I.
Beckett was at the coffee machine in the break room one morning when Castle quietly approached her from the left. He crossed behind her and murmured, "Hey, Love." as he came to stand beside her.
Her stomach flipped and she turned to him and searched his eyes. It had only been a week since they'd finally admitted their feelings to each other and it was the first time he'd used the term of endearment.
He returned her gaze, seeing what his words had done to her.
"You're sweet," she said softly, smiling.
"Well, it's true; you're my love," he said simply.
At that moment, she almost wished they hadn't instituted a "no PDA at work" policy. She was so tempted to break their own rule, to just reach up and kiss him without abandon in the break room of the 12th precinct. There was just something about the term of endearment. It held so much more feeling than those overused ones like, "Honey" or "Sweetheart," or "Babe." "Love" had a certain connotation of passion and sweetness and intimacy.
So, instead of doing what she really wanted to- either reaching up and kissing him, or leaning in to plant her face into his shoulder and wrap her arms around him- she did the most discreet thing she could do to show her affection- she reached her pinky finger out, wrapped it around his, and gave it a small squeeze. "You're mine, too," she said.
His smile turned playful as he said, "You broke the rule."
"What rule?"
"The 'No PDA at work' rule."
"How did I break the rule?"
"That thing you just did to my pinky. That was definitely a public display of affection."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but no one saw it. So it wasn't public."
"You still did it in the middle of the break room. So, public."
"Ugh. Why did you have to go and ruin the moment?"
"I didn't ruin it. I just added a classic Castle-Beckett flair to it."
"You're ridiculous." She stalked back to her desk, and Castle followed her with a huge grin on his face.
II.
It had been a hectic day. There had been a physically and mentally draining case with a large amount of leads to look into, most of which had turned out to be dead ends. There were endless interviews and records to check into. It was the first time since they'd gotten together that Castle and Beckett didn't somehow have a chance to steal a couple moments alone during their long day at work; to exchange a couple of stolen kisses, or even just a quick hug.
At the end of the day, Beckett sent Castle home to get dinner ready while she finished up, promising to be there soon.
The bullpen had emptied out, but not much time had gone by when she heard footsteps behind her. She didn't turn around because she'd memorized the cadence of his footsteps a long time ago. They stopped right behind her and to her left. She soon felt his fingers brush against her neck as he swept up her hair and placed it over her right shoulder.
His fingers began to work on the muscles at the back of her neck. He knew how those muscles tend to tense up after a tough day, especially with paperwork added into the mix. So he kneaded her sore muscles, rubbing circles with his fingers and thumb from the nape of her neck to where her neck met the top of her shoulders and back again. She hummed her approval, dropped her pen onto her desk, and let her eyes slip closed, enjoying his ministrations, feeling the tension leaving her little by little.
Eventually, his touch lightened and instead of kneading her muscles, his fingertips skimmed slowly over her skin, tracing lines up and down the back and sides of her neck, then returning to the nape, teasing at the little hairs there. He felt her shiver and he smiled, fully aware that the back of her neck was one of the most sensitive parts of her body. He had discovered so one night after they had made love. He had tugged her back to his chest, settling in for sleep, and had placed a soft kiss at the back of her neck. As he did so, he'd heard a long, deep intake of breath. So he'd done it again, kissing her there once more and listened as she breathed in and let out a contented sigh. He had filed away that information for times like these.
After enjoying his touch for a while, she took hold of his hand and pulled it forward to kiss his palm. To keep his balance, his other hand landed on her desk on the opposite side of her. He took the opportunity to lean in and kiss her- softly at first but quickly becoming more passionate. She linked her fingers with his, having still been holding onto the hand she had just kissed.
After a moment, she pulled away from him, breathless. "I can finish this tomorrow," she said, vaguely gesturing to the paperwork.
"Are you sure?"
She kissed his face- his forehead, his cheek, his nose. "Yeah. Let's go."
He held out his hand to her. "Well, I can't argue with that."
She took his outstretched hand and they quickly headed for the elevator together. "Hey, why did you come back?" she asked as they waited for the elevator car to reach their floor.
"Thought I could convince you to leave your work until tomorrow." He gave her a sly grin.
"I think I should be mad at you for your not-completely-selfless tactics, but I'm too exhausted."
Once they stepped into the elevator and the doors closed, he wrapped her in his arms, one around her waist and the other angled up her back, caressing the back of her neck once more.
"Mm. Feels good. Don't stop," she murmured into his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his middle.
"Sorry, Love, we're at our floor." He gave her a quick kiss on her forehead as he turned her and placed a hand at the small of her back to guide her out of the elevator.
She smiled. She didn't think she'd ever get tired of him calling her that.
III.
There was a rarely-traveled, dim hallway near the offices on the floor below the bullpen. It had a fair-sized alcove about 300 feet in that used to house a large, dinosaur of a printer/fax machine combo. It still had one of those plastic accordion sliding doors that Beckett sometimes put to use. She went there to think sometimes; to clear her head. She'd go there sometimes when she'd have a particularly hard time trying to mentally put clues together and the murder board just wasn't doing it for her. It was quiet, the only sound being the low, calming hum of the air conditioning ducts in the ceiling.
Castle had found the little alcove once, before they were together. He had noticed she would sometimes disappear. He observed the pattern- the circumstances under which she would seemingly vanish- and when he had figured it out, he'd followed her. She'd unknowingly led him through the stairwell, to the floor below, down the back behind the unused offices, and through the dimly lit hallway. He'd found her gun pointed in his face when he peeked into the alcove, before she'd realized that he had been the one following her.
She'd been defensive at first, not accepting his always-ready "research" excuse, but she didn't make him leave that time, as long as he promised never to follow her there again.
Once they'd gotten together, though, it became one of their favorite rendezvous spots. Most of the times they met there, heated make-out sessions ensued. But not every time. Sometimes after sweet kisses were exchanged, they just wanted time to be with one another. Sometimes they would escape there to have lunch together, in their own little world. They'd share the rolling chair that had been left behind, her sitting sideways on his lap, both eating out of the same Chinese takeout container.
One day, nothing was going right for Beckett. Things escalated until the new captain took her off of their current case, and Kate went storming off.
Castle's phone buzzed within a few moments.
"Hallway," it said.
When no one was watching, he made his way down to the little alcove. She had the door pulled over partway, and he peered around it to see her standing against the wall, seething; her arms folded angrily across her chest.
He walked up to stand in front of her. He paused for a moment before gently unfolding her arms, and then running his hands lightly down her sides to rest on her hips. "Kate," he said softly, and she fell forward, leaning her head into his shoulder, allowing him to wrap her in his arms. She sighed heavily and he ran his hands up and down her back, leaning the side of his face against her hair. He knew that he was the only one, besides her mother when she was alive, who Kate ever let really see her vulnerability, who she ever let hold her and comfort her. She was letting him in more and more in this way and he treasured it.
"This sucks," she mumbled into his shoulder.
He gave her a squeeze. "I know."
"I'm just overwhelmed..." She sighed "Thanks for coming."
"Always, Love," he said, his voice low and soft. He skimmed his fingers along the back of her neck, calming and soothing her. She sighed and wrapped her arms around him tighter.
After a couple of minutes, she pulled back and took a deep breath. "Okay, I think I'm good."
"Better?"
"Yeah," she smiled and gave him a soft kiss. He gave her another.
"Okay. I'll let you head back," he said. "Then I'll wait a minute or two and follow."
"Okay," she said, running her hand down his arm and squeezing his hand as she turned to walk away. "See you up there."
He smiled. "See you."
IV.
Castle knew better than to defend Kate's honor in front of a suspect. She'd warned him about that early on when he'd first started shadowing her.
"Never let the suspect see that he or she is affecting you. Once you do, you've lost control," she'd said. She made sure to let Castle know that that included times when suspects were insulting or even threatening towards either one of them.
It was always difficult for him when Kate got threatened or insulted by one of those slimeballs, but this time he didn't know if he could hold himself back. The suspect kept finding ways to twist his answers into increasingly disturbing "suggestions" aimed at her, and Castle could tell it was affecting her. Normally, she was a rock, but this time, he could see her fighting to remain stone-faced. The next comment threw Castle over the edge, and he propelled himself off the wall where he'd been observing, grabbing the man roughly by the collar. "Never talk to her like that again, you hear me?" Ryan and Esposito blew in through the door just as the suspect punched Castle in the face.
"Castle!" His name came out of her in a mix of anger and worry.
The boys broke the two men apart and took the suspect away to a holding cell while Castle and Beckett stared at one another. Her face softened after she took his in.
"We need to get you cleaned up. Come on," she said, leading him out of the interrogation room, picking up the first-aid kit on the way to the unisex handicap restroom.
"Sit," she said, pointing to the closed lid of the toilet as she closed the door. "Castle, what did I tell you about letting those guys get a reaction out of you?" she scolded, taking supplies out of the first-aid kit and placing them on the counter next to the sink.
"I know, but Kate- I hate it when they say those things to you, and this guy just kept on going and getting more perverted with each comment."
She shook her head, "I know. It gets hard sometimes. Sometimes those things they say make me feel sick, but you can't let them get an upper hand during an interrogation. You can't let them know how to get to you."
He nodded and closed his eyes briefly, noticing for the first time the aching in his head and in his face. When he opened his eyes, Kate was standing between his knees. "Hey, let's get you cleaned up now," she said softly. All the frustration and anger was gone from her eyes, and all he could see was her concern and care for him.
He watched her face as she used a wet paper towel to gently wipe off the drying blood from the split in his bottom lip. She cupped his jaw with her other hand as she lifted his face to wash away the blood that had run down his chin. His hands, which had been resting on his knees, wrapped around her legs. His fingers tightened and his eyes slipped closed when she ever-so-lightly kissed the cut on his bottom lip. She turned to get the antiseptic ointment and dabbed just a small bit onto the tiny wound.
She ran her fingers through his hair comfortingly, her brows knit together as she took in the bruising and swelling on the side of his face. He slid his hands up to her waist, squeezing her slightly and running his thumbs once over the front of her hips.
"You're going to need an ice pack and some Ibuprofen," she said, stepping out of his grasp in order to reach into the first-aid kit once more. She squeezed the ice pack until the inside barrier broke, allowing the two chemicals to mix and get cold. She gave him two pills and a paper cup filled with water, and placed the ice pack on his cheek. "Hold this here," she said after he'd finished the water in his cup. He replaced her hand with his own, and watched her silently as she cleaned up.
"Kate," he said softly.
"Mmm?" She turned to face him.
"Thanks," he said, putting the ice pack down and reaching for her again.
Once more, she stepped in between his knees. He pulled her down to sit on his thigh, and she picked up the ice pack and gently held it to his face again.
"How does it feel?" she asked.
"Not too bad."
She leaned in, placing her lips on his forehead. "Liar," she said playfully, and kissed him there, sweeping her hand over his temple, around his ear, and down his neck until she reached his chest. She gave him a pat there. "Okay. You're all fixed up. Let's get back out there before they start to wonder what's going on in here."
"They've probably already taken bets on it," he said, the corners of his mouth twitching up into a small smile.
She laughed lightly and started getting up, but he pulled her back towards him and leaned his forehead against hers. He ran his thumb slowly along her bottom lip, and she smiled, understanding that it was his way of kissing her while his lip was still too tender and swollen. She lightly kissed the pad of his thumb before he dropped his hand back into his lap.
"I'm sorry you got hurt on my behalf," she said.
"I'm sorry I may have ruined our investigation."
"No, hey, we still have other avenues, and we still have him in holding. I know we'll solve this one."
He smiled slightly, and she stood up from his lap, holding a hand out to help him up. "Ready?"
He squeezed her hand and they made their way back into the precinct.