It seems in all the confusion with FF being down that some of you may have missed the last update (Kate and Lanie in the morgue, to refresh the memory for those that aren't sure, but did read it). Either I lost half of the readers on this story in one chapter (which I'm thinking doesn't seem likely) or you just missed last chapter with all the trouble on the site. If you're not sure, check it out so you're not confused.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Having watched Kate sweep into the bullpen, a slight pink tinge to her features, left Castle wondering if she had been discussing the week's events with Lanie. Something about the way she avoided his gaze confirmed it and he knew soon enough Esposito would also know and that was going to be the end of him.

Figuring he had nothing to lose, he waited until everyone was getting ready to leave for the day before he extended an invitation for Beckett to join him at Remy's for dinner.

"I don't think that's a good idea." She replied, shrugging into her coat.

Castle tried for his best attempt at a comforting smile, "I just want to get back to where we were, Kate. I don't want to lose the friendship we built."

Kate nodded, her understanding and obvious agreement clear in her features, but a sad smile pulling at the edges of her mouth, "Just give me some time."

He resigned to her point and went home alone to her "Night, Castle" and for the first time in several days hope rose in him as he replied "Until tomorrow, Detective."

He could have sworn he saw her smile at those words as she turned to leave, but from his angle he couldn't be certain. On some level, he was alright with that form of uncertainty.

It was with a growing sense of trepidation that he approached their working relationship. He knew he was interested in something more and some part of him was finally willing to believe she might be as well, at least on some level. Still, he was experiencing an odd amount of uncertainty.

Somehow, he found the energy every day to roll out of bed, the strength to smile and go through the motions as he waited for a moment that felt right. Every night he thought back on the half dozen moments he had to tell her what everything had meant to him and sleep alluded him all too often as he talked himself up to not letting them pass the next day.

Every day he waited for the other shoe to drop. He waited for Beckett to cave first or just kick him out; he could admit to himself that one of those options sounded distinctly better than the other. He waited for Lanie to say something, but she just gave them knowing looks whenever they entered or left her domain or talked with her at a crime scene. He waited for Esposito to corner him again, this time with threats of bodily harm, but the way the other man acted it was as if Kate had pulled the 'friend card' and Lanie was keeping whatever the detective had shared with her to herself.

It took three more nights before she finally relented and ended the evening with him at Remy's. It felt familiar, relaxed but intimate at the same time.

They were careful in the conversation topic and tried to keep everything related to work or a third party. He knew she felt the weight of the elephant in the room just as much as he did, but together they did what they seemed to do best aside from catching killers and avoided pushing.

A few nights later he and the boys talked her into celebratory drinks at The Old Haunt after solving their latest case. They encouraged her with the fact that it was Friday and what could be their last one without work the next day for at least three weeks of being on call over the weekend. A couple of drinks in, Castle stopped caring about the suspicious looks he and Kate were getting from Lanie and dragged the detective from the booth with a challenge to stomp her in a game of pool.

Kate reluctantly agreed, but the way she took her shots, leaning over the table, was just distracting enough to throw him off his game. He'd never had so much fun getting his butt kicked. It felt like it had before everything had gotten complicated. Light teasing, some bickering and a little trash talking sprinkled with the occasional eye roll. On the other hand, he thought he noted a slight shift in their proximity and boundaries over how the night might have played out a few weeks earlier.

Where she would have stepped back as he moved between her and the table to take up position, now she stood her ground. As he thought about it, a casual brush past each other was, at this late stage of the game, nothing. It was something so minuscule in comparison to the parts of each other they had touched and tasted, the parts they had shared, that he figured the simple act of stepping away was no longer even on the radar for avoidance of danger. He wasn't complaining.

She laughed and the sound was like music to his ears. It wasn't the strained or shadowed laughter she had over the past week. There was a lightness to it that he hadn't heard in a while. "I don't understand how you could spend your young adult life in a bar and still be this bad at pool."

He just gave her a shrug, not willing to admit that his head wasn't in the game. "I didn't think I was doing that badly."

With a subtle shake of her head, "You're not bad, really." She replied. "You're," she trailed off as if pondering the right word. "Simple."

He gave a heavy sigh as he took up position, "Just because I don't do crazy trick shots, does not make me 'simple'." He said the word as if it left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he was sure to look up from his aim for a moment to give her a small smile so she wouldn't misinterpret the tone. "It just makes more sense to be direct." He turned his gaze back to line up the shot, briefly wondering if he should apply that philosophy to more than just pool. "You're bouncing all around the table and I can just do this." He tapped the cue ball and watched it gently approach the three, destined to kiss the edge and knock the red orb sideways into the corner pocket. The only problem with that was watching as the cue ball missed entirely.

He noticed the mischievous delight shining in Beckett's eyes and prepared himself for the taunting that was certainly headed his way. Instead of a taunt, she declared she was "hitting the rewind button." as she grabbed the ball off the table and placed it back where it had been before his attempt. "What the heck was that?" she asked with a laugh at his expense.

"I was trying to just catch the edge, send it to the corner pocket." He tried to explain, but watching her amused smirk told him he was doing a poor job of it.

Kate pointed to the side of the table, "Go over there." She was standing beside him a moment later, bent down braced against the table with her hands and her eyes were nearly level with the felt surface. After a moment he realized she probably wanted him to look where she was looking as opposed to at her posterior and he took up a similar posture. "You have to bank it over there and then here, it's too close to the bumper and you don't have the skill for what you're trying to pull off."

"Oh, that's a low blow." Castle felt the rest of his comment forming and tramped it down. Now was not a time to reference her experience with his 'skills' so instead he gave a humorous scoff, "So, your answer to my inability to make a hard shot is to give me a harder one?"

Kate stood up and used her cue stick to gesture along the table as she explained. "This way it's simple math as opposed to dumb luck." She concluded after describing to him where to aim in order to bank the shot off two sides and hit his target at the correct angle.

Castle grinned, "But that's the kind of luck I'm good at."

Her only reaction to his comment was a small smile before she was suddenly all business. Kate gestured to the table, pointing one more time at the spot on the felt covered edge that he was supposed to be aiming at. Almost as soon as he connected with the cue ball, Beckett's stick was flat against the table stopping the ball before it could crash into her striped ones.

With a sigh that was more humored than actually put-upon, she moved it back to the same spot again before turning an amused smile his direction. "Seriously, Castle, it's not rocket science." She gestured for him to go again, but as he lined up, she braced a hand on the table and moved her head close to his so they were both looking down his cue stick. With her free hand she adjusted the angle just slightly, "See that?"

He nodded, not sure if he could talk, much less take a shot as he felt the warmth of her from so close and his mind was instantly plagued with memories of exactly how much heat she generated. She pulled back and then a gentle touch against his elbow had him lowering it just slightly until his cue stick was lined up dead center on the white ball. In his peripheral vision he saw her take a step back to watch.

"Now give it a good hard stroke," he wondered if she had any idea what she was doing to him. "Don't go crazy." She amended quickly and he thought for a moment he might be, because from his peripheral vision she seemed to have flustered herself with the statement. "You don't want the cue ball to follow your three into the pocket."

He tried not to adjust himself from how she'd positioned him. He wasn't a bad pool player, but bringing in more than a couple of angles, taking the ball across two sides and getting the right speed on it was not something he was confident in while he warred with his mind to stop picturing Beckett spread across the table as divested her of her clothing and kissed a heated trail across her.

Some part of him was excited for the challenge, even as he fought the imaged fantasy. The fantasies had only become more vivid since he now knew exactly how she tasted, exactly how she moved, and how to make her moan long and low in her throat. Castle pulled back and then brought his stick forward with a whack. He stood up immediately as he watched the ball hit the exact spot she had pointed out on the table and bounce back across.

He shifted the cue stick to his left hand as they watched the ball ricochet off the table near them and start directly towards the one he had been aiming at earlier. Castle pointed a finger at the ball rolling across the table, as if his intense focus could encourage it to move as intended. The impact with the three ball was a quiet click and he watched the cue ball stop in its track as the red three began to slowly roll towards the hole.

He felt Beckett, close beside him, as he watched the ball roll. He was practically humming with anticipation as the red sphere slowly approached the corner pocket. The last few inches were excruciating as the ball rolled so slowly that he was certain every second it would stop moving all together.

It seemed as if they were both on edge while the ball moved, almost in slow motion. It reached the edge of the pocket and stopped. He was about to let out a frustrated sound when it teetered briefly and then fell in. He let out a 'whoop' and pumped his fist in the air. "How freaking cool was that?" he asked excitedly as his arm somehow found its way around Kate's waist, pulling her tight against his side.

He felt her tense immediately and dropped his hand, stepping away and holding the hand out with its palm towards her as if to ward off an attack, though physical or verbal he wasn't sure. "Sorry." He said quickly, not meeting her eyes, because he was sure she'd be able to tell that he wasn't sorry for the gesture. However, having so easily disrupted the casual and comfortable mood they had been sharing was something he regretted. He hated that it was that easy to throw them back into awkwardness.

Frustrated, he missed the next shot and Kate finished off her last two balls quickly, sank the 8 ball and it was game over. They had finished in silence, and she seemed to keep the table between them whenever possible.

Without a word she returned her pool cue to the rack and slid into the booth beside Lanie. He continued to clear the table and gathered himself, preparing to paste on a smile he didn't feel or just excuse himself to go home and tuck in Alexis. Instead, he watched as Beckett gestured to Lanie and they both got up and moved to the bar. A moment later, Lanie was back to give Esposito a kiss as she waved to all of them and grabbed not only her own coat, but Kate's as well.

They were out the door before Castle even had a chance to process that Kate was running again. He hated that she was so frustrating. It was nothing, or it shouldn't have been, anyway. It should have gotten his ear twisted or his nose pinched, but somehow instead it twisted in his chest with a pain that wouldn't be relieved with a simple release of her grip.

All the groundwork seemed to have been wiped away with the single impulsive action and he felt like he was starting from square one. It was confirmed with the way they avoided conversation the following day and into the next.

It was three hours into what he was calling "Reconstruction, day two, take two" before she said a single word to him or even acknowledged his presence. It was the familiar "You coming, Castle?" as she headed out to run down leads, that put a smile on his face as he grabbed his coat and followed her.

There was something in her eyes as the elevator doors closed them in, something in the way the side of her mouth turned up just slightly, that gave him that hope back. Then the teasing about how quiet he had been started and he felt like he could breathe again.

She gave him a sly grin as the elevator car descended, and launched into a lightly teasing, but amusing theory that the new quiet Castle was a pod person.

In keeping with her theory that he was being eerily quiet, and also not wanting to spoil the moment with innuendo, he bit his tongue to keep from remarking on how much he had rubbed off on her. Instead he opted for a safer direction as he moaned in frustration and replied, "Pod people? How boring." As she rolled her eyes he continued, "If you're going to plot the ridiculous, you could at least do something cool."

He thought for a moment as the doors opened and they made their way out to her car, "Like, the quiet me is actually the product of a covert CIA program for cloning influential members of society. See, they would have a whole underground farm of these movers and shakers, lying in wait for some certainly nefarious plot. However, being essentially me, my clone would get bored holed up underground with a bunch of stuffy people. So, one day he hatches a plan and suddenly, the real Rick Castle is down in a basement with a bunch of clones and Clone Rick is walking the Earth with none-the-wiser. Except, there's one thing he didn't count on for his master plan," he let the end dangle between them for a moment, expecting her to ask what, but when he looked across the top of the car her expression told him she knew what he was about to say, "The one and only Detective Kate Beckett."

"There's a major flaw in your theory there, Castle." She told him as they climbed in her car and got situated. When he cocked an eyebrow at her, he could see the humor threatening to lift her lips in a smile, but it never took hold as she waited for him to respond.

"What? That the real Rick Castle couldn't be dragged away from his life, even by what is likely a genetically altered super version of himself?" He smiled across the car at her and waited.

Kate shook her head and the smile finally moved across her lips. "For this theory to be plausible, first you'd have to be an 'influential member of society'."

He was momentarily sidetracked with completely inappropriate thoughts of that particular smile coupled with a twinkle in her eyes and the ways he now knew that little smile looked on her slightly parted lips while she fought to regain her breath with the flush of passion still heavy on her cheeks. He almost missed her answer, but regained himself in time to react with the appropriate level of mock disbelief.

From there, everything seemed to feel easy again, of course perhaps it was just the fact that they were constantly on the move after leaving the precinct and neither had a chance to think too much about their issues as they caught a break and hauled a suspect in. At the end of the day, confession in hand, and paperwork tucked away, he was surprised when a loud rumble interrupted the silence that they had been comfortably sharing since Ryan and Esposito had called it a night a while ago.

Looking at his watch, he wasn't surprised at the obnoxious sound his stomach had made when he realized it was after eight. He was surprised, however, by the soft chuckle that Kate had in reaction to his stomach's protest at being left empty.

He was about to remark on her lack of compassion for his predicament when she stood and grabbed her coat, "Remy's?" she asked.

He was slightly stunned by the offer, but not enough that he didn't try to push his luck a little, "Too greasy." He responded with a mild grimace, "Italian?"

She surprised him again by shrugging and casually agreeing to his change of venue.

It wasn't until they were settled across from each other at an actual table with linens and cloth napkins that he caught a momentary uncertainty cross her features. It felt entirely too intimate. It felt more like a date than a couple of co-workers grabbing a bite to eat after a long day. He knew this type of outing was pushing the bounds they had been trying to put back into place, but in that moment the only thing he cared about was trying to get her not to ditch him in the middle of the restaurant when she fled.

He racked his brain quickly and then said the first thing he could think of that didn't have anything to do with either of them, "Alexis is leaving for England next weekend."

He felt a moment of pride in himself as he watched Beckett's discomfort dissipate. The relief was short live as his stomach clenched from the look of genuine curiosity and if he wasn't mistaken, compassion, in her features as she read his discomfort and asked, "What's in England?"

He had wanted to talk about this with someone who didn't shush him as overbearing and overprotective the way his mom had done or roll their eyes as Alexis did. It seemed the two women in his life didn't think he was being reasonable with the comments he had been making over the past week, "Oxford." He replied, the frustration clear in the single word. "She's checking out the campus with some girls from school."

He hadn't expected the contact, and almost pulled away when her hand covered his on the table. "What does that mean in the Castle Universe?"

He scoffed at that, but of course, how could she know what was going on when they hadn't been talking much over the past couple of weeks. "She was accepted to start there in the fall."

Now the compassion and that little smile he knew was on her face just to comfort him was overwhelming. He pulled his hand out from under hers and tried for casual as he lifted his water glass to have a sip of it. The act itself was unnecessary for hydration, but it gave him a minute to gather his thoughts and the perfect excuse to break eye contact with Kate. He was having a hard time with the line blurring when she looked at him like that.

"Has she already decided that's where she's going?" Kate asked and there was a genuine interest in her tone.

He wasn't blind, he had noticed the little things between Kate and Alexis, but he also hadn't built it up as being anything substantial. For Alexis, the draw was probably how easy Beckett was to be around, talk to, and the wealth of advice she had built up in her life made her a valuable person to go to with problems. For Beckett, he had always assumed it was simply her compassionate and caring nature. He thought it might be a kindred spirit kind of things because Alexis didn't really have a mother in her life either and Kate knew what it was like to be a teen without a mom, so she had made herself available to help his daughter puzzle through things in the past. He wondered if this might have been one of those times.

"I don't know." He replied, and then suddenly found himself nervous, "Why? Did she talk to you about it?"

Beckett shook her head, a slightly sad expression crossing her face, "No, sorry. This is the first I've heard of it." He watched something cross her face that looked a little too dark for thoughts of another person's kid going away to college across an ocean, but she took a card from his playbook and slowly sipped her water. "You do know that you're incredibly wealthy and you could go live there with her, right?"

Something about the expression on her face made him wonder if she was upset that he might take the idea she had, but it was gone so quickly that he wondered if it were the opposite. Was she trying to get rid of him? Castle shrugged, "Nothing's final yet."

He saw her understanding that he wasn't interested in pursuing this line of conversation and she asked him about his mom's acting school. They made small talk until the waiter came back with their wine and took their dinner orders. He saw the ghost of a smile on Beckett's face as the waiter left to get their orders in to the kitchen.

"Vegetarian Lasagna?" she asked, unable to hid her humor.

Castle just shrugged, "I told you I'm not in the mood for anything greasy and thinking about meat right now makes my stomach feel unsettled."

She regarded him for a long moment, jokes about his dinner choice apparently forgotten as he saw the familiar crease in her brow, "If you're sick we could do this another time." She finally suggested with no hint as to her preference either way

It left him wondering if she was looking for a way out or if she was just being compassionate. He held his response longer than necessary as he considered her and finally settled on the latter. "I'm not sick." He replied, giving her a reassuring smile, "Though I wonder about what opinions you must have of my eating habits that ordering a vegetable dish is causing such concern for my health. I couldn't possibly be fueled entirely by cheeseburgers and coffee."

"I know." She responded simply, letting silence take them for another brief moment, "Sometimes you eat hotdogs, too."

Castle smiled at that and lifted his glass, tipping it slightly in her direction to acknowledge the joke with a mock toast. "Very true." He replied simply.

x.x.x

A/N: To tell the truth I don't know how well this fits with what I've already written, but if you know my writing style then you'll understand that what pops out is just what happens and then you guys get it no matter how uncomfortable it makes me.

I know, technically, this helps demonstrate how they're struggling to get back to their dynamic from before, but I fought this chapter tooth and nail because it's not the same style as my other chapters. In the end, I gave in and had some fun (between bouts of fever) writing this. Except for the part where it never ended and became the longest chapter in history, at least in my brief history of writing fanfic. It still wasn't finished, but I wrestled the rest away and moved it over to start chapter 25.

Review that made my day: Beetlebug, for telling me to go with where my heart tells me, which I have apparently taken very literally in this latest chapter, much to my own frustration. But, alas, my brain boiled by fever demands I give my characters a little reprieve from drama and heartache.

Thanks to everyone for reading.