Chapter Two

"Kate, I really need to talk to you."

"Castle, I don't want to talk about it!"

Rick grabbed Kate's arm, and swung her around to face him. "You can't just ignore what happened! We have something special here, you know that!"

"I'm just not ready for this, Rick!" Kate wrenched her arm out of Rick's grip, and stalked past him, back to her desk.

"Kate..."

Rick awoke to find Kate pressed up against him, fast asleep. He smiled down at her, and kissed her gently on the head. They'd spent the night talking about kids and what they were going to do once they had the baby. Eventually, Kate had announced that she was going home, and Rick had persuaded her to stay for the night. She'd gone to bed in the spare bedroom, so Rick was slightly surprised to find to her at his door later in the night. He'd welcomed her in, and they'd fallen asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

Kate began to stir, and she turned to look up at Rick. "Good morning," she said with a smile.

"Good morning," Rick replied, smiling back. "How are you?"

"A bit tired. But all right."

"So, a baby. Still a bit hard to believe, hey?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah. I've never really thought about having kids, you know? I just always imagined what it would be like for my child to lose me. In my profession..."

"Kate, shh."

"But..."

Rick brushed some hair out of Kate's eyes, and kissed her on the forehead. "It's not going to happen, okay?"

Kate still looked a bit worried, but she nodded once.

At the precinct that day, the mood was somewhat subdued. It seemed that Esposito had told his partner, Kevin Ryan, about what he'd witnessed the previous day, and as such, they were treading carefully around both Kate and Rick. For his part, Rick was doing his best not to irritate Kate, and he even seemed to be touching her more often than normal. Esposito, Ryan, and Kate's best friend Lanie Parish were huddled around Esposito's desk watching as Kate and Rick stood in the break room, talking quietly with each other. They watched as Kate giggled at something Rick said, and Lanie turned to her boyfriend.

"There is something going on there."

Esposito nodded. "I swear he was guiding her around with his hand on her back earlier."

"You don't think..." Ryan started.

"They wouldn't..." Esposito added.

"They so would!" Lanie finished. "Have you seen them? They're ready to jump each other in everything they do!"

"But I don't know... They also seem kinda..."

Ryan stopped talking as he saw Kate and Rick exit the break room. Kate stopped in her tracks as she saw her three friends crowded around Esposito's desk.

"What are you three up to?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"Why would we be up to something?"

Esposito and Ryan answered quickly. Lanie stood up instead. She walked over to Kate and stared intently at her.

"What's going on, girl?"

"What?"

Lanie glanced at Rick, who was hovering behind Kate protectively, and then pointedly back at Kate.

Kate looked behind her, at Rick, and then back at Lanie. "Uh... not here, Lanie, I'll tell you later..."

"No, girl, you'll tell me now!"

Kate glanced behind Lanie at Esposito and Ryan, who were listening intently. Then she glanced back at Rick, who smiled encouragingly.

"Well..." Kate sighed, and she grabbed Rick's hand. "Yes, okay, we are kind of together right now. But please, don't draw attention to us. We just want to keep our lives as private as possible, okay?"

Lanie was grinning like a maniac when Kate finished talking, and she threw her arms around her friend. "Oh, Kate!"

Kate patted Lanie awkwardly on the back, and smiled slightly at Rick.

Esposito clapped Rick on the back, and gave him a stern stare. "You hurt her, we hurt you. Got it?"

Rick nodded at Esposito and Ryan, who was also giving him a look.

"We need to get together and talk later, okay?" Lanie said quietly to Kate while the men were occupied.

"Yeah."

"My place, tonight?"

"Sure, Lanie."

Lanie gave Kate another smile as she let go of her and took Esposito's hand. She dragged him away, calling over her shoulder, "See you later Castle, tonight Kate!"

Ryan watched them go, before glancing at Rick and Kate. "Well, I think I've got work to do..." he said, and went back to his desk.

"So, you coming over tonight?" Rick asked quietly.

"I told Lanie I'd go to hers tonight," Kate replied.

"Well, after that."

"Castle..."

"Okay, you don't have to come over. It was just a suggestion."

Kate reached out and laid a hand on Rick's forearm. "Rick, I still need some time, okay? My life has been turned upside down in the last few days, and it's going to take me a while to adjust. Don't crowd me, okay?"

Rick pouted slightly, but nodded.

"Maybe tomorrow night."

"'Kay."

"Now, I've got work to do." Kate smiled over her shoulder back at Rick as she walked to her desk. She sat down and continued with her paperwork.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews for the first chapter :) It's always nice to get feedback.

Hope you enjoyed this, and I am off to write chapter 3!

P.S: Not 100% sure when this is set yet, but probably in the future by a year or two. I guess I'm going to have to make up a new Captain...

How EPIC was that finale?

Also, just in case you didn't guess, that italics are flashbacks.