688. Chapter 688

After Dead Red

Episode 8.11

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Nyet. Rating: K Time: See above.

"He's lying."

"Of course he is."

The two redheads sat and looked at each other, unsure of what to say next.

Alexis finally spoke. "I've smelled her perfume here."

"You're sure it's not some other woman's?" Martha said with a sly smile.

Alexis snorted in derision. "It's her perfume, and Dad has been madly in love with her for years and years. He wouldn't dream of being with anyone else."

Martha leaned forward. "I've been finding two glasses in the dishwasher. And, I found two champagne flutes in there this morning. One still had lipstick on it."

Alexis smiled. "Anyone's shade of lipstick that we might know?"

Martha just laughed. "I'm so glad that Richard and Katherine aren't breaking up. That woman has done him a world of good. And I do love her like she was my daughter."

"I hate to say it, but she's a vast improvement over Mom."

"Kiddo, I hate to say this, but a stuffed toy would be an improvement over Meredith. No, I take that back, I don't hate saying that at all."

"So they're really together?" The younger redhead asked, not yet one hundred percent convinced.

"Obviously." Martha's brow furrowed in thought. "But why? Why make everyone think they've broken up? It's got to be a case they're working on. But what case? Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary at the office?"

Alexis shook her head. "Very little is going on actually. It must be one of Beckett's cases."

"Something complex and dangerous." Martha didn't like the sound of that at all.

"So, what should we do?"

"We should be supportive of your father and Katherine and not pry. If this was your father's….less than optimal idea, we'd have to find out what he was up to. But, if Kate Beckett is on board with this idea, something serious is going on."

"I hate that. I thought when Beckett became a captain, I'd be able to stop worrying about the two of them. She'd sit in her office and shuffle paper, and he'd take her to lunch every day. Or something."

"I know, kiddo. But that's who they are."

…...

"Rita? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Can't I come and see my husband?" She pouted.

"This is a top secret electronic listening post. They pick up radio traffic from all over the Middle East. How did you get in here?"

She waved a laminated security badge at him. "I showed this to a succession of heavily armed but very polite young men and they let me through." She sighed. "There was a time when those young men wouldn't have called me "ma'am", though."

"So, why are you here?"

"I've seen Richard and Katherine."

Jackson Hunt frowned. "Great. The one woman he should have hung onto like….I've hung onto you, and the damned fool lets her slip away. When I get the chance, I'm going to kick his ass so hard, he'll have to stand on his head to take a crap."

"Jack, they're not separated."

"But the people you've had watching them….?"

"Are very good. But, apparently your son and his wife are better. Kate needed my help on a case involving the Russians. I accused her of blowing up her marriage to go after Loksat. But then she smiled and I knew something was wrong. She confessed to me that she's just trying to keep Richard safe while she chases Loksat."

"I ought to go find that bastard and kill him myself." Hunt growled.

"Dear, we've talked about this. You're far too well known in the Agency, and, well, subtlety isn't your strong point, direct action is. You'd probably shoot ten of the wrong people before you got Loksat."

"And you think Beckett can get Loksat?"

Rita nodded. "With a little help. Help that I can provide. She's really very good, you know. So is Richard for that matter. And I talked to Richard. He doesn't like being kept out of the loop by Kate, but he accepts it. He said that at the end of the day, she's worth it. His exact words. I did tell him you were very proud of him, but I said he'd probably never meet either one of us again. But I gave him a big hug for both of us."

Hunt stared through the glass into the ELINT room, but saw nothing. He was thinking. "I wish I could be a dad, and a granddad. Go see the kids and sit and have a beer with Rick and you could talk to Kate about….What the hell do women talk about when the men are drinking beer and talking, anyway?"

"We talk about our men." She said with a smile. "And we closed off that possibility many years ago, Jack. Too late now. We'd be taking a chance of dragging them into our world."

"Hell, they are in our world now."

"And we don't want them any further in it, do we?"

"I guess not." He said sadly.

Rita looked past Jack. "Looks like something is happening around Raqqa. You'll probably need to be doing something. And I must be going, too." She gave him a quick kiss.

"Rita? Thanks for the news."

"Always."

….

"I do not, repeat, not, want to get involved in this."

"Come on, Lanie. You're already involved. They're your friends. They're our friends as well."

"Right. So whatever is going on, we should leave it to them to work out."

Ryan could see his partner was getting nowhere, so he took over. "Lanie, we saw them working together with that crazy Russian. They were happy. They were totally unlike the couple we saw a month ago or so. Something is wrong here. Beckett and Castle should not have broken up, and if they did, they shouldn't have been so happy working together. Look, even though the two of them "aren't together", Castle ends up involved in every case. Something is wrong here and we need to find out what it is."

"Why?" Lanie asked, coldly.

"Because they're our friends. Hell, they're family. And we have to help our family." Espo said.

Lanie got up." No. I am not getting involved in this. End of discussion." She walked away from Ryan's desk.

"Just us, bro."

Ryan nodded. "Just us."

…

"So that's seven countries." He said, pouring her more champagne.

"We only have another two hundred or so to go." She raised her glass. "To us."

"To us." He took a sip.

She took his hand as they sat together. "I'm sorry. I wish I could have told you about Rita sooner. Are you mad at me?"

"Some. It comes and goes, waxes and wanes. But I did talk to Rita. She said that you did it out of love for me, and that makes a difference. And, Rita's like my dad. She shows up in my life and then goes away, entirely on based on her own agenda. It's not like we could have called her up if you'd told me earlier and had her over for dinner. Or that she would have told us hilarious stories about my dad. As it was, she told me he's alive, that he's proud of me and that we won't see either of them again. That's their life."

Kate rested her head on his shoulder. "I've made so many mistakes. I have to change. I have to do better. I can't have you getting angry at me like this."

"Hey, fights and arguments are a part of married life. Believe me, I know. At the end of the day, as long as were together, it's good."

"The one thing in my life that I worry about more than anything is losing you. And, even if I did this to protect you, even if I did it out of love, I still hurt you. You've changed me, Rick, but not as much as I thought. I'm still Kate Beckett, who does things her own way. I have to stop that."

"What you have to do is remember you have a husband who loves you very much. And a husband who wants to make love to his wife in every country on Earth. And do you know what?"

She frowned. "What?"

"I have some great sounds on my MP3 player from all over Europe. I thought we could get ourselves in the proper mood for the real thing." He took her hand and led her to the bedroom.

"All over Europe? We aren't going to try to make love to Scots bagpipes are we?"

"Come on, it'll be fun."

"It'll be different."