Summary: **Spoilers for 5x06** Of all the ways he thought people might find out about his and Kate's budding relationship, he never imagined that it would happen like this.

Author's Note: Thanks everyone for the lovely comments last chapter! I was overwhelmed with the response to this!

Disclaimer: If I owned Castle, I wouldn't be procrastinating my homework to write fanfic.

Chapter 2

"Hey, Beckett," Ryan hollered across the bullpen, tearing the female detective from her focus.

She lifted her head, pen in one hand, the other wrapped comfortingly around her coffee mug. "Yeah?"

He motioned her over, trying to contain his smile at not only being presented with the opportunity to make her squirm, but also at apparently having won the now substantial pool. "Come here for a sec."

She furrowed her brow questioningly but abided, crossed to Ryan. She knew Castle was being interrogated right now, had been instructed by Gates to stay completely away from the situation and for Castle's sake, she reluctantly obeyed, forced herself to do paperwork to avoid thinking about the situation.

But given the smile on Ryan's face and the bounce in his step, she could only assume that either the interview was over and Castle was off the hook or something else had come up, thereby clearing his name.

That was until Ryan led her into the empty interrogation room, Castle and Esposito still nowhere to be seen.

"Have a seat." He gestured to one of the chairs, claiming the other one for himself and leaning forward with his elbows resting on the table. He looked happy, far too happy, actually, and Kate eyed him suspiciously as she sat down opposite him.

"What's going on?"

He shrugged. "Just standard protocol."

"Really?" she asked, shooting a disapproving glare in his direction. "It's routine protocol to take a coworker into an interrogation room and, what? Ask them questions?"

"Well ordinarily, no," he answered easily, his eyebrow raised teasingly. "Though it does make me wonder what other sets of coworkers use interrogation rooms for."

Oh, now that brought forth some naughty thoughts. But wait... "What are you talking about?"

"I just need to ask you a question, actually."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "A question?"

"Mmhmm."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Well you see, when a suspect is interrogated, typically the detective asks them for their alibi."

"Right..." She was not following, though she felt like she was missing something obvious.

"And as we are currently interrogating a subject, albeit an unusual subject, we have to follow that set of questioning."

"Okay."

"And it was brought to our attention that our current suspect's alibi might need to be verified."

Current suspect? But that meant...Castle.

And his alibi for the other night was...

Oh, shit.

Her.

Her heart sank and she dropped her head into her hands, sighed heavily.

"Problem?" Ryan asked with a smirk.

She lifted her head, glared at him, but when she spoke, her voice was laced with defeat. "Just...ask whatever it is."

Ryan folded his hands innocently, smiled knowingly. "It seems as though Mr. Castle claims to have been at home in bed at the time of the murder. And it also seems as though he may not have been alone. Would you know anything about that?"

"Ryan," she warned, to little avail.

"Right, I'm sorry. So, would you mind telling me anything you might know about Mr. Castle's whereabouts Tuesday morning?"

If this was how it was going to be, two could play at this game. "Didn't you just say you knew where he was?"

"Well we know that he was in bed. But, you see, he claims to have been in said bed with a woman. A woman who may currently be in our presence. Specifically one named," he pretended to consult his notes, "Kate Beckett. Would you know anything about that?"

Kate dropped her act then, allowed her gaze to fall to the tabletop. She couldn't decide whether to be annoyed or embarrassed or just plain irritated that this was happening. It was not that she did not want the guys to know, though she and Castle were enjoying keeping it between just the two of them, but at least Ryan and Esposito hopefully would know better than to alert the media. She trusted them, and they were like brothers after all. Things could certainly be much worse.

But that was exactly what Kate was afraid of. Gates could demand to be updated on the case at any moment, including asking what Castle's alibi was, a highly likely scenario given her dislike of the man. In fact, she could be standing outside the glass right now, smiling to herself now that she had a reason to permanently remove Castle from the precinct.

"Beckett," Ryan said softly, and when she looked up to see the sincerity in his eyes, she could tell that he had had his fun, was no longer making this a joke. That he could see what this was costing her.

"I was with him," she answered softly, as though saying it almost to herself would keep things private.

Ryan smiled to himself, then reached across the table to cover Kate's hand with his own. "I'm happy for you guys."

And then he was gone, leaving Kate sitting in stunned silence.

She did not know how long she sat there but she was torn out of her reverie only when the door to the room opened tentatively, squeaking slightly on its hinges. She looked up to see her boyfriend poke his head into the room, eyes filled with terror. She half-smiled, letting him know it was okay to relax and enter, that she was not going to maim him in any way.

"I'm sorry," he offered, shutting the door behind him and crossing to the table. Kate shook her head faintly, stood and stepped into him, and his arms automatically rose to embrace her.

She hugged him back, held on tightly. "It's fine."

"It's not."

Kate lifted her head, leaned back to meet his eyes, and their arms fell back to their sides as he too took a step back. "Well, no, it's not. But you know. It could have been worse."

"True," he conceded. "Though it was kind of embarrassing."

She snorted. "You're telling me."

"What did Ryan say to you?"

"That he had to ask me a question about the case. Except, you know, he had entirely too much fun with it."

"I'm sure."

"Espo?"

"Forced me to give him your name and then tried to pry out of me what exactly you and I were up to that night."

Kate groaned.

"But don't worry, your kinky secrets are safe with me."

"Castle!" she reprimanded, though the complete lack of malice in her voice made her attempt rather ineffectual.

He smiled innocently, reached out to rest a hand on her arm. "Really, though, I didn't tell him anything."

She smiled apologetically. "It's okay. I mean, I guess they kind of deserved to know anyways."

He shrugged, fell silent momentarily.

"Can I, I mean..." he gestured with his free hand, "they know now anyways, and we can just make and exception for extenuating circumstances because I really want to..."

He was cut off by her lips on his, soft and gentle, but far too soon she was pulling away again. Her hand lingered on his jaw though...when had she put it there?...and her smile was understanding and genuine.

"I really am sorry though," he said sadly, regret circling in his irises, darkening them to a deep cobalt.

She shook her head, dropped her hand to his shoulder. "It's okay. I mean, it was bound to happen eventually."

"Yeah but..."

"Castle," Kate interrupted. "Really. I kind of liked it being just us but..."

"Yeah," he murmured. For someone who spent years flaunting his relationships in the limelight, he too was finding the privacy to be refreshing and wonderful. But he had also known that it would not stay a secret forever. "Yeah, me too. And at least I'm no longer a suspect."

They stood in silence for a minute before Castle spoke again, eyes twinkling. "Since they know, does that mean I can kiss you at work now whenever I want to?"

"Castle."

But the disapproval in her voice was lightened by adoration and it was enough for Castle to see that she was really not completely averse to the idea. And besides, he could be discreet. This whole covert relationship thing had been entirely too entertaining and he would take any excuse to increase the level of challenge and sneakiness.

But since anyone could be on the other side of the mirror, Gates included, he kept it chaste this time, feathering his lips across her cheek as his hand squeezed her hip gently, reassuring.

Kate smiled at the feeling, nuzzled her nose against him as he pulled away, and when he met her eyes again she was smiling lovingly.

"Come on," she said softly, fingers twining with his briefly as he dropped his hand to his side. "I've missed having my partner here to work the case with me."

THE END

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