Castle 1. Chapter 1

**I was so excited to post this that I forgot to add an A/N. The idea for this story came to me over a year ago but I got a huge case of writer's block. After tweaking a few things in the outline (I'm just going to accept that chapters will be short and it will all be in Kate's POV instead of going back and forth from Castle's POV to Kate's as I originally intended) I think I've finally gotten a handle on it.**

**Disclaimer: Nope. My name isn't Andrew and I don't live in California.**

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"It was real."

Kate chose to ignore the words that seemed to be whispered close to her right ear. There were people all around here as she walked down the busy New York street. Hundreds of people used this street daily. She was merely overhearing someone else's conversation. The fact that the words brought to mind Royce's letter that she had received not even a week ago only meant that she had been reading the familiar words far too often.

"What you have with Castle is real."

Kate took a quick scan of her surroundings. A few couples holding hands, families out enjoying the warm May weather, businessmen talking into their cell phones, teenagers texting, a street performer playing his guitar…. Nothing out of the ordinary. No one was paying her the slightest bit of attention.

"And you're fighting it."

So where were the voice coming from?

"You need to stop fighting it, Kate."

Kate wanted to demand that the speaker reveal her identity. She knew it was a woman because the voice was too soft and high pitched to be masculine.

Kate took a brief look at the people closest to her. Immediately in front of her were a couple of men arguing about the latest political scandal. Close to her right was a young mother holding a child's hand, promising the tyke an ice cream cone if he would be good for just a few more minutes. Only a couple of feet away on her left a man was blatantly leering at her but the look that Castle had dubbed her 'interrogation glare' quickly caused the man to look the other way.

"Risking your heart is why you're alive."

The sound came from directly behind her this time.

Kate whirled around and locked eyes with-

"Martha?" Kate's shock caused her voice to have a slight squeak.

But no, it couldn't be Martha. The woman did have the same red hair, pale blue eyes and flamyboyant way of standing as if she were merely waiting for her cue for the next scene-but this woman appeared to have a good twenty years on Castle's mother.

Or was stage make-up just that good?

And how would Martha have gotten a hold of Royce's letter? She had locked it up in the top drawer of her night stand the night she had returned from L.A.

But how would anyone else have gotten a hold of the letter?

The braclets on the woman's wrists softly tinkled as she put her hands on Kate's shoulders. "You don't want to look back on your life and wonder, 'If only,'" the woman said sternly. "I won't allow it."  
She wouldn't allow…?

"It's time to stop fighting," the woman continued. "Risk your heart. Embrace what's real."

Kate knew Martha was plain-spoken and not shy about giving advice, but this was a bit extreme, even for her.

"Remember dear, when your heart speaks, words will follow."

That was the last thing Kate heard before everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Since things don't really start to make sense until this chapter, I decided not to wait to post this. I'm hoping to post a chapter a day until the story is finished.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it.**

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"Dad, come see what I found!"

Relief flooded Kate at the sound of Alexis' voice. Anyone could have found her. In her vulnerable state, things could have turned out badly. Because something was horribly wrong. Kate felt fairly clear-headed, but her body felt like it was twisted at an odd angle. She was scared to move, worried that the slightest change in position might just make the problem worse.

Kate opened her eyes to see…Alexis' feet?

What?

Kate didn't _feel_ like she was lying down, but she must have been. Or she was hanging upside down.

From her limited field of vision Kate could tell that she was still outside, although she wasn't entirely sure where. She focused her gaze upward and saw what looked like the underside of a wood bench.

Again, what?

"Isn't she cute?" Kate looked over to Alexis again. The teen was now crouched down and looking directly at her. Spotting Castle's familiar designer shoes out of the corner of her eye, Kate turned her head and watched as Castle squatted down and gave her a smile Kate had never had directed at her before. It was the look he reserved for babies and puppies and other small, helpless creatures.

Kate was neither small nor helpless.

"You're right, she's adorable," Castle agreed. "I'll bet she's a real snuggler."  
_What?!_

Kate wasn't surprised that Castle had thought about 'snuggling' with her. But to mention it to his _daughter_?

She opened her mouth to yell at him. But that's not what came out.

"Meow."

Kate whipped her head from side to side. Where had _that _come from? It felt like it had risen out of her own throat, but that was impossible. So now she had lost her ability to speak and there was a cat close by?

Or maybe she just couldn't say his name very loudly and the feline had drowned her out. She opened her mouth to try again.

"Meee-ooow!"

What was with that cat?

Although…

Kate shook her head at the Castle like theory that popped into her head. She hadn't been turned into a cat. Things like that just didn't happen outside of fairy tales.

There was a logical explanation.

She just had to find it.

"It's okay, baby, we won't hurt you," Alexis said in what Kate was sure was meant to be a soothing tone.

She might have felt a little more relaxed if it hadn't been for the fact that Alexis had just called her _baby_!

"You don't think she's hurt, do you, Dad?"

Kate tried to roll her eyes. Of course she was hurt. And somehow she'd lost the ability to roll her eyes!

"I'm not sure, pumpkin," Castle said. He inched closer to her, holding out his hand, palm down. When the tips of his fingers were almost touching her nose, Kate tilted her head. Before she realized what she was doing, Kate poked her tongue out and ran a quick swipe up his index finger.

Startled, she drew her head back.

Why had she done that?

"She likes you, Dad!" Alexis was beaming at Kate now.

Kate quickly opened her mouth to refute the claim. She didn't want Castle's daughter getting the wrong idea about her and Castle's relationship.

"Meow!"

"See?" Alexis said.

Oh no. No, no, no.

Those sounds weren't coming from some nearby cat.

They were coming from her!

But why?

Wait. A. Minute.

That weird position her body was in…

Kate slowly flexed her body, from her head to her-

Tail?

Crap!

She had a tail!

A _tail_!

"MEOW!"

That would have been a swear word, if she'd been able to voice it.

"Meow! Meow! Meow!"

More swear words.

That she couldn't give voice to.

"Dad, she _is _hurt!" Alexis cried.

"You could be right," Castle said. "Maybe we should take her to a vet and have her checked out."

She wasn't _hurt_!

She was freaking out!

And there was no way _anyone _was taking her to a vet.

Kate shot out from under the bench and ran to the edge of the sidewalk. It felt like a cross between a speed crawl and a weird gallop, but it worked. She spun around and headed back to Castle, whose eyes were wide with shock.

An idea had only half-formed in her mind when her body carried it out. Without slowing down, she jumped onto the bench and using the solid surface to give her an extra bit of inertia, Kate leapt.

Right on to Castle's shoulder.

_No vet!_ The thought went through Kate's mind as she let out an insistent 'meow' and swatted Castle's ear with her front right paw, glad that her claws were sheathed. She didn't want to draw blood, just make sure that Castle wasn't taking her anywhere but up to his loft.

"Whoa!" Castle's voice was a mixture of surprise and amusement.

"I don't think she's hurt, dad," Alexis said, her eyes brimming with barely suppressed laughter.

Castle's hands gently lifted Kate from his shoulder and held her out in front of him, looking her directly in the eyes. "You okay, little one?"

Kate let out a little 'meow,' not even sure what she was trying to say.

"Yeah, you're okay," he said and settled her against his chest.

And that's when Kate started to purr.


	3. Chapter 3

**After all of the requests for updating soon, how could I not, especially when I wrote the chapter a few days ago. :) I was in a writing frenzy this weekend and am in the middle of writing what I thought was going to be the last chapter, but I might split that into two. I'm still on track for having this story all finished before the 2nd Castle Monday of season 6. And yes, this is one of the shorter chapters within a story full of short chapters but I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow around this same time.**

**To the guest reviewers that I can't reply to directly: **

**I thought about posting this around Halloween but I wanted to have a story for the first Castle Monday of season 6. And, if my muse cooperates, I have another story which will work just as well for being a Halloween story; it's even set during Halloween. :) I WISH they would do an episode like this, but I have no idea how they could make that work. **

**Castle meets the 'Shaggy Dog'-I hadn't thought of that.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Castle, American fans would have been able to watch the episode the same day as the Canadian fans, instead of the day after. Oh wait, I'd probably have to own ABC for that, or even Disney. Hmmmm...I don't own any of them, so I still have to wait. :( But not for LOOOOONG... :)**

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The loft was a little intimidating from this viewpoint, Kate realized a moment after Castle gently set her on the floor. The door seemed to go on forever and the barstools near the kitchen nook were at least five times taller than she was. Even with her new increased feline flexibility she wasn't sure she would be able to jump that high.

Kate tentatively crept forward. She needed a safe and quiet place to think. She could sit in one of the bar stools, but it would be too easy for someone to not see her and sit right on top of her.

Shuddering at the thought, Kate continued to scan the room. The couch could work, but she might run into the same problem.

Unless s he sat on the arm of the couch. Yeah, that would work.

Having made her decision Kate hurried over and with one small jump landed on the perfect spot. But not without accidently getting a claw caught in the rich fibers.

Why did her claws have to come out _now_?

This was bad. People did _not _like it when a cat scratched up their furniture. And this particular couch had to be expensive.

What if Castle got mad at her?

What if he threw her out?

What if-?

Castle's sudden presence startled Kate out of her thoughts. She tensed as he reached towards her, wondering if he was going smack her hand, err, paw. He would never do that to _Kate_, of course, but as far as he knew she was just some random cat. To her relief he just gently removed her trapped claw from the fabric.

He began lightly stroking her fur-covered head, just like anybody would pet a cat. It was almost too much. Outwardly she might be a cat, but inwardly she was still Kate. And Castle was running his fingers through her hair (it may be fur but to Kate was still her hair) as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Kate had been careful to keep a certain level of physical distance from Castle over the years. She had only hugged him a handful of times, and two of those were in life and death situations. To have his hands on her now...

Kate involuntarily tensed, causing Castle to give her a confused look. She tried to relax her muscles, but as with the purring she had no control over her body's reactions.

And that worried her. Because she'd been physically attracted to Castle from the very beginning. She had just become an expert at hiding the fact.

What if she felt that attraction even while trapped in the body of a cat?

The very idea made her shudder.

Of course Castle felt that, too, and withdrew his hand.

_It's for the best_, Kate told herself, fighting the lump of tears that caught in her throat.

And how did that work? Cats didn't cry. Did they?

Kate felt Castle's hand on her head again, this time at a weird angle.

_Wha-?_

That's when she noticed that it wasn't his hand on her head; it was her pressing her head to his hand.

"Meow."

And there was that plantative sound again.

Obviously she had _no _self-control as a cat.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm having so much fun writing this; I'm glad so many of you are having fun reading it. I only have one chapter left to write which I should be able to get done this weekend, at the latest. (I had the first 2 chapters written around a year ago and wrote the rest of what I got done this weekend) There will be 8 chapters total and I'm going to do my best to keep the 'post a chapter a day' schedule.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned it I wouldn't be so excited that the first sneak peek of the next episode has already been released.**

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Castle had barely taken his hand from her head when Alexis scooped Kate's feline body up in her arms. After telling her father that she was going to work on a report that was due the next day, the red-head carried her up the stairs, cooing at her all the way. Kate debated resisting; being separated from Castle, even if it was only by a flight of stairs, made her uneasy. But Alexis was much quieter than Castle and she did need time and space to think through this strange situation she was in and how to get out of it.

In minutes Alexis was sitting at her computer, Kate sitting in her lap. The girl was engrossed in going over the notes she had taken, occasionally reaching down to pet Kate's furry head. Once Kate was sure there weren't going to be any sudden movements that would dump her on the floor she rested her head on her front paws and started mentally gathering the evidence.

The gypsy woman-well, whether she was a gypsy or not Kate had no idea, but that's what the elderly woman had reminded her of, that or a fortune teller at a carnival-had caused Kate's transformation, there was no doubt in her mind about that. If she thought it would do any good the detective would go to the 12th and use all the resources available to her to track the woman down.

Except there wouldn't be any resources available to her, not like this.

She wished she could communicate with Castle. He would believe her, if she could find a way to tell him what had happened.

Castle. Maybe he was the key. The gypsy, or whatever she was, had been quoting from the letter Royce had left her. Specifically, the part related to Castle.

Kate had read that part of the letter so many times that she had it memorized.

_What you have with Castle is real_, her former mentor had written. _And you're fighting it. Risking our hearts is why we're alive. You don't want to look back on your life and wonder 'if only.'_

What was it the woman had said before Kate had blacked out? Something about speaking her heart, wasn't it?

How was she supposed to do that when she couldn't _speak_?

She and Castle had always been able to communicate without words, but Kate didn't think that would help her this time.

So she needed to find a way to give him words.

A light, rhythmic clicking noise started directly above Kate's head. It only took a moment for the detective to realize it was Alexis typing on her computer.

Typing. Typing words.

That was it! Kate would just go down to Castle's den and type on his computer. It wouldn't be as easy typing with paws as it was with hands, but she was sure she could do it.

Her decision made, Kate jumped down from Alexis' lap and ran down the hall and down the stairs. She came to an abrupt halt when she saw that Castle wasn't in his den but was in the living room. With Gina.

Kate felt her fur shoot straight up all over her body as her back arched and a low cat-growl started in the back of her throat. Her tail slowly twitching, Kate's gaze zeroed in on the blonde woman's hand on Castle's arm.

It was an odd sensation. Kate had felt jealous of Gina when Castle had walked away with the other woman on his arm all those months ago, but she certainly hadn't felt territorial the way she did now.

When Kate let out a hiss both humans turned their heads and looked at her in obvious shock.

"Richard, what is _that _doing here?"

Kate was wondering the same thing.

"Kate?" Castle replied. "She's our new cat. Or, she will be, if no one claims her."

Both Kate and Castle were startled when Gina burst out laughing. "You named it after your detective? Have you told her yet?"

"Beckett won't mind," Castle stated confidently. "Just look at her. She's a purebred Persian. And not even one with a smooshed in face; then she probably would be insulted. But Kate is adorable; she even has the same color eyes!"

"Richard, she's a cat! It doesn't matter what kind, a woman like your detective won't appreciate having an animal named after her." Gina _finally _removed her hand from Castle's arm and shrugged. "Whatever, it doesn't matter to me. Just make sure you have the final draft of _Heat Rises_ on my desk by the end of next week."

"It's done," Castle said. "I'll have it on your desk tomorrow."

"Good," was all Gina said.

The door had barely closed behind the publisher when Castle walked over to Kate and put his hand lightly on her head. At his touch Kate felt herself instantly relax.

And then she started purring.

Again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow, you guys are coming up with some pretty crazy ideas yourselves. If I don't use your idea, you might want to write your own version. There a lot of ways this story could have gone that I never even thought of. And some I thought of but discarded because I want the story to have a light, fluffy tone rather than an angsty, emotionally charged tone. I find that when the episodes are less fluffy, I need to read and write more fluff. And when there's been a fluffy episode, I write still more fluff. LOL I leave the angsty stories to those with the gift for writing that kind of thing.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it.**

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Was Castle EVER going to go into his den to get some writing done? Not that Kate minded the way the man had set her on his lap and was absently stroking her fur while watching _The Empire Strikes Back_ for what she guessed would be the thousandth time. But she needed to let him know what was going on so he could help her figure out a way to get her back to normal. If for no other reason than the fact that her incessant purring was getting on her nerves. Any time Castle was within a foot of her she started purring. And any time she felt his touch, whether it was an accidental brush against his leg or his hand on her head, the purring doubled in volume.

But it was while watching the movie that things started to get really embarrassing.

Kate's ears perked up when Han Solo, once again, started teasing Princess Leia about her feelings for him. She was glad that Castle didn't do that to her. Well, not much, anyway. Although a lot of that could be because he didn't _know _how strong her feelings were for him. Strong enough that she had broken up with Josh because she felt it wasn't fair to him to keep stringing him along in a relationship she knew wasn't really going to go any further. She wouldn't go so far as to say she broke up with the doctor for Castle because she didn't know _what _was going to happen with him. Truthfully, she would have broken up with him soon, regardless. She had yet to have a relationship last more than a year, which was one of the many reasons that she was in no hurry to jump into things with Castle. She would rather remain friends and work partners for the rest of her life than to have everything only to have it all blow up in her face a year later.

"Meow."

Oops, she hadn't meant to do that. To her, the sound gave away her feelings of distress. It must have sounded that way to Castle, too, because he picked her up from his lap and settled her against his chest, resting his chin lightly on her head.

Unable to control the urge, Kate lifted her head to lick his chin. At the same time, Castle bent his head to kiss her on top of the head. Which meant that instead of 'kissing' him on the chin, she kissed him on the lips.

Horrified at what she had done, even if it _was _an accident, Kate jerked away from him, hitting the edge of the couch before doing an unexpected flip onto the floor.

Enough was enough.

As soon as her feet touched the ground Kate took off in the direction of Castle's den. Once she reached the closed door, Kate started an insistent series of meows.

"Your litter box isn't in there," Castle told her as he crossed the room, probably to pick her up to show her where the box had been placed.

Kate hadn't thought of that. She _would _be expected to use a litter box if she wasn't changed back into a human. And fast. Because Kate suddenly realized that she was feeling the effects of the Grande skim latte she had grabbed on her way home from the 12th. Castle had spent the day with Alexis and her workday had been too busy to do more than grab a quick cup in the break-room at the precinct.

Castle had barely gotten his hands around her when Kate wiggled out of his grasp and started clawing at the door, her meows increasing in volume.

"You crazy cat," Castle's tone was affectionate exasperation rather than any real anger.

Any worry that Castle would hurt her long gone-if she had been in her human form she would have rolled her eyes at how worried she had been; after all, it was _Castle_-Kate ignored him and continued to urgently scratch at the door.

"I guess you'll have to see it to believe it," Castle said with a shake of his head.

Once he had opened the door Kate headed straight for his desk, jumping first onto his chair and then on to his desk, standing by his laptop before Castle had opened the door enough to get in the room himself.

Kate would have groaned if she could when she realized that his laptop wasn't on. She tapped the 'C' and 'A' keys before Castle reached her side and pushed her off the desk. As soon as she landed Kate jumped back up on the chair and back onto the desk, barely having enough time to touch her front paws on the edge of the keyboard before he pushed her off again. The next time she tried he pushed her off before she had fully landed on the chair. On and on it went. Kate finally stopped when she realized she had to use the bathroom, litter box, _something_, before she totally humiliated herself.

Remembering that from the time that she had stayed at the loft after her apartment blew up that there was a bathroom right next to the guest room Kate hurried out of the den, across the living room and up the stairs.

Grateful that the door was open Kate rushed over and jumped onto the toilet. She walked around the seat a couple times, trying to figure out how it was going to work, wishing she had paid more attention to the YouTube videos Castle had shown her a few weeks ago of funny cat videos, one which had been of a cat using a toilet rather than a litter box.

Finally she couldn't wait any more and Kate stood as close as she could to the inner edge of the toilet seat, hoping she wouldn't make too much of a mess.

Proud that she was actually able to pull it off Kate leaned forward and raised her front left paw to flush. Except she leaned too far. She was able to push down the handle, causing the toilet to flush. But inertia kept her paw rushing forward towards the swirling water and the rest of her with it. After an endless moment of all four of her paws touching nothing but air, Kate fell into the bowl with a splash.


	6. Chapter 6

**Posting this story and reading what you guys think has made waiting for the second episode of season 6 SOOOOO much easier. You'd think I'd have an easier time considering I only have to wait a week rather than 5 months, but no. Maybe once a few episodes have aired...And yes, in case I didn't make it evident the last chapter, Kate fell into CLEAN toilet water. Otherwise, as one reviewer put it: Ewwwww!**

**Disclaimer: I haven't seen the second episode yet, so nope, don't own it. **

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Kate yowled. She couldn't help it. The shock of the cold water and her rapidly damping fur was too much.

She was in the water just long enough to feel its effects before Alexis pulled her out. "You poor thing," she cooed, cuddling Kate, ignoring the water that was seeping into her shirt from Kate's damp fur.

Kate heard Castle's familiar footsteps rushing up the stairs and down the hall before she saw him in the doorway of the bathroom.

"What the-?" Castle's shocked expression changed into one of concern. "Is she all right?"

"I don't know," Alexis said. "Cats don't whimper like dogs when they're in pain so….I just, don't know."

"Here, let me take her." At her dad's prompting, Alexis handed Kate over. Once she was snuggled against Castle's chest, she felt the purring start anew.

Kate wasn't quite sure what to make of that. Even cold, wet from toilet water and close to the end of her ability to deal with the whole situation, being in Castle's arms was enough to get her purring again.

She hated to think of what Castle would say about all of this once she was back to her normal self.

Castle's gentle probing of her limbs-to check for injuries, Kate would assume-was oddly comforting. She felt the tension drain away from her until Alexis spoke up.

"She needs a bath, dad."

What? Why would Alexis say something like that? People didn't give cats baths.

Did they?

"She's got toilet water on her," Alexis said. "It looked like it was clean, but its still toilet water. That can't be good for her."

Castle was quiet for a moment before saying, "I have an idea."

He then set her on the floor and Kate watched nervously as he took off his shirt and then pushed down his pants.

"Ew, dad!"

"Alexis, she's a cat," Castle reasoned with his daughter. "She won't care."

Ummm, yeah she would.

"Go ahead and work on your report, pumpkin. I've got this."

Alexis sped out of the room. Kate wished she could go with her.

Instead, Castle picked her up before she had time to take more than one step.

He wasn't really _naked_, was he?

Kate really didn't want the first time she saw Castle naked to be when she was a cat.

What if she was _attracted_ to him?

She hadn't felt much of the normal sexual tension she experienced around Castle since she had become a cat, regardless of her 'kissing' attempts. But he had been fully clothed up until now. Kate knew she wouldn't be able to control herself if she saw Castle unclothed in her human form.

What would she do seeing him that way as a cat?

She couldn't risk it. She closed her eyes, hoping it wouldn't take long.

But she was a Persian, Castle had said. Which meant she would have a LOT of hair.

The warm water that soon fell softly against her drove away the chill. Castle's hands, covered with soap, were moving swiftly but thoroughly through her fur. Kate tensed when she felt his hands on her stomach. A ripple of awareness swept through her but it was faint. Kate was sure it had more to do with her mind grappling with where his hands were other than any real feelings of attraction. Otherwise she would have felt it immediately every time he touched her fur, on the head, especially. She certainly had when Castle had his hand at her temple, his fingers splayed through her hair, when he had first kissed her all those months ago.

Finally Kate felt the water more directly, first cascading over her head and then down her back. Castle's hold was loose as the water rid her fur of the cleansing suds.

"Almost done," Castle assured her. "You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would. Cats usually hate water. Your name fits you; you're an extraordinary cat."

Even as a cat Castle thought she was extraordinary. Kate couldn't pretend, not to herself, that her heart didn't melt at that.

As Castle's fingers moved through her fur to make sure all of the soap was rinsed off Kate could hear her purring, even over the sound of the shower. She had felt the continuous rumble but the falling water had blocked out the sound until now.

By the time the shower ended Kate felt her eyes growing heavy. She wasn't surprised. She hadn't slept well the night before and what she had been through in the last few hours would drain anyone.

Just one little cat nap and then she would do everything she could to find a way out of this mess.

If there was a way out.


	7. Chapter 7

_When your heart speaks, words will follow._

Kate's eyes popped open. She wasn't sure whether she had been dreaming or not, but she heard the gypsy-woman's words as clearly as if they had been whispered directly in her ear.

Those were the exact words the woman used, Kate was convinced of it. It could have been her subconscious calling to mind the words or somehow the woman was near but invisible-not much of a stretch, considering she had turned Kate into a cat.

It didn't matter now. All Kate needed to do was speak her heart and she'd be turned back into her human self, she was sure of it.

Simple.

Yeah, right.

Everything else the woman had said before Kate's transformation had been about her relationship with Castle.

That had never been anything short of complicated.

But she couldn't escape what the words meant.

She had to speak her heart.

To Castle.

She had to tell him she loved him.

Without using words.

The next twenty-four hours passed more or less peacefully. Castle and Alexis had accepted that she wouldn't use the litter box and with them doing the flushing for her, she didn't have to. After Kate refused to eat the cat food they'd provided Alexis had given her a can of tuna. Not her favorite thing, but much better than Friskies dried cat food. Castle spent a lot of the next day writing but he wouldn't let her in the room after Kate tried, once again, to use his laptop.

She wished she hadn't done that. Even though he was only mere feet away, she missed him. If he gave her another chance, she decided she would sit quietly in his lap while he wrote and wait for some other way to 'speak her heart.'

Shortly after her second series of attempts to use his laptop failed Kate had tried just saying 'I love you.' Unfortunately, it came out as '_r'ow mow_,' which Castle took to mean she was thirsty. After filling up her water dish he had gone back into his den, shutting the door in her face.

It wasn't until Alexis started making cookies, peanut butter from the looks of it, that Kate saw her chance.

A five-pound bag of flour drew her gaze. Feeling like she was stalking after a suspect, Kate hunched down and slowly made her way towards the means of her freedom.

When Alexis' back was turned to get out a mixing bowl Kate broke into a run and leapt onto the nearest barstool. Not wasting any time she jumped from the barstool to the counter and slammed her body into the bag.

As she had hoped, the bag was open and flour dumped in one large heap onto the floor. Knowing Alexis would notice the mess any second, Kate quickly wrote "I love you" in the white powder with her front right paw. The handwriting wasn't the best but it was definitely legible.

"DAD!"

The volume hurt Kate's ears but the stunned expression on Alexis' face told her that the girl had seen what she had written.

Less than a second later the door to the den slammed open and Castle ran across the room, skidding to a stop next to Alexis.

"What? What happened? Are you-?"

"T-t-the cat-"

"What?" Castle whipped his head around until his eyes landed on Kate.

Not wasting any time, Kate quickly wrote 'Castle' with her front right paw.

"KATE?!"

Before Kate had a chance to reply to Castle's shocked exclamation, everything went black.


	8. Chapter 8

**As you guys can tell, this is a long one. I thought about breaking it up into two chapters, but I decided not to do that to you. You've all waited so patiently. :) I was a little worried about writing this chapter, because it's the only part of the story that hadn't been fully figured out yet. And it's my first story since my muse decided to take a four month break without warning me. But I had a lot of fun writing this and was giggling quite a bit (that's a good thing). I haven't asked for reviews with the other chapters (I wanted them but didn't ask, I was too focused on getting the story done, hence the reason for no A/N with the last chapter) but so many of you have been so sweet to give them to me anyway. For this chapter, I'm asking. I REALLY want to know what you think.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned it, there would be no DC storyline. Although it's better than I thought it would be...I felt better after she said yes, even though I knew she would (ahhhh, spoilers...)**

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Kate was scared to open her eyes. If writing 'I love you, Castle' in the flour hadn't worked, she didn't know what to do. But at least this time, she would have Castle to help her brainstorm ideas.

"Dad, is she okay?"

Kate wanted to know the answer to that herself.

"I don't know, Pumpkin." Castle's fingers lightly ran through the hair (or was it fur? Please, let it be hair!) as he softly called out to her, "Kate?"

Was he addressing the woman or the cat?

It was the first time Kate wished he had named her cat self something else, so she would know whom he was talking to.

"Did it work?" Relief flooded Kate that it was her voice. Soft and rusty from lack of use, but still her voice.

Castle moved his hand from her hair before replying. "If you mean are you _you _again, yes, it worked." He was quiet for a brief moment before asking, "Beckett, how…what….who….?"

Kate slowly opened her eyes, meeting his concerned blue gaze. She hesitated for a moment, not sure how much she wanted him to know. Finally decided she wanted his input-she would need his help if the strange gypsy woman pulled this on her again-Kate decided to tell him everything. Well, almost everything. She left out the part about Royce's letter. It would reveal too much about how strong her feelings were for the man.

As soon as she had finished her story, Kate watched as father and daughter exchanged worried glances.

"Dad, that sounds like Mad Martha," Alexis said.

"But why would she target Kate?" Castle wondered aloud.

"Mad Martha?" They weren't actually talking about the matriarch of the family, were they? The red-haired actress certainly had a dramatic flair, but she wasn't crazy.

Was she?

Kate had never seen any signs of mental instability, but Kate had arrested and interrogated enough criminals over the years to know that there were mentally ill people with the ability to hide their condition from outsiders.

And it just didn't seem like something Alexis would call her grandmother, even if the woman was secretly insane.

"She was Gram's great-aunt," Alexis explained. "She was a circus performer in the 1920s and 1930s. She had an acrobat act with her twin sister, Mary. And she did fortune telling on the side. She told the wrong person, a banker, that the woman he loved was destined to be with someone else and he needed to let her go. The guy went into a rage. But before he could hurt her, he disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Kate was skeptical. But, then again, the woman _did _turn her into a cat.

Alexis nodded. "Her sister said the guy was turned into a rat, but of course no one believed her."

Kate shuddered.

"But why would she go after you?" Castle, not surprisingly, was stuck on that point.

Kate was sure she knew. It had to do with the part of her experience that she had hoped to keep from Castle.

_What you have with Castle is real, but you're fighting it._

Kate heard the words as if the woman had spoken them directly to her. The lack of reaction from either Castle or his daughter told Kate she was the only one to have heard the words.

_STOP FIGHTING IT!_

Kate flinched. The words had been yelled at her, but again, Kate was the only one who had heard them.

"Beckett, you okay?"

"She's probably cold, Dad," Alexis said and headed over to the closet, presumably to get a blanket.

Now that Alexis had mentioned it, Kate was a bit cold. But why had Alexis thought so? It was the middle of May and Kate had dressed adequately for-

Oh no.

Not even 'Mad Martha' would be that cruel, would she?

Alexis was in the room, for crying out loud!

Kate jerked up from her prone position and glanced down.

Not as bad as she feared, but bad enough.

The skinny jeans and black boots were still there, but white blouse was completely gone, as was the light black jacket she had worn with it. At least she still had the skin-colored lace bra on, so she wasn't completely topless.

Castle must be really worried if he hadn't immediately started teasing her about _that_.

"I'm fine, Castle," Kate answered as Alexis covered her with a soft, thick blanket.

"I'll go get you one of dad's shirts," Alexis said and quickly headed upstairs.

At the smirk on Castle's face, Kate pleaded, "Don't, Castle. Just, don't."

* * *

"You were purring."

The words caught Kate off guard. After bringing down the shirt Alexis had said she was going to finish her report because it was due the next day but to let her know if they needed anything. Kate had wanted to leave then but Castle had insisted that they needed to figure things out to keep the whole thing from happening again. With the determined expression that Kate saw rarely enough that she never failed to give into it, Castle lifted her blanket covered feet, sat down and laid them across his lap. He had angled his body in her direction but been silent for a whole two minutes before the words had come out of his mouth.

"Cats purr, Castle." Kate shrugged. "No big deal."

"I don't know about that, Beckett. You were purring a _lot_."

Kate was barely able to keep a blush from flooding her cheeks. "And cats purr a lot. It's what they do."

"You were jumping on to my lap a lot, too."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Because I was trying to use your laptop."

"Oh, right." Castle frowned for a second before his eyes got the twinkle in them that never

Failed to make Kate nervous. "You also kissed me. Twice."

Kate didn't have a reply to that.

"I think it's safe for me to go, Castle," she said. "If 'Mad Martha' was going to try something she would have done it already."

Castle shook his head. "You did something to set her off. Or didn't do something. Are you sure you told us everything that happened?"

"I-"

She couldn't bring herself to lie. Darn it.

"I-"

Nope, couldn't do it.

"Beckett, what _aren't_ you telling me?"

Kate snorted. She couldn't help it. The amount of stuff she wasn't telling him wouldn't fill just a book but a whole stinkin' library!

"Beckett, this is serious." Castle was getting irritated, Kate could tell. And she couldn't really blame him. He was right. It was serious.

But could she actually _tell_ him?

Maybe she could make it sound like it was just all in Mad Martha's head, all in Royce's head.

If she could just tell him without actually _telling_ him…

It was worth a shot.

"The letter that Royce sent me," Kate knew Castle had seen it, "it…mentioned you." Kate swallowed hard. "He said that what we have is real and," she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, "that I'm fighting it."

"Are you?"

Kate wasn't expecting such a direct inquiry.

"I-" Not _that _again! "Mad Martha seemed to think so. She basically quoted everything Royce wrote about you before she, um, changed me."

"What do _you _think?"

What the heck? What was Castle doing? He _never _pressed her like this!

"I think that what matters is what Mad Martha thinks," Kate said.

"So this was her way of getting you to stop 'fighting it?'"

Kate nodded. She was going to have to be very careful with what she said next. "She told me: 'When you heart speaks, words will follow.'"

The hope that sprang to his eyes made Kate feel restless, like she wanted to jump out of her own skin. It was too much.

She needed to put the brakes on this. Fast.

But if she did, would she do irreparable damage? To their friendship, their partnership, to any hopes of a future with him?

"Did you?" Castle asked.

Maybe she could say it _without_ saying it. "It worked, didn't it?"

The hope in Castle's eyes receded, resignation taking its place.

She couldn't do it. To him. To _them_.

"Castle." Kate waited for him to meet her gaze. "It worked because it's true."

The happiness that radiated from his eyes, the complete and utter joy, made it impossible for Kate to keep her distance any longer. She launched herself at him, his emotions triggering hers. Their lips had barely touched when a loud 'meow' startled them apart.

Kate and Castle frantically searched for the source of the sound. And Martha holding an animal carrier with some type of black cat inside.

"Richard, where is that darling cat that Alexis called and told me about?" she asked a stunned Castle. "Lance Hastings said we could borrow his Persian for the weekend. As long as we give him one of the kittens, of course."

Castle quickly held up his hands in a gesture of helplessness. "I had nothing to do with-"

Kate knew that. She did. But the thought that any of the Castles would….even if they hadn't known….

"You're just lucky Alexis decided to bake cookies," Kate ground out between clenched teeth. "But get that cat out of here. Now."

Castle jumped up and hurried to hasten a baffled Martha out the door.

Once Martha and the cat were gone Castle headed towards her but stopped halfway across the room, his expression wary.

Kate needed to get the image of what could have happened out of her head immediately if not sooner. There was only one thing guaranteed to do the job.

Quick strides had her in front of Castle in a couple of seconds. She firmly pushed him back on to the couch, landing on top of him a moment later.

"You owe me, Castle," she murmured against his lips.

Castle grinned. "Whatever you want," he promised.

"Good." Kate took one of his hands in hers and brought it to the top button of the shirt she was wearing. "Because what I want right now-" Forever, but he didn't need to know that quite yet "is you." Kate pressed Castle's fingers around the button. "And Castle? You're doing _all _the work."


End file.

Castle, Humor, Romance