Disclaimer: If someone gave me these characters it would be even more reason to give thanks…

Chapter Twenty-Six

She pulled away from his arms, the hug becoming too much, too emotional. She didn't know where to go from here.

It was awkward being too exposed. Letting him comfort her. She was resilient and independent, she wasn't whatever "this" was, and she didn't want to be.

Like he often did, Castle knew. He let go of her willingly, comforted by the fact that she'd let him comfort her-if only for a minute.

"So," he grinned at her and waggled his eyebrows, "it's Monday".

She looked relieved.

She let herself smile back at him, "Yes?"

"Beckett!" he exclaimed, and he sounded so Castle-like, so normal that if she hadn't known better she'd have claimed the last nine hours hadn't happened.

She loved him for that.

Her love wasn't diminished and she felt only relief. Relief that she wasn't so screwed up that her hatred of letting people in would strip away her love for him the second he saw her at her worst.

He watched Beckett's face carefully. She'd been looking steely ever since she'd pulled out of his hug, but he persuaded himself that he could see her true emotions dancing under the surface. A plethora of them if he wasn't mistaken.

"Castle, quit whining or I'll have to shoot you".

And he knew they were okay.

"But Kattee!"

She grinned at him. How could she not? It was the first time he'd said her first name in his unique Castle whine.

"Yes Rick," she said exasperatedly, but she used his first name on purpose and was thrilled to see his pleased reaction, "I know it's Monday, some of us have jobs we're getting back to".

"Jobs with far too curious colleagues who are easily led astray?"

He said it so innocently that if she hadn't known him she'd have sworn he was earnest.

She laughed at that. It felt good to let go. She felt the rest of her concern about last night and this morning's events fade away.

He wanted to take her up in his arms and kiss her. This laughing uninhibited Kate he'd recently met.

But he didn't. He knew her. She was still too bruised from recent exposure. He grinned internally at the double meaning behind the word. He'd have called her delicate, but if there was one thing Kate Beckett was not it was fragile.

"Is it bad I'm excited about this?" Beckett asked in a way that suggested she didn't think it was bad at all.

Despite his recent thoughts Castle couldn't curb the immediate innuendo, "No, because I'd love it if you got excited by some very bad bad things".

Even though he'd meant it as a joke, and had managed to let his tone show it was sexual innuendo his voice grew gruff at the end.

She stared at him for a moment and he was about to apologize when she leapt at him.

She crashed into his chest, a mixture of tongue and arms and kisses and legs. Winding herself around him in the best way possible.

Just as quickly she let go.

Beckett skirted around Castle and sauntered past him whispering in his ear, "I can be very bad".

He gulped and watched her leave the room.

She didn't know why she'd done it. Though she'd played it off as a heightened version of the teasing that had always filled their relationship in truth his voice had turned her on.

But maybe kissing him like that had been a mistake.

Because now she was hot and bothered.

And if the pressure against her thigh meant what she thought it did, what she knew it did, then he was too.

And now they had to walk into a roomful of detectives who they planned on manipulating. "Terrific".

They drove together from her apartment to the coffee shop where he always made a pit stop. She knew exactly where it was because during that summer he'd been gone she'd found herself missing him, the lack of his presence always apparent when he didn't walk into the bullpen with her morning coffee. She hadn't been able to replace him but she had been able to replace the missing coffee.

If he was curious that she knew exactly where the small shop was he didn't let on.

He paused for a moment before exiting the car, one hand on the door handle, and turned to face her. He smiled at her wishing that he knew if it was okay to kiss her right now. Wondering if it was too soon after the emotional turmoil of the night before.

She saw the look on his face and knew what he wanted. Sometimes he was completely apparent. She curbed the laugh that threatened to escape—actually most of the time he was pretty damn apparent.

Beckett grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him toward her. He released a gasp of surprise and she allowed herself to laugh. The kiss was supposed to be brief, just a simple goodbye. But the second their lips touched she remembered all he'd done for her the night before. And now that she'd had some time to think about it she realized he'd been pretty incredible with the whole thing. Most guys wouldn't deal with the sweat and tears and anger. But Castle not only dealt he actually wanted to be there.

The realization flooded her and she poured everything into the kiss. She slid over the gear shaft and settled into his lap.

He was actually the one that broke the kiss. She was so caught up in it that if he hadn't stopped her she probably would have been arrested for public indecency. Not the best move for a cop.

After he broke away she remained in his lap, foreheads touching, both panting. He used his hand on her shoulder to balance her she clambered back into the driver's seat. Then he slid his hand up her arm to her cheek, gently brushing it with his index finger.

"Wow," he whispered.

She just grinned and shook her head, "Sorry". But she didn't sound at all apologetic.

He grunted, "Yeah right".

She shook her head, trying to get rid of the dirty thoughts that were flowing through it. Hoping that if she could get the thoughts out of her head the rest of her body would get the hint. "Shit," kissing him had been a mistake. Hadn't she just realized a half hour before that walking into the precinct desperately wanting to rip the clothes off the one person you were supposed to be completely platonic with probably wasn't the best plan?

"See you at work?"

He nodded.

He ran his hand gently though her hair, stopping at her shoulder and leaning into plant a kiss there.

"Castle?"

"Just trying to get my fill of you before I can't touch you for eight hours".

She just grinned and shook her head as he finally left the car.

As she pulled away from the curb she couldn't help but glance in her rearview mirror. He was watching her drive away, a huge grin on his face, head slightly tilted as he watched her until she turned the corner. Of course he was watching her.

Right before she got off the elevator she stared at herself in the reflective surface of the metal door. She ran her hands through her hair, checked that her lipstick wasn't smudged, and glared at her white shirt willing any stains to make themselves apparent immediately.

She stepped out of the elevator and watched with purpose toward her desk, nodding at her colleagues as expected.

It already felt so much better than the day before. Yesterday, when everything had felt awkward she'd been concerned that she'd lost her enthusiasm for her job. Now that she knew that it had more to do with Castle being absent she felt better. He would be there soon, coffees in hand.

Beckett didn't even bother looking up when he entered the precinct. She could hear the little spring in his step, smell his cologne, and she knew it was him.

Ryan and Esposito were both working at their desks and looked up at Castle the moment he entered the room.

Beckett kept her head titled, focused on the work in front of her.

"Castle!" crowed Ryan.

"Hey Ryan, hey Esposito," Castle grinned happily at the men.

"How are you?" Ryan sounded concerned.

"Much better, basically back to new. Still a bit sore though," Castle admitted.

Kate squinted her eyes at that, still focused on the paperwork in front of her. He hadn't told her he still hurt. She hoped it wasn't too serious. She hoped her antics from the day before hadn't caused him pain. She was surprised to see a tear land on her paper. "Fuck". She angrily brushed it away with a finger. Luckily no more tears fell.

"And how was it with Beckett?" Esposito made sure that his voice was laced with plenty of innuendo.

"She did a surprisingly good job of taking care of me".

Both Ryan and Esposito stared at Castle, trying to interpret the minutest facial expressions.

"Surprisingly good, huh?" Espo grinned at Castle openly.

"Not like that!" Castle looked annoyed.

"And why not?" Ryan butted in,

"Let's put it this way. If Beckett looked after me in that way, do you really think I'd be here today?"

Ryan looked deflated, "Yeah, good point".

Castle nodded at the boys and went to his normal chair, plopping himself down.

He stared at Beckett, but nothing was new about that, so after a while the guys returned their attention to their actual work.

Once she felt their gaze disappear she let herself look up, almost tentatively, gazing through her eyelashes at the man beside her. He grinned devilishly back at her and held up one finger.

One point Castle and Beckett, zero points precinct.

They didn't have a case, but Beckett was inundated with paperwork that had piled up over her break.

Castle insisted that he was more than willing to stay and keep her company while she finished it, but she just rolled her eyes at him.

He was fading fast and even he knew it. It was his first time out of the loft since his injury, and even though he felt almost back to normal the exhaustion was looming around the corner. Castle had to admit that his sleepless night hadn't done anything to help that. Not that he'd give it up. Seeing Beckett weakened and with her defenses down wasn't something he enjoyed, but he also saw it as a necessary progression if they were ever going to make this relationship THE relationship.

He wanted that despearately, which may have been why they were fighting so intesenly.

"Go home Castle!"

"Beckett, seriously, I'm not leaving you here, you don't need to be alone right now".

He'd noticed that she'd been jumpy all day. Not just about their relationship and the secret they were hiding, but about other things. The slam of a mug on a desk, the shrill ring of a phone. Her startle response was heightened and Google told him that wasn't good.

Of course, if he'd thought about it long enough to filter his mouth he wouldn't have said anything at all.

"What? Castle, I am not a child! I survived long before you entered my life. I don't need a knight in shining armor," she was yelling by the end of the statement, but luckily everyone else had already left for the day.

There had been a few uniforms wandering in and out, but for now they were alone.

"Kate," Castle responded through clenched teeth, "I've never thought of you as some one who needs protection. Hell, if anything you're the knight. But you're tired too, it's not just me".

She didn't even respond, just stood up and walked angrily toward the murder board.

The boys had cleared the case earlier that day, but in typical fashion they'd merely smeared the dry erase marker instead of erasing it fully.

She put her anger into the wiping movements and he watched her for a minute before trying again.

"Kate, please," he made sure his voice was softened and tried really hard to hide the annoyance he was feeling, "I'm exhausted, that's true, but you need sleep as much as I do. Please come home".

Although she'd never let him know it, it was the word 'home' that did it for her. She didn't know what he meant by it, hoped to God that it wasn't some suggestion (they were way too early in their realitonship for that, thank you very much) but it still made her feel better.

"Fine," she huffed and rolled her eyes. It was clear she wasn't at all happy with the situation.

She put down the eraser and swept past him, making him catch up with her. She didn't look back, but she pausd at the elevator until he was at her side.

They continued toward her car and she still the ignored the man standing next to her. But she could feel his presence oozing around her.

She drove to her apartment purposefully bypassing his loft.

She didn't really want him to go home. She couldn't admit it, not even to herself, but she was spooked. Today had not been a good day. Ever since her full-fledged nightmare the night before her PTSD seemed to be returning.

She parked near her building and stormed towards it, still aware that he was following closely at her heels.

A car backfired and she threw herself against him, shielding him. Toppling both of them over into a slushy patch of almost melted snow.

Realization hit that it was just a car and she blushed.

He knew immediately what had happened. In fact, in the split second after the car had backfired he'd already been turning toward her, fully aware that her hypervigilence wouldn't let it escape.

He was still startled by the feel of her body against his, by the way they were lying on the ground breath shoved out of them.

As soon as they'd touched the ground and he was aware of what had happened he acted. He didn't need her to run away from him again.

He stood up and reached toward her. He grabbed her arm and yanked her next to him. He could feel her trembling and see the blush spreading across her cheeks.

She knew it had been a massive overreaction but she was still on alert.

She thought he'd say something….maybe an "I told you so". But he was silent.

He pulled her toward him for only a moment wrapping his arms around her and breathing in the scent of her hair.

Then he released his hold and softly kissed her forehead.

He held out his hand and she timidly placed hers within his.

The truth was she was terrified.

AN: Happy (almost) Thanksgiving to all my American readers! For those of you not from the US, Thanksgiving is a time to contemplate what we are thankful about. This year I'm thankful for all of you; for your reviews and comments and encouragement. So, thanks!

I apologize in advance for the slow updates the next several days, I'm seeing my extended family for the first time in six months.