870. Chapter 870

After Valkyrie

Episode 6.01

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: No, not not yes, I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

Special Agent Kate Beckett stood outside of her office building with her overnight bag at her feet and unconsciously ran her finger around the engagement ring she now wore around her neck. She had spent five long days at the FBI's firing range at Quantico, Virginia demonstrating her familiarity and precision with every weapon the government might want her to use and now she just wanted to see her fiancé again. She noticed that her finger had strayed to her ring and smiled. Who would have thought it? I'm engaged to Richard Castle. She thought.

She scanned the street looking for Castle. He had said that he had found a place for them to live in DC, but had told her it would be a surprise. With Castle, I'm sure it'll be a surprise, but with Castle's ability to go overboard, I wonder just how big a surprise I'm in for?

Then she saw a flash of red and heard the roar of the Ferrari. In a town over run with dark colored sedans with tinted windows, Castle stood out. Then again, he had always stood out.

He pulled up in front of her and ran around to open the door for her. "I am so glad to see you back." He said, kissing her as she got into the car.

"Me too, babe. And we have a placed to live? What's it like?"

He smiled at her. "You're going to love it. Just love it."

Kate tried to smile. "Can you tell me about it?"

"It's a surprise. It's just a little ways away."

Castle drove through the streets of DC moving carefully through the traffic

Kate thought she knew where they were headed. "Are we going to Georgetown?"

"Surprise." He said. "You'll love it."

Castle began to slow down at a large colonial style house with a moving van parked outside, then he parked. "Like it?'

Kate looked up at the two story house. "Castle, how big is this house?"

"Four bedrooms, four and a half baths. Why, do you think it's too small?" He sounded worried.

"There are only the two of us. Why do we need so big a house?"

"We need a bedroom, right? I mean we won't be sleeping on air mattresses in the living room. And I need an office, so there's one bedroom. And suppose we have visitors? Suppose your dad and my mom come? We don't want to put our family in a hotel, do we?"

"Rick, how much is the rent on this place." His silence told her something. "Did you buy this place?"

"It was a steal, Beckett. I got it for under three million." Seeing the look in her eyes, he hurried on. "Think of it as an investment. Every time there's an election, some people have to move to DC and some have to leave. The housing market is really dynamic. Come on inside, you'll love it."

Rick took her hand and led her inside. "I had to get a bunch of guys to help load and unload everything. In fact…."

"Hi, Mr. Castle." Said a young woman in jeans and a tee shirt. "Is this your fiancé?"

"Chrissy, this is indeed Special Agent Kate Beckett, my fiancé. Becket, this is Chrissy Holland…."

"And Melissa Joyce." Said another young woman coming down the stairs.

"And Melissa. They're friends of Alexis' from high school and now Columbia. I hired them to move your clothes. I figured you wouldn't want a bunch of guys going through your underwear drawer and stuff."

"We kind of figured out where you might want things based on where stuff was in your old places. Come upstairs and see." Chrissy said and then ran up the stairs with Melissa.

Rick and Kate followed and Kate decided that while things were not exactly as she would want them, it was close enough and she wouldn't need to do very much rearranging.

"Oh, Mr. Castle." Melissa said. "The man from the furniture store called and the dining room table for the formal dining room will be here tomorrow. Is that okay, because if it's not, you need to call him."

"Castle, we have a formal dining room?" Kate asked, somewhat unbelievingly.

"Yes."

"What for?'

Rick frowned. "For when we give dinner parties."

"When do you think we'll be giving dinner parties?" Kate asked, becoming a little exasperated.

"This Saturday. I invited your dad, Ryan, Jenny, Esposito, and Lanie as well as your boss, Carl Vilante, your partner, Rachel McCord and Matt Hendricks. The rest already had plans. And don't look so worried, the new table seats twelve, fourteen in a pinch. We'll be fine."

Castle led her around the upstairs, showing her the upstairs bedrooms and baths, as well as a large storage closet. Then he took her downstairs and was showing her the kitchen when one of the moving company men asked for some guidance on how Castle wanted his office set up. Castle excused himself and left Kate, promising to be right back.

Kate looked out the back door and saw that the back yard was full of roses, mostly reds, but also whites, pinks and yellow. Entranced, she walked outside and walked all around the rose garden. Someone had obviously spent a great deal of time and expense on the garden.

"Hello, are you the new neighbor?" Called a woman's voice.

Kate saw a woman standing by a short side fence, waving to her. "Welcome to the neighborhood. I'm Cynthia Calvert. My husband is Deputy Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Winston Calvert. I'm a lawyer with the FCC."

"I'm Kate Beckett. I work for the DOJ." Kate had already learned that Washington loved initials and acronyms to show who was in the know and who wasn't.

"And you do…?" Cynthia left the question hanging.

"Special Agent with the Attorney General's task force."

"Oh." Said Cynthia, giving Kate a look that instantly brought back her middle school days when she was a tall, skinny flat chested girl with a mouth full of braces. The cool girls who hadn't wanted her around had that same look on their faces. "And what does your husband do?"

"My fiancé. He's a writer."

"How fascinating. What does he write about? Politics? Economics? Foreign Affairs?"

"He's a novelist."

"Oh." Cynthia repeated, giving Kate the impression that novelists were somewhere just above serial killers in the DC hierarchy.

"Kate, are you out here?" Rick called.

"Over here, babe. Meeting the new neighbors." Probably for the last time.

Cynthia's eyes widened as she looked over Kate's shoulder at Rick. "That's Rick Castle." Her eyes went back to Kate. "That means you're her. Oh my God! It's you! You're her!" She turned around and yelled back into her house. "Carol, Janice, Olivia! You have to come out and see who the new neighbors are!"

Three women came out and were introduced to Kate Beckett who was introduced as the real Nikki Heat.

"I just love the character of Nikki." Carol gushed.

"And to think we know her now." Janice said.

"I can't believe she's really here!" Olivia said with a huge smile.

Rick was usually the center of attention with female fans of Nikki Heat, but these women were clearly fascinated by Kate and her alter ego.

"And she's engaged to Rick Castle, too." Carol said. "That is so romantic!"

Eventually Rick had to take Kate away, explaining that he had to cook dinner for his bride to be. That impressed the women to no end.As Kate walked back into the house, she took a deep breath. Rick had been wealthy for years and had gotten used to a certain standard of living and a certain amount of space. She really couldn't expect him to want to live in a cramped one bedroom apartment that she would have rented. She giggled to herself as Rick threw himself into making dinner. I guess I'm just going to have to get used to living like the wealthy and well connected. I suppose I can get used to it.

That night while snuggling in bed, she asked him a question. "You really invited the people I work with?"

"Sure. I want to get to know them since they'll be important in your life. And who knows, one or more of them might end up meeting Nikki Heat."

Kate frowned. "Speaking of Nikki, I'll bet I'm invited over for coffee or something by the Nikki Heat fan club over there."

"I'm sure they'll wait for the whole book club to get together and ask you to come over and autograph their boobs."

"Not funny, Castle. Not funny."