This Tornado Loves You, Chapter 2-A Short Caskett WIP, Set June 2013
Title: This Tornado Loves you, Chapter 2
WC: ~1600 this chapter; 3400 total
Rating: T
Summary: "He turns back to the doors, watching eagerly as a new tide of passengers comes and goes. She sees more than one jaded rider turn away to hide a small smile. Like it's impossible not to catch it from him. This fizzing enthusiasm for the moment. For the day. For life. She knows how they feel." Set in June 2013. Minor spoilers for After Hours (5x08). Technically AU, as this ignores Watershed.
A/N: Thanks so much for the warm response to chapter 1. It's heartening to know there's still love out there when Brain goes off the rails and writes something happy.
Uhhh, it's going to be four chapters, though. Hope that's ok.
"The seats are ok?" he asks quietly.
They're climbing to the top of the stadium. The three of them. Exploring.
Alexis strikes out ahead of her, and Castle brings up the rear. Kate looks over her shoulder. Past the hopeful smile and the familiar lines of worry, down to where Martha and her dad are holding down the fort.
The seats are more than ok. Third and fourth rows back along the third base line with a view of Coney Island looming beyond right field. She glances toward the luxury suites behind home plate and knows they were probably his first instinct.
But that's not where they ended up, and for all the casual anarchy of this-riding the subway out and meeting up "early" with no real plan-she knows he's thought about every detail.
The intimate, low-key vibe of minor league game, but making sure it was the team's home opener, because he can't resist making it an occasion. The careful choice of seats and a comment her dad made in passing months ago. That he likes to be down close to the field when he can.
Her own memories. What she likes and what she doesn't. All of it coaxed out of her without her even realizing it. Months ago.
Months ago.
Not long after that night on the run, in fact. The night she thought she'd lost him with nothing more than one hard kiss to make up for how stupid they'd both been. The night they faced the fear and relief in their parents' eyes together and the word family hung heavy in the air.
She remembers it now. Telling him about it in the dark. The best tickets they'd ever had at Shea. Some lucky chain of events and the delicious feeling of staying out late on a school night. Just her and her dad on a warm spring evening. Staying out late and coasting home on the train.
She remembers the way it came back to her. Detail after detail, and she remembers thinking he was listening even though his head was tucked into her shoulder. Even though his sleepy questions and smart comments came at long intervals while she ran her fingers through his hair.
She remembers thinking he was up to something, the way he was hanging on every word. All that lazy patience in the dark as she told him how she and her dad had loved being able to look right into the home dugout. How they watched all the little dramas of the game unfold.
She knew he was up to something, but she nodded off with the memory on her lips, and she hadn't thought much about it since.
She sees it now, though. How long he's been thinking about this.
Even the stupid things he packed in the bags. Things to keep Martha comfortable and occupied. And the game itself. Tantalizing stories of rising stars for her and a carefully chosen date for Alexis. One of the first possible dates since she got home, but not so soon after that she feels scheduled within an inch of her life.
He's overdone it a little. But he's thought about all of it.
She stops abruptly. She wants to thank him. To throw her arms around him and thank him for wanting this. For making it happen. For riding the subway with her and climbing stadium steps and being her family.
Later, she thinks. Later.
For now, she smiles as Castle bumps against her. She half turns toward him and sees all the things he's not saying. How he wants it to go well. All the things he's thought about and weighed to make this happen. To make all of it happen.
"The seats are great, Castle. This is great." She winds an arm around his neck. She leans into him, a head taller from the step above. She nudges his gaze to follow hers. Her dad is standing, hands on hips, taking in the field. He gestures and looks back to Martha as she sits forward to find something he's pointing out. "That's happy Beckett face. I know it's hard to tell."
"Not so hard," he says against her ribs as he drags a hand up the outside of her thigh. "Not always."
"Guys!" Alexis's voice is sharp. She's high above them now. Laughing down and making a face. "Gross! Keep up."
"Yeah, Castle, gross!" She tugs his hand up to more family friendly environs and puts on a burst of speed. "Keep up."
They reach the top, laughing and out of breath. They take their time. The three of them.
They wander in and out of stores. They climb down and up again. They lean over railings and peer into corners and take in the bits of history in the display cases.
And Castle samples every foodstuff in sight.
"How can you possibly eat any more?" Alexis presses a hand to her stomach as she and Kate wander up behind him at yet another stall.
"Knish?" Kate tips her head back to take in the not-at-all-appetizing photograph on the menu board. She makes a face. "Is ballpark knish a good idea?"
Alexis shakes her head, but she's staring, fascinated, as he bites in.
"Not a good idea," he says around a mouthful. His eyes roll back in bliss. "A great idea."
"Let me try!"
Alexis reaches for it, but he holds it high above her head. "How could you possibly eat any more?"
"Castle!" Kate comes up behind his shoulder and reaches, but in her flat shoes he has too many inches on her. "You'd deny your kid food?"
"And my girlfriend." He lifts his other arm and pulls off another piece. He shoves it into his mouth with dripping fingers. "No knish for the unbelievers."
Kate meets Alexis's eyes and nods. She gets the message. Kate goes up high. Castle falls for it and raises on his toes, holding the paper plate in both hands as Alexis dives for his midsection, fingers outstretched and wriggling furiously.
Castle shrieks. His elbows pull in sharply. Kate grabs the plate and makes off with it. Alexis tears off after her, leaving him gaping and rooted to the spot. The two of them huddle together, laughing and polishing off the rest of the knish.
He stomps after them, blinking in horror as Kate holds up the empty plate. "I can't believe you stole food from me. The two of you conspired to steal food from me!"
"Don't take it so hard, Castle. You got something better than knish." Kate licks her fingers. "You got to be right. Ballpark knish was a great idea."
"Mmmmm. So great," Alexis agrees with a laugh.
"You think you're funny." He winds an arm around each of their necks. He's trying for menacing, but the smile underneath is ridiculous. He's ridiculous. "You both think you're funny, but my retribution will be swift and terrible."
"Oooh, I'm trembling!" Alexis ducks away. "Aren't you trembling, Kate?"
"Definitely," Kate agrees as she pushes free of Castle's hold.
"Oh, you will be, Beckett," he rumbles in her ear as she catches his fingers.
"Dad! I thought we talked about being gross," Alexis says over her shoulder.
"Retribution, daughter." He tugs Kate back toward him, wrapping an arm firmly around her waist. "Swift! Terrible! Gross!"
Kate's mouth opens and closes. She feels her cheeks flush hot and she'd gladly throw Castle over the nearest railing. She starts to peel his fingers from her hip as Alexis whirls around and she sees answering pink climbing up from the girl's collarbones.
She starts to disentangle herself. To put a respectable distance between them, but something stops her. The weight of his hand or the way he's holding his breath a little. Something passes between them-him and Alexis-and she waits. She walks beside him.
Alexis raises an eyebrow. It's him. It's his gesture exactly, and Kate suddenly wonders if she looks like Meredith at all.
"Touché," she says. Her grave expression hardly lasts an instant, then she's smiling. Leading the way again. The three of them. Exploring. "We need make it to the right field corner. You can see the ocean from up there and practically lean out over the amusement park!"
It's like him again. The sudden shift of mood from heavy to light. Something that needs settling, done in a moment. She's over it, whatever it was, and it strikes Kate just then how young she looks.
How she's been holding herself carefully so far. Pointedly giving the two of them their space. Measured and deliberate, even when she's teasing.
Kate sees that in retrospect. She sees how she's let go now. Whatever it is that passed between them-father and daughter-she's let something go, and she looks so young now.
The colored lights flicker over her skin and she turns toward them. She dances backward and chatters excitedly. And she's not just the quiet, steady young woman of the last five years. She's a wide-eyed little girl who hasn't lost the magic in the sight of the familiar ocean.
In the moment, Kate sees what he sees. What makes him worry as much as it makes him proud. That she's a happy, trusting adventurous soul and there's so much good and so much heartache waiting out there for her.
Kate straightens her arm and tugs her fingers down along with Castle's. She goes up on her toes and plants a kiss on his cheek. She bumps along next to him and rests her head on his shoulder for a few stumbling steps.
He smiles down at her, blinking and a little surprised. "What was that for?"
"For you," she says. "For being good at this."
WC: ~1600 this chapter; 3400 total
Rating: T
Summary: "He turns back to the doors, watching eagerly as a new tide of passengers comes and goes. She sees more than one jaded rider turn away to hide a small smile. Like it's impossible not to catch it from him. This fizzing enthusiasm for the moment. For the day. For life. She knows how they feel." Set in June 2013. Minor spoilers for After Hours (5x08). Technically AU, as this ignores Watershed.
A/N: Thanks so much for the warm response to chapter 1. It's heartening to know there's still love out there when Brain goes off the rails and writes something happy.
Uhhh, it's going to be four chapters, though. Hope that's ok.
"The seats are ok?" he asks quietly.
They're climbing to the top of the stadium. The three of them. Exploring.
Alexis strikes out ahead of her, and Castle brings up the rear. Kate looks over her shoulder. Past the hopeful smile and the familiar lines of worry, down to where Martha and her dad are holding down the fort.
The seats are more than ok. Third and fourth rows back along the third base line with a view of Coney Island looming beyond right field. She glances toward the luxury suites behind home plate and knows they were probably his first instinct.
But that's not where they ended up, and for all the casual anarchy of this-riding the subway out and meeting up "early" with no real plan-she knows he's thought about every detail.
The intimate, low-key vibe of minor league game, but making sure it was the team's home opener, because he can't resist making it an occasion. The careful choice of seats and a comment her dad made in passing months ago. That he likes to be down close to the field when he can.
Her own memories. What she likes and what she doesn't. All of it coaxed out of her without her even realizing it. Months ago.
Months ago.
Not long after that night on the run, in fact. The night she thought she'd lost him with nothing more than one hard kiss to make up for how stupid they'd both been. The night they faced the fear and relief in their parents' eyes together and the word family hung heavy in the air.
She remembers it now. Telling him about it in the dark. The best tickets they'd ever had at Shea. Some lucky chain of events and the delicious feeling of staying out late on a school night. Just her and her dad on a warm spring evening. Staying out late and coasting home on the train.
She remembers the way it came back to her. Detail after detail, and she remembers thinking he was listening even though his head was tucked into her shoulder. Even though his sleepy questions and smart comments came at long intervals while she ran her fingers through his hair.
She remembers thinking he was up to something, the way he was hanging on every word. All that lazy patience in the dark as she told him how she and her dad had loved being able to look right into the home dugout. How they watched all the little dramas of the game unfold.
She knew he was up to something, but she nodded off with the memory on her lips, and she hadn't thought much about it since.
She sees it now, though. How long he's been thinking about this.
Even the stupid things he packed in the bags. Things to keep Martha comfortable and occupied. And the game itself. Tantalizing stories of rising stars for her and a carefully chosen date for Alexis. One of the first possible dates since she got home, but not so soon after that she feels scheduled within an inch of her life.
He's overdone it a little. But he's thought about all of it.
She stops abruptly. She wants to thank him. To throw her arms around him and thank him for wanting this. For making it happen. For riding the subway with her and climbing stadium steps and being her family.
Later, she thinks. Later.
For now, she smiles as Castle bumps against her. She half turns toward him and sees all the things he's not saying. How he wants it to go well. All the things he's thought about and weighed to make this happen. To make all of it happen.
"The seats are great, Castle. This is great." She winds an arm around his neck. She leans into him, a head taller from the step above. She nudges his gaze to follow hers. Her dad is standing, hands on hips, taking in the field. He gestures and looks back to Martha as she sits forward to find something he's pointing out. "That's happy Beckett face. I know it's hard to tell."
"Not so hard," he says against her ribs as he drags a hand up the outside of her thigh. "Not always."
"Guys!" Alexis's voice is sharp. She's high above them now. Laughing down and making a face. "Gross! Keep up."
"Yeah, Castle, gross!" She tugs his hand up to more family friendly environs and puts on a burst of speed. "Keep up."
They reach the top, laughing and out of breath. They take their time. The three of them.
They wander in and out of stores. They climb down and up again. They lean over railings and peer into corners and take in the bits of history in the display cases.
And Castle samples every foodstuff in sight.
"How can you possibly eat any more?" Alexis presses a hand to her stomach as she and Kate wander up behind him at yet another stall.
"Knish?" Kate tips her head back to take in the not-at-all-appetizing photograph on the menu board. She makes a face. "Is ballpark knish a good idea?"
Alexis shakes her head, but she's staring, fascinated, as he bites in.
"Not a good idea," he says around a mouthful. His eyes roll back in bliss. "A great idea."
"Let me try!"
Alexis reaches for it, but he holds it high above her head. "How could you possibly eat any more?"
"Castle!" Kate comes up behind his shoulder and reaches, but in her flat shoes he has too many inches on her. "You'd deny your kid food?"
"And my girlfriend." He lifts his other arm and pulls off another piece. He shoves it into his mouth with dripping fingers. "No knish for the unbelievers."
Kate meets Alexis's eyes and nods. She gets the message. Kate goes up high. Castle falls for it and raises on his toes, holding the paper plate in both hands as Alexis dives for his midsection, fingers outstretched and wriggling furiously.
Castle shrieks. His elbows pull in sharply. Kate grabs the plate and makes off with it. Alexis tears off after her, leaving him gaping and rooted to the spot. The two of them huddle together, laughing and polishing off the rest of the knish.
He stomps after them, blinking in horror as Kate holds up the empty plate. "I can't believe you stole food from me. The two of you conspired to steal food from me!"
"Don't take it so hard, Castle. You got something better than knish." Kate licks her fingers. "You got to be right. Ballpark knish was a great idea."
"Mmmmm. So great," Alexis agrees with a laugh.
"You think you're funny." He winds an arm around each of their necks. He's trying for menacing, but the smile underneath is ridiculous. He's ridiculous. "You both think you're funny, but my retribution will be swift and terrible."
"Oooh, I'm trembling!" Alexis ducks away. "Aren't you trembling, Kate?"
"Definitely," Kate agrees as she pushes free of Castle's hold.
"Oh, you will be, Beckett," he rumbles in her ear as she catches his fingers.
"Dad! I thought we talked about being gross," Alexis says over her shoulder.
"Retribution, daughter." He tugs Kate back toward him, wrapping an arm firmly around her waist. "Swift! Terrible! Gross!"
Kate's mouth opens and closes. She feels her cheeks flush hot and she'd gladly throw Castle over the nearest railing. She starts to peel his fingers from her hip as Alexis whirls around and she sees answering pink climbing up from the girl's collarbones.
She starts to disentangle herself. To put a respectable distance between them, but something stops her. The weight of his hand or the way he's holding his breath a little. Something passes between them-him and Alexis-and she waits. She walks beside him.
Alexis raises an eyebrow. It's him. It's his gesture exactly, and Kate suddenly wonders if she looks like Meredith at all.
"Touché," she says. Her grave expression hardly lasts an instant, then she's smiling. Leading the way again. The three of them. Exploring. "We need make it to the right field corner. You can see the ocean from up there and practically lean out over the amusement park!"
It's like him again. The sudden shift of mood from heavy to light. Something that needs settling, done in a moment. She's over it, whatever it was, and it strikes Kate just then how young she looks.
How she's been holding herself carefully so far. Pointedly giving the two of them their space. Measured and deliberate, even when she's teasing.
Kate sees that in retrospect. She sees how she's let go now. Whatever it is that passed between them-father and daughter-she's let something go, and she looks so young now.
The colored lights flicker over her skin and she turns toward them. She dances backward and chatters excitedly. And she's not just the quiet, steady young woman of the last five years. She's a wide-eyed little girl who hasn't lost the magic in the sight of the familiar ocean.
In the moment, Kate sees what he sees. What makes him worry as much as it makes him proud. That she's a happy, trusting adventurous soul and there's so much good and so much heartache waiting out there for her.
Kate straightens her arm and tugs her fingers down along with Castle's. She goes up on her toes and plants a kiss on his cheek. She bumps along next to him and rests her head on his shoulder for a few stumbling steps.
He smiles down at her, blinking and a little surprised. "What was that for?"
"For you," she says. "For being good at this."