152. Chapter 152

After Hell Hath No Fury

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Hell, I'll probably be writing these Castle stories that I don't own when I'm old and gray. Wait! I am old and gray. Rating: M Time: See above.

"Is there any possible way that you could have thought I'd be okay with this?" Kate asked coldly.

"With what?" Castle shot back. "It's a name. Fictional cops have fictional names. Bullitt, Magnum, Dirty Harry, and Nikki Heat."

"Sure. Nikki Heat. That is not a cop name. It's a stripper's name, or worse it's a hooker's name. I am not going to put up with this. Change it! Do you understand me? Change it!"

Kate had backed Rick into a hallway in the back of the bookstore. He glanced around and saw Alexis and Martha staring at the two of them. A few other customers were starting to look into the hallway. He reached out to pull her around the corner.

"Don't you touch me, Castle!" She pushed his hand away and, luckily, retreated a few steps down the hall.

"Do you want the whole bookstore, including the reporters to hear us?" Castle was trying to be reasonable. "Just go around the corner."

Kate looked down the hallway and glared. The glare did no good. More people were starting to gather. She transferred her glare to Castle and then stepped around the corner.

Rick called to Martha and Alexis. "Just a minor discussion on literature. Can you keep anyone else out of here? Get the store manager if you have to."

Martha nodded and Alexis headed off to find the manager.

Castle sighed and turned the corner. He found Beckett standing in the hallway with her hands balled into fists at her sides and a look of disgust on her face.

"Do you think I'm going to let you do this to me? Really, Castle?"

"Do what?" He raised his hands to the heavens. "It's a name. You'll like the book. No, you'll love the book, I promise."

"I'm going to love the book? What's the title? In Heat? Bitch in Heat? Heat to Trot? Three Way with Heat?"

Castle shook his head. "No! How could you think I'd write something with a title like those?"

"How?" She said, raising her voice. "Because I know you. Everything is just a big, dirty joke to you."

"No it isn't, and the title of the book is Heat Wave. The story is set during a heat wave in New York, you know, the kind where all you want to do is lie down under the air conditioner and dream about a vacation in the Rocky Mountains, or anyplace cool."

"And Nikki Heat isn't a slut?" She asked, lowering her voice.

"Nikki is a fiercely intelligent, very dedicated, hard working, compassionate homicide detective who views each and every death she investigates as someone's tragedy. She is not a slut."

"She'd better not be. I've worked too damned hard and too damn long to go through that kind of crap again."

"What kind of crap?" Castle asked, suddenly very interested.

Kate laughed sarcastically. "What kind of crap? Come on Castle, take a look. What do you see?"

He shrugged. "You're Detective Kate Beckett. You're a good cop, a very good cop with some kind of a past. That past is what drives you. It makes you remarkable."

She laughed again. "You're either dumber than I thought, or you're lying." She pulled her dress up. "Come on, Castle, take a look. Nice legs?" She turned sideways and arched her back, pushing out her boobs. "Nice boobs?" She turned around and pulled the material of her dress tight in back. "Nice ass?"

"Beckett, you're a beautiful woman. You don't ned me to tell you that."

"When I got out of the academy, I was the "Hot Rookie". I don't know how many of my fellow officers grabbed my ass, or squeezed my boobs before my training officer put an end to that. I had one guy try to put his hand down my pants. He pushed me against a wall and tried to push his hand down my pants. Do you have any idea what that's like?"

He shook his head. "No." Castle said quietly.

"I kicked him in the balls so hard he was out for two days. After that the word went around that I was a man hating lesbian."

"Beckett, I'm sorry."

"Sorry enough to stop writing about me?"

He shook his head.

"I didn't think so." She said tiredly. "I was the youngest detective in NYPD history. Do you know what people said?"

"I can guess."

"You don't have to guess, Castle. They said I must have screwed everyone in One Police Plaza. I'm a homicide detective. I have the best case closure rate in the NYPD. So, you know what people ask Ryan and Esposito? Do you think they ask about my methods or how I run my team? No. They want to know which one of them is banging me. And when Ryan and Espo tell them to go to hell, they assume they're both fucking me. They want to know if I do them one at a time or if it's a three way."

"Beckett, believe me, Nikki isn't like that."

She sighed and leaned back against the wall. "You know what, Castle? Write anything you damned well please. I don't care. I just don't care. Have Nikki fuck the entire city of New York. I just don't give a shit." She started to walk back down the hallway.

Castle stopped her. "Wait. There's something I want you to see. In the manager's office."

"Castle, I said Nikki Heat could screw everyone, that wasn't an invitation to you." Kate said angrily.

"I brought the first couple of chapters of Heat Wave to show to Gina tonight. They're in the manager's office. I want you to read what I've written. Please?"

She looked at him suspiciously, but followed him into the manager's office. He handed her the pages he'd printed out. "It's a rough draft, but it's pretty close to the final form."

She read the pages, becoming more interested as she read. She finished the few pages and looked at him. "This is…good. It's quite good. Nikki is…interesting." She frowned and looked at him. "She doesn't get slutty later, does she?"

He smiled. "She does get romantically involved, but Nikki is a one and done kind of girl."

Kate smiled. "Okay. I still see problems for me, but it's not what I thought it was. Sorry."

"And I'm sorry I upset you. Beckett, I'm trying as hard as I can to make the book, the character of Nikki Heat, something you'll love. Something you'll look at and admire. Something you'll be proud of. I don't want to do anything to hurt you. "

She smiled at him briefly. "And I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to." She glanced down the hallway. Except for Martha, Alexis and the manager, the bookstore looked empty. "We should leave."

He offered her his arm and she took it. "See you tomorrow, Detective Beckett?"

"See you tomorrow, Castle."