Disclaimer: As per usual I do not own these wonderful lovers characters nor do I own Easter for that matter. I'm pretty sure copyright doesn't apply to referencing holidays but just in case.
Author's Note: Thanks are in order for sunshineminxy on tumblr who proposed this idea. Also please leave reviews!
As with most holidays, Easter celebrations may be mostly for the entertainment of children, but who was going to stop Richard Castle from making the most of it while he had an excuse to? He was pretty much a kid at heart anyways; his teenage daughter was more mature than he was as most people he knew pointed out to him fairly often. She was applying to college while he was begging her to play laser tag with him. Since Alexis and his mother were both at a spa out of town for the weekend, Castle was going to have to find someone else to do something with on Easter and he had a certain female detective in his mind.
Acknowledging that Kate Beckett would not willingly participate in anything he would want to do for the holiday, Castle knew he would have to trick her. To him, that just made the game that much more fun. As for exactly what he should do, Castle mulled over several ideas in his head before one popped in that he knew would be too amusing to resist. Pulling out his cell phone, he called Detective Esposito.
"Esposito, my man!" Castle said into the phone.
"What do you want Castle?" Esposito inquired sensing he was about to be asked a favor.
"Well you see…" Castle explained his plan to his friend.
-At the precinct-
"Hey Beckett we got a case," Esposito said when he walked up to Beckett as she sat at her desk doing paperwork.
Beckett looked up and a hopeful look appeared on her face as she said, "Pardon my lack of respect for whoever was murdered but thank goodness I can get away from this paperwork for a while."
Ryan walked up to Beckett's desk and stood next to Esposito. "Actually, this is something different."
"Oh?" Kate inquired.
"Apparently the vic in this case isn't actually a vic yet. Check it out," Ryan said as he held out a picture of an Easter egg to Beckett, "this guy left us a clue that we have to follow and we have to find him before he kills his target. Weird right?"
"Really weird," Beckett said, both referring to the case and the strange vibes she was getting from the guys. "'Trees and bushes surround me; under an arch the next clue will be,'" she read from the picture Ryan had given her. Sighing, Beckett said, "Alright guys let's go."
Ryan and Esposito looked at each other briefly before Esposito said, "You know where it is already?"
"Yeah Washington Square Park. It's got trees and an arch. Whoever this guy is who's giving clues is not very creative."
Trying to keep a straight face as they knew Beckett had just insulted Castle without realizing it, Ryan said, "About that. We actually have to work on a different case right now so you're on your own until you need backup when you find the last clue and have to go get the guy."
"Maybe you should call Castle and see if he wants to help you," Esposito quickly suggested, figuring messing with Castle's plan and getting him involved in finding his own clues would be a fun way to confuse him and make the game even better.
Giving a signature Beckett glare at them she said, "I think Castle would only really care to be here if there was a body for him to try and get pictures of. I'll go get the cheesy riddle guy by myself; I doubt he's dangerous."
With that, Ryan and Esposito took their leave while Beckett left for Washington Square Park.
-Washington Square Park-
The wind gathered up Beckett's hair as she stepped out of her car by the park. It was a beautiful day outside with the sun shining and the leaves rustling; and she could hear the happy screams of children playing in the distance. A wistful smile appeared on Beckett's face for a moment as she stood remembering the time she used to spend with her parents in this very park. Realizing she was zoning out and was supposed to be catching a potential killer, Beckett shook her head and closed her car door before walking towards the arch in the park to find the next clue.
-xxxx-
After setting all of the clues, Castle had decided to see how Beckett would go about solving this mystery she didn't know he had set up for her therefore he went to the park so he could see how she did. And just to see her. Upon his arrival at the park he sat discretely on a bench where he was sure she wouldn't be able to see him. Castle was pretty proud of himself for the clues he had thought of so when he saw Beckett walking towards the arch only a few minutes after he had taken his seat on the bench he felt flustered and glanced at his watch and said, "What? How did she figure it out so fast?" When she bent down to pick up the next clue, Castle realized he could admire her assets from a distance and she wouldn't even know. With that thought Castle grinned and said to himself, "This is already turning out even better than expected."
-xxxx-
When she bent down to get the next egg, Beckett had the feeling someone was watching her and quickly stood up to survey the area. Since the guy she was trying to find seemed to be sort of egotistical she wouldn't be surprised to find him watching her as she went through the clues. Not seeing anything suspicious, Beckett proceeded to open the plastic pink egg to read the next clue, noting that this guy must not be too serious if he's using a pink egg.
"'This is a quiet place, where there are many a case,'" she read out loud. She stood there studying the clue for a moment, and only a moment, before she figured out where she was to go next. Rolling her eyes, Beckett put the egg in her jacket and walked away from the arch and towards her car.
-xxxx-
Castle stood up from his spot on the bench and was distraught. He could tell Beckett already knew where the next clue was and could not understand how she could have figured out his clues so easily. This was going to be a fast game if she kept getting them so quickly. Which would then leave him bored again for the rest of the day unless he found something else to do. Right, he had to beat Beckett to the next clue. Jumping into his car, he sped off to the Brooklyn Public Library.
-Brooklyn Public Library-
Getting to the library was a pain because of Easter weekend traffic, so it took Beckett longer than expected to arrive. When she finally got there, she sat in her car as she realized the clue she had just gotten was not well done at all. It told her the building she needed to look in but it could be anywhere in the entire place. With a deep exhale of annoyance Beckett went to the front desk, flashed her badge, and asked the librarian if anyone had found an Easter egg in the library recently. Whoever this potential killer was, he didn't seem very organized so she figured there was a good chance somebody here had already found the egg somewhere and turned it in.
"As a matter of fact we did have someone turn in an Easter egg," the librarian said with a confused look on her face. "But what could a detective want with that?"
"I'm sorry ma'am but it's official police business. May I see the egg please? It is important I assure you," Beckett said.
"Of course darling wait here a moment," the old woman replied before getting off of her chair and walking to the back room.
-xxxx-
"This is a disgrace," Castle whispered to himself from his position behind a bookcase where he could view Beckett's exchange with the librarian. "I can't believe someone would dare turn in an egg that is clearly for an Easter egg hunt. I guess New Yorkers have no respect for the honorable tradition of an Easter egg hunt." He paused for a moment to consider the horrible direction society must be going in to desecrate such an important thing before he said, "Well she's going to like the next clue although it may have been too straightforward."
-xxxx-
When the librarian came back with the egg, a red one this time, Beckett thanked her for her time and walked to a comfy-looking chair near the entrance of the building before sitting down to read the next hint. "'Is it hot in here or is that just you?'" she read from the slip of paper. Well, it looked like someone else had chosen her because of the identity Richard Castle had given to her. It was getting kind of tiring really. Trying to push away thoughts of how she was going to tell Castle she was being targeted because of him yet again, she stood from the chair and headed to the fiction section of the library.
As she walked down the aisle, she wondered how this guy had fit an Easter egg into a book because that would actually be something impressive, not like the actual clues. Arriving at the section for Castle's books, she realized that all of the copies of Heat Wave were on the top shelf. Looking around for a stepstool, Beckett's gaze stopped on a man in a trench coat sitting at a table who looked suspicious. Not wanting to scare him off, she quickly moved her gaze from him and continued searching for a stool to stand on but doing her best to keep him in her peripheral vision in case he tried something.
Finally finding what she was looking for, she stood to reach the book and upon pulling it out, the egg fell off the bookcase towards her. Beckett's reflexes kicked in and she made a squeaking sound at her surprise that the egg was falling towards her as she tried to hold the book, keep her balance on the stool, and catch the egg at the same time.
-xxxx-
Hearing Beckett make such a cutesy squeaking noise was definitely not something Castle thought he would ever hear or thought she was capable of. He thought it was adorable and made a mental note that he needed to surprise her more often so she would hopefully do it again. He did acknowledge that he should have probably placed that egg better though because it could have ended badly. Having seen enough and knowing that Beckett had seen him earlier when she had been looking around for the stepstool, Castle decided to just go to the next place before it became too dangerous here. It's real fun when there's danger involved in an Easter egg hunt.
-xxxx-
Somehow, Beckett managed to catch the egg and not fall or drop the book. When she stepped down from the stool, she said, "This guy is a piece of work. I'm getting tired of this." Opening the neon green egg, she read, "'Almost there, look for a bear.'" Walking out the door, Beckett muttered, "Lions, tigers, and bears oh my," as she headed for the Bronx Zoo.
-Bronx Zoo -
Castle stood to the side by the Brown Bear section of the zoo as he awaited Beckett's arrival. Since she had gone through the clues so fast, he had been forced to rewrite the ending. He was originally just going to have her find him here in some sort of costume but now he had thought of something even better. Although he was pretty sure at the end of the day Beckett was going to be angry at him for what he was going to do instead and he also knew she would forgive him… eventually. She always did right?
-xxxx-
Walking up to the Brown Bear exhibit, Beckett immediately found the egg by the corner of the fence. When she went to pick it up, she realized that it was not a plastic egg but was instead a real one. Boiled. Hopefully. She didn't exactly want to get egg all over her hands but she was after all going after a so-called dangerous man and the clues were in the eggs. Begrudgingly, Beckett began to crack the egg and her face became distorted with disgust when she found out that the egg was not boiled. The entire contents of the egg were now all over her hands. "This guy…" Beckett said with an edge of anger and exasperation in her voice. But there was no clue. What did no clue mean?
"Excuse me Miss," a voice said to her left.
"What?" Beckett almost growled as she turned but her demeanor changed when she turned to see a little boy standing there.
"Sorry to interrupt your uh, egg cracking, but this guy told me to tell you something. He said to tell you, 'A person precious to you will be lost'," the boy said before running away to rejoin his family.
Processing this information, Beckett knew it had to be the man she was chasing via Easter eggs who had told the boy to say this. This was not good. Someone precious to her… Ignoring the copious amounts of sticky egg guts on her hands she reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone before she started to call all the people she could think of. She called Ryan and Esposito first figuring the guy probably knew they worked together. When Ryan picked up the phone she loudly said, "Ryan! Are you okay? Is everything okay? Nobody's attacked you or anything-"
Ryan interrupted and his tone of concern was conveyed when he said, "Whoah Beckett what's wrong? Everything is fine."
"And Esposito?" Beckett said, out of breath from her rapid questioning.
"He's right here with me. We're both okay. What's going on Beckett?" Ryan asked.
"It's…" Beckett considered telling them what was going on however the thought crossed her mind that she needed to follow up on this possible lead and figure out what was going on before she caused Ryan and Esposito to worry. "Never mind. Sorry about that," she said before hanging up. With Ryan and Esposito off the list she knew who to call next.
She speed-dialed her best female friend to check up on her, this time taking a more calm approach so as not to freak anyone else out today. "Lanie," Beckett said when the person on the other side picked up.
"Kate? What's going on? The boys called me and said-" Lanie began.
"Nothing is going on. Everything is fine Lanie. Just wanted to say hey is all," Beckett said doing her best to keep her voice steady. "I'll see you around," Beckett said before hanging up the phone. With Lanie now off the list there was only really one more person that could possibly be in danger.
-xxxx-
Ring ring ring
Castle's phone had been going off for five minutes now but he continued to ignore it. He knew it was Beckett and answering the phone was not part of his plan. Hopefully everything went according to plan. He knew Beckett well enough to know what she would do if something like this were to actually happen and if all went correctly she would be showing up at his apartment soon and upon her arrival he would try to scare her again. Somehow this Easter thing turned into more of a "let's scare Beckett" event. Not that he was complaining because he was having fun and that was the point.
Sure enough, a few minutes later there was a series of loud knocks at his door accompanied by Beckett yelling "Castle?" This was going to be great.
-xxxx-
Beckett pounded on the door several times before stopping to think. Castle probably wouldn't appreciate if she knocked down his door. Right he should have a spare key somewhere around here. Reaching above the door frame with the hand she was not using to hold her gun, she felt around until her fingers found the key. "So predictable," Kate muttered as she put the key in the door, twisted the lock open, and opened the door.
"Castle?" Beckett said as she walked into the dark room. "Castle are you here?" When she turned on the light she was startled when she saw the Easter bunny standing in the corner. "Alright put your hands up!" Beckett said as she pointed her gun at the person in the costume. "Don't try anything funny."
The bunny slowly put its hands up and Beckett gradually approached it, unsure what to expect. "Okay hands behind your head," she continued to instruct as she got closer. When she got close enough she went behind the bunny and handcuffed its hands together. She then holstered her gun and proceeded to take the bunny's costume head off.
-xxxx-
"Handcuffs. Kinky," Castle said when his bunny head was removed, flashing a huge smile at her with a glimmer in his eyes similar to a kid seeing candy.
"Castle?" Beckett said, not expecting this turn of events. "What are you-"
Castle interrupted and said, "Did you have a good Easter? I sure did."
"I don't-why did you did this?" Beckett stammered, still not really understanding what was going on.
"Well it's Easter and I was bored because my mom and Alexis are both out of town for the weekend plus you didn't call me about any murders. What was I supposed to do?"
"How about not send me on a pointless mission to find Easter eggs?"
"Admit you had fun Beckett. I know you did. Also, no matter how kinky it is that I am handcuffed right now I think I would be more comfortable if you would be kind enough to let me free."
Unlocking the handcuffs restraining Castle, Beckett put them away and said, "Are you really telling me that you did this just because you had nothing better to do? You made me think you were in danger!" Her voice was rising as she moved to feeling angry towards him.
"Do I detect actual concern for my well-being?" Castle repeated his past self.
"Sorry if I feel upset when I think you might be out there captured by a crazy guy who uses Easter eggs to send messages!" Beckett said loudly.
Sensing that Beckett really had been concerned, Castle said, "Sorry Beckett I just thought it was fun. You were getting the other clues so easily I had to change the end."
Beckett calmed down and she collapsed into Castle's couch. He took a seat next to her on the couch and they sat in silence for a few moments before Beckett said with a smirk, "You know, the costume looks nice on you. Maybe your true calling was to be the Easter bunny."
"Oh so I make an attractive bunny? Good to know," Castle said returning the banter.
"I didn't say attractive I said you look like a bunny."
"Attractiveness was definitely implied my dear Detective," Castle said without thinking of what he was saying.
"Wha-" Beckett started before being interrupted by Castle's lips crashing onto hers. She couldn't resist his charms and four years of sexual tension so she went with the passion and returned it. Making out on Richard Castle's couch. Not something Beckett had seen herself doing just a few minutes ago let alone enjoying it as much as she was. After a few minutes of this, Beckett whispered into Castle's ear, "Those were terrible riddles by the way. Could use some work."
End Author's Note: Sorry for the weird ending I couldn't exactly figure out how to finish the story. Anyways I hope you enjoyed it again please leave a review!