Beckett had barely set her foot inside the door when her phone chimed to tell her that she had a text message waiting for her. She smirked, having a pretty good idea of who would be texting her this evening.

I turned on the TV and 'Eye of the Tiger' is playing on like every channel.

She laughed loudly at his message, peeling her leather jacket off before moving to the fridge to get a bottle of water. At the last second her hand detoured and she reached above for the bottle of red wine she knew was there. Castle had given it to her a few months back after solving a particularly difficult case. She put the bottle on the counter while she typed. Damn smart phone required two hands.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Castle had just finished recounting the tale to Alexis when the phone buzzed. He looked at the screen and smirked.

"So let me get this straight, you spent hours handcuffed to Detective Beckett and you didn't at least make out? What a waste of a fantasy Dad." Alexis said and Castle looked up from the phone, a look of horror etched across his face. He looked at his daughter.

"Oh come on Dad. I watch TV, I know the deal with handcuffs. And not in that sense," she added hastily. Castle swallowed, seemingly happy with her reply.

"It didn't really come up. At the start we were trying to figure out what was happening, then we thought we were in Hostel, and then we were kinda busy trying not to get eaten by a tiger. It was kinda a busy day," he quipped and she sighed, throwing her hands up to heaven.

"You know I'm giving up on you two," she moaned before heading for the stairs, bidding him goodnight as she did. Castle smirked and opened Beckett's message on his phone. He smirked.

Of course it is. There's a fight on tonight. If it makes you feel any better 'Tiger Feet' was playing in the lobby of my building when I came in.

He laughed aloud at that and quickly thumbed in a response, one handed. He knew Beckett had only recently gotten a funky touch screen phone and he expected it to take a few minutes before her next message came through. He headed for the kitchen.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Beckett had poured herself a glass of wine and was sitting on the couch flicking through stations when the text came through. She smiled. She always enjoyed messaging him. He was quick and witty and she found herself smiling at the screen. It had always earned her looks in public places. One old woman sitting opposite her in a coffee shop one day had winked at her and said 'you must really like him'. She had just nodded her head and smiled. It was no lie after all.

So you're trying to tell me that you were handcuffed to Writer Boy for 12 hours and NOTHING HAPPENED? Na-uh, I'm not buying that.

Beckett chuckled. Lanie. She was getting tired of trying to convince Kate about Castle at this stage. She quickly typed in a response, realising only after she'd sent it that a few of the words came out in gibberish but the basic understanding was there.

I am telling you, nothing happened. We were being terrorised by a tiger for Pete's sake! But seeing as we're on that subject, you and Espo? Spill.

Kate grinned to herself. Turn is back on her, it was always the best means of defence. At the very least she might just move away from the topic of relationships altogether. She watched as one of the boxers got a knock-out punch in on his opponent before the phone beeped again. This time it was Castle.

It's as if the universe is bored and playing practical jokes on us. I bet I find a tiger's head in my bed. My first suspect is Alexis.

Becket smiled at that before composing a short reply back to him – how had Alexis taken the news that her father had nearly been eaten by a tiger? She had to admit, it would be a hell of a story to tell to their kids. She caught herself before she finished the thought. Good God Kate, stop it, she told herself. The phone beeped again. Lanie this time.

Oh please, reel in your imagination girl. If I don't kill him before the end of this month…

The message trailed off and Kate had written the reply in her head before it went into the message body, …you'll kiss him? Come on Lanie, you two are perfect for each other and you both want to be together. Why can't you see that? She pressed 'send' before thinking about the consequences that such a remark might bring on her. She watched as the MC announced the winner of the fight she'd been watching, a small mid-American, the one she'd seen deliver the killer left hook. She sighed and changed the channel. She didn't feel much in the mood for the fights tonight. She flicked through until she found some cheesy comedy to watch. She didn't know what it was but it was simply and she could follow it even though it was half over.

She jumped slightly as her phone beeped. Castle. Lanie was probably wording her reply just right.

She wasn't thrilled at the idea that she'd have to explain how her dad became tiger fodder but said that she could live with the whole inheritance gig so all in all I'd say she took it pretty well.How are you holding up?It was the first message that issued genuine concern even though she knew every correspondence tonight was laced with the invite to open up if she wanted to.

She sent a quick reply back to him just as Lanie's text came in. She finished sending the message to Castle and opened the one from her friend.

Kate, of all the people to say that to me, it's pretty rich coming from you! Because you're either blind, or stupid if you don't see what's right in front of YOU.The next messages happened in quick succession.

Lanie, we're not getting into this now. I spent today being chased by a tiger….

Girl, when are you going to wake up and see what's going on? Life is too short to keep people at arm's length. Especially when you know how you mean to him and he to you.

Lanie, it's not that simple…

Yes, it is. Just say it Beckett, you're in love with him.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. No one said anything about love.

Oh come on Kate. It's ridiculous, you're ridiculous. And have you any idea how hard it is to type 'ridiculous' on a touchpad? Twice?

Technically, three times.

Not funny Kate. Come on, just admit, you love him. You want to do the dirty with him...

Beckett sighed loudly, annoyed both at the speed of Lanie's replies, the lovey-dovey music and script coming from her, as it currently stood, ill picked TV station. Her answers were weak, she knew that but that still didn't mean she wanted a text heart-to-heart with Lanie about it. She wasn't ready for that, she wasn't… The phone hadn't beeped for a few minutes. Maybe Lanie was leaving her alone.

Then suddenly, the phone beeped again. Beckett growled, highly irritated as she punched the touch screen and keyed in her response. Damn it, if she was going down, she might as well give Lanie something to say in her aftermath.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Castle almost choked on the lasagne he'd warmed up when the text came in. His eyes widened as he read it, the remnants of his dinner spewing from his mouth onto the plate beneath. He was glad it was the last piece. He dumped it in the sink as he read the message again.

Ok, yes, fine.I'm in love with Richard Castle and I want to get down and dirty with him in the break room of the precinct just so every one can see how right they were when I was too dumb to see it.Happy?

Castle didn't know what to do. So he replied.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Kate scowled at the phone as it beeped. She seriously contemplated turning it off but it had been a few minutes since she'd sent the text to Lanie and she wanted her post-mortem. What she got was the beginnings of a small heart attack.

Huh?

What was he saying huh to? Her eyes widened suddenly as she scrolled through her sent items and her blood ran cold.

"Oh God…" she winced and the phone buzzed again. It was a tag-on to his message.

Should I come over or would you prefer to just talk about it? I am a writer after all. ;-)

Despite the horrendous embarrassment, she had to laugh at the winking smiley he'd added onto that message. Always the joker she thought as she considered how the hell she was supposed to explain this. Her thoughts broke again when the phone chimed.

Kate? Is everything ok?

She smiled at that. First the confusion, then the ego and then, as always, his concern for her. Who the hell was she kidding? There wasn't a single word of untruth in that message she'd accidentally sent to him. She grinned and typed her reply.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Castle smirked at the reply. He was sitting in his study now, laptop open, his feet on the desk. He had to admit he was quite enjoying his evening though he was curious and worried about how Beckett was going to try explaining that text.

I'm going to kill Lanie. He smiled. So she and Lanie had been having a heart to heart. Or maybe Lanie was just lecturing. The latter was probably more likely he decided. There was a tone of exasperation in the message she'd sent.

Should I go to hers instead?He knew she'd know that he was joking. It was a throwback to his insistence on staying to protect her when the serial killer was on the loose. It took her only a second to reply.

Oh come on Castle, we both know I could kill you with my bare hands.He nodded his head at that, thinking for a moment before keying in a reply.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Beckett bit her lip at the reply he sent through.

True. Anyway, I'm more interested in what use you were thinking of putting those bare hands to a few moments ago….

She smirked. The ellipsis, he was goading her. He was daring her to reply. Or maybe not to reply. Maybe that was what he expected, her not to reply and just to give the excuse that she'd fallen asleep or something when they met in work that next day. She let her lip loose from between her teeth. She'd be damned if she was going to let him win this one.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Castle was glad he'd no liquids nearby when her reply came through. He'd have destroyed his laptop for sure and possibly scalded himself if they'd been hot.

- Have you forgotten what I said about the next time?

The next round of messages came through at a breakneck speed. Castle decided that there was nothing like a healthy game of text flirting to teach Beckett how to use her new phone.

I didn't realise the next time was going to be literally hours later.

Well, as Lanie keep saying to me, life's too short, why wait?

Always liked Lanie. Always. Smart girl.

So are you coming?

Kate, I know I'm a stickler for the written word but that generally takes a little more than a text message…

No, you idiot. Are you coming over?

Give me twenty minutes. Ten if you agree to shelve all the speeding tickets I could potentially wrack up…

Stick to twenty. Would be careless not to practice some level of safety tonight…

Oh dear Jesus.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Beckett smirked at his last text. It was both easy and tremendously fun to wind him up. What she hadn't thought about was what she'd just initiated and whether she was really ready for it or not. It had started as a game, a decision to not let Castle get one up on her. And it had turned into her literally getting up on him. She closed her eyes before opening them and sending another text. The phone beeped straight away. It was Lanie.

- You did what?

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

This started out as a bit of post-Cuffed fun and kinda escalated. I think it needs an extra chapter but want to see what people think? It could probably work as a stand alone but what do people want?