Title: When you play with fire, you get burned.
Characters/Pairings: The whole team, with some Beckett/Castle goodness that we can't get enough of.
Rating: PG-13 for some mild language and sexual references.
Genre: Humor/Romance
Warnings: Just the banter that we love so much, plus a little romance thrown in there. There is also a Stana and Nathan quote, plus one from Heat Wave… can you spot them?
Spoiler alert: A few from Deep In Death (2x01), The Third Man (2x14), The Mistress Always Spanks Twice (2x16), and also the title of the Nikki Heat sequal.
Summary: After a tough case Castle convinces Kate to spend family night with him. However, the night doesn't end like either one of them expected.
Author's Notes: I'm not much of a writer, but during Castle's painfully long hiatus I read a lot of FanFiction. This idea just came to me and I went with it. I received great reviews so I decided to finish the story. Please review honestly. Any and all feedback is greatly appreicated! Thanks in advance!
Disclamer: If it resembles Castle in any way, I don't own it! Everything belongs to to ABC.

And since all stories have a dedication: Dedicated to the extraordinary people of "Castle" at Raleigh Studios! I wish we get many, many more years of this fablous show!

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Chapter one: You're going to be ablaze.

It was just past 4:30 PM on a Saturday and the team had closed a tough case that took them into the weekend. Ryan, Esposito, and Montgomery already left to go home and enjoy the rest of the night. Even though it was a weekend, as usual, Kate sat at her desk finishing up some last minute paperwork. She thought she was alone until she heard footsteps behind her. The Smith case the team just closed caused her to be a little on edge. She reached for her gun and wheeled around only to come face to face with a shocked looking Castle.

"No wonder you don't have a boyfriend, what with you aiming your gun at people all the time."

Hinting his sarcasm she put her gun back in her holster. "Oh, sorry, you scarred me." Slightly shouting, and a little embarrassed by his remark.

"Please Beckett. Me? Really? All the things you've seen on the job and a mystery writer scares you?" His face looked puzzled.

"The job makes me jumpy when I hear people sneak up behind me." She said defending herself.

"I wasn't sneaking, I was only walking." He replied in his playful tone.

"Well whatever you were or weren't doing," giving him the classic Beckett stare "can you do it as you're leaving?" She motioned towards the elevator. "I'm almost finished here, and I'm sure Alexis will be glad when you get home."

With a devilish grin he asked "Trying to get rid of me are you Katie?"

"Call me Katie ever again and I will make sure you do not make it home tonight."

She sent a glare at him that wiped the smirk right off his face. "Whoa, okay fine. You know you're not very much fun."

"I am plenty fun."

"Are not."

"I am."

"Are not."

"Stop it!" This time her voice was stern.

"Are not."

"Castle!" She barked. Picking her coat up and making her way towards the elevator "I am not playing these games with you. I am going home to relax and take a nice hot bath. Night."

The emphasis on hot bath made Castle's eyes light up like the Fourth of July fireworks. "Oh really… would you by any chance like any assistance?" He poked at her, testing the waters, hoping she'd bite.

He had never seen a woman turn around so fast in his life than Katherine Beckett did before him. "Castle, look I've had a rough day. Having you come home with me would take away the relaxing part of my evening… remember? Now for the second and final time, I am going home." She turned on her heel once more, and walked toward the elevator.

She got on the elevator and just as she thought she was in the clear, Castle was right behind her. She cursed under her breath. The doors closed and the elevator began descending.

"Hey, sorry about that, you know… back there." His voice was sincere. She nodded as a way of accepting his apology.

Her forgiveness was short-lived. "However, I would love it if –" he had started but Kate quickly stopped him. "– I don't want to hear it Castle. I am going home to relax. You are not coming back to my apartment with me and doing whatever it is you were about to say."

"You have a dirty mind Katie." She ignored the fact that he had called her Katie, again, and stared straight ahead.

"I was only going to say that I would love it if you would come over to my house tonight." He smiled sweetly as she looked at him. Although, now he realized how that came out.

She picked up on it as well. "Oh, would you now?" She asked. "And how would that be any different then you coming to my apartment?"

He was trying to push her buttons. "Well for starters, my mother and Alexis will be at my place tonight. So if you and I were to take part in any activities that involved water and a bathtub, we'd have to be quiet."

She blushed. "Castle!" Her embarrassment didn't last long when she reached for his nose, grabbed it and twisted.

"Apples, Apples, Apples!!!" He winced in pain and she released her grip on him.

"You know, I'm going to do your future boyfriend a favour."

She started to raise her hand to his nose again. "Hey, no, wait, stop!" She lowered her hand and glared at him.

"When you get a boyfriend, tell him I need to talk to him."

"And why on Earth would I do that?"

"So I can warn him how much physical pain you will cause him!"

"Yeah, I'll be sure to do that." She said as she rolled her eyes.

"Relax Beckett. Let me finish what I was trying to say, before you injured me."

"Either way, I'm not –"

"Listen Beckett, its Saturday. Saturday nights in the Castle household is known as family night. Alexis, mother and I always order take-out, rent a movie and play a board game or two – usually Monopoly. Although, you'd have no chance at winning. I haven't lost a game yet." Kate rolled her eyes. "It would probably be a fair match between you and Alexis, though."

This time she interrupted. "What's that supposed to mean!?"

He continued. "Sorry. No offense to you but she's really good. Gives me a run for my money sometimes. If it makes you feel any better, it's not hard to beat mother – after a few glasses of wine a new born baby could beat her. I once convinced her to sell me both Boardwalk and Park Place if I refilled her wine glass." He chuckled "You can totally take her."

"If this is your idea of flattery, you really need to work on it." She said teasing.

"Trust me, if I was trying for flattery – you'd know it." He didn't notice when his statement made her blush.

"But anyway" he continued "The point is that I know this case was a tough one and it wiped you out, it wiped all of us out. And I know you were planning on going home to relax, and I get it if you'd rather just go home, but… " fidgeting a little, he went on "but, I think it'd be fun if you came over and joined us. I was going to ask Ryan and Esposito too but I couldn't find them. You could call Lanie if you want. We could make teams, place bets, and just have a fun night."

He paused for a moment, waiting for her to say something. "You don't have to stay late. You can leave anytime you want. My driver can take you home, if you don't feel like taking your car."

They were both silent for a moment but apprehensively Kate answered. "Castle, I –" The elevator stopped and they heard a ding, indicating they had arrived on the main floor. They both exited and waited for each other to speak up.

She broke the silence and spoke firmly. "Castle, I don't know if it's such a good idea."

"It's not like you have any plans with anyone." Castle piped up. "You can relax after."

A little annoyed she defended herself. "And how would you know about my plans? I could just want to be refreshed before going out on a date, or going to catch a movie with Lanie." Even as she said the words, she knew he seen right through her.

"Well, do you?" The look on his face told her he wasn't buying it.

She sighed. "No I don't. But that's not the point!"

"That is exactly the point. So what do you say?" Looking at her like a lost puppy. "Please, please, please with cherries on top?"

She ignored the comment made by the nine year old Castle that liked to make an appearance every now and again. "I'm really tired and I wouldn't want to intrude or anything." Secretly she wanted nothing more to go over and show him a thing or two about Monopoly. "It's a family thing… and I… I don't think it'd be appropriate right now. Maybe some other time, sorry."

As soon as the words left her mouth she saw a hurt look creep over Castle's face. He spoke up trying to sound like what she had said didn't hurt his feelings. "Um, yeah okay. Some other time sounds great, and I'm holding you to that." He winked at her.

"I know you will. Night, Castle."

"Until tomorrow, detective." With a smile, he turned around and starting walking towards the door.

She stood watching him walk away. The way his shoulders were hunched over told her that she'd hurt him more then he let on. She knew he was upset but she really was tired. At the same time she wanted to go – she loved Martha and Alexis. They were the closest thing to a real family she had.

She figured that there'd be coffee at his house. Countless times coffee had kept her awake until the wee hours in the morning when they were working on a case, so there would be no reason why it wouldn't keep her awake long enough to show Castle how fun she really could be.

"Wait!" Surprising herself, she ran towards him.

When she reached him he spun around so fast that they bumped into each other, causing Kate to lose her balance. Castle reached out his arm and she grabbed on to it to steady herself.

After a moment Castle spoke up. "Now, I know you did not just run after me to feel my strong muscular arm. Or did you?"

She blushed as she forgot she was still holding onto him. She let go, trying to regain her composure.

"No." She chuckled. "I most certainly did not. I… I wanted to tell you that…" Steadying her voice she finally finished "that I can't show up to your house in clothes that I've been wearing for a day and a half."

It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words. The smile on Castle's face at that moment was priceless. His face lit up and he grinned from ear to ear.

"Alright, down boy."

He tried to tone it down, but it was no use. He was still smiling like a kid on Christmas morning.

She continued. "If I'm going to your house, I need to shower and change first. So I'll meet you at your house around six?"

"It's okay, you don't need to drive. We can take your car back to your apartment. I'll call my driver to come get us while you are getting ready. I can order supper too. That way we can pick it up on the way home."

"Castle, I am not letting you into my apartment, unsupervised, able to roam free while I am in the shower!"

"Think of it this way. I can do research for Nikki Heat." He said with a wicked grin.

She let out a throaty laugh. "There is no way that is happening."

"Okay fine, I'll be good I promise. I'll even sit outside your door if you want me too. You can lock me out and everything."

Reluctantly she agreed. "Fine. Lets go, my car is this way."

"So, what made you change your mind?" He asked curiously as they were walking towards her car.

"Well you were right. I didn't have any plans." Pausing for emphasis, she continued. "But I figure that kicking your ass in Monopoly will be much more fun then sitting at home."

"Careful Katie, if you play with the big boys, you're going to get burned."

She sent him a death stare. "What did I say about Katie?"

"Sorry."

"And by the way, I hope you have a fire extinguisher at your house, Castle. 'Cause if I'm going to get burned, you're going to be ablaze!"

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So, let me know what you think! I put the story up on FanFiction and have surprisingly already gotten some story alerts and reviews. But I figured I'd let the hardcore Castle fans tell me what they think! The link is here if you wanted to review/subscribe there. Thanks in advance!

Awww, thanks alot dmcw! (and everyone else). I wasn't sure if I was going to contine the story, but with the comments left at Fanfiction and the comments here I think I just might!

I'm glad I could hold true to the characters. I tried really hard to do that. In a lot of stories I've read on Fanfiction some of the dialoge I find a little hard believing. And the classic – when Beckett breaks down and cries, then Castle comforts her and then they hook up. As much as I would love to see that happen… I don't think it would happen that way.

I'll most likely update the chapters here too.. for those who don't have a Fanfiction account.

Thanks again for your comments… maybe I should pursue a carrer in writing?? Hmmm.

Haha, okay okay! I'll keep writing. Again, I have no idea where it's going to go, so you'll just have to wait and see. Well, truth be told, I'll have to wait too! I have a couple of ideas and lines scribbled down on a piece of paper, that I'm trying to work into the next chapter.

Geeze, if I ever need a pick me up, I'll just come here and read your wonderful comments!

Cute start! I'm starting to like fanfictions! probably has something to do with not having new episodes in quite a while…so keep up the story!

PS: I sooo want Beckett to kisck Castles butt in monopoly! :laugh:

Hahaha! I love it! The witty banter is perfect!

Here's chapter three. I must say this is my favourite chapter so far. It has the classic Castle/Beckett banter plus a little fluff at the end. It's a little longer then the first one, but somehow I had to make up for the super short chapter two! Enjoy, and please review " />

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Chapter three: Extra pineapple, please.

By the time they had pulled up to Kate's apartment Castle had changed the station countless times and Kate was becoming rather irritated. He kept true to his word and didn't even utter a single syllable, so she had learned one good thing from the car ride.

"Well, from now on I know what to bribe you with when I want you to be quiet." She beamed as they got out of the car. He only smiled at her.

The whole way up to Kate's apartment Castle still had not spoken. Although rather pleased, Kate was beginning to wonder why, until her phone beeped. She flipped it open only to see New text message from Castle blinking on the small screen before her. She looked over at him grinning with his phone in his hand.

As she rolled her eyes she pressed and answer button and read:

"Can I speak now? Please?"

"Yes, you may speak now." She said, instantly regretting her decision.

She expected him to jump up and down with screams of joy. Needless to say she was surprised when he was once more buried in his phone. Her cell beeped, again, and she then understood why. She read:

"Are you sure? You promise you won't hit me … or yell at me anymore?"

She laughed. "I promise, Castle. Just pertaining to this moment though. I'm sure I'll find something else to be mad at you about sometime soon."

He was once again texting away. After another beep she read:

"Do you really promise?"

"Castle!" This time her voice harsh. "I can't believe I am actually about to say this, but please stop texting me and talk."

"Sweet!" He was overjoyed. "You just can't stand not hearing my charming voice, I knew it!" Flashing a smile her way.

"Texts run up my phone bill, Castle. Trust me; it's nothing to do with your.." She grimaced "charming voice."

"What!? You don't have unlimited texting? In all seriousness, you really, really need to get a better service plan. An iPhone is the way to go."

"Let it go, I do not need a new phone!"

"I could buy you one, you know?" A hint of hopefulness in his voice.

"Don't you dare!" Her tone was determined. "If you so much as buy me a phone case, I will injure you so badly you'll be lucky if you ever write another book again!" She glared at him and he was silent.

She turned as they reached her apartment door. "We're here." She began put the key in the lock and turn until Castle screamed at her "Wait!"

"What?" She asked a little taken-a-back.

"I need to take a picture."

"Of what? Me unlocking my door?"

"No. Of your apartment when you open the door. If you're going to lock me out I want a visual memory of where you live." He paused. "Nikki Heat research, remember?"

"So you're actually going to wait outside my door while I get ready?" She was apprehensive.

"Well, are you really going to let me in your apartment, unsupervised, able to roam free?" Doing his best impersonation of the way she had yelled at him earlier.

She thought it over for a moment. "Give me half an hour. I'm sure you can find something on that phone of yours to entertain yourself with." She said as she closed and locked the door.

Not three seconds later, a knock was heard at the door. Castle's voice was heard on the other side. "But, if I have to wait out here for half an hour – which in girl time really means an hour and a half – I've had two wives, remember?" She rolled her eyes at the thought. "I also live with two women, half an hour is never really half an hour. So if I'm going to be waiting on you, I have to use the little boys room first."

"There's a public bathroom in the main lobby." Trying everything she could to keep him from entering.

"In 'Storm Season' – you may have heard of a little book I wrote?" He said teasing her. "Derrick went into a public bathroom and was almost killed by a murderer. I don't know why I am refreshing your memory, I'm sure you've already read it… you probably have the page memorized."

"I do not have the page memorized!" She interrupted. She did, however, know the chapter.

"How would you feel if I went to that bathroom and wasn't as lucky as him? Despite what you may believe, I don't have his crazy ninja skills. And it wouldn't be good on your conscience you know."

Kate thought for a moment. "Well, it'd have to solve a murder, so much for relaxing… and there'd be paperwork." She groaned.

"Think of Alexis and my mother – they'd be devastated!" He said, almost whimpering.

Castle heard the door unlock as a smile swept across his features.

She stood there not moving a muscle. "Do not pull any funny business. I will show you where the bathroom is and wait outside the door. When you're done, you are coming right back here and waiting for me. Understood?"

"I promise." He said entering her apartment.

As soon as she closed the door, he whipped out his phone and started snapping pictures.

"Castle, what on Earth are you doing?"

"I told you – Nikki Heat research! When I wrote page 105 I only imagined what your apartment looked like. But now that I've actually seen it, I need a mental image. That way I can make the next book have a more believable storyline." He said tilting his head to his left to glance at a black leather couch. "Like that couch right there.. Nikki and Rook could –"

"Castle!" She barked. "Bathroom is this way." She practically dragged him up the stairs. "Here you go." Motioning towards the pastel light green coloured bathroom.

"Care to join me?" He said devilishly. "I see you don't have a bathtub, but a shower would do."

"Castle!" She hissed. "Hurry up!"

"Just figured I'd ask." He said as he closed the door and began poking around. He didn't need to use the bathroom; he just figured this was his best way to get into her apartment.

She was smart and figured out what he was up to when she heard him rummaging through the cupboards. "Castle! What are you doing in there? You had better get out of there right now. I will kick down this door if I have too!"

"Just a second." He called out to her, in the most innocent voice he possibly could.

She decided to let it go until she heard him scream. "Ladies' Home Journal!?" She realized he'd spotted her magazine collection. "Elle, Vogue" he went on "Shape Magazine, Martha Stuart Living. Beckett I'm kind of disappointed."

"Crap!" She realized he was going down through her collection. "Okay, come out now Castle. You've had your fun." She was getting restless. She didn't want him to see what magazine was on the bottom of the pile. He'd never let it go.

It was too late. Before she could think of her next move the bathroom door swung open to reveal Castle holding February's edition of Cosmopolitan with a huge grin stretching from ear to ear.

"And what is this?" His smile now resembled the Cheshire cat.

She froze. She wasn't sure how to get out of this one. It wasn't bad enough that he now knew she liked to read Cosmopolitan, it was the edition she didn't want him to see. There before her stood Richard Castle, holding a magazine with himself plastered on the front, at the precinct, with the bachelor party cop twins using him as a stripper pole. In the bottom right hand corner, starring her right in the face was bold red text with the words:

"Richard Castle talks about dating, women, sex, the NYPD and everything in between! Details on page 48."

She thought she was going to pass out. She was sure her face was as red as the text she was reading.

"You actually read it? You even bought it!?" He couldn't believe it. He was stunned. He felt like he had just won the lottery. "You complained the whole time when I was doing the photo shoot at the precinct, and having to do the interview. But you actually bought it!?" His voice was now two octaves higher then before.

She still had not spoken a word. She wanted to do something, say something, anything, but when she opened her mouth to speak nothing came out. She watched as he flipped open to page 48 only to notice that the top corner of the page had been folded down.

"You folded down the page?" The Cheshire cat didn't show any signs of disappearing. "If a killer came from the bathroom and murdered me right this second, it'd be okay, because I would die a very happy man."

She still couldn't move. She wanted to grab the magazine, hit him, smack him, shoot him, but she was paralyzed. She couldn't even roll her eyes. She had never been so embarrassed in her life. She had to grab onto the wall so her legs didn't give out.

She began to speak. "I … I wanted to… to do…"

He interrupted. "Do you have a sharpie? I can sign it if you like?" His smile was ever wider, if that was possible.

This time her voice was back and she was fuming. "No, I do not want you to sign it." She lowered her voice a little. "You always like to do research on your characters. So I wanted to research who was following me." She said. Although, she was reassuring herself more then the smile man before her. "And to see if you said anything about me –"

She slipped. Oh *****, what now?

"You… " his eyes widening, "you wanted to see if I said anything about you?" Now his eyebrow went up. "Why are you interested in what I say about you?"

She was furious again. "Well," trying to regain her composure "given your little stunt with NYC's Most Eligible Bachelor list, I wanted to make sure that you had your facts straight, and you didn't try to pull that stunt again."

"Oh," a little disappointed, "I thought you know, you had a thing for me or something?"

"In your dreams, Castle."

"Always." He smiled.

She was amazed he bought that. It was way too easy. Well, it was until she noticed a curious look creep over his face.

"Wait a second detective." She froze again. "This magazine came out months before the Bachelor list did. So, it couldn't possibly happen again. It never happened before." He stood, rather pleased with himself.

She was caught. She had to come up with something fast, and said the first thing that came to mind. "I wanted to make sure the precinct had good press. And that you made it sound like we were good detectives and that I was too." Her voice was now angry. "Do you know how hard it is for a female cop to get a good reputation? Huh? Everyone think that we sleep our way to the top. It drives me crazy, not all female cops –"

He cut in, "Okay, okay. Fine I get it! No need to bite my head off.

"Are we done here now?" She was impatient. She wasn't really that angry. But, she had to convince him that was the real reason.

"Yeah, I guess so. But, I can still sign it if you want?" He smiled hopefully.

"Door, Castle! Now!"

He obeyed and walked down the stairs, starting towards the door. That was until out of the corner of his eye he seen what he assumed to be her bedroom. He halted causing Kate to bump into him, for the second time that night.

"What is it now?"

"Your bedroom?" He meant it as a statement but it came out more like a question.

"Yes, I'm sure you are aware of what they are." This time her eyebrow was raised.

His voice changed to imitate a serious business man. "I'm here on official Nikki Heat research m'am. I need to know what kind of pyjamas she would wear to bed." He whispered in a sultry voice.

She was angry again. " Door! Now!" She shoved him hard causing him to be standing in doorway.

He contemplated ducking under her and run to her bedroom and raiding her closet. But the more he thought about it, he realized he had pushed the limits enough for one day. There would be other days, he thought – it takes time to peel away the Beckett onion. So he complied and stood outside her doorway waiting for her to shut it.

"By the way," she said just before closing the door "I'm not one of your deep-fried Twinkies. When I say half an hour, I mean half an hour."

As she shut and locked the door he hollered from the other side. "I've got a stopwatch on my phone, I'm timing you!"

She took that as a challenge. Quickly running upstairs she showered, and changed. However, she took a little extra time on her hair, make-up, and picking out her outfit. She wanted to look nice, but not to fancy, like she tried to hard – just casual. She settled on a royal blue long-sleeve, and a pair of jeans. She did one last mirror check before grabbing her purse and heading towards the door.

She opened the door revealing Castle playing Beer Pong App on his phone. By the look on his face, he was winning.

"So how'd I do? Am I a deep-fried Twinkie?"

He saved his progress and checked the timer. "Twenty-eight minutes and three seconds. I apologize for my assumption."

"Yeah well, the female population doesn't consist of all deep-friend Twinkies you know."

"I do now." He put on a charming smile. "I've never met a woman like you before."

She blushed. Not knowing what else to say she again said that first thing that came to mind. "Did you order food already?"

"No actually I didn't. I never called my driver either, so we'll have to wait for a few minutes in the lobby. I honestly didn't think you'd be ready so fast." He paused. "So what do you want for supper?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm not picky. What's Alexis' favourite meal?"

"She always wants Pizza."

"Well, pizza it is then."

He searched through his phone for the number. "Any particular toppings you want, or don't want?"

"I like everything, but I love pineapple, it's my favourite." She paused. "It was my mother's favourite."

The cashier picked up and he placed their order. "Hi there, could I please have combo number four, to be picked up? Richard Castle. Yes that's the one. Pepsi for the drink and stuffed crust is a must. For the toppings can I have pepperoni, cheese, mushrooms, green pepper and," he looked at Kate, "and can one half have extra pineapple, please? Okay, twenty minutes. Thank-you." With that he hung up.

She was both surprised and pleased at the same time. "You didn't have to get pineapples on half. If you guys like them, I could have lived you know."

"Yeah, but you like them so there's no reason why we can't each get what we want. And I know you can't possibly eat a half a pizza by yourself so we can just pick off the pineapples. It's not a big deal, we'll live." He chuckled

"Thanks." Her smile was sincere.

"For what?"

"Getting pineapple."

"It's only a topping Beckett." He was a little confused at why she was so grateful for the order. "But you're welcome." He smiled back. "Come, on, I'll call the driver on the way down to the lobby. The pizza is going to be twenty minutes anyway, so it'll be plenty of time for my driver to get here. Alexis and mother probably already went to the movie store, so the pizza won't get cold."

This time she was the one who followed his orders. She locked the door and smiled to herself. She had to contain her smile for fear of letting Castle know that her ex, Will didn't like pineapples either. However, when they ordered pizza he would never pick them off. He didn't like how the juice ran and once he got mad at her for ordering pineapples.

She muttered to herself just quiet enough so Castle wouldn't hear. "It's only pineapple juice, he would've lived."