A/N: I know this is late, but I had to let this one stew a bit.
Chapter Fourteen
It was morning, and Rick blinked in the brightness of the sunlight. He had tossed and turned all night after he returned from his evening with Kate. She was inspiring, to say the least, and some of the things she said... it was like she saw right through him last night.
He scrubbed his palms over his eyes and dragged his feet over the side of the bed and onto the floor. For a time, he just sat there, running parts of their date over and over in his mind.
The last Kate spoke before he left stuck with him the hardest. Part of him desperately wanted to take her words to heart, but this void inside brimmed with anger and emptiness... it had an appetite he wasn't sure he could control, even if he tried. It was like a warning, something about not letting it take him down - but what if it was too late?
And that was it - he wasn't sure if he honestly wanted to try. Going out as Maelstrom fed that anger, let it run its course, but it never was completely satisfied. It felt good, yet, he could see something beginning to spark between him and Kate, and it conflicted him. Two paths, both tempting and dangerous in their own ways, and he was skirting along both.
He shook his head and pushed it all back. The one thing he could control right now was what happened on the page, so he took out his laptop and wrote. It had been a long time since he had felt so excited to write, to create, and the words flowed so freely. Kate Beckett had certainly become his muse, and continuing the tale she inspired would help.
It was enough. For now.