Disclaimer: I wish they were mine. At least I'd be living in sunny Los Angels instead of rainy Belgium ;)

Dedication: this first chapter is for thecoolanonymouswriter for inspiring a sweet and sour scene...

A/N: I've been wanting to write a multi-chapter story for several months now. But I've always chickened out, thinking I could never write something with that much substance.

I love reading these wonderful stories that other authors come up with and I was afraid I couldn't meet the standards I put out for myself. So, me posting this is a challenge in itself.

This is an AU story that can be set after the first episode of season four. Both Castle and Beckett's "Is it enough?" being the starting point.

Alright, enough with the rambling. On with the story...

CHAPTER 1: OVERTIME AND LASHING OUT

It had been a long week with back to back cases. The first one had been pretty straight forward. An elderly couple murdered for a rental property. Their next door neighbor had had an eye on their condo for quite some time now and had been trying to convince the owner to expel Mr. and Mrs. Sonders, claiming that they disturbed the peace and quiet of the building by watching television too loudly. Having been denied in his enquiry, he had taken matters in his own hands and had killed the 85 and 87-year olds, trying to pass it off as a breaking and entering gone wrong. Unfortunately for Roberta Silva, the woman across the street, alerted by an unusual noise, had witnessed the whole attack through her living room window. It hadn't taken Kate very long to draw a confession out of him. The whole investigation had only lasted two days and by 5PM the second day, everything had been wrapped up.

Kate had been finishing up the last of the paperwork while Castle played a frustrating game of Angry Birds on his phone. Rather annoyed at this point by Castle's grunting, she had been about to send him home when the call had come: a double homicide on the Upper West Side. A 38-year old woman and her baby boy had been stabbed to death, leaving behind a very traumatized 13-year old daughter who had discovered the bodies when she came home from school thirty minutes earlier.

The case was rapidly getting nowhere. There were no witnesses and no apparent reason why anyone would want a single mother of two with no known enemies dead. A string of late nights and all lines of investigations coming up to a dead end had been taking its toll on the team. Throw into the mix a very unsatisfied captain and Kate was rapidly approaching the point of no-return.

'Iron Gates' had only been in charge of the 12th for a few months. She was tough but a trained cop as well. She was well aware that Beckett and her team's loyalty were still directed at their late captain. Therefore she had been very eager to show the whole precinct who was in charge now. As the team leader, she took it out on Kate ordering her to get her act together and solve this case or she would find someone more capable to do it.

Kate had stood in Gates' office biting the inside of her cheek, efficiently preventing to yell back in response. 'Does she really think we're slacking off' was the only thing on Kate's mind. The detective didn't really appreciate being yelled at like she was some kind of a kid. She was about to retort but instead she gritted her teeth and replied a simple 'Yes, Sir'.

Castle, noticing Kate's frustration, had left the precinct to buy some food, seeing they were well on their way to another late night. Therefore he hadn't been around for the whole exchange between the detective and her captain.

The elevator doors opened at the homicide floor and Richard Castle made his entrance carrying a box full of Chinese take-away cartons. He found Kate sitting at her desk and she had given no indication that she had heard him approach. He was about to announce himself when she stood abruptly from her chair and headed for the break-room, empty cup of coffee in hand. Instead she ran full force into the writer.

Boxes of take-out food were knocked over and Kate's white dress shirt was now covered in sweet and sour sauce.

On any other day she would have sarcastically thanked him for bringing her food, just like she had the time at the beginning of their partnership when he spilled coffee on her, but after her little one-sided conversation with Gates, she really wasn't in the mood. Castle's mind must have jumped back in time to the same incident because he joked about them having to stop hugging like this and that he would have gladly given her the carton of sweet and sour shrimp; she didn't need to jump him. Rick didn't really have the time to finish his sentence because Kate lashed out.

'Castle… What the hell?!' Kate practically screamed at him.

'Sorry. I thought you might need a break and since we haven't eaten since this morning, I ran out and bought…'

Kate cut him off by yelling and in doing so she caught everyone's attention in the bullpen.

'I don't need you to take care of me! What I need is a break in this case! Not some overgrown child-playing-cop annoying me with his idiotic theories and phone games! Nobody pays you to stay here. So why don't you go home and do what you're paid to do… write!'

That stung him and it showed on his face, though he did his best to hide it. Kate didn't see it as she strode off to get the change of clothes she always kept in her locker.

As the calm quickly restored itself, every detective went back to his task and the deafening silence that had followed Kate's outburst was slowly replaced by the clicking of keys on computers, the opening and closing of desk drawers as well as the one-sided conversations cops were having on their phones.

Only three people stayed rooted to their spot. Ryan and Esposito were watching Castle assess the situation. Only when resignation and defeat appeared on the writer's features did they move from their desk, efficiently stopping Rick from leaving and leading him into the break-room instead.

They didn't condone Kate's attitude toward the writer but given tonight's events, they thought they could cut her some slack. 'Things are piling up', they explained. 'She has just been chewed out by Gates and the food mishap is just the last straw'

'I'm sure once she's calmed down and has a clean shirt on, she'll come around' said Esposito.

'Why don't you hang around in here for a while', Ryan added 'Maybe have a cup of coffee…'

Castle briefly considered his options. He could go home, like Kate basically ordered him to and drive himself crazy at the loft; or he could stay here because, whether or not she was willing to admit it, Kate needed him. 'I might wait for her in the break-room', he quickly thought. 'One round against a sleep deprived Kate with no leads on the case was enough for him for one night'

Before putting on her clean shirt, Kate had blown off some steam using the gym punching ball. So it was a much more in control Kate that made her way down the stairs twenty minutes later and entered the bullpen. The other detectives didn't even risk so much as a side way glance when she crossed the room to reach her desk, not wanting to be the next person to suffer Kate's wrath.

When she saw the leftover take-out cartons her stomach churned. She didn't know if it was because she was hungry or if her guilty conscience was making itself known. She chose for the latter, realizing her partner had taken the full blown rage she'd been feeling since Gates had said her piece.

She quickly scanned the room searching for her writer. As he was nowhere to be found, she sighed and her shoulders slumped.

'What did you expect?' she chided herself. 'For him to hang around after all the crap you've put him through?'

Her stomach clenched once more… yep, definitely guilt, she thought

Kate caught sight of her empty coffee cup. She picked it up and walked towards the break-room.

'I'm gonna need a lot of caffeine if I want to solve this mess' she said, thinking of the case as well as her partnership with Castle.

Castle and the boys were engaged in throwing some theories around about the double homicide when Kate suddenly appeared in the doorway. She faltered at the sight of her team … her whole team as the three men stopped talking altogether.

Ryan and Esposito looked alternatively at Kate and Castle as a heavy silence settled in. Sensing the tension, Esposito coughed awkwardly and pointed at the door while Ryan said something about checking the victim's phone records. Though their excuses were flimsy, they had the desire effect: they made their way out of the room, leaving Kate alone with her partner but not without lightly squeezing her upper arm as some sort of encouragement.

It only took Castle a few seconds to analyze Kate's posture and see the cloud of worry that adorned the detective's usually erect frame. The next moment he was on his feet, walking towards her.

Thinking he was leaving, Kate's shoulders sank deeper as her arms dropped alongside her body. So she was more than a little surprised when he reached for the cup and said 'Here… let me get that for you…', his voice kind and harboring no anger.

'Thanks'. Inanity was all she could muster, it seemed.

His reply was what got to her… 'Always'…

'How can you be so nice to me after I've treated you like crap?' she asked dumbfounded.

'Hey. Yeah, it hurt… but I know you didn't mean what you said' he answered, giving her the steaming cup of coffee back. 'The guys told me what happened with Gates and I guess the food thing pushed one too many buttons. I understand, it's not easy'

'Still. I shouldn't have…'

'It's okay… we're okay' cutting off her apology, gently rubbing her arm, his eyes searching hers by slightly bending his legs because her gaze was fixated on the floor.

Eventually she raised her eyes and looked at him. Seeing him genuinely smile made her choke on a sob and nod. She would have stepped in his embrace if Ryan hadn't walked in and interrupted them.

'We got a lead'

thoughts?

A/N: I'm already working on the next chapters. They should be coming soon...