671. Chapter 671

After A Dance with Death

Episode 4.18

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: You put your left foot in, you put your left foot out, you say I don't own Castle and shake it all about. Rating: K+ for language. Time: See above.

"I hate this."

"You hate this?" She said, glaring at him.

"Yes. I realize I may be somewhat at fault here, but…"

"Somewhat at fault? Who had to tell Mickey Reed in front of the whole world what a great dancer I am?"

Castle smiled. "You're a fantastic dancer. Especially when you have no clothes on."

"I am not dancing naked." Kate said acidly.

"Of course not. It's just when Jim Cooper suggested you dance on American Dance Party and said that the show would give ten thousand dollars to your favorite charity…." Castle stopped and looked embarrassed. "It is my fault isn't it?"

"And instead of dancing with some professional dancer like on those other shows, I get to have another "celebrity" as a partner." Both looked over across the studio where Kate's dance partner was scowling at one and all. Theodore "Deadly" Doyle was the most feared linebacker in American professional football. At six feet seven and two hundred and sixty pounds of solid muscle and bone, he looked more like a statue carved out of ebony than a person.

"Here he comes." Rick said, moving in front of Kate.

"You're going to protect me from him?" She teased.

"Deadly" Doyle stopped in front of them and held out his hand. "Mr. and Mrs. Castle? I'm so happy to meet you. I'm a huge fan of the Nikki Heat books. I've always been impressed with the way that you do characterizations, plot lines, dialog and show the way a homicide squad works?"

"You know how a homicide squad works?" Castle cringed internally when he realized what he'd said. He hoped Doyle's brushes with the law, if any, didn't involve homicide.

Doyle nodded. "My older brother is a captain in the state police back home in Oklahoma. He's a huge fan as well." Doyle looked at something over Castle's shoulder. "Oh, good. Here comes my wife Terry. She wants to meet you as well."

Terry Doyle was a tall, slender woman who looked absolutely petite next to her husband. She was, as he had said, a huge fan of Nikki Heat as well. She turned to her husband. "And Theodore, remember to be gentle with this lady." She turned back to Kate. "Sometimes off the field he doesn't realize how strong he is. I just wish we could do something about the scowl." She shook her head.

"The scowl?" Rick asked, trying to sound as if he hadn't noticed it. And failing.

"Theodore had rheumatic fever as a child. It paralyzed the muscles in his face. I hope it doesn't intimidate the judges. The church really could use the money and the publicity."

"The church?" Kate asked,

"I'm a deacon and a lay preacher. We're raising money for our soup kitchen for the homeless." Theodore replied.

Then an intern came and took the two dance partners away.

A man that Rick vaguely recognized came and stood by him. "That brunette is hot. She's the one I'm going to take to bed."

Rick turned and looked down at the man. "She's my wife." He said coldly.

The man smiled and shrugged. "Doesn't make any difference, pal. What Joe Connelly wants, Joe Connelly gets."

Castle looked at him. "Joe Connelly? Who played kind, caring Doctor Steve Woods on Saint Ambrose?

"That's him." Said a tall, willowy blonde. "And if he runs true to form he'll get her loaded and then when she wakes up he'll tell her that it was the best sex she ever had. And as long as she never notices he can hardly ever get it up so…"

"Dammit, Cybil, that happened once." Connelly snarled.

"Yeah, once every time we tried it." She giggled. She turned to Rick. "Oh, and it looks like your wife is over fourteen years old so she's safe from his line that he knows Justin Bieber."

Connelly stomped off in a rage. The blonde held out her hand for Rick to shake. "Cybil Morris. And I know you're Rick Castle, the writer, and that's your wife, the model for Nikki Heat."

Rick smiled as he always did when he found a fan. "And you were a detective on Streets of Hollywood, and you play the lawyer on High Sierra.

"That's me. It's kind of a comedown to be playing a recurring character after having been a star, but when you hit thirty in show business…." She sighed. "Anyway, your wife is gorgeous. Would you like to get together after the show?"

"Like for dinner?"

"No, for sex. I love having a man and a woman in bed with me."

"I don't think that's going to happen. Ever." Castle said with as much force as he could.

She shrugged. "Let me know if you change your mind."

As Cybil walked away, Rick saw Joe Connelly start to talk to Kate. As Rick walked towards her, he could see she was angry. Before he could get to her, Theodore Doyle picked Connelly up by his belt with one hand and whispered in his ear. He put him down and Connelly walked very rapidly away. Castle smiled.

"I don't need this show. I've got other things I could be doing. My agent is finalizing a deal for a sitcom for me."

Rick turned to see who was talking. The man was dressed in fashions that had been big in the sixties, bell bottoms, a tie dyed tee shirt under an open Russian peasant shirt and a stars and stripes headband keeping the man's long hair back. "And you are?"

The man looked shocked. "Who am I? Barry Hood, America's favorite hippy. I co-starred with Jason Brown in The Adventures of Johnny Dollar. I carried that ungrateful prick for five seasons and then he gets me fired. And now that he's a big Hollywood star, he won't even return my phone calls."

"My mother used to love that show." Rick said. From what he could remember Hood had hardly been the co-star.

"Your mother?" Hood shook his head angrily. "I don't need this show." He grabbed his phone. "I gotta call my agent and get me something better." He said as he stormed off.

"But he won't get anything better than this."

The speaker was a tall, impeccably dressed man with a full head of white hair and a ready smile. Castle knew he'd seen the man somewhere, but couldn't remember where or when.

The man laughed. "I get that a lot. I'm Bill Hayes. I've been in just about everything they've made in the last fifty years. As a kid I was on Mike's Big Playhouse. I played the deputy marshal on The Drifters. I was Pam Crane's love interest on Coral Gables."

Suddenly Castle knew where he'd seen him. "You were the alien general on Nebula 9."

Hayes laughed. "You must be a real Nebula 9 fan to remember that."

Castle grinned. "My wife is a fan, but I've come to appreciate it. Especially when Kate wears that Lieutenant Chloe costume. He thought. And even more so when she takes it off.

"At least you remembered something I did. I've spent my whole life in this business and hardly anyone knows who I am." Someone was waving to Hayes and calling his name. "Oops, gotta go."

Rick tried to remember where else he'd seen Hayes before, but had no luck.

"Mr. Castle?" The speaker was a demurely dressed teenaged girl, rather slim and with long, curly blonde hair. "I'm Sandy Knox, When is Priscilla?".

"Oh, yes. The show about the girl who can travel in time back to important events. It teaches history to kids."

The girl nodded. "Do you know any of the judges?"

Rick shook his head. "No, but you should stay away from Joe Connelly."

Sandy laughed. "You mean Mister I-Know-Justin-Bieber? He hardly knows of anyone newer than Toto."

"I loved Toto." Rick said, feeling old.

She shrugged. "They're okay. But, do you know any of the judges?"

"No. None of them. Why?"

"I'm trying to decide who I'll fuck first."

"What?" Rick said weakly. I couldn't have heard that right.

"It's okay. I'm seventeen so I'm legal in New York. The shelf life of a teen star isn't very long so I need to win this to get some cred as an adult actress. Or maybe I could screw some of the contestants." She looked like she was thinking and then smiled. "Take them back to my place and then leave with their clothes on the day the show is shot." She smiled at Rick. "Nice meeting you."

That night Rick and Kate sat on their couch sipping wine. Rick had told her all about the people he met. "The only guy I met after you left who wasn't a slimeball is a guy who's been an actor for decades and no one knows who he is." He took another sip. "By the way, what did Theodore say to Connelly?"

"I don't know. He was whispering and I didn't catch it. You know, Theodore is so sweet. I can't imagine why everyone thinks he's such a badass."

"It's probably the time he put all three opposing quarterbacks out of the game with concussions."

"Any way, lover, you don't have to go with me anymore. I know you hate it."

"I will be going with you to every single rehearsal and show. For every second you're there."

"Worried about me, Castle?"

"Always. Sometimes I can't believe you actually married me, so I always worry."

"That's so sweet." Kate smiled. "Care to….dance?"