"Just act normal," Castle reminds her as she pulls into her parking spot at the Twelfth the following morning, turning the ignition off and shooting him a look in the dimness of the garage.
The rest of yesterday's afternoon at his loft had been blessedly uneventful, his body craving sleep - craving her - the majority of the evening, the night. He had slept hard on his couch after their round four against his front door, awakened to the smell of the Chinese food she had ordered – they'd have to talk about who she gave out his addresses to later – not long after. But recovering his energy had been too much of a struggle, his mind nor his body up for much else that evening, and he hadn't put up a fight when Kate had led him to his bed, draped her body at his back after she'd used the bathroom and his toothbrush.
With his stomach full and the warmth of her like a blanket covering his skin, he had drifted back to sleep with ease for the first time in years, giving into the need for the rest necessary to his shoulder, her throat. The last thought to cross his mind was the fleeting wish that it could always be like this, even after he was done pretending she needed him for a temporary bodyguard.
Kate Beckett didn't need anyone else's protection; he was just lucky she was allowing him to have her back, to keep her safe in the few ways he knew how.
"Me? You're the one I'm worried about," she mutters, turning off the ignition and pocketing the keys.
"Hey, who's the spy here?" he huffs, but grinning nonetheless at the halfhearted roll of her eyes. It's been just over 36 hours since Kate had learned the truth, since she had chosen to embrace rather than begrudge it, and it's the most freeing sensation he's ever known, to hold no life altering secrets from another person.
"The dopey smiles and lingering gazes aren't exactly helping your side of this argument," she points out, reaching across the console to pat his cheek.
"But they're still pretty endearing, right?" he quips, catching her wrist before her hand can fall away, but releasing the bone when her opposite set of fingers close around the door handle. "Hey, wait."
Kate arches an eyebrow in question, but he merely shifts towards her, curves his palm at her nape and drags her mouth to his for a bruising kiss that has her panting, nipping at his upper lip for more and groaning as he gentles her.
"That's not helping either," she husks, trying to glare at him from beneath the fringe of her lashes, but the ink black pools of her pupils makes the task rather difficult.
"Just keep looking at me like that all day and we'll pull this off without a hitch," Castle chuckles, smearing one more hard and unforgiving kiss to her mouth before he's pushing open his own door, slipping out of the black charger and waiting the extra ten seconds for Beckett to do the same.
She shoots him a scowl, locks the car with a click of her thumb to her keys and starts towards the entrance, but glances back over her shoulder when he fails to follow. "You coming?"
"Going to wait a few minutes, don't want it to be too obvious," he explains, walking backwards while she watches with a quirk of her lips. "Actually, I should probably go buy you a coffee."
"Even better plan," she smirks, the soft curls of her hair bouncing along her blazer clad shoulders as she strides forward without another look towards him spared, her heels clicking harshly on the concrete.
Rick takes his time retrieving her coffee from down the block, entering the Twelfth at a leisurely pace, accepting kind words and 'get well' wishes from fellow officers and detectives who have learned of his brawl with 3XK, the gunshot wound he suffered. It has an uncomfortable line of tension streaking down his spine.
He isn't used to this form of camaraderie that spans throughout the entire precinct, the mutual respect they all held for one another, something they had extended to him.
"You okay?" Kate asks when he places her coffee on her desk nearly twenty minutes since they had parted ways in the parking lot, her head tilted in gentle concern, but Castle shakes his in response.
"It's just weird here, how everyone is," he states, flustered, but she doesn't give him a funny look, doesn't rush him, simply waits for him to continue, to untangle the confused web of his thoughts. "In the - at my old workplace," he corrects, just in case. Can never be too careful, especially when Vikram was only a matter of feet away. "Everyone minded their own business, didn't really care to get involved in anyone else's lives, but here… I've had at least five officers come up and commend me since I got here."
A strange tenderness crosses her face, but she smothers it, doesn't allow it to linger for his sake.
"That's what it means to be a team, Rick. A family," she murmurs, cradling the to go cup between her palms. "I may not be as close to the majority of the officers as I am to Ryan and Esposito, but I know each person who works here to some degree, and I'd have their backs if they needed me, just like they'd have mine."
Castle nods. "I can see that."
"They'd have yours too, you know," she adds, something like trepidation clinging to the corners of her mouth, her smile tentative and… oh, that's her shy smile, isn't it?
Because her words had been a sort of offer, a possibility, a new path to follow. A terrifying idea. One he may actually consider once all of this is over and his mission is complete.
"Maybe," he murmurs, drifting back towards the cracked door of her office. "For now, I've got you, Beckett."
"True, and that's more than enough," she muses, a playful grin on her lips as she brings her coffee cup to her mouth, and he grins back at her like an idiot, unable to stop himself from relishing in how easy it is with her. To play, to joke, to love-
And that was his cue to go.
"I'll see you later, Captain," he says, nudging the door open with his good shoulder, still able to catch her mumbled assent before he enters the bullpen, striding across the floor to the workroom he and Vikram share.
But when Castle steps inside, there's another man sitting at his station, one he's never seen before, chatting with Vikram. Both men fall silent the moment Castle appears, sounding alarm bells through Rick's system. He doesn't recognize the man who stands from his seat, but there's something familiar, a red flag that arises at the sight of him.
"Hey Castle, there's someone I need you to meet. Shut the door," Vikram states with a smile, but his voice is low, his eyes dark, and Rick doesn't like this at all.
But he follows Vikram's polite demand, clicks the door closed behind him, and arches an eyebrow at his colleague.
"Agent Castle, this is Caleb Brown, local defense attorney and second in command to LokSat," Vikram announces quietly and Caleb Brown holds out his hand, a smile that sets Castle on edge spreading across his lips despite the solemn expression claiming his face.
"Nice to meet you, Agent," Caleb adds and Rick grudgingly lifts his good hand, accepts the firm shake of Caleb's. "I didn't expect my assistance to be required. Both my boss and Vikram have spoken quite highly of you."
"Assistance?" Castle repeats, brow furrowing. "What are you talking about?"
"You have one job, Castle," Vikram begins, walking slowly from the other side of the room to approach him, a grim set to his features that Rick's never seen before. "You distract Captain Beckett. You keep her occupied, keep her nose out of her investigation into LokSat. We've gone over this."
"Yes, and I think it's quite clear that I've had little problems in doing so," Castle answers, lies, but tenses when Vikram lays a hand along Rick's injured shoulder, barely applying pressure over the stitched flesh, but oh so ready to.
"Where in that job description does it say for you to save her, Rick?" Vikram questions, sharing a quick look with Caleb, who silently watches from a few feet away, observing with his arms crossed over his chest. "If Jerry Tyson would have killed her, that would have been out of our control, no blood on our hands, or yours."
"I was already headed to her place," Rick replies, shrugging out of Vikram's hold. "The fact that I arrived when a psychopath was trying to strangle her was pure coincidence. Surely you didn't expect me to just stand there, let her die."
"Coincidence?" Caleb echoes, tilting his head with intrigue. "You know, Mr. Castle, with your job and the stakes it carries, I thought you would be intelligent enough to realize when you're being watched as well." Rick's blood runs cold, freezes in his veins and spreads ice like lead through his bones. "You were already keeping an eye on Captain Beckett before Tyson even arrived. You didn't go to her place out of coincidence, you went to rescue her."
Castle doesn't waste another second in attempting to lie. "What difference does it make? If she's dead or alive, as long as she stays away from LokSat, isn't that all that matters?"
Something flashes through Caleb's dark eyes, subtle but just noticeable enough for Rick to catch, and that icy dread in his system grows thicker, heavier, ready to crack under the pressure.
"Yes," Caleb agrees, but something's wrong, the alarm bells screaming through his head now deafening. He needs to get Kate out of here, as far away as possible. "That really is all that matters, Agent."
Vikram's brow furrows, and well, at least he didn't have to worry about the other man being in on whatever it was that Caleb Brown was planning.
"Now that we've finally had the chance to meet, I'll be in touch more often, do my part in ensuring Captain Beckett stays in her lane," Caleb states, too calm, too collected, but Rick nods back with the same amount of composure. "In the meantime, I do have a meeting with the boss, so I'll see you both some other time."
"Looking forward to it," Castle mutters, watching Brown's mouth coil into a smirk.
"I like you, Mr. Castle," Caleb remarks, striding for the door with his head held high. "Don't give me any reason to change my mind."
"I'll do my best."
Caleb winks before exiting the room, his briefcase swinging at his side as he heads for the elevator, cutting his gaze to Kate sitting in her office, sipping coffee and reading over paperwork at her desk, and Rick curls his fingers into a fist at his side.
"Yeah, I wouldn't piss him off," Vikram quips under his breath, already returning to his desk, fingers resuming their rhythm across his laptop's keyboard as if he had never been interrupted by the impromptu meeting that had just taken place.
Castle glances back to Beckett's office just as the elevator doors close on Caleb Brown. She's already looking back at him, a question in her gaze, and she must be able to read the growing unease in his eyes, because she rises from her desk, exits her office and heads through the bullpen without drawing attention, towards the farthest stairwell.
"Do we have a case yet?" Castle asks Vikram, but the other man shakes his head.
"Nah, still trying to clean everything up after the whole Tyson mess," Vikram answers, shooting Castle a reproachful look that earns a scowl in response. He really hopes he gets the chance to beat the guy senseless before this ordeal is over with. "Did you at least make progress with Beckett after saving her life? I noticed she ignored the text I sent her the next morning, and well, that phone call yesterday…"
Castle ignores the implication gleaming in Vikram's gaze, the sick knowledge, and merely shakes his head. "She's not even thinking about LokSat."
"At least you're doing something right," Vikram chuckles, and Castle excuses himself before he really does punish Vikram with his fists, taking the opposite set of stairs across the homicide floor that will lead him to her.
Kate is waiting for him in the gym when he descends the stairs, slips into the women's locker room with her, into a shower stall where he's certain there's no way they can be tracked, listened to.
"What did Caleb Brown want with you?" she whispers, leaning back against the cool tile wall, gnawing on her bottom lip.
"How do you know him?" Rick questions, mimicking her and pressing his back to the wall to refrain from pacing in the compact space.
"He's worked as a defense attorney for a few cases here and there," Kate explains, searching his face with concern, the same dread he feels shining bright in her eyes. "He's a part of this?"
"Oh, more than a part," he mutters, scrubbing at his eyes. "He's second in command to LokSat, apparently. And he's not happy with me."
"What? Why?" Beckett demands, instinctively shifting forward, her crossed arms grazing his chest.
"They know I'm compromised, Kate. I don't think he's figured out that I've clued you in, but he knows it's personal, that I'm not doing my job." Castle grits his teeth. "They're going to kill you, probably kill us both-"
"How could they know?" she hisses, her hands reaching for his hips in a developing habit, tugging him closer. "We haven't done anything to-"
"I stopped Tyson from killing you," he breathes, squeezing his eyes shut. "It was all the confirmation they needed."
Kate's fingers tighten at his sides. "So they're coming for us?"
"For you, most likely," he corrects, opening his eyes to see the embers of fear in her eyes, the flames of ferocity, so ready to fight. "They could kill me if it's convenient, especially since I know about LokSat, but they'll kill you first, punish me."
"Rick-"
"Let me take you someplace," he interrupts, pleads, already knowing it's a lost cause, but unable to help it, to give her the chance to save her own life, just this once. "Someplace safe, away from here."
She drifts forward to bury her face against his neck, her head tucked beneath his chin, and he bands his good arm around her, prepares for the blow.
"You know I can't run," she whispers, sounding so apologetic, but yeah, he already knew. It's not who she is to run away, to surrender or hide; it's not who he fell in love with. She would stand and fight this thing to the death, and he'll be by her side through it all.
"I know," he murmurs, smearing his lips to her temple. "Wouldn't be you."
"You can still back out of this, Castle. It's not your fight-"
"The hell it isn't," he growls, reaching between them to cup his fingers to her jaw, lift her chin to meet his eyes. "I - I care about you, Kate. And I'm not going anywhere. I'm with you until the end."
Her eyes flutter shut on the agony that spills through her gaze, the anguish, but they flare open again a moment later, a shimmer of gold in her irises that causes his breath to catch.
"Partners then," she confirms, covering the hand at her face and turning to kiss his palm.
Castle nods and tilts his head forward to dust his lips along her hairline. He's never had a partner before.
"Partners," he confirms.
Rick is asleep on the sofa across from her desk, his arms folded atop his abdomen and his head propped on her gun styled throw pillow, a frown etched deep into his lips. He was afraid to leave her alone, leave her vulnerable, and she couldn't say she felt safe without him near, without her eyes on him as well now that she knew the vultures were circling them both.
Something was going to happen, a life or death scenario where LokSat is concerned, she can feel it in her guts, but despite the instinctual warning signs, there was no way to prepare for it. They were no closer to taking LokSat down, discovering the true identity behind the name than they had been two days ago when she and Rick had initially combined their efforts. But those involved in the organization were one step closer to taking her down by the sounds of it.
Taking him down with her.
"I can feel you panicking from all the way over here," Castle mumbles, his eyes still closed, but his brow quirking, and Kate sighs, buries her face in her hands.
"Not panicking," she mutters, pressing the heels of her palms to her eye sockets. "Just frustrated."
Castle sighs and she peeks between the slots of his fingers to see his eyes sliding open, trained on the ceiling overhead. "I'm sorry, Kate. You just survived a serial killer's attack on your life and now you're dealing with this."
"Not your fault," she points out, watching his head roll towards her, an incredulous expression roaring through his features, and Beckett holds up her hand before he can even start drowning himself in the blame.
"You deserve a break," he murmurs anyway, his mouth forming a pout, petulant like a child, and Kate's lips quirk.
"Yeah, well so do you, babe."
Castle's eyebrows hitch to his hairline as the delight spills through his face, and at least it washes away the guilt.
"Babe, huh?" he muses, swinging his legs over the edge of the couch, and she huffs, curses her mouth for letting the stupid term slip out. She never used pet names, they were so far from her style, but so was practically everything else about her relationship with Rick.
"Stop," she huffs, glancing back down to her paperwork, but she hasn't been able to concentrate for the last hour, the last few hours, if she was being honest. Ever since she had noticed Caleb Brown and Castle exchanging death glares that morning and the truth about the defense attorney had been revealed to her.
Was anyone in this precinct - in her life - who they said they were?
"We should go back to my place, honey," he quips, strolling across the room to prop his hip against her desk, and Kate lifts her gaze to glare at him.
"I will not hesitate to maim you."
"Baby?"
"Castle."
"Sweetheart?"
"I will sleep in the guest bedroom if you don't-"
"Shutting up now," he announces, reaching for her hand as she smothers her grin, swats at the coil of his fingers at her bicep. "C'mon Beckett, we'll stop by a grocery store on the way there, I'll cook you an actual dinner."
"It's already ten o'clock," she points out, sighing in defeat and standing from her desk chair at his gentle tug. The time the only reason she's choosing to go with him, not at all because the appeal of Richard Castle cooking her dinner is more important than her working late.
"You've hardly eaten today. Late dinner is better than no dinner," he shrugs, and Kate rolls her eyes, brushing past him to snag her messenger bag from the floor, propped up against the couch.
"Stop keeping track of my eating habits," she mutters, slinging the bag over her shoulder, and accepting the blazer he holds out to her.
Castle scoffs at her. "If I didn't bring you food, you wouldn't eat."
"I get busy," she defends, nudging the door open for him, flicking off the lights to her office, and locking up once they're both out. "I can take care of myself just fine."
"Never said you couldn't," he appeases with a supplicating hand raised between them as they begin the brief walk towards the elevators. The bullpen is never empty, but it's scarce of her usual team – both Ryan and Esposito taking a week of paid leave, a short vacation she believed would do them a world of good, especially Kevin. And the text of gratitude she'd received from Jenny earlier that morning only solidified her decision as the right one. "But I like taking care of you too."
"You know, I used to think you were all playboy charm," she muses, ignoring the fluttering in her chest his words so easily elicit. Most lines like that, sugary sweet words from men meant to make her swoon, often had her gagging, but Castle… he was just so earnest, his words so sincere, his eyes like dark skies with the stars of affection shining through. For a trained liar, he was terrible at hiding his emotions from her. That is, if he was even trying anymore. "But now I see it's all sap."
The corners of his mouth twitch while she stabs the call button with her index finger, and he steps into the elevator with her in synchrony, leaning against the back wall with his smile illuminating his face, glimmering in his eyes.
"Only for you, Captain Beckett."