Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Author's Note: This story has been distracting my attention for a long time now. So after roughly 293849859494 edits (I'm not usually a big editor, but for some reason this particular story kept asking for it), I think I'm finally ready to start putting it up here. To everyone who read/reviewed my first story, "Love and Confusion," thank you so much! I think I managed to respond to all the ones I could. I love and appreciate the feedback. So without further ado, my second-ever Castle story. Hope you like it!

"Wow, you look ravishing this morning."

Her hair had been thrown into a hasty ponytail, and sections had already fallen out. Her eyeliner strayed a little from its intended path, and under her eyes were dark circles that were obviously not makeup-related. Her forehead rested on her hand as she halfheartedly sifted through the paperwork that had been piling up on her desk for at least a week. "Castle, I'm not in the mood," she said without even looking up.

"When are you ever? And when has that ever stopped me?"

She looked up from the page in front of her that she hadn't been reading anyway and looked him straight in the eye. "I don't feel good. Leave me alone."

He struggled for a brief moment, but was unable to restrain himself. "Well," he said. "You don't feel well."

"Fine, whatever." She looked back down at her papers.

He sat down in his usual chair in front of her desk, concern growing in his eyes now that he had moved past his grammatical impulse. "Are you sick? You should take the day off."

"No Castle, I'm not sick, I just don't feel well. I didn't get enough sleep last night, that's all."

He frowned. "I've seen you running on no sleep, and you looked better than you do now. No offense."

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine. Why don't you go bother Ryan and Esposito?" She sneezed.

"Not sick, huh?" He smirked.

"Allergies."

"Allergies are usually seasonal. I've been working with you for more than two years, I would've known if you had allergies. I notice everything."

She rolled her eyes. "I know."

"What's wrong?"

"You're not getting any more information than I already gave you. Apparently that was too much."

"Okay fine, I'll do it myself. You're holding your head, so I'd say you have a headache, swallowing awkwardly, so your throat hurts, and it's like eighty degrees in here and you're wearing a sweater, so you probably have a fever."

"Thank you for that lovely diagnosis, Dr. Castle. Could you kindly go and mind your own business now?"

He raised his eyebrows. "In the two plus years that you've known me, when have I ever done that?"

"Fine, stay here and continue to watch my every move, just please be quiet."

If she'd demanded that he shut up, he would have pointed out that he'd never done that in the time she'd known him either, but she hadn't. The politeness of her reply worried him because it was so out of character for her. He could tell that she really wasn't feeling well. "Can I at least help you with something?" he asked instead.

"What, like signing my paperwork for me? No Castle, that would be illegal, and we are in a police station, in case you forgot."

"No, obviously not, but I could read it over for you and tell you what to write where. Speed reader, remember? We'd have it done in no time."

She sighed and slid the page that she'd been staring at for the past twenty minutes in his direction. "That would be great."

"Hey dude, what's going on there?" Esposito nodded toward Beckett's desk, where she and Castle were leaning over the same page.

Ryan shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. You don't think…"

"No way. He's probably just reading over her shoulder or something. He does that sometimes."

"There's been something going on there for awhile now."

"Well yeah, obviously, but I don't think they're gonna act on it. Not now, over paperwork."

"Hey, stuff happens in weird ways."

Esposito narrowed his eyes. "I don't want to hear the story about how you met your girlfriend again."

"I know dude, I wasn't going there."

"Mmhmm," Espisito said, doubtfully. He nodded toward Beckett. "She looks like crap today."

"What, are you checking her out?"

"Dude, no! It's Beckett. I'd tell you if you looked like crap, wouldn't mean I was checking you out. Now if I told you I liked your purse…"

"It's not a purse, it's a gym bag."

"What do you need a gym bag for, your bra?"

"Oh yeah, you're hilarious. Now if you don't mind I have tons of paperwork to finish filing, and…" Ryan nodded toward his friend's desk, "so do you."

"Last one. Okay, date here, sign here, and we're done."

"Thanks, Castle," she said as she wrote. "That actually helped. You can go home now. You probably have writing to do, right?"

He shook his head. "I always have writing to do, but that doesn't make a difference. I write when I want to write. Are you going home? We finished early. I'll walk out with you."

"No, I still have some stuff to get done here."

"Like what? You don't have a case right now and we just finished all your paperwork. What else is there?"

"I have to organize my desk."

Castle looked at the nearly clear desk surface, empty except for a couple of pens, and raised his eyebrows.

"And I have to be here in case I do get a case, or I need to help someone else. Ignore the case pun, it wasn't funny or intentional."

"You know, the whole concept of a sick day was invented with just this occasion in mind. Do you want me to tell the captain you're going home early?"

She put a hand to her head and grimaced, as if in pain. "No Castle, I'm not. Go home. I will go home at the end of my shift, but right now there's nothing for you to do here, and all you're doing is making my headache worse."

He nodded. "Okay. But call me if you need anything," he said seriously. He took a few steps toward the door, but then turned back to face her. "Kate?"

She narrowed her eyes. "What now?"

"Feel better."

Her face softened. "Thanks."

"Richard dear, how was your day?" Martha asked as her son walked into the apartment. "Did you solve any murders?"

"No, today was actually pretty quiet."

"How's Detective Beckett?"

"She's sick."

"Oh, that explains why you're back so early," Martha said, looking at the clock. "She stayed home today?"

"No, she was there, but she was sick."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"That's what I kept trying to tell her, but she wouldn't listen to me. Not that she usually does."

"Well darling, maybe she'd rather be in a crowded precinct than at home by herself. I know when I'm sick I like to have people around to take care of me. You know, make sure I don't die."

Castle rolled his eyes. "Mother, this may surprise you, but you and Beckett have very little in common. You, for one, are extremely dramatic."

"Well, I am an actress."

"Yes, well, she's a cop. And another thing, you like to have people around you all the time. You live with me and Alexis, for God's sake. Beckett likes to have some time to herself."

"I understand that Richard, but I don't care who you are, there are some times when you just don't want to be alone."

He thought about how she'd seemed reluctant to leave work, but she had also told him to leave. "I don't know, Ryan and Esposito aren't exactly the most compassionate guys in the world."

She raised her eyebrows. "And you are?"

"Touché." He looked around for signs of his daughter. "Is Alexis home?"

"No, she's studying with Ashley."

He smiled. "Studying, huh?"

"She says she has a test next week."

"Oh. So she really is studying." He sat down at one of the stools at the kitchen counter. "I'm still thinking about Kate."

"Well, you're worried about her," Martha said.

"I'm not worried about her, it's not like she's dying."

"You don't have to think someone's dying to be worried about them, dear. I don't have to tell you this, you're a father. Have you ever actually thought Alexis was going to die?"

"No, of course not."

"Have you ever been worried about her?"

"Okay, I see your point. But what should I do?"

A/N: I will be eternally grateful for any and all reviews. Sorry about the cliffhanger (sort of... I like writing them), but I can promise the next chapter will be up soon because it's already mostly finished.