Chapter 26
I want to thank my long suffering betas: SLynn, Scarlet and McManda. I feel like I've worked on this for years. YEARS. And thank you to the reviews that said it was comparable to a Castle episode (granted taking his father out of character). I find no better compliment.

One Month Later

Kate sat at her desk while the reporter, she remembered her name was Amy, sat in front of her with the recorder microphone in her hand. She was working on getting setup for the interview, giving Kate enough time to watch Castle while the "police models" were groping him. Kate gripped her coffee mug so tightly she was surprised it didn't break.

Heat Wave was about to be released in a few days and Castle had said Black Pawn arranged for a magazine to come into the station and do a photo shoot with him as well as interview her. Kate had agreed, not realizing it was going to look like this. Of course, she knew he would remind her that he had asked about her still wanting to keep their dating a secret and she had been very adamant about that. Thus, he had to keep up appearances and not hide his bad boy image.

But that didn't mean she wanted to see him sandwiched between two models wearing only a minimal amount of clothing. He also didn't have to look so damn pleased about it.

"What's so special about world famous mystery novelist, Richard Castle? He's rich, he's handsome, and he's basing his next bestseller on you. Tell me, Detective Beckett, what's it like being the inspiration for thrill-master Richard Castle's new character: Nikki Heat?"

Kate had to tear her eyes away from the ridiculous spectacle of Castle and his models and force herself to answer the reporter's equally ridiculous question. "On behalf of the NYPD, it's been a pleasure to offer Mr. Castle insight into the profession."

The reporter continued. "Given all his best-sellers, it's obvious Mr. Castle has tremendous insight into the criminal mind. I'm told in many occasions his participation was essential to solving your toughest cases."

Kate had to fight back a smile. She knew the answer to this. "Really, who told you that?"

"Castle."

Kate couldn't help but think if she had heard this a few months ago she would have been outraged, but now she had to admit it was true, though she wasn't going to let Castle know that. This past month dating Castle, even in secret, she had been surprised at how easy things were between them. Usually, in embarking on a new relationship Kate would attempt to keep the guy at arm's length by only letting him in when she was ready. That was rare, but Castle had already learned those plays by her, and he came crashing in no matter how many doors she put up.

When she glanced at Castle and the models, jealousy came rushing back and she went back to squeezing the coffee cup. She gritted her teeth and excused herself from the annoying reporter. She really needed a break.

A little later after the photo shoot Kate was refilling her coffee in the break room just in time to see Esposito and Ryan almost fall all over themselves as the last model walked out. Esposito asked Kate why she didn't wear a uniform like that.

"Because I don't want to get paid in singles." He took her tone to not continue the conversation.

Suddenly Castle's head popped into the break room, a little breathless. "Hey."

Kate stopped pouring and glared at Castle. Ryan and Esposito were behind her, but they could tell Kate and the writer needed their privacy so they excused themselves quickly.

"I just want you to know," Castle said once they were out of the room, "I had nothing to do with this. It was the magazine, the Mayor thought it would be good press."

Trying to act nonchalant, she went back to her coffee. "It's fine, Castle."

He stepped closer to her. "Really, cause you didn't look fine while you sat—"

"Why wouldn't I be? Having a front row seat while you have those bachelor party cop twins use you like a stripper pole and forced to make nicey-nice with the press is something I live for!"

"Kate …" he whispered.

She wasn't going to listen to it. "If you excuse me, I have an interview to get back to."

He flinched when she walked away. He knew she was going to give him hell for this later.

When she approached the eager reporter Kate said in her most charming voice, "We can get back to the interview now."

"Nope," Esposito said when he walked up. "You're gonna have to reschedule. We just caught a body."

Oh what a shame, Kate gleefully thought. Putting on her most disappointed face she said, "So sorry to step out on you, Amy."

But Amy wasn't having any of it. "Oh! Are you kidding? It's perfect. A chance to see Castle in action. Our readers'll love it."

Before Kate could protest Captain Montgomery answered. "Well, we wouldn't want to disappoint your readers, now, would we, Detective?"

Gritting her teeth, Kate knew she had no choice.

Kate hoped Castle would remain quiet with the reporter in her car, but Amy kept asking him questions about police protocol, typical crime scenes, and common locations where bodies would be found and he kept "answering" them. Kate had to clutch the wheel to keep from crashing them into oncoming traffic.

When they arrived, Castle and Amy hopped out of the car quickly.

While they approached the crime scene, Castle whispered, "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

They got to their location and all eyes looked up while Lanie stood on a crane, which had lifted her level to the dead body in a tree.

Not being able to help himself, Castle said, "It's raining men."

Lanie glanced down at the sound of his voice, saying, "Castle, what are you doing here?"

He smiled and waved and to Kate's dismay she returned them both. She cursed herself for admitting to her best friend that she and Castle were now dating. Kate hadn't planned on it, but Lanie was particularly perceptive in recognizing when Kate was having great sex. When she started describing her as glowing she broke down and told the medical examiner. Now Kate regretted that.

Esposito and Ryan were there also and everyone made comments about the scene, such as Lanie's altitude and how Esposito wished she was in a skirt. Eventually Lanie forced everyone back to the matter at hand. "Vic's name is John Allen. ID has him on the Upper West Side. Business card has him in insurance."

The reporter, who had walked around talking to uniforms that were guarding the scene, finally made it to their area. She asked, "Is it suicide?"

Both Castle and Kate answered simultaneously, "It's not a suicide."

Surprise was evident on them as well as the reporter while the rest of the team gave each other knowing glances. Amy asked, "How do you know?"

Kate tried to keep from smiling. She had to remember she was annoyed with Castle. "Um, the building is too short. He'd want to kill himself, not cripple himself."

"If you want to die, you're going to aim for concrete, not a tree. Judging from the angle of the descent, I'd say that guy was thrown off the building."

Now Kate let the smile escape, being proud Castle had other reasons for seeing it wasn't suicide. "Since it clearly wasn't suicide, how did he die?"

Lanie answered it was strangulation, pointing out his windpipe was crushed.

"Any ligature marks?"

Quickly, Castle turned to Amy, "Ligature refers to anything that ties or binds, like a rope or a belt. The lack of marks suggests he was strangled by hand."

"Wow, you really know your stuff. No wonder they like having you around."

Now Kate was back to being agitated. Having an idea, Kate turned around. She had the perfect way to punish Castle for inflicting this situation on her. "You know what? He's such an incredible resource, it seems like a shame to waste his talents here in the field. Would you mind going back to the morgue with Dr. Parish to see what else you can find out about the vic?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't you think I'd be more use here at the crime scene?"

"Oh, no. We're just gonna knock on doors and see what else we can stir up. You know, boring police stuff."

He didn't buy it, but he had no choice. "Fine. Come on, Amy, I'll show you the morgue-mobile."

Kate watched them walk away finally feeling vindication at turning the tables around on him. That is until Lanie came down from the crane a few minutes later. "Well, excuse me while I go sit with writer boy. Thanks, Kate."

"What?" Uh-oh.

"I've been wanting to talk to him about you guys."

"Lanie!" Kate whispered. "Please, you know we are keeping our dating a secret. If Amy were to hear …"

"Don't worry, I got that covered. She can ride up front while Castle and I ride in the back."

Kate watched in horror as they left.

Hours later the team, including Castle and Lanie, was back at the station. Someone had hijacked the coroner's van and stolen the body. Both Castle and Lanie looked unhurt, but Lanie was giving Castle a cursory medical exam to be sure.

When she was done Montgomery asked, "Well?"

"He'll live." She then flicked his ear to make him jump.

Ryan grinned. "What? No brain damage?"

She shook her head. "If he has some, it happened way before tonight and was probably self-inflicted."

"Ah, good times," he said, smiling.

Kate sat on her desk as everyone commented how Amy had gone home shaken. Kate kept watching Castle to make sure he was really okay, but he was making jokes and appearing normal - well, as normal as possible for him.

Still, she had become quite alarmed when she got the call and overly relieved when it appeared they were unhurt. For the first time, she wished their relationship was in the open because all she wanted to do was hug him.

When she stood up Castle was just explaining to everyone who would want a dead body. "—organ harvesters, cadaver-less med students, Satanists, mad scientists looking to create their own monster."

Yeah, he was fine. Behind him she offered, "Or the guys who killed him might have left some evidence behind."

Castle turned to her voice and looked like he was considering it, for a second. "Boring! How about a spy, having swallowed a top-secret microchip, that the enemy forces murder him over before the CIA can get hold of him?"

She fought back a smile. "As much as we all appreciate your insightful and incredibly believable theories, Ms. Cosmo is gone, so I believe you can go home now." She didn't add she would be seeing him there very soon.

"Home, No, no, no. This, this case just got good. And-and I'm a witness."

Kate was about to say no when Castle looked at Montgomery and his look made it obvious she had to say yes. Sighing, she said, "Alright, I'll let you work this one case with us, but just this one time."

"Deal! But fair warning, you will change your mind about me being here on just on this one case."

"I won't!" she said.

"You will."

Kate didn't miss the glances exchanged between everyone else.

Once the case is closed and the bad guy caught, Kate could no longer deny that having Castle with them helped solve the case quicker. She worried that seeing him both at night and during the day would be too much but that wasn't the case at all. Of course, now he was pushing to remain around but she wasn't sure.

He sat at her desk in his old seat. She tried to reconcile it would be the last time.

They had been talking about the case. "So, case is closed. I guess your Cosmo story gets a happy ending."

"Speaking of happy endings, thanks for saving my life." He smiled and she returned it. Then he leaned in, whispering softly, "Do you think you could repeat the Russian accent later in private?"

Fighting the smile didn't work this time. "Maybe."

He leaned back voice normal. "You know, we make a pretty good team. Like Starsky and Hutch. Tango and Cash. Turner and Hooch."

Sometimes he made it so easy. "You know, now that you mention it, you do remind me a little of Hooch."

A moment passed and he leaned in. "I need to talk to you."

"About?" She suspected his motives.

"It's about the other book I'm working on." Oh.

Castle had been going to see Hunt every week like clockwork. He didn't want her to come with him, which made her crazy. When he would return, he wouldn't really talk about it. Sometimes they would have sex, other times he would just want to be held. It worried her but Shaw always told Castle about how the families were glad to have the closure they needed which helped.

His idea about the victims receiving profits was going well, or Kate thought. Black Pawn agreed to the trust and Castle had signed some agreement that he would use a penname. Apparently that was their problem. "Black Pawn wants me to use my own name."

She started to argue but he gestured he had more. "Their reason is with my name attached, it would sell more copies. The profits would be much higher and thus …"

She cringed. "More money for the families."

He nodded. "Kate, I agreed to this for them to get the money, so shouldn't I do as much as I raise— "

"You're doing more than enough, Castle," Kate whispered. She knew he chose the precinct as the location to have this conversation because he thought it would inhibit her from talking him out of it, but this was too important. His name was too important. "And it's not worth your reputation. You will get billed like you are taking advantage of the circumstances. And people may expect you to do other true crime, which you wouldn't want. Would you want to give up Nikki Heat?"

"Since when are you worried about Nikki Heat?" he questioned.

"This is serious! Someone could dig into why he came after you and find out the truth of who Gulliver is."

He shook his head. "I know, but I probably should still do it even if the truth comes out of how I'm related to Hunt. And who cares if I wind up pigeonholed working on true crime? Isn't that a small price to pay if it raises double what—"

"No, it's not a small price to pay! God, Castle, do you have any idea how important your books are?"

He was surprised at her outburst. Luckily there weren't enough people around to hear it. "They're just books. Fictional stories. It's not like they change a person's life."

"I told you they do!" Kate said, he was surprised at the tears in her eyes. She looked down, contemplating on finally revealing how she came upon his books in the first place. "Castle, I never told you what your books meant to me."

He sat there, not answering. He obviously could sense she was about to tell him something of significance.

"My mother was a big fan of yours. She loved your books and she was always saying I should read them." Kate shifted in her seat, trying to make herself comfortable. "I wasn't really into mysteries but even so, my college schedule really didn't allow for much recreational reading. She kept pushing me, told me to at least read her favorite. I never got around to it.

"A few days after she was killed, I was still upset and angry and Dad had immediately turned to drinking. To be honest, I didn't think it was a bad idea at the time. I might have joined him if I hadn't seen ... I was in their bedroom, helping him to sleep and tempted to go find a drink too. Instead I glanced at her nightstand and saw your book, her favorite: Hell Hath No Fury."

He sat back, shocked. The meaning of why she was telling him this was sinking in. "I picked it up and took it into the living room. I finished reading it because I never went to bed."

She stopped and looked at him. He always loved she was a fan, but he had no idea. He was also completely clueless on what initially led her to his books. Just that realization was enough to take his breath away. She went on. "I got as many of your books as I could. I saw why she loved them and I understood for the first time what bittersweet meant. Reading those books, I felt a connection to her which I thought would be gone forever at her death, but I could also imagine discussions she and I would have over them.

"You had a book signing the next week and you were really popular. I stood in line for an hour to have it signed."

"By me?" Castle said, complete shock on his face. She nodded and he stumbled over his words. "God, Kate, I had no … I don't rem—, I'm so sorry that I never realized we met before. If I had remembered …"

Kate tilted her head and started to reach for him until she remembered where they were and stopped. Recovering, she tapped on the desk to force his eyes to her. "Castle, I never would have expected you to remember me back then. I didn't tell you this for you to feel bad. I told you so you would understand that your books can help people."

"But …" he started, still stuck on the fact they met years before. Forcing himself to focus, he cleared his throat. "Okay, I need some time to process this news but … are you sure it's okay not to put my name on this? I feel like I'm being selfish. He is my father after all, and—"

"Castle, I'm going to remind you for the last time, you aren't anything like him. You're generous and sweet and loving." She noted how he reacted to the last word. She went on. "And the only motivations you have about murder are preventing and solving them."

Tears brimmed in the corners of his eyes. "Thank you."

It took her only a brief moment to make the decision and she quickly spoke before she changed her mind. "That's why you'll be here tomorrow."

He nodded at first not realizing what she said. Then he caught on. "Wait, what?"

Blushing now, she turned away to face the computer screen. "You can come back tomorrow, assuming you want to continue shad— "

"YES!" He spoke so loudly she immediately began shushing him.

"Honestly, Castle, don't make me regret this decision."

Beaming, he replied. "You won't."

Narrowing her eyes at him, she enjoyed watching him squirm. "Good. Now, be a good boy and run along. I have to finish up the paperwork on this."

"Hmmm-hmmmm," he said, getting up. Leaning over her, he whispered, "Told you would change your mind."

Now she snapped her head at him ready to grab his ear, but he was already headed to the elevator. She glared at him. He was practically skipping.

She went back to her computer screen, typing away. A few minutes later her phone buzzed. Sighing, she looked at it to see a text appeared with what should have been his name. At some point without her knowledge, he had gotten into her phone and changed his name to "Wild Thing."

She should have been angry, but she read the text and any anger she had instantly dissipated. "If I had one wish, I wish to remember the first day we really met."

Thank you to everyone who read, followed, favorite and reviewed. I couldn't have done this without my betas but I need to add a special thank you to Slynn who's idea it was to let the profits of the book go to the victims, such a Castle like thing to do! Also, the idea to rename his contact name in her phone was something Slynn did in one of her earlier FF works. I started writing this story to see if it was possible to have Castle and Kate successfully get together in S1 and let it "stick" which I think I succeeded. Hopefully you do too!