Title: Love and Lead

Summary: Ryan takes Alexis to a shooting range for their second date. Takes place while Ryan is still on leave from work from being shot.

Genre: Romance

Characters: Ryan, Alexis

Alexis rolled over with a yawn and blindly reached for her cell on her nightstand table. After locating the object that was belting out Beastie Boys' Sabotage, the anthem of Ryan's youth and his all time favorite song, she pressed answer and held it to her ear with a sleepy smile, "Hello?"

Ryan loved how she sounded in the morning and even though he wished he could wake up next to her every day he knew it was too early in their relationship to have her there daily. "Good morning beautiful. How'd you sleep?"

"I slept great," she said around a yawn. "What time is it?"

"After eleven. I was wondering if I could take you on a date this afternoon if you aren't busy."

Throwing off the covers she stretched out her legs and walked to the window to peer outside, "I'd love to go out with you, where are we going?"

"Shooting range," he said instantly before laughing at the silence that followed. "You thought I was kidding when we talked about it but you are sadly mistaken. It'll be fun I promise."

Hearing the excitement in his voice made her smile fondly, "Are you going to pick me up?"

"Yup, you have an hour."

Her eyes widened, "Wow, ok. I have to go I'll see you in an hour!" She was just about to hang up when she suddenly pulled the phone back to her ear. "I love you."

A huge grin spread across his face, "I love you too. Now get ready."

Exactly an hour later she opened the apartment door and smiled at the sight of her boyfriend dressed casually in jeans, a white v-neck and sunglasses. Being around him so much while he was injured allowed her to really see him in relaxed dress as opposed to his stuffy work suits. "Ready?"

"Almost, come in. Dad and Gram aren't here."

"Well in that case," he said with a smile before grabbing her into a kiss that took her breath away. The pair stumbled towards the couch and Ryan spun to let his back hit the soft cushions, Alexis laughing as she fell on top of him. Her hands slid under his shirt and slid across his smooth skin as he buried a hand in her hair and slid his tongue across her bottom lip. When Alexis let out a soft moan and began to unbuckle his belt he suddenly snapped his eyes open. "Lex, we are not doing this on your dad's couch. I don't think finding us here would go over too well considering he doesn't even know about us."

"That's what makes it so exciting," she said breathlessly as she pressed herself closer to him.

His hands found their way to her butt and after sliding his hands into her back pockets he squeezed, "You are going to be the death of me, literally, if Castle finds us."

With a wide grin she kissed across his jaw to his lips before finally pulling back, "I think I need to spend the night tonight."

"I think that's a good idea," he groaned as she purposely let her hands slide over his belt and jeans before standing. With a steadying breath he stood and grabbed his previously discarded glasses off the table, "We leaving?"

"I suppose." Once in the car she glanced in the back seat at the gun cases, "What did you bring?"

"A few different ones," he answered. "It's mostly going to be you shooting since I'm not sure how well my posture's going to be since I'm still healing."

She nodded, "Are these all yours?"

"Yeah, they took away my badge and service weapon until I get back." He grimaced, "Feels weird to not have them on me. I feel like such a civvy."

After arriving at an indoor range she grabbed a few cases and followed him in, one glance around and she sighed in relief that they were alone. She knew she wasn't that good of a shot and it was easier to focus on what you're doing when you don't have an audience. "Why isn't there anyone here?"

"This range is for LEO's only and considering it's a Tuesday afternoon I don't think anybody else will come in." He walked all the way to the end and set everything down, "So what exactly have you shot and were you comfortable with it?"

She helped him unzip everything and thought about it, "I've shot a 9mm with dad and I felt pretty comfortable with it."

He pulled out his pistol and after checking it handed it to her, "Ok go over safety precautions with me."

"Well…" she started as she stared at the gun and thought about it. "First off you should never point a gun at anyone whether it's loaded or not, also your finger should never touch the trigger unless you're ready to shoot." She was rewarded with a smile and nod.

"Continue."

She looked over the gun and found the release and removed the magazine, "Before doing anything I should make sure it's empty, and that includes the chamber." Ryan reached over and helped her pull the slide back and lock it open so she could see inside. "This is really heavy, what it this?"

He pulled out ammo and handed it to her to fill the magazine, "It's a .45, it's what I keep for protection at the apartment. You ready to shoot it?" At her nod he got her situated and handed her the gun minus the magazine, "Alright, so this is going to have more recoil than the 9mm you shot. Don't lock your elbows and don't fight it but at the same time make sure you have a good grip on it. Lean forward a bit and part your legs a couple inches more. Perfect."

After grabbing the magazine he slid it in and handed her earplugs before squeezing her small waist and stepping back, "Whenever you're ready."

Alexis sucked in a deep breath and took aim before pulling the trigger, the gun jerking in her grip but not moving her. With wide eyes she looked at Ryan who was grinning and nodded for her to continue. She pulled the trigger again and again until it was empty and after double checking it was clear she set it down and took out her ear plugs, "Wow, that was a lot stronger than dad's."

He nodded, "I know he's got a .45 too but a 9mm is more practical and easier for you to shoot with your smaller hands. He taught you well, your grip looks great and you shot the target every time."

She beamed at the praise and turned towards the other guns, "What else can I shoot?"

He laughed and pointed vaguely, "Whatever you want. I brought a 12g shotgun, a .223, and just because it's super fun my .22 Long Rifle. I have others but figured this would be enough for today."

She let her fingers slide over the matt black AR and turned, "Does it bother you shooting these guns after your accident?"

Accident always seemed like the wrong term to describe what happened because in no way was it accidental but since it sounded better than 'the shooting' he let it slide when people said it. "Not at all," he responded. "You shouldn't ever be afraid of guns, you should respect them but never fear them. Guns are nothing but inanimate objects, just pieces of metal. It's people with their erratic emotions and unstable minds that make me nervous. People like Wayne."

"Agreed," she said quietly before looking back at the gun. "Can I shoot this?"

He nodded and after checking the chamber and adjusting the stock handed it to her, "It feels heavy at first but you'll get used to it." Her hands wrapped around it awkwardly and he laughed as he adjusted her hands and pointed to the scope. "You want to keep both eyes open so you can see through the scope for longer range and around you for potential threats. Closing one eye eliminates half of your vision, obviously, and you don't want any blind spots."

"Is this automatic?" she wondered.

He shook his head, "Only SWAT has the automatic weapons, we need more precision and control for our arrests. Plus it costs a lot of money and you have to jump through a lot of hoops to have a personal automatic weapon. It's not worth it, especially with the price of ammo these days."

"Makes sense," she replied before trying to get comfortable with the gun. She watched intently as Ryan went over the safety switch and how to put one in the chamber, what to do if it jams and how to hold it. "Like this?" she asked in slight confusion.

With a smile he slid up behind her and pulled the butt stock more into her shoulder and reached his arms around her to steady the gun. His low voice floated over her shoulder and she tried to suppress a shiver as his warm breath tickled the back of her neck. "Keep it firmly against you, it doesn't have hardly any recoil but it'll move if it's not stabilized. When you aim I want you to take in a breath and as you exhale pull the trigger. It's loud so be prepared."

As hard as it was to focus with him so close she still managed to remember everything he said. "Anything else?"

His hands let go of the gun and slid down her sides until settling on her hips and pulling her right one back slightly, "Make sure you stay forward." His right leg moved in between hers and he kicked out her foot a tiny bit with his leather boot. "Ready?"

Feeling all sorts of flustered she just nodded and waited while Ryan pushed the magazine in and fixed her earplugs before giving her a thumbs up. After mentally going over everything she had listened to she let out a breath and pulled the trigger, the loud noise sounding through her earplugs but the gun not moving. With a large smile she pulled the trigger again and again until finishing off the magazine. "That's so fun!" she said as Ryan took gun.

He chuckled and nodded, "Isn't it? I have a .308 just like this and it's pretty fun too." After setting down the gun in it's case he grabbed Alexis into a hug and kissed her softly, "You're a pretty good shot."

Alexis tilted her head up to deepen the kiss and let out a content sigh when he held her closer, fingers splayed wide across her back holding her snugly. After a few minutes she pulled away panting slightly, "Are you going to shoot any of them?"

He bit the inside of his cheek and glanced down range at the targets, "I don't know if it's going to pull on my scars or not, I don't really want everything to get sore again. I guess we could see though."

"You don't have to."

He grabbed the box of bullets and began to refill the .223 magazine, "I know but I really should start practicing again. I'm going to miss so much work that I'm going to have to get certified again, might as well be ready for it."

After finishing he stepped forward in an empty stall and after pulling back the charging handle to pop one into the chamber he took aim and fired. Alexis watched him carefully and felt a surge of different emotions at the vision of him with the gun. First off, he looked hot as hell holding the gun with complete ease as he fired off rounds in quick succession, every single one piercing through the bullseye. Secondly it filled her with fear, this was what he did for a living. It was like reality just slapped her in the face as she realized that he was holding a weapon similar to the one he used at work to find and take suspects down. Ryan was so calm and his personality was so disarming that she sometimes forgot he was just as capable of violence as everyone else at the precinct. If he needed to he had the skills and the capabilities to kill someone. He was dangerous and it was both alarming and infatuating.

As he finished he flipped on the safety and checked the chamber before setting it down and grinning, "Not bad for not shooting for over a month. Although now my chest hurts." At Alexis's preoccupied expression he walked over and frowned, "Everything alright?"

"Have you ever killed someone?" Her eyes widened and she slapped a hand over her mouth as the question popped out before she could stop it. She couldn't believe she had just asked such a personal question to someone that she had only just started a relationship with. "Kevin, I'm so sorry. You don't have to answer that."

Although the question caught him by surprise he didn't take any offense, "It's alright to ask me things. If I don't feel comfortable sharing I won't but you can always ask and the answer is yes."

She took a hesitant step forward and grabbed his hands, her thumbs rubbing over his knuckles. "How many?"

"Three," he said quietly. "I remember every one, their faces and names," he answered quietly and licked his lips. "You never want it to turn out that way but sometimes you have to take them down before they can cause more damage. It's never a good feeling to play God."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

He dipped his head and captured her lips before standing back up straight, "This is the life I chose and other than a few bad days it's been everything I hoped it would be. Trying to keep people safe and making sure the world Dev grows up in is even just a little bit better is worth, for lack of a better term, some collateral damage."

She gently ran her knuckles down his cheek before glancing back down range, "I want to shoot the AR again, but I might need some help… with my stance."

He grinned mischievously and grabbed her hips, "I think I can help with that."