Sharp Left Turn

AN: Episode follow-up to 6x03, "Need to Know."

He grabs the last box, makes a final sweep across the empty expanse of the rental house before he decisively closes the door on it, locks up, deposits the key in the mailbox as instructed. Castle hoists the box on his hip, turns down the short path toward the curb, his eyes drawn toward her. Always, inexorably drawn to her.

Kate is leaning against the passenger side of the car, her body backlit by the bright glow of the sun behind her. A solemn statue, chiseled in strength and vulnerability. Her fingertips are shoved into the pockets of her cut-off jeans, her hair tied back in a messy ponytail, patches of her shirt soaked through with sweat and sticking to her skin. The August heat is stifling, takes his breath; the humidity thick and hot, like sitting in a steam room.

She's watching him, or eyeing the house, he isn't quite sure. Her eyes so light, like amber flooded by sunlight.

She's been quiet the last few days, seems lost. Adrift. He knows she doesn't regret the choices she's made, the ways she's followed her conscience, and he doesn't think he's ever been more proud of her. But the rejection weighs heavy, the consequences harsh, even though she should've expected it, should've known it could come to that. She probably did. She's had her qualms even before, told him – nonspecifically of course - about her struggles with the many shades of grey that now shadowed her daily work, and Castle is convinced that she had purposely, willingly pushed those boundaries. Her own form of rebellion against the injustice she saw.

But it crushed her just the same.

He pushes the last box into the storage Pod before he rolls down the blue metal door of the container and locks it, ready to be picked up for transport. Then he joins her by the side of the car, leaning next to her, hip to hip. Their knuckles brush, and Kate hooks her middle finger through his, her cheek sinking to his shoulder.

"That was the last of it?" She asks, still staring at the house that never quite became home over the last few months.

"Yeah." It went disconcertingly fast, packing up her belongings, so many boxes still unpacked from when they moved her in here a few months ago and he wonders if even that had always meant more than Kate just being way too busy to handle it. "You ready to go?"

She nods but makes no further movement. He can almost hear the heat flittering around them, and a pearl of sweat runs down the length of his spine.

"Can we go see it?" She asks at last, her finger tightening around his as she turns into him, her eyes lifting to his. "Just once, before…" She lets the thought trail off.

He cradles her cheek, swipes an errand curl of hair off her cheek as she tilts her face into his touch, her lashes low, drawing shadows onto her skin.

"Of course."

Castle unlocks the door, gestures her inside ahead of him. Kate takes a few steps into the wide open space, her eyes roaming while he trails a few feet behind her.

He wants to watch her as she see the place for the first time.

(Ignores the sharp stab he feels when he remembers that it's also the last time.)

He's not personally set foot into the Georgetown apartment before today either, though he saw hundreds of photos provided by his realtor. But now all he really wants is to see it with Kate's eyes, as if it were all brand-new to him as well. He's tried to find something that he thought she'd love, a modern mix between his tastes and her more edgy, interesting blend of styles and he's jittery with nerves, eager to find out whether she likes it.

Even though they'll never live here.

She's quiet, turns a slow half-circle in the brightly-lit living area, her eyes wide as she seems to soak in her surroundings, mouth tilted open in a small 'o.' He leans against the wall by the front door, content to watch the play of emotions on her face, his stomach fluttering with a horde of nervous butterflies. But then she stretches out her arm, wiggles her fingertips at him.

"Come here, Castle." She sounds excited, despite everything, and he pushes off the wall, can't think of anywhere he'd rather be than right there by her side.

He slides his fingers through hers and Kate folds her hand closed around him, squeezing tightly as she tugs him with her toward the open kitchen with its wine-red, lacquered cabinetry and dark wood countertops, and the long island with the inset stove, the colored spotlights above that brush its gleaming surfaces.

They slowly walk through the apartment, along the stretch of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Potomac in the distance and flooding the space with an abundance of sunlight that caresses the walnut floor, smooths along the walls, tickles into corners and nooks. Take in the exposed ceiling beams, the white-washed bricks and textured walls, the stark brushed-metal divider with the double-sided fireplace that separates the living room from the dining area.

"It's breathtaking, Castle" She stops in the middle of the empty living room, turns into his arms. "I truly love it."

He wraps an arm around her waist, his hand pressed to her lower back. She smells of summer, like sunscreen and heated skin, and he wants to bury his face in her hair, lose himself in the supple curves of her body.

Her knuckles brush his stomach as her eyelids lower, guilt stealing the beauty of her happiness right off her face.

"I'm so sorry," she sighs, tears in her voice that she seems determined to suppress. His heart aches with the sorrow and self-reproach that intones her words.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he insists, cradling her cheek. Tilts up her face so she'd look at him. "You stood up for what's right, protected someone's life despite the repercussions it'd have for you. You showed integrity in a world of shadows. You're a hero, Kate." He kisses away the tears that track down her cheek, infusing her skin with his words. "You'll always be my superhero."

Her fingers dig into his ribcage, a shudder rippling through her slim body that seems half-sob, half-laugh.

"As for this place..." He waves an arm at the expanse of the apartment. "We can sublet it. It's actually a great investment. Really, it will probably end up paying the college tuition for the twelve children we now have time to have."

This time she definitely laughs, the sound billowing in her sternum. He rubs his palm along her lower back, his fingertips strumming her spine, and she arches into him, her laughter subsiding.

"Thank you, Rick." She lifts to her toes, presses a lingering kiss to lips before she sinks back down. "I don't regret it. I knew what I was doing; made my choices knowing what the consequences could be. It's just..." She trails off, looks out the window for a long moment.

"I feel like I've lost my purpose. Without the job, I can't protect or help anybody. What good am I now? What am I gonna do?"

She sounds so forlorn that his heart hurts. He wants to have answers for her, wants to lay the world at her feet. He wouldn't care if she took a year off solely to try to read her way through the New York Public Library. If she wanted to go back to law school, or become an archeologist or a kindergarten teacher. He'd support whatever she'd choose, as long as it makes her happy.

"You can do whatever you want. That's the beauty of it, Kate. There's a whole world of opportunities out there. You'll find your purpose again, I have no doubt about that."

She looks at him for a long moment, her expression enigmatic. "You know what I really want to do?"

He shakes his head.

"I wanna get in that car and start driving. Just go wherever the road carries us. To Niagara Falls, maybe, and then to Chicago, and on and on. Keep driving, across the plains and the mountains until we reach the Pacific, and then we'd cruise down Highway number one along the coastline. Stay in cheap hotel rooms with too small beds, and argue over the music in the car, and just be together. No interruptions and no work, just you and me, Castle." She presses her palms to his chest, the sun breaking through the facets of her ring, bathing her in joyous, dancing flitters of pastel light. Her fingers play with the buttons of his shirt, the tease of her touch soft and alluring. "Think we could do that?"

This is definitely not what he would've expected. Then again, there are always more layers of Kate he gets to uncover; unexpected, oh so enticing layers. She never stops surprising him.

He grins, tightens his arm around her waist and she stretches into his chest, her torso molding to the planes of his. "You wanna live your own road movie?"

"Yeah." She smiles, all teeth and playful eyes as she wraps her arms around his neck. "Let's be renegades together."

Oh how he's missed seeing that joy on her face. He has his qualms, of course; it feels a little too much like running away, but then he realizes, why not? They have all the time in the world. So what if she wants to get away from everything, needs time to think, or time to not think at all?

At least she's running away with him.

"Can I veto the cheap hotel rooms?" He feels the excitement trickling through his blood, making his heart leap. The lure of wide-open spaces and long stretches of road, staring at her gorgeous profile while she soaks in the sights that can't rival her beauty. Of snow-covered mountain ranges that glisten in the sun, and sunsets that sprawl along a never-ending horizon. Of evenings spent huddled together on a porch swing, sipping glasses of red wine, and late mornings draped naked over the wide expanse of luxurious sheets, tangled limbs and sweaty skin and the sweet, eternal taste of Kate on his lips.

She shrugs a shoulder, her eyebrows arched challengingly and laughter in her eyes at his overindulgent preferences. "As long as you pay."

He pulls the keys to the Mercedes from his pocket and presses them into her palm, conscientiously folding her fingers closed around his offering.

"Alright." He lifts her fist to kiss the fingertips clamped tightly around the key, raises his eyes to watch her playful grin be replaced by the tender, absolutely breathtaking smile that lightens her face.

"You drive the first leg."

End