It took me a lot longer to get this chapter out than I had planned. The frequent headaches I dealt with this week just weren't conducive to writing. Thankfully I seem to be over them and should be able to get future chapters out much faster.

"Castle, do you have a theory you'd like to share with the class?"

3XK

There was no trace of Kate's inner turmoil when Rick reached her side. He hated that she still felt such a strong need to hide her heart. She'd gone through so much needless pain by keeping the depth of her feelings from him.

Not that he was going to push her. He was very careful when it came to Kate. After the events of the last twenty-four hours, he finally had a much better idea of how emotionally vulnerable Kate truly was, especially in relation to him. His protective instincts had kicked in now. He wasn't often able to protect her physically-although he had been able to do so much more than even he would have expected, often without a gun and always without a badge. But he would protect her heart with everything he had in him.

And that would start by doing his best to no longer invade her privacy. Even though it wasn't something he could help, it had been eating away at him. She should at least have the knowledge she needed to guard her thoughts when she was around him. He could at least give her that much.

"Kate, can we talk?" Rick wasted no time in saying.

"Sure," Kate agreed easily. "What's on your mind, Castle?"

"Not here," Rick said, setting down the coffees he had been holding.

This sounds serious. Wait. Did he just call me Kate?

"Okay, Castle," Kate said. "Where do you want to go?"

"Not far," Rick assured her. "I know we're in the middle of a case. How about the observation room?" he suggested, referring to where suspect interrogations were observed.

The observation room? Why not the break room? He must not want anyone to see us. I wonder if this has anything to do with what was bugging him so much yesterday.

Kate nodded her agreement and the two made their way to the observation room in silence.

Once they were in the small room and Kate had closed the door behind them, Rick couldn't wait any longer. Ignoring Kate's soft squeak of surprise, he gathered her into his arms and just held her.

Of course, after one brief moment of shock, Kate started attempting to wriggle out of his hold. "Castle, what are you doing?"

"Please Kate, just humor me, okay?" he asked. Now that he finally had her in his arms, however platonic the moment was, he didn't want to let her go. At least, not yet. Well, in actuality he never wanted to let her go, but that wasn't at all practical, especially at the moment.

"Castle, I humor you all the time," Kate pointed out.

Rick couldn't really deny the truth of that statement. "True, so it won't be hard to do it again, will it?"

Why am I even fighting it? This is exactly what I need right now.

Kate sighed and settled down in his embrace.

But he can't possibly know that. So why is he doing this? Does this have to do with whatever he wants talk to me about? Is he okay? What if something is really wrong?

When he felt Kate tense up Rick slowly, reluctantly, lowered his arms from around her and put a small amount of space between them.

"I like my theory," Rick started.

"What?" Kate didn't bother to hide her confusion.

"About the mind reading aliens infiltrating the C.I.A.," he reminded her. If he was going to prove his mind-reading abilities, he was going to do his best to use examples that wouldn't make her any more embarrassed than she already was going to be.

"That's what you needed to talk to me about?" Kate asked incredulously.

"It's a part of it," Rick said.

"Part of it?" Maybe there really is something wrong with him. Maybe he's lost his mind. "What could you possibly need to talk to me about that would have to do with mind reading, aliens or the C.I.A.?"

"Mostly it has to do with mind reading," Rick said.

"Mind reading?" Kate repeated dumbly. "Castle, I don't have time for this..."

"You liked my theory, too," Rick was quick to continue. At the skeptical look she gave him, he added, "I'm not saying you put any credence to it, but you liked it. It made you laugh."

"Castle, I did not laugh," Kate denied swiftly.

"True, not at first," Rick nodded his agreement with that statement. "At first, you giggled. I didn't know for sure if it was you. I even wondered if at first, it was the victim's ghost."

"The victim's ghost?" Kate couldn't keep the panic from her voice. Castle thinks he's hearing ghosts? He really has lost it!

"But I recognized your laugh," Rick said. "So I knew it was you. And since I couldn't hear Lanie, I realized that it must just be you that I can hear."

"Just me?" As brilliant of a detective as Kate was, Rick could tell she was having a hard time making this all make sense. It was understandable, really. Kate had never really set much stock in the paranormal. "What do you mean, just me?"

"It's only your mind I can hear," Rick explained, his words coming in a rush.

"Just my mind that you can hear."

Is this some kind of joke? Is he trying to get back at me for that whole mummy's curse thing?

Rick couldn't quite keep the grin off of his face at that one. That was when he'd learned that Kate Beckett had a streak of the prankster in her. They had been at the museum following a lead for a case when Rick had accidentally opened the mummy case. When a museum employee mentioned a curse on anyone who saw the mummy, Rick couldn't help wondering if maybe there was something to it. When Kate had realized that Rick was taking the curse at least somewhat seriously, she couldn't resist teasing him about it, in her own sly way. But if he had wanted to come up with a prank to get back at her for altering the chair and doing whatever it was that she had done to the espresso machine to make it seem to explode-all to make him even more worried about the curse-

he would have come up with something far more believable.

"Honestly, I never thought of getting back at you for that," Rick said.

"For what?" Kate asked.

"The whole mummy curse thing," Rick said. "If I had, I certainly wouldn't have come up with mind reading. That would be way too hard to fake."

Kate's jaw dropped.

How did Castle know what I was thinking? He couldn't possibly be able to actually read my mind!

"Yes, I actually can," Rick replied to her unspoken thought.

"Can what?" Kate asked suspiciously.

"I actually can read your mind," Rick explained. "That's what you were just thinking about."

For an instant there was a hint of shock in her eyes. But after a moment, she said, "Castle, anyone would have been able to guess that."

"Maybe so," Rick said, "But what about my knowing that my books helped you deal with your mother's death? I could see the memories you had about that on the way to the crime scene yesterday."

Kate's eyes grew wide. "You can see my memories, too?"

"Good, you believe me."

"Uh-I-um..." Kate stammered. "I wouldn't exactly put it like that."

"I would," Rick said. "I can give you more examples if you want, but I'd really rather not. Those are the only safe ones."

"Safe ones?"

What does he mean by that? How long has he been able to do this?

"Since yesterday morning, when I arrived at the precinct," Rick again answered her unspoken thought.

Since yesterday morning...yesterday morning...then that means...

Thoughts that she now realized he had overheard flooded Kate's mind before she could stop it.

You can't kiss him, Kate.

I don't know if I could do this without Castle.

I could really use one of his wild theories right now.

I was so close to risking everything.

How much self control am I expected to have?

I can't believe it took me this long to realize that my relationship with Josh was never anything more than a rebound relationship, a way to get over-

All color drained from Kate's face as realization hit. "Everything," she whispered in horror, "you heard everything."

"Kate..." Rick didn't know exactly what to say.

She didn't interrupt him. For a few seconds, she didn't even move. Until she started shaking. "So what was it? Some kind of sick joke? Did you get a kick out of it?"

"What?" Rick gasped. "Kate, no!"

"Then why didn't you tell me, Rick?" Kate's using his first name told him more than a thousand words would have. "Why didn't you tell me as soon as you knew?"

"At first, I was in shock," Rick said. "It's one thing to spin wild theories, it's quite another to actually be living one."

"So are you telling me you're an alien now?" Kate asked, unable to stifle a laugh even in the midst of everything.

"What?" Rick blinked in surprise.

"Mind reading aliens infiltrating the C.I.A.?" Kate reminded him. "So when are you planning to do that, Rick? You know I can't allow it."

Rick's eyes widened at the implications of what he'd just said. "No!" He shuddered as the thought of the FBI coming after him, or even worse, someone thinking he was an alien and deciding to do "experiments" on him. "Just the mind reading thing, I swear!"

"That's bad enough," she muttered under her breath, humor gone as quickly as it had arrived. She took a deep breath and looked Rick right in the eye, her Detective Beckett interrogation glint clear in her gaze. "So, tell me, Castle, why didn't you say anything after the shock wore off? I know it couldn't possibly have lasted all day."

"You're right," Rick said. "It didn't. But I didn't want to distract you from the case, and we were spending most of the day dealing with suspects and building theory."

"You still should have told me, Castle," Kate wouldn't let him get away with excuses for keeping such a thing from her.

"You're right," Rick agreed. "I should have. And there were a few times I almost did. At first, I didn't want to distract you. But then you distracted me."

Rick winced as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He knew that was exactly the wrong thing to say. The flicker he got of her memory of her fantasy confirmed it.

"Get out," Kate ordered, her voice cold.

"Kate, I'm sorry," Rick rushed to apologize. "I wasn't implying that it was your fault..."

"Castle, get out," Kate repeated. "Now. Go home. And don't come back until I call you. Unless I call you."

Rick knew there was nothing he could do, nothing he could say. Not right now, anyway. He needed to give her time to work through things. With a heavy heart he walked out of the observation room, not bothering to let himself have one last backward glance.

I just realized that's two angst-ridden chapters in a row. Sorry about that, but it really couldn't have been any other way, not with Rick finally telling Kate that he could read her mind. The fluff should be coming back soon.

As always, I love reviews. Who knows? Your review might give me an idea to incorporate into the story. :)