Private Life
by Castlefan6
Authors Note AU: Beckett and Castle have reached their first If Only moment, a pivotal point that forces Rick to leave the precinct. Brace yourself as 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 17
The Loft
One Month Later
Rick and Maddison, driven by a burning curiosity, had been relentlessly pursuing a meeting with Jackson. They yearned to uncover the truth about the bank incident and, more importantly, why the Director of Operations was personally embroiled in it. After a series of strategic moves, they finally managed to breach his staff's smokescreen and engage him in a conversation on a secure line.
He was very non-committal about meeting with them now that Maddie was a former employee and Rick was no longer in the active U.S. Marine Corps. Rick had a surprise for him and pulled out the big gun during their last brief conversation, much to Jackson's dismay.
"Jackson, Thank you for taking our call today," Rick began their scheduled ten-minute phone call with the man known as Jackson, responsible for the death of the four bank robbers as well as his and Maddison's injuries.
"You're welcome. Not much has changed since our last talk, and I'm not prepared to discuss the events leading up to the incident that caused the injuries to you or Maddison. I'm sorr"
Then he heard a voice he knew and dreaded more than facing the band of mercenaries. "Well, Jackson, you better get ready. May I remind you that I have hundreds of skeletons you don't want to see the light of day?" Martha Rogers said, not sparing the Venom in her voice,
"Martha, is that you? This line is supposed to be a secure line; you know that Rogers," addressing Rick by his last birth name,
"I'm warning you, Jackson, don't FUCK with me. I've let a lot of things slide in the past, but when it comes to Richard, that's a different story. He's my son, even if you never wanted anything to do with him. I have enough material on you to get your ass tossed out of that cushy job you love so God Damn much, more than me, or your family, so make your choice now.
"Tell Richard and Maddison what they want to hear, OR I have an appointment with the 6:00 NEWS. I'm sure you won't live long after that, will you?" she said with an evil laugh that surprised even Rick. This was a side of the lady who had nurtured and raised him, imperfect as she was. He had never seen the evil side of Martha Rogers.
"God Damn it, Martha, you know I have so many enemies I wouldn't last an hour with what you expose." He half begged, half screamed,
"It's not my problem, as you used to always say. No, you didn't say that. What was it again? Oh yes, I don't have a dog in that race. You're about to get a huge dose of fleas, and don't think for one minute I give two shits if you live or die, you heartless bastard. You almost killed my son and the love of his life." Martha spewed, and Jackson knew who held the leverage in this discussion,
"OK, OK, but you can't be part of this, Martha. If Rick or Maddison aren't satisfied with the information, then we can talk again, but I swear, I will answer everything I can, even if I'm not privy to the entire story." He said, and Rick knew he was being honest.
Rick placed his hand on the elderly lady's and mouthed the words, "It's OK, Mother. We got him," patting her hand gently.
"Jackson, if I have to contact you again, there will be no changing my mind, so live life to its fullest, and you damn well better be honest with Richard and Maddie, one lie, and I will rat your ass out. Are we CLEAR JACKSON?" she demanded in a tone that could not be misunderstood.
The reply came muffled: " Understood." Martha still wasn't done taking her pound of flesh from the man who had hurt Richard and Maddison.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. You didn't speak loud enough for the voice recorder to record your answer." She said, in the same tone, again letting the man know she wasn't a rookie when it came to dealing with matters like this.
Once again, he replied, this time in a strong but cooperative voice, "It's fully understood."
"Very well, the room will be secure in ten minutes; call Richard back at this location then." She demanded, not asked, and disconnected the call.
Rick escorted his mother to the door and said softly, "I'm sorry I had to get you involved; I know he's been out of your life for a long time. If it brought back bad memories, I am truly sorry, Mother." He said,
"Posh, he's been the same egotistical bastard he was since the day I met him. Don't worry about it. I want you and Maddison to be able to put this incident behind you, and I know you won't until you fully understand who was involved and why." She said softly and quickly hurried out the door before any questions about how she had come to know of the skeletons that Jackson feared so much.
Rick returned to the room, and exactly ten minutes later, the phone rang.
"Right on time, Jackson," Rick responded,
"That was a cheap shot to get your mother involved in your fight. I didn't think you would stoop so low to revert to that tactic," Jackson growled,
"Cheap shot or not, my fiancé is fighting to regain a part of her that you took away; hell, you took part of my body away with the damn bomb too. Please don't preach to me about how low it is to bring in one person you are in fear of when you wouldn't answer our calls for weeks.
"You had opportunities to respond and don't claim you were still mending yourself; I have the surveillance information and tapes to prove it," Rick said with vinegar in his voice,
There was a moment of silence, and then he heard, "OK, truce on the events, is Maddison near you? She will need to be aware of what is going on; the reason will be self-explanatory soon,"
"Of course, you're on speaker in a secure location, but knowing you, you've already checked that," Rick fired back,
"I'm here, Jackson; what is so important that you think of me, NOW? I mean, you haven't since I left the agency," She said, a little more bitter than she had wanted,
"That's not correct, Maddison, but it's not a point worth an argument at this time; the reason I wanted you on the call is this is going to involve another lady. I'm not sure how you left things with Kate Beckett, but I will need to reach out to her after we meet in person for a full briefing."
"Beckett, what the hell does she have to do with us or a briefing?" Rick asked,
"I just told you I need an in-person meeting with you, Maddison, and Beckett, and it won't be a pleasant meeting. The last time I looked, the Director of Special Operations title was behind my name, not yours, so we'll run this the way I deem necessary." Jackson was hitting back for the maneuver with Hurricane Martha.
"We understand, Jackson; when do you want to meet?" Maddison intervened to keep the two men from going at each other anymore.
"I'll send you the specifics, but it is the day after tomorrow, at 8:00 AM. No excuses can be accepted; this is a must-show." He said, resembling the Jackson from Maddie's days in the firm or organization, which was called several things.
"We'll be there; just be sure you have your sorry ass there" Rick wasn't letting Jackson take the upper hand easily as he ended the call.
"Why do you think he wants to have Becks there, Rick? Did she have anything to do with the bank? I'm sorry I know I'm not supposed to ask about the details of that day, but it is still bothering me about her role." Maddie said.
"She was there, but in a support position once SWAT and FBI took control of the situation, but she did reach us once the explosion went off. She and her boys kept us alive until the EMTs got there and stabilized enough to transport." Rick said quietly,
"I'm sure there has to be a bigger reason than that. Even if Jackson knew the details, he could give two shits about any of us," she spit out, "I'm sorry, Rick, I know he's your father but"
"He's the Sperm Donor that impregnated my Mother; he is, and never has been, my father. I hate the Son of a Bitch, and the only reason I haven't killed him, well, even thru Mother's bravado she still loves him."
"I wish I knew, but the memories I have of Becks, and I are still foggy; I mean, they are there, but I'm not sure if some of the things I remember actually happened or it is my imagination." She said,
"Well, we will find out soon enough. There is no use worrying about it, Maddy. We have the rest of today and tomorrow to relax. How about a ride up to the cabin?" Rick asked. He wasn't sure that she would remember it, but he smiled as she kissed him.
"The one secluded spot that no one would look for us if I remember how you described it the first time we snuck away," she said and looked into his eyes for confirmation.
"Those were my words, verbatim, Maddie see your memories are coming back, Sweetheart," he encouraged her,
"Some are Rick, and in some areas in time, I keep drawing complete blanks. It's almost like we're watching a movie, and after about an hour into it, someone has erased an hour of its contents." she laid her head on his shoulder. "The cabin and 36 hours with just us sounds great."
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Same Time Frame as Castle's Call
12th Precinct,
Kate had been concentrating on work, trying her best to be a friend to both Rick and Maddie, but if she were being honest, it was killing her every time she saw them together, knowing what she might have had.
She had just closed one file, all properly filled out, with signatures and attachments for the District Attorney, when she heard Roy say, "Kate, I need to see you in my office now." The tone wasn't hateful; it sounded more worried than angry.
She shut her computer down, grabbed a pad to take notes, and walked to his office, once again as a Direct Report, not a friend. She doubted if those days would ever return.
"Sir, you wanted to see me?" she said as she walked two steps into his office and stopped, awaiting further commands.
"Please come in, shut the door, and have a seat." He was busy closing the blinds, a move he usually didn't take, but this had to be serious. He picked up his phone and spoke a few words: "L.T., can you take your position? I have a confidential meeting going on, and I don't need Esposito sticking his ear to the door. Throw him off the roof if he comes close." He hung up the phone.
"Sir, this sounds serious. Did I violate some rule I'm not aware of?" Kate asked with the color draining from her face.
"It has nothing to do with the rules or your behavior, Kate, but it is sensitive information. You must sign this NDA form, as he pushed a form in front of her. I am not supposed to release this information to anyone without clearance, but hell, you'll know in two days." He said, as he wiped his brow, a sure tell that her Captain was stressed, very stressed.
"Know what, Sir?" She asked and waited.
"Kate, you are required to attend a meeting the day after tomorrow. Don't write it down. Details will be sent to this email address, which is your encrypted email account. Don't leave it lying around for anyone to see." He said, wiping his brow again,
"I don't understand, Sir. I"
"Please give me time to get this out and then speak. When I am done talking, you have the right to hate me, but I ask you to remember the orders I was following. Your mother's case, all of the documentation, and much more were the information that the Fifth Doctor, AKA Jackson, is the head of field operations for an agency; it doesn't matter which one.
"He intercepted instructions given to retrieve the files he had stored at New Amsterdam Bank, files he took or had his henchman take from Commissioner Reagan's office after they shot him. Reagan was in bed with a New York Senator and had been his mole in the NYPD for years until I infiltrated it.
"Reagan and I went to the academy together, and I never knew what he was up to until Bob Arman was shot and killed, and I knew he buried that and your mom's case—a favor to his leash holder, Senator William Bracken.
"He always had a bad habit of talking too much when he got drunk, and I got the intel; the files disappeared from his office, and I swear I had no idea where they went.
He glanced down at a broken Kate Beckett, shredding a tissue and biting her lower lip until it almost bled. "Roy, did you kill or have anything to do with killing my mother?" She asked, still not willing to let the tears fall,
"No, Kate, I didn't. I found out that when Reagan was killed, I was informed that all of the documentation had been secured in an undisclosed location. It had all of the details of your Mom's case, as well as several others that had been marked as gang violence, a cover for Bracken's dirty work.
"Bracken found out from another source where they were storing the files, an Agent looking for early retirement, but Jackson intercepted, and well, the rest of the story is for him to tell," Roy said as he pulled the old silver flask from his second desk drawer and pulled a long swig.
He handed her the flask, a flashback to the old days when they were more than boss and detective. She took it, took a swig to calm her nerves, then handed it back to him with a muffled thank you.
"Roy, Boyle was already the commissioner by the time I reached Detective status. Is that how I made it to this job so quickly? Why you gave me special treatment? Was it to calm your guilty conscience?"
"Was it fun to watch the new detective chase every lead, turn over every leaf looking for a shred of evidence someone missed trying to get justice for my Mom?" she sniped at him,
"Kate, I couldn't say a word to you. The case had been turned over to Jackson, and I would have been sent to jail if I disclosed any facts, no matter how much I wanted to tell you. Did it influence the way I treated you? Both of us know the answer to that, and it wasn't out of guilt, at least toward you, Kate,
"Do you remember perhaps the first week you were at the 12th, Captain Fields from the 17th precinct was found tortured and murdered? "He asked,
"Yes, sir, it went cold; no one could put anything concrete together. I heard from some of the senior detectives at the time that it was an inside job, and he and Commissioner Reagan were very close. Oh, God, they killed Fields thinking he was the mole that got the information from Reagan." She said and looked at Roy with a much softer look,
He dabbed his eye, took another long sip from the flask, and said, "Yeah, Fields died a horrible death, and I couldn't do a damn thing about that either; not a day went by, Kate, that I didn't try to atone for that."
"Sir, I understand now. I truly do, and I'm sorry. That must have been hell, carrying that secret for so long, and, well, I forgive you, sir, I forgive you." She said,
"Well, I appreciate that, Kate, now when you meet with Jackson, make sure you understand the plan and get that son of a bitch for the Fields family, for you, and for me, please," he said,
"I will, Sir; you can rest assured I will." She said as she stood, left the office, and went home to prepare for a life-changing meeting in two days.
TBC:
A/N:/ Sorry to have been away for so long. I won't say real life got in the way, but I've undergone heart surgery, now not in Afib, then back surgery, 4-6 weeks before I know if it worked as we wanted, and now I have to go to Ohio for a week for a family issue. I will update as I can, I have never left a story abandoned and I don't plan on this being my first.
I never bought Roy being the third cop, a dirty rookie, and then going up the ranks as his heroes sank into a bottle. I changed the players but not the overall arc of the story. As always, respectful comments are welcome, and trolls are deleted. Till next time -Tim