A/N:Enjoy!

XIV
The Ball
Everyone

"A dance, Doctor Parish?" Rick inquired. The string quartet had started up a waltz.

"Castle, are you insane? I don't do waltzes. I haven't do that since I was a little girl at dance class."

"Come on Doctor, It's like riding a bicycle. You know… One, Two, Three,… One, Two, Three. It's as easy as falling down the stairs." Castle persisted. "I am sure you date won't mind" looking over at Javier who had brought Lanie because the two of them were in between relationships.

"No problem bro, knock yourself out." Esposito replied.

Castle guided a reluctant Lanie out onto the floor. As they started to dance Lanie began to relax. Castle, it seemed, was a confident partner, and was leading her smoothly. Apparently Bad Boy authors were required to know how to waltz. She found herself studying the man how had so deftly captured her best friends heart. He was roguishly handsome, with a sardonic smile. He was tall and possessed an aura of complete and utter confidence. There was usually a twinkle of mirth and mischievousness in his eyes, but tonight it was absent and in its place was a forlorn look. She also noticed a slight tremble in his back. Whether it was from nerves or a lingering effect of his shooting trauma, she did not know.

"So what are you playing at?" Lanie asked.

"Excuse me?"

"What's going on? Why are you making like you and Beckett hardly know each other? You have hardly talked to her since we came down."

"Ah," Castle smiled. "There is method to my madness. Being host I am required to mingle with my guests. So I am doing all of my mingling now, so I don't have to do it later. Second, Kate doesn't want to be in the media spotlight until after she is more comfortable with our…. Relationship, I guess that is was you would call it. So I am trying to keep my eyes and hands off her as much as possible, which let me tell you is a very difficult thing."

"I am nor a socialite Castle, why are dancing with me?" Lanie inquired.

"My reasons are three fold. First you are safe, you know about Kate and me so I don't have to be on guard. Second you are a beautiful woman, so the press will think I'm just tomcatting around, and third you are Kate's best friend so I can pick your brain about her."

"So what you're saying is you are a devious bastard, with Machiavellian plots afoot."

"You know me too well, Doctor Parish." Castle opined.

"By the way you do have permission to call me Lanie… Doctor Parish is so formal, for partners in crime." Lanie laughed as they waltzed into the middle of the dance floor.

Kate watched as Rick waltzed onto the dance floor with her best friend. She was dismayed that she felt a pang of jealousy. She knew, and had been reassured by Alexis that Rick was dancing around to try to keep their relationship under the radar, but still it burned a little bit to see him dancing with other women. Kate had never been the possessive type before. When she was dating Will, he had a absolutely gorgeous partner, but she had never felt threatened by her. Perhaps it was Castles supposed inability to keep it in his pants that had her unsure and therefore jealous. She was learning that despite the press saying otherwise, Richard was utterly loyal. She found it hard to reconcile the man from his press image. She was finding it very aggravating to find that she had some self worth issues when it came to the upper crust. She worked for a living and these pompous Blue Bloods had a silver spoon in their mouth at birth, she shouldn't feel inferior to anyone.

"So Detective Beckett, how are you doing tonight?"

Kate looked over to see a man dressed in a dark gray suit. His bearing was that of one that skated on the outskirts of High Society, He had an undertone of jealousy and contempt, which seemed to color everything he did or thought. He was handsome with dark brown curly hair and hazel eyes. He had been athletic in his youth but and stopped really taking care of himself. She automatically compared his to Castle and this guy lost in every category. She mentally kicked herself for making such rapid judgments.

"Excuse me, do I know you?" Kate replied.

"Eric Browning of the Daily Star, I'm their book reviewer. So tell me, is it true that Rick is lacking in the 'bed" department?"

"Excuse me?" was all she could say.

"Oh, come now, we all know that you are Ricky's newest conquest. Let's not beat around the bush. We are both too worldly for that." Eric replied.

"Richard Castle is shadowing me, researching his new character Nikki Heat. That's as far as it goes. It is a professional relationship." Kate said keeping a careful lid on her anger.

"Come now Ms. Beckett, do you expect me to believe that you and he aren't romantically involved, given his track record of conquests? Tell me have you been in any of the orgies that have been rumored to go on in his apartment?

Kate realized that this reporter was fishing for gossip. Eric was not the book reviewer he was the gossip columnist. She also seemed to recall that he and his paper had been hit by a defamation law suit brought by Castle and had lost. Before she could frame a suitable reply, she was interrupted by a very suave gentleman dressed in Black Tails similar Richards.

"Hello Eric, written any good slander today?" His baritone voice was very precise, and had smooth quality about it. "Why don't you run along and find some more lies to print. I'm sure your paper would love to pay out more money in lawyer's fees."

Eric reddened at the insults but said nothing. He gave a brisk nod in Kate's direction and stormed off. The suave gentleman turned to Beckett and gave her a wry smile.

"Please forgive Eric; he has had a lot to live down to. Ah, but where are my manners, Benjamin Reginald Kensington Smythe at your service Detective."

"Wow that's a mouth full." Kate blurted.

"Quite, my mother calls me Benjamin, my business associates call me Ben, my friends call me Benny and Richard calls me Bricks. You may call me whatever you like."

Kate smiled Ben could turn on the Blue Blood charm when he wanted to. "Bricks?" she had to ask.

"Yes when Ricky and I met, he decided to make my name by pronounce my initials as a word, B.R.K.S. became Bricks, you see. Ricky and I met in elementary school and Bricks sounded so much cooler than Reggie."

"So you have known 'Ricky' since elementary school?"

"Yes, sad to say. We sort of fell into the same crowd and became fast friends. We have helped each other out over the years. My record with prep schools is just about as bad as Ricky's so we seemed to follow each other from school to school."

"What was Ricky like as a child?" Kate inquired.

"Not frightfully different than today, if truth be told, he was a chevalier even then."

"Rick a chevalier? I have a hard time picturing a young Castle as being chivalrous."

"Well, yes, he was. He was d'Artagnan and I was Porthos there were two other boys that fleshed out our Musketeers, Eric being one of them. Although in modern parlance Eric was more an Anakin Skywalker. One day I shall have to invite you over for lunch and I will regale you with the tales of our exploits. Ricky will never forgive me of course, but such is life, I shall bear up well in the face of his wrath."

Kate was amused by the somewhat whimsical nature of Ben was displaying. Her curiosity was afire. She now had access to someone who knew Richard and his childhood. She ached to interrogate the man and learn all of Castle's secrets.

"So what can you tell me about Ricky, in the time we have?"

"Well suffice to say, I owe him my life. When we were younger I had a tendency to get picked on a lot. As you may have guessed I am not exactly butch. Consequently the older boys would pick on me. Richard, with the daring you would expect of him, dredged up a lot of family secrets on those boys and basically blackmailed them into leaving me alone. It worked too, after he divulged that one boy was buying his papers from a college student and got him kicked out of the Academy, nobody bothered me again. They did go gunning for Ricky, though. They made his life a living hell for awhile, but he made sure to pay them back in spades."

"I can see Rick doing some audacious things in school, mostly with the girls though."

"Oh, he was a wooer of the ladies, that's true. I got a front row seat to see Ricky's way with words. He was brilliant and eloquent, a dangerous combination in an adolescent, he would talk himself into and out of trouble, on a daily basis. That he was smarter and more adept with the written word than most of our English teachers caused him hardship. I always knew that if Ricky wanted to, he would be one hell of an author. I think that he would probably excel at anything he put his hand to."

"Don't tell him I told you, but he is a great asset to the police department. He has helped us crack more than one case. So Eric, did doesn't strike me as a blue blood? Oh sorry I did not mean to disparage…. "

"Please, Kate I can't stand the Blue Bloods and I am one of them. It is an interesting juxtaposition, when we were younger it was Eric who was from a rich family and Ricky who was poor, well poor compared to us Blue Bloods. Eric's family was heavily involved in domestic oil production during the Seventy's oil crunch. They became the paupers and Ricky the bestselling writer. At the time it was Erick that was convinced that he was God's gift to the written word and Ricky that wanted to be a reporter. Eric was convinced that his connections would be his ticket to the world of the Bestselling Author. Well when the money dried up so did the connections."

"So what was the lawsuit about?"

"Oh, that was truly tragic, about five years ago Eric printed an unsubstantiated rumor about Ricky and a young up and coming Broadway actress. She was banking on her wholesome image to make a name for herself. When pictures that were supposedly of Ricky and her 'doing the nasty' in public, well she got dropped like a hot potato. She was young and penniless, so Ricky sued the pants off the paper Eric was working for, the Ledger, I think it was, and sued him for good measure. I mean Ricky had met the girl maybe once or twice; there had not been any dates between the two, and they both had strong witnesses that placed them nowhere near the park in question. The photo expert was able to prove beyond any doubt that the picture had been tampered with, well the Ledger settled as quick as they could. They fired Eric of course, and now Eric works for that Rag the Daily Star. Anyway, Ricky gave the entire settlement to her, less attorney's fees, of course. So she is sitting on quite a nest egg and Eric is still trying to dig up enough dirt on Richard, to ruin him. It's a tragic situation." Ben finished sadly.

Kate was about to press further when Rick came sauntering up. He was slightly flushed. She could not tell if it was because of panic or exertion from dancing.

"So Bricks have you had sufficient time to embarrass me."

"Ah, Ricky, I saved you damsel from Eric's company, and was able to get in a few tidbits. I have peeked her curiosity enough that she has agreed to have lunch with me."

"Aw, come no Bricks, that's not fair."Rick complained good naturedly "You're not suppose to blab my secrets to anybody. We made a pact, sealed it in blood."

"Statute of Limitations, dear boy, those blood packs are only good for fifteen years. You have to renew them or they lapse; besides this is Detective Beckett we are talking about. If you are as smart as I know you are, you won't let this one get away." Ben turned to Kate. He took her hand and pressed it to his lips." It was enchanting to meet you, my dear Kate." And Ben moved off to mingle.

"He is a very interesting man." Kate opined.

"Oh, Bricks is more interesting than you know, and he is probably my best friend, present company excluded, of course. Will you dance with me Kate?"

Rick led her out into the maelstrom of dancers. Ballroom dancing was just so alien to her. She had the obligatory dance classes when she was young but they had been ballet and tap. With a sureness that comforted Kate's fear, Richard began the dance. The pair, who had been working together for months, seemed to have reached some subliminal understanding, and began to move as one. Kate allowed herself to relax and enjoy her time in his arms.

"So, Ricky…" she Started

"Please no Kitten and no Ricky" Castle groaned

"Alright, Richard, what's up with the big donation? Did you think it would earn you brownie points with the cops?" Kate continued.

"What… Oh no." he chuckled. "That was a stroke of genius on my part."

"Genius, huh? I don't see it."

"Well with my donation so breathlessly announced by the Chairman. The Upper Crust, who hate me for becoming so wealthy, won't be able to offer less than I did. It would be a scandal. So the F.O.P. should make out well tonight."

"So it wasn't show off?" Kate asked.

"Kate, you wound me. The Widows fund is in need of a good influx of money. 911 drained their coffers and it isn't any safer to be a cop now, they need the capital." Castle said matter of factly.

Kate smiled and began to feel warmth spread through her. She leaned in and whispered seductively "Let's go find someplace private so a cop can show you her appreciation……"

A/N: I very much enjoyed writing this chapter. Bricks was particularly fun. Hope you enjoyed reading.