UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Luke, I am your….No, wait. That's wrong. I'm not Castle's father. Rating: K Time: An AU story beginning at what would be the end of season one.

When Kate got home from the precinct the next evening, Rick had prepared a Mexican dinner for them.

"Not really Mexican, as I've been told by my Mexican-American friends, but Tex-Mex food. Sort of a Mexican and Texas barbecue and other stuff fusion."

"Is it edible?" Kate asked. "I didn't get lunch today since the FBI wanted about a hundred forms filled out to prove that they, and they alone, caught the kidnappers. I'm starving."

"I'll start dishing it out at once, senorita." Rick said with a grin.

When they were done with dinner, Rick brought out his laptop from the office.

"I have a surprise for you. I've been doing some writing."

"More Derrick Storm?" Kate asked. She had always loved the Derrick Storm books.

He shook his head. "No, I've seen too many super heroes get shot or blown up to do another of those. I'm writing about an NYPD homicide detective. She's been hurt, but wouldn't let that stop her. She's courageous, caring and determined. Not to mention wickedly smart and has haunting good looks."

"You're basing the character on me?" Kate asked, somewhat shocked.

Rick frowned. "You? Of course not. I'm basing it on Roz Karpowski."

She threw the remains of a taco at him.

"Of course, I'm basing her on you. I want you to read it. It's just a few chapters, a story outline and a lot of notes. Plus a lot of questions I need answers to about police procedures and such."

Kate took the laptop and began reading. She found something at once that she didn't like. "Nikki Heat? That's not a cop's name. It's a stripper name. You need to change it."

Rock shook his head. "No, it is a cop name. Heat is slang for cops. Now, a stripper name would be….."He stroked his jaw and thought for a second. "A stripper's name would be D.D. Bewbs. Or maybe Didi Cupps. Perhaps Q.T. Bottom. Say, how about Detective Harriet "Harry" Slitte? She could work Vice and…."

"Her name will be Nikki Heat." Kate said determinedly. "And I never want to hear those other names again. Capisce?"

"Understood." Rick said, unsuccessfully trying to hide his smile.

Kate read the rest of what he'd written.

"Okay. I like the premise and the characterization, but you need a lot of help on police procedures, slang, and the dynamics of a homicide squad. I can help you on that."

"I was thinking we could co-write it."

That stopped Kate cold. "Are you serious?"

"As serious as a heart attack." '

"Rick, I'm not a writer."

"I'm the writer. You're the cop. Together we'll write books. I'll want to write as Richard Castle again, since I still have something of a following, but I don't want anyone to know I'm a soldier."

"I don't want my own name on this either, Rick. I can't have my police career jeopardized by having people know who I really am."

"We could call you Nikki Heat." He suggested.

"My middle name is Houghton. We can use Katherine Houghton.'

Rick held out his hand. "To the partnership of Richard Castle and Katherine Houghton. Fifty-fifty?"

Kate took his hand. "Agreed."

When Kate returned from work the next day, she had a surprise for Rick.

"Captain Montgomery got a call from the chief of police today, thanking him for the work we did on the Candela kidnapping. The mayor was especially pleased that it was a 12th Precinct detective that noticed the missing bunny and broke the case, and not a Fed. Of course, Montgomery had to tell him it was you, and not a member of the NYPD."

Rick frowned. "How much trouble am I in?"

Kate laughed. "None at all. The mayor was pleased with Roy's out of the box thinking. The mayor even suggested you should tag along with me more often. Roy reminded him that you're an injured soldier and my boyfriend. There's a rule about colleagues dating. The mayor said he's not asking you to do anything dangerous and that we ask citizens with special knowledge or abilities for help all the time. He also said we're not colleagues since you don't work for the NYPD. Roy asked me to see if you're willing."

"A chance to work with you?" Rick laughed. "Of course I'm willing."

"We should tell Roy that you're writing again and that I'm your co-author. I'm not sure how he, or the NYPD, will feel about that."

"I used to play poker with the mayor back when he was a city councilman. Let me talk to him."

He did talk to the mayor and soon Rick was Kate's more or less unofficial partner. They worked cases in the day and wrote about Nikki Heat at night.

"So the killer is probably at some Russian mob run poker game in Chinatown?" Rick asked. "Does Vice know where we can find the game?"

Captain Montgomery shook his head. "They say they've been trying to infiltrate the Russians and Chinese for years, but with no luck. And you can't get near any games unless someone vouches for you."

"Lucky you have me here, then." He winked at Kate. "Excuse me, I have to go make a phone call."

We went to an unoccupied office and called an old friend.

"Stephen! It's me, Rick Castle. How are you?"

"Castle?" Stephen Cannel said, surprised. "I thought you were in the Army."

"I am, but I need a favor. I need to get into a Russian mob run game in Chinatown. Can you arrange it?"

"Are you out of your mind? No, don't bother answering. Of course you are. So, what's her name?"

"Pardon?"

"Rick, you wouldn't do this unless there was a woman involved. Who?"

Castle mentally shrugged. "Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD, homicide. We're writing a new book together about a lady cop. I'm sort of tagging along with her to get a feel for the cops' world."

"You're doing a hell of a lot more than tagging along if you want to get into a mob run game. Do you have any idea how dangerous those people can be?"

Rick's voice was flat and cold. "Steven, do you have any idea how dangerous I am?" Then he laughed. "So come on, get me in."

Rick rejoined his friends. "I know who to call and what to say. I'm in."

Montgomery shook his head. "You? No way. This is a job for a cop."

"And where is a cop going to get fifty thousand in walking around money?"

"Fifty thousand?" Both Kate and Montgomery said in unison.

"Fifty thousand." Rick repeated. "These guys play no limit poker. I can get fifty thousand from my bank tomorrow. How long will it take you to get fifty large out of One PP? If we use my money, I go with it."

No one liked the idea but everyone knew they'd probably be long retired before One PP gave up that kind of money. Rick was going to go.

Rick sat in a surveillance van in Chinatown with Kate, Ryan and Esposito. Kate finished putting the camera and microphone on Rick.

"Remember, we can see what you can see, and we can hear what you hear, but you can't hear us. Okay?"

"Got it."

As she watched him walk away, Kate worried. "I'm worried. He's too happy about this."

"He's bored." Esposito said. "He's used to a lot of adrenalin. Maybe you two should spice up your sex life."

Kate gave him her very best glare.

Rick's cover was that he was a soldier just back from the war in Afghanistan who was bored. He wanted some action, even if it was just playing cards.

"Playing cards is not enough for you?" Asked a Russian.

"I'm an Army Ranger. This barely keeps me awake."

"Ranger?" Said another Russian. "Almost as good as Russian Spetsnaz, or so I hear."

Rick smiled. "And I heard that your special forces, Spetsnaz, are almost as good as National Guard straight leg infantry."

The Russian started to stand up, only to be pulled down by a bearded Russian. "We come here to play cards. Not argue. Anyone want to argue, go elsewhere."

As Rick played, he casually looked around, making sure to get video feed of all the Russians back to the surveillance van.

"There!" Kate said, excitedly. "That one. He has a prosthetic little finger. That explains the marking on the vic's neck. He's our killer." Kate sat and waited for Rick to leave. "What's wrong with him? He must have seen the guy. Why doesn't he leave?"

"One, he's enjoying this." Espo said. "Two, he's winning. And three, if he gets up and leaves so soon, our suspect will get suspicious."

Rick continued to play and continued to win. After one big win, the Russians began talking to themselves.

"Shit! They think Rick is cheating. They're talking about killing him. Our suspect is offering to do the job."

"You speak Russian?" Espo asked.

"I did a semester abroad in Kiev." Kate switched to a Russian accent. "Sometimes when I am bored, I go to café in Little Odessa and pretend to be Muscovite." Kate got up and started to exit the van.

"What are you going to do? Lip gloss them to death?"

"Something like that. If I'm not back in ten minutes, call for back up and go in after us."

Kate left the van, and using her jacket as a mini dress, transformed herself into a Russian party girl. Once she had talked her way into the club, she looked for Rick. He was nowhere to be seen. She grabbed her phone. "Espo, can you tell me where Rick is?"

"He's in the kitchen. The Russian has a gun on him."

Kate headed into the kitchen and found Rick being held at gunpoint.

"Reekee! What are you doing with this handsome man? Do you forget all about poor Tatiana?"

The Russian turned to Beckett. "This does not….."

That was as far as he got before Rick dropped him with one punch. Kate pulled her handcuffs from her purse and bent over to cuff the suspect.

"Oh my god!" Rick muttered softly.

"What?" Kate demanded.

"Your legs. They're spectacular and they go all the way to your…."

"Rick! Call Espo for backup. And try to remember that you're supposed to be my lover. You've seen my legs. "She smiled at him. "And my ass. "She winked." And…everything else."

Hours later they got back to the loft.

"I'll have to try to remember this feeling for the books." Rick said, sighing.

"What feeling?"

"It's a feeling of elation that we caught the killer, but heavily overlaid with a feeling of sadness. The vic is still dead, his wife is a widow and the kids have no father. It sucks."

Rick suddenly found Kate's arms around his neck. "Try feeling this." She he kissed him and her tongue pushed its way into his mouth. Not that he resisted her. He felt her move and heard the rustle of cloth. She had taken off her jacket and then pushed her pants down and off. All she had on was her bright red bra and panties.

"Kate, we need…."

"To go to the bedroom." She unclasped her bra and threw it to the floor, followed by her panties. "We need to go now."

He put one arm around her shoulder and the other under her knees, picked her up and headed for the bedroom.

Hours later, sweaty, sated and entangled in the sheets, they cuddled.

"Kate, I need to tell you something. Something Important."

Kate glared at him. "If you're married, I swear I'll get my gun and…"

He put his finger on her lips. "God, no. I'm not married."

"What then?"

"When I first got into the Rangers, I was in my quarters one night and got a call from some of my friends. They were with a girl. She was nineteen, pregnant and she had just found out she was a widow. Her husband had been killed in Iraq. She was hysterical. My friends called me because I was older, so they figured I was more mature and would know what to do. I had no idea what to do, but I went anyway. She was hysterical for hours and I did nothing to help. There probably wasn't anything I could have done, but that's always stayed with me. I don't want you to end up like that. I have a very dangerous job. It could happen."

Kate rolled over on top of him and kissed him.

"I'm in kind of a dangerous job myself, so I've thought about that." She rested her head on his shoulder and spoke softly into his ear. "It's been ten years since my mom died and I've had this wall around my heart this whole time. Since I met you, things have changed a bit. I love having someone to come home to, or with. I love cooking for you, or having you cook. I really love Nikki Heat and I want a lot more of her." Kate sighed softly. "I've run into cops who were just like I am. No time for anything but the job. They end up lonely and bitter and they drink too much. I don't want to end up like that. And I don't want to marry someone like Will, who I don't love, just so I won't be so damned alone all the time. I know it won't be easy and we could both end up getting badly hurt, but I want to try. I want to see if we have a future. And if we do have a future, I want to grab onto it and not let go."

Rick stroked her hair. "You're extraordinary, you know that? Has anyone ever told you that?"

Kate frowned and pretended to think. "Told me? No, I can't say anyone ever has. Some guy did write something like that once, though."

"He was very, very accurate."

Rick and Kate became partners both on the job and off, but all good things must end, as they say. After two more months Rick was declared to be cured and returned to duty and then downrange.

Six months after he left, Kate found herself stalled in front of a nurse in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.

"I'm very sorry, ma'am, but we can't release any information about patients to anyone but their next of kin."

Kate tried to remain calm. "Sergeant Rodgers has no next of kin. All he has is me. I'm his fiancé." The last part was sort of a lie, but Kate would have happily claimed to be Rick's father if that would get her some information.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid I can't help you. You can submit a written request to Sergeant Rodgers and if he approves, we can keep you apprised of his condition."

"I don't want to send a damned letter to Rick, I just want to know if he's all right. Why in the hell can't you just tell me that?" Kate knew she was starting to lose it and didn't care.

"You must be Detective Kate Beckett." Said a man's voice from behind her.

She turned around to find an older man, about her height with brown hair smiling at her.

"You know who I am?"

The man nodded. "When one of our people writes a best seller, word gets around. Oh, I know you're supposed to be someone named Katherine Houghton. Don't worry. I won't let your secret slip out."

The man was wearing camouflage fatigues that were mostly greens, browns and black. She could see various patches and tabs on his uniform, but they were what Rick had called "subdued": Black against dark green and hard to make out. She wished she had paid more attention to Rick's uniform.

"Thank you. I appreciate that…."

"Oh, call me Stan. Why don't we get a cup of coffee and I'll see if I can find out anything about Rick. I know a few people here."

Stan led Kate down a hallway. He stopped and talked to a younger man, also in camouflaged fatigues. The young man nodded and took off down another hallway.

Kate finally found herself sitting in a cafeteria with a cup of surprisingly good coffee in front of her. Stan asked about Heat Wave, apparently having read it very carefully. He asked about any further Nikki Heat books.

"We're writing Naked Heat right now. I can't give you any spoilers though. Although, if Rick doesn't…." Kate began to cry.

Stan passed her a napkin to dab at her eyes and she quickly regained control over herself.

"I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. I cry over my lost and wounded men myself."

Stan was interrupted when another man in fatigues gestured to him.

"Excuse me, Kate. Let me see what he wants."

Stan left and spoke quietly to the man. When he came back he was smiling.

"Good news. Rick is going to live."

"Thank God!" Kate said and began to cry again.

"However, he will never be a Ranger again. He could probably change career fields to something like finance or personnel, and stay in the Army, but I don't see him doing that. I think that before he met you, that would have destroyed him. I imagine he'll take a medical retirement. It's a good thing he has you now, Kate."

Kate nodded. "It's a good thing I have him, too."

"I'm afraid the doctors won't let you see him and he's too sedated to recognize anyone, but you should be able to see him in a day or two. I'll talk to some of my friends here and see that you get to see him."

Kate thanked Stan profusely and left. It was two very long days before she was back at Walter Reed.

"Hi, lover. How are you?"

Rick grinned as he looked up at her from the hospital bed. "Don't I look just fine?"

She shook her head and gave him a mild glare. "Rick, be serious."

"I'm one hundred percent better now that you're here."

She sat on the edge of the bed and took his hand. "Me too."

They looked at each other for long minutes. Finally, Rick spoke.

"I've missed you every day since I left. I haven't missed anyone like that since I lost my mother and Alexis. I love you, Kate."

She nodded. "I love you, too. I missed you like I missed my mom."

"The doctors told me I can't be a Ranger anymore. Do you think Captain Montgomery would still let me follow you around?"

"If he doesn't, he'll never hear the end of it from me."

"So, we're partners? Always?"

"Always? Are you sure."

"I've never been more sure of anything. Always."

"Then, partners. Always."

"Always." They said in unison.

Author's note: I'm still writing After Much Ado About Murder, the continuing adventures of Sir Richard and Lady Katherine Castle in Renaissance Italy. After a sea battle the two are going to face something far more deadly: Politics.

I also have an idea for another short story. Kate wants Rick to be her partner, but Rick is unwilling. How far will Kate go to get what she wants?