A/N: Picks up kind of all over the place, with all of the things they tried to do to split the universes. So I might be hopping through time a bit.
Disclaimed.
2002
A young Kate Beckett stands sullenly in front of the book store's glass, staring numbly into the sign that reads "cancelled" in big, black letters. Her shoulders slump. She should have figured it would be cancelled. Nothing ever works out for Katherine Beckett. This was just another thing to add to the rather quickly growing pile of disappointments. Why should her favorite author show up to his own book signing event? Not like it was his job or anything, or he was disappointing hundreds of his fans. Not just her.
Kate sighed.
It was just as well, as it turned out. She got a call from Friaz at the precinct, asking if she could cover his shift in an hour. And even though today she was actually off, she suddenly found herself without any plans and nowhere to go but her empty apartment. So she accepted and hung up on her fellow officer.
She gave one last longing look into the sparkling blue eyes of the cardboard cutout of her favorite author and realized that this was likely as good as she was going to get. He could just stay a cardboard cutout, a two-dimensional character to be read about on dust jackets and the page six highlights. He'd probably just be a disappointment to meet in real life.
Kate looked at the book in her hands, her mother's copy of Flowers for Your Grave, and sighed once more. She would keep reading and enjoying his books as long as he kept writing them, as a tribute, but she had to get over herself. He was so above her level, millionaire playboy author. She had to move on with her life- she was a police officer now. She had better things to do, like catch her mother's killer along with hordes of other bad guys.
So with her head held high, she turned on her heel and didn't look back.
Rick swore, slamming the phone down hard into its cradle. Paula was going to kill him. No, Gina was going to kill him, Paula would want to skin him alive. And Gina was new, he didn't want her on his bad side so quickly. He couldn't get another editor, not since he burned through the last two.
He had never been so tied up that he couldn't even call and cancel an event at least a week in advance. The book signing for today was supposed to start in an hour and a half. At this rate, Paula would already be at the book store setting up shop. Oh, this was so not going to be pleasant.
And it wasn't even his fault this time.
He took several deep breaths to calm his racing heart before picking up the phone again and dialing number three on his speed dial. He shut his eyes as the reason for this phone call flashed through his mind again, and his heart burned hot in the cage of his chest, filled with pain and anger.
The shrill voice of his publicist rang too loudly in his ears, picking up only after the second ring.
"Ricky, good to finally hear from you. When you didn't pick up earlier, I thought maybe you were gonna cancel on me."
Castle felt a muscle in the side of his jaw twitch and jump, and he soothed a hand over the muscle as calmly as he could. "Um, yeah. About that-"
"Uh, no. You cannot possibly be cancelling at this last second."
He winced. "Paula-"
"You have got to be shitting me! Richard, you cannot do this. It's very clear in your contract. You have to give 24 hours notice or have proof of an emergency-"
"It is an emergency, Paula. Hear me out."
"Ha! Yeah, right."
Castle felt more than heard his voice crack on his words. "Paula, Meredith wants Alexis."
Finally, his publicist shut up. He took her silence as a cue and plowed on, pacing the length of his rug along with the measure of his words. "I was served the papers an hour or so ago, and I called Meredith immediately. She's filing for sole custody. I mean, how the hell does she think she could get that? She's barely spent more than a week with Alexis at a time! Even when we were still married, she was pretty much absent. And Alexis is supposed to be on her way home from school within thirty minutes and- and I'm not prepared for this! What am I supposed to tell my nine year old daughter about this? I-I'm ... I don't know what to do. I mean, shit, Paula, what do I do?"
"Shit. Okay. Richard? It's gonna be okay. That psycho bitch isn't gonna see what's coming to her. She thinks she can take you on in court? She's crazier than I thought. And that's saying something."
"I... I just can't handle a public appearance today, Paula. I can't. I'm gonna explode."
"Okay. I can reschedule it. You're gonna have to shake a lot of hands later though, got it?"
Castle felt a small measure of relief at that, and took a deep breath through his nose for the first time in several hours. "Thank you Paula. I know."
"And Ricky? Don't panic yet. We'll get our best lawyers on this. Bitch probably just wants more alimony. We'll figure it out, you'll see. Alright?"
"Alright. Thanks."
"Don't mention it. Now I've got some work to do, so stay put and stay calm."
And then there was a click and a strain of dial tone. Castle pinched the bridge of his nose in an effort to alleviate some more stress that was settling there. He had to calm down before his daughter got home. Alexis would know something was up immediately. She was like a pit bull when she got a whiff of a secret.
He couldn't believe Meredith would do this to him. To Alexis. She was her daughter for Pete's sake. She should have some care for that fact. Alexis was happy here, finally making friends and settling in. His ex-wife had done so much damage already to his daughter, what made her think she should take her on full time? Not to mention it would kill him to part with her.
Breathe Rick, breathe.
Nothing was for certain yet, and he didn't want to frighten Alexis without cause. She would be home any minute, dropped off by Paige and her mom. So Rick composed himself, combed a hand through his worried locks of hair and straightened up. He'd save the panic and the craziness for the lawyers tomorrow. For now, he just wanted to enjoy an evening with his daughter, and prayed that it wouldn't be one of his last.
Review please? I know in the episode Captain Beckett said she'd met Castle once at a book signing, but I'm pretending she didn't. Shh! Don't tell anyone.