DISCLAIMER: "Castle" and all its wonderful characters are the property of ABC and Andrew Marlowe. Much as I enjoy playing with them, I unfortunately do not own them. Additionally, all song lyrics abused in this text belong to their respective owners. Please don't sue me.
A/N - This is a bit different. The Challenge: Write a story set in Season 3 about the Knockdown kiss. The Catch: All dialogue must be quoted directly from song lyrics. There's a list of those songs directly following the story. They're organized by line, so if more than one song was used to compose a chunk of dialogue those songs are all listed on the same line. Hope you enjoy.
For daveck, because he's a goofball and it's his birthday.
Rick Castle whistled along to the tune streaming from some distant radio as he strolled through the precinct on his way to his favorite perch beside his favorite New York City detective. The melody echoed through the empty hallway, accompanied by the harmony of his fluting and set to the beat of his heels clicking rhythmically against the tile floors. The orchestration of it all added a spring to his step, the pleasant music serving to remind him, as it always had, that it was good to be alive. And in light of the events of the week that was especially true for him now.
Rick weaved his way past the empty desks in the bullpen, still humming the tune softly to himself though his ears had left the range of the radio as soon as his feet had guided him from the hallway. He came upon her desk just as his humming reached the well-known chorus and waited to be acknowledged.
Brow furrowed, eyes squinting and mouth set in a concentrated frown, his partner scanned the papers before her with what appeared to be frustration. She didn't look up.
"Don't worry, be happy," he said.
This time Kate Beckett did glance up, just in time to see him plop down into the chair beside her desk,"Hey there, Castle."
"What's the story morning glory?" he asked peering past the knickknacks on the desk to spy the forms she was looking over.
"It's been a hard day's night and I've been working like a dog."
She sat back and rubbed her eyes.
"Go home," he offered.
She shook her head.
"Actually, I was waiting for you..." she began tentatively, her hands returning to the desktop to fiddle with the file before her. "I wanna talk tonight...about how you saved my life."
Rick quirked his head, examining her with a questioning gaze. Yes, he'd saved her life. And his own. Hell, he'd saved the whole city, but he couldn't really take credit for it. He could freely admit that he'd gotten lucky. What were the odds that pulling the plug on a nuclear bomb would actually stop the damn thing exploding? For that matter, what were the odds that someone would be stupid enough to try it in the first place?
"I never believed that things happen for a reason," Kate's words cut through his thoughts and he focused once more on her face as she looked up at him, a slight, nervous quirk on her lips. "But I was a long, long way off."
He continued to watch her closely, curiously, as though he could dissect the unspoken meaning of her train of thought with more intense staring.
"Some things are meant to be..." she said with a nervous shrug, eyes now averted. "So, I wanted to thank you."
The gratitude was unprompted and unexpected, but not unwelcome.
"Anything for you," he nodded sincerely.
She smiled, one of her grateful grins, expression full of thanks and relief and he returned her smile. How could he not? It was infectious when she smiled. But it quickly morphed into something else, because all of the sudden he had an urge to talk as well. Suddenly he felt the distinct desire to see her face up to some other realities.
She had turned back to study her computer screen when he leaned forward in his chair and started, "Do you remember when..."
He trailed off. Maybe this wasn't a great idea.
"What?" Kate turned her face back to him, confused.
"We never talked about it."
"Huh?"
Screw it. It was now or never. Tomorrow would be too late.
"Do you remember when we shared our first kiss?"
She balked, "Our first kiss? As I recall, the parking lot had an element of danger."
"And then you kissed me," he insisted, a thrill rising in him.
Incredulity flashed across her face, "You're crazy."
"You can't deny it," he poked and his lips spread into a mischievous grin. She never seemed to understand that the more flustered she got, the more he ached to rile her up. "You kissed me like you meant it."
"I said you're crazy. You kissed me."
His eyebrows waggled suggestively, "Let's tell how it is. How it was."
"You know, I don't think we should talk about this," she said standing, a desperate attempt to flee.
"Why not?"
He followed after her when she set a course for the break room.
"It was only a kiss."
"A great big kiss," he said with raised voice, just to startle her.
She looked around anxiously, but the bullpen was empty, most of the 12th had headed home long before. Then she turned back to him, "It was nothing."
He laughed, as nonchalant as he could manage without giving away the inner fear that she wasn't just covering for herself.
"I'm amazed at how you fumble through saying the things you do," he said."You're gonna have to face it."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"We kissed like we invented it," he said. Then added off hand, just to see how far he could push, "You taste like sugar."
Kate narrowed her eyes, "What does it matter to me?"
"I kissed a girl and I liked it," Rick shrugged, though his eyes still gleamed with amusement. Past the point of no return, he was going to dig until he struck gold."How'd you like that?"
"It's only just a memory. Just a little history," she said, abruptly continuing on her path to the break room.
"You know what I want you to say," he once again followed as she pushed her way through the door and towards the espresso machine. "You're too shy to say it."
This time she rolled her eyes, "You know you're good, Castle."
"That's not what I mean, but if that's what you're into, don't hold back now," he said. "I know, I've got the moves like Jagger."
She snorted, but stopped with her hand set to start a brew and fixed him with her gaze.
"You're just too good to be true," she decided to humor him as she started up the machine.
"Uh huh, keep it coming."
"It was amazing, with the blink of an eye I finally saw the light," she teased. "A kiss to build a dream on."
He grinned, basking in the praise, cheeky as it was.
"You set fire to the rain," she added theatrically.
"Oh come on!That makes no sense at all."
"What? You blow my mind," she continued with an increasingly silly grin gracing her lips."You're so hypnotizing. Your kiss is cosmic, every move is magic. You're from a whole other world, a different dimension. It's supernatural. Extraterrestrial."
He leaned in closer, forcing the smile from his face to say with mock seriousness, "Don't ruin this for me."
She laughed in response, shaking her head as she carefully lifted her mug to take a slow sip.
"I don't seem obvious do I?"
They walked back to her desk in a comfortable silence. When they had returned to their seats, Rick took pleasure in the soft smile that still spread over Kate's face as she continued to sip her coffee.
He could let it drop, he thought. But he'd already started digging and the urge to go deeper hadn't subsided. It was now or never.
He waited until he caught her eye. This time when he spoke there was no trace of humor or teasing, "I never really know what's really going on inside you. I can't get my head around you."
The smile dropped from her face and she looked down into the depths of her coffee mug nervously. They both knew what he was implying.
"If it's good to complicate then both of us are doing fine," Kate said finally.
"Honesty or mystery?"
She swallowed hard and with what appeared to be great effort said, "I only want the truth."
Rick gathered the words up in his mind like he was preparing to spill them in ink onto a page. It was easier that way.
"It's not complicated. You put on your armor. You put up defenses. You're waiting for someone to put you together or you're waiting for someone to push you away."
He could see the visible change in her body language, like she was trying to curl into herself. So it surprised him when she answered.
"You know, I never felt alone, until I met you. I was alright on my own, and then I met you. I wasn't looking for this, but now you're in my way. Thing is, I'd know what to do if I just knew what was coming. I would change myself if I could. And I'd say that I'm sorry to you," she spoke slowly, unsure of herself. But when she finally brought her eyes back to his, he knew that she meant it. "Because it's true I took for granted you were with me."
Rick mulled over her words as his own seemed to fall into place on instinct alone.
"You don't look different, but you have changed. I'm looking through you, you're not the same. But you never could get it, unless you were fed it. Now you're here and you don't know why?"
She looked stunned at the force of his words.
"I'll tell you - I am everything you want. And I am everything you need. But you never let me in. How long are you gonna make me wait? And how long are you gonna hesitate?"
With eyes wide like a cornered animal, she shook her head
"Castle, you and me, we don't have honesty - the things we don't want to speak, I try to get out but I never will. There's an old voice in my head that's holding me back." She paused and took a deep steadying breath. "But I never meant you any harm. It was not your fault but mine and it was your heart on the line. I really fucked it up this time. Didn't I?"
He held her gaze until the decision gleamed in his mind like that piece of gold he'd been digging for.
"If you can't make your mind up we'll never get started and I don't wanna wind up being parted, broken-hearted. So forgive me but now I'll be bold as well as strong and use my head alongside my heart."
He stood, reaching over to pull her up by the arm as well. She gaped at him, wordless.
"Tomorrow will be too late, it's now or never."
"Wha-" she started but he cut her off with a sharp, determined look.
"Close your eyes and I'll kiss you," he said, more quiet now.
She did so, as though compelled by some magic, and he leaned in to press a gentle, unassuming kiss to her lips.
When he pulled away, she looked up at him with hazy eyes. He half expected her to slap him.
She didn't. She simply stared for a beat. Then blinked thought back into her brain.
"Castle, don't you ever kiss me once," she whispered finally. "Kiss me twice."
So he leaned in and kissed her again.
Songs by order of use:
Don't Worry Be Happy, Bobby McFerrin
Hey There Delilah, Plain White T's
Morning Glory, Oasis
Hard Day's Night, The Beatles
Go Home, Barenaked Ladies
Waiting For You, N.E.R.D. - Talk Tonight, Oasis
Blinded, Third Eye Blind - How The Day Sounds, Greg Laswell
Can't Help Falling In Love, Elvis Presley - Blinded, Third Eye Blind
Anything, Third Eye Blind
Do You Remember, Jack Johnson
What?, A Tribe Called Quest
Do You Remember, Phil Collins
Huh!, 4 Minute
Do You Remember, Alex Cross
Our First Kiss, Billy Gilman - Trapeze Swinger, Iron and Wine
Then You Kissed Me, The Cardigans
You're Crazy, Guns N Roses
You Can't Deny It, Ashanti - Hands Down, Dashboard Confessional
You're Crazy, Guns N Roses - Then You Kissed Me, The Cardigans
Let's Talk About Sex, Salt N Pepa
Let's Talk About Sex, Salt N Pepa
Why Not, Gentle Giant
Mr. Brightside, The Killers
Give Him A Great Big Kiss, Shangri-La's
It Was Nothing, The Coral
Amazed, Greg Laswell - Addicted to Love, Robert Palmer
Funeral Song, Rasmus
Mirrorball, Elbow - Like Sugar, Matchbox 20
What Does It Matter, America
I Kissed a Girl, Katy Perry - How'd You Like That, The Kooks
What Does It Matter, America
Don't Be Cruel, Elvis Presley - Never Gonna Give You Up, Rick Astley
You Know You're Good, Fiction Plane
Blinded, Third Eye Blind - If You're Into It, Flight Of The Concords - Don't Hold Back, Alan Parsons Project - Moves Like Jagger, Maroon 5
You're Just Too Good To Be True, Andy Williams
Keep It Coming, KC and the Sunshine Band
Amazing, Aerosmith - A Kiss To Build A Dream, Louis Armstrong
Set Fire To The Rain, Adele
Makes No Sense At All, Outkast
Blow My Mind, Robyn - E.T., Katy Perry
Ruin It, Alkaline Trio
Authority Song, Jimmy Eat World
(Can't Get My) Head Around You, The Offspring
Diamonds and Coal, Incubus
Authority Song, Jimmy Eat World
Love Hurts, Incubus
Autumn Leaves, Ed Sheeran - Armour Love, La Roux - Everything You Want, Vertical Horizon
Deep Inside Of You, Third Eye Blind - Call Me Maybe, Carly Rae Jepson - Deep Inside Of You, Third Eye Blind
I'm Looking Through You, The Beatles - Everything You Want, Vertical Horizon
I'll Tell You Now, Lindsey Buckingham - Everything You Want, Vertical Horizon - Come Undone, Greg Laswell - How Long, Matchbox 20
Trust Me, The Fray - Little Talks, Of Mice and Men - I Gave You All, Mumford and Sons - Little Lion Man, Mumford and Sons
Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps, Cake - Forgive Me, Leona Lewis - I Will Wait, Mumford and Sons
Now Or Never, Elvis Presley
All My Loving, The Beatles
Treat Me Nice, Elvis Presley