One of the things I often think about with this whole Castle/Beckett thing is just exactly who carries more baggage... Because, sure, Kate has the whole "Mom's been murdered and I've spent my entire adult life building walls so I'm never hurt like that again," thing, BUT she also had an entire eighteen years growing up in a stable home with two loving parents who were, by all accounts, deeply in love with one another. Castle's upbringing? Not even close. And then he's got two failed marriages, so... Yeah. I know the popular portrayal in fic is that Kate's all vulnerable and uncertain and Rick has to walk her through this whole thing and teach her how to trust, but honestly I don't think that's necessarily how it will run. Or how it should, anyway.

All of that to say... Here's my episode tag to 5x02. I have a second part that's considerably steamier, that I'll post soon. Hope you enjoy!

And if you haven't signed up for my free digital magazine - with some of the best fanfic on the web in multiple fandoms, fanvids, articles on craft, fandom, and more delivered straight to your inbox - you can go to bloodwritesfanfiction dot com to do so.

And now... Onto the fic!

She wasn't calling him.

Not a chance.

For a couple of reasons: One, Kate hadn't been kidding when she'd said she couldn't get the image of that bimbo's boobs in Castle's face, out of her head. She winced at the memory, taking another sip of red wine. God.

It was late. Kate was in her pj's – the comfortable ones, not her date-night pajamas. Her cell phone was beside her on the couch, a good book (one not written by Richard Castle, incidentally) in her lap.

She hadn't gotten much reading done, though.

The problem was, she really kind of… Wanted to call him.

But she wasn't going to. Dammit.

The other reason not to call was actually the more important one:

This was a critical moment in her and Castle's relationship. Up to this point, it had always been very clear who was in charge in this partnership: Beckett. She called the shots – that was just the way it worked. And Kate liked the way it worked. If she called him now, after clearly stating what she wanted – and didn't want – tonight, it would be setting a very dangerous precedent.

No.

She was not calling.

That didn't mean she couldn't be happy when he called her, though.

Her cell rang at just after eleven-thirty. Kate glanced at it, squelching a grin, and then rolled her eyes at the onslaught of butterflies. Butterflies, for God's sake. Over Castle.

She picked up the phone.

"Whatsa matter, Castle, you can't get to sleep without me tucking you in just this once?"

"It wasn't the tucking in I was missing," he said. His voice was low, just a little gravel in there. Kate bit her lip, and ordered the friggin' butterflies to give it a rest.

"Aw, poor baby. Sorry, Castle… I told you. It's gonna take at least twenty-four hours to erase the image of that floozy."

"At least twenty-four hours? Come on – Really?" He was whining – Just a little, but still. Kate curled her legs beneath her and took another sip of wine.

"Rick, she was practically naked. On top of you. You really thought that was just gonna get a pass?"

"I don't know – I thought since it was, you know, work-related, we could just forget about it."

"Remind me again how that was work-related?"

"Well… I ran into her while we were on the job. So…"

"So by that logic, if that fireman who was coming onto me during the Tate case earlier this year – "

"Now hang on – "

"No, Castle, I'm just trying to make sure I know the rules here." She couldn't stop smiling now, her eyes sparkling. Was there anyone more fun to torture than the great Rick Castle? She seriously doubted it. "So, the fireman – Andrew – asks me out on a date. And I say yes. And over the course of this date, he strips down to his – "

"Okay, okay, okay! No dating. No… didn't we already go over this? I agree – no dating. No stripping down with anyone else – "

"So, if we had that all figured out already, what was this call for?" she asked.

There was a pause on the line. For just a second, Kate dropped the teasing. "Rick?"

"Yeah... No, I just… Well, I just wanted to make sure we're really okay. I know we're joking, but with the fight, and the…"

"We're fine," she said. Her forehead furrowed as she considered his tone, her voice softening. "I would've told you if we weren't, Castle."

"Yeah?" He breathed an audible sigh of relief. "That's good. Because, you know, I thought we were fine when I left – but I've thought that before, and then I woke up to find my Gold card gone and my wife on a plane to Paris with a swarthy pool boy named Eduardo."

He had that kind-of-joking-but-not-really thing going on. She thought about his words for a second before she said anything.

"I'm not Meredith. Or Gina, thank God. Trust me… If I'm pissed, you're gonna know. And as for the swarthy pool boy… Give me a break, Castle. We've known each other a while now – how many swarthy pool boys have you seen me running around with?"

"Well… None."

"Exactly." She hesitated and bit her lip, thinking things through. When she spoke again, the humor was gone. "I'm in this, Rick. It's gonna take more than some halfwit in a bikini to scare me off. We've come too far for that. Been through too much."

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. Kate sat up straighter, forehead furrowed again. "You still there, Castle?"

"Yeah," he said after another second. "I'm still here. You know, it's strange… We spent four years sleeping apart every night, and we've been together just a couple of weeks… And it already feels wrong sleeping without you."

If she'd been standing, she was sure her knees would have gone a little soft at that one – it was the kind of thing Castle did best. The thing that had maybe surprised her the most about him from the start: those unexpected, heartfelt speeches of his always caught her off guard. In a good way.

"Yeah, well… I feel the same way," she confessed.

"So, uh…" His voice lowered, a little more gravel in there this time. "Would I be ruining the moment if I asked what you were wearing right now?"

She laughed silently, shaking her head. "I'm going to bed, Castle. I suggest you do the same."

"I'm in boxers myself – " he added.

"I'm happy for you. Goodnight, Castle."

"Don't you want to know which ones?"

"I'm hanging up now."

"I could guess what you're wearing, if you want. That could be fun."

"I'll see you in the morning."

Another pause. "Yeah. Okay. Goodnight, Kate."

"Goodnight, Rick."

She hung up the phone, stretched luxuriously, and stared at her glass of wine, now nearly empty. She had to admit, she did wonder which boxers.

The conclusion goes up tomorrow. Thanks for reading! And at the risk of being redundant, that Kickstarter address again is .