Rick wrinkles his nose. "What's the time, Beckett?"

Kate has the good grace to blush. "Seven thirty."

"On a Sunday?" Rick squeaks at her, indignation rich in his voice.

"What? You were here at an ungodly hour yesterday morning-"

"Yes, but Beckett- yesterday I had a mission."

"Well maybe you should have a mission now," she replies, her smile negating the impatient tone.

"Maybe our mission right now should be sleeping-" She puts her book down, and snuggles back under the covers, her hands finding his bare skin as she pulls him towards her. "Or- okay- maybe some other kind of mission…" His voice trails off as she kisses his neck, and he responds, his arms wrapping around her and his hands dipping below the covers, ready to divest her of her sleep shirt.


Kate stretches and smiles, surveys the apartment. Time to do some of that laundry she's promised herself she'll catch up on. At this point it's not really a choice anymore- laundry or buy new clothes. And while her jacket and shoe collection betray her as a shopaholic, Kate doesn't actually enjoying shopping in and of itself. Her dress from last night is by the door, boots kicked off into the living room. Yesterday's underwear- she's not too sure where that's at. Yeah. Rick had had to come back out here to retrieve his clothes before he could get dressed and leave for the day. Well. It had been a great end to a great date.

Her stomach rumbles. Not just laundry today- she should maybe eat soon- maybe even grab some groceries so her pantry is less embarrassingly bare next time Rick is here. She's on a late shift today. "I don't understand your roster," Castle had complained. She'd told him not to bother trying to understand it. And really, the NYPD rostering clerk's system had never really bothered her before. She supposes that now she can kind of understand the complaints she's heard some of the uniforms make. She never really had a reason to not throw herself into her work before. But there is a strange sense of regret when she tells Rick she can't come back to his loft with him and spend the day there.

But first, there's something she thinks she probably should do. Kate finds her phone (in her purse, under a jacket, on the table by the front door, next to the lamp they evidently knocked over last night) and calls her Dad.


Castle's whistling as he cabs back across to his place. No doubt his mother and Alexis are up already, so he'll have to make light of his early morning return, but he figures Martha won't want to be on pancake duty, so he can threaten her if necessary. Besides, Alexis is ten, not stupid, so frankly, this is not like slinking in after a night with Sophia a few years ago.

It's disappointing that Kate couldn't come back with him, but logically he gets it. She has to work, and besides, some time apart would probably do them both good. Privately, he can't see why, but Kate had insisted she be left alone for the day, with the promise she would text him when she was done with work. "Late," she'd said. "I'll be really late. Do you really want me waking you up to sneak into your apartment at midnight?" She'd scoffed at his suggestion that he give her a key, but agreed to message him to see if the offer still stood when her shift finished.

He pays the cab driver as they arrive at his building, the cabbie practically throwing the change back at Castle before Rick can tell the guy to keep it. Huh. Grumpy cab drivers all round- he can only assume this one didn't care for the whistling. Or the humming. There may have been humming. Rick's still grinning to himself in the elevator ride up to his apartment.

"Where's Kate?" Alexis' question throws him the moment he walks in the door.

"Uh- what?"

His mother is standing in the kitchen, cup of coffee in hand. She raises it to him. "Cheers, kiddo." Rick makes a face at her.

"Kate- has to work today- so you're stuck with me. Mother. Thank you-" he presses his hands together and makes a little bow to her in appreciation. He kisses Alexis' head, and takes the cup of coffee that his mother has poured for him. "Have you two ladies had breakfast?"

Alexis shakes her head emphatically, while Martha nods, pointing at the stove top. He was half right. The woman has indeed made pancake batter, but Alexis, bless her, has had the sense to prolong the moment before the actual cooking of batter. Okay. He sticks a finger in the batter- his mother swipes at him with a dish towel, but he ignores her- okay, another egg, it's just pancake batter. He can fix this. "You do realise you need to stir the flour in, don't you, Mother?"

Martha shrugs, waves her hand. "Oh, Richard. The mysteries of cooking. I shall leave this in your capable hands."

"Why didn't Kate come?" His daughter is persistent.

"Honey, she has to work today. And I think she needed some time alone- Or- maybe I didn't let her come- do you know what I caught her doing? She was reading a James Patterson!"

Alexis giggles. "She's allowed!" She sticks her finger into the batter too, and smiles gratefully at him. "Thanks for fixing the pancakes," she whispers.

"Anytime," he stage whispers back, winking at her and turning the burner on. "You get the syrup out, okay?"

As they eat, he brings up their trip to see Meredith. His ex-wife hasn't messaged to cancel, so he thinks it's probably safe to suggest a trip to LA. "What about a weekend away, soon, pumpkin?"

Alexis nods eagerly, her hair falling into the syrup left on her plate. "Where to? Oh! Can we go skiing? Paige and her parents went skiing, and it sounded so awesome!"

Rick brushes her (now sticky) hair back, and piles another pancake onto his daughter's plate. "Hmm, I was thinking LA- that way, if your Mom is free, we could spend some time with her."

Alexis shrugs, considerably less enthusiastic than she had been about her skiing idea. "Sure, Dad. But she'll probably just be busy." She says it softly, as though she's the one letting him down gently, and Castle mentally curses Meredith.

"Well, we'll call her, make sure she makes time for us, huh? And hey- maybe we can go skiing too, before the snow melts."


Beckett is freezing her ass off at ten thirty at night in Central Park, standing at the yellow tape beside L.T.. She's not at all content standing here, but being paired with L.T. makes it more bearable. He's a taciturn officer, and Kate feels comfortable with him. Unlike so many of the other officers she works with he's not in this for the career, doesn't have ambition she and so many of the others have. Kate doesn't know why, and she hasn't asked. The crowds aren't exactly flocking to this scene, and she's eyeing the two detectives behind the tape with envy. For one, their jobs are actually interesting, and secondly, they each have a coffee in hand. Kate's fighting to keep her eyes open (okay, she might just be willing to concede Castle's point that sleeping past seven thirty on a Sunday has its merits- although he had conceded her point that there were some advantages to being up early) so she wants the caffeine as well as the warmth.

Beckett hasn't worked with either of the detectives on duty, and the M.E. is Perlmutter- nobody's favourite, Kate knows. Without Jones, or MacKenzie, or even Lanie on the other side of the tape, Beckett's chances of crossing the flimsy yellow barrier are slim. It's cool comfort, but at least if she doesn't get roped into anything more interesting than her glorified security guard role, she'll be able to go home at shift's end, in another half hour.

The day hasn't exactly gone to plan- not after her phone call with her decidedly not sober father- so the idea of curling into bed with Rick is all too appealing. Why was she so quick to believe her father last time? They'd had breakfast and it had felt for a moment that the world had righted itself. And she's fallen for his lies, again. What will it take? Both her parents in their graves before she can make peace with the idea of being an orphan?

A cruiser drives up, and Jones steps out. Ah. He's been called in after all. "Beckett," he greets her. "You got this, L.T.?" L.T. nods, and Jones beckons to Kate to follow him across the line. "Come on, Beckett. Update me on the vic."

Beckett can't exactly update him thoroughly, but she's got the gist of it, and she fills Jones in- a stabbing, wallet and ID still on the body, so not a mugging, or at least not a successful one. James Harris bled out a few feet away from where he's lying now, and Perlmutter grunts in agreement with Kate's assessment that the death was probably drawn out.

The evening is drawn out too- Kate goes with Jones to notify next of kin. It's an altogether horrifying experience, but once again, having been on the other side, she can only vow to be honest with the victim's sister and promise they'll do their utmost to bring the killer to justice. It's no consolation for James' sister and Kate offers what solace she can, all the while knowing how empty it sounds.


Kate doesn't make it to Castle's place that night- God, she wants to- it's three in the morning before Jones dismisses her, and she needs to be back at the precinct by nine. She falls into bed without so much as checking her phone, and snatches a restless five hours before her alarm jerks her back to reality. The little flash on her cell shows a message, and she flips it open to see the message from Castle that came through at ten, asking whether she was off work. Damn. She could have replied to that one, too, if she'd heard the beep. The next is at one in the morning- not a demand for her company, but a request- Sweet dreams… but call me if you have a nightmare- my phone is on. She texts back still in bed, delaying the moment her feet need to hit the floor. Morning. Sorry, just saw this. Don't think I dreamt at all- didn't get out of work til three, going back there now.

A/N: I think we're more than halfway there! Thanks for the reviews- they make my day brighter every time I get one! Mostly just happy to know people are reading this!