Disclaimer: The wording is mine but the characters aren't
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"Now, that would be a spoiler. If I'm going to be telling this story, it's going to be from the very beginning."
"I guess I had better settle in," Jim said. "You are a novelist after all."
"He'll keep it short," Beckett said regaining her composure.
"Hey, no ganging up on me."
"Just tell the story, Castle."
OOOOOOOOO
"Okay. So our story begins as it usually does: far too early in the morning. I don't know if Beckett's told you but most murderers in New York have absolutely no respect for our sleeping hours."
She just rolled her eyes at him.
He grinned. It had been a while and it was funny how he missed that quirk.
And so he progressed with the story, from coffee and pizza as they spent time tracking all the members of the gang and rival gangs, checking financials and phone records, to running down alibis.
"All I can say," Castle told her father, "is that I am very glad that gang members like to stick together. Everyone notices a gang when they're out. Also they tend to haunt the same places so we have reliable witnesses who know the members. Usually bartenders."
"Do they make reliable witnesses?"
Kate was surprised at her father's interest. That wasn't the first question he had asked.
"Usually," she admitted. "Staff are very helpful, especially in smaller or local places. The bigger a place and the more service, the less reliable some of the accounts get."
"And the gangs don't intimidate or buy them out?"
"Your Dad is good," Castle said.
"Yes," she admitted again. "But we always ask multiple staff members for corroboration."
She was surprised at how happy she was to be sharing with her dad again, and even more that he was genuinely interested.
"And lots of places have cameras somewhere," Castle added. "Anyway, so to get to the interesting part," he shot an amused glance at Beckett, "We found our perp."
"Possible perp," she corrected.
"Anyway, the problem is, he is pretty tight in the middle of the gang."
"Really hard to get to," she volunteered. "We need to interrogate him , but…"
"If we headed in there, we would probably get nothing useful…"
"And he would just go underground." Beckett finished.
"So what is the plan and how does it result in Castle in handcuffs?" Jim spoke up.
"Call me Rick, please. No one else does."
She just snorted.
"Just keep telling the story, Rick," Jim insisted.
"I'm addictive aren't I?" Castle grinned, waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively.
"Castle," she said warningly.
"Right. So that's when we decided that we should go in undercover."
"Undercover?"
"Yes. We will be two very badass bikers looking to join their colors. It helps that your daughter has a death machine of her own. We have gone undercover together many times," he hastened to add. "Always awesome and successful, so I figure it was the perfect idea. Though you are never taking me to that male strip club again," he looked at her pointedly and she and her father choked at the same time.
"You two went to a male strip club undercover?" Jim demanded just as his daughter slapped his hand.
"What the hell are you telling him?"
"I guess that's a story for another time," Castle stammered as he was pressed by two Becketts.
"Anyway, so I was all for it until the other three tell me that I would just get myself killed."
"Castle," she warned. She really didn't want him using that word when talking to her father, even lightly. This was the first time they had talked about her job and the last thing she wanted to do was remind him of how dangerous it could be.
Her father seemed to take it in stride though. "And why is that?" he asked.
"Well," Castle paused to send Beckett a hurt look. "They didn't think I was man enough for the job."
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"I know, right?" Castle said. "You're obviously as shocked as I was when I heard. I mean me, not manly enough? As if."
She was holding his eyes, an eyebrow raised as they both waited for her father's reply. The longer silence reigned, the more indignant Castle's face became and the harder she had to push herself not to laugh in his face.
"Dad?" She asked, still holding Castle's eyes, literally biting her lip to keep the laughter in.
Over the phone came the faintest squeal, like air escaping from a tight space. They broke their staring contest and stared at the phone in surprise. Then the laughter came over the speaker. Full, belly laughter that made the phone vibrate slightly as the speaker boomed.
Castle's face was horrified. The look on his face was absolutely priceless. The last of her self-restraint shattered and suddenly she was laughing. And she couldn't stop. Her stomach was cramping and her eyes were watering. Her side ached a little but every time she started to get herself under control, a last chuckle from her father would start her off again or she looked up and caught another look of Castle's face. At least she wasn't alone, her laughter seemed to be spurring her father on as well.
She couldn't remember laughing like this. The last time had to have been at school sometime. Oh wait, there was when she rigged the coffee machine…No, this definitely topped that.
She suddenly felt very young as the laughter poured out of her in front of him, mixing with her father's. God, she missed laughing. She missed laughing with her father. She couldn't recall a single of her father's laughs recently. And this one was thanks to Castle. That was going to piss her off later: after the images of his disgust faded.
"Well, I would leave you two alone to laugh at me behind my back, my incredibly manly back I might add."
The laughter intensified.
"But I'm literally tied to you right now."
She finally looked at him again and saw the soft look he didn't mask quickly enough. His eyes were light and there was still a hint of a smile on his lips. He had enjoyed their laughter as much as they had. It was very clear to her. She waited for the embarrassment she was sure she would feel for letting go so entirely in front of him, but it never came.
"Oh," Jim let out a shuddering breath. "It's so good to hear you laughing Katie."
She was still looking at Castle, half-expecting for him to make some small comment, but he was still just watching her.
"Thanks, Dad." She didn't look away and continued with dangerous honesty. "I missed your laugh too." She gave Castle a smile and gave him a look of gratitude.
Castle's lips quirked up into a slightly crooked smile and he slowly and deliberately laced his fingers through hers.
Before she could even think enough to over-analyze it and panic her father continued.
"So he's not the only one in cuffs."
"No. He's not."
"We were going in as a couple," Castle picked up the explanation to spare her. "That isn't a first, but the dynamic in a gang is a little different. Until now, we've only had to say we were together, we didn't even have to hold hands. But in a gang, people are a little more forward. Kind of territorial. If you're with someone, you have to prove it." He held her eyes, not allowing her to look away.
"We both got the separate act down pat," Beckett said evenly.
"I totally floored them with my acting skills," Castle interjected.
"Your mother is an actress," Beckett reminded him playfully.
"Anyway, Lanie and the boys were watching and made us do a test-run together."
"And it didn't work too well?" Jim stated gently.
"It went okay at first," she shrugged. No one said anything as the two on the couch remembered the experience. "Then Lanie took Esposito's cuffs and to told us to hold out our hands," she continued finally.
"Never trust medical professionals," Castle added.
"Then she cuffed me to him," she tried to make it sound as normal as possible.
"For 24 hours," he added in mock horror.
She squeezed the fingers in hers and he squeaked. She smirked, satisfied. She was surprised how good it felt to joke around with him. She had always enjoyed his jokes, but actually participating in them had her feeling lighter in the way she only seemed to feel around him.
"Can I offer you a piece of advice?" Her father's voice brought her back to the conversation.
"Sure," she looked at the phone.
"Call each other by name. Kate. Rick."
They both looked at each other, feeling a little awkward. She knew it shouldn't be too hard to call someone by name. She did it all the time. But she had never called him Rick, not in a normal situation.
"Kate," he said softly and ran his thumb over the skin of the hand he held in his in encouragement. It felt good.
She looked at their hands for a long moment before he heard her say in a small voice, "Rick."
She knew Castle and trusted him with her life, but Rick was still an unknown, so she was unreasonably anxious about saying his name, letting herself closer to him. She was surprised how good it felt to say it. It felt so good, so normal that she smiled and returned his contact, "Rick."
"Nice to meet you Kate," he said formally.
"And the same to you Rick," she mimicked him.
"I would shake your hand, but…."
Jim listened to the two of them and felt himself smiling. He had never spent much time with Rick Castle and he thought he had known how much he owed him for bringing levity back into her life. He now realized that what he had felt wasn't nearly enough. He had rung his daughter hoping just to catch up. To hear her tell him she was fine and put his mind at ease. Their conversations never lasted long. They didn't talk about work, or relationships, or the past so their conversations were mostly silent; just taking comfort in knowing they were on the other end of the line. Lately he had heard more stories from her. Usually about something the writer did. And while she never talked about cases she began to share her day to day with him. Conversations with the boys and Lanie. But for the most part they were stories about Castle. On the way to the scene today he said this, he did that. Castle is such an idiot. He was really sweet today. He and Alexis are having an epic laser-tag battle tonight…Jim was sure that his daughter didn't realize she was doing it or it would drive her insane. He was never a religious man, especially after Johanna, but if he knew someone was listening, he might take up saying thanks for Richard Castle every night.
"Thank you Rick," he said quietly. "I haven't laughed like that in…And thank you for sharing with me. You really are a good story teller."
Beckett's breath caught as if she was about to say something , but Castle held firm to her hand and held her eyes.
"I know right?" He said lightly. "But really, it was nice to talk to you. I can see part of where Beck…Kate gets it from."
"I would like to actually sit down and talk with you sometime. You were going to bring him around at some point, weren't you Kate?"
"At some point, "she deliberately avoided Castle's eyes at this. She would take him home if it wasn't Castle. But because it was Castle, she had been determined to keep up that last defensive barrier. Because taking him home would have been permanent. She knew they would get on well. Too well. And she couldn't allow that if she was still half-certain that he would leave her eventually. They all did. And if he had ever been to her home, with all her memories…she would never get over him.
Plus she already got unwanted relationship advice from too many people. Coming from her father, it would be so awkward. Especially as she was determined that they were only partners. But if I really only thought of him as my partner, she wondered, I shouldn't be worried about showing him around. He's just my partner. Like Ryan and Esposito. And my friend, my best friend; like Lanie…kind of. Oh, this is confusing.
Jim processed her silence." Maybe we could all catch a meal after you close the case," he volunteered.
"Sounds good," Castle agreed. "I can't prove how manly I am over the phone."
This earned a laugh from Beckett. He deliberately kept it light rather than binding, leaving it open for her to brush it off if she wanted. She smiled gratefully again. She was doing that a lot tonight. Yeah, they should meet under better circumstances.
"I'll give you a call when we close it," she said.
Castle's smile was bright and seeing it made her unreasonably happy.
"Maybe you can share some more stories?" Jim asked hesitantly.
"I'd like that," she said softly.
"Okay Katie, I'll let you guys start your movie. I'll see you around then Rick?"
"Looking forward to it."
"And thank you," he said roughly, "for keeping her safe out there."
"Always," was all Castle replied looking only at Kate, stealing her ability to protest that she didn't need protecting. But there was something haunted there in him. Guilty?
"Night, Katie."
"Night Dad," she answered automatically, her mind suddenly off on a tangent, wondering what Castle had been thinking at that moment.