Darkness fills a vast room. Is this a basement? A storage room? A crypt, or maybe a dungeon? The darkness makes the room appear empty. If anything is in the room, it is still and quiet. Silence bounces of each wall, and not a peep can be detected of anything outside the room. This room is not cozy or warm. It is not the kind of place one would want to be trapped in. But if one were trapped with the right person, then anything could happen and the room wouldn't be so bothersome.

Soft lighting suddenly flickers on, though half the room is still covered in darkness. Two slumber bodies lie on a large gray mattress on the floor. They are certainly not there by choice, but they seem very content.

Beckett sleeps on her side close to Castle. Her head falls to his shoulder, and she briefly opens her eyes. Squinty, she makes out that it's Castle sleeping beside her. She feels his breathing and falls back to sleep, thinking that she's glad it's Castle in bed with her. Her body moves partially on top of his, her right hand resting on his chest. His right arm instinctively wraps around her.

Minutes later, Beckett smiles as she stirs awake and glances up at Castle. Her smile grows, and she thinks of how happy she is to have him in her life. She blinks several times to wake herself up, and she senses that this isn't right. How is it that she's in/on a bed with Castle?

Her face quickly turns to surprise and alarm as she notices how dark the room is. Then she notices the way she's lying with Castle. She lifts her head and scoots herself off of him. For a moment she thinks of how comfortable that position was, but she didn't want Castle seeing them like that. His arm remains around her, which she secretly likes, and she keeps her hand on his chest. She spots her other arm going around his neck and feels a cool metal against her hand. She also feels the warmth of Castle's hand and is puzzled. She looks to their hands and sees that they're handcuffed together. "Oh God, how did we end up like this," she wonders aloud.

Castle moans softly, finally starting to wake up. He mutters while tightening his grip on her, "Don't get up yet. Stay in bed."

She whispers his name loudly to get his attention: "Castle."

He opens his eyes and grins at the sight of her beautiful face. He's delighted that she's with him in bed, not thinking that anything's out of the ordinary. "Kate. Hi," he says, "What are you doing in my bed?"

"Look around, Castle," she exclaims, "We're not in your bed. And we're not in mine."

Castle's eyes roam the room, not really seeing anything, and he wonders, "Where the hell are we?"

Beckett glares at him and inquires, "Did you have anything to do with this?"

"With what," he asks while trying to move his left arm. He feels the cool metal and closeness of her hand to his. Her arm is pulled snugger around his neck, which he can't help but like. He turns his head and sees the handcuffs. "We're cuffed," he states. Smirking, he adds, "Kinky."

"Castle, this isn't funny," Beckett declares.

He replies, "Did I say 'funny'? No. I said 'kinky'." He notices how close she is to him and her hand on his chest. "Definitely kinky," he moans.

Beckett takes her hand away and demands, "Castle! Focus!"

"Sorry."

"And remove your hand from my waist."

"Yes. Of course." His arm drops to the mattress. "For the record," he says, "I had nothing to do with this. But did you?"

She rolls her eyes and pushes herself up. He follows suit, and soon they're both sitting up. They bring her arm forward over his head, and their cuffed hands rest on the mattress in the small space between them.

"You think I did this? Why would I do this," she says, "This isn't the place to be kinky."

A small smile forms on his face, and he responds, "Not the right place…"

She smiles briefly to herself. She takes pleasure in teasing him.

He continues more seriously, "Well, they look like police cuffs."

"You wish I did this. Someone did this to us."

"And they took my phone. And my watch," Castle complains, "I've got nothing on me."

"My phone, my watch, my badge, and my gun are all gone," Beckett informs him, "Stolen or just plain destroyed."

"Hopefully they don't use up my minutes or raise my bill."

"Castle!"

"Don't hate me for being funny."

She gives him a serious look and asks, "Where are we?"

Castle looks around and says, "I'd say a dark, creepy, abandoned basement where bad things happen."

He was being cute with her, so she gives him another look. "That's how it'd be in one of my books," he adds.

"Right," she responds, "So, neither of us knows how we got here."

"I just remember I was on my way home. I think I was close to my building and was grabbed from behind."

"And chloroformed," she suggests.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Me too," she says, "The last thing I remember is leaving the precinct. How long do you think we've been here? All night?"

"I don't know. Maybe," he answers. "Are you craving coffee?"

Beckett brings her hands to her forehead, forcing Castle to jerk closer to her, making him smile.

"I'm starting to," she replies, "Dammit."

"I'm sorry I don't have a cup for you," he says in her ear. She lowers her hands a bit to glance at him. Softly, she says, "Thanks." The physical closeness between them is almost too much to handle.

She puts her hands down, and he pulls back. "We should get up and investigate where we are," she states.

Castle grabs her hands, though crisscrossed, and declares, "We'll help each other up."

"On three," she says.

"One…" he begins.

"Two…" she continues.

"Three," they say in unison. They hold onto one another as they stand up together in front of the mattress. "How do we go about walking around," he asks.

She takes charge: "I stay in front of you and lead the way." She turns her back to him. "No funny business back there," she tells him.

Castle gasps, "I would never do anything without your permission." But oh, how he'd love to caress her under her shirt.

"Mmhmm." Beckett knows deep inside that she would enjoy whatever he'd do to her. If he touched her, it would drive her crazy.

They make their way around the room carefully, trying not to trip over each other. They inspect the walls and attempt to find a door or some sort of opening for them to escape. They search everywhere they can, but with no such luck in finding anything. She stares up at the ceiling to spot something, anything, while he notices something on the wall in front of them. He sets his left hand on the wall, forgetting about the handcuffs. His motion takes her by surprise, and she is jerked to the side as he runs his hand along the wall. She grunts, looks to their cuffed hands, and exclaims, "Don't forget we're cuffed."

"Oh! Sorry." He moves his hand back to his side and explains, "I thought I saw something out of place, but it's nothing."

She looks back at him and asks, "You think there's any way out of here?"

"If there isn't, I'm sure Ryan and Esposito will find us," Castle tries assuring her.

"Do you think they know we're missing yet?"

"Well, having no idea what time it is, I know eventually my mom and Alexis will see that I didn't come home. I'm sure they'll call the precinct after first trying my phone and yours. Don't worry, Kate. If we can't get out of here, we will be found."

Her cuffed hand grabs his, and she says, "I'm glad I'm not alone."

"Don't tell me you're scared," he says firmly, "The Kate Beckett I know would not be scared in a situation like this."

"I just hate that we haven't found a way out. I can't even see how we got put in here."

"There must be a secret camouflage door somewhere."

"Yes," she agrees, "But I couldn't detect any kind of door. And I'm a little off my game. Well, of course I am because we've been kidnapped. But…I need my coffee." She sighs and leans her head back against him.

Castle attempts to lighten the mood: "How dare they deprive you of coffee! Whoever did this should choke on coffee once we're found. When we get out of here I'll get you as much coffee as you want."

Beckett chuckles a bit and responds, "You're the only one who understands my need for coffee."

He grins and tells her, "Well, you'll have to forget about that beverage. Don't even mention it. Focus on something else, like me."

"Oh really?" She rolls her eyes and lifts up her head. She turns to look at him, and their eyes lock. She bites her lip sexily. He has to look away because her lip biting is something that drives him wild. "Maybe we should figure out who did this to us. Who would kidnap us and cuff us together," she asks.

"I have no idea," he replies, resuming eye contact with her, "Maybe it's someone who desperately wants us to be completely alone with a bed and talk things out and see how far we go."

"No, Castle. No."

"Speaking of the bed, can we sit back down? I promise no funny business."

She nods and lets go of his hand. They try backing up away from the wall, and she steps on his feet a few times. "Could you please stop stepping on me," he says, annoyed by how complicated it is to move around.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she says raising her cuffed hand to brush back some hair from her face. His hand moves too, throwing him slightly off balance. "Don't forget we're cuffed," he says. She sighs and apologizes again.

"Stop moving. I have an idea," he says. "Now, just hear me out."

Oh boy, she thinks, what could it be? "What?"

"You reach behind and put your hands on my waist, and I'll put my hands on yours. And we'll make our way back to the bed."

She moans, "Hmmm," considering his idea. Then she nods and says, "Alright." He sets his hands on her waist, and they feel gentle, yet firm at the same time. She bites her lip and feels more relaxed but realizes her cuffed hand can't quite reach his waist. Instead, she covers his hands with hers. "I can't reach your waist. I guess we'd have to be pressed together, which would not work for walking." He notices that she didn't entirely dismiss the idea of their bodies being pressed together. "Right," he says, taking a deep breath. Her waist feels nice and soft, and her lovely hands keeping his in place on her… Focus Castle, he demands in his head.

They slowly, quietly turn and make their way back to the mattress. Once there, she feels awkward about how they'll actually sit back down, but he quickly grips her tighter and pulls her down with him. She bumps into him, almost landing on his lap. They take their hands away almost immediately, and Beckett states, "That worked well."

Castle raises their arms and falls back on the bed, bringing her with him. She falls beside him, and their cuffed hands rest above their heads. They both sigh and stare at the ceiling. He's trying to figure out who could have kidnapped them while she searches for something odd about the ceiling.

"Maybe someone wanted us out of the way. Whoever it is heard how great we are together and didn't want us catching them," Castle says, "And I'm not trying to sound cute or funny. I'm serious. We have a great partnership."

"Hmm. Maybe someone we've put in jail warned their buddy on the outside about us," Beckett responds.

"Exactly," he agrees, "I can't imagine who else would kidnap us."

"Can you see anything on the ceiling that might be a door," she asks.

"The ceiling in pretty high," he answers, "It's hard to tell."

"Yeah, and it's also dark." She closes her eyes and imagines being anywhere but here. More specifically, the precinct – the place where she can be in control and figure out all the facts of a case. Being stuck in this dark room, she feels helpless and frustrated.

Castle looks over at her, and he can tell just how out-of-her-element she is being trapped in here. He doesn't feel as frustrated as her because he's lucky to be stuck with her. And handcuffed to her? Even better. It could've been Ryan or Esposito with him instead, and that would be 100% awkward.

Beckett opens her eyes to see him staring at her. "I was just imagining being back at the precinct. I'd rather be there solving a case…"

"Than here with me," he wonders, "It's not so bad, is it?"

She flashes him a smile and replies, "No, its' not. It's just…"

"I know. It's hard being stuck in here and you don't have your phone or your gun or anything to help you get out of here or figure out why we're here."

"It's frustrating," she says, "And I don't know what to do, really."

"I guess all we can do is wait to be found. I don't know," he tells her, "But what I do know is that you have me. As least you're not in here alone because then, I'd worried like hell about you."

"Yes, you would. And you'd be useless to find me because you care about me too much. Gates wouldn't want you around." She takes a breath before she notices her back starting to itch. And it's itching crazily. She begins sitting up and tells him to do the same. She reaches her right hand around to her lower back and scratches furiously. "My back is, like, insanely itchy," she informs him.

She reaches under her shirt to scratch it, and he warns her, "Don't make it worse." She stops scratching and says worriedly, "It doesn't feel right. There's a bump back there."

"You want me to take a look," he asks.

"Would you please," she says, grabbing his hands so they can help each other up again.

He grips her hands, and they stand back up. He steps back about as far away as he can and sets his cuffed hand on her hip. His right hand lifts her shirt, and he spies a red area on her lower back right above the lining of her jeans. He kneels down to get a better view and runs a few fingers on the area. Meanwhile, she breathes deeply, partially enjoying his hand on her skin and partially in agony because the area is still itchy. "There's a small bump," he alerts her, "Very small."

"Where the hell did that come from," she asks, annoyed.

"Could it be an allergic reaction," he suggests.

"To chloroform? Or whatever they did to knock us out?"

"It could be one person who did this," he says.

"My gut's telling me there's more than one," she says.

Castle ogles her back and takes in the sight of her skin. He runs his hand past the area, moving along her waist, as he says, "It's probably just a reaction."

"Yeah," she whispers, her body quivering from his touch.

"Still itchy?"

"Yes," she says assuredly. She gasps very softly when he rubs the irritated area gently, not wanting it to worsen it from scratching. His touch is so simple, but it has such an affect on her! She imagines what it'd be like for his hands to be all over her. She chokes on her breath a bit; her coughing lets her regain her composure. "Thanks, Castle," she says, "It's feeling better."

He doesn't let it show, but it's a thrill for him to be touching her back and waist. She feels so soft and smooth, and her back is breath-taking. He wonders what it'd be like to fondle more of her. He lingers longer than he should, but she never complains or demands him to stop. He smiles at being allowed to touch her like that. He takes a deep breath and reaches for her shoulders as he stands up. "You want to sit down again? Or lie down," he asks.

She bites her lip and answers, "Yeah. Sure. Lie down."

They sit down and fall back on the mattress. It's more comfortable for their cuffed hands to rest over their heads.

"Castle, if I had to be trapped in some dark, empty dungeon, then I'm glad I'm trapped with you," Beckett says, "I can't imagine being here alone." He smiles and thinks that every time she says 'Castle', his heart beats a little faster. His smile grows when she says, "I feel safer with you. You have my back no matter what happens wherever we are."

He gazes at her and says, "Always." She locks eyes with him and repeats, "Always." That word melts her heart, and she feels at peace. A small smile forms on her face, and she adds, "I always have your back too." She moves closer to him and reaches across herself to grasp his arm. She takes a few deep breaths and says, "I think I can finally be honest with you."