Something Old, Something New

by Castlefan6

A/N: By Request, PRE-Series Hookup, SEQUEL to Diminished Recall. Picks up exactly where that ends. COMPLETELY AU except for the conversation that prompted this and the use of some character's names. For CeCe, Friend, and Co-Writer with Pen2Paper.

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

I hope it's close to what you wanted.

A/N: Laurie's occupation was a songwriter, she said she had been lucky a few times. For the sake of this fiction, please assume the songs written by Diane Warren were her work, under her pen name of DW. Thx

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Chapter 8

Beckett's Apartment

After Meeting With Roy,

Kate walked home almost in a fog, Roy's words echoing in her ears with every step. "His current supervising detective, Kate Beckett, approved the submissions, obviously without a proper review of the content." What had he meant by CURRENT, was it a slip of the tongue, or was she skating on that thin ice?

"Detective Beckett is charged with Misfeasance in the performance of her role as Lead Detective, charged with the responsibility for the accuracy of all reports and artifacts pertaining to reports she or any of her direct reports submit." What the hell was the difference between mis and mal feasance, she knew, but for the life of her, she couldn't get her brain to focus.

After a few more deep breaths, as she was walking trying to calm herself down, she thought of the message Castle had sent to someone, presumably Roy, about code 10, what the hell was that anyway? Roy had been pissed, more pissed than she had ever seen him, and it was almost as if there was hate, in his voice, she knew he was under pressure, but she had no idea how much.

She took a deep breath as she entered the Java Hut to get her coffee, and whatever sandwich was left from the lunch crowd. Tuna Fish on wheat bread wasn't her favorite, but it was better than the box of Skittles and stale lunchmeat she had in her fridge. As she waited for her latte, she suddenly remembered what the words meant.

Malfeasance is the willful and intentional act of doing harm or doing an act for which there is no authority to perform that duty. Misfeasance is the act of engaging in an action or duty but failing to perform the duty correctly. Misfeasance refers to an action that is unintentional. However, malfeasance is the willful and intentional act of harming.

The section of the Police Officer Handbook that Mike Royce had beat into her came rushing back. Damn Esposito, he knew better, and it would be hard to prove his actions were not intentional, not to cause harm, but to skip out of work early, which again was fraud, stealing dollars from Taxpayers who paid the salaries. She knew he was probably gone, and if she were betting, so was she.

She reached her apartment and opened the liquor cabinet, three shots of vodka later, her hands stopped shaking, and she decided to plan on life after the NYPD. She had enough cash, her mother's inheritance would provide for a few years, that wasn't a problem, but she had been employed for 17 years straight, never unemployed, what the hell was she supposed to do?

She decided she had to decide long and short-term goals, short-term meaning finding a job, any job, long-term, perhaps going back and finishing her law degree and sitting for the bar. Police work and the politics that came with it, had lost its appeal as she visually pictured Castle, then shook her head, it wasn't his fault, why did she always want to dump it on him?

She couldn't blame this on anyone but Javi for the shitty work he produced, and herself for not checking it thoroughly, even knowing he was a bit of a screw-off. She decided that perhaps it would be best if she got away from the apartment, it had been a while since she had ridden her bike, and her dad's cabin would be just the spot to allow her to think about the next steps of her life.

She went back downstairs and checked her mail, all she received was junk that she deposited in the trash, then took a cab to the storage garage where she stored her prized possession. She stored her tools in the garage with the bike and began the checklist that had been prepared for her by her late Grandfather so many years ago.

A trip to the Auto Parts store down the street, and she had purchased a new battery, belts, and oil and gas filters, as well as the saddle soap for her saddlebags that went over the bike. It was well after one o'clock when she finished and headed back to the apartment. She still needed to pack, and let the landlord know the rent check would be in the mailbox before she left.

She was exhausted, but at least she hadn't thought of her future, or lack of one, more than a few times while she was prepping the bike. A quick shower, and she hit the sack to try to get some sleep, Mike Royce's deep voice kept repeating in her head, "Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug, you can't change anything either way so try not to stress. It will all work out, it always does."

She missed Mike and wondered where he was and how he was doing, hell she would have plenty of time to talk to him now if he would answer her calls, he had been through more than his share of these hearings. Maybe she would break down and call him when she got settled in the cabin, he always knew what to say.

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Two Days Later

MADT Gala

8:00 PM

Rick and Roz agreed that they needed to learn more about how the organization tied the victims together, and what better way was to attend a fundraiser dinner and auction. Roz and Anne along with their dates would accompany Rick and Laurie inside the actual auction, cover stories for both ladies had been created and circulated by Paula Haas, Rick's publicist. Kevin Ryan and LT would work the outside one at each entrance, in case someone tried something.

Laurie had led the ladies on a shopping tour two days before and provided two young studio musicians to pose as the dates for Roz and Anne, both ladies were more than satisfied with the clothes, and the men. Rick thought, Damn, she is around these good-looking guys all day, she must have sensed his thoughts when they were getting dressed for the gala.

"Rick, I know you didn't say anything but were you uncomfortable with Scott and John, the studio musicians we have posing as Roz and Anne's love interests?" she asked as she came from behind him wrapping her arms around his waist, nuzzling his neck.

"Eh, well, I, uh, Well you have to admit when your girlfriend works with such hot guys, I mean"

"Relax sweetie, they are a couple and have been for two years, no one knows at the studio, or they would face possible blowback. Not everyone is accepting of diversity and differences as you and I." She laughed, he turned and kissed her deeply.

"How long were you going to let me feel jealous?" He asked, locked on her eyes and smiling her smile.

"Just long enough for me to be sure that you were. Rick, there's no one, other than you, Sweetie, I waited so long for this, I know what I have," she returned his kiss, "now we have to finish getting ready or we'll be late." She said as she stole one last kiss before disappearing into the bathroom to apply her makeup.

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Thirty-Five Minutes Later

The limo with the three couples pulled up to the red carpet, and as the three men, assisted each of the ladies out of the car, sounds in the crowd were, "That's Richard Castle, who is the beauty he's with, God, both are so lucky. Roz and Scott, Anne and John walked arm in arm behind Rick and Laurie up to the entrance of the Gala. Rick noticed Ryan, and Roz spotted LT blending in with a street vendor on the opposite side of the building.

The ladies seemed to try to outdo each other with the jewelry and fancy gowns, Rick knew that the jewels were real, just by their appearance. Laurie whispered into his ear, "God, Rick I've never seen so many catty older women in one room trying to outdo each other, shoot me if I ever get that way" he laughed, as he was greeted by the host of the gala, Anne Greene, Textile heiress and chairman of the fundraising committee.

"Mr. Castle, I'm so glad you and your friends could make it tonight, thanks for coming," she said as she eyed Rick and the other two men up as if they were pieces of meat on display.

"Well, thank you for the tickets last minute, my publicist has taken care of the autographed book collection for your auction," he said, as Roz turned and kissed her date on the cheek, "Can you excuse me, darling, I need to freshen up" clearly sending a message to Miss Greene, Anne followed suit, but Laurie just snuggled into Rick's side closer, message sent and received as they had a slight stare down.

"Excuse me, Rick, Laurie, this is Rachel Wilcox, she'll take care of your party, I need to attend to some things," as a tall attractive brunette stepped into the scene and took Rick's hand. "Oh Mr., Castle, we're so excited about the collection of your books, my boyfriend Paul is a huge fan," she purred,

Laurie didn't miss a beat, as she said, "he has so many fans, I can't keep up with everyone woman who has told him he was their number one." She laughed but the message was sent as they directed their eyes to a young man who just walked up.

"Paul, this is Richard Castle, and his date, Laurie Hill, I was just telling them about how big a fan you were." She smiled,

"It's good to meet you both, but I don't know who is the bigger fan, myself or Rachel, either way, I'm sure the price is going to be far greater than our budget when the auction gets going."

They went about mingling with the crowd, still amazed at the jewels that were on display, adorning the lady's necks, arms, and fingers, all of it was real. Roz spotted it first, Paul the boyfriend was taking photographs of some of the higher-end pieces of jewelry. She pulled her recon mission, took a picture of Paul, both front and profile and sent it to Ryan to run in the database STAT.

It came back quickly Paul Reynolds, AKA Chad Nellis served a sentence for check fraud, embezzlement, forgery, and grand larceny. He had been released from Greenhaven State Penitentiary, less than two years ago and was still on parole. LT and Ryan quietly entered the room and placed him in custody, and whisked him away before any of the guests were even aware. Roz and Anne joined them in the private room they were using to interrogate Paul, who caved like a melting snowman. He took one picture of the shot caller and broke out into a sweat.

Roz took the lead, "How do you know this man Paul"

"We met in Green Haven Prison. A guy like me. You know they would've eaten me alive in there. But he looked out for me in the yard. They- they were all afraid of him. Even the guards. And when he got out, he found me. I don't know how."

"So, it was his idea to infiltrate the charity?" Anne asked

"Yes, I mean I was already seeing Rachel at the time. I was trying to go straight. But he said that I owed him for everything that he did for me in prison." Paul confessed,

Roz slammed her hand down, "So, you just fed him all the top donors, in essence killing 5 innocent people, for what, jewelry?"

"Everything he needed was already in their dossiers: names, addresses. I took photographs of all their jewelry and put it all on a flash drive. But he wanted more and more. I told him I wanted out, but he said that if I quit, he'd do everything he saved me from in prison. He'd do it to me and Rachel." Paul said, almost weeping.

"Then tell us, where is this piece of crap, where can we find him, and don't jack me around or I'll put you in his cell when we do arrest him, you understand?"

Roz had slipped back into the ballroom, and got Laurie to meet her in the lady's room, once she was sure it was safe, she relayed what was going on to Laurie to tell Rick. It only took a few moments until Rick found Roz and mouthed "Go get him, we'll meet you at the precinct."

"Laurie, they are going to pick up the killer, I'm going to drop you at home, then"

"I'm going with you Rick; I've spent too much time away from you already. I understand this is something you have to do, but don't shut me out, please. It's not like I want to go to a crime scene you'll hardly notice I'm there unless you don't want anyone to know"

He kissed her to stop the last words from being uttered,

"OK, but sweetie, I can't guarantee that you won't hear the language you shouldn't I mean you're a lady," he looked up to see the look on her face, "Do you think it's any different in any business, can you get the guys home safely, I mean, they did do us a favor," She said softly,

"Already done, their limo is waiting for them anytime they want to leave, and I told them dinner at LeCerque was on me, so they are already getting ready," he smiled,

She smiled, OK, then I'm ready when you are. The sooner Roy can say this is solved the sooner they will get off of his back."

It was an open and shut case at the precinct. Rick had never seen Roz and Anne interrogate a suspect before, but Damn, they were brutal. One would stop and the other picked up where the other left off immediately.

"So, Nadir, we have you, we have an eyewitness, that you intimidated into giving you the dossiers of your victims, if you plead, you can avoid the needle, that's a one-time offer tonight only," Roz said,

He didn't say anything, "Oh, and just in case you have thoughts about getting Paul too scared to testify, he's been offered witness protection along with his girlfriend, so you are on your own now tough guy," Rick could see the panic reach Nadir's eyes when he realized the gig was up.

Laurie held his hand in the interrogation room, and let out a breath, when Nadir finally spoke, "Give me the goddamn pen and I'll write out my confession, but I want it in writing that if I plead, no needle. Paul was a wussy, always will be, he'll get his, just not by me." He grunted

"You know how tough you have to be to beat up and kill old couples and to break the bones of a lady just to stick her in a wall safe, yeah really tough guy. Where you're going there are some really tough guys, we'll be sure you get the proper introduction, it's time you feel some of the fear you've made others feel" Anne said,

Laurie sat on the table close to Rick, he reached out and took her hand as he made the call to Roy. "Roy, sorry to call so late, but you can wake Boyle up and tell him it's over. Yeah, the plea deal was reached five life sentences, no chance of parole, I guess our boy is afraid of needles"

"Roz and Anne got the confession, but the entire team worked hard on it. Ryan did a great job getting the background of the mark who was supplying the inside information to Nadir, yeah, it was a weak ex-cell mate that he had protected while he was in prison. Yeah, call Wuss Boy and make him call the commissioner, you know Bob would really love to shove it up his backside, especially after he threatened your job.

"Roy, Weldon may be a lot of things you don't like, but he never forgot why he got home, and he remembers without you as our Captain, we would probably have all been killed. He got pissed when he heard Boyle, but you know how he is with the protocol.

"Yeah, Laurie's with me, and we are on our way out of here, Hell No I'm not telling you where " He laughed "OK talk to you next week, call me if you need me, BUT ONLY if you need me, Yeah, you too Cap, Good night," he said, as he turned and looked into Laurie's eyes.

"The Captain is going to call the mayor and wake him up to make him call Commissioner Boyle, sort of his payback" Rick smiled, "Let's get out of here, what do you say?" he kissed her gently,

"How about my place Rick, no one will be looking for you there. I texted Alexis that you were with me, and not for her to worry about you," she smiled,

"That love sounds spectacular. I know you are tired; I mean, it's been a long day for us all." Rick said,

"Hey don't put words in my mouth, I'm never too tired for that, but if you"

What, me? No, no way, I just thought, I mean"

She kissed him, smiled, and said, "Just shut up and take me home, I have plans for you,"

"Of course, I'm yours." He smiled as he saw her smile and took his hand. They walked out of the precinct, and to the limo. Finally, he was going to be all hers tonight.

TBC