Chapter 10: The Morning After

Alexis searches the entire apartment for her father the following morning; she wanted to say goodbye to him before going off to school. He wasn't in his office, his bedroom, the kitchen, or the living room. Cautiously she opens the door to the guest room that Kate was staying in.

When she sees the two of them together in the bed, she jumps in surprise. She knew they liked each other, but she didn't think they would've acted on it so soon, especially after the conversation she had had with Kate the other night.

Rick slowly opens his eyes and spots his daughter. He smiles and motions her in. "Time for school already?" he whispers.

She slowly walks closer, not sure that she wanted to, "Yeah. I just wanted to say goodbye." Alexis glances at Detective Beckett, surprised she didn't wake up.

"Can you bring me a sharpie from my office?" he asks.

"Sure…" A few moments later she returns with the marker. He pulls back the covers, and his daughter turns away. "Dad."

"It's okay. We're both clothed."

"Don't do anything stupid," she leans down to kiss his cheek while he opens the marker.

"I won't. Have a good day," he shifts the detective's arm on his chest so that he can write on her cast. He writes her a short message before signing his name, continuously glancing at her face to make sure she wasn't awake. Surprised that she hadn't woken up, he caps the pen and places it on the night stand.

"What are you doing, Castle?" Kate asks, keeping her eyes shut.

"Go back to sleep."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It can wait until later."

She complies, still exhausted from the previous day and their night of talking. Two hours later she opens her eyes. The first thing she notices is that Castle is gone. The second is the black writing that contrasts with the whiteness of her cast. She frowns, as she always does, at his disobedience before holding her arm out so that she could read his message. It reads 'Thanks for being extraordinary. Rick Castle.'

"Good morning, Detective," Castle says when she walks into the kitchen. "What would you like for breakfast?"

"Coffee."

"You have to have more than coffee."

"And you have to learn how to obey directions."

He smiles, "Did you like my message?"

"I told you not to write on my cast."

"And I thought it looked boring. So now it's not as boring."

"Caste… you are such a pain."

"I try," he hands her a cup of coffee. "So what will it be?"

"I'll just get myself a bowl of cereal," she heads to the pantry to pick while he gets her a bowl and spoon. "Don't you have anything without sugar?" she calls.

"I think there's a box of Cheerios way back in the corner. But they might be stale since Mother was the only one that ate them."

"They expired six months ago," she hands him the box, which he puts in the garbage. Then she pours herself a bowl of Frosted Flakes.

"Hey, that's my cereal."

"And that was my bed that you slept in last night," she smirks.

"You told me I was welcome."

"At least you make a good pillow," she goes to the fridge to get the milk.

"More like teddy bear the way you held onto me all night. You know… I think the guys would like to hear about that."

"Not a word, Castle, or I will shoot you."

He grins, "Sadly that threat won't work on me anymore. Alexis told me that you told her that you wouldn't shoot me for her sake."

"And what else did she tell you?"

"Nothing. Said she was sworn to secrecy."

"At least someone in this family knows when to keep her mouth shut."

"Hey, I won't say anything to the boys. Or Lanie but she always seems to have a way of knowing…" Castle watches her take a sip of coffee. "So you're really going into work today even though Montgomery said that you're not supposed to?"

"Yes. The sooner he's behind bars, the better. They haven't called, so the picture must not have helped at all. Which means we have to lure him in."

"Wait, you can't do that," he tries to protest.

"It'll probably be a few days since we'll have to wait for them to repair the window. I'll be armed and on the lookout for him. We'll have plenty of backup to come in once he's there. Ryan and Esposito may even be able to hide somewhere in my apartment. It'll be safe."

"Kate, I think we need to talk."

The detective slowly sets her spoon down, "Castle, you can't come. It's too dangerous, and you might scare him off. You will wait here with your daughter, and I will call when he's in custody."

"That's not what we need to talk about."

"About my lack of good judgment yesterday? About how I put your daughter in harm's way and destroyed her innocence by giving her the opportunity to hold my weapon in her hands? Because I'm sorry, Castle. What happened yesterday was entirely my fault. I should have known he would follow us, and I should have taken my gun into my bedroom with me to defend myself so that she wouldn't have to try to do so."

"What happened was not your fault. And I'm sure I destroyed Alexis's innocence long before you did. But that's not it either, Kate."

"What then?"

"About last night."

"I'm not going anywhere, Castle. I'm not going to leave you and Alexis. Well, not forever. I do, however, have to go back to my place when all this is over."

"You can stay here. I mean… you can't possibly be able to live by yourself with a broken arm."

Beckett shakes her head, "Don't push it, Castle."

"Alright. You can go home when the guy is in custody. But… what happened last night isn't going to… hurt our relationship, is it?"

"Sleeping together?" He smiles, and she rolls her eyes. "Sleeping in the same bed isn't going to hurt our relationship."

"It's not going to make you rethink your decision or cause you to need more time?"

"No."

"Does that mean we can do that more often then?"

She studies him for a moment, thinking that he is after more, but she can see the honesty in his eyes. "I wouldn't have pegged you as one for cuddling, Castle," she teases lightly.

"It must be you, Detective. You seemed awfully cozy last night. Although I definitely did not imagine you as a cuddler either… Have to put that in the new Nikki Heat," he teases back. "Honestly, Kate, I really did enjoy just laying there and talking with you."

"Me too," she gives him a small smile. "And as long as you behave and do not push, I think I could manage to give you a few more nights like that. At least before I can give you anything better."

"I guess I could settle for that… on one condition. You have to start talking too. It can't be take advantage of Castle time where you can ask whatever you want. Though I would definitely love you to take advantage of me," he grins.

She rolls her eyes again before turning serious. "Then you have to promise that everything I tell you will not end up in a Nikki Heat story."

"Okay. I'll ask before I include any personal information that I get from you."

Kate gets up to put her bowl in the sink. "Alright. We should probably head to the precinct then and see what we can do. Maybe with our help, the boys will be able to solve the case."

CB

"Detective Beckett, what are you doing here?" Captain Montgomery says from the doorway of his office.

"Castle and I wanted to help."

"There is nothing here for you to do."

"Yes, there is a crazy stalker for us to catch."

"Detective…"

"Please, sir."

"Castle, you are welcome to go help the boys out. Kate… I'll meet you at the shooting range in half an hour after my meeting; keep yourself busy in the mean time, but not with the case. If you can still shoot with a cast, we'll start to plan how we will bait him." The captain turns away.

She turns to look at her partner. "You go help the boys. Maybe you'll notice some connection or… something."

"I don't think I'm supposed to leave you alone," he says slowly.

"We're in a police station, Castle. Besides, I'm going to go see Lanie."

"Okay. Tell her I said hi. And if you want to talk to her, she's welcome in my apartment."

"Thanks, Castle," she watches him walk over to their murder board before getting back on the elevator.

"Hey, girl," Lanie says when Kate walks into the morgue. "You need something? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be here."

"I came anyway. And the captain said I've got to pass a shooting test before they'll let me bait this guy, and he's in a meeting now so…"

"So what's going on with you and Castle?" the ME smiles at her friend.

A/N: Updating kind of slipped my mind until now. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter too. More to come soon.