A dozen guys, huh?
To Beckett, it felt like an army. No, scratch that-an army was organized, controlled.
This? this was a mob scene.

But they weren't trying to kill her as much as they seemed to be trying to blind her. Or cause some sort of seizure. Flash bulbs were going off everywhere she moved, and if they were looking for her to answer any of their questions, it would have been helpful if they didn't all talk at the same time. "Kate! How long have you two been dating?" "Kate! Were you two dating when Rick started shadowing you?" "Kate! Is Castle as good in the sack as his characters are in the books?"

The only thing saving her sanity right now was that she was under strict orders to *not* pay attention to any of the paparazzi that were practically climbing over each other in a desperate effort to *attract* that attention. Paula acted like the machete-wielding scout leading them through the dangerous jungles of Africa. Only this urban jungle was populated not by lions and tigers, but by photographers and reporters.

Paula, though, handled her prey with the finesse of a master hunter. "Boys, boys!" she called out, her distinctive loud voice cutting right through the cacophony of endless questions. "You know how much I hate to disappoint you..." The reporters responded with a chorus of groans and catcalls, which did not phase Paula in the least. "*But*, my clients have an exclusive deal with Oprah..." The groans increased in volume as Paula finished her announcement, "so take all the pictures you can get, but we're not answering any questions."

Shoulders sagged in an almost visible wave as the word got around that they had been once again trumped by the Queen of All Media. A few photographers took walking shots, hoping to have their patience pay off...even if the chance for a larger payoff was all but gone. To Paula's credit, by the time Castle, Beckett and their entourage reached their waiting car, the flashbulbs that had been blinding their path had finally stopped.

Castle could not have been more relieved. "Paula, I don't know how to thank you."

"That's what you pay me the big bucks for, Ricky," said Paula, clearly already distracted by something she was doing on her iPad. She snaked an arm around to the back seat, holding a copy of that morning's New York Post. "You guys should probably have some idea what the other side is working off of."

Beckett reached an arm in front the wall of roses separating her from her boyfriend to take the paper from Paula. "What page are we on?" she asked innocently.

Paula rolled her eyes in a near-instant show of annoyance and quick temper. "Where d'ya think?"

Her hopes for a buried human-interest story dashed for good, Beckett flipped through the paper until she got to the infamous gossip section, Page Six. Sure enough, the column had only one photograph: a 5x6 color image of her making out with her boyfriend, lit from behind by the gentle, incandescent light of his bedroom. She couldn't help but roll her eyes as she read the annoying caption. "Ugh, this caption is terrible: 'Playboy crime novelist Richard Castle getting some 'hands-on' inspiration from his muse, NYPD Detective Kate Beckett.' Who writes this drivel?"

"Gossip columnists," Castle replied matter-of-factly, "and believe me, I've been on the receiving end of far, far worse." He held his hand over the roses, gesturing for her to give him the paper, which she surrendered to him gladly. Castle scanned the one-inch blurb about them before reading it out loud to his girlfriend. "This really isn't bad at all, Kate. Listen: 'The hearts of women across New York City will be quietly breaking tonight on the news that hunky bachelor crime novelist Richard Castle is all but officially off the market. After four years of on-and-off rumors that Castle was romantically involved with NYPD Detective Kate Beckett, the model for his best-selling heroine Nikki Heat, this picture surfaced among the ocean of photos from this past weekend of Will and the British Kate. This should put all the rumors to rest once and for all. Sorry, ladies!" Beckett shifted uncomfortably in her seat...which Castle couldn't help but notice even through the floral jungle between them. "Kate, it's not like they said anything that isn't true, is it?"

"No," Beckett conceded with a sigh. "I...I guess after keeping out relationship out of the press for so long, I was kind of hoping they didn't think we were...news-worthy..."

Paula was working very hard to suppress a full-blown outburst of laughter. "Not news-worthy..." she started muttering from the front seat, "who the hell did you think you were dating, detective..."

Castle, wisely, ignored Paula's comments. "Kate, honey, you know that this is part of my life. You've seen it in action for years now. As long as I have to promote my books in the press, they'll consider my life fair game. And if you're a part of my life..."

"...then that includes me too," Beckett finished his sentence for him. "I know. It doesn't mean I have to like it."

As the car pulled past a second mob of paparazzi and into the parking garage underneath Castle's building, the writer reached around the roses and squeezed Beckett's hand in a show of support. "Thank you for going through it anyway."

Beckett squeezed Castle's hand in return, finally allowing herself a small smile. "Always."

Paula said her goodbyes to the couple in the garage...but only after securing promises from both of them that they would meet with Oprah's production team first thing the next morning. Entourage-free, Castle and Beckett's focus was left solely on getting the two large vases full of roses into the elevator and up to the Loft.

Castle smiled as he successfully juggled opening the door while holding on to his share of the flowers. "Ta-da!" he exclaimed with a playful wink.

"Not bad, Castle," Beckett teased back, "but can you walk and chew gum at the same time?"

Castle's chance to reply to Beckett was cut short as Alexis pulled her father into the Loft as soon as he opened the door.. "Dad," Alexis insisted in a quick whisper, "I *swear* I tried everything I could think of to get rid of her, but she just would *not* leave..."

"Who, sweetheart?" asked Castle, disoriented and confused as to who could have gotten his daughter so worried about without her having to call the...

"Ricky!"

Castle's face drained of color as he recognized the voice that had just called out to him, the absolute *last* voice he could have possibly wanted to hear on that day, of all days...

"Ricky!" the voice squealed an octave higher than her previous call. "You brought flowers for me!" Castle felt a rustling of the flowers in the vase...ostensibly the owner of the voice grabbing the card out of his bouquet.

Silence hung in the apartment for a brief, painful moment before the older woman with Alexis' fiery red hair cleared a line of sight between herself and her ex-husband. "Rick?"

"Hi, Meredith," said Castle, his voice ringing with shock and embarrassment, "what are you doing here?"

Meredith stepped back, trying to re-assess the situation. "I...I booked a flight as soon as I saw those obviously doctored..." She took the vase from Beckett's hands, verifying the idea that had been starting to form in her mind since she read the card. "Pictures."

Castle shifted uncomfortably in place, having trouble figuring out what to do before finally deciding on setting the flowers down on a nearby end table. "Those pictures weren't doctored, Meredith."

Meredith watched as Alexis took the second bouquet of roses from Beckett, allowing the couple to find each other and stand facing her, holding hands. "So you two are...?"

"Together, yes," replied Castle.

Meredith studied the couple in front of her carefully. "You know," she told them, "Martha has never had much...respect...for me as an actress."

"Smart woman," Beckett commented sarcastically.

"She's wrong about me," Meredith countered angrily, leveling a furious glare at the object of her...affection as the older woman stood in the kitchen. "Always has been." She turned her attention back to the couple presenting a united front in front of her. "You know," Meredith purred, stalking Castle like a tigress sizing up her prey, "a major part of being an actress is studying your character." She traced a finger up Castle's arm and across the back of his shoulder blades, causing Castle to shudder and Beckett to squeeze his hand in a show of support...and possession. "You get to know them like you get to know a person...what they like, what they dislike. What turns them on..." Meredith finished her circle around the couple by glaring down Beckett...who never flinched or wavered in her position for even a second. "Their strengths...their weaknesses..."

"What do you want, Meredith?" Castle demanded. "I...We've had a long day, and I have no interest in being a part of one of your little..."

Meredith stopped Castle's tirade with a kiss. A hot, fiery, passionate lip lock that should have led to a night worthy of the top 10...

Nothing. No response whatsoever. Her ex-husband, the father of her only child, the one man who could give her the greatest orgasms of her *life*...Richard Alexander Rodgers Castle, for the first time in their entire relationship, was refusing to kiss her back.

This was...different.

Meredith pulled back from kissing her ex-husband to examine the couple's response to her actions. Castle shifted his weight between his feet awkwardly, looking anywhere he could *except* to meet her gaze. He was...he was embarrassed. As if he wanted nothing more than for her to leave. As soon as possible.

And the...other woman? Beckett's eyes never left her once. The woman radiated a confidence and security that wasn't there in their last meeting. It...it was unnerving. Meredith collected herself before speaking again. "Well, well, well," she commented, "you are most definitely not like the other girls he's screwed before, detective..."

Castle had had enough. "Get out," he spat out angrily through clenched teeth.

Meredith shook her head, blinking back the shock and disbelief coursing through her system. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," spat out Castle. He pushed into Meredith's personal space as he spoke, forcing her toward the door with every step he took. "You are my daughter's mother, and you have every right to be in her life. However, your daughter does not live here anymore. That means you don't have to be a part of my life anymore, and since you clearly have no respect for the woman who is a very important part of my life, Get. Out."

Meredith blanched, horrified to face a level of anger that she hadn't seen in her ex-husband...pretty much ever. "B-b-b-but," she finally stammered out nervously, "my suitcase is already in the guest room."

"I'll have it messengered to your hotel," Castle spat out in response as he opened the front door, "after you call your daughter and tell *her* where I should send it." He stood by the open door, making no moves to be cordial to the woman standing in front of him. "Goodbye, Meredith."

Meredith studied the face of her ex-husband...until she couldn't stand to see the pain in his eyes for a moment longer. "I love you, you know," she quietly admitted. "I always have."

"Sleeping with your director while we were still married is a terrible way to show your love for someone, Meredith," Castle insisted.

God, the ice radiating from this man could freeze Mexico, thought Meredith. It was over. It was finally over once and for all. Richard Castle had finally given his heart completely over to someone, and it was not her. She held up her right hand to gently caress Castle's cheek as a lump formed in her throat. "Goodbye..." she sighed dramatically. "My love..."

Castle closed the door on his ex-wife and never looked back, turning instead to face the three greatest women of his past, his present...and hopefully his future. "So," he announced, "what's for dinner?"


Hi all! I hate writing procedural plot stuff sometimes. As much as I write case stuff, it can get really boring...especially when you're running through a part of the investigation that will essentially be a dead end. That's where I am with the AU at the moment. It's a slog to get through a paragraph sometimes. So dark (these days, lots of dark) + tough writing that's not my favorite to do + need to distract myself = New Chapter in Power Play! Hope you guys enjoy it. I kinda feel like I had to get this chapter out before Meredith showed up in the loft again on the show. Anyway, as always, I would love to hear your thoughts. Comments?