As Kate filled out the NYPD Incident Report Form #3205 on her computer, she realized that she'd need Castle to help with his part of filling out the report so she filled in what she could, saved the report, and minimized the window for tomorrow so he could add his part. She pulled out the DHS forms from her bottom drawer and sorted through the 5 different forms she needed to fill out. The government had so much paperwork to fill out, and it amazed her that they still had to fill these forms out by hand and not on a computer. But she started, leaving out what Fallon needed to fill out, due to him being in charge.

She replayed in her head the conversation that they had on the bullpen floor with Rick before Josh arrived, and it was bothering her. Rick was off and she knew why. Her current boyfriend had just shown up out of the blue and asked her what her dinner plans were for tonight. He never came to the precinct without calling first.

She'd wanted to tell Rick to stay so they could talk after she ditched Josh, but he was gone before she could even say a word. What she really couldn't believe was that Rick said, 'good night'. He never said 'good night'. It was always a quick 'see ya later' or his signature parting remark, 'until tomorrow". Now she's worried about him. Why did he say that? Was he still going to shadow her? Was he gone – for good?

Damn, now she could only think about him and what Josh did to compound the situation. She needed to find Rick and talk to him.

Xx

"And here I was thinking that he'd suddenly become blind," Rick thought to himself as he stopped walking and turned towards Josh.

"Dr. Davidson," Rick replied to the surgeon.

"Oh come on, Rick, there's no need to be so formal, is there?" Josh replied.

Rick, who had already too much to drink, leered at Josh accusingly, wondering what he was up to. It wasn't until Josh put his arm around his shoulder and moved towards the booth that Rick got suspicious of the doctor's intentions.

'Come on, let's have a seat here at this booth, Castle."

If Rick knew one thing, it was when he was about to be made a fool of. And now was one of those times. He couldn't figure out what Josh wanted with him, so he waited him out as they sat down in the booth.

"So Rick, what are you drinking there? Looks like it's kind of expensive just looking at the bottle - mind sharing some?"

God, all Rick wanted was to have a drink in peace. And now he was sharing his bottle with the competition. Rick hated this man with a passion because Josh had the one thing he can't have - Kate.

"Actually no, Josh, this bottle cost me $2,000. I usually share my toys with others, but not today. I'm sure you can get the waitress attention to get you something else to drink. But just let me ask you one question. Why are you here? I came here to drown my sorrows and you show up. What's up with that?"

"First of all, Rick, I didn't even know you were here. I just wandered in here because my girlfriend told me that I should take a break from bothering her at work."

"Gee, now that sounds like good advice," Rick said under his breath.

"Listen, if I wanted company I would have asked you to come along. But since I'm here by myself why don't you leave?"

"Oh no, Rick. I think we should have a man to man talk. Because I think you have underlying motives towards my girlfriend."

"Ha! Your dreaming Josh. I will never make a play for another man's woman."

"So I guess that's it. Conversation's over huh?"

"Why are you being such a prick, Josh?"

"Rick, something is going on between the two of you. I know that you're…

"There's nothing going on between me and Beckett," Rick says cutting off Josh.

"Man you sure took the defensive a little too quickly there Rick. Are you sure there's no truth to what I just said?"

"Go fuck yourself!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I really think that's the alcohol talking. So have another shot, Rick, then we'll talk some more."

He doesn't know why, but he pours poured himself another shot and downed it in one swallow. He gave Josh a hostile look and Josh backed off, but only a little.

"Listen, Rick, I hear that you and Kate have been spending a lot of time together. And it has nothing to do with you following her for research for your books."

"I don't know where you're getting your information from, but you're wrong."

"Oh, so now I'm wrong, huh? You know you might want to take that back because I saw you two weeks ago leaving my girlfriend's apartment. Now, unless there was a crime committed in her apartment, you had no reason to be there." Josh said with a bit of a sneer.

Josh could be so arrogant. There was no way in hell Rick was going to tell him why he'd been in Kate's apartment two weeks ago. That was the night that he had set up the fundraiser for her mother's scholarship fund. And they talked about it for at least 3 hours before it got too late and he left. But now he wondered - was Josh watching what he was doing with Kate? That would be creepy. He shouldn't have to defend his actions for something that was going to benefit law students and Kate.

"Josh, not that it's any of your business, but I was going over some financial ideas with Kate that night. There was nothing going on between us then or now."

Rick poured and downed another shot before Josh answered.

"Why don't I believe you, Rick? Listen I'm going to tell you this once, and once only. Kate loves me, not you! She doesn't have time for a millionaire playboy who would probably just exploit her all over Page Six of the Ledger when he finally beds her. So why are you still following her around after almost four years? Everybody knows you should have more than enough information to write at least another fifty books. Not that I'm possessive over anyone, but I think that your time is quickly coming to an end at the 12th precinct."

Rick sat back in the booth and actually thought about what Josh had just said. Somewhere deep inside it pissed him off that Josh thought he would drag Kate's good name through the mud for a quick romp in the sack. Rick was never a physical person, finding it rather senseless to beat the shit out of anyone because it solved nothing. What he preferred was to talk out what was going on between the two parties to find a civil resolution.

That wasn't how he was feeling now. Without realizing it, his fist moved forward on its own accord and connected with Josh's nose. The damage was instantaneous. Josh's hands went immediately to cover his nose as Rick withdrew his fist back to his side. Blood spurted down the front of Josh's shirt.

"You son of a bitch! You just broke my fucking nose!" Josh said in a muffled voice.

"Don't you ever say that about Kate!" Rick growled in turn. "She's not some whore!"

Before he realized it Rick was being lifted off the bench and pushed towards the back exit which led to the alley. Josh was very strong for a doctor.

"Finally. Castle. we're going to settle this like men. I'm going to beat the ever-living crap out of you! No one punches me and gets away with it. I'm glad you're drunk because this should be pretty easy." Josh crowed as he dragged Rick towards the back door of the bar and into the darkness and fetid stench of the alley.

The bartender had been watching the whole exchange between the two men since the second man arrived and knew something like this was going to happen. So when the second man was punched in the nose he was on the phone with 911 straight away. He wasn't going to get involved in a fight between two meatheads who wanted to kill each other. With his civic duty now done, he moved down the bar to serve his next customer.

By the time Rick reached the back door to the bar, Josh had made a determined effort to shove him against the door itself. He had the presence of mind to use his hands to shield his head from hitting the door, but Josh kept him moving forward towards the door. It was slightly open when he hit it after being shoved into it by Josh. He lost his balance and ended up sprawled on the alley cobblestones.

"Get up. Castle, we'll settle this once and for all! See who's really a man here."

Rick knew that he was way too inebriated to put up any kind of fight and come out as the victor with Josh. So he did what he did best: he hid his strength and used what Kate had taught him in the gym at the 12th.

Josh wasted no time trying to get even for the punch to his nose. He goaded Rick into swinging at him but Rick never took the bait.

"What's the matter, Castle? All talk and no action? Funny, it seems to me like you turned into a pussy! "

Something in Rick took over. He didn't know whether it was the Scotch or just pure rage.

He lunged to his feet and charged towards Josh. He did what Kate taught him, putting his head down and ramming straight into Josh's midsection. It would have worked, had Josh not anticipated the move. But Rick didn't come away empty-handed. He was able to knock Josh backward into the wall of the bar. As Rick recovered his balance, he spun around and was instantly met with Josh's fist to the side of his head. He had seen stars before from other bar fights he'd been in, but this was on a different level. Josh's hands were like sledgehammers. That seemed odd to Rick since Josh was a thoracic heart surgeon. He always thought they protected their hands from any kind of damage. That told Rick that Josh was really pissed off to risk injuring his hands.

Josh knew that he could bury Castle anytime he wanted. He just wanted to play with him for a little bit longer before he did him in. He clasped both his hands together and raised them above his head to come down hard on Castle's back, instantly knocking him to the ground. All he hears is Rick groaning.

"Not so tough now, are you, Castle?" Josh taunted.

"You know what, Josh? You deserve what I'm going to do now. You should never let your guard down."

Finding energy he never knew he had, Rick swung one leg out and clipped Josh's calf, sending him to the cobblestone alley. When Rick got up, he could see Josh was dazed. Even so, he was able to get up and land another shot to Rick's midsection, sending him back into the wall of the bar. Even in his drunken stupor, Rick could tell that Josh had no training as a street fighter. He was hitting with his thumb curled under his fingers. Rick had been taught never to do that because it would end up breaking your thumb if you hit your target hard enough. Rick pushed off the wall and landed another punch to Josh's right eye socket, knocking him backwards.

Before he knew it, Josh landed his ass on the cobblestone alley. He looked up and saw Castle's fist heading straight for his face. All he could do was duck slightly to possibly lessen the hit, but he didn't anticipate Castle adjusting his swing to hit him directly in the jaw. Josh closed his eyes in anticipation of the hit, and when it connected he felt a jolt of pain as two front teeth snapped off and flew out of his mouth. He staggered and tumbled to the ground.

"Had enough, Josh?" Rick asked, shaking off the pain in his right hand.

"You son of a bitch! You knocked out two of my teeth!" said Josh as he spat a clot of bright scarlet blood onto the pavement at Rick's feet. Blood dripped out of his mouth and onto his clothes.

"Just remember who started this," Rick warned as he turned to leave Josh on the ground, bleeding.

"THIS ISN'T OVER, CASTLE!"

"Yeah, it is," Rick muttered as he stumbled through the alley and back onto Crosby Street to hail a cab to head home.

"CASTLE, GET BACK HERE!" Josh yelled as he tried to get up but failed and collapsed into a groaning heap again.

Rick was lucky enough to find a cab and he was home in less than ten minutes. He had a little trouble with getting the key into the lock but after three tries he finally opened the door. The loft was silent. Who knew where his mother was, but he thought Alexis was going to be home studying. Hmm, that's weird, he thought. He only wanted to sleep and decided to clean up in the morning. There was nothing important that an extra 15 minutes of sleep can't fix when he gets up later. The only thing he removes is his sports jacket and hangs it on the bedpost. He falls head first onto the bed and is out within seconds.

Xx

By the time Kate looked at her watch, it was over five hours later. All her information for the government forms was filled out to the best of her ability. She still needed to talk to Fallon for his input before he left for Washington. She picked up her desk phone and called Josh's cell but got a generic voicemail greeting telling her to leave a message, so she ends the call. So, she turns off the lamp on her desk, shuts down or computer, grabbed her jacket, keys, and purse, and headed over to Josh's place.

By the time she got there, she was not in the best of moods because he didn't answer his door. She could have sworn that they were meeting up together later. But she was two hours late over the three that she promised him that she'd be there. Maybe he went to get something to eat. She turned around and headed back to her apartment, knowing that it was almost 11:15 PM and she had to be back to work at 7:30 in the morning. The ride home was uneventful and she was in bed by midnight.

A/N: I am so sorry to not give credit where credit is due in the first chapter. Lord of Kavaka is the genius behind the cover art for this story. And for that, I am forever in his debt.

A/N 2: This is our entry for Castle Ficathon Winter 2018!