(Important!) Author's Note: In a spout of boredom I decided to try listening to a song and then writing a 10 minute drabble/story/something based loosely on it. That means I wrote this story in 10 minutes. It was intense. I had so much fun with it though that I've decided to continue with this idea. I got the first song recommendation from someone on Twitter. I asked my followers to send a random song and I picked the first one and went with it. If there's a song you'd like me to write about, leave it in the reviews and I'll do my very best!

The rating on these will never be too high. Depending on the song, the highest it will go would probably be Teen.

And, of course, I don't own anything here. Would that I could.

Hell on Heels - Pistol Annies


"Why the heels?" she was often asked.

"They must slow you down."

"There's no way you can run in those things."

"It really isn't professional."

Kate Beckett had heard it all, but the heels were a part of her. She was a strong woman… strong, and independent, and able to take care of herself. Sometimes, she just needed a little reminder.

The height difference and the loud clicking of heels on hardwood served as that reminder.

But after the unsolved death of a child at work, Kate Beckett's heels didn't help her push past anything at all. She sat alone, silent at the bar. She'd left before anyone had the chance to console her.

The cases with children always stung, but this one had cut her more deeply. A little girl with dark eyes and long brown hair had been found murdered and posed as a doll. The top suspect was currently the child's own mother.

It was all too much. There was no way to make that better, Kate had decided as she'd rushed out of the precinct.

Castle had hurried after her but she'd watched the elevator close before he'd gotten in. As the doors shut and she finally found privacy, the tears fell from her eyes. The distraught look on Castle's face as the elevator had closed in front of him hadn't helped her emotions either.

Without thinking, she had gone straight to the Old Haunt. It was the first place Castle would check, she knew, but in a way, that was exactly why she'd hurried there.

She had dropped into a chair at the end of the bar and ordered a hard drink. Lord knows she needed it. Luckily the bar wasn't crowded. It was a Tuesday night, and a slow one at that.

After Beckett had taken only two long drinks from her glass, the door opened behind her. Without turning around she knew exactly who it was.

Richard Castle slid smoothly into the seat beside her. Before she'd had time to sternly snap at him for following her, his hand had fallen to her upper back.

"You alright?" he murmured, his eyes so full of compassion that any annoyance Kate had disappeared.

With one touch he had crossed that line. The line they had about sharing emotions was gone and again the detective felt tears welling up in her eyes.

"Hard case," she said, letting her hair fall in front of her face slightly as she took another long drink.

"Hard case," Castle agreed simply, nodding his head. He ordered a drink, the same as Beckett, and finished it with her in silence.

They didn't need words. They both knew that. In that moment they were two partners after a hard day and words just couldn't make it better. A child had died, a little girl. Even a famous writer had no words to justify that.

"Why don't you come to the loft for a while?" Castle asked once they had finished their drinks.

Kate looked at her empty glass and contemplated the offer. It was late. She needed to get home, and read a book; maybe run a bath. She needed to forget the day.

"We can put a movie on," he offered, his hand again falling to her back naturally. "Something funny, maybe?"

He was trying so hard to help this, Beckett realized. And going home would really accomplish nothing. Going home would only make her dwell on this more. She would have too much time to herself. She would have nothing to distract her from the day. The harsh reality of the case would settle in and there would be nothing to help her push it aside.

But Castle, he made things just a little better. He dulled the pain. Looking into his eyes she could always fall slightly away from the darkness of the world.

"How about Star Wars?" she asked with her first slight smile of the evening.

"Good choice," he replied, rising from his chair.

Instead of leading the way out, he let Kate go first. She straightened her shirt, flipped her hair, and focused on regaining her emotions.

Her heels resonated loudly as they clicked across the floor.


Author's Note: I realize this definitely isn't my best work, but it was done in 10 minutes and I'm pretty happy with it. Again, what I did was listen to the song and then write something based on immediate thoughts. The story won't be directly based on the song, but it will always be heavily influenced by it. Let me know what you think and any songs that you'd like me to write about.