They were going back. The higher-ups felt that the NYPD's weekend at Greek Peak Mountain Resort did them some good and the press that came along with it was very worthwhile. So a year later, their captain was telling them that they'd be going back to complete a different course to further enhance their squad bonding.
A lot had changed in a year. Their captain wasn't Roy Montgomery anymore. He had been replaced by one Victoria Gates after his death. Beckett had been shot, an occurrence that lead to her development of PTSD, something she still found herself battling from time to time. Castle had nearly been kicked out of the 12th when Gates found out about their relationship. She'd come around eventually, realizing, reluctantly, that he was actually helpful.
Castle had been her rock amidst all of the changes; she had even fallen in love with him and him with her. As much as she hated to admit it, going to that stupid camp had been one of the best things to ever happen to her. And now here they were going back. Only this time…
Castle slides into his chair by her desk. She looks over at him, wondering how she's going to break this news to him.
"Gates just told me," he says, a grin splitting his face. "Guess I'm coming."
"Yeah, Castle, about that –"
"So I'm thinking, we either find a way to push those beds together in the cabin or we take turns establishing who's on top."
"Castle," she tries again.
"Oh! Or maybe we can get a little shower time to ourselves, huh? I could use that detachable shower head on you and –"
"Castle!"
He finally stops rambling and stares at her, eyes wide.
"We can't," Beckett finally manages to get out. "Not this year."
"We can't what?" he asks, scrunching his eyebrows together in confusion.
She bites her lower lip, hating this as much as he's going to. "Have sex."
"No, no why?" he whines. "That's what made last year so amazing – our constant desire to jump each other, the very beginning of our relationship. This is our anniversary, Kate."
She threads her fingers through his. "I know. But Gates told me that we have to keep it professional. Apparently our weekend is the one the press have chosen to come observe."
"But I'm not a cop," Castle protests. "There's nothing illegal or against any policy about our relationship."
"I know that. And Gates knows that. But the press may not realize who you are and may end up writing some article about our fraternization which will come back and bite all of us in the ass."
"I'm sure the press knows who I am by now."
"You're an author, babe. Not a movie star."
He grumbles something incoherent, slouching down in his chair.
"It's just two days, Castle. Surely we can go two days without having sex."
"Yeah, but you've been so busy lately it's been like a week."
She laughs, patting the back of his hand. "Poor you."
"It's just…it's the anniversary thing."
Beckett stands up and bends down to whisper in his ear. "I promise to screw your brains out when we get back Sunday night."
He twirls a strand of her hair around his index finger. "You better."
Oh yeah. This was going to be a long weekend.
"I'd like to welcome you all back to Greek Peak Mountain Resort!" Jared greets them in his usual, jovial, tone. "For anyone here who might be new, or for those of you who simply forgot, my name is Jared Meyers and I'm the director of this course. I was so happy to hear that our work here was found beneficial enough to send the NYPD back to me for another summer. I have a great weekend planned out with all sorts of exciting new activities."
"Define exciting," Kate mumbles, rolling her eyes and already taking on her 'I hate camp' attitude.
"So just like last year," Jared continues on. "Rooms are assigned by partner. I'll let everyone get settled in before we do our welcome activity before dinner."
The squad parts ways, partners already recalling memories from last year as they spread out to find their cabins. Castle trails behind her silently, not even speaking after she pulls open the door to their room.
"So what, you're going to give me the silent treatment now?" she asks, flinging her backpack onto her side of the room. "You're mad at the wrong person here."
"I'm hoping that if I pretend to be mad at you, I might want to jump you a little bit less."
"Please. You're turned on by hate sex."
He grumbles and starts unpacking, and she sits on her bed, watching him. She stares at the little cots trying to remember if this was the same cabin they had last year, the same bed where she gave herself over to him fully for the first time.
"Do you remember if this was our cabin?" she voices her thought out loud.
"No, we were closer to the bathrooms," he answers without turning around. "Pretty sure I saw Ryan and Esposito walk into it."
The faintest of smiles spreads across her face at the thought. But she doesn't say anything else, waiting to see if he'll offer up another comment. Because she knows the next thought out of her mouth is going to be something dirty that will only serve to irritate him more.
"Do you think they know what we did here last year?" Castle asks after a moment of silence.
"Ryan and Espo? Well they noticed that hickey you gave me right off the bat. Why?"
"I was just wondering how obvious we were being."
"What, you still think we can sneak around and make sex happen anyway?"
"Just examining my options is all," he hums, finishing situating his things. "See you out there."
He turns to exit the cabin, leaving her to wonder what exactly he meant by 'examining his options.' He was going to torture her, she was sure of it. Rub himself against her the same maddening way he had last year that ultimately ended up with him in her bed. Oh two can play this game, she thinks, fishing her sunglasses out of her bag, And I'm not going to be the one to crack first.
"Our first activity is simple enough since I know you all had a long drive up here and are probably more than ready to eat," Jared explains. "So I want you and your partner to do some trust falls to get that trusting relationship started right off the bat. Do them a couple of times and I'll let you know when dinner is ready."
"You can go first," Beckett offers since he's already standing in front of her.
"This is ridiculous," he mutters, not moving.
"What happened to that up for anything attitude you were all about last year?"
"A lot's changed in a year."
She sighs. "Come on, Castle, let's just get this over with. Go ahead and fall."
"You're going to drop me."
Beckett scoffs, offended, and crosses her arms over her chest. "I'm more than capable of holding up your weight."
"All right then."
He falls backwards without warning and she scrambles to uncross her arms and catch him. She does just in time, hoisting him back up onto his feet.
"What the hell?" she hisses.
"Just showing you how much I trust you is all," Castle shrugs. "You know, last minute life saving stuff. What we're used to."
"Next time, I'm going to let you fall."
"I'll remember that seeing as how it's now your turn."
She shakes her head, backing away from him.
"What?" he asks, walking toward her. "Don't you trust me? I've saved your life at least a dozen times by now, and you don't trust me to catch you in this little exercise? Honestly, Beckett."
"I may trust you with my life, Castle, but I don't trust that stupid little smirk on your face."
"Is there a problem?" Jared asks, walking over in their direction.
Beckett shakes her head. "Nope. No problem here."
Castle pats the camp director on the back. "I don't know what to tell you man. She doesn't trust me."
"That's not true!" She turns to Jared. "I trust him."
Jared holds out his hand, gesturing toward Castle. "Then go ahead and complete the exercise. Dinner's ready."
She sighs moving to stand in front of her partner. She shifts her weight backwards, falling easily into Castle's arms. Jared nods and walks away as Castle helps her to stand. His arms are tucked under hers and as he pushes her forward, his hands move to cup her breasts.
Beckett hisses, pushing him away. "Watch it."
He holds his hands up in defense. "Accident. They slipped."
"I swear to God, Castle –"
He takes her by the hand and leads her toward the dinner tables. "Come on, let's eat."
She slips her hand out of his and follows along behind him. Her tosses her a hurt glance.
"We're not a couple here, remember?" she asks. "You can't just hold my hand."
"Right, sorry."
Yeah, she's ready to go home and let him touch her again.
"Ah the traditional first night s'mores and beer," Beckett laughs, taking a seat beside Castle at the campfire.
He looks over at her, handing her a beer and wishing that she could just curl into his side right now. He's become so accustomed to her little touches and nudges that his skin almost feels like it's on fire without them. He didn't think it would be this hard to pretend that they weren't a couple for two days. But his desire to simply wrap an arm around her is overwhelming.
Castle looks over at her again, watches her laughing at something Esposito is saying. He loves that laugh, the way it lights up her whole face and she puts her whole body into it. He loves her. Period.
"You gotta stop staring at her like that man."
He turns his head in Ryan's direction at his left. "How am I looking at her?"
"Like you always do."
Castle looks back at the campfire, watches the embers dance in the wind.
"I'm not saying it's a bad thing," Ryan continues. "You love her. I get it man, I have Jenny. But if you're trying to give off the illusion that you two are just partners and nothing more…"
"Worst undercover assignment ever," he mutters.
Beckett touches his knee and he turns to her, his gaze focused on her hand. She's not even paying attention, still enthralled with her conversation with Esposito. Her fingers dance across his skin out of habit. He focuses on her touch, wishing that her fingers would just move up a little higher. Okay a lot higher.
But instead her fingers leave his leg to reach for her beer and she continues on talking, acting completely clueless regarding her touching. His skin burns even more with the loss of her touch. He doesn't know why being out here makes him so horny, but it definitely does. He blames it on last summer.
"So," Castle speaks up, clearing his throat. "What do you think they'll have us doing this weekend? No more high ropes, I hope."
"I heard someone say something about canoeing tomorrow," Esposito answers.
"That's team building?" Ryan asks, scrunching his eyebrows together in confusion.
"Well you have to work together to paddle if you want to go anywhere," Beckett says.
"I feel like there's a metaphor in there somewhere," Castle mumbles.
"Look, all I know is that this year sounds even more like a glorified summer camp than last year," Esposito says. "It sounds to me like our pal, Jared, used up all of his adult tricks the last time we were here, so we're stuck with…whatever this weekend is."
"We played two truths and a lie last year," Beckett says. "I'd hardly call that adult."
"Maybe that means we get to play truth or dare this year," Castle says, waggling his eyebrows.
She shoves him, rolling her eyes. Ryan and Esposito exchange a glance, nodding.
"You want a dare?" Esposito asks. "Here's one. This whole keeping it PG for the press thing Gates has you two doing? I happen to know the press is only going to be here on Saturday. You have Sunday to screw around however you like. I don't think you guys can make it through the weekend without touching each other."
"Sounds more like a bet than a dare," Castle tells him.
"Then let's make it a bet," Ryan chimes in. "We win and we get the Ferrari for two weeks."
"Nah, better make it four," Esposito adds. "I know how you like a good competition, Castle."
"Fine," Castle says. "And if we win…" He turns to Beckett. "What do we win?"
"I haven't even agreed to this," she says, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Come on," he practically whines. "You're the one who said it was only two days. We can do this. We can win big here."
She hums, tapping her index finger against her chin. "Fine. When we win, which we will, you boys can handle all of my paperwork for the next four weeks."
"How do I benefit from that?" Castle pouts.
Beckett turns to him, smirking. "It means I get to come home early."
He grins, extending his hand to shake with Ryan. "I'm game."
Esposito reaches out to shake Beckett's hand. "This weekend just got a whole lot more interesting."
AN: Hey guys, I've decided to finally start using my Twitter for fanfic updates and such. Feel free to follow me if you want: oliviet35
