Castle approached Kate Beckett's desk, carrying his customary coffees, looking forward to the smile that always greeted him as she took her large skinny vanilla latte. He was sorely disappointed at her lack of response. She sat, bent over a file on her desk, her coat wrapped around her body, not looking up as he took his seat next to her desk.

"Coffee?" He asked, hoping to illicit the smile that made him get tingly all over.

"Huh?" She said as she turned toward him. "Oh, thanks, but I don't think so."

His mouth dropped open. Not only had she refused coffee, alarming in itself, but in spite of obvious effort to cover it, she looked pale and exhausted.

"Kate, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Castle." She dismissed him and turned back to her files.

"No you're not." He put the coffees on her desk and reached out to her. He gently brushed her hair back and felt her forehead. "You're burning up."

"It's nothing." She sat back in her chair, looking at him. "I'll be fine."

"Look at you. You have a fever. You're shaking." He put his hand on her shoulder, gently spinning her chair so she as facing him.

"Easy with the spinning." She said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to calm her stomach.

"Face it." He sat in his chair and leaned in close to her. "Even Supercop can get the flu."

"I don't have the flu."

He smiled. "You have a fever. You're pale. You have chills." He picked up her coffee. "You are refusing coffee, for Pete's sake." He watched her close her eyes as the scent of the freshly brewed coffee assaulted her. "Nausea?"

She started to shake her head, but thought better of it. Instead she swallowed hard and sat back, further from the coffee.

"Come on." He said, standing and reaching for her hand.

"Where?"

"I'm taking you home."

"I can't go home. I have too much to do."

At that moment Captain Gates exited her office and walked toward them on her way to the break room for her morning coffee.

"Morning, Detective." She said to Beckett. She started to give Castle her usual look of disgust when she stopped and turned back to Beckett. "You look like hell, Detective."

"I'm fine, Sir."

"The last thing I need is you giving our entire precinct the flu." She gestured around the room. "Get out of here. Go home and come back when you are better."

"That's what I tried to tell her." Castle smiled.

Gates shot him a look that wiped the smile off his face.

"Sir, I am fine. I have to finish…"

Gates continued on her way to the break room. "I mean it. Go home. It's an order." She said over her shoulder.

"You heard the woman." Castle said with a smug grin. "Give me your keys. I'm taking you home."

He expected an argument as he opened the bottom drawer, removed her purse and her keys, and led her toward the elevator. Instead, for what may have been the first time in their relationship, she nodded and went quietly. The elevator doors opened and he gently steered her into the car with a firm hand against her low back. As the doors closed, he wrapped an arm around her waist, smiling as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I feel terrible." She said in a weak voice.

"I know." He said as he kissed the top of her head.

As a testament to how terrible Kate felt, she didn't argue when Castle opened the passenger side door for her. She slid into the seat silently and immediately rested her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. She didn't open them the entire trip which, thankfully, was a short one. At one point, Castle thought he was going to need to pull over so she could throw up, but a perfectly timed stop light seemed to be enough to allow her to regain control.

"You going to make it?" He asked just as the light was about to turn green.

"I think so." She breathed deeply through her mouth. "Just miss the potholes. OK?"

"I'll do my best." He gave her a sympathetic smile.

They had barely made it into Kate's apartment when she suddenly turned very pale and rushed for her bathroom. Castle winced as he listened to the unmistakable sounds of retching. He walked through the bedroom and knocked on the bathroom door once she had finished.

"You OK in there?" He asked. "Can I get you anything?" When she didn't answer he sat on the edge of the bed and waited for her to come out.

Eventually, the door opened and Kate shuffled out and toward her bed. Castle hopped up and peeled the covers back for her. "Adorable PJ's." He said as he helped her into bed.

"Thanks." She said as she slowly slid under the covers. Castle tucked her in.

"You're not even going to tell me to shut up?" He asked. "Now I'm worried."

She smiled weakly and settled her head against the pillow.

"Do you need anything?" He asked as he brushed her hair from her sweaty forehead.

"Can you get another blanket from the closet? I'm freezing." She wrapped herself more tightly in the comforter on the bed and shivered.

Castle left the room and returned a few minutes later with a thick blanket and a book. He set the book on the nightstand and spread the blanket over the bed.

"Thanks." She said through chattering teeth.

"My pleasure." He said as he walked to the other side of the bed, sat there and kicked off his shoes.

Kate opened her eyes and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting into bed with you." He said as he rested his head on the pillow next to hers.

"Why?"

"Because you need me."

Kate looked at him for a long time and he thought, for a moment, that she was going to make him leave. Instead she rolled on her side, facing away from him and sighed. "Whatever. I'm cold, I don't feel good and I just want to go to sleep."

Castle smiled as he felt her slide over closer to him. He thought it was probably to share his body heat, but allowed himself a moment to hope that maybe she just wanted to be closer to him. "Shhh." He boldly spooned up behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. "Is that better?" He asked against her hair.

"You're warm." She conceded in a shivering whisper. She snuggled a little closer and pulled the covers tightly under her chin.

Castle must have dozed off because he was suddenly awakened by Kate whipping the covers back and rushing to the bathroom. He watched the door slam and felt sorry, knowing how miserable Kate was and that there was nothing he could do to help her. He tried to read his book as he pretended not to hear her vomiting in the next room but ended up staring at the closed door instead.

He gave her a pity smile as she emerged, hair a mess and skin blotchy and pale. "Feel better?"

She rolled her eyes and climbed back into the bed, making no pretense as she curled up against him, resting her head on his chest. "Castle…"

"Hmmm…"

"You're warm." He wrapped his arms around her more tightly. "And you smell nice." She said.

"Thanks." He rested his cheek against her hair. "You usually smell nice."

"Shut up." She smiled in spite of misery.

Castle heard the bathroom door again as he stood in the kitchen, eating a peanut butter sandwich. He had rifled through the cabinets in Kate's kitchen finding them woefully bare except for a can of tomato soup and the jar of peanut butter. He thought about the soup, but thought the smell of anything cooking might be too much for Kate. He took his last bit of sandwich just as she shuffled around the corner.

"I thought you left." She said in a raspy voice.

"Nope." He walked over and put his hand tenderly on her forehead. "Just eating a sandwich." He pushed her hair out of her face, hooking it behind her ears. "Want something? Water maybe?"

She leaned back against the counter and sighed. "I don't think it's a good idea." She wrapped her arms around herself, obviously chilled.

He hugged her to him, rubbing some warmth into her shoulders. He kissed the top of her head and whispered. "Feeling any better?"

She groaned in response.

"I'm sorry." He held her close for a moment. "Come on." He released her slowly, but kept her hand in his. "Back to bed with you."

Kate didn't resist as he led her back to her bedroom.

"I have to admit that when I have pictured leading you to your bedroom… you weren't wearing fleece pajamas or looking quite so… um…"

"Shut up, Castle." She said quietly as he helped her back into bed. As he pulled the covers up to her chin, she asked, "You don't need to stay… if you have somewhere else to be, I mean."

He looked into her sleepy eyes. "Where else would I want to be?"

Kate smiled weakly. "Somewhere where you don't have to listen to someone puking every twenty minutes."

He smiled and touched her cheek. "Can you try to do that more quietly? Last time you woke me up." He kissed her forehead.

Castle lay in Kate's bed, propped up on pillows, typing on her laptop. She shifted beside him and he turned to look at her, suddenly very aware of her legs entwined with his own. He watched her lips as she slept and was struck by a strange feeling. Certainly he loved being near her. He had thought, countless times, of waking up next to her, but never in this situation. He had dreamed of kissing, caressing, making love. He had dreamed of passion and lust.

Here he was, lying next to her feeling a level of intimacy he had never experienced with any woman in his life. When Meredith or Gina had been sick, he had wanted to run the other way. Not his proudest moments, but probably one small symptom of much larger problems in their relationships. This was different. There was no pretense. They had seen each other at their best and their worst and because, or in spite of that, their relationship had become stronger.

He smiled to himself. What he had told her in the cemetery was just the tip of the iceberg. "Love" couldn't begin to describe the depth of his feelings for her.

"Rick?" She opened her eyes and squinted at the light streaming through the curtains. "Were you watching me sleep?" She mumbled.

"Huh? No." He lied.

She rolled over to face him. "Good, cuz that would be creepy."

"No kidding." He smiled when he noticed that the color was back in her cheeks. "You look like you're feeling a bit better."

Kate thought for a moment. "I'm still achy and I have a terrible headache, but I don't want to go puke my guts out."

"Definite improvement." He placed his hand against her cheek on the pretense of checking her temperature. He lingered. "I left you a glass of water there on the nightstand. You're dehydrated. That will give you a hell of a headache."

Kate looked into his eyes. "You're pretty good at this nurse thing. Maybe you missed your true calling." She sat up slowly and picked up the glass. She started drinking.

"Whoa." He put his hand on the glass. "Small sips for a while. Don't want to set that gut off again."

"Thanks." He took the glass and leaned across her body to place it back on the nightstand. She took the opportunity to hug him and kiss his cheek tenderly. "I mean it. Thanks." She whispered.

He held her gaze as he said, "Always." He kissed her forehead and returned to his side of the bed.

Kate emerged from the bedroom, freshly showered and wrapped in a terry robe. She smiled at Castle who stood by the stove, wearing an apron and stirring a pot on the stove.

"You'll make someone a nice little wife someday." Kate joked.

"Very funny." He replied, placing a bowl of soup on the table. "Are you ready to eat something?"

"Yeah." She couldn't take her eyes off of him. "Thanks."

He pulled the chair away from the table for her and placed a napkin on her lap. "Bon Appetite." He sat next to her and dug into his own lunch. "Listen. I am going to head home for a while. Take a shower, shave. Check in with Alexis and my mother."

Kate hoped she hid her disappointment. "Of course. You have gone way above and beyond here."

Castle dismissed her words and placed his hand over hers. "It was nothing."

They finished their meal in silence, then Castle rose to go. "I'll be back later and I'll do the dishes. You just rest."

"OK"

"I mean it, Kate. I know you. Now that you are up and around you will try to do too much." He took a step closer to her.

Kate's breathing quickened in response to the nearness.

"Promise me." He was so near, his natural scent surrounded her. She felt goosebumps arise on her skin. She nodded. "I want to hear you say the words." He whispered, his eyes burning into hers.

Kate swallowed, perhaps to hold back the other words which hung on the edge of being spoken. She was getting closer to being able to say them, but she wasn't quite there yet. Instead she said, "I promise."

"OK" He leaned closer and kissed her very softly. As their lips parted, he rested his forehead against her. "I'll see you later."

She nodded.