A/N: Hey! I know anyone reading my other stories probably hates me with a burning passion for not updating lately, and I am so, so sorry. I'm having trouble in RL and well, shit happens. That was a terrible explanation...Anyway, this is a little ficlet for my 30DFC that I wrote a few days ago. The prompt was: cancer scare. Also, this is my first Castle fic so please bear with me if the characterization isn't spot on...

Hope you enjoy!

Kate narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Castle had been checking his watch every five minutes for almost two hours now. Something was up. Rick was not usually one to keep secrets, because, in all actuality, he sucked at it. He could keep a secret for an hour, if he was lucky, but then soon after, he had already told Beckett and probably everyone else that he had ever met. Which was why Kate was trying to simply be patient and wait for him to eventually tell her. He would tell her any second now, if past experience has told her anything.

Again, Castle was checking his watch right on the five minute mark. The suspense was killing Kate; she was a detective for God's sake!

"Okay, Castle, spill." She fixed him with her interrogation stare, hoping that she could strong arm the unusually tight-lipped author. It was as if she hadn't even spoken because his gaze simply remained fixed on some unknown point ahead of him, though he was probably lost in his thoughts rather than staring at anything. "Castle!" Kate tried again, waving a hand in front of his face to snap him out of his reverie.

Richard jumped, hopping out of his chair and putting his arms out defensively out of instinct. Beckett felt a strange mixture of melancholy and pride at this. For on the one hand, she was proud that even in the brief three years that they have been working together, Castle had already started to act (in some respects) like a cop. Yet on the other side of the coin, even this slight invasion of space had Castle on his toes and reacting to a nonexistent threat. The dangers that the man had been exposed to had taken their toll on him, though he would prefer to seem as if they hadn't. But Beckett knew they did. She saw the shadowed, despondent look that marred his "ruggedly handsome" (according to him and Ryan) features.

"What?" Castle finally spoke, eyes shifting as he alternated from staring at Kate and then to the wall clock behind her. His expression of faux innocence was not lost on Kate, but did he really think that he could throw her off with such a bad deflection?

"What is up with you? You've been checking the clock nonstop since you got here. If you've got somewhere you'd rather be, go ahead and leave. Nobody's stopping you." She added in a flippant tone; trying to mask her concern and curiosity.

"Okay, I really should be going."

"Thought so...wait, what?" Her eyes widened when she realized what he had said. Castle was hurriedly putting on his overcoat when she finished her question. He paused, turning to her, his face the epitome of confusion.

"You said that I could go." He began, speaking as if he were explaining something simple to a small child. "That's okay, right?"

Kate felt her face flush with embarrassment. Her only source of relief was that she knew it would be easy to fool Castle, especially with him as distracted as he was.

"It's fine, I just thought you were more dedicated to the job. Following the job, I mean." The color in her cheeks intensified at her second little slip-up. "Anyway, what's so important that you've been counting down the minutes for almost two and a half hours now. A date?" She quickly diverted the conversation away from her mishap, skillfully baiting the writer into feeling obligated to correct her about his destination. Kate could always tell when Rick was going to go on a date, a blessing and a curse. He would always be more chipper, yet had an undercurrent of anxiety. Also, he put a lot of expensive cologne on early the morning of so that it had lessened but not disappeared by the end of the day. He wanted (in his words) "to seem like I naturally smell that way". Disgusting.

"No, I just have a...thing I need to get to. See ya!" Castle cryptically responded, backing up during his reply until he was almost out of earshot. He practically shouted his final sentence, causing more than a few heads to glance between the two in lazy interest. Kate waved goodbye and then turned her glare to Ryan and Esposito who she had seen giggle like idiots from her peripheral vision. They really needed to grow up, they were NYPD cops for God's sake. Despite herself, she felt her glare quickly wither as her mouth curved into a small, genuine smile. Dammit, Castle!

Richard knocked twice on the door ahead of him, a sense of dread overtaking him as the reality of the situation finally hit him.

This was it. This would decide his fate.

Wow, even in his thoughts he sounded too dramatic. Only one of the many perils of being a crime writer. Castle sighed, bouncing on his heels impatiently as he waited for the office door in front of him to open. The receptionist had led him right down the hall to Dr. Joseph Bass' office, and had said that the doctor was just finishing something and that he should just knock and he'll be right with him.

It'd been - Castle checked his watch again (it felt like all he'd been doing) - a minute and thirty seconds already, what could be taking so long? The entire point of his signing with a private physician was for speed and accessibility. He didn't want to have to wait before he was seen by a doctor, and more importantly, if Alexis needed help.

Just as the thought occurred to him, the door opened revealing Dr. Bass. Thank God.

"Joseph, do you have the results?" His words came out in a rush, and as soon as they had been processed by Dr. Bass, he was nodding his affirmation. Just as the good doctor opened his mouth to speak, Castle found more words tumbling out of his own mouth before he could stop them. "Are they positive? They are, aren't they. Oh my God this is big news. Big, big news. Not big news like: my mother has a new boyfriend, but big news like: someone's in critical condition! Because I am, aren't I? Doctor, please say something!" All of his words were blended together, causing a barely decipherable jumble of words.

Joseph blinked owlishly for a second, briefly perturbed by the inordinate amount of words coming out of the younger man's mouth at once. His expression suddenly turned grim, changing from confusion to sympathy startlingly quick. He was dying wasn't he? Just as Dr. Bass began to speak, Castle's phone went off. The ringtone, "She's a Lady", blaring from the device's small speakers.

"I, uh, I gotta take this." Castle's despondence and shock was evident and his tone, and when Joseph tried to interrupt, needing to tell him vital information, Castle simply held up a finger to delay him.

"Hey, Kate." His voice still held his depression and apprehension, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Big things were happening right now. Really big. He had the fleeting thought that Beckett might find it strange that he had used her first name, but the thought was almost instantly replaced with a dozen more.

"Castle, is everything okay?" Her rapid reply only briefly surprised him. Beckett was always incredibly perceptive, especially to someone who practically always wore his heart on his sleeve. "What's wrong?" She hadn't even waited for a reply. Typical, Kate. God he would miss her. "Where are you?" It was amazing how Beckett could have a whole conversation with himself, and only the sound of his shallow breathing as a reply. Wait, shallow breathing? When had that started?

Rick choked out his address, vaguely aware of a hand on his shoulder as he snapped his cell phone shut. The last sound he heard that of a care engine starting.

It's strange how for years you hear of people finding out big, life changing things, but you can never see yourself in a similar situation. It's a fact of life, people say or think: it could never happen to me. We all wonder how we're going to react. Some feel like they'd be great in this kind of a situation, others feel like they would fall apart at the first hint of tragedy. At least Castle had his answer now.

"Rick! Rick, answer me!" Richard's head snapped over to Dr. Bass, his mind suddenly overflowing with questions. His mouth widened as he prepared to voice them, but it was suddenly covered with his friend's hand. Joseph brought his finger to his lips, silently indicating Castle to keep quiet. "You haven't let me speak, Rick! If you would let me, I would tell you that you DO NOT have cancer! The tests were negative!"

Castle's mouth dropped, eyes widening as the actuality of the situation hit him. He didn't have cancer? "What?" His single word was significantly less eloquent than he would like most of his speech to ever be.

"You do NOT have cancer, Richard. There is nothing to worry about. Your first tests were inconclusive, but when we re-did the first set and added some more specific ones - don't worry, I won't bore you with the details - and they were all negative. You are perfectly healthy."

Richard's face began to break out into a jaw-breaking smile, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was fine, healthy even.

"Castle, there you are! What the hell's the matter? What's going on?" Kate ran from around the corner, questions tumbling out of her mouth before either of the men present in the office were able to react to her appearance. When Beckett saw the smile still firmly planted on her partner's face, her own adorably concerned and flustered appearance soured into annoyance and anger.

"Is this some sick prank? Did you just call me and act like a damn mute most of the day, JUST to prank me? Really, Castle?" She was livid; not even letting her friend speak, jumping from conclusion to conclusion and her face turning positively vitriol. If looks could kill, Castle would already be six feet under.

"You guys all jump to conclusions, don't you?" Rick and Kate both turned to look at the older man, both having forgotten that he was even there and equally surprised about what he said. Joseph shook his head, clearly offering up a silent apology for interrupting what seemed to be a somewhat normal exchange for the two. Only a moment after he spoke, the two were back at it.

"I didn't make anything up, Beckett!" Castle began, tone insistent and sincere. "I honestly thought that I had cancer."

The softly spoken sentence was enough to give Kate pause. She looked into Castle's open, earnest expression, seeing the pure emotion driving his words and his desperation to convince his partner.

"Fine." There was a momentary lapse in the exchange as she pieced together the different things she had learned throughout the day. "So...you thought you had cancer?" Genuinely curious, Kate continued the conversation, anger mostly dissipated and left with curiosity and compassion for her partner who had just spent the last God knows how many days thinking he had cancer.

"Yeah, I did." There was an odd look in his eyes as he said this. The same look that Kate saw after the tough, or personal cases. The look that told her that there was a lot more to Richard Castle than most ever saw.

"Well, I'm glad you don't. Things wouldn't be the same without you." Rick's eyes slowly rose to meet hers, expression impossible to read. Slowly, a small smile forms and he walks up to Kate and simply pulls her into a hug. She tenses at first, not expecting the contact, but she soon relaxes into the embrace, feeling Rick's arms tighten around her. He sighed deeply, whole body rising and falling with his exhalation.

"I'm glad I don't, too, Kate." The words were whispered into her hair, but Kate had heard them clear as day. She felt a smile tugging at her lips and she didn't bother fighting it.

Kate didn't stop smiling until she fell asleep that night, comforted by the fact that the person closest to her was alive and well.

A/N: Thoughts? Please review! Reviews are love! :)