2x11—The Fifth Bullet

"How about you, Castle? How long to you think it'll last this time?"

"Well maybe it's just the writer in me, but I'm hoping for a happy ending…"

His eyes were on Beckett as he answered, a soft smile on his face. Beckett noticed this, looking away immediately, trying to hide her blush.

"So," she said, shuffling the papers around on her desk, "you staying for paperwork, Castle?"

Castle opened his mouth to retort in the negative, before closing it as he thought about what staying to help could mean; more time with Kate Beckett.

"Eh, why not?" he said, plopping down in his chair. "It's about time I started pulling my own weight around here, right?"

Kate's surprise was evident on her face, but she didn't argue with him, instead handing over a form and a pen.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," she said, smirking.

x-x

Less than twenty minutes later, Castle was frowning down at his paper.

"Remind me never to insist on helping out with paperwork again," he moaned, rubbing his temples.

Kate laughed. "Suck it up, Castle," she said, "the boys and I have to do this pretty much every day. Besides, we're almost done."

"Can we go get a burger after this?" Castle asked, hopefully.

"A burger? Castle, it's nine in the morning."

"So? I'm hungry!"

"Stop whining and maybe I'll take you to the diner for some breakfast when we're done." Castle beamed and Kate rolled her eyes, going back to the paper in front of her.

Fifteen minutes later, they were done and Castle was practically shoving Kate into her coat as he wrestled his on himself. Kate shook her head, making her way to Montgomery's office to drop off the completed file. Montgomery thanked her and gave her the rest of the day off to rest. Kate thanked him and allowed Castle to pull her towards the elevator.

x-x

On their way to the diner, Kate spotted the entrance to a large grocery store and stopped Castle next to her.

"You know what, Castle," she said, "I don't really feel like eating out again." Castle's face fell and Beckett hurried to clarify. "Why don't we just go to the grocery store and get some ingredients and I'll just make us breakfast at my place?" Castle's smile returned, full-force and he nodded in agreement, pulling her towards the store.

Kate should have known better than to take Richard Castle, playboy millionaire and all-around man-child into a grocery store, because the second they started down the first aisle, he began throwing all kinds of sugar-packed items into the cart, causing Kate to pause mid-aisle.

"Castle," she said, warningly, "put it back."

"Put what back?" Castle asked. "The marshmallows or the oreos?"

"Both," Kate replied, "all of it. None of that is breakfast food."

"Says you," Castle replied, petulantly. Kate rolled her eyes, shooting him the look. Castle sighed. "Fine!" he groused, putting back everything that 'normally' wouldn't be considered breakfast food. "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say that you raised Alexis, because there's almost no way that I share any DNA with that kid. I mean, besides the fact that she got my devastatingly charming personality and swoon-worthy eyelashes." To demonstrate, he fluttered his at her, making Kate snort.

"Well, maybe our kids got switched at birth," she muttered. Castle's eyes widened and she could have kicked herself. "It was a joke, Castle," she sighed. "A stupid one, obviously, because I have no children."

Castle nodded. "Yeah. Besides, you'd probably be a horrible mother." Kate paused mid-step.

"What makes you say that?" she asked, trying to hide the anger and hurt in her voice. "Because I'm not fun? Because I don't have emotions? Am I some kind of robot?"

Castle realized immediately what he said and tried to backtrack.

"No, no!" he assured her. "It's nothing like that, I swear! I only meant—"

"I know what you meant, Castle," Beckett hissed. You meant that I would be a horrible mother; you even said it. Well, fine then! Cook your own damn breakfast because I'm probably horrible at that, too!" With that, she stomped off, leaving the cart behind as she exited the store. Castle watched her go for a moment, wondering how he could have said something so stupid, especially to a girl who didn't have a mother to look up to anymore. After a moment he began chasing her out of the store, losing sight of her once he got outside. He spun around, calling her name, apologizing and begging her to come back, but he could see no one.

Then he heard it. Stuttered breathing and sniffles. It sounded like somebody was…crying. Castle looked right and saw the alley right next to the grocery store, the toe of Beckett's boot sticking out. He shuffled towards the sounds of her sobbing, peering around the corner, his heart breaking upon seeing her sitting on a wooden crate next to the dumpster, her head in her hands as she sobbed.

"Beckett?" Castle said, cautiously as he approached. Beckett gasped, taking a deep breath and wiping her face before looking up. Her eyes were pink and her face just slightly blotchy, her face shiny with tears.

"What do you want, Castle?" she barked at him. "Want to tell me what a bad cop I am now, too?"

Castle shook his head. "You're not a bad cop," he said, softly.

"Well imagine my relief," Kate replied, sarcastically.

Castle sighed. "I deserve that," he said, looking down at his feet. "I deserve to get shot for what I said, actually. Do you happen to have your gun on you?"

Kate nodded, glaring at him.

"Thought so," Castle replied. "I wouldn't blame you if you shot me point-blank in the head right now."

"I've thought about it," Kate admitted, glaring at him.

Castle nodded, sighing again. "I didn't mean it," he said, "what I said back there. It was supposed to be a joke, only…it sounded much better in my head." Kate scoffed, looking away. "It did! It was supposed to be a jab at the lack of fun you seem to have, and how serious you always seem to be, only it came out…wrong. I didn't mean that if you had a child, you wouldn't be the best mother ever, because I know you would be. And I didn't mean that you wouldn't love that lucky kid with all of your being, because I know you would. I just meant…I dunno. I just meant to make fun of you, I guess, but, trust me, you would be an amazing mother."

"Oh yeah?" Kate huffed. "How the hell would you know?"

"Remember the Candela case? When that little girl was kidnapped and we found her with her aunt? Any other kid that age would have been scared shitless by a stranger going up to them and picking them up the way you did, but not her. And it's not because she was some special little social butterfly or anything. It was because you knew how to talk to her, how to make her feel comfortable. I'd never seen you like that with any other kid before or since that case. You're a natural with Alexis, too. You give her advice and she actually follows it. She's never been with any other woman the way she's been with you. You make her feel comfortable and important, too. That's more than I can say for Meredith or Gina." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for what I said in there; it was stupid and uncalled for and I would understand if you never want to see me again, but if you do, then I'd be happy to buy all of your groceries and make you breakfast. What do you say?"

"You really think that making me breakfast is going to solve everything?" Kate asked, scowling up at him.

"I'll also wear a dress to the Precinct for a week," he offered.

"Deal."

x-x

An hour later, Castle was working diligently at the stove, preparing eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and hash browns, simultaneously as Beckett sat at the counter, drinking her second cup of coffee, doing the crossword puzzle with a pen. She seemed to be stuck on one and was chewing on the end of the pen, deep in thought.

"What's the clue?" Castle asked, flipping one of the pancakes. Kate looked up, her eyes slightly cloudy.

"Huh?" she asked.

"For that word you're stuck on; what's the clue?" Castle clarified.

"Oh," Kate said, looking down. "Another word for Extraordinary."

"Oh," Castle said, "that's easy; B-E-C-K-E-T-T."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Smooth," she said, "but this word has…10 letters in it, not seven. And it starts with 'I'."

"Incredible," Castle said, instantly. "Which is yet another synonym for B-E-C—"

"Just give it a rest, okay, Castle?" Kate said, exasperatedly, trying to hide her grin.

"Fine," Castle huffed, "don't accept the compliment." He turned up his nose at her, making her chuckle.

By the time he was done serving up two plates stacked high with every kind of breakfast food, Beckett was nearly finished with her puzzle.

"I need a four letter word for strong emotional attachment," Kate said, looking up at him for help. Castle placed his own plate down and circled the table to look over her shoulder at the clue, knowing what it was the second he saw the 'e' at the end of the word; he just couldn't imagine how she, the trained detective, didn't know.

"Like?" he suggested, hoping she would catch on.

"Hmm," Kate said, "not strong enough."

"Hope?" Castle suggested. "That's a pretty strong word."

"Not really. Besides, that 'p' wouldn't fit into that word."

"Well, then why don't you figure that one out first?" Castle asked.

Kate looked at the clue. "Blank, blank's locker…Davy Jones!" She filled in the blanks, before going back to the other clue, her face turning a slight shade of pink as she realized what it was. She turned to Castle to ask him to get her another cup of coffee, only to have her nose bump into his at their proximity to one another, their eyes catching one another's gaze.

Kate's widened slightly at the intensity of his blue eyes, darker than usual. She wanted to ask why that was but she felt a shortness of breath and her eyes involuntarily flitted down to look at his lips, before going right back to his, praying that he didn't notice.

She should have known better because the next second, his lips were on hers, not forceful or demanding, but soft and gentle, giving her ample opportunity to pull away and smack him if she wanted.

But, at the moment, she realized that she didn't want to. What she wanted to do, more than anything, was drag him into her room right then and there and forget breakfast. But she could settle for just kissing him back, pulling him closer as her arms wrapped around his neck, surprising him slightly as the move forced him to drop to his knees in front of her. Kate never broke the kiss, however, keeping their lips locked and her hand wrapped tightly in his hair, her lips assaulting his.

When they pulled back for air, Castle's eyes were glazed over. "Whoa," he breathed. Kate chuckled, leaning down to kiss him again, before turning back to her plate and picking up her fork, much to Castle's surprise.

"Wait," he gasped, "that's it?"

Kate scowled at him. "I'm hungry, Castle," she said, "besides, I still have the rest of the day off to do whatever I want with you." She glanced down pointedly at his crotch and Castle's eyes widened, a blush appearing on his face.

"Why, Detective Beckett," he gasped, "I never knew you were so naughty!"

Kate chuckled. "Oh, you don't even know the half of it," she teased, making Castle choke as he popped a sausage into his mouth.

It was going to be a loooong day.

Sorry there's no smut, but I'm not in the mood. REVIEW!