After all of the requests for updating soon, how could I not, especially when I wrote the chapter a few days ago. :) I was in a writing frenzy this weekend and am in the middle of writing what I thought was going to be the last chapter, but I might split that into two. I'm still on track for having this story all finished before the 2nd Castle Monday of season 6. And yes, this is one of the shorter chapters within a story full of short chapters but I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow around this same time.

To the guest reviewers that I can't reply to directly:

I thought about posting this around Halloween but I wanted to have a story for the first Castle Monday of season 6. And, if my muse cooperates, I have another story which will work just as well for being a Halloween story; it's even set during Halloween. :) I WISH they would do an episode like this, but I have no idea how they could make that work.

Castle meets the 'Shaggy Dog'-I hadn't thought of that.

Disclaimer: If I owned Castle, American fans would have been able to watch the episode the same day as the Canadian fans, instead of the day after. Oh wait, I'd probably have to own ABC for that, or even Disney. Hmmmm...I don't own any of them, so I still have to wait. :( But not for LOOOOONG... :)

The loft was a little intimidating from this viewpoint, Kate realized a moment after Castle gently set her on the floor. The door seemed to go on forever and the barstools near the kitchen nook were at least five times taller than she was. Even with her new increased feline flexibility she wasn't sure she would be able to jump that high.

Kate tentatively crept forward. She needed a safe and quiet place to think. She could sit in one of the bar stools, but it would be too easy for someone to not see her and sit right on top of her.

Shuddering at the thought, Kate continued to scan the room. The couch could work, but she might run into the same problem.

Unless s he sat on the arm of the couch. Yeah, that would work.

Having made her decision Kate hurried over and with one small jump landed on the perfect spot. But not without accidently getting a claw caught in the rich fibers.

Why did her claws have to come out now?

This was bad. People did not like it when a cat scratched up their furniture. And this particular couch had to be expensive.

What if Castle got mad at her?

What if he threw her out?

What if-?

Castle's sudden presence startled Kate out of her thoughts. She tensed as he reached towards her, wondering if he was going smack her hand, err, paw. He would never do that to Kate, of course, but as far as he knew she was just some random cat. To her relief he just gently removed her trapped claw from the fabric.

He began lightly stroking her fur-covered head, just like anybody would pet a cat. It was almost too much. Outwardly she might be a cat, but inwardly she was still Kate. And Castle was running his fingers through her hair (it may be fur but to Kate was still her hair) as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Kate had been careful to keep a certain level of physical distance from Castle over the years. She had only hugged him a handful of times, and two of those were in life and death situations. To have his hands on her now...

Kate involuntarily tensed, causing Castle to give her a confused look. She tried to relax her muscles, but as with the purring she had no control over her body's reactions.

And that worried her. Because she'd been physically attracted to Castle from the very beginning. She had just become an expert at hiding the fact.

What if she felt that attraction even while trapped in the body of a cat?

The very idea made her shudder.

Of course Castle felt that, too, and withdrew his hand.

It's for the best, Kate told herself, fighting the lump of tears that caught in her throat.

And how did that work? Cats didn't cry. Did they?

Kate felt Castle's hand on her head again, this time at a weird angle.

Wha-?

That's when she noticed that it wasn't his hand on her head; it was her pressing her head to his hand.

"Meow."

And there was that plantative sound again.

Obviously she had no self-control as a cat.