May 8th, 2012

Richard Castle's Loft Apartment

"-tican announced today that they are ending their feud with writer Kevin Allen, stating he can keep the pope's hat. Mr. Allen has said in previous interviews that he stole the hat because he believed it contained mystical moon cloth that would-"

Beckett blinked, running her hand along her face. She stared up at the ceiling that was not her own and tried her hardest to figure out what exactly was going on. Morning amnesia was great when you wanted to forget about an annoying dentist appointment, but wasn't so hot when you find yourself in a strange place with no idea how you had gotten there.

Like a good detective, Beckett began to gather evidence. She was in a large room with a vaulted ceiling and cream colored walls. The large window to her left gave her a magnificent view of the city. The bed she was lying in was rather large, with chocolate colored sheets that clung to her naked breasts.

'Wait a minute…'

Beckett wiggled a bit, confirming that she was indeed missing her normal sleepwear (a pair of men's boxers, a tank top and little else). She brought her hand away from her face, finding it speckled with droplets of perspiration. She felt worn out and tired and beat down…and more relaxed and happy than she had ever known.

Turning her head, she looked on the naked form of her companion and the silly smile that had been on her lips since she awoke grew all the more brilliant. The memories came flooding back to her: Castle leaving in disgust, her clinging to the ledge and being saved by Ryan, the chief demanding her badge…and her tossing it away along with her career…

She wasn't a cop anymore. That was a startling thought. Nearly half her life had been spent being a cop, catching bad guys and staring down the worst humanity had to offer. And with one case, one decision on her part, it was all gone.

But considering the prize that had been at the end of that angst rainbow…well, it was damn worth it.

"What are you thinking about?" Castle said lazily, his face half-buried in his pillow.

"How do you know I was thinking?" Beckett asked.

"You get this weird stare going…like a dog that spots a juicy steak."

Beckett lightly smacked him on the shoulder. "Do you call all the women you sleep with dogs?"

"No…just you," Castle said. It was cheesy and lame and should have made her roll her eyes…but Beckett couldn't help but feel her heart melt just a touch at it. "So, what are you thinking about?"

"My life."

"Ah, that," Castle said with a laugh.

Beckett rolled over so she could look at him, the sheet just barely keeping her modest. "You know, I haven't had a day in…decades…where I didn't wake up and know I needed to get right out of bed because I might get a call dragging me to work. Even last summer, I kept waking up thinking that today would be the day I would get the call to come back, that they were saying screw it to the rules and let me get back on the beat early.

"For the first time in…forever…I can actually sleep in." Beckett laughed at this and Castle found himself joining in if only because she was laughing and it felt so good. "I can sit on the couch and pig out on junk food and not worry about it slowing me down while I chase after a suspect. I can take a 5 hour bath and not feel like I am wasting the day. If I wanted, I could spend my entire day in bed just being lazy and not have to deal with any stress." She shook her head in good mirth. "It's…freeing."

Castle ran his hand along her shoulder. He knew, soon enough, the joy that came from new things would die off and Beckett's mood would come crashing down. She would realize what she had thrown away and it wouldn't be giggles that came out. He would be there, though, for the good and the bad. He'd made that mistake too many times with too many women and he wasn't going to repeat his failures. Not when he had her in his arms.

For the first time in a long time Richard Castle felt the walls he himself had built around his heart crumble. He'd hidden them better than Beckett but that didn't mean they weren't there.

'18 years,' he thought. 'It's been 18 years since I felt this way.' His mind flashed way back, to another brunette, laughing and cuddling with him…

"Castle…are you ok?" Beckett moved closer to him, placing a hand on his chest.

"Yeah, why?"

"You began to breath funny…"

Castle did his best to tamp down bad memories that had invaded his mind. There was no room for them now, not today. "Just thinking about last night," Castle said, not needing to force the smile too much.

Beckett flashed her pearly whites and laid her head on his chest, curling her leg around him. It just felt so right to be with him like this. His skin against hers…the sound of his heart beating against her ear, and…

"ugh," Beckett pulled away, Castle's brow knitting in confusion. "Sorry…but you stink!"

Castle lifted his arm up, giving it a whiff. "Well, yeah…but I did have quite a workout last night. And you aren't exactly daisy fresh yourself." He heaved himself up, Beckett blushing like a virgin (which Castle could attest she was not) at the sight of him. "Come on, time to get cleaned up."

"Who's going first?"

"Who said anything about separate showers?"

~MC~MC~MC~

After using up all the hot water the building had, Castle and Beckett had dried off and fixed themselves up enough to attempt a late breakfast. Castle had warned Beckett that while his mother and daughter were suppose to be out all day, there was always the chance they would come popping back in and, as much as naked breakfast would be fun, it would be wise to be somewhat dressed just in case.

Beckett wrapped Castle's silk robe tighter around her. Castle had loaned her one of his undershirts and a pair of boxers since all of her clothing had been soaked by the rain, while he donned some sleep pants and faded cloth shorts.

They'd began to make their way out of the bedroom when they heard the clank and clatter of pans coming from the kitchen. "Told you," Castle said with a smirk, giving Beckett's hand a squeeze before the two of them entered the living room. "Alexis, I know that you were worried about me, but you didn't-"

Castle's comment died in his throat.

Sitting at his kitchen counter was a dark skinned man dressed all in black. His head was shaved and he had a little goatee…and a black eye patch over his left eye that barely hid the jagged scars that ran across the socket.

"Hope you don't mind, but I made pancakes. Heard that was the best thing for the morning after." Unless Alexis had undergone a sex change, this was clearly not Castle's little girl.

Beckett opened her mouth, only to be cut off by Castle. "What the hell are you doing here, Fury?"

"We need to talk, Doctor."

Beckett was taken aback by the rage that was flowing off Castle's form. Even when they had fought yesterday he hadn't been this upset. She was actually scared he might try and attack the intruder. "Castle, who is this? And why did he call you Doctor?"

Castle ground his teeth so hard he was sure they were going to shattered. "Beckett, this is Nick Fury, director of the Strategic-"

"We call it SHIELD now, Doctor." Fury took another bite of pancake. "I was worried you guys would never get out of the shower. Didn't want your breakfast to get cold."

"Get the hell out of my apartment, Fury."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. The world needs you."

"Not interested," Castle said coldly. "Now, please leave the pancakes and go."

Fury, however, made no move to leave. He merely sat there calmly, cutting up another pancake and swirling it in syrup. Castle, realizing that Fury wouldn't leave until he had said what he wanted to say, sat moved to join him.

"Castle, what are you doing? You aren't going to actually eat with him, are you?"

"Yes, he is. Feel free to join us, Miss Beckett."

"You…you know my name?"

Fury looked at her with his one good eye. "Katherine Beckett. Formerly a detective with the NYPD. You live 7.8 miles from here and go by the user name TherealNikkiHeat on the Richard Castle fansite."

"You've been spying on her?" Castle asked sternly.

"On everyone at the precinct. We like to know what is going on with our agents, Doctor. " Fury dabbed his mouth with a napkin. "By the way, you really should have contacted us about that whole Joanna Beckett murder. We could have saved you a lot of grief."

Beckett's eyes widened at that. "What…what do you know about my mother's murder?"

Fury pushed a plate filled with pancakes over to her. "Your mother was killed on orders of Wilson Fisk, otherwise known as The Kingpin. We arrested him this morning, along with Cole Maddox, the man that threw you off that building yesterday. " Fury pulled out a file that had been laying next to his orange juice and showed it to the writer and former detective. "You two were in way over your head. Cole Maddox is an alias for Brock Rumlow, known as the mercenary Crossbones. The fact that he didn't gut you like a fish means that Lady Luck is smiling upon you."

Beckett stared at the image of Cole/Crossbones, dressed in military gear and a strange skull-marked mask. She could still feel the rooftop slipping from her fingers as gravity dragged her down towards the street below. Castle, sensing her discomfort, wrapped an arm around her.

"Consider the case close, Miss Beckett. Even if Fisk manages to get out of jail he won't dare come after you again. I've set some things up to keep his attentions focused elsewhere." Fury looked at Castle with annoyance. "But I am disappointed in you and Agent Rodgers. You both should have contacted me about this."

"I didn't know it involved…your world," Castle said dumbly. "If I did…"

"If you did you still wouldn't have contacted me because you are pigheaded."

Castle growled. "You haven't always been able to clean up messes, Fury. That's why I left, remember."

"I do, Doctor, I do. And it is such a mess that brings me here."

Beckett frowned; her head feeling like it was spinning. "Why do you keep calling him Doctor?"

"Not interested," Castle said firmly.

"Even if it means the fate of the world?" Fury asked.

"My world is my family. Always has been."

Fury stood up, collecting all but one of the files he'd brought. "We'll be talking again when I have time, Doctor. I just hope there is a world for us to live on." With that Fury showed himself out, leaving a stunned Beckett and a fuming Castle in his wake.

"Castle…what…what the hell was that?" Beckett exploded seconds after Fury left. Castle, for his part, glumly chewed on his pancakes, hating to admit that Nick had made some tasty flapjacks. "Who was that man? How did he know all that about me…and my mother…" Beckett felt faint. If Fury was telling the truth…her mother's killers had been brought to justice and she was finally safe. She moved away from the kitchen counter, needing to move, to walk and pace and work off the nervous energy that flooded her system. "I…I just don't understand! Why did he keep calling you Doctor? You know him, don't you? Is he some government agent you shadowed for a novel? Because I've read everything and I think I would have remembered reading about a guy based on Samuel L. Jackson's scary cycloptic brother!"

Castle couldn't help but smile slightly at her comment, but still his heart ached. Everything had been going so well with him and Beckett, finally being able to be together with nothing to stand in the way…and Fury had to come and drag the ghosts of the past in and spoil everything.

"Kate…sit down."

Beckett didn't protest, numbly falling onto the couch. Castle at first moved to sit across from her, but at the last moment joined her, wrapping his arms around her like she was his teddy bear.

"I've been lying to you," he said softly. Beckett opened her mouth to speak but he steamrolled past her questions. "Not just you. I've been lying to the whole world. And not for a few days, either…for almost 20 years."

"I don't understand."

"Until 1992, Richard Castle didn't exist. He was created, by the government, to hide my identity."

"Castle…what…who are you then?"

Castle sighed. "I am Richard Castle. But back then, I was a physicist and inventor working for Nick Fury." Castle lowered his head. "And my name was Dr. Hank Pym."