948. Chapter 948

After The Limey

Episode 4.20

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Does anyone really think I own Castle? Rating: K+ Time: See above.

This had been one of the rare days when Detective Kate Beckett had a full day off and was not even on call. After sleeping late, having a late brunch and helping each other with the crossword puzzles in the newspaper, they had, as happened many times before, ended up in bed. Now they lay in a tangle of sheets and cuddled with each other, Kate resting her head on Castle's chest.

Suddenly Castle's phone rang. "It can't be the precinct. Unless it's Ryan interrupting us as usual." He muttered, checking the caller ID. The ID just gave him a number he was totally unfamiliar with. "Let me get this. I'll get rid of whoever this is and we can get back to….some fun."

Kate giggled and stroked his chest.

"Castle."

"Rick. Hi, it's me, Jacinda. I have a day long layover in New York and I thought we might get together."

Rick shot a glance at Kate and her look confirmed that she had heard who was on the other end. She reached over and put the phone on speaker.

"Jacinda…..Hi. Um, listen….Things are kind of changed. I'm actually with someone now."

"Oh, is it that detective you were having so much trouble with?"

"Uh….Well, yes. As a matter of fact it is."

"See? I told you that she wasn't as nasty as you were saying."

That brought a grunt from Kate.

"She's there with you, isn't she?" Jacinda laughed.

"Yes. In fact we're in bed together right now."

"She can hear me?"

"Yes, I can." Kate said, not at all happy with one of Castle's ex-girlfriends calling him up.

"So, you finally did talk to her, like I said you should?"

"Um, we….You know….We've talked. Yes, we do a lot of talking. And other things." Castle was hoping the conversation would end very, very soon.

"Rick! You didn't talk to her, did you?" Jacinda demanded.

"Like I said, we have talked. You have no idea how we've talked." Castle babbled.

"Kate? It is Kate, isn't it?"

"Yes. I'm Kate."

"Rick didn't talk to you? I told him he had to talk to you, and he said he would. I told him he couldn't just leave you like that without telling you how he felt and asking you how you felt. He promised me he would. He didn't come talk to you at all?"

"I came to him, but I just kissed him. The talking was much later."

"Rick, you apologize to Kate this instant for not talking to her like you promised."

"Jacinda, Kate and I have…."

"This instant, Richard Castle." Jacinda said sternly. "Or do I have to come over there and force you to apologize to her?"

"You can't do that, Jacinda. We're both naked."

"Then I'll let her get dressed. Now you apologize. Rick!"

Castle knew that this was an argument he couldn't possibly win. "Kate, I'm so sorry for not talking to you at once about….what I heard. I should talked to you instead of hurting you. Believe me, I couldn't be sorrier for what I did."

"Did he sound apologetic to you, Kate? It's kind of hard to tell over the phone."

Kate suppressed a laugh. "He sounded very sorry and I know he is very sorry."

"When I first met Rick coming back from Vegas, it was pretty obvious to me that he was trying way too hard to have fun. It took a lot of not too subtle prying to find out what was wrong. Kate, he missed you terribly. You have no idea how much the idea of losing you hurt Rick."

"Actually, I do have a pretty good idea. I know how much the idea of losing Rick hurt me."

"But you two are together now? No problems?"

Kate thought about all of the problems with Bracken that they had to face yet, but knew she couldn't say a word to Jacinda. "Nothing we can't handle. We'll be fine."

"Always." Rick added.

"I guess I'll have to look elsewhere to find someone to have a drink with when I'm in New York. But it was nice talking to both of you and I'm glad that everything worked out for the best."

"Jacinda." Kate said suddenly. "We're….kind of busy right now, but the next time you're in New York, I'd love to have a drink with you and hear more about Rick."

Rick had a shocked look on his face and was shaking his head and mouthing the word "no".

Jacinda laughed. "You know, I really would like to meet you, Kate. We can compare notes on Rick. That'd be fun."

"N-o-o-o-o!" Rick wailed.

"In fact, I should bring Rick along when we meet." Kate added sweetly.

"Oh, I'd just love to see his face when we talk." Jacinda laughed. "Let me check…..I'll be in New York again in three weeks. I'll be flying out of LA on trans-Pacific flights until then. I'll call."

"Let me give you my phone number, so Rick doesn't "forget"."

Once Jacinda had Kate's number, she hung up.

"I haven't been this embarrassed in years." Rick moaned.

"So, you've been cheating on me?" Kate said.

"What? Never! Where could you possibly get that idea? I haven't seen Jacinda since before we got together."

"She just said you were seeing some nasty detective while you were with me." Kate tried to keep a straight face, but began laughing.

"Oh, god. I so apologize for that. You're not nasty. You're remarkable, amazing, fantastic, magical…"

"And nasty." Kate added. "Lying to you for almost a year was nasty and I apologize to you for it. I should have spoken to you long before you should have spoken to me. Am I forgiven? What happened to us was my fault."

"You came within inches of dying because I wasn't there for you. What I did was worse."

Kate rolled over on top of him. She kissed him and pushed her boobs into his chest. "We both made mistakes and we're both sorry for making them. And we both know that all of our problems are ultimately the fault of Bracken, so let's not talk about blame anymore and no more apologies. Okay?"

"No more apologies."

"At least until I talk to Jacinda." Kate teased.

Castle just groaned.

Author's note: Okay, After Captain Kate and the Hurricane is over ten thousand words and should be done in another few thousand. Follow the Orange Brick Road is heading to two thousand words.