A/N: So, I recently saw the picture I've used for the cover art to this story and I realized that I've never written a 'Cuffed' post-ep. The image kind of stuck in my head until I got this down on paper. I hope you will indulge me, please, while I get 'In Some Corner' out of my system? I seem to be in more of an angsty mood right now. This one should be pretty short.

So, this story is based on the premise that the show ended immediately after Castle and Beckett were rescued from the basement by Ryan and Esposito. Imagine the story fading to black after Captain Gates gives them back their belongings and the whole team walks out of the old warehouse together.

We pick up from there...

"Castle, I did not survive a bullet to the heart to die as tiger kibble."

- Detective Kate Beckett, Castle 4x10: 'Cuffed'

Chapter 1: Tear Down

Her body is buzzing with energy, pure adrenalin still racing through her veins, when Castle dumps her own handcuffs into the box of belongings she's currently holding, giving her a loaded look that she's too keyed up to decipher when she slowly drags her eyes up to meet his.

She feels restless and edgy, like she could run a marathon without pausing for breath, despite not having eaten for hours or had any real rest. Unless you count waking up on a dirty mattress next to Castle…cuffed to Castle. Kate's cheeks get warm at the memory of that particular incident – her hand on his chest with the warmth of his body bleeding into her fingertips, her other arm snaking beneath his neck. Were they posed like that or did…? No, she can't have.

She's vaguely aware of the boys bantering with Castle, hears the little growl Ryan makes when he does his 'Tony the Tiger' impersonation. But when she glances over at their little group, Castle is looking back at her. Directly at her. He might have a smile fixed on his face that the boys could mistake for him being part of their teasing, playful conversation. But his eyes tell a different tale. He's detached from the rest of the company, he's looking right at her and that isn't good.

Kate strides ahead, making for the doors and fresh air, eager to get out of the dark, airless, dusty building they've been trapped in for hours. Eager to put some space between herself and her partner and the feelings of panic and longing that keep rising in her chest. Yes, longing, she screams inside her head. 'That's what you're feeling. He touched you and you touched him and you liked it, Kate. Deal with it,' her inner voice screams.

They were a team today, maybe something even closer than that. And so what if they bickered at first. When they finally 'found their rhythm' as Castle rather suggestively put it - given some of the physical maneuvers they got up to down there - they were a damn good team. But it feels like more than that, whether she's ready or not. She's pretty sure she isn't, but something inside of her is pushing to get out today, and she's not sure what it is.

Captain Gates catches up with her as she stands outside in the fading daylight drawing lungful's of fresh air in through her nose, trying to center herself, to calm down, her eyes temporarily closed.

"Detective, take the rest of the day. You can file your report in the morning. Ryan and Esposito can handle things for now. You look like you could use a break. Both of you," says Gates, glancing back at Castle, who's standing a little way away with the boys, and yet, not with the boys.

Because he's still looking at her.

"Thank you, Sir," says Kate, feeling her skin prickle under Castle's loaded, penetrating stare.

She doesn't know what to do now. This day has been one of their weirder ones by far – drugged, cuffed, the tiger, and then everything else that was layered under, over, around and in between all of that.

"Hey, guys!" Kate hears Ryan call out, and she spins round to face him. "You need a ride?"

Kate immediately looks over at Castle and finds that he's still looking at her, only now he's wearing an expression that says: 'You decide. Ball's in your court.'

Her heart pounds, but she makes the dangerous choice anyway. "Eh…thanks, Ryan. But I think maybe I'll walk for a bit, get some fresh air. I could do with stretching my legs." She scuffs the ground with the toe of her boot waiting to see if Castle will speak up too. "I can take a cab."

They are in some kind of industrial area, a little off the beaten track. Not accepting a ride home after the day they've had is more than odd, but she can't bring herself to go home alone just yet.

"What about you, bro?" asks Esposito, eyeing them both suspiciously.

"I…uh—" he hesitates, eyes sliding over to meet Kate's again. "I should call Alexis. Let her know I'm okay. I'll keep Beckett company. Then maybe catch a cab too," he shrugs, trying to play off-hand. "Thanks for the offer."

"Yeah, thanks guys. See you tomorrow," adds Kate, glancing at Castle again, her expression serious, forehead drawn into a partial frown.

Ryan and Esposito watch them for a moment or two more before slowly getting into their car.

"Well, that was weird. What d'you think's wrong with mom and dad?" asks Ryan, continuing to study them through the windshield as he fastens his seatbelt.

"I'm thinking it's not what's wrong, but maybe what's right, bro," says Esposito, firing up the engine.

"What? Wait. No! You don't think—?" frowns Ryan, whipping his head round to look at his partner. He turns back to stare at Castle and Beckett again, examining them for clues. "Nah! Down there?" asks Ryan, wrinkling up his nose in distaste at the thought of them doing anything down in that damp hellhole.

"Stranger things, man," mutters Esposito, raising his hand in a wave as they drive past the writer and his muse, who are still standing meters apart, making no move to get on their way. "With those two, anything is possible."

"In front of Tony the Tiger?" murmurs Ryan, almost to himself.

"As I said, stranger things when you're staring death in the face. And cuffed together," he adds, with a wink and a smirk.

And then suddenly they are alone again.

"So…which way?" asks Castle, looking left and right.

"Shouldn't you call Alexis?"

"I might be a man, but I can still walk and talk."

Kate laughs quietly, scraping a hand through her hair and then she looks down at the ground. "Yeah, right. Sorry. How about I lead, you talk?"

"And the universe is restored to its rightful axis," jokes Castle.

Kate turns right, following the road that Ryan and Esposito have just driven down. She stuffs her hands in the pockets of her coat and Castle falls in step with her, the glow from his cell phone screen illuminating his face.

Alexis' tinny, high-pitched voice can be heard echoing out of Castle's phone seconds later.

"Dad? Is that really you?"

Castle laughs, glances at Kate, and keeps walking, switching back into daddy Castle mode as easily as he segued into that of bickering husband down in the basement. He's an actor, just like his mother. Must be in the genes, she thinks, a little uncharitably.

"Yes, pumpkin, we're both fine. Kate is here with me now. Home?" he repeats, with a hopeful, questioning lilt to his voice.

Kate looks at him sharply, frowns and shakes her head.

"Uh—we're just…we're taking a walk. Yes, I said walk," he repeats, performing a little embarrassed laugh at his daughter's surprise that he's out walking anywhere. "Promise I'll tell you all about the tiger when I get home. In a while. I'm not sure how long the…uh…the paperwork might take. I'll call if I'm going to be late."

Kate snorts derisively at his suggestion that he might have anything to do with actual paperwork, and then hot on the heels of that thought she wonders why he's lying to his daughter. She knows why, of course, she just doesn't want to admit it to herself yet.

Castle hangs up the phone and jams it back into his pocket.

"Paperwork?" asks Kate, giving him a nudge. "Seriously? You think Alexis will believe you're helping out with paperwork?"

"I hate lying to her, but I didn't know what else to say," he admits with a candor that Kate finds alarming.

If he's prepared to be this honest about deceiving his daughter, there's a good chance he's on the verge of being honest about other things too. She's not sure she's ready for that, especially the way her body is still reacting to him after their enforced proximity today.

She lets out a long, slow breath before she speaks. "Maybe this walk was a bad idea," she says, staring straight ahead.

Old warehouse buildings line the alley they're walking along, left and right.

"Not the most salubrious neighborhood you've ever taken me to," Castle remarks, attempting to make a joke.

"Hmm, kinda like that hotel that rents rooms by the hour? I'm sensing a theme," she muses, also attempting to keep the mood light, since without the threat of imminent death to distract them, there's a distinct risk of things turning far too serious, far too quickly.

"Not one of our better decisions," admits Castle, looking up at the dirty, broken windows, the concealed doorways; every one now bathed in threatening dark shadows.

"Don't worry, Castle. I have my gun. I'll protect you," says Kate, trying to be chipper and alleviate the tension.

"Don't say that. Luck we've had today, a herd of elephants will charge around the next corner any second and stampede right towards us."

"Always the drama queen," sighs Kate witheringly, deciding for certain that this walk was a dumb idea and needs to be over soon.

Esposito suddenly pulls the car over, brakes sharply, and then quickly reverses back into an alley, jerking to a stop and killing the lights.

"Javi, what are you doing?"

"Waiting."

"For what?"

"Just watch that block across the street. Keep your eyes peeled for mom and dad."

"You're spying on Beckett? What about Gates? She'll be wondering where we are after that little speech about calling in."

"Do you want to find out what's going on between those two or not?" challenges Esposito.

Ryan hesitates for just a second. "Turn the heater on, the windshield's fogging up."

"There's got to be some traffic on a street around here somewhere. We'll grab a cab as soon as we see one," says Kate, looking around for the most likely route out of Dodge.

They walk on in silence for thirty seconds before Castle speaks again.

"You felt it, didn't you?" he asks out of nowhere.

Kate's blood runs cold.

She fires back the only response she can think of, trying to steady her voice when she speaks. "Felt what?"

"Kate, don't play games."

"Castle," she sighs, with well-practised annoyance, rubbing at her bruised wrist. "I've had a lousy day. Let's just get out of here."

But he ignores her diversionary remark and sticks to his own topic of conversation.

"So, you're really gonna try and pretend that you didn't feel anything?" asks Castle, his tone shot through with challenge. "Then what are we doing here, hmm? Walking through some abandoned…what even is this?" he asks, looking up at the dereliction and industrial decay surrounding them. "Really? After the day we've just had?"

The walk that seemed like a chance to talk or something - when the prospect of sharing a car ride with the guys seemed far too public a way to transition back down from what they'd just been through together - now seems like the craziest decision she's made in a long time.

"This stupid walk was a bad idea," mutters Kate. "I need a shower. We haven't eaten anything in hours. I don't know what I was thinking. First cab we see—"

"Kate, cut it out," snaps Castle, completely shocking her.

"Me?" she practically screeches, stopping dead to stare at him in anger.

She grips his shoulder, her raised arm coming to rest on top of his, and then she wheels him round, staggering into him hard, propelled forward by her own momentum. Her body collides with his and then her lips are on him. Her hands seize hold of his cheeks and jaw, framing his face, and she pushes up on her toes to plunder his mouth. Everything about the kiss is rough, desperate and forceful, as if this is how she needs to be to finally make this happen. As if anything more tender or delicate would simply be too painful for her.

She crowds him back towards the screening shelter of the building. After a second of total shock, Castle's hands land on her hips, gripping her with equal ferocity while she continues her assault on his mouth. He finds himself joining in enthusiastically (since that's what partners do, right) until his shoulder hits a wall, and he feels himself tipping over from safe to unsafe and, abruptly, he stops her.

In his mind, he's fighting a terrible push-pull of emotion – need, want, lust and desire warring with care, respect, decency and love.

The latter group wins, and he pushes her away, staggers backwards, catching his elbow on a rusty, cast iron downspout.

"Stop! I'm not doing this with you," he says, shaking his head and holding up his hands to ward her off.

Blood pounds in his ears and his heart thuds frantically in his chest. But there's no need to keep her at bay, she looks too shocked by his actions to do anything anyway.

"Not here," he adds more gently, for clarity sake.

Kate stares at him, her eyes large, wild and wounded, her chest heaving. She looks at him as if he's just betrayed her.

"Kate, I said not here," he repeats, hoping she can hear him. "Not…not ever," he tacks on, already watching her shut down on him, making his heart sink.

She immediately turns away from him then and begins striding hard and fast towards what she hopes is civilization and a cab of any make, model or medallion.

"Kate, don't be like that," he yells after her, slapping his thigh in frustration as he watches her walk away, getting smaller and smaller as she recedes into the distance and the darkness begins to swallow her up.

He jogs, catches up with her by the time she reaches the end of a particularly long loading bay.

"Come on, talk to me," he pleads, grabbing for her arm.

But she manages to shrug him off, throwing one shoulder back like a seasoned Yankee's pitcher without even breaking stride.

"I made a stupid mistake, okay," she says angrily. "This walk, that…that kiss… Ahhh!" she growls, annoyed with herself more than him, searching left and right for a cab now that they've finally hit something that resembles an actual public road.

"Finally a kiss you're not ignoring!" declares Castle, flinching when she spins on her heel immediately and jabs him hard in the chest.

"What did you just say?"

He's about to answer her when his eyes go wide at something he's just spotted behind her shadow, and he stops with his lips parted, the words drying up instantly.

A vehicle pulls up to the curb behind them, accompanied by a short blast of the horn, and Kate turns around with a sigh of "Finally, a goddam cab."

Only it's not.

"Hey, guys! Guys? Need a lift?" yells Esposito, leaning out of the window with an amused look on his face.

Kate glares at Castle and then she lets out another roar of frustration, before pushing past him to yank open the back door of the Charger.

Castle follows her, but before he can scoot in behind her she slams the door in his face, so that he's forced to head round to the passenger side and get in behind Ryan.

"Did you guys forget something?" asks Castle, wondering why they're still in the vicinity.

"Uh…yeah…" mutters Esposito, though he's no more forthcoming with details.

"I felt like Lebanese food," lobs in Ryan, his blatant lie about as dainty as a hand grenade in a confessional box. He glances shiftily at his partner. "Thought I saw a place earlier…" he adds, trailing off before he can dig both of them into a bigger hole.

"You don't even like Lebanese food," snaps Kate, staring out the window so that she doesn't have to look at Castle, who has now settled in beside her in the back seat of the car, making sure to keep his distance.

She hates herself right now. She kissed him, and he was quite right about a dirty, dark warehouse wall in some abandoned industrial wasteland not being the place for any of that. Not for them. Not anymore. Not ever. And she overacted. He made himself clear – not here, not now – and now she's behaving like some hysterical, rejected teen.

"Where can we drop you?" asks Esposito, eyeing Kate in the rearview mirror.

"Just…can you take me home?" she asks, squirming in her seat, unable to force herself to even look at Castle anymore.

"What about you, bro?" Esposito asks Castle. "You going home too?"

"Uh…yeah. Loft would be great, if it's not too big of a detour," says Castle distractedly.

When Kate sneaks a glance at him when they slow at the next stoplight, he's typing something on his phone.

She tuts and sullenly turns away to stare out the window again, imagining him arranging a date with some nubile, bubbly young thing - her mind so twisted by exhaustion, disappointment and hunger that she isn't even thinking straight anymore.

They pull up outside Castle's building first, and he's just shutting his phone down when Kate's cell phone chimes to alert her to the arrival of a text. She fishes it out of her pocket and is opening the text facility when Castle gets out of the car and slams the door behind him.

The text is from him. It reads: 'Call me later? We need to talk.'

She glances up just in time to see him raise his hand to her through the side window. His gesture is something like a wave, but he also has his cell phone in his hand, reinforcing his assertion that he wants to talk to her. She's still staring, but has no time to react or respond to him when Esposito suddenly pulls away from the curb, bouncing over potholes to join the flow of traffic headed along Broome Street.

When she turns to look back at her partner through the rear window, he's still standing on the corner of his block, one hand raised in a parting wave, staring after the disappearing car, his face a picture of grim determination.

TBC...

Love to hear your thoughts if you have time.