It was the morning after the most eventful day in both their lives. Castle had come in with the usual coffees for himself and Beckett, and he found her sitting at her desk in deep thought. When he set her coffee down for her, she looked up at him and smiled. It was a genuine smile, not flirtatious or playful as usual. He smiled back in kind, but with a longing just below the surface.
" I …" she started, but haltingly, and he said, "I know. How about we get through our paperwork today, and we'll knock off early and get a bite to eat after work. I imagine we have a lot to talk about."
"OK. I was going to ask you the same thing. Josh is on shift tonight and I really didn't feel like being alone."
He was pleased that they would get a chance to discuss what he considered to be some very important issues. Well actually, to him, there was only one important issue. That was the fact that he was head over heels in love with the woman sitting next to him right now, but she was together with another man. He felt they had made a connection, reached a closeness much more intense than they ever had before. Facing death together twice in one day had a way of doing that to you.
Ryan and Esposito were, as usual, sitting back in their chairs and observing keenly.
" Twenty says they'll be together by the end of the week, bro" whispered Esposito.
" You're on, man," said Ryan. Normally this would elicit a sharp response from Beckett, who always thought it was creepy when people watched her. But this morning she seemed not to mind. At this point Captain Montgomery came out of his office and went directly over to Beckett and Castle.
" Good morning, you two. Have you had a chance to recover somewhat from yesterday's events? ".
" Still working on it, sir, " answered Beckett.
" I may never recover, " laughed Castle.
" Well I have just the medicine for you" said the Captain. " You can work on your reports all day today, and once you have them on my desk, you can both take the rest of the day and tomorrow off. You're going to need the time to work through what happened."
" I don't need any time off …" began Beckett. "That's an order, Detective!" was the Captain's reply as he turned and headed back to his office.
" Yes, sir" was all Beckett could manage.
The phone on her desk began to ring. " Beckett." She listened, and said, " I'll be right down, Lanie," and hung up.
" What is it?" asked Castle, as she got up and grabbed her coffee.
" Nothing important. I just have to go down and see Lanie."
" Want me to come?" he queried.
" No, you can get started on your report. I won't be gone long."
" OK. Say hi to Lanie for me," he said as he settled back into his chair.
" I will," she smiled, and lightly touched his arm as she went by. He couldn't help but watch her until the elevator doors closed.