Hello again. I'm so sorry for the delay in updates. Life has been crazy and I'm trying to keep my head above water. Chapters 3 & 4 are within the same time frame, so I look to have 4 up within the next day or so. Thanks for your patience and I'll update as fast as I can. I really don't want to rush it :)


Rick Castle stretched his arms and legs, inadvertently shoving the bedding off of his warm body and exposing him to the cold morning air. He quickly pulled the covers back over himself and rolled onto his back, looking at the morning light streaming through the bare window above the bed.

Clearing his throat, he shifted to his side and noticed that the space beside him was bare. At some point Beckett had awoken and slipped out of bed. It didn't really surprise him because she typically rose well before him, and because she didn't strike him as the cuddling sort.

He sat up in bed and braced his bare feet for the floor, which he knew would be freezing. Although he'd gone to bed with socks on, they'd been kicked off at some point in the night. He searched around the bed for the remainder of his clothing, which was also absent from his body.

He remembered well loosing the rest of his clothing, which he removed in a passionate frenzy deep in the night with Kate. He rubbed the stubble on his chin and stretched his neck, taking one final breath before dashing out of the warm bed and venturing out into the cold room.

He quickly moved to the dresser, grabbing a pair of jeans and socks and sliding them on. After finding one of his t-shirts and a sweater, he tentatively made his way down the stairs. He found Beckett on her knees in the Kitchen, sorting through boxes that were left from the night before.

He noticed that beside her were more essentials that he was glad to see, including two pairs of towels, wash cloths and hand towels. He walked around her, stepping lightly over the piles she'd created and simply joined her on the floor.

"Good morning," he spoke.

"Good morning," she replied lightly, without looking up at him.

"Did you sleep well?" He pressed her, hoping beyond anything that this was not the beginnings of awkwardness between them.

She looked up at him then and smiled warmly, "I did. It was hard to get out of bed though. It was freezing." He nodded his agreement and she continued, "I'd love to get the fireplace cleaned out and the wood stove in working condition." He agreed with her again. Shifting attention to the piles in front of her, he commented on what he saw.

"Do you know how to garden Beckett?" He spoke while picking up a packet of strawberry seeds.

"Just what my mom taught me. She used to have a green thumb and would keep a garden in our back yard." She paused in thought, but quickly added, "I gave a glance of the books and saw several on gardening. We'll have to read up on it."

"Do you really think we're going to be here that long Beckett?"

"I certainly hope not, but planting some fruits and vegetables certainly wouldn't hurt." Came her reply.

He nodded and put the seeds back with the pile of packets he pulled it from. He also spotted a sewing kit, a first aid kit, piles of different types of ammunition, different types of soap, more candles, 3 ten gallon containers of paraffin oil, two large bottles of sunscreen, and a large bait and lure kit.

"She certainly covered our bases." He spoke while looking at what Jordan had brought for them.

"Yeah," Beckett replied, "and there are still a few bags that she picked up at the store that I haven't gotten to yet.

"Well, let me help." He spoke as he reached behind him and pulled one of the large bags toward him. He reached in and pulled out two large containers of coffee. His confusion was quickly eased when he looked back in the bag to find a French press. All they would need was boiling water and they would have coffee. She'd even gone as far as to buy them a large container of powdered creamer.

"Oh Beckett…" He spoke her name teasingly, waiting for her to look up at him as he held the French press up for her to see. She raised her head and her eyes lit up when she saw the device. Reaching over and grabbing it from him quickly, she smiled.

"I finally think it's going to be alright." She spoke dramatically, earning a chuckle from castle as he rolled his eyes at her addiction to the substance. Smiling warmly at eachother, they went back to the tasks of unpacking their supplies.

Beckett removed the next plastic box, removing cups, plates and bowls. More pots, pans and cookware was included as well. Additionally, she was relieved to find a set of sturdy knives. She'd be able to prepare anything they caught with the assortment that lay before her. She silently wondered how it was possible for Jordan to have complied so many things for her to use, but she was thankful for it all.

She reached the final box, where she pulled out a wall clock, several economy packs of batteries, a folded tarp, and what she could only assume were many, many yards of fabrics of various colors and designs. Along the bottom were spiral bound notebooks, a package of pencils and a sharpener. She noted that the notebooks were blank and set them out, figuring that Castle would appreciate having the writing materials.

She looked around her again, thankful for all Jordan had provided. Next she looked to Castle, who was staring into a bag that he had his hand in. He seemed to be intently concentrating on whatever it was he'd found, lost in thought.

"Castle?" He jerked his head up for a moment, looking like he had been caught doing something that he shouldn't have been doing. He swallowed but said nothing as he looked at her, hand still buried within the bag.

"Is there a problem Rick?" She asked him, completely confused with his hesitation to remove his hand from the bag.

"Ah. Um. Jordan did a really good job preparing us Beckett." He spoke.

"Yes she did. What's that got to do with what you don't want to pull out of that bag?" He shook his head, removing his hand and moving to fold the bag closed and push it to the side. "It's nothing." He spoke without making eye contact.

"The hell it's nothing", she reached for the bag and grabbed it before he could remove it from her reach and pulled out a large box, without even looking at it she spoke, "if we're going to be living together, we don't need to be embarrassed or ashamed of anything that….oh." She abruptly went quiet when she stopped to look at the economy box of condoms in her hands.

A momentary sweep of redness swept through her, but she quickly brushed it off, placing the condoms onto the floor between them and waiting for him to make eye contact with her. When he did she simply stared back, wearing a firm poker face,

"These will come in handy, don't you think Rick?" She shot at him, no malice in her voice whatsoever. She could have been talking about the weather with her tone of voice.

He simply nodded at her, allowing a warm smile of relief to cross his features. He had no problems with the condoms, but was afraid that discussing their nightly activities in the light of day might set her off. He was encouraged to learn that this was not the case.

As he continued to work through the bag in front of him, producing yet more dried foods, he couldn't help but shake one lingering question. Finally, when he was no longer able to keep it to himself, he voiced it.

"Hey Kate?" He asked, with clear apprehension in his voice.

"Hey what?" She replied, again not looking up at him.

"Well, it's just that. We've got this box of condoms," her head lifted as he captured her full attention, "and I couldn't help but notice that we didn't have them last night." He looked at the bag of corn kernels in his hand, "or the night before."

"What are you asking me Rick?" She questioned him, wanting just a little to make him squirm.

"Well, given that we didn't use protection. Is there any chance that we're trying to grow our own population up here in the woods?" She burst into laughter, unable to control herself anymore.

"Castle, do you know what the contraceptive ring is?" He nodded at her, as he'd seen the commercials.

"Well, I've got one. It has enough hormones for one month, and I'm two weeks into it. So those condoms aren't necessary for now, but I don't have birth control after this one comes out." She spoke coyly, tilting the box of condoms with her finger. He smiled at her, slightly relieved to know that they were safe, and intensely relieved to know that she still planned on having sex with him in two weeks.

With the awkwardness of the conversation behind them, he shifted to the final bag, which held camouflage gear complete with gloves for the both of them; enabling them to hunt in a variety of conditions, including rain and cold. There were also hats for the both of them, which would come in handy protecting them from the sun. Finally, he pulled out a large pair of rubber boots. Although unsure of their purpose, he set them down with the rest of the hunting gear he'd pulled from the bag.

Looking around the piles that had been unloaded by the both of them, he was drawn to a small shiny metal contraption resembling a Swiss army knife. Lifting it up, he simply turned to Beckett and said "I'm wolverine." She rolled her eyes at his antics and pulled the device from his hands.

"Keep your hands off the Leatherman, and for that matter, away from anything knife, tool or gun related for the time being." She told him sternly.

"Speaking of guns, what have we got?" He asked her.

"We've got a rifle, it came with the scope already attached but I'm not too optimistic; Yet another reason to not mess with the Leatherman Castle. I'm going to need to spend some time adjusting the scope and getting everything up to par before we start hunting." She informed him as she stood and lifted the first aid kit from the floor.

"We've also got a revolver, which will be yours and a glock, which will be mine." Although completely joking, Castle mumbled, "how come you get the glock?"

"Because it's the same as my old service weapon and I'm familiar with how it handles." She retorted to his teasing whine before adding, "I could always shoot two-handed, revolver in my left, glock in my right. You could make yourself a sling shot." She gave him a wicked grin and he simply glared at her.

She set the first-aid kit on the table for a moment and ran her hands through her hair, it was easy to see that she was positively overwhelmed by the mess around her. Castle stood and placed his hands on her shoulders, giving them a squeeze. "It's going to be alright, one thing at a time Kate."

He felt her inhale deeply and nod her head and reply, "You're right, but we should have started with cleaning. Now there's no place to put anything." He could tell that the stress in her voice went much deeper than just the cleaning.

"Kate." He whispered, "What is it?"

She shook her head, wiping her face with the back of her hand in what he could only assume was an attempt to rid her face of tears.

"Kate." He spoke again, this time making a bold decision to pull her back against him and wrap his arms around her shoulders and chest. "Kate, you're not alone. Please don't shut me out. Didn't you just say that we didn't need to be ashamed or embarrassed of anything?"

Finally, she spoke with a tremor in her voice. "I'm stuck out here, away from everyone and everything I've ever known and I have no idea how long it's going to be before I get my life back." He sighed behind her and offered her his best attempt at comfort.

"Yes, but I'm here too Kate. You're not alone." With his words she forced herself from his embrace and turned to face him.

"That's the worst part Rick. You gave up everything. Everything. You've got a daughter that needs you. You've got a career and a life, and now it's gone, and it's my fault Rick. How am I supposed to be ok with that?"

"You're supposed to be ok with that Kate, because it was my decision. I chose this. I chose you. You said you needed me and guess what. I need you too. I love you Kate, and you know that. I'm in this with you, wherever it leads us."

She looked down for a moment, an expression of resignation crossing her face. It was the last thing he wanted to see directly after telling her that he loved her, yet again. He didn't know what to think in the moment, and he was afraid to ask.

When Kate looked back up she saw the tortured expression on his face her heart broke. She moved into him again and wrapped her arms around his torso. After several seconds he returned the gesture and closed his arms around her as well. She inhaled the scent of him, placing a kiss on his neck.

"Thank you." She whispered. "You're right. I do need you. I need you more than you'll ever know."

He squeezed her tightly and placed a kiss on the top of her head, smiling to himself as he thought,

Keep letting me in Kate Beckett, and you'll soon see that what you feel for me is so much more than need.


Ok, more to follow. :)