AN: I couldn't believe how far off the rails they've pulled Kate's character in the first two episodes of the season. Whatever solution the writers come up with to resolve this mess will require a total suspension of disbelief. I wondered just how different Rick would have reacted to Kate's departure if he had spoken to Rita first.

It started as a one-shot but sort of took on a life of its own.

As usual, all character's other than the one's that I've created, belong to ABC and Marlowe.

September 28, 2015:

Castle's cell phone vibrated and rang on the kitchen counter as he searched the cabinets looking for something to make for dinner. His wife had been missing without a word for nearly two days, but now she was back, safe. She looked a little out of sorts when she returned to the loft, immediately heading for the bathroom to take a much needed shower. Rick attributed her behavior to exhaustion from the ordeal that she had endured. He was still angry with her for not telling him, but she assured him that there would be no secrets from now on. He believed her. He loved her.

Picking up the phone, there's no caller ID displayed. Puzzled that anyone would have his private cell phone number, he swipes his finger across the screen and places the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Richard, it's Rita." There was an extended pause as she realizes that Beckett must not have mentioned her to him.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know anyone named Rita. Are you sure that you have the right number?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Rita calmly replies. "I guess your wife didn't mention me?"

Rick is confused by her response. How did this woman know Kate? "I'm afraid you have me at a loss. My wife never mentioned anyone named Rita. How exactly do you know her?"

"I was the agent that saved her and that analyst from certain death. She didn't tell you?"

Agent? Kate didn't say anything about being rescued by an agent. His mind was filled with various scenarios, and none of them gave him any comfort. "No she didn't mention anything about being rescued... I guess I owe you a thank you."

Rita was a little surprised that Beckett never told her husband about their initial meeting. 'Either she was ashamed that she'd gotten herself in a situation that required someone rescuing her, or her ego wouldn't allow herself to appear weak in front of her husband.' She pondered the options, deciding that it was probably the latter given her last meeting with Kate and her behavior. "I didn't call to get a thank you Richard..."

The tone of Rita's voice put Rick senses on alert. "Why did you call then?" He inquires a little more tersely than he intended.

"I spoke to your wife again a little over an hour ago... I'm afraid that she's going to do something stupid that will put her life in needless danger... And possibly yours..."

She had Castle's full attention now. He could hear the shower turn off and walked as far away from his bedroom as possible. "I don't understand. I thought that the case was over. That the woman who was in charge of the hit squad had committed suicide..."

"Richard, you know that she wasn't the one pulling the strings. She wasn't at a high enough level in the agency to organize a drug smuggling operation. She wasn't in the CIA..."

Everything Rita said made sense. He had worked with the CIA and other intelligence agencies over the years to know an operation like LockSat was controlled by someone way up the food chain. Someone that would never be touched. "Kate's not involved... Anymore."

"I've been working this case for years, I know that the CIA is involved. They are the only ones that have the resources to pull something like this off. Your wife is smart, she figured out pretty quick that the AG agent wasn't the one in charge. I told her to let it drop. That I will continue to work this case. To go home to her husband..."

Rick was confused. Why would Rita care about her coming hone to him? Was Kate considering pursuing this case? "What did she say?" Castle inquires, afraid of the answer.

"She was convinced that McCord and her team's death was her fault because of something that she did while she was working in the AG's office. She said that she needed to get justice for them..."

Rick almost winced as Rita talked about Kate and her need for justice. He saw first hand just how Beckett let herself be consumed in her quest for justice in her mother's case. He couldn't go through that again. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her that she wasn't responsible for any of the deaths that had happened. I warned her about going down that rabbit hole in her quest for justice." There was an extended pause. "I told her that if she pursued this, that any deaths that came from it were on her. Richard, she has the chance to walk away from this if she would just go along with the story that the AG agent who committed suicide was LockSet. I told her to go home to her husband, my stepson..."

Castle's mind was reeling. They'd worked too hard to get where they were at for Kate to throw it all away on a case that she has no business being involved with. Rita was right, McCord's team's deaths were tragic, but they weren't her fault. She'd only worked with them for a couple of months. He understood her need to solve her mother's murder, but this? No, he couldn't let that happen. Not this time. He wouldn't let he go tilt with another windmill without a fight.

"What did she say?"

"It wasn't what she said as much as the look on her face. She wants to go down the rabbit hole Richard and I won't be there to protect her this time. Maybe you can convince her that what she has is so much more than what this case is..."

Rick knew that a confrontation with Kate would end badly once she's made up her mind. His only hope was that she came to her senses and realized that Rita was right. "What do I say to her? I've had these types of confrontations with her before and they always end badly..."

Rita sighed. She could tell that Beckett was the type of woman that once she made up her mind about something, it would be nearly impossible for her to change it. "Tell her the unvarnished truth, but be prepared for her lashing back at you for doing that. If she will not be honest with you, I don't know what to say... Do you love her?"

"More than any woman I've ever met in my life." Rick answers without hesitation.

"Your wife told me that she loved you too. I believe that she does, but..."

"What?" Castle inquires, afraid of her response.

Rita hated hurting the stepson that she's never met, but he needed to know. She owed him that much. "I think that she loves the quest for justice more than anyone, or anything."

Castle was shocked that a woman he didn't know, someone that had only met Beckett twice, would come to such a conclusion. The he remembers Bracken's last words to him, how Beckett would never be satisfied being married to him. Was he that oblivious to what others could so easily see?

Not knowing how to respond, he offers a weak defense. "You don't know her. You don't know me..."

Rita can hear the hurt in his voice as he tries to offer some defense for his wife. "You're right Richard, I don't know her, but I can tell you what living a life always on the run in search of justice does to you, to your marriage. And you're correct, I don't know you, but I wish I did. Your father is so proud of the man that you've become, of Alexis..."

Rick was gobsmacked. How did she know about Alexis? His father? Wait a second, did she say stepmother? "Are you telling me that you're married to my father?"

Rita actually laughs at his question. "Yeah, that's usually how one becomes a stepmother to someone else's child. I'd really like to meet you and Alexis in person, but I'm not sure how we could work that out... There are people always looking for me..."

Embarrassed that he'd been so concerned about what she was telling him about Kate that he ignored the fact the he had a spy as a stepmother. Under normal circumstances, he'd be almost giddy at the news, but now all he can offer is a half-hearted apology. "I'm sorry Rita. I was so worried about Kate that I kind of missed the part where you told me that you were my stepmother. Maybe we can meet somewhere safe once this is all over? I'm sure Alexis would be thrilled."

"We'll see Richard... What are you going to do about your wife?"

"What can I do? I love her, but I can't go through this again. Her last trip down the rabbit hole literally killed her. I watched her die in the ambulance twice after she was shot because of her mother's case. I can't do this..." Rick sighs in defeat knowing there is nothing he can do if that is what she decides. He's lost everyone of these fights before and he doubts that being married changes anything in spite of her promises.

"Are you willing to walk away? Are you willing to fight dirty if you have to?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You've just told me that you can't allow her to go off on another quest for justice alone. You have to tell her the same thing and be willing to give her up forever if she won't see things that way. You're not being selfish wanting to keep the woman you love out of harms way. If she can't understand that, then maybe she doesn't love you as much as she claims." Rita hated being brutally honest with him, but she had no choice. "Offer her a compromise. Offer to work with her as a team."

"Why would she do that?"

Rita smiles. "We both know that you have more contacts and connections within the intelligence community than your wife does. I know you worked with the CIA years ago and your father has told me about your friends in the French intelligence service and MI6. Tell her about that. Oh, and I know all about your little adventure with the CIA last year..."

Rick gives her an exasperated laugh. "Well that makes one of us.. I still don't know what happened completely. Maybe one day you can fill me in..."

"Well, I wouldn't know about that, but I do know that you're more of a spy than your wife will ever be and leave it at that..."

Castle was confused, but remembered his father telling him how he always kept an eye on him. Did he know about his abduction on his wedding day? Was his father part of it? Castle was pacing about his apartment as he talked to Rita. As he passed by the door to the bedroom, he could hear Kate going through the dresser drawers as if she was looking for something.

Deciding that his wife would be coming out of the bedroom soon, he decides to end the call. "I need to talk to Kate about all of this. Is there some way that I can contact you? I'd really like to talk, but I have other issues at the moment."

"I understand Richard. I hope things go the way you want. I'll try to call you in a few days, if I can... Goodbye Richard." the call ends before he can respond.

Rick was standing by the bedroom door listening to the sounds on the other side. Part of him wanted to rush in and confront her with everything that Rita had told him. The other part said wait and see. Maybe she came to her senses after Rita's warning and decided that being a wife was more important than chasing shadows in the dark.

Castle tries to open the door, but finds that Kate has locked it. He gently taps on the door and asks if Kate would like anything to eat. There was an extended pause as he could hear her getting dressed. She quietly replies that she wasn't hungry after the day's events and maybe she'd eat something later.

Castle returned to the kitchen and gathered up the ingredients needed to make his favorite cheer-me-up concoction, the smorelet. He was placing the ingredients inside the omelet when he hears the sound of the bedroom door opening. Looking up, he can see that Kate is fully dressed and carrying an overnight bag. His senses are on immediate alert and he turns off the stove's burner, pushing the pan away from the heat.

Kate stops in front of the door and stares nervously at him as he approaches. He then hears the four words that have always been a prelude to a disaster. "We need to talk."

"Why are you dressed like you're going somewhere and what's with the bag?" He asks while staring at the bag as it sits there beside her feet.

"Rick, you know how much I love you... But there's something that I have to do... Alone. I need you to trust me... I don't know how long it will take, but I promise that once it's over, I'll come back. I want our happy ending and we can't have that until I solve this. I hope that you can forgive me then..."

Castle stood there in stunned silence. Everything that Rita had warned him about was true. He took a deep breath in a vain attempt to calm himself before he spoke.

"No Kate, I really don't know how much you love me. If you're willing to throw away everything that we have fought for seven years to achieve to go down the rabbit hole again, then it wasn't very much after all. Not four hours ago, you promised me no more secrets. And now you're asking me to trust you?"

Kate was stunned by the hurt in his voice as he spoke, but decided to let him speak. After all she owed him that much and it wasn't like he could change her mind anyway.

"Why do you have to do this alone? We've always been better together as a team. You know that I would lay my life down for you."

"And that's why I have to do this alone. I have to keep you safe." Kate quickly replies as she had rehearsed it in her mind.

"Safe? How will leaving me keep me or my family safe? They already know who I am, that I'm your husband..." He looks at her left hand and notices that her rings are missing. He gasps as it dawns on him what she is really saying. "You want a divorce?"

"It's not what I want, it's what we need to do to keep you and Alexis safe. Can't you see, as long as we are married, there's a chance that they would use either you or Alexis to get to me?"

"So you're willing to throw away our marriage to save yourself on a quest that you have no business being a part of?"

"It's my fault those people are dead."

"Bullshit! They died because some greedy SOB wanted to tie up some loose ends. Why are you really doing this Kate? Was Bracken right?"

Kate's face paled at the mention of Bracken. She had to know what he told Castle. "What did he say to you?"

"He told me that you'd never be satisfied being married to me... That I'd never be enough. Is that true? Did Bracken know you better than me? Does my stepmother know you better than me?"

Becket wasn't prepared for the gut-shot she felt as he asked these questions. It hurt more than she ever considered when accused her of not being enough for her. Rick had admitted that he'd spoken with Rita and wondered how much she told him about their last meeting. Rather than admit they were right, she goes for the jugular. "What about you Rick? You were gone for two months without a word. I had no idea if you were dead or alive, yet I never gave up hope, never gave up the search. Then you appear, with no memories what where you'd been or why you were gone and you asked me to believe in you... And I did."

It was a low-blow and she knew it, but this was the way Kate always fought back whenever Castle had her dead to rights. She knew that Rick felt an incredible sense of guilt over his disappearance and she turned it against him. Rick stood there silent, a look of defeat on his face. She could see his hands shaking as he tries to keep from saying anything that will make matters worse than they already are.

Nearly a minute passes as they stare at each other, pain burning in their eyes. A calm seems to pass over Castle as if he's came to an understanding of something. "No Kate, you're right. It's my fault that the CIA kidnapped me on my wedding day and forced me to help save New York from a terrorist attack. It's my fault that I was left for dead, adrift on the Atlantic. It's my fault that my memories were erased. All my fault and it's obvious that you'll never forgive me. This will forever hang over my head to be used by you to justify whatever you decide to do." Castle spoke calmly, as if he was explaining it to himself rather than her.

"I love you, but even I know when something is hopeless... If you walk out that door, they'll be no next time, no happy ending. You know exactly what you are doing and you need to understand what the cost will be if you follow through with it..." Rick spoke with no anger, no malice.

"Is that an ultimatum?" Kate angrily inquires.

"No Kate. I would never give you an ultimatum. The simple fact is you can stay, we'll go to couples therapy to work out our issues. I'll go down that rabbit hole with you and together, we'll bring down LockSat..."

"Or?"

"Or, you walk out that door abandoning me and we will never see each other again. I won't let my heart be held hostage while you run away on your quest. What happens when the next wrong comes along you feel compelled to right? Once you start down that road, you can never turn back." His whole body seemed to sag in defeat as he accepts the meaning of the words he spoke.

Kate was prepared for a fight with Castle to get her way. She had always been able to get him back with an apology in the past. She knew this time it was different. Beckett could tell that he was surrendering without a fight. There was no anger in his words to her. The next sixty seconds would forever change her life regardless of her choice.

It was pretty cut and dry. She could stay with Rick, work out their issues and join forces to bring down LockSet, or she could walk out the door and lose the only man that truly loved her. Like an alcoholic tempted by that one drink, Kate was standing at the precipice looking into the darkness of the rabbit hole. She could feel its pull like it had so many times before. And just like an alcoholic, she told herself that she was in control and could walk away at any time. Only this time there'd be no one to pull her out. Montgomery was dead and she'd thrown away Castle. She thought about Rita's warnings and sighed, knowing she was right, but too weak to fight for what should have been important.

Kate slowly closed the distance between the two of them, wrapping her arms around his body. He tenses at her touch knowing what this means as she places a chaste kiss on his cheek as she whispers "Goodbye Castle. You deserve to be happy. I hope you find it..." She looks into his red rimmed eyes fighting back her own tears as she lets go of him. Kate picks up her overnight bag and walks out the door without a word.

Rick walks to the door and watches as Kate gets on the elevator and whispers. "Goodbye Beckett."