Skipping the season 3 premiere, because that episode was all about Rick trying to get back on Kate's team. Doesn't really work with my story.
3x02 - He's Dead, She's Dead
Rick has been at the Hamptons for a majority of the summer. Gina was harassing him about the book, so he decided to stay up at his beach house and write. He came back to the city every two weeks or so, because it was easier for him to do that than for Kate to drive to him.
She came up for the Fourth of July. Alexis joined them that weekend. He was so pleased to see his girlfriend and daughter form a bond that Alexis hadn't had with his past girlfriends. They spent most of their time at the beach or the pool. One night they made a fire on the sand, his two girls making s'mores and laughing at him while he was (attempting to) light off fireworks a few yards closer to the water.
Kate headed back to the city after that weekend, but with Alexis's Princeton summer program over, he wanted to spend some time with his little girl. They stayed in the Hamptons for three more weeks.
When he got back to the city, he had commitments to Black Pawn to do some publicity for Naked Heat, thus he couldn't shadow Kate at the precinct. It was fine, because they spent plenty of time together outside of it, but he missed it, missed helping her solve cases, and he missed Ryan and Esposito. She told him to come back after his book was released.
She called him about thirty minutes ago letting him know that there's been a murder. It's near one of his favorite coffee shops, so he tells her to meet him there. They haven't seen each other in a few days and he wants to have some time with her before they have to act professional around her colleagues, even if it is only a mere fifteen minutes alone.
When he walks into the shop he finds her already in line, talking to a man he's ever seen before. He approaches them, hears the tall stranger tell her he's a cardiac surgeon.
Her gaze meets Rick's eyes, smile growing. He takes his place by her side, fingers tangling with hers. Not staking his claim on her, but when he sees the doctor's eyebrows raise in surprise it is a little rewarding.
"Hey," she greets him, squeezing his hand gently. She turns back to the surgeon, "It was nice talking to you, Josh."
And then she's tugging him to face the front of the line, but not before Rick sees - Josh? - scowl. His chest puffs out in pride because Kate's his and she has no problem making sure people know she's taken.
Well, except for at work, but that's different than a stranger hitting on her in public.
He looks at her, smug grin on his face, but she just gives him a subtle shake of the head, stepping closer into his side.
He orders their coffee and steps aside with her to wait for their drinks. He sees Josh glance over at Kate, knows that she is completely clueless. He has to tamper down his grin. He will admit though, seeing her talking to another man who is clearly interested in her sparks up some of what Demming did. It makes him want to put a ring on her finger so they know she's-
Whoa. Ring? Where did that come from?
They've only been together for five months.
He can't dwell on his thoughts any further when the barista hands him their drinks. Kate takes hers with a grateful smile, heading for the door. She breezes past her cruiser, so he follows, has no problem walking to their crime scene.
"Josh, hm? Cardiac surgeon. Impressive," he says, trying to play it cool.
She rolls her eyes at him, smiling at the little green monster that he just can't hide. Not when it comes to her.
"It is," she agrees. "Not my type, though. I'll stick to mystery writers."
Her shoulder bumps his, eyes dancing. He sees the uniforms standing out in front of a building down the block from them, they're dangerously close to the crime scene, but he can't help it. He pulls her into his chest, pressing a smacking kiss to her cheek.
She laughs, pulling away from him, but not before she meets his lips for a quick peck.
Later that night, they're on their way to his place when he blurts, "My mother got proposed to."
"What?" Kate pulls her eyes away from the road to stare at him.
"Yep," he confirms.
"When?"
"Last night."
"And she said yes?"
"Ah- no. Told Chet she would think about it."
Kate laughs, asks, "Why? I thought she loved Chet."
"She does. She just said that the magic is gone."
"That's valid," Kate tells him, pulling into a spot close to his building. "Let's go see if she's made up her mind."
When they enter the loft, his mother and Alexis are sitting by the coffee table setting up a ouija board. He takes Kate's coat for her, watches her walk into his living room and greet his family.
He grabs two beers for them, handing one to his girlfriend. He pulls her down with him on the floor, has to hold in his laughter when Kate shakes her head as his daughter attempts to summon spirits. When nothing happens, his mother groans.
"This thing must be broken," Martha says. "Well luckily, I don't need the spirits to tell me when it's time to say goodbye. Bye, my love," she tells rock on her finger. Kate laughs into the neck of her beer bottle, raising an eyebrow at him for his mother's dramatics. He just shrugs, grinning.
"What if you're being too hasty?" Alexis asks, "Relationships take work, right?"
"No, no, no," Martha says, "Love is not about work. Trust me, it's about passion, it's about chemistry, romance," she tells her granddaughter, gesturing to Kate and Rick for example.
"It's about your heart pounding faster because you can't wait to see her," Rick tells his daughter, pulling Kate closer to him.
"That's true," his girlfriend agrees, leaning into his side. Martha and Alexis smile at them softly.
"I'm sorry," Martha tells Alexis, "It's just- it's over. I know it."
His little girl looks so dejected that Rick has to intervene and lighten the mood.
"Mother, you could always go to a psychic and find out your fate."
Kate pinches him in the side, glaring at him. "That's all fake."
"Kate's not a believer," he announces to his family.
"What?" his daughter exclaims, blue eyes wide. "You've gotta believe there's some people out there who can actually see the future and talk to spirits."
"I'm sorry," Kate says, shrugging.
"She doesn't even believe in fate or soul-mates," Rick stage-whispers.
"Oh, darling, what about you and Richard, hm? Don't you think you two would have found your way to each other eventually if you hadn't met the way you had?" Martha asks.
"I would like to hope that we would, but really, without those murders modeled after his books, how would we have even met?" she ponders, looking at Rick.
"Fate is fate," he says after a moment of thought, "Don't question the universe."
She laughs, shaking her head at him. They spend a little while longer talking before they all call it a night.
Kate slides into the king size bed beside him, curling into his side. She drapes an arm over his chest, hand grasping at the fabric of his t-shirt, his arm cradling her wordlessly.
"Have you ever ended a relationship because the magic is gone?" he asks after a few minutes of silence.
"No," she says. "But I think if Will hadn't moved to Boston, we probably would have ended anyways. It was an average relationship, you know? What I felt like I needed at the time. But now I see that it wouldn't have been enough. What about you?"
"Gina," he states, "Aside from the fact that we fought all the time, she was just all work. No play."
"So I've seen," Kate says, referring back to when Gina called her to check up on Rick's novel before they went to the Hamptons for Memorial Day.
"I'm glad we're not," he says quietly. "We're not boring. Don't think I'll ever get bored with you."
She smiles widely. He can feel the upturn of her lips on his chest more than see it. She extends her neck to kiss him soundly, rolling them so he's hovering above her.
"No," she tells him, removing her sleep shirt, arches into his fingertips as they bump over her ribcage, "Never boring."
Kate hears a knock on her door three nights later. She swings it open to find Rick on the other side, still dressed in what he wore to Chet's funeral earlier.
"Hey," she greets, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before pulling him inside. "How'd the funeral go? How's Martha?"
"She's handling it rather well. And her speech was wonderful if I do say so myself."
"That's because you wrote it," Kate says dryly, picking up the Italian takeout menu she was looking at before he showed up. "But I'm glad she's okay. You hungry?"
"Starving," he replies. He stands behind her, bracketing her against the counter so he can read the menu over her shoulder.
"What do you want?" she asks, pulling out her cell phone to order. After she orders dinner for them, she pulls down two wine glasses from the cupboard, filling them halfway. He thanks her when she hands him one, leading him to the couch.
"Penny said the strangest thing to me yesterday," she tells him, brows furrowed.
"What did she say?"
"She said she has a little bit of what her mom does. She had a dream about me and brought up someone named Alexander."
He perks up at that. "Alexander?"
"Yeah. Except I don't know any Alexanders."
"What did she say about him?"
"That he will be very important to me and might save my life in the near future." He's smiling and she just becomes even more confused. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"My middle name is Alexander," he tells her softly.
"I thought your middle name was Edgar."
"No, no. I changed my middle name to Edgar after Edgar Allen Poe when I changed my last name to Castle. My given name is Richard Alexander Rodgers. Still don't believe in fate?" he asks, eyes alight with something she might almost go as far as to call love.
Kate ducks her head, a small smile on her face. She might not believe in psychics or mediums, but this case has definitely opened her eyes to the possibility of magic and, yes, even fate.
Can I just say that my inbox has been seriously overflowing with alerts for this story? I'm so pleasantly surprised. Thank you to everybody who wants to come back and read every new chapter I post. It keeps me going, it really does.
Expect a little bit of angst in the next chapter. I'm looking forward to that one.