A New Beginning

Chapter 10

He Keeps Touching Me

Beckett came into work the next morning and immediately wondered where Castle was. She was anxious to find out how things had gone with Alexis. She was also excited because she had been cleared to leave her desk and do some off site investigating. She was still restricted from the most physical parts of her job such as chasing people down, entering buildings where violence was likely, or climbing stairs. But she could at least go to crime scenes, knock on witness' doors and question family members. It was a big step and she was thrilled. She had put the paper work on the Captain's desk and hoped she would see it and send her out on a case.

By 9:00, everyone was gathered around the white board wrapping up their latest case. Everyone but Castle. Beckett pretended that she didn't notice his absence. She purposely avoided looking towards the door. Esposito had busted her yesterday and she didn't plan on him catching her again. That's why when he finally did arrive, she didn't even see him come in. She was sitting on the edge of the desk looking at the board when a coffee cup suddenly appeared over her shoulder. She turned around and her face brushed against Castle's arm. Instead of just walking up to her, he was reaching around her, causing his chest to brush against her back. He moved away quickly and came over to help them out. He smiled. "Morning everyone. What have we got today?"

"We have a new case, is what we've got," the Captain said as she joined them. "I don't have any details yet, just a call to homicide." Ryan and Esposito started to gather up their things. "I'm going to let Beckett take lead on this one boys." She handed the file to Beckett.

Beckett couldn't keep the smile off of her face. "Thank you Ma'am."

"Don't thank me, just go and do your job. Oh, and Castle drives."

"What!" She turned around.

Castle was standing there dangling the keys from his fingers. "Shall we?"

She turned back around. "But Ma'am, I-"

"Castle drives or you stay behind. Doctors orders."

She turned and looked at Castle again. "Fine. Let's go." It wasn't Castle's fault that she couldn't drive, but did he have to look so darn smug.

Castle saw that she was ticked off. He walked by and leaned as close to her face as he could and whispered, "You are so cute when you're mad." Then he quickly walked away before she could respond.

When he got to the car, she was already sitting in the car waiting. "Where to?" He asked.

She didn't answer him.

"Hey, I'm sorry about the driving thing. I know it must be hard for you to let someone else be in control. I'm sure you'll be back behind the wheel in no time."

She looked at him, trying to detect any sarcasm, but didn't sense any. "Thanks."

He reached over and touched her sweater. "Sorry, you had piece of string or something. Anyway, don't worry, it won't be forever" He took his hand away and started the car. She looked at her shoulder where his hand had been and then at him.

After they surveyed the crime scene , Beckett decided to head over to the victim's apartment complex to talk to some neighbors. They knocked on 5 doors and interviewed 3 people, including his wife.

Castle noticed that she was walking a little slower on the way back to the car.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked when she got into the car.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"I don't know. You just look like your in pain."

"Well, maybe that's because I was shot in the chest a few weeks ago. This is just the first time I've walked around so much and it's a little sore. But I'm okay."

She started to reach for her seat belt. He quickly leaned over and said "I'll get that." His whole body had to lean into her so he could reach the seat belt by her window. She pressed her body into the seat as far as she could, but he still managed to brush against her as he gently brought the seat belt across her chest and down into the buckle. "All set?"

"Yeah," she said breathlessly. He put his sunglasses on and gave her a grin before heading back to the station.

They had only been back about a half an hour when they got a call from Lanie asking them to come to the morgue. This time when they got in the car, Beckett quickly got he seat belt on before he could help her.

When they got to the morgue, Beckett looked at him and said. "I'm really sore. Do you think you could drop me off before you park the car?" He looked worried. She quickly added, "I'm okay, I just don't want to over do it".

He pulled the car almost onto the sidewalk to get it as close to the door as possible. He jumped out and opened the car door. He took her hand and helped her out. "Do you need me to walk in with you?" When she said no, he got back in the car and headed for the parking garage. In the rear view mirror, he could see her walking slowly towards the door. As soon as he turned the corner into the garage, Beckett dropped the act and walked quickly into the building and to the morgue where Lanie was waiting.

She started to tell Beckett what she had found, but Beckett stopped her.

"Hold that thought. I have to talk to you. Quickly before Castle gets here." Conscious of the other medical examiners, she lowered her voice and stood close to Lanie as if they were discussing the corpse that was laying on the table in front of them.

"Castle's up to something."

"What kind of something."

"I don't know. He's acting weird." She saw the look on Lanie's face. "Weirder than usual. I just can't figure out what he's up to."

"Well, what's he doing?"

"He keeps touching me."

"Reallly. That is interesting. Like 'touching' you?"

"Shut up Lanie, not like that. Just touching me."

She looked around to make sure Castle hadn't come in yet.

"I'm serious Lanie, I need your help."

"Okay. Start over. So he's touching you. Like how?"

"Well, he... he picked a string off of my sweater. And his arm touched me when he was giving me my coffee." Her face turned red as she realized how it sounded saying it out loud. She had to make Lanie understand. "I'm telling you, he's doing it on purpose."

"Anything else?"

"My chest was hurting and he helped me get my seat belt on."

"So he's being nice?"

"Yes!"

"And helpful?"

"Yes! And he said I was cute when I was mad."

"Have you lost your mind?"

"I'm telling you-"

"Hello Lanie. What do you have for us."

She looked up. "Hey Castle. How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. Not mad at me anymore?"

"Not at the moment anyway. Let me show you why you're here." She leaned over the body and used her scalpel to point to a hole in the victims side. Beckett stood next to her and leaned in too. Castle positioned himself right behind Beckett. He put his hands on her shoulders and had to lean into her back so he could see over her. Beckett and Lanie both slowly turned their heads to look at him. He smiled and backed away. "Sorry, didn't mean to crowd you."

Lanie finished telling them what they needed to know. As they gathered up their notes to go, Beckett caught Lanie's eye. She nodded to indicate that Beckett was right. He's up to something.

"After you," he said to Kate as he opened the door to exit the morgue. He put his hand on her lower back to guide her through the door. Right before he went out, he turned around to look at Lanie and winked. If the door hadn't closed behind him, he would have heard Lanie ask her self quietly, "What is that boy up to?