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Chapter 2

AN: So, those of you who requested a "morning after" follow up, you win. You planted the idea in my head and naturally it consumed all my thoughts and begged to be let out… As always, please review, I so appreciate feedback. Oh, and keep in mind, it takes place kind of mid-always so Beckett hasn't resigned, etc. etc.

Beckett wakes to find herself tangled in Castle's sheets, and the man himself. His legs are entangled with hers, a steady source of heat grounding her from a night spent tossing and turning. Beckett swallows a sigh of contentment, she's a snuggler at heart. Previous boyfriends would ardently argue the opposite. She hadn't wanted to snuggle with a man in a long time. She'd pushed them away, declared that she liked to be free to move during the night. They'd conceded and given her space. But, she was a snuggler. She supposed it stemmed from her childhood, Sunday mornings spent curled up in bed with her parents. The sense of security and complete and utter love that encompassed her with the press of her parents bodies beside hers. There is a simplicity in the reality of it all, Kate Beckett does not snuggle someone with her body unless she can snuggle them with her heart as well. Cheesy as it sounds, it fits, especially now as she finds herself intertwined with Castle and so undeniably happy that she can barely believe it.

She lifts her eyes from Castle's sleeping form to her surroundings, it's still dark, too dark for her to be awake without a decent reason. The sharp, shrill signal of her phone sounds and she recalls what pulled her from her slumber. It's probably a body drop. She reluctantly pulls herself away from Castle just a bit and searches frantically for the still-ringing phone, one hand blindly patting the floor until she connects with it and draws it to her ear. Naturally, it's dispatch. It's a shame, she was really looking forward to spending the morning snuggling in bed with Castle. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

"Castle," she murmurs into his ear, deliberately keeping her tone seductive and a little teasing. There's no response from the man beside her. She rolls her eyes and shifts back into him, pressing her lips in a slow trail of kisses up his chest. Still no movement. Really? "Castle…" she tries again, louder. Seriously? What is he, in a coma? She grins a little diabolically to herself in the quiet night air. She knows exactly what will wake him up…

"Ow, ow, ow! Woman! What did you do that for?" Castle moans, bursting to life, swatting fiercely at Beckett's fingers still firmly twisting his ear.

"You could've woken up when I kissed you," she shrugs, soothing over his ear gently with her fingertips in a silent apology.

"You kissed me? You really should wake me up for that – I like being an active participant," Castle frowns.

"I tried! I've seen bodies on Lanie's slab wake up quicker than you," she teases. He shudders a little in response at the recollection. "Speaking of bodies…" she hedges.

"Oh right," he sighs. "You want a shower?"

"Yeah, but… I should probably go home, get some clean clothes, might as well do it there," she reasons with a brisk nod, as if she's trying to convince herself as well.

"Do you have to?" Castle whines. "Oh, you can borrow something from Alexis' wardrobe, she won't mind," he grins. "It'll save us loads of time. Don't want to leave Lanie standing round getting grumpy waiting for us…" She rolls her eyes but nods her agreement.

"Want to help me save the environment?" she adds, her eyes twinkling. Castle merely beams and tugs her into the bathroom in response. All his fears of waking alone washed away in the steam of Beckett's watery embrace. This is it.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Esposito eyes them suspiciously as they arrive at the crime scene. Sure, they shared a cab, it wouldn't be the first time. Nonetheless, there's an air between them, like they're deliberately distancing themselves from each other. He wonders if they've had yet another fight. He hasn't been blind to all the tension of late. Still, it seemed fairly resolved, Castle had stopped toting blonde bimbos at the precinct and Beckett had stopped looking like she wanted to shoot someone – everyone. Something is definitely up. Castle is almost quiet – it's decidedly eerie. Usually he likes to annoy the crap out of Beckett by rambling on incessantly about every thought that comes to his mind.

He watches as they kneel beside the body. Castle is a little unsteady as he settles on his haunches, rocking like he might topple over, Beckett steadies him with a hand to his thigh. Castle rights himself, but Beckett's hand remains insistently on his leg, he gazes at her with a look of pure wonderment as she keeps her eyes steadfastly on the corpse, a small smile curling her lips skyward. Castle presses his hand atop hers and squeezes it in thanks. She flips her hand over and laces their fingers tightly together, and – oh, my god, that's when Esposito knows, knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt why his boss and her partner are acting so weirdly this morning.

Of course, knowing is one thing, torturing Beckett and Castle for the sake of it is something else altogether.

Beckett squeezes Castle's hand gently once more, and drops it as Lanie slowly draws her eyes from the body as she finishes the abbreviated version of her preliminary findings. Beckett nods in response to something Lanie has said and Esposito can't help but grin to himself, Lanie is going to be so mad that he figured it out first. At this rate, he might just win the pool. That's almost a bigger victory than the actual relationship between Castle and Beckett. Almost.

Before Esposito has time to formulate a solid plan as to how to mess with his friends, Ryan stumbles back into the alley grumbling about having to do scut work at this hour of the morning. His canvass of the surrounding streets hasn't resulted in anything and he's in a little bit of a mood. Esposito ignores his mumbling and stills him with a hard to his arm before he approaches Beckett with the news of his fruitless search.

"Just wait a minute, bro," he mouths quickly. Beckett is getting to her feet and Castle's arm has risen supposedly inconspicuously to support the underside of her elbow and she stands. Esposito smirks broadly at the gesture. Ryan observes him wryly.

"What's up with you?" he demands loudly with all the subtly of a love-struck-Castle. Esposito answers him a sigh and a shake of his head. Clearly his partner is not in a detecting mood this morning. He'll just have to fill him in on the ride back to the precinct.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Castle kisses Beckett sweetly as the elevator ascends. Beckett smiles into his lips. It has all the makings of a new tradition. Possibly a favourite tradition. She pulls away, but they remain shoulder to shoulder, learning against the back of the elevator as the doors to the bullpen slide open. Esposito is standing before them, arms crossed, a smirk on his face. Beckett pointedly ignores him. He can't know. He can't know what they did last night, or what they just did in the elevator. He may suspect – she probably kept her hands on Castle a little too much at the crime scene – but he can't know. So, she steps around him and strides confidently to her desk with Castle trailing a safe distance behind her.

The morning progresses slowly, the case is stagnating so the whole lot of them trudge down to the morgue. Lanie raises an eyebrow as the four of them walk in.

"Please have something for us," Beckett offers by way of explanation. Lanie opens her mouth to respond as a voice chimes in from the adjoining room –

"I found them, thanks Lanie!" resonates cheerfully through the room.

"Alexis?" Castle calls, confusing clouding his tone.

"Oh, hey Dad," his daughter beams as she steps into the room. "Detectives," she adds, taking in all the occupants of the room.

"Hi Alexis," Beckett smiles, as the boys nod in greeting.

"What are you doing here," Castle queries, curious more than anything else.

"I just stopped by on the way home, left my gloves here," she raises the aforementioned gloves with a shrug. "Oh Detective Beckett, I like your shirt!" Beckett attempts to keep her face from flaming beet red at the comment, she succeeds, at least until the girl adds, "I have the same one, except mine has a stain on the oh…" she trails away blushing fiercely. Beckett finds her cheeks reddening in an echo of the girl before her.

Lanie squeals. There's no other word for it.

"Katherine Beckett, care to explain why you are wearing little Castle's shirt?" she hisses, but there's no threat to her tone.

"I knew it!" Esposito's fist pump is anything but manly. Beckett buries her head into Castle's shoulder for a moment before Lanie drags her into the room Alexis has just come from, slamming the door behind them. They leave a startled Alexis gaping at Castle, Ryan unintentionally mirroring her expression as Esposito silently gloats. Nothing about Lanie's interrogation is delicate. Her voice rises through the closed door for all the room to hear.

"Finally, Kate, finally! God, I need details, girl. The whole play-by-play. Even fricking second! Wait? Something really did happen right? You didn't just spill coffee on your shirt or something ridiculous like that? Please tell me you let that adoring man rip the clothes from your body and they're lying in shreds on his floor?" From the exuberant tenor of her voice Castle can practically see the excitement bouncing in Lanie's eyes through the closed door.

"Lanie, Lanie! Lanie!" Kate is calling, her voice rising in frustration. "Lanie!" she finally screams and her friend's mouth snaps shut, before flopping back open – she reminds Beckett of a caught fish gasping for water. "Would you just shut up?" Beckett's voice is travelling over into the adjoining room as she matches the volume of her friend. "Yes, yes, okay. We're together. We love each other. Whatever. Deal with it!" She wants to add more but she finds herself crushed to her best friend's chest in a rib crunching hug. The door to the room slams open as Castle propels into the pair of them.

"We love each other?" he demands, a sense of awe sweeping over him. Beckett shoots Lanie a deathly glare before turning to Castle, her bottom lip gently caught between her teeth.

"Yes?" she replies, her eyes drifting to his chest, a little scared to meet his steady gaze.

"Yes," he asserts reverently. He nudges her chin upwards to meet his gaze. "I love you, so much," he affirms.

"I love you too," she beams. He crushes his lips to hers fiercely in response. She meets him just as greedily, pressing the line of her body into his. Perhaps a little too intimately for company given the –

"Eww," that slips from Alexis' mouth at the sight of them. Castle pulls back just enough to hug Beckett tightly, his lips skimming over the crown of her head. Despite the psychological damage Alexis is evidently suffering, their embrace achieves one thing, Lanie has fallen silent, her jaw dropping wide open, her eyes glassy. She appears to have slipped into shock. Typical. Beckett twists in Castle's embrace and turns to face her.

"Don't we have a case to solve…" she teases with a wide smirk. It's business as usual for Beckett, after all, she's practically been in a relationship with Castle for the past few years as it is…