Castle gripped the gun with both hands and drew it close to his chest. A lone bead of sweat made a path down his forehead, but he didn't dare remove a hand from his weapon to wipe it away. His loft was in utter darkness with the exception of a faint glow of street light filtering through the edge of the curtains. The noise of cars driving by outside seemed muted and went nearly unnoticed by his alert senses. This is what it felt like to be hunted. Knowing any second could be the end.
He made his way towards the couch, moving as quickly as he dared without making a sound. A small breeze caressed his right cheek, making his head snap to the side in search of the source. It seemed the window was open, which wouldn't have caught his attention if he hadn't distinctly recalled shutting it hours earlier. He stumbled as something solid collided into his back and hot breath was at his ear in an instant.
"Gotcha."
Then the unmistakable sound of a trigger pull behind him and the loud signal of his vest sounded.
"GAME OVER."
He glanced down at the screen above his vest sensor to the mocking words blinking at him.
"TAGGED BY: HEAT"
"Seriously, Beckett?" Castle whined. "It's not even fun playing laser-tag with you anymore!"
Her short laugh of triumph filled his ears as she moved to face him.
"Sorry, Castle, it's not my fault your skills aren't up to par. You knew exactly what you were up against when you suggested a sudden-death midnight round."
"Yeah, a ninja," he huffed before collapsing stomach down on the couch in defeat, the plastic of his tag gear pressing uncomfortably against his chest. He shifted to his back before speaking again. "Was it really necessary to sneak up behind me like that? I'm an old man you know, my heart is fragile...and you opening the window to distract me? That was a nice move." He moved to sit up. "I never would have expected such an expert diversion tactic from you." He added sarcastically.
"Well it did distract you, so obviously, it worked perfectly." she retorted, rolling her eyes at his pouting face. "Come on, 'Super Writer'. One more round? You can show me your idea of a proper diversion."
Castle looked up at her challenging expression and sighed heavily. "Well, since you called me by my gamer tag…" the corners of his mouth lifted into a small smirk. "You're on."