Hi Anon! Sorry this took me a little bit. I changed a couple of the details from the prompt, so I hope you’ll like this. I also totally went for the bonus points (because PUPPY!).
Start All Over Again
A Caskett AU
“He’s protective, huh?”
Blinking, Kate Beckett lifted her eyes from the wound
on her torso to the person stitching it shut. They had been sitting in silence
for so long, the question practically boomed in the space.
“Excuse me?”
The nurse stitching her up stilled, jerking her head
toward the closed exam room door. “Your boyfriend? Tall, dark, and
handsome in the suit out there. He’s been lurking since you came in. Seems
protective.”
“Ah,” she hummed, dropping her head back.
She didn’t need to continue watching the woman work, really. “Yeah, I
guess you could say that. And yeah, he is protective.”
“Oh, complicated relationship?”
She snorted.
Complicated did not begin to describe it. Not that she
could get into the specifics in front of an ER nurse anyway, but ‘complicated’ only
scratched the surface.
“He wasn’t the one who –”
“No.” She would quash that idea before the
well-meaning woman got started. “He was the one who kept the person who
did this,” she paused to gesture to her wound, “from doing worse.”
The nurse nodded, licking her lips.
“There’s a police report on file if it’s
something you’re obligated to look into, but Castle didn’t do this.”
He wouldn’t even think about hurting her like that.
Unlike her newest ex. How was it that her instincts
always seemed to evade her when it came to men? Every man she had dated had
been stranger than strange, boring as hell, or a terrorist trying to
destabilize the government, of all things.
Except for one, of course. The one waiting in the
hallway.
“No, I’m not required to report. But there are
resources if you need them.”
“No, those won’t be necessary. This was
work-related,” she exhaled, licking her lips as Jamie went back to work.
“He’s been out there the entire time?”
“Uh huh. Pacing from the sound of it.”
Tilting her head, she heard the quiet squeak of
Richard Castle’s shoes on the tile. So he was.
“You can come in, Castle,” she called as the
noise grew closer.
A second later, the door cracked open and her ex’s
head appeared in the gap. His dark hair was tousled, and she pictured him
raking his fingers through it as he worked his way down the hall and back.
“I – you sure?” he asked, making a valiant
effort to keep his eyes from brushing her bare collarbones and over the top of
her bra. Her eyes drifted skyward at that.
Like he hadn’t seen it all before.
“Better than having you wear a hole in the floor
outside. Get in here.”
He bounded to her side without another word, looking more
like a nervous, clumsy schoolboy than the accomplished spy – ahem, clandestine
service agent – he was.
Kate hid a laugh behind her hand, offering Jamie a
quiet apology as the motion jostled her torso again.
“You causing trouble again?” Castle teased. His
hands flexed, poised to reach for her before he pulled back and pressed his
palms to the paper-covered space beside her instead.
“Shut up,” Beckett grumbled, covering his
fingers to still his fidgeting. “If you didn’t look like a lost puppy, I
wouldn’t have to laugh at you.”
They would just have to ignore the way her skin
tingled at the simple touch.
Instead of a retort, she watched his eyes widen.
“Ah, speaking of dogs…”
“My neighbor walks her and feeds her if I’m going
to be at work late. Relax.”
“Talking about your dog?” Jamie asked,
glancing up from her sutures. “You know, I’ve heard good things about the
doggy daycare in SoHo…”
“Ah,” Rick stumbled before apparently deciding
to go with it and tell a watered down version of the truth. “Yeah, our dog.
She’s three.”
“Four,” Kate interrupted, shaking her head in
mock disappointment. “Don’t even remember your own fur child’s age,
jeez.”
“Four,” Rick amended, dipping his chin at
the rebuke. Indigo had been two when he left – when he was reassigned – and it was mutually decided that Kate and the
Australian Shepherd they had found in an alley would be better off staying in
New York. “Sorry.”
“Mhmm,” she hummed, patting the back of his
hand. At this point, she wasn’t even sure if the dog remembered him. “You
get to be the one to tell her you forgot her birthday.”
Castle chuckled. “I think I can do that. And
thanks, we’ll look into the daycare.”
They wouldn’t, but it made the nurse smile anyway.
Rick’s lips touched her forehead a moment later, his
breath comforting and warm against her skin.
“Local wearing off? You just made a face.”
“No, I’m fine.”
It was just fatigue, the day catching up to her. It
had nothing to do with the knowledge that his phone could ring in fifteen
minutes and he would be on his way to parts unknown just a little while after
that.
Jamie finished a few minutes later, covering the
sutures with a light gauze.
“That’s just to keep the area from getting
irritated or dirty on your way home. Remove the gauze in a few hours and let
your skin breathe. I’ll get the rest of the care instructions for you, along
with your discharge papers, so stay put.”
She winked at Rick on her way out, drawing a chuckle
from his lips.
“Think she likes you,” Kate teased, biting
back a groan and easing herself upright. The stitches pulled a bit, but as long
as she didn’t move too quickly, it would probably be okay.
“And yet she seems oddly invested in our home
life.”
The smile slipped from her lips. They didn’t have a
home life, not anymore.
Castle stepped closer, splaying his palm against her
side, brushing his fingertips over the taped edge of the bandage. He had always
been good at sensing her mood.
“Sorry your boyfriend tried to shoot you. Good
thing you have the reflexes of a ninja.”
Beckett snorted. In general, she preferred her
boyfriends not to try to kill her at all, but she would take a graze across her
ribs over the alternative any day.
“Go on, gloat about how you knew he was an
asshole the entire time.”
“Well yes,” he started, ignoring her eye
roll. “But that has nothing to do with the fact that he was selling state
secrets. Though there is a certain enjoyment in knowing he’s being loaded onto
a plane to DC in shackles right about now.”
“Funny. At least he’s coming back to New York to
stand trial for the murder.”
Castle hesitated. “I – about that –”
The way he fumbled with his words told her everything
she needed to know.
Plucking his hand from her body, Beckett nudged him
away from her and tossed her ruined shirt over her head.
“That was the deal, Castle,” she hissed
through clenched teeth, gathering the rest of her things. “That was the
deal you made with me when I called you in; you get the information Stephen
stole from Leigh, I get justice for my victim.”
He squirmed, looking down at his shoes and back to
her. “I know, but –”
“I got shot
because of that deal, Castle, and now I get to go to Leigh’s family and tell
them that their daughter’s killer, their sister’s killer, their wife’s killer
is an asset for the government and will probably get to disappear to live a
cushy life in exchange for his cooperation?”
Her ex’s mouth opened, no doubt ready to offer another
rhetoric-laden attempt at an explanation, but she lifted a hand to stop him.
“Don’t. Don’t bother. Enjoy your next assignment,
Agent. Goodbye.”
Holding her chin high, she didn’t look back as she
stormed down the hall.
As always, he gave her time to get home and strip
herself of the day’s armor (and, as was the custom now, to flop onto the couch
with Indigo) before he appeared at her door. She had known he would follow; he
always followed, even when she was furious with him.
He was just that damn stubborn, but she loved him that
way. Two years later and a bureaucracy between them, she loved Rick Castle
still.
Stephen’s betrayal had only made that even more apparent.
Indigo was first up after the knock, letting out a low
bark before skidding across the rug and then the hardwood to stand sentinel at
the front door. Kate was slower to move; all anesthesia and adrenaline had worn
off, leaving her exhausted and sore. She should have taken an aspirin when she
got home.
“It’s okay, Indy,” she soothed, sliding her
hand over the bristled hair on her dog’s back. “You know who it is.”
The dog inched in front of her anyway, blocking her
from potential harm. Her sweet, protective baby.
“Beckett, open up. I hear you in there.”
Rolling her eyes, she stretched around Indigo’s body
to fumble with the locks and jerk the metal barrier open just enough to see
him.
Gone was his suit coat and tie. He still wore the
bright blue shirt from earlier, but the top button had been released and he had
rolled his sleeves up to his elbows. Just the way he had always dressed when he
wasn’t on the clock.
One look at their visitor and Indigo went nuts. A low
whine Beckett recognized as a greeting spilled from the dog’s throat, and her
tail thrashed against Kate’s thigh.
Castle lit up. “Indy! Hi baby, do you remember
me? It’s Daddy. I see you. Yes, I see you. Let me come in, okay?”
Beckett stepped back, tugging on Indigo’s collar to
get her to do the same. The dog’s nails skittered against the floor, struggling
to find traction as Kate kept her from surging into the hallway and tackling
Castle.
Rick squeezed in, holding up two overfilled take out bags
as a peace offering. Bribery Chinese, they used to call it. If it weren’t so
late, she was sure he would have also brandished a latte crafted exactly the
way she liked i – oh.
He had that, too. Gripped between the handles of the
bags was a cup from her favorite coffee shop.
“Brought you presents,” he quipped, his lips
lifting into that infuriating sexy smirk he always offered her whenever she
underestimated him. “Jamie also gave me the papers you forgot and your
prescription - which I took the liberty of having filled for you.”
She stared, wondering for a moment if the attention
was genuine, or if it was simply a PR stunt to ensure her cooperation in the
event of another collaborative investigation.
Heaving a sigh, Kate shook her head at herself. That
was uncharitable; Castle wasn’t that calculating, not with her. With others
maybe, but never with her.
She had to believe that hadn’t changed.
“Yes, Indy, I see you. I see you,” he
continued, twisting to see if he could free a hand to pet the dog. “Okay,
I’ll put this stuff down right now. Then it’s your turn.”
He brushed past them both, moving to the kitchen
island to settle his packages. Making himself at home, as always. Even in a
place he had never been to before, a place he had never lived, he was making
himself at home.
The travel mug wobbled, but Castle managed to right it
before it tipped. Good man. He knew better than to waste coffee.
“C'mere baby,” Rick rumbled finally,
dropping to his knees. Taking that as her cue, Kate relaxed her grip on Indigo’s
collar. The puppy bounded to him without hesitation, her body wobbling with the
force of her joy. “Oh, I missed you, Indigo. I missed you, I missed you, I
missed you.”
The dog’s long tongue slid up his cheek, over his
nose, down his chin, halting only when Rick twisted and buried his face in her
neck.
Beckett watched his shoulders hitch and swallowed the
lump forming in her throat. Even if he was trying to butter her up with the
rest, that display was genuine.
After a moment, Indigo wiggled again, pawing Castle’s
arm and whining. He released her with a husky laugh, unashamedly swiping at his
eyes.
“Sorry, Indy. Daddy got excited. I didn’t mean to
squeeze you so hard.”
Beckett snorted, turning to lock the door. “Be
glad she didn’t pee. You’d be cleaning it up.”
Castle grinned, dropping a final kiss between their
dog’s eyes and getting to his feet. “You still get so excited you pee,
huh?”
Indigo ignored the question, circling his legs and
rocketing back to Kate to share in her enthusiasm.
“Sometimes she does. It’s rare, though. When I
come home after long cases, or if my dad comes bearing gifts.”
“She pee for Stephen?”
One eyebrow arched. He didn’t even try to hide the
jealousy. That shouldn’t thrill her, it really shouldn’t, but the edge to his
voice sent a tiny jolt of pleasure up her spine.
“She hated Stephen,” she confessed, rubbing
a hand down Indigo’s side. “I finally got her to stop growling at him, but
any time he came over she sat across from him and glared at him. Guess she knew
something was up with him from the start.”
She had always assumed Indy just hated the man for not
being Castle.
“Dogs can sense this stuff long before we
can.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, ducking her head.
“So Chinese and coffee, huh? Going all out.”
Castle lifted a shoulder, crossing to the sink to wash
his hands and swipe the slobber from his face. “I almost brought flowers,
too, but I ran out of hands.”
“Of course you did,” she said, taking a
moment to appreciate the curve of his ass in his dress pants before moving to
his side to wash her own hands. Once she was finished, she stepped around him,
careful not to touch, and reached for the plates.
They moved together, working in tandem the way they
always had, their instincts for teamwork still sharp even after years apart. Kate
dished out the rice and he spooned the meat onto their plates, carrying them both
to the table once they were full.
“No,” she interrupted, nodding to the couch.
“I’m too sore to sit up straight tonight.”
“Right. Oh! That reminds me,” he doubled
back, shifting one of the plates and snatching the bag from the pharmacy off
the counter. “Your pain pills and the scar cream I know you like. I wasn’t
sure if you had any or if it was still good, so I just picked up more.”
Beckett nodded, taking the bag from his fingers.
“Thanks, that was sweet of you.”
She called for Indigo to walk with her to the couch,
wanting to spare Rick the hassle of carrying their food with the dog underfoot.
“It wasn’t my choice, Kate,” he blurted to
her back. “I made every recommendation I could, reminded four people that
keeping the NYPD’s cooperation is paramount for future missions, but they
overruled me.”
“So much for truth, justice, and the American
way, huh?” she drawled, sinking onto the cushions. “Murderers go free
as long as it serves the agenda of the great Central Intelligence Agency.”
Her ex’s shoulders slumped, but he pushed ahead.
“That’s not me, though. You know that.”
“Do I?” Beckett asked, watching him settle
their plates on the coffee table with a soft 'leave it’ to Indigo. “I
haven’t seen you in two years, Castle.”
He settled beside her, hooking his index finger around
her pinky. “Doesn’t mean I’m suddenly a stranger. Or that I’m not on your
side. I am always on your side. I want him to serve time as badly as you do. I
just don’t know what else I can do to convince my superiors that getting his
intel and facing punishment aren’t mutually exclusive.”
Pursing her lips, she studied his face, watching his
soft cobalt eyes for signs of deception. She saw only remorse for the way
things had turned out.
Deflating, she nodded. “I know. I believe
you.”
“I - you do?” He did a double take.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I do. But if you’re lying to me, you better
hope I don’t find out, because –”
His hands lifted in surrender. “Not lying. I
swear. And I’ll, if you want me to come with you to talk to Leigh’s family, I
will. Maybe I can explain?”
“What? That it’s a matter of national security?”
she drawled, reaching for their plates. The poor dog was drooling on the
carpet, her eyes locked on the temptation dangling in front of her.
“Well, yeah,” Castle murmured, taking his
food from her. “That’s what it is.”
Kate shook her head, spearing a piece of tangerine
chicken with her fork. He meant well, he always had. “That won’t make it
better, Rick. Trust me, 'we found the guy but we let him go’ is the only thing
they’ll hear. The semantics won’t change the bottom line.”
Her ex nodded, lowering his eyes to his own food. He
had always hated that part of the job.
“But you can come with me anyway. If you really
want to,” she added, tugging her lower lip between her teeth. “I was
going to go in the morning, so I don’t know if you have to be on a plane back
to your super-secret spy headquarters or something… what?”
The couch vibrated with his laughter.
“What, Castle? I can still shoot you, you
know.”
“Nothing, nothing. Just the way you put it makes
it sound like my office is in a secret lair underneath an active volcano.”
Her lips split open, the laugh escaping into the air
between them.
“Yeah,” she wheezed, coughing into her hand.
“It kind of did. It really did.”
Rick rumbled his agreement, the corners of his eyes
crinkling happily. She loved being able to make him laugh, even if it was mostly
at her expense.
Her fingers itched to reach for him, to trace the
lines of his joy the way she used to, but she wouldn’t. She couldn’t.
She looked away, her hand tightening around her fork.
It was just a meal. Just a meal between two people who used to be with one
another.
Two people who had almost been everything to one another.
“Kate,” he murmured some time later, stroking
gentle fingers over Indigo’s muzzle.
The dog’s tail wagged, hitting the coffee table leg
with a muted thud. God, she was happy to have him back. She was happier still
when he let her lick the remainder of the sweet and sour sauce and rice from
his plate.
Shameless, the both of them.
Licking her lips, Beckett gestured for him to
continue. She had a feeling she already knew what he wanted to say. After all,
they had decided that long distance couldn’t work once already, it only made
sense to reiterate that now.
“I requested a transfer back to New York.”
And that was not it.
Hope flared in her chest, wild and unwavering,
traitorous in the face of her resolve to be strong.
“I’ve been
requesting transfers since I left, but months ago, I asked them again to
reassign me, take me out of the field if that was what was necessary to get me
back here.”
“Oh?” she croaked, fighting to keep a handle
on herself. Having the desire to return didn’t mean it would happen. It didn’t
mean things would go back to the way they were before, even if the transfer was
approved. “What’d they say?”
Castle shook his head. “No. They said in this
climate they needed me where I was.”
As quickly as it had sparked, the hope withered and
snuffed itself out. She should have known.
“Oh.”
He shook his head, lifting her hand from her lap and
drawing it to his mouth. She swallowed hard, fighting the urge to replace her
knuckles with her lips.
“They’re never going to not need someone, though,
and I - it’s not the big honor that it used to be.”
Clearing her throat, she pressed ahead. “Fewer
babes than you expected, huh? Oh, does that mean James Bond lied?”
The corners of his lips twitched. “Plenty of
'babes,’ Beckett,” he retorted, giving in to her gentle tease. “Just
not the right one.”
Subtle, Castle. Yet still strangely flattering. There
had always been something messed up about her.
“So I’m retiring in sixty days.”
Beckett sputtered, her fingers twitching in his grasp.
“You’re what? Castle, you love
your job.”
He shrugged, nonchalant, as if the decision to leave
behind almost twenty years of work was no bigger a deal than choosing a
restaurant for dinner.
“I love you more.”
The simplicity of the admission had her breath
catching in her throat.
“Rick –”
“You don’t have to – I know things have changed
and there’s no picking up where we left off. But if you’re willing, maybe we
could try to figure it ou –”
“I’m willing,” she interrupted, using their
clasped hands to yank him closer.
Two years was a long time, maybe too long, but she
couldn’t ignore the rapid-fire Morse code of her heart against her sternum. She
couldn’t live with the 'what ifs’ if they didn’t try.
“Yeah?” Castle asked, cupping her jaw,
stroking his thumb across her cheek. “In that case, I know you just got
out of a relationship and all, but how does a date tomorrow night sound?”
“Uh huh,” she agreed, tamping the waver of
giddiness out of her voice. “Sounds good.”
“Kay.”
“Kay,” Kate echoed, pressing her lips to the
meat of his palm. His eyes fluttered shut, only to snap open with her next
words, “Now are you gonna kiss me or what?”
She didn’t need to tell him twice.