Trepidation(Castle: Castle and Beckett(sneezer) )

[24Me]

Fic: The TV show Castle

Characters: Beckett, Castle, and the others in the office

Summary: Castle and Beckett have just started going out, despite an office policy against it. They have to investigate a homicide at an animal shelter, where Beckett suffers a severe, prolonged allergy attack that she attempts to hide from her coworkers. Castle of course catches on, and takes Beckett back to his house, which she resists because she thinks it's crossing the line. Unfortunately, Castle's daughter Alexis brought home a cat.

Disclaimer: I own nothing! The characters are not mine-the scenario is(for obvious reasons, though this would be an awesome episode to watch in private.)

Part One:(no sneezing, I'm sorry!)

"Good morning, Beckett." I said, and handed her her cup of coffee. She smiled.

"Morning, Castle. Thanks." She walked over to her desk, looking pretty in her silky, navy blouse, gray tweed pants, and blazer, and flipped on her computer. I sat down on the chair next to get and swiveled.

"What's up, Beckett?" I asked as her brow furrowed. She waved me off.

"Just this...there's been a suspected homicide..." I stood up and walked behind her.

Beckett-

You need to go to the Cedar Crest Animal Shelter ASAP. The assistant walked in and found the owner dead. You're needed to investigate.

-Ryan

"Well, I guess that explains why no one is here." I said. She nodded, and slung her bag over her shoulder. We walked down the steps to my car in silence. Wait-that was weird. Why weren't we talking? "Hey, are you mad at me?"

Beckett looked up in surprise. "Wha...? No, no. Of course not." She resumed looking at her feet, fingering a curly lock of hair.

"Okay, I'm not some sort of pathologist, but I am an author, and I do know that you normally are a little more...shall we say...chatty?" I said.

"Castle, I'm fine. I'm just a little...distracted." I blinked in surprise.

"About what?" She opened my car door and got in, opening her purse.

"Castle, there was a homicide at an animal shelter!" Beckett swore under her breath.

"Right, right-and we don't know what those kittens saw-what's wrong?" My new girlfriend rolled her eyes.

"No, yes. I don't know-nothing." Okay, this was not Beckett.

"Honey, what's wrong?" She glared at me, then went back to her purse. Seriously, she never fiddles with a purse.

"Castle, I'm fine. Let's just have a quiet drive, 'kay?" I nodded.

"Fine, fine." The drive over was quiet. Just as we got out of the car, she sighed, seeming to...steele herself?

[24Me]

Ok, this is the next installment, with sneezing! It's being told from Castle's POV, in case that was hard to pick up on/figure out/distinguish. It's a lot easier to write in 3rd person for me, so please be nice! Without further aidue, away we go!

Part 2

We walked in to a bustling crime scene. Agents were everywhere, taking pictures, collecting evidence, or standing around waiting for something to do. Beckett strode right over to Detective Ryan, who was next to Esposito.

I almost missed what she did next-Beckett swiped at her nose very casually before going back to talking. I wandered a bit of a ways off, sat back, and watched her.

After four years of partnership, you pick up on certain things. For instance, how your partner reacts at a crime scene. Kate was normally in control and focused, but today she seemed downright tense. I tried to shrug it off and walked back over. As I got closer, I noticed her eyes watering a bit.

"Hey. You okay?" I asked quickly, under my breath. She whipped around.

"I'm fine, Castle. Lay off the interrogation, would you?" She snapped, and stalked off. I shrugged, pinching my nose shut. The smell of cat was overpowering, specifically, the smell of cat urine. Esposito and Ryan had assigned a few cops who owned cats to clean the litter boxes and feed the kitties.

I tied my scarf around my nose and mouth, then walked over to Beckett. She ducked her head suddenly-twice, three times-then surfaced and made a little gasping noise. Odd.

"So, what have we got?" I asked, muffled behind the scarf. Kate wiped a thumb across her eye and swiped her nose briefly before responding.

"Tame investigation, a-actually. The weapon was found in the grass by th-he-the door, fingerprints everywhere-yeah." I nodded appreciatively. All of a sudden, Kate spun around, cupping her hands over her mouth and nose.

"HiSHIEW! HuhSHIEW! HASHOO! Huh...heh...HASHIEW! Ugh, excuse me." She said, sounding a bit stuffed up as she turned around, sniffing gently.

"Bless you times four." I said. She nodded. I was a bit puzzled by this, actually. Normally her sneezes were extremely soft, controlled, and only came once. This sneeze set had been four loud, powerful, intense, and dry nasal explosions. Still. I shrugged it off.

Over the next hour, officials left. Kate continued to swipe at her nose occasionally, but mostly ducked her head often, the frequency increasing at a slightly alarming rate. Finally, Ryan and Esposito noticed.

"Yo, Beckett. You okay?" Ryan asked. She nodded, her red and slightly puffy eyes on the ground as ahe ducked her head. Wait, what?

Two hours later, it was clear we weren't leaving anytime soon. As I knelt by the victim, Kate next to me, I noticed her shaking. I looked over, and saw her eyes sliding shit and her hand hovering in front of her face. All of a sudden, she shot up and ran outside. I shot a look over at Ryan and Esposito.

"Hey, can you cover this?" They nodded, and I followed Beckett outside.

[SneezeformeKristen]

Omg this is amazing!! Plz conitune

[ThePokeFan599]

Yes do continue. I enjoy Castle fics, especially ones that involve Beckett and/or Lanie sneezing

[24Me]

Thank you for the kind comments! Commencing continuation now!

I walked outside, confuzzled by Beckett's behavior.

"Beckett?" I called. There was a faint sound, but I couldn't get a reply. I walked around the back of the building, and stood gaping in shock for a moment.

My totally in control, badass cop girlfriend was sneezing her brains out. Her knees were bent, her left hand placed on the left knee as if to brace herself, and then her right hand on a tree trunk. As a result, she was sneezing uncovered. I ran over to her and placed a hand on her back.

"Kate!"

"HiYISHIEW! HASHIEW! HUHSHIEW! Huh...huh...heh...HITSHIEW!..." Kate lifted her head, swollen eyelids covering her eyes as allergic tears streamed down her face, drawing in a wheezy breath before launching again. "ASHUH! HISHIEW!"

She didn't even seem to realize I was there, again, unusual for Beckett. The one thing she did so was allow herself to sink to the ground, placing her back against the tree and cupping her hands over her nose and mouth as she sneezed harshly and desperately. Panic filled me a little as I realized it wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

"Wait right here. I'll be back!" And I sprinted to the shelter doors. Esposito looked up.

"Hey, how's Beckett?" I shook my head.

"Apparently allergic to cats." Ryan's jaw dropped.

"No. Way."

I nodded. "Yeah."

Esposito shook his head. "Okay, this I gotta see."

We went back out with a box of clean tissues and a bottle of water. When we saw Kate, Ryan whistled, taking in the cherry nose and eyes.

"Holy shit." Esposito summed it up.

I walked back to my girlfriend.

"Honey, you okay?" She nodded, sneezed again, then tried to respond.

"HASHIEW! Yeah...huh...sorrySHIEW!" I handed her the tissues and she took them gratefully, giving a few gurgling blows before the sneezing calmed down.

"Is that better?" Ryan asked. Kate nodded, blushing furiously.

"Sorry. I'b really, really allerdgidck tdo catds." I winked.

"So we gathered."

I'll continue later!

[SneezeformeKristen]

This is awesome please continue

[24Me]

Suddenly, it all made sense. The anxiety...the silence...the defensive irritability...wow. Sitting on the ground underneath the tree, sniffling and sneezing, Kate really looked like a little girl. She seemed so vulnerable and innocent. I sat down next to her. After Ryan and Esposito went back inside, presumably to gossip.

"Feeling better yet?" I asked, concerned as I rubbed her back. She shrugged, and gave a tired, pitiful sounding sneeze before scrubbing at her eyes.

"Hiyishiew! Ub...dod really. You dow, dader stidcks to clothes ad you...HISH! You held a cad, ids all over the tissues..." I felt really bad for her. "Plus, ids spridtibe, ad I have really bad hayfever." Okay, now I felt downright awful.

"C'mon, let's get you home." She looked up through teary eyes, then sneezed harshly.

"Hashiew! Hiyishiew! Kshiew! Mmshiw! Huh...HASSSHHIEEWW!" The final one exploded out of her, and I took advantage of her wooziness to pick her up and carry her to the car. She was unusually submissive for Beckett.

Since the investigation was both under control and over, I decided to go back to my place with Kate. Hers was empty, and I didn't trust her around the fresh paint fumes in this condition.

Should I continue this?

[Klingon]

yes please continue this!

[24Me]

On the ride home, Kate's sneezing died down a bit, allowing her some time to sleep. It showed me just how exhausted she had to be-she never, ever slept unless it was nighttime. I stopped the car when I was sure she was deeply asleep, then reached over and pushed her seat into the "resting position" before covering her with a blanket. The rest of the ride home, Kate slept peacefully, only sneezing twice in her sleep.

Gosh, was she cute like that! Her little nose was all red. Man, I'd never seen her so vulnerable!

When I pulled into my driveway, I decided to let her sleep. I rushed inside to start fixing it up a bit, then stopped short.

"Alexis...what is that?" I asked, eyeing the fluffy thing in her lap. She positively beamed at me.

"Snowball-she's my cat. I found her in the street!"

"Oh, this is bad. This is bad." I said. "Alexis, I brought Kate home-long story short, animal shelter investigations trigger her allergies and her apartment is being painted."

"Oh no-Beckett's allergic to cats?" I nodded.