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 5

Previously

You want to know what you said on your Voice Mail, here I'll play it, "

The next several minutes, Kate can't believe the vile hate filled language, the obscenities she never even knew she had spoken, calling Rick spineless, pompous, and one who never gave a shit about those who went out their way to plan a party, then she said, you spoiled my surprise as well, then more obscenities, till finally it clicked off, exceeding the limit of the Voice Mail.

"Do you think for one minute I would give you anything to do with Rick after listening to that? If you loved him like I do, would you? Well that's a stupid question since the only person you can love is yourself. Just for your information, I forwarded a copy of that voice mail to Ryan and Esposito, along with Ms. Parrish, so you can't play the victim this time, I'll let Rick know you called and share your concerns, Good day Detective" as the line goes dead,

Orion Hotel

Toronto Canada 6:30 AM Next Day

Trey and Rick had tried to sleep, but even as exhausted as they both were, the best they could come up with was some very romantic cuddling, with her head on his chest, and his strong arm around her to make her feel safe, and she had. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt safe in Rick's arms.

They had turned the alarm off, showered separately, Rick's idea not Treys, since Rick said he just didn't have the will power to keep his hands where they needed to be, especially heading to the hospital for day one of treatment. Each had a yogurt and fruit cup and now waited for the car to buzz Rick to begin the first day of perhaps the rest of their lives,

"Trey, before we leave, I mean, I just want, well I want to Thank You for last night. I have been alone so long, you have no idea how good it felt to let some of that go, sorry to burden you with it, I mean your plate is as full if not more so than mine,"

Trey stands on her tiptoes, to kiss Rick, sweet and slowly,

"As much as you needed to unload your troubles, I needed to be needed, not just to pay the bills but to share something so intimate as we shared without any sex, no one would understand unless they had gone through this, so Thank You for trusting me Rick, I knew it was hard for you. I'm here and will be till the end."

Rick's phone buzzes alerting him the car service was downstairs,

"Well, what do you say Beautiful, let's go kick Cancer's Ass day 1" as he holds his arm out to her.

"Yeah, Let's do it Stud,

University Medical Center

Toronto Ontario

7:10 AM Same Day

Rick and Trey entered the Hospital right on time and proceeded to the desk to be assigned their routines for Day 1, surprisingly they were in the same break out session, which kicked the treatment off. A quick overview of the day's activities, some reading materials for each to read while in the infusion chairs receiving the cocktails as the Doctors called the solution being introduced to each patient through an IV Line.

Both Rick and Trey had opted to have a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) line inserted slightly below the skin so it was painless to insert the IV. The schedule would be 2 hours in the chair receiving the infusion cocktail, 30-minute break, another 2 hours of infusion, followed by one-hour lunch, then finally 90 minutes of infusion. This would be the routine for each day except Friday, when they would be reduced to a half day, then allow patients off for the weekend.

This schedule worked much better for the patients than the original one that Gregg had warned Rick about and was a pleasant surprise to both Trey and Rick. That meant that outside of some much-needed rest they would have an opportunity to see some of the sights together, and Toronto was truly a beautiful city. This news raised the spirts of all in their group.

They were also cautioned that the programs were designed for each individual, and they shouldn't be upset if some infusions were shorter, it was all based on the base cancer cells they were targeting. As an additional surprise Rick and Trey were in joint infusion chairs, which resembled oversized first-class airline seats. They had each other to lean on throughout the entire program, there was a God, Trey thought as she learned the good news.

The infusion solution alternated from freezing to almost feeling like boiling water, which the Doctors were pleased with, meaning it was working. After fighting the exhaustion for about an hour Trey leaned her head of Rick's shoulder and was out in an instant. Rick called the nurse over to insure she was covered with the blankets, and leaned his head against her, and they both were out.

Thankfully most of the day, alternating breaks, then more treatment, then lunch then finally the last 90 minutes and then they were finished for day one. Rick looked at Trey who was still exhausted, and asked her quietly,

"Want to just stay in for room service tonight, we don't have to be back till 9:00 AM tomorrow so we can get some sleep, unless you need to do anything else?"

"Rick thank you, Room Service sounds perfect, I think the whole thing is catching up with us both, I would just like to hold you for a while, when we get home if that's OK?"

"That's perfect Trey, and I love when you cuddle with me, I don't need anything else, just your arms around me and I'm at peace."

"That's sweet Rick, but you're a man and you have needs, so if you want someone els*"

She doesn't get to finish what she is going to say as Rick smothers her lips pouring his love, thanks and understanding into the kiss.

"OK Buster let me rest a little bit, and remember you started this" and that beautiful laugh comes out of her frail body.

Although Monday was Memorial Day in the USA, it was just another work day in Toronto, and as they watched the local news, and lay on the bed, Rick watched the coverage of the US News on BBC.

"Are you sorry you are here Rick?" and as he looks those beautiful green eyes were looking straight into his,

"Not for one second Trey, it just brought back some memories, sorry to let it show so easy."

"Hey Rick, we talked about this, remember, you have to let me in, Please. I know it's tough and I'm not asking to know everything that ever happened in your life, but when you make that face, yeah, that one that shows pain, then I want to know so I can maybe take the pain away. Does that make sense?"

"I'm sorry Trey, yeah you're right, what do you want to know, or I should say how much of the saga do you want to hear, I can tell you some isn't nice."

"How about you tell me, and if I think it's too much for me, I'll tell you and we move to the next chapter, deal?"

"Deal"

"Rick, remember you heard about my divorce, miscarriage, Death of my Mom, and cancer diagnosis before we shared dinner, so what do you think that something will scare me away? I'm here, and unless you tell me to go make poutine at the diner, I'm not leaving" as she leans in and kisses him sweetly.

A smile breaks across Rick's face as he pulls her into him, arm wrapped around her careful not to squeeze to hard on today's infusion site, Well here goes.

For the next hour and forty minutes Rick explains the dynamics of his and Detective Beckett's working arrangement, and some of the events that had occurred recently. To his credit, he included those that made him look less than delightful as well, including Ellie Monroe, and Natalie Rhodes, even though nothing happened other than the kiss on the elevator.

The hardest part was describing how she had chosen a Robbery Detective over him, not just that he had lost out on her companionship, but she seemed to change, to become hateful and cruel. He described the last three weeks at the 12th precinct, and as he spoke, Trey, clinched her fists into the covers on the bed. Things that had been building a friendship or more between them hadn't been damaged but bombed out of existence.

He progressed to the point where he had invited her to his Hamptons house for a friendly get away, and she had lied, then the Robbery Cop came up last minute and she had decided to go away with him, in fact they were probably just getting back to NYC now, since tomorrow was Tuesday and the end of a three day weekend in the states.

He mentioned that there had been a big accident on the LIE and three people had been killed, causing a huge traffic jam that prevented him from returning to the party the detectives had planned for his going away. He explained that he had his Publicist text an apology explaining the entire situation to the boys and send them floor seat tickets to the Knicks game, so they were good. He paused,

"Somehow I know that's not the end of the story is it Rick?"

"No, No, it's not Trey. About three weeks earlier, my best friend and Oncologist had found the cancer, but I had to go back and pretend everything was fine, I mean I had the book sales and my Daughter and Mother to worry about, so no sense raising concern till there is a real reason to.

It was about this time that the Robbery Cop came into our lives, and dealing with hiding my cancer, and a sudden change, well betrayal really put me at about the end of my rope. I had to drop Alexis off, and God she would have cancelled a once a lifetime opportunity if she knew, I didn't want that"

"So, you drove her to Princeton, acting like the Dad she had always known, hiding your fear, and concern from everyone? Pretty much sum it up about how and why your feelings were so deeply hidden our first night?"

"Yeah but being totally honest with you, letting you in, you sure you want to go this far Trey, I mean I under*"

Trey's lips are on his and kissing gently reassuring kisses trying to wash away all of the hurt, pain and disappointment of the last several weeks.

"That answer your question?"

"Yeah, and God you are so beautiful, but this next part is really ugly, I mean it shocked me."

"Rick, let me in Sweetie you've come this far,"

"OK, here goes, I don't even know what provoked this, apparently Beckett got really upset that I didn't show up for the party, but hell she's a cop, they had to know about the huge traffic jam, but any way, I got a voice mail from her in the middle of the night.

I had already left for Toronto and was only carrying a phone that only one person can reach me on, but my regular account is synched to my cloud account, so it captured her voice mail, if you can call it that."

"Can you play if for me Rick or is it too personal?"

"It's not too personal, but it's rough, I mean really rough, you sure you want to hear it?"

A simple glare of her eyes, and a squeeze of his hand is the answer that Rick needs. He accesses his cloud account and opens a red flagged message in a folder marked VM_Regular. He takes a deep sigh, and presses the play key, and out comes Kate's voice with words, he had never heard her utter before, and in such a tone that spewed hatred and contempt, worse than she had ever spoken to any suspect they had interviewed together.

Trey is silently fisting the covers and looking for something to smash, she's angry, hurt and feeling pure hatred for one Kate Beckett, NYPD.

Finally, after about 5 minutes of silence her voice asks in a very shaky tone,
"Rick, can I invite Kate to Toronto for dinner?"

"Do you really want to do that Trey, and if so why?

"Yes I really do, and why, I want to throw her ass off the top of the CN Tower, then I want to pick her up and do it again, Oh Rick, I'm sorry no one deserved that, " as tears fall from her eyes.

"That was the voice mail you were listening to, when the ladies session went long, and I walked up on you, isn't it?"

Rick hung his head and just nodded.

"Oh Rick, you have to talk to me, Hun, I won't let anyone ever talk to you like that again, I don't care if she's a cop or not, If I ever see her I owe her a Canadian Ass Kicking."

"Trey, we have the rest of the night, can we just talk about something pleasant, or watch a movie, Hell even a chick flick would be better than dealing with that stuff" as he kisses her on the cheek.

"I'm sorry Rick, guess I'm the protective type, and that hurt me, no one should hurt anyone like that, especially someone you thought was a friend. You're right, we've got better things to do with our time tonight. Know what I want to do?"

"Eh No but I know it's going to be fun."

"We have the weekend off this weekend, so let's go to the Toronto Zoo, I haven't been since I was a kid, do you want to?"

A big smile flashes across Rick's face, as he replies, "Of course, I have never been to this one. That's a great idea Sweetie."

They lay together beginning to feel the exhaustion overtake them both, so they dress for bed, and once again, assume their position, her head on his chest, his arm draped across pulling her into him. One kiss goodnight and both were out for the night.

A/N We'll pick up Beckett's return to the precinct on Tuesday in the next chapter, I didn't want to split it up. Thanks for your reads, reviews, favors and follows. In response to the guest about moving too fast, Rick at this point has seen the woman he loves prepare to go away with someone she had rubbed his nose in about inadequacies, got a Cancer diagnosis, and met a hot woman, if you're a guy, things would have moved as fast if not faster. One reviewer spelled it out "NOTHING to do with 'a woman having a sex life'. Go for it. They're not an item. Have dates. Have one-night stands. Have a boyfriend. Whatever. It's about her blatantly insulting the 'man she really loves'... someone who has already been abandoned by his first love and betrayed by one SPOUSE... someone who has always covered his vulnerability with humor and bravado (which she would KNOW if she bothered to actually listen and was really such a 'great detective')... on multiple levels and expecting him to NOT resent her for it.