A/N: What's that, you say? The world needs another post-Always fanfic? I've got you covered! We join our intrepid heroes the afternoon after Always. Things start off deceptively fluffy, but an actual plot is waiting in the wings for chapter 2 and beyond. As a mostly fluff-centric fanfic writer, I find that slightly terrifying. But here we go!

DISCLAIMER: You know that show Castle? Yeah, I don't own it.

Solid Ground
Chapter 1: Crosswords and Freefall

Kate's phone was ringing again, but she still wasn't going to answer it.

It's not that she was avoiding anyone, because she wasn't— no one specific, anyway. But her phone was on the kitchen counter, and she was in bed. With Castle. Doing the crossword puzzle.

Castle lifted his mouth from the very sensitive place where he'd been spelling 12 Across with his tongue. "Your caller is very persistent. Maybe you should answer it."

Kate groaned impatiently in protest of the missing letters. "They can wait five minutes. Are you trying to weasel out of paying your crossword dues?"

"Detective Beckett, I'm insulted. You think I only need five minutes? Besides, I sometimes badger, and occasionally squirrel, but I never weasel. Although I still think you cheated."

"Sore loser."

Now he was affronted. "In case you've forgotten, words are my business! There is no way you beat me at the Sunday crossword in a fair fight."

"Sorry, Castle, but is it my fault you're a novice at strip crossword?" She ran one foot languidly up and down his body and lightly caressed the outline of his ear with one finger.

He narrowed his eyes in mock suspicion. "What's a 5-letter word for 'beautiful but dangerous temptress?"

"Siren."

"Damn. You win again."

Kate grinned and pulled his head to hers in a kiss that left no question what kind of winnings she planned to collect.

x-x-x-x-x

The previous night had been a revelation for both of them. They had known that four years' worth of attraction, annoyance, affection, growing trust, and unexpressed love would not lead to an ordinary encounter. Even so, the intensity and tenderness of their first time making love had stunned them. Before last night, they had each suspected (privately, of course) that the chemistry that caused them to constantly finish each other's sentences might have other, more physical applications as well. To their great and somewhat exhausted delight, they had proved themselves right. Several times.

They knew they had a lot to talk about, and a lot to deal with. Resignations, assassins on the loose. The story behind each of the purple bruises blooming all over Kate's body, although Castle didn't know how much detail he could handle right now. In spite of, or maybe because of, all that, they were giving themselves a moment apart. One weekend to savor the newness of being truly together before they stepped out into whatever came next.

In contrast to the earth-shattering revelations and gravity of that first night, the release of so much sexual and emotional tension had left them a little giddy the next day. When she went home that morning (or was it early afternoon?) for a change of clothes, Castle assumed he was invited to come with her, and he wasn't wrong. They made it as far as her living room couch. She eventually found her way to the shower, and Castle assumed he was invited to join her there as well— and he wasn't wrong. The showering process was less efficient than usual, but much more fun.

Afterwards she had finally managed to get dressed while Castle sat on her bed doing the crossword. Then a cocky comment about beating his previous time while still watching her dress had goaded her into a friendly challenge, and now neither of them had anything but backward progress to show on the clothing front.

x-x-x-x-x

The phone had finally stopped ringing, and Castle resumed paying his debts. They were both thinking about a 6-letter word for "pinnacle" when a voice and a loud knock at the door interrupted their...train of thought.

"Kate! Honey, I know you're in there. I had Ryan trace your cell phone. I am not leaving until you open this door."

Kate and Castle groaned in unison, but they knew better than to leave Lanie standing in the hallway. Castle sighed, gave Kate a parting kiss under her ear, and freed her from his weight. Kate scrambled out of bed and threw on the nearest piece of clothing as she shouted, "I'm coming, Lanie."

Lanie continued from the hallway, "I can tell by the last three calls you've ignored that you don't want to talk right now, but I need to be sure that you're all ri—" Kate threw open the door, and Lanie cut off abruptly. Even someone without acute crime-solving senses couldn't fail to notice the tousled hair, flushed skin, breathless manner, and Beckett's choice of wardrobe: a button-down shirt tailored for much broader shoulders and reaching halfway to her knees.

Lanie's eyes narrowed. "That's an expensive shirt. I know that shirt." Without shifting her eyes from Beckett's face she called out, "Richard Castle, front and center."

His obedient "Coming!" from the next room was followed a few seconds later by, "Uh, Beckett has my—"

"I don't care. Get out here."

While Castle figured out an alternative to showing Lanie as much skin as she saw from her guests in the morgue, Lanie looked at her friend and silently raised her eyebrows. Kate answered with a smile that was only slightly tinged by embarrassment at being so obviously caught in the act.

Finally, thought Lanie. She's letting in a little happiness.

Castle shuffled out of the bedroom a moment later wrapped in a sheet. "Dr. Parish. Always a pleasure to see you."

"Liar." She gave him an appraising look. He was as tousled as Beckett, with a day or more of stubble on his face and the kind of disarrayed hair style that said someone else's hands had done it. He was making only a meager attempt to tone down the grin twinkling out through his eyes.

"I am actually glad to see you here, Castle— but hold onto that sheet. I see all I need to see right now. I would like a few minutes alone with my girl, so make yourself scarce."

"Understood. Besides, I find myself suddenly in need of a long shower." He brought his face close to Beckett's and deadpanned, "Now's my chance to rummage through your medicine cabinet, looking for the key that will unlock the mystery of Kate Beckett."

"Admit it, Castle, you rummaged through my cabinet years ago."

He grinned. "True." With that he leaned forward to kiss her, simple and sweet. Kate knew he was staking his claim in front of Lanie, but when it felt so natural she couldn't bring herself to mind. He shuffled back toward the bedroom and added, "And as much as I appreciate your constant attempts to keep me naked, I will need my shirt back."

x-x-x-x-x

"Okay, before Writer Boy runs out of hot water: spill it. But first— are you really okay? Javi told me you almost fell off a roof, and then you resigned?" The two women were sitting on the couch, Beckett in her own clothes again.

"I'm...actually okay. More okay than I've been in a long time."

"You certainly look more relaxed than you've been in forever, but that's not the same thing." Lanie threw a pointed glance at the closed bedroom door and the sound of the shower.

Kate blushed just a little. "This is not about...relaxation."

"Not that you're complaining."

Kate went on. "This is about who I am when I'm not hunting my mother's killer. Who I let myself be. And Castle is a part of that."

Lanie smiled gently. "That much is obvious. To everyone. And has been for a while now."

"Yeah, well, I just needed a little time before I was ready to let him in. Or maybe to let me out."

Lanie shook her head. "No, glaciers need a little time. You needed an epoch. But maybe it's not just about your issues. New York's most eligible playboy mystery writer has been sitting in that lumpy old chair by your desk for four years, even though he normally has the attention span of a 10-year-old. Maybe he needed a little time, too. Time to prove who he really is."

"And who is he?"

"The man who was willing to wait for you. The man you've been waiting for."

"Wow, Lanie, I didn't realize you were so pro-Castle."

"For me, not so much. For you?" She squeezed Kate's hand, "In a strange twist of fate, he might be perfect." She added, "But if he hurts you, I know at least a dozen undetectable ways to make him suffer."

"You're a good friend."

Later that evening Beckett and Castle were back at the loft, watching the slightly postponed John Wu double feature. Alexis and Martha had been surprised but feigned nonchalance when they came home from post-graduation shopping to find the two of them on the couch, a buffet of Chinese takeout on the coffee table, like it was the most normal thing in the world that Castle's arm was around his partner's shoulders and her head and hands were resting on his chest. Alexis joined them for the rest of The Killer and some mu shu pork, but she was unusually quiet and eventually pleaded sleep deprivation from her overnight party and went to bed. The extra-tight hug she gave her dad, and the "Good night" she offered to Beckett with a genuine smile encouraged Kate to think that maybe Alexis was okay with this new development.

Martha also headed upstairs early, citing an early morning yoga class that Castle was pretty sure she'd never mentioned before. On the landing she paused to say, "Kate, I can't tell you how happy I am that you're here at last. And don't think that either of you are getting out of telling me the whole story very soon. Good night, darlings."

They hit 'play' on Hard Boiled, and for a while they watched the movie in silence, Kate lying down with her head on his thigh. Rather than being sleepy or absorbed in the movie, he sensed that her silence was building to something. To his credit, he let her get there in her own time. He stroked her hair almost unconsciously, enjoying the simple companionship of a moment that had seemed completely out of reach only 24 hours earlier.

Without turning from the screen, she eventually spoke. "Gates suspended Esposito."

"I know."

She looked up. "How? Ryan?"

"He called while we were at your apartment. Wanted to make sure you were all right."

"He saved my life yesterday. Castle, I was completely out of my league. I threw everything I had at Maddox, and he just shrugged it off. Then he tossed me off a roof like he was swatting a fly." Castle's hand tensed on her shoulder at this new information, and he fought the urge to gather her up tight. It wasn't comfort she needed right now.

"After all these years on the force, all those cases, I should have recognized the signs."

He frowned. "The signs of what?"

"A loved one in freefall." She sat up and looked at him. "How many times have we seen people let their jobs, their families, their health, everything slip away because a person they love has been killed, and they can't deal with it? Can't move on?" Suddenly restless, she stood up and paced.

"I wanted my mother's killer so badly, I couldn't see what it was doing to me— worse, what it was doing to the people around me." She shook her head. "I'm lucky I didn't get Javi killed yesterday. As it is, he's suspended, and he blames Ryan, and now Ryan is alone at the 12th picking up the pieces. But it's me they should be blaming. You were right to walk out when you did, Rick. Because I would have taken you down with me, too."

Castle stood and gently took hold of her shoulders. "Listen to me. Esposito had your back because you would've done the same for him. If he could do it over, I'm guessing he would make the same choice. And of all those loved ones we've met, do you know how many I've seen in freefall?" She waited, listening. "Not nearly as many as I should have."

He took her hands and led her back to the couch to sit next to him. "For people going through the worst days of their lives, you are there to listen. To show them compassion. To offer them answers, and closure, and some measure of justice. When they could so easily slip away, you lead them to solid ground." He raised one hand to cradle her face. "It's one of the top three reasons I love you."

She smiled a little at his deceptively casual declaration. Would she ever get used to hearing that? "Do I dare ask about the other two?"

"Well, you like my books, which shows you have excellent taste."

"And number three?"

"You're really hot."

Kate gave him a variation on the "long-suffering but loving it" look she'd been forced to perfect over the last four years, then brought the conversation back around. "I'm just sorry I couldn't manage to anchor myself."

Castle smiled gently. "I'm not. Then what would you need me for?"

She leaned in and trailed a finger slowly down his jaw to his lower lip. "I'll give you a hint: I like it hot, and want to you give it to me every morning."

Castle sighed. "I'm good for more than coffee, you know."

A/N: The rules of strip crossword are...something only Beckett knows. I'm in the dark too. But feel free to speculate! Also feel free to drop me a review and tell me what you think! Next up: a tender family moment, then the beginnings of a real live plot.