4. Chapter 4

After Poof! You're Dead

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: No mine. Rating: T Time: Right after Poof! You're Dead. (The title was a dead giveaway, right?)

Castle and Beckett left the precinct just in time to see the tail lights of the comfort food truck disappear around the corner.

"Damn." Beckett growled. "And I was hungry, too."

"Rico's Pizza is still open, just down the street. Their pizza isn't too bad. Come on, my treat."

"I can pay for my own pizza, Castle. I'm a big girl." She snapped.

She headed down the street without waiting for a response from Castle, but he followed right behind, with a bouquet of fake flowers still in his hand.

Damn it. Beckett thought. All he did was offer to buy me a couple of slices of pizza. Why did I have to bite his head off?

She's setting boundaries. Castlethought. Letting me know that there are some things I can do, some things only doctor motorcycle boy does. I should have expected that. I hope I still get to bring her coffee in the morning.

Rico's wasn't too crowded and their two slices of pizza apiece and two beers were soon sitting before them in a booth near the front.

Castle thought about Beckett and that soon brought him to his final argument with Gina.

"I will never understand why you turned down the James Bond book deal and chose to write about that detective."

Rick had sighed. This had looked like the start of a new argument. "In case you missed it, your bosses at Black Pawn offered me a huge amount of money for three new Nikki Heat books."

Gina had snorted in derision. "That was no reason to turn down the Bond deal. You can write about that detective any time, the Bond deal was a one-time offer. They'll never ask you again now that you've turned them down."

"I'll survive." He had replied grumpily. He was getting damned tired of the arguments.

"Not if you spend all of your time down at the precinct with that detective. Do you know how little you've written in the last year?"

"I've met my contractual obligations." He said shortly. It bothered him a little that Gina could never manage to call either Kate Beckett or Nikki Heat by name. It was either "that detective" or "that girl in the book".

"Can't you see what that little bitch is doing to you?"

"What?" Castle's eyes narrowed. This was worse than usual.

"She's using you. Do you think no one knows that you gave her $100,000 to pay for a fake hit so she could shoot the man who killed her mother? Assuming he had anything to do with it and it wasn't just a cold blooded killing. And you never asked her for a penny of it back."

"I gave the money to the NYPD, not to her. And, she offered to pay it all back. I told her to forget it."

"More the fool you are then. She damned near got you killed there. If you hadn't been there, nothing would have happened. It was her fault."

"And in case you've forgotten, I was there for the shooting. I had a ring side seat, in fact. I know exactly what happened. It was Coonan's fault."

"She's obviously using you."

"I've been used by women before." Gina apparently didn't realize he was referring to her.

"It wouldn't surprise me at all if she writes one of those tell all books one day. "The Real Nikki Heat, or How I Led Richard Castle Around By His Nose."

"Beckett isn't that type of person." He said coldly.

"Richard, do you think I don't know all about her kind of person? A woman in a man's world? The little slut has probably screwed every man in that station and everyone she's ever worked for."

"Kate Beckett is not a slut. Don't call her that." Castle struggled to control his temper.

"I'll say one thing for that slut, she's smart. She may screw everyone else, but she figured out she can get more out of you by not screwing you."

"Just stop, Gina."

"You realize she has a boyfriend? Some doctor. She's probably banging him right now. Screaming out his name while you sit here and moon over that little slut."

The fact that Kate was probably in bed with her DMB hurt Castle. He was getting so angry he couldn't trust himself to say anything to Gina.

"I'm just trying keep you from damaging your career and hurting yourself. You've almost been killed several times, I know."

"I'm alive." He spat out.

"No thanks to that cheap little whore."

Castle glared at Gina. That was enough. "You're a world class expert on cheap little whores, aren't you?" He said coldly.

"What does that mean?" She barked back at him.

Castle began to list all of her indiscretions, real, imaginary and theoretical, with each word getting louder until the whole restaurant could hear. Could hear both of them.

After he had stormed out of the restaurant, Castle had gone home and gone to his office to go online. He had checked every celebrity gossip page, and every video site. He had made a lot of them with the argument, but luckily no one had picked up the first part of the argument. Beckett's name hadn't been mentioned. At least she wouldn't be mad at him in the morning.

That brought another thought about Kate Beckett to Castle's mind. I have to figure out some way to get out of this arrangement in a hurry if I have to. If Doc Motorcycle Boy is her one and done, there's no way I'll be there to see her walk down the aisle. I'll have to make sure I'm unavoidably detained in Darkest Peru or something. There's no way I'll be shadowing Mrs. Detective Kate Motorcyle Boy either. I can't…He stopped. Hell, why not admit it. I won't want to see the woman I love with someone else.

All of a sudden, Castle felt very, very tired.

Kate had carefully watched Castle since they had sat down. He had stared at his plate the whole time, ignoring her completely.

Damn it! What's wrong with me? All he did was offer to buy me two lousy slices of pizza and a beer and I acted like he'd asked to fuck me in the middle of the bullpen. An imagepopped into Kate's mind. Castle was sitting in his chair, fully erect. She was sliding the last of her clothes off. She smiled at him and drove herself down on him. She whispered in his ear, how much she wanted him, how much she needed him, how much…No! That was never going to happen. She was positive that whatever Castle wanted it was more than sex. A lot more. He had put up with too much in the last several years for it to be only about sex. But if it was, sleeping with him was the sure way to lose what she had. Once she gave in, he'd look for another conquest. Sleeping together might even end their friendship. She had to keep at least the friendship they had. She needed that too badly to risk.

The twin thing he had called it. He was right. They completed each other's sentences, they solved murders at the same time. Even his off the wall theories got her thinking outside the box, often with important results. She had only experienced this "twin thing" one time before, with her mom. Was Castle as important to her as her mom had been?

The twin thing didn't extend to what Castle thought about them. She thought. I'm positive he was jealous of Demming and he sounds jealous of Josh. But what does that mean? He's not a one and done kind of a guy. He's never stayed in a relationship with a woman for any length of time. He'd break my heart before long if I let him. After what I went through with my mom, I couldn't go on if I lost someone I loved again.

Josh could be good for me. Damn! Do I want to settle for a man I don't…She sighed to herself. Say it. For a man I don't love like I love Castle.

Castle looked up briefly, but didn't make eye contact with her.

He broke up with the blonde. Even though he was the one who called it off, he's probably upset. Why doesn't he want to talk about it with me? Kate almost laughed out loud. Right. Kate Beckett the original keep-it-all-bottled-up-inside girl wondering why Castle won't share his inner most thoughts with me.

She looked at Castle. He was a handsome man, rich, smart and charming. There were depths to Castle she hadn't seen at first, but which she clearly saw now. Will he go back to the bimbo of the week now? Take a break? Try something with me? That last both frightened and excited her. We'd be great together, but for how long? I know how long I want. Forever. Nothing less. Not even for Castle.

"I should go home." Castle said suddenly, tipping his beer bottle up and draining it.

"I'll be done in just a second."

"No, don't hurry. I'll be all right. I'm a big boy."

She felt embarrassed to have her line shot back to her. Damn it! Damn it! Why did I have to say that?"

She finished her pizza in two huge bites and downed her beer. "I'm done." She said, grabbing her coat and following him outside.

They stood on the sidewalk for a moment. "See you tomorrow?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, I guess." Castle turned to walk back home.

Kate reached out and grabbed his hand. He always says tomorrow!

She held onto his hand and smiled. "I expect a lot out of the people I work with. They're cops and they have known since they put on the badge that they were expected to put out 110% every day without being thanked for it. I forget sometimes that you're a volunteer. I just want to tell you how much I appreciate what you do every day. I couldn't do this without you anymore and I don't know how I'd manage without you. Thanks! You are appreciated."

Castle smiled at her for the first time since they'd left the precinct. "Tomorrow, then, Beckett?"

"Tomorrow."