Well hello Castle fans! This is my first Castle fic, so please be kind. It is just a one shot that came to me. It's not a full romance, but it is a bit fluffy, a bit sad, and I like to think of the ending as "typical Rick" not cliché. Enjoy!

As Richard Castle made his way over to his, for lack of a better term, partner (he called her a muse once and had a bruise for a week) he could tell she was upset. Kate sat with her shoulders tensed and was pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. The person she was talking to on the phone was obviously not telling her what she wanted to hear.

"I don't care that it is just after the holidays it has never been a problem before!" she said her voice getting louder. Rick stopped and hid behind a wall partition to not interrupt her. And even if he didn't say it out loud, he liked to look at her.

"No YOU don't understand. The was organised in November. November! And now you're pulling this on me. No I...look don't bother. You said it yourself nothing can be done." Kate didn't even say goodbye before she hung the phone up just a little too hard. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself before turning her attention back to the work on her desk. Only when she seemed settled into her task did Rick move towards her.

"Good Morning Detective!" He said over enthusiastically. "And how are we this morning?" Kate did not even look up.

"What do you want Castle?" She said trying to hide her bad mood.

"What, I can't just drop by and see one of New York's finest?" Rick replied trying to charm a smile out of her.

"Not when we don't have a case." There was no cushioning the rejection in that statement. It only took Rick a moment to realise something had really upset her.

"I just came by to pick up my sunglasses. I left them here Tuesday, took me two days to remember I had put them down on your desk." Before he could move to sit in his chair, Kate picked up said glasses and held them out to him without giving him a glance. Rick took them slowly, unsure how safe it would be to ask the next question.

"Beckett." Rick said trying to get her attention. "Hey..."

"What Castle?" She said suddenly jumping up to face him. He took a breath before trying again.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Why?" She replied hotly.

"Well you're normally only this angry when we actually work together. You know, you try and run the investigation in a professional manner, I repeatedly interrupt you with seemingly pointless but often case cracking anecdotes and then..."

"CASTLE!" The whole floor of the precinct turned to look at her outburst. Sensing all the eyes on her she slowly moved to sit back down. "I'm just having a bad day. I have a lot of work to get through so I just need some quiet time."

Rick Castle was a lot of things, and perceptive was near top of the list. He knew a genuine plea to back off when he heard one. "Sure thing." He said casually, trying to downplay her outburst. "I'll leave you to it."

"I'll call you if we have a case." She said throwing him a small peace offering. It wasn't his fault after all. He didn't cause the mess she was in.

It was just after lunch when his phone rang.

"Why Lanie to what do I owe the pleasure?" Rick said with his usual flirtatious tone.

"Castle are you busy?" Lanie asked.

"Busy only enough that my lunch date is giving me a dirty look across the table." Rick said, looking to his mother with a grin. Martha waved him off and moved to another room. "What can I do for you?"

"I think you better get down to the precinct." Lanie said unable to hide her concern this time.

"Why, we don't have a case."

"No, Esposito just called me. Apparently after she accidentally knocked her coffee over, Beckett smashed the cup into the sink took off to the shooting gallery and hasn't come out since. I would go but you don't want to know the things I am elbow deep in right now..."

"I'm on my way." Rick wasn't sure he finished speaking before he hung up the phone and was hurrying out the door of his apartment.

He found her hunched over on a bench seat, head bowed and her elbows resting on her knees. Several targets that resembled swiss cheese now lay on the floor and her gun sat with her ear phones on the small bench in the booth she'd used. Rick slowly walked over to her; kicking the targets around to survey the damage closer.

"You know that guy was just an innocent bystander, he had hopes of being turned into a paper doll chain." Sitting beside, but trying not to crowd her, Rick adopted a similar pose on the chair. "You wanna talk about this bad day? Or do more paper men have to die first?"

She didn't answer right away. But like every other time, Rick knew how to make her talk, more than that, he knew how to make her want to talk. She took a deep breath before answering.

"Lac van Rijn" She said quietly.

"He any relation to Rip Van Winkle?" Rick asked. Despite her mood Beckett gave a soft snort of amusement. She took a deep breath before looking Rick in the eye.

"Today is my mother's birthday...was my mother's birthday. Lac van Rijn is a type of tulip, they can be hard to get, especially this time of year. My mother loved them. On their second date, it was her birthday, my father gave her a dozen that she kept for weeks. Wouldn't throw them out even when the water was brown; she loved them that much. And every year on her birthday after that he always gave her a dozen Lac van Rijn. I have no idea how how he did it but he never failed, every year they were there." Rick just listened, he didn't dare interrupt what was probably their most intimate conversation to date.

"When she...when she died and her birthday came around, the florist my father used didn't know she had passed away so he made sure the flowers were ready, just like every year. We took them to her grave, but it was too much for my dad. I thought it was nice though you know. A tradition we still had with her. So I've been doing it. Except this year...my order wasn't processed on time." Beckett smacked the bench with her hand. "They're grown special order in a greenhouse somewhere out of state and the order wasn't received so when I called to tell them I was picking them up after work today, they had no idea what I was talking about. 20 years my father never missed one, 20 years and I mess it up. And I know it's sentimental and stupid but it's important and..." Finally Kate cried for the first time since her whole crappy day had started.

"Hey hey" Rick pulled her to his side "It's not stupid, and it is important. And for what it's worth I'm sorry you're having such a bad day." Rick didn't say anything else, didn't make those annoying comforting sounds, he just held her and let her get the emotions out in the privacy of empty the shooting gallery.

About 15 minutes later Kate sat up and straightened herself a bit, once again moved by the genuine sincerity Richard Castle was capable of.

"Thanks Castle." She said touching his arm. "I should really get back. After I clean up the carnage here." She said looking to the great paper massacre that lay on the floor.

"Do you want..." Kate cut him off.

"No, I'll be fine. It'll only take a minute and I might just use migraine excuse and head home. Thanks again"

They said their goodbyes and Rick was barely out the door before he was madly typing in "Lac van Rijn" into Google on his phone trying to find the correct spelling.

She'd spent the afternoon and evening sulking, cleaning, eating and was now on her third glass of red wine just as the clock told her it was 10:22pm. She thanked whoever was listening that her phone hadn't rung all day. Hoping as well it meant no one had been murdered, not that the captain had gone easy on her. Just as she decided to crawl into bed an try and start fresh in the morning the soft tap on her front door drew her back from the bedroom.

"Who is it?" She asked before moving to the door.

"It's your favourite best selling mystery writer." The cheeky tone could only be one person. Beckett moved to open the door.

"Castle it's late what are you doing here?" She asked opening the door. Instead of saying anything Rick simply stepped into full view, revealing the long deep red/pink coloured, clear top box in his hand.

"Your mom had great taste." He said softly. Beckett could feel the slight tremble in her fingers as she reached out to touch the edge of the box, not believing it to be real. The long green stems ran perfectly straight into the deep magenta cup of the petals that were perfectly white tipped, so much they almost blended with the fabric, silk it looked like, that lined the box. The box matched the inner colour of the petals, and the stems were fastened in a white silk bow. It was perfect.

"Castle I...how did you...they're..." Kate couldn't figure out to what to ask first.

"Come on, we still have" Rick looked at his watch "an hour and 28 minutes of your moms birthday left." Kate didn't even hesitate. Quickly throwing on her sneakers and a big coat she and Rick raced down to his waiting car. After she gave him the directions he passed her the box and smiled at the way she cradled it so carefully.

They reached the site at 11:38 Beckett noted. As they approached the grave, Rick stepped back giving Kate some privacy. She knelt down and placed the arrangement against the headstone. "Sorry I'm late mom." she whispered. She turned to look at Castle. "I almost didn't make it."

Kate gave her mother's grave a careful look over to make sure it was all in order before standing and moving to the side. If anyone asked, they'd both say it was the moment. But when Kate reached her hand out to Castle, and he moved forward to wrap her in an embrace, it was right. Rick pulled her tightly to his chest, his arms wrapping around her waist. Kate drew the warmth from him, resting the side of her face against his cheek.

"I don't know how to thank you for this one Castle. Really." She whispered again.

"Then don't." Was his simple reply. Daring to break the quiet spell they'd created Kate turned in his arms. Castle for his part kept said arms firmly around her waist.

"No don't do that Castle. Not this time. This was the single most...thoughtful thing anyone's done for me. Don't just pass it of as another Richard Castle moment. This was more than buying a bar...this was important."

"I know. I'm glad I could do it." Rick answered. The looked at each other. Kate was screaming at herself that she could not have her fist kiss with this man in graveyard, at her mother's grave no less. But she had to do something. Lifting up onto her toes slightly she pressed a soft kiss to his lips. It was over before it started and a brother and sister could have shared the same kind of chaste moment but it was still perfect. As she drew back, Rick simply pulled her into a closer hug and the two shared a few more minutes together before walking back to the car.

Kate turned to get one last look at the flowers sitting into the small amount of snow that dusted the ground. She smiled again, still not believing that Castle had pulled off what he did. Curiosity was eating at her.

"So, how'd you do it?" She asked as they got into his car. Rick adjusted his seat before turning to her.

"You really want to know?" He asked. Kate was about to answer when she looked back in the direction of the grave. She looked back to Castle and took his hand.

"You know, I really don't. But thank you, again so much." Rick squeezed her hand before bringing it to his lips and kissing the back of her fingers.

"You're more than welcome."