i swore blind i wouldnt do it but it had to be done..they speak so very loudly sometimes! (thanks to diane for proof reading and encouraging the tease!)

Disclaimer: i own nothing but the need for cuffed...its a burning need!

She was cold, eyes scrunched tight, as she fought the mounting urge to wake up. She curled into her shoulder, tucking her head into the groove as tightly as she could, trying to stay warm.

Half asleep she became aware of a burning heat source, resting across her arm, it was glorious, she wanted to curl up in it. She yawned and snuggled closer, her free hand moving, almost without her permission, as her icy fingers sought the warmth and she lay them flat against something cosy, inviting and squishy. She let her fingers trace patterns in the soft material as she tried and tried to fall back to sleep.

She inhaled deeply, finally giving in to her body and its incessant need to be awake, but as soon as she sucked the deep breath in, a familiar scent assailed her senses and her body went stiff.

Castle.

She breathed him in again.

When she opened her eyes, sleep still dancing somewhere in the background of her mind, she smiled, widely, softly, taking in the sight of the man she loved draped across her arm in bed.

She lay, unable to drag her eyes away from his face as he slept. She had always pictured when they got to this point in their relationship (and she had been convinced, for a while, that that time was fast approaching) that the first time she woke up in his arms, she would find him watching her.

She smiled wider, she had beaten him to it.

They were finally here. They had…

The smile fell away, no they hadn't.

Her eyes scrunched in confusion. Where the hell were they?

Her head snapped up and she rolled looking around, no idea of their location as her eyes darted around the dark and dingy…basement? Dungeon?

Oh god, were they in a dungeon?

Had he done this?

She needed to wake him up.

She sat up and leant forward, almost across him, her arm moving slightly under his head, as she stared incredulously at his face, her mouth hanging open. She wanted to kiss him, now of all times, in the middle of this, she wanted to kiss him.

Her movement made him stir and sigh sleepily.

"Mmmmm…Don't get up yet, stay in bed."

Her eyes went wide, something danced inside her as he thought, like she had, that they had spent the night together. She forced herself to push it aside, concentrating on the fact they were…wherever the hell they were.

She hissed his name desperately needing him to be coherent.

"Castle!" she really had to have him alert and thinking clearly, and that sultry bedroom voice was not helping, well it was helping, just in the wrong way whilst they were trapped in a… again, where the hell where they?

He sighed deeply again and turned, a small smile playing across his face as he finally opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Kate, hi." there was that voice again. She fought the groan that wanted to escape as soon as she heard him say her name like that.

She barked at him. Desperation flooding her as she sought to snap him out of it.

"Castle!"

"What?" he asked confused.

She caught sight of the handcuff around her wrist.

"Did you do this?" she asked, shaking it lightly, already convinced of his answer, he was many things, annoyance, daily hindrance, safety, back-up, source of strength, comedic interlude, partner, love of her… but kidnapper? She didn't think so.

"What?" he asked again.

The aggravating man was still half asleep, she wanted to shake him, ok, she wanted to do a lot of other things whilst she had him on a mattress, but right now all of those things were being over ridden by the sense of panic and confusion washing through her.

She leant in closer to him.

"Stop saying what and wake up!"

He looked confused, why was she talking to him like that? Didn't she realise they were in bed together, for the first time ever. He was on the verge of reaching for her and lacing his fingers through her hair to…wait, how did they end up in bed together?

"I don't…" he lifted his hand to his eyes to rub the sleep away, looking at it and wondering why, when he lifted it, hers followed, attached by…whoa.

He yanked his arm in front of his face, pulling her closer as he did, not believing his eyes.

"We're handcuffed?" he asked. No fair, they were handcuffed.

He was handcuffed to Kate and he didn't remember how. It was just monumentally un-fair.

"It's kinky." he stated, rather impressed.

He turned and gave her a look. Ok, Beckett had a wild side, he knew that, but this…oh this was…

"Castle it's not funny." she said, glaring at him, exasperating man.

"I didn't say funny, I said kinky! And I didn't cuff us." he gave her that look again.

She caught on to what he was suggesting and spluttered

"Waa..eee what you think I cuffed us?" she pointed to herself in shock, as if she would, well…she might, but she damned well planned to remember if she did.

"Well they look like police cuffs." he replied, an amused edge to his voice.

He still didn't get it, not awake enough to panic with her, yet!

"Somebody else did this to us." she confirmed as she sat up. Forgetting she was handcuffed, yanking him with her.

He followed the forced momentum of her body, whipping his legs forward for balance, clanking them loudly against the floor.

He pulled his arm over his head, so their hands sat together on their knees and she shimmied the cuff around her wrist into a more comfortable position.

They looked around the dark room, and he caught sight of her face, the panic and confusion mingling with annoyance.

"Do you recognise this place?"

He honestly didn't.

"No," he said "but if I was writing a book, this is where bad things would happen."

Her eyes widened and he regretted it immediately, but she shook it off, clearly she had already been thinking the same thing.

Her gaze dropped to her wrist.

"My watch is missing." She ran her hand across the place where her fathers watch normally sat, catching at skin with her fingers.

Someone clearly didn't want them knowing how long they had been down here.

How long had they been here?

He checked himself, hands roaming into his pockets and patting his shirt. Each time he moved their joined hands pulled her closer to his body, her fingers brushed his chest as he searched. He fought a smile, this could get interesting.

"Mine too and my wallet?" He was confused again, had they been robbed? Robbers and thieves didn't often steal the people they stole from as well.

Her voice took on an angry edge as she lifted her shirt.

"So's my badge and my gun." she almost growled the word, she hated people messing with her weapon. He wanted to grin, oh this was not going to end well for the person who took away her ability to shoot at things.

"And my phone" he said completing his inventory "I just renewed my contract."

She turned to him, her hair flipping and catching in the minimal light afforded by the high window.

"Would you stop joking?" she asked, already aware of the futility of the question.

"Hey," he answered "do I begrudge you your coping mechanisms?"

He shrank back a little as her face blanched.

Did he know? She wondered, he couldn't know, there was no way he could know she had heard him say he loved her.

She couldn't help it if she pushed things down, locked them away until she was ready to deal with them. She started to breathe a little too fast.

She was trying, he must know she was trying.

She felt her hand shake and looked down at it.

He felt it too, through the joins of the hand cuffs, and, desperate to comfort her in any way he could, he laced his fingers through hers. She was freezing, he rubbed at their joined hands trying to warm her up.

He watched as she took a deep shuddering breath and raised her eyes to look at him again

"Sorry." he made a face, almost acknowledging his own stupidity.

She nodded and squeezed his fingers, thankful for the warmth, but more thankful for the comfort, for him.

She really was trying. She took a deep breath, and feeling his fingers laced with hers, she drew strength from the touch and pushed aside the panic.

It was pretty easy to do, it wasn't that other kind of panic, the intense, lost, burning kind of dread, that had washed over her and pulled her under.

This was just situational panic, and she pushed it aside because this was her job and this was what she did. It was what they did. They sorted through evidence, they time-lined, they came up with theories and plans and they caught the bad guy.

She might be trapped but she had her partner, and there was nothing she couldn't over come when she knew he had her back.

She took another deep breath. It was getting easier by the minute.

"We need a plan." she said looking around.

He yanked her hand, wanting her attention. He had watched the minor battle she had waged behind her eyes, knowing without a doubt she would be victorious, but he waited for the right moment.

Now he wanted…well in honesty he wanted to tumble her backwards onto the mattress, use the handcuffs to his advantage and start peeling off her clothes, but he didn't think that was a viable option.

Humour might work though.

He tugged her hand for attention again.

"We could always…" he nodded back towards the mattress.

She rolled her eyes, but smirked, leaning into him, their joined hands pressing against his thigh as she spoke.

"If I'm going to be kinky with you Castle, it will not be in a dungeon."

He raised his eyebrows, his mouth falling open before he smiled.

"Where will it be?"

She needed to stand up, escape him a little before she responded and she jumped to her feet forgetting the cuffs.

Her forward, rising, momentum was completely negated by his refusal to move, and the handcuffs afforded him the perfect opportunity, once she was tumbling backwards, he kept her falling until she landed flat on the mattress.

He allowed the force of her fall to pull him with her and conveniently, he smirked to himself, landed partially across her.

She huffed out a breath, as he leant forward raising their cuffed hands, fingers still laced, above her head.

"Castle," her voice came out in a nervous gasp "err what are you doing?"

He shook his head innocently, as he brought his right hand up to brush a strand of hair behind her ear, letting his fingers linger over her face. He brushed his thumb along her cheek, letting one finger skim down to the edge of her lips.

"Nothing." he smiled down at her, never one to waste an opportunity he started to lean towards her, slowly, waiting for her to stop him.

Her hand rose, he waited for it to push him away, or pinch him, but instead she caught at the collar of his shirt and pulled him forwards, smiling back at him.

Lips millimetres apart there was a loud thudding crash above their heads. Her eyes darted up to the ceiling and he groaned, knowing what happened next all to well.

Something clanged above them again, someone was moving.

This time he followed her line of sight and stared at the ceiling, their joint gaze nearly intense enough to burn a hole clean through it.

"Get up Castle!" she pushed against him, her breath catching his face, her skin skimming his lips as she forced him off her.

She jumped to her feet, groaning as she pulled him up, he was unsteady rising to his feet, a little bit overcome by missing another golden opportunity.

She let go of the elbow she had used to pull him up, and looked at him, before dropping her hand and lacing their fingers together. Joined tight, she squeezed, he wasn't sure who she was reassuring, and he didn't care.

They stood, side by side, still holding hands, waiting, for whatever was coming their way