What if Rick had risked it and gone into Kate's room that night.
"But if see that doorknob turn, I will have to know, Mr Castle, that I sleep with a gun."
"Understood."
Rick watched as Kate went into her room. He looked around, downed the wine in his glass then glanced back at Kate's door. "Not a good idea," he muttered to himself, turning away and moving to the sofa.
He lay back and tried to get comfortable but he couldn't help it as his gaze drifted back to Kate's door. He was worried about her, this guy they were chasing was clever and he really wasn't happy about Kate being alone. The apartment was probably safe but Rick really was worried. He got up and started pacing, his gaze flitting between the bedroom door and the couch.
Pouring himself another small glass of wine he downed it for some liquid courage and then made his way towards Kate's bedroom. He knocked softly on the door and slowly opened it, sticking his head around as he said in a low voice, "Beckett?"
"Castle?" Kate said, turning to face him, "What the hell."
Rick stood speechless for a moment, she was wearing a loose big t-shirt and tight yoga looking pants. He then cleared his throat as his gaze moved up to Kate's face and he saw that she was staring at him questioningly.
"I got in my own head," he admitted, "And stared freaking out about this guy we're chasing." Kate raised an eyebrow. "I'm worried about you ok," he said in a rush.
"I have a gun Castle," Kate reminded him, "I'll be fine."
She shifted her weight, clearly finding it awkward that Rick was standing in her room, very aware of her state of undress.
"Beckett," Rick said, "This is my fault." He saw the Kate was about to start speaking and carried on in a rush to stop her. "I know he'd have killed no matter what, but it's my fault he's concentrating on you. If it wasn't for Nikki Hea he'd never be a threat to you."
"Castle," Kate said, stepping closer to him and resting a hand on his arm, "I don't blame you. In fact, I'm glad that he got so infatuated with me."
"What!" Rick exclaimed.
"Hear me out," Kate said. She paused for a moment, debating on whether or not to take this back out in the lounge before she came to a decision. She stepped back and sat on her bed, gesturing for Rick to sit beside her. Rick froze for a second before he sat next to her. The two of them looked at each other and Kate continued, her voice low. "If it hadn't been for Nikki Heat he would have just kept killing without anyone noticing. Now he's taunting us, which is going to make him make mistakes. Nikki Heat is giving us a chance to catch this guy Castle. If it wasn't for your writing he'd have just kept killing and getting away with it." She paused and looked him deep in the eyes. "You're giving us a chance to catch him, Castle."
They were sitting so close Kate could feel his breath on her face and she couldn't help but let her eyes drift downwards to look at his lips as she unconsciously licked her own. She saw as Rick swallowed hard. She second-guessed herself for a second then threw caution to the wind and moved in closer, her face now only inches from his. She licked her lips again and saw that Rick did the same thing as he swallowed hard again.
They sat like that for who knew how long, their breath mingling as they both barely breathed.
Kate was trying to work out if this was a good idea or not, was she just pushing this because of their case or did she actually want to do this. She then swallowed hard and closed the remaining distance between them and pressed her lips against his.
Rick responded immediately and Kate pressed herself against him, her hands suddenly all over him. Rick's hands moved to her back, pulling her closer still, and then the two of them fell back onto the bed, overbalancing and ending up with Kate laying on Rick.
They pulled away from each other and Kate looked down at Rick. There was a hungry look in his eyes and she realised she wanted this. They'd been dancing around it for long enough and tonight had finally forced them to face it.
Her paused obviously made Rick slightly worried. "You ok Kate?" he whispered. He made to try and sit up but Kate pushed him back down.
"I'm fine Rick," she whispered in response, "You?"
Rick only nodded in response. Kate looked at his lips again and then moved down to capture them once more. This time it took Rick a moment to respond but when he did Kate gasped. He rolled them over so that he was now on top.
This time he pulled away and looked down at Kate. The same hungry look that she had seen in his eyes was in hers. Rick groaned softly and then swooped back down.
Somehow his hand got under her shirt and one of hers ended up wrapped in his hair, pinning his head to hers, and the second was tugging at his belt, trying to get it undone.
-/-
When she woke up the next morning she was alone. She would have thought it was a dream if she wasn't naked and surrounded by crumpled sheets. She searched around, trying to find her pyjamas, and pulled them on.
There was noise coming from the kitchen so Kate headed towards it and found Rick standing in her kitchen.
"Morning," he said brightly, "I thought I'd make some breakfast." He gestured around the kitchen. "But there wasn't a lot of choice. I was going to do bacon and eggs, but your eggs are expired and your bacon is furry."
"I mostly order in," Kate said defensively. There was a part of her that wondered if she was still asleep, there was no way that Rick Castle was standing in her kitchen making her breakfast after they'd spent the night together.
"I figured that from your styrofoam temple in your refrigerator," Rick said, "But coffee's brewed, and I've made some pancakes." He gestured to the kitchen counter. "Take a load off," he instructed, "I just need to go and get the paper and then we're good to go."
Kate watched as he walked to the door. They didn't really have time for this but part of her really didn't want to break up this little bit of domesticity. She looked away, to pick up her coffee cup when she heard the door open, Rick scream, and then jump back.
"Rick!" she exclaimed, turning to face him, cursing that she didn't have her gun on her right now.
"I found the body," Rick said.
Kate looked down at his feet and saw their missing victim. "I'll call the station."
Her apartment was full of FBI agents and crime scene techs and she was standing talking to Ryan while Rick was off with Esposito.
"So you'd just gotten up, right?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah," Kate said, "Castle had just finished making breakfast and he went to the door to get the paper." Her eyes travelled around the apartment, there really were a lot of people here.
"What kind of breakfast?" Ryan asked, jumping in.
"What?" Kate asked, "Oh, pancakes. I don't have a lot of food in so he made do with what he could find."
"Well isn't that domestic," Ryan teased.
Kate felt a slight thrill at his words, it really had been domestic. But she didn't want anyone to know about what had happened last night, and she and Rick had discussed as much after Kate had put the call in. "Anyway," she said, getting back on track and giving Ryan her best don't mess with me glare, "The paper usually arrives at four and we were up at seven. So that means that the killer had a three-hour window where he could have left the body unnoticed."
"And exactly what time did you and Mr Castle go to bed last night?" Ryan asked, that teasing tone back in his voice.
Kate kept her glare up, and successfully kept a blush from her cheeks at Ryan's words. "I think we're done here."
She walked off to go and see if she could help anyone, leaving Ryan still staring at his notepad. She just hoped that Rick would be ok with Esposito, she could help him but right now she needed to find out how this guy had known where she lived.
"Dude," Esposito said the Rick, "I see Beckett in her jammies, there's wine glasses on the table." He flicked the nearest glass with his pen.
Ryan came over and joined them, "And you made her pancakes."
"Nothing happened guys," Rick told them, making sure to keep his face neutral. "There's no more going on between us than there was yesterday." Now that was technically true, they'd fallen into bed before midnight the night before. "It's just breakfast and her refrigerator is empty so pancakes were the only option."
"Pancakes are not just breakfast," Esposito said, "They're the edible way of saying, thank you so much for last night." Rick was careful to keep his poker face in place because that was exactly what he had been thinking when he'd been making breakfast this morning. "Castle, come on, we're friends. Details." Beside him, Ryan was nodding along eagerly.
Rick looked up and caught Kate's eye then looked back to Ryan and Esposito. "Alright," Rick said quietly, putting an arm around each of their shoulders and pulling them in close. They lent in eagerly. "There are no details," he said loudly. The pair of them flinched away at the volume of his voice, and then they both turned to glare at him.
He ignored them and walked over to join Kate, who had just started talking to Agent Shaw. He made sure to keep a good distance between them, he really didn't need to add any fuel to Esposito and Ryan's ideas of what had happened the night before. He did however catch Kate's eye for a second and smiled at her, she smiled back and then they both turned back to listen to what Shaw was saying to them.
They both listened, but both were thinking about what they'd discussed before the cavalry had arrived. They knew they needed to talk about this, but that was going to have to wait until after they'd caught this guy.
