Thank you to everyone that added my first fan fic to their story alerts and favorites list. And a special thank you to those of you that left a review. I'd read other author comments about how inspiring reviews are (and I LOVE to leave reviews, as some of you fellow fan fic authors know all too well) but I didn't realize how true that was until I got responses to my own story. Those reviews were the main reason I decided to add more to my other story. I am still planning to add at least a couple chapters to that story; I hope to have the first one up by the end of this weekend. I had planned to write a story based on the Nikki Heat episode eventually, and today this idea just popped into my head. It wasn't until after I'd written the story that I remembered that Castle was still with Gina at this point. But they were on the verge of breaking up anyway, so we can just say that this was the final push for that.

And as a bonus she would be dumping Dr. Motorcycle Boy LOOOONG before he became the major annoyance that he has been in the last few episodes.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Castle, I just have fun analyzing the Caskett relationship and writing down my musings.

It's Not Just Coffee

"Talk to enough people something usually shakes out."

Kate immediately squelched her irritation at Natalie Rhodes' intrusion into her conversation with Castle. After all, Kate herself was the one that had allowed the actress to shadow her so the other woman could do research for the Nikki Heat role. She wouldn't have agreed so readily if she had realized how far the blonde was willing to go.

Except that the actress was no longer blonde. That was the first thing Kate noticed when she looked over at her. Instead, a wig, similar to Kate's own chestnut locks, adorned Natalie's head. As Kate took in the actress's appearance, she realized that wasn't the only thing that had changed. Natalie's outfit was now identical to Kate's own, down to the shoes on her feet.

"Just like I dreamed it." Kate couldn't believe the words coming out of Castle's mouth. He had dreamt about something this creepy? He had dreamt about her? His abashed, "Did I say that out loud?" didn't help any. He was totally taken in by this phony. Kate could count on one hand the times that Castle had reacted to her in a similar way, and it had never been just because she was standing there doing nothing.

"Here you go, Beckett," Velazquez said, handing the file Kate had requested to Natalie.

"Thanks, Johnson," Natalie replied, taking the papers from the precinct clerk. "It's Johnson, right?" she belatedly asked Kate.

"It's Velasquez," Kate snapped, yanking the papers from the woman's hands. "And you are not me."

"No," the actress agreed and leaned over the desk Castle was sitting at, locking gazes with the writer, "but I'm getting warmer."

"You certainly are," Castle murmured.

Okay, Kate had seen enough. Natalie was going way too far.

"Okay," Kate leaned across Natalie to set the papers down next to Castle. "So the word's out on Greta and we're already tracking Duke's credit cards." Noticing that Natalie was about to open the file on their latest case, she put her hand over it. "Why don't we just call it a night?"

"What?" The disappointed whine in the actress's voice grated on Kate's nerves. "But it's still early."

"Yeah," Castle's "no fair," drawl of the word only made Kate even more determined that things needed to be brought under control. Now.

"Yeah, well it's a high stress job," Kate said, giving the two each a pointed look. "And I wouldn't want anyone to get burned out."

"All right," Natalie agreed sullenly. "I'll go pack up my things."

As soon as the woman was out of the room Kate shut the door and turned to Castle. "You can not tell me that is normal," she whispered. True, the man was known for his wild theories, but surely even he could tell that the actress was going off the deep end.

"She's just committed to the role," Castle insisted, rising and walking over to the door. "You should be flattered," he chided before exiting the room.

"Yeah, sure," Kate was stunned that Castle didn't see it. Obviously he was he

hoodwinked by the other woman. "Until she steals my boyfriend and kills me in my sleep."

The reference to the famous movie was said only partly in jest. Natalie Rhodes was starting to really freak her out.

Yet Castle, who saw the weird in even the most normal of situations, thought nothing of the actress's antics.

Gathering the files from the desk, Kate went of the room and over to her desk. She was setting the files down when she heard a soft thud. Looking up, Kate saw that

Castle and Natalie were in the elevator, the doors rapidly closing. Her horrified gaze took in the fact that Castle was in a heated embrace with the Nikki Heat wannabe.

That did it. The woman had finally crossed the line. Stealing Kate's coffee was enough of an intrusion into her relationship with Castle. But now she thought she could snare him completely by trying to look like her?

Kate, who normally analyzed a situation to death before acting, didn't hesitate to hurry out of the room and grab the next elevator. The ding as each floor was passed set Kate's teeth on edge.

When the doors finally opened, Kate called out in her most authoritative detective tone, "Freeze, Castle."

Castle and Natalie, who were no longer locked in an embrace but were still standing far to close together for Kate's liking, spun around and looked at Kate with matching looks of shock.

Kate walked over to the pair and said point blank, "No way are you leaving with her." Natalie's eyes widened and Castle's jaw dropped. Kate was well aware that he was all too familiar with her tone. It was the one she usually used for suspects. A small part of her realized that she was most likely abusing her authority, but for once she didn't care. She couldn't let Castle leave with this woman any more than she could let a suspect go free without an air-tight alibi.

Natalie recovered first. "We were just going to do some research," she told Kate, her gaze now wary.

"Research," Kate scoffed. "And I bet I know just what kind of research. But that isn't going to happen."

"Kate-" Castle's tone was all too familiar. It was his, "I've got to get Beckett to calm down before she loses it" tone.

"Save it, Castle." Kate wasn't going to let him distract her this time. It was too important. "You do know what type of research she has in mind, don't you?"

"Uh..." It was obvious he knew but wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"How am I supposed to project the heat between Rook and Nikki Heat if I don't have Castle to base it on?" Natalie demanded to know.

"Heat?" Kate glared at the woman. "You want to see the heat between Nikki and Rook?" She closed the distance between herself and Castle, put her hands on his shoulders, and tossing a gaze at the other woman said, "How is this for heat?"

With that, Kate stopped any response Castle may have made to that with her lips. Determined to show Castle that the last thing he wanted was poor imitation of Nikki Heat when the real thing was so much better, Kate let herself go.

It didn't take more than a second for Kate to realize she was in trouble. She had been so focused on getting Castle out of Natalie's clutches that she hadn't stopped to think of the impact kissing Castle would have on her. When Castle took control of the kiss, pulling her so close that she could feel every part of her body in tight contact with every part of his, and making the kiss much more intimate than Kate had ever planned on, she could do nothing more than melt into him. When Castle finally started to pull back from the kiss, Kate couldn't stop the moan of protest from escaping. For an instant she felt him go completely still. But before her protest had time to do more than faintly register in Kate's mind, he was kissing her again.

"Wow," Natalie's exclamation hit Kate like a bucket of ice. She tensed and immediately, although Kate could tell it was reluctantly; Castle released her lips and dropped his arms from around her. "That is some heat."

Kate couldn't prevent the blush that burned her cheeks. What had she done? What had she been thinking? Thinking? She hadn't been thinking. What must Castle think of her now?

"I'll go ahead and leave you two alone," Natalie said and hurried over to her car.

"Kate?" Castle tilted her chin so that she would meet his gaze, but Kate refused to open her eyes. She couldn't face him. She wanted to turn and run away, but she knew that would just make things worse; he'd think her more of a fool than he probably already did. "Kate, look at me."

Slowly, Kate opened her eyes, bracing herself for the jokes that were surely going to be pouring out of his mouth. The tenderness in his gaze stunned her. He was looking at her like-no, she couldn't let her mind go there.

"Kate, what's going on?" Castle asked. "What was all of that about?"

"It wasn't just coffee," Kate mumbled. The baffled look on his face made her realize how crazy that sounded. But it summed up everything she was feeling. "When Natalie took the coffee, it wasn't just my coffee she was trying to take away from me. She was trying to take you, too. And I just couldn't let it happen again."

"Again? Kate, what are you talking about?"

Kate had never been this open with Castle before, but she knew that this time she had no choice. It was either explain everything, or have Castle think she should be committed. "There was nothing I could do last time. I mean, you had a history with her. I knew I couldn't fight that."

"A history?" Castle obviously still wasn't getting it. "With whom?"

Trust Castle to get the grammar right, Kate thought. "Gina. When you went with her to the Hamptons."
"Gina? Wait, does that mean..."

"I was going to tell you that I had changed my mind about going to the Hamptons," Kate whispered. "That I was falling in love with you. But I was too late. And I couldn't stand the thought of being too late again."

"Too late?" Castle pulled her back into his arms, wrapping them around her and gently pressing her head to his chest. "Never."