He’s here, Kate thought as she glanced through the peephole. He’s safe. Beckett allowed herself a moment of peace knowing Castle was alright. The dreams of last night had left her shaken. But what she found herself replaying over and over were not the nightmares of Castle bleeding out in her arms, a bullet from Raglan’s killer lodged in his side, but rather the dreams of his arms encircling her, pulling her in, running his fingers through her hair, and kissing her in a way that both set her on fire and made her toes curl in bliss. She could even make a case that those were the dreams that shook her the most. I am not in love with Richard Castle, she told herself severely for the hundredth time since rising. I am not. But she would allow the pleasure of knowing he was safe to wash over her. He was her partner after all. But still, nothing could stop the little flip her stomach gave her as she opened the door to greet him. She determinedly wrote it off as anxiety over her mother’s case. Nothing more. It still didn’t help that fact that she could find nothing to say once the door was fully open. It didn’t seem to matter. His eyes were the gun in her hand.
“You talked to Montgomery?” He asked, foregoing a greeting.
“Yeah,” she replied. There was nothing more she could really say. Though his face said plenty. Castle scrunched up his face as he made his way into the apartment. Either he was chagrined because he got caught swiping the files they needed or he was worried she was displeased because he got caught at all. No doubt wondering if she would pull out the “I signed up for this and you didn’t” speech again. She didn’t give him long to wait.
The gun in her hand worried him. Of course, Beckett was a cop, so holding one was second nature, but he had hoped the detail downstairs would have given her some peace of mind. Then again, her apartment did blow up last year. Castle just wished there could be one day where she didn’t have to worry so much. But what he wished most of all was that he hadn’t gotten caught last night. He’d counted on Montgomery’s coffee break and the fact that since the Captain had sent both him and Beckett home that he wouldn’t be looking for the two of them to return. Of course, there was a reason Montgomery was Captain. And he’d spotted Castle a mile away.
What also worried him was whether or not Beckett would use his incompetency as an excuse to send him home. He’d gotten the files, but would that be enough? Castle mentally shrugged. It didn’t matter. Like he’d told her yesterday, he wasn’t leaving her.
“Castle, there’s something I need you to do,” Beckett said as she followed him deeper into the apartment.
“Name it,” he replied, hoping it was something different than what her face told him. It wasn’t.
“Go home.” She all but ordered.
Castle fought to roll his eyes. “Forget it,” he said back just as forcefully, then, “Fear does not exist in this dojo.” Just to keep things semi-light.
“Listen, I signed up for this when I put my badge on, you didn’t.” She replied, repeating their argument from the night before. But then she added something new. “This is not your fight.”
Castle had to fight to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. “The hell it isn’t,” he shot back. Then he found himself repeating his words back to her. He hated the rut they seemed to be in. “Look I don’t follow you around just to annoy you. I don’t ride out to murder scenes in the middle of the night just to annoy you. If that’s all this was I would have quit a long time ago!” Castle promptly shut his mouth to stop himself from saying the words she was not ready to hear. But the damage was done.
