Rick quickly glanced at her; she was biting her lip while taking notes from the crime scene. Her hair was falling into her face and every now again she would push it behind her ears.
"Detective… did you hear me?" Lanie asked as she looked between Rick and Kate. Lanie Parish was a beautiful African American, with a sassy attitude; but she was the best in the business and had been paired with Castle for a very long time.
"I'm sorry, could you please repeat what you said Dr. Parish?" Castle saw Kate glance up from her notes from the corner of his eye.
"Grant Gallagher died sometime around 2 a.m., the cause of death being a type of poison. But from what I can tell the poison was in the victim's system for a lot longer. My guess is that he was poisoned within the time frame of 10:30 to midnight."
"Thank you Lanie." Detective Castle spun on his heels and headed towards Esposito and Ryan who were talking to a cop on the scene. "Hey, I need you guys to talk to the family. See if the vic had a girlfriend. Find out where he was at 10:30 last night. Find out if there was anyone after him."
"Can do boss," Ryan nodded. "It's always a pleasure to see you Miss Becket."
"And you the same Ryan. How is the lucky lady?" Beckett asked with a laugh.
"Amazing as always." Ryan's eyes lit up as he talked about, Jenny, his girlfriend.
Esposito gave him a disgusted look, "bro, you are so whipped. Beyond whipped."
"Oh and like no one else notices you waiting on Lanie hand and foot." Castle joked and Esposito's cheeks went crimson. The M.E. and Esposito tried to hide it, but they both had playground crushes on each other and everyone noticed. "Now go find out about our victim."
He was relaxed around his partners, Kate noticed. It wasn't the first time she saw it though. He would joke with them at times when things were light but they still regarded Castle as their boss. Castle never mentioned anything about his partners past to her, but Kate questioned the two to find a little more information about the trio. They had been working together on the force now for years. Their three brilliant minds put together were what made them the best in New York City. It was truly an experience watching them work together.
"You've got yourself a good team, Detective." Kate pointed out as they headed towards the Crown Vic.
"They are a little childish sometimes, but yeah… we work well." Castle smiled to himself, Beckett felt her heart flutter. Detective Richard Castle was gorgeous even more so when he smiled. She knew damn well that he wasn't even considering a relationship with her though. But even with that fact in mind Richard Castle would give her butterflies. They drove away from the crime scene and Beckett still had butterflies.
Beckett woke up in cold sweat, the blanket was kicked off to the ground and her heart was racing. Being a murder writer had its setbacks, and one of them was nightmares. But some of her worst nightmares transformed into her best books. But this one was different, it seemed much more real. Kate only blamed it on the shadowing. She stood up and walked to her expansive kitchen for something to drink to calm her racing heart. The clock on the microwave read 2 a.m., she sighed, even at this hour though New York City hadn't settled down. Beckett finished her drink and placed it into the sink and headed back to her bedroom. She crawled into her covers and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
Kate woke up again with a jump; it was the same nightmare as before. Her heart was beating fast and she was out of breath. Before she realized what she was doing she heard the dial tone of her phone stop as a groggy Richard Castle answered on the other end.
"Castle." Was his answer to every call, but his voice was full of sleep this time.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to call you. It's like what? 3:30 a.m.? I'm sorry." Her brain finally caught up to her.
There was a pause on the other end, and then she heard Castle sit up in his bed. "Beckett?" He asked.
"I'm sorry detective, I wasn't thinking. I just had a nightmare and you were the first person I called. I shouldn't have waked you."
"You had a nightmare and called me?" Castle asked confused. Sure there were plenty of others she could have called, but he was the first thing she thought of.
"Yes. I know, it was foolish of me and I am truly sorry." She apologized once more.
There was another pause on the other end, longer than the first. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Castle asked finally. Beckett was surprised; she didn't think Castle would be willing to help her. But she also didn't think she was going to be a babbling fool.
"Do you ever get nightmares, I mean with your job and everything… I'm sure they should come frequently."
"They are scattered now, but after my brother's murder and when I first started on the force they would happen almost every night. The easiest thing to do is know that nothing can hurt you from those nightmares."
Kate's heart fluttered once more, she realized she was talking to Castle while he was in bed. Did he sleep in boxers? In sleeping pants? Shirtless? She pictured him having bed hair and smelling of sheets. Her body betrayed her once more and she gasped aloud at the image of him.
"Are you okay, Kate?" He asked concerned, and Kate realized how sexy his voice sounded when he was tired.
"Yes, I am good now. Thank you very much Rick. I appreciate it."
Rick sighed from his bed; his own heart was beating fast. He wondered if she could hear it. "Anytime Beckett. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Until tomorrow Detective…" Kate replied hanging up the phone. She fell asleep that time dreaming peacefully of bed head and blue eyes.
Castle was rarely impulsive, but this morning he found himself walking into the precinct with two cups of coffee and a bear claw. It was unprofessional of him to do something like this; he didn't even know if she drank coffee. And as soon as she walked in, Castle realized that he didn't even think of a way to give her the coffee. He tried to look occupied with his paperwork as she sat down across from him. Stopping for only a second, he pushed the coffee across the table towards her and then went back to his papers.
"For me?" She asked but didn't wait for the reply as she took a sip of the coffee. "Thanks!"
"You had a bad night so I just thought you could use it…" Castle mumbled; he felt embarrassed and stupid.
"Thank you for that. Last night. I know it wasn't right for me to call you, I don't know why I did really. But thanks."
Castle looked up from his paperwork for the first time and nodded at her. The shrill of his phone filled the silence. "Castle." He snapped again, and Kate remembered back to last night when his voice will full of sleep. Butterflies fluttered through her again. The conversation didn't last very long because Castle had hung up and stood from his desk. "We have to head over to Gallagher's house." The old Castle was back, Beckett thought.
"I'm sorry for your loss Mrs. Gallagher, but can you think of anyone who would try to kill your husband?" Castle asked, his voice was soft and sympathetic.
Mrs. Gallagher dabbed her eyes with a tissue, "no, everyone loved Grant. I just don't understand why someone would do this to him." This caused another round of tears.
"I am very sorry again. But to solve your husband's murder I really need your help. Was Grant acting strange at all lately?"
Mrs. Gallagher thought for a moment. "No, I do not believe so… He was staying at work a little longer, but he said it was because he was working for a promotion."
Castle nodded, "and you are sure no one would try to kill him? Anyone at work he ever had problems with?"
"Well there was this one man…" Mrs. Gallagher responded. She gave Castle the information on the man from Gallagher's work. Steven Lewis was his name, and a few months back, he and Grant had to work together on a project. Lewis started causing issues which got him kicked off the project. Later Lewis got fired and was furious with Gallagher and blamed him for getting laid off.
The team filed out after enough information was given by Mrs. Gallagher about her husband.
"Well Beckett, you saw your first crying wife after a murder. I didn't think you could take that many notes on a person crying." Esposito joked with her as they headed back to the cars.
"I didn't take just notes on her if you would like to know! I took them on how Castle asks each question and how acts around the victim's wife!" She responded in defense.
"So, notes on Castle huh?" Kate could hear what Esposito was really implying in his statement.
Becket looked down at her feet to hide the blush that seeped into her cheeks. She didn't see the car though that was speeding down the street as she stepped onto pavement, Rick did. Years of police training gave him a quick reaction speed that was needed in this exact moment. He reached out and grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the car that would have hit her a second ago. It was like a movie, she was against his body, her hand lying on his chest, staring deep into the ocean of his eyes.
Beckett gasped; she could feel every muscle in his body. An electric current passed through her. Kate stared into Rick's eyes and it seemed like he was at war with himself. Would he kiss her? She would kiss him back, Beckett knew that much. She wanted him to kiss her. Castle in that moment never thought he saw anything prettier than Kate Beckett. And here he was in her arms.
Ryan or Esposito coughed behind them, neither Castle nor Beckett was sure. Beckett knew the moment had to end though and so she let go of his hand and took a step back.
"Thank you; I would have been a pancake if you hadn't grabbed me." Beckett said trying to lighten the mood with a joke and a smile. Castle nodded and stared down at his feet as he walked across the street. He repeated all the states in his head, twice, just to try and forget the feel of her body against his and the way she smelled of cherries. Cherries and Kate. A deathly combination for Rick it seemed.