762. Chapter 762

After Flowers for Your grave

Chapter Three

Episode 1.01

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: So guess who doesn't own Castle? Rating: M Time: See above

Rick grinned at his wife. "That's a little more believable. You still would have been young, but more mature. I can almost see us getting together after your mom died. But, wouldn't your walls have been up by then?"

Kate shrugged. "I was still kind of confused and unsure about everything. The walls really didn't get in place until I gave up solving Mom's murder." She frowned slightly. "But I can think of another story that might fit better….

Officer Kate Beckett cursed and grabbed onto the horses bridle. All that did was allow the horse to drag her into a stand of trees in the park. "Whoa, dammit!" She yelled. That seemed to work as the horse stopped.

"Sir, you will get down off the horse now. Do you understand?"

She was answered by a drunken giggle.

"Sir, this is your last warning. I'm serious. I'll knock you off the horse if I have to." Kate rather hoped this asshole would resist arrest.

There was a pause and then. "Okay. But it isn't easy getting off of this thing. Let me see. If I raise my leg like this…"

Kate looked up straight at the man's penis and quickly looked away. "Sir, get down now!" She said, beginning to really get angry.

"I'm trying, dammit." He slurred. "This isn't as easy…YAAAA!" He crashed the ground.

"Sir, are you all right?"

Before he could answer Kate felt a jolt of pain that ran through her entire body. She collapsed face first onto the ground. She tried to move, but couldn't. She could hear though, and what she heard scared her.

"The old cattle prod works every time, doesn't it, bitch?"

She felt rough hands turn her over and then remove her sidearm and pepper spray. A man knelt over her. He had his own pistol in one hand and hers in his belt. "A pretty little pig bitch. You and me are going to have fun, slut."

Kate heard the other man groan and could hear the leaves crackling as he stood up. Her assailant laughed. "Damn, pal. You're all ready for her, aren't you? Okay, you can have her when I'm done with her." She felt him grab her shirt and tear it open to find her Kevlar under it.

"No." That was the man who had stolen the police horse and caused this.

"If you're not interested, okay. Just stay out of my way."

"No, I mean you're not going to do anything to her."

The thug laughed and stood up. "Maybe I need to teach you a lesson." Kate could see him raising his weapon as he walked towards the drunk and out of her line of sight. Kate frantically tried to force her arms to move, but failed. Then she heard a loud thunk and a body hit the ground.

To her surprise, it was the drunk that knelt over her. "Do you have a radio or something?" He asked.

"My belt." She gasped. Managing to move one arm towards the radio. "Tell 'em officer down."

The drunk did as she said and in less than a minute, she heard the sound of sirens headed her way. With the help of the drunk she managed to stand up by the time the first black and white arrived.

Richard Castle sat in the shift sergeant's office wearing a pair of NYPD sweats that must have belonged to an officer about the size of your average NFL offensive line. Officer Kate Beckett sat next to him.

Sergeant Malloy spoke. "Mr. Castle, the NYPD does not appreciate having one of their horses stolen and taken for a joy ride by a naked drunk. Normally, we'd throw the book at you and then some. But, the perp you knocked out is Ed Waller. He killed a cop in the Bronx three months back. Regrettably, you didn't kill him, but as far as the NYPD is concerned, you get to walk out of here with the thanks of the department."

He turned to Beckett. "You, however, are another story. You allowed yourself to get separated from your partner, ran into the woods in the park, got attacked, knocked out, and lost your service weapon."

"Sergeant Malloy, that's not…"

"Silence!" Malloy yelled. "I know your story, Beckett. Little rich girl loses her mommy and drops out of Stanford to become a cop to find her killer. Well, you aren't a street cop and you never will be. The desire for revenge you feel right now won't last. At best, you'll end up with that cute little ass of yours at some desk in One PP and waste all the time and effort the city put into training you. More likely you'll go back to law school and spend your time getting people like Waller off."

Castle glanced at Beckett. Her eyes had narrowed to slits and her hands gripped the arms of the chair so tightly he could see her knuckles whiten. "Sergeant Malloy…"

"You shut up! I'm not done with you, Beckett!"

Castle slowly reached for his phone as Malloy went on. "You were scheduled to get off graveyard and go to days. Well, not any more. You're on graveyard shift permanently. And I'm going to make sure that whenever something really nasty comes up, like a floater who's been in the Hudson for a week, you get to haul it out and put it in a body bag. I'm also going to see to it…"

"It's for you." Castle interrupted, holding out his phone.

"For me?" Malloy took the phone with a bewildered look on his face. "Sergeant Malloy. Who is this?" A pause. "Yes, Mr. Mayor, I recognize your voice. Mr. Castle is a major supporter of yours? He's on a short list for the opening on the police commission next year? Sir, I think I know Officer Beckett better than you or Mr. Castle…" There was a very long pause. Finally, Malloy tossed the phone back to Castle. "The two of you get the hell out of my office." They got.

"You're going to be on the police commission?" Kate asked, just outside Malloy's office.

"I'm afraid Bob went overboard there."

"You call the mayor, Bob?"

"Doesn't everyone?"

Once they were far enough away from Malloy's office, Kate grabbed Rick and hugged him. "Thank you for saving my life and thanks for taking care of Malloy. I'd like to…"

"Hey, Sweetcheeks, when are you going to rub your boobs against me like that?" A voice from behind her said.

Beckett turned around. "When? The next time an armed cop killer gets the drop on me and you take him down with one punch and send to the hospital with a concussion."

"In other words, never, Gurlach." Said another cop. "What did I tell you about harassing my partner?"

Gurlach laughed. "Just teasing, Royce. Just teasing."

"Go somewhere else and tease." The cop turned to Rick and Beckett.

"Mr. Castle, this is my training officer, Mike Royce."

Rick held out his hand. "Call me Rick. Both of you."

Royce shook his hand. "You did a good job out there, Rick. Although you may have caused the problem in the first place."

Rick nodded. "I screwed up."

"All's well that ends well." Royce turned to Kate. "So what are you and your new boyfriend going to do now?"

Kate blushed and looked away from both men. "He's not my boyfriend, Royce."

"And he never will be if you keep acting like that. The least you can do is take him to breakfast. Someplace other than Remy's. Gurlach and his idiot friends will be there having their morning beers."

"Mr. Castle, would you…" She began.

"Rick." He said quickly.

"Rick, would you let me buy you breakfast?"

He smiled. "Sure, but let me go home and change out of the Incredible Hulk's sweats first, okay?"

She nodded and smiled back. "Let me go change out of my uniform." She hurried away from the two men.

Royce looked Castle over. "I've read about you. So let me tell you something. If you hurt Beckett, I'll break both of your legs. Do you understand?"

"Don't you mean that if I hurt Beckett she'll break both of my legs?"

Royce laughed. "You catch on fast.

As they walked out of the precinct, Castle stopped Beckett. "Kate, I have to tell you something. It wasn't me."

"What wasn't you?"

"When Waller came at me, the horse reared up and kicked him in the jaw. It was the horse, not me."

Kate stared at him. "But I heard you say you wouldn't let him hurt me."

"Yeah, but I had no idea what to do once I'd said that. "

She stared at him for a long time. "So I should buy the horse breakfast?"

Castle nodded. "I guess."

Kate laughed. "You stood up to Waller when you could have just run away. That gave the horse an opportunity to act. So you get some credit. Besides, if it got out that I was saved by a horse, Gurlach and Malloy would never let me hear the end of it. I'll still buy you breakfast. But there's a condition. No more juvenile pranks with police horses, or the police. Ever. And you never say anything about what really happened."

"Agreed." Rick said quickly.

Breakfast was enjoyable, but when Rick started to ask Kate out, she stopped him. "Rick, I don't intend to be another one of your conquests. It's been nice meeting you, but this is good bye." She shook his hand and walked away, convinced she'd never see Rick Castle again.

But, a week later, she got a phone call from him. "Kate, can I see you? I have something to show you."

"How did you get my private number?"

"I know a guy."

"It was Royce, wasn't it?" Castle wisely said nothing. "What do you want to show me?"

"Something I've written. I'm starting a new book. A new series, in fact."

They met at the coffee shop where they'd had breakfast.

"It's a new series about a tough, competent rookie cop. I'm getting kind of tired of Derrick Storm. In fact, he's kind of boring."

"And this tough rookie cop is…?"

"Based on you, of course." Castle said with a smile.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Okay. Let me see how bad this is."

"It's five chapters, a story outline and some character notes. Read it all before you say anything, please?' Castle pushed his laptop across the table to her.

Kate read it, first worrying what kind of a bimbo "her" character would be, but then she read further and found herself enjoying the story. Up to a point. "Nikki Heat?" She said. "Are you serious?"

"Perfectly. It's a great cop name. Remember the song "The Heat is On" from Beverly Hills Cop? Heat's a common slang term for cops. It's better than calling her Priscilla Pig or Felicia Fuzz."

Kate giggled. "Okay. Nikki Heat it is. But a rookie cop would never be chosen for an undercover assignment as Nikki was in chapter three. And you don't emphasize enough how important partner relationships are. And here in the outline…." Kate went on critiquing what Rick had written. When they were done, they agreed to meet in a week to review his work.

A month later Royce and Kate were in their vehicle when Royce suddenly pulled over and stopped.

"What is it, Mike?" She looked around sharply.

"You tell me, kid. What is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't been paying attention to anything for the whole shift. Did you know we passed a Latin Knight a block back? What's he doing on the Trenchtown Posse's turf? You're supposed to be watching that side for me, kid. Now, what is it?"

Kate shook her head. "I'm sorry Mike. It's Castle."

"Things not going well?"

"You know he's been writing a book about a rookie cop, based on me. I've been helping him with the details. At first we'd meet at a coffee shop, then we'd switch off between his place and mine. Last night he was at my place and after we'd gone over what he'd written, I kissed him. And we kissed some more and we started making out and we were that close to going to bed when I told him to stop and asked him to leave."

"Why? I thought you liked the guy."

"I do. I like him a lot. I like him so much that when he asked to look at my mom's file, I showed him the copy I made. He suggested we try to figure out why my mom was in that alley when she got killed."

"Did you come up with anything?"

Kate shrugged. "A year or so before my mom was killed a woman was killed by a hit and run driver two blocks away. Before that, a guy was mugged and beaten badly just across the street. An undercover Fed was killed in that alley, probably his cover was blown somehow. There was a twelve year old girl who was kidnapped and sexually assaulted in Brooklyn, but the perp dropped her a block away from where Mom died. But we can't link any of it to any case of Mom's."

"So why did you ask Castle to leave?"

"Mike! He's Richard Freaking Castle. He a millionaire playboy who dates movie stars and super models. If I let myself get serious about him, what's going to happen to me when he leaves? It'll break my heart."

"What's going to happen if he doesn't leave?" Royce shot back.

"Mike, be serious. Me and Richard Castle?"

"You and Richard Castle. If all he were interested in was having sex with someone, he'd have gone after easier targets by now. It's not like it'd be that hard for him. You have to risk your heart, kid. That's what makes our lives worth living."

That night Kate picked up her phone and started to push Castle's number a dozen times, then put her phone down. Finally, she called.

"Kate?"

"Hi, Rick. I'm really sorry about the other night. I just got freaked out. I mean you're Richard Castle and I'm just some cop."

"You never have been and never will be "just some cop", Kate."

"It's just that it hurt so much when I lost my mom, I'm afraid of getting hurt again. If you…left." She waited a few seconds and took the plunge. "I like you a lot, Rick. I really do. But I'm scared."

"I know how you feel."

"You do? How could you know how I feel?" She asked quietly.

"I married the love of my life. The woman I knew I'd be with until death did us part. We had Alexis and everything was great. A storybook life. Then I came home and found her banging some director or producer. She couldn't understand why I was upset. She told me people did this all the time in LA."

"So we both could get hurt?"

"Or we both could find happiness. Or at least friendship."

"Can you come over right now?" She asked.

"I thought you'd never ask."

When he arrived, Kate was wearing only a short silk robe. As soon as the door was closed, she dropped the robe. She was naked and gorgeous. She took his hand and led him to the bedroom. She pulled him down on the bed and they quickly stripped him of his clothes.

Rick began to kiss her boobs, but she pulled his head up. "No foreplay now. I want you inside me right now."

She spread her legs and he entered her, finding her very wet already and quite near an orgasm. In less than a minute she climaxed and he began moving more slowly inside her and exploring her body with his hands. Kate moaned his name over and over as he slowly slid in and out of her, then picking up speed and stroking her nipples and then her taut ass. She came twice more before he finally erupted inside of her.

When they were done, Rick pulled her into an embrace. "Kate, with the other women I've been with since Meredith, I could always see the end of the relationship. I can't see an end to us."

"I hope not." Kate knew if he left, her heart would be shattered.

But, when Kate became the youngest woman to ever make Detective, Rick was there to watch Detective Kate Castle get her gold shield.