So, this came to me in a number of dreams over a few nights. I just knew I hate to get it down. It's not as perfect as I'd have hoped it to be, but it's close. I have definitely left the option to create another part to this story if it is well received and liked.
The story picks up after the episode 'Once Upon A Crime'
Disclaimer: As much as I would love too, I don't own these characters. They are just too perfect to be mine.
"Oh, God!" Kate's breathless voice passed by her lips in a string of low moans as they parted, her teeth almost searching for something to dig into in order to hold back the screams of pleasure that were building in her throat. The fingertips of one hand were gripping tightly at Rick's shoulder, digging in, while the other twisted around his neck, balling a handful of hair in her fist, urging him along. Her leg was hooked over his hip as her own rolled in perfect synchronization with his.
The bed creaked below them as their surroundings disappeared into the distance. Rick's lips were close by Kate's ear and she could hear his breathlessness passing through with each grunt and moan of desire as their bodies met in the elated bliss that they had both craved for so long.
As they began to catch their breath, both Kate and Rick held the others gaze. Kate's lips kept a wide, amused smile as her chest heaved, pressing her breasts up against Ricks bare chest lightly, before falling again. His smile held a hint of triumph and delight.
As Kate allowed a small, almost inaudible laugh to pass by her lips Rick watched her eyes twinkle and her nose give the adorable little wrinkle that he loved so much. His eyebrow cocked as he traced the perfect smile that lit up her whole face.
Lying there, Rick allowed his mind to meander through the trail that lead over the past few hours that had gotten them to this moment. How it had gone from simple hand holding and calm, to the full blown out storm and then to them laying here in the euphoria that was surrounding them.
"How about we all go out?" Alexis perked up a little as Martha ended her performance. "We could all go out for something to eat." She was already out of her seat and walking towards the closet by the door.
Rick almost didn't hear his daughter speaking. His eyes were trained on the fingers that had gently wrapped around his hand. The smooth skin was warm to the touch and felt calming against the coolness of his own. He lifted his eyes gradually as the sound of Alexis' voice slowing to a stop filled his ears. His eyes left the hand as they traced up her body before landing on her perfect smile.
Kate almost sprang out of her seat as Ricks eyes met hers, locking their gaze. Her hand fell from atop his and landed in her lap as she tried to work out if he had noticed the moment of intimacy that they had just shared. She was almost certain he would not miss it.
"Oh, that's a wonderful idea, Alexis." Martha chimed in, breaking both Rick and Kate's train of thoughts. Each turned toward Martha who was now standing in a poised position in the centre of the floor, almost as if she hadn't moved from the instant she had uttered the last few words from her one woman show.
"I uh…It's a good idea, but I think I'm going to stay back and get some work done, ladies." Rick passed on one of his smiles and he nodded, taking a large drink of what was left in his Champagne glass before clearing his throat and parting his lips to speak again before Kate cut him off.
"Yea, I think I should be heading home." She turned and caught Ricks gaze again, her nose giving a small wrinkle before smiling. "No doubt it'll be a busy night.
"Ah well, I was going to say that if Kate was going to stay, we could order in. However, seeing as you're going to be working hard, Richard, I think I'll take Alexis out."
"Oh, I'd love to Martha…." Kate started as her gaze moved from Castle towards Martha and Alexis, "But I really do have an early morning tomorrow, I really should be getting home."
She gnawed on the inside of her lip to hold back the smile that was threatening to curve the corners of her lips. Kate knew Castle would never forgive her if she gave Martha a reason to stay and ruin his night alone in the house.
Both Martha and Alexis grabbed their coats from the closet beside the door and slipped them on as Martha continued. "Alright, dear." She nodded to Kate as she grabbed her purse. "And Richard, don't work too hard and please, don't drink the entire bottle of Champagne. I wouldn't want to have to open another bottle later."
"No, of course you wouldn't mother." Rick rolled his eyes towards Kate in a joking manner as they watched his mother and daughter leave, both waving their hands over their heads as a goodbye. "Bye," they both called, almost in unison as the door closed.
Rick heaved a heavy sigh and allowed his body to relax. As much as he loved his mother and his daughter, he enjoyed when they'd go out and leave the apartment quiet.
As the room filled with the silence that neither Rick, nor Kate were fully familiar with, they exchanged one more smile before Kate leaned over, placing her glass down on the side table next to the chair. "I guess I should be going then," Kate spoke softly, still feeling the awkward bubbling in her mind from holding his hand slightly longer than would have been reasonable for 'Partners'.
"Stay." Her own words were almost lost as he spoke. She caught the convincing nod from Rick and her head tilted, one eyebrow rising.
"Stay?" she asked while pulling her jacket firmly around her slender body. She wasn't exactly sure what he meant by stay, but she pretty much already had her mind made up.
"Yes, we both know you don't actually have an early start tomorrow." Ricks shoulders lifted into a light shrug as he smiled. "I'd know. If you had an early start, then so would I and I know I don't have any reason to get up ridiculously early. Stay. We can finish this bottle."
"But Richard," Kate mocked his name teasingly, knowing that it was only his mother who would call him by his full given name. "Martha said not to finish the bottle."
Rick gave his eyes another dramatic like roll as he drained what was left in his glass. "We don't want it to go to waste, do we? I mean, we don't know what time they'll even be back at." His brow raised and Kate was finding it hard to resist the look in his eyes.
Over the past year, she was finding it harder to resist any urge to want to spend time with him outside of the precinct. Kate knew that she had feelings for him; she could feel them growing deeper as each day and moment passed and now she was finding it hard to say no. What was to stop her? They were friends. They were 'Partners in Crime'. There was nothing stopping her from staying in and having another drink with him - as friends.
"Come on," Rick was still flashing his award winning (well, Kate thought it should be award winning) smile as he continued on. "We know she'll only open another bottle when she gets home because this one is not up to an Actors perfect standard."
Suddenly, Kate couldn't resist. "Okay, one more drink," she nodded finding her lower lip pulled in between her teeth as she bit down softly, trying to hold back the smile as she caught the look of victory that had placed Rick's irresistible look. "But don't think this is a way to ply me with alcohol for your twisted fantasies."
Kate smirked as she finished speaking and Ricks face fell quickly from victory, to astonish. "I…You…We…What?" His brow raised and his voice croaked, almost coming out in a whisper. "Beckett, would I ever?" a mischievous smile crossed his lips.
"Yes, you would, Castle." Kate smiled as she picked up her glass. "Now, where is that bottle?"
"Uh…It's still in the study, I left it in there in the hope that mother would forget all about it." He laughed, pushing up from the chair he was sharing with Kate. "Give me your coat, I'll hang it up in my closet so that it doesn't get crushed in the jumble that is the hall closet with the amount of coat's mother and Alexis have." He laughed, taking Kate's glass as she stood, poised to remove her coat.
As she did so, Rick swallowed harshly as his eyes slowly travelled down over her body as it was revealed from beneath the cover. She still had on the dark orange turtle neck that he had found himself admiring earlier that day. God, she does look good in a one of those, he thought to himself as she passed him her coat. "You hang those up, I'll pour." Kate smiled and Rick tried to pull himself from the slight daze he had found himself in. It was almost too much for him to handle the fact that she was casually in his apartment and his mother had only the previous day told him to 'make a date of it,' however, he felt this inappropriate. Yes, he loved Kate, but he had no idea if she loved him back or even just liked him in such a way.
Of course, he'd had suspicions, especially after they met for the first time in the three months following the shootings. She'd split with what's his name, right? Shaking his head, he threw the thoughts from his mind. They were friends, amazing friends and perfect partners. No, he thought again, I can't say anything. It's just a nice, friendly drink.
As he slung her coat over his arm Rick allowed the river of thoughts to finally flow from his mind. He turned, giving Kate a smile and motioned with a nod of the head towards his study before moving to lead the way.
"So tell me, Castle," Kate started as she followed him, trying to take the conversation away from them being alone in the apartment. "Why don't you leave your coat in the closet by the front door? Hmm?" her brow cocked as Rick disappeared into the room off to the side of his study. She didn't believe that anyone could have 'too many coats.'
"If I leave it in there, Beckett," his voice hollered through the rooms as Kate placed the empty glasses down on the desk. "They begin to smell of Mother's and Alexis' perfume." Ricked laughed, adding, "I'm not one for smelling lady like, myself."
Rick was able to catch himself quickly and stop the sentence before he ended up adding the full truth onto it.
The truth was, that he felt that the lingering perfume smell on his coat from his mother and daughter all day tended to mask the scent of cherries that he had grown rather accustom too.
Kate gave a small laugh to herself at the thought of Castle roaming around to murder scenes with the scent of his mother and Alexis following him around as the champagne splashed slowly into the glasses, one by one as she poured. She could smell the sweet yet crisp aroma that fizzed to the top of the glass before settling and she couldn't help but wonder what exactly could be taking Rick so long to hang up two coats in his closet.
Just as she lifted her own glass to her lips, she heard a loud thump coming from the room that made her body tense up.
"I'm okay," Rick's voice boomed once more. "I'll be right out. Make yourself at home." He pushed himself off the door that he had fallen into as he spoke while trying to quickly change his clothes into something a little more comfortable for lazing about in the apartment.
Kate closed her eyes as she nodded an understanding in the direction of Ricks voice while taking a slow, lingering sip of her alcohol. She could feel the nerves begin to build up in her stomach, yet she didn't know why. She'd spent plenty of time here in this apartment with Rick. Hadn't she? Hell, she thought, I've even slept here when I was left homeless.
Giving herself another less nervous laugh, Kate began to slowly wander around Rick's study. It was a lot neater than she had initially imagined. She never really knew what she thought she'd find since she'd already been inside the study, but somehow, she always found herself thinking about his Study as being a place where large piles of research and papers lay strewn across the floor and almost every surface that was in the room. Maybe she had expected to see some weird murder scripts and theories, yet there was nothing. Everything had a place and was neat and tidy. She shrugged to herself.
As her shoulders fell out of the shrug, Kate glanced over towards the bedroom door, still with no sign of Rick returning. She sighed softly as she allowed her index finger of her right hand to slowly brush along a framed photo of Rick and Alexis when she was much younger, maybe five or six. Her smile spread as she saw another, more recent one of them playing laser tag in the apartment. It looked as if it were a shot that Martha had just managed to catch as Alexis' laser caught Rick and he dramatically felt to the floor. Kate's heart gave a small flutter and her smile only grew more.
"Sorry," Rick's voice startled her as her finger fell from the last frame on his desk. "I'll just be a second."
"Take your time," she called back as she slowly trailed her finger over the soft touch of the desk as she perched on the edge. Her finger stopped only when her hand reached a remote control that was clearly for the TV that sat just to the side of Rick's desk.
Kate hovered her finger over the little red power button. She'd been thinking about investing in one of these TV's for her apartment for a while now. It couldn't hurt to check out the picture, could it?
Another clatter came from Rick's room, and Kate pulled her finger back from the button. "Are you okay?" she called out, half worried for his safety, yet trying her hardest to hold back a laugh.
When a small laugh passed her lips, she moved her finger back to the little red button, seriously hoping that Rick hadn't left any dirty movies on, or even the volume up to the max.
"I'm fine," Rick spoke as he reached the bedroom door. "Sorry, I just learned that I shouldn't dress so qui…" His voice trailed off and he walked through the doorway, to the sight of Kate pressing the power button to something that he was most definitely sure he was not ready to tell her about.
It was too late though. He wanted to yell out, to stop her but as his lips parted forming the word 'Stop' but without a sound, the picture on the screen flashed on. Before them, the murder board of Kate Beckett's own mother's murder stood before them.
Kate's heart shattered into what felt like a million tiny splinters in her chest. He stomach bubbled and she could feel her face burning. Clenching her teeth together, she sensed Rick behind her and unable to remove her eyes from the screen where her own picture sat in the middle, surrounded by all the clues and findings of her mother's murder case, she simple parted her lips and spoke through gritted teeth.
"Castle, what is this?"
The room grew painfully silent as neither of them moved. Rick parted his lips to speak, but as he formed the words, he couldn't remember what they were supposed to sound like. If he were to make a sound, all that would come would be a long stutter of nothingness.
Kate felt her heart give an uneasy thump. Oh, good. At least it's still there, she thought to herself, but as she tried to pull in a breath of fresh air, she was stopped again by the pain. It felt like there was a lump in the back of her throat. She tried swallowing but to no avail. The lump wouldn't move. It only grew worse as she felt her eyes begin to burn as she stared at the screen.
"Castle?" she finally managed to shift the lump, pulling in a deep breath of air before it began to take over her throat again.
The silence in the room enveloped them again as Rick moved forward. What had he done? How could he have been so damn careless? He took another step. "Look, Beckett…" he began.
"Rick. Don't tell me to look. I'm looking." Her voice broke as she said the last word. Kate was trying her hardest to stop the tears that had built up from spilling over. She wouldn't allow them to fall. Too make her look weak. Not now. Not here and most definitely not in front of him. "What is it, Rick?" His name came as a tear began to roll slowly down her cheek. "Tell me. Now!"
Rick could hear the anger growing in her voice. He knew he had to make it right. He knew he was going to have to come clean about his extra-curricular work on the case behind her back, after getting her to stop.
Taking another step forwards, his hands out stretched in front of him, Rick could not only sense the anger that Kate was feeling, but he could now see the pain that had grown in her eyes as she kept them focused on the screen in front of her.
"Kate, it's a file… A computer file." He sighed, stepping forward again, bringing himself in between Kate and the screen. "Look, it's everything we have on your mother's murder. I put it all together for easy reference for when I'm looking over it."
Instantly, Rick knew that he had said something wrong. Kate's head shot up and her eyes were fixed with his. She shook her head as another tear began to roll slowly down her cheek. "You're working on the case, Castle? YOU are working on the case?"
She didn't know why she was making a fuss about it, nor did she know why she was so hurt by the fact that Castle had been working on her mother's case. Shouldn't it be a good thing, she thought as her hand lifted, ruffling her hair slightly as she pushed it away from her eyes.
Hadn't he been the one to tell her to stop, though? Hadn't he been the one to tell her to give it time since there were no new leads? Kate felt her heart shatter again as another wave of pain flashed over her. Castle had gone behind her back; he had been working on something that she had been told to drop.
Everything began to flood back into her mind. She'd worked so hard since the shooting to put the whole case aside for a while until they were sure that they had some solid evidence. It brought her back to three years before when Castle decided to dig into the case for the first time. At that point, she was hurt, but that pain was nothing compared to what she felt now. He was her friend. He was someone she trusted, someone she… Someone she loved.
"Kate," Rick began as he watched her. He wanted nothing more than to change the past few moments. He wanted to rewind, pull them back into the moments before where they were laughing and joking. "I had to do it, Kate." He stepped closer to her, almost within arm's length. "The last thing I wanted was for you to get hurt, Kate. That's why I'm doing this."
Her head was shaking as Rick took yet another step closer to her. His hand reached up and she swatted it away before he could get closer. "No, Rick." She almost growled his name. "NO! You say you're doing this to stop me from getting hurt? You say you're doing this for me?" Kate shook her head once more. The anger was bubbling in her stomach.
"Kate, you don't understand." He was beginning to get desperate. He needed to find a way to make her see.
"What don't I understand, Castle? How could I not understand? I've lived with this case for thirteen years. Thirteen years of my life and every time it comes up, I try to push it away. I try to protect myself." Another one of the tears that she had been fighting so hard against fell from her eyes.
How couldn't he see what it was doing to her? Did he not realise that every time she managed to get passed it and put the case to the side, he'd find some way to bring it back out.
Kate sighed as her mind raced. Her body moved back, backing into the desk as she allowed herself to slump down sitting on the edge. She trained her eyes on the floor as she tried to catch her breath, the lump still there, still stopping it.
"I know I stopped you after the last time, but I had good reason too, Kate." Rick stood there. He didn't know what to do. If he were to get close to her, he was most definitely sure she'd push him away again. He was also sure of another thing; he wasn't going to give her a reason to use her gun.
"What if you'd have found something? Would you have come to me? Would you have told me you were looking into this? Putting yourself in danger…" She stopped abruptly. Her heart thudded once before it felt like it had stopped.
In that moment, Kate realised that it wasn't just herself that was hurting. She realised that she was also worried for Rick's safety. When the screen had been revealed to her, her first thoughts had been that of wanting to hide it again, a loss in trust towards Rick and also a sharp pain in her chest that now, having realised her worry, she could put down to the fear of losing him.
"Kate," Rick started again, before stopping to study her features. "I would have definitely come to you had I found anything." He nodded; almost sure he would have found a way to get passed that had anything actually popped up. "Please, you have to believe me when I tell you that I hid this from you in order to protect you. I didn't want you to fall, Kate. I didn't want you in harm's way."
Another wave of silence filled the room as they both watched each other. After a moment, Kate allowed her eyes to wander to the screen. It looked exactly like a murder board. Exactly like the one she had pinned in the window in her new apartment, and to her relief, looking at it from where she was standing, there wasn't any new information. Rick must not have found anything that could put the case back in the open case file.
"Kate?" He spoke finally, watching her as closely as he felt she'd let him. He was worried for her.
Rick didn't want her to fall down that rabbit hole the way that she usually tended to do so easily when it came to this case. The thoughts were mulling over in his head and as the last one popped into his mind, Kate spoke again with a small voice.
"Harm's way?" Her eyes left the TV and landed on Rick again for what felt like the tenth time in such a short period of time. "What exactly do you mean by harm's way?"
"I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I'm going to be honest with you… I'm going to tell you everything." Rick nodded and moved to sit on the edge of the desk beside Kate.
They both sat there in almost silence as Rick recapped over everything that had happened from the moment Kate was shot (neglecting to mention his words to her in that moment), to her being in the hospital and to receiving the phone call from the mysterious man after she had returned to work and had started working on the case again. He went over the fact that if Kate stopped working on the case, her life would be safe. However, if she were to continue, she'd be in danger and there would be no way to stop it spiralling out of control.
Kate sat and listened. She watched him speaking as he explained everything. Yet one thing was still annoying her. "How could you put yourself in so much danger, Rick?" She asked. She needed to know why he was so ready to be the one in harm's way, just to protect her.
"Kate, you're my partner. I'd do anything to ensure your safety, and when it comes to this case, I know exactly what it means to you." She had moved off the desk as he spoke this time and was standing in front of him. "I had to do everything I could to see if I could solve it. No matter what got in the way, if I could solve this for you, or even crack it open again…"
He trailed off. Kate's hand was on his cheek and in this moment, there was no doubt in her mind that she loved him. "You're stupid, Rick? Do you know that?" She laughed, shaking her head and before she could stop herself or even realise what words had formed on her lips she spoke them, "I love you, too, Rick."
His mind went blank. Had Katherine Beckett just told him that she loved him? Wait, had she said 'too'? Rick shook his head once as it fully registered. Kate had just told him that she loved him. Did this mean that he should say it back? Yes, he should.
As his lips parted to say the words, they died on his lips as Kate's pulled them into a passion filled kiss. Her hands were placed perfectly on his shoulders, squeezing gently.
Rick wrapped his arms around her back, holding her firmly to himself as they got lost in the passion. It felt as if the world had stopped and they were the only two people alive right now. It felt right. It felt perfect and here, in Rick's arms Kate felt that whatever they came across, both she and Rick could face it together. Even if she knew she was still holding onto her own secret.
As Rick's mind came back into the here and now, he allowed his lips to curve into a smile as he watched over Kate who was lying beside him. Her body was still bare and he allowed his eyes to travel down over the perfect curvature, the lines and the imperfections that had cause a slight hesitation after the stumbling around in the study, falling over furniture and bumping into shelves. Rick smiled at the memory of Kate giggling like a School girl as they fell into bed, pulling at each other's clothes and throwing them around in their haste.
Kate had pulled back for a moment, not wanting her scar bared to Rick, but to her disbelief, Rick had simply pressed his lips to the scar softly, before trailing a line of kisses up over her breast to her neck. She had liked that he had assured her, and his exact words that fell from his lips had been, 'An imperfection with a story like this, only makes you more perfect.'
Of course, Kate had to disagree, but she had allowed her to give herself over to him fully. She was his and he was hers. Noting else mattered.
Rick smiled again. They had managed to get through a storm that had blown in and disrupted their lives after they managed to find such a calm place to be and as he let the words fill his mind, 'I love you, too, Rick,' he paused, mulling it over, and over again. He hadn't said to her in the moment that he had loved her. Why would she have added the 'too'?
The sudden realisation passed over Rick and he gasped, pulling Kate from her own sleepy daze.
Could another storm be on it's way after such a perfect calm?
Thoughts?
Feedback is always appreciated, and well received.
And as always, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. You guys rock!