Kate leaned back, breathing heavily. The bed sheets were warm and crumpled under her body, swishing quietly every time she shifted position. Castle lay next to her, his chest heaving with each breath. His fingers were tangled in her unruly mess of hair, and she moaned quietly as he massaged the base of her scalp. She pushed herself further into him, feeling the curve of his body perfectly align with hers.
"That was -"
"Shh," Kate hushed. She brushed her fingers on his soft lips and felt his teeth gently rub up against the tip of her index finger, applying the slightest amount of pressure.
Sleep was slowly creeping in, and Kate checked the time on the bedside clock. It read 12:30am. She let her eyes slip shut as the urge to dream pressed on the finite edges of her consciousness.
"Hey," Castle mumbled.
"Hmm?"
"What do you think about me..." Castle paused, losing his confidence.
"What?" Kate asked, lazily opening her eyes to meet his anxious blue ones.
"What would you say about me - going away for a little while?" Castle tentatively asked.
Kate sat up. "What do you mean?" she asked, all traces of sleep now gone.
"I mean... Well I was just thinking..." Castle stuttered.
"What?" Kate pushed impatiently.
"Never mind," Castle quietly brushed it off, his eyes no longer looking at hers.
"Are you unhappy?" Kate asked, her normally strong tone disintegrated as she bit her lip.
"No!" Castle responded instantly, "I just... I got an opportunity to go on a research trip to Brazil for the next Derrick Storm novel. That's all."
Kate stared at him, her brow furrowed. She had a sinking suspicion that he was lying to her. A knot was slowly forming in her stomach as she watched him roll away from her.
"I think that would be great," Kate said quietly.
Castle turned back over, "Really? You wouldn't mind?"
"A research trip? No. Of course not."
"You just sounded so upset..."
"Well you made it sound like you weren't coming back."
Castle wrapped his arms around her, his skin warm on hers. "I would never abandon you," he whispered into her hair.
"I'm not worried about being abandoned," she paused, "But you do have some of my stuff at your house that I don't think I'd get back if you decided to suddenly up and leave like that," Kate smiled. She was trying to joke, but her words somehow came out sounding sad.
Castle kissed her forehead, "You have a key."
"Details..." Kate whispered.
Castle laughed silently into her hair, the sudden burst of air parting the strands covering the back of her head.
"Goodnight, Rick," she whispered.
"Mm," Castle mumbled quietly into her ear. "Goodnight."
Letting his warm breath on the nape of her neck soothe her, Kate let some relaxation into her aching shoulders and sighed deeply. Only moments later, sleep washed over her and whisked her away.
The alarm clock jerked Kate out of her slumber. Awakening with a groan, she reached out with a clumsy arm, aiming for the snooze button. In her thrashing, a forgotten glass of water was knocked over, smashing onto the ground.
"Shit," Kate cursed in a gravelly, still-sleeping tone. Opening her bleary eyes, she knelt down to look at the scattered fragments of glass now littering her hardwood floor.
Groaning, Kate fell back onto her bed, squirming in the now uncomfortable sheets that seemed too hot and too cold all at once. The alarm rang again, it's disruptive, angry blare piercing the inside of Kate's skull until she forfeited her allotted ten extra minutes of sleep. Slamming her fingers on the snooze button, she rolled over.
"You're awfully quiet this -" she started.
Kate stopped when she saw Castle's empty side of the bed. Frowning, she turned back to her nightstand, opening the first drawer and rooting around for her cell phone. Feeling the sleek texture under her fingers, she grabbed it and lifted it out from under her Glock. Speed dialling Castle's number, she grinned when she saw that he had broken into her phone again.
The number rang, calling 'The Hottest Man Alive (You know it, baby)'. Kate swung her legs off of the bed, mindful of the shards of glass laying in wait. The phone continued to ring as Kate made her way into the kitchen, grabbing her broom from the small slit between the refrigerator and the stove. Glancing at the screen, Kate knitted her eyebrows as the screen read, 'dialling'. She breathed a small sigh of relief when the line picked up.
"What took you so -"
"We're sorry, but the number you have dialled is out of service. Please hang up, and try your call again," a mechanical female voice interrupted her.
Kate's heart skipped a beat. The conversation from the night before forced itself into her mind. She shoved down the panic creeping into her chest, hanging up the phone and pressing redial.
After thirty seconds, she was greeted with the same message.
Convincing herself that he was probably just in an elevator somewhere, Kate put him out of her mind and began to get ready for work.
Almost an hour later, she had successfully showered, dressed and applied makeup; quite the feat for her at seven in the morning. But she had been nervous, the lack of communication with Castle eating at her nerves and preventing her from dawdling. She stood by the door, ready to go. Reaching into her pocket, she considered ending her anxiety now by calling him again.
No. She reprimanded herself. You'll see him in fifteen minutes.
With that in mind, she left her apartment, bolting the door behind her.
Kate tapped her foot nervously, anxious for the elevator to reach the fifth floor. She had driven like a madwoman to arrive at the station in a record-breaking seven minutes. She glanced at the elevator's digital floor counter once again, and sighed in exasperation as it slowed to a halt at the third floor.
A detective entered, and Kate smiled a tight 'hello'. She held back from violently pressing the 'door-close' button once the detective had cleared the entrance. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was 7:12. Castle had been showing up at 7:30 in the morning for years, never forgetting to let her know if he was going to be late. Checking her phone, she noted that she hadn't missed any calls. He should be on time today.
Finally, the elevator stopped at the fifth floor and Beckett shoved past the heavyset detective to get out.
"Hey," Esposito greeted Beckett as she exited the elevator.
Kate looked around distractedly, craning her neck past Esposito as she walked over to her desk.
Arriving in front of the currently blank murder board, she whipped around. "Have you seen Castle?"
Esposito stopped, almost running into her. He gave her a funny look.
"Who?"
Kate froze. "Castle." Receiving a blank stare from Esposito, she tried again, "Richard Castle? What is this, some kind of joke?"
Esposito squinted at Kate, "Are you alright?"
Kate's features hardened, "This isn't funny, Esposito. I've been trying to reach him all morning."
"I honestly don't know what you're talking about," Javier shrugged.
Kate gave him her coldest glare and stalked over to Ryan's desk. Grabbing the back of his chair, she spun him around. "Have you seen Castle?"
"Um," Ryan furrowed his brow, "Like a White Castle? Cause it's not even eight o'clock so I'm not really up for a burger..." he trailed off as he saw a slew of emotions run across Beckett's face.
"Ok," she struggled to remain calm. "Ha, ha. You've had your fun."
"Beckett," Esposito walked up to her. "We don't have no idea what you're talking about."
"I'm talking about the man who's worked here with us for almost five years!" Kate shouted. She watched as people in the precinct turned their heads to stare. Running her fingers through her hair, she pulled out her cell phone again. Flipping through her photos, she found one of Castle and showed it to the boys.
Ryan and Esposito looked at each other, and looked back at the photo.
"Never seen that guy before," Ryan shrugged.
Kate resisted the urge to scream at them. She studied their faces, hunting for any signs of deception. Not finding anything but a sickly concern, Kate turned away from them. This time, they had gone too far with their stupid pranks.
Beckett blew into Captain Gates' office without a second thought.
"Detective Beckett, what do you think you're doing?" Gates asked, the mayor sitting in front of her desk.
"Sorry, sir," Beckett apologized. "But I need to know if you've heard from Castle?"
"I don't know what you're playing at, Detective; but I'm in a very important meeting and I need you to leave. Now," Gates said in a cold, don't-make-me-tell-you-again tone.
"Mayor Weldon, please. Do you know if Richard Castle was planning some kind of a trip? Maybe he mentioned something at one of your poker games?" Kate grasped at straws, desperation painfully apparent in her voice.
"I'm sorry, Detective. I don't know a Richard Castle."
And just like that, Kate's world fell apart.
A/N: This story is very experimental, as I've never done one quite like it. So, this is the only time I'm going to ask my readers to please review and let me know what you think. I don't want to invest my time in a story no one is going to read, as I'm sure you can appreciate! Thank you for your support.