*SPOILER * WARNING*
This is based both on my imagination and a whole lot of spoilers that I've seen, read and discussed, concerning the season 6 premier! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
A/N: I've been itching to write... but short of a large project that I haven't even begun to tackle... I've seriously come up short in the ideas department. Then today my dear friend Jen told me how much she wants a certain scene this season (preferably in the premier) and I started babbling away... before I knew it I had the grounds for a short fic, and some interesting encouragement from her and a couple other lovable nuts, and now here I am... writing again. It feels good, even if it is massive FLUFF. Thanks ladies ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle... I don't even know that I want to... I just want to love it and hug it and call it George... or maybe just hang out on it's set for a week... or maybe secretly preview every ep... or sit in on a writers meeting. I just want to be a tiny, insignificant part of it.. and so far the only good way I've found to do that is write fic. These characters are not my own, but I love them like they were.
Dedication (you know who you are): To the extraordinary JN & EG and all my friends at Spoiled Toledo, to the real Teel & CastleKat with gratitude, to my muses at the 12th, who've taught me all I need to know about plot and character, to all the remarkable, maddening, challenging, frustrating people who inspire us to do great things, may the dance never end and the music never stop.
"Take Me Away"
by DeBo81
Kate Beckett had just sat down for the first time in almost fourteen hours when the knock on her door disrupted her beloved silence. Despite desperately craving the Chinese food that had arrived at least a good ten minuted before she expected it, she groaned loudly as she stood and grabbed her purse.
Too tired to use good judgment, she ignored her peep hole and simply swung the door open wide, expecting a delivery person with a generous quantity of food. Instead, she briefly processed the familiar profile of a man with dazzling blue eyes, before being passionately and ravenously kissed.
Immediately she melted into him, absorbing his warmth and strength, while returning his needy embrace.
When they broke for air, she finally stuttered, "Ca... Castle... what are you doing here? I thought you were on your book tour."
Rick kicked the open door shut with his foot and smiled. "I am. I was in Baltimore today and I need to be in Atlanta tomorrow, but I switched my flight so that it leaves tomorrow morning from here in DC." He squeezed Kate snugly and dropped another kiss on her upturned lips. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too," she answered. In the past couple weeks she'd been so busy learning the ropes of her new position, and figuring out life in a new city, she hadn't had time or energy for much, not even more than a few coveted phone calls or brief texts with her fiance'; so to say she missed him was a gross understatement. Half the tension of the day oozed out of Kate's body as she leaned into Rick, still as tired as before, but now remarkably content. Him holding her, always had that effect on her, but now that she'd gone so long without it, she easily noticed the immediate difference his presence made. "I'm so glad you're here."
"Been waiting all day to come surprise you."
"Mmmmmmmmm. Definitely surprised." Kate hugged Rick again before stepping back. "You didn't happen to bring me any coffee did you?"
Rick shrugged his duffel bag off his shoulder and grinned. "No, but I did bring this." He held up a bottle of red wine with a unique label.
"Is that...?"
"Mmmhmmm. The one that I know you love," Castle paused and licked his lips, "Oh, sooooo much." This simple statement fell from his lips dripping with subtext and baritone sexiness.
Kate flushed slightly and took a deep breath. "Well I've got take-out coming in a minute, and I don't think that pairs well with sweet and sour pork, but after dinner... I think we could maybe enjoy a glass."
XXXXXXXXXX
Half an hour later, Rick watched Kate over the rim of his glass while she ate. She was exhausted. Stress had etched its print into her face, and weariness had seeped into her bones. Even though the sparkle in her eyes lit each time their gazes met, the weight of her heavy lids shadowed her joy.
During their short conversations the last two weeks, and at points throughout dinner, she'd shared what she could about her job and all that went with it, but seeing Kate now, like this, told him much more.
"What can I do for you?"
"Huh?" Kate asked as she stood to clear the table.
Rick jumped up and took her plate from her hands, stacked it with his own, and placed them in the sink. "Don't worry about cleaning up right now, I've got it. But what can I do for you? You look..."
"Watch it, Writer Boy."
"Beautiful... but exhausted. Besides finishing up here, what can I do to help?"
Kate shook her head and began tossing paper boxes and styrofoam containers in the trash. "Nothing. I'm just a little tired."
He wasn't dissuaded and took both of her hands, leading her away from the small kitchen. "Right, I see that. Please, Kate, humor me. Let me pamper you for a little while."
When she started to argue, Castle kissed her, ran his hands up and down her arms, and then moved to the top of her blouse, undoing one button after another. "How about this? Let me go run you a hot bubble bath, light some candles, put on some music and you can go soak while I finish up in here, then I'll pour some wine and perhaps join you. What do ya say?"
Kate bit her lip and looked toward the bathroom. The one perk of this tiny new apartment was the giant jetted tub that she still hadn't yet enjoyed. "I say... Calgon, take me away."
"Fantastic! Go get undressed, and I'll take care of everything else."
XXXXXXXXXX
By the time Rick was lighting the last candle, the tub was full and frothing with sweet pea scented bubbles, the soft music was playing, and Kate, with her hair piled high on her head and clad in a sheer black robe, had joined him in the bathroom.
He turned to her and smiled softly, while letting his eyes roam. She returned the smile and slowly untied her robe.
"You sure you don't want to join me right away?" Kate asked as the thin onyx material dropped and pooled at her feet.
Rick's breathing shallowed and his pulse raced. "Trust me, I wont be gone long. But I want you to be able to get in and relax before I join you."
Kate glided closer and practically purred, "I can't relax with you?"
Rick chuckled and adjusted his pants. "If I join you now, relaxing might not be the word for what happens."
Kate sighed and rose up on her tiptoes to kiss him, inviting him to slip his hands around her slender waist and pull her close. Her bare breasts pressed against his chest, her hip bone dug into his belt, and the heat that had remained banked until now, stoked into life.
With a groan that started deep in his gut, Rick stepped back. "Hold that thought, I'll be back in a few minutes, I promise."
Before he could change his mind, Castle turned and headed back to the kitchen, leaving Kate to enjoy her luxurious bath.
XXXXXXXXXX
Kate let her head rest on the back of the tub as she sunk deeper into the hot, bubbling, churning water. The tension and aches she'd been holding onto seemed to melt away; and with every passing minute she grew a little closer to falling asleep. Not wanting to allow herself the chance to doze before Castle returned, she kept herself awake by softly singing along with the music floating through the humid air.
When the orchestral strains of her favorite Etta James song began to play, Kate was so into the song she never heard Castle return.
"At last," she sang, "My love has come along. My lonely days are over. And life is like a song. Oh yeah yeah. At last. The skies above are blue. My heart was wrapped up in clover. The night I looked at you..." Kate happened to open her eyes before launching into the next line, only to find Rick, standing next to the tub, wearing nothing but his gray silk boxers, watching her with such a breathless look on his face that she blushed from the top of her head, down well past where the bubbles kissed her collar bones.
"I didn't hear you come back," she whispered.
"So I noticed, but you didn't need to stop because of me. I love listening to you sing." He placed two glasses of sweet red wine on the ledge of the tub.
Kate didn't know what to say, so she only shrugged, took a sip from her glass, and sat up so that Rick could slip into the tub behind her when he finished undressing.
Once he was settled into the bath, Kate melted back into his chest, letting her head come to rest in the crook of his neck and continued to hum along to the music.
Rick plucked her loofah off of the bath caddy, dunked it in the water, took Kate's left hand and began to wash her arm from fingertip to shoulder and then back again, pausing only to run his thumb across her knuckles and adjust the radiant diamond ring adorning her finger.
When he was finished there, he repeated the process on her right arm, only to stop abruptly and inspect her shoulder. "Your shoulder is bruised. What happened?"
She never even opened her eyes. "Nothing."
"That's not nothing, Babe. Look."
Kate sat up but didn't look at her shoulder. "Did you just call me Babe?"
"I, uh... maybe? But that's not the point. Look at your shoulder. That looks pretty nasty, I don't know why I didn't see it earlier. What happened?"
She looked where Rick pointed, turned toward him and nodded. "Oh, that... yeah it actually looks a lot better than it did. Training exercise. I was hit at a distance by a couple blanks."
Castle's face darkened with concern. "You hadn't told me about that. Are you OK?"
"It's just a bruise. It was sore for a couple days but..."
"No," he interrupted. "I mean about being shot. Are you OK? After going through it for real, that can't be something that's easy to relive."
"I knew it was an exercise."
"Still."
"Look, in all honesty, it awoke some ghosts, but I got over it fast. I have to. This isn't the NYPD anymore. No one is going to hold my hand here and tell me it'll be OK. It just has to be."
"Kate, I wish you would have told me. I wish I could have done something to help."
"Like what? Tell the Federal Government not to be so hard on me cuz I'm damaged?"
"No. But maybe I could have flown in that night and kept you company or something."
"You can't just fly in every time I have a bad day, Rick. I appreciate it, but I'm OK. Really. It's part of the job."
She knew he had more to say, but he kept it to himself, choosing instead to pull her back to him, cocooning her in his large, muscular arms.
"I love you," she offered softly as she tipped her face so that her lips grazed his jaw.
"I love you too."
"Thank you for coming here tonight. I needed this. I needed you."
Wordlessly, Rick sat up and shifted, so that he could help Kate turn around and straddle his lap. She took both of his cheeks in her hands and held his face as she brought her mouth down onto his for a long, slow kiss. As the heat between them grew, the temperature of the room seemed to rise as well. The days and weeks spent apart, spent missing each other, came to a head as their passion ignited into a blaze of lust, need and love. They alternated between frantic kissing and reverent touching; between racing toward ecstasy and taking the time to taste, feel and explore.
Eventually they ended up in her bed, satisfied yet still needing each other; weary, yet alive with the electricity of the moment. Kate lay draped over Rick, her head on his shoulder, her finger tracing the lines of his chest. "I wish you didn't have to leave tomorrow."
"Me either. But I'll be back as soon as I can."
"I know you will." Kate dropped a kiss over Rick's heart. "Thank you, for everything."
"Always, Kate. Always."
The End