"Sir?" Beckett knocks on the Captain's door at two in the afternoon. She's sent their killer to holding, and she's just about done with the paperwork.

"Come in, Beckett," Montgomery nods at her. "I see you wrapped up the case? Good work."

"Thank you, Sir. It wasn't an easy one." Beckett runs a tired hand through her hair and the Captain smiles at her.

"Hell of a week," he offers. "Take a seat."

Beckett sinks down in the chair opposite gratefully. Montgomery is looking at her intently, and she thinks she sees worry in his eyes. "Sir- I'd like to take a few of my vacation days."

His dark eyes narrow at her, and she gulps. "You've earned them, Beckett," he says slowly. "But I know I've had to force you to take them in the past- what's changed?"

"Nothing," she tells him, repressing the urge to roll her eyes.

"Nothing, huh?" He smiles at her, and she sees a twinkle in his eyes. "See you back here in a week, Beckett."

"Thank you," she tells him gratefully, standing and pushing the chair back in. She makes it almost to the door before the Captain speaks again.

"Tell Castle we miss him," he calls out.

Kate's heart is thumping in her chest as she drives, and she has to lift her foot from the pedal a few times; the last thing she needs is to be caught speeding. Or get into a car accident. She alternates between chewing on her lower lip and singing along to the radio, and she changes stations a dozen times between the Brooklyn Bridge and the Hamptons. She's not sure, if this is such a good idea anymore, and she contemplates turning around and heading back to the city. But each time she considers it, she's spurred on by thoughts of the conversation she'd had with Castle last night.

They hadn't actually spoken since Castle left for the Hamptons. Sticking to text messages has felt right to Kate; she's missed her… writer, but she's also been glad of the space. She's had a few quiet moments to herself between junctures in the case, and Beckett's assessed the situation as logically as possible.

Most of the messages have done nothing to quell the longing that Kate's feeling; she misses him, and she doesn't mind admitting that to herself. He makes her job just a little more fun. But it's not just the job; he makes her life a little more fun. He makes it a little warmer.

And when she thinks of the last time she'd seen him, the way they're stared at one another across the hospital bed… she thinks she's ready to stop pretending; she's ready to give in to the attraction she's been denying even before he offered to debrief her all those months ago.

Last night she had made it home a little earlier; the case had been solved by then and the team were just waiting on warrants to come through. Kate had carried a glass of wine into the bathroom. She'd then turned on the faucet and poured an obscene amount of bubble bath into the tub, and watched in a kind of childlike delight as the water swirled and became foamy. She'd stripped off, and stepped into the bath, sinking down, her eyes closed… she was ready to relax.

And then her cell had chimed.

She'd cursed softly, assuming the worst; this wouldn't be the first time dispatch had interrupted her from a soak in the tub. She'd reached out a hand to pull her cell to her ear and answered. "Beckett."

"Did you miss me, Detective?"

His voice had sent a chill of pleasure down her spine and brought a smile to her face. "Hey, Castle," she'd replied lazily. "What are you doing?"

"Just… hanging out," he'd told her. "Alexis and I watched a movie. Did you put the case to bed?"

"I did," she'd told him, setting the phone to speaker and placing it back onto the table next to her untouched glass of wine. "It was his sister."

"Why?"

"Money," she'd sighed. "He stood to inherit more than she did."

"Huh. Sounds kind of like our first case together." Castle had sounded delighted and Kate had pressed her lips together, repressing a smirk.

She'd reached for her wine glass, taking a sip of the red. "It kinda does," she'd agreed. "How's your arm?"

"Better," he'd said. "I'm off the painkillers now. Still can't type properly though. Gina's not impressed." He'd chuckled. "I miss the city, though."

"Oh yeah?" she'd asked. "What do you miss?"

"Mmm. I miss the precinct. I miss solving murder. I miss finishing up at the end of the day, and going home with you."

"We've never done that!" she'd protested.

"I miss opening a bottle of wine with you, and curling up with you on the sofa…"

She'd rolled her eyes. "We've never done that either."

There had been a soft chuckle on the other end. "Beckett?"

"Mmm?" She'd been getting sleepy and she was pleasantly surprised by how comforting it was to have Castle's voice on the other end of the phone.

"What are you doing?"

She'd smiled softly. "I'm curled up with a glass of wine," she'd told him. No need to mention the fact that she was naked and in a bubble bath.

"Oh. I wish I was there, sharing a bottle with you," He'd said, his voice low.

"I… kinda wouldn't mind that," she'd admitted.

There had been a silence for a moment, and then he'd spoken again. "Maybe it's a good thing I'm not there." His voice was soft and dangerous. Kate had felt her skin break into goose bumps and she'd shivered. Did this man know what he was doing to her? "If I was there right now..." Castle had broken off and she was left wanting more.

"If you were here right now?" she'd prompted, and the world had stilled for a moment.

"If I was there right now, I don't think I'd be able to help but kiss you."

Kate had been too stunned to say anything for a moment- all she could imagine was his mouth on hers- but she'd answered at last, trying her hardest to push the desire out of her voice. "If you were here right now..." she'd started. "You think I'd let you get into my tub with me?"

There had been a crash on the other end and she'd laughed softly. And then he'd spoken again, his voice nothing more than a squeak. "You- you're in the bath right now?"

She pulls up into the driveway with trepidation; when Kate had spoken to Alexis after she'd left the precinct the girl had warned her not to be intimidated by the house. She'd laughed it off, figuring that a New York cop couldn't be intimidated by a mere house, and reminded herself that she'd already seen Castle's loft, which was a very impressive piece of New York real estate.

But this… mansion is not what she'd expected. This place is monumental.

Kate has checked her GPS twice; this is the place. She kills the engine and before she can summon the courage to get out of the car, the front door opens and a red-head flies out, a beaming smile on her face.

Alexis throws her arms around Kate, and the detective hugs her back. "Dad's going to be so excited that you're here," she tells Beckett.

"So you didn't tell him I was coming?"

Alexis shakes her head, and grins. "He loves surprises. Really, Detective Beckett, it will be fine."

Detective Beckett again. Interesting. Kate smiles at the red-head. "Kate, Alexis, it's Kate."

"Sorry," Alexis apologizes. "It's just- you're here- it feels different."

Kate bites her lip and allows Alexis to lead her into the house. She's not wrong; it does feel different.

"He's in there," Alexis whispers, nodding her head to indicate what looks like a cozy den. "You can interrupt."

Kate's eyes widen. "You're not coming in with me?"

Alexis laughs lightly. "Go ahead," she tells Kate. "I'll be upstairs." She darts away and Beckett is left standing in the doorway. She takes a hesitant step forward; she can see the back of Castle's head now. He's in an armchair, reading from his kindle.

Kate clears her throat. "I thought you'd be the kind of person who reviled e-books and only read the real thing," she starts, and he turns his head.

"No, I just can't-" he answers almost automatically, before shaking his head. "Turn the pages properly," he finishes lamely. "Beck- Kate?"

"Hey, Castle," she manages, biting down on her lower lip in an attempt to hide her smile.

"You're- what? How?"

He's not quite making sentences, and Beckett rolls her eyes affectionately. "Your daughter," she tells him. "Alexis knew I was coming- I spoke to her this afternoon."

"You talked to Alexis?" Delight is apparent in his voice, and Kate steps forward, moving into the room properly.

"Yeah. I, uh- closed the case." Castle takes a few steps closer to her as well, and their eyes lock. "And I talked to the Captain, and asked to take some of my vacation days."

"And you came here."

"And I came here," she agrees, taking another step toward him. They're face to face now, and Castle is beaming at her.

"So, Kate…" his left arm is still strapped to his chest, and he reaches out with his right hand, tucking a stray tendril of hair behind her ear. "Why did you come here?"

She ducks her eyes, glancing at his lips, and recalls their phone conversation. "Maybe… you said something last night… that got me thinking."

"What did I say?" he breathes, and Kate has a wild moment where she's suddenly thankful that Alexis had the grace to excuse herself upstairs and leave Kate alone with Castle.

"You said… you didn't think you'd be able to help but kiss me."

"I see," he whispers, and then his free hand is back in her hair, and he's pulling her to him. His lips meet hers, gently at first, and then with a little more force; she's opening her mouth and kissing him back, and her arms are around him.

They break apart, foreheads resting against one another's for a moment as they both exhale.

He's beaming at her, and she knows his joy is mirrored in her own expression. She smiles shyly. "Was that worth coming all the way here?" he asks, and she grins, biting her lip, and looking up at him with a glimmer of amusement in her eyes. It was so worth it, but she shakes her head.

"It's been a traumatic couple of weeks... You just got shot... I drove all the way here… I think I'm going to need more than one kiss.

He chuckles, and pecks lightly at her lips again before speaking. "Why, Detective. What else did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking we could… read. Maybe watch TV. Or, we could start with dinner." She smiles, and it's her turn to press her lips against his. "Maybe… debrief a little."

A/N: Whew! Many thanks to Trish and Kylie for their beta-ing and support. And thank to you guys for reading, following, favoriting and most of all, reviewing! I certainly didn't set out to write a case fic and in my naivety I had no idea how much I would have to mess with the mythology to settle it somehow- my hat goes off to case fic writers, truly! I'm deep in NaNoWriMo now, so my next fic won't be up til after November- hope to see you then!