956. Chapter 956

After The Wrong Stuff

Episode 7.16

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Mars is one more planet on which I don't own Castle. Rating: K+ Time: See above

Author's note: I'm still working on Follow the Orange Brick Road and on After Captain Kate and the Sorceress, but this idea popped into my head and so I wrote it. The second half will be up tomorrow.

Captain Kate Beckett stood in front of her door and stared at it. She knew that she should open her door and cross the hall, knock on her neighbor's door, say her piece and leave. She knew that. However, she still was standing there, staring at her door.

This is absurd. She thought. I was the youngest person ever to make detective in the Greater New York Police Department. I was the youngest person to ever make captain. And I was selected over thousands of applicants to come to the scientific colony on Mars to be in charge of the police force. How can I not just do what I have to do?

Kate Beckett straightened her shoulders, opened her door and strode purposefully across the narrow hall and knocked on her neighbor's door.

In seconds, the door was opened by Richard Castle. He smiled at her and stood back. "Beckett. I haven't seen you in a couple of days. Everything all right?"

"I've been busy with paperwork." She smoothly lied.

"Come in. I have a surprise for you." Castle stood back and gestured to his living quarters. Every other person on Mars had living quarters that were a Spartan four meters by four meters. Richard Castle, a wealthy writer, had insisted on bringing his lifestyle to Mars, even if he had to pay for it. Consequently, he had a twenty by twenty space, complete with a separate bedroom, a bathroom with a bathtub and not just a tiny shower, and a full gourmet kitchen. Instead of the very basic rations everyone else ate, Castle had his own food shipped from Earth at great expense.

"Castle, we need to talk…" She began.

"We'll talk later. First, smell this." He held a blue bag under her nose. She inhaled and then she inhaled again.

"Castle, that's…."

"Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, and I have some Sumatran and Ethiopian as well as a blend from Central America that you're going to love. And, I have lots of sugar free vanilla. The ship from Earth just came in today." He smiled at her. "And guess what else I have?" He went to his oven and pulled out a plate that had been warming. "You remember telling me about those bear claws you used to get at that little bakery in Brooklyn?" He held the plate out to her. "Ta da!"

Kate took a deep breath. "Castle, I can't. I've been taking advantage of your generosity for far too long. We need to reset our relationship to something purely professional. Consequently I won't be able to have any coffee or dinners with you, or use your tub instead of my dinky little shower, or…"

"You've been taking advantage of me?" Castle broke in. "Rather the other way around, isn't it?"

Kate blushed. "In spite of what people may be thinking about what we do, we are not…."

"Not that." Castle quickly said. "Computer, bring up Black Pawn website for my books." A hologram appeared in the middle of the room. "See? Princess of Ares is in the top five on the best seller lists, and, guess what's on top of the best seller lists?"

Kate looked. "Martian Heat?" She was surprised. Princess of Ares was a science fiction tale of Mars hundreds of millions of years in the past, featuring a wholly imaginary human civilization on Mars. Kate was happy that the Princess, dressed in some sort of bejeweled bikini, looked nothing like her. She knew that Nikki Heat, the fictional Marshal of Mars was based on her, but Nikki always appeared fully dressed, although she looked a lot like Kate.

"Castle, you're a writer. You'd have written those, or something else equally best selling, even if you'd never come to Mars."

"But I did come to Mars, although I agreed to come just to write some puff pieces for IASA so I could visit Alexis. As busy as she is here on Mars, I don't know how long it'd be before I'd see her on Earth. And now that she's off examining fossils hundreds of miles from here, I may have to stay here forever to see her."

"Never the less, Castle…" She began again.

"Computer, show the sales of my books year by year."

Kate examined the hologram. The trend was obvious. Every year the Derrick Storm books sold less and less and the profits went down.

"Kate, I've made millions from knowing you. Are you telling me I can't give you a cup of coffee in return?"

"Castle…." She began, but then stopped. Castle's coffee maker announced that the coffee was ready.

"I had it start as soon as you knocked." He said, handing her a cup and a plate with two bear claws on it."

She couldn't resist.

Two hours later, Kate reentered her quarters and leaned against the door. That did not go at all like I hoped. She looked at the grey cardboard box that sat by her tiny microwave. She had intended to have that for her dinner and not eat a steak dinner with Castle, and finish it off with ice cream. And more coffee. I can't let this thing with Castle go on like this. He's a wealthy, famous writer and I'm just a cop. He'll leave Mars one day and that'll be it for us. If I keep up like I've been, he'll leave me broken hearted. Kate laughed bitterly. Just trying to break up with him now is breaking my heart. What would it be like if I really allowed us to get together?

Kate shook her head and headed for her tiny bathroom to get ready for bed. She couldn't help but remember what using Castle's bathroom had been like. And then she wondered what getting ready for bed with Castle would be like and what….She shook her head and put those thoughts out of her mind.

Late the next morning, she knocked on Castle's door. It took a few seconds before he opened it.

"Beckett. What is it? Who did what felonious thing to whom and where? Let me get my stuff and we can go, unless you have time for coffee."

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. "I can have coffee. There's no crime. It's something else."

He busied himself at the coffee maker and soon had a cup in front of her as well as a bear claw.

"Castle, Eric Vaughn is coming to Mars."

Castle smiled. "Eric Vaughn? The trillionaire genius industrialist? Great. Given his track record he'll have a breathable atmosphere on Mars in no time, warm the place up and give us oceans. How would you like an ocean front condo on Mars? Better buy one quick or all the good ones will be taken." He grinned at her. "I bet you look great in a bikini."

She rolled her eyes and ignored that comment. "He's not coming to work, Castle." She said grumpily. "He's coming to climb Olympus Mons. And I have to escort him around."

"He's coming to Mars to climb a mountain?" Castle asked, slightly puzzled.

"He's something of an adrenaline junkie. He parachuted from the Glenn Space Station to Earth in a specially made space suit of his own design. He used a mini-sub he designed and built to explore the Marianas Trench on Earth."

"Computer, Olympus Mons, please. "Castle looked at what the computer projected. "Wow. An extinct volcano twenty two kilometers high. That's about two and a half Mount Everests. Now that's a climb. When do we leave?"

"We don't leave." Kate said.

"What? Why not? Aren't we partners?"

"Castle, we need to establish a more formal, professional partnership. I'm a cop, after all and you're a writer. You should write and I should cop." She realized how absurd that sounded as soon as it was out of her mouth. "I should enforce the law, I mean."

"Right and we're partners. I write about you and we solve crimes together."

"And there's no crime here." Kate quickly finished her coffee and left.

When Vaughn's ship arrived three days later, she was not surprised to see Castle waiting at the Marsport terminal. She smiled at him, but stood a bit away from him as they waited for Vaughn and his party. I am not going to let Castle get any further involved with me. She thought.

Naturally, Vaughn was the first one through the airlock. As he strode towards her, Kate saw that he was dressed in the same cargo pants, light shirt and many pocketed jacket that was favored on Mars. His, however, was exquisitely tailored and seemed to have dozens of items hanging from it or in the pockets.

Following Vaughn was a very beautiful young woman, tall, leggy with big boobs and a black dress that showed off her legs and boobs and left no doubt that she wore nothing under the dress. Four men, dressed much like Vaughn followed them.

Vaughn smiled and took Kate's hand, and kept it. "Captain Beckett. I have been so looking forward to meeting you." He ran his eyes up and down Kate's slender form. "Allow me to say that you're everything I imagined."

"Welcome to Mars, Mr. Vaughn."

"Oh, please, Kate. Call me Eric. I just know we're going to be great together. You'll love the vehicle I brought. All the comforts of home."

"Oh, I'm afraid I have to use my own vehicle. In case of trouble."

"Oh, you can have your assistant drive it then." Vaughn pointed lazily at Castle.

"Actually, I'm not…" Castle began.

"He's not qualified to drive my Rover, but he is my assistant, so he will be coming with us."

The young woman was introduced as Lisa, no last name given. The four men were all bulky, well- muscled, blonde and blue eyed Teutons who all seemed to be called Hans.

Kate quickly excused herself, saying that she and Castle had work to do.

"Beckett, I think we should put our relationship on a more professional level." He began, smirking as they walked to their quarters.

"Castle!" She snapped.

"After all, I'm a writer. I do writer things. You're a cop, and so you do…."

"Castle! Shut up. Did you see him?"

He shrugged." So he undressed you with his eyes. I bet a million men have done that. And I'll bet he doesn't even have to use his eyes to get Lisa undressed. What are you worried about?"

"Castle, please. I got a message from the medical officer on the ship he came in on just a minute or two before we met him. Lisa was seen on the ship twice for injuries. She told the doctor that she fell in the shower, but he suspects she was subjected to some very rough sex. She had bruises on her boobs, her ass and her vagina."

"Beckett, like I said. I'm your partner. Where you go, I go."

She smiled. "Thanks." She blushed ever so slightly. "You know, I could really use a cup of coffee right now."

"I thought you'd never ask. Perhaps I could interest you in a bear claw, too?"

The next day, Rick and Kate went to examine Vaughn's vehicle. Kate's Rover was about the size of a large pickup truck. It was pressurized and the two of them could live inside of it for several days before it ran out of air or power.

Vaughn's vehicle was the size of an eighteen wheeler truck. It was luxurious and featured all of the comforts of home: Wood floors, carpets, a video center, a kitchen that put Castle's to shame and Lisa, now dressed in a red dress that was somehow even tighter and scantier than her prior black dress.

"Welcome, Kate." Vaughn said, ignoring Castle. "Would you like some wine?" Without getting a reply, he handed her a glass.

"Actually, I want to see your plans for getting from here to Olympus Mons. My vehicle doesn't have the range to get there, much less to get back."

Vaughn smiled. "All taken care of." Vaughn called up a holographic map of Mars from his computer. "I had the ship drop several supply caches along several routes. I wasn't sure which way might be the best route, since there's been very little exploration between here and Olympus Mons. These are the routes." The computer showed three routes outlined in red with supply caches about a day's journey apart. "Each cache has enough food, fuel, air and water to take us to the next two caches. And to get us back again after the climb."

"So, you and your party will all be in this vehicle?" Kate asked.

"No, my climbing team will be in a Rover much like yours. It's going to be just me and Lisa here. Unless I can persuade you to join me? I'm sure this fellow can manage by himself." He gestured dismissively to Castle.

"Will Lisa be spelling you when you drive?"

"The driver is an AI of my own design. It's far superior to a human driver."

Castle shook his head. "You have four men in a Rover like Kate's? Isn't that going to be awfully crowded?"

"They're being well paid for being a bit cramped. If they don't like it, they can stay here." He smiled coldly. "And try to get a job back on Earth after I get through with them."

Castle looked at the map. "Just my luck. We'll be going within fifty miles of Alexis and we can't stop."

"Of course we can't stop." Snapped Vaughn. "This isn't a vacation, Mr. Castle. This is an important historical event. The climbing of Mars' highest mountain. Far more important than climbing that hill, Everest."

"Not exactly a warm and fuzzy boss." Castle said once they were away from Vaughn.

"No."

"But, he seems to be a hands on kind of boss."

"Castle, that isn't funny."

"Sorry. I get sarcastic sometimes when I'm upset. Coffee?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Kate said tiredly. She just knew that the trip with Vaughn was going to be a bitch.

The next day they set out for Olympus Mons, moving no faster than fifteen miles per hour, much to Vaughn's displeasure.

"Beckett, can't we move faster than this? My vehicle can go three times as fast as this and I know yours can as well." Vaughn barked over the radio.

Kate glared at the radio, then took a deep breath. Then she took another deep breath. "Mr. Vaughn, we need to get there alive. This part of Mars, being as close to the colony as we are, has been explored. But, the further we go, the less we know about what's ahead. We'll go carefully and arrive safely."

Vaughn made no reply.

They arrived at the first supply cache late that afternoon. The drop had been successful and everything was in order. Rick and Kate loaded their supplies into their vehicle while Vaughn's crew, including Lisa, loaded supplies into his two vehicles. Vaughn supervised.

Rick and Kate were invited to dinner with Vaughn and Kate felt they should accept. "We'll be with them for a long time and if we fight all the time it'll seem even longer. Let's just put up with him as best we can."

Castle mumbled something that might have sounded like "duck."

When they arrived, they found only Vaughn and Lisa there. Vaughn had apparently forgotten the morning's argument about speed and played the gracious host. He offered wine and hors d'ouevres, followed by an excellent steak and lobster dinner.

As they sat and talked after dinner, Kate saw that Vaughn was taking every opportunity to touch her. Nothing overtly sexual, he just always seemed to be brushing some part of him against her. To her surprise, Lisa was doing the same and more to Castle. Also, to her surprise, Castle was doing his best to fend Lisa off. In self defense, Rick and Kate moved closer to each other, Kate even taking Rick's hand in hers.

"What was that all about?" Kate asked, once they were back in her Rover.

"Obviously a quid pro quo."

"What?"

"This for that. Vaughn was offering me Lisa so he could have a clear run at you. And from the looks of it, Lisa thought I was much preferable to Vaughn."

Kate snorted in derision. "From the looks of it, a horde of starving, plague bearing rats would be preferable to Vaughn."

Rick laughed. "I guess that puts me in my place."

Kate blushed. "That was a comment about Vaughn, not you."

"Why, Captain Beckett. Was that a compliment then?"

"Just barely. I didn't say how superior you were to the rats." She decided she needed to change the subject. "Get in the front seat and pull the privacy curtain. I'm going to take a sponge bath and get in bed, such as it is. Then you can go."

Soon the two were in their sleeping bags on a very thin padding on the floor of the back of the Rover. Kate had turned the lights out.

"Castle, thanks for coming with me. You didn't have to come, you know."

There was silence for a few moments, then he replied. "No. I absolutely had to come with you."