Objects in Motion


Kate Beckett had made it to the end of the week. Finally.

It wasn't as though she hadn't been aware of what the job entailed when she said yes to being interim Captain. She'd taken the test almost six months ago knowing full well that being Captain would mean taking on a whole new range of responsibilities that she otherwise would have never had before. It was just a little unsettling that it had come at such a surprise and they'd practically shoved the job at her without as much as a warning, training wheels be damned.

She'd been thrown head first into the middle of all the politics and bureaucracy, and her first three days as interim Captain had been spent knee deep in meetings that ranged from discussing budget cuts to the precinct's case closure rates. She'd nearly cried with relief when Ryan and Esposito caught a case late on Wednesday and while she hadn't been able to hit the pavement as much as she was used to, it meant she had a little reprieve from the constant barrage of administrative paperwork that she was now subjected to.

As it turned out, their case was a fairly standard open and shut one that broke late Friday afternoon. She'd watched as her boys took point on the investigation, wished them good luck as they dragged their number one suspect into interrogation and looked on from observation as they coerced the confession out of him. It was only one case, but she definitely felt it - the pang of regret as they cuffed him and shot her a thumbs up from the other side of the two-way mirror. Standing by the sidelines as the action went down definitely didn't feel the same as being right in the middle of the investigation herself and she wasn't sure how much she liked the feeling.

The boys had been ecstatic at the relatively simple solve, practically running out the door for a round of drinks in celebration after they turned in their reports to her at the end of the day. They'd invited her out with them, but she turned them down with a sad smile, shoulders hunched over Gates' desk - she couldn't quite bring herself to think of it as her desk - and sent them away with a small wave. She had to sign off on their reports and file them for the AG's office, approve timesheet entries for the week and prepare a budget estimate for a meeting with the One PP on Monday. She snuck a glance to the picture of Gates and her family that still adorned the office she was temporarily occupying and traced a finger over the smiling faces staring back at her.

She'd always respected Gates, even if they didn't particularly get along when they first met. Now, after having a small taste of what went on behind the scenes of what Gates had to put up with every day, not only had the respect grown, but Kate marveled at how she managed to find that balance between the dreary administrative politics, keeping on top of the various ongoing cases in the precinct as well as having what appeared to be a very fulfilling family life. Her chat with Henry at the hospital had been illuminating, and it had given her some hope that if she eventually became Captain, she too would have a chance at building a family with Castle.

If she chose to be Captain, that is. Between Gates' accident and her finding her footing among the slew of new responsibilities, the decisions she had to make had taken a back seat. The question was how much longer she could she put off making her choice and when she did, just how much it would change her life with Castle.

Oh, Castle.

She thumbed the button on the side of her phone, heart fluttering in delight when the screen lit up with her husband's face smiling goofily back at her. He'd insisted on the picture being her background and although she'd made a fuss at the time, the fact that she hadn't changed it spoke volumes at just how much she didn't mind his face grinning back at her whenever she looked at her phone. She grimaced when she realized how late it was and hastily signed off on the last page of the case report and breathed a sigh of relief, allowing herself to finally let go of the tension that had been coiled tightly deep in her gut all week.

Time to go home.


She dragged her exhausted body through the doorway, toeing her boots off as she removed her coat, moving on autopilot as she continued through the loft in search of her husband. She paused before she entered their bedroom, turned around and surveyed the messy trail she'd left behind on the way to the sanctuary of her husband's arms. Boots left haphazardly by the door, coat hanging precariously on the edge of the kitchen counter and her bag lying on the couch, open with its contents threatening to fall out.

She spent a good thirty seconds contemplating the merits of backtracking to pick up after herself but eventually decided against it. Castle would undoubtedly grumble at her when he woke up the next morning - he was a surprisingly neat and tidy man - but he'd clean up after her anyway and she'd find a way to make it up to him. It was the weekend after all, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, she was meant to have her first full day at home since being interim Captain of the 12th precinct.

She unbuttoned her blouse as she stepped through the threshold of their bedroom, making a beeline to the bathroom as she pulled the crisp white shirt over her head. Boba Fett stared at her unwaveringly, a silent companion as she removed her makeup, shedding the Captain Beckett skin she'd been wearing all day. She shook her hair free from the tight bun she'd kept it in, patted her face dry, and completed the rest of her nightly routine before flipping the light switch, blanketing the room in complete darkness.

Their bed was soft and welcoming as she slid in moments later, the sheets already warm against her skin from Castle's solid presence beneath them. She nudged him, gently moving his arm to curl beside her husband, molding herself around his torso. He shifted as she pulled the sheet back up over them, his arm snaking over her body to pull her towards him. His eyes cracked open, still heavy with sleep.

"Welcome home, Beckett."

"Mm, yeah. Sorry for being so late, babe," she mumbled into his lips, her tongue darting out to taste him, catching the love that fell from his lips. She breathed him in, savoring his scent, touched the tip of her nose to his before she turned around and settled in for the night, pressing the length of her back to his front.

"But the good news is we closed the case, so I don't have to go in for the rest of the weekend unless they call me in."

Castle grunted in approval, tightening his hold on her as his palm snuck under her top to rest against the cool skin of her abdomen. He muttered unintelligibly into her hair and she thought she heard something that sounded suspiciously like 'sleep in forever' before she snuggled deeper into comfort of his arms. She smiled into the dark, felt the tension dissipate and let the exhaustion of the entire week melt away into what she knew was going to be a restful slumber.


She woke up the next day to sunlight and laughter. The room was completely illuminated by sunshine, Castle having pulled back the curtains at some point in the morning. She could hear him somewhere in the loft, booming laughter floating through to the bedroom. She felt unbelievably refreshed, the extra hours of sleep working wonders for her body. She stretched, allowing her limbs to spread out over Castle's insanely large bed, working out the kinks in her muscles.

His laughter echoed through the loft again and as much as she wanted to keep lazing around in bed, the sound of his voice was like a siren's song, drawing her to him, pulling at some invisible cord that tied them together. She shrugged the covers off her body, swung her legs over the side of the bed and pulled on the robe that hung behind the bedroom door, stepping into the ridiculously adorable matching fuzzy slippers Castle had bought them almost two years ago.

She padded her way to the kitchen and gasped in delight at the sight before her. Castle was shirtless, phone in one hand, spatula in the other as he danced around the kitchen to music only he could hear. His biceps rippled as he moved around, sending sparks of arousal shooting through her. He was a wonder to watch in the kitchen, an expert in domesticity and boy did that completely do it for her.

The pan he was attending to was spitting, and her mouth watered at the smell of the bacon sizzling on the stove. It looked like he'd already finished with the scrambled eggs and some pancakes were sitting pretty on a plate on the kitchen counter. Oh, how did she get so damn lucky?

She crept up behind her husband and skimmed her fingers down his bare back, fingernails dragging downwards, and snagging the waistband of his pajama pants. He startled, jumping when her fingers dip into his pants and pinched the flesh she'd grown to adore - both in bed and out of it.

"Morning, sexy," she whispered, careful to keep her voice low, aware of the conversation over the phone.

"Oh hey, looks like Captain Sleepypants is awake. I'll talk to you later, pumpkin. Love you!"

She took her place on a bar stool by the kitchen counter and leaned in to receive a kiss as he ended the call. "Is Alexis okay?"

"She's fine, having a lot of fun with the Habitat for Humanity group. Plenty of stories, of course."

His eyes twinkled as he spoke, unable and unwilling to hide the love and affection he had for his daughter. He twisted the dial on the stove, turning it off and scraped the bacon off the pan, depositing it onto another plate. "Here you go, breakfast for my love, made with love."

Kate shook her head, barely able to contain the eye roll at his cheesiness. He picked up a piece of bacon and dangled it in front of her, tilting his head, motioning with his other hand for her to open her mouth. She acquiesced and let him drop it into her mouth. The burst of flavor on her tongue was wonderful, salty sweet and she hummed around the meat, chewing before swallowing. "You are the biggest goofball."

He came around the counter, set plates out and started divvying up the food between them. Kate wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him close as he poured a hefty amount of maple syrup on his plate. He quirked his eyebrow at her, waving the bottle enticingly over her plate. She caught his gaze, inched in his direction and kissed his cheek, fingers nabbing the bottle before he drowned her plate in the sticky sweet sauce.

They had their breakfast in companionable silence and she was almost done with her second cup of coffee when Castle set his knife and fork down and cleared his throat. Kate turned to him, eyebrows arched in question.

"So I was thinking," he began, pushing his plate away and grabbing her hands in his. "Since you've got this entire weekend off, we should do something."

"And just what were you were thinking, stud?" She smiled, curling her fingers around his, waiting expectantly for the rest of his idea.

"You've been going full throttle at this interim Captaincy thing, and I know you're not showing it but you're worried sick about Gates, and maybe you need a little time off, you know, nothing big. Just you and me, somewhere close, but still away from all the … buzzing."

Her heart swelled with affection and she abandoned her stool, stepping off to wrap both her arms around his neck, engulfing him in a tight hug. He stumbled backwards and his arms come up to her waist to steady them both before they fell over. She peppered his unshaven jaw with wet kisses, gratitude spilling from every fiber of her being.

"Yes, Castle. That sounds amazing. Yes, please."

"Kate, you're sure? Because we don't have to, really, but if you are, I looked up some little places not far from h-"

She silenced him with a kiss, fingers digging into the strong muscles of his back as her tongue slipped past his lips. He responded just as eagerly, suckling on her bottom lip as he untied her robe with expert ease, pushing it off her shoulders before nudging her towards the bedroom.

"You know Kate," Castle mumbled into her neck in between kisses as he kicked the door shut behind them. "This is not quite what I meant when I said we could do something this weekend. Not that I'm complaining."

Kate laughed as she tugged his pants down, delighting in the sight before her as they fall to his feet. She tore her eyes away from her prize and grinned.

"But we can definitely start with this, can't we?"