Private Life

by Castlefan6

Authors Note AU: Beckett and Castle have reached their first If Only moment, which forces Rick to leave the precinct. The episodes Cops and Robbers and To Live and Die in LA have been rearranged to suit this Timeline; please go with it.

I am taking a Literary License to fill in the blanks.

I don't own Castle; I only use the characters for amusement, except the ones I create.

This is COMPLETELY AU and May or May Not Wind Up with a Caskett Ending.

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Chapter 2

Beckett's Apartment

Same Time Frame

Kate had gotten over her crying spell but was still angry that her friends hadn't informed her about the party and Castle's planned departure. For Christ's sake, he had been her partner; she should have been told, if not by him, then by someone close to her. She immediately thought of Javi's face as she dressed him down and knew she was blaming the wrong people.

No wonder Rick wanted away from her. How had he phrased it? Oh yeah, there was no flag on the play when Demming asked if he and she had anything going on. Why the hell did he have to be so honest? He should have told Tom he was working on something with her.

Then she thought, why the hell do I always blame Rick? I should have told Tom it was nice he asked me out, but he wasn't what I was looking for right now. Now, in less than 72 hours, she had managed to chase away Rick and her boyfriend and earn a well-deserved ass-chewing from her Captain. Worse, she faced the humiliation of spending the long weekend in the city, not even being allowed to ask someone stuck with the holiday schedule to take their place at her usual place of relief, work.

Roy had been upset with her before but never angry, at least to the degree he was today. He was in the Hamptons with Rick, and from his words, she didn't hold out much hope that Rick would care to speak to her. She was sure she would hear all about the weekend through Javi directly or Lanie if she were still talking to her.

It was no secret that Lanie was close to Rick, especially since he had done so much for her parents, ensuring they could visit their daughter in New York even after moving to Florida. What friend would give first-class unlimited airfare to someone he barely knew unless he cared for their daughter?

Lanie had warned her that if she wasn't acting on her feelings for Rick, others were waiting for him to grow tired of the chase before they swooped in. Ann and Roz both had made no bones about it, and she had even suggested that she might throw her hat into the ring as well. The arrangement with Esposito had lost its appeal quite some time ago. All that remained now was the physical portion of a relationship.

Kate knew that Lannie would have already slept with Rick or tried her darndest if it were anyone else. The fact that it hadn't happened YET didn't mean that it wouldn't, and soon unless she got her ass in gear and made up her mind about what she wanted. She was lucky that Lannie respected the unwritten code between girlfriends, don't mess with a man I'm interested in, no matter how badly I screw it up.

She had hoped to talk to Rick when he returned from vacation, but that plan went awry when the Captain informed her he had resigned and wasn't coming back. She thought back to their last conversation, and if she hadn't been so occupied with Demming, she might have picked up on the subtle hints he had left.

The first sign was that he had addressed her as Detective since the conversation when she had to confess her lie to him; he hadn't used Beckett or Kate since that day. The last conversation they had was shortly after they arrested the husband for murder when she voiced her thoughts.

"I know the husband was hurt, but I can never understand why a person would take his emotion to that extreme; why not approach his wife and try to work it out?" she asked, almost as a point of reference.

"Sometimes, Detective, there is just too much hurt to care about working it out. I don't excuse his actions; I'm just saying I can understand how his anger and hurt took control of his emotions.

"No matter how patient a man is, eventually, his threshold will be crossed, and when that happens, there is no coming back from it, no matter how sincere the apologies are." He said, turning to look out the window as she drove back to the precinct.

"But don't you agree that if the love was true, they should have at least tried to work out their problems before it led to an affair and eventually murder?" she asked,

He never replied or even looked her way. He just sat in his seat, watching the telephone poles go by, almost as if he hadn't heard her or didn't want to discuss this issue further.

When they arrived at the station, he was busy talking to the boys, and then Roz had to talk with him. She had interrupted him to ask,

"Rick, do you want to discuss the formal booking procedure? I mean, I still have to formally record his statement, even though he has signed his confession." She tried to get him away from Roz, who by now was giggling like a high school girl.

"You go ahead, Detective. I have to be heading out soon, so enjoy your long weekend, goodbye," he had said. WAIT, he said GOODBYE. He never said that; it was always till tomorrow or good evening, never goodbye. She didn't pick up on that, so why didn't she know?

When she returned from booking, she thought she would join a small party, but, to her surprise, no such luck, which led to the words with Javi, then the ass chewing from Roy. Now she had three days to enjoy, right? She thought as she began to clean her apartment even though it didn't need it.

She knew Lanie was on the bus; she had seen her with a sad look on her face next to a smiling Javi as the bus pulled away from the curb. There was no sense in calling her, but Maddie, yeah, Maddison Queller, would be her ticket to a welcome distraction.

They had mended fences after Rick, and she had gone out when they were working on the case of the murder of the Celebrity Chef at her new restaurant Q4. As far as she knew, Rick and she hadn't dated since; both were busy with their professional lives.

She picked up her cell phone and dialed the number, and Maddie answered on the second ring. "Hey, Becks, what's going on? I'm not in trouble again, am I?" she asked.

FLASHBACK

The scene in interrogation came flooding back to Kate, especially Maddie's words, "You want to make little Castle babies, don't you."

As much as it hurt to hear, especially with Rick in the observation room listening to every word, the part that stung the most was when Castle had his lawyer show up to represent her, ending any questions she had wanted to coerce the answers from her. The scene flooded back to her in vivid detail,

She was sitting at the interrogation table when the door opened, "Detective Beckett, I'm Walt Austin, Attorney at Law, and I represent Miss Queller. She won't be answering any of your questions, and unless you are going to charge her, we will be leaving now."

Maddison looked stunned like Beckett but stood and followed Mr. Austin out of the room to be met by Castle, whom she left with. Not only had he sabotaged her interrogation, but he had also left with what could be her prime suspect, damn him.

She was even more angry when his suggestion of the right suspect turned out to be correct: the half-brother of the victim. Castle had put it together that the fiancé was pregnant, just by a different man than her fiancé and the father of her unborn child.

CURRENT TIME

"Becks, Becks, are you still there?" Kate finally heard Maddie calling her name, jolting her back from her trip down memory lane.

"Sorry, Maddie. I got a text I had to answer," she lied. When did she become so adept at lying on demand?

"OK, you called me Becks, what's up?" Maddie answered in her usual bubbly voice.

"Well, I was wondering, are you working this weekend? I mean, I know it's short notice and everything, but."

"Stop, Kate, I know about the Hamptons invitation and your trip with the Robbery Detective, aren't you supposed to be on your way there now?" she asked,

"You know about that? How? Never mind, but no, I had a change of plans, so I'm not going with Tom; in fact, we broke up." She reluctantly admitted,

"Was that before or after Rick asked you to the Hamptons for the weekend? I know he was pretty pissed off when he caught you in that lie. Becks, what's gotten into you? Lying was never your style before; why did you change?" Maddie challenged her,

"Maddie, I didn't call for your advice. I just thought that if you didn't have plans for the weekend, we could hang out and do something," Kate replied weakly, knowing that she was approaching the point where she was about to explode on Maddie for questioning her behavior.

"Sorry, Becks. I'm combining a job with pleasure this weekend." There was a pause, and then she heard Maddie take a deep breath, "Oh hell, you will find out anyway, so I might as well just tell you straight out. Rick asked me to stay at his beach house when I catered his party on Sunday and Monday. I'm getting ready to leave now, my catering crew will meet us there the day after tomorrow." She said,

Kate was shocked, first, that Maddie called him Rick, and second, that she knew about her breakup with Tom and how she had lied to Castle. When did she talk to him? They couldn't be dating, could they?

"Oh, I see." She got out very weakly, "I didn't know you and Castle were seeing each other, I mean, it's."

"It's None of your business, and you're right; it isn't. Rick and I are friends; we talk and sometimes spend time together, not that you should care. I mean, you are hell-bent on driving him away. If you don't want him, tell him instead of playing games, Kate.

Kate remained silent on the phone, unsure how to respond, until she heard, "Sorry, Becks. I gotta go. Enjoy your holiday," and the phone clicked off.

Well, that made it official: these next three days were going to be very long and boring. She had no one to blame but herself and the damn lie.

Great, just freaking great, Maddie is going to be with him the entire weekend, along with Roz, Ann, and who knows who else, but she was sure there was going to be no shortage of hot women to keep him company. She reached down and picked up the latest book by James Patterson and threw herself on the couch, who needed them, she thought."

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Hamptons Beach Home

Next Morning

Rick set up a breakfast buffet line, with three cooks grilling your order just as you liked. There were also tables of dry and hot cereals, fruits, and pastries; if you wanted it, it was there. LT was in his glory when he saw the hot grits, which he smothered his freshly scrambled eggs and homemade biscuits with.

"Rick, thank you again. I'm in heaven. Most city folk have never heard of grits, but I have to tell you, my wife and I feel like royalty here. Thanks for the invitation; I mean it sincerely. "He said the most words Rick had heard him speak in almost two years.

"LT as long as you and your lady are enjoying yourselves, I am happy. If you want or need ANYTHING, ask, if my staff can't get it, see me. I want my friends to have a wonderful time, and it's just my way of saying thanks to everyone for the help they have given me." He said,

"Rick, begging your pardon, and I don't want to bring up a sore subject, but please tell me it's just a rumor that you aren't coming back to the precinct?" The big man almost had tears in his eyes,

"No rumor, LT. I wish it were, but it was never meant to last even this long. I've enjoyed almost all of my time there. Some days, well, nothing is happy every day," he said, his huge smile returning as Mrs. LT approached.

"Well, if you ever need anything, Rick, you just call. You'll never know how many true friends you are leaving behind.

"Guys, talk, and we know you've helped countless people without taking one ounce of credit. I hope that good karma comes back to you in a huge way." The big man had tears in his eyes as he gave Rick a Bro hug, then quickly turned away.

The entire day was like a trip to Disneyland for many of the cops, if you wanted it, Rick had it. Jet skis, paddle boards, surfboards, boogie boards, and that was just the beach. His pool also had the water volleyball and the hot tub sauna off to the side of the pool.

Rick always wore a T-shirt. Only Roy, Evelyn Montgomery, Bob, and Sherrie Weldon knew the truth about why, but he would never discuss the scars from his three purple hearts during his time overseas. Even with the shirt on, he was quite the physical specimen, eye candy, as Roz put it, to the women, some married included.

Each night just after sunset, there would be a huge bonfire, almost like being back in high school for the homecoming days. Then, with each new day, the fireworks display became more elaborate. On Sunday evening, Lanie took advantage of her opportunity to corner him alone.

He had just returned to the pool area after checking on something, and Lanie caught his attention, hell, every man's attention with, as she described her assets, the girls.

"See something you like, writer man?" she teased in a purring, seductive voice.

"Of course I do, but you knew that, and you've known it since you got here. So, what's up, Lanie? And remember, I don't tread on another man's land.

"If you're thinking about Javi, don't worry, Rick. It's strictly Friends with Benefits with him. I mean, would I want something more? Maybe, but not until he does a lot of growing up. Till then, well, a woman has needs." She said, coming closer to him,

"What about you, Rick? I mean, I know Kate just handed you a royal screwing, don't get me wrong, she's my friend, maybe best friend, but she was wrong. I'm sorry, no one deserves to be led on, I mean, she told me she was sor."

"Lanie, we're here to have fun, to escape the horrors of police work, their inside jokes, and corny routines, so please let it go." He said, not rudely, but with a tone that told her the subject was off limits.

"Well, Rick, I mean, you have needs like every man, I mean, I"

"Lanie, look at me. It's too close to home, and I don't feel like half-killing some crazy Latino detective because of his jealousy. Am I attracted to you? Hell yes. Do I think you're hot? You already know the answer to that; as you say, a man has needs, and well, your assets are more than sexy.

"Another time, in different conditions, we'd be in my soundproof room ravishing each other until we couldn't breathe, but that has to wait. I need to reset, both professionally and personally." He said softly,

"Really, Rick? You think I'm hot, and you would want me, I mean in that way?" She said softly, hanging her head,

"Lanie, don't cheapen yourself. You don't need to beg a man, any man, for love. You sure as hell don't need those one-night stands you and the Detective pick up at the Tremont Lounge when you go clubbing that you think no one knows about." He said softly, watching her blush and stammer.

"You know about those, I mean how, I mean, well,"

"I know a guy, Lanie. I wasn't trying to embarrass you, but you are underselling yourself. If you want a relationship that will last longer than a Viagra, then put yourself out there, not just physically, but let the man get to know you, the real you."

Well, her attempt to get Rick to speak with Kate not only failed, but she also learned a lesson in life herself. God, who doesn't that man know, she thought. "Rick, I hope you don't think I'm just the slut, tha"

"Stop, Lanie. I know you're not that, but my dear Dr. Death, you must see your self-worth before others will. It took me a while to remember that, but well, it's working out," he said, as he put his arm around her,

"Come on, the party is still going full blast," he said as he guided her back to the beach area. She tiptoed up and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Rick, but let me know if you change your mind." She winked at him and returned to the female group, laughing and drinking.

Rick walked back to his office, smiling. He had played a hunch and found out that the detective and Lanie were indeed getting their freak on with random guys; oh, the onion didn't have as many layers as the Detective wanted to think.

TBC

A/N: Thanks for the good wishes for health, and welcome back. I am still working on the details of the main plot line. I thought Maddie would be a bigger bother to Beckett than Gina ever would, plus readers peg me as being one-dimensional. More twists are coming, so stay tuned. _ Tim