Castle Under Cover.
Story takes place late in a season eight that never took place on the show.
Captain Kate is in Albany for a series of meetings and seminars for the various Captains around the state. She is scheduled to be there about a week. A bored Castle is at loose ends with Kate gone so he drops in at the precinct. What could possibly go wrong?
A/N: I haven't produced anything since Halloween. I have started a few stories but this is the only one that I have finished so far.
All normal disclaimers apply.
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Chapter One
Captain Kate Beckett slammed her phone down and dropped her head down into her palms. She'd only been gone for less than a week yet she comes back from the seminars and meetings up in Albany only to find that everything was a mess. And, of course, the culprit behind all the trouble was the love of her life and the destroyer of her sanity. She got up and left her office.
She hadn't even been back in her office for more than about an hour when the current crises was dumped in her lap by Sgt. Esposito and Lt. Demming. They were supposed to babysit the 12th while she was gone. And now, before she could formulate how she was going to deal with the problem, the problem had called her.
She took the elevator down to the basement to where vice shared the area with the lockers, gym, and the mechanicals for the buildings. She needed to talk to Sgt. Rodriguez who was the one who handed out assignments and kept the unit functioning. Rodriguez had been running vice for several years now, and she should have made Lieutenant by now, but she never took the test. And like the captains before her, Kate wasn't stupid enough to force it on her. She was content with her rank and her pay. She knew how vice worked, and she was respected by everyone who went through there.
Like almost all attractive police women had to, Kate had served her stint in vice. At that time Rodrigues had just made sergeant and was just getting her feet wet in command. Kate didn't always get along with the woman, but after a few heart to heart conversations Kate began to appreciate her wisdom. She knew that Sgt. Rodriguez played it straight with everyone.
Kate entered the long tenured sergeant's office and gave the woman a weak smile.
"Hello Captain. What brings you down into my little dungeon?" The older woman smiled at her captain.
"Hi Rose." Kate took a quick inhale to give her a moment to compose herself. "I have a problem and I need your help."
The sergeant gave her captain a slight smile and a raised brow. "What can I do for you?"
Kate began to pace back and forth. "I find myself needing to go undercover for a short time, but I have to do it in the company of someone who knew me years ago."
Rodriguez stared at her captain for several moments. "Who is this person you are worried about?"
Kate moved over and flopped down into the other chair next to the sergeant's desk. "It's a former cop. He used to work here at the 12th about nine years ago. I'd just made detective."
Rose nodded her head. "How well did you know him?"
Kate frowned, wrinkling her forehead. "Not well, he was in Robbery, but we saw each other around the precinct occasionally. He hit on me a few times until I made it clear that I wasn't interested in any sort of dating with another cop." She chewed on her nail. "It was a long time ago, and I looked a lot different back then." Kate looked up at the sergeant. "Do you think that my longer hair and the way I wear it would be enough that he wouldn't recognize me since it's been so long since he knew me?"
Rose chuckled, which confused Kate. "That might work if you changed the color and he'd never seen you again since his time here at the precinct."
Kate frowned again. "What do you mean?"
Rodriguez just shook her head. "Captain, you have to realize that over the years you have found yourself being splashed across many different magazines and newspapers, especially since you were partnered with Richard Castle, and not forget that you married him."
Kate shrugged. "Yeah, but those were little blurbs here and there, and most of those happened after I let my hair get longer." She got back out of her chair and paced. "He probably wouldn't have any reason to remember those pictures as me."
Rose chuckled again. "Captain, you forget that your shooting was front page news, and that didn't even come close to the coverage of your arrest of Senator Bracken for the murder of your mother." She shook her head. "You were in the papers for a week, and even on the cover of a couple magazines." Rose spread her hands. "He'd have to be blind not to have seen you back then."
Kate nodded, but pursed her lips. "Yeah, but he'd have been in jail at the time."
The sergeant raised a brow. "Convicts have access to newspapers and have access to some television. I don't think any warden would pass up an opportunity to showcase a story that celebrates the police."
Kate bit her lower lip and nodded. "I was afraid you'd tell me something like this. So you're suggesting that I need to change my look, with a disguise of some kind."
Rose stared at her captain for a few moments, then a smirk twisted her mouth.
"What?" Kate looked at the sergeant warily.
Rodrigues stood and walked to a cabinet in the back of the room. "I just happen to have the perfect wig for a disguise. It's so ugly not one of my undercover ladies will even wear it."
She reached up and pulled down a bright yellow wig which could be called a "Dutch boy" look. The straight hair came down to what looked to be just about shoulder length with long bangs that would cover up the person's forehead down past her eyebrows.
Kate's brow rose as she took the ugly wig in her hands. "Who chose this color? No natural blonde ever had hair this yellow."
Rose shrugged her shoulders. "It was worn by street walkers. It wasn't meant to look real." She twirled the wig on her index finger. "Combined with too much make up. You'd definitely not look like Kate Beckett."
Kate moved the wig around in her hands. "I can see what you're saying. But it seems a little small."
Rodriguez frowned as she took the wig back. "That is a bit of a problem. It's a little on the small size so it fits kind of tight." Rose bit her bottom lip. "It would be good for taking someone's gaze away from your face, but I'm afraid I probably won't be able to stuff all of the hair you presently have under that yellow haystack."
Kate frowned. "Are you telling me that we'd have to cut back some of my hair to be able to wear that ugly wig?"
Rodrigues twitched her shoulders. "We won't know until we check it out." The sergeant walked over to a locker and grabbed out a robe and a towel. "Why don't you take a shower and come back and we'll see what can and can't be done." Rose pointed toward the locker room which held the showers.
Kate let escape a deep sigh as she took the towel and robe from the sergeant. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
"Don't worry too much captain. If we need to, your hair will grow back… eventually."
Kate came back from the shower quickly and she and Sgt. Rodrigues worked with fitting the wig onto her head. They eventually succeeded at the cost of a significant trimming of Kate's long chestnut hair.
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FLASHBACK TO 6 DAYS AGO.
Rick had only been awake for less than an hour, but he was already bored. He knew that Kate had the week of seminars up in Albany, but he hadn't really prepared for it. It only really hit him when she gave him a quick kiss and walked out the door. She was gone, and he wouldn't see her again for nearly a week. And probably their chances to have long before bed phone conversations would be much shorter than he'd like because she'd be tired from the endless meetings and seminars.
He could only imagine how dry and boring much of her day will be. And worse, he didn't know what he was going to do to keep himself from crawling up the walls.
Since she'd been made Captain, he didn't spend his days working cases with her like they used to. She'd been in charge now for nearly a year and there was little in her day now that he could help her with. She deserved the promotion, but as far as he was concerned, her new job kind of sucked.
His absence from the precinct did have a positive effect on Castle's main occupation. Since he didn't have a reason to visit the 12th except to occasionally bring Kate some lunch when it became obvious that she wasn't eating. But those were only a couple times a week, and usually only lasted an hour or so. Also because of Kate's dedication, she always stayed later to make up the time she spent on her lunch break even though she was due time for lunch.
So, with all the extra time at home with no Kate to distract him, he had written two more books in less time than it would normally take him to write one. Also, Gina told him that Black Pawn was working on the idea of combining Castle's old Derek Storm books into three novel omnibuses. Rick just needed to write something to explain a little about his mind set when writing those books. Gina thought it would be a great idea. What could be bad about putting a new bow on old novels and sell them again. Castle wasn't really comfortable with the idea, but since he'd get a piece of the action and be paid for the new forwards he's write for each omnibus collection, he wasn't going to fight the idea.
Things were different at the precinct too. Not only was Kate mostly behind her captain's desk, but her old team were each doing different jobs now too. Esposito was a sergeant in homicide and had to deal with as much administrational chores as dealing with actual cases. Ryan had finally made it to sergeant also and Narcotics asked to have him assigned to their department given his excellent past work there.
The old gang had been broken up and it just wasn't the same any more. But Rick was bored, and antsy. He needed to get out of the loft. With Kate not at the precinct, maybe he could drop in and talk with a few of his friends there if they weren't that busy.
He knew that Espo would be watching over the homicide department so he would be assigning cases and would have to stay at the precinct while Kate was up at the capitol.
Rick went back into his bedroom and pulled out a pair of jeans, and a pull over sweater. Just then he realized that he hadn't shaved that morning since he spent the few minutes he had before Kate ran out the door by making her some breakfast or he knew she wouldn't have eaten before she left.
He rubbed his chin, shrugged, and then grabbed a light windbreaker as he went out the door.
Castle, knowing where he was going, made sure he stopped and got several dozen doughnuts and pastries. Since there was no wife to bring coffee and a bear claw to, he would have to treat the whole precinct. So he did.
He no sooner had laid out the boxes of goodies in the breakroom when Espo poked his head into the room.
"I thought I saw some stranger carrying several boxes into the breakroom." He walked over with his hand out.
Castle cracked a smile. "Hey Espo, it's great to see you." Rick grabbed Javier's hand and shook it.
Espo pulled his hand away. "Actually, I was expecting a doughnut." Both chuckled as Rick pulled an iced doughnut from one of the boxes and gave it to Esposito.
"How are you doing Espo?" Castle slapped him on the shoulder.
"Better now," he said with a smile. "It's been a while since we've been treated like this." He took a big bite. "How come the Captain never brings stuff like this in?"
Rick rolled his eyes. "You're kidding right." Castle shook his head. "She'd never remember to eat anything in the morning if I didn't get up to make her something for breakfast." Rick grinned. "So how's it going? Looking forward to be the boss for a week?"
Espo just shrugged. "I'm mostly just looking after Homicide. I get the calls and assign the cases to the teams." He frowned. "I imagine that I'll be dealing with a stack of paperwork before the week is over."
Castle laughed. "The responsibility not to your liking?"
Javi laughed. "I'm just thankful that I only have to deal with homicide unlike Demming."
"Oh?" Castle asked. "What's Demming doing? Isn't he still in Robbery?"
Espo nodded. "Yeah, but he's the longest tenured lieutenant so with Kate gone he has the final say in her absence."
Castle laughed. "I'm guessing that means he gets all the crap that no one else wants to deal with."
Esposito just smiled and winked at Rick.
Rick ambled over to the table and plucked a chocolate covered donut. "It couldn't happen to a more deserving man." He took a bite and hoisted it over his head. "You want another one?"
Espo shook his head. "I'll grab another one a bit later."
The two of them walked out of the break room. Castle smirked at him. "There might not be any left much later."
Espo nodded. "I'm sure as soon as someone notices the boxes of goodies, the word will spread like wildfire." They both chuckled. "So what brings you here today? The Captain won't be back for a week as you well know."
Castle nodded. "Yeah, I know, but I was bored and thought I'd pop in and see if there were any exciting cases to kibitz over."
Javier just shook his head. "Nothing that anyone would let you look over their shoulders on. If they have a closed case, they'd want to get the paper work done. And if it wasn't. You'd just be considered as someone who would be slowing them down."
Rick frowned. "It's just that I'm bored and I thought hearing about a hot case might perk me up a bit."
Espo just shook his head. "Actually it's been somewhat slow. The only thing of any consequence that people are talking about is the parole hearing coming up later this week for Miles Robinson."
Rick pursed his lips. "I don't have any recollection of a Miles Robinson, but the name sounds familiar."
Javier nodded. "It was before your time here. He was a robbery detective that got caught in a big jewel heist. He used his knowledge of a big jewelry show at the Grand Auditorium uptown to invite himself to the party." Espo shook his head. "Something went bad and he got caught. He must've had a partner or three because the stolen jewelry was never found."
The two of them reached Espo's desk. "Since they never recovered the stolen goods, the DA implied that Robinson had partners who got away with the goods. Miles was caught on camera seeming to act as the watch dog, which is why they assumed he had a partners. But since they never found any stolen jewelry on him, he got a lighter sentence with a chance for earlier parole."
Castle just shook his head. "Weird." He slapped Espo on the back. "Well, since there isn't anything exciting going on I think I'll just head home and feel sorry for myself without Kate."
Espo rolled his eyes. "Or you could go home and write? No distractions, you should be able to get quite a bit done while the boss in away."
Rick pushed the elevator button. "Actually, with Kate being the captain I've lost my excuse for not doing much writing. I'm two books ahead, and have some reprints getting ready to publish that all I have to do is write a new foreword."
Espo shook his head. "It must be tough being you, Castle."
The elevator doors opened and he stepped in, turned around and gave Esposito a grin. "It is." He said as the doors closed.
It didn't take Castle long to get home. Well, it wouldn't have taken him long if he hadn't stopped at an ice cream cart that just happened to be a block away from the precinct. Knowing that no cabbie would take on a fare holding ice cream on a stick, he spent several minutes walking. He managed to walk three blocks before he finished his creamy treat.
"Honey, I'm home." Castle called out as he unlocked the front door and entered the empty loft.
He wandered over to the kitchen and with a sigh, cleaned up the mess he'd made, and left, that morning. Kate had been in a hurry because she had a long trip to Albany and she knew that there would be some "unofficial" get-togethers this evening once most of the different city captains made it to the hotel where the seminars were to take place.
There wasn't going to be any scheduled classes or meetings until the next morning, but there would be several opportunities for various social events that one could partake of. Just some food and conversations but Rick knew that Kate was looking forward to the casual atmosphere which she felt would give her a chance to pick the brains of many of the captains from different parts of the state.
While he cleaned up the mess he'd left his mind began to wander. It was going to be a really boring week with Kate gone, and with Rick being more than caught up with Gina.
After being satisfied with his clean-up he spent some time with the television. Since there was nothing on all the regular channels, and the several cable channels he had also had nothing to peak his interest, he stood in front of his immense collection of movies and games but nothing peaked his interest.
The fact that his gigantic library of video distractions couldn't grab his attention was telling.
He missed Kate. It wasn't that she had been gone for long. It had only been a few hours since she left this morning. If this were a normal day, she'd still be at the precinct for hours yet before coming home.
He guessed that he missed her because he knew that she was going to be gone for the whole week. No Kate for a week was not something he looked forward to. He'd normally would be able to find something to occupy him for a few hours while she was at work, but now, knowing that he wouldn't see her for so many days he was feeling the loss already.
The fact that Alexis and Martha didn't live in the loft any more was probably a contributing factor. Not that he wasn't glad that Martha had found a nice place for herself. As much as he loved her, he didn't need his mother around while he was married and living with Kate.
He did miss not seeing much of his daughter anymore due to her studies and living on campus. Alexis was a young woman now and she had her own life to live. Not as much time for dad anymore.
Castle collapsed onto the sofa and pulled up the latest magazine still sitting on the coffee table. As he thumbed through the magazine he let his mind wander. He needed something to do while Kate was gone.
Suddenly a big smile came over his face. Maybe having Esposito in charge of Homicide while Kate was away could work to his advantage. His smile got bigger. He could drop in on the precinct again and maybe he could convince Espo to let him ride with someone else for a couple days just to keep his "research" from getting rusty. He still had friends at the precinct.
He wouldn't be slowing anyone down. He'd be helping like he had with Kate for so many years. He wouldn't be a hindrance. He even still had his vest.
He knew that Ryan wouldn't be able to help him, because he was a sergeant in Narcotics now, but maybe he could wheedle his way into shadowing Kowalski or Hastings for a few days. He'd promise to be on his best behavior. They'd love to have him along.
A slight smile cracked his lips as he got up from the sofa and headed for his office. He had to plan his approach to Esposito and figure just the right way to sell the idea. His smile got bigger. The first thing he'd have to remember would be to bring more food in for Javi. For a guy who kept himself in pretty good shape, he was always first in line for any freebie food that might find its way onto the fourth floor.
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A/N: And away we go.
All Readers are Appreciated, Review if you wish.