A Key(chain) Moment

A Season 4 Ficlet

She's out with Lanie, helping her friend select a gag gift for a colleague's retirement party, when she finds something else entirely. It's stupid, she knows. It's stupid and more than a little bit juvenile to consider buying it given the circumstances, but instead of deterring her, that only makes her resolve stronger.

After so many weeks of confusion and frustration, they're making progress again - finally making progress - and she will do whatever she can to hold onto that, to cultivate renewed good will and regain whatever ground she can with her partner. Including holding this stupid little trinket to her chest so Lanie can't see it while they finish shopping. Lanie has been witness to enough of her drama over the last few weeks; the last thing she needs is to draw more attention to it.

Her heart flutters as the clerk bags her purchase and hands it over. If she and Lanie part ways soon, she might still be able to make it to the loft to give this to Castle before she loses her nerve.

"Okay, what is going on with you?"

Beckett blinks, facing her friend only to find Lanie sizing her up.

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" Lanie repeats, looking incredulous. "You've been quiet all day, but you definitely haven't heard a word I've said in the last five minutes, for one. Second, you've been holding your whatever it is like it's a precious metal, but I know you did not find a priceless palladium anything here. And third, after all the angsting you've been doing, girl, you are smiling. So, what is going on?"

"Nothing, nothing. I'm just… having a good time today."

Lanie lowers her chin, lifting an eyebrow in disbelief. "You looked miserable until about twenty minutes ago, but sure. Keep pretending I was born yesterday."

She sighs, looking around just to be sure that her partner isn't going to jump out of some far corner and ruin the surprise - or worse yet, mock it with that angry edge his voice had carried for weeks.

"I found something for Castle, okay? A silly keychain. That's all."

Her friend's face softens. "That's all you needed to say. Of course, I want to see this special keychain of yours, but that's all you had to say."

Kate sticks her tongue out at her friend. "You're going to think it's dumb. Hell, I think it's stupid," she adds under her breath, already reaching into the bag to show Lanie.

To her credit, Lanie does an admirable job of not scoffing at the gift. Instead she gives Kate a soft look.

"Girl, you have it bad."

"Oh hush," she mutters, stuffing the keychain back in the bag.

Lanie shakes her head, curling her hand around Kate's arm and giving her a tug toward a cafe down the street. "It's not a bad thing. In fact, I think it's a great thing. You're showing him how you feel, not just giving him a few signals and expecting him to decipher them."

"A few?" she gawks. "Lanie, I've-" the words stick in her throat, reminding her to take a breath. "You're right, it's a solid gesture, which is important."

"And one that appeals to Writer Boy's niche nerd interests, no less," her friend praises. Beckett laughs. She has a point there; if there's anyone who will appreciate this, it is Castle. "I'm not insulting you, Kate. What I'm trying to say is that the fact that you're accepting these things is great. And to celebrate, we are going to have a danish and some tea – well, I will. I'm sure you'll have coffee – before I head to this ridiculous retirement party."

Kate laughs again, nodding in agreement. She can use the extra time to formulate a plan for presenting the gift to her partner without running scared.

Castle does an impressive job of masking his surprise when she raps on his door, but she sees it and offers a small smile of understanding. They're - she's - not exactly known for making house calls just for the sake of being social.

"Beckett, hey. Do we have a case?" he asks, inviting her in with a sweep of his arm.

"Ah, no. No, but I brought dinner… if you're hungry? And not busy?" she adds after his eyes dart to the side. "If you're busy, I can-"

"No," he says quickly. "No, no. I'm not busy. Just watching out for an ambush."

Even as her brow furrows, she can't help but glance around the room as well, trying to see things through his eyes. "An ambush?"

Castle's eyes snap back to her, his face brightening. "Oh, yeah. Alexis and I started our thousand-point laser tag challenge again and since then she's been coming up with the strangest, most awesome ways to ambush me to get ahead."

Beckett grins, rocking on her feet, eager for more of his light. "Like what?"

"She hid in one of the kitchen cabinets and jumped out at me when I walked in to make my coffee this morning. And then, she managed to balance on the rungs of the chairs under the table and get me again when I went to do laundry."

She snickers. "That's impressive. Was she hide and seek champion when she was little?"

"Three years running," he says with pride. "But now I need her to be a little less sneaky. Because she might give me a heart attack if she doesn't, and I don't stand a chance in this game."

Beckett smothers a laugh. "Don't worry, Castle, I'll scope things out for you."

She winks, stepping toward the kitchen. Her partner doesn't follow, but a glance over her shoulder tells her his eyes are on her anyway, his face contemplative.

He catches her gaze, the thoughtful look fading into a mischievous smile. "Anything?"

She barks a laugh, shaking her head. "Coast is clear, Castle. Come on."

He grins, taking steady steps to join her at the counter. "We can eat on the couch," he says as she unloads the takeout bags to reveal their meal. "Can I get you something to drink first?"

"Wine?" she asks, looking up at him with soft eyes.

Castle moves to the wine cabinet, grabbing a bottle of her favorite red without a word. Her lip finds its way between her teeth as she watches him work the cork from the bottle.

"Thanks," she says as he pours two generous glasses. His lips lift.

"Anytime. I would much rather you enjoy this instead of my mother. Because I know you will savor it."

She laughs, nodding. She's seen Martha put away a bottle before - in celebration, darling, the other woman had said. "Well, in that case I'm happy to give the wine the respect it deserves."

Her partner grins, lifting the pile of take out containers and carrying them into the living area.

She trails behind him, easing onto the couch at his side with a smooth confidence that doesn't quite reach her bones. How long has it been since they've been this close? This much in each other's space without one of them jerking away and putting distance between them. She almost expects him to scoot to the other side this time, too, but he doesn't. If anything, he uses the excuse of handing her food over to get closer.

"How'd you know?" he asks as they dig in. "That I was dying for Alonzo's today," he adds off her quizzical look.

Her lips lift. "After a day of shopping with Lanie, I needed garlic knots. I just kind of hoped you did too."

Castle's face brightens. His lips part and she finds herself pitching toward him, awaiting his next words.

"I'm glad you did."

"Me too," she breathes, watching his smile spread to his eyes. Yes, this had been a good idea, bringing dinner to him, bringing everything to him.

She settles back against the leather cushion, closer than before, watching Castle spear a bite of chicken and lift it to his mouth. Her eyes trace the strong line of his jaw as he chews, the way his throat bobs as he swallows, lingering on the purse of his lips as he takes another bite.

"Wha?" he asks, catching her in her none too subtle perusal. "Did I spill?" He swipes at his face.

She gives her head a shake. "No. It's just your usual face."

"Ah, yes, my usual ruggedly handsome mug."

"Mmm, something like that," she murmurs, crinkling her nose in amusement at his feigned offense. "Eat your food, Castle."

He grins, going back to his meal once she returns the smile. Kate does the same a moment later, allowing herself to sneak only the briefest of glances his way. If he catches her this time, he - wisely - doesn't call her on it.

"So, I was thinking," Castle starts a few minutes later, lifting his wine from the coffee table in front of him and raising it to his lips. "If you don't have plans for the rest of the night, we could watch a movie?"

Their eyes meet over the rim of his glass. She swallows hard; he looks so hopeful and soft, so very welcoming after all those weeks of angry, hard steel, there's no way she can deny the request. Not that she wants to, but she wouldn't be able to if she did.

"I'd like that," she says, delighting in his obvious joy.

"Great. Do you have a preference? Anything you've been wanting to see? Alexis raided the bargain bin at Comicadia last week, picked up some good stuff. And, of course, we have the rest of my collection to choose from as well."

"Oh, of course," she agrees, her lips curling. Cradling her dinner in one hand, she twists to face him. "I don't have a preference. You pick this time."

Her partner practically vibrates off the couch at the insinuation - the flat out promise - that there will be another movie to be watched after tonight.

"In that case," he says, filling his lungs as he gathers his thoughts, "I know just the thing."

It's only fitting that he chooses a zombie apocalypse movie. Between their last case and the gift she's about to deliver (though, how he would have any idea about that is beyond her, but stranger things have happened with her partner), his selection only reinforces the idea that, as Castle might put it, the universe is speaking to them - to her.

Well, she's listening.

"So hey," she starts not long into the movie, getting him to focus on her instead of the dead rising and shambling through the streets. "I got you something today when I was out with Lanie."

"Me?" Castle asks, giving the TV a quick glance before turning intrigued eyes to her. "You bought me something?" His eyes flick downward, obvious enough in his perusal to make her roll her eyes even as she suppresses a shiver of want at the thought.

"Mhmm," she drags her teeth over her lip, pushing harder than probably necessary.

"What is it?"

"Don't get too excited, Castle," Beckett warns. Stretching out an arm to the chair beside the couch, she reaches into her jacket pocket and closes her fingers around the cool metal of one of the keychains. "It's just this little stupid thing I found."

Castle's eyes grow soft. "I don't..." he trails off, closing his mouth after a second. Whatever it is he'd wanted to say goes silent, replaced by the twitch of his lips and a quip. "Way to sell it, Beckett."

"Yeah, I'm doing a great job, aren't I?" She smiles despite the cold trickle of dread working its way down her spine. But chickening out isn't an option, not now as the keychain digs into her palm. "Anyway, here."

It takes everything she has not to jump up and flee while he studies the gift in stunned silence.

"Beckett," he starts finally. She watches his throat work as he swallows. "This is-"

"Ridiculous? Juvenile? Something that should be saved for Halloween?" she supplies, hoping to downplay her own mortification.

His head thrashes to the side, quick to dispel her assumptions, her litany of self-deprecating ideas.

"Awesome. It's awesome. Nobody's ever given me something like this before. You have the other half?"

"Oh no, I gave it to Perlmutter," Kate deadpans. "He doesn't know you have this side, though, so he's in for a surprise if you show up to a crime scene with it in your hand."

"Funny," Castle drawls, thumbing the ragged edge of the halved heart. She tries not to see the symbolism in the gesture, in him holding the imperfect heart she's offered. "Though I would pay an extreme amount of money to see the look on his face if you had."

A snicker works its way up her throat, turning into full-blown chuckles that he echoes. Yeah, she would pay to see that, too.

"I love it," he continues after their laughter dies down. His thumb traces the pressed letters, the half-words that make up a corny promise to be partners through the zombie apocalypse. "Thank you, Kate."

Her chin dips. "You're welcome. Like I said, it's just a silly little-"

"No," he interrupts, cutting off her attempt to downplay it. She meets his gaze, seeing the way his eyes burn bright with the knowledge of what the gift could mean, what she's not yet able to say. "It's not, it's great. It's great, Kate."

"I'm glad," she murmurs, licking her lips. "It seemed fitting."

"Given that we faced down an army of the undead just the other day?"

She rolls her eyes. "They were not the undead, Castle. They were normal people dressed in costume, playing a game."

"Very cool costumes," he adds, giving her that. "Still, game or not, I consider it a trial run for the real thing when it inevitably happens. And we had each other's backs."

"Mmm," she agrees, remembering the protective stretch of his arm to shield her from the oncoming not-zombie hoard. "We did."

He nods, giving the silver heart another thoughtful look. After a moment, his fingers close around it, and he tucks his hand to his chest. "It's perfect."

The band around her own heart loosens, warms at his assurances. At his happiness. She exhales in relief, allowing her head to drift onto his shoulder as they settle into watching the movie once more.

She's not the least bit surprised when she spies the silver half-heart dangling from his keychain a few days later. They don't talk about it at all; it's their quiet shared secret, but she takes special care to make sure that Castle - and only Castle - sees the other half attached to her house keys as they leave the precinct for the night.

Thank you for reading!

For Anon, who prompted: Cara Theobold posted an IG story with a photo of one of those friendship charms that are split so that 2 people share them. It says "zombie apocalypse partners". I hope you enjoyed this!