Thanks to my fabulous friend toepad, who gave me a prompt I got on a crazy writing stint tonight. Hope you like it! 'Cause I had fun with it.

Prompt: "Just hold still, this is gonna hurt." (Be forewarned, my usage of said prompt is not verbatim. I had to alter it to make it fit my crazy stream of thought.)

"Castle, will you put me down! I'm perfectly capable to walk on my own."

Castle looked down at the flustered detective, currently cradled in his arms. There were tears on the elbows of her suit jacket from where she caught herself against the pavement, and scuffs along the legs of her pants and the tops of her boots.

"And what exactly is your definition of 'walking', Beckett?" He quirked his eyebrow at her. "Because the last time we tried this, you know, downstairs, getting out of the car, you tripped and nearly made your situation worse. And let's not forget that innocent door handle that you nearly ripped off when you tried to balance yourself."

As best as she could, Beckett shot him one of those patented death glares. However, given her state of dependence, it merely came off as frustration.

"Will you just," she heaved the words out, as if disgusted by their taste, "hurry up so that we can get this over with?"

"Would you just relax?" Calmly, but quickly, he walked down the short hall from the elevator, taking a sharp right into the break room. "It's not like it's the end of the world." With a sigh he gently dropped her on the couch, pulling up a chair in front of her.

"Castle! I have work to do! I can't be stuck here because you seem to think I require extensive medical care."

"Beckett, I'm a father. I know how these things go." Without hesitation he reached down, pulling her left leg up overtop the chair. "You think it's all perfectly fine, but if you don't treat it right, fast enough, you end up exacerbating the problem."

Seriously annoyed now, she watched as he turned his back on her to go rummaging around in the cabinets beneath the coffee maker. "Really Castle? 'Exacerbating'? I know you're a writer, but who uses that in normal conversation these days?"

He looked up from his squat beside the counter, one door hanging open, and gave her a pointed stare. "It's really not that hard to have a developed vocabulary. I don't understand why people seem to think that's something so odd to aspire for."

Irritated, Beckett blew strands of hair, no doubt set free by…well, her fight with gravity, out of her face, throwing her head back against the top of the couch cushion. "Can you just hurry up? I'd like to go back to being a Detective sometime before the week's through."

Castle decided that rather than argue with her more, it'd be wiser for him to simply put experience to good use. He sat the first-aid kit down on the floor next to the chair holding up her leg, and stepped over to the freezer.

Knowing his own luck with injury, he had stocked the precinct with ample supplies. And thank goodness for that, he thought.

He doubled back, bringing two cold gel packs with him.

Out of the corner of his vision he saw Beckett's eyes widen as he put them down next to the chair. "Castle, what are you doing with those?" There was a slight waver in her voice that he had never heard before.

He wasn't sure whether to be amused or concerned.

"I reiterate, yes that's a fancy schmancy word," he smirked, "relax. Just hold still," he tenderly reached for her left foot, bringing it into his lap when he sat, "this should only hurt a little." His head tilted, eying the ankle with concern, "Unless you did more damage than I think you did."

"What do you mean?" Panicked, she tried to push herself up and away, but the writer-turned-physician held firm. "I didn't do anything Castle. I just need to walk it off."

"Beckett." His eyes caught hers, and in them, she saw nothing but legitimate care. "Just humor me. Let me take a look."

"Fine." She settled back into the couch, arms folded tightly across her chest. "But who gave you authority to play doctor?"

His hand carefully pulled down the zipper on her boot, ever so slightly to avoid any unnecessary movement. "Um…that would be Alexis." His eyes were still focused on her ankle. "When she was seven she fell off a swing in the park. Sprained her arm in three places." A little laugh escaped his otherwise tight lips. "It still cracks if she turns it just the right way."

"I'm sorry, Castle, I should've-"

"Don't worry about it. You couldn't have known. But trust me, bones aren't toys. They may be harder to break, but they're a hell of a lot harder to put back together." He patted the top of her foot. "Don't mess with them. You ready?"

At first all that made it out of her mouth was silence. It took a second for a quiet 'yea' to partner up with a nod as her hand gripped the metal arm of the couch.

Slowly, Castle moved his right hand to support the underside of her calf, while his left shimmied her shoe off of her foot. His face scrunched up when he saw the tall black sock underneath.

"May I?" He eyed her almost apprehensively.

She nodded again, "You've already gotten this far. No sense in stopping now."

Her leg was no balanced on his thigh as he carefully pushed up her pant leg, his warm fingers dipping between the thin cotton socks and her leg. Her stomach fluttered a little at the contact. Just perfect, she thought, mentally cursing herself.

The second he reached her ankle she tensed. The simple little tilt he applied to her heel was enough to have her chewing on the inside of her cheek. Her eyes clamped shut in shock, not opening until the cold wave of pain blew over.

Then, her eyes popped open at the sight of the reality.

Her ankle was an angry shade of red, with splashes of purple beginning to make their appearance. There was a lump on the side of her foot that she was certain had not been there this morning, and a few smatterings of blood that seemed to match both the rip in her sock, and the teeth of the zipper on the inside of her boot.

Alright, she silently admitted, maybe he was right.

"Can you uh…try and wiggle your toes?"

She looked at him with hesitation. With all her might she willed her toes to move, but the best she could muster, without sending another flare of pain through her leg, was more of a twitch.

"Alright," Castle looked at her, "I'm just going to clean up this cut and wrap it for you. You should be able to work just fine today, but I really think you should go get it looked at by a doctor."

"You're not doubting your skill, now are you, Castle?" It was the best shot at sarcasm she could render.

"Of course not," and there was that smile that made her head fuzz over, "but your ankle's already the size of a baseball. It's probably wise to go have an X-Ray taken. Just to make sure nothing's broken."

"Castle, I just fell! What's so complicated about that?"

"Beckett," his voice was stern, "I saw what happened. You took a full on fall down a flight of stairs. I saw how your foot twisted on the railing. I'm surprised you were able to stand up enough to wait for me to get to you."

"I don't need you to rescue me," she spat.

"I know you don't. You don't need a hero." He leaned over, picking up one of the cold packs, "But that doesn't mean you're not allowed to call for back up now and then."

She had no counter argument, and couldn't help but think that he had a point. Ever since they started this dating thing she caught herself getting tied up in her own made up contradictions.

She wanted space, but didn't want to be alone.

She didn't want to fight, but she wanted someone to debate with.

She needed work, but she also needed something – someone - to come home to.

She wanted her independence, but she wanted someone to care for her.

And as she watched, and winced, as Castle pressed the ice packs to her ankle, she found herself completely happy that there was someone who cared about her.

A tinge of guilt flooded through her. She was mentally kicking herself for attacking him like she did, when all he wanted to do was make sure she was okay.

He looked so cute like this. Her foot resting in his lap as he reached for an ace bandage with one hand, holding the ice still with the other. His brow was furrowed in concentration, and there was a long piece of gauze hanging from between his teeth.

His nimble fingers quickly had the gauze wrapped around her ankle, underneath the ice, and the ace bandage wrapped snuggly around the whole setup.

"Hey," she whispered, as he pinned on the last fastener, "thanks."

Castle smiled, yet again making her stomach flip. With a kiss to the top of her now bandaged ankle he looked up at her, "No problem."

She sighed again, adjusting the sleeves of her now torn jacket. Without a word her boyfriend – how weird did that sound? – stood and returned everything to its proper place. Except for the chair, of course, supporting her leg.

"I'm sorry I got to upset with you before." Almost timidly, Kate leaned into his side when he took up a place beside her. "I just don't like being hurt, and…" she paused, "…I'm not used to having someone help me."

Castle leaned down, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I know. I know you a lot better than you think I do. Why do you think I don't let any of your threats phase me anymore?"

"Because you're crazy?" They laughed. Rick, arm around her shoulders, pulled her in closer.

"Only for you."

Yeah, so, this just kind of flew out of my fingers once I got typing. I hope you enjoyed it. Just a little fluffy bit to tide us all over until Monday. I'm leaving this as 'incomplete', with the thought that if anyone wants to send me a prompt or thought, I'll try and keep writing in my spare time. So...if you do have a prompt or suggestion, or whatever you want to call it, send me a pm, and I'll see what I can think of.

Let me know what you think! You guys are fantastic!

Tappin

=)