Dropped Call

by Castlefan6

Authors Note: Castle missed his going away party because something unexpected came up and the Castle/Gina/Hamptons thing didn't happen etc. Castle assumes Beckett is with Demming and goes off the grid for several months. Would our favorite couple ever reconnect? From a prompt from Kato769. NOTE: AU not canon

I don't own Castle, I use the characters for amusement purposes only

Chapter 2

Previously

"Yeah, you're right Paula, what's the point. Listen I'm gonna be off grid for the next few weeks, it's a family thing I need to take care of so use the burner cell ONLY in case of emergencies, and Paula, Gina wanting a fucking update is not an emergency, Clear?"

"Crystal Rick, hope things work out, call me if you need me for anything"

Castle's Loft

4:00 AM Next Day

Rick was up, showered and had a cup of coffee and bagel before 3:00 AM, he was still exhausted from his trip yesterday, but he wanted to get an early start. He had set the auto timers to on, controlling temps, lights and security system to be manned 24/7, as well as packing the remainder of bagels and coffee for the road. His answering machine reverted automatically to the standard greeting, and he synched his regular phone with his Cloud account, only taking the burner phone that only Paula had the number for.

His first appointment was at 6:00 PM but after yesterday, he wasn't letting anything stand in his way. This was his best course of treatment, if it worked there would be little if any side effects, if it were unsuccessful, well he just wasn't prepared to go there yet. He was still haunted by the look on his friend and physician's face as he came into the exam room with the lab results.

Gregg DeLeaver had been a friend of Rick's since the first day of college, when Rick befriended the lost freshman, and actually bought his lunch. Gregg's family made Martha and Rick look like millionaires and needless to say it was all they could do to manage the essentials, even with Gregg's full scholarship.

"So, what you gonna be when you graduate Gregg, some politician, or Labor Leader to change the world?" Rick had asked him early on in his friendship.

"Nope, gonna be an Oncologist so I can help as many people in the work kick Cancer's Ass. It took my Pop, and his Pop, and will probably take me if I don't keep screened and stay away from the triggers like tobacco, and other drugs."

Well his friend had struggled but his dream had come true, and when he graduated, Rick was fresh off a best seller, so Rick, being Rick, bought Gregg's first office space and all the equipment he would need, letting him begin his practice debt free. When Gregg argued, Rick came back with hey, if I ever need your service, I get the Special Treatment and the debt is paid. Gregg reluctantly agreed, and neither friend would ever suspect things would play out as they had.

FLASHBACK

Three Weeks Earlier

Rick had gone for his annual physical, mostly to avoid the nagging of his daughter, but also because his good friend Gregg, an Oncologist by specialty, still had a small practice in Internal Medicine for his close friends, and once Gregg called there was no getting him to back off. His voicemail left do doubt of the limits he would go to insure his friends were healthy:

"Rick, get your ass, and the other parts of you into my office next Tuesday or I will tell TMZ about Dorothy Merz, you do know her husband is an ex UFC fighter, don't you? Call me back with the time you're coming in, later Gregg"

Rick called and made the appointment for 10:30AM the next Tuesday and everything seemed to be going well,

"Let's grab lunch while your labs are processing Rick, shouldn't take that long and you can get out of here"

"Sounds good to me Gregg, any place special you go", as Rick headed to the Hot Dog vendor outside the office and Gregg firmly steers him toward a sit-down restaurant offering a variety of dishes. Since it was early, especially for Rick, he went with the house salad, rather than his normal cheeseburger with cheese fries and a strawberry shake.

"Nice try buddy but I got your lab numbers coming to me shortly, and I know how much you love your greasy foods. You do need to lose 5-10 lbs., but I'm guessing the late-night meals with the Detectives are one cause of that,"

"Well we won't have to worry about that much longer, I'm pretty much done with that research so now I can get back to the gym my regular once or twice a quarter", as they both laugh.

"Well some of us have schedules Rick, shall we get back, so we can get you on your way?"

"Sure thing, ready when you are Gregg," as Gregg motions for the check, the server comes over and said "it's all taken care of sir, and thank you for your generosity,"

"I'm going to have to remember to prepay the next time we go out, seriously Rick, I can afford it now, it's not like back in college."

"I know Gregg, but I do things that make me happy, and paying for that made me happy, enough said" as they reached the office.

"Go on in Rick, I'm just going to grab your lab results and be right in," as Rick enters the exam room once again. In a few minutes he hears Gregg talking through the door, and he's angry,

"Well check them again, and when you're done with that check those again, and I'm sending down a fresh sample and I don't want your Jr. Techs touching this, you handle this, you understand?"

"Sorry Rick as he enters the exam room once again, we're gonna have to run the blood tests again, so I'll have the nurse in to draw in a moment,"

Another set of blood vials are personally walked to the lab on the floor below by Dr. DeLeaver and the Supervisor runs the exams personally. It is a shell shocked and almost speechless Dr. DeLeaver who entered the exam room, no one had to tell Rick the news was not good.

"OK Gregg, let's have it buddy, I heard you yelling through the door, and your assistant said you walked the new samples to the lab personally, so level with me, how bad is it?"

"Well Rick the official term is adenocarcinoma of the prostate, or just prostate cancer, yours is somewhere between Stage III: where your PSA levels are high, the tumor is growing, or the cancer is high grade. These all indicate a locally advanced cancer that is likely to grow and spread, and Stage IIIA: The cancer has spread beyond the outer layer of the prostate into nearby tissues."

"Ok Gregg, so what does that mean, do we go home and check our bucket list, or is there a treatment that we can do?"

"Rick, normal treatments include chemo, and radiation, they are painful and will cause you to lose your hair, plus chronic fatigue among other side effects,"

"No, No, way Gregg, sounds like the treatment is worse than the damn disease."

"The survival rate for this is between 29% and 56% BUT I have a colleague in Canada who has a clinical trial that has shown remarkable results, it's 4 weeks of hormone and cell reprogramming, in a sense teaching the good cells of your body to attack the cancer from within, he has over a 75% success rate, but the program is only approved in Canada, the FDA still has it's head stuck up their ass here"

"How long is the treatment in Canada Gregg, and how long do I have if it doesn't work?"

"Well Rick, let's take the positive one first, the program is 4 weeks, but you must live in Toronto, and be available at the hospital 16 hours each day, the regimen is on three days, off 1 then decreasing to two days and finally to one day on and one day off for a week, then we do the labs again, if it works your cancer should go from a stage 3 to high PSA counts and continued follow ups for a year can result in a full cure."

"And if it fails Gregg, how long do I have?"

"About a year Rick, that's quality time, you may linger for 2-3 but not life as you know it or want. Let's get that call to my colleague and get you started OK?"

"You're the boss Gregg, just tell me what I need to do."

Present Time,

In Route to Toronto Ontario

Rick is amazed at how light the traffic is, especially after sitting in a used car parking lot or so it seemed for most of yesterday afternoon. He thought of Kevin and Javi, and reminded himself to send them something when he got settled in, he wasn't in the mood to text or talk, so he would just text Paula to send over tickets to the next home game, along with a full apology that he was stuck in traffic in the accident, they surely heard about that so they knew it was legit.

He sailed right along, clearing customs without issue, and then headed into the city of Toronto, he had forgotten how beautiful the city really was. He had about 3 hours before his first appointment, so he decided to treat himself to something he probably would not be allowed to have after he began his treatment, Poutine, with a Maple Walnut Shake.

He pulled into the restaurant that was flashing the sign Best Poutine in Canada and went in,

"Welcome to Trey's diner, how many sir?"

Rick looked around and said, "Just me and my little friend here, pointing to each shoulder" no reason you still couldn't still have fun, he wasn't dead yet.

"So that would be two sir? The confused waiter asked, then broke into a laugh,

"Thanks for going along with it, I've had a long drive and needed to hear laughter"

"I totally understand Sir, Right this way"

Rick takes his seat and is greeted by a beautiful brunette who should be gracing the cover of a magazine, not serving food in a diner.

"Good evening sir, I'm Trey, I own this diner, what can I get for you tonight?"

"I'd like a double order of the Poutine and a Maple Walnut shake, large please, going out in style so I may as well enjoy it." She looks funny, then thinks as she says,

"You wouldn't be here to start a trial program at the hospital down the street would you sir? Because if you are, I highly recommend something lighter, a lot lighter for the first few weeks.

Rick is a bit shocked, "You know of the clinical trials going on down the street?"

She smiles and says "Yes, but not how you think, I assure you I'm 100% female, but they have a mirror trial going of for women with Cervical Cancer, I start my program tonight at 6:00 PM"

"Well, I start mine the same time, how rude, I'm Rick, eh Rick Rogers and thanks for the heads up, I have enough problems I don't need to add the nausea to them"

"Exactly, I'll bring you something soft, but nourishing, be right back."

She returned a few minutes later with a soft scrambled egg, and one piece of Poutine, minus the heavy gravy, and as she sat it down, asked

"Do you mind if I join you Rick, it's nice to know one friendly face going through this and I haven't eaten yet either"

"Please sit, Trey, My God where did my manners go, I'm so sorry" as he stands and pulls out her chair for her to seat her.

A slight blush, comes across her face, but she looks into his deep blue eyes and whispers, "Thank You, we don't see many gentlemen in here, sorry to say."

"Well it's their loss, do you live around here, or do you have to drive a long way to get to treatment?"

"Actually, I live over an hour away, so I'm going to be bunking in the back room for treatment, so I don't have to impose"

"Trey, I know you don't know me, and we just met, but I have a two Bedroom Suite at the Orion Hotel, you are more than welcome to use one of the rooms, I can even have the key cards changed to protect you, if that would make you feel safer, and you can check my references at the hotel, I just don't want you to have to worry about where you're going to stay during treatment."

Trey blushes, and replied, "Why are you being so nice, I mean you don't know me at all, I could be the criminal, and you invite me into your place, Why?"

"The same reason you wouldn't let me make myself sick, It's the right thing to do for your fellow man. All I ask is that you try it for one night, tonight, and if you want to leave OK, no hard feelings, but you're right, I haven't been able to talk with anyone about this either, it's nice to meet someone who understands what's at stake."

She calls one of her workers over and speaks in French, "Prenez une photo de cet homme, si je ne me présente pas au travail demain, il est le dernier avec lequel je serai » rough translation ment : Taka a Picture of This man, If I Don't show up for work tomorrow, He Is the last one I Will Be With,

Rick listens to her then responds with: S'il vous plait, gardez ma carte d'identité, juste pour prouver que je veux dire aucun dommage, Orion Hotel Penthouse est l'endroit où nous serons dans des pièces séparées,

Meaning Please keep my ID, just to prove I mean no harm, Orion Hotel Penthouse is where we will be in separate rooms, as he hand his Driver's license over to the young lady.

Trey smiles, "You are full of surprises Rick, why didn't you tell me you spoke French,"

"And miss all the fun that just happened, not on our lives", he laughs.

Orion Hotel

Toronto Canada

She feels an instant comfort come over her, and accepts Ricks proposal, including to have the front desk issue a separate key card for her quarters. They head to the hotel get checked in, since Rick is more than VIP no questions are asked as Trey brings her suitcase through the door, Rick just motions and a valet is picking it up and loading it on Rick's luggage cart.

They settle into the Penthouse, and join each other in the main den area, they still have about an hour to kill, before it's time to head to the hospital, so they take the opportunity to get acquainted and learn of each other's prognosis.

Beckett's Apartment

4:00 AM Same Day

Kate had gone home, pissed at Castle, even more pissed that she was on the receiving end of some blistering comments by Roy and Espo, and decided to have a drink. About 5 more she thought it would be a good idea to call Rick and let him know just what a piece of crap he was for skipping out on his own surprise party.

She dials his cell phone and it goes to voice mail, but the message is different, Kate is too far gone to hear the change, to I will be unavailable for the near future, critical issues should be directed to my publicist Paula Haas, all others please leave a voice mail and I will return your call as soon as possible.

Just like him, Chicken Shit, turn his phone off so he won't have to listen to her, so she tries the landline, this time she is shocked with the message she receives, "I'm sorry you are calling from a number this subscriber has blocked, please hang up and refrain from calling again, your calls are monitored and prosecution will be pursued for any additional harassment."

This really sets her off, harassment, that bastard claims harassment after all the time working, needling his way into her life, her job, her friends, so she calls his cell phone, waits for the beep, and unloads a message of vile, vulgar profanities, that Charlie Sheen would have been proud of, and continues till the machine clicks off. Satisfied, she slumps down on her couch and passes out.

She will remember leaving a voice mail the next day, but not what she said, although it will change the dynamic of three people's lives dramatically, since it was captured in the cloud, for Rick to hear in it's entirety.

TBC

A/N If any of the French is incorrect it's on Google Translate since I don't speak French, another take on Season 2 ending, it seems we just can't get enough of the early years.