Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

Prompt #29: Snippets - They drop little hints about their pasts that only make them want to know more.

Words: 607

It's a cruel practice, but Kate loves to drop those little hints about her past. Seeing Castle squirm at the sexual innuendo was one of her favorite pastimes.

Her motorcycle was always a fun tease. She could almost see his mind spinning at the idea of her in black leather, ready to tear up the asphalt on her '94 Harley Softail. One day she walked into the precinct with her helmet under her arm, and the look on his face was utterly priceless.

That time they were about to enter Drake's Magic Shop, Castle had to ask if she knew any good tricks. She could've answered any other way, but the need to see him squirm made her mention her ice cube trick. He was weak-kneed in an instant, making her giggle when she was out of earshot.

Her tattoo was a fun thing to dangle on occassion. His eyes would drag over her body as if trying to see through her clothes (another secret fantasy of his, no doubt) for the inked flesh.

Sometimes, however, revealing her past wasn't as fun as she intended it to be. When Madison walked back into her life, Castle got almost too much enjoyment out of pumping her for information. When she was accusing Beckett of wanting to have little Castle babies, the detective had to fight blushing like a schoolgirl and give herself away.

He doesn't have many secrets in his past (being a bestselling author with multiple fan sites had that effect) but the ones he could tell, Castle loved to share. Watching Beckett's face light up with surprise was something he always loved to watch.

His parenting skills (or lack thereof) were a frequent source of information for such tales. Apparently it was unusual for successful-novelist single fathers to raise their own children and not pawn them off to nannies. He could see his brownie-point standing rise ever so slightly each time he divulged a parenthood trial or triumph.

His given name was a good one. Beckett had been acting off all through that case with the psychic, especially after speaking with the victim's daughter. When she admitted that Penny had said some odd things regarding Alexander, Castle decided to tell her about it. Her expression was completely worth it.

The boarding school scam with his gas card was an unintentional giveaway. However, it served to bring a smug grin of "I knew it" to Beckett's face. That was almost as fun as shocking her.

But sometimes, revealing a truth about himself was too hard. When Beckett asked about his interest in the macabre, he couldn't resist the urge to spin a yarn about the dead boy on the beach. He just couldn't tell the truth, because not only was he unsure of it himself, but he had the feeling that his real reason was too strange to be understood, even by a homicide detective.

Tidbits of their childhoods and pasts before "The Partnership" are hard to come by. They're intensely private people by nature.

But their nature is contradicted by their jobs. She's the detective who asks all the hard-hitting questions to find that elusive motive for murder. He's the novelist who searches everywhere for that authentic feel to throw into his tales.

So when a little nugget of info on their partner surfaces in the course of an investigation, Castle and Beckett happily squirrel it away. After all, knowledge is power.

Not to mention if you have enough dirt on a person, you can lord it over them.

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