Author's Note:

This is a sequel to my story, All My Tomorrows.
s/8120369/1/All_My_Tomorrows

This story takes place 3 months after Tomorrows, which was a post-Always piece.
I am using this as an exercise to work on writing a mystery worthy enough of the show, and to practice dialogue between the characters. It is light on fluff, heavy on mystery, big on character interaction, and includes a small West Wing crossover. But it's 90% Castle. Enjoy!

Personally, it had been the best three months of Rick Castle's life.

They had started with a moment he'd been waiting for nearly four years. As a bestselling author of mystery books, he had often used specific people as inspiration for characters in his books. Sometimes, he even received permission to shadow them. That was exactly the scenario that played out four years ago when he met Detective Kate Beckett.

After killing off his longtime novel hero, Derrick Storm, Castle was looking to go in another direction. And when Beckett hauled him to question him regarding a pair of murders that played out exactly like some in his books, his interest was piqued. After providing assistance to discover the identity of the killer, Castle used his friendship with the mayor of New York City to shadow Beckett, using her as inspiration for his new literary creation, Nikki Heat.

At first, that's all it was going to be. But with time, their relationship changed. Bonds of trust were formed, broken, and then formed again stronger than before. A mutual attraction began to form. Unfortunately for the two of them, it was an unspoken one. That had all changed on a rainy night three months ago.

Most of the emotional baggage between Castle and Beckett was contained to a single murder case: The homicide of Kate Beckett's Mother, Johanna. It had gone unsolved for years, almost destroying Beckett in the process. When Castle began shadowing her, he went behind her back to do some investigating of his own. New information was revealed, but her trust in him wavered.

Eventually, he earned her trust back, and stood with her as she pursued the new leads. Every time they uncovered something new, a different path would present itself. But the dark forces that were behind what was looking more and more like a vast conspiracy became concerned that Beckett was getting too close. They had sent killers after her.

Castle understood her life was in danger. He discovered that she'd been protected by her former Captain, Roy Montgomery, who had much more of a connection to the case than anyone realized. After Montgomery sacrificed himself to protect Beckett, Castle received a call from a mysterious friend of Montgomery's. The stranger now had the information Montgomery was using to keep the wolves at bay.

In a moment of gut wrenching honesty, Castle confessed to Beckett that he'd been trying to dissuade her from pursuing the leads anymore. He loved her too much to watch her get killed chasing after them. She told him, in no uncertain terms, that they were through, and Castle left, thinking he'd never see her again.

Yet, later that night, she showed up at his door. Drenched in rain, having survived another attempted killing. After which, she quit the police force for keeping her new Captain, Captain Gates, out of the loop. She confessed to him that she felt the same way about him as he did about her. Since then, their lives had never been the same.

Her would be assassin was caught the next night, during another attempt on her life. This time, Castle stood in the line of fire, literally, to keep her alive. And in that tense moment, they had learned another valuable piece of information. Whoever was behind this conspiracy didn't want Castle hurt. The mysterious assassin would have been charged with the attempted murder of Beckett, along with the actual murder of former Detective Christopher Smith, who was the one who took the mantle of protecting Beckett once Montgomery was gunned down. But charges were never filed, as the assassin was found dead in his cell the next day.

But every day since that day, Castle and Beckett had spent together, enjoying their newly advanced relationship. Sure, they'd been physically close, shared a few quick kisses, and been locked in car trunks before, but the emotional closeness was new and exciting.

Since she had an abundance of free time, not having a job, and he didn't have appointments to keep, he took it upon himself to try and teach her how to cook. It was a different experience, having him in control and teaching her how to do something, but they both enjoyed it. She began to think that a crock pot was some type of medieval torture device, tempting her with delicious aromas all day long.

He had surprised her with a trip to the Bahamas in June. He'd imagined taking her across the globe and seeing the world, but they could have been anywhere and been happy. They never even left their beachfront villa in Nassau, spending the time wrapped up in each other, which was his idea. They even recreated a scene from page 105 of his first Nikki Heat novel, which was her idea.

They'd helped Castle's daughter, Alexis get settled at Columbia. Being a bit of a wild one in college, Castle appreciated that Beckett gave much more sound advice about navigating a university than he could.

Sometimes, they just enjoyed walking around New York City. During their partnership at the 12th Precinct, they'd only get out while examining a dead body or hunting down a suspect. Now, they enjoyed just taking in the sights and sounds of the city. Seeing the sun dip into the Hudson. Watching the tourists marvel at Times Square. Watching the leaves of the trees in Central Park dance in the wind.

Back at his apartment, he would sit in his office, typing away at something, while she curled up in a chair near the window, looking out into the city while listening to his tap-tap-tapping on the keyboard.

She had moved in, to a degree. She still had her own place, but the only nights she stayed there, he stayed too. Moving some clothes over, they had to make room in his closet. She had taken out an old Halloween costume of his that included a long brown coat. She tried it on, playing with the fake gun that came with it. He thought it was funny at first, but then realized the coat was the only thing she was wearing. He then aimed to misbehave.

Personally, it had been the best three months of his life.

Professionally, it had been the worst three months of his life.

Early in the summer, he was able to start his next novel, tentatively titled Packing Heat. But now, when he sat down to work, no words came to his mind. He'd sit and stare at the cursor in a blank document just flashing at him relentlessly. He swore he could almost hear that damn thing blinking at him.

He didn't believe in writer's block. He called it writer's embarrassment. This was when he'd write whatever came to his mind, despite the quality, hoping that a spark of inspiration found its way from his brain to his fingers. But this was different. His fingers got no instructions from his brain.

The only thought more terrifying than how to overcome his block was thinking of why he had it. The first three Nikki Heat novels flowed from the depths of his imagination like a cascade. But there was a big difference in his lifestyle since writing those books. He was with Beckett, not just shadowing her as he had done before.

Castle refused to accept the notion that because his muse was now his lover played any part in his troubles. Some of his writing peers even warned him that the books would suffer because of their relationship. But it was the only thing that was different. Sure, he wasn't hunting down murderers beside her in the name of research, but after four years, how much more research could be done?

He had kept his troubles hidden from her very well. She gave him plenty of time to work, not noticing that he wasn't typing. But as he stared at that cursor, blinking… and blinking… and blinking… he couldn't contain it anymore.

He screamed at the top of his lungs at his computer.

Beckett jumped a bit from her seat in his living room. She could see into his office, her attention had fallen prey to a John Sanford novel an hour ago. She looked up at him in confusion once he was done. "Are you OK?"

Castle had been so engrossed in trying to break his block that he forgot he was alone. Startled, he looked up. "Fine. I'm fine."

"It didn't sound like it."

Castle searched his desk for an excuse. "No, I just was…" he spied his computer, "… watching one of those videos. You think it's just a nice video of a meadow and then a horrible ghoul comes out of nowhere to scare you. Ahhhh! That was it."

"I didn't hear anything."

"I had it on mute."

Castle decided that continuing to work with nothing to show for it was an exercise in futility. "Do you want any coffee?" He asked her.

"Castle, its 8 o clock at night." She told him, surprised that he hadn't realized that.

He looked out the window to see the orange and red hues begin to dominate the New York City skyline. "Right."

"Are you sure you're OK?" She asked, putting the book down and getting up. She walked into the office, and he quickly shut his laptop, as to not reveal the word document that didn't have a single word in it.

"I just need to take a break." He told her, forcing a smile.

"What kind of break?"

"A… dinner break?" he suggested.

"Sounds like a plan."

"Only you have to pick. I picked last night and you know how much I hate decisions."

She pondered that for a moment. "I'll go get ready." She said as she smiled and bent down to kiss him. They were finally at the point where every time they kissed didn't have to be a grandiose moment. She liked that.

She walked to the bedroom door and closed it behind her. Castle put his elbows on his desk, clasping his hands, and resting his chin on them. What if I can't write because I'm with Beckett? How do I tell her that?

Personally, it had been the best three months of Kate Beckett's life.

Professionally, it had been the worst three months.

Just before showing up at Castle's doorway three months ago, she had quit her job as a homicide detective in New York's 12th precinct. She was on the verge of being suspended for following leads in her mother's case and keeping her Captain out of the loop, but decided to go out on her terms.

At first, she had completely forgotten about police work, preferring to enjoy the comfort she found in her new relationship with Castle. In the previous four years, they had spent a lot of time exchanging witty banter and not having sex. Now, they still exchanged witty banter, but everything had changed for the better. Nassau had been amazing, and nothing made her happier than waking up next to him every day.

When they were doing things together, it had been great. He'd done his best to distract her from missing the job. But the last month had been a challenge. He'd been trying to focus more on his next novel, and she gave him the space and time to do it. But it was in those lonely moments she realized she missed police work. She missed her friends at the 12th. She admitted to herself that she was… almost… bored.

While he was typing away at his laptop, she would look out into the vastness of New York City from the window of his office. Every once in a while, she would see a squad drive by with its lights on, rushing to the scene of the crime. She'd watch it, and her adrenaline would kick in for a brief time. When it was out of sight and sound, she'd feel a little sad inside.

She felt guilty about being sad. Castle was doing his best to distract her, but it wasn't working. She loved him, but things just didn't feel complete.

Even he had been acting strange lately. Well, stranger than normal. He was agitated, and defensive, so Beckett did her best to give him his space.

They got ready for dinner, and took a cab to a restaurant they'd read about in the paper. After ordering, they didn't talk too much. They broke eye contact much more than they had done in their first few weeks of dating. They just sat there, both trying desperately to avoid the solutions to each of their problems. They'd tried to force conversation, talking about their partners still at the 12th, Esposito, Ryan, and Lanie. But neither of them had talked to any of their friends in a long time.

Returning back to his place, they retired to Castle's bedroom to finish off dates the way they normally did. But sex lacked the passion that it had for them when they had first gotten together. They were distracted, and it was routine for them.

Afterwards, neither of them could sleep, each focusing too much on why they were sad.