catch it, but she did.
"You'll just end up hurting Dad again. It's what you do. It's who you are. Spots, stripes, they're all the same. You've made yourself into who you are and that isn't going to change. Eventually you'll fall back into old habits." Alexis really didn't want Kate and her dad getting back together. She thought her dad deserved so much better.
Rick was heading back to them all smiles with a bag full of chocolate this and chocolate that. "You should go home, Detective before you do too much damage." Alexis walked away from Kate to look at a t-shirt.
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Next came dinner and Rick left his bag of chocolate behind as they bundled up since a cold front had managed to reach them.
After her talk with Alexis, Kate basically shut down and didn't say much. Mostly she just listened to what Rick and Alexis had been doing lately. What classes Alexis was taking and what she did with her friends.
"How's Jim?" Rick inquired as he tried to get Kate to talk.
"Dad's fine. He still has his work and he's still sober. Still lives in the city and won't leave."
"What did he say after you solved your mother's case?"
"You solved your mother's case?" Alexis didn't know that. Not that it really changed things much.
Rick gave Alexis a clue. "You remember the United States Senator who was disgraced and involved in the largest drug raid in US history."
"Bracken? …That was you?" Okay, she was impressed. She still didn't want her around her dad. They were a bad match.
"Actually it was a team but I did start it. I never did get him for killing my mother but I know he was behind it." Kate didn't want to think that she had unfinished business but maybe she did.
Alexis heard that Kate wasn't yet satisfied loud and clear. Until she solved who killed her mother and probably long after that, she was never going to change. This case would always come first and she would hurt her dad to accomplish just that.
"The biggest drug bust in history." Rick was actually a little proud of her. She had accomplished something big. "Drug money to make it to senator and drug money in an attempt to make it to the presidency." It all spelled disaster, if not for Kate.
Alexis gave her credit for that. But Kate still had a murder to solve and until she did, she was never going to change.
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Kate saw the very expensive-looking lobby again when they arrived back at Rick's place. Large white tiled floor in a herring bone pattern. Coffered ceiling, fireplace that looked wood burning but was probably gas. Gold tables, gold end tables, a light purple sofa, and white chairs with gold trim.
Entering Rick's place she got to look around this time. It was nothing like the loft. This place had white floors, white walls, all white kitchen. Even a white curved sofa with white curtains partially hiding floor to wall windows.
"Bathroom, please?" She needed to go. The ride back had gotten to her. Rick pointed and she hurried off.
She saw two huge walk-in closets, his bedroom that was a lot like the main area. Almost all white. The entire place was almost devoid of color. It didn't look like Rick to her. The loft looked like him.
She walked into the bathroom which was huge. There was an enormous floating counter with two sinks, a large free-standing soaking tub that looked amazing. It was the only thing so far that she really liked about his new place.
What was Rick doing here? Nothing here reminded her of him. It was like he was a different person or maybe he was hiding. What could he be hiding from?
Coming back out all she saw was Alexis. "Where did Rick go?" Kate asked her.
"Back downstairs to check the mail," Alexis told her and Kate watched her go to the refrigerator, got out a can of Coke, and popped it open.
"It's so white," Kate commented.
"Dad said he wanted something different. A place that didn't say anything but had a view. Something he could change into something else. He just hasn't gotten around to it yet. Depending on the interior decorator he hires this place will look nothing like this a year from now." Alexis knew her dad had plans. She just didn't know what those were or when exactly.
Kate tried to reach Alexis. "So how do you like Stanford? I'll bet it's changed since I was there."
"The college you abandoned after one semester because your mother was killed? The same murder you still haven't solved? You're guessing Bracken but you don't know. Eventually you're going to want to know." Alexis didn't know for sure and mostly what she knew was what her dad had told her.
"You really should go home, Detective. There's nothing for you here." Alexis walked to the door.
"Tell Dad I went back to my dorm room. I'll talk to him later. …Spots, Detective, spots." Alexis closed the door and left her behind. Alone in a totally white room.
Kate was left standing there, thinking. She was trapped in her rabbit hole and while she wanted out, she didn't see any light that would lead her way out. If she pulled Rick down into her rabbit hole and hoped he could get both of them out it would save her. But what if he couldn't? What if she did this to him too?
Kate spun around when she saw him enter and instantly reached a conclusion. The only one she could make.
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"Hi Rach." Kate greeted her when she answered her door.
Rachael saw a defeated Kate and this little red car behind her sitting next to her car. "Come on in." She opened the door wide and Kate walked into her ground floor apartment.
It was still early since it was about 3:00 pm but it looked like this called for it. Rachael opened a bottle of vodka and poured some for both of them. She didn't need to ask Kate what had happened. She could guess. "I'm sorry, Kate, really sorry."
"I made my choices. …I made my choices." Kate drank her drink in one swallow. "I don't suppose I can get my job back, can I?" She needed something to do. Something to make her life worth living. Even if this was what her life was and was never going to change.
"About that." Rachael had a secret. However, Kate collapsed onto her sofa, defeated. She had made one final huge mistake and ruined everything about her life.
"I slipped in different papers for you to sign. Those weren't resignation papers. They were furlough papers. You're still technically an FBI Special Agent. You just happen to be on an extended leave."
Kate looked at her in shock. "You…"
"Call it a safety net," Rachael told her. "If it had worked out you could sign the real papers and live that life."
Kate laughed and cried at the same time. She had lost her life with Rick but her only friend had saved her FBI life.
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They were both still drinking vodka. "So you left Rick because you didn't want to drag him down into your rabbit hole as you call it." Rachael tried to make it simple for her to understand and Kate nodded.
"You really do love him. Loved him enough to save him from you." Rachael thought that was the most selfless thing she'd ever seen anyone do. She also thought it was the most stupid thing Kate had ever done.
"I couldn't do that to him. He's a good man, a really good man. If I had met him before Mom had died, who knows, but I didn't. This is my life now and I still have a job, thanks to you. I've made enough mistakes. I didn't need to make another and have that one hanging over my head." Kate downed her glass and was done this time; she ended up crashing on Rachael's sofa for now.
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Kate was awake but wished she wasn't. Her head hurt like hell. Every beat of her heart pounded in her head. Then someone was pounding on the front door. She was still wearing her clothes from last night. She even saw a blanket over her.
"SHIT!" For one she was embarrassed. Rachael had out drank her and had put a blanket over her. Another was the pounding on the door was almost in rhythm with the pounding in her head.
"Can you get that!" Rachael yelled from her bathroom since she was at the toilet paying for last night in her own way as she worshiped the porcelain god.
Kate groaned loudly and stumbled her way to the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming." Maybe if whoever it was heard her they would stop…but they didn't.
Finally she got the damn door unlocked and opened it. "What!" She'd said it too loud which hurt her head even more and had her placing both hands on the sides of her head to try and hold it together in one piece.
She recognized who was at the door. Then watched him walk past her into the apartment. "Castle?"
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" Rick was furious with her. "To just up and arbitrarily decide what's best for me? I'm the one who gets to decide what's best for me. Not you and not Alexis. …Alexis!" Oh, he was beyond angry with her, too.
He had gotten the truth from her and had yelled at her for the very first time in his life. He'd given her a piece of his mind as strange as it sounded coming from his lips. He had told her to FUCKING GROW UP!
"It's my life so stop screwing with it. When you find the perfect boy for you, you'll know. But you're never going to know if you don't fight for him. So you don't like Kate. Well get over it because I do." In the end he had a crying Alexis sitting next to him in his arms and she kept apologizing for her actions.
Rick needed to move fast so he made a few calls and guessed that Kate would retreat to her ex-boss at the FBI and had gotten her address after pulling a few more strings.
He had the benefit of knowing that Kate had kept her car and was driving back to DC. Planes, even if he was behind her, were a lot faster than a car so he could catch her.
"What the hell were you thinking!?" Rick was still furious with her.
"What's going on?" Rachael could hear a man yelling and had left her toilet even if she wasn't sure she was done leaving offerings to the porcelain god.
"GET LOST!" Rick yelled at her. "This is between me and Kate."
"Right." Rachael recognized Richard Castle when she saw him and retreated to her toilet to leave more offerings.
"Castle?" Kate's mind was still really slow and she was having trouble catching up.
"Have you been drinking? I hope that headache hurts like hell. It's not half of the hurt I'm feeling. Where's the coffee maker?" He was going to make her coffee and make it extra strong. Like really, really strong.
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Rick watched Rachael and Kate drinking coffee as they sat at her table. He was sipping his that he had made normal while theirs was double strength.
"So you're Rachael. I heard good things about you. I also heard what you did for Kate. Getting her to sign furlough papers was a neat trick." Rick was impressed. "I'm going to have to remember that for my next book."
Rachael was starting to catch up. "You know my boss."
"When are you two going to realize that I know a lot of people. Getting your address took a little more work but I finally got it. I was betting Kate would retreat to you. I confirmed it when I found that little firecracker of a car out front."
Kate grinned when he'd called her little red Porsche a firecracker.
"And you." Rick pointed at Kate. "I'm still angry with you. You had me yelling at Alexis which was a first for me. What she said to you made infuriated me. Then you went and listened and jumped to another conclusion which I suppose is nothing new for us." Rick was still angry with her and his daughter but he was calming down.
He had been building it up the entire flight with a two hour layover in Chicago.
She needed to explain. "Castle…."
"No talking, just drinking. …Drink!" Rick pointed at her cup of coffee and watched her go back to drinking.
"I hate being the grownup here since being a kid is a lot more fun, but just why did you think you could make decisions for me?" Rick demanded. "Yes, you can talk now."
"Alexis doesn't like me and she was right. I'm still really deep in my rabbit hole over my mother's case. She was right that I still haven't solved it. I didn't want to drag you down into my hole and have you hate me later for it."
Rachael spoke up, disregarding the look Kate gave her. "She loves you."
"Does she now?" Rick looked from Rachael to Kate. Rick waited for Kate to say something.
Rachael gave Kate a look that said, "Tell him, stupid. It's not too late for you."
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Kate was crying and blinking to try and get it to stop as she listened to Mayor Weldon ask her if she would take this man to be her husband. To be his wife and to love and cherish him for as long as she lived.
Yes, she'd done this before, but this time was different. This time her heart was into it and she meant it. "I do."
"By the laws of New York and the power invested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife," Bob said. "I think you're supposed to kiss now," he whispered.
That had Kate laughing as she reached up to slip her arms around his neck and kiss him like she'd kissed him several times before this date.
The room erupted in applause and both of them grinned as they kissed.
"I love you, Rick." She had never known she could feel like this and she had Rick to thank for it.
"I'll remind you of that later," Rick promised which had her grinning even wider.
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Alexis found Kate standing next to Jim who excused himself. "Kate, do you have a minute?
"Yes, Alexis." Kate had heard her apologize, that she was sorry over and over again, and had forgiven her since Alexis had been right.
"I'm happy that what I said and did didn't ruin it for you and Dad." Alexis still felt bad about it all.
"You did what you thought was right. You love your dad and wanted to protect him. I get it. …I know I'm still in my rabbit hole but thanks to Rick and you, I can see light at the end of the tunnel for the first time in a really long time."
"So we're good?" Alexis asked her hesitantly since Kate deserved to still be angry with her.
"Yes, we're good." Kate hugged her and felt Alexis hugging her back.
Kate decided it was time to talk about other things. "So how are your classes going?"
"Pretty good. I've even figured out what my master is." Alexis was happy about that.
"Is there someone special in your life?" Kate looked at the young man Alexis had invited to her wedding.
"Maybe." She was still working on that. "Have you decided on a place to live yet?" Alexis knew it wasn't San Francisco and it wasn't New York City and since Kate still worked for the FBI and was stationed in DC, it was somewhere in that city or area.
"We've narrowed it down to two. Rick wants to spend too much and I just want a nice place to live. He'll probably win but we'll see. At least it won't be all white like San Francisco." Rick's was this massive mess of a fixer upper that needed to be razed first then rebuilt. Hers was smaller and far more simple but had character.
"So when do I get a little brother or sister?" Alexis teased her since they were good now and she was sure of it.
Kate's eyebrows climbed toward her hairline. "We only just got married. Give me a chance first."
"You're not getting any younger, Kate, and neither is Dad." Alexis smiled at her and walked away knowing she'd gotten in the last word.
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They'd been living in this little apartment for the last nine months and the lease was almost up. Since Kate had announced that she was driving, they were pulling up in her little red firecracker at what was going to be their new home once it was finally done which was going to be soon.
Kate got out followed by Rick who struggled to climb out of her little car and soon they were holding each other to look it over.
"Almost, babe." They almost had a real home and she almost had a real life. Not trapped in the life she had forced herself into thanks to her mother's case.
"You're sure about this? We could have bought new. There was that townhouse that was waterfront," Rick reminded her even if it was too late now. He had even given in to Kate's budget conscious thinking that it would have even cost less than this house.
"This house is us, Rick. We picked every finish in it. It looks just like we wanted it to look instead of someone else's look."
Rick recalled what had drawn them to this place. Located in Colonial Village on quiet tree-lined East Beach Drive, this home overlooks Rock Creek Park and is walkable to Silver Spring metro. Features include an indoor pool, 2 fireplaces, a 2 car garage, and a lot of opportunity for you to make it your own.
"In it and outside it," Rick noted since this house now looked nothing like what it used to. It was now almost the most expensive home in the area.
It was filled with natural wood inside and out. They had settled on a mix of Contemporary and Mountain. Kate had hated his white place in San Francisco and they had agreed on wood everywhere.
Four bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms, 4,500 square feet of living space not including the indoor pool. It now had all new plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. It was actually possible for them to add a third floor. Plus the contractor had confirmed that the structure was capable of it. It was zoned for it but they had rejected that idea.
Rick turned and asked her, "When is Lanie coming out for a visit again?"
Kate was ready to cry again and hugged him tighter. He had found Lanie and had actually flown out to meet her and explain everything. Lanie had been very angry at first and maybe she still was. Kate was going to have to just deal with that. However, she had understood given what she knew about her best friend.
"A week after we move in," Kate replied. She knew he'd even found Esposito and Ryan. Espo had told him to get lost while Ryan had remained neutral and would think about it.
Thanks to Rick she had a life to live and want to live. She had her best friend back and while she had lost at least one friend she had gained a husband. And she'd also gained something else.
"One of those bedrooms is going to need to be a nursery."
"Perhaps some day." Rick wasn't against it since he loved kids.
Kate bit her lip then smiled nervously. "How about in seven months?" Rick's jaw dropped and he squealed like a little girl that she had heard years ago. He squeezed Kate and proceeded to kiss her like never before.
She was saved. She knew she didn't deserve it but Rick just wouldn't say no. She still had to solve who had her mother killed, but at least it no longer ruled her life.
"TWINS!" Rick announced to her which had her rolling her eyes. She definitely didn't want twins and knew she was going to be relying heavily on Rick to raise any children they had. She knew nothing about children. But she did know she loved her husband more than she had the words to tell him.