440. Chapter 440

After The Double Down

Episode 2.02

By

UCSBdad

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

They were still arguing as they walked out of the precinct and decided to go to Remy's for a beer. The argument continued there.

"We so won that bet, bro." Espo said. "Our guy confessed. That's what the bet was about."

Beckett shook her head vigorously. "No, the bet was about solving the case." She pointed to herself and Castle. "We solved the case. We solved both cases. We got the confession. All you two did was sit there and get nowhere."

"Nowhere?" Ryan said. "Be serious. We wore him down for you." He held his thumb and index finger up, a few millimeters apart. "He was that close to cracking."

"Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades." Castle said. "Not in murders."

"Makes no difference." Espo said. "It was our guy who confessed. Our guy?"

"Your guy?" Castle said, innocently.

"Yes, our guy." Espo said, smiling.

"That's odd, because last night I distinctly heard our esteemed team leader," Castle bowed at the waist to Beckett, " say that we were switching murders. I never heard her say different, so I guess Eric Marx was our suspect, so since our suspect confessed, we win."

"Wait!" Ryan said, shocked. "You can't do that!"

"I can't do what?" Beckett asked calmly. "Run my team the way I want?"

"Are you going to tell everyone else that you won on that basis?" Espo asked.

"Everyone else?" Beckett asked, frowning.

"Half the precinct was in on the bet. Are you going to tell them that you won and we, and everyone who bet on us, lost? Based on you switching murders?"

Beckett and Castle exchanged glances. She wasn't too sure how to handle this.

Luckily, Castle came to her rescue. "Look, we can tell everyone that we didn't know that the two murders were connected when we took the bets, so we can honestly say that when one murder was solved, the other murder was solved, too. We'll just return everyone's money to them. That is, if you two will go alone with that?"

Ryan and Esposito exchanged glances. "I don't want to have to argue with Karpowski. She may be small, but…" Espo just shook his head.

Ryan nodded. "Most of the uniforms bet on you two. I don't want all of them mad at me. We return the money."

Castle took out the envelope with the bets and money in it. "Easy come, easy go, I guess." He put the envelope back in his jacket pocket.

"Some people will still be upset." Kate said.

Castle shrugged. "Just tell them that the 12th Precinct's favorite author will buy everyone pizza for lunch tomorrow."

Kate smiled widely. "What? You mean you can get James Paterson to buy us all pizza?"

Everyone but Castle laughed.

Ryan looked at his watch. "I gotta go, people. Got a hot date tonight."

Espo downed the rest of his beer. "Wait up, bro. I'm headed your way. We can walk to the subway together."

The two detectives said their goodbyes and left Remy's.

"I never expected to see that." Ryan said.

"What?"

"Beckett getting into the bet like that. BC, she would have frozen us solid with one glare. "

"BC?"

"Before Castle. I've never seen her smile as much as she has since Castle joined the team."

Espo shrugged. "And I've never seen her so badly hurt as when he looked into her mom's case when she told him not to. When she came in the next day, I could tell she'd been crying. I almost beat Castle to a pulp."

Ryan knew that Espo had a big brother relationship with Beckett. "So why didn't you?"

"Castle may have found something. Anyway, he gave it to Montgomery. The NYPD would never let Beckett near her mom's case, so he must have handed it to another precinct. I haven't heard anything, and, all things considered, it being a ten year old case, I'm betting it was a great big zero."

"Still, Castle tried."

Espo frowned. "He could have tried without telling Beckett. I'm still mad at the guy for what he did to her."

"She seems to be happy to have him around and it looks like he's good for her. And she's good for him. So just forget about it. Beckett has."

"I guess." Espo said, not sounding at all sincere.

Beckett and Castle sat alone in their booth with full beer glasses in front of them. Castle checked his watch. "It's getting to be about dinner time."

Beckett nodded. "I'm sorry. You want to get home to your mom and your daughter. I shouldn't have kept you this long. Please, go ahead. I'll be fine."

"No!" Castle said quickly. "Martha is with some theater friends tonight and Alexis is at a sleepover. What I wanted to know is if you're hungry? We could have dinner here." Seeing the uncertain look on her face, he added, "If you want to."

"Sure. We can go Dutch."

"I'd really like to take you to dinner." Castle blushed slightly. "I still feel guilty about…what I did. I want to make up for it. And since you don't want the pony…."

Kate laughed. "If the choice is between having to keep a pony in Manhattan and you paying for dinner, you can buy me dinner." Kate's face became more serious. "Castle, I over reacted. I assumed you were doing that for your book. I didn't give you a chance to explain. I shouldn't have…"

"Whoa! Far enough, Beckett. The last thing I want from you is an apology. I'm the one that hurt you. Why I did….what I did isn't relevant. I shouldn't hurt you. And, Beckett, I'll never hurt you again."

Don't make any promises you can't keep. Beckett thought. "Let's just not discuss this ever again, okay?"

Castle smiled at her. The smile made her heart thump a bit faster. "I'm glad I'm back on your team." A sudden look of panic crossed his face. "I am back on the team, right?"

Beckett thought about making Castle suffer a bit, but decided against it. "You're my partner, Castle."

"Good. I didn't want to have to leave. Doing this, working with you, makes me feel…useful, fulfilled. I enjoy getting killers off the street." He smiled at her. "You're a remarkable woman, Detective Beckett."

"If I've gotten you off of Page Six and working for a living, I must be." Before he could reply, she grabbed a menu. "What are you having?"

Roy Montgomery had managed to not notice the bet on the two murder cases. One PP would raise hell if they had ever heard about it, but keeping morale up sometimes required him to do things that One PP might not like. He had certainly done things One PP wouldn't like in the past. He pushed that thought out of his mind. Castle is back with Beckett and she's happier than she's been in years. If she can't solve her mom's case, and I know she can't, not at this late date, the next best thing for her is a good man. And I think Castle can be very good for her.

Roy Montgomery left his office feeling more relaxed than he had for weeks.