853. Chapter 853

After Swan Song

Episode 5.07

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Observe that I do not own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

Author's note: This is a sequel to Chapter 852

"Are the lights okay?"

Kate nodded. "Fine. I've been in front of camera lights before."

"Mr. Castle, are you okay? Ready for the interview for the fans of Nebula 9?"

"Fine. I'm just fine." Castle smiled at the camera. "I just want what I wanted the first time you did that documentary on Holy Shemp. I want everyone to see what a truly remarkable woman Kate is."

Joel Mitas smiled. "But wouldn't any husband say that about his wife?"

Kate nodded. "I'm afraid my husband does exaggerate my accomplishments."

Mitas looked at a clipboard in his lap. "Then let's look at those accomplishments. The youngest female detective in NYPD history, now a captain and head of your own precinct. But, more importantly to our viewers, you're the inspiration for the hugely successful Nikki Heat series of books…."

"And another Nikki Heat film is being shot as we speak." Castle added quickly.

"So it is." Mitas said. "And Captain Beckett has a small part in that as well as a small part in both the first and second Nebula 9 movies. Considering what a huge commercial success Nebula 9: The Movie has been, and how successful Nebula 9: The Creavers Strike Back now is, it looks like you'll have a movie career that many actors would kill for."

Kate shook her head vigorously. "I hope not. Not to kill for. I am a homicide cop, after all."

Mitas checked his clipboard again. "The buzz on Naked Heat is that it's going to be a huge hit as well, and could easily be another franchise. Will you be expanding your role in either film franchise?"

"No. I'm a cop and when I stop being a cop, I intend to be Mrs. Castle full time, and I hope, a mommy."

"And I should point out that Kate has donated all of her pay from the films to charity. Every penny of it. As I said, remarkable."

"Rick, you make it sound like I'm donating a huge amount of money to charity. The pay for my, oh, perhaps five minutes of screen time on all three films combined isn't that much. And as everyone knows, my husband is rather well off."

Mitas laughed. "He does have some money, doesn't he?" He referred to his clipboard again. "But we've been told that your initial relationship with Mr. Castle wasn't very good. In fact, you didn't want him following you around. Is that correct?"

Kate frowns slightly, then nods. "You have to understand, I was a homicide detective. While Rick had been a great help on the Tisdale murder, which were staged to appear to have been based on deaths in his books as if by a deranged fan, I wasn't sure that he would be of any use where his knowledge of his own books wasn't critical."

"And he was forced on you by the mayor, right?"

"I'm sure if Rick had asked me politely, I would have agreed to let him shadow me."

Castle managed not to do more than grin. "To tell the truth, Joel, I'm afraid at first I didn't take Detective Beckett or her job as seriously as I should have. It took even me a while to realize just how remarkable she truly was."

"Don't be silly, Rick. In the second case we ever worked, you helped by pointing us to someone who lived in the victims building. You were a help from the beginning." Seeing Castle open his mouth to respond, Kate quickly added, "and you were a help in all of our cases. But I didn't really warm to you until the Candela kidnapping."

Rick shrugged. "You would have figured it out about the bunny sooner or later. All I did…"

"No, that's not it." She turned to Joel Mitas. "We had a kidnap case and we needed someone to drop the ransom. They said not to send a cop or the little girl would be killed and we couldn't send the father because he was too emotionally involved in the case. So, Rick volunteered for what could have been a very dangerous ransom drop."

Rick shook his head. "Dangerous? It turned out to be an abduction set up by the child's mother. Her accomplice was her sister who is about as dangerous as a chocolate éclair."

"You didn't know that at the time. You could have been walking into a gang of hardened criminals who would have killed you in a second, or a couple of kids high on drugs who'd start shooting for no reason. What you did was very brave, babe. And I was impressed."

"And by the end of our next case, you hated me."

Kate blushed and Mitas looked interested. "Hated Rick? I'd like to hear about that."

"Oh, every Nikki Heat fan knows about that. It's not important."

"Maybe every Nikki Heat fan is aware of your history, but we're interested in Nebula 9, and many of them don't know."

Kate managed to stifle the glare she had for Mitas. "I became a cop because my mother had been murdered. I tried for my first three years as a cop to find something that someone had missed but I had to give it up. I was so upset with myself for failing that I hated hearing anything about my mom's murder. Then Rick looked into it and I got upset with him."

"Upset?" Castle said. "I'd say it was…"

"By our next case, we were back together as partners and we've been partners ever since. In fact, as I'm sure everyone knows, Rick was instrumental in catching he man who actually killed my mother and in bringing to justice the man behind the killing and many more."

Mitas nodded. "Yes, that is kind of old news, but you and Castle were partners in the NYPD, but it took a while for you to get together as a couple, didn't it?"

Kate spoke quickly. "I admit that I was a bit put off at first by Rick's two prior marriages and his playboy image. But I soon found out that he was a much different person than Page Six made him out to be. He's a great father and son, and a very good detective. And while I did have some short term relationships with other men, Rick was always there for me. We'd go to movies together, go to lunch and dinner, I even stayed with him when my own place was bombed." Kate deliberately tried to make that sound more salacious than it was. "Actually, I was in love with Rick from very early on."

Mitas checked his watch. "Getting back to Nebula Nine: The Creavers Strike Back, we have a couple of scenes here that you're in. Can you give us a little background here?"

"I'd love to, Joel."

That night as they were in bed, Rick smiled at Kate. "Really? You made it sound like you were in love with me from the beginning. And if I'd asked politely you'd have let me follow you? Be serious."

"You never asked me politely, so you'll never know. I say I would have let you follow me and you can't prove that I wouldn't have."

"You know I was in love with you from when you started up with Demming? Before that, actually."

"And I broke up with Demming to be with you. What does that tell you?"

Rick sighed. "That you fell in love with me at once and that then you had to wait for poor, slow, Rick to catch up?"

"You said it, not me."