Author's note: my house is only a one bedroom. They do exist! Honestly I know very little about safe houses so I am working on the premise that they wouldn't want any more rooms than necessary because that's less rooms to secure. Please don't correct me if you know more about them and I'm wrong.

OOOOOOOOO

Castle arched an eyebrow at that, but he didn't comment. There was a definite challenge in her expression and he wasn't feeling up to any real verbal sparring just then – even with her. Instead, he dropped his bag on the floor of the living room and started looking around, simply because he'd never been in a safe house before and he wanted to see what kind of things could be found in one.

"No phone?" he asked, looking around.

"No." Beckett had put her bag on the table and the bags with the clothes he'd been wearing on the floor next to it. "It has a phone line, to keep it from looking suspicious since when we started using it, everyone pretty much had a phone, but we'll be using cells so we rarely need an actual land line."

"Huh."

She smiled, knowing that he was storing that information away – possibly for future use in one of his novels. He probably didn't even realize he was doing it. Castle headed toward the cupboard, probably to see what there was to eat, when a soft beep made Beckett turn.

"What was that?" Castle asked.

"Perimeter alarm. Someone is coming in."

"How do we-" he stopped when she picked up the remote and turned on the TV. The screen showed a view of a car pulling up the driveway. They both recognized Esposito behind the wheel with Ryan in the passenger seat. "Nice."

"Yeah. The cameras are infrared, too, so we'll be able to keep track of things at night, too."

"Can we watch the neighbors that way?"

She rolled her eyes.

"No."

They watched as the guys got out of the car and walked up to the front door. There were several different camera angles showing on the screen – obviously no one was going to sneak up on them – and two showed the front door from different positions. Castle opened the door before they could knock and all three detectives scowled at him.

"The guy in protection doesn't open the door, Castle," Ryan told him as they walked in. "We could have been hit men."

"I saw you on the camera," he replied, pointing at the TV.

"Don't open the door," Esposito said. "Ever."

"Fine. Sorry."

Beckett closed the door behind them.

"What did you guys learn?"

"Not much yet," Esposito told her. "Victim is the owner of the shop – and lived there, too. The guy who lives above her says that she had a roommate – husband, boyfriend, he wasn't sure – and that there had been a lot of arguing the last few days."

"Do we know where the roommate is?"

Esposito shook his head.

"We didn't see anything in the place with a name – but there are a couple of pictures on the woman's cell. Forensics guys will go through it, and we'll see if we can get hold of the property management people and see what name is on the lease."

"Good."

"They're going over that place with a fine toothed comb," he told her and Castle, both. "If there's something to find, they'll find it. And we'll let you know as soon as they do."

Beckett picked up the bag with the clothes she'd taken from her bathroom.

"Castle was wearing these when he ended up at my place. He says they're not his, so have them tested, will you?"

"Sure."

Ryan took the bag and looked around.

"You need us to stay here with you guys?"

"I'd rather you were running the investigation."

He nodded.

"Montgomery had them bring out the usual items for the kitchen and such so you don't starve, but we figured you'd want more than the basics, so we brought some extra stuff for you. It's out in the car."

Castle smiled.

"Steaks?"

"Yeah."

"I'll help you bring it-"

"You'll stay inside," Beckett interrupted. "Esposito and I will get it."

OOOOOOOOO

"So you really want to stay here with Castle instead of run the investigation?" Esposito asked as they walked out to the car. "I mean, Ryan and I can take turns staying with him and free you up."

Beckett shook her head, looking through the bags before she picked up a couple.

"Castle's got information in his head that we need, and is really not in much shape to give it to us just now. Hopefully I'll be able to help him work through that while we're stuck here."

"He looks like crap."

"Yeah, I know."

Esposito shrugged. He knew as well as anyone that Castle would respond best to her. He picked up all the bags that she hadn't taken and used his hip to close the door of the car.

"So… one bed…"

Beckett rolled her eyes at his amused look, and turned to head for the front door.

Men.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The guys didn't stay. Almost as soon as Beckett and Esposito dropped the bags on the counter in the kitchen, they excused themselves to get back to the investigation, leaving Beckett and Castle to unpack the groceries alone.

"How long until we find out about her?" Castle asked, putting a loaf of bread into the cupboard and picking up a couple of cans of stew.

Beckett checked her watch, not surprised that it was well past noon and nearing the end of the regular work day.

"Probably not until tomorrow. Lanie might get her examination done today but there's no way the labs will be in so quickly." She reached over and took the cans from him. "Why don't you do sit down, Castle? You look beat."

"I'm okay."

She smiled when she heard his stomach growl.

"You're tired and hungry and probably pretty sore," she said. "I know if the situation were reversed and it were me in your shoes, you'd be insisting. So I'm going to insist. Let me take care of you, okay?"

He hesitated, meeting her gaze for a long moment before he finally nodded.

"Okay."

"What do you want for dinner?" she asked him.

"Anything."

"I can probably handle that."

He smiled, his tired eyes lighting up for a moment, and he brushed his fingers against her hand for just a moment.

"You'll call if you need help?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

He left the kitchen to her and went into the living room. With a brief glance at the bedroom, he decided that he'd be better company on the couch where he could at least chat with her even if she wasn't going to let him help cook. Picking up the remote, he flopped down on the couch and leaned back with a tired groan.

And was asleep almost immediately.