Chapter 7

They spent the next morning hour together in bed, her head perched against the warmth of his chest, his legs enveloped by the silk of hers, hands in perpetual motion drawing lazy circles along patches of exposed skin. It was a new day. It was a new them, and though neither knew exactly what that meant, what that picture looked like, they were joined now in the unknown, together. On this day, that was enough.

Castle contracted the muscles in his legs with as much subtlety as he could muster, her position against his body one he wished neither to alter nor disrupt. He wanted badly to stretch- the type of ferocious stretch that made one thankful for the arrival of morning- but the perfume of her hair and the velvet of her elbow and the nip of her toes- seductresses, all. His stiff body was terribly and deliciously outnumbered.

"Can we just never move?" he sighed into the hush of the room, his voice still raspy from lack of use. He could feel the shift of her cheek muscle, her smile form against his chest before she spoke.

"Well, I can think of at least two issues with that scenario: One, we have an agreed-upon plan for today that requires we not only move from this bed, but also this city." She turned her head and let her chin come to rest just below his clavicle, her eyes traveling the line of his jaw, the curve of his lower lip. "Two, the level of resistance it would require of me to remain still against you in this bed for any considerable length of time is one science has yet to successfully measure. And I'm a wounded bird, Castle. You wouldn't want me to over-exert myself and become even more injured, would you?"

He swallowed with a gulp, like a young boy anxious to finish the last of his milk before being allowed to go out to play. She wasn't playing fair. At all. "Let me think." He pursed his lips and arched his brows in feigned contemplation. "Okay, so, of all the items on the Richard Castle's Wants list, you being hurt again appears exactly never times." He pulled his hand from underneath the sheet and gently cupped her cheek. "Never. Not ever again." It was an order. It was a plea.

"I'll do my best, I promise." She pulled away suddenly and rolled upright, her feet dropping to the floor and into her awaiting slippers. She scurried around the bed toward the bathroom, but before closing herself inside, she looked back over her shoulder at his tranquil form. "Come on, Castle, let's get out of here, out of the city. Oh, and, by the way, I'm definitely interested in hearing more about this whole Richard Castle's Wants thing later." She ducked into the bathroom and his mouth fell open, his reply but a broken chain of incoherent and dopey sounds.

XXX

Martha and Alexis were shuffling about their customary morning routines when Castle sashayed into the loft, proud as a peacock, keychain swirling in a loop around his finger, lips puckered in whistle. He pushed the door closed firmly behind him, no care or consideration for the day's early hour and the potential consequences of the resulting slam! No, Richard Castle was on cloud nine, delivered there by Kate Beckett in a most surprising and unexpected turn of events, one that neither he nor any of his fellow mystery writers could ever have penned more perfectly.

Alexis's head snapped around in reaction to the unexpected commotion, her trip to the sink with her breakfast dishes halted so abruptly, she nearly walked into the edge of the adjacent counter. She needed not say anything at all, her adolescent face wearing her condemnation like an elaborate Halloween mask. But, he deserved it, deserved to get as good as he'd be giving if, in that same scenario, their roles were reversed.

"Really, Dad?" She hollered across the stretch of the loft's open space. "Another walk of shame?" She turned away and continued into the kitchen, her head noticeably shaking back and forth.

"Yes, darling," Martha chimed in, "I'd ask, but I'm quite certain I really don't wish to know." She brushed her hand through the air as though she were shooing away a pesky insect, one she had no time for.

Castle approached the two, banded together by their mockery, his one-foot-already-out-of-town grin now beaming only on the inside. "You, young lady, are still six and in ballet class doing twirls in your pink tutu, and I'm going to choose to ignore all the words that just came out of your mouth."

"It must be nice living in that FictionLand of yours all the time, Dad." She turned off the water in the sink and toweled off her hands.

He looked to his mother, who chose to offer him no aid whatsoever, merely shrugged and sipped at her morning coffee. "Such hostility for such an early hour, daughter." He tossed his keys onto the counter and reached for Martha's glass of juice. The liquid was nearly between his lips when he pulled it away and set it back down sharply. "Also, what do you mean another?" he griped, jumping back to Alexis's wisecrack.

Alexis's attention shot immediately to Martha who stood and hurried away from them both, like a thief with his bag of loot.

"Oh, I get it. Sounds like someone's been opening her giant thespian mouth again."

"You ain't gonna pin this rap on me, kid," Martha called out whimsically, her head buried in the newspaper, her attention set on absolutely nothing there at all.

Castle nodded, somewhat charmed by their teamwork, but entirely lacking in the time required to continue a battle he knew he'd never win. "I see how it is with you two. Don't think I don't see it." He backed away slowly in the direction of his bedroom. "Gotta go!" He pointed over his shoulder and scampered off without another word.

XXX

The bar of soap had left streaks on his skin; that's how quickly he'd showered- so quickly that his arms weren't even fully wet when he'd attempted to clean them. The funny part was that he had time. They weren't on a schedule. Kate had sent him home to clean up and to pack a bag. She hadn't instructed him that it was to be treated as some sort of game show where a prize awaited the fastest team. But, there was a prize, for him. It was her, and she was waiting. He didn't need incentive to get back to her in a hurry. It was his heart's imperative.

He was half-dressed over a bag filled with far too many changes of clothes when the knock came. "Come in!" he yelled, as he disappeared into his closet once more.

Alexis saw the bag on the bed before she saw him and she looked on in wonder. "Dad?"

"Yeah?" The muffled reply sounded like it came from a mile away.

"What's going on? Are you-"

He emerged from the closet with a stack of folded jeans and tees piled up in his arms, his mouth hidden behind the mix of denim and cotton. He shuffled over to the bed and freed himself of the burden, her confusion growing deeper by the second.

"You're going somewhere, I guess?"

"Astute, Alexis, yes. That private school of yours has been worth every penny. I am going somewhere."

"And this somewhere is…"

"Where I'm going." He grinned at her smugly, having won that point. "Will you be okay for a few days?"

Her forehead crinkled as she took an unnecessary moment to think. "Yeah, sure, Gram's here." He was being entirely too secretive. She wasn't worried about him, necessarily, she was just damn curious. "Is everything all right?"

He pulled on a tee and slipped on his shoes, managed to stuff enough clothing for a week into a bag made for half that. Today, he could do anything. He yanked the bag off the bed and kissed Alexis on the forehead. "All right doesn't even begin to cover it. I just need these few days. Call me if you need anything, okay? And keep your grandmother in line. You know how she gets."

"Okay, Dad." He was moving a mile a minute. She had no time to formulate any substantive thoughts or questions.

He dropped his bag near the front door and went back to the counter for his keys. He scribbled a note for Martha on a small pad of paper they kept in one of the kitchen drawers: Call me if you need anything. I'll be back in a few days. And keep your granddaughter in line. You know how she gets. Love you.

He headed for the front door, stopping to retrieve his overworked bag and to kiss Alexis who stood above it. "Love you," he said, and he disappeared into the unknown.

She didn't even have a chance to get out a goodbye.

XXX

Castle reached across the center console and ran his fingertips softly along the edge of Kate's thigh, her eyes focused on the passing landscape out the window next to her. "Hey, you okay?" She hadn't spoken a word over the past twelve minutes- he'd been keeping track for some inexplicable reason- and he wanted to hear her voice, all of his senses in hyper-awareness mode, like if he didn't find a way to confirm she was actually there with him at regular intervals, she'd disappear in a puff of smoke.

Kate hummed in acknowledgement, not the response he'd hoped for, not the most reassuring reply, but when she turned and he saw her bright eyes gazing back at him, he was certain- she was real.

"You're very quiet. Having second thoughts?" Please, no! His heart screamed. The instant the question came out, panic set in and he began holding in his breath. There was no observable evidence of it, but he did, as though he'd just driven by a cemetery and remembered the rule in that old wives' tale kids used to talk about.

"No, of course not, Castle. Why would you ask that? Are you?"

He chuckled out the repressed air in his lungs. "I'm sorry. I assumed the viselike grip I had on your leg after I asked would've made it clear how desperately I wanted you to say no." He flipped his hand over atop her thigh, presented her with his palm in an unspoken request for her own. She offered hers gladly, their fingers sliding together like pieces of a puzzle, a fit intended to be. "And, just to be clear, just so you can hear me say it, there's nowhere else I'd rather be at this moment. That is my first and only thought. Okay, well, not only because you smell incredibly good right now. But you get the point."

She leaned slowly back against the headrest and she angled toward him. "I'm not the only one," she said, more a purr than not, words filled with a want of show more than tell. "I didn't mean to be so quiet. It's just…I was remembering the last time I was a passenger on the trip up here. It's hard- still."

"I wish I was-" He stopped himself from saying it. She already knew. "If there's anything I can do to help make it easier for you, Kate, please tell me."

"Thank you, Castle. You already are, really."

The radio began to sputter and hiss, the signal for whatever station they'd been tuned to having been swallowed by the change in geography. Kate freed her hand from his and reached forward for the buttons, any button at all to end the bothersome screech. With the second flick of her finger, she landed on an oldies station, and she nearly slid off the leather seat with excitement.

"Oh, Castle! This is the stuff we used to listen to when we'd drive up here."

"Yeah? Tell me." He realized she might welcome the distraction. And, the voice, he wanted to hear that voice.

"Well, I'm not sure he'd ever admit to it now, but my dad used to sing to us, to me and my mom. They had this little game they'd play together, and each time a new song came on, they'd take turns singing- like a challenge to see who knew the words to more songs."

"That sounds really sweet. I like that."

"Yeah, my mom had a beautiful singing voice, Castle. She didn't think so. She was always shy about it, but it was true. My dad, on the other hand, not so much. But, he didn't care. All he wanted was to make her smile and laugh. And he did- both of us." Again, her focus wandered to the passing world outside. "Like you said, it really was sweet."

"Hey, speaking of your dad, did you tell him where you were going? That you were leaving the city?"

"I haven't called him yet, no."

"Kate," he chided, "you were just in an accident two days ago and he's been taking care of you. You don't think he's going to worry when he doesn't hear from you this morning and then finds out you're hours away? If Alexis ever did that, she'd never hear the end of it."

"And did you tell your mother where you were going?"

Caught. "Well, I left a note where she'll probably see it, I think," he stammered, leaving out the part that he'd purposely neglected to indicate where he'd be. "And, besides, I wasn't the one nearly killed."

Kate rolled her eyes, which he couldn't see but could definitely hear. "A bit melodramatic there, Castle. Nearly killed?"

"I rounded up for effect. It's my writer way."

"You don't say. Look, I'll call him when we get there, okay? I just want to actually get there first."

"Impatient, are we? GPS says only about 60 miles to go. Relax and enjoy the spectacular view, as I am." He glanced over, his eyes traveling suggestively up and down her seated form. "And, tell me another story."

XXX

"There it is," Kate pointed, the driveway just ahead but hidden somewhat from view by the soft bend in the road. Castle slowed and peeked out his window, eager for a glimpse, but the cabin was set back far enough that it was difficult to see much of anything at all except the mixed hues of green from the trees that insulated it. "Welcome to paradise, Castle." And for her, it was.

The driveway stretched out before them with its weatherworn dips and its rebellious sprigs of errant grass, wispy clouds of dust from the stir of tires floating up beyond the car's windows. Kate sat forward in her seat, her fingers with a grip on the dashboard. "Just pull straight up to the front," she instructed, when the house finally appeared in full above the horizon. "We can put the car in the garage later, if you want."

He could hear it in her voice, the change that'd already washed over. It was the sound of calm, the one that comes from being home. He stopped her as she unbuckled her seatbelt and he reached out and caught her arm as she shifted to open the door. "Hey," he said, his tone soft with affection, "come here." He leaned in toward her, his eyes fixed on the soft pink of her lips in the shadow of the invading purple of the days-old bruise. She met him in the middle, knowing well what he wanted and craving the same, their mouths brushing delicately and pulling back, sated, for now. "Thank you for bringing me here."

She smiled. "Come on. Let me show you."

XXX

Kate climbed the steps onto the front porch and pulled the keys from her pocket, fiddled with them until she came upon the one marked with a 'C.' Her mom had labeled it for the cabin when Kate was young; Kate's job when they'd arrive to run ahead and unlock the door for her parents whose hands would always be filled with bags. It made it easy for her to find the right key quickly. Her mom always came up with good ideas like that. Now, seeing the letter there made her smile for another reason as well, him.

She opened the house and looked back over her shoulder, the screen door propped open against her elbow. "You comin', pokey?" He held a bag in each hand, and a third was squeezed between his ribcage and his arm, one he appeared to be clinging desperately to as he tramped along the stone toward the steps.

"Hold your horses, slacker," he retorted. "I'm carrying all your stuff too, remember?"

"Oh, all my stuff? Shall we take a moment to compare bags? I mean, did you think we were going to be moving in, Castle?"

"Hey, I've never been here before, okay? I had no idea what I'd need. Cut a city boy some slack, would ya?"

She smirked and waved him inside with a dramatic swoop of her arm, laughed when he moved past and stuck out his tongue at her. "Just drop the bags right there, city boy. Wouldn't want you to injure a typing arm, now, would we? I assume you packed your typewriter? I mean, from the looks of it-"

"Ha, yes, very funny." He closed the gap between them, stood just inches from her. "Where's your bedroom, Kate?"

"My- bed-I-" Her entire body felt instantly hot, as though she were standing directly in front of a raging fire without the protection of safety gear.

"Guess I know how to get you to stop talking." She bit at her lip anxiously. "Maybe I should write this down…after you give me the ten-cent tour."

She cleared her throat and looked down at the floor. "The, uh, tour, yes. I can do that." She really hated her broken body at that moment. Hated it.

XXX

The cabin wasn't at all what Castle had imagined. Kate hadn't shared much about it over the years, but just the word cabin, for him, came with a certain set of presumptions, and mistakenly so. It wasn't a large home, but the space was utilized well, and it took full advantage of its own assets, practicality clearly a Beckett family trait.

It smelled in every room of fires past, a gentle aroma that wrapped the air like a blanket, one you wanted around you even when you didn't need it. Kate held his hand as they walked along the photograph-lined hallway and through each creaking door, even tighter when she felt momentarily dizzy as they paused in the great room to take in the exposed beams of wood across the high ceiling. The spell passed just as quickly as it came on- more than likely a lack of proper food- and she tugged him back toward the front door eagerly, her most favorite part of the house saved until the tour's end.

"Close your eyes and stand right here." She pivoted his body and maneuvered it just so. "Don't open them, okay? Not until I tell you to."

"Promise," he agreed.

She tiptoed away and skittered across the smooth, wide plank floor to a set of drapes along the far wall. They were always kept closed when the house was empty. She grabbed one in the middle and walked it aside, then did the same for the other. It took her breath away every time, that first glimpse, that first taste of the outside coming in. "You can open," she told him, backing away so his view wouldn't be at all obstructed.

"Wow, Kate, it's incredible." He took a step forward but stopped almost immediately, not yet ready to move on from the panorama as it was.

He could see for what felt like miles, across the open room, through the oversized sliding glass of the wall, along the beams of the deck, over the expansive lush grass of the lawn, and into the dense hemlock and fir trees lining the back of the property. The day was grey, and he could only imagine what the same experience might be like in the light of dawn or dusk. "I don't want to stop looking at it. I think it might have magical powers. Can I just spend the next few days standing in this spot?"

"Once I grew tall enough to take it all in at once, I felt the exact same way. I used to bring a book in here with me and just stand there."

"The city has some exquisite views, I'll give it that. But, this is truly stunning, Kate. I actually feel like it's trying to seduce me. And I must admit, I'm not playing very hard to get."

"Is that so?" She moved back across the room toward him. "Maybe I should write that down," she teased, stepping into his body for a hug.

"These are going to be some very interesting lists." He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. "So, what does a guy have to do around here to get something to eat? Speak slowly and be specific."

She drew in his scent as she settled against his chest- laundry soap, subtle spice, clean. "Well, he's gotta have a big…appetite, he's gotta have a firm…grasp of kitchen fundamentals, and he's gotta have a tremendous desire to…cook. Do any of those things apply to you, Castle?"

"If by any you mean all, then, yes. I have a big, firm desire."

"Then, we should get you to the store down the street and satisfy it." Her hand drew up under his tee and she scratched her nails lightly along the small of his back.

"You don't play fair, you know that?"

"I give as good as I get."

"Well, we can go, but, uh, I think I'm going to need a minute or two."