When Beckett woke fully the sun was shining through her bedroom window in a way that told her she'd slept much later than she'd expected. She wasn't in any hurry to wake up, either, and allowed herself the luxury of slowly becoming aware of her surroundings. Castle was still asleep, she decided, listening to his soft even breathing. He'd slept through the night, as far as she could tell. He'd shifted a couple of times, but the motions had been accompanied my soft pained noises, which led her to believe he'd only been trying to get more comfortable. She'd woken each time he'd moved, but he'd simply reclaimed his gentle hold on her and had gone back to sleep – if he'd even been awake in the first place.

As she woke a bit more, Beckett realized that his hand had slid quite a bit higher while he'd been sleeping and was now cupping her breast – what was it about guys and breasts? she wondered sleepily, more amused than anything else, really. It wasn't like he was groping her, after all, and she had to admit – to herself – that it was a nice way to wake up. But now she was ready to get up, and if she could, she was going to do it without waking him. Gently disengaging his hold, she slid his hand back to her stomach and then rolled out from his embrace. He shifted a little and muttered something, but she thought she might have managed it.

"Kate?"

Or not. Beckett sat down in the spot she'd just vacated and brushed her fingers along his forehead and cheek.

"Shhhh… go back to sleep."

He opened his eyes.

"It's morning?"

"Yes."

He closed his eyes again and caught her hand.

"I'm sleepy."

"I know."

"Come back to bed."

"No." she leaned over and brushed a kiss against the corner of his mouth, which made him open his eyes again. "I'm going to go get a shower. Go back to sleep."

He stretched a little, and winced when he stretched bruised muscles.

"Okay…"

She watched as he closed his eyes and then she pulled the blankets back up over him before she got up and headed for the door.

"Kate?"

"Hmmm?"

"I could join you…"

Since he sounded like he was already falling asleep, she was pretty sure the offer was half-hearted at best. It made her smile, though, and her voice was amused when she replied.

"Maybe another time."

"M'kay…"

She left him to his sleep and stopped only long enough to grab some clean clothes before heading for the bathroom.

OOOOOOOOO

When Castle woke next it was to the smell of bacon and coffee permeating through the bedroom. He stretched and sat up, rubbing his eyes, sleepily. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept so well, and he knew he hadn't had a single nightmare. He was half tempted to go back to sleep, but his stomach growled so loudly that it actually cramped and he knew he'd never be able to sleep so hungry. Like it or not, his day was going to start.

Beckett was sitting at the table reading the newspaper while eating a breakfast of bacon and eggs.

"Do you eat like this all the time?" he asked, walking over in bare feet and still rubbing his face sleepily.

She looked up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Bacon and eggs? That can't be good for you…"

His tone was amused, though, and he was already looking for his share, hoping he wasn't going to have to fry his own. Bacon took forever to cook properly.

"It's good enough for my dad," she told him with a smile. "Besides, there's toast, too…"

"Oh, toast. Well, that makes all the difference."

He didn't see any toast. He did see a plate of already cooked bacon, though, and he could fry his own eggs and toast his own bread. That was the easy part.

"Where did you get the bacon?"

He hadn't seen bacon in the fridge before. The eggs he had noticed.

"The freezer."

"Oh."

"What do you normally have for breakfast?" she asked, curiously, taking a bite of her toast.

"Depends."

"On?"

"If Alexis is home or not. If she is, I'll make pancakes, or omelets."

"And if she isn't?"

"Toast."

Beckett smiled at that.

"Truthfully, I don't usually get more than a muffin or something like that. But since I have extra time…" she let it trail off.

He let the conversation drop and pulled some eggs from the holder on the inside of the door. As he broke them into the frying pan and turned on the burner, he looked over his shoulder to see if she'd gone back to reading the paper. She was watching him, so he asked her another question.

"Have you talked to Ryan or Esposito yet?"

"No. I thought we'd go into the precinct, instead. Unless you want to hang out here?"

"No. I'd rather go in and see what they find out."

Since she'd expected him to say that, she wasn't surprised.

"Why don't you go get dressed and I'll finish making your breakfast?"

He accepted immediately, broke the yolks on his eggs – he'd make a bacon and egg sandwich – and headed for the bedroom to get his bag.

OOOOOOOOOO

Twenty minutes later he and Beckett walked off the elevator and into the precinct. Esposito and Ryan were at Ryan's desk, and they were so engrossed in what they were looking at that neither of them saw the other two approach.

"What do you have?" Beckett asked curiously.

Ryan jumped, startled, and she smiled an apology at him. Esposito held up the book he was holding.

"We just got Bridget Hart's year books from college."

"Any luck?" Castle asked.

"We just started looking," Ryan told him.

"We might have a lead on the gift," Beckett said.

"Oh?"

"Castle mentioned a 'rock' when we were talking about it."

"A diamond?" Esposito asked.

"One way to find out," Castle replied. He looked at Beckett for permission and at her nod sat down at her desk and turned on her computer. He was an experienced researcher, after all – even more so than the detectives, most likely. If there was something to be found, he'd find it.

Beckett debated hovering over his shoulder, but knew he didn't need her help. The guys didn't, either. There were two year books, and two of them. She looked at them, and then went to the break room. Coffee.