Beckett v. Slaughter. Writer comes out on top. Scenes were constructed using action figures.
His brown coat was lying across his chair when the crew returned from the crime scene.
"Where did this come from?" Castle asked looking around.
Kate hid her smirk, slid into her chair, stared at the file.
He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, but she never made eye contact with him.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
The three of them were in the conference room when Esposito came in.
"Yo, phone call for you Castle."
"Me?" Who doesn't know his cell number by now?
He glanced around the room confused, but got up to grab the un-cradled phone lying on Kate's desk.
"What was that about man?" Ryan asked when he returned to where the three detectives were hunkered down in their work.
"Internal Affairs, my services testifying for Slaughter are, 'no longer needed.'"
"You were gonna testify for that jerk?" Ryan said incredulously.
Castle didn't miss Kate's nonchalant return to her file.
"I . . .I said I'd help him out." Castle was reticently defensive.
"Saw him come in this morning, maybe they took one look at him and knew he was guilty, he's got a shiner, not a good look when you're being investigated for police brutality." Esposito loved the irony.
"Really? Someone beat him up?"
Kate rose to leave the room; she did not excuse herself.
All three men turned to watch her retreat.
"Well I don't know who to be more scared of," Castle said, truly guileless," Beckett or Slaughter."
Beckett," both detectives said simultaneously.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Slaughter had obviously been waiting to ambush him. A hand grabbed his shirt and pulled him into the empty room, shoved him up against the wall.
"We aren't done Writer." Slaughter growls.
"You promised to testify for me and your girlfriend isn't going to get you out of it."
"She's not . . .she's not my girlfriend." He says timidly. Sure enough the guys got a black eye, it would make him look more menacing, if he didn't suspect how he got it.
"Yeah well, not-your-girlfriend is gonna screw up my pension with this crap. Hearing's been rescheduled for Friday."
"I can't make it," Castle closes his eyes, screws up his face, prepared for the blow.
When he peeks, opening one eye, Slaughter's fist is drawn back, but he's watching the Writer.
"What did you do to her?" He asks.
"What?" Castle is genuinely confused.
"What-did-you-do-to make that smokin' hot woman, who isn't your girlfriend, come to your defense, fuck up an investigation, risk the Chief of D's, and screw with me?"
"I'm her partner," he says simply, repeating her words, "that's what partners do."
"Yeah well, I might not have been partnered with the best people, but I've seen you in action, what the hell do you do for her?"
"I . . ."before he can finish the question there is the presence of someone else.
Slaughter lets him go, smooths the lapels of his jacket as he makes like they've just been talking.
"I had that wrong Writer. She's not your girlfriend, you're hers. If you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my way, I don't ever want to see you or that little tight ass again."
Castle is tempted to slug him over that last comment, but he thinks better of it. God, he's such a girl sometimes.
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He takes a moment to observe her from afar. As mad as he still is over their personal stuff, he's always been proud of her. She makes him proud. And maybe that's why he feels so bad at the moment. He knows this last day or two with Slaughter can't possibly make her proud of him. Slaughter's right, what does he bring her? What does he give her? If she isn't proud of him, what good is she to him? God, his stupidity hits him again.
So what if she doesn't love him? If she isn't proud of him, what chance is there that she'll ever love him?
He wants to cry.
Takes a deep breath, remembers the stupid Barbie doll scene with his mother. Wishes he could act it out all over again.
She does inspire him. She inspires him to be a better man. He should probably tell her that while this well of emotion in him is overflowing.
He takes another deep breath and plunges in, forging ahead to meet her in the ring.
OOOOOOOOOOO
They're at her desk at the end of the day. He is noticeably more attentive to her, helps her with her coat for the first time in weeks. Sweeps her hair out from under the collar where it is stuck.
They've already agreed to go for dinner. It's not too late, twilight, for some reason it makes him feel even more drawn to her.
"Where do you want to go?" She asks when they are out on the street.
Anywhere you are. "Hugo's is good."
They start down the street quietly, she tries to hip-bump him out of his silence.
He gives her a weak smile.
She threads her arm through his and he stiffens.
If he didn't already know he loved her, he'd love her for this alone.
OOOOOOOOO
"So what did you do?" He's finally asked, "to Slaughter?"
She was waiting for the question but would like to avoid it. She's evaded him before on a question like this, once, in L.A. after she'd almost shot Ganst. Didn't want to reveal to him how very capable she was of fighting for people she cared about. People she loved. This time she thinks it might give away too much of herself, expose her feelings, if she tells him what she did for him.
"Did what I had to do." She flatly echoed her own words.
"Which was?"
"Castle, I think you can figure it out."
"Yes, but I'd like to hear it from you."
She takes a deep breath. No way is she spilling this. He is way too eager to hear it and she thinks it might just turn him on. She doesn't want to lead him on if she isn't ready. She isn't ready. It's a disappointing outcome of her conversation with Burke today. God, she was unleashed that day in his office, didn't bother to try to check her anger at the way he'd been behaving. What do you want to do about it? Burke had asked, but the answer was obvious. Men. The solution is to every relationship problem is sex. And that's what this probe is from Castle, a little pseudo-sex as he envisions her taking out her frustrations on Slaughter. She's willing to forgive him because of her feelings for him, but she isn't going to feed their charade.
None of her thoughts cross her face. Kate Beckett has an amazing poker face.
It's clear she is going to be stubborn on this and even though he really, really wants to know, he also knows he isn't getting anything more out of her on the subject. But he can leave her with his thoughts.
"Thank you." He says.
"Always." She looks a little stunned that she's said it. They've never talked about that word but they both know what it means.
Well if that wasn't mixed signals, he doesn't know what it was.
"Kate, I . . . our . . . partnership," settling on the word choice, "it means a lot to me."
"Me too Castle." She interjects before he can continue. They smile at each other a moment.
"I know I don't always listen, that I don't make things easy for you," both of their smiles widen at that, "but you look out for me and I appreciate it."
"You do the same for me."
Did she mean he 'would do' the same for her? His face flashes confusion.
"I want to tell you something Roy told me a long time ago," ah hell, she might have been better off just telling him the Slaughter story, than boosting his ego with this one, but he needs a little assurance after recent events. Really, all she wants is to go back to the way things were a few weeks ago, when they were still growing closer.
She gives him the look as she lowers her voice in warning, "Use this against me and I'll do to you what I did to Slaughter."
His eyes widen and he covers his mouth with his fingers.
"Roy told me once that he could have kicked you out any time he wanted."
He's surprised, he always liked Roy.
"But," she continued, "he didn't because he saw how good you were for me."
She watches to gauge his reaction before continuing.
"He said I wasn't having any fun before you came along."
Well this was quite a revelation. His sober thoughts of Roy suddenly bolstered.
"I think he was right."
"Yeah?" He reaches across the table to take her hand.
"Yeah." She says with confidence.
They spend the rest of the meal in comfortable, familiar banter.
Their version of boxing.
The one he hopes will turn physical soon.
OOOOOOOOOOO
A/N: Review if you love brown coats. (For those of you clicking 'favorite' but not 'review – I don't look I hunt.)