The Break Will Mend, Castle/Beckett, PG
Title: The Break Will Mend
Fandom: Castle
Pairing: Castle/Beckett
Spoilers: set after the s3 finale.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit. Characters remain the property of Marlowe, ABC et al
Summary: It's not the most conventional recovery
Beckett crouches behind the upturned sofa, breathing heavily as she checks her weapon one more time. It's reflex by now, the gun becomes an extension of her own arm, and she can't break cover without being totally sure that she can fire.
He's out there, probably not too far away, but his shadow blurred into the darkness a few minutes back and now Beckett just can't be sure. She slows her own breathing, straining to hear the shuffle of feet on the floor or some other tell-tale creak.
Her body armor is stiff around her chest and torso, not the lightweight stuff that she forced Montgomery to invest in two years ago. The thought of him sends another pang of missing him, of being angry at him through her, and it's as much pain as any bullet could inflict.
But she's not thinking about that right now. Taking a bullet in the line of duty is a honor of sorts, one that she's survived. In fact, it's why she's here today.
Before she can continue that train of thought, she finally hears the footstep she's been waiting for.
But it's behind her.
Shit.
"Detective Beckett, we meet again."
She turns around with a sigh, quietly pleased at the lack of pain from her healing injury when she does.
"What happened to 'Kate'?"
He's smirking as he places the gun against her laser panel. With one bleep of the laser, it's done.
"Well, Kate, you lost. Don't worry, most people would have embarrassed themselves way before now. I am the reigning champion around these parts."
"Not according to Alexis," Beckett shoots back.
"A traitor if ever I saw one. I'm not even sure she's mine, you know."
"Dad!" comes Alexis's yell from behind the other sofa. She's been out for a while now, but refuses to come in quietly.
"Sorry!" Castle shouts back, but he doesn't look even slightly chastised. Instead, he's letting his gun drop to the floor in favor of stroking Beckett's hair. She'd tied it up to play the game, but the unexpected exertion of it all has shaken most of the strands loose.
"Hey," he says, still looking sort of thunderstruck at the newness of it all. It's been a hell of a few weeks, Beckett knows, but if the hospital and the drugs and the paperwork have sucked, this new thing with Castle has gone some way to making up for it.
"Hey yourself," she replies, and kisses him. She can do that now.
She can do that because Josh had already accepted a new job, and though he waited to make sure she'd recover, they both knew the truth about their relationship by then. It wasn't his name she'd been murmuring when she came round from the anesthetic.
She can do that because since the doctors gladly released her (their legal and insurance guys had been super-twitchy about a recovering cop who wouldn't stay in her damn bed) she's been staying in one of Castle's spare rooms.
Which has lead to, quite frankly, a lot of kissing. And judging by the way his hands are gripping her ass right know, and the way her fingers seem intent on pulling his shirt off, there's certainly going to be a lot more than kissing some time very soon. Beckett can't pretend any longer, that she isn't driven halfway out of her mind by how much she wants this.
Who knew that Rick Castle would turn out to be the perfect gentleman?
All of a sudden the regular apartment lighting splashes through the darkness, and with some reluctance Beckett pulls out of the embrace they've just been caught in. Both Alexis and Martha have mirrored stances of mock disapproval, though Martha's is framed with the frightening number of shopping bags she's just returned with. They've made Beckett so welcome here, and she's blushing at being caught.
Again.
"Honestly, you two. Does the phrase 'get a room' mean nothing anymore?" It's Martha who says it, but Alexis nods along in agreement.
Castle blusters a little, mercifully lost for words for once. Only these women can stump him, can dent just a little of that maddeningly ever-present confidence. Beckett sees her chance and jumps in.
"I need to go lie down, anyway. Doctor's orders."
Alexis is the first to smirk at that.
"I suppose your Doctor prescribed two hours of laser war, too?"
Beckett shrugs, and tries not to run as she makes her escape. It's just instinct that makes her turn the handle on Castle's bedroom door when she makes it upstairs, just like it had been instinct to pick a lower-cut top this morning on the first day without any kind of dressing or tape to contend with.
She's ready, she's whole, and she's waiting. She just has to hope that Castle took the unspoken hint that she left him.
Thirty seconds later, the door opens again and she knows that he did.
And if this is healing, Kate Beckett is certainly enjoying the ride.
Fandom: Castle
Pairing: Castle/Beckett
Spoilers: set after the s3 finale.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no profit. Characters remain the property of Marlowe, ABC et al
Summary: It's not the most conventional recovery
Beckett crouches behind the upturned sofa, breathing heavily as she checks her weapon one more time. It's reflex by now, the gun becomes an extension of her own arm, and she can't break cover without being totally sure that she can fire.
He's out there, probably not too far away, but his shadow blurred into the darkness a few minutes back and now Beckett just can't be sure. She slows her own breathing, straining to hear the shuffle of feet on the floor or some other tell-tale creak.
Her body armor is stiff around her chest and torso, not the lightweight stuff that she forced Montgomery to invest in two years ago. The thought of him sends another pang of missing him, of being angry at him through her, and it's as much pain as any bullet could inflict.
But she's not thinking about that right now. Taking a bullet in the line of duty is a honor of sorts, one that she's survived. In fact, it's why she's here today.
Before she can continue that train of thought, she finally hears the footstep she's been waiting for.
But it's behind her.
Shit.
"Detective Beckett, we meet again."
She turns around with a sigh, quietly pleased at the lack of pain from her healing injury when she does.
"What happened to 'Kate'?"
He's smirking as he places the gun against her laser panel. With one bleep of the laser, it's done.
"Well, Kate, you lost. Don't worry, most people would have embarrassed themselves way before now. I am the reigning champion around these parts."
"Not according to Alexis," Beckett shoots back.
"A traitor if ever I saw one. I'm not even sure she's mine, you know."
"Dad!" comes Alexis's yell from behind the other sofa. She's been out for a while now, but refuses to come in quietly.
"Sorry!" Castle shouts back, but he doesn't look even slightly chastised. Instead, he's letting his gun drop to the floor in favor of stroking Beckett's hair. She'd tied it up to play the game, but the unexpected exertion of it all has shaken most of the strands loose.
"Hey," he says, still looking sort of thunderstruck at the newness of it all. It's been a hell of a few weeks, Beckett knows, but if the hospital and the drugs and the paperwork have sucked, this new thing with Castle has gone some way to making up for it.
"Hey yourself," she replies, and kisses him. She can do that now.
She can do that because Josh had already accepted a new job, and though he waited to make sure she'd recover, they both knew the truth about their relationship by then. It wasn't his name she'd been murmuring when she came round from the anesthetic.
She can do that because since the doctors gladly released her (their legal and insurance guys had been super-twitchy about a recovering cop who wouldn't stay in her damn bed) she's been staying in one of Castle's spare rooms.
Which has lead to, quite frankly, a lot of kissing. And judging by the way his hands are gripping her ass right know, and the way her fingers seem intent on pulling his shirt off, there's certainly going to be a lot more than kissing some time very soon. Beckett can't pretend any longer, that she isn't driven halfway out of her mind by how much she wants this.
Who knew that Rick Castle would turn out to be the perfect gentleman?
All of a sudden the regular apartment lighting splashes through the darkness, and with some reluctance Beckett pulls out of the embrace they've just been caught in. Both Alexis and Martha have mirrored stances of mock disapproval, though Martha's is framed with the frightening number of shopping bags she's just returned with. They've made Beckett so welcome here, and she's blushing at being caught.
Again.
"Honestly, you two. Does the phrase 'get a room' mean nothing anymore?" It's Martha who says it, but Alexis nods along in agreement.
Castle blusters a little, mercifully lost for words for once. Only these women can stump him, can dent just a little of that maddeningly ever-present confidence. Beckett sees her chance and jumps in.
"I need to go lie down, anyway. Doctor's orders."
Alexis is the first to smirk at that.
"I suppose your Doctor prescribed two hours of laser war, too?"
Beckett shrugs, and tries not to run as she makes her escape. It's just instinct that makes her turn the handle on Castle's bedroom door when she makes it upstairs, just like it had been instinct to pick a lower-cut top this morning on the first day without any kind of dressing or tape to contend with.
She's ready, she's whole, and she's waiting. She just has to hope that Castle took the unspoken hint that she left him.
Thirty seconds later, the door opens again and she knows that he did.
And if this is healing, Kate Beckett is certainly enjoying the ride.