THREE

After reviewing the information she had jotted down during the autopsy review, Kate gave an affirmative nod and then looked at her friend. "Thanks Lanie—I think all of this will really help. I'll let you know if we need clarification on anything."

"Hey wait," Lanie called out just as Kate turned towards the exit. "Sorry but before you go—how are you? I feel like I haven't heard any updates from you in forever. Especially about your shadow/boyfriend?"

Kate's brow winkled. "What's a shadow boyfriend?"

"Shadow-slash-boyfriend," Lanie clarified.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Oh. Well, he's not my boyfriend."

"Does he know that? Because the last time I saw you together he appeared to be worshiping the ground you walk on."

Kate felt her cheeks heat as she protested, "He doesn't do that."

"Hmm I don't know. He definitely had some serious love-eyeballs towards you."

She stood up a bit straighter as she said matter-of-factly, "He is shadowing me for research on his next book and we also happen to be having sex occasionally. Those two things are completely unrelated."

Lanie snorted and said, "Yeah, okay," in a disbelieving tone. "Seems more like he's doing research on your bootie."

"Lanie!" Kate chastised.

The ME held her hands up defensively. "Just making an observation."

"He's shadowing NYPD detectives because his next book will feature one. That's it."

"Feature one? I heard the female NYPD detective is going to be the main character—and that she's entirely based on you."

Kate blinked and tried to neutralize her expression so that it did not betray the fact that her stomach did a little jump inside your gut. "I can neither confirm nor deny such speculation."

Lanie quirked an eyebrow at her. "I see. Well would you care to confirm that you did actually skip your way in here as though you'd started your morning off with a very exciting shower."

She cleared her throat lightly, having no intention of clarifying that her excitement that morning had taken place up against the bathroom counter before she got into the shower. "I didn't skip."

"Did you stay with Rick last night?"

Knowing her cheeks must have been flaming red by that point, Kate merely said, "I don't see how that is relevant."

"That means yes. Ugh, Kate c'mon! Is it really so hard to admit that you're happy?"

Kate steadied her gaze. "Yes."

"Kate!"

The detective groaned, dusted her fingertips over her forehead, and began to pace the small area she stood in. The truth was: she was happy—and that was rather scary. Rick was…well, extremely unexpected. As was her enjoyment of their beneath-the-sheets endeavors. If sex was all there was between them, she probably could have kept her emotions under control, but it was more than that. He was sweet and kind and made her laugh. She found herself thinking about him during the day and texting him at random times, which meant he was straying close to the "boyfriend" territory—and that was downright terrifying.

"Well, it's—I mean, we're…it's not. It's nothing official," she said finally. "And that's good because I…I don't know how I'd feel about that."

"Why? He's sweet, gentlemanly, helpful, he helps people fall in love…"

"Ah, see, that!" Kate stabbed a finger in Lanie's direction. "That's why. I'm still…extremely uncomfortable with his con-like profession."

Lanie folded his arms over her chest. "Didn't I hear that Detective Ryan's girlfriend Jenny went to Rick's shop just before they met."

Kate cleared her throat and avoided her gaze. "Something like that."

"And aren't they engaged now?"

"I believe so."

"So you think she got conned?"

"No—I…I don't know." She said with a frustrated grunt, dropping her hands to her sides. "It all just seems like a con to me, but if I separate it out and just look at Rick as a person, he's…just like you said: kind and genuine. He doesn't seem like the type of person who could con people."

"Right…" Lanie said slowly. "So, here's a crazy concept: maybe he's not."

"But, see, magic isn't real."

"I haven't seen him pulling any rabbits out of hats lately."

Kate gave her a look. "You know what I mean."

Lanie shrugged. "All I'm saying is I know you like evidence. There is plenty of evidence."

"Yeah? Well I don't see you signing up to go to Rick's love shack thing…"

Lanie gave her friend a bizarre look for a moment, presumably at her flippant description of Rick's place of work, before shaking her head slightly and saying, "Because I'm not in a settling-down-for-marriage type of mood. I'm having fun and I don't need anything more right now."

"Fair enough. Regardless: Rick and I don't discuss what he does, and I'd appreciate if you didn't ask about it."

"Ah, the bury-your-head-in-the-sand technique. Very smart. Very you."

Kate arched her brow. "What does that mean?"

"It means that only you would find fault in a man who helps the citizens of New York fall in love—with a high degree of success."

"I…need to get back to this case," Kate said finally. "Thanks again Lanie."

"Mmmhmm you're welcome…"

Refusing to look her friend in the eye again, Kate spun on her heel and stalked out of the medical examiner's office towards her vehicle parked down the block. Once seated, she huffed out a breath and leaned her head back on her headrest, thinking not for the first time that perhaps she was being a bit too harsh with her judgement on Rick's profession. The thing of it was: it just made her slightly uncomfortable because it didn't make sense to her.

Magic didn't exist and it was true that every time it was called "magic" in Rick's presence he refuted it saying it wasn't magic, but something else, though he was always vague on what "else" was. He had also once described it as instinct and that made a little more sense to her. She had worked with him on enough cases by that point that she recognized his gut instincts to be a good ones, but there was a huge difference between a gut instinct based on presented evidence and circumstance and some sort of gut impression from a random stranger he'd known for barely more than one minute. Yet, somehow, he did, as Lanie had pointed out, seem to have a great deal of success. Perhaps it was power of suggestion?

As she felt a headache coming on, Kate shook her head and pushed all notions of Rick's love-matching career from her mind; she had a killer to find.

"Oh hey, there you are. Brought you a celebratory coffee."

"Celebratory?" Kate asked as she took the take-away mug from the ruggedly handsome man beside her desk

He nodded. "It was supposed to be a help-you-work coffee, but when I got here Espo said you just took the guy to central booking."

"Yeah, prints came back as a match a few hours ago and as soon as we told him that he started begging for a deal. Now he's the DA's problem, so this will be a help-me-with-paperwork coffee."

He smiled at her. "Whatever works. You, uh, think you'll be free for dinner tonight?"

Kate glanced at the clock on the wall and scrunched her nose. It was already nearly four and she knew she had a couple hours of case clean-up ahead of her. "Ah, I probably won't get out of here until late, so I'll just order in and eat while I work."

"How about later? We can have a celebratory drink…or a celebratory something else," he added in a deeper tone.

Kate's lips curled into a smile without her permission, so she quickly tried to straighten them before anyone noticed. True, most everyone in her department had figured out they were sleeping together, but that didn't mean she needed to flaunt it. "Ah, yeah I could be up for something else. I'll text you when I'm leaving, okay?"

"Okay." He echoed. Then, he gave her elbow a gentle squeeze before making his way towards the elevator.

Kate took a sip of coffee then sat at her desk and waited for her computer to come back online.

"Oh, your boytoy doesn't do paperwork?" Esposito asked as he stopped beside her desk.

She laughed. "I've seen the desk in his office—we don't want his help."

Espo smirked. "Fair enough. Just try to keep the PDA's to a minimum, okay? Some of us are trying to work here."

Kate merely gave him a look which encouraged him to move along. She knew he was just teasing her, because of course she would never kiss Rick at work, or do anything more intimate than a handshake, but she knew that everyone had caught them giving each other Lanie's so-called "love eyeballs" on occasion, but sometimes she just couldn't help herself! Rick was just so… well, rather indescribable.

Three months earlier, after they'd both been held at gunpoint, they had a very heartfelt and lengthy discussion in his apartment after which Rick walked her to his apartment door, leaned in as though he was going to kiss her, but then stepped back and, much to her surprise, apologized. He said he felt his actions were too fueled by the highly emotional day and alcohol he'd consumed and he wanted to be clear headed if anything was actually going to happen between them; then, he asked her out to dinner, or as he put it "a real date". She told him he was sweet, but she wasn't really interested in dating anyone at that time. Then, the following week over lunch she brought up a classic movie festival that week at a theatre near her apartment building only to discover he already had tickets. They ended up sitting together, laughing together, and finishing the night at her apartment.

At that time, Kate honestly thought sleeping with him would be just a one-time thing. The problem was: it was really good. Really, really good. So they did it again…and again, and had averaged three times a week ever since that night. She still insisted it was casual, though she wasn't sleeping with anyone else and knew he wasn't either. She was sure if she said she wanted it to be official, he wouldn't hesitate, but she just… wasn't in that headspace. They were having fun and that was what she wanted for now.

Rick awoke slowly, feeling the bed shifting beside him. He heard a grumble and grunt from his companion as she rolled over and tried to adjust her pillow. He opened his eyes and turned his head to see her with her hair mussed from sleep and her nose scrunched in disgust. She was always so grumpy first thing in the morning, because she hated waking up so much, and he found it utterly adorable.

In the three months since they started sleeping together, Rick found himself totally enraptured with the details he learned about Kate Beckett, from her grumpy mornings to the way she nibbled at her bottom lip when she was concentrating very hard on something. He'd studied the variety of serious and concentrating expressions that crossed her face as she read a good book and felt warmth spread through his chest every time she sat beside him on the couch and danced her fingers across his patella in the same circular pattern. He was, without question, falling in love with her, which was problematic as didn't believe she felt the same.

As a mystery writer who had done hundreds of hours of research, Rick liked to think of himself as a pretty observant person. He could read people and situations, which made him both a good author, and a pretty decent consultant on Kate's investigative team. He also tried his damnedest to read her, but she had proved to be a pretty tough nut to crack. She liked him, that was plain. If she didn't, she wouldn't have kept inviting him into her bed. She wouldn't have gotten that smile on her face every time he brought her a vanilla latte. She wouldn't lay beside him in bed and talk softly about anything from her day to her favorite types of wine. Despite all that, he believed she kept herself at arm's length from him at times and sadly the reason why was beyond his control.

During his thirty-nine years of life, Rick had come to accept that not every person he met would think favorably about his family's chosen line of work. He knew that over their hundred-some years of history, they had used their soothsaying abilities for bad than good more times than he was comfortable with. They'd started out as carnival folk, who promised love, yes, but also spun other untrue tales—and occasionally picked pockets. As time progressed, they legitimized and formed official businesses to provide their services and for the most part his family members were on the straight and narrow, though he did have some cousins who dabbled in the criminal world.

In his teens when his hormones really started running wild he'd thought it was a good idea to spend time with that group—until they'd all been arrested for trespassing and criminal mischief. His mother, who had never been much of a disciplinarian, had picked him up from the police station with a disappointed expression and the reminder that his choices were his own to make, but they all had consequences, some of them lifelong. Thankfully, that incident had been enough to open his eyes to the kind of life he wanted to live—and it was not one behind bars. He cleaned up his grades enough to get into college and began focusing on his writing, intending to make that his sole career. Then, his grandmother had a stroke and when he visited her in the hospital just before she died she expressed her desire for him to follow in the family business. Feeling gut-wrenching guilt and obligation, Rick worked in his mother's shop for the next year, though he continued to write on the side. More on a whim than anything else, he sent one of his books out to try and get a literary agent. He received five rejections, but the sixth accepted him, and that was what it took for him to realize he could have the life he truly wanted; the best of both worlds.

For Rick, writing was his true passion. It was the thing he thought about in the mornings and before he went to bed at night. He truly felt he could only write novels for the rest of his life and still be happy. Yet, his natural gift still called to him. He had a unique ability that could bring happiness to others and that, too, was fulfilling, which was why he'd opened his own shop away from his family's so that he could use his gift on his own terms.

His gift was exactly that—a gift. It wasn't a magical power. It wasn't voodoo or witchcraft. He couldn't conjure anything or brew a magic potion. All he could do was open his mind and his heart to see inside the minds and hearts of others and guide them towards another individual who would make them truly happy. Objectively, he understood how that concept sounded crazy to some. Maybe had he not grown up thinking it was normal, he would find it crazy too. Regardless, he could not blame Kate for being skeptical of his abilities, but he did wish she didn't completely shut herself down to them as opposed to allowing him the opportunity to explain or even demonstrate. Her attitude seemed particularly odd given that during her investigations he found her to be nothing but open to possibilities and explanations to odd circumstances. He only wished she'd pay him the same courtesy. That, in the end, was what it boiled down to: he wanted her to give him a chance to explain and not cut him off coldly if the subject started to come up.

Beside him, Kate grumbled again, that time rolling towards him and letting one of her arms flop down over his chest. "Ten more min'ts," she mumbled before tucking her chin so the top of her forehead came to rest against the edge of his shoulder.

Rick smiled to himself and covered her hand with his, giving the back of it a gentle rub with his palm. He relaxed his body and tried to will himself to fall back to sleep, but his thoughts stayed focused on Kate. If only she understood what his gift was and how much it helped people. He could show her, yes, that was it. He could show her and help her understand. True that came with the risk of her leaving him for whomever he saw in his visions, but with her being as standoffish towards him as she was, it didn't seem their relationship had long-term staying power either. Such a notion made him sad, but he felt sadder that someone he cared for and admired so much had such a negative view of a large part of him.

A small voice in the back of Rick's mind told him that what he was doing was not a good decision, but he ignored it and gripped a bit tighter to her hand. He curled his thumb around one side of it and his pinky and ring finger around the other. Then, he sucked in a slow deep breath, pushed it out through his lips and visualized his chest and mind swinging open like a door. Static formed at the edges of his mind's eye, like a television screen just after the cable went out. Normally after several seconds this static morphed into more specific images or feelings, but that didn't happen. Instead, the static faded away into nothingness, like he was staring out into the vast void of the night sky when all the stars had suddenly disappeared.

Confused, Rick's eyes popped open and he turned his head ever so slightly to peek a glance at Kate. She seemed to have drifted back off to sleep, so he gripped her hand a bit tighter, shut his eyes, and repeated his process. Once again, he saw nothing, but a black void of—

"Wha…what are you doing?"

"Hmm?" he responded absentmindedly.

Kate wrenched her hand away from him and his eyes popped open to see a disgusted look on her face. "What the hell, Rick? Were you magic-ing me?"

"Wha—um—no, I—I mean."

She let out a frustrated grunt as she threw back the bedcovers and stumbled out onto the floor wearing only her panties. "I told you. I told you I didn't want that!" She snapped, stabbing an accusatorial finger at him before dropping to the ground as she began to collect her discarded clothes.

"I—I didn't mean to."

"Yeah right."

"No, no I was half asleep and not thinking clearly. I'm sorry—I'm sorry," he repeated when she threw him a seething glare.

"That was such an unbelievable violation of my privacy," she insisted while forcefully yanking on her pants.

Feeling his heart shatter, Rick got out of bed and clasped his hands in front of him pleadingly. "Kate, I am sorry—truly. What can I do to make it up to you?"

She stared at him for several seconds, one sock and a bra still held in her hand, but she was otherwise dressed. She then shook her head slowly and said, "Don't call me."

She stalked out of the bedroom and he woefully called out, "Kate!" but it was no use. A few seconds later he heard the door to his apartment slam shut and it felt like the knife twisting in his gut.

"Good morning Richar—oh." His mother cut off her greeting when she walked into his kitchen to see his kicked-puppy-dog face. "What happened to you, kiddo?"

"It's been a rough morning," he informed her sadly.

"Well, I've got some time." She reached up into the cabinets, pulled out a coffee mug, and poured herself a glass. She was quite familiar with his kitchen as she had been living with him ever since her latest paramour had absconded into the night with most of her savings, never to be heard from again. In that time he'd been encouraging her to move back out on her own, or go and stay with her sister, but she insisted she liked his apartment best because it was the biggest. As this was a true statement, Rick had little else to argue with. At least his daughter seemed to enjoy her presence there, which was just as well considering Alexis's mother was rarely a presence in her life and she needed at least some female influence.

After his mother sat beside him with her coffee, Rick explained to her that his curiosity had gotten the best of him and he'd tried to see Kate's love match despite knowing she had no interest in being subject to his gift. When he explained how she'd stormed off his mother had grimaced and said, "Oooh, that wasn't great kiddo, but I have to say I'm on her side. We do have a code, and doing that while she was sleeping-"

"I know, I know." He groaned. "I know it was wrong, but she's just so desperately against what we do… I just don't understand why she won't give me a chance to explain or to even talk about it at all. She refuses the subject every time it comes up but it…it's a part of me. Us."

His mother reached over and gave his wrist a squeeze. "I know, but you can't force it upon everyone."

He huffed out a breath and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose with his left thumb and forefinger. "Yeah, I know."

"I assume you're not going to tell her what you saw."

"That's just it—I saw nothing."

Martha lifted her head a bit higher, clearly looking intrigued. "What?"

"I saw nothing," he repeated. "I looked twice and all I saw was a black canvas. No sound, no images, no words; nothing. That's never happened to me before, but maybe it's because I was half asleep or subconsciously-"

"Oh, Richard—no, don't you see."

Surprised by his mother's excited expression he asked, "See what?"

"You can't see her love because you can't see yourself; it's you!"

He blinked. "M-me? No…I mean, I care for her…" His mind spun back to those first days after they'd met and worked together. He'd felt comfortable around her and thought they worked well together, but he'd explained that away as shared investment in the case they were trying to solve. And, of course he'd felt some warmth and tingling in his chest when they interacted, but he just thought that was because he was attracted to her—a normal level of attraction not…this.

"Has this ever happened to you? Seeing nothing during a consult?" he asked his mother.

She nodded. "When I was younger, my sister and I would try and practice on each other, and it happened then. More recently, it happened with Morgan Wegman."

"Zach's wife?" Rick asked, referring to his second cousin.

His mother nodded. "Yes, she came in for a consult a few years back and I couldn't see anything, so I apologized and refunded her money. A year later, I saw her with Zach and found out they'd met in a pet store while buying the same food for their dogs."

"Huh." Rick replied.

Smiling now, Martha gave his wrist another squeeze and said. "You're lucky kiddo—you found her."

"But…well, by your definition, she could be destined to marry someone else in the family."

She tilted her head to the side and gave him a look. "Is that really what you want?"

"No," he replied instantly.

"Then why don't you do something about it?"

A/N - I just wanted to quickly apologize for the confusion at the end of CH 2. After Rick/Kate were held hostage they canceled their dinner/Scrabble plans and parted ways, but I cut that scene because it seemed awkward and then I didnt update Kate's internal monologue at the very end. So sorry for everyone who was confused by that

thanks again for reading.