Two Minutes

Summary: Timing is everything. An AU ending for When the Bough Breaks

Walking down the ornate staircase, Richard Castle wants to stop time. He wants to hit pause and arrest the forward movement of the seconds, minutes, and hours that stretch before him.

He's not ready to leave Kate Beckett. Or Nikki Heat. There's so much more story for him to tell. As for Beckett, to paraphrase a comment of hers, he still has so many more layers of the Beckett onion to unpeel.

But he's a commercial mystery writer, and he goes where the money is. And it seems the money isn't with Nikki but with a certain British secret agent. Writing that secret agent is a boyhood dream come to life. More than that, really, because this isn't something he even imagined possible before the offer was made. This new career path shouldn't feel like a forced consolation prize. It should feel like Christmas and an Olympic Gold Medal and a really good bottle of Scotch wrapped into one.

"Thank you, Castle." Beckett's voice cuts through the silence, and isn't it weird that, in the last moments of this strange partnership, they're both quiet. "I never would have been able to solve this case without your help."

He's not sure if it's the words or the unusually tentative tone that catches him most off guard. He looks over at her, and he again thinks: this isn't supposed to be the end.

They reach the bottom of the stairs. Beckett smiles in a way that Castle labels nervous, even if she is Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. "Well, good luck on your new book. I know you'll do it proud."

Castle looks into her eyes. There's so much he wants to say – so much they have left to say to each other – but he's unsure where to begin. If this were one of his books, he knows what he would say and how she would answer. But she's Kate Beckett, a woman for whom extraordinary is an understatement, and he's learned to never assume with her.

"You take care of yourself," he starts, and that's wrong. It's generic, what he would say to a college classmate after running into him for the first time in a decade. "And, you know, if you get stuck on a case, you can always give me a call."

Beckett shakes her head and rolls her eyes, but there's that ghost of a smile that makes Castle feel like he's won a prize. "You're unbelievable, you know that?"

They have yet to break eye contact. Castle loves the way Beckett's eyes dance in amusement, the tease that lurks within their depths. Something in her face reminds him of their first case and Beckett's unexpected flirtatious parting shot. That was the moment that sealed his interest in her.

"You were right, you know. I had no idea," Castle says. He's surprised when the tease leaves Beckett's eyes and a deeper, richer emotion takes its place.

For the first time in Richard Castle's life, a woman catches him off guard with a kiss. His arms are out to his sides, he's standing straight, not leaning toward her in the slightest, and his mouth tastes like stale coffee. But her lips – soft and warm and real – press against his, some instantly intoxicating combination of tender neediness and timid confidence. His lips return the gentle pressure even as the rest of his body freezes in shock.

When her hands come to rest on his shoulders, his hands finally wrap around her waist. He leans forward, leans down, because he wants to burrow into her deeply enough that she can't get rid of him. She inches closer to him as his hands frame her slim torso, their bodies separate but radiating warmth into each other.

She's still kissing him. Lust ignites and sparks through his body, even as he relaxes into her loose embrace. He had always hoped reality would outstrip his already complimentary fantasies of Kate Beckett, but he really did have no idea.

Her phone rings.

They pull apart, her hands still on his shoulders as his slide down to her hips. They stare at each other, both drugged off their first shared taste.

Her phone rings again.

Her right hand slides off his shoulder in a near caress. She reaches for her phone. Her eyes have yet to leave his. He's afraid that the moment she looks away, everything will change and this perfect moment will, for her, become a mistake.

She accepts the call and holds the phone up to her ear.

"What?" Her voice is strong but dazed.

Castle recognizes the cadence of Esposito's voice on the other end of the line.

"Ok," Beckett says after a moment, her voice again the firm alto of Detective Beckett. "I'll be right there."

She disconnects the call, exhales, as her eyes slide off to the side. But she doesn't move or take her left hand off his shoulder. Castle counts that as a victory. "There's been a murder."

"Oh."

"I need to go." She doesn't move.

Castle wants to kiss her again, but there's been a murder and Kate Beckett isn't the sort of woman to put pleasure ahead of her job.

"I think," Castle says, and to his own ears, his voice sounds ragged, "I think maybe Nikki Heat needs a second book."

Beckett looks at him, her expression unreadable. "So you coming or what?"

"Lead the way, Detective." Castle releases her hips and motions for her to precede him.

Her left hand reluctantly withdraws from his shoulder. Turning, she walks toward the exit. Castle watches her – enjoys the view, really, and ponders possessive thoughts he will never, ever voice to Kate Beckett – before he takes two long steps to catch up.

"You know, if I had known that this is what it would take to get you to kiss me, I would have left months ago," Castle says.

"I don't know, Castle. After all, that's before I read Page 105." She stares straight ahead but the corners of her lips twist up. "But there is something I've always wanted to know."

Excitement surges through Castle, but he forces his voice to be calm. "And what might that be, Detective?"

"Is writing sex scenes a bit like teaching? You know, those who can do, and those who can't write about it?" She finally glances over at him. She wears a smile that's both a dare and a promise.

The challenge in her voice, the hint of her words, excites him, if possible, even more than the kiss. "Oh, I assure you, Detective Beckett, it's not just theoretical knowledge."

Exiting the building, Beckett and Castle fall into step together. Nothing and everything is the same as two minutes earlier.

Author's Note: If you watch the end of "When the Bough Breaks," it's about two minutes between when Paula calls Castle and when Beckett and Castle exit the building (hence the title of this piece). After noticing that, I was interested in how that scene might have gone if the first phone call was the one from Esposito. While this is marked complete, I am leaning towards continuing this one and seeing where it leads our heroes. Either way, thanks for reading!