406. Chapter 406

After Number One Fan

Episode 6.04

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I don't have a protective vest that reads "Writer" and I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

"Welcome back, Detective Beckett." Captain Gates said when Kate reported for work the next day. "We do have some paperwork to do before everything's official, but I'm glad to have you back. I may not be Mr. Castle's number one fan, but I am your number one fan. You're the best detective I've ever worked with, and I've seen a lot."

Kate smiled. "I'm beginning to think, sir that you may be becoming more of a Richard Castle fan than you admit. Letting Castle and me follow up on one of his fanciful theories isn't something you'd have done a while ago."

Gates gave Kate a very stern look, then just the hint of a smile. "As I told Mr. Castle, I've learned not to discount all of Mr. Castle's fanciful theories, just most of them."

"Well, I'm glad you've allowed him to come back as a consultant, sir."

Gates waved her hands airily. "What with the mayor and police commissioner weighing in on my precinct, it's just as easy to let Mr. Castle stay. Plus, if he's officially here, I'll have some control over him. And I expect you to exercise some control over that man as well."

"I'll do my best, sir."

"Your best is very good indeed." Gates stopped for a moment. "Your best is so good, I expected you to be gone in Washington, DC forever. I'm quite surprised you're back here."

Kate was torn between telling Gates what had happened and the knowledge that if anything got back to certain people in DC, it could blowback on her and Castle. "It was Washington, DC, sir. I suppose I should misquote Captain Renault in Casablanca, "I'm shocked, shocked I say, to find out that politics was going on there."

Gates smiled. "I've heard a few things, Kate. Perhaps it's best if we just agree to say no more."

"Yes, sir."

When Castle finally came in, Kate was busy filling out the paperwork involved in her reinstatement as a detective. Naturally, Castle fled from her desk and met with Ryan and Esposito in the break room.

"So, tell us, bro? What happened in DC? Beckett left here all excited about her new job…"

"And her new fiancé." Ryan added. "Then she shows up here, works a case, and the next thing we know, she gets fired."

Castle pulled the two detectives close to him. "Look, guys, I can appreciate your curiosity, but I helped get Beckett into that mess, and the less said about it the better."

Ryan and Esposito looked offended. "Look, bro. We're detectives. That CIA jerk was going to send Svetlana Renkov on a kamikaze mission back to Mother Russia. Beckett isn't the kind who's going to let that happen, so she was the anonymous source that said Svetlana was being investigated for organized crime ties, which would have made her poison to her family and useless to the CIA. All we want to know is did we do anything, you know, by keeping on with the case, that helped get Beckett fired? You know we'd never want to do that. I mean we bitched about Beckett the Fed taking over our case, but, she's Beckett, right?"

Castle smiled at them. "Don't worry. If anyone helped get Beckett fired, it was me. I got involved in her case in DC and got her in trouble, I got involved in her case here in NY when I shouldn't have. So any blame is…"

"Entirely on some anonymous source." Kate said, coming up behind Castle and kissing his cheek. "And I think the anonymous source should remain anonymous. Okay?"

"As long as you're not mad at us." Ryan said.

"For what? Acting like detectives? I'd be mad if you'd acted any other way."

Just then, Sully stuck his head in the door. "Espo? I've got those phones and financials you wanted."

Espo looked at Beckett. "You in?"

She shook her head. "I have about another fifty pages of paperwork before I'm officially back."

When the other detectives had left, Kate sat next to Rick, putting her hand on his thigh. "I'm sorry, babe. That wonderful Federal job that I wanted so badly wasn't what I wanted after all. I should have talked to you about it. Maybe then I would have seen the possible downside to the job and not seen just the upside. Sorry."

"There's no reason for you to be sorry. Talking about it wouldn't have helped you any. It's not like I know anything about DC politics or the Department of Justice. You did the right thing. You never would have known what it was like unless you went for it. And when you did see all of the politics and when you saw what the CIA was doing, you did the right thing. No matter what the consequences. That's why I'm your number one fan."

"And I'm yours, babe. Always."

A tall, gray haired man walked into a nondescript office building in suburban Virginia. After passing through a quite sophisticated security system, he walked through an unmarked door into a windowless office.

"Sit down, Jackson." The man behind the desk said. "This didn't go well at all, did it?"

Jackson Hunt shrugged. "We knew it was a long shot, even if she'd have stayed with the AG. He'd have still gone after her."

"But we'd be able to keep an eye on her a lot better if she was part of DOJ. We'd have a reason to keep track of her without anyone getting curious. And it took some doing to maneuver the AG's office into doing what you wanted without anyone knowing."

"Damned shame it was our own people that caused her to get fired, though." Hunt grumped.

The man behind the desk shrugged. "We're running this operation off the books. That gives us a lot of freedom of action, but it cuts us off from a lot."

"Water under the bridge." Hunt said. "We have people we can use in New York still?"

"The same ones. Retired. They know how to keep their mouths closed, and they owe both of us."

"You have money? Resources? Everything you need?" Hunt asked.

The man laughed. "Do we have money and resources? You do remember who you work for, right?"

Hunt smiled. "I do. And the Middle East is turning to shit again. I got work to do there."

"Okay. I can handle things from here." He gave Hunt a long, hard stare. "And remember, we're not in the business of deciding who represents the people of New York in the Senate. He's strictly off limits."

"I know." Hunt said disgustedly. "I'm not his number one fan, but I know how the game is played."

In another office in a far more prestigious and expensive area of suburban Virginia, two other men talked in a very luxuriously appointed office.

"This makes it much easier to keep her under surveillance and to act when that becomes necessary, sir. DC is the home to so many police and intelligence agencies, foreign and domestic, not to mention the news media, any….activities done here are much more difficult."

The other man nodded. "I'm by no means her number one fan, but she did us a favor, you know?"

"Sir? A favor? I wasn't aware there had been any contact…"

He held up his hand and flashed his famous smile. "Relax. The favor was quite by accident. She damaged Secretary Reed. A few select but important people know that he decided to cover his own ass and risk the deaths of thousands of people. He's one more person I won't have to worry about in the election."

The man nodded. "So there's no change in her status? She's a hostile?"

"Of course. She must be dealt with appropriately. But we can do something later. A scholarship or something in her memory."

"I'll make a note of it, Senator."