Well, this is only a day late. The story was written on time, but the editing still needed to be done. I want to thank each and every one of you that have read this story. You have all been such an encouragement to me. I want to give a special thank you to all of you that sent a review. Your insights and questions have truly made this an interactive story. Special mention to:
*beladiola, JamesRook, catatran33, morethanamuse, and everyone else that mentioned the movie "What Women Want"

*Phnxgrl, whose review of chapter one gave me the idea of where Rick got his ability to read Kate's mind

*Maybelliene, who mentioned Rick overhearing what Kate thought during the undercover kiss; I wasn't able to work that idea in, but it gave me the idea to have him overhear her thoughts when they first kissed after admitting their true feelings

*Martini, for the 'what Kate wants' comment

*DarlingDracorex, who mentioned Kate having a conversation with Lanie and gave me the idea of using the scene where Caskett is trapped in the freezer as a prompt for Kate telling Rick how she feels about him.

*Baterista9, who drove home the need for scene breaks; because of you, I figured out how to make them :)

*Tvbmadness and everyone else that mentioned being interested in the thought of the Caskett relationship being in danger; I hadn't even thought much about that until my co-editor mentioned it and then some of you mentioned it, too

"Thank you. For having my back in there."

"Always."

Knockdown

"Dad, is it true?"

Rick looked up from the pancakes he was making for the family's breakfast to see his daughter, Alexis, coming down the stairs. True to form, the teenager was all ready for school, despite the fact that she didn't need to leave for a half hour. Well, all ready other than eating breakfast, that is. The girl's blue eyes held a mixture of curiosity and excitement.

"Is what true, Pumpkin?" Rick asked.

Alexis made her way across the family room and hopped onto one of the bar stools by the kitchen counter before replying. "Can you really read Detective Beckett's mind?"

Rick sighed. "I really wish Mother would have checked with me before telling you about that."
Alexis' eyes grew wide. "So it is true?"

Rick had never lied to his daughter and he wasn't about to start now. "Yes, it's true. How much did Mother actually tell you?" Rick wasn't planning to keep his daughter in the dark about the situation, but he knew well his mother's flare for drama and wanted to make sure that Alexis had facts, rather than mere speculation.

"Not much," Alexis admitted. "Grams thought you should be the one to explain it. She said you're," her hands made the quotations sign, "much better at spinning a tale than she is."

That made Rick smile. It made him think of Kate, since his mother had said those same exact words to Kate when she had asked Martha for information about Rick's mind reading abilities. Anything that reminded him of Kate made him smile.

"Dad?" Alexis's prompting tone told Rick that his mind had wandered for much longer a period of time than he had realized.

"Sorry, kiddo," he apologized. "So what exactly did your grandmother tell you?"

"Just that you'd found out that you could read Detective Beckett's mind and that I should ask you about it, since it's hereditary," Alexis said.

Rick realized that meant the same thing could happen to Alexis. He shuddered at the thought. His hearing Kate's mind was one thing; Alexis hearing the mind of some hormonal guy was something else entirely. At least if it happened, Rick would have the assurance that the man truly loved his daughter and the two were meant to be together.

"So are you going to tell me?" Alexis asked, thankfully interrupting Rick's thoughts.

Rick gave her the rundown on what he knew about their ancestors' mind reading abilities. He then explained the family speculation that the mind reading was tied to when soul mates were on the verge of getting together and when that relationship was threatened.

"So you and Detective Beckett are soul mates?" Alexis asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement. At Rick's nod, Alexis squealed and hurried over to give her father a hug. "I knew it!" she exclaimed as she pulled away from the hug. "So what happened?"

"I'm not going to lie to you," Rick said slowly. "But a lot of it is personal stuff that Kate and I want kept just between us. I can tell you that it started the day after we got back from L.A."

"That's why you didn't go to the precinct for a few days," Alexis realized. "That was when you told her, wasn't it? You didn't end up telling her right away and she was embarrassed, right? But you guys obviously worked through it. So what happens now?"

"We haven't had much of a chance to talk about it," Rick admitted. "But I don't think we're going to be jumping into anything. Eventually I'll be asking her to marry me, but something tells me that is going to need to be a ways off yet."

"Understandable," Alexis said. "You guys knew each other for almost two years before you admitted how you felt about each other. It wouldn't make sense for you to start rushing things now."

"So how do you feel about Kate someday becoming part of the family?" Rick asked. Considering his daughter's excitement over finding out that he and Kate were soul mates, Rick wasn't all that worried, but he needed to know.

"I like her, dad," Alexis said seriously. "She's nice, and smart, and although I haven't been around her a whole lot, I have a feeling that she feels as strongly for you as you do for her."

Rick smiled. "She does," he said. All he had seen and heard from Kate's mind had erased any doubt he might have had about that fact.

"Then all I need to do," Alexis said with a twinkle in her eye, "is make sure that I don't freak her out by welcoming her to the family too soon."

Rick knew he was grinning, close to beaming, when he stepped into one of the precinct elevators two hours later. He tried to school his features into a calm mask, but the poker face just wasn't working at the moment. The best he could do was a toned down grin, the joy shinning from his gaze destroying the impression of calmness that he wanted to portray.

It worried him a little. What would Kate's reaction be to his euphoric mood? They hadn't discussed how Kate wanted things to be handled at the precinct. And since they were now together, Rick had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to read her mind, so she wouldn't be able to give him some type of mental warning.

Although he'd been too caught up in Kate at the time to notice, Rick had wondered later why he could still read her mind after they had admitted their feelings for each other since their relationship was no longer in danger. Not that he was complaining. Hearing Kate's thoughts during their first real kiss was a gift he was grateful to have. But since the only information he had to go on was that the mind reading was linked to either soul mates close to expressing their feelings or the relationship being in danger, he was a little concerned.

He just hoped that is was something simple, like the affects not wearing off until he fell asleep. Since he'd actually been able to get a good night's rest, his ability to read Kate's mind might now be gone. And maybe that was true for when the mind reading started, too. After all, their relationship had been in danger after that night in L.A., yet the mind reading hadn't started until he had gotten to the precinct the day after they had arrived back in New York. So that could be the key: the mind reading didn't start until after he fell asleep once the trigger occurred (because truthfully he hadn't really done any sleeping that night in L.A., anyway).

He had fallen asleep on the plane ride back to New York, though. So why didn't the mind reading start once he'd woken up from that? Maybe it was because he hadn't really fully woken up, even with the bright lights of the airport. He had just been too drained from the previous sleepless night and all of the thoughts and emotions he'd been wrestling with to come to full alertness at the airport. So maybe it was an issue of falling completely asleep and waking to full alertness for the mind reading to be affected.

Rick realized when the elevator doors opened that all of this mental pondering had the unexpected benefit of having him look deep in thought instead of having the beaming grin of a man in love.

That changed, though, the instant he saw Kate sitting at her desk, pouring over paperwork. He knew that the rush of tenderness that flooded him had to be showing on his face. Kate must have felt his eyes on her, because only a moment passed before she lifted her gaze. Her eyes immediately lit up and a beaming smile graced her lips. The sight made Rick want to jump up and down like the nine year old on a sugar rush that she had once accused him of being.

After a moment, she arched a brow questioningly at him. Rick knew that she was asking whether he was able to read her mind. Rick looked intently into her eyes, but there was nothing but silence. He had never had to look directly into her eyes before to hear her thoughts, but he didn't want to take any chances. He gave a quick shake of his head, silently letting her know that he could no longer read her mind. His ability to read her mind might be gone, but their ability to communicate without saying a word had been around, in some form, for most of the time they had known each other.

"Dude, did you see that?" Rick heard Ryan whisper to Esposito as he set Kate's coffee on her desk.

Rick set his coffee down next to Kate's and immediately walked past his chair and over to stand between Ryan and Esposito. "Break room, guys," Rick said in a tone not to be argued with, "now."

"Taking lessons from Beckett, Castle?" Ryan joked.

"I'm not kidding, guys." Rick was not taking any chances. He had heard too many locker talk type conversations where guys spoke about women like they were empty-headed bimbos. Heck, he had participated in more than a few. The women in question, though, had always been the ones that Rick knew had talked about him to their girlfriends like he was a piece of meat.

The tone in Ryan's voice had tipped Rick off to what the detective was thinking, what type of information he was looking for. No one was going to be talking about Kate like that. Ever.

Ryan and Esposito exchanged surprised looks, shrugged, and got up and followed Rick to the break room. After Rick had shut the door, he didn't mince words.

"There will be no teasing of Kate over this. None. You guys are great detectives, and I know you have figured out that something has gone on. How much you guys find out depends on Kate. Tease me all you want, but you will leave Kate alone. Got it?"

"Sheesh, bro, being a little melodramatic, don't you think?" Esposito asked.

Rick wasn't too surprised by the question. The two detectives had no idea how emotionally vulnerable Kate really was, but he did. Rick had no intention of enlightening the pair, but there was no way he was going to let them hurt her, or make her feel ashamed or embarrassed about her feelings for him. He had promised her that he would protect her heart, and he meant it.

"Would you want Esposito and me to talk about Jenny like that, like she's some empty-headed bimbo?" Rick asked Ryan and saw the man flinch. He turned to Esposito. "You probably wouldn't be too happy with me and Ryan if we spoke about Lanie that way, either."

At Esposito's nod, Rick relaxed. "Okay, then."
"Sorry, man," Ryan said.

"Not a problem," Rick said. "As long as you stick to teasing me and leaving Kate out of it, we're good."

"Sure thing, man," Ryan said.

The two detectives walked to their desks and Rick went over and sat down in his chair. It was only then that he realized that Kate may not be exactly happy with what he had just done.

Kate touched one of Rick's hands lightly with one of hers, a soft smile on her face. "I know what you were doing," she told him. "You were keeping your promise. Thank you."

"Always," Rick said.

The ringing of Kate's phone drew Kate's attention away from him for a brief moment. "Beckett," she answered, as she usually did. Her light laugh and "We'll be right down," told Rick who was on the other end of the line.

"Lanie wants to see me," Kate told him. "You coming?"

Rick nodded eagerly and followed her down to the morgue where Lanie was impatiently waiting.

"Girl, you better tell me that you figured things out with Writer-" Lanie's lecture stopped abruptly when she saw that Rick had come with Kate. She squealed and gave Kate a quick hug.

"I would tell you that you better treat my girl right," Lanie said to Rick, "but I don't think I'll have to worry about that, will I?"

Rick shook his head. "The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt Kate," he said.

"He even threatened the guys," Kate informed her friend. "I don't know exactly what he said, but I don't think I'll have to worry about them teasing me over all of this."

Lanie's eyes widened. "And you let Castle get away with that?"

Kate smiled and took one of Rick's hands in one of hers. "He told me he would protect my heart, Lanie. After promising something like that, do you really think I wouldn't let him?"
Lanie's jaw dropped. "Girl, you never cease to amaze me," she said.

"I know exactly what you mean," Rick told Lanie.

All Lanie could say to that was, "You guys are just so stinkin' cute!"

"I'm going to miss being able to always know what's on your mind," Rick told Kate hours later. It was early evening and since they were between cases at the moment, the Captain had suggested that they take off early. Neither Kate nor Rick had a problem taking the man up on his suggestion.

As they walked to the parking garage where Kate had parked her car that morning-Rick had just taken a taxi-the two decided they would just spend the evening over at the loft with Martha and Alexis. Rick had told Kate how excited his mother and daughter were about the two of them, although he didn't tell Kate everything that he and Alexis had discussed that morning-no reason to scare her off.

"It will be easier to tell you what's on my mind now, though," Kate said as they reached her car. "And besides," she continued, "if you were able to read my mind, I wouldn't be able to do this."

Rick looked over at Kate with a confused gaze. Kate didn't acknowledge it but just unlocked and opened the back passenger door. Rick's puzzlement mounted when Kate tugged on his hand and propelled him to where he was level with the door she had just opened. Rick had figured that she had just opened it to toss her purse in the back seat, but he was proven wrong when she said, "It's not a squad car, but it will have to do."

Squad car? The words stirred a memory in Rick's mind, and as Kate lightly pushed him into the back seat his lips broke into a wide grin. He remembered all too well the first fantasy Kate ever had of him, of kissing him in the back of a squad car. He was just as willing to fulfill Kate's fantasy now as he was when he had first seen it.

"Going to have your wicked way with me, Detective?" Rick teased as Kate took her handcuffs and slipped one around Rick's wrist and the other around the metal part of the driver's seat headrest.

"Oh, yeah," Kate murmured, and leaned forward and touched his lips with hers. The kisses that she dropped on his lips were maddeningly light for Rick. When an idea popped into his head, true to form, he acted on it. Having perfected the technique when Kate had cuffed him to the car to try to keep him from following her into danger during their very first case, Rick took the small key out of his right jeans pocket and unlocked the metal restraint. Rick knew that if he didn't act fast, Kate would catch on to his plan. Thankfully, she seemed too focused on kissing him in a way meant to drive him crazy to notice much else.

In a lightning fast move, Rick scooped her in his arms and shifted so that Kate lay with her back against the seat with Rick hovering over her. Kate's look of astonishment caused him to laugh as he gently took her wrist and slipped one part of the handcuff around it, securing the other part back to the metal part of the headrest.

"Or maybe," he whispered, his lips a mere hairbreadth's from hers, "I'll just have my wicked way with you." He brushed her lips softly with his own before saying, "I already have a safe word. Maybe we should give you one, too. I recommend cherries."

Kate laughed. "Something tells me I won't need a safe word with you, Rick," she told him.

Rick grinned. She had a point. Not only did she know tons of mixed martial arts moves that could take him down in a fraction of a second, but he would never want to hurt her, even in jest.

And, he noted, as Kate deftly used her key to unhook her wrist from the handcuff around it, she could get out of restraints faster than he could.

As Kate's arms slid down to rest against his chest and they started to kiss in earnest, Rick decided that she was right. As much as he had gained from being able to read her mind, there were simply things that couldn't be done when he knew everything that she was thinking.

And whether he could read her mind or not, Kate Beckett remained a mystery he would never completely be able to solve.

Rick wouldn't have it any other way.

Please R&R. I'm really curious what you guys think about this. And just an FYI-when I was looking through Castle YouTube clips, I discovered that there was a scene where Castle said that there were mind readers in his family tree. I couldn't believe it! I had forgotten all about that scene and it was in no way a prompt for this idea, unless it was subconsciously.

Until next time...and there will be a next time. I have two one shots and three potential multi-chapter ideas percolating in my head right now. One of the multi-chapter stories I will be writing with Celeste J. Evans and SheWhoTangles. It will be in Celeste's stories. Those of you that like the uniqueness of this story I think will really get a kick out of it.