29. Chapter 29

After The Dead Pool

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Who does own Castle, anyway? It isn't me. Rating: K+. Time: Guess.

"Thanks."

"Always." Kate Beckett said with a smile. She sat down to do some paperwork and to her surprise, Castle sat quietly in his chair.

Always. She thought. That word again. I am looking for always and I wonder more and more if I'll find it with Castle. And less and less if I'll find it with Josh. I have to face it, Castle is special to me in a way that Josh is not. I'm not sure that any of this means I should break up with Josh and try things with Castle, but it doesn't mean…I don't know what I means.

Kate smiled to herself. But Castle was jealous of the time I spent with Alex Conrad. He admitted it to me. I thought once that Castle was jealous of Demming because he thought Demming was taking his place on the homicide squad. I see that was wrong. Castle was jealous of Demming's attention to me. And he keeps calling Josh, Doctor Motorcycle Boy. You're not jealous unless you really care for someone. Castle cares for me. He really does. We're more than partners, or friends. Kate frowned. Then what are we? He's not my boyfriend. He's not my lover. He's …what?"

"Problem, Beckett?" Castle looked concerned.

"No, just trying to get my time line straight for my report. I have to get the details right."

Castle smiled at her. "You always do."

"And you do as well?"

"I do? In what way?"

"With Nikki Heat. You did an excellent job getting the details of a homicide squad just right. And an excellent job on Nikki herself. Far better than Alex Conrad would have."

Castle smiled, then shrugged. "Alex has one book under his belt and he had, what, a couple of hours with you? I had twenty plus best sellers and months with you. And not just talking to you, either. We did actual investigations together. It stands to reason I'd do a better job."

Kate thought for a second about whether she should continue and decided to go on. "You'd do a better job on Nikki no matter what. You understand women in a way that Alex doesn't."

"Where do you get that idea?"

Kate smiled at Castle. "I am a detective, you know. But, Alex's idea for the killer in his next book was to make it the girlfriend. In talking to him, he saw the girlfriend as an extension of the victim, not a person in her own right. Nikki is definitely a complete, complex, layered human being. Alex hasn't got his female characters to that point, from what I saw."

"Did you read his book?"

"No, but I read the author. I've had some experience along those lines, you know. I think it's because you were raised by Martha, who is a strong female figure, and you had no corresponding male figure growing up. You relate to strong women, you understand them. In fact, I think you expect a woman to be strong. Then there's Alexis. You pretty much raised her by yourself and what's Alexis like? Strong, independent, smart, and caring. She could be Nikki Heat's daughter."

"I don't think Nikki has a daughter. I'd have noticed. I created her you know."

"Sure, but she could have had a daughter, like you said, Nikki is a little slutty."

"What?" Castle was shocked. "Where did you get that idea?"

"You told me, remember? Nikki is smart, strong and a little bit slutty."

"I was kidding. Nikki is not slutty."

"What about her relationship with Don?"

"Don?"

"The ex-Navy SEAL who she sometimes sleeps with? It's nothing but sex between them. There's no emotional context in their relationship at all. Wouldn't that make Nikki a slut?"

"No!" Castle said sharply! "No at all. I mean Don is her hand-to-hand combat instructor and they've known each other for two years. It's not like she's going out to some bar, picking up some random guy and going to bed with him. So Nikki enjoys sex. So what? Enjoying sex doesn't make someone a slut."

"So if Nikki is me…"Kate began.

"Nikki is a fictional character." Castle said sharply. "Sure, there's a lot of you in Nikki Heat, but she's fictional. If I wrote that Nikki worked as a porn star, or a hooker, that would have nothing to do with you."

"So, do you think of me as a porn star or a hooker? I mean you did once say Nikki would be a cop by day and a hooker by night."

Castle shook his head and then took a deep breath. "I do not think of either you or Nikki as a slut. I never said anything like that."

"Castle! Of course you did. You've said or implied on many occasions that Nikki is slutty. And am I not Nikki?"

"Can we just drop this?" Castle asked.

"Sure. Now what about Nikki and Rook?"

"What about them?"

Kate shrugged. "Nikki slept with Rook in the first book. They weren't even a third of the way through the book when they went to bed. Is that the way you see me? Hopping into bed with a man when I'm only a third of a way through a case. I'd be awfully busy, wouldn't I? And slutty."

"Nikki and Rook have an exclusive relationship. They're a couple." Castle looked away from Kate. "They're in love. Or they soon will be."

"Oh! Are Nikki and Rook going to get married? Settle down and have a family? Aren't you afraid of the Moonlighting curse? You know, once the unresolved sexual tension is gone, the protagonists have nothing to offer the audience."

"Nikki and Rook are complex, layered and they'll be interesting whether they're married or single!" Castle said, raising his voice.

"I don't see Nikki as a housewife. And a slutty housewife at that? Wouldn't she be cheating on Rook with some random neighborhood ex-Navy SEAL?"

"NO!" Castle said loudly. "Nikki will always be a cop. Rook will be a writer. They'll be happy, they'll solve crimes and they'll always have sex only with each other."

Kate remembered how Castle had reacted when she had stretched just before she'd left to talk to Alex. His eyes had quickly looked away from her boobs. Had he been thinking that maybe Alex would have access to them later that night? Or Josh? She stretched, pushing her boobs out and looked at Castle. He blushed slightly and quickly looked away.

"Okay, I think I've got my paperwork done. How about I buy you a drink, Castle?"

He nodded. "Tell you what. I'll buy you a drink if you agree not to say anything else about Nikki and Rook, all right?"

"Sure." Kate smiled to herself. I enjoy flirting with Castle. I really do. I'm going to have to flirt some more with him and do something about Josh. I know that Nikki really is me and Rook really is Castle. They're no more fictional characters than Castle and I are. He wants Nikki and Rook to have a permanent long term relationship and he's upset at the idea that I'd think she was slutty. That means that Castle wants more than sex with me and would like…Always? A one and done? Sorry about that, Josh. I think I've found what I'm looking for.

They walked towards the elevator. "Castle, what about Detective Sharon Hinesburg? From what you've said about the next books, she's kind of slutty."

"Beckett!"

"What? Did I say anything about Nikki or Rook?" Kate smiled to herself. I enjoy flirting with Castle and I enjoy teasing him. I think I'll enjoy doing more than flirting and teasing.