816. Chapter 816

After One Life to Lose

Episode 3.18

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I wrote this when I was kidnapped by a group of genetically altered bears and was hiding in the sewers of Paris, but I don't own Castle. Rating: K+ Time: See above.

"Richard, what are you and Katherine doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Mother." Castle replied.

"I asked first."

"We need to take some statements for the case before we send it to the DA's office." Kate Beckett explained. "But the cast and crew of Temptation Lane complained so much about having to take time off from the show that we eventually gave in and agreed to conduct our interviews here. Given how long everything seems to take, we may be here for several days before we can talk to everyone we need to."

"Now you know about us, so what are you doing here, Mother?"

Martha smiled. "With the death of the head writer and her assistant being held for her murder, and the loss of Lance Hastings, which apparently no one but Sarah knew about, things are in an uproar on the set. But, Peter Connelly saw me on set and remembered that I was Lance's wife on the show back in the day, so I've been brought back as his now thrice married, thrice divorced, ex-wife, bringing Lance's son back to meet him for the very first time. Of course, whether he is actually Lance's son, or someone else's son, they haven't figured out yet." Martha looked beyond Rick and Kate. "Oh, there's Peter now."

"Martha, am I glad I found you." The show runner said. "Disaster. Your son's been badly injured."

"Oh, what is it? An attack by a genetically altered polar bear?" Castle asked. "A subtle undetectable poison? Shot by his evil twin?"

"This is serious." Connelly said, looking at Castle, then at Martha. "He's badly hurt."

"No, I'm not." Rick said, indignantly.

"Who are you?"

"Peter, this is my son, Richard Castle. You remember."

Connelly shook his head. "Sorry, Mr. Castle, but your mother's son on the show was just injured. Some idiot kid on a skateboard ran him down just outside the studio. He broke both ankles and a patella. He'll be unable to perform for weeks and weeks. I've got calls to every agent I know and all I have is Bobby Mayfield who's just gotten out of rehab for the millionth time. Nobody in their right mind wants to try to work with him. "

"Can't you just shoot scenes for another actor?" Rick asked.

"Who? Mandy Bronson is on the West Coast for the whole week schmoozing with the critics and media people. Jack Hardy is in Chicago receiving an award we won for a charity we sponsor, so we can't call him back, Jill Amandson's character is in a coma and it's important she not wake up for three weeks, and we've already killed off her evil twin. Mike Borden would love more screen time, but…"

"What about Richard? He's my actual son, why can't he play my stage son?"

Connelly looked speculatively at Rick. "Can you act?"

"I've never tried, but…" Rick began.

"Of course he can act, he's my son. Acting is in his bones. Look, Peter, most of the first two days' scenes are exposition explaining why I've come back to Temptation Lane after all these years. Rewrite the script so I do all the explaining, and all Rick has to do is say, "Yes, Mother, "and "No, Mother." That'll give you a couple of days to come up with something."

Connelly looked at Rick. "I don't know….."

"And think of the publicity. Famous author Richard Castle does a guest shot on Temptation Lane with his real mother."

Everyone seemed to be looking at Rick.

Castle turned to his partner. "Beckett, will you be okay working without me?"

Kate smiled. "I'll manage somehow, Castle."

Connelly nodded. "Okay, it looks like I have no choice. Come on, Castle, we need to get you in costume and go over your lines." Connelly dragged Rick off with Martha following.

Just before Rick's first scene, Kate slipped into the control room. Rick was sitting while Martha walked back and forth, going over her marriage and divorce from Joseph Fox and covering the years since then and why she'd come back to Temptation Lane. Rick's lines were hardly difficult, all he had to do was nod, say a few words and remember to watch his mother and not the camera. Then the scene was over and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"It went okay." Connelly said. "We might just survive the next week."

Kate smiled and went off to get another statement. When she came back to the control room several hours later, she found that Castle had another scene, but not with Martha. He was sprawled on a bed with a blonde writhing on top of him. All you could see on the monitors were headshots of the two of them kissing passionately, but Kate could see what the camera wasn't showing. The woman was wearing a filmy silk dress and Kate had no doubt that she wasn't wearing a thing under it. She was shoving her boobs into Castle's chest and while Kate couldn't see the woman's hand, it looked an awful lot like she had her hand down the front of his pants. "Who's the blonde?" Kate asked a writer standing near her.

"Jesse Landry. If he's your boyfriend, you'd better watch out. Jesse has never met a man, woman or mechanical toy she didn't want."

"No. He's not." Kate said unconvincingly.

Jesse stopped kissing Rick and began her own explanation of why she was on Temptation Lane. The scene ended and Jesse grabbed Rick's hand and pulled him away. "Ricky, I just have to take you to my dressing room so we can talk about tomorrow's scenes."

Kate went to her next interview, but with an odd feeling in her stomach, much like how she'd felt when Castle had left her to go to the Hamptons with his ex-wife. She happened to walk by Jesse Landry's dressing room and as she passed it, she heard the sounds of a woman moaning in passion. She stopped to listen for a second, then feeling embarrassed at intruding into Castle's private life, she quickly walked away. I have no claim on Castle. He's an adult and can make his own choices.

When she had done the last interview she had scheduled that day, she went looking for Castle to offer him a ride home. Not finding him, she asked a cameraman if he knew where he was. "He headed to Jesse's dressing room after their scene. I haven't seen him since."

She did not want to go to the dressing room, so she called Castle.

"Castle."

"Hi, I'm headed home. Do you need a ride?" You've probably been ridden pretty hard already. She thought cattily.

"No, I need to go over some lines for tomorrow. I'll see you here tomorrow, okay?"

Kate hung up and headed for home. When she got there, she thought about her and Castle. When he came back to her after that summer, she had sort of assumed her partner was back for good. He came back. He wanted to be with me. I know he has feelings for me. I'm positive he's not just looking for a conquest. But he's broken up with Gina and he knows I'm with Josh. She smiled ruefully. I'm with Josh when he's around, which is not that often. Castle is a gregarious, fun loving, caring man, the sort who should have a girlfriend. I can't really see him with someone like that Jesse Landry, though. Then again, who do I see Castle with? Why not Jesse Landry, although I had thought he'd outgrown that type. If he has a girlfriend, will she want him to be hanging around all day and all night with some other woman? I'd hate it if my boyfriend did that. I'd tell him to stop and stop now. And I'm with Castle far more than I am with Josh, but Josh has never said anything. What does that mean?

When she went to bed that night, she was not at all sure what to make of her thoughts that night.

When she arrived at the studio for her final interviews, she saw that Castle was again sprawled on a bed with Jesse Landry on top of him. Again, the cameras were only showing the actors' faces, but Kate, and everyone in the studio could clearly see that Jesse wasn't wearing any panties.

"Talk about sleeping your way to the top." Someone muttered.

"Yeah, someone took a video of her and two of her co-stars from Beach Beat a couple of years ago. It was right up there with the Pam and Tommy sex tape. I hope that cute detective doesn't…." That was as far as he got before someone elbowed him in the ribs and whispered in his ear. Kate left quickly.

She wasn't sure what she should do when her last interview was done. Castle is an adult. He enjoys sex. I have no claim to him, but I am his friend. Jesse Landry is not his type at all! Kate suddenly felt confused about just how she felt about Rick Castle. Everything was okay until he told me he was leaving, then I knew I wanted to see….What we'd be like, but he left with that blonde, not me. He broke up with Gina, and I felt….what? And one day he'll find someone he wants to be with more than me. What will I do then?

Kate decided there was nothing she could do right now. She thought about calling Castle, but was afraid she's sound needy if she did. Castle got here for his sex scene and whatever else he got today, he can get home on his own.

"Katherine, there you are, dear. We've been looking all over for you."

It was Martha and Castle. "I was just about to go home. Can I give you two a ride?"

"Oh, thank you so much, dear. I hate the thought of a cab ride after such a long day. Oh, did you see Richard and me in our scene today? It was brilliant. I was right, Richard has acting in his bones. We were here until the wee hours last night going over the new lines. I convinced Peter that he could do more than just say, "Yes, Mother.", and, "No, Mother.", and I was right. Oh, I had to drag him away from that awful Jesse Landry as she was trying to drag him into her lair after their first scene. She's just….Well, I won't say what she is, but it's obvious."

Castle nodded. "You should have heard some of her ideas. No, I take that back. No one should hear her ideas unless it's a psychiatrist for the severely sexually deranged. Thank you, Mother, for saving me."

"Any time, Kiddo."

Kate Beckett made sure that Castle would be in tomorrow for another murder that Ryan and Esposito had found a new lead on. And when she went to bed that night, she was in a much happier frame of mind.