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 9

Jim Beckett's Cabin

Upstate New York

Next Day, 1:45 PM

Kate had made good time, only stopping to stretch her legs, get a refill on her coffee, and fill up the bike's gas tank. It had been several years since she had made the trip, she almost missed the turn-off but remembered just in time without causing her to ditch the bike, or cause an accident. She stopped at the little grocery store on the road to the cabin and got enough supplies to last for about a week, she thought she would have heard when her hearing was scheduled by then, so until then, she was going to try to find herself.

Up here away from murders, office politics, and writers, well one writer for some reason she seemed to blame everything that went wrong in the world as his fault. She knew that that rationale wasn't fair, it didn't even make sense. The man had barely spoken to her, it wasn't like he was trying to hit on her or score a tryst in bed with her as his next notch on the bedpost.

Perhaps that was the problem, once she had learned the true story of Richard Rogers, now Richard Castle, and heard from Lanie that it had been her, not Rick to cause the romance to go astray, so what was the matter with her? She knew she wasn't ugly, sure not beauty queen material, but hell, she got laid anytime she wanted it when she went out.

She thought, great Kate, you equate a two-year relationship that Lanie and he had to you spending an hour in bed with some guy you picked up and give a fake name to, how sick are you? You don't even like him, so what is the hangup with Castle? After the disciplinary hearing, she thought it would be a moot point, so why even think about it? She needed to research what life was going to be like after the NYPD.

She walked through the cabin, it was almost as if her Dad had kept it exactly as it was when her mom was last here, including the bedspread she had made, still at the foot of the master bed. He must stay in the guest room, to not disturb the memories, she thought. God, it had been over ten years since she had been here, but it was like she was just here yesterday. Nothing had changed, almost sealed in a time warp.

She opened the refrigerator and stored the perishables that she had purchased, started to brew a pot of coffee, and opened the door to her bedroom. She gasped, her Dad had kept everything just the way it was, including the posters of some boy bands that had long since gone into the history books. She remembered the last time they had all been there, she had argued with her mother. As always her Dad had taken a walk and let the women throw down. Johanna was concerned that Kate was wasting her time on one boy and would let her studies slip.

It was true, but she'd be damned if she would admit her mom was right, so it went on for about a half hour, until Jim came back inside, held his hand up, as to say, ENOUGH, both she and her Mom knew the argument was over, at least for now. It was funny how terrible memories came back so quickly when the good ones tended to fade so fast.

She closed the door, if Dad had kept it this pristine, she would sleep in the guest room as well. She hadn't realized just how far, and to what lengths he had gone to keep the cabin his place of escape. Perhaps that is why every Christmas he spent the week up here, alone, well alone with her mom's memories. Now she understood a little better.

She walked back to the kitchen and saw her phone was back fully charged, and the coffee was brewed. She pulled out the extra-large cup and sat in the big chair that she had shared so many times when she was younger with her mom. She wiped a tear, where had that come from, from her eye, and swallowed hard.

She opened her laptop to the file where she had archived all phone numbers that were no longer practical to keep in her phone as active contacts. She started looking first for Mike, then Royce, then it dawned on her, she had filed it under TO, for Training Officer when she first met him and never changed it. Hell, it probably had been re-cycled and issued to another person by now, why would he keep the same number after he retired?

She couldn't shake the feeling that she should reach out to him, until she finally gave in, and thought "What the hell, someone will think I'm nuts, not the first time" she said to herself.

She dialed the number while having her phone on speaker, not expecting to hear what came out of the phone after three rings. "Hello, Kid is everything all right with you?" that gruff, welcome tone, washed over her like a blanket of security. It was all she could do to get out, "Hi Mike, no, it's not"

"Talk to me kid, I'm right here" came out as if he had just seen her yesterday.

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12th Precinct

Next Day

Rick had scheduled a meeting with Weldon, Boyle, and Roy for 11:30 AM, he wanted to be sure the air was clear, and that the NYPD had everything they needed to nail this bastard, he would have loved to see the guy get the death penalty, but that wasn't his call.

He walked off the elevator to Roz, Anne, LT, and Ryan giving him a round of applause, as he headed to Roy's office. Roz and Anne had made sure that everyone knew just how big a role he had played in the successful conclusion of the case.

There was no way that one team or both teams of detectives could have solved the murders that quickly. The trip to the MADT Gala had been a welcome scene for the ladies, they seldom got to go out and even more rarely dressed in the type of clothes that Laurie had put on Rick's account at the boutique. Anne made the quip to Roz, "How does it feel to be wearing six months of your salary Roz", and laughed but it was closer to reality than most knew.

Laurie had tried to pay the bill for the dresses, shoes, and accessories, but the owner of the boutique refused. "Begging your pardon Miss Laurie, if I allow you to pay, Mr. Castle will never do business here again. We look forward to seeing Miss Alexis, not so much Miss Martha, but she still buys enough clothes to keep us profitable," he smiled when he mentioned Miss Martha not so much.

Rick and Roy met for twenty minutes alone, then called in Roz and Anne. Roy was very satisfied with the work of both of the detectives and had a decision to make soon. Would or should he merge Roz's team with what would be left of Beckett's, meaning Ryan, or should he allow Kevin the opportunity to act as Interim lead of a new team as Beckett served whatever suspension he was sure the board was going to recommend? He held little hope that Esposito would survive this fiasco, and didn't give it a second thought.

"Roy, without Anne thinking out of the box to write that computer program to sort the financial data, we would still be plugging in data manually. She deserves more than just a verbal acknowledgment; Bob agrees and wants to talk about when to hold her commendation ceremony." Rick said,

"I know Rick, he called me already, trying to make up for allowing Boyle such a long leash. By the way, I really appreciate what you did, I know Weldon is a personal friend of yours, so you calling him out for the treatment I received, well, it meant a lot." He said,

"I didn't do much Roy, I just reminded him about a guy we knew a long time ago," Rick said,

"Doug Pedersen, I bet, I thought something rattled his chain pretty good. I can't say anything about that incident, but you guys gave me far too much credit for its resolution." That was all he would say then changed the subject,

"Rick, I know you don't like to get involved with personnel problems, but with Esposito and Beckett, I need to make my recommendation so we can get the hearing scheduled and called. It's not fair to them or the department to drag it out. I think I know what you would recommend, but I'd like to hear from you man to man," he said,

"You're right Roy, I don't like to get involved in Human Resource issues, hell that's why I never formed anything more than an LLC for my companies, we keep them to the size to avoid crap like this. I know you're not going to let up on me until I offer my opinion so this is just between you and me.

"First, Esposito is a Fuck Up, no other way to put it, what is he good at? Intimidation of weak suspects? Other than that, he almost shit himself when he saw the tattoo, he had heard the stories. To me, I would flat out suspend him for six months, if at that time he wanted to reapply, he would have to requalify, WITHOUT the bonus points from serving in the military. He would serve time in a squad car, then Detective third class, for at least a year under anyone other than Beckett's supervision," Rick said.

"That leads me to Beckett herself, I mean she didn't check one of her direct reports, sloppy, yes, a crime no. At that time, no one knew that Mr. Mayor was going to escalate the importance of that case. " Roy said,

Rick glared at him, "I remember our entire squad running double time for a fucking week because the squad leader fucked up. You got your ass handed to you, and it rolled downhill, and I think the term used was sloppy for his work as well.

"I agree it's not an offense I would expect someone to get fired for, BUT it's got to be more than a verbal. Roz and Anne already see the difference in the way she is treated by you. Someday you might want to tell me what she has on you to cause that, but for now, let's stick to the case at hand." He said,

"Well, I was going to recommend a two-week suspension, and"

"You have to be shitting me, Roy, that message would tell every one of your leadership team, don't do your job, you'll get a couple of weeks' vacation, nothing more. I would recommend a 90-day suspension, you can waive 60 days if you choose, and loss of rank from lead to Detective First Class on a probationary period, under Roz. Why the hell did you ever put such a greenhorn in a leadership position anyway? "Rick asked

"Rick, I know what it looks like, but believe me, there were reasons" Roy tried to explain,

"Hey Roy, not my circus, not my monkey, this is your three-ring event to try to manage. You asked me what I would recommend, and I answered, take it or leave it." Rick said,

"So, what are you going to be up to, now that the NYPD has no active case to interrupt your life? It wouldn't have anything to do with that beautiful lady who was with you the other night would it?" Roy asked

"Well, not that it's any of your business Cap, but yes Laurie Hill is the lady's name and, well we're spending time together trying to see where it's going to take us," Rick said.

"And how does Little Castle feel about this?" Roy asked,

"Let's put it this way if she could only save one, the choices between Laurie or me, I would be a dead man" he smiled, "I get little sticky notes all over the place, "DON'T BLOW THIS DAD" he laughed,

"Speaking of, I have to run, I have an appointment, do you need anything else Roy?" Rick asked

"Nah, just wanted to let you know I know you busted your ass on this one for me, and, well, I owe you," Roy said

"Hey, who's keeping score, talk to you soon, maybe you and Evelyn could join us at the Hamptons to get some fishing in." He smiled as he slipped his jacket on,

"That would be a great time, let me talk to the real boss," Roy laughed, as Rick walked out of his office.

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Jim Beckett's Cabin

Same Time Frame

On the Phone with Mike Royce

Kate couldn't believe she had had the guts to call, and that she was speaking to the one man who always seemed able to make even the worse days better.

"You still there kid? Something big has got to be on your mind, for you to call after this time, go ahead and tell me, I'm listening" the gruff voice soothed her,

"Mike, I screwed up, big time, I'm suspended until a hearing. They are trying to fire me, and well"

"OK, let's have the whole story, and don't leave anything out." He said as he pulled the entire story out almost line by line

"Esposito submitted financial reports for two murder cases we caught, they turned out to be connected to a third case another team was working on, but WORSE, Mayor Weldon was getting serious heat about them going unsolved. I glanced at the reports he submitted, they had the right number of pages and weighed about the same, so I just approved them, and entered them into our case file.

"The lazy bastard had inserted the templates for the report, and never filled anything out, so when they wanted to see the financials of all three cases compared to each other our case was empty of anything useful." Kate almost cried,

"OK, Kid, take a deep breath, now you know your team member is probably going to get his shield shoved up his ass on his way out, don't you? I don't think they could fire you just for that, DON'T give them cause to do so during your hearing like insubordination, or dereliction of duty. You own this, you told me, so tell them the same thing, accept responsibility, AND punishment for trusting a team member."

"Mike do you think that will keep my job; I mean?"

"Listen, kid, if they want to fire you they are going to need you to help them. Go in, accept responsibility, apologize, and tell them HOW you won't let it happen again. You have to come up with a check matrix or something, it isn't important how good it is, just that you have something to avoid a repeat.

"DON'T LET THEM SEE YOU CRY or get angry, stay professional, and Thank Them for their time, regardless of what the punishment is. That's how you keep your job, and Kate, the detective who did that deserves to be fired." Mike said,

"I know Mike, I know. He's a screw-off that I don't think was cut out for this line of work. The only way he got ahead of the patrol cops in line was his civil service bonus points from several tours in the war, while he was in the Service." She said,

"STUPID, just because you're willing to get shot at while you're with a bunch of other soldiers doesn't make you cop material, much less a Detective. Well, you can't fix that, like a lot of things Kid, we accept them and do our best. Now what else is bothering you, and what the hell are you doing, I bet you rode to your Dad's cabin on that Harley didn't you?" he said, and heard her laugh,

"Mike, I feel terrible, I never asked how you are doing, or even where you're living now?" Kate realized,

"Me, hell kid, you know me, I'm always the same. I tried living on the property that Marie and I had purchased, but I couldn't do it, too many memories. I tried Florida, too many fucking Yankees live there that didn't go home, hell more New Yorkers there than in Manhattan." Kate laughed at his distaste for New Yorkers in Florida,

"So where are you living Mike, and how are you really doing, come on it's me." She said,

"I have three acres that face Lake Hartwell, it's officially in Georgia, but I can be in South Carolina quicker than I can get to the stores in Hartwell, and I'm doing well. I mean, I have good days, and some bad days, overall, I'm happy. Are you still living with that Swanson fellow, the FBI jerk?" he asked,

"No, Mike, and his name is Sorensen, DON'T say it, you were right, he was a pompous ass, he transferred to Boston and thought I was just going to follow him, he told me three days before he left. He filled the void rather than hit the clubs, I mean, well, I'm sorry Mike, I shouldn't have brought that up." She said,

"Kate, I screwed up not you, I should have kept it more professional so as not to lead you on. I was married for life, and when I lost Marie, well, I just didn't have any interest in anyone else. You were almost young enough to be my daughter, so that was on me, not you." Mike said softly,

Same old Mike, always protecting her, even though they both knew, the truth, she had been in love with him, a married man with his wife on her deathbed. Worse, she had been willing to act on it. Thank God he was loyal to his vows.

"Mike, thanks for not letting me make a bigger fool of myself than I already did, God, I thought about how I would have felt, I m

"Look kid, Marie had told me to go and have fun, a year before she passed, she couldn't do her wifely duties as she said, and told me, that if I found someone who I cared about, then I was free, so please stop." He said,

"OK, Mike, thanks. Do you mind if I call you again after I find out what is going on?"

"You Better, call me kid when you know something," and he was gone,

She let her mind go back to the days, when all she got up for each morning was her TO, he knew she loved him, and never took advantage of the situation. He was, and is an honorable man, she was glad he answered her call. He had taken a huge load off of her mind, now just to get this over with.

TBC