a writer and his muse, fighting crime

PASSING NOTES SEASON 5

She doesn't know why they started this.

Early in their relationship, after the haze of the first couple weeks of her suspension, they both ignored their responsibilities in favor of spending every moment together possible.

But then one morning he had an early meeting at Black Pawn that he couldn't back out of - Gina threatened bodily harm, he said - and she was still asleep when he left. She woke to a note on her nightstand, just a simple "good morning" and "I love you," but it was so unexpected, so sweet, that she was grinning the entire morning...

And basically jumped him when he got home.

The first time she left him a note, he was stressed, running up against a deadline, a week after her return to work. He was buried in his laptop and barely acknowledged when she left one morning, so she scribbled a few encouraging words on a scrap of paper and slid it under his coffee mug before stealing a kiss on her way out the door.

From that point on, she found notes here and there, containing everything from silly dad jokes to flowery declarations of love. She started doing it as well, although she prefers to show her love through her actions rather than words.

The morning after he proposed, she woke first, as usual, and he barely moved when she slid out of bed. He was still fast asleep when she returned after her shower and making coffee, so she grabbed a pen and slip of paper, wrote three words, and tucked it under his phone before climbing back in next to him.

echoed on your skin

A Caskett AU for Castle Fanfic Monday

Based on the prompt:  Soulmate au where when you write something on your skin with pen/marker/whatever the hell you want, it will show up on your soul mates skin as well.

He’s eight years old the first time his Soul Marker shows up.

It happens on a Saturday in the middle of November and, at first, all he notices is that it is cold in his bedroom. The wind rattles the world outside, seeping through the gaps along the windows and under the doors to bring the chill inside. His mother does what she can for them, more than enough, but she can’t help that their apartment is drafty. So he doesn’t complain, he doesn’t whine in the early morning air, he just draws his blankets closer to his ears.

The dark smudge on his palm catches his attention then.

It isn’t large, definitely nothing impressive, just a smear of black on his hand. Like he had been playing in the dirt in the middle of the night. When he shows his mother later that morning, she just smiles and presses a wet kiss to his forehead.

Not content with that answer, Richard Rodgers swipes the affection from his skin and demands to know more.

Ever indulgent, Martha takes his hands, tickling the mark on his palm until he giggles.

“When babies are born, their handprints and footprints are taken. Congratulations, kiddo, your Soul Match has arrived in the world.”

He’s appalled; his Soul Match is a baby? There is no way.

For a moment, he considers the possibility that his mother is pulling his leg, playing a trick on him to get back at him for using her favorite bubble bath as dish soap, but there is only gentle humor in her eyes. Only relief.

Relief that he has a match.

Not everyone does, he knows. His mother doesn’t. There are times when she comes home from work and he swears he can see his own doodles on her skin, covered by layers of stage makeup, but it’s the bond of a parent to her child, not a true Soul Match.

He can’t help but wonder why he has one and she doesn’t.

The next Monday after school, he goes to the library and gathers as many books about Soul Matching as his thin arms will hold. He reads as many as he can before his mother comes to pick him up, checking out the rest and shoving them into his backpack. In the end, the entire idea makes a bit more sense. It’s something precious, something special, like being a superhero. Which doesn’t sound so bad really.

But still, a baby? He can’t be matched with a baby.

STOLEN MOMENTS 5X07

His girlfriend has disappeared.

He's not surprised: even for him, having the camera crew around is intimidating. He loves the attention, the chance to show off. But even more, he's anxious for the whole world to see what he sees: the genius of his girlfriend.

But she's used to working in the shadows, even though she's had to be in the spotlight a handful of times since becoming his muse. She knows when that's happening, though, can prepare for it. But to have cameras in her face without any warning?

He can see why she'd need a break.

He finds her in the back stairwell, a place they've escaped to a few times to steal a moment. She's sitting on the steps, her head in her hands, and he sees her shoulders lift with a deep sigh before she lifts her head.

"You okay?" he asks in a low voice, moving to sit.

She takes his hand and pulls herself up instead, and she leans against the wall, shoves her hands in her pockets. "Needed a moment."

He nods. "Want me to go?"

"No." She reaches out and grabs his shirt, and she pulls him close, lifts her mouth to his.

He brackets her head with his hands, pressing his palms against the wall as he leans into her and deepens the kiss.

He should be worried about getting caught, but that concern pales compared to his priority: to make sure the woman he loves is okay, that she knows she can lean on him.

By the time she slows the kiss and pulls away, her arms are around his neck, his body is pinning hers to the wall, and they're both breathing hard.

He drops his forehead to hers and closes his eyes. "Better?" he murmurs.

She hasn’t laughed like this in a long time.

She’s had lovers make things fun, of course. Sex hasn’t always been a super serious affair, no pun intended. But it wasn’t until she and Rick started sleeping together that she realized that their close friendship, their comfort with each other in all aspects of their lives, can make for a lot of fun between the sheets.

Tonight, it’s her legs getting tangled in the sheets as she tries to take off her pants, and almost pulling him to the floor with her. Somehow she manages to grab the comforter as they fall, and she lands with a thud, him managing to keep his weight off her.

“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice laced with concern. When she throws her head back and laughs, though, he grins and drops his head to her shoulder, chuckling against her skin.

After a moment her hips lift into his, and she runs her fingers through his hair and guides his mouth to hers.

“Kate-“

“No, Castle!”  She’s told him at least five times already: She’s not going to the hospital.  She’s not going to the hospital because she doesn’t need to.  Because she’s not in labor.  She can’t be in labor.

Birthday

November 23

The day had been hectic.

At 3AM Kate had woken Castle with a “Ricky this is it.” Fortunately, as sleepy as he was, Ricky Castle was more with it than Ricky Ricardo had been in that episode of I Love Lucy.

Alexis shooed them out the door with a promise to explain what was going on to Lily and to bring her to the hospital when things got close.

As she shut the door, Alexis glanced up the stairs and saw two round hazel eyes peeking between the slats.

“Hey Tiger-Lily,” she called as she climbed the stairs. “Did all the commotion wake you up?”

The little girl nodded, wrapping her arms around Alexis’ neck when her sister picked her up.

“Are the babies getting born?” she asked.

“They are. It’s their birthday today.”

“We should get a cake,” Lily said, her eyes slipping shut as Alexis tucked her into her bed.

“That’s a great idea, Lil. We’ll look for one when you wake up.”

“Okay.”

XXXXXX

It was a great idea, Alexis kept telling herself, as they stepped into the fifth bakery looking for just the right cake. If they’d thought of it sooner, they could have ordered it – though, granted, they wouldn’t have known when Kate would go into labor.

Lily squirmed out of Alexis’ grasp and ran to the counter just as one of the bakers set the perfect cake into the display with a disgruntled expression.

Blue, and white, with black accents, it was the twin booties on top that made the cake exactly what they wanted.

“Dat’s the one, ‘Lexis!” Lily exclaimed, pointing.

“Really?” the baker asked. “We had the order a week ago, then just as we put the finishing touches on this morning, I get a call cancelling.” The woman shook her head. “They found something different, somewhere else.”

“That’s horrible,” Alexis replied. “But lucky for us.”

“You getting twins?”

“My brudders are being born today,” Lily jumped up and down.

“And we decided to get them a birthday cake,” Alexis grinned.

“That is the best idea I’ve ever heard,” The baker began boxing the cake up. “You tell your brothers happy birthday from me,” she told Lily, whose smile outshone the sun.

XXXXX

They couldn’t bring the whole cake into the hospital, but they took pictures, and Alexis smuggled a piece in for Kate.

“Their first birthday cake,” Kate said, passing Alexis’ phone with the photo to Castle. She turned to Lily who was staring at awe at her brothers in their bassinets.

“That was a great idea you had, Blossom,”

Lily looked up at her mother and beamed.

“I think we should print out the picture and display it in the nursery, so the twins will always know what awesome big sisters they have,” chimed in Castle.

On the Steps

“You’re up early.”

She startles a little bit, making the cup of coffee he holds out feel a little more like a peace offering instead of a nice gesture.

“Sorry,” he says, stepping to the right and sinking down onto the steps beside her. “I thought you heard me coming. The leaves are all over the deck again.”

She laughs, nodding. “Ah, the joys of being a cabin owner. And I did hear you, Castle,” she adds, “I just wasn’t expecting you to say anything; you lurked long enough.”

His shoulder bumps hers. Cautious but companionable. Beckett lowers her chin, smiling quickly.

“Yeah, I guess I did,” he says. “I’m pretty good at that – like a ninja almost.”

She snorts, grinning into the mug. “Yeah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Castle,” she teases, taking a sip. “A ninja is a little bit of a stretch.”

He chuckles, sipping his coffee. “Mmm, maybe  you’re right. I’m far stealthier than that.”

This time she laughs out loud, leaning her head on his shoulder. “I just didn’t want to wake you.”

His lips brush her hair. “Bad dreams?”

She shakes her head, though he’s not sure he entirely believes her, given how quick she is to deny it. “Just woke up a little restless.”

Castle loops his arm around her, pulling her close.

“That’s okay; I just got cold without you.”

She hums. “Well, you’re warm now.”

Strays

She looks sheepish when he comes jogging into her office at the precinct.

“I got your message,” he says, trying hard to not look like he’s out of breath. He’s not, he chases after toddlers for a living these days; he’s in the best shape of his life. “What’s wrong?”

“I-” his wife stops, taking a deep breath. “Nothing’s wrong. But.”

She fumbles a little bit, shifting her weight and looking toward the floor behind her. “Okay, just come over here. It’s easier to show you than it is to tell you.”

He eyes her carefully, moving to join her on her side of the desk.

“Kittens?!” he squawks. “Beckett, there’s a box of kittens in your office!”

His wife chuckles, popping her lips. “Yes, yes there is. LT found them this morning out in the alley. No collars, no information in the box. The shelter he called said to bring them in and they’ll treat them as strays, hold them for a week and then adopt them out.”

Castle kneels by the box, holding out a hand to the mewling little creatures. “Well hi there, little guys. Where did you come from?”

“Well, when a mommy cat and a daddy cat love each other very much,” Kate drawls, making him grin. Her hand connects with the back of his neck, squeezing gently. “So I know this is out of the blue, but they’re here and Lily has been begging for a cat…”

“Perfect. I’ll take them home and-”

“We’re not keeping all six of them, Castle. That is ridiculous. You and I are going to be the ones to clean the litterbox and there’s absolutely no way I’m cleaning six of them.”

He chuckles. “Okay, okay. You have a point. But maybe… two? So they don’t get lonely and miss each other? And maybe so Lily can have one she considers ‘hers’ and the rest of us have the other. And then we can find homes for the rest, too.”

She squeezes his neck again. “Yeah, I think we can do that. I was actually considering…the one with the bigger black markings on its head for my dad? And maybe one for Alexis, too? Then there’s only two who’ll need homes.”

Tilting his head back, Rick grins at her. “I think that’ll be perfect.”

Smitten Mittens.

It had been an impulse buy on his part but he couldn’t deny it made him so happy to watch his daughters laughing as they sat together trying every conceivable combination, matching up the patterns on their mittens. Alexis held her outs as Lily tried her smaller hand next to hers again and again, giggling every time she formed a heart.

He watched from the kitchen as Alexis indulged her little sister in her games, dropping a kiss against her dark curls as she beamed up at her from where they were huddled together on the sofa.

“We twins!” Lily cheered.

Castle smiled. Lily adored her big sister and loved any chance to be like her.

Alexis looked just as happy, he noted.

“Nice work, Daddy,” Kate whispered to him as she came up beside him, wrapping an arm around his waist and leaning into his side.

He grinned at her, turning back to look at his daughters as they continued to compare their new mittens and plan an afternoon outing when they could co-ordinate their outfits.

_____________________

Prompt: Mittens

Post Series

“Daddy?”

“What’s up, Lilypad?”

Castle looked up from the pot he was stirring to find three sets of eyes peering at him from the counter. He’d spent the afternoon helping the kids write their Christmas letters to Santa and he’d left them clearing the table of the paper and crayons they’d used to do it. Or they should have been. 

“How does Santa bring us presents? Grams told us the story and Daddy, we don’t have a chimney. How can Santa come to our home if we don’t have a chimney?” Lily asked, Reece and Jake looking worried about the answer too.

He wiped his hands, remembering a conversation from years ago with his wife. I was three and we didn’t have a chimney. He chuckled. They’d managed to make it to six before Lily had started to question it. He’d have to call Jim later. He always got a kick out of Lily being like her mother and enjoyed any opportunity to tease his daughter about it. He broke from his thoughts when he remembered that he had three kids waiting for his answer. 

“Not everyone has a chimney, you’re right Lilypad. You’re very smart to realise that.”

Lily beamed under the praise but he still had three little faces looking at him for answers.

“You know that Santa is magical, correct?” Castle began. Three heads nodded to him. “Did you know that Santa also has ninja skills?”

Reece and Jake didn’t really know what ninjas were but they featured in a lot of his stories them. 

“You see, when Alexis was little I had the same worry. We didn’t have a chimney and baby Alexis wouldn’t get her presents. So I wrote to Santa and told him about it. He told me not to worry.”

“Why?” Jake and Reece asked together.

“You see that skylight?” Castle asked, as he pointed to the window above their sofa. The three of them knew you could see through it, sometimes the three of them would lay under and see if they could see clouds in the sky or the stars at night.

Three heads nodded.

“Santa, he climbs down through that with his bag of presents on his back,” He explained.

“How?” Reece asked.

“He had a rope and he uses his magic to get in,” Castle watched the three of them think about that.

“Like Lex when we play lasers?” Jake gasped.

“Just like that!”

“Wow,” Jake and Reece looked at each other in awe but he could see Lily had further questions.

“Alexis always got presents and since you were born, the three of you have always had presents. So, as long as you stay on the nice list, you have nothing to worry about.”

Lily looked a little skeptical, eyeing the window a little before she shrugged. 

His boys were fascinated now though. Even more so when he showed them Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible on his phone. His kids were beyond excited to send their letters to Santa now, hurrying to finish their letters and waiting for their Mom to get home from work as she had promised to take them to post the letters.

Kate returned with the kids from their walk after dinner, walking in to find her husband writing at his desk. 

“Rick, why do the kids want to camp out under the skylight?” 

____________________

Prompt: Santa

Kate looks down at the messages she’s just gotten from her boyfriend and glances around her to make sure no one is looking at her nor being close enough to look at her phone.

I just wanna cuddle you

and kiss you

and maybe fuck you

…

He’s still writing and she gets the feeling he didn’t really mean to send that last message, not that she doesn’t think it’s something he would say, but more because she doesn’t think it’s something he’d send when he knows she’s at work.

She can’t stop sending the text she typed out as a reply. And tries her best to stop the grin from entering her lips and letting her two colleagues see something’s up.

Then come back home.

The dots disappear and she smirks, puts away her phone again in order to concentrate on the paperwork she’s been working on for the past half an hour. Unless there’s another murder within the next ten minutes she’s free to go home. There’s no way her boyfriend will be there waiting for her though, which kinda sucks. He’s out on a book tour and won’t come back for another two days. Rick Castle, her partner and now also boyfriend for the last few months, had been contacted by his publisher and manager and been told to go out on a three week book tour without much of a choice. He’d said he didn’t want to go but Kate got the feeling it wasn’t a choice at all and had encouraged him to go instead of holding him back. She’d even told him about having met him at one of his book signings before they became partners.

Her phone chirps with a message and so she quickly looks around before taking it out again.

I will, as soon as I can. What are you wearing?

She rolls her eyes, even if he can’t see it she has a feeling he knows she does it.

Work clothes

She’s just about to put away her phone again when it chirps again.

Which underwear are you wearing?

Kate can’t stop the bite to her lip and goes to answer when she hears footsteps approaching.

“Hey Beckett, you wanna go out and grab a beer?” Ryan asks and she puts away her phone before looking at her two friends approaching her desk.

“No, I think I’ll just head home, I’m tired. But you guys have fun,” she says with a yawn proving her point.

“You sure?” Esposito asks and she nods.

“Yeah, some other time,” she promises and they shrug their shoulders before saying goodnight and leaving.

She finishes up the last touches of her paperwork and then heads home herself. While on the sidewalk she takes out her phone again and finishes her text. She hits send and smiles to herself. She probably shouldn’t be teasing him, but then again he started it. Besides, he’s coming home in two days, it couldn’t hurt building up some heat for it. In fact, as she walks into the building of her apartment she starts thinking about what picture would be most effective to send once she’s inside her apartment. Should she go completely nude or tease him with some stripping pictures first. Probably the later one. She bit her lip, trying to temper down the smirk rising on her lips. She takes out her keys and unlocks the door, hurrying inside. She doesn’t care to turn on the lights as she takes of her jacket and shoes, also locks the door before she puts the keys in the bowl near the door and turns towards her living room. She takes a few steps into the apartment before she notices something isn’t quite how she left it this morning. There is a black bag on the floor and she feels butterflies enter her belly. She knows that bag. Questions is, where is he?

“Castle?” she calls out and turns to walk towards her bedroom.

Once she’s putting her foot inside her bedroom she feels arms going around her waist and pulling her against his chest.

“Right here,” he mumbles low in her ear, his teeth scraping the side of her ear in a love bite.

It instantly sends tingles down her spine and she shivers with excitement.

“How…?” she asks but moans when his lips travel to her neck.

“Managed to move some dates and catch an early flight,” he says against her skin.

She feels his hands travel from her waist to under her shirt. Before she can react his hand is cupping one of her breasts over her bra and has her gasping.

“Castle,” she moans as his free hand travels to her pants.

He leaves love bites on her neck and she swears she would do the same for him but right now she’s just too melted by his touch to do anything. Especially since his fingers are trembling at the hem of her panties, both tickling and teasing. As soon as his fingers touches her most intimate part she can’t stop the loud gasp leaving her parted lips.

“You’re so hot,” he mumbles into her ear and she feels her insides tighten.

Damnit, she’s already so close she knows he can feel it. His lips finds her pulse and starts sucking her neck with his tongue leaving a trail of wetness on her skin. He starts swaying their hips together as he thrusts two of his fingers inside of her making her reach her high.

“Mmhmm,” he hums as he lets his fingers glide out of her panties.

She pulls away slightly to turn around towards him only to see him put his fingers in his mouth.

“You sure do know how to make an entrance,” she laughs, shaking her head. She can feel her legs wanting to melt but she refuses to give in just yet.

He chuckles and she can see he’s proud of himself for having surprised her the way he had. “Well, I missed you,” he says and places his hands on her hips, pulls her closer.

She smiles and bites her lower lip. “Missed you too Castle.” She steps onto her toes and catches his lips with hers.

As they simultaneously open their mouths to let their tongues touch she can taste residue of herself and she feels herself getting hotter again. She lets her hands travel up and her fingers into his hair to keep him closer at the same time as she’s massaging his scalp, turning him into the one groaning. She smiles against his lips before she sucks his lower lip into her mouth to nibble on it, making him moan some more. She giggles the way only he can make her do and lets him push her towards her bed. She falls down onto the bed without hesitation, pulling him with her as they continue to kiss each other with a passion, immediately falling into that rhythm that is only theirs. And boy are they both glad he’s home early.

MAKE ME CHOOSE kate beckett’s smile or chloe decker’s smile

“Castle, what are you doing?” Kate asks when he’s pushing her into the archives, closing the door behind them before he’s pushing her further into the room.

“You’re so hot in this skirt and top it’s impossible to stay away any longer,” he murmurs as he’s pushing her body onto the small desks right beside the archives, his hands going down her sides as his lips crashes against hers.

The moan roaring from her throat is impossible to stop. She’s seen his stares, seen the heat in his eyes every time his eyes have landed on her ever since she showed him the undercover clothes she’d put on. His hands travel her sides and before she can do anything one of his hands has sneaked under her skirt and is touching her heat through the fabric of her panties. Turning her into a moaning mess.

“Fuck, Castle,” she gasps when he slips her panties to the side.

He takes her mouth again. His teeth nibbling her lower lip makes her insides tingle even more. He groans into her mouth then and now she’s the one nibbling on his lip, feeling his body’s excitement increase. His body which is moving against hers in the same rhythm she’s moving hers against his.

Kate turns her head away from him to get air into her lungs. His lips simply finds their way to her naked skin on her neck. It’s both tickling and, oh so, enticing.

“Rick, we’re in the archives, we shou-oh,” she moans when he starts sucking on her pulse.

No, they shouldn’t. But, oh, they did. With zero regrets.

Carousel Rides

“The carousel?” she asks as they round the last corner and the air is filled with whimsical music.

Rick Castle grins, nodding. He hasn’t been to the attraction since their case years ago and he’s relatively sure Beckett hasn’t either. Which makes it a perfect place for their date night-during-the-day.

“Uh huh. Come on, it’ll be fun. We’ll ride until they kick us off because a couple of little kids want the horses we’re on.”

His partner laughs, shaking her head. “Interesting date idea, Castle; making little kids cry.”

“I never said we would make them cry,” he insists, “we’re just going to take our turn until they make us give it up.”

“Oh, well in that case,” she drawls. Her lips lift higher, though, letting him know she’s not saying no. That’s the deal anyway, they trade off picking their dates, going on whatever adventure the other has in store.

It’s fun, more fun than he could’ve ever dreamed dating Kate Beckett could be.

He stops her before she can walk ahead, drawing her into a loose embrace and sliding his mouth over hers.