Title: Just You
Summary: "It's meant to be a warning," Kate said quietly. "Dangerous rocks ahead." Post Murder, He Wrote, foreshadowing for 5x05.
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or anything but than the words that I have written.
Spoilers: Post 'Murder, He Wrote' fic with foreshadowing for Probable Cause.
A/N: I loved 'Murder, He Wrote' so very much. It was a total love letter to the fans, in my opinion. And yet, while we're still warm and fuzzy from the episode, they show us the promo for Probable Cause. So I wrote this as a bridge between the episodes.
"So much for our relaxing weekend," Castle sighed.
The house was all locked up and their bags were stowed safely in the trunk of the car. All that remained was to drive back into the city, their romantic getaway finally coming to an end. But Kate wasn't quite ready to leave yet as she stood in the back yard facing the water. She ignored the wind coming off the ocean as it swept through her hair and kept her eyes on the horizon as she answered, "It would have been relaxing if you had stayed out of the investigation."
"Hey, we caught the real killer," he pointed out.
Unable to argue that point, Kate remained silent.
Castle went on, "And the weekend wasn't a total loss. We went out for drinks, had some dinner, met a lot of new people - including the local police chief, and you never know how helpful that can be in the future."
With a snort, Kate finally turned to him. "Castle, this weekend I was arrested, I was called a prostitute, we were threatened by a mobster, and a suspect pulled a gun on us when I didn't even have my weapon."
"We solved a murder."
"We always solve murders. That is literally my day job. This weekend was supposed to be an escape from all that, a time to just be... us."
He had to admit, as much of a diversion as the investigation had been, half the fun of it was in seeing Kate in casual clothes without a badge strapped to her hip and a gun hidden beneath her jacket. In that remote beach get-away, she was almost as much of a civilian as he was, and she'd let him take the lead. Of course, he hadn't always done spectacular with that lead, but she'd let him have it.
"I think we did pretty well at being... us... last night," he teased her, waggling his eyebrows at the insinuation of their previous night together. And to use Kate's word, it was spectacular.
His comment produced the desired effect. She didn't quite smile, but her expression cracked just enough to be visible.
"And there will be other weekends," Castle went on. "I mean, what are the chances that there will be a murder every weekend we come up here?"
Kate smirked. "I don't know - you are beginning to get a Jessica Fletcher reputation. Everywhere she goes, someone gets killed."
"Hey," he protested. "Of all the murder investigations I've helped you with, I've actually known very few of the victims."
But his attempt at levity fell flat, and Castle lost her attention back to the sea. Clouds were gathering as the wind picked up, blowing through the tall grasses at the edge of the beach. They would need to leave soon if they were going to beat the storm back to the city. But Kate made no motion to head to the car.
"What are you thinking?" he asked finally.
After a moment, she responded, "Do you think Ryan knows?"
"Oh yeah, he definitely knows."
She nodded her own agreement.
"But I don't think he'll tell Esposito."
"Why not?"
Castle shrugged. "If he was going to tell him, he'd have done it already. And we would know because we'd have an irate phone call from a detective who was the last to know."
Kate's brow wrinkled as she said, "He isn't the last to know. Lanie doesn't know."
"Just because you haven't told her doesn't mean she doesn't know," he pointed out.
"You think she knows?" Panic tinged her voice.
"She definitely suspects," he answered. "Kate, she took one look at you and said you were glowing - which, by the way, I should have gotten major points for resisting the urge to brag about. I'd say she knows but is keeping her mouth shut until you officially tell her."
She nodded slowly as she took in his assessment. With one last look towards the Atlantic Ocean, Kate turned back towards the house. Castle fell into step beside her as they headed for the car.
"You know, she was rooting for us all along," Kate stated quietly.
"Lanie?"
"Yeah."
It did not surprise him. He knew the medical examiner had Kate's best interests at heart, and while she might have misgivings about Castle - he hadn't exactly handled finding out about her lie in the best of ways - she was definitely a romantic at heart.
"She tried to get me to tell you how I felt," Kate went on.
That was interesting. "Oh really? When was this?"
She twitched a bit as she answered emotionlessly, "Just before you came back from your Vegas trip."
Vegas? Oh... Jacinda. Definitely not his finest hour. Parading the blonde around the precinct had been meant to show he was no longer pining away for Kate, but in light of what he now knew about the situation, it had likely only sharpened her fears about him. No wonder she had made that comment when they first arrived in the Hamptons about how many other girls he had given the house tour.
He knew it bothered her, the women who came before. She'd commented on it several times over the previous year. Although, the more he thought about it, he realized that it wasn't concern about who had come before, but rather her concern about joining a list. One more notch on the headboard, so to speak. Surely she didn't think that was all it was between them, did she? He'd been shadowing her for four years!
Glancing over at her, he saw that same worry in her eyes, the unspoken fear that she would be yet another conquest. A hard-won conquest, but a conquest nevertheless.
Castle wished for a way to express to her how very different this was for him - how different she was. He needed her to know that when he said, "None of them were you," that what he really meant was, "I wasn't in love with them. I'm in love with you."
But he had shied away from using the L-word ever since that terrible argument in her apartment about going after Cole Maddox and her mother's killer. She'd looked trapped when he said it, and after she'd spent a year pretending she hadn't heard him the first time, Castle had swore to wait until she used it with him before saying it again. He wanted her to know, but he had to balance that need with not completely frightening her away.
As they reached the car, Castle realized that he hadn't said anything since her mention of his trip to Las Vegas and the unspoken reference to Jacinda.
"You know, before we head back, there's something I want to show you," he said.
Kate's eyebrow arched in curiosity, but she agreed simply, "Okay."
He opened her door, letting her slip inside the car before closing it after her and circling around to the driver's side. That had been quite the concession, letting him drive them up to the Hamptons. It made sense, of course, because he knew the route by heart. But beyond the practical, he recognized the gesture for what it was - Kate was letting him be a gentleman. Their relationship was no longer purely professional, which meant he intended to open and close doors for her and be in charge of making plans. And she let him, without a single argument.
It was a show of trust on her part, a trust he wanted to continue to earn.
He began driving them along the coast in the opposite direction from the city. The detour would take them out of their way, but they'd still be back by late evening. The drive up the coast was fairly scenic, and they occasionally got peeks of the ocean off to their right through the trees.
"Where are we going?" Kate asked finally as they passed a sign announcing their entrance into Camp Hero State Park.
"Just a place I like to go sometimes," he answered.
The parking lot was empty, which was not unusual on a Sunday afternoon, especially with dark clouds rolling in off the horizon. If Kate realized where they were from the signs, she gave no indication of it, but let Castle take her hand and lead her up a path towards their destination. She stopped short as she saw the brown and white tower looming ahead.
"A lighthouse?" she questioned, not bothering to point out that there was a lighthouse even closer to his house, visible at night from his back yard even. But this one was different.
"Not just any lighthouse. This is the Montauk Point Lighthouse. It's the oldest lighthouse in the state and is still used for navigation," he recited. Kate smiled at him, whether in amusement of his boyish excitement or appreciation of his creativity, he was not sure. He added, "After I bought the house, someone suggested that I come up here and see the view from the lighthouse. Ever since, I've come up here periodically to think - usually in the evenings, after most of the tourists have left."
Castle paused for a few seconds before adding, "And I've never brought any other woman here but Alexis."
Her smile vanished, replaced by keen discomfort, and he instantly realized that she was mistaking the gesture. Kate knew this was a special place for him, very private and personal. And she did not want to push for him to share it with her just because she needed reassurances.
"Castle, you don't have to -" she began, but he cut her off.
"No, I don't have to. But I want to show you this. Just you, Kate."
She gave a hesitant nod, then replaced it with a shy smile before following him the rest of the way up the hill.
The museum and gift shop were closed, just as he knew they would be. The lighthouse itself was also closed - they'd missed the official times by over an hour. But Castle located a volunteer who was still on the property, an older woman who recognized him on sight.
"Mister Castle! We haven't seen you up here in ages."
"Margarie," he greeted her back. "It has been a long time."
"And who is this?" the woman queried upon spying the homicide detective.
He let the pride show in his voice as he introduced them. " Margarie, this is my girlfriend, Kate."
"Ah, the inspiration for the Nikki Heat books, I take it?"
"Something like that," Kate agreed, obviously still concerned about keeping their secret quiet.
"We're keeping it to ourselves right now," he added for Margarie's benefit. "We were up at the house for the weekend and I wanted to stop in and show her the lighthouse before we headed back to the city."
"Well, I'm so glad you did! If you hurry, you can still catch the sunset," she told them with a wink.
Margarie did not charge them the typical fee as she showed them to the door at the base of the lighthouse, not that she usually charged Castle.
"One of the benefits of being a private donor to the historical society," he told Kate as they climbed the circular stairway inside.
"And getting in after hours?" she said with a laugh.
"That too."
By the time they reached the top, the sun was perched above the trees, ready to disappear over the western horizon. Kate did not hesitate to step right up to the wrought iron railing that surrounded the platform at the top of the lighthouse, just below the beacon which was already flashing above them.
"It's beautiful, Castle," she stated. The light from the setting sun had turned the ocean into a rainbow of colors - oranges, pinks, and rich gold tones reflecting off the water as the waves crashed against the rocks below them.
He said, "Not as beautiful as you."
With a grin, Kate ducked her head as she stated, "I wasn't fishing for compliments."
"You don't have to fish," Castle told her with complete seriousness. "You should be told every day how amazing you are."
"Aren't you worried it'll go to my head?" she responded, her smile a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment.
He considered her question for a moment before answering, "Actually, that's a good point. Wouldn't want you to realize..." He trailed off as he reconsidered what he was about to say, that he wouldn't want her to realize that she could have any man she wanted. And probably a decent sized margin of the female population as well. Certainly she knew that, knew what effect she had on people?
"Realize what?" she pursued, stepping into his personal space as her eyes dropped to his lips.
Castle's hand tightened on the railing as struggled to come up with an answer. "Realize that... we're about to miss the sunset," he said lamely. She did not turn to look as the orange sphere slowly disappeared in the distance. Instead, she kept her attention focused on him as she leaned forward, her lips finding his in the fading light.
They kissed until the sky had faded into a deep purple, the lighthouse beacon flashing above them as a warning to ships at sea. When Kate pulled away, he could faintly make out her eyes in the dim light.
"Thanks for this weekend, Castle," she said.
"Even the murder?"
"Even the murder."
The clouds coming in off the ocean seemed much darker now. A storm was definitely brewing.
"I suppose we should head back to the city," he said.
Kate nodded even as she said wistfully, "I wish we didn't have to. I wish we could just stay up here."
"We have to go back," he said apologetically. She had work in the morning and he needed to start his Hamptons Heat book while the story was still fresh in his mind. "But we can always come back up here on another weekend."
"Yeah," she agreed, although he could tell she was not convinced. "We should let Margarie lock up."
Kate held his hand on the walk down the stairs and back to the car in the parking lot after saying their goodbyes to the historical society volunteer. But as Kate waited for him to open her door, she looked back at the lighthouse, still mesmerized. Wanting to share the moment with her but not interrupt it, Castle wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back against his chest. She relaxed into him without a word of protest.
"It's meant to be a warning," she said quietly, referring to the lighthouse. "Dangerous rocks ahead."
He could not help but wonder if there was a double meaning in her words, if she was simply making an observation or worrying about their own relationship. With Ryan likely having found them out - not to mention a good portion of the people they'd met in the Hamptons - their secret was no longer completely their own. There was no way they could stay hidden forever, and they would have plenty to contend with in the next few months.
"I guess we'll have to be careful."
They pulled apart some time later and Castle opened Kate's door for her. The drive back to the city took a few hours, and the storm followed them every mile. They arrived in front of her building just as rain began to dot the windshield. Pulling her bag out of the trunk, he offered to walk her up to her apartment, but she refused. It was already late, and they both needed to get some sleep before work the next morning.
"Thank you again for this weekend, Castle," she said.
"No, thank you. And next time, no murder investigations. Not even if the victim dies on the front porch," he promised.
She gave him one last kiss before saying, "Goodnight." Taking her bag from him, she quickly disappeared into her apartment building, leaving him standing by his car in the sprinkling rain.
Despite their fun, romantic weekend, one phrase stuck with him through the drive back to the loft and the rest of his evening before sliding into a cold, empty bed.
Dangerous rocks ahead.
But at least they were on the lookout.