Author's note: It's been a very long time since I wrote anything besides emails and reports, and it's not quite like riding a bike - this seemed to take me forever, and that was before the endless tweaking and then the inevitable loss of perspective so now I don't know how it reads at all anymore. But it's been addictive, and maybe in time the rust will fall off. Anyway. I hope this is enjoyable. Please let me know, good or bad!

INTO THE FIRE

It had been a long day. It began at 5.30am with a call out to the scene of what turned out to be a fairly simple murder-suicide, and then overlapped an ongoing investigation into what Beckett and her team suspected to be an honor killing. The new case, whilst being open and shut, was a sad one. The uncomplicated ones usually were, as there were no odd clues, conspiracies or missing body parts to distract from the ultimate fact that someone who was loved had died. In this case, there was a note that explained that the victim could no longer go on watching his wife die a slow death from MS but couldn't live without her either. Meanwhile, Beckett's ongoing investigation into the killing of a 17 year old who was about to be forced into an arranged marriage was slow moving. The community had shut down in the face of any questioning, so they were currently involved in a two pronged approach of building trust with one or two individuals who were most likely to spill, and looking at more lateral routes to the proof they needed. The combined effort of grinding away at one case and starting and ending the other in one day meant everyone was tired and eager to get away from the precinct that night.

Beckett was just finishing off the write up of the assisted suicide case - carefully ignoring the stack of other investigations which also needed reports completing - when Castle dropped into his chair beside her. He leaned on his elbow, moving right into her personal space and looked directly at her with the fixed stare of a bored child. She'd been waiting for this 'are we nearly there yet?' moment for about an hour, and although he was in her way and so slowing down progress, she couldn't help but let a small smile escape.

"Castle."

He stared some more. Pointedly.

"Castle, I have ONE more form."

"Do it tomorrow."

"No, if I do it now then it's done. It'll take five minutes." She looked up at him. "If you get out of my way."

He mimicked falling asleep, his head slipping from his hand as his elbow slid across the desk. There might have been a pretend snort as if he'd 'woken up'. She carried on writing, smirking a little in a way that betrayed the fact she sort of wished she didn't find it funny.

"Fine. You're still coming though, right? Esposito doesn't turn 34 every day, you know. Apart from the fact he did 3 days ago and didn't tell us, so I think this should now be his real birthday. Or unbirthday. Like the Mad Hatter. From Alice In Wonderland? The Mad Hatter! Oh! I should buy him a top hat! And a teapot!"

He had leaned in closer again in his enthusiasm for his secret gift plot, speaking in an exaggerated stage whisper so as not to arose the suspicions of Detective Esposito. Who wasn't even in the room.

"Castle."

He sat back.

"Yup."

Twiddled his thumbs.

Esposito walked past, returning from the locker room. Castle raised a hand in a high five, which was ignored.

"Beckett. Joining us at the Old Haunt?"

"Sure. One minute, just want to... get... this... signed. There. Done!" She put her pen down with a satisfied click and shuffled the papers into a messy pile which were then shoved into a folder and put in her previously empty out tray. "Let me grab my coat."

"Got it!" Castle whipped her leather jacket out from behind him and stood up, holding it open for her to slip into. She let him slide it onto her shoulders and pulled her hair out of the way with a shake of her head. Castle tried not to inhale too obviously. He reached for the back of her neck where he had seen a flash of white, as she started to turn around. She looked at him in mild surprise.

"Label."

"Oh. Thanks."

Esposito lead them out, calling behind him, "Let's get out of here. RYAN! C'mon bro, you're getting the first round, right?"

"Castle. Hey, Castle. Castle! Stop it!" Kate grabbed the back of Castle's shirt and pulled him back from the open elevator doors. She tried not to giggle. He moved back, nearly treading on her foot, and moved to one side of her in a slightly wobbly fashion.

"Ok. Shhhh. Shhh." He raised a finger to his lips, paused for a moment as the elevator doors closed again, then looked at her and dissolved into giggles himself.

"Your neighbours are going to be mad and you know what happens when they get mad? They call the police, and they complain. And... and...", she'd lost the thread of her point somewhere. "...And I'M the police!"

"Ok. I'm sorry. You ARE the police. Oh, oh, does this mean I'm a bad boy? Will you have to..." he leaned into her, "punish me?"

"Wow, Castle, you could light fires with that breath." Kate fanned the air between them, turning her head away as he stood back and leaned against the wall, still smiling. The doors pinged open on his floor at that exact moment. It suddenly seemed like quite an effort to transfer the momentum of his body from leaning back to leaning forward in order to walk.

"C'mon Castle, this is your floor." She reached out and grabbed both his hands, pulling him towards her, moving to his side as he got going. She was sort of enjoying her role looking out for him, especially as it was in a much more entertaining situation than one involving guns and hardened criminals. She was pretty sure he hadn't intended to drink as much as he did, and to be fair he wasn't anything like as bad as Esposito was when they left. Castle was more 'merry' than full out drunk, and apparently that included behaving like a child even more than usual, hitting every button in the elevator then leaning out of the doors on each level and shouting greetings. She kept a hand on his arm as they walked down the hallway to the front door, in case his balance wasn't quite up to the job. Not because her head was a little bit light too, or because she quite liked the feel of his arm beneath her palm.

The truth was, she thought as she watched Castle check three pockets before locating his keys, she hadn't had such a good night in some time. She'd forgotten how much she enjoyed spending time with her colleagues - her friends - doing nothing more than having a drink and talking increasing amounts of garbage. Tonight's garbage had been spectacular. Out of nowhere, Ryan had asked the question: 'If you HAD to make love you an animal, which one would it be?' Kate nearly laughed out loud again just thinking of it, and the expression on Esposito's face, before they'd all found themselves seriously considering the options. They were good guys. Good friends. She wondered for a moment how some people could just work in an office cubicle all day, with bitchy coworkers and miserables bosses, and not care about the fact they spent more hours there with those people than anyone else.

The door swung open, pulling her away from her thoughts, and Castle gestured for her to go in before him. She did, seeing the empty but familiar apartment in front of her, the lights left on low. She glanced back, remembering she was keeping an eye on her boozy partner, but kept waking towards the inviting couch as she saw him shut the door and hang his coat with only one miss of the peg. He headed towards the couch too, still wearing the same grin from the elevator, and she stayed standing, catching a hand as he mis-timed his approach and walked into the base a little. He swung round using her hand for balance and sat.

"I meant to do that," he said, still holding her hand.

She looked at him, amused.

"I'm going to get you a glass of water."

He leaned back into the couch and smiled some more.

Kate walked to the kitchen and got a glass from one of the cabinets and ran the tap, filling it slightly too quickly so there was a moment of spray. Her top got wet, but she didn't really care. She glanced at Castle, who was resting his head on the back of the couch, still smiling but with his eyes closed.

"Here we go." She handed him the glass and dropped down next to him, leaning her elbows forward on her knees. "How're you feeling?"

He looked at her from his rested position, "Oh, Kate, Kate, Kate. I'm fine. Just fine. Thank you. And thank you."

"For what?"

"For looking after me tonight. Getting me home. It's very sweet, you know. You're very sweet."

Kate smiled.

"And thank you for letting me play cops and robbers with you."

"Well, Castle, I can't deny you've had your moments too. Drink your water, it'll stop you getting a headache tomorrow."

"Oh I don't think drinking the contents of the Hudson would stop me getting a headache now. But I'm pretty sure," he patted Kate's thigh with one hand, absentmindedly, "that I am not going to be the one with the worst headache. In fact, I imagine the birthday boy is drunk dialling Lanie right at this... very... moment." He tapped at his watch and nodded at her mock solemnly. Kate laughed, leaning back into the leather and letting her head rest on the top as Castle had moments before.

"Oh, he was most definitely further gone than you. Tell me, wise one, at what time tomorrow morning should I expect him to call in sick?"

Castle, resting his head back again next to hers, turned slightly to look her in the eye and then brought his fingers to his temples. "Ommm," he said, closing his eyes in meditation. Kate lifted an arm and slapped at his side, laughing again. He opened his eyes when she touched him and turned his head to hers, smiling. She looked back, her eyes sparkling with her own smile. They stayed that way for a moment, till she broke the look and looked at her hands although the upturned corners of her mouth remained.

"You had a good time tonight." He said it more of a statement than question.

"I did. It was... nice."

His eyes hadn't moved from her face. She looked even more beautiful than normal, her hair down around her face framing it with dark waves which had escaped the style that she'd arrived at work with that morning. Her eyes danced. She looked a little like a fifties movie star that the director had used a soft filter on, to give her a silky glow in a quiet scene with the male lead. She looked so... relaxed. When he was stone cold sober there were times he couldn't drag his eyes away from her, so there was no hope of hiding his visual caress tonight.

"It feels like it's been a long time since I've been out and let my hair down. I... I wasn't really sure if... I wanted to. Or if it was something I was able to do."

She leaned back again, and Castle raised his head a little, turning to face her. She glanced at him, quietly.

"After Montgomery, and the... shooting. And everything with my mother's case. It didn't feel right having fun, somehow."

Castle opened his mouth.

"I know, I know," she silenced him before he'd had a chance to say anything. "But that doesn't stop me feeling it."

He closed his mouth again, as did she. It was a valid point. He raised one of his arms that had been over the back of the couch and touched her back lightly, gently, just feeling the slight brush of her hair. He hoped a touch said more than his mouth was capable of at that moment. She turned a little, so her position mirrored his, and looked straight at him. His hand didn't move as she turned, so it ended up on her shoulder, his fingers in the lower curls of her hair. He wiggled them a little. It felt nice. Soft.

"Castle, I need to tell you something. I want to tell you that I'm sorry. And I want to thank you."

He raised his eyebrows. He didn't know what he'd expected, but it wasn't that exactly. She took a breath, a bit surprised at how easy it was to say. The pillow of beer around her heart and mind must have offered a helping hand.

"Thank you for being there... and waiting."

As she spoke, their eyes never leaving each other, the warmth from his hand moved to the side of her neck, stroking the skin ever so slightly under his fingertips. She saw in his face it was something he was barely even aware he was doing. It wasn't a move. It was affection. She felt it, but it seemed right. Normal. So she didn't pay it much attention as she tried to focus on what she wanted to say. But the words, despite not resisting being spoken, were not forming as smoothly in her brain.

"I'm still seeing someone. A therapist. And it's-"

She was interrupted. Interrupted by Castle's hand sliding up, cupping the side of her face, one thumb stroking at the skin by her ear. Interrupted by the movement of Castle's other arm, which came round the outside of her, palm pressing flat into the leather. Interrupted when his weight shifted so close to her, his chest, shoulders, face coming nearer in what felt like slow motion but must have happened in mere seconds.

Her lips were still slightly parted, her sentence unfinished, and although he wouldn't want her to think he wasn't listening or didn't care about the fact she'd said things that were of significance to the both of them, he couldn't resist anymore. The courage he'd never quite found before to complete a moment they'd shared, a feeling that neither could deny they felt - not just inside themselves, but in the air between them - was suddenly there. Perhaps he could thank the final glass of Scotch, but he didn't feel his judgement was clouded at all. On the contrary, he felt he knew clearer than ever before what he needed to do. To be the one to slide the first brick from the wall.

Their lips met with force, not aggressive but magnetic. Kate's eyes blinked once before sliding closed, all thoughts gone from her mind in a flash. All she could focus on was the warmth, the softness, the slight magic tingle of the connection. It was slow and smooth, feeling each other out, no thoughts, just instincts. Time slipped by; it could have been seconds, minutes, hours. His hand moved up into her hair as hers slid to his thigh, balancing her weight as she leaned in but the slight squeeze of her fingertips betraying it as more than just a practical transition. He felt the pressure on his leg and between her touch and the smokey velvet of her mouth, he couldn't stop a low, quiet moan of realisation and desire. He pushed her further, his mouth reaching at hers, harder and longer, testing her with more pressure. The thrill kicked in even higher when she pushed back, her strength catching him out as her weight shifted forward, moving him back so she suddenly dominated him, taking over his mouth at the same time. He had no time to react as her hand slid up his leg and under the loose edge of his shirt, skin meeting skin. The heat and the tiniest dig of fingernails into his bare flesh baited something primal but also awoke seventeen years of parenthood in him - they must move somewhere more private - and he thrust forward and upward, seizing back power. His palms under her elbows, he lifted her from the couch, from her feet in one motion till they both stood. Their lips ripped apart for a moment, and she looked into his eyes as her own flickered a second of understanding and wonder, and an even shorter twitch of doubt. Any threat of a moment's contemplation was completely overpowered by her sudden and unexpected arousal at someone else taking charge, him not being afraid to handle her, move her around as he desired with no warning - it was exciting, to realise that not only did she enjoy this alpha male behaviour, but that he acted on tendencies she didn't know he had. Barely divided, they pressed still tighter together, removing any hint of air between them, mouths finding the other once more, ardent and desperate. He had one arm around her, holding her up and into him as tight as he could, needing to feel every part of her against every part of him, and his other hand roamed through her hair again. Her palms were pressed to his face, but moving and exploring his hair, his neck, his shoulders, the collar of his shirt and then inside the material. He shifted his weight again, his feet going into auto pilot and his arm lifting just enough of her gravity to slide them both towards the door of his office, and beyond, the bedroom.