So this is the longest chapter yet. A little more casework, some Lanie/Kate interaction, an evening at home with the Castle-Rogers and a lot more Caskett-y romance.

I hope you enjoy. Please, please review!

Disclaimer: If I owned them I'd have seen Rise by now but sadly, I haven't.

Chapter 9

When the doors to the elevator opened depositing Beckett and Castle back on the Homicide floor the place was uncharacteristically quiet.

Kate walked over to her desk, dropping her purse and gun into her drawer, she turned to look around for Ryan and Esposito. Both their desks were empty. She looked over at Castle and frowned questioningly at him.

"The boys said they were waiting for us when Ryan called about Mason's diary."

"Maybe they bailed and went for lunch, while we were satisfying a little hunger of our own?" Replied Castle, raising one eyebrow suggestively in Beckett's direction.

"Can it, Castle. Or that's the last time you'll be dining at my table for a while."

"Yo! In here you two." Said Esposito, calling out from the break room.

"Not a word. I mean it Castle," hissed Kate, "or you fly solo at Babbo Friday night. No dress, no heels and no…Beckett!"

Castle let out a little yelp, cramming his fist in his mouth to stave off the last image that popped into his head at the mention of her dinner attire and quickly followed Kate to the break room where Ryan and Esposito were sitting at the large center table surrounded by piles of paperwork.

"We decided to make a start on the financials." Said Ryan by way of explanation. "Thought that'd be the easy part."

"Oh how wrong we were, boss. This guy Mason…he spends more a month on groceries than I spend in six. His accounts are all over the place. House keeper has a budget bigger than my monthly salary and we've only scratched the surface so far."

"Look why don't you two take a break. Castle and I can attack this with fresh eyes, see if there's anything we've missed so far. Take Mason's date book and compile a list of regular contacts and also highlight anyone who might stand out as suspicious or out of the ordinary in the days leading up to the murder."

"Yes, boss." The boys chimed, standing up to crack tired limbs.

"I'll get the coffee and we can get started." Said Castle, heading over to the espresso machine to fire up the steam and grind some beans.

Kate had her head in her hands, pushing her hair off her forehead by the time 3pm rolled round. "Oh this is killing me. Why could they not have one checking account and one savings account like normal people and just balance their check book every month?"

Castle chuckled quietly at her last remark and she raised her head to look at him questioningly. "Something you'd like to share with the class, Castle?"

"I just hope you never have to look into my financials 'cos I'm afraid you'd be here just as long." He didn't mean for his statement to come out as smug as it did and he instantly regretted saying it.

"Oh, of course. I was forgetting I was in the presence of a famous multi-millionaire author…and not just some klutz who nearly broke his nose against my skull this morning while trying to drink a cup of coffee!" She practically spat out the last part, finding it almost impossible to conceal her grin when Castle's face turned from a look of soave sophistication to all out horror at the way she'd ridiculed him. "Never mind Castle. I'm sure your 401K will keep you company on those cold lonely nights when the bimbos have moved onto the next big thing."

"You wound me, Detective." He said, pouting for real this time. "What'd I do to deserve that?"

"Oh, you're just so easy Castle. Couldn't resist." With that she rose from her chair and walked round behind him, heading for the door. But as she passed by, in a fit of remorse at her cruel attack on his masculinity, she raised her hand to the back of his head and ran her fingers through his hair in one smooth motion, letting her hand drop to his shoulder and trail across it, still moving across the room all the while, before she stopped at the door, looking back over her shoulder. "It's a little after 3pm. I'm going to the morgue to see what Lanie has for us. If you get bored when I'm gone I'd understand. We can carry on with this tomorrow if you have somewhere else to be."

At the feel of her fingers, every nerve ending in Castle's body came alive. One simple touch from Kate Beckett salved all the ills of the world and he forgave her the last jibe instantly. "I'm made of stern stuff, Detective. I'll be here when you get back. Give my love to the gorgeous Dr Parish, won't you?"

"Oh and I'm sure she'll send hers right back." Said Kate, smiling broadly now at the thought of her friend's reply to Castle's last remark. "See you in a bit." She threw over her shoulder, glad to hear that Castle was prepared to wait around for her return. She was very lucky and she knew it. Anyone else might have gotten bored by now with Kate's one step forward, two steps back dance routine. But not Richard Castle. Lanie might just be right. He could be a keeper. But she'd be damned if she'd ever share that little insight with the bossy Dr Parish because she'd never hear the end of it.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lanie jumped as Kate entered the swing doors to the morgue. "God girl, you'll be the death of me. Sneekin' up like that. Can't you whistle or somethin'?"

"Sorry Lanie. But it's 3pm. I'm reporting as requested by you to hear the results of Livia Caliente's P.M."

"And where's writer boy? You actually left him behind?"

"Yes, you told me to."

"God girl, I thought sure he'd have wormed his way in here somehow."

"No, I was firm with him. Left him pouting upstairs. But he sends you his love anyway!" Said Kate, rolling her eyes at this last part.

"Oh, he sends me his love? Well, we all know it's you he's desperately in love with. Any fool can see that much."

"Lanie Parish! Will you get a hold of yourself. Castle is not in love with me!" Said Kate in a frantic stage whisper, as if he might hear her through several floors of the building.

"Uh huh? You keep tellin' yourself that, girl. But I'm tellin' you…that man has it bad! Don't need to be no genius to work that one out. The way he looks at you and follows you around like some lovesick puppy dog. Hell, the man gets in here at 6am with coffee for you. Coffee! Like an apple for the teacher."

"He's only following me so he can write more books, may I remind you."

"Oh yeah? Please tell me we're not here with the "books" again. That line wore thin a couple of years ago Kate. The man has enough inspiration to write the encyclopedia Britannica by now. When are you going to see what's in front of your face? You could be happy Kate…in fact scratch that. You could be rich and happy. If only you'll let yourself."

"Lanie," whined Kate, desperate to talk about anything but this, "can we just get on with the dead body?"

"I won't be letting up on you any time soon, Kate. It's for your own good. When I'm maid of honor at your big fancy wedding you'll be thanking me plenty for pushing you."

Kate groaned in frustration and Lanie decided to give her friend a break. "So Livia Caliente was a healthy 23 year old. I ran a tox screen and her blood-alcohol level was 0.029, which is consistent with her friend's statement that they had spritzers with dinner at 6pm. Nowhere near intoxicated or disinhibited in anyway. Tox was negative for narcotics and prescription meds. The rape kit also came back negative. There was also no sign of blood or fluid in her lungs and no foam in her nose or mouth. So in fact there were no signs of drowning at all."

"So, we have nothing to go on?" Said Kate, clearly disappointed.

"I haven't finished yet. I did a scrape under her nails and found epithelials, which I've sent to the lab for testing. She might have scratched her attacker, leaving us a clue. But only if he or she is in the DNA database."

"That's a long shot. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Remember the bruising I noticed on her upper arms? Well, the more the body dried out, a secondary patch of bruising appeared on the front of her throat. A finger pattern to the front left and right of her neck that would seem to indicate that she was strangled to death, before being dumped in the pool to make it look like a drowning. Given the lack of inhaled fluid, I'm ruling manual strangulation cause of death."

"That can't be a coincidence? Two victims, both strangled and left at the same…no, actually, posed at the same dumpsite. Son of a bitch! Castle could actually be right. It sounds like we do have a serial killer on our hands. So help me God, I am never going to hear the end of this Lanie!" Kate groaned, looking to her friend for help.

"I'm gonna leave this one to you, girlfriend. Go tell writer boy and suck it up. We all need to eat a little humble pie now and then. And if he gets too insufferable, you can always send him down to me, cause I'd love to have a rich, famous, handsome guy hangin' off my every word."

"It doesn't sound so bad when you say it like that…but believe me he is going to be the biggest pain in the ass. In fact I might just delay telling him til tomorrow. I'll fill in Ryan and Esposito and swear them to secrecy. Yeah…that sounds like a plan." Said Kate, nodding to herself, Lanie all but forgotten in front of her.

"You're gonna keep your partner in the dark about a vital development in your case? Girl, are you crazy? Do you want that man to trust you or not?"

"Lanie, you don't know him like I do." Whined Kate. "I mean he just gets inside your head. I'm not even sure I can keep this from him. It's like he can read my mind sometimes."

"That bad, huh?"

"That bad what?"

"Like a soul mate?"

"God Lanie! You are impossible. I'm going now. Facing Castle will be easier than staying here to be interrogated by you. Later." She called to her friend as she left the morgue and headed back upstairs.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You were gone a long time." Said Castle as soon as she walked into the break room.

"Miss me, Castle?" Asked Kate, flirting deliberately in an attempt to throw him off the scent.

"Always, Detective." Castle flirted right back and Kate felt herself blushing. Goddamn him.

"So, did you find anything among all this?" she said, picking up a file and dropping it back onto the desk in frustration.

"Nope. But we still have two more boxes to go through." Said Castle, hopefully.

"Oh, goodie. I can hardly wait. But look, we've been at this case since 6am this morning. I think it's time to call it a day and we can start fresh tomorrow."

"But aren't you always saying that the trail goes cold the longer you wait to find that vital clue?"

"Well, glad as I am to see that you've been paying attention, Castle. I'm not actually too keen on you parroting my words of wisdom back at me. We…I need a break. My head hurts and my back aches and my eyes are blurry from reading these damn figures."

"Okay, you've convinced me. Stop right there, I have the perfect solution! Come home with me…" he trailed off as Kate put her hand up to object. "…to have dinner with Alexis, mother and me." He clarified. "It's pizza and movie night. We can take a box of this stuff with us and if we get our second wind then we can make a start on it after we've eaten. How's that sound? Actually I don't care, because I'm not taking no for an answer. Get your coat Detective."

"Castle…oh God, why not." Said Kate, defeated by his boundless energy and persuasive manner. She was caving in rather a lot to his demands lately, but the thought of spending an evening in his company, with his family, sounded like the perfect antidote to their crummy day. "I just need a quick word with the guys and then I'll be right with you. Grab one of these boxes and wait for me by the elevator? 'Kay."

Castle watched as Kate left the break room to speak to Ryan and Esposito. Her long brown hair fell in curls down her back, swinging from side to side as she walked. He punched the air with a quick yes as he congratulated himself on talking her into coming home with him. It had been easy. Almost too easy, he thought. Either my game is getting better or she's up to something. Either way, he didn't really care. Spending as much time as possible with Kate was his only goal right now and so far things were progressing nicely. He'd kissed her in public today and lived to tell the tale. She'd touched him in the break room when any of the guys could have walked in and seen them and now she was coming home with him, he practically sang to himself.

"Guys, I need to talk to you in private about the Caliente case." Said Kate, beckoning Ryan and Esposito to one of the interrogation rooms.

"Isn't Castle coming?" Asked Ryan, puzzled when Beckett shook her head. "What he do now?"

"No, this is just between us. Lanie's autopsy shows that Livia Caliente was murdered by manual strangulation and then dumped in that pool to make her death look like a drowning."

"No shit? Strangled as in the same way Edward Mason was strangled and dumped?" Asked Esposito.

"Yeah, exactly the same. So you know what that means, right?"

"That Castle was right! We got ourselves a serial killer."

"No! It means our killer used the same M.O. but posed the bodies differently for effect. But what kind of effect he or she was going for I'm not sure yet."

"But Castle was still right? Dude's a serial killer boss." Said Esposito.

"Technically, yes. But we are going to keep that little tit bit of information to ourselves for now. No sense letting that fact slip out into the media, setting off a city wide panic before we know the facts, now is there?" She said, hoping that her logic would win the guys over and temper their need to share everything with their bromance pal Castle.

"But Castle wouldn't tell the media."

"Oh for god's sake Ryan. We're keeping your little buddy out of the loop for the next few hours that's all. I can't face his gloating tonight, alright?" She finally blurted out in frustration.

"Tonight, huh?" Said Esposito, grinning as he did a little feed the birds hand bump with Ryan.

"Pizza with his family is all, before your dirty little minds run away with themselves, and we're taking case files home with us to carry on working. I'll see you both in the morning and we can break the news to Happy Castle then. Until tomorrow, keep schtum, right?"

"Yes, boss." They chimed together. "Have a good night. Don't do anything we wouldn't do." Called Ryan, smirking.

"At home, Becks." Added Esposito, grinning.

Oh don't worry. I'm sure you wouldn't do what I'm tempted to do, thought Kate, letting her mind wander back to the kiss she'd shared with Castle earlier that day. And with that she grabbed her jacket, purse and gun before heading over to the elevator to join a smiling Richard Castle. "Ready to go?" She asked, chirpily.

"As ever." Replied the writer, ushering her into the elevator ahead of him, banker's box in hand. "Lead the way Detective."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They were greeted by the sound of music playing and laughter when they stepped up to the front door of Castle's loft.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Asked Kate, biting her lip. "I really don't want to intrude on your family time, Castle."

"Nonsense. Alexis and mother love you. Besides, living together we see a little too much of each other at times. Bringing someone new to the table really freshens up the dynamic, if you know what I mean." He said, rolling his eyes towards the two females on the other side of the door.

"That the line you give all the bimbos, Castle? Freshening up the dynamic, really?"

"I, uh." Castle paused, looking a little confused. "Kate I don't bring women here, if that's what you're getting at? This is my home. My daughter lives here. So…" he trailed off.

"I'm sorry. That was a cheap shot. You've been really kind asking me over and I just…"

"Kate, it's okay. Forget it. We're good." He said, squeezing her hand. He understood where Kate's remark had come from. He knew that she was wary of him and that she was worried she would just be another notch on his bedpost. It might take time for her to trust that wasn't going to be the case. But he would be as patient as it took for her to realize that his past was his past and, when he felt she was ready, that he wanted her to be his future. Baby steps.

With that settled he unlocked the door and ushered her into the hallway. Kate could hear Martha and Alexis laughing in the kitchen, unaware that the pair has entered the apartment. Castle dumped the box of files by the front door and helped Kate out of her coat.

"Hi guys. We're home." Shouted Castle in the direction of the kitchen. It was a comforting, natural greeting that wasn't lost on Kate. Home…with Richard Castle. How times had changed. She no longer felt like running a mile from that thought for starters. Lanie would be proud.

"Hey dad." Cried Alexis, running over to kiss her father on the cheek and fling her arms around his neck as he scooped her up. "Detective Beckett, it's so great to see you again." She said to Kate, turning round once her father put her down, to shyly plant a light kiss on her cheek.

"Please Alexis, call me Kate." Replied the Detective, squeezing the girl's shoulder. "It's lovely to see you too and Martha," she said, trailing off to kiss the older woman on the cheek, "you're looking beautiful as ever."

"Richard, I knew there was a reason I loved this girl." She beamed at the compliment. "You look stunning as usual my dear." She said, pulling Kate into a warm embrace. "How was your day, kiddos?" She asked, looking from Kate to Richard and back.

"Frustrating." Groaned Kate.

"But not all bad though. Eh Detective?" Asked Castle slyly, nudging her elbow and smiling suggestively at her. His look designed to take them both back to their flirtatious lunchtime kiss.

Kate blushed and threw a glare in his direction to silence him.

"So everyone ready for pizza?" Castle segwayed deftly.

"Yeah dad. I thought you'd never get here. I'm starving! You order and Kate and I will warm the plates." Said the girl, taking Kate by the arm and leading her off to the kitchen.

Castle smiled at their retreating backs. His two favorite girls, arm in arm. What a picture.

"They make quite a pair, Richard." Said his mother, following his gaze and pulling him back to the present. "She's a special girl, kiddo. Don't mess this up." Warned the older woman, laying a light hand on his forearm and squeezing it.

"Oh I don't intend to mother. But thanks for the vote of confidence." He replied, wryly.

"I'm just saying dear…she's not like the others. Kate's smart and sincere and you can't treat her like just any other woman. It's taken you three years to get to this point and I'm delighted for you both. I think you could be as good for her as she clearly is for you and Alexis worships her, in case you hadn't noticed. But take it slowly. If you smother her you will only chase her away Richard."

"You don't think I know that? You don't think it's killing me to be around her all day every day and not tell her how I feel? You know me mother. I'm a heart on my sleeve, see something I want and go after it kind of guy. But these past three years following her have been some of the best and some of the most torturous years of my life! I'm not going to screw this up now. This is one time I do not intend to fail. But I appreciate the thought mother. More than you know." He squeezed his mother's arm in gratitude and went quickly off to call in the pizza order.

Later, when they were all settled round the island in the kitchen eating, talk turned to their current case.

"So you found two dead bodies, at the same crime scene, a day apart?" Asked Alexis, eyes wide with incredulity.

Kate made a mental note to have a chat with Rick…eh, Castle, about filtering the information he shared from his day with his teenage daughter. "Ah yes, we did Alexis. But I'm not sure that's polite dinner table conversation." Said Kate, turning to look for support from Castle.

"My dad writes crime for a living Kate. I've been listening to him run his crazy murder theories since I was a little kid. So it's okay. But if you'd rather not talk about the case, I understand." Said Alexis with such maturity that Kate kicked herself for her earlier patronizing remark.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" Kate trailed off, feeling awkward.

"We've been at it all day, sweetie. Why don't we give Kate's head a break and choose a movie to watch? I'll fetch the ice cream and we can settle in next door. How's that sound?"

"Thanks." Kate mouthed to Castle across the table, relieved to have avoided piquing his interest in her meeting with Lanie that afternoon, which she was sure would have happened if discussion of the crime scene had carried on any further.

Now on her second glass of wine, and unsure if she'd had anything more to drink before they'd arrived home, Richard eyed his mother with some concern as she turned towards Kate and piped up, "So Richard tells me you two are going on a date Friday night? Have you ever dined at Babbo Kate?" Asked Martha, beaming at the Detective inquiringly.

Kate, for her part, had just lifted her glass to her lips to take a sip of her wine as Martha made her grand pronouncement. The wine caught in her throat and she choked, eyes flying open wildly, as she turned to glare questioningly at Castle who reached calmly over to pat her back as she fought for air.

"It's not really a date, Martha." Said Kate, once she'd regained her composure. "Just two friends going for dinner, that's all." She finished lamely, kicking herself for sounding so feeble.

"Well, it's a very romantic little place for a friendly dinner. I can highly recommend the Beef Cheek Ravioli dear, it's simply to die for." Said Martha, dramatically.

"Well, perhaps you should join us, Martha." Said Kate, throwing Castle an evil little grin.

"Oh no dear. I wouldn't want to intrude. Richard would kill me if I accepted your kind invitation. He doesn't want his old mother cramping his style dear." She said patting Kate's hand, the wine definitely loosening her tongue. "Now let's get settled on the sofa, shall we. I'm in the mood for a romantic comedy." She said, rising from her chair just a little unsteadily.

And I might be in the mood for matricide, thought Castle. Way to go mother. Don't smother her you said. Geez…

"Good God Rick, I'm going to kill you!" Hissed Kate once Martha was safely out of earshot. "You told your mother we were going on a date?"

"No, I don't think I used that word. In fact I'm sure I didn't use that word. We agreed. This is an NDD, remember?"

"An NDD? Oh, a non-date date, right." Said Kate, shaking her head to let that last point sink in. "But you're not off the hook buster. Your mother thinks we're dating and your daughter…well, your daughter seems pretty up to speed with our latest crime scene. Is there anything you don't share with them?" Asked Kate, getting herself into quite a froth.

"Yes, this." Said Rick, stepping suddenly towards Kate and pulling her into a deep and crushing embrace. He silenced any further protests as his lips found hers and his arms tightened around her body, drawing her firmly against him. Kate felt herself go slack as she wound her arms up around his neck, weaving her fingers through his hair as they stood in his kitchen, bodies pressed together, swaying. She parted her lips slightly and teased his mouth apart with the tip of her tongue enjoying the taste of him. He moaned in pleasure, thrusting his own tongue between her open lips, exploring her mouth until they ran out of air.

Kate dipped her head to rest against his shoulder, arms still hanging round his neck for support, a small smile playing at her mouth. Her body felt like it was melting. Her lips throbbed and her heart was pounding. The things this man could do to her.

Rick lowered his arms to circle her slender waist, walking her backwards towards the counter, until she was trapped against his body with no where left to flee.

The look of heat in her eyes when she looked up at him nearly took his breath away. She rose up on tiptoe to meet his mouth again, sliding her body agonizingly over his as she did so. His hands found their way into the silky curls of her hair as he pulled her mouth closer to his in the most passionate of kisses. Right at that moment she was as essential to him as air. He wanted to devour her. He never wanted to have to let her go.

"Richard darling. What are you doing? You promised ice cream and we're ready to start the movie." Called Martha from the other room, causing Rick and Kate to pull apart like guilty teens caught making out. Kate giggled against Rick's chest and then moved to step around him, patting at her swollen lips. He caught her wrist before she could completely escape, whispering breathlessly in her hair, "We will be continuing that Detective. We're not done here by a long way."

"Oh you can count on that, Ricky." She nodded slowly, catching him with a sultry look. "Now be a good boy and fetch your mother some ice cream. Make mine two scoops." She threw over her shoulder before leaving him alone to join the ladies on the sofa.

Richard Castle felt his heart swell just a little in his chest as he thought about the scene that had just played out in his kitchen. He was falling in love and he wasn't sure how he was going to keep that to himself for much longer.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Martha and Alexis had chosen The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds as their movie pick, even though they had both seen it before. Kate and Rick were in the dark as to the storyline, never having seen it, but Kate had a pretty good idea that Martha may have had a none too subtle reason for choosing that particular film tonight.

Basically reprising the story of Green Card, the movie followed a tough Canadian publishing boss, played by Bullock, who was on the verge of being deported since her visa had run out. Reynolds was her put upon assistant, who she black mailed into fake-marrying her to keep her in the country. The film showed the two moving from mutual dislike, through forced intimacy and finally love as they battled to keep their secret from Reynold's large, close knit family. There were some hilarious moments along the way and Kate found herself absorbed by the story and laughing along with the Castle-Rogers clan, her work worries suddenly a million miles away.

When the two leads finally professed their love for one another, Kate blushed as a soppy grin split her face and she felt Castle's eyes on her. Martha had wandered up to her room half way through the movie to lie down, claiming a headache and Alexis had dropped off to sleep on her father's arm, with ten minutes of the film still to go.

"You look adorable." Said Castle quietly, so as not to wake Alexis, as he smiled genuinely over at Kate, his eyes dancing.

"Don't. You'll make me blush." Said Kate, embarrassed at being watched so openly, her guard down. "And if you tell the guys at work about this…" she threatened.

"Don't worry. I know the drill, Kate." He said, sincerely and without a hint of menace this time. "Come on sleepy head." He said, gently shaking Alexis awake. "You have school in the morning."

"Did I fall asleep? Is the movie over?"

"Yes, the girl got the guy…again. Just like when you watched it the last time. You missed nothing pumpkin. So, time for bed."

"Night, dad." She kissed her father on the forehead. "Night, Kate." She came over to where Kate was sitting at the other end of the sofa and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.

Kate was touched by the girl's openness and obvious affection for her. "Night, Alexis. Sweet dreams. And thank you for letting me crash your pizza night."

"It was our pleasure. Wasn't it, dad? We should make it a regular thing. Please say you'll come again, Kate?" The teen practically begged her.

"Eh, well that's up to your dad. But if it's okay with him then I'd be delighted." Said Kate, taking her cue from Castle's violently enthusiastic nods.

"Great! And next time you get to choose the movie. Night guys." She said as a parting shot. Bounding up the stairs to her room.

"You have quite the fan there, Kate." Said Castle, smiling at her. "And you may have an even bigger one right here." He said, scooting up to her end of the sofa and pulling her into his lap.

"Is that so? You're not so bad yourself, Castle." She twinkled, running her fingers absentmindedly up and down the hairs on his forearm, as he snaked it around her waist, pulling her back to rest against his chest, her legs now sandwiched between his. They sat like that for several minutes. Rick breathing quietly into Kate's hair, taking in her fabulous scent, as he rested his lips on the top of her head. Kate sighed contentedly, enjoying the peaceful motion of her body rising and falling in time with Rick"s breathing. It felt like home. "I hate to break the mood", she said after a few quiet moments, "but should we take another look at that paperwork?" She cringed slightly as she suggested it.

"Ever the professional, Miss Beckett. I like that about you. Mixing business with pleasure is an art form." He kissed her quickly but soundly on the cheek and stood up, pulling them both to a standing position. "You get the wine and I'll grab the files. Deal?"

"Deal." She said, missing his warmth and his touch immediately and cursing her attention to her job.

They spread the files out on the low coffee table and sat side-by-side on the sofa, leafing through the bank statements, credit card slips and check stubs from Livia Caliente's apartment, looking for any clue that might point to a motive for her murder or that might connect her in some way to Edward Mason.

By 11.30pm they were flagging and Kate closed her eyes for just a second to push away the swirling black and white numerals that were dancing across her retinas. She jolted awake as she felt Castle's hands on her shoulders. "Come on Kate. You're beat and I'm not far behind. We can go over this again in the morning. But for now we need to sleep."

"I…what?" She mumbled incoherently.

"You were spark out, sweetheart. Let's get you up to bed and we can attack this again when it's light." He said gently, helping her up from the sofa and leading her towards the stairs.

Sweetheart! Richard Castle has called her sweetheart and it felt...good. Hell, as tired as she was, it felt great. Lanie would have a field day with tonight. Barriers were coming crashing down all around her and she was surprisingly unconcerned by the turn of events. But, whoa! She thought, realizing she was being propelled towards the stairs of Richard Castle's loft…to spend the night!

"Eh, slow down there, Romeo." Said Kate, coming fully awake now. "I have a perfectly good bed of my own at my apartment. I cannot stay over with you Castle. Appealing and all as that thought may be. Your mother and your daughter are upstairs sleeping, for crying out loud."

"And my bedroom is downstairs, Juliet." He quipped lightly, causing Kate to blush at her misinterpretation of his intentions. "But your pleasure at the thought of spending the night with me is duly noted. However, for now, if you'll let me show you to the guest bedroom we can all get some sleep, Detective. Come on, it's late, you're beat and the files are already spread out downstairs. So just go with me on this, for once? Promise I'll wake you early and we can make a start before we have to go into the precinct."

"Okay. Just this once…because I am exhausted. We've been going 18 hours straight, Castle. Thanks for sticking with me on this and for tonight. I really enjoyed spending time with your family…and with you." She said, almost shyly.

"Always, Kate. It was my pleasure." He said, opening the door to the guest room and pausing to turn on the bedside light. "There are towels in the en suite and I'll bring you up some clothes to sleep in. I'm sure Alexis has something you can borrow for work tomorrow. I'll be back in a tick."

With that he rushed off downstairs, leaving Kate to sink into the soft, enveloping mattress. Her head had barely hit the pillow when her eyes began to close of their own accord, too heavy now to keep open. So it was with a start that she awakened seconds later to find warm lips brushing her own and a hand lightly resting on her stomach. Rick was looking down at her with something akin to awe and what was that…love? Kate's heart quickened. This was all moving so fast. She fought the urge to flee and concentrated on her breathing instead.

Seeing the mild panic in Kate's eyes Castle pulled back a little, resting his forearm on the mattress beside her, while his left hand lay on her warm, flat stomach, his fingers working little circles into her shirt. "I've brought you one of my button-downs and a pair of boxers. I know they'll swamp you but they'll be more comfortable for sleeping in than your jeans."

"Thanks." She said, quietly. Needing to sleep now.

"My pleasure. Sleep well, Kate. Call if you need anything. I'll be downstairs…if you need anything." He repeated, unable to hide the suggestive tone in his voice.

"Let's just take this one step at a time, hey?" She said, acknowledging the obvious meaning in his last statement like a grown-up. No hiding. Meeting the need she saw in his eyes with an open, frank, look of her own, that said I know and yes, but just not yet. "We have an NDD to look forward to on Friday, remember and we might even get to enjoy it without your mother tagging along." She said, grinning up at him. Baby steps.

With that, he leaned down over her and kissed her fully, but gently, on the lips. A kiss full of promise and longing. Then he pecked her lightly on the forehead, stroked her hair and exited the room, happier than he had felt in a long, long time. He could do this. For himself and for Kate, he could do this, he thought, as he headed downstairs to bed, a new lightness in his step.

A/N: So I hope you enjoyed that. I watched the movie The Proposal on an airplane once and it made me smile, so I thought our hardened Detective might enjoy it too and there are parallels between her character and Sandra Bullock's also, so it seemed to fit.

It was fun to write Martha for the first time. I love her role in Richard and Alexis's life. Such a grande dame.

Once again, I'm going to plead with you to review. If I'm not doing this right I'd appreciate the feedback and if you're having fun, then it's mean not to share! :)