Hello, all! I recently posted my first story after several years away. This one was actually started first, but life has done a great deal of interfering so it was put on my back burner for a while. Thank you so much to everyone who read my last, and for all who reviewed: you made my day! I understand why so many writers say reviews are like crack :) And they made a tough couple of weeks a little less harrowing.

Disclaimers: I do not own these characters. I do wish I did. Any familiar to you are therefore not mine; they belong to ABC. The story idea is my own, I am just borrowing the characters and using creative license to play with them. I promise I will put them back when I am done. No profit is being made from this story, it's just for fun.

Author's notes: This takes place a short time after Poof, You're Dead. I have chosen to ignore Dr. Motorcycle Boy, implying that he and Beckett have gone their separate ways since the episode. Especially after Countdown; I mean really, could he have had worse timing? Talk about ruining the moment, geez! Anyway…

Kind of a PWP, this does have a premise that is entirely silly. It served to create a scene in my mind inspired by the preview of Knockdown. This had no beta and while I usually have a good eye, I did a lot of transferring between media types so any mistakes are my own.

Enjoy!

"No."

"Come on, Beckett." The teasing tone followed her from the break room as she took a seat at her desk.

"No, Castle."

"That's not fair! We told you ours!"

"Yeah, well, leave it to you three to bring up something like who is ticklish where. I didn't ask you to share."

"But we did. We had our own little affinity circle going. Except when the conch shell made it to you, you dropped it."

"As much as I appreciate your Lord of the Flies reference there, Castle, one more word out of you and so help me I will hunt down a roll of duct tape. Trust me; I know how to use it so you won't be able to escape."

"My dear Detective Beckett I do believe I have struck a nerve. This certainly bears more investigation from yours truly. I am, after all, a best-selling novelist devoted to researching my characters to the fullest. "

He turned an impish smirk on her that crinkled the corners of his eyes, something Beckett normally found endearing. Now however, she wanted to see that smile disappear from his face and hopefully take his current train of thought with it. She stared at him for a moment before arching an eyebrow and standing. Striding past him to the desk where the fax and printer sat, she began hunting through the cabinets. Emerging with her prize and a wicked smile on her face, she came back to where Castle sat with his back to her. Quietly leaning over his shoulder, she slapped the heavy roll of tape onto the corner of her desk. His slight jump satisfied her immensely. She angled her head to speak in his ear in her best interrogation growl. "Let this serve as a reminder Castle. Ask me about it again and I will wrap you up like a mummy and stuff you in a locker."

Castle's eyes widened as he turned to look at Beckett. He opened his mouth and inhaled a bit as if he were going to speak, then seemed to think better of it. Eyes darting between the tape and the Detective who looked entirely too pleased with his discomfort, he mimed zipping his lips, locking them, and throwing away the key. Beckett squinted at him slightly before returning to her side of the desk.

Precinct bustle continued around the silent pair, one reveling in the quiet, and the other contemplating the best way to break it. "You know as far as threats go, I don't know if that was the best I've received from you. But the delivery made it incredibly intimidating."

Almost 20 seconds. Must be a record. Choosing not to verbalize that thought, she instead quipped "I practice on suspects so I'm always prepared to intimidate the famous authors in my life with duct tape, Castle."

"Ha! They wouldn't stand a chance."

"Think you would, huh?"

"If ever the time comes I deserve the treatment, we will see who comes out the victor."

"You do deserve it."

"And yet here I sit, unbound. What's wrong, Detective? Afraid you've met your match?" The last was said with his voice lowered as he leaned into her personal space.

She matched him in posture and tone. "Point them out and I'll let you know."

"You wound me. I don't know how I'll ever recover." His false pout didn't last long, and he snapped his fingers. "Hey! I know how you can make it up to me." He waggled his eyebrows at her with an expectant look on his face.

Beckett stared into space somewhere above her computer screen, then reached out her left arm. She snagged the tape and a pair of scissors with her other hand, holding them up directly under Castle's nose. "Go ahead and say it. I'm sure someone around here has a birthday coming up, and you just volunteered to be the piñata."

"You didn't really expect me to not give it one more shot did you? Can't blame me for trying."

"Actually, I can."

"There's no tripping you into talking; I guess I should know by now." His overly dramatic wistful sigh almost teased a smile onto Beckett's lips.

"So that means you agree to the terms? No more asking me any questions about it?"

"I don't recall there being any 'terms'-"

"Castle!"

"-but yes, I promise I won't ask you about it anymore."

"Thank you."

"Just for future reference do you mean I can't ask you now or ever?"

Beckett paused and slowly raised her head. "I'm really leaning towards never."

Castle raised his hands in surrender while Beckett returned to her paperwork. She wasn't upset with him—he knew her well enough to be aware that this was all still banter for her. It didn't mean that he would push the issue past 'pulling her pigtails' as she had once observed.

A thought struck him and he pulled out his phone. Scrolling down his contacts list, he got to the L's and started a new text. Firing off a message as quickly as he could on his touch screen, he smirked slightly. She said he couldn't ask her. She didn't say anything about not asking her best friend.

Out of the corner of her eye, Beckett saw Castle pull out his phone and smirk as if he was sharing a private joke with himself. Prepared to ignore it, she looked away. A thought struck her though and she raised her head to stare at him. With her eyes full of suspicion, she asked the question she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to. "Castle, who did you just text?"

He glanced at her with his eyebrows raised, not acting startled in the least.

"Why would you think I was texting someone?"

Beckett leaned forward on her forearms, prepared for the sparring session. "I asked my question first."

Raising his eyebrows and smiling at the playground answer, Castle simply shrugged as if to say nobody in particular. He flashed his phone screen towards her to show her the game he was playing. "Just playing the new version. Got it yesterday because a buddy who works with Apple figured I could check it for any bugs. You know, just to make sure it works before next month's release." he grinned at her again, trying to disarm her. The recipient of his text chose that moment to reply and his phone chimed. With a slight exclamation of excitement he quickly turned the phone back around-hopefully before Beckett saw who the message was from.

He wasn't lying—he was playing a game—but he hadn't exactly told the whole truth.

Come c me in a few

He read the text and a Cheshire cat grin threatened to split his cheeks. His phone chimed again.

I'll tell u if u promise 2 use it well.

He bit down on his knuckles then clapped a hand to his mouth and exhaled sharply. His eyes were practically glowing with delight over whatever he had seen.

Beckett watched the whole thing in a state of slight shock. The swift changes in Castle's expressions would have been comical if not for the uneasy feeling that was tapping at the back of her consciousness. The last look had her caving. "What are you doing over there?"

Leaning in closer, Castle beckoned Beckett forward. As she leaned in, he lowered his voice conspiratorially and uttered one word. "Research."

He departed quickly calling "Be right back!" over his shoulder while making a beeline for the elevators. Beckett's mouth opened to utter several monosyllabic attempts at a question before she blew out a frustrated breath through her cheeks and turned back to her monitor. Clenching her jaw and pursing her lips she leveled a glare at the closing elevator doors. Too bad it didn't have any effect.

Castle practically skipped with glee as he breezed into the morgue. Glancing around, he saw Dr. Lanie Parish going through and cleaning some of her instruments. A bit of what looked a lot like snot was globbed on a tray next to the M.E. He wrinkled his nose slightly but reached out a hand towards it. Without looking at him, Lanie smacked the back of his hand and he recoiled instantly. "You really are like a 9-year-old." The bored tone of her voice was one Castle had heard many times. He looked at her questioningly, indicating the goo with a nod of his head. She dead-panned a look at him. "Do you really want to know?" Frowning once more, a shake of the head was the only answer she got. "Don't worry Writer-Boy; it's just some stuff I use to clean off the smaller tools. It gets into the grooves better."

"Oh. Well that's not so bad. I thought it was autopsy leftovers."

"And yet, you were still going to touch it." Rolling her eyes, Lanie muttered "Boys" under her breath. "Alright, here's the deal. I said I would tell you and I will. Question: is this a result of the conversation you boys had yesterday?"

"How did you know about that?" Castle asked innocently, knowing full-well it likely came from pillow talk between she and her not-very-secret, secret lover.

Lanie tried to backpedal. "Never you mind, I'm the one with the information you want. Now are you gonna tell me what this is all about, or what?"

Pinning her with a knowing look, Castle watched her play with some of her tools nervously before he finally relented and moved on. He didn't miss her relieved exhale. "Yes, it is from that talk as a matter of fact. We were calling out random questions; you know, strangest place we've been hit on, strangest place we've hit on someone, scars, then weird ticklish spots—Ryan's is great, by the way—and Beckett wouldn't share so we tried to get it out of her."

"And how did that go for you?" the sarcastic comment earned a look, to which her eyebrows simply raised in a 'what?' response.

"It didn't. We couldn't get anything! So, I tried to convince her it was very important that I know."

"What did you end up telling her?" Lanie asked, intrigued

"Do you want the full truth or the truth I gave her? Well, it really is the truth, but it's only a half-truth so she wouldn't know the real reason." This was rattled off in typical Castle train of thought fashion, and Lanie just waited until he got the rest out of his system. Somewhere in all of it might be the explanation she was waiting for. Or not. Belatedly, she realized he had stopped speaking and was looking at her expectantly.

"Try again, Writer-Boy, spit it out this time."

"I told Beckett it was because I like knowing my characters inside and out. Not just their thoughts and what makes them tick, but also the little things: their quirks, their habits, and what makes them 'tic'." Lanie was merely looking at him thoughtfully so he continued. "Well I'm sure you can imagine she didn't go for that. She really didn't seem to get why I thought knowing where she is ticklish could possibly be pertinent to knowing Nikki Heat. She actually threatened me with duct tape to get me to stop asking."

His pout was such an act that it had Lanie shaking her head in response. "Clearly you didn't take her very seriously."

"Oh, on the contrary, I took her very seriously. She said I couldn't ask her, which is why I came to you." The contents of a shelf drew his attention and he began fiddling with the various containers.

The charming smile tossed over his shoulder drew out one of her own, succeeding in melting her last remaining reservations into a puddle of goo. "She is most definitely ticklish, which is why she refused to tell any of you. I'll tell you one, but the rest you better figure out on your own."

Caught off-guard, Castle almost dropped the jar of swabs he was holding. He fumbled before recovering and placing it back on the shelf it came from. He nudged it once more for good measure before facing Lanie again with what almost passed as a neutral expression.

"I know your 'research' excuse is bull. Come on, spill: why exactly do you want to know?"

Castle feigned shock. "Attention to detail is a painstaking but vital process to creating any written work." He explained. Lanie wasn't biting. "You would make a good Detective, Dr. Parish. Let's just call it curiosity."

"You know curiosity killed the cat."

"Ah, yes, but: Satisfaction brought it back." He spread his hands and looked at her expectantly.

"Touché." She conceded. "Alright, the one that will get you into the least amount of trouble…"

It was a slow day all around, as a blizzard-like storm had blown in late the night before, forcing either all the would-be murderers or their potential victims to stay put. The precinct wasn't even at its full strength yet as getting to work through treacherous ice and snow was no easy feat for pedestrians or drivers. Of course Beckett had made it; she hadn't missed a day for longer than she cared to admit. A little snow and ice wasn't going to hold her back. Besides, she could always do paperwork and review old cases whose convictions were coming up for appeal. Why Castle came in though, she wasn't sure. He could have stayed in his loft in this admittedly nasty weather, yet he was here. Or was. He had disappeared and had now been gone about 15 minutes. 16 minutes and 23 seconds if she were counting. Which she wasn't.

"Hey, where'd Castle go?" Javier Esposito had arrived not long after Beckett and was also working to get caught up. He and Castle had of course spent time shooting the bull, but it didn't bother her. For all the times the cases ran them ragged, the chance to slow down was a rare opportunity, and unwinding was the key to keeping your sanity in this job.

"Oh he took off a little while ago on some mission." Javier's questioning look mirrored what she was feeling. "Don't ask me what it was but he took off like he had rockets on his shoes. Got in the elevator, but left his coffee so I'm assuming he'll be back."

"Huh." Esposito just shook his head, but kept his eyes on Beckett. She wasn't being obvious about it but her attention was fixed on the elevator. She was doing whatever she could to keep it in her peripheral vision. He chuckled a little as he turned to make his way back to his desk.

"Care to share the joke, Detective Esposito?" Her tone suggested boredom but he knew she was considering the possibility he knew more than he was letting on.

Grinning in response, he spread his hands out and said "More fun than Shark Week."

Beckett simply rolled her eyes at him before changing the subject. "Heard from Ryan yet?"

"He said he was getting Jenny to work a little while ago and having a Hell of a time of it. He's probably getting pretty close now." Almost on cue, the elevator dinged and opened to reveal a miserable looking Kevin Ryan, who had some snow melting down part of his left side. The slight hitch in his step as he made his way to his desk caused raised eyebrows from the two people watching him. He glanced up once he noticed the scrutiny and gingerly sat down at his desk.

Esposito leaned back in his chair and idly played with a pen as he watched his partner. "You alright there, bro?" Ryan glared at him, not for an instant missing the amusement in his voice.

"Yeah, you okay? You look like you had a fight with Frosty the Snowman, though I hope you won." Beckett deadpanned the question and Ryan made a face.

"Ifelloutsidetheprecinct," came the mumbled reply.

"Sorry, didn't catch that?" The barely disguised glee in his partner's voice made his ears redden in embarrassment.

"You know how the door to the building sometimes sticks? I was rushing up and I went to pull it open for someone else but I slipped on the ice. I couldn't hang onto the door because my hands were too cold to feel the stupid bar." he rubbed his leg where he had hit the concrete the hardest. "Pretty sure half the guys from downstairs were right inside and saw the whole thing." Grimacing, he shifted to try and get comfortable.

A uniformed officer arrived and made his way to Ryan's desk. There was a badly wrapped lump in his hands that had some writing scrawled on the brown paper. "This is for Detective Ryan from me and some of the boys. We saw your Disney on Ice routine out there and thought you should have this." He presented the package solemnly before walking away. The echoing laughter that followed him out gave up the ruse.

Ryan looked down cautiously, suspecting he wouldn't like whatever was in the "present". Upon seeing the writing he threw it on his desk with an exclamation of "Come on!" before covering his face with his hands. Esposito got up to look and promptly burst out laughing. He tossed the package to Beckett who caught it easily. When she saw what was written she couldn't help but laugh right along with him. In between bouts of laughter, she said "Directions: apply directly to ass. Then head down to the front desk for a special screening of Security Tapes: Wipeout Edition. From your friends at the desk." She tossed the ice pack back to her detective while internally applauding how quickly the other officers managed to get it to him.

"I didn't land on my ass." A new wave of laughter greeted his comment. "Thanks for your concern guys, it's really very touching."

"Any time, man. We're here for ya." he clapped a hand on Ryan's shoulder before sitting back down. The three Detectives turned to their work, two of them finding it a little less tedious than it had been a short time ago.

Triumph in the face of Beckett's stonewalling tactics deserved much more flair than a calm walk back into the precinct. Really it was more of a strut, but he had to express himself somehow. Celebrating like a football player who just made the winning touchdown of a big game would surely attract attention, however. Her attention. Which would be a serious problem for him. He would just have to console himself with the victory dance he did in the hall upon leaving Dr. Parish and her knowing smile to finish tidying up. And one more fist pump right before he walked back into the bullpen, causing a passing uniform to look at him a little strangely.

As he turned the corner, he noticed Ryan had finally arrived. "Hey Ryan." A lackluster response was all he got and he stared at the Detective, curious. It was then he noticed the package on his desk. Striding over, he grabbed for it while asking "Ooh, what's this?" He flipped it over, scanning the note, before dropping it as if he had been burned. His scandalized look finally got a smile out of Ryan.

"You should have seen your face, Castle." He laughed lightly. "Don't worry, I haven't used it."

Still a bit wary, Castle picked the ice pack up off of the floor by the corner and dropped it quickly back on the desk. He read the note through again as he sat on the corner next to it. "Why is this instructing you to 'apply it to your ass'?"

The reopening of that rather sensitive subject soured Ryan's mood again. He pursed his lips and continued to stare at the file in his hands, hoping he could fake zoning out. Unfortunately, Esposito ruined his plan. "He fell right outside the front doors. Bunch of uniforms saw him do it too; one of the guys brought that up for him about two minutes after he got here." A baleful look was shot his way, which he completely ignored in favor of sharing the hilarity with Castle.

"Seriously? And they got it on tape? That's fantastic!" Castle practically crowed with delight. "Ooh, can I bring popcorn?"

Ryan's sarcastic laugh was followed by a balled up piece of paper to Castle's temple. Catching it on the bounce, he returned fire and beat a hasty retreat to his seat by Beckett's desk. As he sat down, he felt the paper smack into the back of his head and watched it bounce onto Beckett's keyboard. She glanced up slowly to Ryan, who was quite suddenly immersed in hunting through his desk for something. Her eyes flicked to Castle, who was looking everywhere but at her, then to Esposito who was enjoying the whole thing far too much. Discreetly, she grabbed a piece of paper she had tested her pen on and balled it up. "Hey, Ryan!" As he looked up, he saw the paper come flying his way, but not in time: it hit him squarely in the forehead.

The snickering to her left earned another well-placed shot to the ear with the first ball of paper, followed by an indignant "Hey! What was that for?" Castle rubbed his ear and stared at her in mock outrage.

"Well it bounced off your head, Castle. I think that means I get to fault you for it as well. Like being the last guy to touch the basketball before it goes out-of-bounds: it's all on you." A loud chortle from the vicinity of Esposito's desk drew her attention back, and she watched as the missile she had fired at Ryan was put back into commission. It bounced off Esposito's neck before finally crashing and burning into his coffee. This time it was Ryan's turn to laugh at the disgruntled face of his partner as he fished out the soggy mess. Beckett returned to her work with a quiet snort of amusement.

She kept an eye on Castle as he sat there. He was behaving normally when chatting with the boys or with her. Every once in a while though, she saw a goofy smile form as he stared into space. Then he would catch her staring and goofy would turn into knowing. It irked her, but he wasn't giving anything else away and she didn't want to make a scene trying to get it out of him. It was probably something she didn't need to know; it was Castle she was dealing with, after all.

Several hours later, after doing their best to plow through the paperwork, the three Detectives and the author were ready to call it quits. Though reluctant to admit it out loud, Beckett credited Castle with the early hour at which they all looked like they would get to go home. He had provided a fresh pair of eyes and a completely different—sometimes utterly ridiculous—take on things. Old cases could be a challenge, with the temptation to skim through everything because you had already seen it before. They all knew how important little details could be when they seemed insignificant at the time, and having someone there who was unfamiliar with the case proved to be immensely helpful in making sure everything was airtight.

The four chattered idly, putting off the trip out into what was sure to be a bitterly cold night. Ryan glanced at his watch, noting he wouldn't have to leave to get Jenny for a good half hour. He was also hoping the uniforms would take off before he did, not wanting to run into any of them for the mocking he was sure to receive, but also because he didn't want any witnesses for a potential repeat performance. Once was more than enough. So he was content to hang out with his colleagues for a while longer. On his left, Esposito reclined in his chair with Castle leaning a hip against his desk, and Beckett perched on the edge of her own.

Captain Montgomery exited his office and greeted their chorus of 'hello's' with a wave. A weary sigh escaped him as he rubbed the back of his neck to help relieve some of the pressure. "You alright, Captain?" Beckett was the first to voice her concern.

"I'm going home as soon as I re-file this, Detective Beckett, so I will be." he held up a manila envelope with a smile. "It was just a long day of rubbing the right elbows and stroking the proper egos."

"We saw you coming in and out a few times, figured someone had you doing damage control on something." Esposito chimed in.

"Well it wasn't damage control so much as good publicity. I did have to talk to the DA's office about the appeal from a case I had about ten years ago though. But other than that I was doing my level best to sell the NYPD with all the positive news we have. The mayor wants some heat off of his office for not getting the streets plowed last week and he figured good news from us would distract people."

"…Really?" Ryan's dubious look was a mirror of everyone else's.

"That's the first thing I'll think of next time I'm trudging through two feet of snow just to get across the street. 'Well this snow is so deep I could lose a small child in it, but hey! The NYPD's Homicide division has the highest closure rate since last year. I don't mind not being able to get to the job that provides my income after hearing that.'"

Beckett rolled her eyes, and said "Like that's a concern of yours, Castle." She turned back to the Captain. "What case did you have to go over, sir?"

"Homicide, woman in her early 30's was killed trying to get home after work. We thought we had the right guy, but thanks to an overachieving lab tech who went over the DNA evidence one more time, we were able to find some traces belonging to another man. Turns out he did it and tried to set our suspect up to take the fall. Our guy had worked with him a little over a year or so before the murder and had gotten him fired because he was stealing from the company and harassing the victim—who turned out to be our guy's ex. He believed the guys' aggressiveness was escalating and reported him. In the process of investigating the company found several thousand dollars worth of company product in the scum's possession. His attorney is trying to claim that if we almost put the wrong man away once, we could have done it with his client."

"Well, that'll never hold up. It's weak because the fact is you did find DNA evidence and motive for both the murder and the set-up." Beckett said.

"Not to mention, it's a pretty lame basis for an appeal. So lame." Castle commented. The Captain nodded in response.

"Why was the other guy your suspect in the first place?" Esposito asked.

"He was in love with the victim. They had dated for a time but he was more emotionally invested in the relationship than she was. Tore him up when she ended it, and he had left her a couple desperate messages. But he always insisted that no matter how much it hurt him, he realized later that ending it when she did was the kindest thing she could have done. We thought he was lying, of course. But when we told him he was cleared, he said that he would always be grateful to her for what she had done. Said it gave him the chance to meet someone else who did love him back just as much. His only regret was that he never had a chance to tell her before she was killed."

"Wow. Just goes to show that nothing's ever a guarantee; you never know when you might miss your chance to saying what you really feel." The tone of Castle's voice was light, but carried an undercurrent that everyone in the room picked up on. He had glanced briefly at Beckett as he spoke, though she seemed unaware that his eyes had landed on her; she was lost in her own sobering thoughts, knowing all too well the pain of words left unsaid. Looks were exchanged by the other three men who most certainly had noticed, however. The Captain broke the silence.

"Yeah it does," he began. "It makes me realize how much I appreciate-"

Ryan interrupted with, "You don't have to say it sir; we feel the same way." Nods greeted his statement.

Captain Montgomery paused and looked at each face in turn, then shrugged. "I was going to say I appreciate my wife for the new flat screen she just got me and I should tell her again." A chorus of "Oh!" followed and he continued solemnly, putting a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "But I also appreciate the sentiment." Keeping a straight face in response to Ryan's crestfallen look was nearly impossible, and he joined in the laughter of the others. Ryan shook his head and shrugged before cracking as well.

"Alright, I'm off. If any of you take off before I'm back, have a good evening."

'Goodnight, sir.' followed him as he headed off down the hall.

After a few minutes of idle chatter, Beckett stood and stretched. "I should probably get going too while it's still settled down out there," she indicated the windows with a nod of her head.

Castle hopped off Esposito's desk, before turning to look at the Detectives. "Hey, anyone else up for some drinks? We could stop by The Old Haunt." He raised his hands in invitation to each of them.

"Sure, that sounds nice," Kate said as she pulled on her coat.

"I've got to go get Jenny in about twenty minutes so I'll just hang here."

"Nah, you guys go on. I'm just going to hang here for a bit then go… fix some stuff at my place I've been meaning to work on." Esposito added.

"Uh-huh." The other three spoke together. Esposito frowned in confusion.

Castle turned to face Beckett as she was wrapping her scarf around her neck. Raising his eyebrows, he gestured elegantly towards the elevator. "Shall we?" He smiled as she playfully smacked him on the arm with her gloves, before ducking her head and hiding a smile of her own.

"Goodnight guys," Kate said to Ryan and Esposito as she passed their desks.

"Gentlemen," Castle saluted them as he moved to fall in step with Beckett.

"'Night" and "See ya tomorrow," was called out as the pair stepped onto the elevator. Ryan and Esposito watched as the doors closed.

"Ten bucks says he kisses her before the night is over." Still staring straight ahead, Esposito issued his challenge.

"I'm not betting against you, I'd put fifty on it." Ryan paused. "Twenty bucks says we get whatever happens out of Castle before Lanie gets Beckett to talk."

"I am all over that one." Esposito had pulled out his cell phone to text her even before the sentence was completely out of his mouth.

"Normally I would be obliged to say I disapprove of all the betting that takes place here. In this case, however, I say 'count me in.'" Captain Montgomery had come up behind them completely unnoticed, sans the file he was carrying on his first pass through. He looked at them meaningfully, raised his eyebrows and said "I'm in for twenty on Dr. Parish. Nothing against you boys, but women have a way of just getting their friends to talk, especially best friends. Even Beckett has to obey whatever unspoken law of nature that falls under."

"Makes it even. And more interesting. If I weren't the one doing the grilling I'd probably bet on her too" Ryan said. An indignant 'hey!' sounded to his left. "Us. I mean if it wasn't us. Geez."

"Could be tough. He's got a good poker face. Something's gonna happen though…I can feel it." Esposito said with certainty.

A mumbled "it better" seemed to come from the Captain's direction. The Detectives turned to look at him in surprise.

"What?" he asked.

Ryan and Esposito glanced at each other, eyebrows raised. Esposito's phone beeped and he opened it to see a message from Lanie waiting. He turned the phone so the other two could see the screen.

Oh I am so in. About damn time!

Three identical smirks appeared around the phone. They couldn't have said it better themselves.

A couple hours later, a pair could be seen leaving The Old Haunt. They were laughing over some joke, and snuggled into each other against the freezing New York night. The man turned to place a kiss on the woman's cheek and she beamed up at him before returning it.

Beckett watched them from the top of the stairs as they headed off down the street. A small smile touched her mouth before she sighed almost wistfully. The bar door opened and the sounds of laughter and chatting reached her ears as Castle came trotting up the steps towards her. Once he reached the top, he smiled and offered her his arm. She took it, grinning back, and toyed with a lock of her hair with her other hand.

"Are you happy with how it's running?" Beckett asked, indicating the bar with a nod of her head.

"Yeah, I am. Nothing has really changed and all the old staff could stay on. Business is good." Castle replied. Their breath escaped on clouds of steam with every word, carrying ahead of them on a light breeze.

Kate nodded and glanced around, before stopping abruptly. Castle felt her stop and turned, puzzled. "Look. It's snowing again." She had an entranced look on her face as she took in the beauty of the scene around her; the snowfall seemed to muffle everything as the flakes caught the streetlights, drifting to gracefully land all around them. It wasn't as heavy as it had been earlier in the day, lightly falling to dust everything in a new layer of white. "You know, even as miserable as it is in a blizzard, there is something so beautiful about snow."

"Yeah. It really is beautiful." But Castle was only seeing the snowflakes that fell onto Beckett's upturned face. They clung to her hair and eyelashes like tiny crystals, but melted against her skin almost immediately. His eyes followed them as they landed, admiring each feature they touched; her high cheekbones, the tip of her nose, the curve of her lips. She must have sensed his eyes on her because she turned to look at him with a question ready before being brought up short by the look on his face.

He was close, too. She hadn't realized their proximity until her vision was consumed with almost nothing but the blue of his eyes. Neither of them moved at first, but even as the surprise set in and their wide-eyed looks mirrored each other they couldn't move away.

The blaring of a car horn broke the silence and the world came rushing back in. They jerked slightly at the assault on their ears before clearing their throats and looking around. Beckett realized she was still arm-in-arm with Castle but chose not to remove it. She ran her hand through her hair then smoothed her scarf down. To her left, she felt Castle tugging at his coat.

As Castle resettled himself, he noticed a taxi pulling up to the curb. The advertisement on the roof was for Taco Bell and—

-Oh. Right there on the display was one of their famous hot sauce packets with those odd, yet amusing lines staring back at him. He could not believe the stroke of luck: That's my ticklish spot. A diabolical look lit up his face, but he tamped it down quickly and put his hand lightly at Beckett's shoulder.

The touch of his hand drew her attention and she looked at Castle again. He pointed at the cab as it waited at a red light. "I never understood the point of those little sayings from Taco Bell. Until now." She stared in the direction he indicated and it took her a moment to find the advertisement. She read the line on the hot sauce packet. Then she read it again.

Castle felt the moment realization hit in the quick tensing of Beckett's shoulder under his hand. "Castle, don't you da—ahh!" Her vehement command ended on a very un-Beckett-like squeak of surprise as she tried to twist away from the hand at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Castle danced out of reach of the elbow thrown his way.

"Yes!" Castle pumped his fist, reminiscent of when he had done it earlier and made the mistake of turning his back. His satisfaction was short-lived. It was his turn to yelp when he felt the handful of snow being dumped down his collar. He turned back to face Beckett, ready to protest her choice of payback when he saw she had backed off and already had a snowball ready to go. This time he was able to duck, and simultaneously leaned down to shovel some in her direction while he made a break for it. It was incredibly icy in spots, so hastening carefully was his only option. He knew she would be right behind him, so he grabbed for some snow off of a parked car.

Beckett fired off another shot that hit Castle's shoulder, but couldn't avoid the snowball he sent her way. It caught her side before she could turn out of the way. She laughed at the absurdity of the situation before preparing her next assault. She watched Castle peek out from a doorway, occasionally bending down to grab snow that had drifted against the bulding, as she tried to hide behind a utility pole. As Castle looked out from his hiding spot again trying to find her, she took aim. The snowball exploded against the corner of the doorway, spraying Castle's face with white.

"Whoa, Kate, do you have to go for the head?" He was still sputtering and wiping snow off his face, his own snowball completely forgotten. The laughter that reached his ears was unbridled. He looked at Kate to see her leaning over, hands braced on her knees. She stood up, clapping once as a new wave of laughter hit her when she saw him. The sound was music to his ears, and her flushed, smiling face drew him in.

She was still laughing as he moved closer.

"Castle, what're you—" the rest of her question was lost when he pulled her against him with one hand on her neck and the other on her hip. Their eyes met briefly before he gently covered her mouth with his own. The initial surprise of his move wore off and she began to kiss back. Really, it was difficult not to participate with a mouth as talented as his coaxing her to.

When they broke apart for air, Castle only pulled away far enough to speak. Kate could feel every word against her lips, his deep rumble imploring her: "Call me Rick."

"Rick." She breathed it out on a sigh as he firmly pressed his mouth to hers for a kiss that she felt all the way to her toes. The hand in her hair had become tangled in the strands at the nape, and she moved her own hands to splay across the back of his head and his shoulder. When he bit her bottom lip gently, she let out a soft moan and curled her fingers more tightly into his scalp. Belatedly she noticed that his breathing was just as erratic as her own.

Suddenly her brain kicked back into gear and her eyes flew open. "Wait, Cas—Rick. Wait." She forced herself to pull her mouth away before she was caught up again. Apparently the alarm in her voice snapped him out of it too. He pulled back slightly and looked at her with concern.

Putting a bit more distance between them, Kate turned disbelieving green eyes to the puzzled blue ones a couple feet away. "Rick, this is not me, I don't just kiss a man when I'm barely out of a relationship with another one. You're shadowing me. We work together. Didn't you say you should never sleep with someone you work with?" Her distressed look twisted Castle's gut a little, and he knew he needed to get his message across in one try—a mistake now could ruin so much.

"Yes, but when do I follow my own advice; when do you for that matter? And technically we aren't really co-workers, seeing as you're my muse." His attempt at levity wasn't going to distract her. So, he took a deep breath, anticipating the plunge. "I know this isn't you, Kate. It's not me either. I think you know me well enough by now to know that the playboy label—that's all it is. I got that reputation before Alexis was born, and occasionally I play into it, but it's just an act. I swear to you I haven't done anything to reinforce it. And besides, Gina and I aren't together anymore, which I am sure you know. I wouldn't do that to her or you. I'm—" He paused, uncertain. "I'm not asking you to do anything that you aren't comfortable with. I've come to realize some things because of the mess with her." Castle paused again, making sure Kate was looking nowhere but him. Taking a deep breath, he plunged on. "One of those things is that I want magic, Kate. And I want it with you."

Kate saw the uncertainty in his eyes; he was just as worried about what this meant for them as she was. That much had registered but she felt almost detached, like she was watching this happen in slow motion, and the words were struggling through dense fog to reach her mental processors.

"I care about you. A lot. So all you have to do is just say the words and I will do you what you need me to do." He inhaled deeply. "Even if that means giving you space. Even if it means that what I just did crossed a line and means you don't want me to shadow you anymore."

By the time he had finished speaking, everything clicked and Kate felt firmly back in the present. Though she was uncertain about where this would take them, what he said about leaving scared her more than the prospect of the unknown. Her heart and mind had come to an agreement, and she caught her bottom lip between her teeth while she chose her words. Her hands rested lightly on Rick's chest as she traced her fingers across the material. "I'm going to say this once, and if you make me regret it I will hurt you."

"I would never do anyth-" A finger on his lips silenced him.

"Shut up or I will get duct tape."

"Mm-hmm."

"I don't want space. I may need time; I don't want to rush into anything blindly. But I like having you around. And I don't want you to leave." The last sentence escaped on a whisper that Rick had to strain to hear. But hear it he did.

The intensity of his smile caused his eyes to crinkle at the corners. Kate reached up to lightly touch the creases. She looked at him and inhaled deeply before closing her eyes. Her mind was made up. When she opened them again she exhaled and nodded once. "Okay." The smile hadn't left his face; in fact it grew wider at her acceptance. The answering one she gave him was breathtaking. His hands wove themselves into her hair and he ran his fingers through the strands, simply reveling in the ability to touch her like this, before gently cupping her neck.

"I'm glad you didn't get the tape." An incredulous look greeted his statement. "I wouldn't have been able to do this," he kissed her forehead. "Or this," he tilted her head slightly by pressing his thumb to her jaw, then gently ran it over her swollen lower lip. "Or this." His other arm wrapped around her and drew her to him completely while he kissed her with three years of pent-up passion, and the first taste of something new—an emotion that caused a flutter in Kate's chest.

This time they parted slowly, with lingering touches of their lips and roaming hands until the need for air forced them to pause for a moment. "Rick?"

"Mm?"

"I have just." Kiss. "One." Kiss. "Question."

"What would that be my dear Detective Beckett?"

Kate pulled her head back and arched an elegant eyebrow. "Magic?" She inquired.

Rick leaned in and leveled a soft, assured look into her eyes. "Magic."

Kate gripped the lapels of Rick's coat tightly as she rushed in for a kiss that held the promise of many tomorrows to come. Her laughter bubbled up and echoed off the buildings as she was quite unexpectedly swept off her feet into the arms of the man she suspected she was only just beginning to know.

She hoped there was a lifetime ahead of them for that.

Well, there it is! I sincerely hope that anyone who read got some enjoyment out of it. Reviews are certainly appreciated and if you have found faults, I welcome constructive criticism.

This was intended as a one-shot, but I think I will be working on a follow up; a plot bunny attacked but it was a hit-and-run. Once it returns, we'll see what I can do. Expect the rating to go up! Because with the chemistry these two have, that kind of heat probably wouldn't be too far off ;)