"Desk duty?" he smirked, watching her roll her eyes and shake her head. "For how long?"

"Until my arm heals and my ribs are set enough."

"You weren't really expecting anything different, were you? Hardly safe for you to fight bad guys with a broken arm and rattling ribs." He paused and then continued, "Oh, I must make a note of 'rattling ribs' for future use."

She glared at him. "Of course I wasn't expecting to be back on active duty yet, but the doctor says it could be another two months before I will be. Two months!"

"Why so long?" he asked, immediately concerned.

"Because it was such a bad break, the doctor's concerned I might damage my arm again if I go back too soon and he says I still have to be careful with my lung, particularly when the broken ribs haven't fully set."

She started walking towards the exit and he had to hurry to catch up with her. "It's better than nothing though, right? At least you're back at work."

Stopping and turning to face him, she said, "Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to sit on the sidelines while everyone else gets to hunt down leads and make arrests?"

"I think I have some experience of that, yes," he smirked. "At least you're better at following rules than me." They resumed walking and exited the hospital to hail a cab. "When do you start back?"

"I need to talk to Montgomery, but probably Monday."

Castle nodded. It was already Thursday, meaning they only had a few days left before things changed. Once settled in the cab, he turned to her, "So, what exactly does desk duty entail? Just so I can prepare myself."

"Prepare yourself? What do you need to prepare for?"

"Well, if it's just going to be watching you do paperwork, I might bring in my X-Box," he grinned.

"Or, you could just stay at home," she pointed out.

Rick smirked and settled in for the debate he knew was about to ensue.

Castle had promised to give Beckett some space over the weekend, to allow her to get prepared for returning to work. However, that didn't mean no contact at all, at least not as far as he was concerned.

The knock on the door late Saturday morning startled her. She was lying on the couch reading a book and trying to relax, something that was proving difficult, and she was beginning to wonder if her mind was desiring Castle's presence in her apartment. The majority of the time he'd been there had been spent in silence, him writing and her reading, but it had been comfortable, even when he'd broken the peace to ask a question relating to Nikki Heat. He had taken great delight in asking her how she would react during the sex scene he was writing and even though she knew he was doing it just to annoy her, she'd found herself playing along, enjoying teasing him.

The news that she could go back to work had delighted her, but she wished it was more than just desk duty. Captain Montgomery had assured her that they'd work something out to keep her as active as possible, though she would be confined to the precinct, and she was looking forward to returning. There was a small pain in her chest though, something unrelated to her broken ribs, and she had a suspicion that an x-ray would show it was in the shape of a castle... Rick Castle to be exact.

Things were back to normal between them, whatever normal was, and she wasn't sure if that was what she wanted. She had been very relieved that he hadn't asked her for details on her break up with Demming, but part of her secretly wished he had. At least that might give an indication of his thoughts on the matter.

His constant, unrequested, presence since the accident had been incredibly annoying, but also incredibly eye-opening. She had always known he would do anything to help people, but his recent behavior had proven that she was definitely part of the 'inner circle', those he would drop all pretences around and just be there for, for however long it took and for whatever was required. It was... nice, more than nice, in fact, but she felt something holding her back whenever she started to internally question his motivations. She'd tried to risk it before and had been burned. She dreaded to think what the state of their relationship would be if he'd actually spent the entire summer in the Hamptons, as he'd planned, rather than returning, to her, after four weeks. They'd grown closer since he'd been back, and if he were to reject her again, if that was actually what he'd done before, she didn't think their friendship could survive. She didn't want to question whether he'd really rejected her before, afraid of the answer and the regret it might cause. Her heart told her to push, but her head told her that 'friends' would have to be good enough. The last time she'd listened to her heart it hurt, so friends it would be, until enough evidence indicated otherwise.

Answering the door, she was surprised to find Castle on the other side.

"Missing me already?" she said dryly, stepping back to allow him access to the apartment. He still had her key, for some reason she didn't want to question. She hadn't asked for it back, and he hadn't offered, but he had been good about only using it when he knew she wouldn't mind.

"Always," he smirked.

"Are you here for a reason?" She walked quickly to the couch and placed a cushion over the book she'd been reading, since it was one of his. He knew she was a fan, but it didn't help his already large ego when he caught her reading his work.

"Do I need one?" he shrugged. She sent him a look that said her patience was waning and he tried, "I was in the neighborhood." She didn't buy it. "I was, really, had a breakfast meeting with Gina to discuss the final edits."

"Final?"

"Yup," he nodded. "The book is done! That's the other reason I'm here." She raised her eyebrows and waited for him to continue. "I'm taking you to dinner tonight. We need to celebrate."

"Why do we need to celebrate you finishing your book?"

"Without you there wouldn't be a book," he said honestly. "Plus, we need to celebrate your return to work, which of course is due to the excellent care I've given you during your recovery." She rolled her eyes at his claim, but didn't deny its truth. "You can't possibly turn me down this time, not when there's such a good reason for us to go out."

"Who says I would have turned you down if you didn't have a good reason?"

"You wouldn't have?" he asked, his voice a mixture of surprise and hope, plus pleasure at the fact she'd just admitted she was accepting the invite.

"You'll never know," she grinned.

TBC...

Once again, thanks for the reviews. This is now the most reviewed fic I've written, proving that Castle fans really do rock!