Title: Rock Foundation
Disclaimer: I do not own the Castle characters or their story lines. I just borrow them for fun.
Summary: A Sequel of sorts for my one-shot Rock Solid. Kate and Rick deal with the aftermath of Knockdown and move forward with their lives, learning to balance their partnership with their budding relationship.
Author's note: Thank you so much to all of my wonderful reviewers and readers. You guys have made me feel so fantastic about this story, and I'm extremely glad that you're all enjoying it so much. In that vein, here is the next installment!
Chapter IV:
Kate returned from the prison and collapsed onto her couch. She stared out the window and rubbed a hand over her face. It didn't surprise her that Lockwood hadn't wanted to talk. But there had been that very tiny piece of her that had hoped, really hoped, that he would.
She got up and put on a pot of coffee, thinking that maybe she'd hit the gym down the street and run it off when her cell rang. She grabbed it from the coffee table and smiled as she saw Castle's face flashing across the screen.
"What is it, Castle?" she asked as she picked up the call.
"Don't kill me!" he exclaimed.
"Kill you? Why would I kill you? What did you do?" she asked, now much more alert. There was silence on the other end of the call. "Castle, what's going on?"
"Have you looked at the paper today, Detective?"
"No," she said hesitantly as she walked over the counter where she'd tossed the paper and the mail earlier that morning. "What page?" she asked as she examined the front cover, seeing nothing ominous staring back at her.
"Page six," he said, his voice very small.
"Castle," Kate growled as she flipped through the paper. "Why am I…" she tapered off as she caught sight of the headline:
Fiction becomes Fact: Richard Castle out on the town with his real life Nikki Heat, Kate Beckett.
"What the hell?" she cried as she scanned through the article, and caught sight of the picture of them leaving the Barnes and Noble with Castle's hand on her back.
"I know. I'm so sorry. I've already called and tried to get them to retract the article, but the paper's sold a quarter more than usual today and they refused!"
Kate sighed and tossed the paper back on the counter, feeling a headache setting in. "It's not your fault Castle. You couldn't have known that there was someone in the store with us."
"If I hadn't overstepped boundaries…"
"Castle, you touched my back. It's not like it's a picture of us making out in a closet."
She heard him cough. "Been thinking about making out with me in a closet, Detective?"
"In your dreams, Castle," she giggled a bit as she heard him laugh.
"Oh, you most certainly are, Detective."
There was a slightly awkward pause that would usually be filled with one of them looking away, or Kate rolling her eyes. "Well, thanks for calling to tell me. I probably wouldn't have read it otherwise."
"No problem, Detective." She heard him take a breath. "How did your meeting go with Lockwood?"
"He won't talk. No big surprise there. But I'll be going back, he can count on that."
"I wouldn't want to be in his shoes in there," Castle told her.
"Neither would I, and that's what I'm banking on."
"We'll figure it out, Kate," Castle told her. What was it about her mother's case that made him say Kate like that?
"Thanks, Castle."
"What are you doing for the rest of the day?"
Kate finally poured herself a cup of coffee. "I think I'll hit the gym and work it off, you know? And then I have drinks with Lanie."
"Sounds like a solid plan."
"What about you, Castle? Got any big plans for the day?"
"I've got a call with Alexis in about 30 minutes, then I was thinking I'd try to write."
"Your hand going to be okay?" she asked.
"It hurts much less today. I don't think I'll get very far, but I owe Gina a chapter."
"Keeping the peace is always a good bet," Kate smiled as she heard Castle sigh. "Not enough inspiration for you, Castle? Should I be worried?"
He laughed. "Oh, Detective, you have nothing to be worried over."
"Then what's the problem, Castle?"
"Sometimes life is really more interesting than fiction," was his only reply.
Kate nodded. "Alright. Well, I'll let you get to your day. See you tomorrow?"
"About that. What do you want to do?"
Kate thought about the past few days, the mayhem, the terror, and the article. "How about we stay in and watch a movie at my place? We can order a pizza and have some wine and just veg out. Keep it quiet?"
"Quiet sounds perfect. 6? "
"Can do."
"I'll see you then, Detective."
"Have a good day, Castle. Tell the boys 'hi' for me."
"The same for Lanie. Until tomorrow, Detective."
"Bye Castle."
…
Kate walked into The Brass Monkey at 9:30 and found Lanie already ensconced at the counter, drinks in front of her, and a clingy guy on the seat next to her. She spotted Kate and a look of great relief filled her eyes.
"Kate!" she called enthusiastically.
"Hey Lanie," Kate replied as she reached the pair. "Who's your friend?"
"I'm Dick," the boozed suitor enthused. "And you're gorgeous."
"And a cop, so I suggest you leave my friend here alone and go find someone else to bother."
"Oh yeah? Show me your badge, then."
Kate raised an eyebrow and simply opened her purse to show him the badge and gun inside with her cell phone. His eyes got wide and he made a hasty retreat, moving to the far corner of the joint to sit close to the wall.
"Never gets old!" Lanie giggled as she motioned for Kate to sit down and passed her a martini. "How are you, Sweetie?"
"I'm doing well, Lanie," Kate smiled.
"You sure? Lots of stuff went down this week."
"I'm fine, I promise. How are you?" Kate asked, taking a sip of her martini and looking over the rim at Lanie, who had gotten shifty-eyed.
"I'm good."
"Anything new with you?"
"Nope. Nothing new. What about you?" Lanie countered, fixing Kate with a piercing look. "How's things with Josh?"
"Great," Kate said half-heartedly.
"Just 'great'?"
"He's in Africa…"
"And he wasn't here this week," Lanie finished for her. "He comes home soon, right? Sunday?"
"Yeah."
"That'll be nice, right? To have him home."
Kate put on a smile. "It will, yeah."
"What are you doing until then?"
"I'm going to relax tomorrow."
"Do you want to hang out tomorrow night?"
"Oh, no, thanks. I've got plans with Castle," she said before she realized it had slipped out.
"Aha! That's why things with Josh are just 'great!' You're finally realizing what the hell is right in front of you."
"Lanie."
"Don't Lanie me. I see it. Ryan and Esposito see it. Hell, Montgomery sees it. And now you do too!"
"I haven't said anything of the sort," Kate huffed. Lanie didn't need to know about last night's epiphany, or the cuddle session the night before, or the….Hell. She was in trouble.
Lanie smirked. "Uh-huh. Sure. Whatever you need to tell yourself there Kate." Kate rolled her eyes and looked down at her drink. "Okay, come on." Lanie pulled her up out of her seat. "Let's go dancing."
Kate laughed a bit and let her friend lead her out onto the floor to forget about the past week.
…
"Yo Castle!" Esposito called Rick over as he entered the Old Haunt. He smiled and made his way to their booth and sat down.
"How are you two?" he asked, looking them over.
"Brave."
"Strong."
They looked at each other. "Happy it's over," Esposito replied.
"Me too," Rick agreed as he flagged down a waiter and asked for a bottle of good scotch.
"How's Beckett?" Ryan asked.
"She's doing well," Rick replied.
"Is she now?" Esposito asked. Rick watched as Ryan handed something that looked suspiciously like a five to Esposito. "Know that first hand do you, Castle?"
Rick simply rolled his eyes, and Ryan laughed. "Oh, he must! He just did the Beckett eye roll."
"So tell us, Castle. Are you gonna go in for the kill this time, no pun intended?" Esposito asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Rick told them as the drinks arrived and he poured for them.
"Seems the two of you were sighted in a Barnes and Noble just yesterday."
"You saw the article," he stated as they all took a swig. "It's nothing."
"Oh really? Looked pretty cozy to us," Ryan replied.
"We were there to get books, and there was a fan, and we scared her off. No harm, no foul. And, might I mention that she's still with Motorcycle Boy?"
"You might. Wouldn't matter though," Ryan replied.
"We know you've got feelings for her," Esposito continued. "And we just want to tell you that if you break her heart, we'll kill you, make it look like an accident, and get Lanie to do the autopsy if you're ever found."
"Guys," Rick stammered as they glared at him. "I'm not going to hurt her. Hell, I'm not even trying to date her right now!"
"Right now," Ryan stated and held out his hand. Esposito sighed and passed the five back over.
"Can we talk about something else, please?" Rick asked as he poured himself another glass.
"Sure," Ryan replied.
"How's things with Jenny?" Rick asked him.
"Really good," he said happily. "She's really excited about the wedding and it's been great."
"I'm glad," Rick replied.
"How's things with your love life, Esposito?" Ryan asked, shooting Rick a smirk.
"Yeah. Any new girls floating around?" Rick added.
"Nope. Nothing new. No one new," Esposito stammered, before taking a big gulp of scotch.
"Right," Ryan replied. "Wanna play some darts, boys?"
"Are we playing for points, or for cash?" Esposito asked. "I've got a five I'd like back."
"Cash it is," Rick enthused as they made their way out of the booth and over to the far wall. "Beware gentlemen. You may be able to hide a body, but I can beat even the best at darts."
"Oh, Castle, we'd like to see you try," Esposito scoffed.
…
Kate slept in the next morning. She woke at noon and stumbled her way to the kitchen to take Advil and have the world's largest cup of coffee. It wasn't that she'd been completely smashed with Lanie, but she hadn't really gone seriously drinking in a while.
She sat on her couch and watched the clouds float by as she drank her coffee and let the medicine kick in. After that, she showered and settled herself down with Tick Tock to wile away the afternoon reading. She had just finished the book and was cleaning up from her afternoon snack when the doorbell rang. She opened the door and found Rick there, smiling as he extended a bottle of what looked like very good wine.
"Evening, Detective," he said as she showed him in and accepted the bottle.
"Evening, Castle." She put the wine on the counter and got down glasses while she grabbed the menu for the Pizza place from her kitchen drawer. "What kind of pizza do you want?"
"You like pepperoni, right?"
"I do," she smiled. He never missed a trick. "And you like buffalo chicken."
"Do you want to do half each?"
"How 'bout we just make it both all over?"
"Feeling spicy this evening, Detective?" he joked as she sat down on the couch.
"You wish, Castle," she rolled her eyes and dialed the number as he looked through her collection of DVDs. "Hi, I'd like to place an order for a buffalo chicken pizza with pepperoni please. Large. Yes, Kate Beckett. Thank you," she put her cell down and laughed when Castle deposited half of her DVDs on the coffee table. "It'll be here in 20."
"Awesome. So," he spread the disks out. "I've chosen a spread of ten movies. What's your fancy?"
She looked through the titles and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels caught her eye. "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."
"Really, Detective? A con movie?"
"I thought we'd peeled this layer of the Beckett onion, Castle."
He laughed and took the disk out of the case to pop it into her DVD player. "You're right. I just never thought we'd be watching one together." He poured them each a glass of wine and handed one to her. "For you."
"Thanks, Castle," she smiled and took a sip of the wine. It was fantastic, as usual. "Don't worry. There are more layers to the Beckett onion yet."
"I have no doubts."
They settled in and watched the first 15 minutes of the movie before the pizza arrived. Kate got up and paid for it, bringing it back to the coffee table only to find that Rick had already gotten plates and napkins out for them.
"Did you want to split the…" he petered off as Kate raised an eyebrow.
"That bottle of wine probably cost three times as much as the pizza. Don't sweat it Castle, I've got this one."
He nodded and they sat down on the floor in front of the couch to eat their pizza while Lawrence and Freddie got into shenanigans on the screen. They finished the pizza during their second movie, Ocean's Eleven, and were sharing ice cream out of the tub when Rick turned to look at her.
"How are you?" he asked quietly.
Kate looked over at him. "I'm fine. How 'bout you?"
"I'm great," he smiled. "I just…we haven't really talked since yesterday."
"Missed the sound of my voice?" Kate joked, trying to ease the tension in the room; he looked so worried about her.
"Yes, but that's not what I mean," Rick replied.
Kate gave him a smile. "I'm fine, honestly. I'm not happy that Lockwood wouldn't talk, but I'll get by. I've waited eleven years; a few more won't kill me."
Rick put a hand on her knee and gave it a squeeze. "I know they won't. I just know that this must be hard on you."
"Lots of things in life are hard on people, Castle," Kate replied, but she squeezed his hand all the same. "Now, let's watch these guys con some men out of their money." She removed her hand and Rick gave her leg a final squeeze before he let it drop and they turned back to the movie.
They moved up to the couch during Chicago, each of them lying at opposite ends with their legs in the middle. Rick fell asleep somewhere near the last quarter of the movie and Kate giggled as he snored. She looked back at the screen and within minutes, she too was asleep.
A kick to the inside of her shin woke her up three hours later. The apartment was dark, but for the blue glow of the TV from when they'd turned the lights out for the last movie. She looked over at Rick, about to kick him back, when she noticed his tense face and the hands he had balled into fists at his sides.
"No. Come on. NO!" he started to mumble and Kate quickly got off the couch and knelt by his head. "No. Come back! God, what…"
"Castle," she tried, gently shaking his shoulder.
"Kate, no! Come back. Come on. Come back to me."
"Castle," she said louder, laying a hand on his cheek.
"Don't….die…" he whispered.
"Rick," her voice broke as she realized what he must have been dreaming about. "Rick, I'm here. Wake up for me." She ran her hands over his face and willed him to wake up.
His eyes opened and she saw a tear slip down his cheek. "Kate," he mumbled, his voice hoarse.
"Hey there," she said softly. "You were having a nightmare."
"You," he coughed slightly and she helped him sit up. "You got shot. I wasn't quick enough and he got you, and you were bleeding so…so much."
"Hey, I'm okay," she told him as she sat on the edge of the sofa and took his hands. "I'm alive. You got him. He'll never hurt anyone, much less me, again. I'm okay. We're okay. It was just a dream."
"Thank God," he said seriously, before he unceremoniously pulled her in for a hug. "Thank God."
"It's okay," she murmured in his ear. She'd had these nightmares before. About her mom. About her dad. About him. They were no child's play. "I'm here. I promise. You can't get rid of me."
"Good," he told her before he pulled back and ran his hands over her face. "You're sure you're okay?"
"I promise, Rick. I'm very alive, and very okay."
The lock of her door clicked and they both jumped a bit. "What the?" Rick mumbled as Kate shot off the couch and grabbed the gun from her side table in the foyer.
"Kate?" a tentative voice whispered as the door opened and revealed Josh standing there in the hallway.
Kate stared at him and put the gun down. She then looked back at Rick who looked just as dumbfounded as she did.
"What's going on here?" Josh asked as he pulled his suitcase into the apartment and closed the door. "It's 3am. What the hell is he doing here? I thought that tabloid was a joke!"