A/N - So this is the last chapter of Bitten. Thanks for the readers and be looking for the short 3-4 parter ad the end of A Place Outside coming all this weekend to end my sumer break.

Chapter 10 - Closer

Castle walked into the living room and saw his daughter and Ashley cozy on the couch. After the first time of seeing them together, he was able to minimize his shock and try to be civil. Of course that last time, he was holding a gun. "Hey daughter," he said as she popped off the couch and hugged him.

"Did they find him, the killer?" Alexis asked as she followed her father into the kitchen to grab a drink.

"Sort of. He really didn't kill him." Castle continued on with his story as he heated up the rest of the dinner that his daughter had been nice enough to leave him. Sitting down at the counter and watching the movie over the couch where his daughter and her boyfriend cuddled, he silently appreciated that she was mature enough to even have him stay in the same room with them.

He cleaned up and headed into the office. "Not all night ok?"

Alexis smiled and looked up at her dad. "What are you doing?"

"Writing a little before bed. Tomorrow, I'm not so sure but Beckett has the day off. Might go do something." He closed the door as Alexis looked at her boyfriend and smiled to herself. They had been cozy, more so than in the past. She wasn't going to pry anymore until he was ready but she was going to keep her fingers crossed.

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Castle shuffled across the living room floor and answered the door at the ungodly hour on the following day. Seeing as his daughter had already made her way to her friend's house for the day, he found time to sleep in, or so he thought. "What?" he rubbed his eyes and threw open the door.

"Hi," Beckett offered as she pushed a coffee into Castle's loose hand before pushing her way into the door. Castle closed the door and faced her. She was different this morning. Chipper almost. "Did you forget?"

"No, I just figured you said a day off and that meant you would actually sleep in and enjoy the day off before coming here." Castle leaned on the counter across from Beckett and stared at her through his still blurry eyes.

"Come on, go get dressed. I'm taking you to breakfast and then out." Beckett glared at him as he slowly down the coffee and undid the string on the robe to reveal a t-shirt and boxers. Beckett took an extra long look at Castle and realized that she had never quite seen him in this form, even when she stayed at his place after hers had gone up in flames.

"What are we doing?" she heard from inside what she could only guess was the hidden lair of a bedroom.

"You'll see, but let's just say you owe me." She sat down on the couch and patiently waited as she looked around the loft. For such a little boy attitude, she always marveled at the neatness of his place. She liked the hominess feel she always got, not the stuffiness that she pictured the first time she was there. It was hard but she occasionally had to remind herself who Castle really was.

"Is this ok?" he asked as he walked out in jeans and a plaid button down shirt. He still was nursing the coffee that she had delivered to him. "Because if you're expecting more, you're going to have to come back later," he tried to joke as he reached down beside her for his coat on the chair.

"No, it's fine, but we have to hurry." Beckett opened the front door and Castle motioned her out first.

Castle found himself exactly back where he had been the day before but with an entirely new Beckett. She was transformed into what he could only describe as himself. She was animated and actually smiling through the traffic in town and the line at the front of the entrance. When she finally got up to the gate, she smiled at the admission woman and said, "I have a meeting with James Griffin."

The woman told her to hold on and wait over by the main office entrance. "So, what happened after I left yesterday because I like this new Kate Beckett?" Beckett threw him a strange glance and he elaborated. "Your excitement I guess; I just never see you so animated."

"I talked to the zoo director last night about his employee and the fact he would be needing to find him a replacement and why. The director thanked me profusely and offered me free passes for a year and asked if there was anything I wanted. And I kind of said you helped on the case." Castle's eyebrows raised knowing that meant they were off to the zoo again. Castle thought secretly that it could end up being their place, strange but seemed to work for them.

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As the two entered the lion's portion of the African exhibit, Castle followed behind Beckett and James. The two stopped at one of the rocky surface hidden doors and waited as James unlocked the lock. Upon entering the restricted area, James locked the door back and then hollered down the narrow hallway at another keeper.

"Hey, I'm Kendra," the woman stuck her hand out and shook Beckett's and smiled at Castle before shaking his. "Hey, I have all your books." Then it dawned on her, "your Nikki Heat, or the inspiration huh?"

Beckett tried to not look too excited about the idea that people still addressed her as Nikki Heat. Kendra looked up at Castle and pointed a finger. "So if this ends up in a book, I give her permission to kill you. This is highly unorthodox for us to allow, but I do what my boss tells me." Kendra glanced at Beckett who returned the warning glance at Castle before following James and Kendra further back into the strange winding tunnels of iron gates and cages. James opened up another door and waited for the other three to enter before shutting it.

Kendra held out a bottle of hand sanitizer and squirted a little in both Castle and Beckett's hand as James opened the door. Beckett and Castle stood on the other side of the room as two lion cubs pounced into the room. Beckett's face lit up like a preschooler. Castle stood back and pulled out his phone, showing it first to Kendra. She nodded and said a few.

The two cubs weighed as much as small child even being only a several weeks old. Kendra got on the floor with Beckett and pulled down two bottles and handed one to Beckett as she cradled one of the cubs in her arms. Castle couldn't get over the happiness that beamed from Beckett's face. He had never seen her so happy, like she had been transported to somewhere where she didn't have to worry about anything that ever plagued her.

Castle continued snapping pictures with the phone as the cub continued to try to climb up Beckett's torso as she pulled the almost empty bottle further away from the cub. James handed her one more bottle and continued feeding the cub. She finally got it still enough to pose with her smile for Castle. He leaned back against the wall and just watched as she continued playing with the cubs even after they fed.

"Castle, come on." Beckett motioned for him to join her and he sat down on the concrete next to and immediately a cub pounced in his lap. "Wow," was all he could come up.

"Cat got your tongue?" Beckett asked as he held the cub in his arms, trying to keep it from licking him clear across the face. She laughed as the cub in her hand just attacked her in the face, leaving a slobbery path across her cheek.

"Haha," Castle answered as he held the heavy cub against his torso. He glanced over and saw that Kate had finally gotten her cub to calm down or at least play with the cub in Castle's arms. Castle finally was able to get one hand up underneath the cub and tap Beckett on the hand and glanced up at Kendra, who was still snapping pictures. The two looked up and finally got a picture they would never forget.

The two handed the cubs back to Kendra and James before finding their way back out of the cat entrance. When Kate finally got out of the cat area, she surprised Castle with a large hug around the neck. "That was so neat! My mom would have totally flipped." She let go and grabbed Castle's hand almost instinctively and then looked up at him. He was in awe. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he whispered almost incomprehensible as Beckett watched the adult lions through the window now. She looked around and saw that the zoo's opening just a few minutes earlier did not immediately produce people at the cat's lair. Taking the moment, she squeezed in between the bar in front of the glass and Castle.

Castle took a small step back to make room for her but then felt her pull his hand around her waist as she leaned between him and the window, watching the lions. Castle breathed in and closed his eyes smelling the faint cherries smell from her hair. Opening his eyes, he saw the lion right in front of the window and jumped back a little.

Beckett turned, feeling his body move back from hers. "What is it?"

"Nothing, I just got surprised," Castle was completely tongue tied. He looked and pulled on Beckett's jacket as a group of kids showed up to stare through the window. The two passed Kendra and thanked here again before walking through the rest of the zoo at a pace much slowed than the day before.

As the sun started hiding behind the buildings in the city, Castle and Beckett arrived back at his loft. She stood outside his building next to her car and smiled as Castle got out of the car. "So are you interested in coming up? I could make us some dinner."

Beckett nodded. "No, not tonight. I actually have a dinner made at home." She caught Castle's doubtful look. "Really, I made some extra pasta last night and it's not from a carton. I had the taste for it and I have some leftovers. Anyway, I have a new book to start tonight."

She saw Castle's questioning eye. "I haven't written anything new in awhile."

"Yeah, you need to remedy that," Beckett kid. "No really, I got a Nelson Demille book, The Lion's Game. I thought I would stick to a theme for the day." Castle nodded in agreement. He moved toward Beckett and wasn't quite sure how to thank her for the day. It was a different kind day for the both of them.

He stopped when Beckett moved a step closer to him. "Thank you for today. It was a nice date, different," Castle responded as she gazed up at him and agreed silently. He was about to move away but felt Beckett's hand on his arm and looked back at her.

Beckett smiled before pulling Castle close into her. Standing on her tiptoes, she barely brushed her lips to his and then pulled back with her hand still in his. They both stood silent while trying to read each other's feelings. It was Castle that spoke first. "Until tomorrow?" he said softly. He let go of her hand and just barely heard her agree with him. He watched as she got back in the car and started away before he turned and went into the building, trying to not notice the giddy look on the doorman's face.

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Beckett walked into the precinct and saw the coffee cup on her desk and smiled. "So where is Castle?" she asked as Esposito and Ryan tried to ignore the strange happy look on her face.

"We don't know. He walked in and left that. Maybe he went to the break room," Ryan tried to suggest and glanced over at Esposito, trying to hide the insistent bark of laughter that was trying to escape him.

Beckett sat down and took a drink of her coffee and closed her eyes. It was strange that now even the taste of coffee touching her lips reminded her of the small kiss from yesterday. She put the cup down and turned on the computer. "Hey Beckett, you got another pen. My last one just ran out," she heard from Esposito across the way.

"Sure," she answered as she opened the desk drawer and looked over. "OH SHI!" Beckett screamed as she flung the drawer on the floor, throwing things in all directions. She glared at the drawer and then at Ryan and Esposito that were buckled over in laughter.

She reached in the drawer and picked up the rubber snake and seethed between her teeth. She looked behind her and screamed as she saw the figure in the stairwell.

"CASTLE!"

The End