184. Chapter 184

AU After A Deadly Game, Part Two

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I swear that I did not write part one of this. It was my Evil Twin, Skippy! Oh! Neither of us own Castle. Rating: M Time: See above.

She stood in a shadowy alcove in the deserted corridor at the International Terminal at JFK. If her intel was right, he should be headed right for her. If her intel was wrong…She'd need a Plan B. She had no idea what Plan B would be.

She nervously checked her dad's watch. It was getting late. Where was he? He couldn't possibly know a cop was waiting for him. Could he?

She heard footsteps heading for her, just around the corner. Then the murmur of a conversation. He wasn't alone! This could make things much more difficult. She took a deep breath. I can do this. I can do this! Shenervously checked everything she had on her.

Suddenly, they were upon her. The other man stepped in front of him. "Miss! Thomas Gage, US Department of State." He held up some sort of ID. "This corridor is supposed to be clear. You'll have to leave."

She held up her badge. "Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD." She said calmly.

Gage frowned. "I'm unaware that the NYPD was sending anyone here."

"No problem, Tom. I know her. You've done your job. I'll be okay."

Gage's frown deepened. "Are you sure, Mr. Castle?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure."

Gage glared at her as he walked past, but was soon gone. She took a few steps toward him but then stopped, as if rooted to the floor. Her carefully planned speech flew away in the chaos of her mind. "I didn't expect to ever see you again. They said you were dead."

He nodded. Just a hint of a smile was on his face. "Yeah. They were so damned sure about that I almost believed it myself. Turns out they were wrong."

"What happened?"

He shrugged as if it wasn't important. "There were actually three groups of jihadists that attacked us: Foreign jihadists, local jihadists, and Tuareg separatists. They didn't even manage to overrun the whole base before the three groups started fighting over the spoils. A Foreign Legion paratroop sergeant named Grau led five of us out of the base when it got dark. Grau, four Legionnaires and me. Did I ever find a great guy to base my next books on!"

He looked off into the distance for a second. "Anyway, we headed south on foot. The second day we ambushed a Toyota pickup with some jihadists in it. We got a ride, food, water and weapons. We drove about two hundred and fifty miles, dodging patrols looking for us and looking for water and only moved about a total of fifty miles closer to safety. Grau spoke some of the local language. He told anyone we ran into that we were foreign jihadists, scouting for a huge army of the faithful what was right behind us. When the truck ran out of gas, we walked."

"We finally got to the Christian south and were picked up by a local Christian warlord. We were his guests for a bit while he negotiated with the government, the French and the CIA. One of the things he insisted on was that we say nothing about how we got away. He didn't want the Islamists coming after him. That's why the news of my survival was kept quiet for so long."

He took a step towards her. "But I have the feeling that the NYPD didn't ask you to drop by and check on me. Why are you here, Beckett?"

She reached inside her jacket and brought out his letter. She handed it to him. "I received this from your lawyer."

Castle took the letter and recognized it immediately. He put his hand over his eyes. "Oh crap! Beckett, I'm so sorry. I never should have done this. I'm so sorry. I'll fix this somehow. Does Demming…Um…Did he…?"

"He knows. So do Lanie, Espo, Ryan and Captain Montgomery." She said softly.

"They all know? Are you going to kill me now?"

"Did you mean what you said?"

He was about to deny it and hope for the best when he saw desperation, not anger in her eyes. "Did I mean it?" He inhaled deeply and let out a breath. "Yes. I meant it. I know how angry you…"

"Do you still feel the same way?" she interrupted.

He looked at her, trying to read her face. Damn! She's hard to figure out. "Oddly, I had a lot of time to think out in the desert. We once spent three days at this little oasis, just a pool of water, and I'd look up at the stars at night and think about my life. What I'd done. What I hadn't done. To answer your question, I love you infinitely more now than I did when I wrote that. I can't imagine my life without you. Although I'll…"

Before he could finish the sentence, she was on him, her arms around his neck and her lips against his. "I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you." She murmured over and over.

He pushed her away. "Kate! You can't say that. You're married."

She smiled and put her arms around his neck. "I filed for a divorce from Tom the day after I got your letter from your attorney. I love you. I've never loved Tom. I tried to love Tom and I tried to stop loving you. I made a horrible mistake and I want to correct it. I love you, Rick, only you. My divorce will be final in a couple of weeks. "

Rick was stunned. "Wow! You know what this means?"

"What?" She asked.

"Now I have to write Sahara Heat. And," He dropped to one knee "I should have a ring for this, but, Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?"

She let out a whoop of joy and pulled him to his feet. "Yes! Yes! I will." She pulled him back into the alcove and began to undo her jeans. "I need you right now, Rick. I've waited too damned long and made too many mistakes already." She started to shove her jeans and her panties down over her hips when he stopped her.

"No, Kate. Not now."

Shock was clear on her face. What did I do wrong now? "Rick, what's wrong? Why don't you want me?" Tears began to form in her eyes.

He pulled her close and gently pulled her jeans up. "Honey, I love you. But I was devastated when Meredith cheated on me. I've never knowingly slept with a married woman and I won't now. I love you, but we'll just have to wait for your divorce. Okay?"

She laughed. "We're getting good at waiting, aren't we?"

He put his arm around her and they started walking out of the airport. "My car is here, Rick. Do you want to drive this time?"

"Oh, Martha and Alexis have a limo here for me. We can go back to the loft with them."

Kate came to a sudden stop. "Rick! I can't. They hate me. They think I got you killed." She realized that was no longer the case. "Well, they still hate me for what I did to you. I can't."

He took her hand and pulled her close. "Yes you can. I love you. They'll love you once they know what happened. You're going to be my wife, Kate. Come on."

They walked out of the airport with their arms around each other, and quickly saw the two redheads standing by a stretch limo. Rick saw that their looks of joy turned to shock and anger when they recognized who was with him.

"Richard! What is Mrs. Demming doing with you? And hanging onto you like that?" Martha asked coldly.

Rick smiled. "Hi everyone. You've met my fiancé, right?"

Two jaws dropped. "Dad! Are you out of your mind? After what she did to you?"

He shrugged. "She made some mistakes. I made some mistakes. But we've fixed that." He kissed her and said, "I love you, Kate." Loud enough for his mother and daughter to here. "Shall we all go home?" He opened the car door for Kate and got in after her. Martha and Alexis looked at each other and also got in.

Kate looked at the two women in the limo with her. "I need to apologize to you and to Rick. And I need to explain what happened. I take full responsibility for what happened. It was all my fault."

By the time they were back in the loft, Kate had finished. Alexis didn't say a word to anyone, but went straight to her room. Martha got out a bottle of wine and three glasses. After a seconds thought, she poured a glass for Kate and handed it to her. "Katherine, I sincerely hope you've learned your lesson. I hope you've learned yours as well, Richard. But I doubt it. Alexis hasn't made as many mistakes in her life as I have and is still very judgmental. I've always thought you two were good for each other. I hope I'm right." She lifted her glass. "To Rick and Kate."

Kate leaned her head against Rick, very happy to be there with her love and Martha. Suddenly something horrible occurred to her. "Rick! My divorce. I'm paying your attorney out of my inheritance. I told him I wanted out of my marriage to Tom as soon as possible and that I didn't care how much it cost. I never thought about how much it would cost. I'm going to owe Mr. Gordon…I don't know how much! I'll be paying him off for years!"

Rick laughed. "I'm sure I can cover your expenses, Kate." He kissed her. "I appreciate your offer to pay for it, but I need to get you divorced ASAP, too."

Kate giggled. "Oh my God! Tom thought that when we were divorced, he'd end up with half of my inheritance. But there'll be no inheritance now. He's gone up to his ears in debt buying things he's always wanted."

"This wasn't his fault, so I suppose I could…"

Kate put her hand to his mouth, thinking about all the cruel things Tom had said about her. "No. You most definitely will not." Then she kissed him.

LATER

Rick pulled Kate to him and moved down to kiss her boob. "How does it feel to be single, Ms. Beckett?"

"Terrible. I really need to be married. To the man I love this time." She stroked his chest. "I know how badly I've screwed up. I promise you I'll make it up to you. I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Every single day. I promise."

"No, you won't. Kate, we're not going into this marriage with you thinking you owe me some debt so huge you can never pay it off."

She took his hand and moved it from one boob to another. Then she moved his hand down her flat stomach to her pubic hair and to her slit. She rubbed his hand over her slit.

"We're just like we always were, Kate. We're partners. Partners in solving crimes, partners in life. Always."

She nodded enthusiastically. "Okay."

"Which means I get to drive sometimes."

She frowned, then smiled. "Deal. But we have something more important…"

MUCH LATER

"Hey, Espo! Look who's back from their honeymoon?"

The two detectives congratulated the newlyweds and welcomed them back. "Good to have you back here, Castle. And it's good to see you back and smiling, Beckett?"

Kate shook her head. "Not Beckett. I'm Kate or Mrs. Castle. He's Rick, or Mr. Castle." She looked at her husband. "I want everyone to know exactly who we are and that we'll be Mr. and Mrs. Castle always."

Roy Montgomery stuck his head out of his office. "Hey! We have a body drop in an alley in Midtown. Get on it, people."

As Kate walked by Roy, she stopped and said, "Thanks."

This let Rick get ahead of her. He turned and smiled. "You coming, Castle?"