Hey everyone! Long time no see I know, and I'm sorry. I'm defiantly one of those writers who write only when inspiration slaps them in the face. :P Last nights episode was truely fantastic, and I just could not help myself from writting alittle something off all those fabulous lines the writers provided. So without further ado, The Real Thing :D

P.S. as always, reviews are always appreciated!

Having sent the boys to do more digging and Castle having abandoned her to be with the psycho playing her in the Heat Wave movie, Beckett saw no choice other than to sit down and take a good long gulp from her coffee. The caffeine flooded her system, warming and setting her nerves on fire, or was that the fact that it was coffee from Castle? And that Natalie hadn't stolen it this morning before she got her fix.

"Can I ask you a question?" asked Natalie as she too sat down.

"Sure" came the curt reply as she threw her cup back, gulp down her morning savior.

"Is Castle gay?" Coffee spewed from Kate's mouth onto her desk in a classic spit-take. She quickly brought her arm up to wipe her mouth, turning to look at Natalie incredulously.

"I'm sorry what? No. No" she emphasized her point with a shake to her head.

"Then you two are an item and sworn to secrecy right?" asked Natalie, attempting to understand Castle's actions from the previous night.

"No, we are not an item. Why?"

Natalie sighed quickly checking to make sure no one was around to hear what she was about to say. "Last night, I invited him back to my place, and he said something to me that I have never heard from a man before."

"Oh great, as if this day wasn't bad enough, now I have to endure hearing what charming line Castle wooed Natalie with?" thought Beckett, attempting to make her face impartial, but in the end giving up to curiosity. "What?"

"No."

"No?" This was quite a development. For the years she's known Castle, he was never the kind to turn down a tryst with a beautiful actress, much less one that looked exactly like her. Could Castle be finally changing? For her?

"I don't get it! I mean he's into you, but you're determined to not give into these feelings you have for him …"

"Talk about hitting the nail on the head." She thought. "Natalie is better at this than I thought."

"…so he fantasizes about you through his writing. It's literally verbal masturbation!" At Natalie's words Beckett moved frantically, trying to move on before images of Castle masturbating to her alter ego flooded her head. If she ruined the Heat Wave sex scene Kate so often imagined, there was going to be hell to pay.

"ahhh, eee, k so what does this all have to do with me?"

"I'm not wearing this get-up for my health" said Natalie, pulling her Beckettesque jacket lapels. "You're Nikki Heat, he's Jameson Rook, I need to sleep with him in the name of character research." Kate just stared. This women would go to any lengths to get her character right. "Can you talk to him?"

"And, say what?"

Natalie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, give him permission or something."

Beckett couldn't believe her ears. She was asking Kate to give Castle permission to sleep with her? No way in hell that was going to happen. Unsure of what to say next, she deployed a quick getaway, not before stuttering helplessly in response. "I need to go, over there." She pointed, hoping it would be in a logical direction. She didn't bother to see if Natalie took the excuse, she just quickly grabbed her coffee and speed walked it out of there.

Best-selling murder mystery novelist Richard Castle slowly approached his muse, noting her hunched shoulders and tight stance, showing her agitation. Following her gaze he realized just who she was agitated with, and why it looked like she was hiding. Natalie Rhodes, the woman cast to play Nikki Heat in the movie adaptation of his book was at the murder board, perfecting her Beckett pose.

"Everything okay?"

"Do I really do that?" Beckett asked, scrutinizing her imposter from between the window blinds.

"Yes" Castle replied from behind her. "And it's adorable."

"So then why didn't you sleep with me?" Castle was stunned for a brief moment before Beckett cleared things up. "Her me, not me me."

He took a moment to think. "Oh, well, a fictional character that I wrote, based on you, played by Natalie Rhodes? It's just, way too meta." Kate's faces scrunched in confusion. What the hell was meta?

"So you're saying you didn't sleep with her because she's playing Nikki, or because she's being played by Natalie Rhodes?" Beckett took this opportunity to turn her face towards the writer, wanting him to feel her gaze insisting on the truth.

Castle acknowledged her gaze and focused his sky blues onto hers. "Neither. She's fantasy for a reason. The more I play with the fantasy the farther I'll get from the real thing. Nikki was created to tide me over. "

Silence weighted the air as Kate debated whether to blush or be angry. In the end she compromised. With a flushed complexion she turned her body fully towards him, their bodies just within the realm of being socially acceptable. "That's pretty arrogant of you to assume that you're going to get the real thing Castle. And the way you phrased that made me sound like some notch on your bed post."

He took a step forward, purposely putting her in close proximity to throw her off. "Kate" he said, sending shivers down her spine. "Don't you get it? She's not you! You should know by now that you'll never be just a notch on my bed post. We've been partners for what now, 3 years? And how many moves have I tried to make on you?" She raised her eyebrow at him. "Okay, don't answer that. What I mean is that you're special. You must know I have feelings for you, more than just sexual, and I get that you're in a relationship which is why you can't act on them, but Kate? I wouldn't have stuck around, or fought so hard to comeback this fall if you didn't mean something to me. I've said it once and I'll say it again, you're extraordinary."

She stood there for a moment, taking in everything he had just said, just admitted. She hadn't expected him to lay it out like that. Esposito's words from that fateful day rang out in her head. "The guy's done enough research to write 50 books. Look, whatever the reason is, I'm pretty sure it doesn't include watching you be with another guy." Clearly Esposito was on to something. As much as Kate hadn't wanted to admit it, she had known for a while now that her feelings for Castle had grown substantially since his return. Though they were both in relationships, scratch that, Castle and Gina just broke up, though she was in a relationship, she knew that they wouldn't last. Apparently Castle had realized this too since he had just dumped Gina before Natalie arrived. The only reason she was still holding on to Josh was cause he was safe, and Castle wasn't. But was he worth the risk? More and more the evidence had been piling up that a relationship between her and Castle had lasting potential, but was she ready to take that step?

"Castle, I…thank you. Look, I'm sorry for assuming you slept with Natalie, and that I don't mean anything to you. I know I do, and you should know you mean a lot to me. Natalie has just been getting under my skin, and at first it was okay but now it's feeling like she's trying to steal my life, you included. The coffee was one thing, but trying to sleep with you? No sorry, that doesn't fly with me."

Castle couldn't help but let out a chuckle. She was so adorable when she was jealous and irritated. Beckett sighed, bemusedly asking, "What are you laughing at?"

With a wide grin he replied, "You. You're even cuter when you're jealous, and the fact that you just admitted I mean a lot to you is a cherry on top. Also the comparison between loosing me and loosing your coffee was pretty funny."

She couldn't help but smile back, but gave him a good hit on the chest for his words. "Shut up. Just be happy you got that much out of me." Her smile faded as she attempted to withdraw her hand and Castle clutched it close.

"Don't worry, I am. I know it's not easy for you to admit these things so I appreciate it. And about Natalie? I know she's going crazy with the whole method thing, but she is starting to really get you down. As creepy as she is being, it will be beneficial for the role and for your portrayal as the inspiration. We're close to solving this case, I can feel it. As soon as we're done she'll be on her merry way and then you can have me, and your coffee, all to yourself again okay?" Castle gave her hand a quick squeeze before releasing it, looking into her eyes reassuringly.

"Good. Sharing insight into the character is one thing, but asking for my permission to sleep with you is just weird. The sooner she's gone the quicker things can get back to normal." Beckett stepped away and made her way to the door, intending to return to her desk.

"Wait, what? She asked your permission? What did you say?"

Her face lit up with her signature teasing grin, "What does it matter Castle? You said it yourself you only want the real thing, and if you play your cards right you just might have a shot."

She left him with his mouth agape, adding an extra saunter to her step, knowing full well he was looking at her rear end as she retreated. What Natalie had said amoungst her weird babble about character development had made some sense. Clearly the feelings were there, and if things continued to develop like they had between them, they may just have a shot. And though she'd never admit it to anyone, even Lanie, she really hoped they got there soon.