Title: One Hundred Coffees
Summary: The story of each and every one of those one hundred coffees that Kate owes Rick. Castle/Beckett.
Warnings/Spoilers: up to An Embarrassment of Bitches
Disclaimer: All rights for the characters and the world go to their owners. I, in no way, believe – or would lead others to believe – that I own Castle.

Author's Note: I thought of this before WriteRCastle's tweet today. Hopefully you like it. Even if you don't, you should tell me. I'm curious with a style like this what things work for you guys and what don't so please share.

sixty-six to seventy

66:

Rick wakes up on Groundhog's Day in the breakroom. He wakes up to a lap full of paperwork from the night before and some dried ink on his hands. Kate walks in with a little grin on her face and gives him a cup of coffee. It has a badly drawn groundhog on the coffee sleeve but, if the cup is tilted the right way, it sort of looks like it has a shadow. He thanks her and she says, "Thank me after you finish your half of the paperwork."

"Yes, ma'am." He takes a hearty sip of the coffee to pump himself up and dives back in.

67:

Rick wakes up on the break room couch. He wipes at his face with a groggy, displaced feeling. He glances down at his lap, and there are papers. The same papers as before with the same blank spots too. And there's still dried ink on his hands. He glances up just in time to see Kate walk in with that same small grin on her face. She holds out the cup and he takes it apprehensively. Is he losing his mind? He's got to be losing his mind. He thanks her, and she responds with the same thing as before. He blinks a few times to clear away the lingering deja vu, sips the coffee, and gets back to work on those papers.

68:

It happens again. All of it. Only this time, Rick doesn't say, 'Thank you.' He says, "You want me to do the paperwork." And she nods. So he does. Or, he goes to but pauses. He looks through the glass part of the break room wall, squinting.

"Karpowski never comes in until noon," says Rick. He glances up to the clock, which is at eight-fifteen just as it has been the last three times he's woken up. He quickly takes the lid off of the coffee cup and looks inside. Nothing looks different. He sniffs it. Nothing smells different. He takes a very small sip. There is something there. Something he can't quite pinpoint. Still, he looks at Kate with a glare. "What have you done to me?"

Kate plays innocent. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Castle."

"It's like I'm living in Groundhog's Day," Rick says.

"Well, it is Groundhog's Day."

"Yeah, right, and you're drugging me through coffee to mess with me," Rick says. His eyes snap to meet hers and narrow considerably. He recognizes the taste. "Nyquil? Really, Kate?"

Kate grins again. He recognizes that smile too; it's not her 'here's coffee because I care about you' smile. It's a scheming one. She says, "Espo's idea. He thought it would be a good way to teach you the difference between fiction and reality."

"Cops drugging the innocent - you see, this is exactly why people hate the police," Rick tells her, "I could sue."

Kate shakes her head. "You actually can't. Don't you remember all of those forms you signed before? Your lifeless remains can't sue the city and all that."

"Then I'm cutting you off," Rick announces. Kate raises an eyebrow, obviously curious. He says, "I'm not talking to you, working with you, or even looking at you again until you make this right. I'm partners with Ryan now."

"Espo will never-"

"If I so as much as mentioned Kay Cappucchio to Lanie, Esposito would be in the dog house for another few months. He'll go for it. Well, I've got to go talk to my new partner, the kind-hearted one of the group."

With that, Rick leaves the break room. He passes Esposito on his way out. Espo looks from Rick to Kate and points after the retreating man. Espo says to Kate, "Your boy does know that Ryan thought of the rest of the prank, right?"

69:

The cup reads: #69. I think you can entertain yourself with that number alone.

Rick drops the cup back off on her desk about an hour later. She curiously pulls the sleeve off, wondering why he returned it. Written where the sleeve would cover is a short little story that makes her face flush and the message: Well, not exactly alone.

70:

Kate's old best friend, Maddy, drops in for a visit. Kate's busy so they settle for a quick coffee break while waiting for the autopsy to finish. It's a relaxing break from everything. Maddy fills Kate in on her life and then pesters some info out of the detective. When their time is up, Kate walks over to the counter and doesn't even get to open her mouth before Bobby asks, "Yours or Castle's?"

Hearing this, Maddy raises an eyebrow. "Castle's?" she repeats. "You pick up his coffee now, Becks? Where was that in the last twenty minutes?"

Kate tries to shush her friend. "It's nothing. I owe him one hundred coffees, and I'm paying off the debt."

"And exactly how many of those coffees were to wake up after a night of what I assume to be mind-blowing se-"

"None," Kate says swiftly with a look to silence Bobby as well. The teenager smugly goes about fixing Rick's drink, but his face says it all.

"Get on it, Becks. That guy loves you and you love him. What's stopping you?" Maddy asks. "Is it his kid?"

"No, Alexis is amazing."

"Then it's the whole fame thing."

"He's nowhere near as famous as he thinks he is."

"Then it's his mom."

"Martha's great."

"Then it's your mom."

Kate pauses. That's not really the issue. It's the starting point, but... Gosh, why does she feel like such a broken record when it comes to why she's not with Castle? How many times has she had this mental conversation? Yes, there are reasons why she isn't. But there are three reasons right there why she should be. Not to mention the many women who all seem to believe that they're together, or going to be, including the two most important ones in Rick's life and all of the ones they've bumped into over the last few years. If there are all of the reasons, and all of the feelings, then why hasn't it happened yet? What are they waiting for?

"Becks?" Maddy prompts.

Kate shakes her head. "Nothing." They're waiting for something that won't happen. No more waiting. When Bobby sets the coffee down, Kate picks it up, gives her friend a hug, and heads back to the precinct. She's got a guy to see and a lot to say.

Feel free to suggest coffee ideas in your reviews.

Thirty coffees to go. Blue Butterfly fast approaching. What are you thinking?