So, i thought about this one like a week ago and finally got around to write it... Just a little One-shot...a bit of fun. I thought a bit of fluff would be nice, something tells me we´re going to be crying when we rise...
Hope you like it! please review!
And... who is exicted? *-* less than a week people! wohoo!
Disclaimer: nope, don´t own it.
Rick Castle was a curious man. They say curiosity killed the cat, but this type will show him that privacy is a very, extremely important deal.
He was walking through an alley he had discovered long ago; it'd actually give him his idea for his voodoo novel. It wasn't late at night, barely 6 when a store caught his attention. It wasn't there before, but he hadn't visited in a few months so he didn't take notice.
The store was called "Find the truth" very intriguing name, he thought with a smile as he entered. He was a fan of the truth, even if nobody believed him. Ironic, isn't it? The store was empty, no one was in the register and there were no costumers but Rick being Rick started poking and probing everything his eye caught. Some funny looking statues, rings with strange symbols, aromatic fragrances and some things he couldn't even describe. He took a closer look to the store and found it rather unique. It had a mysterious ambiance; there weren't many racks or items and no prices either. After a while he had a bad feeling in his gut and was about to get out when a man showed up behind him.
The man was rather good looking, strong features, black hair and peering green eyes, he even had a thin mustache, he seemed European and was dressed in an impeccable tailor suit, black, expensive. It did not go with the store. Maybe he was a costumer.
"Mr. Castle? I'm Frederick, owner of Find the Truth. Can I help you with something?"
A fan? Rick thought yeah, that must be it. "Hi, Frederick, actually I'm looking for something for a friend, you see its Christmas soon and I want to buy her something special."
"A very good friend?"
"The best." He smiled fondly remembering his detective. Something it didn't go unnoticed by the owner.
"Excuse the boldness, Sir, but I sense she is more that a friend."
Am I that transparent? Wow. The writer thought, maybe that's why Kate beats me so easily in poker these days. "Yes, well, something happened a few months ago and I…I just want her to believe in magic." And that I could communicate better, he added in his mind.
"I see. Ah, I have just the right thing for you, Sir." The tall man turned on his heels and headed for a rack, after looking for a few moments almost touching every item with his long fingers he picked 2 and turned to face Castle again. "This will be perfect." He said as he handed Rick a ring and a bracelet.
They were beautiful; silver with symbols engraved in them. The bracelet was thin and simple but extraordinarily beautiful. On the inside there was an inscription, it read: To those who seek and believe in the unbelievable. The ring, Rick noticed, also had an inscription which read: Let magic make you see the light.
"This is perfect, but I don't know about the ring…"
"Oh no, Sir, the ring it's for you."
"Me?" He asked confused.
"According to legend, the wearers are meant to communicate in a way only soul mates would. It also gives the wearers a certain glow according to their true hearts desires."
"She is going to kill me if she finds out about that legend."
"I don't think she will, Sir."
"Oh, you don't know her. But what she doesn't know doesn't hurt." He grinned.
After paying Frederick he walked out of the store with a soft smile on his face, he was wearing the ring in his right hand, middle finger, and the bracelet was in a wooden rectangular box. Now, the challenge was what to say to Kate when he gave it to her.
…..
It was a week before Christmas; Kate had told him she would be spending the holidays with her dad upstate. He understood. At least there was no more Dr. Motorcycle boy.
He walked through the bullpen with coffee and gift in hand. He was nervous. Actually sweating. He felt like he was 13 again with his first crush. That just shouldn't be possible. It's not like he was asking her to marry him or even a date! It was just a gift. A gift to his partner, friend, love of his life… No, not going there, not now.
He got to her desk faster than he thought he would, he was so not ready. Taking a deep breath he gave her, her coffee and she accepted it with a soft, small smile. "No new cases?" He asked as he sat. He had to sense her mood before giving her the gift.
"Just paperwork, Castle. You can go home if you want."
"No, I'm fine right here." Good, she seemed relaxed. Time for the truth.
"Um, Kate?"
She looked up at him in surprise. He never called her Kate, only if there was something important or in the cemetery… No, not now, Kate.
"Yes, Castle?" Poker face up, good girl.
"Since next week its Christmas and well you'll be out of town with your dad…here." He took the wooden box now covered with a simple silver ribbon, and handed it to her. "Merry Christmas." He looked a little shy, smiling weakly.
She took the box, not knowing what to say. She observed the gift, running her delicate fingers trough the wood. Slowly she opened it to reveal a bracelet. A silver, engraved bracelet, it had symbols and lines and an image decorating it, but it wasn't tacky. It was simply beautiful. She smiled and looked at her writer. "It's beautiful, Castle. Thank you."
He smiled, one of his true, pure, innocent smiles. "No problem Kate, here, let me…" he gestured to put the bracelet on her and she hand it to her, a smile not leaving her face, even if it was a small one.
When it was in place in her right wrist she noticed the ring in castle's finger. She almost had a mild heart attack until she noticed it wasn't in the ring finger.
"Castle, are you a lantern now?" She teased.
He looked at his hand and smiled. So she was a fan. He knew it.
"Well, dear detective, I didn't know you were such a fan of Hal Jordan."
"I watched the movie." She rolled her eyes but it didn't keep the light blush for showing on her cheeks. He let it slide this time, he would use it later.
He smiled and concentrated on his phone. She focused again on paperwork. It was like they were them again.
"I hate this damn paperwork, it's so boring."
"Yeah, that's why I prefer to write novels."
"Hm, what?" Kate asked, looking from her work.
"I said that's why I prefer to write novels."
"Rather than…?"
"What you just said, paperwork."
"I didn't say anything, Castle. "
"Yes, you did, I heard you. You said I hate this damn paperwork, it's so boring."
"I thought it, not said it."
This time, he saw that her lips didn't move.
"Wait, no way." He thought. He smiled. "This…is a dream? Kate? Are you hearing me?"
"Oh, no, no, no, no, this cannot be happening."
"I think it is! We can't read each other's minds!" his grin could split his face in half.
While the silent conversation was happening, Ryan and Esposito were across the bullpen working, until Ryan looked up and saw mom and dad not talking, just eyeing each other a lot and doing hand gestures, it looked like a conversation just without the audio. "Dude!" He whispered to his partner. "Hm?" Esposito looked at him and then at the couple his partner was indicating.
"Wow, they are so in synch they don't need words now?" Espo asked.
"Apparently. Has Lanie told you anything about them?"
"Not a word. I'll find out tonight."
"Sure, man. Let me now."
With that, they went back to work.
She hit him with a folder on his arm. "Don't look so happy!"
"Why? Kate! This is so cool! It's like a sci-fi show!"
"Castle! This is invasion of privacy. I don't want you in my head!"
"Afraid of what I mind find?" He smiled seductively at her.
"No…"
"Right". He scoffed. "Hey, but you can read mine too. We're equals!"
"I'm not enjoying this!"
"Well, it's not like it's my fault! Do you think we can read other's people's mind?"
"If we could we would be going crazy, there are at least 50 people in this floor alone."
"Oh, right."
"Oh…" her eyes widened. An image of the bracelet appeared on Castle's head.
"What?"
"Did you buy the ring and the bracelet together?"
"Yeah…you don't think…"
"Let's see."
They both removed their jewelry and placed it on her desk and looked at each other.
"Testing, testing." Castle thought after a few moments of silence.
When he heard a grunt from her detective and she was hiding her face in her hands, he knew.
"What if after work we go to the store and we talk to Frederick, the owner."
"Castle, argh, fine. But try not to listen, ok?"
"How the hell am I going to…oh, let me try something."
He went through his pockets and took out his earphones while humming something in his head, holding them like they were a precious sword. He connected them to his Iphone and pushed the screen a few times. Music started filling his hears and he gave her an Ok sign with his hand. "Can you hear me?" She asked. When his eyes widened, she knew.
"I'll grab us some coffee." He stood and went to the break room. Started making coffee when he sighed. "Reading someone's mind shouldn't make me feel like I'm hurting her. Maybe I should just go home. I just…" he thought of Alexis, how nor she nor his mother was home. Wouldn't be for a few days.
Kate sighed apparently the mind reading could cover a few good feet. She could hear Castle thinking. He was going to be alone if he went home. He wanted to go home just not to hurt her. "He is so sweet sometimes."
"You think I'm sweet? Sorry, sorry…Kate, I'll just go home. I could use some time to write."
"Castle, Rick, don't. I heard you, you don't have to be alone if you don't want to. I sensed your mood."
"You did?" He was shocked. He sat and handed her a cup.
"Yeah, can you do the same?
"Haven't tried."
"Because I asked." She slipped.
"I know how much you respect your privacy, Kate."
"Thank you, Castle. And sorry for intruding on your feelings."
An image went through Kate's brain; it was almost three years ago, when he first looked into her mother's murder, when she was telling him they were done. But it was different, she wasn't looking at him. It was she was looking at herself, from his point of view. "Oh no…"
"What? What did I do?"
"Did you just think about when I told you to leave the first time?"
"How did you? Oh…I can send you mental images?"
"Don't feel so damn happy."
"Sorry, but Kate this is cool! Oh we could mess so much with the boys!"
"Rick, we have been having a conversation without words, we must look like crazy."
"Nah, they are used to our eye sex conversations."
"Our what?"
"Uh…dodge… " He closed his eyes trying not to think but an image of Lanie appeared.
"I'll kill her."
"You can't! How are you going to explain it?"
She glared at him. "Again, don't feel so damn triumphant. Look, I really need to work so just try not to pay too much attention to my rambling, got it?"
"Yeah, actually it's lunch time. I'll bring pizza for everyone. And give you time."
He stood and left, humming something that sounded a lot like Kenny Rogers. "Interesting."
"Did you say something?"
"No."
"Ok, what kind of pizza do you want?"
"Pepperoni, thanks."
"Be back in an hour. This could save me a couple of bucks in phone bills."
When he was in the pizza place he was sure the range of the thingy couldn't be that long so he felt confident enough to let his imagination wonder. He imagined being at the loft, eating pizza and watching TV, snuggled with Kate on the couch. He felt warm and happy with a small smile creeping out on its own accord. He ordered the pizza and sat on a table for two, waiting, picturing a life he was sure we was never going to have with her.
On the 12th, Kate was smiling, she saw castle's thoughts and felt how he felt and…she realized that's what she wanted, too. But she made sure to focus on paperwork, on not to say anything in her mind.
Almost an hour later, she heard the humming closer in her mind. It was weird, like she had a channel only for his thoughts, even if there was a lot of noise in the background. It felt like she was always with him and with a shock she realized she wasn't as upset as she should have been.
"Boys! I brought lunch!"
Esposito and Ryan snapped their heads from their paperwork and smiled. "That's my man. I'm starving."
Once in the break room everyone eating their slices an image went through Castle's head. He was watching Kate's mother smiling at him, they were at a dinner table and eating pizza, Kate's dad was there too, just a much younger version of the Jim he knew. A feeling of bittersweet happiness went through him and he made eye contact with Beckett. "She used to make pizzas for us every Sunday until she died. They were the best."
"You didn't have to explain, but I'm honored."
"I wanted too, although I'm not sure why."
"Baby steps."
"What?"
"Uh…nothing… just thinking about Alexis. Look." Several images went to Kate. She saw a little red head in front of a large pizza. It was Alexis and she must have been around 5.
"She didn't like pizza when she was little. It took a lot of convincing on my part." She felt the love and pride he felt for his daughter. "You're a good father, Rick."
His smile was genuine. "Thank you, Kate."
They kept sharing family stories and memories while the boys discussed the pros and cons of several video games. To everyone else it looked like one of their silent conversations. Little smiles and looks.
After a few hours of Kate reading and writing reports and Rick trying not to go crazy listening to her and playing with his phone he felt like he should rip his hair from his head. "Oh my god, woman, now I know why you hate paperwork, it couldn't be more boring. How much longer? And don't find it so funny."
"An hour. Don't feel so desperate, it's not that bad."
"I'll go for a walk. Be back in twenty." He stood up and grabbed his ring that was still resting on her desk. The bracelet, he noticed, was on her wrist. He decided not to even think about it, reassuming his humming. It was the only thing distracting him from thinking about his detective.
After a few minutes of complete silence she started to grow worry. "Rick?"
"Yeah?"
"Oh, nothing I…you were quiet so…"
"Detective, am I sensing worry for my well being?"
"Shut up."
"I am technically not speaking, but I was actually humming. Did you not hear?"
"No…why didn't I hear you humming but I can hear you speak?"
"Uh, let me try something."
He focused on something else, picturing as if Kate wasn't there and thought about how much he loved her, how much he wished he could be the one for her. But was interrupted by her voice. "Castle?"
"Uh, ehm… crap, crap, crap, you didn't hear or see anything, right?"
"No…but I felt you were happy".
"But you didn't hear or see anything?
"No, why are you nervous?"
"No reason. Apparently now we can use this ability only if we want to communicate with each other. Why did it change?"
"The only difference now was you wearing the ring. And I was wearing the bracelet a while ago."
"Maybe these things act as a channeler. Like a phone line."
"Could be…I'm almost done, come so we can go to your store."
"Be there in 5."
Once in the bullpen he sat at his chair and looked at her pensively. "Let me try something." He removed his ring and thought about the first time he saw her at his launch party. "Can you see when we first met?"
He saw something, a line of people in a library, then he was handing a book to…to himself but he looked much younger. Then he felt the embarrassment of Kate and put the ring on again. "I…"
"Don't."
"I'm sorry, I was just trying to confirm…"
"Castle." She sighed mentally. "It was a long time ago, I've read your books since my mom's…and you helped. Ok? Let's leave it at that."
He placed his hand above hers on her desk. "Kate," he said waiting for her to look up to him, "I really am sorry. But grateful that I could help in any way at that time. And I'm sorry I don't remember."
"You sign thousands of books, Castle."
"But it's you." "I…should we go?"
"Yeah."
…
You went here? She asked when they were in front of "Finding the truth" why?
"I…found it interesting?"
"Rick, I can sense your emotions… the truth...now."
He sighed and hung his head. When he lifted it he began to run a hand trough his neck. I wanted you to believe in magic, especially after…
She placed a hand on his arm and squeezed, smiling at him. "It's very sweet, Rick."
He smiled at her. "Let's go."
They both entered the store and found Frederick behind the register. "Oh, Mr. Castle, Ms. Beckett how may I help you?"
"Did you…?"
"Nope."
"Ah, Frederick, do you remember the gift I bought?"
"Sure, the ring and bracelet. Did you enjoy it, Miss?"
"It's beautiful but, you're going to think we're crazy but when we put the jewelry we could…"
"Read each other's minds?"
"How did you…?" He asked, surprised.
"It's the function of the pair. Works better on soul mates, of course. The connection it's stronger, you know?"
"Why didn't you tell me that was the function?"
"You said you wanted to communicate better with your ehem friend. What better way?"
"Communicate? What's wrong with our communication?"
"I'll…explain later."
"Ok, but how can we remove the effects or whatever?"
"Ah, that will happen, eventually, when the wearers find the truth in their hearts and accept it."
"Oh." "That could take a while."
"I heard that."
"Not thinking anymore."
"When did you ever?"
"Funny…"
"Just be honest. Discover how you feel and tell each other."
"That's kind of pushing the matter, isn't?" she asked a bit of anger in her voice.
"A push in the right direction is never wrong, Ms."
"Can I shoot him?" she asked.
"Don't think that's a good idea." "It's the only way?"
"Afraid so. After their purpose is fulfilled they make gorgeous jewelry."
"Isn't he a funny one?" she asked sarcastically.
"I know."
Feeling a little defeated both writer and detective left the store and decided to head to his loft to talk. They both felt nervous they just weren't hiding it anymore. What was the point? The other could feel it.
They reached the loft and ordered some Chinese. The place was dead silent. "No wonder you didn't want to come back here."
"Yeah…let's sit? Couch?"
"Sure." Once they were both on the couch, facing each other, she started talking. "What did you mean with our communication?"
"I…just, don't get mad, ok? Promise me."
"I'll try."
"After the summer we…we grew apart and I'm not blaming you. I understand wanting space to think, especially after what you went trough. But, after we came back to the 12th, it just wasn't the same. I can feel you… we aren't as close as we used to be. There is no more late night dinners at Remy's or long nights at the 12th. At first I thought it was because of josh, but since you two broke up and we still weren't us…"
"Why didn't you say anything? We're partners Rick."
"I was…I am afraid that you'll push me farther away, Kate. You're, besides my family, the only person I can truly trust, I couldn't afford to lose that."
He was being so honest, she felt his fear and she hated that she was the one giving it to him. She had to be honest too.
"I'm sorry. I pulled away because I wasn't ready. I…I heard you at the cementery and I know I said I didn't remember but I just wasn't ready. There was Roy and josh and the case, the shooting. I was afraid."
"Afraid? You know I wouldn't have walked away despite not feeling anything for me. You're still my best friend, Kate. You know that."
She took his hand in hers."I was afraid because I'm in love with you and if we tried something and it didn't work it would break us. I wasn't ready for the possibility."
"I…you…what?" He was confused. Slowly her words sank in and he couldn't feel happier. She felt it too and could help but to smile, she realized what she had to do.
"And…now?" she felt the fear, joy, nervousness and love. She hadn't been able to feel it from him before. It was breath taking.
"Now I want to try something." She placed her hand on his cheek, caressing it softly before leaning in and placing her lips against his. It took a moment for him to process what he was feeling, but he responded quickly to the kiss, trying to pour out his feelings to that simply act. He kept the kiss soft and sweet, tender. Not deepening it. When they broke apart they stared at each other for a long time until Kate decided she was able to talk. "Now I know I want to give you, us, a shot."
"I love you," he whispered against her lips before kissing her again, this time with more want, more passion. Between kisses she managed to say "I love you too."
Before things could get any further the door bell ringed, indicating dinner. They laughed and Rick went to pay the deliverer. When all the food was settled they started eating in silence. Too much silence, Rick noticed. "Kate?" Nothing. "Kaaate." He nudge her with his foot and called her name again. "What?"
"Didn't you hear me?"
"When?"
"Just now, I was thinking to you."
"I didn't… do you think this is what Frederick meant?"
"Maybe, let's try taking off the ring and bracelet." They both did and they both thought about a random event of the day. "Did you saw me going to the break room for some coffee?"
"No. Did you saw me doing paperwork?"
"No." He grinned. "It worked!"
He hugged her and kissed her on the forehead. "The telepathic thing was pretty cool, though. Now I can't save a few bucks in the phone bill."
She slapped him playfully in the chest before snuggling with him. They sat content there, turning on the TV and thinking about each other.
Secretly she did find the telepathic thing cool and had gotten used to having Rick's presence with her all the time. But as she looked up at him, she realized that even without the connection she wouldn't have to stop feeling his presence.
Hope you liked it! please R&R!
-AC