Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle the show or any of the characters.

ALSO this story is a sequel to my story Captain, so if you have not read that I would suggest doing so before reading this one :P Thanks

Kate slammed her mug down on the table in frustration. "Damnit Castle! Why can't you just let me do this my way?"

A few weeks after Kate had put her very first stalker behind bars Beckett and Castle had decided to make her move into his loft more permanent. They were still in the process of moving everything. Rick wasn't rushing her, he just wanted to get it done, but she wanted, needed, to take her time with it. She needed to do it at her pace, not his. This was their second argument on the topic.

"Your way is taking a long time. Kate I just want this to be your home."

She got up and brought her plate to the dishwasher. They had been eating breakfast when he had brought up the move again. She was silent for a minute, trying to figure out what to say and how to say it without letting things get out of hand. She turned to face him and leaned up against the counter. "Rick, I do consider this my home, I really do. I just..." she took a deep breath. "I have had more than a few boyfriends before; a couple of them were pretty serious. But I never moved in with any of them, I always had my own place. My own house I could go to when I got caught up in a case and I knew they didn't want to deal with me, someplace I could go when I needed to be alone. Moving in with you…it's what I want to do, this is where I want to be, but I need to do this at my own pace." She stood there with her arms crossed across her chest, waiting for him to say something.

He got up and walked to where she was standing. He stood in front of her for a second then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. "I'm sorry Kate, I don't mean to rush you or anything like that. I won't bring it up again ok? Take your time."

"Thanks."

They stood like that for a minute, letting the tension in the room thin out. Kate sighed and Rick took a step back. "Time to go?" he asked.

"Yeah, Lanie is meeting me at my place in half an hour." The ME was spending the afternoon helping her pack the rest of her stuff up. It was something she needed company for. Since the team was in between cases they had both taken the day off. Kate went upstairs and threw on a pair of worn out jeans and a comfy t-shirt. She grabbed her purse and was out the door after giving Castle a quick kiss.

She got to her house and set her purse down by the door. She went back to her car and grabbed the empty boxes she had picked up. Once back in her apartment she stood in the doorway looking around at what still had to be done. Most of the furniture was being sold except for a couple of small pieces that had survived the explosion of her previous apartment and had belonged to her parents. She was almost glad that she hadn't had much time to accumulate a lot of knick-knacks after finding a new place.

She decided to start without Lanie. She would be there any minute anyways. She brought a box to the kitchen and started packing up most of her kitchen stuff. She set a couple of pieces aside, a few of her favorite mugs, and some plates she didn't want to get rid of even though she knew Castle had more than enough. The rest of it she was going to donate.

When the box was full she checked her phone. Lanie was supposed to be here half an hour ago and there were no messages from her. She dialed her friends' number and after a few rings it went to voice mail. She left a message asking Lanie where she was and if she was still coming then hung up. It wasn't like Lanie to be late but she figured maybe she stopped somewhere.

After another fifteen minutes without hearing back she tried calling again. When there was still no answer she decided to call Esposito and see if Lanie was with him.

"Hey Beckett, we got a case?" he said in greeting.

"No, actually I was wondering if Lanie was with you, she was supposed to meet me almost 45 minutes ago and she isn't here."

Esposito paused. "I was with her this morning, but she left to go meet you almost an hour ago…she didn't get there?"

Kate sat down as all the possibilities started running through her head. "No she…she never got here, I've already tried calling her twice and left one message will you try too?"

"Of Course, I'll call you back in 5 minutes."

They hung up and she could tell Esposito was starting to worry as well. Lanie was never late, and she very rarely turned her phone off.

She sat on the chair that was still in her living room and waiting for Esposito's' call. When her phone rang she picked it up without looking at the caller ID. "Did you get a hold of her?"

It wasn't her partners' voice that answered her, but another male voice that sounded vaguely European. It was cool and even. "Missing something detective?"

Ok I know this one was super short but the next one will be longer I promise.

What did you think?