A/N : Thanks for all the kindness from the last chapter. Means the world to me and I wish I had more time in the day to respond to every single review.

For Your Benefit

S3 AU- This wasn't typically her sort of scene, but she swallowed down the hesitation and painted on a smile. After all, he did all of this for her, to honor her mom.

Chapter 11

Today was important.

After the time she had spent recovering with Castle by her side, today she was finally able to return to work and not a moment too soon. Even with the pleasant company, she had gone a bit stir crazy. They had binged on every movie she owned as well as made a sizable dent in Castle's collection. It was finally time to rejoin the welcome madness and musty air of the Twelfth.

"I feel human again," Kate hummed, walking through the metal detectors and into the waiting elevator. Leaning against the cool steel of the wall, she gently nudged Castle with her hip. She couldn't help the contact with the magnetic pull between them; having him by her side all day might prove to be difficult.

"Being at the precinct makes you feel human again?" he asked, eyeing her as he laughed. The deep timbre of his voice brought an undeniable flutter in her stomach. She was pathetic.

"Well yes, but that's not what I meant. No stitches, back at work, coffee in my hand –"

"Ruggedly handsome boyfriend at your side…" He ran his hand along her arm and pulled her flush to his side as she swatted him away, a taunting gleam in her eyes.

"Will you keep it down…" she hushed, trying her best to hold back a smile, but she was powerless against it. Truthfully, it was a recurring problem over the last couple of weeks, the side effect of being in love.

"Sorry! Secret, ruggedly handsome boyfriend at your side," he whispered, placing a finger in front of his lips. "Though I'm still a little unclear why we're keeping all of this from our friends."

"It's against regulations."

"Because you do things by the books all of the time?"

He had a point, not that she'd ever admit it to him. No need to give him any further ammunition in his quest for – 'what if we snuck away to the supply closet or shut the door to the break room to make out a little'. When she had explained to him this morning that they had to remain completely professional at the precinct, he started to devise a plan to get around her carefully laid out rules.

If she was being honest with herself, she was having a bit of trouble with the idea of not touching him all day after spending her entire recovery together.

"Castle," she warned, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm just saying, Montgomery has been pushing for us to get together for years so he definitely won't have a problem with it."

She focused her attention on the numbered panel, ticking closer to the homicide floor. This wasn't the first time she heard that excuse. Castle had tried to convince her all last night that her Captain wouldn't care about the fact that they were together now. It hadn't worked then and wouldn't work now. The risk was too big. Her job gave her life meaning, but Castle made everything about it better. There was no way she could lose either one.

"He's been pushing for us?"

"Well, he hasn't kicked me to the curb yet and if that isn't a blessing, than I don't know what is," he said, kissing her temple. Kate sank into the feeling of his lips against her skin until they reached their floor and the high pitched ding caused her to jump away from his warmth.

"You're ridiculous," she scoffed and tried to play it off, rolling her eyes as she walked out of the elevator with Castle following close at her heels.

"Maybe, but you love me for it, so I call it a win."

She froze, slowly turning back and nearly running into him. "Yes, I love you, but I'll love you more if you keep your voice down and act normal. If that's even possible for you…" Spinning around toward her desk, Kate bit back a laugh before shooting him a wink from over her shoulder.

Walking through the bullpen, she found Ryan and Esposito hovering at her desk. They were either waiting for her arrival or demonstrating that they had truly accomplished nothing while she was off work. It was sweet, but she was hoping to avoid any sort of fanfare upon her return. She was shot at a charity event, not in the line of duty. Hell, she would've been back over a week ago, if not for Montgomery's insistence that she took extra time off.

The boys both had smug grins painted on their faces. It was impossible. There was no way they knew already. They hadn't even been here an entire day yet.

"You two look nice and cozy," Esposito said, shooting a knowing glance between her and Castle.

"Yeah, you both look well rested and quite comfortable after your time off," Ryan smirked.

"Are you both so bored that you need to gossip about my personal life? What have you even done while I was gone? Braid each other's hair?" she snapped, her tone harsh. The boys winced at the verbal jab. Maybe she didn't need to be so hard on them, but this wasn't exactly the way she had wanted her day to start.

"Beckett's back – and she's mean," Ryan grumbled.

Castle moved toward her, giving her a quick wink out of the boys' sight. God, this was going to be far more difficult than she had initially hoped. It seemed that her well meaning partner didn't realize the seriousness of the situation. They needed to keep things quiet, but at this rate, five minutes in, she'd give it until the end of the day.

"Not mean, she's just telling you to mind your own business and leave the happy couple alone," Montgomery boomed, walking up to the huddle by her desk. The baritone in his voice caused the boys to jump and scatter back to their own respective work spaces, but their eyes were still glancing their way.

Damn, how did he –?

"Sir?"

Her mouth dropped open as she could feel blood rush to her cheeks, heating the skin. She wasn't embarrassed of her relationship with Castle, but this wasn't the way she wanted people to find out about them, on the first day back from her leave. Nervous energy flowed through her fingertips; her hands were unable to stay still as she toyed with the fabric of her purple button down shirt.

She was unable to avoid looking at her Captain any longer.

"Pick your jaw off of the floor, Detective," he said, a pleased expression etched across his features. He didn't seem upset or disappointed, but this was too easy. There was no way he could just accept the fact that she was dating someone she worked with; it went against every rule there was within the police department.

"How did you…?" Castle stammered, voicing the thoughts that her mouth refused to say.

"Let's just say I have my ways."

"What does –" Kate sighed, allowing Montgomery to interrupt.

"Don't make me regret saying this, but I'm happy for you two."

Okay, so maybe it was that easy...

"What about – what about regulation?" she asked, the words stuttering from her lips. Everything was jumbled in her mind, her mouth was dry and all excuses and explanations were lost on her tongue.

"Regulation? Beckett, you do understand that we don't actually pay him to follow you around," he said, chuckling as he walked back into his office. She waited until she heard the click from the door before she turned back toward Castle.

"So…"

"The fact that we're together is officially the world's worst kept secret."

"Did you really think we could? We're kind of adorable," Castle smirked. His hand brushed against hers, making her jump back to increase the space between them.

"Rule one, just because they know doesn't mean we can act like a couple while we're at the precinct. This is my job, we need to have some boundaries."

"You expect me to go all day without touching you?"

"Yes, in fact I do," she said.

A teasing smile stretched across her face at the way his lips drooped in disappointment. She couldn't stop the faint fluttering in her heart brought on by the sight. Damn, she really loved this man and as much as she didn't want to admit it to him, she would have just as much trouble keeping her hands to herself as he would.

"You're telling me that we'll never get to take advantage of that spacious supply closet that the homicide floor has?" he asked, leering next to her and whispering in her ear.

Kate gasped, the soothing deep tone of his voice washed over her, warming her skin and throwing her off her game, which she could only imagine was exactly what he wanted. Even though the idea of pulling him into the nearest empty room held a certain appeal; she couldn't let him have this much power over things on her first day back to work. Not now, but not never. Though he didn't need to know that…

Swallowing down the lump in her throat, Kate straightened her shoulders and took a step back to meet his eye.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," she teased.

"Ryan is right. You're mean."

For her first week back, it was surprisingly slow. They didn't have any active cases so she was able to enjoy the weekend without evidence and theories running wild in her mind. She could just relax with Castle.

He had been so wonderful throughout everything and he had actually managed to behave at the precinct. As a thank you, she wanted to spend the day in the city, just the two of them being in love; stealing kisses, wrapping themselves in each other. They were making up for all the restraint they had to display while they were at work.

It was kind of amazing how natural their relationship had progressed from their heartfelt confessions to the comfortable balance of being with each other romantically. As different as they were now, in some ways, it was as if nothing had even changed. Castle was still her partner and her best friend, but now he was also the one person she loved more than anything.

"This was a good idea," he mused, pulling her hand into his, dwarfing her smaller frame.

"I just thought, a long week at the precinct – and you behaved," she joked, arching her eyebrow at him. "I wanted to say thank you for being there."

"A walk around town with the woman I love is the perfect day."

"Just not any walk." Butterflies flew around her stomach as they moved closer to their destination. It was silly that after everything they had been through over the last couple of months that a casual walk around town would give her this much anxiety.

"Oh really?"

"No, I wanted to show you something, Castle," she murmured, her voice hesitant.

"A surprise?"

"Here." With a pause, she turned toward the old brick building and smiled. It still looked the same. The trim was painted a different color and the signage from the current tenants was new, but it was still the same building from her memories.

"Here? I don't understand. It's an office building."

"Not just an office building," she said, squeezing his hand and facing him again. "This was where my mom ran her legal outreach program. The last place she was the night…"

"Kate –"

"It's okay, Castle." She shook her head. This wasn't a sad memory, just complicated. This place had been important to her mom, it was her passion. It was necessary for Kate to be able to share a piece of her with him. She sighed, "I was proud of her when she worked here – still am. My mom changed lives every day. I couldn't help but be inspired by her."

He reached forward and cupped her cheek within the warmth of this broad palm, tipping it up to meet his eyes. The expression she was greeted with was one of honesty and wonder, like he was in awe that she would ever share a piece of her family with him.

"She would've been proud of you," Castle whispered, looking at her with such attention, it was as if they were the only two people standing in the middle of the crowded sidewalk. "I may have never met her, but I know she would be proud. How could she not be?" The soft pad of his thumb caressed the delicate skin from underneath her eye. She could feel a blush warm her cheeks, but she didn't shy away from him; she was done hiding pieces of herself when it came to Castle.

"That's sweet. You know, she would've loved you."

"Really?" he asked, a wide grin stretching across his cheeks. For all the times she thought her partner had more than enough confidence, the genuine surprise on his face proved it was all an act for his public image. The man she loved was caring and considerate, but just as insecure as everyone else.

"Yeah. How could she not?"

She leaned forward and brought her lips to his in what started as a gentle kiss, but without meaning to, she grew insistent and demanding as her mouth worked against his skin. The absurdity of how quickly they got out of hand left her breaking the kiss with a laugh. He had a way of driving her crazy.

Kate cleared her throat, wiping her thumb against her swollen lower lip as she felt her cheeks flush again. "Anyway, I wanted to bring you here to show you and thank you for all the work you did with the foundation. It's amazing that even after what happened at the benefit, we were still able to raise enough to fund the scholarship program."

"Hopefully next year will raise even more money," he added, running his palm along her lower back, pulling her closer.

"That's if you haven't given up on me yet."

"Katherine Beckett, I'm never going to give up on you…"

tbc

Thank you so much for reading! I would love to hear what you think about the chapter!

xoxo

Only the epilogue remains...

Thanks to my lovely friends for being so helpful with this. Totally owe you.