Castle's Unnatural Fear

By

Natalie Elizabeth

Beckett looked up when the lights flickered at the precinct. A late storm had been predicted and it was meant to be nasty. As soon as her team had caught their suspect, Beckett had urged Ryan, Esposito and Castle to go home. There was no point in them all being there, and she felt better knowing her team would be home before the storm hit. She didn't have much work to do and figured she would get it done quicker without them being there as a distraction. She had hoped to be finished half an hour ago, but as usual life got in the way.

Dotting the last 'I' Beckett dropped her paperwork off on Gates' desk and then grabbed her gear. She didn't wait to put on her jacket; just headed straight to the elevator. The wind was already picking up and she could hear it through the walls of the precinct. As she stepped out into the night, she saw a flash of lighting.

One one thousand. Two one thousand. Three one thousand. Four one thousand.

Thunder.

So, that meant the storm was a mile away, right? Or was that just an old wives' tale? Beckett jumped into her car and quickly drove off into the night. There was already quite a bit of debris on the road, brought there by the wind. Beckett was glad there weren't a lot of trees in New York; otherwise the roads could have been worse.

The rain started but thankfully it was only slight. The thunder and lightning still continued though. It was 10 o'clock at night and yet the streets were eerily quiet. It was the dark and stormy night many authors had written about. No one was crazy enough to be out on a night like this–well, except her. Hearing her phone, Beckett pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen.

Speaking of crazy and authors. Tapping her phone, she answered the call and put the phone on loud speaker.

"Hey, Castle."

"Hey, Beckett. How are you?"

Beckett frowned. That was a strange question, especially considering she had seen the author only three hours ago. "Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?"

"Oh, I just wanted to make sure you got home alright. The storm is turning pretty nasty."

Beckett looked at the view in front of her.

"Yeah it is."

"Yeah."

Beckett heard Castle yelp as she heard thunder through the phone.

"Are you okay, Castle?"

"Arhhh…yeah. Sure. Just…ahh…stubbed my toe. The power has gone out here."

Beckett wasn't convinced. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure I stubbed my toe. Ahhhhhg."

Beckett bit her lip trying to stop the laughter that was threatening to bust out of her.

"Castle. Are you afraid of the storm?"

Castle scoffed. "What? No. Of course not."

His lie was confirmed when he yelled again at another rumble of thunder. This time, Beckett did laugh.

"You are afraid of the storm!"

"Well of course I am," he told her. "It's dark and I have no power. There are loud noises, bright, flashing light, and I'm home on my own. What rational person isn't scared of storms?"

Beckett shook her head as she made the decision to turn left instead of right.

"Do you realize how ridiculous that is? Richard Castle, author of the Derrick Storm novels, is afraid of storms."

"Why do you think I named him Storm? Storms are intimidating; they're frightening. You don't want to mess with a storm. That's exactly what I wanted for my character. "

Beckett laughed. "If you say so. Where are Martha and Alexis?"

"A spa."

"And they left you all on your own?"

Castle sighed. "Yeah. Mother got a bad review and it was worse than any storm. Trust me. I was looking forward to having the place to myself. Pig out on some junk food without Alexis yelling at me. I was hoping to bust out Guitar Hero without them judging my moves."

"Moves?" Beckett laughed. "You are supposed to use your fingers only, Castle. I have sat and played with the guitar flat on my lap."

"You play Guitar Hero?" he asked, surprised.

"I have played," she reiterated. "Not play."

"Well either way, the power is out so I can't play. I'm bored."

"So read a book."

Castle scoffed.

Beckett rolled her eyes. "May I remind you that you have made millions because people read?"

"I know, I know. It's just I had plans to play Guitar Hero and then watch movies when I got too tired. Now I can't, so I'm disappointed. Anything else will be second best. Besides, if I read a mystery or a thriller I'll think every sound is an axe murderer."

Beckett smiled at Castle's antics. He was right though. She never read a new Richard Castle novel on a dark and stormy night. She instead chose ones she already knew the ending to. The way the man could spin a story was amazing, and at times she felt like she was standing right there with the characters. If it was dark and stormy night, it only added to the atmosphere and realism of it.

The storm was getting worse now. It was starting to rain hard and the wind was picking up. Beckett bit her lip when she heard a soft gasp and a "whoa" from Castle. She was trying not to laugh but it was hard. Her lip was going to be torn to shreds by the end of this phone call. It wasn't nice to laugh at her partner. His fears and concerns were reasonable. Well, it was probably the most reasonable Castle had ever been anyway. Having no power was scary, especially in today's day and age when they depended so heavily on it. He was also alone. She had lived alone for many years but imagined it had been quite awhile since Castle had, if ever. Sure he travelled and more than likely did some of that alone, but this was different. He was used to his house being filled with love and noise. Now that it wasn't, she imagined it was more than just the storm that was worrying him, even though he knew his daughter and mother would be returning after Martha's crisis was averted. When Castle gasped again, she immediately felt an urge to wrap her arms around him and hold him tight.

"Do you have a flashlight, or are you wandering around in the dark?"

"No, I have candles lit. It smells quite nice in here. It's romantic-looking with all this twinkling candle light, which is actually quite sad considering I'm on my own."

Beckett thought about Castle's loft and could imagine he probably had about 100 candles lit. That was the kind of person he was.

"So I'm assuming you have all the doors and windows locked."

"Awww, Detective. Are you worried about me?"

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm guessing you called me because you were scared, so I'm just trying to make sure you're safe."

"I wasn't scared."

"So you called me just to annoy me."

"When have I ever done that?"

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Do I need to dignify that with a response?"

"Fine, fine. I just wanted to make sure you were safe."

"I'm a cop."

"So, you can't shoot a storm."

Beckett nodded. He was right, she couldn't. Even though she wasn't scared of storms like Castle was, the occasional roar of thunder did make her jolt. And being on her own during a storm wasn't high on her list of things to do either.

"Did you hear that?" Castle whispered.

Beckett bit her lip and smiled.

"Hear what?" she asked innocently.

"I think someone knocked on my door."

"So go look," she told him.

"Are you kidding me? Only crazy people are out on a night like tonight."

"Or someone wanting to get out of the rain."

"Do I look like an umbrella?"

Beckett sighed. "Just answer the door, Castle."

"And if it's a serial killer?"

"Come on, Castle. Would they knock?"

"If they were polite."

"Castle!"

"Alright, but if I die I want you to admit that I was right at my funeral. I want it also written down and signed by you, and I want it notarized to. Then it needs to be folded up and placed in my pocket.

"Castle!" Beckett warned again.

"Oh, and give me a kiss before they bury me."

Beckett shivered. "Eww, Castle."

"Promise me."

Beckett rolled her eyes but smiled. "Okay, Castle if you open the door and there is a serial killer there who plans to murder you, I will kiss you."

"And admit I was right."

Beckett sighed. "Okay, and admit you were right. Now open the door."

"Deal. Now was that so hard?"

Castle cautiously walked over to the door and opened it. "Beckett, what are you doing here?"

Beckett placed her phone in her pocket. "Well, you were scared."

"No I wasn't."

He was proved a liar again when another rumble of thunder caused him to jump. Beckett laughed as she pushed past him and walked into his candle-lit loft. Castle shut the door and followed her.

"Not that I don't appreciate you being here, Beckett, but the storm is going to last for awhile. It's only meant to get worse by midnight. The sooner you get home the better."

Beckett turned and looked at Castle, surprised. "You're kicking me out already?"

"No, I just don't want you to be out in the storm."

"Then I guess I'm stuck here until the storm passes," she told him. "If that's okay with you."

Castle's eyes widened. "Oh…umm…yeah. Of course."

"Thanks. Got any tequila?" she asked him.

"Umm, I…I…I…yeah," Castle stammered.

Beckett laughed. "I was kidding, Castle. After all, you said you didn't want to read tonight."

"Well, I could make an exception for my own novels."

Beckett shook her head. "Sorry, Castle. You snooze you lose. So, can I borrow a towel and maybe a sweatshirt? My jacket is a bit wet and it's going to get cold without the heating on."

Castle looked her up and down. "Oh yeah, sure. Follow me."

Beckett removed her wet leather jacket as she followed him into his room. He had candles set up in there too and she agreed it was very romantic—almost too romantic. Beckett's eyes fixated on his bed. It was large and looked oh so comfortable.

"Here," Castle handed her a bundle of grey fabric.

Beckett frowned. "I said sweatshirt Castle."

Caste shrugged. "As much as I love those tight jeans on you I thought you might want to change. You said you were staying the night, and unless you plan on sleeping in your underwear—which I fully endorse—you might want the sweat pants."

Beckett rolled her eyes but took the bundle from him. "Is the bathroom in here?"

Castle nodded. Beckett strode off into Castle's bathroom and quickly set about getting rid of her wet clothes. She hadn't really thought about staying at Castle's when she made the decision to go there. All she had been thinking about was calming her partner. Once she was there, she didn't like the idea of going back out in the storm. Besides, the storm was going to last though the night. Seeing Castle for an hour or two would keep him calm and unafraid for a short time, but then what? Hanging her wet clothes over Castle's towel rail, she changed before exiting the bathroom. Castle walked out of his closet wearing much the same attire.

"I figured I'd change too."

Beckett simply smiled at him. He had been dressed much the same as when he left the precinct—jeans and a business shirt. She still had no idea how he could make jeans look sophisticated, but he did. The jeans were now gone though, and Castle looked far from sophisticated in sweatpants. He was still very appealing regardless.

"So, have you raided the fridge yet?"

Castle frowned. "Umm…no, why?"

Beckett scoffed as she walked out of his room and headed towards the kitchen.

"Please tell me this isn't your first blackout, Castle. After four hours of the power being out, the food in your fridge will start to spoil. Less, if you open the fridge a few times."

"Oh yeah." Castle shrugged at her. "If the power is out for more than an hour or so I just throw everything out. Alexis pretty much makes sure everything in there is fresh anyway but it's a good excuse to clean out the fridge."

Beckett shook her head. "Well the rest of us don't have the luxury of being able to restock a full fridge."

Castle raised a brow at her. "I wouldn't think it would take long for you to restock the Styrofoam Temple."

Beckett gritted her teeth, trying to force back the smile that was threatening to break out on her lips. He was right. At the moment she possibly had eggs and milk in her fridge. Apart from that were a ton of leftovers which would be the first thing to perish in a blackout.

"So you've never had a blackout picnic?" she asked him.

Castle smiled at her. "Educate me."

"It's pretty much taking a mishmash of things out of the fridge that will spoil and eating them. I swear my dad used to eat everything so it wouldn't go to waste. Of course there was the time he threw up from eating too much."

Castle laughed. "Well, we never called it a picnic but we have done that before. I got sick too. Alexis had left some tuna in the fridge so I made a sandwich and then I realised we had 4 tubs of ice cream in the freezer, and I didn't want it to go to waste." He then started to gag at the thought of the tuna and ice cream mix.

"The ice cream probably would have lasted a bit longer especially if the door wasn't open. How long was the power off for?"

Castle looked at her sheepishly. "An hour and a half. I forgot they were doing work on a Saturday and were turning the power off."

Beckett shook her head. She had no doubt Castle would have gorged on the ice cream and made himself sick, even without the tuna.

"Well. I haven't eaten yet. Feel like making me dinner?"

Castle smiled at her. "Sure. It's the least I can do, considering you came to keep me company tonight."

Beckett rolled her eyes. "You mean to save you from the storm."

Castle scoffed. "I didn't need to be—Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

Beckett chuckled as a crack of thunder echoed through the loft. She bit her lip and nodded at the man who was trying to regain his composure.

"So, okay. You make us dinner while I set us up for the night."

Castle frowned at her. "Ahh…set us up how?"

"Games and blankets?"

"Why?"

"Because, Castle, you will get bored within two seconds without your phone."

Castle opened his mouth to give a response but Beckett silenced him with a glare.

"Tequila is out of the question, so games. Do you have any that aren't electronic? Board games, cards, and no, not for strip poker. It's too cold."

Castle raised an eyebrow at her, and she knew it was about the "too cold" comment.

"We have board games over there in that cabinet."

"And blankets. Do you have a linen closet or anything.?"

"Yeah. Upstairs." Castle pointed towards his second floor.

Beckett smiled at him as she walked out of the kitchen.

"You know, Castle. I'm surprised you've survived a blackout before."

Castle frowned at Beckett's statement. How hard was it to survive a blackout? Castle opened his fridge and surveyed the contents. Ah, that's right. His mother was going through a European phase, thanks to the play she was doing. He decided it was better to eat those items than throw them away. Once his mother got back, the last thing she would want to see was European food. The bad review really hit her hard. He wouldn't be eating these delicacies for awhile if his mother had her way. Castle grabbed as many items as he could in his arms and deposited them on the counter. He then looked at the contents that were left in his fridge: milk, American cheese, and eggs—boring.

Grabbing one of the many candles, Castle got down on his hands and knees and went searching for a platter in the bottom cabinets. He moved a few things around before he found the one he was looking for. Standing up, he saw Beckett moving furniture around his loft.

"Umm…Beckett? What are you doing?"

"Keeping you safe."

Castle had no idea what she was up to but left her to it. She would work at keeping him safe and he would work at keeping her fed. He opened packets and jars and began artistically displaying the food on the platter. Who said a picnic had to be rustic? He looked at the food he laid out before walking over to his cupboards and grabbing a selection of bread sticks and mini toast. Again he arranged the items on the outside of the plate and smiled at his artwork. It looked delicious, and he was surprised. He had originally figured there was nothing worth eating in his fridge that would constitute a dinner. Starving to death that night had been his plan. Grabbing some of those tiny dessert forks, he added them to the platter. No plates for this picnic. He turned to his wine collection and picked out a nice white to accompany dinner. He placed two wine glasses between his fingers and then used his free hand to place the platter on top of his other hand with the glasses. He then picked up the wine with his free hand and skilfully walked out of the kitchen, carefully balancing the platter on his hand. Walking towards the table, he stopped abruptly when he saw what Becket had done to his home.

"Umm…were you expecting a zombie apocalypse?" Castle then looked around the loft, realizing he couldn't see the woman he was addressing. "Beckett." No answer. "Beckett," he called again, slightly worried.

"Over here."

Castle turned and saw Beckett had popped up from within the circle of couches she had rearranged. Castle placed the wine and dinner on the table as Beckett climbed over the couch.

"Umm…you want to explain?" he asked.

Beckett smiled at him. "Sure."

Beckett linked her arm around his and dragged him towards the door to his loft. He noticed his hall table had been moved slightly in front of the door.

"You were worried about a serial killer breaking in, so this our burglar alarm. They will open the door and think it's okay. Then when the door gets a little wider, bam, it knocks over the table."

Castle smiled at her creation. "Cool, kind of like 'Home Alone.' I like it."

Beckett then swung them around and took him back to his couches. She had pushed his couches closer together and pulled out his coffee table to form a circle of sorts. A pile of blankets were in the middle.

"This is our fort, where we'll spend the night."

"Fort?"

"Yep. I created a barrier to hide behind."

"Hide."

Beckett nodded. "Well, you to cower behind, me to use as a shield from the zombies and serial killers you're so worried about."

Castle smiled. Beckett had built him a fort to protect him.

"So, are we staying up all night?"

Beckett frowned at him. "No."

"Oh, well you said we were spending the night here on the couches, so I just assumed we were staying up."

Beckett shook her head. "Nope. In this type of situation we need to conserve heat. Staying in a small room would be better for that, but do you really want to be trapped?"

"Ahh, no."

"Exactly. So I took off the couch cushions and placed them in our fort. I used a few sheets to cover them so we have a mattress and then piled the blankets on top. The temperature will drop tonight, and without the heat on we don't want to freeze."

Castle looked over Beckett's creation; it was even more delicious than his own. She had not only created a fort for them to survive the apocalypse/blackout but she had made them a bed. A bed for two!

"I got us a pack of cards and Monopoly to play. How did dinner go?"

It was Castle's turn to take her arm, and he led her back to the kitchen table.

"I made us an antipasto platter. I hope that's okay."

It was Beckett's turn to smile. A large white platter was filled with numerous brightly- colored foods. She saw two different types of olives—black and green. There were different types of red, Italian cured meat—prosciutto and salami if she wasn't mistaken. Cubes of white feta sat next to red and green pickled peppers. Light-colored mushrooms and artichokes, dripping with oil and vinegar, finished off the platter that was surrounded by various breadsticks.

"This is probably the best blackout picnic ever, Castle. I'm impressed."

"Really? Even without the chocolate?"

Beckett's eyes widened. "You have no chocolate?"

"We have wine," he told her, picking up the bottle.

Beckett smiled at him. "Well okay then. Why don't we bring dinner over to the bed and get started on a game of Monopoly while we eat?

Castle picked up the food and headed towards the couches. He didn't have to be told twice. Beckett had ordered him to bed and that's where he was going.

Beckett's eyes sprung open as she heard a noise. Her hand immediately reached under her pillow for her gun but couldn't find it.

"What has your father gotten up to, Alexis?"

Beckett frowned. Alexis! Her eyes scanned the area in front of her and realized she wasn't at home in her bed.

"This is exactly the reason why we leave, Gram. You know how much Dad hates a storm and acts irrationally. He can't sleep through it, which means he keeps us up."

Beckett immediately felt sorry for Castle. His family left on purpose. Was it wrong to want to harm an old lady and a teenager? Beckett tried to get up but felt an arm tighten around her waist and pull her back. She was immediately paralysed when she felt her body come in contact with Castle's. She closed her eyes and succumbed to the feeling of being in his arms.

"What has he done this time? Rearranged all the furniture. Richard!" Martha yelled out.

Beckett felt Castle flinch behind her. "Huh? What?"

"Richard, Richard. What? Oh."

"Oh? Why are you saying 'Oh'? What did Dad do, Grams?"

"Detective Beckett, it seems."

Beckett tried to remain still and pretended to be asleep so she wouldn't have to face the three other people in the room. She felt Castle's arm leave her waist as he climbed out of their makeshift bed. She heard the couch squeak, signifying that he had climbed over theit..

"No," Castle protested. "No, I didn't do Detective Beckett, as you put it. All we did was sleep."

"Do, sleep, have sex. Whatever you call it, you could have at least called us to warn us."

"We didn't do anything, Mother."

Beckett rolled her face into her pillow so she could hide her smile in case they were watching. Castle was adamantly defending her honor.

"Well, Dad, what is going on then?"

"I called Beckett to make sure she got home alright in the storm."

Liar, liar, pants on fire, Beckett thought as she pretended to sleep.

"You mean you called her because you were scared?" Alexis asked her father.

Beckett was sure she was going to suffocate as she hid in her pillow yet again. Go Alexis, calling her father out on his unnatural fear of storms.

"Okay, I was scared, alright? You both abandoned me."

"Because you act crazy when a storm is on," Beckett heard Martha tell her son. "Really, Richard? Did you have to move all the furniture?''

"I didn't. Beckett did."

Beckett got angry at Castle. He was tattling on her to his mother.

"Richard. Do you honestly think I am going to believe Beckett did all this?"

"She did," Castle insisted. "I heard a noise and thought it was a serial killer. It turned out to be Beckett. She came here to keep me company and built the couch fort and the serial killer alarm over there to protect me."

"Protect you?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah. Well the couch fort was for me to cower behind and Beckett to use as cover."

"I can't believe Beckett placated your idiocies."

"I know," Castle said softly.

"Well, Richard, if she was willing to do all this for you, I'd grab hold of her and never let her go."

"Yeah."

Beckett laid there thinking of the implications of what she had done. Castle was scared, and she had wanted to stop that feeling. So often he had been there for her so she wasn't afraid. She wanted to repay the favor.

"Wait," he yelled, causing Beckett to jolt. "I don't want either of you to tell Beckett you saw me holding her. Okay?"

"Dad."

"Richard."

"I mean it. I promised Beckett that I wouldn't touch her, and I really tried to keep that promise. I must have rolled closer to her while we slept. Please don't tell her. After all she did for me last night, I don't want her to think I took advantage of her."

"Okay, Dad."

"Alright, Richard. Alexis and I just came home to drop off our luggage. We're going shopping. Detective Beckett won't hear anything from us."

Beckett strained her ears trying to hear what was going on. Heels on hardwood floor, a door shutting, and the couch squeaking. Beckett felt the blanket being lifted up slightly and her body was jostled slightly when Castle lay down behind her. She waited for his arm to snake back around her but it didn't. She did feel him edge closer to her though.

"Thank you for keeping me safe," he whispered in her ear.

Beckett bit her lip as she felt him settle back down behind her. He still didn't reach for her; he just moved around a bit. Taking a deep breath, she rolled over and flung her arm around his waist.

"You'd do the same for me if I ever had an unnatural fear."

The end