Title: Rock Foundation
Disclaimer: I do not own the Castle characters or their story lines. I just borrow them for fun.
Summary: A Sequel of sorts for my one-shot Rock Solid. Kate and Rick deal with the aftermath of Knockdown and move forward with their lives, learning to balance their partnership with their budding relationship.
Author's note: Thank you to everyone who sent me those lovely reviews and messages full of 'get well soons!' They definitely made me feel better, and took some of the sting out of not being able to do much more than watch TV (I watched A LOT of Castle this past week), in place of the multitude of writing, thinking, and schooling I do on a daily basis.
Now, this chapter, I'm sure, cannot begin to compare Countdown. But, I thought I'd write it and put it out there, and I hope you like it!
XIII
Kate opened her eyes and blinked in the low, early morning light that filtered in from her window. She squinted over at the alarm clock and gave a mental sigh as she realized that her own body had woken her before 7:00am. There was a shift from behind her and she smiled as Rick's arm wound tighter around her waist.
"S'early," he mumbled into her hair.
"Didn't mean to wake you," she whispered. "Go back to sleep."
"Are you getting up?"
"I have to. I have a job to get to, remember? You like to watch me do it?" she told him as she reluctantly leaned away to turn off the alarm clock.
"Don't go. Call in sick," he whined, pulling her back to him.
"With the amount of time we've had off recently? Fat chance," she giggled as he flipped them over and pinned her to the bed. "I have to get ready."
Her protests were muffled as he brought his lips down to meet hers. "Good morning," he said as he pulled away a few minutes later.
"Morning," she smiled.
"Are you sure you have to go in?" he asked as he leaned down and began to trail kisses from her earlobe down to her clavicle and back.
"I…" Kate stammered as he found a particularly sensitive spot on her neck. "Yeah, I have to…go in."
"Pity," he murmured. He came back to face her and their lips met again, distracting her for another dizzying few minutes.
"Rick," Kate panted as they broke apart again. "Really, I have to get up. I have to shower, and the hair and the clothes…getting," she petered off as he sucked on her earlobe.
"Are you sure?" he growled as he pressed her into the mattress and devoured her neck.
Kate summoned her resolve. She was a cop, damn it, not a teenager. With precision, she flipped them over, leaving Rick dazed and lying beneath her as she pinned his arms above his head.
"I'm sure. Now, I'm going to get ready, and you're going to be a gentleman and let me." He pouted and she relented enough to give him a chaste kiss. "And if you're a really good boy today, I might be tempted to let you make me dinner."
His eyes lit up and he nearly pushed her off of him in his haste to get up. "Okay. You shower and I'll go make breakfast." With that, he was out of the bed and pulling on pants. Kate laughed and made her way into the bathroom. "Unless you need help with that shower," he called after her.
Kate turned at the door and began to remove her teddy, sliding the straps off her shoulders, while staring him down. He visibly gulped and the shirt he was holding fell to the floor. "I don't know, Rick. Could you handle that amount of responsibility?"
He simply stared at her, mouth agape as she reached down to grab the bottom of the silk garment. He took a step forward as she inched it up her thigh, before the bathroom door slammed shut and he heard her tinkling laughter.
"You're such at tease!" he called to her before he picked up his shirt and put it on, fumbling a bit with the buttons. "Absolutely cruel," he muttered as he made his way back into the kitchen, stopping to right his bed head in the hall mirror.
He was still muttering when Kate emerged from her room and came into the kitchen in a camisole and her work slacks,. He gave her a sardonic smile and set a mug out for her to pour herself some coffee as he flipped a pancake. "Coffee, so you can continue to torture me all day."
"Oh, come on now. I could have been much meaner than that," she quipped as she poured herself coffee and hopped up on the counter next to him.
"That," he gestured toward her with the spatula, "I don't doubt. I figured pancakes were alright? You seem to be out of edible food, again."
"Well, someone's been keeping me in food recently, so I haven't had the time, or the need to shop."
"Touché. Happy to be of service. Now," he placed the last pancake on a plate, "breakfast is served."
They sat down at her counter and dug in, passing each other the butter and syrup without exchanging a single word. Halfway through the meal Rick felt a leg wrapping around his own and looked over at Kate, who was busy dribbling syrup onto a new stack of pancakes. He rubbed a foot over the one she had wrapped around his calf. They ate in silence, suppressing their smiles, until they were finished.
"I'll clean up. You go brush your teeth and make yourself presentable for your walk of shame. I'll drop you off at your place and you can meet me at the 12th," Kate said as she collected their plates and went about putting things in the sink and dishwasher.
"Can do," Rick saluted her, earning himself an eye roll. He grinned all the way into the bathroom. He liked her bathroom, though her tub was significantly smaller than his; then again, wasn't everyone's? He winced. Sometimes it was a very good thing that he was only cocky about money on a rare occasion, and it was usually in his own head.
He made short work of getting ready and met Kate in the foyer, where she was putting on her blazer and scarf. "You look lovely today," he told her as he watched her holster her gun.
Kate blushed slightly and secured her father's watch on her wrist. "Thanks, Rick."
He smiled and grabbed his jacket while she made sure she had everything, and then he followed her out of the apartment and into the elevator. She turned to him as the doors closed.
"I had a really great time last night and this morning," Kate said.
Rick leaned down to give her a kiss. "Me too," he said as he pulled away and straightened his jacket. "What do you want for dinner?"
Kate laughed and grabbed his hand to pull him out of the elevator and down to her car. "Ask me later today. Right now, I want to get you home so you can come to work."
Rick grinned. "You do like having me there!" he said triumphantly.
Kate blushed, realizing her admission, but didn't offer any contradiction as they broke apart and got into her car. Rick began to fiddle with the radio and Kate swatted at his hands each time he tried to change the station. They glanced at each other and looked away, laughing quietly; some things hadn't changed at all.
They reached Rick's building and Kate pulled over to the curb. Rick leaned over and kissed her before he unbuckled and got out of the car. "See you in an hour," he said, before he closed the door and strode into the building.
Kate smiled and pulled away and drove to the precinct. She reached her desk and sat down, booting up her computer. Ryan and Esposito sat in their corner, watching her. Sighing, Kate looked over after fifteen minutes.
"Have something to say, boys?"
"Nope," Ryan replied.
"Nothing. You have anything to say to us?" Esposito asked.
"Not unless you've got info on a murder scene," Kate replied evenly.
"Where's your shadow?" Ryan asked as he pretended to idly flip through a file.
"Having breakfast with his family, I'd imagine. You know, cute redheaded daughter? He likes to see her from time to time."
"And how often do you see the fam, Beckett?" Esposito asked, rolling over in his chair.
"I see Alexis sometimes, and Martha, when she's around; she's out of town right now, so less, at the moment. But I'm sure I'll see her when she gets back."
"Gonna have a nice little family dinner, are you?"
Kate rolled her eyes. "Why's it so important to you, Esposito? Who cares how often I see little Castle and mama Castle?"
"Just seems like maybe you see them more than's normal," he shrugged.
"I see. And how often do you see Jenny? Three, four times a week?"
Esposito scowled and rolled away. Kate grinned and busied herself in paperwork. A half hour passed and she looked up as her travel mug was placed on her desk.
"Morning, Detective," Rick said as he sat down in his chair.
"Morning, Castle. Thanks for the coffee. How's Alexis?"
Rick smiled. "Chipper. Wanted to hear about my night. I heard about hers. It was good bonding time."
"I'm glad."
"No homicide this morning, I assume?" Rick asked, looking around the quiet bullpen.
"Nope," Kate replied, taking a sip of the coffee.
Ryan sauntered over and stood in front of her desk, followed by Esposito. "Morning, Castle," they chorused.
"Morning, boys. How were your evenings?"
"Good. Jenny and I planned some more of our wedding," Ryan said enthusiastically. "She was wondering if you know of any good florists? You've done the marriage thing in Manhattan a few times."
Rick coughed and Kate smirked into the lid of her mug. "I have, yeah. There's a great place on 17th street, near 6th Avenue: Ariston Florist. They're not too pricey, either. Meredith insisted on a personal wedding designer, and we spent something like 500 per setting…it was ridiculous."
Esposito and Kate's jaws dropped, while Ryan when sheet white. "We're, um, not looking in that price range," he said.
Rick laughed. "Trust me, neither was I. Ariston is reasonable and they do great bouquets."
"Where did you have your receptions? The Waldorf?" Esposito asked, looking at Ryan, who looked a bit less horrified.
"With Meredith, yes, actually. Mine with Gina was at the Palm house and was a very public affair."
"You don't sound as if you really enjoyed either reception," Ryan chimed in, glancing at Kate, who was suspiciously silent.
"I didn't. The food was amazing, at both, but the publicity was astronomical. The second wedding felt more like a publicity stunt than a marriage."
"Where do you think you'll have the third?" Esposito asked innocently. Ryan smirked into a cough and tried to hide his amusement.
"Third one?" Rick asked confusedly. He and Kate refused to look at each other.
"Yeah. I mean, you won't be single forever, right?" Esposito continued, nudging Ryan.
"Hey, Beckett. What's that on your neck?" Ryan asked.
Kate's head shot up and she stared at him, before clapping a hand over her neck and shooting a glare at Rick.
"Is it his fault?" Esposito continued, glancing between the two partners. Kate looked livid and Rick looked thoroughly confused.
"I don't get it. There's nothing on your neck, Beckett. Though, I'd be happy to remedy that," Rick said slyly, raising an eyebrow at Kate.
Kate got the hint and rolled her eyes. "In your dreams, Castle."
"What did we miss?" Ryan asked, turning to Esposito.
"I don't know man, but these two are hiding something. And we're Detectives," he turned to Rick and Kate, "so we'll figure it out."
"Whatever you say, Espo," Kate said dismissively, turning to her computer while Rick took out his phone.
The boys sulked back to their corner and plopped down in their seats. Once they were a safe distance away, Kate turned to Rick and found him grinning at her.
"What?" she said irritably.
"I just never thought, of the two of us, that you'd be the easier mark," he said happily.
"I'm not an easy mark!" she protested.
"Uh-huh. I'd suggest not glaring at me the next time someone suggests you've got a hickey. That tends to make people think I was the one who gave it to you."
"You better not give me a hickey, Richard Castle. There's nothing on my neck?" Kate asked him, giving him her best 'stern look.'
"I'm not dumb enough to mark you," Rick said seriously. "At least, not where anyone can see. I make no promises for clothing covered surfaces."
Kate blushed scarlet and looked down, allowing her hair to fall forward and hide her face as she busied herself with shuffling papers on the desk. Rick laughed and turned back to his phone. Across the bullpen, Esposito and Ryan looked on in confusion. Either Beckett and Castle were toying with them, or they were hopeless and would never see what was right in front of them.
The day passed quietly. There were no murders, and eventually, the boys got over themselves and the four of them played a rousing game of poker. Kate ended up beating all of them and taking the eclectic jackpot made up of gummy bears, Twinkies, M&Ms, a Kit Kat and a Nutrigrain bar. They ordered a pizza for lunch and spent the day wasting time and catching up on the little backlog they had.
The guys cut out at five. Kate and Rick stayed behind to give them a starting run so that they wouldn't see them leave together.
"Good day," Rick said as they collected their things and made their way to the elevator.
"Whooped your ass," Kate smirked as the doors closed.
"You did. You should make that up to me," he said as he backed her up against the wall.
"Oh, should I?"
Rick nodded and smiled as Kate leaned up to kiss him. Their lips had barely touched before the bell dinged and he had to step back. "Remind me," he grouched while they walked to her car. "Why can't we tell people?"
They got in and Kate took his hand across the seat. "Because it's new, and they'll just scrutinize us, and we wanted to wait."
"Right. Logical reasons," Rick grumbled.
Kate laughed. "Where are we going?"
"You said I could make you dinner? You still up for that? Alexis will be there too…"
"Sounds great. Casa Castle it is."
"Will you be staying for a movie?" Rick asked as they pulled out of the station and headed toward his apartment building.
"Is this you inviting me?"
"Yes."
Kate squeezed his hand. "Then sure, I'd love to stay for a movie."
"Alexis will be happy to see you," Rick said enthusiastically a few minutes later. "She really likes you, you know."
"It's mutual," Kate smiled as they pulled up to his building.
"I'm glad," Rick told her.
They walked into the building, greeted the doorman and then got into the elevator. It seemed they were trapped in the fleeting enclosure of elevators all the time.
"Rick," Kate protested as he wound his arms around her waist. "Are we going to have to talk about elevator protocol?"
He laughed into her hair as he hugged her. "Only if you really want me to stop touching you."
Kate huffed but didn't offer a comment, and Rick held her tighter. He let go with one arm as they reached his floor and walked to his apartment, leaving one arm wrapped snuggly around Kate's waist.
"Honey, we're home!" Rick called out as he opened the door and they stepped into the foyer.
"Hi Dad!" Alexis called back, popping her head out from the back of the couch. "Oh, Hi Kate!"
"Hey Alexis," Kate replied as they hung up their coats. Rick went to the kitchen to get a start on dinner and Kate made her way to the living room where she perched on the coffee table. "What'cha reading?"
"Ugh. Spodak," Alexis grumbled, lifting a very heavy-looking textbook to show Kate the cover. "It's for my AP world history course. It's absolutely horrible. So dry!"
Kate laughed. "I remember my history textbooks. They certainly never read like a novel, or anywhere close."
"All I can say about this that's positive is that my reading speed should increase with everything else."
"Sorry. Do you have any reading or work that you like from school?" Kate asked as she looked around the table she was sitting on and noticed the multitude of books and notes.
"I really like French, and I've been enjoying my biology class. I love orchestra, too," Alexis said enthusiastically. "We just started a forensics unit in biology, and it's awesome! Did you get to do any forensics work before you became a Detective?"
Kate smiled at the girl's excitement. "I didn't take a rotation through ME, but having Lanie as a best friend has given me all the taste I've ever wanted, to tell you the truth. I like solving murders, but I've never wanted to get all that up close with the corpses, really."
Alexis giggled. "That's fair. I bet Dad loves going to the morgue though."
"Sometimes it's fun. Other times…well, there's a reason I don't tell you everything about all of the cases," Rick commented from the kitchen.
Alexis screwed up her face. "Ick. Thanks for that, Dad."
"Any time, Pumpkin. You girls alright with spaghetti and garlic bread?"
"Sounds great," Kate smiled over at him.
"Yum," was Alexis' reply. She looked down and glared at her textbook.
"How about I let you get back to that, and we can watch a movie after dinner?" Kate suggested.
Alexis nodded reluctantly. "Make sure he doesn't create an explosion," she warned.
"On it," Kate laughed as she went to join Rick in the kitchen. "You've got quite the studier over there."
"She's a great student. If I could learn any of it for her, I would," Rick admitted. "I hate that textbook too. I tried reading it, and I fell asleep."
"Well, we've always known that little Castle has a better attention span than big Castle."
"For that, you get to stir the pasta," Rick grumped.
Kate laughed and went about making the spaghetti while Rick made the garlic bread and sauce. "Salad?" she asked.
"Lex, will you eat salad?" Rick called.
"Yeah. Peppers please?"
"You got it," Kate replied, grabbing the necessary items out of the fridge. She sliced the peppers, tossed the lettuce and added some cucumbers to make a very simple salad. The Castle home was comfortable. Rick standing just a little closer than was socially acceptable while they stirred and cooked, was comfortable. Kate sighed happily and then looked over at Rick to find him grinning at her.
"Glad you're happy here, KB," he offered as she raised an eyebrow.
She smiled and gave him a short kiss before straining the pasta. A few minutes later, they sat down for a good meal, laughing and joking their way through dinner. Alexis regaled them with tales from the drama of high school, and Kate told them about the time she'd gotten a pixie cut in school and everyone thought she was a boy for a month.
"I can't imagine anyone looking at you and thinking you were a boy," Rick commented. "Your eyes are far too mesmerizing to be male."
Alexis smirked into her pasta while Kate blushed furiously.
"Yeah, well, not everyone had your attention to detail, back then," Kate mumbled.
Alexis watched amusedly as her dad and Kate had a staring contest. It was like they were having an entire conversation without using a single word, and whatever the subject was, it was obvious that it was becoming intimate, and unsuitable for a daughter to witness.
"Hey, so, what movie are we watching?" Alexis broke in as she watched her father start to smirk.
"Oh, ah," Kate stammered, breaking eye contact with Rick.
"We hadn't picked one," Rick offered.
"What about Easy A? It has all the drama of high school, with the bonus of our not actually being there," Alexis suggested.
"Sounds great. You go set it up and we'll get the dishes."
"Kay," Alexis agreed before scampering into the living room to find the DVD.
Kate and Rick went about putting dishes into the sink and scraping plates. When they were done, Rick cornered her against the counter so his back was hiding Kate from Alexis.
"You do have gorgeous eyes, Kate," he whispered before he leaned down and kissed her hungrily.
Kate gave a very quiet squeak of surprise before she felt herself beginning to get carried away in the kiss. "Rick," she protested, breaking away and pulling him in for a hug. "Not now. Your daughter is right over there."
"And she has very good hearing, believe me!" Alexis called to them. "Stop playing kissy face and come watch the movie with me."
Kate giggled into Rick's shoulder and felt his chest rumble as he laughed. "Coming Lex," she called, before they broke apart and made their way into the living room.
The movie was wonderful. It was made all the more wonderful by Alexis and Rick, who laughed and commented and completely engrossed Kate in their little world. If she wasn't careful, she could get extremely used to snuggling up with Rick and watching movies with Alexis every night. Glancing up at his laughing face and receiving a quick kiss and squeeze made Kate realize that she didn't want to be careful. The hiding, the run around, the cat and mouse they'd played for years was fun, but she couldn't imagine a better evening than this. She'd said 'one and done.' Was it too early to think about that? Was it too early to already know this was it?
The movie ended, leaving Kate slightly stunned. Alexis yawned and went to bed, bidding them goodnight. Rick looked down at Kate and found her biting her lip, her hands twisting the bottom of his shirt.
"Everything okay, KB?"
"What, oh, yeah," she smiled and cuddled into him.
"Your mind's going a mile a minute. Want to share?"
Kate glanced up at him. "I'm just, happy. Nothing wrong with that, right?"
Rick shifted so that Kate's head was resting in his lap and they looked at one another. "Happy's great. I'm a fan of happy. You just look a bit…preoccupied."
With no shoulder to hide behind Kate found herself staring into the depths of Richard Castle's blue eyes. She blushed and tried to summon words to express what she was feeling, without really saying everything she was feeling. It might not be too early for her to know, but it definitely was too early to tell him.
"Lots of things have happened in the past two weeks and I just…I'm thinking about life, what I want, what I have, what I could have…you know, life stuff."
Rick nodded sagely. "I do know about life stuff. Any of that life stuff have to do with the movie we just watched?"
"I'm not planning on becoming any more like Nikki Heat than I already am," she teased.
"Good. No man likes to have a fake prostitute for a girlfriend, no matter how hot she is."
"Am I your girlfriend, Mr. Castle?" Kate asked, sitting up so that they were eye to eye. "I don't remember being asked."
"Well then, Ms. Beckett, would you like to be my girlfriend? I can find a pin, if you like."
Kate laughed. "You don't need to pin me, Rick. I'd love to be your girlfriend. We already know who'd pin whom anyway."
"Nice use of whom," he whispered as their faces met and words were cut off, replaced instead by quiet moans.
Rick eased them down so that he was lying above Kate. He showered her face in kisses and smiled as she ran her hands over his back and through his hair, their mouths doing an intricate dance. It was even, like their words. No one needed to win, but they both seemed to be trying rather hard.
"Should we…um…" Kate breathed as they broke apart and Rick's mouth met that spot on her neck he'd found that morning. "Should we go somewhere where…ah…Alexis can't walk in on us?"
Rick pulled back and smiled before he stood and extended a hand to her. He led them quietly up the stairs and around a corner to his room. He closed the door and they stood in the low light of his nightstand lamp.
"How far are we from Alexis' room?" Kate asked quietly as she backed up, Rick guiding her, his hands on her hips and his mouth busy kissing everywhere he could reach.
"Far enough to be soundproof," he grinned as her knees met the edge of his bed.
Kate smiled and kissed him, snaking her arms around his neck while his roamed her back. Her blazer fell, followed by his shirt, as the heat rose. They tumbled to the bed a few minutes later when Rick attempted to cop a feel and Kate jumped at the feeling, causing both of them to teeter and topple over. They landed in a heap of limbs, laughing uproariously.
"Smooth," Kate giggled as they settled themselves out.
"You're the one who jumped when I touched your butt!" Rick laughed indignantly, leaning over to tickle her.
They dissolved into a fierce tickling match that was as frenzied as their foreplay had been. Eventually, they fell back next to each other at the head of the bed, panting and laughing. Rick twined their fingers together and brought Kate's hand up to his lips to press a kiss to the back of her palm.
Kate sighed contentedly and smiled as he leaned over to kiss her, and then her cheek, and her forehead and her eyelids and her nose. When he pulled back, they smiled at each other.
"You're absolutely gorgeous," Rick whispered.
Kate blushed. "You're rather ruggedly handsome yourself."
He grinned. "Guess we make a good team then."
"Guess we do."
Rick leaned down and kissed her again, settling more of his weight onto her as their kisses became heated. They rolled over and Kate straddled him. She moved her hips and smirked against his mouth at the loud groan he let out.
"Keep that up and I'm either going to need a…woah…very cold shower, or I'm going to…going to ravish you."