There and Back

Four: New Normal

Rick grinned at his daughter as they both dropped their bags just inside the front door of their loft. It felt good to be back in the city, good to be back to their home and, above else, good to be together again. They were home, safe and sound and it felt... fantastic.

"I'm going to go unpack," Alexis said, already lifting her bags again. "You do the same and I'll do laundry?"

"Deal," he grinned, watching her skip up the stairs. He had one year left with his little girl before she'd head off to college, so the summer had been a test and a learning experience for both of them. He carried his own bags into his room, dropping them on his bed. He unzipped them, going through them, trying to decipher what went where. Laundry he simply tossed behind him, hoping they ended up in some sort of pile. The rest he left heaped in his suitcases.

He and Alexis had already caught up on their hour and a half drive back from Princeton so his thoughts drifted to another one of the most important people in his life. Kate Beckett. He hadn't honestly expected her to actually respond to his text. When she had, he'd been thisclose to jumping at the chance to head back to New York City. But he forced himself to stop, take a deep breath, and think this through. Her response to his text did not automatically mean that he was back in her good graces.

He had no idea what was going to come of their texting over the summer. Neither of them had made any calls, but the texting had become less tentative, more candid and he had to admit, he was itching to talk to her. Preferably in person, but he wasn't sure if she would be ready for that. Kate could be a bit of a rabbit when it came to her personal life and the last thing he wanted to do was scare her off. Yet, at the same time, their texting hadn't given him any indication as to whether or not he was allowed back in the precinct when Alexis went to school. He could understand if he'd blown his shot at a real relationship with her, but he wanted to be a part of her life either way.

He told himself that was the reason he couldn't seem to restrain himself from hitting the third speed dial on his phone.

"Beckett."

Her voice was soft, and a little bit like music to his ears and it left him no doubt that she knew exactly who was calling. The smile bloomed wide across his face as he replied, "Hey."

"Hey."

Rick swallowed. "How are you?"

"I'm tired," she admitted and he was torn between sympathy since she truly sounded it, and a little bit of glee that she'd been so candid. It was nice to know that their text conversations meant she could be honest while talking to him as well.

"Work?" he asked, his voice quiet, almost tentative. Texting was one thing because they had time between messages to think of the appropriate response, but over the phone… well, with their past of mixed messages and misinterpretation he was afraid even a pause could be misinterpreted.

Her sigh told him everything he needed to know, even as she said, "We're in the middle of a case."

"And you're home?" he teased softly. "Slacking off, Detective?"

He was glad she chuckled in response. "We've been running flat out for a few days now. Montgomery told us we needed to go home."

"It's nice to know nothing's changed in my absence." He froze at the words because he knew they were a lie. God, why did he have this uncanny ability of sticking his foot in his mouth when it came to her? "I mean-"

"I know what you mean," she interrupted and her voice was quiet. Because while nothing may have changed at the precinct, everything else had and he wanted to make sure that she knew he recognized that. He wanted to make sure that she knew he didn't think everything was just going to go back to normal, before Ellie, before Demming.

"Did Alexis enjoy Princeton?"

A thrill went through him at her attempt to prolong the conversation at the same time her voice jolted him out of his thoughts. He grinned. "She only has good things to say about it."

"And you both survived."

Rick grinned as Alexis poked her head into the room and sent him an exasperated look at his pile of laundry and his still-packed suitcases. He made his way to her, pressing a kiss to her head. "Yeah, we did. It wasn't the same, but we made it."

Blue eyes, so identical to his own, rolled in a fashion that reminded him almost completely of the woman on the phone. "Hi Detective Beckett." Then she skipped away, calling back that she'd take care of calling her grandmother to notify her they were home and order dinner.

Silence fell between them as Kate's chuckle floated into his ear. She had been working hard, he had no doubt about that, and the insinuation that the only way she'd left the precinct was at her captain's insistence, but her amusement sounded genuine and light. A part of him hoped it was because she was talking to him, but he firmly silenced that voice and forced his attention back to the conversation itself. He just barely caught the little clearing of her throat. She was nervous. And he couldn't help himself.

"Don't worry, Detective, this isn't a scandalous phone call. Well, unless you had other plans?"

Her chuckle was low and throaty, intriguing him and snapping his body to awareness. "Not for this phone call, no," she answered. "But I do have other plans."

"A hot date?"

"Yeah," she replied. "A very hot date."

He felt his spirits fall a little.

"I believe you know her."

Her? Now his interest was piqued. "Are you and Lanie off to have a dirty girl's night, Detective? I didn't think you went for that. Though, if you are, can I please, please at least watch?"

"Not that I don't think Lanie would be willing to try, but she seems quite content in her not-so-secret relationship," Kate quipped back, the playfulness there in spades.

He was grinning, his mind spinning with dirty thoughts as much as it was remembering this time, this teasing, this underlying innuendo that was less underlying now. "The good Doctor Parish has a man?"

"You're not going to be calling her the good Doctor Parish when she's gutting you on her autopsy table."

He winced. "She's still mad?"

"She's livid, Castle."

Livid. Great. But Kate quite obviously wasn't and he didn't need Kate to stand between him and Lanie. He'd hurt her best friend, so he could understand the ME's need to defend her own. He'd take it, and they'd move on. From the sound of it, Kate didn't much care what Lanie's opinion was or Rick figured they wouldn't be talking now.

"Tell me more about this hot date that I know," he requested. He'd wanted to keep the conversation light and talking about Lanie's ire was more likely to remind them that they had a ways to go yet.

"It's a hot bath, Castle," she said. "A hot bath and a good glass of wine."

Oh, he knew what was coming next. "And a good book."

"What kind of a good book?" He hadn't even received his advance copy of Naked Heat yet, so he knew it wasn't that.

"An old favourite," she answered, and he could tell she was having fun stringing him along. In this case, he didn't much mind it since it told him at the very least their friendship was salvageable. That was all that mattered to him, that they were back to a version of normal and that he could talk to her, listen to her, tease and banter with her. His chest was welling with excitement and joy at a simple conversation, when she could have given him the cold shoulder.

"God it's good to hear your voice," he blurted. Then closed his eyes. He'd promised himself he wouldn't be some lovesick puppy. He was going to make sure that their friendship came first. They'd need that friendship again before he could gauge whether or not she'd be ready for a relationship.

"Castle-"

"I know," he said immediately. "I'm sorry it just… slipped out. I missed you."

There was silence for a minute, though he knew she hadn't hung up, so he waited as patiently as he could. He heard her deep intake of breath.

"I missed you too."

His heart leapt and his stomach twisted. His fingers tightened on the phone as he licked his lips. He had just opened his mouth to say something more, what, he wasn't totally sure, but she beat him to the punch.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Castle."

He couldn't help the boyish grin that slid over his face. She was letting him back. She was letting him follow her. It was more than he'd thought. "Until tomorrow, Detective."

He was all but bouncing as he saw his daughter off to school the next morning. He was more than excited, not just because he was back in Kate's life and she was going to let him work cases with her again, but to be able to go back to the usual routines. So, with a kiss to his daughter's cheek he followed her down to the lobby and hailed a cab headed for the Twelfth Precinct.

When he got off the elevator, Kate was nowhere in sight, but Esposito and Ryan were there, sitting at their desks. What surprised him the most was Lanie's presence. He knew he wasn't welcome, per se, because Esposito and Ryan had informed him he was going to have some explaining to do, but the absolute fury that took over the diminutive ME's face as he approached terrified him.

And yet he hadn't been prepared for how quickly she moved, nor the stinging pain that lanced through his cheek as her palm connected with his face. He worked his jaw for a moment before turning back to her, fixing his eyes on hers and staring down the fire in them. He wanted to fix things with Kate and if that meant facing the ire of the detective's best friend, then he was damned well going to do it.

"I know she let you back in," Lanie hissed. "And I don't agree, but it's her decision. So I'm going to say this once and you'd better hear me, understand?"

Rick just waited patiently, not moving his eyes from hers.

"You walk away from her like that again, and they'll never, ever, find your body."

He didn't have to look to know that Esposito and Ryan would help. He also knew that trying to explain that it wasn't all his fault, to say that Kate had blame in the whole situation, would be utterly useless. His writer buddies would defend him, Kate's friends would defend her. It was a universal constant.

All heads turned as Kate's voice floated out of the Captain's door. She stepped out into the bullpen and Rick almost felt his breath stop. She was still beautiful, and today looked softer with her hair in messy curls. She'd only done it one other time and he'd been utterly distracted by it, by how much it made her look like a woman instead of a hard-nosed cop. And he couldn't help but hope that she'd done it knowing he was coming back to the precinct.

Kate turned her head and met his eyes, taking in the tableau before her. She and Lanie exchanged a glance before the medical examiner walked off, then turned her gaze back to him. It a few steps, he was in front of her, looking down at her, just on the fringes of her personal space.

"Hi," he said, unsure of everything.

"Hi," she replied, and there was more confidence in her voice. She took his face in with her eyes before saying, "I'll get you ice for that red mark you're developing, and get you caught up while you make my coffee."

He couldn't stop the little smile from tilting the corner of his mouth.

Welcome back indeed.

And we're back ladies and gentlemen! Which makes me inordinately happy because now the good stuff comes in!

Hope you enjoyed.

PS: Twice as much thanks to IMW and Xleste who I somehow forgot to thank for their sounding board and beta-ing in the first post. Thank you for making this chapter work!