Chapter 2

(He needs her.)

Castle calls her two days later in a near panic because he had found Alexis' window open and he swears it had been closed when he had checked it four hours ago after she had left for school (he had been obsessively checking windows and doors for the past couple of days).

Kate goes over after he spins some ridiculous story about possible stalkers dropping down from the rooftop with spy gadgets in order to size up how to best get into his home and kidnap his daughter and Kate thinks he should really stop spending so much time researching government conspiracies and re-watching episodes of Alias.

Martha is on her way out to an audition. "Please fix this, darling. He's turning into a dramatic diva and that is my territory."

.

"Castle, you're being ridiculous," she says, hands on hips, as she enters Alexis' room and sees that he's trying to install some sort of booby trap on her window.

"I am not." His retort comes off sounding a little bit like a petulant child.

"You know, Alexis is probably going to trip that herself when she, oh, I don't know, opens her window?"

Castle's eyes brighten when she says that. "Oh no, she's not. I've worked it out. I tested it out on my own window."

"Oh, god."

"Oh, yes." He jumps off of the stepladder he's been standing on and grabs a hold of her wrist. "Come on, I'll show you the ingeniousness of my design." He leads her, or rather, pulls her, into his bedroom and Kate is momentarily impressed by all the time it obviously took him to install his elaborate, though crazy, system until…

"Castle, how much pepper spray is in that can?"

"Eight ounces. What? Too much?"

Kate rolls her eyes. "I'm going to help you take this stuff down so you don't end up killing yourself in the process."

"No way!" He responds, indignant at her proposal.

Kate touches the side of his arm to make him focus. "Castle. You don't need any of this. Your building is pretty much impenetrable as it is and with the extra security you hire for Alexis' sake, there is no way anybody is getting into your apartment unless they've been invited in. Besides, I have a gun." She tries to meet his eyes to see if she can spot any of the usual glint but he's not quite looking. "You're safe," she says emphatically.

And then, he does look at her. "I don't feel safe. Not anymore."

"You're safe with me." The words come out of her mouth before Kate can really process what she means by that.

Castle's no longer animated about his gadgets. Now, his voice is serious. "But," he starts, "You can't stay with me all the time. I can't have you." Kate looks away and tries to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that's crept up on her but it shows in her eyes. Castle's really looking now.

He takes a step forward.

She drops the hand that's touching his arm.

He takes another step forward.

She doesn't move. She barely even breathes.

He puts his left arm around her waist and closes the remaining distance between their bodies.

His lips are trailing down her neck before she finally engages. She moves slightly, at first. Tilting her head and letting him brush her hair away so he can continue to kiss along her collarbone. Slowly, she moves her right arm to wrap around his neck.

He looks at her steadily as he starts to unbutton her blouse. She dares him right back with her eyes, slipping out of her heels just as he peels the shirt off of her and drops it on the ground. He backs her up against his king-sized bed; her black pants drop just as the back of her knees hit the end of the mattress.

She moves purposefully then. Their gaze is momentarily cut off when she pulls his shirt over his head and when she falls back against the bed, she drags him down with her.

It continues like this. Him, taking a step forward and then she, pushing them a little bit further. There are no words, only sounds.

They do it twice.

The first time because he almost died.

And the second because she would have missed him.

A/N: Okay, so yay! Interest! I loved all of your reviews and adds and all that jazz. And now, random poll time – and really, feel free to respond with comments about this chapter – when do most of you want updates? I definitely can't do daily but what do you guys think? Weekly? Every Tuesday and every other Friday? Every third Thursday and second Wednesday? Bi-monthly? Only on special holidays?