Night had fallen, but Beckett and Castle weren't quite ready to head home. She was alone in the break room at the precinct, he was sitting at her desk reading a file, and it was the end of a very long day. A case had been solved, a family had some closure, and another criminal was behind bars. Justice had prevailed. After the mountain of paperwork she'd finished up, she should have been exhausted. Would have been exhausted, if not for the way she'd caught Castle watching her earlier as they explained the suspect's apprehension to a grieving husband and his teenage daughter.

Why does it always seem like he's looking into my soul? Beckett thought to herself silently. Pulling a bottle of water from the fridge, she took a sip and put the cap back on, rolling her shoulders to relieve some of the tension. She nearly jumped a mile when she felt hands on her shoulders. Turning her head, she realized that Castle had approached quietly.

"Castle, what…" she began to ask, just as his fingers started kneading a knot at the nape of her neck.

"You looked like you needed this," Castle answered, a little too smoothly for her preference. "It's been a hard day for you."

"I don't know what you're talking about…it's my job."

"Beckett, I'm not going to start an argument with you," he said calmly. "But it seemed to me that this case hit just a little too close to home. You don't have to admit that to anyone else, but I saw the look on your face every time that man's daughter spoke."

"Castle, talking about it is not going to accomplish anything right now. Yes, I've been in her shoes. I lost my mother. Yes, it's difficult to realize we can't keep it from happening to someone else. But we caught the man responsible and that gives the family some closure." She stepped away from his kneading fingers, even though her shoulders cried out for more attention. The man sure knew how to relieve stress, but he also knew how to add to it.

Raising his hands slowly in a sign of surrender, Castle took a step back and leaned a hip against the counter, crossing his feet and his arms simultaneously. "This is me not prying. I just want you to know that even if you don't want to talk about, I'm here for you if you change your mind."

"I appreciate that," she said, hesitating to find the right words. How can he make it so easy, make me want to open up to him? she thought. I'm just not ready for that yet. I've already told him so much more than I'd planned. "Castle, don't you have somewhere else to go? I can't help but feel like this has taken you away from your family enough these last few days."

Castle raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Well, considering that my mother is on a life-coach retreat and that Alexis has abandoned me to spend the night at a friend's house tonight, I think we can honestly say that I'm right where I need to be." And right where you need me to be, he thought silently to himself. "But as a civil servant I'm thinking you should consider helping me out with one particular issue…" he dared to take a step toward her, offering an arm for her to take.

Eyeing him warily, Beckett tilted her head and nodded at his arm. "And exactly what assistance do you need?"

"I don't want to eat alone, and I'm starving," Castle said. "And I know there are a couple of burgers with our names on them right down the street. Let's go get some dinner? I won't even ask you to talk shop. We can talk about anything you want. We can even talk about not talking."

Hesitating only for another moment, Beckett moved the bottle of water to her other hand and looped her arm through his. Walking together from the break room, neither noticed that Lanie had been just outside, eavesdropping. She had stopped by with plans to ask Kate to join her for a pizza, but after catching the show she just saw, she was happy knowing that Kate had better plans for the evening.

"Girl, you just don't even know how lucky you are," Lanie murmured under her breath, smiling to herself.