AN: How many of you experienced an emotional overload that turned you practically catatonic from watching 47 Seconds? Just me? Excellent. To my reviewers, you guys seriously make my day! On that note, who guessed right this time?

Chapter Twenty-Nine

It buzzed with activity as they joined the line, neither noticing the man in the darkest corner of the shop staring pointedly at them, a scowl marring his face.

The man watched the intimacy of the pair as they waited patiently in line. Well, Castle was waiting patiently, Beckett was anxious to get to work, tapping her free hand against her thigh. Castle pulled her tighter into his side, brushing a kiss to her forehead. She stopped tapping instantly, her hand raising up to grasp his lapel, tugging him closer. She kissed him gently, surprised by how easily this change in intimacy came to her. Walls or not, she couldn't deny that her body responded to Castle's. That raw attraction kept her mind from running itself round in circles looking for an escape route she didn't really want. Still the man watched, his brow furrowed, as the couple broke away from the kiss, Castle drawing his hands up to caress Beckett's face, keeping her close.

"I have a feeling this could grow to be my favourite tradition," he gazed adoringly into her eyes, his breath mingling with hers as he held her there. She leant up and brushed his lips once more.

"I'm inclined to agree, Castle," she laughed throatily, still caught in the physical reaction of his lips moving against hers. Their observer had seen enough. He drained the dregs of his coffee and pushed himself from his seat. Neither Beckett nor Castle noticed his approach, their attention captivated completely by one another. If the line moved anytime soon they would surely be completely oblivious to it.

A hand grasped Beckett's shoulder, tightly. She whirled round, on the defensive, ready to attack. One of her hands already reaching for her gun.

"Dad," she gasped, confusion clouding her face. Castle jolted to awareness as she spun, shock colouring his face at the sight before him, Jim Beckett smirking somewhat sullenly at them. She took a step away from Castle, embracing her father in a brief hug.

"What are you doing here?" she muttered, rather embarrassed at being caught canoodling with Castle. It was as if the man could hear her thoughts, he was sweetly insufferable at times, dropping a hand to settle on the small of her back she spoke, using the undeniable gravitational pull he held over her to draw her leaning back closer to him in response.

"You did put a protective detail on my house last night, Katie. I thought I'd stop by the precinct and find out what all the fuss was about," he stated calmly. Oh right, that. It seemed perfectly logical that he'd want to know what was going on, and subtly check that she was alright. She couldn't really lie as easily to his face as she could over the phone, they both knew that. "But," Jim began again, after all Beckett had done in response was nod dumbly at him. "Now I'm a little bit more curious about what's going on here," he gestured to the couple in front of him, Beckett wishing the ground would open up and swallow her.

"We…uh…" she couldn't find the words, why wasn't Castle jumping in? He was the master of words after all, a wordsmith. She turned her face up to glare at him. His eyes were glazed over, evidently acutely nervous, his hand had frozen on her back, no longer stroking her base of her spine playfully. She almost laughed at that, scared of her father, seriously. Besides, her father liked Castle, she could see that. She nudged him gently. He cleared his throat, but he was at a loss for words. This was Beckett's place, not his. Jim chuckled softly at the pair before him, wrapped in their nerves and one another.

"Listen, it's not that I don't approve. Although, I'm not the biggest fan of your public displays of affection. I'm just a little hurt that you didn't tell me sooner, Katie. The second I saw you two walk in here I knew something had changed. I wish you'd told me, Katie," he sighed, the crease in his brow returning slightly.

"Oh Dad, it only happened last night. I would've come to tell you the minute we closed this case," Beckett smiled gently, her tone genuine.

"I'm sorry, what happened last? Too much information" Jim spluttered. "Not what your father needs to hear," he added as an afterthought. Beckett gasped.

"Dad," she moaned. "Not that," she ground out through clenched teeth.

"Good," he muttered. "I am fully aware that you're saving yourself for your wedding night," he winked. "My sweet, innocent little girl."

"Dad," she repeated. "Could you embarrasses me anymore. Don't tell me you want to know my number as well," it burst from her lips before she had the chance to think it through, the second it reached her ears, her hands were clasped over her mouth, willing it unsaid.

"Oh," Jim reddened, a vein popping on his neck.

"So," Castle interjected. "How have you been, Jim? It's a pleasure to see you," he reached forward to shake the man's hand. Jim absentmindedly reached for Castle's hand, offering a limp handshake, his thoughts still lost on trying to think about anything other than his daughter's sexual history. Beckett glared at Castle in frustration.

"Couldn't have jumped in a little bit sooner there, Castle," she grunted. With that the tension was somewhat broken and awkward laughter spilled from the three of them.

"Do want to head back to the precinct," Castle began, his eyes intently on Beckett, "and your Dad and I will get the coffee and meet you there?"

"Not a chance," Beckett stated matter of factly. "Two reasons. Firstly, I'm not leaving the two of you to chat," she drew sharp air brackets as she finished the sentence. "Secondly, Castle, there's no way on earth I'm letting you out of my sight. Some kid will ask for help crossing the street and you'll be kidnapped all over again." Castle shook his head fiercely.

"No way, Beckett. Stranger danger lesson learned. No more mister nice guy," he added solemnly. She shook her head at him, her eyes sparkling playfully. They found themselves edging to the front of the queue. Castle placed their orders and the trio moved to the other end of the bench to wait. Castle frowned as he watched the barrister prepare their beverages.

"What," Beckett hedged, her eyes on him concerned.

"Oh nothing, it's just normally Carl's on in the mornings. I really like him, you know. He would have been so excited to see you," he sighed. Beckett arched her eyebrows at him.

"Not that I'm complaining, but don't you think it's just a little bit sad that you spend so much time at the coffee shop near the precinct that you know all the staff by name," she whispered, not wanting said staff to hear her mocking Castle.

"Well, if you weren't so particular about your coffee," he teased. She shoved him gently. "I don't know this guy though," he continued. "He must be new," he shrugged, taking the coffee as the unfamiliar barrister handed it to him with a strange smile, it was almost bordering on a grimace. Castle figured the man must just be having a hard time getting acquainted with the ins and outs of his new job, he gave him a winning bright smile in response. Hopefully the kindness of a stranger would help to improve his mood. Castle was a fan of friendly coffee shop employees. He hoped this guy would either lose the sullen attitude or seek alternative employment. No one wants to start off their day with the barrister bringing them down. Beckett tugged on his hand, drawing him from his thoughts, he slipped closer to her, mindful of Jim's watchful gaze, leaving the distance between them a fair bit wider than it had been on the way in. But still, closer than it had been in the past. The subtle nuances of the growing intimacy of their relationship were not hard to miss by the ones who knew them best.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Beckett had skulled her scalding coffee skilfully by the time they made it to the precinct, Castle was still nursing his, taking sips sporadically. He didn't really want to wake up too much in case it was all a dream. Beckett had stopped touching him when they'd reached the Twelfth, but she kept shooting him breathtaking smiles from across the room and that was more than enough for him whilst they were at work. She'd left Castle at her desk, taking her father into the break room to fill him in on the case. He sat there for about a minute, his attention span wavering quickly. Besides, he wasn't just bored, he was aching to have the case solved so he could take Beckett home, safe and sound, with nothing to fear. Well, with one less thing to fear anyway. He moved over to Ryan and Esposito's desks, joining them in pooling over the same financials from the previous day.

"This case blows," Ryan muttered to Castle, extending a highlight as he sat beside them.

"Dude, it's a lot easier when we actually have a body. We are homicide trained after all," Esposito inferred, clearly sharing Ryan's frustration. Castle raised his hand tentatively.

"Err, I for one am glad it's not a murder," he declared. "Chances are if you had a body it would be mine." The boys snickered a little in response, before Ryan patted Castle on the shoulder.

"We're really glad we took the time out of our busy schedules to save you, Castle. You know if Jenny had her way, you'd probably be dead. She really doesn't like me pulling all-nighters at the precinct," he remarked casually.

"Good to know," Castle snorted. "I'm sure Beckett and Alexis," he emphasized his daughter's name proudly, "would have had no trouble finding me without you guys. But thanks," he looked each of them in the eyes seriously for a moment. They grinned in response, before the conversation stilled, the focus returning to the information in front of them.

The elevator dinged and Lanie announced her presence with a satisfied smirk. "Hey Castle, how was your night?" Before he could respond with something teasing that would have undoubtedly knocked her socks off, Beckett was storming from the break room, a hand clenched to her stomach and another clasped over her mouth, her expression twisted. She was only in view for a moment before she disappeared into the bathroom. Castle was on his feet, following her, knocking his half-drunk coffee onto the floor. The liquid seeping through the lip of the cup forming a messy puddle. Lanie grasped his arm as he hurried past her, stilling him momentarily. She nodded at him as if to say, I got it. He sighed, ran a hand through his hair, his face drawn, concern etched sharply over it. He returned the nod, relinquishing control and Lanie brushed past him and into the bathroom.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Beckett was slumped over the rim of the toilet closest to the door, a light sheen coating her face. She turned her head slightly at the sound of someone entering, hoping desperately that Castle hadn't found her in this state. She smiled weakly at the realisation that it was Lanie who had stepped into the room and was regarding her with a mixture of confusion and concern.

"Girl, you aren't pregnant are you?" Lanie murmured, coming to squat beside her friend, brushing her hair back behind her ears gently. If Beckett wasn't feeling like crap she would have laughed.

"Not even a remote possibility," she managed to force out through clenched teeth, her stomach swirling with vomit.

"Okay. But you and Castle last night?" Lanie raised her eyebrows.

"So not the time, Lanie," Beckett ground out. "I'm guessing you won't drop it, so, no." The curl to Lanie's lips dropped, she pursed them slowly.

"You're killing me," she muttered.

"Lanie, not exactly feeling healthy here," Beckett reminded her.

"Lucky you've got a friend with medical training, right?" Lanie smiled, pressing her fingers to Beckett's forehead.

"I'd be luckier if she was putting it to good use instead of grilling me on my sex life," Beckett managed a weak eye-roll.

"It's probably just a fever," Lanie shrugged. "Have you eaten anything unusual?"

"Just coffee," Beckett gasped, pulling her head back over the toilet as she wretched the contents of her stomach into the bowel. "Oh, and eggs and toast at Castle's."

"It is so gross you figured that out by examining your stomach contents," Lanie drew out slowly. Beckett flushed the toilet in response. "Any other symptoms? Rashes? Etc.?" she added, the doctor in her taking control. Beckett shrugged.

"Not sure. Just one second I was fine and now I feel like crap," she admitted weakly.