Castle was walking back to the bullpen from the men's room when a strong pair of hands grabbed him and pulled him through a doorway.

"What the–?" he said, finding himself standing in one of the interrogation rooms with Esposito and Ryan eyeing him suspiciously.

"Guys?" Castle asked, but Esposito just pointed towards the interview chair.

"Take a seat," he said, his tone making it clear that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"O-kay…" Castle replied, shrugging and going over to the chair. He sat down, and the other two men took the seats opposite.

Ryan laid his hands flat on the table in front of him. "So spill it," he said, doing his very best imitation of a tough-guy attitude.

Castle looked from one to the other, puzzled. "Spill what?"

Esposito slammed a fist against the table, making Castle flinch. "Don't play dumb, bro," he said. "What's this about a vacation with Beckett?"

"Oh, that," Castle said, his shoulders relaxing. "We're going to my place in the Hamptons for two weeks with Alexis, starting tomorrow. Gates put Beckett on paid leave because she hasn't used any vacation days since forever."

Ryan frowned. "That's it?" he asked, and Castle shrugged.

"That's it," he replied.

"That is not it," Esposito said. "This is a big deal! Vacation? Your beach house? That's pretty cosy."

"I wish," Castle muttered, and Ryan grinned lopsidedly.

"So there's no game plan?" Esposito asked, and Castle shook his head.

"Just a vacation with my daughter and my partner," he replied.

Esposito raised an eyebrow.

"My super-hot partner," Castle amended, and Ryan laughed and shook his head.

"Here's what's gonna happen," Esposito said, leaning forward, and Ryan glanced at the other man curiously. "You are gonna keep us up to date every step of the way. I'm not kidding. If anything happens, we want to know."

Ryan nodded, again trying for the tough-guy attitude, and again failing.

"Guys, you will be the first to know if anything happens – which it probably won't," Castle replied, and Esposito stared at him for a long moment before nodding.

"Glad we got that sorted out," he said. "Oh, and if you do anything to hurt her…"

Esposito cocked his finger and thumb at Castle, in imitation of a gun.

Castle raised both hands in surrender. "Message received," he said.


"Beckett," she said into her desk phone, leaning back in her chair and taking another sip of her now-cold coffee with a grimace.

"Girl, what the heck has gotten into you?" came Lanie's voice over the line, and Beckett grinned.

"Good morning to you too," she replied. "and what are you talking about?"

"You're going on vacation with the writer?"

Beckett froze. Esposito, I'll kill you.

"Uh…"

"Yeah, you're damned right 'uh'," Lanie said.

"Gates put me on two weeks' paid leave," she finally replied.

"What did you do to deserve that?"

"I haven't taken any vacation days since… actually, I don't know when. And apparently people are off sick with stress. So, new rule, and I have to stay away from work for two weeks. The vacation was his idea."

"And you said yes."

"Alexis is going to be there!"

"Like one big happy family?" Lanie said, in a teasing tone, and Beckett sighed.

"I'm making a huge mistake, right?"

"Oh hell no, girl, but you'd better figure out what you want to happen."

Beckett felt her cheeks flush, and she glanced nervously around the bullpen, but there was still no-one within earshot.

"I don't want anything to happen, except me relaxing for a couple of weeks and hopefully not killing him."

"Mm-hm," Lanie replied, clearly unconvinced.

"What does that mean?"

"It means there's something between you two, even if you won't admit it to yourself. And if I'm wrong, you wouldn't be going on vacation with him and his daughter."

Beckett huffed, sweeping her hair behind her ear with more force than was necessary.

"Nothing is going to happen," she said, in a fierce whisper.

"Suit yourself, girl, but that's not a denial," her friend replied, and Beckett could hear the smile in her voice.

"I really have to finish this paperwork."

"Yep, you get that stuff done so you can go home and pack. And don't forget to take your–"

"Bye, Lanie," Beckett interrupted, and hung up with a shake of her head.

This is going to be a long two weeks, she thought.


The rest of the day went by surprisingly quickly, and Beckett handed in the completed case paperwork just after 3PM. Gates told her she could leave immediately, since she no doubt had arrangements to make, and she reluctantly nodded.

Beckett walked back out into the bullpen and across to her desk, finding Castle sitting in the visitor chair and just finishing a conversation on his cellphone. He hung up, and grinned at her.

"That was my housekeeper; she's going to get the place ready for us tonight, so we can head out in the morning."

"Great," Beckett said cautiously. "Is this a live-in housekeeper?"

He shook his head. "Nope. She just cleans and airs the house before we arrived, comes in to clean twice a week while we're there, then cleans it and closes it up again after we leave. She lives locally out there."

Lives of the rich and famous, Beckett thought. "Shame you couldn't get her to tidy my apartment while we're away," she said, and Castle smirked.

"Alexis is packing as we speak," he said excitedly. "We'll come by and pick you up at your place tomorrow morning at 9:30."

"Fine," she said, gathering up her things from her desk. "Then I guess I should head home and work out what I'm taking with me."

"I can't believe you're actually gonna come along," he said, springing up and grabbing his blazer from the back of the chair. "This is going to be excellent!"

She looked at him with a mixture of amusement and suspicion and he pulled the blazer on and put his phone back in his pocket. "Yeah, well… just don't make me regret it."

He put his palm flat against his chest – Who, me? – and she laughed.

They said their farewells to Ryan and Esposito and walked out of the bullpen and along the corridor towards the elevator.

"Seriously, though, this means a lot to Alexis. She's psyched that you're going to be there," he said, in a quiet voice. "So thank you for making my daughter happy."

She glanced up at him and saw the earnest look on his face, and she smiled at him. All at once, the butterflies were back in her stomach again, and she quickly cleared her throat.

"I'm looking forward to spending time with Alexis too," she said.

He looked at her and opened his mouth to say that he was looking forward to spending time with her too, then he decided against it and simply smiled.

They reached the elevator and he pressed the call button, and the doors opened immediately. As they stepped inside, Beckett felt his hand briefly come to rest on the small of her back, before dropping away again. She gasped quietly, but managed to keep enough composure to press the button for the ground floor.

She glanced up at him again after a moment, but he seemed to be lost in thought, with a small grin playing around his lips.

Two weeks, she thought, folding her arms tightly across her chest as the elevator began to descend.