Castle is still sitting at her desk, picking at the buffet of food he's brought her when a question that's been digging at her finally slips unbidded from her lips. The look on his face is almost comical as his hands still and he looks over at her increduously. "What?"

She swallows and licks her lips, trying to ease the sudden dryness that seems to be sucking the comfortable silence away like it was never there to begin with. "Um," she says, taking a sip from a mug of water nearby, followed up by a quick clearing of her throat.

He's still looking at her expectantly and she hates herself for a moment for letting her thoughts rule her mouth.

"I just wanted to know," she begins, trying to sound more concise while wiping the deer-in-the-headlights look from her eyes. "Um."

His eyes are beginning to twinkle and she's about to give up but he doesn't say or do anything, just stares at her encouragingly.

She takes a chance with a reluctant sigh. "Why were you so calm during the stand off?" She thinks she'll never forget how, despite the terror in his eyes, he had gone along with what she had suggested and had kept his cool.

He stops eating and some of the humor fades from his eyes as he examines her, putting the container of food down on the desk and wiping his hands together thoughtfully. "I think that'd be obvious, Beckett," he says simply.

She shakes her head, lips parting slightly but before she can demand an explanation, he raises a hand and smiles at her, not in the mood to toy with her tonight.

"I trusted you, Beckett. I knew if anyone could get me out of that situation, it'd be you." He stares at her for a moment longer as she digests this, then asks a now familiar question: "Do you know why I chose you as my inspiration for Nikki Heat?"

She smiles a little, remembering his attempt at breaking the tension with this very same question what feels like years ago now. "Because I'm tall..."

"That was a part of it," he admits, "but the truth is because you're a strong, very capable detective. I have no doubt that, whenever I'm in danger, you'll do all you can to get me out of it. That's enough for me."

She nods, her throat closing up a little. He can be so sweet sometimes, she thinks, still unable to completely figure out the enigma known as Rick Castle. "Thanks."

He smiles gently at her and she finds herself smiling back at him before they dig back into the food, the silence returning to its prior ease.