394. Chapter 394

After Scared to Death

Episode 5.17

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I don't need a freaky DVD to know I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

Kate rested her head on her lover's chest. "I still think it's cute that being with me was the first thing on your bucket list."

"You're the most important thing in my life. I don't even need a bucket list now that I have you. What else could compare to being with you?"

"I just wish we had gotten together when you first wrote that."

"It would have made things a lot easier on me." Castle admitted.

"On me, too." Kate kissed him. "Tom wasn't right for me. Josh wasn't right for me, although I tried very hard to make myself think he was right for me. And I knew who was right for me, but I was too afraid to admit it and do what my heart told me was right."

"I'm now in charge of making sure that you listen to your heart." Castle said, smiling at her. "And I intend to keep your heart in perfect shape."

Kate reached for the list, now on the nightstand. "What else did you want besides me?" She read the list and started giggling. "Really? Convince George Lucas to cast you as Bobba Fett's grandfather in the Star Wars prequel? After all this time with me, you want to be a villain?"

"Who says the Fett family are villains? Bobba was a bounty hunter. Remember the old Steve McQueen series, Wanted: Dead or Alive? He was a bounty hunter and the good guy." Castle grabbed another piece of paper. "He was also in The Magnificent Seven, one of my all time favorite movies. If they ever made a remake, I'd love to be Vint."

Kate shook her head. "Are you ever going to have time for me in your film career?"

Rick wrote some more. "There. Have Kate cast as Chris. We'd be together."

"Only the farmers win, Vint. We always lose." She said, before dissolving in giggles.

"You'd make a great gunfighter." Castle said defensively. "And we could cast some of the people we know as well."

"Such as?"

"Remember the start of the movie? Chris and Vint drive a hearse? If you have a hearse, you need a corpse. And who better for that than Perlmutter?" Castle's brow furrowed in thought. "Although, he could also play the rear end of any of the horses as well. The man's a veritable gold mine of talent."

"Anyone else?"

"I can see Calvera, the bandit leader, demanding that everyone call her "Sir.".

"You might want to keep that to yourself."

"Good thinking." Castle agreed.

"Do you have any other movies you want to be in?"

"Well, not in, but check item forty four."

Kate started giggling again. "You cannot be serious."

Castle did his best to look offended. "Of course I'm serious. May I remind you that I do have experience in the movie making biz? Am I not a purveyor of moonlight and dreams? Do I not think outside the box?"

Kate nodded. "Way out of the box in this case." She read item forty four. "Convince Quentin Tarentino to remake Pulp Fiction as a musical?"

"As a fan of Broadway show tunes, I think there's a real market for my kind of out of the box, movie going, theatrical wonders." Castle looked off into the distance, already seeing the premiere of the movie in his mind. "Can't you just see Jules Winnfield singing Ezekial 25.17?" Castle began singing, more than a little off key: "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men."

He had to stop when Kate's laughter drowned out his singing. "Don't you have something on this list that' at least somewhat…possible?"

"Item thirty seven."

"Win a Nobel Prize, or Pulitzer, or and Edgar?" Kate read. "You think a Nobel Prize for Literature is possible?"

"I'd accept any Nobel Prize. It wouldn't have to be for Literature. The one for peace would be nice."

Kate giggled. "You may have to lower your sights a bit."

"Why? Burt Reynolds once said he wanted to win an Oscar, the Heisman Trophy and the Congressional Medal of Honor. I'd settle for the NYPD Medal of Valor as long as you got one, too."

"You're dreaming."

Castle shrugged. "There haven't been any Pulitzers won for murder mysteries, but the Edgars are a real possibility."

"The Edgars?" Kate asked.

"The Edgar Allan Poe Awards. They're presented annually by the Mystery Writers of America. It's a Who's Who of mystery writers. Raymond Chandler won for The Long Goodbye, Ellis Peters won, Eric Ambler, John le Carre, Donald Westlake, Frederick Forsyth won for Day of the Jackal, Robert Parker, and Lehane's won a couple, but never Richard Castle. And do you know what all of those other writers have in common?"

"Aside from the obvious?"

"It's obvious to me." Castle grinned cheekily,

"Okay, Castle, what do they have in common?"

"None of them are in love with the remarkable Kate Beckett."

"Are you sure?" Kate teased. "I'm known as the inspiration for Nikki Heat. I'm somewhat famous in my own right. Maybe the Mystery Writers of America are all in love with me?"

"I may have to punch Lehane the next time I see him."

Kate laughed and punched Castle lightly on the arm. "Castle! You will not go around punching people because they might be in love with me. Just say that none of those writers are loved by Kate Beckett."

"I'll tell them all that at the next Edgars awards."

"You will not!" Kate cried. "Do you want Gates to find out about us?"

"Could I at least take you? As you said, you are known far and wide as the real Nikki Heat. It would make sense that I'd invite you. People might even think it suspicious that you weren't with me. You're also known as my partner. Please?"

Kate thought about it for a second. "Maybe. But we'll have to set the ground rules, so no one thinks we're together."

"Beckett!" Castle whined. "I want to take you places, to show you off. I want to spoil you."

"And how will that not tell Gates that we're together?"

Castle decided that he should change the subject before "maybe" became "when hell freezes over". "So, what's on your bucket list?"

"I don't really have one. I mean, you know what I do want to do before I die, right?"

"Get Bracken?"

"And one more thing."

"What?"

"It's at the top of my list. Be with Rick."