This one is in honour of Valentine's day. Don't know if this could ever really happen, but in New York, well…. Hope you enjoy. Rated E for everyone.

The city that never sleeps was napping. Manhattan closed its eyes for a moment in that brief interlude between day and night. At dusk, pockets of bright lights winked on one by one, piercing the blackness until the night was defeated. The streets began to bustle with people scurrying along the slippery sidewalks, eager to reach a destination that would provide warmth for the evening. The shadowy streets no longer had names – only colourful neon signs and decorations designed to entice and welcome. Heavenly fragrances floated from the chocolateries; roses of every colour spilled from shops; diamond jewellery glittered in glass displays. The shadowy street zones attracted amorous couples. On this cold Valentines night, New York’s big heart was bursting with love and romance.
On one such nameless street, four men in suits strolled into a busy bar, but their visit was far from social. They split up into pairs, two taking a table near the door and two moving deeper inside. The two at the door nervously scanned the growing crowd and frowned. Depending on how events turned, water might be their only drink for the evening. Behind them, a billiards table glowed green for the bored and a television oozed blue for the enlightened. The men in suits were not happy to be in the Pauper’s Arms on Valentine’s Day.
A couple paused on the sidewalk outside the Pauper’s Arms and looked up at the bright sign above the door, laughing. He whispered in her ear and they embraced and shared a kiss. The rose she carried glowed bright red under the neon light. Both men at the table near the door smiled in recognition, but made no move to approach. After a brief discussion the couple navigated to a booth at the back. They threw their coats on one seat and she deposited the rose gently on the table. The leather seat creaked under his weight, and she fell against him into the dip in the seat, giggling. He pulled her close for a hug and whispered into her ear. Their hands joined on the table, and they locked eyes for some minutes.
“Castle, you can stop staring at me now.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“You are so beautiful, so sexy. I’ve spent the whole day with you but it seems like only a minute. I am in a trance, I can see only you, my beautiful Kate.”
“Wow, sweet. Where is all this mushy stuff coming from? First in the park, now here. We’re on a serious stakeout here and you need to pay attention.” She sounded serious, but couldn’t hide the smile in her voice.
“I most certainly am paying attention.” He grazed her cheek with a kiss and pulled her hand to his lips.
“Castle, not here, please.” She begged.
Her cell phone beeped. “Look, I have a text message from Esposito.” “U 2 R HVNG A NICE TIME I C. STAY COOL. YUR BEER HS ARRVD. CHEERS.”
Kate rolled her eyes and searched the crowd until she spotted Esposito. He sat with Ryan at the table near the door along the wall of glass that fronted the pub. The two detectives lifted their glasses of water towards her in a silent toast, smirks on their faces a mile wide. Sure enough, a second later the waiter stopped beside Kate and deposited two beers on their table. Kate toasted Esposito in return, smiling her thanks and passing a glass to Castle, who gulped down the amber liquid.
“Let me see that message. I’ve got one for them.”
“GO GET YUR OWN GRL. HA HA.” He chuckled at his own humor and pulled Kate close to him against the wall, captivating her with another spontaneous poetry recital:

“Kate, Kate, my darling Kate, how much longer must I wait?
I’m lost in your eyes and the wonder they bring,
Lay down your ear and hear my heart sing.
Tell me your dreams; I’ll wash you with kisses,
Show me your wisdom; I’ll bring you my wishes.”

“Richard Castle, what has gotten into you today?”
“We need to talk later at your place” he whispered urgently in her ear. “I have something important to say, and we need to be alone.” He brushed his lips on hers and kissed her softly.
“Mystery man. I think we can work in a nightcap at my place tonight.” she answered with a return kiss. “What’s on your mind? Tell me now.”
“Can’t.”
“It’s cruel to make a girl wait. Tell me please.”
“Can’t. This place is too busy and not the least bit romantic. This booth is only good for one thing. That in itself if quite nice, but I’m a sucker for romance to go with it. Roses, candle, music, chocolate, sex.”
“You drive a hard bargain, detective. I’ll go put in an order for chicken strips.” He sighed deeply, pushed her across the leather seat playfully, and sauntered towards the bar. Kate took his warm spot against the wall and watched him share an easy joke and laugh with the bartender. She smiled, truly touched and seriously intrigued by his mysterious words. His romantic side had certainly come out today, especially with the poetry he had been reciting to her in the park. There was certainly more to Richard Castle than met the eye, and a lot met the eye. Castle waved to catch her attention and pointed to the video game console. She nodded and used the time to send a text message to Esposito:
“ANY SINE OF SUSPCT? SHUD BE HRE BY NOW. ARMD DANGERUS. KEEP EYE ON IDIOTS MURPHY/PURDY.”
Kate wanted to practice texting with her new phone. She was rewarded with a curd nod from Esposito as he patted his side to indicate that he was also armed and dangerous. This stakeout had been Detective Murphy’s idea, but his investigation had been shoddy from the start. Assisting with this stakeout was a complete abuse of manpower, but she had been overruled at every turn. Their alleged suspect was due to come here tonight, where the great Murphy and Purdy of the 10th would arrest him in a hail of glory and haul is ass off in cuffs. It sounded easy enough, sure, but this environment always caused trouble – too many civilians and collateral damage. How do you arrest someone in a bar without causing a scene? Impossible. She sent another message to Esposito:
“LOOK AT DOOR. SUSPT HAS ARRIVD I THNK. CHK GUY IN YANKEE CAP. HVE FUN WHEN SHT HTS FAN. B BLOODY CRFUL. LET PURDY GET HIS HNDS DRTY. NOT U. STY IN TUCH”
Kate put away her phone and made direct eye contact with Ryan. He and Esposito were now on full alert as the suspect walked right past them. Ryan called Purdy at the back who snapped to attention, tapping his partner on the shoulder. All ten eyes were glued to the Yankee cap man who was casually approaching a particular table of drinkers near the billiards table. Kate swivelled in her seat to do a 360 of the busy establishment and frowned at this absurd, high risk situation. There were just too many people here to carry this out safely. Besides, drinking with Castle was way more fun, and he had a secret to share with her. She sighed, sipped her beer and saw Castle give a victory yelp at the video console. Way more fun.
The waiter delivered their order of chicken just as Castle finished his game and sat down again next to her. Kate took a tentative bite. “Good.”
“Most deeeelicccciouss chicken in the city. Gee, I didn’t realize I was so hungry. All that walking and smooching this afternoon in cold Central Park really worked up my appetite. Let’s do it again soon.” He winked as he chewed.
“Splendid idea. While you were shooting up aliens in the galaxy our suspect arrived. He’s sitting at that table yakking non-stop with his buddies. He’s the one with the Yankees cap.”
“Oh man, come on. That guy looks about as dangerous as a declawed house cat. What are we doing here, anyway? This place is the pits. I’d much rather be out dancing with you. Your guys can handle this; let’s blow this popsicle stand, now.”
“Can’t, and you know it. I told you all about it. Montgomery is counting on us to help. Please stay here with me, we can still have some fun.” She pleaded her case with little kisses on his neck until he sighed in resignation.
“I’m going to need way more beer to get through this. How about you?” He then surprised her with an intense, no-nonsense kiss that drew a few smirks and looks.
“Saucy Castle. Do it again.”
“Look who’s saucy now. I’m going to order us more brewskies and hit the little boys’ room. You go ahead and finish up the chicken. I’ll be back before you can miss me.”
She sighed happily. What a day it had been, what a night it promised to be. Their romance would soon be discovered by her partners; it was difficult to hide their frequent flirtatious glances and stolen touches. Just as her daydreaming was becoming very pleasant indeed, she was rudely interrupted by the shouts of a heated argument. The suspect and his buddies were all on their feet, yelling and signing in a pantomime of angry gestures. Kate tapped on the table, wondering what they were so upset about. She munched on another piece of chicken, but it felt like saw dust in her mouth. Her agitation increased quickly along with the noise level. “Something bad is gonna happen, I can feel it.” Esposito and Ryan were nowhere to be seen, adding fuel to her trouble theory.
“Castle, you’d better get back here, pronto before we’re engulfed in a world of trouble.”
In the next moment, everything went ballistic. A drunken lunge set off a chain reaction – chairs and curses went flying, fists pounded flesh and shouts turned to cries of surprise and pain. “Damn, I wish I was wrong sometimes.” Reluctant to go anywhere near the melee, she ducked down into her booth and watched in utter disbelief as blood gushed from noses and beer glasses broke against the walls. Kate dialed 911 and crossed her fingers for a quick response. They would need multiple ambulances for this one, it was all happening way too fast.
“Castle, where are you?” There – she spotted him exiting the washroom cautiously, obviously aware of the trouble. She caught his eye and frantically waved him over. In the next instant, Kate’s world turned into a slow motion horror show. A table overturned with a crash, the spilling beer forming yellow pools on the dirty floor. In the midst of this her eye focused on a beer mug sent flying through the air from across the room. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as she realized its trajectory. She would never forget that sound and never forget the look on Richard’s face as he collapsed to the floor in an unconscious heap. She shouted his name and flew to his side, oblivious to the danger. Ryan somehow materialized next to her and together they hauled Castle behind the bar and sat down beside him on the floor. The bartender was also there, cowering in fear.
“Oh my God, oh my God. No, no, no! Is he bleeding? Is he breathing? This can’t be happening.” Kate placed her ear on his chest and cried out loud in relief when she heard a rapid, steady heartbeat. “He’s alive, thank God. Where is Esposito? What the hell happened out there, Kevin? This place is busted wide open!”
“Oh man, I don’t know. Everything looked cool while the dude was at the table, but then the next minute all hell broke loose. You saw it yourself. I lost Javier out there and I have no idea what happened to the others. I saw Castle here get hit, so I just ran to help. I’ve already called for backup and EMS. Let me have a look at him, Beckett.”
“He’s just a bystander! He just went to the men’s room! He just wanted to get back to me! Why? Why? Why? Just wait till I get my hands on that Murphy. What a ridiculous plan. Doomed to fail. How are we gonna get him out of here?”
Kate was going into shock; Ryan could see the look of panic rising on her face and hear it in her voice. He remained calm and expertly took control of the situation by grasping Kate’s shoulders and looking her straight in the eye.
“Beckett, please move out of the way cause I need to look at Castle. The EMS will be here any second and the uniforms will take care of this mess so we can concentrate on getting Castle safely out of here. OK?”

At last Kate moved, and Ryan winced in sympathy at the welt rising on Castle’s scalp. A thin line of blood had trickled down into his neck. “He needs a hospital pronto, I suspect he’s got a concussion.”
“Concussion! That’s not good. Hey, do I hear sirens? That was fast. Let’s see what’s going on out there, Kevin.”
Ryan and Kate ventured a peek around the corner of the bar. Both let loose a train of expletives at the sight of a least a dozen bloodied men struggling with police. Outside, the various musical sirens converged into one dissonant, keening wail. The paramedics were awash in a psychedelic glow cast by the disco of emergency vehicle lights.
“Look, there’s Esposito! He’s got our Yankee! The guy looks pretty beat up. I can’t see Murphy or Purdy anywhere, maybe they peed their pants and ran away. Wait here while I connect with Esposito. Get down and don’t move.”
Ryan ran to Esposito, pointed at Kate and sprinted outside to the nearest ambulance. Esposito handcuffed the dazed, bloody suspect to a chair and then again onto a leg of the billiards table. He stopped for a moment to shake his head clear and dust himself off, muttering something under his breath. He found Kate on the floor in a daze, holding Castle’s limp hand.
“What the hell happened to our man?”

“Hit in the head. Collateral damage.”
“Are you OK boss? Let me help you up, you don’t look so good. You might be in shock. A stretcher is incoming.”
“Thanks Esposito, but I’m not injured. You got your suspect in the end. Great work, you stayed calm and focused in all of this mess. I’ll be sending my commendations to Montgomery for the two of you. Where are Frick and Frack?”
Esposito smiled wickedly, “Those two got their lights punched out. Here come the medics.”
“What have we got here? Are you detective Beckett?”
“Yes I am. He has a head injury. His vitals are stable, but he’s got a nasty bump. Please be careful.”
The paramedics loaded Castle onto a stretcher and picked their way with infinite care through the carnage of furniture, glass and injured. Kate looked expectantly at Esposito, who nodded in understanding.
“You go, boss. We’ll hang out here and direct traffic. Captain’s on his way and he’s royally peeved. Good luck. It’ll be Mount Sinai.”
Kate quickly grabbed their possessions from the booth, held the rose stem carefully in her lips and hopped into the ambulance behind the medic. The door slammed and she collapsed onto the seat, eyes drawn obsessively. The rose on the seat beside her was momentarily forgotten. Head in hands, she wept softly, finally succumbing to shock and gut-wrenching fear. The medic looked on in sympathy, pretending not to listen, monitoring Castle’s vitals.
“Castle, can you hear me? You need to wake up. Please, wake up. Squeeze my hand if you can hear me.”
“Ouch.”
Kate nearly fainted with relief at the sound of his voice. The ambulance came to a halt, and Kate stepped lightly onto the pavement of the ER bay and followed the gurney. Her body was in overdrive, pure adrenaline driving her towards the inevitable physical crash. The anxiety was palpable in the waiting room where she perched on the hard chair, her mind cluttered with snippets of a plan that needed action. Call family. Pretend to be strong. Relive moment over and over. Hold back tears. Weep. She dialed his home number and broke the news to Martha. Snippet one complete.
“Beckett, are you OK? Where’s Castle?”
“I’m ok, sir. He’s in there.”
“You look like hell Beckett. Go use the ladies room, that’s an order.”
“Yes, Captain.”
When Kate returned, Montgomery jumped up and took her arm. “We can go and see him now. Look, I’m really sorry about all this. You were right all along. Hey, Beckett, you still look like hell.”
“Thank you sir, that’s just how I feel.”
They followed the attendant to the observation room, where Castle was being probed and prodded by a team of doctors.
“Ouch, stop that! Leave me alone! My head hurts!” he struggled to sit up, but Kate gently held him down.
“Are you his wife?” asked the doctor.
“Close enough. What do you need?”
“Come with me, we need to talk.” He led her off while Montgomery approached Castle’s bedside for a closer look.
“You’ve got a nice lump there, man. What happened?”
“How would I know? I got knocked out. Where’s my wife? My head is busting open!”
“Richard, you’ll have to lay still, sweetheart. Let them help you.” Kate turned to the doctor, “can you sedate him, Dr. Tam? He’s in a lot of pain.”
“I’m going to admit him now; we’ll let you know once he’s settled.”
Kate and Roy exchanged worried looks but moved back to the waiting room as Castle was wheeled out. Kate paced the room, holding back the tears. She could not speak about it now, would not speak about it. She would not cry. Montgomery merely paced the room and watched her in respectful silence – he knew the protocol. Kate steeled herself for the family meeting when she looked up to see Martha and Alexis walking into the waiting room looking wide-eyed and nervous.
They hugged, and Kate filled them in on the situation.
“Kate dear, you should relax. You know as well as I do that our boy has a thick skull. It’s genetic. I brought along some of his personal supplies and a change of clothing.” Martha smiled and hugged Kate, infusing her with calm. “The doctor has arrived, let’s all go together to see our favorite man.”
Alexis let out a strangled gasp at the sight of her father lying helpless and bandaged in the large bed, so pale and strangely silent. Alexis and Martha both held his hands while Kate stayed back to observe. His eyes fluttered open and focused slowly.
“Welcome back Mr. Castle. I’m Dr. Tam. You have visitors.”
“Did I go someplace? Tam? I’ve heard that name before.”
“Try not to speak, you’re heavily medicated and a bit confused, Mr. Castle. By the way, I loved Heat Wave. Great love scene.”
“Huh? I want to go home.”
Martha squeezed his hand, “Richard dear, please be reasonable and let the nice doctor look after you. You’ve suffered a blow to the head, you need to recover.”
“Mother, why are you here? Where am I?” he asked sleepily.
“Ok folks, I must insist, Mr. Castle has had enough and needs to rest now.”
“Yeah, I think the doc might be right about that.”

* * *
Kate was still in a daze as she unlocked and opened her apartment door. She quickly showered and stuffed some supplies into a duffel bag. Still gloriously red and almost forgotten, the rose went into a slender vase. She smiled at the memory of
the flower vendor in the park, speaking Italian and making them laugh. “you’ve come through this ordeal looking pretty fresh, little rose. That’s a good omen. Just one more little trip for you, I think." She took one last look around, locked up and headed back to the hospital in her squad car.
Kate strode confidently into Richard’s room and dumped her bag on the chair. Richard was finally awake and alert, smiling at her.
“Wow, you look really good, Rick. That Dr. Tam is a miracle worker. Are you in pain?”
“Yes, but only because I haven’t seen you in hours. Where have you been? They all think you’re my wife. Please say you’ll stay, I promise no more poetry.”
Kate stood up and took his hand, “Dr. Tam says you’re past the danger point. Your mother thinks your thick skull saved you, and I’m inclined to believe her. I don’t want to talk about what happened, and neither do you.”
“Agreed. I just want to go home, but they won’t let me. Observation.”
“Yup. You have supplies and clothing courtesy of Martha. Poor Alexis was speechless when she first saw you. Look at our rose, Rick. It has survived this brutal night looking as beautiful as ever. It’s a bit of a miracle. You should keep it now for luck.” Kate deposited the rose on his chest, and he fingered it gently. While she talked, Kate took off her shoes and coat and turned out all the lights in the room. She lowered the side rail and climbed carefully into the bed with Richard, curling up alongside him.
“This is nice. Will you tell me now?”
“This is not the romantic place I’d hoped for.”
“We’re alone, and that’s all that matters.”
“True.”
“So?” she moved even closer, and put her arm around him under the blanket.
“So.” he stroked her face gently and kissed her forehead, smiling.
“Yes, just so.”
“My darling Kate, I want to tell you that I love you with all my heart and soul.”
“I love you too, Richard Castle. Heart and soul.”
“Best Valentine’s day ever.”
“Yup.”

The end

Good story. And I love the Firefly tie-in. Very clever.

Very cute story!