Genre: Crime, Drama, Family, Romance, Humor
Rating: M for violence, language and sexual situations
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: I was really happy to get the reviews I did last chapter, especially since it was the weekend and I know people are likely to be busy, so going to go ahead and get to the thanks which need to be said! vetgirlmx (I wasn't too surprised to see your reaction to my little cliffhanger of an ending there, sorry about that, lol, but you know by now it's what I tend to do. And yep, you were right about the guy they arrested, he's what I'd call a red herring, though knew he wasn't going to work out that, well, lol, you and my readers are too smart! Not too surprised that you're worried about Julia, hoping that Castle will come back soon. But you will see what'll happen next of course. And really happy to see you're eager to read more, and now you can!), pcol22 (Very glad seeing you liked the last chapter of course! And you'll see what'll happen with Beckett and also Castle next, how everything will turn out of course. Oh, and not surprised that you don't want anything to happen to Julia too, that definitely makes sense. Happy to see you want to read the next chapter, which is here, lol, so you can see what'll happen next), Norman (It was really nice to get to see you have been enjoying my series, especially to see you enjoying them tremendously as you put it. Your comment about you liking this series better than the show just about blew my mind. I try and write as well as the show, so to see you think I write it better was just… amazing, I am grateful for that comment. And glad that you want to read more of the story, now you can with this one! And you're very welcome for writing my stories, I love to do it so will definitely continue!), life's a mystery (Wasn't surprised to see your reaction to the last chapter, I thought there would be that from readers. And you'll see what happens next of course. I have to say I was happy to see that you wanted to read more!) and sammysgirl78 (Not too surprised to see your response to the cliffhanger either, lol, was definitely expecting to see that in any reviews I got. And you'll see now how everything is going to turn out, but it was nice to see how you were hoping things would go with what happened the last chapter. Not surprised to see you hoping that Castle's going to be able to rescue her, was expecting that from reviewers as well. But so happy to see you want to read more as well, always love seeing that!). So thank you so much to my reviewers this time around, I loved reading what I got, and I am definitely grateful for what was said, as well as the fact that each one of you took the time to send me your feedback!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song Bring on the Lucie (Freeda Peeple) by John Lennon, from his album Mind Games.
Caught With Your Hands In The Kill
"Jim?" Castle said, turning the corner and seeing Beckett's father running to the door to her apartment. "What is it?" he asked as the man turned and he could see he looked concerned.
"Have you talked to Katie since you left?" Jim asked. "When did you leave?"
"About forty minutes ago, I got held up at my place since my mother was talking to me about Sunday," Castle said, suddenly feeling anxious at the tone of the man's voice. "Have you talked to her?"
"I've been calling since about fifteen minutes ago," Jim replied. "I was trying to get in touch with her to let her know that I can take off work tomorrow to watch Julia if you need me to."
"Kate?" Castle called as he knocked at the door. He glanced down the hall but didn't see anything as he heard the rattle of keys hitting each other.
"Something is wrong," Jim said, shaking his head and trying to unlock the door. "Castle, it's open," he said as the door wasn't locked.
"Let me go first," Castle said in response. He opened the door slowly, waiting for the sound of bullets firing before he pushed it the rest of the way. The living room was empty, and he walked in carefully, looking over at the kitchen first before turning to the dining room table. He frowned when he saw the door to where the heater was wide open, and then glanced to Beckett's desk. He swore; startling her father; running to the wine staining the floor, glass shards among it and her phone against the wall. He looked at Jim, and they both said at the same time, "Julia."
Following Castle to the bedrooms, Jim glanced his daughter's room, but saw it was empty. He stopped up short as his daughter's fiancé was in the doorway, and looked past him, breathing out when he saw that his granddaughter was fine, sleeping still. "Where is she?" he said rhetorically as they walked back to the living room once Castle made a quick sweep of the other room and didn't find Beckett.
"I don't know, but I think I know who our last vic is," Castle said, feeling literally sick to his stomach as he thought of what would happen to his fiancée. He went over to the desk, being careful again of the shards of glass, looking at the pad of paper as Jim was calling the police. His eye was drawn to the single K she'd written before the ink had skewed almost violently off the page, and he looked up at her computer screen, seeing the picture she had open. It was as if everything flashed through his mind at that moment, and he ran out to the entry saying to Jim, "Call Ryan and Esposito, tell them Kate's here at the building still, but our killer has her," as he reached to the top shelf of the closet, taking her gun.
Nodding, though Castle was already out the door, Jim hurriedly called Ryan once the 911 operator let him go at his request. "Ryan? This is Jim Beckett. Yes, I came back to Katie's apartment just now, she wouldn't answer her phone so I came over to find Castle was here trying to tell her something about the case he figured out, but she never answered the door," he said, twisting the story enough as he grabbed Castle's bag he'd brought with him to take into his daughter's room. "We came inside and found a broken wineglass on the floor, and her phone, and she's gone. No, Julia's fine, but Katie is gone. Castle ran out of here, he said to tell you that she's your next victim, but the killer is here in the building."
Walking up to the apartment, Castle tested the knob, relieved to find it unlocked. He stepped inside, leaving the door wide open so Esposito and Ryan would know where to go. He looked around the living room, seeing nothing but puddles of water on the floor until he glanced at the sofa in the room. On the floor next to it were shredded pieces of fabric, what he immediately recognized as Beckett's outfit she'd worn that day, her boots she'd worn discarded aside the pile. Swallowing his fear that he was too late, he went to the only other door in the place, pushing it open as he held the gun close to his leg. But when the door swung open fully, he nearly dropped it as he ran inside with a horrified, "Kate!" escaping his lips.
In the middle of the bedroom, Beckett was laying on what looked to be a mattress raised up, surrounded by planks of wood. She was wearing a pale green cloak, as the woman wore in the winter lithograph, but her hair was draped over her shoulder, the hood still under her neck. There was a bird; whether dead or fake, Castle didn't bother to think about; cradled in her hand, both arms resting at her sides. The room was full of trees that were bare of any leaves, drifts of snow against them; real snow, as it was cold enough to keep it frozen.
When he got to her, Castle realized two things, first that she was completely naked underneath the cloak and second that the mattress he thought she was laying down on was instead a solid block of ice. He reached for her neck with fumbling fingers as his breath puffed out, and pressed them to her pulse, nearly collapsing to his knees in thanks as it was steadily beating. He touched her cheek, dismayed when he felt it cold against his skin. He then had a sudden thought; sickening for him; wondering if the killer had decided that he was going to perform the ritual before he murdered her. He was about to pick her up to take her to the outer room, when he heard the creak of a footstep before he could move. He raised the gun as the killer stepped up to the doorway saying, "Put the cooler down," seeing the snow filling the white container.
"You're not a cop," Kent taunted as he stepped into the room, though he kept his eyes on the gun. "And since I'm guessing the rest of your friends are coming soon, get the hell out of the way."
"Do you think I'll let you near her," Castle asked, trying to keep relatively calm as the man went back and forth in front of him. "Knowing what you want to do to her."
"She's mine," Kent said firmly.
"She never was yours; neither were the others," Castle said. "Is that why you want these four women? They're your safe haven from the one who hurt you?"
Smiling as he backed up then to the windows, Kent said, "Think you have it all figured out too. You deserve each other. So she's yours, I took off that ring before we left."
Surprised at the direction the man had taken; Castle said simply, "She isn't mine either. Sit down until the police get here," he said, an edge to his voice as he guessed the man was hoping Beckett would freeze on the block of ice before she could be taken off it.
"There's one thing I should tell you Mr. Castle," Kent said then, stopping and turning back around to face him. "Aradhana Krishnamani." And before Castle could react, he threw the cooler towards him to give himself time, running to the window and crashing through the glass to plummet to the ground below letting in the sounds of sirens blaring as they drove to where his body came to rest.
Hurrying over to the window, Castle could see the man's body on a car, and he turned back, running to Beckett as he had the chance to get her off the ice. As he reached her, he saw her eyes opening and said, "It's me Kate," since she had a slightly panicked look at first.
"Castle," Beckett said in a quasi-questioning sigh, her voice slightly distorted.
"It's alright, he's dead, thank you for that K and the picture you had open on the screen," Castle was saying, almost babbling as he picked her up. He winced when her cloak opened, exposing her body to the cold, and he carried her quickly to the couch, setting her down on it and taking off his jacket. "Keep this on," he said closing the green cloak around the rest of her body tightly.
"I c-can't feel an-anyth-i-ing," Beckett said, falling back against the couch before he could stop her.
"Then you better lay down," Castle said, helping her as she wasn't really able to move that much. He buttoned his coat on her, and then heard footsteps running down the hall as he held the cloak closed below his jacket. When he looked up and saw it was her dad he said, "Julia-"
"Mrs. Parker is in the apartment, she could hear the glass breaking and saw me at the door," Jim said before looking at his daughter. "Katie?" he asked hesitantly as she was staring straight up at the ceiling.
"I think she's in shock, can you get some blankets?" Castle asked, not wanting to leave her. When her father had gone he sat next to her, rubbing her arms through his jacket, watching as she looked at him her eyes turning to him slowly. "He's dead," he said as he could see the unvoiced question in her eyes.
"Here," Jim said, coming back in with a number of blankets. He watched as Castle wrapped Beckett in them, helping her lay back down carefully before he went to the doorway at the sound of running. "She's alright, but we need to get her to a hospital, I think she's in shock," he told Esposito who reached him first.
"And she might have hypothermia," Castle said, standing up though he really didn't want to.
"What the hell did he do to her?" Esposito asked as Ryan got on the walkie-talkie he had.
"The same as the other three vics," Castle said. "Drugged her, knocked her out with chloroform, put her in a cloak and put her in there," he then said as he motioned to the bedroom.
"Ice, he put her on ice," Ryan said, going with Esposito to the bed.
"I better go see if they need help getting the killer off the car," Esposito said, looking even angrier than he had before.
"Was anyone hurt?" Castle asked.
"No, the car was parked and empty," Ryan said. "Let me see about the ambulance, it was close already when we got here."
Castle looked at Jim and said, "Someone has to go to the hospital with her," in a low voice since there was only an officer keeping guard at the door.
"I will, but you need to stay with Julia," Jim said.
Nodding, Castle could hear the sound of a stretcher down the hallway, and he ran to the doorway, seeing the EMTs nearing him. "They're here, are you any warmer?" he asked as he went back to Beckett. He was dismayed when she started to nod, but didn't take it all the way through, and he hoped that she hadn't ended up getting frostbite as well as hypothermia. By then the medics were inside and he stopped them from transferring her to the stretcher. Simply picking her up, he laid her down carefully and stepped back to let them secure her.
"I need to go with her," Jim said quickly as the two detectives came into the room. "But someone needs to stay with Julia; it might be a long time before she gets out of the hospital. Ryan?"
"I can't, we need to wrap up the case," the detective said simply.
"That leaves you bro," Esposito said.
"Sure," Castle said after faking hesitation. "Anything I need to know?" he asked Beckett's dad. "Does she have medicine?"
"I'll explain on the way, I need to get her clothes," Jim said as he left the apartment as the EMTs were still getting Beckett ready.
Castle had to school himself not to glance back at his fiancée, telling himself she would be alright, and turned, following her dad back into her apartment. "Mrs. Parker," he said to the woman. "Where's the ring?" he asked Jim before he could take a breath.
"In the other nightstand drawer, in its box," Jim said. "And your bag is in her closet, so if they come here, they won't know."
Nodding at that, Castle went into Beckett's room, and gathered some clothes into one of her bags, and he handed it to her dad back in the living room, watching him go. He was alone then, as Mrs. Parker had left, and he turned to check on Julia, seeing that she had thankfully slept through everything. He went back to the couch, and sat, covering his face with his still cold fingers as he tried to forget what he had seen in that bedroom.
"Castle?" a voice said at the door a few minutes later, making him look up. Ryan stepped inside and closed the door saying, "I need to take a statement."
"Yeah, it's why I left the door open," Castle said. He then remembered something and stood up saying, "Beckett's gun-"
"In her closet," Ryan said simply as he handed the weapon over to him.
Putting it away, Castle said a quiet thanks to the detective before asking, "Is Gates here?"
"She's been informed, but she's gone to the hospital with Esposito to hear her statement when Beckett's able to talk to them," Ryan said. "So let me know what happened."
"Pretty much everything Beckett's dad said happened, up until the point I ran out to the apartment and-" Castle said before there was a knock on the door.
"That's someone from CSU, they need to take pictures of the spilled wine, get the bottle," Ryan said simply as he went to let the man and woman outside in.
"Over there," Castle said, leading them to the office. "Do you need this?" he asked, pointing to the pad of paper with the K on it.
"I don't think so," the woman said. "Just a picture."
"That leads me to ask how you knew the apartment to go into," Ryan said, taking Castle back to the couch to leave the two to their work.
"She had told me about this neighbor coming in to use the phone when she was here with Julia," Castle said. "Apparently he moved in about two weeks ago, and they talked when he first did, but she said he was a little aggressive. And she said while he was on the phone before, he bothered Julia. I guess she's good at sensing if a guy is… off or something like that. You'll have to ask her. And she said his name was Kent, or his last name was, I don't know if he ever told her his first name. It's why the K on the pad of paper stood out to me." There he was lying, as it wasn't just the K that had clued him in, but the picture of the handkerchief, remembering they'd seen the man tucking one into his pocket while running to share the elevator with them two days before.
"Okay, and you couldn't wait for us?" Ryan asked.
"You really think I would just leave her there?" Castle replied instead of answering.
"I know, but I have to ask, in case Gates has any kind of problem," Ryan said.
"Did the EMTs say if she was okay or not as they were leaving with her?" Castle asked as Ryan made a few notations on his pad.
"Detective, we're finished, we're just taking the wine bottle," the male CSU member said.
"That's fine, thank you," Ryan said, indicating the glass. "Can that be cleaned up or does that need to stay as it is? She has a child; don't want her running around the broken glass."
"Or seeing the wine," Castle said.
"It can be cleaned, we got more than enough pictures," the woman said as she closed the door to the heater that she'd taken some pictures of.
"Thank you," Ryan repeated before the two left with the bottle of wine. "They didn't say anything," he said when he turned to Castle. "Tell me what happened when the killer came in."
"He was carrying a cooler full of snow, and I told him to drop it, which he did," Castle said. "He said Beckett was his, but then he went over by the window, and changed suddenly, saying she wasn't. It was bizarre, but I'm wondering if he just gave up and maybe wanted to throw me off so he could get out the window."
"It's sounding more and more like he was literally insane," Ryan said.
"Wait, he did say one thing before he jumped, Aradhana Krishnamani," Castle said quickly.
"A name?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah, an Indian one, so that might be an ex-girlfriend," Castle said. "And if she's Hindu it would explain the Om on the vics' hands. Beckett… didn't have that on her hand did she, I forgot about that." When Ryan hesitated he sighed as he knew his answer and said, "There's something else I should tell you. I think with Beckett, he wanted to make sure she was conscious when he raped her."
"Why?" Ryan asked in surprise.
"She woke up pretty shortly after he jumped out the window," Castle replied. "And she was supposed to be his last one, his special wife according to him. So I'm sure he wanted her awake to lend it some kind of legality in his mind."
"I'll head to the hospital, and tomorrow Espo and I will look into the name," Ryan said. "Since all we really need to investigate now is why."
"Ryan, was there a painting or sketchbook?" Castle abruptly asked.
"Both," Ryan said. "But the painting was unfinished; a little creepy to look at actually-"
"It would be a lot more if he'd managed to paint Beckett as winter," Castle interrupted him.
"True. And there was a sketchbook, but it was unfinished, sketches of her face, legs and hands, a lot of her hands," Ryan said. "I'm guessing that he wanted those for his painting since the woman in the lithograph is holding that bird."
Castle nodded and thought he returned Ryan's goodbye as the detective departed, but wasn't sure as he was anxious to know if his fiancée was alright. The case was finished, and he just wanted to get Beckett back home. He went over to Julia's room, checking to see if he, Ryan and CSU had woken her up. But she was still asleep, her Stitch doll up on her pillow somehow. Walking inside carefully, he gave it back to her, tucking it in her arms and kissing the top of her head before he went to the armchair he and Beckett had bought together for their daughter's room so they could read to her there. It was facing the bed, and he watched Julia sleeping, trying to use that as a distraction from the images that wouldn't leave his mind.
When the little girl made a sudden humming noise for a brief second, Castle decided to leave her to her dreams; extremely comforted in knowing she had no idea what had happened to her mother that night. He stood up from the chair and went to the bed, brushing his lips across her forehead tenderly before he left, leaving the door behind him open as he went before closing the door to the bedrooms. Out in the living room, he rolled up his sleeves, and proceeded to sweep up the broken glass after he'd set Beckett's phone on the kitchen counter, gritting his teeth with every pass of the broom that ran the shards along the floor.
Standing at the windows, Castle couldn't see much, at nearly three thirty it was still well before dawn, but he had been unable to sleep, as Beckett still hadn't returned. He'd received one text from her dad since she'd been taken to the hospital, and that was to say the doctors were trying to see if she'd suffered hypothermia from the block of ice. That had been almost six hours ago, and he'd had no word since then, even his calls had gone straight to voicemail, and guessed Jim had turned off his phone.
Going to the kitchen he debated having a cup of coffee but finally went back to the couch, where he'd woken up with a jolt a few minutes before going to the windows. Castle looked at his watch, and glanced towards Julia's room, but he'd checked on her yet again after he'd dozed off the time before. He couldn't stay asleep, always having a feeling that he needed to be awake for something. Breathing in deeply, he checked his phone for any messages or possibly missed calls, but his screen was nothing but the cover for Deadly Heat. Setting the phone on the coffee table; and just managing not to slam it down; he placed his head in his hands.
He couldn't prevent it, and the image of Beckett lying on the ice in that very thin cloak flooded Castle's mind, making him shudder in remembrance. He shook his head and stood, walking back to the windows. Before he could get past the table though, his phone began to vibrate, and he snatched it up, seeing it was a text from Beckett's dad. When he saw the message simply read, Katie recovered, coming home, he nearly fell back on the couch in a mixture of relief and exhaustion. He then stood back up in a hurry, pacing back and forth in front of the entry doorway to wait.
It took another half hour until the sound of the key in the lock alerted Castle to their return, and he was about to run to the door when it opened, and he saw Beckett, being supported by her father. "Kate," he said simply, rushing to her.
Not saying anything, Beckett took a few steps towards him before her fiancé gathered her in his arms. She clung to him as tightly as her arms would allow, feeling his hand running down her hair before she whispered, "I don't remember that much."
"I know, but are you okay?" Castle asked, looking down at her as he noticed her grip wasn't as tight as it would have normally been.
"She checked herself out earlier than the doctor suggested," Jim said, watching the reunion between the two. "She had some slight hypothermia, but he said the blankets helped her avoid any kind of frostbite."
"And with the amount of the drug in my system, I'm going to be very weak until likely tomorrow afternoon," Beckett said, sounding aggravated. "So it looks like you're taking care of us both."
"Which I don't care about," Castle said simply.
Beckett was quiet after he said that, hearing the sincerity in his tone, and then whispered, "Rick? I need to see her."
Nodding, Castle could hear the question that she didn't ask, saying, "Do you want me to…?" When she nodded in response he quickly picked her up, the shock of her body warm in his arms as compared to nearly frozen when he'd gotten her out of the killer's bedroom almost making him stop. But he kept going, taking her into Julia's room where he set her down, helping her sit on the edge of the bed as she nearly fell onto it. Once she was set he stayed standing next to her, but held her left hand tightly within his as she stroked Julia's hair off her face with her right.
Smiling as she looked over their daughter, Beckett could feel the tears welling in her eyes as she saw how peaceful Julia looked. She didn't use an excuse of those tears making her appear weak to fight them; merely let them fall as she was in that moment happy to be home. Finally she turned to Castle, and stood up with his help before he picked her up again, seeing her father watching them in the doorway before he lead the way back to the living room. "Okay Dad?" she asked when her fiancé set her down by an armchair at her direction. She realized that her tears were still on her face, so she hurriedly wiped them away, not caring the two men had seen them.
"I am, just glad you're okay," Jim said simply. "You two should get some sleep though, you both look pretty fatigued."
"So do you," Beckett said, going over to him to hug him tightly. "Thank you for watching Julia."
Nodding, Jim hugged his daughter back and said, "Get some rest," a little sternly. "And don't try and do more than-"
"I heard the doctor Dad," Beckett interrupted him with a smile. "And I'll be careful until I feel I'm back to normal. Come back tomorrow okay? I'm sure Julia will want to see you."
"I'll stop by in the afternoon," Jim said. He walked over to the door with Castle then, and they both turned to watch Beckett walking into her room slowly. "Make sure she doesn't push herself too hard, she's more than a little angry she's not fully recovered."
"I know, and I will," Castle said. He nearly jumped when he felt Beckett's dad clasp his shoulder and said, "I had to find her," a little lamely, knowing he was going to thank him for saving her life.
"I know," Jim said, echoing him. "And after what could have happened to her, I know she's more than safe with you. Goodnight Castle."
"Night," he replied, touched at the compliment. When he had locked the door, Castle turned and went to Beckett's room, seeing she was sitting on the edge of his side of the bed. "Okay?" he asked simply.
"Yeah," she said, looking up at him as he walked over to sit next to her. "I want to take a shower though."
"I can help you," Castle offered, knowing she wanted him to but didn't want to say it.
"That would be nice," Beckett said, standing up. She felt a little off balance, but before Castle could steady her she was able to straighten up. "I'm okay, this happened at the hospital." She walked ahead of him to the bathroom, and let him help her undress at her request. She watched him as he pulled her sweater off of her and said, "It's fine," seeing his slight hesitation.
"I just don't want to push you," Castle said.
"I'll tell you if you do," Beckett assured him as she helped him the best she could with the rest of her clothes. "I'll wait," she said, stopping him from leading her to the shower.
Castle nodded to that, and hurriedly undressed before they stepped into the stall together, under the cascading water. He held her very lightly around the waist, watching her running her hands over her hair. He couldn't deny that he was growing aroused as he looked on, but wasn't planning on acting on it as she stepped towards him a little to get out from under the water.
Beckett could feel the tension in Castle's body as he would from time to time help her when she needed it. They never said a word until they were dressed and on her bed, and only then did she break the silence asking, "What is it?"
"Did he…" Castle started to say, knowing he had to ask and find out.
"No," Beckett quickly answered, realizing what was bothering him. "Is that what was wrong?"
"Well, yes, I think he was going to try and… do the ritual before he killed you, so I didn't know if he had or not," Castle said, trying not to hesitate as he spoke.
Wrapping her arms around him as she could hear the strain in his voice, Beckett kissed the side of his head and said, "No, I asked them to check, very slowly, but I was finally able to. And the doctor assured me I hadn't been assaulted in any way. Which is a shock since I was naked underneath that cloak."
"I saw," Castle said, holding her close to him.
"Did anyone see that?" Beckett asked, pulling back to look at him.
"Likely just me and the people at the hospital," Castle said. "If they took the cloak off you."
"They did, to put me into a hospital gown, I asked them to burn it before my dad and I left," Beckett said as he let her go. She wrapped her arms around herself as she was shaking slightly, saying, "But took that back as I knew it was going to be evidence." She watched then as he suddenly turned to his nightstand, and took out her ring saying, "He took it off?"
"He did, your dad found it," Castle said as he held her hand while he slid the silver and diamond band on her finger. He then took her hand with his own fully, squeezing it gently as they stared at one another. He saw then that she was trying to control her trembling, and quickly moved as she asked him what was wrong.
When she realized what he was doing, Beckett let him lay her down and she went on her side, looking at him saying, "I'm lucky you could figure out what I had realized when the drug kicked in. And that I managed to get that K written down before my arm went out."
"Are you still cold?" Castle asked as he could feel her shaking still.
"A little," Beckett replied. She sat up as he slipped out from under the covers, wrapping her arms around her bent knees to watch him grab her other heavy winter comforter. "You might get hot tonight," she warned him as she helped him spread the dark green fabric over the bed.
"It was freezing in that room," was all that Castle would say in response.
Waiting until he was next to her, Beckett stopped him from making them lay down again, and brushed her lips across his whispering, "I'm here, very much alive."
"I know, it's just…" Castle began to say in reply before he trailed off. "That's an image I don't think I'll be able to get out of my head."
"Did…" Beckett started to say. "Was there a sketchbook, or a…"
"Painting? Yeah, both of them Ryan told me," Castle said. "The painting unfinished and with the sketchbook it looks like he was mainly drawing your face and hands."
"Nothing of my body?" Beckett asked, trying not to rush through the words.
"Your legs," Castle said. "You can't see much of the woman's body in the lithograph," he continued with before she could speak, not sure if he was doing that to keep her from speaking or to reassure her there weren't any sketches of her naked body; actual or imagined. "Just her foot, calf, hands and face," he said.
"But she's obviously naked," Beckett said simply. "But warm, that's what he said to me," she told him, looking down at her hands. "Before he used the chloroform. He said I was the perfect winter, but that I was warm."
"He obviously meant your personality was," Castle said, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close as she was shaking harder suddenly. He hesitated, but finally said, "He likely saw you with Julia, or maybe your dad-"
"And more than likely you," Beckett said. "How do we know he didn't hear us before you left?"
Castle had to concede that, but he pulled away slightly to look at her and said, "He's dead now, you need to remember that, and his insane killing spree is over."
"So long as you remember that too," Beckett said, looking up into his eyes.
"Right," Castle said with a nod. "I'll try but…"
"Nightmares?" Beckett asked. He didn't reply, but she knew the answer already, and simply said, "We'll suffer through them both together. It might bring us closer you know."
"I do, but I'd like it to be because of something else more positive," Castle said as she pressed against his side. "Shouldn't we get back under the covers?" he eventually asked as the room fell into silence.
"Probably," Beckett said simply.
"You're still cold, come on," Castle said when he felt her shaking against him. He helped her lay down under the covers fully; lying behind her while he held her close against his chest.
"It's like I can still feel that ice under me," Beckett said, shuddering in the middle of her shaking.
"I'm not surprised, but you should try and think of something warm," Castle said, rubbing his hand up and down her arm.
"Like what?" Beckett asked, turning over to look at him.
"Remember Tahiti?" Castle pointed out to her.
Smiling at the memory of their trip together at the end of February the year before, Beckett nodded and said, "Very little clothes that trip."
"Of course, it also helped out we were pretty much alone around the other bungalows," Castle said. "But it was so warm we just jumped into the water right from the steps. Even at night."
"Again, you're lucky we were alone in our section for that," Beckett said, since they'd gone out one night into the ocean for a quick dip that had ended up with their clothing being discarded on the steps before they'd gone under the stairs together.
"But it worked, you're not shaking," Castle pointed out, since she wasn't.
"Hmm, thank you," Beckett said as she realized that he was right. She looked up at him then and said, "And you?"
"I'll be fine," Castle assured her.
"Though," Beckett began.
"Though?" Castle asked, wondering what she was thinking with the way she was looking at him.
"You could warm me up now," Beckett said, not really serious about wanting to make love with him, but needed to test a theory she'd had since she'd come home.
"No," Castle said firmly.
Nodding, Beckett turned around, knowing that while she herself was okay, she was going to need to talk to him. "Not tonight," she said under her breath.
"Not for a while probably," Castle said. He expected to have some kind of reaction to that, but when Beckett didn't say anything, he guessed she was asleep, so he took the chance and kissed the space of skin under her neck whispering, "I love you Kate."
"I love you too Castle," Beckett immediately replied, unable to help smiling when he jerked a little against her in surprise. She reached back and then paused, suddenly sitting up. As he'd done the same thing, she was able to wrap her arms around him before she kissed him.
Castle was confused, knowing that Beckett had to be exhausted, but she wouldn't relax. He guessed, as he took over the kiss for her, that she might be unsettled with what happened, so he decided to help her the best he could. When they needed to breathe he slowly pulled away and cupped her face in his hands, pressing his forehead against hers. He then ran his hands down her shoulders, pulling her close once he had them wrapped around her waist.
"Are you not tired now?" Beckett asked in surprise as he just held her.
"I thought you weren't," Castle said, pulling away slightly to look at her.
"I am, but I wanted to make sure you were okay," Beckett said simply.
"No, I am, just worried about you still," Castle said.
Beckett kissed him at that, and when they pulled apart a little while later she said softly, "I'll be fine. Just promise me tomorrow you won't hover or…"
"Pamper you? You never really let me do that," Castle said, their lips brushing against each other.
"I'll let you know what I want you to do," Beckett said, smiling slightly at that. "For now, we really should sleep."
"Yes we should, it's almost past four fifteen, Julia's going to wake up before we will," Castle said, glancing at the clock as they went to lie down as they'd been before. He kissed Beckett gently on the lips before she settled completely, and when they parted, let her relax in front of him before he could hear her breathing evening out.
As soon as he knew she was asleep, Castle breathed out deeply and raised his head and watched her. He had no idea how long he was doing that, only that he was trying to reassure himself that she was really alright. But remembering their conversation, he knew that she was, and was trying to keep going, trying already to put everything with that night behind her. Laying back down he found himself pressing up against her a little closer, feeling the warmth of her body, keeping that in his mind as he tried to ignore the sudden idea that had come to him as he'd watched her.
Castle couldn't stop considering the thought of taking Beckett and their families to San Francisco the next day. Just whisk her away and marry her at City Hall. Realizing she had been taken earlier he had been horrified to think that he had lost his chance to marry her. And it wasn't to just marry her for the sake of marrying her, but to make sure they were closer than they already were and to make their relationship and their family completely official. He sighed then as he tried to push the thought away, not really wanting to elope with her, wanting to take his time and make sure their ceremony was something she could look back on with joy and not think about how rushed they'd been.
The fatigue he'd fought through that night until he'd gotten the text from her dad caught up to him then, and Castle shook his head slightly before he leaned over, kissing the side of Beckett's head. Making himself relax behind her, he closed his eyes and was quickly asleep, his deep, even breathing mingling with hers as they took the chance to put more time between that night and the dawn of the next day.