489. Chapter 489

After To Love and Die in LA

Episode 3.22

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: All of La La Land knows I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

Kate Beckett walked out of the airport terminal and into the bright LA sunshine. She hadn't expected to be back in LA within a few days of leaving. She hadn't expected to have Castle with her, either. No, that's wrong. She thought. Now, I pretty much expect to have Castle with me as my back up no matter what. Even on this.

Castle walked to the car by the curb and opened the trunk and putting in their luggage. Kate smiled. "A Bentley, Castle?"

He nodded and smiled at her. "We need the trunk space. Although I could ask them for a Ferrari if you'd prefer."

She smiled back at him. "No. This is fine." She got in the car and relaxed a little. She wasn't familiar with LA, but they seemed to be going in the wrong direction. "Where are we going?"

"To our hotel, of course."

She shook her head. "We don't need to stay overnight in LA. We can just fly back to New York tonight."

"And be tired and cranky when we get to the precinct? It won't hurt us to have a good night's sleep."

Kate decided that she just couldn't argue with Castle. Not now. "All right."

Maurice led them into the same suite they had occupied a few short days before.

"How about lunch?" Castle asked after they had dropped their luggage in their respective bedrooms.

"Castle…" Beckett began.

"I'm just looking out for your best interests. You'd be subsisting on energy bars and those awful sandwiches from the machine in the break room if I didn't step in and make sure you got a decent meal now and then."

"Okay, as long as it's a quick lunch."

"The hotel coffee shop has great sandwiches and even better coffee. It'll only take us a few minutes."

The sandwiches were great and the coffee was almost up to the standards of the coffee that Castle brought her every day. Lunch had been a good idea, she concluded.

Then they were off to Gene Simmons house.

Castle pulled up in front of the house and looked over at Kate. "Are you ready for this?"

"No, and I never will be. I never thought that Royce would name me as the executrix of his will and leave me just about everything he had." She reached over and took his hand. "Thanks. I don't think I could do this without you." Castle just smiled back.

Castle got out and opened the door for her, offering her his hand to get out of the car. She took it and held it until they were at Simmons' front door.

Simmons' housekeeper, a slender but aging Hispanic lady, who had probably been a beauty in her day, greeted them. "Detective Beckett? Mr. Castle? I'm Guadalupe. Mr. Simmons is out of town for a few weeks, but I've been instructed to give you any help you need."

"Thank you." Kate said. "I don't think we'll need any help. We'll just go to the guest house, okay?"

Guadalupe let them into the guest house and then left. Kate looked around at the few belongings that Mike Royce had. "We should start at the closet, I suppose." When she opened the closet, the first thing she saw was Royce' blue NYPD uniform in a clear plastic travel bag. As soon as Kate saw it she started to tear up. "We need to put that in the suitcase. He wanted to be buried in it." She couldn't help herself and began to cry quietly.

Castle put his arms on her shoulders and let her lean back into him.

I can't let Castle see me like this. She thought. No, Castle is really the only one that I can let see me like this. She turned around and buried her face in his chest, crying. "He was the only one who understood me, Castle. The only one who supported me. The only one who helped me try to find out who killed my mom. No. I can't lie to Castle like that. Royce was not the only one. "Until you came along. You and Royce were the only ones who ever really understood what drives me. Now all I have left is you."

Castle decided to not respond to that remark. He felt Kate was in a very fragile state. And you'll have me always if I can manage it. He thought.

Kate stepped back and brushed her tears away. "Why did he leave me his things, Castle?"

"I thought his letter to you explained it. He was never married, had no kids and his only relatives were some cousins he hadn't seen in over twenty years. Who else could he leave his things to? You were his best friend."

"Castle, I arrested him."

"And you were still his best friend."

Kate nodded and started to look through the closet. The clothes and the few other belongings could go to Goodwill, she decided. The she saw his old sidearm on a shelf in the back of the closet. "What are we going to do with this? We can't take a Glock back on the plane."

"Do you want to keep it?" Castle asked softly.

She nodded.

"I'll ask Maurice to send it back to New York. I'm sure he knows someone with a Federal Firearms License who can send weapons through the mail."

She checked the laptop on his desk and handed it to Castle to put in the suitcase. "I'll go through it when we're home."

A large album had been next to the laptop. She opened it up. It was Royce's scrapbook, starting when he graduated from the Academy. She flipped the pages towards the back. "Oh my god!"

"What is it?" Castle asked, looking over her shoulder.

"That's us. This was taken the day…"Kate blushed. "It was taken the day I offered to show a perp my boobs."

Castle laughed. "I never heard all of that story. What happened?"

Kate decided she could share. On one condition. "This never appears in a Nikki Heat book, okay?"

"Never."

"This kid drove to Florida to go spearfishing, but what he brought back was a trunkful of pot. He was standing there selling it to his buddies on the street when Mike and I came around the corner. Mike grabbed for the guy, but the guy grabbed his spear gun. Mike was moving, the guy was moving and all of the guy's buddies were pushing me or Mike aside trying to get away. I couldn't get a clear shot. So I yelled, "Hey, want to see my boobs?" and started unbuttoning my shirt. The guy stopped, absolutely frozen, and Mike grabbed him and cuffed him." Kate smiled at the memory. "Pretty silly for me to keep something like that, I guess." She tapped the album.

Castle shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. I hope when I'm gone, you'll keep any little mementos of our time together."

Kate felt like she'd been punched in the gut and was glad Castle was behind her and couldn't see her face. "Are you thinking of…leaving?" Please, no, Castle. Not now.

Castle, knowing he'd said something very wrong, backtracked. "Of course not. But, someday…I mean you're with Josh and you seem to think things are going well. I just thought…he travels all over the world. You might…you know, join him. You'd leave." I wish I could tell you that I could never leave you.

Kate relaxed and smiled. "Do you remember what you said when we were quarantined together when we found radiation in the storage facility? You said if you have one foot out the door, you don't know where you stand?"

"I remember."

"Josh and I have more than just one foot out the door. It's not going to work, Castle. You don't have to worry about me moving to Haiti or someplace and leaving you behind." All I want to do is get myself to a place where we can really be together, Castle. So we can have always.

"Sorry to hear about that. You and Josh." Castle lied.

"It happens." That forced Kate to think about Castle again. I finally got him to admit he was jealous when I was musing for Alex Conrad. He likes me. I know that. I've known it for months. But how much does he like me? And what kind of a relationship can we have if I can't put Castle first? I have to solve Mom's murder. I have to. I just wish I had the courage to stand up and kiss Castle and tell him I want us to be more than partners. More than friends. I want us to be lovers. And more if we can. But what if we can't? How could I stand losing Castle?

Castle broke her train of thought. "I found Royce's checkbook. He has less than five hundred dollars in it."

"I'll give it to charity. There are a couple of NYPD related charities."

"I'll match it."

"Castle, you don't have to do that."

"In an odd way, Mike Royce was my friend, too. Besides, I'm known for my devotion to charities."

"Thank you." She whispered.

They looked through the guest house, but found nothing else that Kate wanted or needed. The next morning they left for New York.

Kate and Rick went to Royce's funeral. Esposito and Ryan also went, but only because Royce had been a friend of Beckett's. No one else was there.

"None of his old friends came, Castle." Kate said. Castle had invited everyone to the Old Haunt for a drink, but Ryan and Esposito had left after a single beer. Rick and Kate sat side by side in a booth.

"He was on the other side as far as they were concerned, I guess."

"He was on a righteous path when he died." She said, quoting Royce's letter. Then she reached over and took his hand. "Thanks. I'm sure Mike would be happy at who did come."

"Always."

Kate put her head on Castle's shoulder and relaxed. Always.