As much as I want to make this another "fix" to the finale, I feel like that concept has been beaten to death with a wooden baseball bat and since I've also already written one of those, I'm going to make this a standalone story. Like my previous story Upsetting the Apple Cart, this one started off as a one-shot but has gotten progressively longer than a one chapter read. However, this time I actually don't have as much fleshed out so I'll be counting on your comments to keep this story growing.

I may be editing this part as well. Something about the way this reads bugs me...


The keys to Beckett's new apartment jangled as she fumbled for the right key for the deadbolt. She still couldn't remember exactly which key belonged in which slot and the fact that she was exhausted didn't exactly help the situation either. Beckett let out a sigh of relief as she finally managed to find the key that fit into the lock on the doorknob. After an exceptionally long paperwork marathon, she was so ready for a hot bath and a great book to get lost in. However, as she walked through the door all hopes of a relaxing evening flew out the window.

Her living room was a mess. She eyed the twenty-odd boxes and shopping bags on her living room floor she had yet to unpack since she'd moved in and groaned at the monumental task ahead of her. After catching the psycho that seemed to idolize Nikki Heat and closing the case, Beckett had moved out of Castle's loft and into Lanie's apartment while she looked for a new place. She'd been strangely at home at his loft and it had scared Beckett enough to accept Lanie's offer and move in temporarily with her. It was a week since she'd found a place and left Lanie's, and yet somehow she still felt no inclination towards unpacking. It was almost as if she'd expected to be out of the apartment as soon as she'd gotten unpacked. According to her track record lately, she wasn't too far off from that assumption. Well... she had to do it sometime so better get this over with.

Half an hour later, Beckett's living room practically looked the same as it had when she started. It was hard to make any progress when she felt as listless and unmotivated as she did at the moment. She continued going through the motions for the remainder of the hour but stopped rearranging things when she came across a very familiar cardboard box. She picked it up and moved it over to her table before opening it to reveal her entire collection of Castle's novels.

They were spared the devastating effects of the explosion and ironically, it was thanks to Castle that they had. He had shown up uninvited at her door the day before the explosion with a bottle of wine in hand operating under the excuse that he was there to protect her. Beckett had called him out on it with her comment about his rapier wit, but she'd let him stay anyways, feeling marginally guilty over the fact that she had nearly blown his head off as she opened the door. She hadn't expected any visitors that night and was camped out on her couch coincidentally re-reading one of his novels.

Beckett had no idea what had come over her when she stopped to cover the book she was reading under a pile of case files, but she silently thanked whatever it was that possessed her to do so. It must have been a miracle that he hadn't noticed that half of her bookshelf was stuffed with his work. Her mortification at the thought of him discovering her secrets drowned the oh so tiny fuzzy feeling at the discovery behind the reason for his visit; that he'd come all the way to see that she was safe. When he excused himself to use the bathroom she seized the opportunity and quickly sprang into action, hastily stashing her books in the nearest cardboard box and stuffing it unceremoniously in her bedroom closet.

It turned out to be one of the best decisions Beckett made that night. The bedroom and closet doors had protected her secret treasure from the explosion and the resulting fires. She'd let out a subconscious sigh of relief when Esposito failed to mention the cardboard box tucked away in the corner of her closet when he'd reported on the condition of her bedroom.

Her reminiscing was abruptly cut short when Beckett heard a knock at the door. She'd had the foresight to find an apartment with a peephole, otherwise there would be a lot of paperwork waiting for her at the precinct if she'd shot at the next person that showed up at her door like she almost had before. These days it was mostly Castle popping by, and as much as she wanted to shoot him in the face sometimes, if that actually happened this time she might actually be held liable for her actions. She made her way carefully to the door to look through the little hole roughly located at eye level. It was Castle. She wasn't remotely surprised as she flung open the door and her eyes fell to the wine bottle he was holding. She was getting deja vu all over again. And just like the last time, he didn't wait for an invitation before barging into her personal space bubble.

"What's up!"

She rolled her eyes at his informal greeting.

"I just stopped by to see how the unpacking was going." He looked over her shoulder as he said this. "Not so great huh?"

The only real difference between that last visit to her old apartment and this visit was that it hadn't occurred to her that during her nostalgia induced stupor, she'd pulled his books out and arranged them in piles on her living room floor. Oh God. Now every book he'd ever written was currently splayed all over her living room floor as if on display especially for him. Before she realized what she'd done Castle was already inside setting the wine bottle down on her coffee table. That's when he'd spotted the book she'd been flipping through the moment before he'd interrupted her. He was intrigued. A quick skim of the page had revealed some very familiar lines and his eyebrows raised as he picked up the book to scrutinize it further.

Beckett had just finished locking the door when she turned to find Castle grinning moronically at her. Her stomach flipped as she realized what she'd forgotten to do and her eyes widened as she watched him holding up the book she was in the middle of reading. Of all the books he could have picked up, it had to be the one that he'd actually signed. She ran at him and tried to swipe it from his hands but he held it away from her easily and kept dodging as she continued to make weak grabs at it. She knew she would never live it down if he found out about the autograph scrawled all over the inside cover so as a last ditch effort, she'd launched herself at him trying to tackle him to the ground. He clearly wasn't expecting it as he stumbled over another one of her many packing boxes, causing him to fall over backwards and into another pile of boxes.

She was trying very very hard not to smile, but the sight of Castle sprawled over collapsed boxes and toppled kitchenware proved to be too much for Beckett to keep quiet. She failed spectacularly as a bark of laughter escaped her lips, not even bothered by the fact that he'd probably increased the amount of work she needed to do now that half of her stuff littered the room. He looked up at her with a confused expression temporarily dazed and trying to grasp the situation he was currently in. He looked as if he wanted her to explain it to him, but he only seemed to encourage her laughter. If he hadn't been literally floored by her boxes, he would have been at the delicious sound of her laughter echoing through the relatively empty apartment.

However, before Castle could relish in her mirth any longer, his ego reared up and bitch-slapped him across the face. Beckett knowing about Heat Wave's cover art before it was widely publicized was one thing, but the fact that she had been trying so hard to keep him from finding out about her little collection meant that a story existed behind her having them and there was no way he would let that go without some kind of explaination. Her laughter died instantly and a frustrated groan replaced it when he called her attention back to the book he was holding by dangling it in front of her in an enticing manner. She seemed to be in some kind of trace as she sat watching it as it swung rhythmically. He could see she trying to determine the best moment to strike.

"Hiding much?" He said in a sing-song voice.

Beckett scowled at him as she snatched the book he was holding and shoved it and all the other books back into the dark abyss of the cardboard box they came out of. She was too busy losing the battle with the blush threatening to steal across her face to respond to his verbal prodding.

"I know, I know... Get out, right?" Castle took her death glare as a yes. "I'm going, I'm going..." Being stunned at his willingness leave left her unable to think of anything clever to shoot back at him, she turned her attention to her couch instead. With a shrug Castle straightened himself out, made his way towards the door, undid the locks, and opened it. He paused for a moment as if contemplating something.

"You know, if you'd like me to sign the rest of your collection I'd be totally happy to." If she didn't look like it before, Beckett was certainly seething now as she squeezed the throw pillow she was holding menacingly imagining it was his neck instead. How did he know about that? He didn't even flip through any of the pages. Unless...

"Ryan and Esposito told you didn't they?"

"Nope." He didn't say another word as he waltzed down the hall and to the elevator before she could hurl the pillow at him.

She didn't believe him.

When the haze of her anger and embarrassment faded away, Beckett was left blinking in confusion as Castle left her sitting on the floor and waltzed down the hall. She'd never known Castle to leave her apartment willingly, let alone give up on teasing her so easily; especially this time since she'd been left so wide open. It reminded her briefly of the time he'd caught her flipping through Heat Wave in a bathroom stall looking for the elusive page 105. But his departure that time had been to let her stew in her embarrassment... somehow she didn't think it was the case this time. Although, she wouldn't put it past him if he left to embarrass her further. Maybe he had meant to confuse her by doing so? He certainly seemed to love confusing her as much as possible. Augh! She couldn't figure out what he was up to and it annoyed her immensely. In a fit of frustration, Beckett decided she'd had enough of anything remotely related to Richard Castle for the day so she stood up and shoved the box of books into a dark corner of her living room, slammed her apartment door shut, then stalked off to her bedroom.

She didn't realize that this incident was going to be just the beginning in his rash of strange behavior.


TBC