This is the second of the three chapters that I'm posting today, so if you haven't read the 3XK chapters, go back one. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or any of the characters.

Chapter 7 - Is That a Hickey?

Kate had gained a little bit more movement over the past day. She was now able to sit up straight in bed, with the matress to lean back on, of course and she could cross her legs, which left a big space at the end of her bed. Of course, it wasn't empty for long. Castle had given himself the honour of filling the space with the excuse of 'keeping her bed warm.' Their current positions also made it easier to play board games, or more specifically, Monopoly.

"Suck it up, Castle. You owe me fifty dollars."

He grumbled for what must have been the millionth time. It was a good job it was only a game otherwise, she'd own his entire fortune from selling his books by now. He tossed his remaining forty bucks, and took a note pad out of his jacket and wrote something on it beore handing it to her.

"'I owe you $10.' You know, I'm going to keep hold of this and use it in the future when we're eating at Remy's. Free gift voucher, courtesy of Richard Castle."

"What's the point? I always pay, anyway. You owe me hundreds of dollars!" She looked up with a raised eyebrow, the take-that-back-right-now-or-I'll-kill-you look. He quickly took out his wallet and gave her a twenty. "Keep the change."

"Oooh, who's winning?"

Esposito and Ryan marched into the room, taking the two seats whilst peering at the board.

"Her. But she cheated."

"Wha- No I didn't. Take that back."

"She did. She tried to seduce me with her feminine wiles."

"Well it's better than your imaginary 'sexual prowess.'"

"Hey! You take that back."

"Seriously. If I wasn't in this bed right now recovering from a GSW, I'd totally kick your ass."

Castle unconsciously grabbed his nose and ears, protecting them from her vice grip.

"And don't I know it."

"Mom. Dad. Stop it. We don't like it when you fight."

They both turned to look at the Ryan and Esposito, who were simultaneously pouting excessively, whilst holding back laughter, until a light flashed in their eyes. Castle was holding up his iPhone, grinning.

"Time to tweet. 'Aren't Roach cute when they pout?' His finger hovered over the 'Tweet' button, looking up to find both Detectives rapidly approaching.

"OK, Castle. Now we're gonna kick your ass."

He took a step back, hitting the wall, his body jolting and his thumb touching the button he'd refrained from pressing. "Oops..."

They took a step closer before Kate once again called the shots. "Guys, sit down. He'll delete the post, won't you Castle?"

"Of course."

Kate waved her hand at him, signaling for him to lean close so she could whisper to him. "You're gonna send me a copy, right?"

"An electronic copy and an A3 printout for the Precinct, if you like."

He leant back to grin at her, which eventually faded as he realized just how close they were.

"Ahem. We wanted your help on a case. That's why we're here."

Castle stepped back, trying not to look flustered.

"Gee, guys. And there was me thinking you wanted to check up on me." She said it in a serious voice, but with a smile on her face to let them know she was joking. "Shoot." She grimaced. "Not my best choice of words, but continue."

"Ok, so we're at a scene and a guy had been strangled in his bedroom on his bed, presumably in his sleep. But what we can't figure out is how the murderer got in. The windows were locked so he didn't use the fire escape and the door hadn't been damaged, and the door man didn't report anyone going inside the building around the time of death."

They were silent for a few minutes, trying to solve the puzzle.

"Easy. The murderer was an alien working for the CIA, and was beamed into the room to kill the victim who found out about them. Quite obvious really."

The boys were all smiling and shaking their head. Beckett, however, felt strange.

"Huh. I just got deja vu. You need to differ your theories, Castle. They're getting old."

The boys just laughed. "Think we should tell her about the alien case? It was pretty creepy and very awesome."

She just rolled her eyes. "There's no such things as aliens, guys."

"OK, now I'm getting deja vu. It took me days to persuade you to believe in the possibility of aliens, and when I have you convinced, the feds take responsibility." Castle was looking pretty dejected whilst rubbing his neck.

"Feds? Sure, Castle. If that's what we're going with. We'll pretend that you and Beckett weren't necking in her car."

"We explained this. It was from the injectors, they weren't hickeys, Esposito. I wish."

She opened her eyes slowly, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dark. She could hear crickets make noise in the distance. Realizing where she was and who she was with, and most importantly leaning on, she sat hesitantly, only to meet Castle's confused gaze. It took her a few moments before she eventually turning away to look out of the windshield. What the hell just happened?

"You OK?" She heard his voice as her hand brished through her hair, keeping it away from her face. She was staring in disbelief at the wheel in front of her, trying to come up with some sensical explanation. One minute they were in the car, driving back to the Precinct before it broke down and they lost signal from their phones. Then she had a bright light being shone in her face and someone she could only guess was a government fed was questioning her. Not an everyday occurence for her to be frank.

"Castle, did that really happen?" Her voice was barely a whisper, even though they were the only two there.

He pulled the collar of his shirt away from his neck and turned to face out of the window to his right. He brushed his fingers against his skin, feeling for abnormalities. "Do I have a...?"

Beckett's jaw dropped open slightly. Oh God. What were the boys gonna think if they had his and hers marks on their necks?

"Oh, no..." Looking in the mirror, she brushed her hair away to reveal a similar purple mark. Crap!

"'Cos you gotta..." He stopped speaking when she gasped out loud and he leant forward to look at the sky above the car. Nothing. Odd. How were they going to explain this?

"Hmm... Abducted by government agents, huh? C'mon. What were you two really doing?" Beckett had surprised this little interrogation from Esposito hadn't come sooner. She looked at Castle with an inquisitive look before looking down. She knew exactly what he was implying.

"It's not a hickey, Esposito."

"You both have one." The Hispanic detective didn't miss a beat.

"I wish it was a hickey."

Castle's reponse shouldn't have surprised her but she couldn't help her head jerking up suddenly to give him a very questioning look, her eyesbrows raised. He was unfazed and continued immediately.

"It's from the injectors."

"Is that was the kids are calling it these days?" Esposito was struggling to keep a straight face at this point. He believed their story, but what kind of friend would he be if he didn't take the piss first?

"They were men in black!" Castle was getting insistent now. He hadn't caught on to Esposito's joking.

"Where are you with the vacuum packers?" Beckett was getting pretty annoyed now, not that it ever took much to get in that mood.

"So far, I have found over 100 machines in the 5 boroughs. CSU's checking as fast as they can." He became distracted. He knew it was best not to get on Beckett's bad side. She was pretty scary.

"And the cigarettes?"

"No DNA match, but they are a Chinese brand. Only found in Asia, or on the black market in Chinatown."

"So maybe she was killed by an alien, just... an illegal alien." Castle was sputing out the stupid theories again. To be expected.

"Hey." Ryan had joined them by this point, his eyes homing in on their matching bruises. "Those hickeys?"

"Yes."

"No."

"I wish."

"OK..." Ryan sighed.

"Castle. I can remember the car stopping and a bright light. Is that my imagination or...?"

"No. It happened. We were abducted, not by aliens, but by government agents who questioned us about a piece of evidence. To sedate us, they used in injector in our necks which left a bright red hickey-like mark. And as you can guess, we got a lot of stick from it, particularly these two, who were adamant that we'd been making out." He pointed towards Esposito who was grinning.

"Something went down in that car. I'm sure of it. You can't have been working together for almost three years and not even thought about it."

"OK. Enough, guys. Go home. I need to sleep." She fake yawned to convince them.

"See you tomorrow then." All three men stood to walk out, but Kate grabbed Castle's arm before he could go.

After the other two left she asked him an awkward question.

"Castle. This may sound weird, but did we make out in the car?"

He looked at her for a few seconds and took a breath in. "No. We did not make out in the car. See you tomorrow, Detective."

He was hiding something. She could tell. And if they didn't make out, why did she have a vague memory of his lips on hers?

That was close. Castle could only imagine the kind of pain that would be inflicted upon him when she found out he kissed her. Not that she could say he was lying. He had simply said that they didn't make out in the car, which was perfectly true. He knew that if he was the one lying in a hospital bed with amnesia, it wouldn't take him long to remember. It wasn't the kind of kiss that could be forgotten all too easily.