Doomsday

She licked her lip again, worrying the edge of the split with her tongue. She caught Castle forcibly removing his eyes, turning towards Ryan as the detective emerged from the study with a twin under his arm.

"Hey, Ryan. Where's - uh - where's your sisters' husbands? I thought-"

"Went to work," Ryan said, shrugging his shoulder and causing the girl to slip. Maisey/Maggie let out a yelp and clutched her uncle. "Sorry, sorry. I got you."

"Went to work?" Castle gasped, following him. "But it's - it's December 21st. Don't they - don't they know that?"

Ryan winced and Kate muffled a laugh at the look on his face. She laid a hand on her partner's arm. "Castle-"

"What if they can't make it back?" he said.

Ryan glanced to Beckett for help, the girl squirming under his arm.

"Castle-"

"What if there's an emergency-"

"Castle," she said quietly, running her hand down to his forearm and squeezing.

He turned to her with a disconcerted look on his face, far more upset by Ryan's family members' leaving the bunker than she really expected. All the droll comments she had been ready to make now stalled on her lips.

"Their choice," she said instead. "They're adults."

He sighed and glanced back to Ryan, but the detective had already slid past with the twin under his arm, headed for the girl's mother and Lanie and the hair-braiding.

"Wait," Castle called out. "How - they won't be able to get back in."

"Naw, Alexis gave them the garage door openers."

"From my car?"

"And hers. And then your mom found one-"

Castle sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Okay. Well. At least there's that. But-"

Ryan grunted as the twin kneed him - dangerously close to the family jewels - and he hurriedly jogged down the hall with the girl. "I tried to talk them out of it, but they had to go - jobs, you know - and, well. . ." He shrugged and opened the far door, taking the twin inside to her mother.

Castle sighed, shoulders slumping. "Yeah. Well. But it means - ah - we're stuck here until they get back."

Kate startled. "What do you mean? Stuck?"

He winced and ran his hand down his face. "Uh. Well, see. It's like a fail-safe?"

"Doesn't sound like a fail-safe," she hissed at him. "Richard Castle, are we stuck in here?"

Castle shifted side to side and then grabbed her by the arm and led her away from the rooms at the end of the hall. But two of the Ryan sisters were chatting in the kitchen, making lunch that smelled heavenly despite the tight pinch of Castle's fingers on her elbow and she had the dreadful sense that this might be a conversation other people shouldn't hear.

So she let him lead her to his study where three of Ryan's nephews were camped out with comic books strewn around them. Two were fighting over a handheld video game, but they glared at Beckett and Castle when they came in.

"Ah, through here," Castle gruffed, nudging her back towards his bedroom.

No. No. Not a good idea. She turned, trying to get past him, but he gave her a look and tugged her by the elbow, pulled her inside, shut the door.

Her heart pounded.

"Okay. So. The garage door - Kate - it requires a garage door opener to lift. You have to have the code form the remote."

The pounding in her heart flipped, slowed, as she stared at him. "Wait. What? Why? Castle, that's moronic."

"Yeah, now . . . it does kind of seem that way."

"Kind of? Castle. Why in the world would you make it so that you can't get out?"

"Well, you can get out," he frowned.

"Apparently not," she growled, poking him in the shoulder.

"Ow. Stop poking me. You can. You can get out. It's just that - for security's sake - you have to have the garage door opener."

"That is the stupidest, most ridiculous-"

"It's a doomsday bunker, Kate. You're not really supposed to want out."

She pressed her hand to her forehead, sighed, then scraped her fingers back through her hair, turned away from him. It was fine. It would be fine. Because nothing was going to happen, Ryan's sisters' husbands would be back, and they could all leave tomorrow morning when this interminable day was over.

"If they - if they don't make it back-"

"No," she growled and turned to him. "Don't even. Castle. This is getting ridiculous. This is insane. There's nothing-"

"Then why are you here?" he yelled. "If I'm so insane, why are you here?"

She jerked back, startled by the heat in his voice, the sudden switch from petulant regret to defensive - what was that? Was he hurt?

"Castle?"

"Forget it," he grumbled and stalked away from her, heading for the door.

She snagged his arm before he could walk out. "Castle. I'm here because - because you asked me to come. Did you forget that?"

His shoulders were up around his ears, but he turned and reluctantly met her eyes. She had no idea what this was about-

Not true. Not true. She did. She knew what this was about. She'd made a promise to herself to stop lying about this, to him and to herself.

"Okay. Sorry. I know," she said softly, started to bite her lip and winced when she grabbed swollen, still-stinging flesh.

Castle's shoulders slumped; he raised a hand and brushed his thumb over her lip, gentle. Too gentle.

No.

Just right. It was always just right with him.

Except when it wasn't.

She closed her eyes, felt his breath skirt her cheek before his mouth slanted over hers, soft, certain.

Kate slid her hand up his chest, around his neck, tried to pull him closer but he held back, kept the kiss subtle, unassuming. Too many consequences, and they both knew it.

She sighed against his mouth as he broke from her, pressed her forehead to his cheek. "Castle."

"Why are you here?" he whispered.

She couldn't speak, pressed her lips against his cheek, the rough edge of his jaw, felt his hands land at her waist, the squeeze of his fingers. She found words only as the question lingered, echoed in the spaces still between them.

"Because you asked me to come," she said finally. "Because, when you look at me like that, I can't say no to you."

His breath caught, then a laugh trembled out of him. "You ought to let me know next time. Which face it is. Because I need to make a note of it and-"

She laughed back and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed up against him. Because she could. Today. She could do that today. Forget the consequences.

"How about we do some more of that not saying no to me," he said. His hand slid along her neck and into her hair, his thumb at her ear. "I like that."

"Of course you do," she murmured, lifting her eyes to him and not wanting - not wanting to say no. Not today. But-

"I do. I like it a lot. And since you love-"

"Since we're stuck here," she groused, lifting an eyebrow at him. But yeah. Yeah, that too.

"Stuck here and probably - stuck in here too, with those three billy goats gruff barring the way." He shifted closer, his hips brushing hers. "Since you're not saying no."

She smirked at him. "You're not that irresistible, Castle."

He sighed. "Yeah. Since tomorrow - you'll probably want to go-"

"But I'm here now," she said quickly.

His lips lifted, eyes crinkling. "Yeah."

She gave him a soft smile back. "Yeah."

"Let me know when," he said and lowered his mouth to hers.