Hello readers. Thanks for the encouragement. It is good to know that people like the premise. Continue to review, they are very helpful and encouraging.


Rick Castle made his way down the stairs to join Agent Shaw and Beckett, who were making their way back to the car to begin the long process of unloading. He grabbed the bags containing their personal items and carried them to the bed, leaving them there before returning to the car.

Beckett and Shaw carried bags and crates into the cabin, leaving what would fit on the table and the rest on the couch. Castle returned to help them with several more boxes, filled with supplies he'd supposed. Finally, she moved to the trunk and opened it to reveal several firearms.

She'd moved those when Castle and Beckett were busy transferring other items from one rented car to the next, they'd figured. Castle looked at her with surprise, but Beckett simply let out a breath of relaxation. She was comforted to know that they weren't going to be left alone in the woods with no protection.

"There is more than enough ammo here, but I got plenty of extra to be sure." Beckett nodded at her and glanced at the guns that they now had access to. She would make time for inventory later. She also saw there was a pair of fishing poles. As she reached for one, Shaw spoke again,

"More supplies are inside, I suggest using worms for bait. You can get really good earth worms up here, especially after it rains." She informed Kate.

The women carried the firearms while Castle grabbed the poles, leaving the car now completely empty and their supplies in the cabin.

Shaw stood to face them once they were in the kitchen, speaking to both of them at once,

"You really should have all you need here. I'm not sure what is in the woodshed, but check labels to be sure that shelf-life hasn't expired on foods there." She spoke.

"I will be back for you both as soon as it is safe. In the mean time, be discreet and use common sense. I need to get back on the road before anyone tries to contact me in Albany and questions my whereabouts." She turned to leave, but was interrupted by Castle,

"Wait? That's it?" He spoke.

"Well what else do you want? You should be safe and relatively comfortable up here." At the expression on his face, her voice softened,
"I promise that I will do whatever is necessary to keep your loved one's safe, and I will protect Alexis as if she were my own daughter." He nodded to her.

"Is there any way that we can reach you?" Beckett asked her.

"No. You shouldn't reach me." Came her reply.

"Well at least tell us where exactly we are!" Kate commanded.

Shaw sighed and spoke again, "You're somewhere in Hamilton County, New York. The entire county exists within the confines of the forests and mountains. You're in the Adirondacks, obviously; specifically in a wilderness reserve. You are far from the nearest living resident and tourists and campers stick to the eastern side of the county…you're on the west." She looked at both of them.

"Are you satisfied?" the agent asked.

They both nodded. Beckett knew that when it came to New York, they really were in the least populated area in the entirety of the state. Shaw wasn't joking when she said they'd be alone. Tourists were attracted to areas like this because it was so un-touched, but as Shaw noted, they didn't venture into the western side of the reserve; which was undeveloped, even for wilderness retreats.

Shaw grabbed her keys and turned to leave before turning back to look at them one last time.

"Take care of yourselves, and eachother. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that she made her way from the cabin and to the car. They watched as she backed up, turned around and drove away; leaving the pair completely alone and in the wilderness.

Within moments her car disappeared and they were alone.


Castle simply stared at where Shaw had been moments ago, lost in his own thoughts about the people they'd left behind. It wasn't going to be easy to be away from his daughter, and without affirmation of her well-being, he was likely to go crazy. Beckett looked to him, noting the somber expression on his face and feeling a rush of emotion for the man, she rubbed his back comfortingly.

He looked at her and she offered a smile before speaking, "We'd better unpack and settle in. We want to use the daylight while we've got it and I want this place to be clean." He nodded and welcomed having something to keep himself busy.

Walking into their new home, no matter how temporary it was to be, he took inventory again and spoke, "Do you want to take the upstairs or downstairs?" She raised her eyebrows at him, questioning why he would think of starting elsewhere from where she would. She figured they'd tackle it together. As if replying to her unspoken question, Castle elaborated,

"This is going to take awhile, and I don't know about you, but I do NOT want to sleep in a dirty bed tonight. Jordan said that there were fresh sheets and things here, I'd like to put them to use, wouldn't you?"

Beckett nodded, he had a great point and the thought of sleeping in sheets that were ridiculously old, possibilities of what would be crawling in them, made her squirm. "Yes," she agreed, "please get the bed clean." She peeked in several of the bags until she found the one that was filled with sheets. It was easy to spot the quilt, as it was not in a bag, sitting in its plastic casing instead.

Taking the supplies she handed to him, he made his way upstairs. He wasn't sure where to start, but supposed that opening the large window above the bed would allow fresh air and light in. It was a good start. Next he stripped the bed, jumping back with each sheet he tore from the mattress to avoid any life forms that had taken residence there. He was silently glad that they'd decided to do this separately, as he would prefer that Kate not see his squeamish dance as he ripped the linens from the old, full-sized mattress.

Next he separated the mattress and the box spring, using his hand to beat dust from them as well as he could. When he realized that his task was futile without the help of cleaning supplies, he made his way back to the kitchen.

There he spotted Kate. She'd unpacked all of the bags, organizing the contents into groups representing location and/or function. She had a lot of the cleaning supplies together, grouped with laundry soap. He also saw a pile with tools, including a hammer and nails, and was grateful that they had access to them. Grabbing a pair of scissors from one pile, and a bottle of cleanser from another, he headed back up the stairs.

The first thing he did was cut a hole into some of the old fabric that he'd pulled from the mattress. He was sure that they would wash it all and make use of it, but in the mean time, they needed rags to clean with. After taking enough to make a decent cloth, he began the process of wiping down the bed, and both mattresses for good measure.

He made several more trips down stairs, noting the progress Kate was making as well. She was currently going through the boxes that had been in the car before they'd been picked up. He fought is curiosity to take a mental inventory and instead went for the broom and the dust pan in the corner of the cabin.

He coughed at the dust on the broom, taking a moment to turn to Beckett and ask, "is there a broom to clean up after the broom?" She looked at him sardonically, but nodded her head in understanding. Even the cleaning supplies left in the cabin were in poor condition.

After some use, it appeared to be completely functional, the grime from its bristles simply shaking off and mixing with the pile forming on the bedroom floor until the broom was in good condition again. After sweeping the dust off of the floor, away from the corners, and off of the walls, he tackled the cobwebs and the room started to look livable.

Castle thought to take one of the large, empty boxes that Beckett had unpacked to form a makeshift laundry basket and placed it in the corner. Once the old sheets were out of the way and the dresser was cleaned and wiped down, he put the new sheets on the bed.

He was very grateful that Shaw had thought to buy them each a new pillow. He knew he would sleep better knowing it hadn't been sitting around for years and he was sure Kate felt the same way. The sheets she got were a solid, chocolate brown color, made from flannel material. He knew that they would do well to keep them warm at night.

The comforter she'd purchased was a semi-down, deep burgundy blanket that fit perfectly on their full-sized bed. He put the other pair of sheets she'd bought, which were cream colored; along with a lighter blanket, on top of the dresser. There were 4 drawers, the top two he'd designated to Beckett and he took the bottom for his own.

He took one last look at the now clean room, it had taken him nearly two hours, but it was well worth the peace of mind that they would have a clean place to rest. He looked over the ledge to find Beckett making lists and placing food into groups on the table. Noticing that it was getting later in the afternoon, he joined her.

Cleaning supplies in hand, he started cleaning the shelves that were in the kitchen, obviously designed to be used as cupboards for food storage. He knew that the sooner he got them clean, the sooner she could put the piles of food that were building up around her away.

"Some of this will have to go out into the woodshed" She spoke, filled with a sense of warmth over how easily they were falling into such domestic tasks.

"We can put away what there's room for here, and make a trip in the morning." He suggested. She looked up at him in surprise, but he simply motioned to his watch. She looked down to check her own in kind, and was surprised to find that it was already nearly 4pm.

"It is so strange," she began, "being reliant on daylight." He nodded in agreement.

"It's definitely going to take some getting used to." He said as he looked at some of the food items on the table. "Dried beef, dried chicken, dried eggs and ham? Really?" He questioned, clearly the most disturbed by the last item he'd read.

"They have a shelf life of 30 years. Add water and re-hydrate. We don't exactly have refrigeration Castle." He sighed at her response, so she offered him a bit of solace, "besides, we start hunting and this will just be backup."

He smiled at her attempt to cheer him up. Moving to the rest of the pile he continued his inventory, lots of dried food. She'd also supplied them with pasta, beans, rice, flour, salt and sugar. She'd even gotten them powdered milk. He was reading the back of the box when Beckett began to speak,

"When I was a little girl my best friend's parents only kept powdered milk. They said it lasted longer and it was cheaper. I was stunned to learn that you could mix powder and water and get milk, but it wasn't that bad." He looked at her and smiled. He loved when she opened up to him, even when the results were the most mundane stories. They were her mundane stories, so for Castle, it was like learning a precious secret.

She looked back down and continued to pull things out. Her face lit up when she produced several small packages. She held them up to Castle and showed him with glee. "Look Castle!" Her excitement was infectious,

"Wow Kate! What is it?" He spoke, earning a grin from her.

"It's dry yeast Rick, lots and lots of it. This is awesome." He smiled again, "why is dry yeast awesome?"

"Because we can make our own fresh bread Castle! My mother taught me how to make bread from scratch when I was a little girl and we used to do it all the time." She spoke with the excitement of a kid on Christmas. However, as the memories of she and her mother baking came, so did the sadness. In a quick attempt to swoop in and rescue her from that particular pain, he spoke, "Oh, Can you make breads with these dried berries?" She looked up at him and smiled.

"Yep. Apple bread, any berry bread, or cinnamon raison bread…that is if we've got cinnamon," his distraction did the trick.
"Ooh Castle, I am going to teach you to bake bread from scratch!" Her face lit up and he couldn't do anything but consent to her.

"I'll be there, the ever-willing student."

They both smiled and continued their work,

"Hey!" Castle suddenly shouted, causing Beckett startle and drop the packets in her hands to the ground. Thankfully, they were sealed and she just scooped them back up before raising her head to Castle's level.

"Hey What?" she asked.

"I think we should go and use the outhouse, figure out where it is and how things work, so we are not blind at night if we need to go."

"Good point." She spoke before placing the yeast packets on the counter and heading out the front door. She waited for him to pass and then motioned with her hands, "Lead the way." He did, but he couldn't get past the desire to throw in a very Castle-like comment,

"Wow. You are letting me lead! Good job KB." She smiled, but yelled back to him "Oh, so it's KB now."

"Hey." He spoke in his defense, "I coined KB during the dedication of Heat Wave." She smiled and remembered. She'd been blown away by the sentiment. "Oh, I remember," she added, a grin across her face.

"So, who goes first KB, me or you?" She smiled even wider, she loved this shortened version of her name, just from him, nobody else called her that. She decided she'd let it stick.

"You go first Rick. Let me know it's safe for people." She grinned mischievously at him.

Soon he was out. "It's not pleasant, but it's not bad. It is deep and hasn't been used in awhile. I cleared away dust and webs, but it's open to the sun because there is no roof. I imagine that rain washes it and has kept it fairly clean. We need to remember to keep the lid closed so that rain water doesn't get in there though"

Kate took her turn as well, the bathroom was indeed four walls built around a large and deep hole, the toilet positioned over it. It would work, but they needed to remember to bring toilet paper with them, leaving it out would mean ruining it when it rained, unless they could find some sort of box to protect it.

She emerged from the bathroom, nodded at him and they walked together back to the house.
"I think we need to keep what lighting we have in designated locations" Kate spoke.

"An oil lamp on each bedside table, the candle lanterns can go on the kitchen table." Rick added. He'd taken note of the cluster of light sources she'd created as she unpacked. They had two oil lamps, several candles and candelabras; along with a box of additional white candles for extra use. There were plenty of lighters as well.

"She also left us two wind up flashlights. I say we keep one upstairs and one downstairs." She furthered the conversation.

"We've also got plenty of batteries and an emergency battery operated/crank radio." She informed him.

"that's great." He spoke as they entered the cabin once again.

"It will be great to have access to the outside world. I wonder if we'll get any FM radio signal though." He spoke.

"I'm not sure. I know we'll have no trouble with am, but short wave stations I'm not sure about." Kate replied.

"Music would be nice if we could manage." Castle commented, earning a nod from Beckett in agreement.


They got back to putting the food that would fit on the kitchen shelves, a process that lasted a couple of hours. They'd also been given new pots and pans, silverware, cutlery, culinary utensils, and various other objects that needed to find homes in the fairly spacious kitchen.

Castle quickly identified the drawer that was designed for silverware, noting the plastic holder that had been placed in it. He took it out and began to wipe it down, following it with thorough cleaning of the other drawers.

After the dishes were put away, and Beckett placed the unpacked dried food on the shelves, they began to poke around a bit more. There were more shelves built into the corner of the kitchen, supported by a single wooden stake and propped between the adjoining walls and nailed securely in place. The objects were heavily coated in dust however, and they were running out of daylight.

She felt his hand squeeze her shoulder gently as he whispered, "save this for the morning Kate." She turned to him and nodded. They still had all of their clothing and toiletries to unpack before bed anyhow. He saw two medium-sized baskets on the dusty shelf that she was examining and grabbed them before they proceeded upstairs.

Kate took in their room, transformed by Rick's hard work. Without thinking she took his hands in her own and squeezed it, "Rick this looks amazing! Thank you!" He turned to look at her, surprised by her physical gesture. He smiled softly at her and spoke,

"Anything Kate." The sudden shift of their mood, the supportive friendship giving way to unbelievable tension overwhelmed her. As suddenly as she took his hand she dropped it, clearing her throat and moving to her bags.

Not completely surprised by her hot-to-cold behavior, he took it in stride and moved to the dresser. "I thought I would give you the top drawers and I would take the bottom." She nodded at him and replied,

"Thanks Castle."

He grabbed the baskets he grabbed from downstairs and, after wiping them down, handed her one. "For our toiletries," he explained. She accepted it gratefully. Afterall, they were going to need something to carry things to the outhouse and to the shower they'd yet to create.

They sorted through their only belongings, which had been purchased earlier that day. Kate had a package of panties, 5 bras, a package of socks, two pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 button-up shirts that resembled the ones she wore so often to work, a pack of tank tops, 2 t-shirts, a sweater and a hoodie. She also covered her bases with a pair of durable boots, flip-flops and a pair of sneakers.

She placed the hair ties, brush, the family pack of bar soap, a double pack of razors, the deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste and floss, as well as the shampoo and conditioner she picked up in the basket Castle handed her. She left her sanitary products in a bag and slid them under her side of the bed.

Beckett couldn't possibly imagine needing more than all of these things, especially considering that they didn't plan to be here for longer than a month or two, tops. She looked over to Castle, who was placing his clothing in the two bottom drawers, as she had just done. She simply gazed at him, his back facing her.

There was no denying that she loved him, but she didn't know how to express it. She was terrified that the moment she said it, things would just fall apart. The rational part of her knew that the possibility of three words having such power was very small. However, the emotional part of her, the vulnerable part of her who had never muttered those words to another soul since before her mother was taken from her, prohibited the words from leaving her mouth.

If she couldn't say it to him in the heights of their passion she doubted if she would ever have the ability to. She sighed, a feeling of hopelessness settling in her chest. When she looked back up at him, allowing her thoughts and feelings to pass, he was smiling at her with wonder on his face.

"Where'd you go there Kate?" He questioned her, aware that she'd been completely lost in her thoughts.

She simply smiled at him, waving off his question by motioning out to the darkening sky.
We should get ready for bed Castle. It's going to be a long day of cleaning tomorrow, and we've got to build a shower." She informed him.

"I also want to get a feeling for where we are, see what kind of cover we'll have in case we have unwelcome visitors." He nodded at her and took her attempt to change the subject.

They simply stared at eachother for a moment, the awkwardness of the situation settling in on them both. There was no bathroom for him to change in, there was no privacy from eachother here. Sure, she could force him to go downstairs to change, but it was nearly dark and it seemed unnecessary.

"Um," he spoke, unsure what to say but needing to break the tension. It seemed ridiculous that they were so nervous considering that they'd just had sex, and really good sex, the previous night. Still, they'd been caught up in the moment when they'd stripped and they moved about in the dark.

This was them, as they were; trying to live together and undressing in front of eachother seemed like such a big deal. He was nervous, and judging from the way her hands trembled, he'd venture a guess that she was too.

Kate broke their stare, "I'll just get my clothing and I'll change on this side of the room." Rick finished her sentence, "and I'll grab mine and change over there," he offered, pointing towards the stairs. He grabbed a t-shirt and boxers from his drawers and walked to the stairs. "I promise I won't turn around." He spoke, also alarmed over the absurdity of their situation. Did we just revert back to the way things were? He wondered to himself, as he put the new boxers and shirt on.

He turned around when he heard Kate whisper "oh crap." He turned around to find her staring at the open drawer of the dresser.

"What's the matter Kate?" He inquired.

"I didn't think to buy pajamas. Of everything I did buy, I didn't bring anything to sleep in." She turned to look at him, "would you have a problem if I just slept in a tank top and underwear?" She asked him.

"You can sleep naked and I promise I won't care." She smiled broadly at him, glad for the familiar bantering, "I bet you wouldn't care" she retorted.

Castle lit both oil lamps as she stripped, placed a new tank top on and crawled into bed. Considering how old the mattress was, the bed was remarkably comfortable. She was glad for the pillow too. It was a stark contrast to Castle's King sized bed, where they could sleep without ever touching if they desired to do so. With this bed they didn't have much choice but to touch.

This was made especially so by the nature of the mattress, as it gave towards the middle and caused her to slide into his warmth. She soon found that she was thankful for him, as the temperature outside began to rapidly drop. By the time it was pitch dark, Castle couldn't take it anymore and got out of bed to close the window.

She missed his warmth immediately and yearned for him to slip back beneath the covers to warm her shivering body. I should have bought sweat pants, she thought to herself as he snuggled back under the blanket and wiggled his body to create warmth.

He turned to look at her and she smiled. "You ready to sleep?" He asked her. "yeah, it's been a long day and we didn't get much sleep last night." He looked at her in surprise, caught by the innuendo she'd spoken without intending to. When she caught onto his line of thinking, she blushed furiously.

Turning suddenly away from him she lifted herself from the bed slightly to put out her lamp. Soon he did the same and they were bathed in complete darkness. It was a dark that they were not accustomed to. There were no city lights, there were no noises or traffic. It was just them, the sounds of their breathing and the faint noises coming from the woods.

Although she'd been exhausted before she'd put out the lamp, now in the darkness, lying next to Castle, she was fully awake. She was aware of every breath that he took, could feel the rise and fall of his chest and the burning of his arm as it brushed against her skin in the bed. Her body reacted to him of it's own accord, longing to feel his touches again.

She became consumed with the need to feel him buried to the hilt inside of her and found it hard to breath. She shifted her body to face away from him, but it did little to alleviate the arousal that coursed through her body. In frustration, she shifted onto her back again a few minutes later. Every movement brought her attention right back to her drenched center, hyper aware of the slightest movements; which brought stimulation to her.

She finally let out a huff in frustration, unsure of how to control her body. She couldn't just leave the room. There was nowhere to go, she couldn't run from him and if she didn't do something soon she was going to explode. He must have sensed her frustration because she heard his whisper in the dark.

"Kate, what is it. What's wrong?" He asked with some concern.

She bit her lip for a moment, trying to figure out how to act. She knew she wasn't good with words, she was horrible. No, words were his thing. Action was hers. So action is what she chose. Instead of answering his question she searched in the dark for his hand.

Once she found it she placed hers on top, lacing their fingers and bringing his hand to follow hers. She placed it gently on her stomach, where instead of simply leaving it and letting herself take the comfort of his presence, she forced it to slide lower. She took her free hand and lifted her panties, allowing her to guide his fingers.

She couldn't tell him what was wrong. She couldn't communicate with words why she was so incredibly frustrated, but she could show him. She felt his breath hitch as she curved his fingers to cup her. He grasped her there, completely feeling the wetness that his presence had caused. He then acted of his own accord, sliding his hand further down and enveloping his fingers inside of her.

She let out a cry and bucked her hips into his hand. At the first sound of her voice, strangled and needing, he rolled himself on top of her. He removed his hand from her sweet spot, causing her to object, and pulled their tops off. He followed with his boxers and her panties.

She moved her hand to grab him, stroking to assure he was as ready as she was. Upon finding that he was, she pulled slightly harder in attempt to convey to him that she wanted him inside of her now. He pulled her hand from his body, placing it across from her other above her head, leaned his head down and circled his tongue around her nipple.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as she moaned his name desperately, pleading that he get her desperation. He took her verbal cue and finally buried himself within her. They were both beyond ready and needed very little time to adjust. As soon as he hit her end, he pulled out and thrust again; causing her hands to fly from the headboard and grasp his shoulders.

Their love-making was frantic, as it had been the night before, with both moaning and crying out each other's name. They continued for some time, as she built up her first orgasm until she couldn't hold on longer and fell apart beneath him.

He used her recovery time to turn her over, grasping her hips up and pulling her towards him as he entered her again, this time from behind. The new angle caused her to cry loudly, as he hit her sweet spot again and again. She collapsed onto her chest and grasped the headboard again, allowing his hands to support and lift her hips, as he continued to thrust himself within her.

Soon she was trembling again and fell apart for the second time, his name on her lips as if in prayer. When she could feel that he could no longer hold out, she turned her head and, nearly out of breath, cried "let go. I want to feel you let go." He finally did, unable to hold out another second, and collapsed on top of her.

When their breathing slowed he rolled off of her, landing on his back. "Beckett…Kate…that was…"

"Shhh"…she whispered to him. Placing a gentle kiss to his mouth she added, "sleep now."

She fell back onto her stomach and waited for his breathing to even out, indicating he'd fallen asleep.

As she lay in the night, she thought about the man beside her. She thought about how amazing they were together. How amazing he made her feel. I may not be able to tell him how I feel, but I certainly can show him, she thought to herself.

The last thought to cross Kate's mind before she drifted off was how long she would get away with simply showing her affections. She knew it wouldn't be long before Castle demanded more from her.

It was only a matter of time.


I love that one of the reviewers said that they would like to see cabin cleaning time as I was writing some of the cleaning scenes. I thought "Yay!" someone will enjoy these scenes! Obviously there will be more-especially over the next chapter, as they've got a mess and nothing but time on their hands. What shall they do? ;)