The Thrill of the Chase

It's the middle of the night when the call comes in. She misses it the first time because Castle had woken her up with a trail of hot kisses against her shoulder. He doesn't let her shove him off her to get the phone, mumbling that it can wait just ten minutes as he bracelets her wrists to push her back into the pillow, stopping her protest with a heated kiss.

When he lets her answer Esposito's second call, Castle is still draped over her back, fingers tripping over her side and making her squirm as the other detective gives her the address.

"Need to go," she says once she hangs up the phone, tossing it onto the bedside table. It nearly falls onto the ground, teetering on the edge. "Double homicide on the Upper West Side."

"Stay here," he murmurs against her shoulder blade.

Kate pushes at his face. "Can't." She slips out of the bed, grabbing up one of the throw blankets to wrap around her body because if he glimpses the curve of her back or the lines of her legs, she'll be pulled back into bed. "You going to come along?"

He mumbles something into the pillow.

"Okay then." Hitching the blanket up around her torso, Kate searches the drawers for underwear. "Go back to sleep, lazy."

She gets dressed in the bathroom so that he can stay in the dark. Her hair gets brushed, pulled back into a mess of a bun before she finds a pair of heels in the closet. Castle is watching her from one eye, the other buried into the pillows, as she leans on the bed to slip the shoes on. Kate tosses the blanket onto his bare ass.

"I'll be back when I can," Kate whispers against his cheek before giving him a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. "Behave."

"Stay safe."

"Do my best."

She pushes the quiet softness from that morning to the back as she closes the car door behind her. The lights from the cruisers color her khaki trench coat with splashes of blue and red.

"Glad you finally made it, Beckett," says Ryan as he meets her at the perimeter.

Esposito lifts up the yellow tape to let her duck underneath. "Yeah. 'Bout time. Gonna have to talk to your man about punctuality."

Her glare tells them both to shut up. They were insufferable when they first found out, the teasing dying down until she was suspiciously late to the precinct or the scene one day. Then the jabs started up again. If it wasn't so early and she had a cup of coffee, she'd have a comeback but her brain is barely functioning as it is. So she keeps quiet, clenching her teeth, as they climb the stairs.

The apartment they head up to is crowded with crime scene techs and a few uniforms all milling around. It's small, all of four rooms. Most of the activity centers in the open space decorated as a living room, the kitchen across from it.

"Victims are Bradley and Julie Martin. Both were shot in what looks like a break-in. Perps took some of their valuables. The laptop, her wedding band, his watch. Little things they could carry without looking out of place." Ryan is consulting his notebook as they walk through the rooms, weaving between other officers.

There are sheets over the bodies in the living room but she still looks elsewhere. "Do they have security cameras in the building? I didn't see any in the lobby."

"Yeah, we have a group of uniforms on it," says Esposito. "But there's something else you should know."

When Kate turns, brow raised, the boys nod back toward a woman in the kitchen. She has an identification card around her neck on a lanyard as she leans on the counter. But the woman isn't the one who catches her eye.

It's the infant in her arms.

The boy has his hands tangled up in the woman's shirt, babbling just loud enough to be heard over the talk of the cops. He's got a dark green sweater on, a pair of jeans, and is missing his shoes.

"Who's that?" Kate asks, eyes still stuck on the boy.

"Their son, Chase." Esposito shakes his head, running a hand over his hair. "He was in his room when it happened, fast asleep. The perps must have left him be or just not seen him."

"Child Services is going to take care of him while they search for a foster family for the boy," says Ryan. "Shouldn't be too hard to find a family for a kid that youn -"

Kate doesn't think. "I'll take him."

Both of them turn to face her, mouths open. She's fairly certain she'd be looking at herself that way if it were possible.

"What?"

She shrugs toward Esposito. "I'll take him until they find a family. I mean, the loft is big enough and Castle's done the baby thing before. The places they normally put kids before finding foster families aren't fantastic so…"

Ignoring their stares, she steps away from them toward the kitchen. The woman pushes up off the counter, bouncing the boy. "Can I help you?" she asks.

"Detective Beckett," Kate introduces, taking a space next to the Child Services woman.

"Emily DeWitt, Child Services." The woman shifts so that she can shake Kate's hand. "You the lead detective on the case?"

"Yeah. And I was wondering… Have you found a home for Chase yet?"

"Not yet. It's hard with someone so little. Not too many families are prepared on such short notice." Emily taps Chase on the nose making the boy crinkle his face up. "It might be a while until he's got a good home."

"That's the thing, actually." Kate glances at Ryan and Esposito. They're avoiding her eyes though she's not sure why. "I have a pretty big place and could hold onto him for a few days."

Emily bites on her lip, obviously not sure with the arrangement.

"I'm a cop, Ms. DeWitt. The apartment will be completely safe and…"

"Do you live with someone? Another cop, perhaps? One of them?" She's pointing toward the boys.

Kate laughs, hiding her mouth against the back of her hand. "Not quite." Emily has her brow raised, waiting for a real answer. "I live with Richard Castle."

"Richard Castle? The novelist Richard Castle?" the woman half-chokes out.

Kate just blinks as Emily tries to pull herself together.

"Wait. You're serious?" She coughs, clearing her throat. "Seriously? You're Nikki Heat?"

"No," Kate states seriously. "I'm not. But I do live with Castle and I'm sure he'd be just as open to undergoing a background check so we can take Chase in for a while."

Emily gets her phone out, starts tapping out a number. "Let me check with my supervisor." She steps away but Chase watches Kate from over the other woman's shoulder, brown eyes wide but with a sneaking little smile visible on his face.

"Hey, Beckett?" Ryan calls from the living room area. "You coming to the Twelfth?"

"Uh, yeah." She moves toward Emily, digging a business card from the pocket behind her badge. "Ms. DeWitt? I've got to go but give me a call on my work phone when you get an answer?"

The woman nods absentmindedly, phone cradled into her shoulder.

Kate joins the boys as they walk down the stairs to the lobby of the building.

"You sure you're up to taking in a kid?" asks Esposito, holding the door open for the other two.

Ryan laughs, nudging his partner with his elbow. "Forget Beckett. Is Castle up to taking in a kid?"

"Shut up, you two. I'm sure he'll be fine with it."

She's staring at the board, maddeningly empty even after a few hours of hard work, when someone says her name. The whiteboard marker falls onto her desk, hitting the pile of phone records and halting, as she turns.

The woman from Child Services is just outside the doors of the elevator. She waves Kate over, smiling. Good news, Kate prays. No need for the boy to be stuck in a crowded foster home for however long it takes to find a permanent home.

"Detective Beckett?" Emily says, shifting things in her arms to shake Kate's hand. "I hope you're still interested in taking on Chase Martin here."

The boy is in a carrier, a blanket draped over his eyes but Kate can see his legs kicking against the quilt beneath him.

"Yeah," Kate sighs. "Definitely."

"Good. Mr. Castle passed the background check that Child Services ran on him and my boss seems to think that keeping the boy with the police is a good idea. You know how long you can support him?"

"However long it takes to find him a real home."

Emily grins. "Even better. It might take a week, maybe two, to find him some loving foster parents. Here's my business card. You give me a call if anything goes wrong with the situation, okay?"

"Of course. Thank you, Miss DeWitt."

The woman checks Chase one last time before she hits the button for the elevator.

Kate picks up the carrier, the baby bag next to it. Chase gurgles from under the blanket on the walk from the elevator to her desk. She sets the carrier on her desk, peeking under the dark orange blanket. The boy giggles, reaching to grab for her fingers.

"Hey, baby," she says, tickling his bare feet. "How you doing?"

He laughs, curling his feet up closer to his body, away from her fingers.

"Such a happy boy."

"That the rugrat from the scene?" Esposito asks from his desk, phone cradled in his shoulder as he sits on hold.

Kate narrows her eyes, dropping the blanket back over Chase. "Yes, it is."

"Police precinct might not be the best place for him to hang out. You planning on heading home soon?" Ryan is holding coffee mugs, preparing to settle in for a long night.

She checks the clock, finds that, sure, it's dinner time. "Yeah. We're gonna leave." Kate finds her keys, shrugs on her coat, and loops her arm under Chase's carrier. "Give me a call if something big breaks, okay?"

They throw little salutes back at her as she heads for the elevator.

Kate opens the door to the apartment with Chase on her hip, balancing the carrier in the crook of her arm, her purse and the baby bag tucked into it. She kicks her heels off and they skitter under the entryway table, losing a few inches and allowing her arches to get some relief.

"Oh good. You're home. Because dinner is…" Castle trails off as he rounds the corner with two glasses of wine in his hands.

She smiles, just a little because he looks so shocked. "Hey."

"Beckett. Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Yes. I had hired a surrogate mother for us about a two years ago. This is our son. He's only about eight months; long process, you understand. Hope you're cool with this." His eyes widen further, big dark circles in the light of the apartment. "Kidding. I'm kidding, Castle."

He slumps in relief, putting the glasses on the counter in order to free up a hand to tug through his hair. "God, that is no way to start this conversation. Explain the presence of..." He gestures to the boy, sleeping against Kate's shoulder.

"Just let me put these things down," she says, dropping the bags next to the couch before sitting heavily near the end, close enough to the arm to rest her body against it. Castle sits next to her, practically crushing her legs, and wraps his fingers around her ankle. "Okay. The double homicide on the Upper West? That was his parents. The perps left Chase alone and Child Services was going to put him somewhere for a while as they looked for a family to take him and…" She looks over at Castle, feeling her chest clench for this boy. "And so I took him. I've seen the places that Child Services uses and they're not pretty, Castle. We have so much room here and you know what to do with babies and I just couldn't leave him. Is this okay? Are you okay with this because if you aren't, I can call the lady from Child Services and she'll come get Chase. But I just couldn't -"

Castle cuts her off with a squeeze of his hand on her ankle. "It's good. I'll admit I'm a little surprised but it's okay."

She's not convinced. His face is tense, his mouth a hard line. "Seriously. I don't want you, us, to do this if you're not up to it."

"Beckett, it's good. You're doing such a good thing for the boy and, to be honest," he says, lips starting to break into what might become a smile, "I've missed having a kid in this place."

Her breath catches in her throat. He's missed having a kid here. Alexis is off in Boston, finding a place to live for grad school come fall and only comes home during major breaks in the semester and even then, twenty-five isn't exactly a kid anymore. And she and Castle… They never talked about having kids. Hell, they haven't even really talked about marriage.

"Hey. Let's eat," he says, interrupting her as he gets to his feet. He holds his hands down and Kate relinquishes the sleeping infant. Castle expertly cradles the boy against his chest, a hand at his back to support him. "His name's Chase?"

"Mhm. Chase Martin." Kate rounds him to grab up the wine glasses. What she wants is to down both of them and then maybe the rest of the bottle – it's one of the really good reds that he knows she loves – but Chase whimpers, signaling that he's awake, and Kate knows it's not a good idea. Castle may know what he's doing with an infant but she's charting new waters. She needs a level head.

The steak tips and white rice he made for dinner is on the counter, already plated up. Like he knew she'd want – need – the red meat. "I think we'll need to find something else for dinner. Don't think he can eat steak quite yet."

He doesn't hear her. When she turns, Castle is leaning the small of his back against the couch with Chase standing on his thighs. Holding onto the boy's hands, Castle bounces his leg, making Chase giggle. "Hey, Chase," he says, leaning his head forward so their foreheads touch. "Hey, little man."

Chase lets go of Castle's fingers and for a moment, Kate watches as the infant wobbles, his ankles starting to buckle and slip off Castle's legs. She lunges forward, the wine from the glasses sloshing over the side and down her knuckles. But of course Castle snags the boy around his waist as Chase claps his hands on Castle's cheeks.

"Castle?" Kate calls, holding her hands over the sink to let the wine drip into the bowl rather than onto the floor. He looks over and Chase follows, fingers curling against Castle's ears. "Dinner?"

"Uh, there's some mac-and-cheese in the cupboard. We can save the steak and rice for another night when we don't have my man Chase here."

Kate moves into the kitchen, barefeet curling against the cool tile. She's got water boiling on the stovetop, the box of macaroni sitting on the counter. As soon as she dumps the Spongebob Squarepants macaroni into the pot and gives it a stir, she paces back to the living room.

Castle has Chase on the couch, balanced on his knees so the boy is facing him. The toddler's legs swing on either side of Castle's as Kate leans her arms on the couch behind them.

"You're kinda cute," she says, touching a finger to the Chase's cheek.

Chase giggles, grabbing Kate's hand. "Cute!" he parrots, patting his free hand against Castle's jaw.

"Yeah, she just likes me for my body," Castle whispers into the boy's ear.

"I heard that," Kate says, tugging on his ear. "But it's true. Your personality stinks."

"Hey!" He turns enough to clap a hand over her mouth. "Not in front of the child."

Kate loves the way he shivers when she pursues her lips to kiss his palm. "I think we should let the kid know as early on as possible that you are not the person that the public thinks you are."

As he gaps at her, Kate reaches over the back of the couch and scoops Chase up. "Come on, smart boy. We can make dinner together while Castle figures out a place for you to sleep."

He's up right behind her, at her heels as she goes to stir the macaroni with one of the big wooden spoons. "He can sleep with us." When she starts to shake her head, he places a finger over her lips. "It's not like we have a crib or anything and he can't sleep in Alexis's old bed. Just makes sense."

Kate balances the boy on her hip as she drains the pasta in a colander, putting the shaped macaroni back into the pot. "It's just…" she trails off, cutting a bit of butter off the stick, adding it to the mix of milk and cheese powder in the pot. "I had plans for tonight. For you."

His eyes darken as he steps closer. "Beckett…"

She holds a hand out, pressing it against his chest as he tries to corner her. "Not happening now. Especially with this guy in the place."

"What if he does sleep in Alexis's room? Can we continue your plans then?" So much hope in his voice that Kate nearly considers it. Then she shakes her head, ducking away from him. "Come on, Beckett!"

"No. It's creepy just knowing he's in the house while we're… You know." She has the urge to cover Chase's ears during the conversation. The boy probably doesn't understand any of the underlying meaning but still.

"Fine," he sighs, turning to dish up the mac-and-cheese into bowls. "But once he's gone, you're mine."

"I'm not yours," she insists, finding the baby formula in Chase's bag and preparing it once she hands the boy off to Castle. "Put him in his carrier for dinner?"

She trusts him to figure out the baby carrier as she pours out water, bringing everything over to the table. And he does. Chase is buckled into the carrier, set on one of the chairs as Castle sits next to him. The boy gurgles happily as Kate shakes the formula in the bottle.

"Ready for dinner, Chase?" she asks, tipping the bottle toward him.

Holding the bottle for the boy in one hand, she maneuvers her own fork with the other, scooping up the mac-and-cheese. She's trying to make faces at Chase around her food, grinning at him as he wiggles his feet in the carrier.

"Such a good boy, aren't you?" It's in that baby voice, the high-pitched one reserved for infants and pets. Kate works to bring it down an octave, taking the bottle away to give him a chance to digest the formula. When she looks over, Castle is watching, Spongebob mac-and-cheese abandoned. "What? Castle, if you don't want to do this…"

He drops the fork onto the table as he reaches across the table for her wrist. "Hey. I really want to do this, to help. If that means we hold onto Chase for a few days, that's what we'll do."

Kate shakes her head, looking at Chase as she lets his little hands pull the bottle back toward him. "I'm just nervous." She barrels on, avoiding his eyes. "You've done this before and you're so good at it and I'm just… not. I'm not good at the baby thing. What if I screw up and he's messed up for the rest of his life and it's because of me and -"

This time he stops her with a brief, hot kiss to her mouth. "Quiet. You're doing fine. Right, Chase? Beckett's doing fine."

Chase blinks for a moment, regarding both of them. Then his warm eyes settle on Kate, reaching for the bottle in her hand again.

"See? You're good."

She's not convinced but she tries to bury the thread of doubt she knows he'll still see in her eyes as she gives Chase the bottle, taking another forkful of macaroni in the same movement. Trying to truly believe that, for a week or so, she can handle this. Hell, she stares down murderers and death and takes shit from idiots at work. She can handle an infant.