Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own Castle.

A/N: And now for... well something. Short I suppose, apologies.

Beta Note: Thank you elizabeth . bynog for all the help. Really. Anyone who actually likes this fic should thank her too.

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A little while later, after the first cup of coffee they'd shared together in over a week, albeit in companionable silence, Kate was ready to go. There was a case, a big one, and it wasn't going to get solved sitting around in the loft. Not unless Tyson was monumentally stupid enough to come back, and even then he wasn't going to find Rick alone again.

"Rick, I'm going to shower. You need to find something other than a robe to wear."

"Why? It's comfy."

"Because you cannot go out like that, you cannot go to the precinct like that. Gates is going to object enough with you in a wheelchair, waivers or not; a robe would be the last straw I think."

He looked at her a little quizzically, "Precinct?"

Sipping the last of her coffee, which almost did taste better knowing he was drinking the same, she didn't even try and fight off the small smile. "You're coming with me. For starters you know Tyson as well as anyone, even if it is mainly from notes right now. We better bring your laptop. Secondly, I am not letting you out of my sight. You are a trouble magnet, and I intend to be right beside you the next time it arrives."

Quizzical had been replaced with a shocked expression, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Which bit? You in a wheelchair at the precinct? Terrible idea, but it will improve our chances of catching Tyson. That counts for a lot right now, with me, with Gates. You with me? That's a brilliant idea."

She started heading upstairs, not willing to take no for an answer, just making a final comment, "Find something to wear Rick. Or I'll dress you myself."

It took twenty minutes for Kate to get ready, taking a little time in the shower rather than a simple mad rush; she expected to have time, but was a little shocked to see Rick ready and waiting when she descended the stairs again. He had on an Ironman t-shirt and a blanket was covering his legs.

It was Rick, she had to ask, to check, because she could never quite be sure, "Are you wearing pants?"

His grin was a little contagious, but at least he did give the answer she wanted to hear, at first, "Yes! I remembered I had some for research, they're old but they sort of fit. The Velcro helps. They have Velcro down the legs too so I could work around the scaffolding."

Velcro pants. She rolled her eyes at him, "Are you wearing stripper pants Rick?"

His grin got a little wider, "Yep!"

Kate honestly didn't know what to be more annoyed about, that he was wearing Velcro stripper pants now to go to the precinct, or that this was the first time she'd heard about them and whatever research he'd been up to that necessitated them. In reality she knew what was more annoying, she'd worn a lieutenant Chloe costume for him, with almost stripper shoes, though also with a Kreaver mask; and he'd never.. Whatever. Priorities. She could focus on priorities for now.

"Umm? Kate? How do you propose we get to the precinct? You do realize that I can't sit in a normal car?"

How did she propose? "Really Rick? I hadn't noticed? I thought we'd take a unicycle, or the subway. I called your limo people. Stretch all the way."

"Really? You're ok with rolling up to the precinct in a limo?"

"It isn't going to be a dramatic entrance, maneuvering you from the back into your chair hardly makes for a great entrance, more of an awkward hello."

He actually looked a little chagrined at that, clearly hoping for a more Richard Castle worthy entrance. Well he wasn't going to get one, he was going to get a difficult one with her hands under his armpits, a dragging wriggling entrance, and he was just going to have to deal with it.

Once again she stepped behind his chair, it was her job to drive them forward she realized and she was willing, more than willing, to take that responsibility. Kate didn't ask this time, switching the chair to manual mode and pushing him, them, forward out of the loft.

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An awkward hello didn't even begin to describe it. Somehow he'd managed to get himself into the limousine with the assistance of Kate, yet she insisted on calling Ryan and Esposito down to the front of the precinct to assist in extricating him from the same vehicle. They had succeeded though, and finally he'd made it up to the homicide floor. He had copious notes on little details about it, had clearly spent considerable time there; but everything was completely unfamiliar, like meeting a long lost relative, all the external details looked right but somehow everything just felt off.

As soon as she pushed him off the elevator, having once again taken over manual control of his chair and choosing the path they followed, a loud voice called out from across the floor, "Detective Beckett! What is the meaning of this?"

A well named captain apparently, guarding the gateway to her domain, and judging from the tone of her voice she was really not happy about something. Probably something to do with a civilian in a wheelchair if he had to guess from the glare she was directing his way.

Beckett responded firmly, professionally. "Captain Gates. Sir, I thought Castle could be helpful, he's had more interaction with Tyson than any of us, than anyone really; he can be valuable to the case."

Gates paced up to them, cutting them off in the corridor leading away from the elevators, she didn't look angry, just determined. "I'm sure Mister Castle, the injured civilian, can be just as helpful giving his statement from the safety of his home, Detective. The home for which you arranged police protection. Send him home Detective. Get his full statement if you didn't last night, then get back here and do your job."

Firmly again, but a clipped tone this time, a simple definitive declaration. "No."

Rick hadn't known what response to expect from Kate, but judging from the reactions around him, a direct no was not anticipated by anyone. Ryan and Esposito who were on either side of him as they'd exited the elevator were staring straight ahead, quite deliberately not making eye contact with anyone; his best guess would be they were waiting for some sort of explosion they could use as a distraction to take cover during the aftermath.

Gates response was instead clipped in it's own way. "Beckett. My office. Now." Then she turned and left.

Beckett moved to follow quickly, before turning, not making eye contact with Rick, but speaking to the two other members of her team, "Guys, show him to the break room please. I'll be right back." Then she left too.

Both Ryan and Esposito spoke at almost the same time, "Come on Castle", leading the way into the break room. Rick did in fact know where it was, he'd hand sketched the layout of the homicide floor into his notes at some point, labeling a few desks, the Captain's office where he could see Kate gingerly taking a seat. The break room made numerous appearances in his notes, some positive, some negative; he'd written about Beckett and Sorenson in there, among other things.

Piloting himself into the room he saw a metal monstrosity perched on a long counter and his memory flashed, driving him to speakand blurt out the sudden remembrance, "Monkey peed in battery acid."

Esposito just ignored his wild comment, while Ryan gave him confused look, "Dude? What?"

"That's what the coffee was like before. Then I bought the espresso machine for Kate."

Esposito paid attention to that, "Bro, you bought it for the department. Doesn't matter what you think now, if you'd said it was for Beckett back then she'd have taken a sledgehammer to it."

"Or ditched it down the garbage chute."

"Or out a window, look out below!"

The two of them were having a grand old time bantering espresso machine demolition ideas back and forth until finally Rick had enough, "Guys! She really hated me that much back then?"

"Dude, hate is a strong word, it's just that you drove her absolutely crazy."

"Seriously bro, if she'd really hated you, none of us, Montgomery and Beckett included, would have let you stay."

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Beckett followed Gates into her office, closing the door swiftly behind her, standing almost at attention in front of the Captain's desk. She was eager for this to be over to get back to work.

"Beckett, sit."

She really don't want to sit, wanted it over as soon as possible, "I'd rather..."

"Sit."

She sat. This did not feel like a normal disagreement with her Captain, though Kate's mind was made up; she was not going to let Rick out of her sight, one way or the other.

"Detective Beckett. Mister Castle does not belong here in his condition. You want him here, I understand, but he should be at home."

"But sir, he's one of us..."

"No Beckett, he isn't. He isn't an officer. That said,even if he were, he wouldn't be allowed back to the precinct in his condition, he'd be at home recuperating. You know that. You've been hurt Beckett, and you didn't spend your recovery time here."

Kate was going to dig in her heels, no question about that, she'd already decided to do whatever it took, and she wasn't going to give up now. "He's a material witness Sir and he'd be safer here."

"This precinct is not your personal day care, he has protection assigned, which I would bet a dollar that he doesn't want anyway. Beckett, he's a distraction here, you are worried about his health and safety. Let others take care of that so you can focus."

"You are right, I am distracted because of worries about his safety, I don't deny that. That safety though Sir, that's what I care about. To be completely honest, I care about that more than catching Tyson right now."

"Catching Tyson is the best way to ensure his continued safety."

"You're partly right, but I turned down a Federal offer to catch Tyson, an add on offer at least, because I had a bigger priority. I understand you don't want him here..."

Gates was quick to jump in at that comment, seemingly trying to make things very clear, "It's nothing personal against Mister Castle..."

"I understand. For you it's nothing personal, it's policy. For me it is very personal. Sir, I'd like to request some vacation time."

"With Tyson on the loose? I can't spare you, you can have as much vacation time as you want once this is put to bed. Not before."

"Then permission to work from home. Ryan and Esposito can keep me up to date, I..."

Gates shook her head firmly, her face solid, "No Beckett. You are needed here."

Kate didn't feel like she had much choice really, reached down to grasp her badge and pulled it off the waistband of her pants and placed her closed hand on Gates' desk. It felt like a high stakes game of chicken; she didn't want to quit, but she wasn't going to have their partnership broken either.

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The squeal of metal over linoleum made Rick wince, and he wasn't alone. Both Ryan and Esposito put their hands over their ears as Beckett dragged a chair noisily in to the room. All three of them were staring at her as she shoved the chair into a corner, turning to face them with a halfhearted shrug. Rick knew full well she could have carried the chair noiselessly into the room if she'd wanted, so obviously she had some ulterior motive, a statement to make.

He had no idea what it was though, but Ryan apparently had an inkling, "Beckett? Is that what I think it is?"

Another shrug, and a mumbled response was all he was granted, "Dunno."

Esposito was curious too now, Rick watching him study the chair from a couple of angles. "It's Castle's chair."

That caught his attention though; he had a chair, but now it was in the breakroom, not where they worked. Kate gave an affirmative response then wandered over to the espresso machine, poking and prodding at it with no apparent rhyme or reason. It felt to Rick like she was deliberately wasting time, waiting for something. Maybe a response from him, but he had no idea what was going on.

Ryan took his place as the fool who speaks and Rick mentally thanked him. "Why'd you bring it in here Beckett?"

She spun around, a perfectly executed pirouette, almost like she'd been prepared, wound herself up to execute the move, as if she was participating in a dance. He considered the scenario. It was likely he was supposed to be distressed by the removal of his chair, but he wasn't because he didn't see the significance really; what he did see was a small twitch of her lips, hiding a smirk perhaps as she responded with an exaggerated snap, "No room for it here anymore."

Both Ryan and Esposito moved across the room then, crowding Beckett against the espresso machine and some rapid hissed words were exchanged, though not so quiet that he couldn't hear.

"No room? What did Gates say?"

"Precinct is crowded enough. We need to work without the excess clutter."

"What!"

"Told me to get rid of his chair."

Since he was here to work, at least in principal, and this whole discussion smelled suspiciously of Beckett trying to wind everyone up, himself included, he decided to interrupt her little storytelling session.

"Move the chair to make room for the wheelchair?"

He regretted it as soon as he said it. Kate practically deflated, apparently she'd been excited by her little game and he just punctured the balloon. It didn't last long though as a big grin broke across her face and she winked slowly at him. The guys just groaned, apparently realizing they were being played, and left Beckett to continue fiddling with the espresso machine as they exited the room.

"Sorry." He had to apologize for messing things up for her.

She just shook her head and approached, leaning down until her face was just inches from his. "Don't apologize for understanding me, in the end I'm looking forward to more of that."

"I'm getting there I think."

"I know you are, and I know we will keep making progress if we talk Rick. We have work to do now though, catching Tyson. Maybe a new beginning for us without that hanging over us."

The last words were quickly followed by her face darting in and kissing him, not a peck, but a kiss, her mouth slightly open to tempt him; but it was over before he could truly react, leaving his head moving forward even as hers withdrew. Her grin was still there though.

She was gone then striding towards they breakroom door, tossing a comment over her shoulder, "You coming Rick?"