Author's note: So I really like this chapter! It has some fun moments and really sets us up for the case to get going in the next chapter. We finally meet Dmitri and they will get to talk to him before the end of chapter 5, I promise! Thanks for all the reviews guys :) they really make my day! XO

Disclaimer: If they were mine, I'd have met Stana and Nathan already…which I haven't…therefore STILL not mine

Chapter 4:

The two made their way up to the main deck quickly. Beckett was anxious to start scouting for Dmitri and his family while Castle wanted to see the pool, well, more specifically the water slides, not that he planned to admit that out loud.

By the time the two had reached the door to the deck, Castle was practically dragging Beckett behind him. I knew there was a reason I haven't let him hold my hand before… Oh sure Kate, that's the ONLY reason…

"Oh look the deck is over there, just a bit faster. We're almost there! Come on!" Beckett thought the smile on Castle's face might split his head into two. As much as she hated to admit it, it was actually kind of cute.

She pulled on his hand to make him stop walking, turned to face him and looked him directly in his eyes. "Rick why don't you go get us each a drink from the bar so you can go check out the shiny, yellow water slides, and I will go find us a table with a good view of the people on board."

"Heh. Double heh! I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about Kate." Castle feigned sarcasm and forced himself to stop craning his neck to get a glance of the slide. How does she ALWAYS know what I'm thinking?

Reading his mind again, Beckett stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Castle's neck, enjoying their height difference without her usual heels on. She leaned in towards him and let her lips brush his ear in a tease as she whispered, "I'm a detective Castle, and it's my job to know what you're thinking." She pulled back laughing, but kept her body close to his. She was enjoying the warmth and heat they created together.

Castle found that his hands had landed on her hips without his knowledge of them moving. He was focused on the beautiful sound of her laughter as he tried to breathe.

"Now go get us some drinks. And nothing too strong!" Kate reluctantly removed her arms and turned to find a table.

Kate hadn't found anywhere to sit, so she settled for leaning against the railing of the ship's deck. She had a great view of all the passengers, the door leading into and out of the deck, and the bar. Dmitri wouldn't be able to hide if he was at the event.

Castle came back from the bar carrying two drinks: a scotch for himself, and something fruity and light for Kate. He found her quickly, and paused for a moment to admire her. She looks so calm, carefree. For years, all Castle had wanted was to be a source of happiness and light for the detective, and seeing her so relaxed – even if it was because of the beautiful weather and not his ruggedly handsome self – warmed him inside.

With a smile plastered to his face, he stepped up behind her. Kate knew he was there, she always did, but she was still surprised when he pressed into her. Right. Undercover. Castle had reached an arm around either side of Kate, holding the drinks out in front of her as she rested both arms with her elbows on the railing. His stomach was pressed into her back, his arms wrapped around her. He was so close he could smell her unique cherry scent.

Without pausing to think, Beckett turned around to face him, still between his arms, and rested one hand on his chest. The two were now standing in a close embrace – both of their stomachs doing backflips. Undercover my ass.

"Here's your drink." The words came out breathlessly. Kate Beckett's hand was resting on his chest, and she was smiling through her eyes.

Beckett noticed his reaction, but chose to ignore it, taking her drink she finished it quickly while taking in her surroundings, and then leaned in to whisper in his ear, "ask me to dance Castle." She knew if they could get in the center of the action, they might be able to spot Dmitri faster.

It didn't take much convincing for Castle to sip the rest of his drink, place the empty cups on a nearby tray, and guide Beckett to the dance floor.

The two enjoyed the upbeat music as the cruise officially set sail, and even laughed while dancing with each other. For the first time in a while, they both let their guards down, stopped worrying, and just had fun!

After a few songs, Beckett spotted their target sitting at a table on the deck. Reluctantly, she knew they needed to get closer, meaning they'd have to leave the dance floor.

Her hips swayed to the music as Rick's hands wrapped around her waist. She moved flawlessly against him for a moment, allowing herself to close her eyes and enjoy the music before interrupting their moment. All too soon she whispered in his ear, "Babe, a few tables just opened up, and our friends are sitting at one of them. We should head over. " With other couples surrounding them, Beckett couldn't speak freely.

"Wha… Oh!" Castle caught on quickly, but not before Beckett could roll her eyes, take his hand, and drag him towards the tables, realizing too late that she was doing the same thing to him that she had found so adorably annoying only minutes before.

"So, babe was it?" said Castle with a hint of sarcasm as they found a table next to Dmitri's.

Beckett blushed. She hoped maybe he would ignore the pet name. It had just slipped out, and she had pretended it wasn't a big deal, but obviously Castle wasn't going to let it go. "Sorry, I just…"

Sensing her discomfort Castle interrupted her. "I like babe, but only if you've ruled out Captain, Ruler of the Universe and Your Royal Highness."

Beckett couldn't fight the eye-roll that followed his statement… Or the smile. "Keep it down Castle, I'm trying to eavesdrop." Beckett was looking at Castle, but listening to the conversation at the table next to them. Well, she was trying to. They were quiet, and the writer in front of her was incredibly distracting.

As a buffer, Castle moved his chair so he was closer to Beckett – allowing her to look straight past him at the family without being spotted.

Dmitri's family had settled at their table, and he was talking in hushed tones to his son. Beckett distinctly heard the words "casino", "keep quiet", and "evening", but not much else. He was being much too cautious. His son however, was drinking and looking much more open and relaxed.

"What are you thinking?" Castle spoke without letting his eyes leave hers.

Beckett sighed and relaxed back into her chair. "Its too open for them to talk here. They need the cover of noise and distraction so…"

"The casino." Castle smiled as he finished Beckett's sentence. "It's dark, noisy, and busy. Plus nobody would pay any extra attention to a Mob-looking Russian."

"Because the whole family will fit right in."

"Well M'Lady what do you say to a date night at the casino?" Castle's eyes sparkled and while he spoke, his hand found hers on the table.

Ignoring the warmth spreading through her body at his touch, Kate reminded herself to stay in control. "Sure Rick." She laced their fingers together and leaned in so her lips brushed his ear, "Two things." She was practically purring and Castle's eyes fluttered closed. He was grateful she couldn't see. "Control yourself around the slots, and call me M'Lady again and you'll be needing your safe word."

She pulled back smirking. "And not for reasons you'd enjoy." A full smile crept up onto her face. Castle wasn't sure, but he didn't think her flirting was only for their undercover show. Its going to be a long week if I keep trying to decipher between what is real, and what is undercover, thought Castle.

Beckett and Castle made their way back to their suite hand in hand, pausing only with one detour to check a map and find the casino. Beckett needed the night of surveillance to go well.

"I'm going to call the boys and fill them in before we get so far from port that I need the SAT phone." Beckett was already dialing as Castle opened the door to their room. Castle let her ahead of him and tried not to stare at her from behind as he followed her inside.

"Hey. No I haven't killed him yet. Yes he misses you too." Castle smiled as Beckett rolled her eyes. Damn boys and their bromances.

Castle sat next to Kate on the bed and leaned in and put his ear next to hers, the phone the only barrier between them. "Next cruise everyone comes along! Jenny and Lanie too!"

Beckett rolled her eyes and grabbed Castle's ear, physically dragging him away from the phone. "OWW! APPLES! APPLES! AGAIN APPLES! Beckett twice in one day?" He rubbed his ear gingerly, but his anger didn't reach his eyes.

"There's such a thing as speakerphone Castle," she said as she put the phone on the bed and leaned back against the headboard.

"What fun is that Kate?" Beckett nearly dropped her pen at the intensity in his eyes. He never called her by her first name unless they were undercover, or he was serious. Damn. She thought. He says my name and I feel gooey inside. I'm a badass detective. I carry a gun. I cannot fall apart at the words of Richard Castle!

Beckett took a deep breath and tried to catch up and take notes as Ryan filled her in on the family's financials. "Beckett they seem to come away from the cruises with more money than they spend. We've been thinking…"

"Yeah they spend time in the casinos." She said, interrupting Ryan. She only looked up from her notes when she was met with silence. "What? We overheard them earlier making plans for tonight. Castle and I are going to stake them out tonight and see what we can find out."

"Well I'm glad I spent all day going over financial then." Beckett and Castle could hear the pout through the phone. "Ryan do me a favor and send me the summary? It'll help us know where to look for them tonight, and prepare us for the amounts of money they'll be willing to spend. And Espo tell him to stop pouting."

"I'm not…" Ryan began, but Esposito cut him off.

"On it boss. As you wish. Call tonight with updates. Or in the morning, whichever works best for you and Castle." Beckett could tell smiling while he rambled. "Oh and one more thing? We can't figure out why they'd be doing all of this on a couples' cruise."

"Easy," said Castle. "On a family cruise there are too many kids running around, making distractions and noise but not in a good way." Castle was slipping into his story voice, and Kate was becoming easily swept away by his words. She repeated her mantra: I cannot fall apart at the words of Richard Castle.

"A regular cruise is too quiet - too many older folks who just want peace, quiet, and unsuspicious people surrounding them." He smiled and had to fight not to look at Kate as he continued his story staring at the phone. "But a couples cruise is different. Everyone here is so wrapped up in who they are with," he chanced a look at Kate only to see her also focused on the phone, a determined look in her eye, "they can't see anything other than the person they are with. The couples are nearsighted, distracted, and focused only on each other, because they are in love."

Castle finished talking and leaned back into the headboard next to Becket. The three detectives and the writer were quiet for a minute, as they usually were on the rare occasions when Castle's theories made eloquent sense.

It was Esposito who broke the silence. "So basically it's a good thing you and Beckett aren't like, madly in love with each other and can focus on the case, right?" The boys' knowing laughter rung through the room, but neither Rick nor Kate felt like it was a joke.

Beckett put a playful tone in her voice to chastise them. "Okay detectives go detect something. Goodbye! We will call in the morning." Beckett hung up, and silence engulfed them again.

Finally, still without making eye contact, Beckett said, "Well I'm going to shower and get ready for tonight. Do you want to shower first, or?" She trailed off waiting for Castle's response, hoping he hadn't heard the uncertainty in her voice. Hoping and praying he wasn't going to make a big deal about what the boys had said.

"No, please. You go first. I'm going to write for a bit, and I'll jump in the shower when you're done." He smiled calmly – although on the inside he was gasping for air –, and went for his computer, pretending nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

"Thanks Castle." She said, smiling shyly. "And no peeking."

He laughed out loud at that, and his smile finally reached his eyes. Beckett, feeling their normal banter return, somehow knew they were okay now, and happily went to shower.

YIKES! So much tension I LOVE IT!

Jumping off topic for a second here… DID ANYONE SEE THE NEW PHOTOS OF STANA TODAY?! GORGEOUS WOMAN at her ATP event. I love the one where she's obviously sitting and laughing and cracking herself up. Both these characters and these actors make me smile every time I see them.

Anyway… next chapter will be up before the end of the week! Dmitri has an accent...which I wrote in... but I will change it if enough people think I should. Happy Castleless Monday!

X c