Here be Dragons

by djinni14

This is another variation of my "Bear and I" story. Yes this time there will be Dragons. It is presented in two parts so be ready for a change about half way through. - NOW COMPLETE

37. Chapter 37

Here be Dragons!

Chapter 37

Kate hadn't told anyone what she was doing. Castle wasn't even home and she didn't call him when she got the body. Lanie was sorry. Ryan was determined to help her.

The shooter had come from LA and had flown back there just a few hours later. So now here she was in the aft end of a plane headed for LA to find out who had killed him. She didn't know how, but she was going to get him.

She was trapped between an older Asian man to her right and a middle-aged portly black man on her left. "Hi." She was going to have these two for hours so she needed to be friendly but not too friendly. There was even a baby back here somewhere that didn't want to be here.

A flight attendant stopped just ahead of her seat. "Excuse me, Detective Beckett?"

"Yes?" Kate was instantly worried that Roy had caught on and was having her removed from the plane.

"You've been upgraded to first class," the young man told her.

"Excuse me. Sorry." Kate climbed over the big black guy's legs to get out.

"Seat 3C," she was told and was escorted forward.

"Thank you." Kate looked for her new seat. She'd never gotten to fly in first class so this was new.

Kate found her seat and saw Castle in the seat next to hers. "Champagne?" Rick asked her, raising his glass.

"Castle." She was both angry and happy to see him. "You cannot be a part of what I'm going to be doing out there." She might get fired for this or at least be disciplined.

"It's all right, Kate," Rick said, trying to calm her. "I don't work for the NYPD, remember? Besides, I swore to protect you. Anyway I get to go to the studio and talk to them about the Nikki Heat movie they're talking about."

"We need to fly under the radar here, Castle. I have no jurisdiction and don't even know where I'm going." Kate's voice was terse.

"We can do that," Rick agreed easily. "Champagne?"

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"This is your idea of under the radar?" Kate was in the passenger sear of a Ferrari convertible with the top down, in the sunshine.

Rick defended his choice of car. "This is LA, Kate. This beauty fits right in."

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"We're so happy to have you back, Mr. Castle. I have taken the liberty of setting up the room just the way you like it." The hotel manager escorted them to their room.

"Thank you, Maurice. You're as thoughtful as ever." Rick tipped him.

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"This is Royce's place?" It was gated and worth millions.

"This is the address listed on his drivers license." It was what Kate had to work with.

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Leaving Gene Simmons, the singer from KISS, they headed for Victoria using a head shot and got an address from her agent. Only she was missing but had photos that didn't make sense. Until the LA police showed up.

"Breaking into houses is your idea of a vacation, Beckett?" Roy was on the detective's cell phone.

"Sir, I can explain." Kate tried to rescue this trip.

"No, you cannot. What you can do is get your ass on the next plane out," Roy seethed.

"Is it okay if we attend our reservation at the spa first?" Rick tried.

"This is all a big joke to you, isn't it, Castle. Maybe you'll find it funny while you follow her around as a mall cop. Both of you Come. Home. NOW!" He hung up on them.

"Will Montgomery really fire you?" Rick inquired as they walked to the Ferrari.

"Yes." Kate was pretty sure he might do just that.

"So we're going back now?" Rick questioned her.

"Hell, no." Instead she called Ryan.

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It was late. They were back in their hotel and hadn't left town.

Rick wove a story. "Picture this. Violet, desperate to make a name for herself. This is Hollywood. She meets our killer mastermind at a club. He needs a pretty girl to help him get the voice code to his safe to steal those bullets. He's a producer and tells her he can get her started on her career. If she helps him play a practical joke on his friend."

"She participates and finds out it is a fake. She can't call the cops, but she does find Royce. Royce tries to change the game and takes both of them to New York. His home turf. Classic, classic Royce." Kate shook her head.

"It's getting late, Castle. Which bedroom do we use, and why are there two?" Kate asked him.

"You might have been mad at me," Rick told her.

"I'll never be that mad at you, Castle. Come on, babe. We have a baby to make if we haven't already." Kate pulled him up, just picked a room, and guided him into it.

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"Wow, somebody's up early." Rick was barely awake and had bed head hair.

"You packed a murder board?" Rick walked up to it.

"Concierge. I called down and Maurice is really good." Kate now had a reason to like him.

A knock on their door had Kate hiding her board while Rick went to the door. Kate picked up her drink that she'd also ordered and sat down.

"Detective Seager." Rick remembered him at Victoria's house.

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"Santa Monica Pier, we need to get moving before those bullets disappear and we never find them." This time Detective Seager was in on this.

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Kate and Rick were now flying home happy. They had Royce's killer and New York City would get him after LA convicted him of robbery. He was going to spend the rest of his life in prison.

"You think you're fired?" Rick queried.

"I hope not. After all I did find a killer," Kate stated.

"How's your movie with Nikki Heat going?" Kate asked. She still didn't like the name.

"Dead in the water. Nikki Heat's in drug rehab," Rick grimaced.

Kate made a face. "Seriously? I'm not taking drugs just to match her, Castle."

"Good." Rick leaned across to kiss her.

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Jim opened the door to his apartment. "Hi, Dad."

"Katie, come in." He locked the door behind her. "How have you been? How's Castle?"

"That's why I'm here, Dad," Kate said. Jim deflated. It would be just like his daughter to have dumped him even if he didn't want to hear it.

Kate was all smiles. "Castle's perfect, actually. Rick proposed and I said yes. You think you're up to walking me down the aisle and giving me away to him?"

"That's great!" Jim hugged her. "When and where?" He wanted information.

Her eyes sparkling, she said, "November 1st of this year at midnight in the New York Public Library."

"The library? They do weddings?" He didn't know they did any such thing.

"It was a surprise to me, too. We have just over a month to get everything ready. The invitations should go out in about a week. We've made a list and the space can handle 450 people and we're sending out that many invitations. It's going to be close to get everything ready. We're getting the marriage license tomorrow."

"Rings, dress, food, and everything else?" Jim questioned her.

Kate held out her hand so he could see her ring. "No dress yet. That's been a little harder to find than I thought."

Jim loved the ring. "Hold that thought." He retreated to his bedroom and came back carrying a plastic dress bag.

He was a little teary-eyed. "This is your mother's wedding dress. No woman gets rid of her wedding dress. I'm sure she would love it if you wore it then kept it as yours. You may need to have it altered a little. You're taller than she was."

Kate took it and studied the bag; she didn't know what to say. Wearing her mother's wedding dress had never even occurred to her. "Thank you Daddy!" Kate felt tears starting.

Jim repeated the old rhyme. "Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue." Then he retreated again.

Moments later he was back. Jim put a small case in Kate's hand. "Something old. It used to be your grandmother's. I'll be ready when you are. Is there going to be a rehearsal or do you not have time for that?"

"We're going to be lucky if we get married at all. There is just so much to do. I've got Castle, Alexis, and Martha helping me so maybe. …Dad, there is one thing." Kate was still worried. "Martha has made me promise that I would ask you over for dinner one night."

"I'd love to. Tell me when and where and I'll make sure I'm available," Jim promised.

"Three days from now at the loft. Say 7:00 pm. We'll be cooking," Kate said.

"I'll be there. So are there going to be grandchildren?" Jim tried to hide his smile.

"DAD!" They weren't even married yet. "Well, technically as soon as we're married I'm adopting Alexis so I guess you could call her your granddaughter."

"Teenage granddaughter. That'll do for a start. Your mother would be so happy and proud of you. I can hear her now…" Kate beat him to it.

"I told you so," Kate told him and listened to him laugh.

"I should get back. I need to find someone to alter this and keep planning. Thanks, Dad." Kate stepped closer and leaned in to kiss his cheek. "I still wish Mom was going to be there."

"Don't discount it, Katie. Your mother was just as stubborn as you are," Jim reminded her.

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Kate was standing there while allowing someone Martha had found to make adjustments to her mother's wedding dress so that it fit her better. Martha was standing watching it all and smiling. "What, Martha?"

"Your mother had great taste in dresses. You're going to make a beautiful bride. I can't begin to thank you for making my son so happy. You two are perfect for each other." Martha could feel tears welling up. Seeing Kate in her dress meant that day was getting closer.

"I didn't do anything. I'm just happy I found him." That alone meant everything to Kate even if before that time she didn't know she was looking for anyone like him.

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Kate and Martha were back in the loft after leaving the wedding dress behind. One week, they'd both been told.

An alert had Kate pulling out her phone and watching a man dressed as a FedEx driver stepping off the elevator carrying a box. She saw him walk to the door, put the box on the floor and press the door bell, then leave.

"We have a delivery," Kate announced and went to the door to find out what it was.

Today was her first of two days off and for now it was just her and Martha in the loft.

Kate put the box on the coffee table and went in search of something to cut the tape with to find out what was inside.

"INVITATIONS!" They were packed into individual boxes that each held 50 cards. "Martha, we need the registry cards." Kate picked it up and moved it all to the dining room table since it was bigger.

"They're lovely." Martha picked one up, looked at it, and read what it said.

The card was jet black while the writing was done in silver. At the bottom was a picture of the New York City skyline at night with all the building lights with their iconic bridge front and center and the city behind it. There were even the lights shining up into the night sky that represented the Twin Towers that were gone now.

Together with their Families (Cursive writing)

Katherine (Very large print)

Houghton Beckett

And (Cursive writing with loop above the d and silver lines on either end)

Richard (Very large print)

Edgar Castle

Request the pleasure of your company (Cursive writing)

The 1st of November

Midnight

To attend their wedding of love (Cursive writing)

New York Public Library

476 5th Ave, New York, NY 10018

Wedding and Reception (Cursive writing)

"We need those boxes of envelopes." Kate was back up and looking for 5 boxes of 100 envelopes each.

Kate had a computer with names and addresses and Martha had hers. Each wrote a name and address by hand, stuffed the envelope with an invitation, registry card, ripped off the paper to expose the glue and sealed it. Followed by adding a stamp and dropping it into the done box.

Kate was sitting back and flexing her hand since it hurt. "I don't know how Castle does it. My hand is killing me. Paperwork at work is nothing like this."

"Wine? I need a break." Martha was slower than Kate and her hand hurt as well.

"Yes, please. When does Alexis get home from school?" Maybe she could talk Alexis into finishing for them.

"Three hours and just where is Richard?" Martha queried since this was his wedding, too.

"I'd text him to ask but my hand hurts too much." Kate picked up her wine glass with her left hand and started to drink when her phone beeped at her. Opening it showed Castle getting off the elevator carrying a box along with two other men each carrying a box.

Kate let Castle open his own door and watched him drop his box and the other two did the same then left. Kate and Martha sat there drinking while watching the three of them come and go as the pile of boxes just kept getting bigger and taller until finally Castle thanked both of them and tipped them with a hundred dollar bill each.

"What's that, Castle?" Kate questioned him as he walked over, kissed her and sat down.

"Richard Castle's Storm Falls books, all 450 of them, compliments of Black Pawn with a lot of help from Henry."

"Well, I'm not signing them," Kate informed him.

"Me, neither," Martha added.

Kate sees the look on his face and points with her hurting hand at the dining room table. "The invitations came." That had Rick getting up to look at one. It certainly said New York City to him.

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Kate wasn't done yet and Rick hadn't even started. All three of them were resting in the living room when Kate's phone sounded an alert. "It's Alexis, finally." It was her turn to write addresses.

They watched her walk in and after closing and locking the door she turned and saw a huge mess on the dining room table along with a wall of boxes.

Alexis went over to the dining room table. "The invitations!" She was all smiles as she read it and looked it over. It was only black on one side and had who made them on the back. She saw computers, pens, boxes of envelopes, stamps, and a box partially full of finished ones.

"I'M SPENDING THE NIGHT AT PAIGE'S!" Alexis yelled to anyone who might hear her.

"Oh no, you're not," Kate said from the living room and saw her turn and grin at her.

"Tradition says the bride sends out all the invitations," Alexis pointed out.

"We're starting a new tradition. Martha and I have done ours, those are yours," Kate said with a grin.

"Fine, but I'm not signing all those books. I didn't write them." Alexis wasn't touching those and walked over to sit next to her dad and smiled at him. She got hugged by him anyway.

"Who has the list?" Kate asked. Alexis got up and took one of the computers off the dining room table.

Alexis went down the list and saw that they were actually getting somewhere. "We still need the cards for thank you's for the gifts. What about rings for both of you?" Alexis inquired and heard Kate moan loudly.

"I'll go tomorrow if we don't get a case. I need your ring size, babe," Kate said.

"Guest book for the guests to sign?" Alexis queried.

"Books are Castle's expertise." Kate delegated that book to Rick.

"Looks like I'm going shopping tomorrow, too," Rick stated.

"Honeymoon?" Alexis questioned and looked at her dad expectantly.

"Still working on that," Rick answered. "Thanks to all my book signing events I've been to a lot of places. Need to find one that both of us haven't been to yet."

"We still need a date for that so I can ask for the time off," Kate added.

"Wedding programs?" Alexis asked and heard Kate moan. "We still have about a month. Long enough to pick one and get them printed." Alexis got up. "Move over, Dad." She wanted to sit between the two of them for this. "What theme do you want this time? Or just make it simple?" Alexis questioned.

"Simple, we're on a deadline. We don't have time to be told they can't do it in our time frame," Kate told her.

Welcome to the

Wedding (Large cursive writing)

Of

KATHERINE BECKETT

And

RICHARD CASTLE

Prelude

Processional

"To Know Love" (Cursive writing)

Reading

"I rely on you" (Cursive writing)

EXCHANGE OF VOWS

EXCHANGE OF RINGS

Solo

"Real Love" (Cursive writing)

By the Beatles

INTRODUCTION OF THE COUPLE

Throw Flower Petals (Cursive writing)

"They're only $1.39 each plus tax. Raised foil in gold is another $35 total. Free 2 day shipping! I need your card again, Dad."

"Good thing I'm rich. Just not for much longer," Rick muttered as he dug out his wallet to get to his card.

"We need flower petals," Kate said. The library had prohibited the throwing of rice because it was a slipping hazard and difficult to clean up.

"Lots of petals for 450 people," Rick added.

Alexis went back to her list. "Something old, new, borrowed, and blue."

"Dad gave me something old," Kate said.

"I have something blue," Martha offered even if she hadn't shown them to Kate yet.

"Just leaves new and borrowed," Alexis stated. Then her stomach rumbled and she blushed. "Dinner?"

That had all of them looking at the mess that was their dining room. "There's an Indian place just a couple of blocks down," Kate suggested.

"Works for me," Alexis said. "Dad's buying!" Alexis slapped his leg and stood up to put her computer back on the dining room table. Kate and Martha stifled a laugh at the look Rick gave her as she walked away.

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"Hey, where's Beckett?" Rick arrived with coffee.

"At her weekly pilgrimage to visit Lockwood," Espo replied.

"Yeah, to stare into the eyes of a Dragon in prison." He didn't like it but he didn't have a badge and couldn't go with her to protect her.