Title: Out of the Blue

Pairing: Caskett

Rating: T

Spoilers: 5x24/6x01 - Kind of.

Timeline: AU after the first scene of Valkyrie.

Summary: Kate arrives at the loft for an impromptu visit and she comes bearing news.

She comes to him out of the blue. They're not scheduled to see each other until the end of the month – he's leaving tomorrow for another leg of his book tour, and she's been doing her super secret, super hot, agent-y things for weeks with barely a break. So it's a surprise, to say the least, when the tap on the door comes just as he's heaving his tired (not old, he will not give in to being old just yet) body out of his desk chair.

The late hour has him resigned to the fact that it'll be another one of those nights where a 3:45, "Just got in, will call in a few hours, love you," text will be the extent of their communication, but here she is instead. And for some reason she's waiting on his doorstep despite having a key to everything (his home and his heart, obviously) in her jacket pocket.

"Beckett? What are you doing… here? I thought you were… at work?"

"Hey, I uh, I was. But now I'm here, obviously."

She looks exhausted, but her eyes are bright and soft, and when she steps into him, he forgoes the rest of his questions in favor of folding her into his arms tightly. He feels her sag against him, face pressing into his neck in relief. He knows the feeling.

"Did I wake you?" The question's muffled against his throat as they sway in the open doorway.

He feels her hands press against his back, keeping him in place (where would he go, Kate?) for just another moment more.

"No, no. I mean maybe I was napping at my desk, but you didn't wake me up. I was just heading to bed, though."

Kate nods. "Can we finish that trek?"

"Since when do you need to ask permission to get me in bed, Beckett?"

That gets him a smile. It's tired, with something deeper brewing behind it, but it's a smile. Maybe he'll find out the reason for that once she's wrapped up in their sheets – the sheets she picked out for no reason other than she wanted them.

"Mhmm, that's true. So I don't need permission for a kiss either, right?"

"If you need to ask that, you've been gone way too long." Her hair slips between his fingers as he tilts her head up.

"No arguments here," she breathes against his mouth, lips opening under his almost immediately.

Shit, he's missed her. He's missed this. Phone calls and Facetime dates just don't cut it. There's no substitute for having this woman in his arms. For feeling the press of her breasts against his chest, for having her hips bump against his and her leg hike around his waist in invitation to get her somewhere else.

Well he's not one to turn down an invitation like that.

"Bag?" His breath comes out in a harsh puff against her mouth as he lifts her.

"Roller." She kisses him again, pointing in some vague direction outside of his vision. His hand connects with the handle, yanking a surprisingly heavy bag around the doorjamb and into the loft. "Thanks."

She palms his face before he thinks to ask why her bag is so heavy for an overnight stay. "Bed?"

"Bed," he agrees, abandoning her suitcase in the middle of the floor. Nobody'll trip on it in the few hours they'll be asleep; Alexis is enjoying the rainforest, and his mother's still traveling with her latest show.

Their descent onto the bed is less than graceful, but Kate doesn't seem to mind. In fact, she waves off his apologies with hurried kisses and less than gentle tugs on his clothing. His own hands fumble to get her undressed, eager to feel the slide of her skin against his.

Sleep can wait.

The confusion – no, curiosity – comes back almost as soon as blood returns to his brain. There's something off about her, something that isn't just fatigue or the traces of homesickness he tried not to dwell on the last time they saw each other. It's something in her eyes, in the way she's pressed against his side, having turned down his offer of her favorite sleep shirt – well the favorite of what she left here, the other one resides in her top drawer in DC.

Even while they were making love, there was something different. Something heady and intense, more intense than usual. She'd traced his features with her gaze almost reverently, touching everywhere her eyes covered.

Now, she's just quiet, her breathing wafting against his collar in slow, even waves. She isn't asleep, but maybe she isn't awake either.

"So you're leaving tomorrow, huh?"

"Yeah. Heading south this time. I've been warned not to bother bringing anything besides short sleeves and khakis."

Kate hums, skirting her hand along his arm and tracing his bicep thoughtfully. "Must be hot."

"Some might even call the heat… deadly?" It's a terrible joke, reminiscent of over the top TV detectives, but it does its job. His fiancée groans before reaching behind her for a pillow she can use to slap him. It's a halfhearted hit, but it still makes them both laugh.

"That was awful, Castle. Never again. Never, ever again."

"Mmm, kiss me and it's a deal."

Their lips touch a second later.

"What uh, what about you?" he asks once she settles again, draping even more across his chest than before. She stiffens for a split second before relaxing again. "When do you have to go back?"

"I… well, I don't."

"What? What happened?" He lifts onto his elbows, trying to get her to meet his eyes. "Kate."

Her lip's firmly between her teeth and the gesture would be adorable if half of his brain wasn't screaming in panic.

"I quit, Castle. Well, asked for a leave of absence, but it's… essentially the same this early. I quit."

Stunned doesn't begin to cover it. "You, what? Why? Did your secret life of crime come out in your final background check?" It's a last ditch effort and it almost works. Her lips turn up slightly, but she just shakes her head.

"No, no secret life of crime, no disciplinary measures, I just…" Now she sits up, tucking the sheet under her arms before his attention settles elsewhere. "I had my physical last week. For field work."

He nods, trying to connect the dots in his head before she tells him.

"They found something?" It spills out before he can stop it. But he needs to know. If she's sick, he'll do whatever she needs, even if it's getting a dozen second opinions to tell them she's going to be fine. He starts to tell her that, too, but before he gets the words out, she's cupping his cheek and kissing him tenderly.

"Yeah, they found something. But I'm not sick, babe."

Her hand slides into his hair, scratching his scalp just the way he likes, carefully drawing him out of his anxiety.

"You're not sick," he echoes, hands going to her hips. Her hair tumbles over her shoulders with the gentle shake of her head.

"Not sick, no."

Okay, then. He bands an arm around her hip, reaching with the other for her hand to kiss her knuckle above her engagement ring. "Not sick. That's good. So what did they find, then?"

Now she smiles. It's hopeful, a soft and hesitant thing, but it's there. "I'm pregnant."

A/N: This started off as a one-shot inspired by (but not in response to) a prompt from castlefanficprompts, but the response I received was so overwhelming, I couldn't help but continue it. The first two chapters have been posted on my tumblr, so I'll post them both here quickly, and from then on I'll be alternating between What Happens In AC and this story.