February 14th. Valentine's Day. It had been years since she actually felt obligated to celebrate this day. And she had been privy to many of Rick's grand romantic gestures over the years and this year he actually had money for something extravagant. That worried her. She had never been that big of a fan of this greeting card holiday. Maybe the impending blizzard that had already started to blanket the city would keep his plans at a normal level.
Kate walks over to her desk after her lunch break, setting her cup of coffee down, when something red and glittery catches her eye. She picks up the handmade Valentine, turning it over in her hands. It looks exactly like the one he had made her in 5th grade, only his handwriting has improved. She looks around the precinct, trying to figure out how this ended up on her desk.
"How?" she starts to ask as Esposito catches her gaze.
He smirks at her.
"Your boyfriend brought it in," he explains, gesturing to the break room.
She looks over in that direction and spots Rick talking to Ryan. He catches her staring and waves, a smile breaking across his face. Wha - what is he doing here?
"How long have you been keeping him a secret?" Esposito asks.
"I- it just happened," she says, drawing her gaze back to the Valentine in her hand.
"He seems pretty infatuated with you for something that just happened."
"We dated in high school," she explains. "Known each other since we were 10. He moved into my building and we just...reconnected."
Rick heads out of the break room with Ryan in tow. "That coffee you have here is terrible."
She crosses her arms over her chest. "Why are you even drinking our coffee?"
He shrugs. "Kevin here offered me some."
Esposito nearly snorts at the use of Ryan's first name, shuffling back over to his desk.
"Calm down, Javier," Ryan mutters, joining him back at their desks.
"Rick," she starts, taking him by the arm and trying to lead him out of earshot of the boys. "Not that I don't love seeing you, but what are you doing here?"
"Well I just wanted to surprise you with the card, but I started talking to your partners and haven't left yet."
Her face pales. He has way too many embarrassing stories about her to be talking with the people she works with without her being present.
"Don't worry," Rick laughs, reading her mind. "We weren't talking about you."
"I find that hard to believe," she mutters.
He gently grabs her by the shoulders. "Kate."
She sighs. "Thank you for the card. It's sweet."
"Yeah well we had a whole conversation about it the other day and I couldn't help but think it needed to be recreated. I would have made it for you even if we weren't dating."
Kate smiles at him. "So what are your plans for tonight?"
"That depends. What time are you getting out of here?"
She shrugs. "We're between cases at the moment. And I can't imagine anyone wanting to go out in this weather."
"You don't have to leave your home to murder someone," Rick says, scrunching his eyebrows together.
"Well that's comforting, thank you."
"I didn't mean - "
She smiles, touching his arm and heading back to her desk. "I know. I'd like to be out of here by the time it gets bad out there, but we'll see."
"Hey, I'm good with a night in."
"So I take it you're coming over later?"
"I'll even bring the wine." He leans in to kiss her cheek. "Call me when you're home."
She nods, smiling, watching him head to the elevator.
"You look quite smitten, yourself," Esposito teases.
"Shut up," she says, crumpling up a post-it note to throw at him.
"I like the guy," Ryan adds. "He has some good stories."
"Not about me I hope," Kate groans.
"No, but I'm sure he has those too."
She shakes her head, pulling back up the paperwork she needs to finish to get out of here at a decent hour today. But then she looks up a couple minutes later to see Rick striding back in from the elevator.
"I hate to be that guy," he says once he's in earshot. "But my car won't start."
"How much gas do you have?" Esposito asks.
"Half a tank," Rick answers, shooting him a look saying that 'he isn't that stupid.'
"How cold is it out there?" Ryan asks, trying to look out the window at the snowfall.
"Cold," Rick says bluntly, pulling up a chair next to Kate's desk and collapsing into it. "I figured you could just give me a ride home later."
"And what if my car doesn't start?" she asks.
"Then I guess we get to spend Valentine's Day trapped here with your coworkers."
"You realize this is a police station, don't you?" she asks. "It's not exactly a place where you can just go to hang out."
"Have you looked outside?" Montgomery asks, stepping out of his office. "I don't think any of us are going anywhere for a while. It's coming down so hard, visibility is shot. My wife is so not going to be happy about this."
Ryan finally pushes himself out of his chair to go stand by the window. "This came out of nowhere. Beckett, was it like this when you went to take your lunch?"
"I mean it was snowing, but it was a far cry from a blizzard," Kate answers him, joining him at the window.
"That's cute. You guys call each other by your last name, just like cop shows on TV."
"Where do you think the cop shows got it, Castle?" she asks, trying out his new last name on her tongue. It's weird, like she's talking to someone else. He's always been Rogers to her. Well technically, he's always been Rick.
"Castle? As in Richard Castle?" Montgomery asks. "Man, I knew I recognized you."
"He's Beckett's new boyfriend," Esposito clarifies. "And her old one."
Kate rolls her eyes, looking back out at the sheet of white being dumped on their city. She wonders how long they have until it lets up again and they can get out of here.
"I take it you're the captain then, since you have your own office?" Rick asks, extending his hand in introduction to Montgomery. "Sorry for crashing your precinct today."
Montgomery shakes his hand and introduces himself. "And it's no problem. Storm like that? You're a lot safer in here waiting it out."
He excuses himself back to his office as Ryan heads back over to his desk to talk to Esposito. Rick sidles up next to Kate at the window.
"Well, this is not how I saw today going when I woke up this morning," he tells her, bumping his shoulder into hers.
She can't help but smile. "And how did you see it going?"
"Well, I made reservations at this new steakhouse that I don't think we're going to make now. Although, dinnertime isn't for a while yet so who knows? But then I saw the rest of the evening progressing at your place."
"Seriously? No grand gestures of extravagance?"
"I know you. And I know you're not into that sort of thing. You like to keep it simple."
This time, she's the one to bump her shoulder into his. "That's never stopped you before."
"Well maybe I've just matured."
"Uh-huh, sure." Kate smirks.
"Or maybe I'm just trying really hard not to screw this up."
Her gaze softens and she wishes they weren't standing in the middle of her bullpen so she could wrap her arms around him and not get teased for it later.
"Hey, I have some paperwork I need to finish up, but after that maybe we could find somewhere a little more private in this place to wait out the blizzard."
"Katherine Beckett, are you suggesting we find somewhere to have sex at your place of work?" Rick asks, his eyes widening.
She rolls her eyes, shaking her head. "No. Not what I meant at all. Not even close."
"But it's Valentine's Day," he pouts.
"Keep it in your pants, Rick. We'll get to that later."
Kate manages to get through her paperwork with minimal interruption from Rick. Occasionally he tries to read about her cases on her computer screen, trying to add some elaborate mystery writer twist to it. I bet this is the beginning of some giant government conspiracy you've uncovered. The butler actually did it? How cliché is that! Eventually, she gets Ryan to distract him, the young detective enthralled in whatever story Rick is telling. Every now and then she'll hear Esposito make some offhanded comment, acting like he isn't listening even though he clearly is.
Apparently she has their approval in regards to her current relationship. Good to know.
She hits save on the last of her files and finally tunes into the conversation herself.
"He's absolutely terrible at poker," Rick is saying. "His face gives him away every time."
"Who are we talking about?" Kate asks.
"Your boss," Rick fills in.
"Montgomery?" she asks, lifting an eyebrow.
"No, the police commissioner," Ryan answers. "Apparently he also has quite the relationship with the mayor."
"Well I suppose this is as good a time as any to bring this up," Rick hedges. "I was thinking about calling in a few favors with these guys."
"What kind of favors?" Kate asks, wariness seeping into her tone.
"Well as you know, I'm ending Derrick Storm and I'm going to need ideas for a new series. And I was thinking it might be fun to try writing a badass female cop as my new main character. So I was hoping maybe they'd let me come in and shadow you for a bit."
"You want to write a new series based off of Beckett?" Esposito asks. "You know, I may actually read this one, Castle."
"Rick," she starts.
"Look, it wouldn't be forever. I just want to get a better idea of what your job is like."
"I could just tell you. Is the shadowing part really necessary?"
"It's sort of become part of my process," Rick admits. "I followed a CIA operative around for a while for some of the Derrick Storm novels. It makes things more authentic. Allows me to see things from my perspective before putting them into words."
Ryan and Esposito turn their expectant gazes in her direction, like they expect her to fight back. She shoots them a look telling them to mind their own business and drags Rick into the break room.
"Why me?" she asks. "Is this because we're dating again or - ?"
"It's because you fascinate me."
She huffs starting to pace back and forth. "I swear to God, Rick if you use my mother's murder in this -"
He stills her movement by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, no, nothing like that. I've just been looking for some new inspiration, a new muse, and you've been telling me all of these work stories lately. I think this could turn into something great. But if you really feel like this is me crossing some sort of line, say the word and I'll back off."
She lets herself sink into his side, giving up on caring if the boys see her or not. He wraps his arms around her waist and she returns the embrace.
"You used to call me your muse in high school," Kate says softly.
"Yeah because that short story I wrote about you won me a hundred bucks," he chuckles to himself. "Kate, I don't want you to think I'm trying to step on your toes or anything here. It's just an idea that I had."
"No, I think you should do it."
"Seriously?"
She nods against his chest. "Who knows, it may actually be kind of fun to have you here at work. My partners already seem to like you. But we'll have to set some ground rules if you get this thing approved. You're not actually a cop, Rick. I don't want you putting your life in danger."
"I promise to be careful," he tells her, brushing back her hair from her shoulder.
"Good," she starts, looking up at him. "Because I'm not losing you again."
He tilts her chin up to his, giving her a quick kiss.
"You have me," Rick tells her. "Now come on, let's see if the snow has let up enough for us to be able to actually start our Valentine's Day."