Maybe If Were Lucky
I Caught Myself by Paramore
The expression on Richard Castle's face was utterly confusing. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Impossible at least for Detective Kate Beckett. Not that she wasn't trying. She could always ask, but she was never that blunt. It would show that she cared. This was something Katherine was trying desperately to hide.
"What do you want?" she asked instead.
"What do you want?" he retorted. Why did he always have to be so difficult? The problem was – she had no idea what she wanted.
"I'm about this close, Castle," she informed him, holding her pointer finger and thumb no more than a centimeter apart. "Quit looking at me like that unless you want something."
A smirk curved slowly on the corners of his lips. "Oh, but I do want something, Detective."
Crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair, she cocked her head to the side. "And what would that be, Rick?"
Standing and planting his hands on the arms of her chair, he leaned forward. "You," he whispered into her ear before pulling back and staring into her face. Her eyes widened and she found herself breathless. Kate Beckett hated this. But at the same time she knew that she wanted him too.
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Dear Prudence by The Beatles
"Come on, Beckett!" Richard Castle whined. He was standing in Kate Beckett's doorway, bounding up and down on the spot. Kate, on the other hand, was disheveled. Wearing a robe over her pajamas, her feet bare, she looked less the enthused to see him there.
Crossing her arms, she glared into his face. "Seriously, Castle?! Seriously?! It is seven am on my day off. What would make you think that this is a good idea?"
Grabbing her hand, he pled. "Please, I just want to take you somewhere. Look around," he said as he gestured to an open window within her apartment. "It's such a nice day."
Rolling her eyes, she considered his request for a moment. "Where then?"
She was giving in, he could tell. "I can't tell you that. It's a surprise."
Kate was intrigued. With Richard, he could really have anything planned, and the uncertainty was a little bit thrilling if Kate was going to be honest with herself. "Castle, the sun is barely up."
Sighing loudly, mostly for her benefit, he almost whined. "But it is up and that's what matters. The sky is blue. It's beautiful. Please come out and play."
The boyish exuberance on his face was starting to leak into the room before him. Feeling herself begin to smile, Kate acquiesced.
"Fine," she said, pulling the door open just a little bit wider, gesturing for him to enter. A smug smile on his face, Castle waltzed through her door.
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Revolution by Jim Sturgess (from Across the Universe)
Leaning on the corner of Beckett's desk, chin in his hand, Castle started at the woman before him. She was doing paperwork. Sighing exasperatedly, she pushed the papers away from her. Tossing her pen across the desk, she threw herself into the backrest of the chair. "If you hate the policy of it so much, why don't you just quit? Become a write like me," he wondered aloud.
"Because, Castle. Just because you don't like the institution doesn't mean you shouldn't keep trying to help people. Teacher's hate the district board, but they are still there day in and day out teaching snot nose children their abcs. Everyone hates something about their jobs. That doesn't mean we just give up."
He smirked at her answer to his question. She had obviously thought about this before. "Yeah, well, we all wanna change the world."
Crossing her arms, she reflected on the man next to her. "Oh really Castle? What do you want to change?"
Shrugging his shoulders up toward his ears, he made a quirky face. "The constitution?"
Rolling her eyes, she turned back to her work. "You better free your mind instead, Rick."
"Well, for now – lets just keep doing what we are, eh?" Leaning over her shoulder, he snuck a peak at her work.
"Exactly." And with that, she continued with her mindless paperwork.
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Mon Chere by Stana Katic
The crisp night air surrounding the crime scene bit against Richard Castle's face. The stars sparkled above him, Kate Beckett at his side. They were looking at what appeared to be a murder, suicide. Castle found himself wondering if it had been a pact or if the boyfriend had been some kind of sadistic wackjob. If it were the former, it could almost be romantic. These people obviously wanted to be together forever. One could not go on without the other.
Oddly, this was how he was beginning to feel about the woman to his right. He had lost love many times, but it had never really had that great of an effect on him. Somehow, Castle knew that if Kate Beckett were ever to walk away from him – walk away forever – that he would not be able to continue. He had begun to depend on her more than he did himself, and that scared him. She began to turn toward the murder, but Richard's hand reached out and grabbed her arm before she could move. "Kate," he murmured. "Don't."
"Don't what, Castle?" Confusion etched its way across her face.
Almost so quiet that she could not hear him, he whispered. "Leave."
Understanding the deeper meaning of his words, she cupped his cheek. "I won't," she said, taking his hand before walking toward the gore before them.
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Heroes of the Sidewalk by Two Hours Traffic
Richard Castle followed behind Kate Beckett, walking toward the precinct with their latest murderer in tow. They had apprehended the suspect just five blocks from the precinct and decided to walk him back in the late afternoon sun.
Smiling, Castle considered just how incredible the woman in front of him was. One hand holding the cuffed wrists of the perp and the other pushing him forward, she was in utter control of the situation. She had this guy by his bootstraps. Ironically, Castle felt the same way about himself. He would not have been there had it not been for Kate. She was the reason he was still around the precinct. She was his muse, his inspiration, his idea of a lady. She was the hero of his sidewalk.
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Paper Planes by M.I.A.
Their most recent case dealt with a forger, a hustler. He had been murdered. By whom was not clear. He had acquired so many random enemies just through his line of work that it was hard to peg anyone down. At first it had looked like a run of the mill overdose, but soon they realized that it was a bit more sinister than they had anticipated.
Castle and Beckett stood facing the murder board. Kate paced back and forth every so often, never taking her eyes off of the pictures and words before her. "We're not getting anywhere with this, Kate."
Not looking up from something she had begun to write, she corrected him. "Beckett."
"The guy could be anywhere by now. Our vic probably even forged visas for them. I think we're at a stalemate."
Shaking her head, she continued her perusal. "I don't think we're at a stalemate."
"Let's take a break. Lunch?" At this, he rose from his chair and offered Kate her own coat.
"Go ahead," she said with a wave of her hand, her attention still not completely focused on anything but her work.
Rolling his eyes, he insisted. "Kate, you need to eat too."
"Beckett. And you can bring me something back." Picking up a new dry erase marker, she began to write again.
Crossing his arms like a petulant child, he deferred. "You're coming with me whether you like it or not, Kate. You need a break."
Finally glancing up from her work, she socked her head to the side. "How do you plan on forcing me, Rick?"
"Like this." And with that, Richard Castle gripped Kate Beckett around the waist, threw her over his shoulder, and towed her out of the precinct kicking and screaming.
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Get What I Want by Bitter:Sweet
"You can't do that." Beckett informed Castle as she came upon him seated at her desk. Placing her fresh espresso on the desk next to her, she spun the chair around so that he was facing her.
A pathetic look overtook his features. "Why not?"
Crossing her arms, she shifted her weight. "Because I said so, Castle."
Castle rolled his eyes. "What do you think you are? My mother?"
His comment caused her to laugh – not a lot, just enough to make him a little angry. "Nope. And thank god for that. I don't know how she put up with you all those years."
Feigning heart pain, he pressed his palm over his chest. "Ouch. That hurt a little bit, Kate."
Raising her eyebrows, she retorted. "Just a little?" Without warning, Castle turned the chair back to her desk and began to resume the game he was playing on her computer. "I said you can't do that!"
Scoffing, he continued. "Kate, I always get I want. Maybe if you're lucky… Ow! Apples! Apples! Apples!" Kate had tweaked the first thing that he fingers reached - his ear. "That hurt a lot!" He informed her, rubbing at it.
"I'm glad. Now get out of my chair, Rick." Afraid of further punishment, he did as he was told. "Let's get something strait here," she said, "I get what I want." A smile on her face, she closed out of the application Castle had been in and opened her email. No one crosses Kate Beckett.
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I've Just Seen A Face by Jim Sturgess
Her eyes were gorgeous. He had told her that already, but she never seemed to believe it. From the first moment Richard Castle had seen her face, he had known that he was the woman for him. If he had met her just a few days earlier, he may have overlooked her. As it were, he was in the perfect place in his life for her to walk into it and he was going to keep falling at her feet until she realized it too. Everything she did, everything she said called him to her. Other women were never quite like Kate Beckett – that was what made her special. She was extraordinary.
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No Envy, No Fear by Joshua Radin
It was difficult for Kate Beckett to carry on at times. Some cases were a little too hard, a little to close to home. It tended to get painful. There was something that always kept her going, though. Her mother's murder. It didn't fit into a box and she would never make that mistake with the murder of another person's loved one. She wanted to take away the cause of their pain. They would have an ending. Even if she feared that ending for herself, she could give it to others. That was what she was there for. She needed to finish everything she touched. Castle understood that. Even if no one else did, Castle understood. And that was why he was still around. That, and she didn't think she could solve cases the same way without him anymore. He was her rock.
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It Wont Be Long by Rachel Evan Wood
He would be back tomorrow. It had been three weeks since he left her to investigate a crime on his own. She had warned him not to do that, but did he listen? Maybe he just wanted her to show him how her taser worked. Maybe he wanted to help. Maybe he knew that she was too stressed to see what was right in front of her. Either way, he had gone out on his own. He had been attacked. Richard Castle had been shot. They weren't even sure if he would make it.
His surgery had lasted five hours. They were the longest five hours of her life, pacing the waiting area, ignoring the warning glances from the on-call nurses. She didn't care about them. She didn't even care about herself. At the moment, all that had mattered was that Richard Castle lived. It was the first time that she had admitted to herself that she had needed him.
Every night, Katherine slept in the chair next to his bed, holding his hand through his medically induced coma. She would rise at five o'clock every morning, kiss his forehead if no one was looking, and head home to prepare for the day. She spent so little time at her own apartment that she didn't even buy groceries anymore. Her electricity bill was the lowest it had ever been, but she paid it back in the hospital's cafeteria.
He had gone home from the hospital last week. She hadn't seen him since and it was killing her. All she wanted was to be at his side. It was something she had become accustomed to in the previous weeks. She had spent the last week full of night sitting on her own. But tomorrow he was coming back to the precinct. It would not be long until she belonged to him once more and he would belong to her.
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Better Together by Jack Johnson
Beckett and Castle were sitting in on a park bench just down from the precinct. Night was beginning to cover the city and the streetlamps were flickering to life. "Why is it so hard?" Kate wondered aloud, unsure of whether her question was rhetorical or not.
Bringing his left leg up onto the bench beside him, Rick turned to face her. "What?" he asked as he placed his arm behind her.
"Life."
Richard almost scoffed. "Look who you're asking. At least you have a stable, nine to five job."
Rolling her eyes, Kate retorted. "At least you have a kid." Beckett didn't consider her job to be a full life. She wished she could settle down, raise a family. What she really wanted was to be truly happy, no matter what that meant doing in life.
Castle considered this for a moment. Kate was right. Alexis seemed to be the one thing in life that he was truly proud of. Raising her had been both his greatest source of stress and happiness. He just wished he could find that ultimate happiness with a woman. "We're pretty sad aren't we?"
"Yeah," Kate shifted next to him and sighed. "I just wish there was an answer."
Collected in his thoughts, Castle scratched his chin – the stubble that grew by this time in the evening wasn't exactly comfortable. "I think the answer is love."
Chuckling curtly, she glanced at Richard. "You sound like a Hallmark card."
"That's not necessarily a bad thing."
Biting her lip, she mulled over his retort. "No, as long as you don't mind being sappy."
"Nope," he said without a pause.
Kate smirked. "I can just see you writing Nora Roberts style novels after this conversation."
Raising one eyebrow and smiling with just one side of his mouth, Castle leaned forward. "What? You're not a fan of hers?"
"Are you kidding? Those kinds of books are pathetic."
As if her words had hurt him, he pulled back and folded his arms across his chest. "They're not pathetic if they help people." His childish, petulant tone of voice rang even in his own ears.
Kate rolled her eyes. She was not buying his crap tonight. "How could a cheesy romance novel help anyone besides helping the author make a fortune?" She had to throw it out there.
Scrunching his eyes and glancing to the side, Castle appeared to be deep in thought. "I'm not sure. Ask me again tomorrow." After a moment of silence, Richard turned back to the woman on his left. "What were we talking about?"
Laughing at his short attention span and terrible short term memory, she reminded him. "Love. And life."
Turning toward her more completely, he placed his hand on her knee. "Yeah. Life isn't always easy, but at least for me, it's better when we're together."
Looking at his hand on her knee quizzically, she glanced up to assess his facial expression. "Are you being sincere or ironic."
"Sincere." One of the most serious looks Kate had ever seen him wear overtook Richard's face. The earnestness of his statement was undeniable.
Kate lifted his hand from her knee and interlaced it with her own. Sliding closer to him on the bench, she laid her head upon his shoulder. "Then I agree." Kissing the top of her head, Rick place his own head atop hers and together they watched the city go by.
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*** Okay, I admit it – this last one was written over my allotted time, but I just had to finish my thought. :)
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End of Chapter Notes:
Okay, so I did not realize how fast I can write when I really put my mind to it. That was actually really fun. I did, however, have to go back afterward and fix a LOT of mistakes. Ha! I am glad I tried this though. Little drabbles are a lot of fun to write. I think I may try that more often – just a little longer next time. I hope you enjoyed them.