So, this idea came to me a while ago but the beginning didn't work... until cops & robbers. Thank god for close call with death!

Disclaimer : not mine. (Mistakes and typos are, on the other hand)

Beckett wakes up with a start, panting. The nightmare came back. It is always the same since 'the bank'. The explosion, playing again and again every night. With another outcome. In her nightmare, Castle doesn't answer her and she keeps calling and calling and there is no response.

She's sweating, her heart is beating too fast, adrenaline pumping in her system. She glances at the clock. It's neither late nor early. Or it is both. It's that time of night before you can call it morning, but it's not tonight either. Like every night she wakes up from this nightmare, she fights the urge to call him. Make sure he's okay, alive, here. Every night she just squashes the need, gets up for a drink of water and forces herself back to sleep. This time it's different. Maybe the nightmare was more vivid, maybe she just had enough. Maybe it's the fact that she didn't see him yesterday – he had a meeting with Black Pawn. She takes her phone from her nightstand and stares at it for a minute. The need to hear his voice doesn't fade, so she dials.

"Beckett?" He has picked up pretty quickly. More quickly than she anticipated. She had no time to change her mind. He sounds sleepy and worried.

"Beckett?" This time he sounds more worried than sleepy.

"Yeah." She closes her eyes. She shouldn't have called, she thinks, but her heart is slowing down, the adrenaline doesn't feel as oppressing as before.

"Are you okay?" Worry, no more sleepiness.

"I'm sorry. I woke you up. I just... I had a nightmare and I wanted to make sure. I'm fine. I'm letting you go back to sleep. Sorry I woke you." She babbling and rushing. She wants to hang up but as she's about to press the end call button, she hears him.

"Kate, wait!" Something in his voice makes her put the phone back to her ear. "You're still here?"

"Yes." She's pretty sure he's smiling. She knows him well.

"What was your nightmare about?"

"The bank. The explosion." She surprises herself with her openness. Sleep deprivation, no doubt.

"Ah." He waits for her to continue. Her therapist does that too. Damn them! It works.

"I call you but you don't answer. I can't find you. I keep shouting your name and... nothing." She thinks she hears him swallow. There's a noise that sounds like rustling of bed sheets. She imagines he's sitting up.

"But I did. I called your name. I was fine. I am fine."

"What if you hadn't been?"

"The French have a saying : with 'what ifs' you could put Paris in a bottle."

She chuckles and feels better immediately because he's being silly and a know-it-all. Only one man she knows can pull this off and it's him.

"So. Where does this nightmare comes from? The... 'bank incident' was two weeks ago."

"It's not the first time I had it." Why is she telling him this? But the words escapes her before she can keep them inside.

"You should have called before."

"I didn't want to bother you."

"You wouldn't have. Like you're not bothering me now."

She comes to her senses : "I'm sorry I called. I'll let you sleep now."

"No!" Once again, she puts the phone back up to her ear. "You're here?"

"Yes." He's silent because he doesn't know what to say or ask that won't freak her out.

"So, the bank. Pretty scary. I have nightmares too. The scariest : I'm stuck there forever with my mother." It's not funny and they both know it. But they pretend.

"Come on Castle, we both know you love your mother. Plus she's a pretty good cook."

"She also lets me clean up afterwards." The banter and light tones are back.

"She keeps you grounded."

"You too."

"I keep you grounded?"

"Well, yes. But my mother keeps you grounded."

"Why do you say that? I don't need to be grounded."

"In the bank? She was the one to remind you there were other hostages." He's slipping a slippery slope bur he's feeling confident about it.

"She... I... You... I was cutting your restraints!"

"She must have thought you were taking your sweet time."

"I wasn't!"

"I thought you were giving me a lot of attention. Not that I minded. You were even making sure I didn't have ligature marks on my neck. I liked it. A lot. Your hand on my neck." She's hissing his name and denials while he continues to tease her. "It was like before a kiss. You know? When you put a hand to someone's neck to bring him closer. And that smile! I wish I could see that smile again. You should smile like that more often. At me. Not at other people. Definitely not at other men! It was a very good smile..."

"I'm hanging up!" He's still in the middle of his rant when he hears the deaf tone. She did hang up. He calls back immediately.

"Are you finished?" She asks.

"Why are you having nightmares about the bank, Kate?" He's back to serious now.

"There was an explosion."

"Did you have nightmares about the explosion in your apartment?" He knows the answer, they talked about it when she was staying at the loft afterwards.

"No."

"Because you're a cop and danger is part of your job." He repeats the reasons she told him nearly two years ago.

"Yes."

"Then why are you having nightmares about the bank?" He's pushing for it. Because he saw something in the bank, when she came for him. In her smile, in her eyes, in her hand at his collar. He listens to her breathing, praying she won't hang up again.

"I nearly lost you." There are tears in her voice and he nearly chokes too.

"You didn't."

"I was so happy to see you, alive and well, Castle."

"I saw." There is not a hint of smugness in his voice. Just the truth. They are silent. Castle is waiting for her to speak, because he knows what he wants to tell her, but she's not ready for it. He already told her when she was dying in his arms. She's not dying now. He can't tell her so honestly again. Especially not on the phone. She's the one who talks first. He knew she would be, but this doesn't prepare him for what she says.

"I was going to kiss you. In the bank. Before your mother interrupted." His heart is pounding, his whole body is swelling and soaring, butterflies are having a party in his gut and a warm feeling is spreading all over him. He forces himself to calm down before speaking. He hesitates between "I'm gonna kill her" or "You should have". The joke or his hopelessness. Both would put a lid on this conversation though.

"You still can." He thanks his writer's brain for coming up with that. The ball is in her court again. She threw him off but he kept his balance, keeping this game alive.

"I'm pretty sure it's impossible since we're on the phone," she tries to deflect. He won't let her.

"Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. Hell, just ask and I'll come to you right now." He hears her sharp intake of air. He swallows hard and gives all he has. "You already care about me Kate. You wouldn't have nightmares otherwise. Like it or not, I'm already inside those walls. Why don't you let me help bring them down from the inside? Let me show you what we could be, Kate. Please?" He stops the begging there because he doesn't want to sound as desperate as he really is. "Don't you trust me Kate?"

"I do."

"Then why?"

Both realize she can crush him right now.

"I don't know anymore. I used to have reasons. I can't remember them." Her voice is shaking. His isn't anymore.

"Then maybe we should try," he says hopefully. He seems to him he's waiting forever for her answer. "Maybe we should." It's a whisper. The most wonderful whisper he's ever heard. In the background, he hears her alarm go off. "I need to get ready for work. I'll see you at the precinct... Rick ?"

"You most certainly will."

She ends the call with trembling hands. He's shivering all over, like in shock. A happy shock that brings a splitting smile to his face.

TBC...

Reviews are like a new episode of Castle. Except, hopefully, I don't have to wait for monday to have just one ?