Empty Swing

by Castlefan6

Authors Note: Another What If based on the episode, RISE, what happened if Rick didn't follow Kate when she walked away to the swings? It starts with Canon dialog, courtesy of Dust Jackets Dot Com, then goes quickly and completely AU. The journey continues with a new Kate and Rick, hope you enjoy!

I don't own Castle; I use the characters for amusement purposes only, except the ones I create.

A/N This may or may not end up as a Caskett fic, if that bothers you, please wait for updates to see which direction the story goes. Respectful comments are always welcome, trolls will be deleted.

Previously

Courtesy of Dust Jackets Dot Com

Rick is signing books, although his heart isn't in it, he tries his best to put on a good front for his fans. He's almost ready for a break when a book is placed in front of him, he responded in his typical fashion, not bothering to look up, the faces have all become a blur to him by now.

CASTLE
How are you?

He signs book after book, but his heart isn't in it. The questions are all perfunctory; a means to an end. "And your name is?", "How are you?" "Hi there." "Who should I make it out to?" "Thanks for coming." Nothing is genuine. Everything runs together. "Who should I make it out to?"

BECKETT
Kate.

CASTLE looks up. She's hopeful.

BECKETT
You can make it out to Kate.

He can't believe that it's BECKETT standing in front of him. He doesn't react.

EXT – NEW YORK STREET

His book signing is over and CASTLE is leaving. He shakes the hand of the bookstore employees as he's walking out.

CASTLE
Thank you very much. Thank you very much for your hard work. Next time I write a book I'll be sure to come by. Thanks very much.

He hesitates when he sees BECKETT waiting but he doesn't stop. He walks right past her.

BECKETT
Castle, wait.

He doesn't stop or turn to look at her.

CASTLE
I did, three months. You never called.

BECKETT
Look, I know you're angry –

CASTLE
Oh, you're damn right, I'm angry.

He stops and faces her.

CASTLE
I watched you die in that ambulance. Did you know that? Do you know what that's like? Watching the life drain out of someone you –

He stops and she's silent.

CASTLE
Someone, you care about?

BECKETT
I told you I needed some time.

CASTLE
You said a few days.

BECKETT
I needed more.

CASTLE
Well, you should have said that.

He's turning away.

BECKETT
Castle, look, I couldn't call you.

He's stopped again.

BECKETT
Not without dragging myself into everything that I was just trying to get some space from. I needed some time to just work through everything.

He's still upset and not letting himself feel anything but the anger.

CASTLE
Josh help you with that?

She knows what he's fishing for and though it shouldn't, it annoys her.

BECKETT
We broke up.

***************************************************************************/

Chapter 1

Outside New York Bookstore, Kate's first week back from Medical Leave.

With that, she turned and marched to the park across the street to the swings that are empty at this time of day. She never turned back to see if he followed, just assuming Castle would be Castle and so happy to see her he would follow her blindly.

When she reached the swings, she turned, fully expecting to see him a few steps behind, but what she saw sent shock waves through her body. Not only was he not behind her, but he was also walking the opposite direction in such a quick pace she would have to sprint, (not happening in her 5-inch heels), to even catch up with him. She took a deep breath and then lost sight of him as he disappeared into the New York landscape.

She knew before she planned the visit that he would be upset, but she never anticipated this type of reaction. She was shocked, and a little angry, he was really acting immature by walking away from her, not allowing her the opportunity to explain herself, hell she was the one that had been shot. What had she done so wrong that would justify that type of behavior?

She grabbed the swing that he should have been sitting in and gave it an extremely hard push, not thinking, it came back and hit her behind the head after she turned leaving a small goose egg. Damn him, who needs him any way she thought,

She made her way back to her apartment, and changed into her lounge clothes, holding an ice pack to her head, trying to re-think what to do. Rick had the file tracing the money trail during the time of the murder, she desperately wanted to see, after all he could have missed something. When he came to her Mother's case, she left no stone unturned, and trusted no one else to investigate, it was too important to her.

She was going to bring it up casually when they talked, but he was so upset with her, he couldn't wait to get her out of his sight. If he had any idea, she was coming to check on the file, he would have been even more livid than he already was. She was just about to pour herself a glass of wine, to go with the To-Go meal she had picked up on her way home when the doorman buzzed.

"Yes James, this is Kate Beckett, you buzzed?"

"Yes Mam Ms. Beckett, we have a special delivery courier here, that requires your signature, may I allow the courier access to your floor?"

"That would be fine, Thank You"

A few minutes later, her doorbell buzzed, and as she gathered her gun in one hand, she peeked out the spy scope to ensure it was truly the courier. Satisfied it was she opened the lock but didn't remove the chain on her door.

"How can I help you, I'm Detective Kate Beckett" she barked through the partially opened door.

"Can you provide me with a photo ID, I will need to record it for my delivery record, please hand it through the door." The courier replied,

"I want you to know I am a Police Detective and I have a gun aimed at you through this door, don't try anything strange or make any quick movements, understand?" She commanded

The young man turned two shades of pale, before he squeaked out, "yes mam, I'm just here to drop off this package from a Mr. Richard Castle"

A package from Rick, what the hell? She thought as she dug through her purse and pulled out her Drivers License handing it to the courier, as he copied down the number with very shaky hands, as soon as he was through, he handed it back through the opening, and then asked,

"Can you please sign my delivery slip? I'll place it thorough the door, so I can complete this delivery and be on my way."

He thrust a computer iPad type of device and Kate scribbled her name by the X using her fingernail as the stylus, and then put the device back through the door. He handed a file, which appeared to be a few file folders packaged into one envelope through the door, retrieved his signature pad and turned to leave quickly.

"Hey hang on and I'll get your tip," Kate tried to calm him down,

"No thanks, I'll just be on my way, good day" and he was down the stairs not waiting for the elevator.

Closing the door, and double-locking it again, she took the package over to her table, retrieved her wine and then returned to open the files. What the hell was Rick sending to her, he was certainly acting strangely, in fact all of her co-workers had not been as empathetic as she thought they should have been in her opinion. Making matters even worse was the new Captain, God what a piece of work she was, call me Sir, who the fuck did she think she was? Kate silently fumed as she struggled with the tapped corners of the files, finally retrieving a knife to get the package open.

A letter floated out as she pulled two official police and fire marshal reports from the package. She recognized Rick's handwriting immediately, and thought it was strange he would send the files tonight she was going to give him a day or so to cool off, he always did, and then approach him again. Those plans were shattered when she opened the letter to read;

"Dear Detective,

"We both know why you made your presence known today after all this time without as much as a single line of text from you for the last four months. I was made aware you knew I had the files and you would be looking for them soon, I just didn't think it would be this soon, or you would use the guise as one of my fans seeking an autographed book to get my attention.

"I decided to make it easy on the both of us, here are the files, and all of my notes, not that you'll believe them anyway, but the fire was purely accidental, and the lead ends there. I'm sure you will disagree, so when you do, be careful, Chief Halstead is connected at City Hall, and from what I know about Gates, she is aching to tear apart anything that Roy built.

"I wish you luck Detective, I sincerely hope you find what you are looking for someday, but I have seen all I need to see about the inside story of New York's finest, and I think it best if we both stick to what we do best.

"Thank You for the opportunity to shadow you, although it came with a price, one I am no longer willing to pay. You can tell Esposito that your Fetch Dog has left the building not to return, so he can mark his next target for cheap shots and insults.

"I'm sure you know that I was working your case night and day until the Captain kicked me out, well being honest after not hearing from you for that length of time, I went peacefully rather than fight it with Bob Weldon. I'm sure Gates still doesn't know my connections, but it's neither here nor there, I won't be back and you won't have to worry about having to shoot me.

"I want to apologize for upgrading your apartment to bulletproof glass and state of the art detection system, but I promised your Dad I would keep you safe, unfortunately I was a little late to get you out of the way of the bullet. Please tell him I am sorry I failed; I did try my hardest to protect you.

"This is one threat removed, you won't have to worry about someone taking a shot at you from another building, the glass won't allow the bullet to penetrate it. Have Esposito give it the test if you wish, and also please confirm with Lanie that she was there when they were installed. I thought it best not to be anywhere near there for fear of your wrath of my invasion of your privacy.

"What I did was not for you Detective, it was for a Father who I empathized with, and took steps to keep his little girl safe. Once again, I apologize since I know you will be unhappy with something that was done, and it will be my fault, so the apologies are made in advance.

"I hope you enjoy the book, even though I know you received the pre-sales advanced copy that all Castle Fan Website Elite members do, perhaps you can sell it to recoup your money, it only has my signature so it won't be hard to sell, perhaps even for the Police Widows and Orphans Fund auction this year.

"Good Luck, I hope the time away has taught you that you can't continue to treat friends in the manner that you do, lest you wake up one day and discover you are all alone, trust me, from experience it's a lonely feeling. If you have any questions about the files or my investigation, or have a need to contact me please do so by contacting Paula Haas. I won't be available for an undetermined amount of time as I begin my next project. She will be my only outside contact, no exceptions,

RC

Castle

Kate almost fainted, he was leaving her, even though he knew Mayor Weldon could override Gates decision and get him his consultancy back, he wasn't even going to try. She knew he was upset, but she could never envision a day when HE ended the arrangement, she always thought that would be her choice.

Hell, who was she kidding, since she was shot, she remembered every single word, it was almost like it was on a loop in slow motion. It haunted her dreams and even sometimes would haunt her waking hours, especially if she got close to the cemetery. She could hear his every word, hear the cry in his voice, "Kate, shh… Kate. Stay with me, Kate. Don't leave me, please. Stay with me, okay? Kate, I love you. I love you, Kate."

She didn't know what scared her more, the fact she may be dying, or that she would never be able to tell Rick, she loved him too. She had played these games so long, yet he still loved her, Hell he tried to jump in front of a bullet for her, how much more proof did anyone need? Then the darkness overtook her, and the dreams ended with her waking in a cold sweat. Sometimes, it would be Rick who was shot, and she would have his blood all over her hands, usually, her crying would wake her from that dream.

She examined the files, as usual Rick was more thorough with his notes, and observations than even she would have been. From all indications he had followed every twist, every turn, even hiring a PI to go undercover and verify Chief Halstead's credibility, it was impeccable, just as he said.

She turned to the meal she had purchased, now cold, still sitting on the counter and just tossed it in the trash. This was going to be an AON, or Alcohol Only Night as she took the bottle of wine and glass to her bedroom. Things were fucked up, nothing like she had planned, or expected. She still struggled with the sight of Rick walking away, he never would have done that in a million years, but along with his comment about treatment of friends, she was beginning to see just how the next chapter in her life was going to look, regardless of how much she hated it.

Xx

Rick watched as she turned and started to walk away. His first reaction was to walk towards her, force of habit and instinct had him take two steps, before stopping, and reversing his path. No More! He had endured all the pain over the past 4 months, and he wasn't about to fold now. Only God knew how badly he had hurt, how he struggled to get through each day, all the time watching his phone for a text, or even better a call as she promised.

What exactly had she said, "Sorry Rick, I didn't call I was busy with Josh till we broke up," who the fuck knew when that was or even if it were true, she had told him exactly what he knew before he saw her, absolutely nothing. What pissed him off more than anything was her attitude than she was the injured party, that he should totally understand, and not question her.

Sorry, he had enough of waiting, and now seeing her in person, hearing her voice, and the pleading look in her eye, he had almost caved, but something inside gave him the strength to walk away. The first three steps had him wondering was he really doing this, was he really walking away from Kate, after all of the sleepless nights, the tears, and the heartache? Was he really going to move away from the source of his enduring hurt?

With each step, his stride increased in length, and speed, until he dared not look back, he wasn't ready to see her standing alone. Soon he had reached the only place in the world he could find relief from his problems, bully's, girls, no money, whatever the problem of the day was when he was a younger boy, the library. He entered and found the smell of the institution, the old books, the ink on the drawings, all a welcome relief to the turmoil boiling over inside of him.

He found a small table in the corner and took from his backpack a yellow pad, and sharpie, and divided the page into two columns. He had developed the technique to help his decision making as a young boy, listing all the reasons why he should take this action on one side, and why he shouldn't on the other column. The dilemma today was should he believe Kate and forgive her with what little information she had given him.

It didn't take long before the reasons for NOT far outnumbered the reasons to just forgive, forget and pray she wouldn't lie again. He was surprised, but listing the reasons out in black and white, well, actually yellow, it brought into focus very clearly, he had been her puppet. No wonder the jokes about her having him on a chain, him being her fetch dog, and she only kept him around to service her needs for coffee were more hurtful now than ever because, in his eyes, they were true.

He had just finished the list, and pondered the next step, what to do about it when his phone chirped with a text from Kevin.

"Rick, Beckett is back, knows you have the file, expect her to contact you, just a heads-up man, didn't want her to surprise you -Kev"

So that was the reason for her standing in line, buying another copy of a book he knew for a fact she had a copy of, she didn't want to see him, what an ASS, all she wanted was the file. Well, if that's what she wanted that's what she would get. He quickly wrote her a note, then carefully placed it in his backpack. The moment he got home, he packed the files, and his notes into an envelope and called a special courier to deliver it tonight to Beckett.

A call to Paula for a cover story and explaining to her that he was working on something off the grid, took care of the last lines of his note. Alexis had just gotten settled into Oxford, and Martha was on tour with her acting group, neither would be home for months so he had the freedom to put his plan into place. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pitch the evidence he had uncovered, he would go completely underground to bring his plan to fruition.

He had hoped to show Beckett, how much he had cared, now he just wanted to get the mess over with, and hopefully forget the last three years. When Kyra had left him to go to London, he thought he could never hurt that badly again, he was wrong, so wrong. This was worse than any pain he had ever endured, and now he would bear it alone, again, naturally.

TBC

A/N Please note updates will be sporadic throughout the holiday season, I will be out of town for a mini-vacation. This story is another What If, and ONLY used the events in Canon to jump start it. I'm not sure exactly where we'll wind up, Caskett is NOT a guarantee, we'll have to see. Respectful reviews and remarks are appreciated, any negative comments or trolls will be deleted,

Thanks, hope you enjoy! Tim