365. Chapter 365

After An Embarrassment of Bitches

Episode 4.13

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Bitch, bitch, bitch. I don't own Castle. Bitch, bitch, bitch. Rating: K+ Time: See above.

He knew he shouldn't have done it without talking to her first. He really did. But she wouldn't mind, would she? She had been okay with it before. Hadn't she? It was too late now, he was almost in his loft.

Kate looked at her boyfriend. "You did what?"

"I got a dog. You're okay with that, right?"

Kate started to say that she wasn't sure if she was okay or not, but held her tongue at the last minute. This was Castle's home, not hers. She was just his girlfriend and had no real say in how he ran his life. Okay, she had some say, but complain about a dog? "If you want a dog, you should get a dog." She looked at the puppy sitting on Castle's lap. If he ever grew into those paws, the little fellow was going to be huge. "What kind is he, anyway?"

Castle shrugged. "I don't know. I got him at the animal shelter. All they could tell me is that he is a dog."

Kate frowned. "You do know how to take care of a dog, don't you? You've had a dog before, right?"

He nodded. "I've done a ton of research on dogs in the last day or two. You'd be surprised how much information is out there."

"You've never had a dog, have you." It was a statement, not a question.

"When I was twelve, a friend of mine…"

"Castle?" Kate raised an eyebrow. "Have you or have you not had a dog before?"

"No. But how hard can it be?"

"I don't intend to find out. He's your dog. You get to take care of him."

He nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely."

Kate decided she'd better not say anything more about caring for the dog. "So, what's his name?"

"Rook." Rick said proudly.

"So this is little Rookie?" Kate scratched the dog behind his ears.

Kate came back to the loft, tired and a bit grumpy. It had been a long, hard, and ultimately fruitless day. And, she discovered, her welcome home was a puddle of dog pee that she was now standing in. She glared at Rookie, who had the good sense to retreat to Castle's office and hide under his desk. When she walked in, Kate found Rick typing away madly on his laptop, deep in what he called his writing zone.

"Castle!" She barked.

He stopped, then looked up. "Hey! What are you doing home already?"

"It's seven o'clock." Kate said coldly. "And Rookie was supposed to go for his walk at three. I'm sure he didn't take him because my keen detective senses noticed a puddle of pee by the front door. So, unless you're the guilty party…"

Castle shot to his feet, grabbed Rookie and headed for the door. "I'll take him out right now." They stopped by the door and Rick pushed Rookie's nose into the puddle. "Bad Rookie. Bad dog. You don't pee in the house."

Rookie looked over at Kate, obviously feeling much put upon. Kate knew exactly what the dog was thinking. Hey! Why is everyone mad at me? I held it for as long as I could. Someone should have taken me out. But then Castle and Rookie were out the door.

"I know, Rookie." Kate muttered. "Someone should be pushing Castle's nose into it." She looked at the puddle. Castle really should be the one to clean it up. But…Kate headed for the kitchen to get some paper towels.

"Castle! Rookie!" Kate yelled. "Where are you?"

Rookie was hiding under the desk. Castle thought about joining him, but Kate was too good a detective to be fooled by that. "In here. What is it?"

Kate stormed into the office holding up what had been a very expensive pair of Italian made boots. "I haven't even worn them yet and they're ruined. Someone," She stared at the culprit under the desk, "used my new boots as a chew toy."

"Kate, I'll buy you new pair. Two new pairs. I know a guy."

Castle did indeed know a guy. A guy who told him that there wasn't another pair of those boots in the entire US. He was able to get them shipped over from Italy, however. Just to be sure, Castle bought Kate three pairs of the boots. He winced when he saw the price tag, but paid it.

Kate awoke slowly from a sound sleep conscious that someone was touching her in a very intimate place. She smiled. "Castle, after last night, I'm surprised you have anything left for another round." She opened her eyes to see Castle's half of the bed empty at the same time she felt a cold nose goosing her ass. "Castle!" She screamed.

Kate and Rick stared at each other over the breakfast island. Rookie, sensibly, was on Castle's side.

"You want me to get rid of Rookie?" He asked, sadly.

Kate took a deep breath. "No. I've seen how much fun you have with him. And to be fair, I enjoy Rookie as much as you do. But waking up with a dog…doing…what he was doing is too much. We need to keep Rookie out of our bedroom and he needs to be taken care of properly. His messes are just getting to be too much."

"Rookie was just acting like a dog. They always smell butts. It's their way of saying hello." Rick protested.

"Castle, he knows who I am. He does not need to introduce himself to me. We need to do something."

Castle smiled. "Don't worry about a thing. I know a guy."

As it happened, Castle knew a guy who knew a woman. Suzy of Suzy's Dog Walking Service to be exact. Kate found her to be tall, voluptuous, and blonde. She was wearing knee high, red leather boots, shorts that were both very short and very tight and a small bikini top. She leaned over entirely too much and was spending way too much time telling Castle how much she loved his books. Kate went to get Rookie from the office where he was hiding under the desk. That seemed to be his default position. She knelt by him. "If you get the urge to bite her, go ahead." Kate whispered. However, Rookie turned out to be a perfect gentleman dog where Suzy was concerned.

They came home to the loft to find their large, friendly dog waiting by the door with his leash in his mouth.

"Do you need to go out, Rookie?" Castle asked, reaching for the leash.

"I'm starved, Rick." Kate said, taking the leash away. "You get dinner going and I'll walk Rookie. If I have to wait for you to walk him, I won't get fed until midnight."

Kate walked to the nearest park, which was nearly deserted at that time of night. For some reason, Rookie seemed tense, or upset. 'What's wrong, boy? Got a tummy ache?"

Rookie growled low in his throat and dragged Kate to a tree. There by the tree was a small, pink plastic Hello Kitty purse. "Did someone lose a purse?" Kate picked it up. Rookie growled again and started to drag Kate towards a small grove of trees. Kate thought she could hear something. She released Rookie's leash. "What is it, Rookie? Go find."

Rookie took off like a shot with Kate right behind. Ahead of her, Kate could hear Rookie barking and a man yelling. When she got into the trees, she saw a girl, of ten or so, lying on the ground with her blouse ripped open. Rookie had a man backed up against a tree. She drew her weapon. "NYPD! You're under arrest!"

Much later, Kate snuggled up against Rick. "Better than Rookie the other morning?" He asked.

She giggled. "Much better. Although Rookie has his moments. I find that I have another crime solving partner. Oddly enough, this one won't do paperwork either."

As if on cue, Rookie walked into the bedroom and sat, looking at the two humans. Kate shook her head. "Okay, Rookie. Come on up."

Rookie hopped up on the bed and sensibly settled down next to Castle.

The next morning, Kate was woken by an ear piercing shriek as Rookie introduced himself to Castle.