Author's note. This came out of nowhere. Well, I was looking for something Beckett could be afraid of.
Castle is standing, stunned, in the middle of the greenhouse. He's holding a prostrate detective to his chest with one arm. Hers are curled between them, her hands covering her face.
Not ten seconds ago, as they were walking through the greenhouse to talk to a suspect, she suddenly jumped and buried herself against his side. One of his arms went around her automatically, if a little tentatively. This is not the normal behavior of detective Kate Beckett, quite the contrary.
He looks around, there's no one in sight. He tenses a little, thinking, maybe, they are in danger and he just can't see it. But that makes no sense. If they were in danger, Beckett would have drawn her weapon, being the badass cop she normally is. He observes more carefully their surroundings, trying to understand what spooked her. But everything is beautiful and harmless. The flowers are blooming. The sunlight is streaming through the glass roof, making the atmosphere ethereal. Ladybugs are getting busy on the roses. Two butterflies are flying playfully around them. He can hear birds singing and ruffling the higher leafs of the plants.
Finally, he feels Kate pull her head out of hiding, only to yelp and bury herself back in his chest. Not that he is complaining. Kate Beckett is letting him hold her. But he is a bit worried by the situation as well.
"Kate?" he asks softly.
"Shut up." She's breathing heavily against his shirt, making his body tingle. He shuts up.
She pulls away again.
"Are they gone?"
"They?"
She doesn't want to say it. She knows it is ridiculous. She looks around. Reassured, she tries to pull away completely from him but his arm is maintaining her flushed against him. She gives him a glare and he lets go.
She turns away from him, squaring her shoulders. She straightens up her jacket and heads quickly to the end of the greenhouse. He has never seen her walk this fast.
"What the hell just happened?" Castle wonders.
It's late at night and the bullpen is empty. Except for Beckett, knee-deep in paperwork. Esposito and Ryan just called it quit. They left a few minutes ago, making her promise she wouldn't be long. Castle left even before that, in the middle of the afternoon, saying he had an errand to run. So she is surprised when she sees him strut to her desk. He puts a package down and sits in his chair, sporting a smug smile.
"What's this?" she asks, eyeing the package suspiciously.
"A present." The smug smile is still firmly in place.
She opens it, on her guard. Once the paper's ripped, she discovers a colorful butterfly in a glass case. He watches with amusement her jaw clench.
"What... What is that?"
"A butterfly. Don't worry, this one is harmless," he takes the case from her hands and shows it to her. "See, they put a pin in it and everything."
"Castle," she warns.
"You're wondering how I know? Well. After the little 'incident' in the greenhouse, I had to do some digging. I made a list of what could have triggered your... 'reaction', from the plants to the birds. It took me a few days but eventually, your dad gave in."
Beckett groans at the mention of her father and Castle's smile grows wider. "You're afraid of butterflies!", he says in a sing-song voice. "He also told me there was a story behind it." His eyebrows shot upwards, expectantly.
She sighs deeply. 'Might as well tell him now, the secret's out,' she thinks.
"Fine, Castle. I was six. I chocked on a butterfly. I thought I was gonna die. It's irrational, I can't help it," her voice changes to a threatening tone. "But if you so much as hint at it in front of the others, I will make you eat some!"
Ignoring the last part, Castle asks :"Wait, wait, wait. How can you choke on a butterfly?"
"mimtriedmùtogeatmit," she mumbles.
"What?"
"I tried to eat it," she articulates. Castle is biting his lips to contain his laughter. "I was six! It was flying next to me!", she defends her young self.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Castle laughs and apologizes at the same time. He calms down, taking deep breaths. "It's adorable. I promise I won't say anything. Come on, I'm buying you a drink." He says, getting up.
"Thank you... for the present." Sarcasm is dripping from her words but he doesn't care since she's following him with the butterfly in hands. She stops suddenly, alerted by a weird noise coming from him.
"What's that?"
Castle plunges his hand in his pocket and retrieve a box of pins. He shakes it. "That? It's in case we run into any butterflies. I'm ready to defend you." The tip of his tongue is slipping out from his smile. She glares at him for mocking her. She decides to go with the teasing.
"Are you sure you're man enough to do that?"
"Oh, Beckett, I'm ready to put my pin in y..." He pauses, a weird look on his face. "No. I'm gonna stop there. That sounds really dirty, even in my head."
She rolls her eyes and heads towards the elevator, letting him catch up. She doesn't want to see how much pleased with himself he is. (Very).
The end.