Author's note: Sorry about the wait on this. I have been busy busy busy, and everything seems to involve staring at computer screens which has been giving me headaches so I've been avoiding them when I can.

OOOOOOOOOOO

"You know… donuts are good, but I was kind of thinking that pancakes and sausage would be on the menu today…"

Castle smiled over at Bobby, who was halfway through his second donut and then looked out the window of the donut place at the rain that was pouring outside, practically flooding the street between the hotel and them.

"I'd worry about your complaints except that you're the one who chose what we were going to have…"

The Texan scowled.

"I'm a cop, Rick. You ask what I want for breakfast, and donuts automatically come to mind first."

"Don't listen to him," Jack said, grinning. "He'd eat donuts for lunch and dinner, too, if his wife would let him get away with it."

Kate smiled, reaching for another donut as well. She didn't usually indulge, but the donut shop was far too convenient to resist. Especially since Castle had surprised her with a new umbrella that morning, so she hadn't even gotten wet crossing the street. And with 3 tall men walking with her, she hadn't been assaulted by the wind, either.

They had woken in a tangle of arms and legs that morning that had been so warm and comfortable she wasn't even annoyed at the sound of the rain outside the window. It certainly seemed true that Seattle was a very wet place – even though a couple of the locals had promised her it didn't really rain all the time. They'd taken plenty of time to wake up and get ready for their day, including a shower for two with a lot of giggling and smeared soap. They'd caught up with Bobby and Jack in the lobby, and had reminded them that they had a breakfast date.

"What are you guys signed up for today?" Castle asked the Rangers, shoving the last of a maple bar into his mouth.

He already knew that Kate was signed up for a mandatory paperwork forum – a chance for the police officers in attendance to verify the proper way to fill out forms and catch up on any new mandated changes as far as federal laws went. The local ones would differ, but to make sure that no bad guy ever escaped justice due to a technicality of poorly written paperwork, the class was the only one everyone had to go to at least once.

Everyone but Castle, that was. He was free to pick whatever he wanted and even though he offered to join her, Beckett told him that he should do something more interesting than watching them all learn about paperwork. So he'd signed up for the self-defense, figuring that it would be fun – and he might learn some things that he should know for future use.

Bobby made a face.

"Paperwork in the morning, Crime scene investigation in the afternoon."

"That's going to be fun," Castle told him, grinning cheerfully. He and Beckett were signed up for the crime scene investigation as well. From what Adam had told them there was going to be a mock crime scene for them to look over – nothing new for Castle and certainly not new for the police officers who were attending – but the organizers had apparently tried very hard to make it tricky to figure out the crime itself.

Jack rolled his eyes.

"Trust a mystery writer to say that…"

Bobby and Beckett both chuckled, but before Castle could come up with a rejoinder, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find Anderson behind them.

"Hey, Rick, can I borrow you for a minute?"

"Sure."

Anderson smiled at Beckett, nodded to the rangers and then he and Castle walked off into the crowd of other police officers in the donut shop, leaving Beckett alone with Bobby and Jack once more. They turned the conversation to the paperwork forum, but all three of them agreed it wasn't something they were looking forward to.

"You should have made Rick do it with us, Kate," Bobby said. "It'd be good for him to see how boring paperwork is."

She smiled.

"He knows. He's watched me do it a million times. You want to see something fun, though? Watch Castle in the crime scene forum."

"Yeah?" Jack looked interested. "Why for?"

"He's a mystery writer," she said, throwing the Texan's words back at him. "You'll see."

They both shrugged, but neither of them doubted her. They already liked Castle, and had intended to team up with him and Beckett if the investigation forum turned out to be a team affair. Before either of them could actually reply, however, Castle was back. Alone but grinning excitedly and his eyes were lit up enough that she knew whatever he was excited about was something big.

"What's up?" she asked.

If anything, his smile widened.

"It's a secret."

Beckett frowned.

"What?"

He sat back down and reached for his coffee cup.

"Very hush hush…" he told her, still grinning. "If I tell you I'll be forced to kill you…"

She rolled her eyes, amused but a little annoyed, too. Beckett hated secrets. Probably because it was her job to unravel the secrets people keep.

"If you kill me, who will you sleep with tonight?" she asked him.

Bobby snorted, almost choking on his coffee.

"She's got you there, Rick."

Castle shrugged.

"Okay. I'll tell you – later – when there aren't so many people around."

She beamed, but twin groans of annoyance announced to them both that the Texans weren't impressed with that announcement.

"Rick…"

He shook his head.

"I was sworn to secrecy, Bobby," he said, holding up a hand to forestall any more comments or questions. "You'll have to go ask Adam if you want to know."

"You're killing me, Rick."

Which only earned them another smile. He obviously wasn't all that concerned about their immanent deaths. Instead, he picked up a Bismarck and handed it over.

"Have a donut."

OOOOOOOOOOO

They separated at the lobby once they returned to the hotel. The three police officers told him goodbye and joined the crowd for the paperwork forum while Castle went and changed into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt so he could head to the small meeting room that had been fitted out with mats for the self-defense classes. Despite the fact that every officer is trained in self-defense, he knew that several had signed up for the class just to see if there was something new that they didn't know. Most of it would be new for him, however, since the one Karate class he'd watched Alexis attend had shown a need for far more discipline than he ever wanted to devote to anything other than writing. It certainly involved more sweating than he enjoyed. At least, most of the time.

He was smiling as he walked in, though. How hard could it be, after all?