Hi!

Thank you for all of your love and support! :) I'm glad y'all enjoyed the last chapter! We'll have more of the sparring sessions soon! (maybe even sooner than you think hehehe) and this is a really short chapter, so I apologize. I just haven't had any time to write. I'm sorry! And I am just blown away by all the love this story has gotten! You guys are awesome! So thank you very much!

Disclaimer: Castle is not mine :/

[Chapter 23]

"Hello there," Esposito greeted as he leaned against the frame of the door with his arms crossed, a smirk making homage on his lips.

Ryan poked his head out behind his partner, grinning. "Looks like we caught mom and dad," Ryan cleared his throat, "Wrestling."

Rick and Kate laid on the floor, wild hair strewn about, faces flushed, lips swollen, and Kate's shirt was riding up exposing part of her flat stomach. Busted.

"H-hi fellas," Rick smiled, attempting to play it cool. "What brings you up here?"

"Oh, we just wanted to see you two spar and see if you actually know what you're doing," the Hispanic detective smirked as the duo entered the room and sat down on the bench.

"But from the looks of it," Ryan started. "You seemed to have quite the grasp of...things." Rick and Kate looked down to see that Rick still had a hand on Kate's hip, right on her exposed skin. They hastily pulled apart, their cheeks turning red with every passing second. "So, are you two going to sit there with your mouths hanging open or are you gonna fight?" Ryan asked, looking between the two.

"Uh..." Kate breathed, unable to find the words.

"We're gonna fight!" Rick cheered, a smile on his face.

"Rick!"

Kate and Rick shared a gaze. "What? It'll be fun! Plus, I can show the boys how good I actually am!"

She glared at him. "We'll see about that." Her aggressiveness and competitiveness coming back in full swing.

They slowly stood up. Kate yanked down her disheveled tank top, covering her stomach.

"You two need to video this," Rick grinned. "I've already kicked Kate's ass once, but I'd like to get actual proof of it this time." Rick got in his stance, his fists up.

"Way ahead of you, bro," Esposito stated, phone out and ready to record.

"Espo, you put that phone away or so help me," Kate growled, her eyes on Rick.

Esposito refused to do so and went ahead and pressed the record button. "No can do, Beckett. I gotta video this, it's a gold mine."

Kate glared at the two detectives. "If that goes online, you're dead."

"Dually noted," he gave a curt nod. "Now, come on! I want to see Castle get his butt whupped!"

Rick looked over at the boys with a look of surprise on his face. "Hey! I thought you were rooting for me?"

Ryan shook his head. "We never said that! We just want to get a video of you two going at it!"

While Rick was distracted by the boys, Kate lunged for him. She kicked him hard in the stomach like before, sending him flying on the ground. The boys fist pumped as soon as that happened. Rick glared up at Kate as she stood over him with an evil grin on her lips; she looked way too pleased with this.

"You sure you want to go through with this, Ricky?" Kate asked as she began to walk in a circle around him. "I don't want to humiliate you in front of the boys."

Rick growled and kicked his leg out, capturing Kate's leg with his own and causing Kate to lose her balance, sending her down on her back. The boys cringed as they watched.

"That had to hurt," Ryan groaned, his fist up by his mouth as he looked away.

Esposito just nodded, too enthralled with the action that was taking place in front of them. It was like they had their own personal show right there. It was extremely entertaining! Especially, when Rick proved to be up in the same level as Kate. Something that surprised both Ryan and Esposito.

Rick crawled over to Kate, pinning her down. He had her arms pinned above her head and her legs were flailing underneath Rick. She was stuck. "You sure you want to go through with this, Kate?" Rick echoed her words right back at her. "I wouldn't want to humiliate you in front of the boys."

She hooked a leg with his and pushed up with all the strength she had, putting herself up on top. She pinned his arms and his hands like he had done to her; Rick wasn't going anywhere. He squirmed but Kate pressed down even harder on him, making him cringe in pain. She leaned down, her face right above his.

"Give up?" She whispered, a smirk on her lips.

Rick glanced over to Ryan and Esposito, they merely shrugged not knowing what to do. Esposito was still video recording their sparring session. The writer looked back to the detective above him. He let out a sigh, defeat all over his face. "Alright, alright! You win! Just let me go!"

Kate let go out his hands and sat back on Rick's lap, her hands raised in victory. "Okay, Espo please tell me you got that on video," she called over her shoulder.

The Hispanic detective smirked, waving the phone in his hand. "It's all on here."

Kate smirked down at him, chuckling. "So, was that you kicking my ass or was that something else entirely?"

He glared up at her, seeing that the tables had turned. "Ha ha. Very funny," he joked dryly. "Now, can you please get off of me?"

She huffed a breath before standing and reaching a hand down to help Rick up. He took her hand hesitantly, unsure if she would just push him down again. The two made their way over to the boys who were replaying the video over and over again.

"Castle, you should've seen your face when Beckett kicked you!" Ryan cried, his eyes on the small screen. "Oh, wait. We can show you your face!"

At that, Esposito paused the video and handed the phone to Rick as the boys laughed at his reaction. The paused frame was of Kate nailing Rick in the stomach while he had on a stupid expression, looking totally stunned and surprised.

"I'm just going to delete this..." Rick mumbled as he moved to press the delete button on the phone.

Kate yanked the phone away before he got the chance. "Oh, no! We're keeping this just in case we need to deflate that enormous ego of yours."

"I'm hurt. You would use that as blackmail?" Rick whined, reaching for the phone as Kate kept it out of his reach.

She gave him a look. "Duh," she snorted, tossing the phone back to Esposito. "Let's go get cleaned up and then we can head downstairs."

The boys grinned as they stood from the bench and began to head out. "Oh, and Espo!" Kate called just as the detective was leaving. "Make sure you send me a copy of that video! I could sure use a good laugh now and then, and that video would be the perfect fix!"

She heard him reply, "I'm sending it to you and Lanie as we speak!"

Rick groaned at the mention of the Medical Examiner; he'll never live this down with Lanie seeing it.

Kate grinned as she looked over at Rick. "Oh, don't you worry," she cooed, pinching his cheek. "I still love you...even if you did get beaten up by a girl."

He waved her off. "Yeah, yeah." Kate laughed all the way down to the Homicide floor while he just sulked behind.

Whoo!

Sorry this was a short chapter but I'm just SUPER busy! I'll try to post the next chapter when I can! Thank you guys for being so supportive! Until next time!

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