Enough is Enough

by Castlefan6

Authors Note: This is AU; A different scenario after Rick returns to the Precinct in Episodes 3-1. Based on a few quotes I live by,

"Castle, go home! Go back to your ex-wife, your Hamptons, your book parties, okay? I've got work to do." This is what prompted this story

I don't own Castle; I only use the characters for amusement purposes, except the ones I create.

Also, we take liberties with the timeline from Canon and use events to make this more believable fiction, thanks. Remember This IS AU. Timelines, Events, and Outcomes may vary from the Original Script.

WARNING! THIS MAY NOT END AS A CASKETT FIC. If that disturbs you, please delay reading until I decide which ending, I will choose.

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Chapter 3

12th Precinct

Immediately Following the Meeting with Captain Montgomery

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Kate looked over at two men who were doing any and everything to avoid her stare and approach back to their area. "Guys, we need to talk about this, I mean," she said softly,

"Talk about what Kate, how you made us all look like fools because your ego got bruised. For what? Was it because you waited too long before you were going to tell him you wanted to go to his Hamptons Home, or because you had to watch him walk out of here with another woman, just like he had to watch you and Demming making out on the stairwell?" Javi was blunt and to the point,

"It wasn't like that Javi" she pleaded,

"Then what was it like?" Kevin piped in, still nursing a doozy of a hangover, and in no mood for games,

"I didn't say that Castle dumped me for Gina, you guys saw him leave and just assumed, I mean," She pleaded once again

"Yea, and you went along with it, even when we were treating one of our own like he was a piece of crap. I came close to punching him out because I thought he hurt you, only to have Tom tell us in the bar the entire story." Javi said before Kevin jumped in,

"He told us how you used him to try to make Castle jealous and when that didn't work how you broke up with him just before you made your appearance at the going away party. Seriously, Kate, you had plenty of chances to tell us all to stand down, even if you didn't want to tell the entire story.

"You didn't so what does that make you? Would Javi or I suffer the same fate if we didn't follow your every command?" Kevin wasn't pulling any punches; the hangover had given the usually mild-mannered detective a backbone and he was letting his boss have it.

"Guys, I screwed up, I know, big time, but I need to make this right with Rick, I promised to call him." She said, holding back the tears pooling in her eyes,

"Well, good luck with that. What makes you think that he will talk to you, hell he hung up on Captain Montgomery, and from what I could learn, he won't be coming back to the precinct, no matter who asks." Javi added,

"I called him last night, Jenny relayed to me what he said, because after Demming told us the REAL story, I got messed up big time. When I got home Jenny was pissed but when I told her why, well, let's just say you aren't on her greeting card list this year.

"How could you stand by and let us all wail away on a man who didn't have a clue of what he did? He asked us, all of us, "WHAT DID I DO" You could have stopped it then, but you didn't, did you enjoy seeing him being humiliated, Kate? Was this a payback for him leaving with his ex-wife and publisher earlier this year? I have a hard time believing that it could be anything but you getting your pound of flesh for revenge." Kevin spat toward her as he reached for the medicine bottle and popped two more Tylenol.

"I called him after Kevin, I had to cool down before I did, and believe me, Kate, he was much more gracious to me than I would have been to him. He sent over courtside tickets for Kev and me next week, just to prove he accepted our apologies. He even told me, he understood, he knew how defensive we are of you, but after that stunt, I can't anymore, you're on your own." Javi got up and walked away, as his disgust was clearly on display.

"Kevin, can we go to Remy's for lunch, I need to explain to you guys, I mean," Kate pleaded,

"Kate, if you haven't noticed, Javi and Montgomery, your two biggest defenders, are done defending you. I don't think anything you can say or do will change that until we get Castle back, and I doubt that will happen.

"A man can only take so much, and when he realized the source of his less-than-professional treatment yesterday he just said it was probably for the best, he needed to refocus on other priorities anyway. I think you need to face the fact that you finally got what you always wanted, Castle gone, so congratulations." Kevin rose and without a word left a speechless Beckett standing alone staring at an empty murder board.

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Castle's Loft

Same Morning

Rick had trouble sleeping, and at 4:15 AM had given up, gotten up, showered, shaved, and was on the 12th chapter of the next Heat novel by 11:00 AM. His stomach was sending him signals that it was time to feed it. He grabbed his keys, took the Mercedes out with the top down, and headed toward a small restaurant where he knew the food was always good, and there was zero chance of running into anyone from the 12th.

He pulled into the parking lot about 35 minutes later and was amazed at how much the place had stayed the same, even after all these years. The Old Haunt had been his preferred writing spot when he was working on his early works, hell, A Rose Forever After was written in one of their booths, so it held a special place in his heart. It was out of the way of the normal Cop bars, so it served him well. When he walked in, he spotted Cecelia, the waitress that had been there since probably it first opened.

She rushed to him, "I don't believe it, it is Ricky Castle in the flesh. We thought after you became a big shot writer, famous around the world we would never see you slumming with us again."

"Hey, I'm not slumming, and you know how much I love this place Ceil, although I do remember it being quite a bit busier in the old days," Rick replied as he hugged the older lady and kissed her on the cheek.

"Yea, you and me both, you know the place is for sale, don't you? I think one of those big franchises is going to buy it and remodel it into one that fits their brand." She said sadly,

"Where is Pop, still have the same office?" Rick asked,

"Yep, but I don't think you can talk him out of selling, his heart just isn't in the place anymore," she said sadly,

"Tell you what, can you get me a cold glass of draft to go along with your double mushroom burger, and onion rings? I'll be back before it's off the grill, OK?" he asked with a smile on his face,

"OK, Hotshot, but he's still as mean as he always was" She smiled as Rick knocked on a door that said

PRIVATE.

It wasn't long before both men came out smiling, and Pop summoned his wait staff over to the bar. "Folks meet the new owner of the Haunt, Rick Castle, he wants everyone to know that as of today they are receiving a 20% pay increase provided they stay on for at least 90 days. Brian, he has some crazy idea that you would be a good manager, so as of now, here," he handed him his key ring, and said, "the place is yours"

"Is this true Rick, I mean, I didn't look forward to looking for another job, not at my age," Cecilia said,

"Yep, it's true, and Brian, I understand you're about to have a baby so if you're interested maybe we can work out a deal where you can become part owner, a hell of a lot more secure now that you have a kid coming," Rick said, as he stuck out his hand and Brian shook it vigorously.

"You bet Mr. Castle,"

"It's Rick, here is my phone number and my accountant, call me if you need anything and I'll let them know to approve any purchase up to 5 grand, on your signature, we can increase that later if that's OK.

"Thanks, Rick, that will work just fine, and I know the Mrs. will be happy. I met her here and it was breaking our heart to see it turn into a TGIF." He smiled,

"Rick your sandwich is hot, and the beer is cold now get your backside over here and eat." Cecelia kidded,

Rick was at peace, the food was still good, and a cold beer and the pictures adorning the walls made him forget all about a certain NYPD Detective. He had called Alexis earlier and told her his phone would be off, so not to worry about him, he was in the zone.

Brian and he had a few calls with Rick's managers, and it was all set up that Brian had the authority to hire and fire and Rick increased his signature limit to 25K per purchase order. Walter, his attorney was having a fit that he paid almost double the appraised value of the bar until Rick told him to worry about his financial situation, especially if he lost his job. That was enough to shut him up, and things progressed smoothly after that.

Rick pulled his phone out to check the time, gosh, it was already 5:30 PM, he turned the phone on to screen his messages and saw he had 23 missed calls from Beckett, 7 from Roy, 5 from the mayor, and 24 new voicemails. He decided to head home where he could deal with the situation in more private surroundings. He was glad he came out, he couldn't bear the thought of the Haunt being the latest TGIF bar.

He enjoyed his trip home, even in rush hour traffic, but he was smart enough to put the top up. He had the misfortune of having eggs thrown from a building when he first bought the car, and it took months to get the smell and mess out. He pulled into his parking spot and entered using the back entrance. When he walked into his entryway, the house phone and intercom both were blinking with messages.

He decided to take the intercom first, he buzzed down and heard Eduardo say, "Sorry to bother you Mr. Castle but you have visitors in the lobby."

"What visitors Eduardo, what are their names?" he asked,

"Miss Paula is here, again, she's left and comes back a few times, and the lady you work with at the NYPD, Detective Miss Kate is also here," Eduardo said, in his broken English,

"OK, Eduardo, can you get Paula off the side, send her up the service elevator, and tell the Detective that I just called, and I won't be home for at least a few days," Rick asked

"Sure thing Mr. Castle, Enrique will escort Miss Paula to your door, sir, I will talk to Miss Detective Kate, "

"Thanks, Eduardo, I appreciate your help." And disconnected the intercom.

He decided to take care of business before he listened to his voicemails, although he had a pretty good idea who had left them.

The buzzer for his door buzzed and when he opened the door there stood Paula and Enrique, waiting for his approval to allow her to enter. He slipped the young man a bill, and said, "Paula, come on in, I thought you would call, I'm sorry you had to make multiple trips" He said,

"I did call, check your voice mail, and better still turn on your God Damn phone, just because you don't want to talk to your muse doesn't mean you go radio silent on the rest of us. YOU asked me to put feelers out, and well, "

"Well, what Paula, do you have any updates or not," Rick had a long day and wasn't in the mood for games,

"Actually, I do. I have it from a source I would trust in my bedroom, that the corporation is about to search for a replacement for the stiff they got to write the books when you turned them down. I dropped a few hints like double the money and a three-book deal, minimum if they wanted the best.

"The only drawback is the current writer is under contract for two more months, if they can him now, he gets all the money including bonuses. If we wait, they will let his contract expire and the money they save on him will be your signing bonus. So what do you say, a couple of months too long to wait, or"

"It's perfect Paula, start the negotiations and have Walter review the contracts with our International Law firm, I want to be sure we get this one right,

" Rick said,

"And what about Nikki Heat, what do you plan to do with her, and what's Gina going to say?" Paula asked,

"Actually, Gina has the second book already, and I'm working on the third and last book on the current contract, I have it about 70% complete, so it won't be a problem. I will just fulfill my current contract and then refuse to negotiate any extension." Rick said,

"You know they will want you to spend a great deal of time at least for the first book in the UK, is that going to be a problem?" Paula probed,

"Not as of last week, Alexis has decided to attend Oxford so I will at least be in the same time zone as she is, Mother is moving in with Chet, so everything is working out." He smiled,

"Great, I'll get on it, and Ricky, leave your phone on, I love you but not enough to cut into my getting laid time, again." She kissed him and went out the door.

Rick thought wow, three-book deal, signing bonus, and on the same side of the world as his daughter, things were working out. The only drawback now was Beckett, she would probably forget about her promise to call, so if she did, then England would be just what he needed.

He turned and started listening to and deleting the voicemails from Beckett, Roy, and Paula, he saved a few from Gina, and one from Walter about his purchase of the Old Haunt then deleted the remaining messages.

His cell phone had so many missed calls from Beckett, he almost deleted the entire call history, luckily, he saw a call from Brian at the Haunt and called him back. Brian had some great ideas for how to increase the traffic and revenue, so Rick told him to treat it like it was his bar. Make any changes, except to personnel he desired, but he still would approve any dismissals or new hires.

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Rick's Lobby

Same Time Frame

Eduardo was having difficulty in making Kate Beckett understand she couldn't wait for Mr. Castle, that he would be gone for at least two maybe three days, and she must leave. After some intense discussion, she finally relented and left, but she stood outside and saw his silhouette in the shade, so she knew Javi's prediction was about to come true, she had blown it with him for good this time.

Immediately her old instincts kicked in, she was going to find someone before he had the chance to dump her, she knew it was just a matter of days before he let her down easily. She headed to the club, where she and Lanie partied from time to time. On her way there, she was an eyewitness to a Motorcycle crash with a driver of an SUV who crashed the light. She called in the plate for the SUV when he took off, and then headed to the bike to see if she could render first aid.

The rider was in a state of shock and fought her when she forced him to lie still, the ambulance arrived and she was shocked when one of the EMTs spoke to the rider, "Dr Davidson, what the hell happened to you, and why did you fight the detective? You know concussion protocol better than anyone, she was just trying to keep you from further injury."

"I know Red, I know, it's just that SOB crashed the light, and never even thought about stopping, I'm glad she called it in, wait, did you say Police Detective, as in NYPD?" Dr. Joshua Davidson asked,

"Yep, and you're lucky she's a badass and could kick your ass on your best day, good thing you obeyed, or you really would be hurt. Two patrol units picked up the driver three blocks down, he bailed and tried to run, but apparently, he's bleeding pretty badly as well, so maybe she saved two lives tonight." Red smiled,

"Well, you're on your way to Presbyterian, and the driver of the SUV is being life-flighted to the closest trauma center. We'll get you there as soon as we can Doc, can we do anything for you before we roll?" he asked,

"If that Detective is still on the scene, I'd like to say thanks, I mean,"

"You're welcome, Dr., I'm glad you decided to follow protocol, the bike can be fixed, you're not as easy. I know how you feel, I have a Soft Tail myself, so touching my bike is grounds for murder. Here's my card if you need any information for the insurance company, I've already submitted my witness statement to patrol, call me if you need anything, and good luck" Kate said as she turned and walked back to her cruiser,

So, he was a doctor, a cute one at that. Oh well, who knows he may never call anyway, I still have to decide about Castle she thought, as she drove home, not knowing that fate had just intervened in several lives that evening.

TBC