So this is my first attempt at a Castle fic. In the midst of a conversation with Heavensdarkrosechild, I had this simple idea for a quickie Castle one-shot. Hopefully I pulled it off alright.
I don't own Castle, wish I did though.
Castle came into the precinct late at night holding two grande lattes and the obligatory pastry detective Beckett had come to expect from him. Beckett sat at her desk merely filling out forms and paperwork when she looked up to see Castle quietly approaching her desk.
She checked her watch and looked back at Castle as she asked, "It's 11:30, what are you doing here?"
He placed the cup and pastry directly on top of her paperwork and replied as he took a seat beside her, "I couldn't sleep so I started writing. I couldn't write so I figured I needed inspiration. I think the better question detective Beckett is what are you doing here?"
She looked back to her work as she replied, "Just finishing up a report."
Castle didn't reply, he merely sat back in his chair, crossed his legs and held his coffee to his lips as he indiscreetly watched her. It didn't take long before she felt his eyes on her, or perhaps it was just the fact that he was silent that she knew he was watching her.
"Can I help you Castle?" She asked, the obnoxious tone coming more from her lack of sleep than her distaste for having Castle's eyes on her.
"I need inspiration. Here I am, you just do what you're doing and any moment now, you'll undoubtedly inspire me." Castle replied with a smile.
Kate rolled her eyes at Castle's comment and returned to her paperwork. Had she known how deep his infatuation for her went, she might have realized that the simple gesture of rolling her eyes had begun to turn the wheels in his head. The way she didn't allow herself to be distracted by him, that her eyes nor her concentration ever diverted from her work, even as she sipped her coffee or pecked at her pastry.
For thirty minutes they simply sat in a comfortable silence; Castle in diligent vigilance over his muse as she pecked away at the boxes that littered the paperwork before her. She made a couple of quick and strong strokes with her pen before dropping its point in finality; she was done at long last. She slapped the pen down and retrieved her coffee as she fell onto her seatback.
"All done?" Castle asked.
"Finally. It's funny how going out into the field, putting your life in jeopardy can be so much more enjoyable than filling out a bunch of mindless forms." She closed the folder on her work and continued, "Protocol can be so tiresome."
Castle's eyes widened and he quickly retrieved his notepad and began scribbling, quietly repeating her words to himself as he made notes, "Protocol can be so tiresome."
He looked back at the detective who was simply smiling as she stared at the ceiling. He put the pad away and she addressed him with a smile, "It's been a while since you've quoted me. Was that a good Nikki Heat moment?"
"Oh yes." His eyes narrowed mischievously, "So very 'bad girl' of you."
"So very…" She paused with perfect comic timing, "…how was it you described her again? Stripper detective who's just a little sluttly?"
"Something like that." Castle replied nonchalantly as he sipped his coffee.
Kate smiled slightly and shifted the folder on her desk having completely forgotten that she had closed her pen in the folder. As she placed it in her outbox, the pen slipped from the folder and collided with the floor in between her and Castle. Not thinking anything of it, they both simultaneously reached down to pick up the pen. They'd done this numerous times in the past but for some reason, the stars were in perfect alignment this evening. Rick leaned one way, Kate another and as they leaned down, their lips had just barely grazed one another's and all movement ceased immediately.
They remained in that cautious position for nearly half a minute before some semblance of consciousness dwindled back into their minds. Still, as they attempted to right themselves, neither party made any effort to draw themselves away from the other. They merely straightened themselves out and delicately adjusted their lips adding to the comfort and warmth of their first kiss.
Kate's eyes fluttered beneath their lids as she was lost by the tingling that ran through her veins. Finally after a few moments, Castle would be the one to withdraw his lips from hers.
Startled by the sudden lack of contact, Kate's first post-kiss thought manifested immediately, "What?"
Also startled by what had happened, Castle paused for a moment before replying as though he didn't know what she was talking about, "What?"
They stared at each other sheepishly for a moment before they both darted towards one another. Kate's hands wrapped his face while Castle delicately held her shoulders as their lips met once again, this time with a great deal more passion. Their first kiss had been so accidental, so delicate; their second was almost as quirky their relationship. Constant reassertion of the kiss, mixed with pleasure filled groans as their lips broke every now and again for air.
"Beckett!" A coat-wearing Lanie called as she entered the squad room with her eyes trained on a piece of paper.
The sound of her voice instantly shattered the moment for Castle and Beckett breaking them apart in a hurry.
"What?" Castle replied simultaneously as Beckett replied, "Nothing."
Lanie looked up, her eyes finally locking on Beckett's desk and shortly thereafter on Castle. Ever since he had looked into Kate's mother's murder, Lanie made it a goal of hers to give Castle a hard time every chance she got, "What're you doing here so late Castle?"
His thoughts in complete disarray, he tripped all over his words until Kate answered for him as she took a sip of coffee, "He had writer's block so he came here for some inspiration."
Immediately he was back to earth, "Lack of inspiration is not writer's block."
"So you couldn't think of anything to write?" Kate asked.
"I wasn't inspired to write." Castle defended.
"So by the time you'd left your apartment, how long had you spent staring at your computer?"
Castle smirked slightly while Kate gave him both a smile and a wink. He saw she was merely playing down what had just happened to keep Lanie off their scent and finally took the hint, "Two hours."
"You had writer's block." Kate replied with a nod.
Lanie finally made her way over to Beckett's desk and dropped a few pieces of paper on her blotter, "Here's the write-up for yesterday's John Doe."
She laid out the details of the victim's death while Castle and Kate diligently absorbed her report. After concluding her report, Lanie turned and headed to the door, "Good night you two. Don't do anything I would Katie."
"You think she…" Castle cut Kate off, "No."
After a brief silence, Kate asked, "Should we…"
Again Castle cut her off with urgency in his voice, "Yes please."
They quickly gathered themselves in each other's arms and reveled in each other's lips yet again. Though their eyes were closed, and their lips tethered, they were both clearly smiling beneath the kiss.
Kate would finally be the one to push them apart. Castle observed her as she sat with her eyes closed, struggling to no end to fend off her smile. Eventually detective Beckett won out over Kate's ear-to-ear grin and she quietly addressed Castle, "I think we need to talk."
Castle struggled to maintain his calm. He knew she was right; they absolutely had much to talk about. The thought of being rejected or told that this wouldn't work was far too much for him to bear at this point.
The anticipation of the conversation was killing him by the second. In a last ditch effort to garner a preview of what was to come, Castle broke the silence, "Well, we have all night and I know a 24-hour Sushi joint."
Kate smiled and ever so slightly bit at her lip, his answer written all over her face as he returned the smile.
And that's that, short and simple. If you made it this far I hope you enjoyed it :)