Talking the Talk

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I own no Castles, or castles. Rating: K. Time: Late season two.

"Kate!" Lanie Parish rushed to Kate and threw her arms around her. "How are you doing?"

"Lanie, I'm not the one who's been shot. And I have no idea how Castle is. They haven't told me a thing. Is that a good or a bad thing? You're a doctor, do you know?'

Lanie smiled at her friend. "Let me see if I can go find someone to talk to. They're usually a little more forthcoming with other doctors. They know they can't give us a load of medical bullshit and get away with it. Wait here." Lanie rushed off.

"We're all worried about Castle." Esposito said.

"I was in charge. It's still my fault. Everything is my fault."

"I know you like him, you know."

"Sure, he's my partner."

Espo chuckled. "I saw something the other day. It used to be rare. Some people said it didn't exist, but I saw it."

Kate waited for Javier to continue, but he didn't. "Okay, what was it?"

"A Beckett smile."

"What do you mean? I smile. I smile a lot."

"A lot? Not really. Oh, sure, you smile at a joke, because you're polite. You smile when we bring some killer in and we have him dead to rights. But since Castle showed up, you've been observed to smile for no apparent reason. I saw you smile two days ago. Castle had brought you your morning coffee, and then went to get a file I had. He talked to me for several minutes and when I looked at you, you were smiling."

"Big deal." Beckett muttered.

"He likes you too. A lot."

"It's not that easy, Espo. He's Rick Castle, world famous millionaire author. I'm just a cop. We don't exactly move in the same circles."

"I keep seeing him moving in the same circles you do. In fact, they're the same ones I move in. How about that."

Kate sighed. "It's more than that. He's also Rick Castle, with two failed marriages behind him and a history of one night stands that must set some sort of record. I've told him, I'm a one and done girl. I'm not a one night stand, I'm not a fling, I'm not another in a long list of girlfriends. I'm his and his alone forever, or we're nothing. I haven't seen any evidence he's looking for that, or that he's capable of anything like that."

Lanie burst through the doors, dragging a woman in hospital scrubs with her.

"Kate, this is Dr. Sampson. She was just coming to talk to you. We have good news and bad news."

Kate steeled herself. "Give me the bad news first."

"Mr. Castle suffered a fractured skull and a severe concussion, probably secondary to his fall. He fell down a flight of stairs onto concrete after he was shot, I've been told. Mr. Castle is in a coma as a result."

"How long will he be in a coma? Will he be okay when he wakes up?" Kate looked to Lanie for reassurance.

Dr. Sampson spoke, however. "How long it takes…I can't say. It'll take however long it takes. I'm sorry. As for when he wakes up, I have every confidence he'll make a full recovery, barring unforeseen events."

"There is good news, girl." Lanie broke in, seeing the look on Kate's face.

Dr. Sampson nodded. "There's very little damage from the bullet wound he suffered. When we removed it, we found the bullet was badly deformed. I would suggest that the bullet punched through something thick, losing a lot of its kinetic energy before it hit your partner. The bullet lodged in Mr. Castle's sinus cavity. There was really very little damage. Except for a scar, he should recover with no ill effects."

"What's next?" Kate asked.

"We're moving Mr. Castle to a room in the ICU for the time being."

"Good. I'd like to be with him in the room."

"For how long, detective?"

"Until he wakes up." Kate said with all the determination she could put in her voice.

"That's highly unusual…"the doctor began.

"These are highly unusual partners." Lanie broke in. "Speaking as one doctor to another, Detective Beckett will stay with Mr. Castle, one way or another. It would be a lot easier all around if you just accepted it now."

Dr. Sampson shrugged. "I'll have one of the nurses call you when Mr. Castle is settled in. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"Do you need someone to spell you, Beckett?" Esposito asked.

Kate shook her head. "No, get with Ryan and find Jess's father. That's all we can do now."

When Espo left, Lanie put her arms around Kate. "Give me your keys. I'll go to your apartment and get you some clothes. You don't want Castle to wake up with a smelly detective in his room. It could cause a relapse."

Kate handed over her keys.

"It's going to be okay, honey. Castle is a lot tougher than you might think."

"You heard what that doctor said. And I know something about head injuries. Remember that rookie cop from, where was it, Brooklyn? Four years ago? He was on the job for three months, got hit by a drunk driver, fractured skull and concussion and the next thing he knows he's out on total disability. He was what, early twenties?"

"Kate, are you willing now to admit that you like Castle? And you like him a lot? And he likes you a lot?"

Kate ignored the questions. "I never planned for this. Somehow it never entered my mind that Castle could get hurt shadowing me."

"It's not your fault, honey. You didn't shoot him and he's been shot at before. He knew the risks and he took them. Do you know why he took them?"

"Lanie, please…"

"He took them to be with you."

"And that's exactly why I'm so upset. He wouldn't be in there in a coma if it wasn't for me. I was mad at him earlier. I told him not to come into the office until we'd secured the perp. I was about as nasty about it as I could be. I don't want Castle to…" Kate couldn't finish the sentence. "I don't want his last memory to be that I was mad at him." She finally whispered.

"Detective Beckett?" Kelly the nurse said. "We've got Mr. Castle moved. Could you come with me, please?"

Lanie gave Kate a hug. "I'll get some fresh clothes for you and bring them by before work tomorrow. If anything happens, or if you need anything, call me. Any time, day or night? Understand?"

Kate nodded and followed Kelly through the hospital corridors.

"I'm sorry I didn't recognize you two, Kate. He's Richard Castle, the writer and you're the detective he's been following. You're the real Nikki Heat."

"Nikki Heat is fictional. There is no real Nikki Heat."

"Still, it must be exciting."

"I'm a homicide cop. Exciting means someone has died. I could live without exciting. Like now."

"Yeah. I guess that's so. Sorry. "She stopped in front of a room. "We're here. He's inside. There's a chair that should be pretty comfortable. Do you want anything to read while you wait?"

Kate shook her head. "Maybe later. I just want to be with him right now."

Kate walked into the room. Castle was almost obscured by the tubes and wires attached to machines whose purpose she did not understand. She walked around the bed. There was a bandage over the left side of his face. She ran her fingers through his hair. She took his hand, being careful not to disturb the tubes in his arm.

"Hi, Castle." She didn't know what more to say. She stood there for several minutes. "I'm so damned sorry. Please don't think I was mad at you. I wasn't. I was mad at a world where little girls die and I took it out on you. I wouldn't want you to think that I didn't want you around me. You're my partner. I shouldn't have…"

She was interrupted by someone clearing their throat. A slender Asian nurse stood in the door. "Hi, I'm Lee. You're Detective Beckett?"

"Kate. Call me Kate."

"I just wanted to tell you that Kelly is off duty now. If you need anything, the nurse's station is just down the hall."

"I guess it's silly to talk to a man in a coma." Kate said quietly.

Lee smiled and shook her head. "Not at all. Research shows that there's increased brain activity in coma patients when someone talks to them. The more so if it's someone they know. You should talk to him."

Kate found herself a place on Castle's bed to sit and took his hand in hers. "Hi, Castle. I'm back. Talking to you may do you some good, and I'm sure it'll do me some good. There have been things I have wanted to talk to you about, and this is the perfect opportunity."

Kate spoke quietly so that no passing nurse or doctor would over hear her. "First, I want to make sure you know that I'm not mad at you. I was angry this morning and I took it out on you. I pray that you didn't head away from me when you were shot because you thought I'd be mad if you cane to me. I wouldn't have been. Any time you need help, please come to me. Oh, I may grump and complain, but I will always help you. Okay?"

"You know I'm a fan of yours, but you don't know how big a fan. I started reading your books after my mom was murdered. It gave me an insight into the people who would do such a thing to my mom. It also have me hope. In Derrick Storm's world, good triumphs and evil is defeated. I found that there really are Derrick Storms out there, willing to risk themselves to help others. That was the kind of person I decided I wanted to be."

"You'll laugh about this. Do you know that Will Sorenson took me to a book signing of yours? I stood in line for hours with Will teasing me about it the whole time. I remember how happy I was at getting to spend fifteen seconds with my favorite author. I don't think I ever forgave Will."

"And I know you don't believe how disappointed I was when I met you again on the Tisdale murder. This was my favorite author? An over-age frat boy who's only thought was to get me into bed? I have never been so disappointed in my life. Oh, all right, Castle. I admit I was wrong about you. Not about you being an egotistical juvenile delinquent who wanted to get in my pants. But there was more to you than that. Thank God! You wouldn't let Kyle Cabot be convicted of a crime he didn't commit and you made me start thinking about the crime, too. Okay, you helped solve the murder. Does it make you happy to hear me say it, Castle? And then you chased the armed killer through a back alley with one shoe off. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you looked? And how upset I was with you? I hope this teaches you that you're not bullet proof, Castle. Please live to learn that, Castle. I've really gotten used to having you around."

"You are more complex than I originally thought. I was surprised by your relationship with Alexis. I had assumed that playboy Rick Castle would have turned his daughter over to a succession of nannies and boarding schools and never given her a second thought. Alexis would have ended up like those little monsters that killed Donny Kendall or covered it up. But you couldn't have done a better job of raising Alexis. You did such a good job that it gives me hope that we…Well, that is…We could…In the future…"

"Oh, all right, Castle. I like you. I like you a lot. When we were standing in the hotel lobby after we left Mr. Hajek with Mrs. Talbot you were about to leave me to write books about some stupid British spy. You broke my heart, Castle! I just couldn't find the words or the will to tell you to stay. You're the one who's good with words. I know you wanted to stay, too. Didn't you? Couldn't you have said something? Couldn't you have said one damned thing? I know, Castle. It's as much my fault as it is yours."

"And Nikki Heat. I don't care what you say, Nikki Heat is a stripper's name, not a cop's name. But, I love the books and I love being the inspiration for Nikki Heat. She's a good cop, Castle. A very good cop. Thank you for writing her that way. And I may as well tell you this, for a writer you're a pretty good cop yourself. We really make a good team, don't we? You have to get better, Castle. We can't break up a winning team, can we?'

"I know that Nikki is me and that Rook is you. I mean, really, Castle. A rook is another name for a castle in chess. You couldn't have at least tried to disguise yourself in the book? You had Rook and Nikki make love in Heat Wave. It wasn't even halfway through the book. What was that? Were you just imagining what I'd be like in bed, or is there more to it than that? I've wondered about that. Are you trying to tell me that we could make love and still function as a team investigating murders, just like Nikki and Rook? Are you saying we could be more than lovers and partners? I wish I knew. I wish I could figure you out."

"You know what I want, Castle. I want until death do us part. Nothing less. I'd like to think you could do that, but I really doubt it. I mean you could convince me that you could, but I'm not sure of you. But if we could…" Kate quickly checked the doorway, then leaned over and brushed her lips across Castle's. Then she broke the kiss and looked at him. "Oh, well. The kiss from the detective didn't awaken the sleeping prince. Maybe if I tried harder?" She leaned back over and kissed Castle passionately. She slipped her tongue into his mouth, but she got no reaction from him. "Someday I'll have to find out what that's like when you kiss back, Castle. But I bet it's good."