Disclaimer: Sadly, this earns me no money. Castle belongs to ABC, though honestly, it's MilMar's baby, and our one true love.

On with the show!

Rebuilding

Detective Kate Beckett was far from your average woman to be lamenting over relationships, or clothes, or hairstyles. It was her choice of profession that trained an admittedly already less than vain Kate to realize that these things were trivial when it came to the big picture that was life. A recent incident, for instance, had done just that, leading Kate to continue her ponderings over loss, and life.

With a sigh so deep and well befitting her situation, she rolled the cool smooth stem of her wine glass while staring down into the notably shallow yet hypnotizing blood-red liquid within.

"A dollar for them?" said the deep rumble of his voice from much closer than expected.

She chose then to lift her legs onto the couch, making herself comfortable by leaning on its arm, and looking up into the cool blue eyes, again, closer than she'd expected. "A dollar?" Kate asked, her forehead wrinkling adorably enough to cause the man to take on a bemused expression. She would later attribute her slowness on the glass of red.

"Mhmm. A penny would be far too cheap for your thoughts," he said, grinning, "I wouldn't want to insult you."

She narrowed her eyes at him, though he knew it wasn't so much a glare as amused tolerance. He was getting much better at differentiating those nuances in her expressions – facial or otherwise.

A full minute of contemplation over how to answer that simple question left Castle wondering whether he did mentally insult her by thinking that her thoughts would ever be simple. He was stood, casually leaning against the back of the couch, his arms folded underneath him, trying his best to go for nonchalant as he waited. When an answer still hadn't come, and Kate still hadn't chided him for staring at her, Castle really started to worry.

Worried though he was, he had taken full advantage of said minute to let his eyes run over every little inch of her beautiful flawless skin, ending not on seemingly succulent lips as they usually did, but on the few soft strands of hair that fell over her face. Such was their proximity that they swayed the tiniest bit every time he let out a breath. Before he could stop it, his defiant right hand snuck out from under him, where he had consciously set it prisoner. With the back of two of his fingers, ever so softly he tucked her hair behind her ear.

Finally she was startled out of her own musings, and into reality, turning towards his traitorous hand. He glanced wide eyed at his hand too, mentally shocked at its blatant betrayal before turning to her. Much to his surprise, he saw the corners of her mouth twitch as if she were trying to smother a smile.

"I was just thinking about… things," Kate finally said.

"How very descriptive of you," he replied. Now that he didn't trust his hand, he balled it into a fist and tucked it under his chin. Best be safe. He smirked before joking, "Big things, small things, short things, tall things?"

"No, I mean. I was literally thinking about things. My things that got incinerated in the blast," she said, nodding towards sofa, silently asking him to sit by her.

Castle knew that a lack of a comeback for that meant she was being serious. He smiled sympathetically and moved, complying with her request. He sat by her feet on the couch, tucking one leg underneath him as he faced her, and once again leaning his head on his right hand for support, as much as to keep it out of trouble.

Before he got a word in, she went on. "We see these things every day, you know. Our things scattered all about the house. A stray coaster on the coffee table, a random piece of décor on the shelf, the loads and loads of books collected over years," she smiled at him at that before going on, "and yet, when something like this happens, it's hard to recall some of them. Others you could describe in vivid detail."

"Are you saying you can't recall which books were lining your shelf? Because I could help with that, you know," he said, with a lopsided grin while waggling his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes at him, softly nudging his knee with her foot. His until then sincere left hand decided to betray him as well, by snagging her ankle softly with the excuse of being playful. Since she didn't seem to mind, he left it there. "I'm sure you could," she replied with a grin of her own, before it slipped off her face. "But I meant, I was trying to do a mental inventory, and I had a hard time figuring out what went where; how many things must now be ashes and realized that I won't actually be able to remember what they were. And what happens to the memories they represented?"

He knew what she meant of course, but his coping mechanism still made him try to cheer her up with a joke or two. "I never realized you cared that much for coasters."

"Castle," she huffed.

His thumb started stroking her foot in an effort to soothe her. It seemed to be working too. "Sorry, couldn't help myself," he said, looking sheepish. "I know what you mean though. There are so many materialistic things we take for granted, even those to which we seemingly attach some value. It takes losing all of it to know the real value they hold though."

She let out a deep breath as she looked right into his eyes, and gave a small nod. "Yeah, exactly," she said so softly, he barely caught it.

"Kate," he said simply, as his hand glided up and settled on her calf.

Kate visibly gulped as her eyes followed his hand in its path up her leg. It felt so gentle, so good. She blinked and looked up at him, hastening to change the subject. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. "I managed to salvage quite a lot, actually. Most of the stuff in my room was undamaged."

"Your clothes?" he asked, letting the intensity of the moment pass, though not the moment itself.

"Yeah, since the closet was two doors removed from the blast. My wardrobe smells decidedly smoky, so it's all gone for dry cleaning; but at least I have it."

With an obviously put on sigh, his hand wandered back to her ankle before he replied, "Too bad. My shirts look so good on you; I was going to offer you my entire collection." To his delight, she stuck her tongue out, causing him to chuckle, while she self consciously tugged on the sleeve of his long cotton T she was currently sporting for comfort.

"We could always trade, Castle. I'm sure you'd look great in a dress," she said, sounding more like her usual self than she had all day.

He sniffed dramatically before replying, "I'll have you know I look fabulous in a good strapless number."

She gifted him with a long laugh for that, leaving him grinning like a fool, with his chest puffed in pride for being the source of such mirth from her.

"Oh, Castle," she said, calming down. "Thanks. I needed that."

"An ego bashing is but a small price to pay for that response. But I don't let just anyone come and stomp all over my pride, so I hope you know how special that makes you."

"I do," she said. She tried in vain to restrict her smile by chewing on her lower lip, but failed miserably, letting it bloom in all its beauty.

God, she looked so beautiful when she smiled. He genuinely contemplated giving up novels in lieu of writing songs or poetry for her instead. His very early and rather disastrous experience in that venture left him shaking his head at that thought. Nah, he'd stick to the novels.

"I miss my place, Rick. It might not have been much, but it was my sanctuary," she said, slipping back into the melancholy he first found her in. "And I miss my things."

He nodded, at a loss for words. Then suddenly, struck with an idea, he said, "We should buy you new things."

She chuckled. "Not something I can avoid, I'm afraid. But I miss my things. Things that, for lack of a better explanation, had their own stories."

"Then we should buy you things with stories," he said, shrugging, as if it were a simple concept.

"Castle-" she said warily.

"No, listen. You said it yourself, it's unavoidable. You do have to buy a lot of new things. But they don't all have to be meaningless. We can find you things that fit you."

"Fit me?" she asked, looking confused, but for once, curious about his idea.

"Yeah! Things with meanings; with layers – a writing desk that belonged to an ex-spy!; a tea-set that belonged to an old English couple who'd relocated to America, a painting made by a painter for his beloved and passed down the generations, a- "

"I get it," she said, cutting his long list, with an adoring smile. Only Castle would put that much romance into buying …well, things. "Sounds like a lot of work," she said, scrunching up her nose. When he smiled to hide his disappointment, she added, "but it sounds like fun, too."

His answering smile knocked the breath out of her. He looked like a little boy who was told that Santa delivered his present. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. But you'd better be there the whole time to help, Castle. No running away when it's inconvenient, like you do with paperwork."

He brightened even more at that, if possible. "I'll be there the whole time. This is going to be so much fun!"

Kate found that his enthusiasm was rubbing off on her. What would have been dreaded, boring shopping to replenish her lost necessities had suddenly turned into an adventure of sorts. Something she definitely looked forward to. The fact that it meant more time spent in his company may or may not have played a role in her going along with it. Like in those children's fantasies she'd read as a kid, it would be a magical adventure with the two of them working together essentially to rebuild a home.

The thought, of course, also scared her since it meant letting him in even more than she had already. She was closed off when it came to personal relationships. Not that she wasn't loving and caring, but she always had one foot out the door, not daring to trust anyone to stick with her. After all, her own mother had left her. Though rationally she knew that it wasn't by choice, and it could happen to anyone, it left her putting up an invisible guard. One that she knew existed; knew that she should work on taking down, but had come to rely upon to safeguard her. And she knew that Castle had the potential to hurt her.

That was just it, though. He already had the potential to hurt her. She was already in too deep. He'd managed to sneak around most of her defenses. So really it was up to her, wasn't it? To let him all the way in. He already had the power to destroy her, but she had to learn to trust that he would not.

He'd given her a home when she'd lost hers, willingly shared his family; done everything to make her comfortable. It was proving easier to learn to trust Richard Castle than she would ever have imagined.

"We should probably find you a good apartment first," he said. "Oooh, unless you'd like to move in here?" he half joked.

She knew he knew she would never take that seriously. The supremely independent Kate take the easy way out when the going got tough? Hah!

"Sure, Castle. Just so you know, I sleep on the right side."

"Wha- huh?" he said with his jaw slack.

She put her hand under his chin and lifted his jaw shut. "Kidding. Jeez! I like the apartment I found, thank you very much. You want to come have a look tomorrow?"

"Uh. Yes! After work?"

"Provided a body doesn't drop, and we don't have too much work. Otherwise we can go on the weekend, like I had planned anyway."

His 9 year old excited self made an appearance. "We could go now!"

"It's midnight," she said, casting him a look.

"What?! It's that late already?"

"Yes. Speaking of which, I'm tired. So I'm going to call it a night," she said, lifting her legs off the couch and gingerly putting them on the floor, as she gracefully tilted the last of the wine into her mouth and swallowed.

Before she could get up, he moved closer and placed his warm palm on her back. She stiffened, if only a bit, at the unexpected contact.

He moved his thumb in a gentle caress, and said softly, "I'm sorry that you lost your home, and though we're setting on rebuilding you a new one; I want you to know that you'll always have a home here."

With a sudden tightness in her chest, her eyes stinging, but managing to keep the tears at bay, she turned to him and placed a hand on his chest. She smiled as she felt the thumping of his eager, loving heart under her palm and leaned towards him to place a lingering kiss on his cheek close to the corner of his mouth. When she pulled back, she found his eyes closed and had to refrain from going in for more. She waited a moment for him to open his eyes before she gave him a small nod and pulled her hand from underneath his which had come to press hers closer to him. "I know. Good night, Castle."

She got up, and headed towards the stairs when she heard him clearing his throat softly. "Until tomorrow, Kate." With only a pause to let him know she heard, she started towards the guest bedroom again.