Fevered Heat

[Mercury]

Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable

Author’s Note: I love Castle, and I haven’t written a sneezefic for a while (although I had a list of ideas somewhere but I lost it), plus I just discovered the ‘sneeze generator’ which makes writing so much easier. Thus this was born. I wanted more father/daughter interaction, but I didn’t think I could do it justice, but I’m happy with what’s there. (It’s also unedited, but it’s early in the morning, and I won’t be able to put it up for a few days otherwise)

Anywho; Enjoy!

Fevered Heat

It was past 1:30 in the morning. Richard Castle was seated in an apartment which had finally quieted down for the night. His daughter, Alexis, was sleeping because of school the next day, and his mother, Martha, was out with a man. She’s told Rick ‘not to wait up’, which wasn’t uncommon, but still fairly creepy. In was in this stillness that Rick ordinarily thrived in this kind of environment.

The unnatural light of the laptop kept him thriving; slowing his body clock and allowing him time to write. He had heard of, and studied, authors who spent years writing their novels, sometimes as slow as a sentence every day or two. They would labour over it obsessively, sitting at their fancy antique desks, which probably weren’t all that ‘antique’ back then, and work on that one sentence from the time the sun rose until it set again.

This particular night, however, Rick felt like he was going to get as much writing done as those old dudes.

As much as he loved going out with super-cop Kate Becket, he could have gone without the last case, which had left him in the rain for several hours on end, followed by running... lots and lots of running.

Rick was tired and had a headache which seemed to want to smoosh his brain against the inside of his skull, or squeeze his skull so tight his eyes would burst out of his head, but he had to finish this chapter. It was the downside of having an ex-wife for a publicist; she demanded his writing as part of her alimony.

He gave a liquid sniff, and reached for another tissue. Damn rain.

The glass desk was littered with scrunched balls of the soft paper. He couldn’t seem to be able to get his nose to behave, even though he had spent five minutes giving it a good scolding, which he didn’t do just to put of writing.

“HuhAeschh.”

He sneezed forcefully into his cupped palms, and held them there as another tickle built in his nose, the computer screen blurring as his eyes fluttered.

“HuhChisch! HuhEeschoo!”

Sniffling, he pulled out another tissue, which he used to wipe his hands. Rick was too tired to get up and wash his hands, a habit Alexis had drilled into him, and he was only planning to touch his keyboard, which no one but him used. He scrubbed at his nose with the damp tissue before throwing it aside with the others. He wondered if his daughter would be more upset about the mess or the waste of trees. Probably neither if he gave her the hurt-puppy look, but he knew she would grow out of that someday.

Rick sighed and ran a hand through his already mussed hair, and giving another sniff as he felt his nose run, before he placed his hands back onto the keyboard. His shoulders and neck ached, as if he had already been writing for hours, and stretched slightly while he tried to kick his brain into gear.

Nikki lay in bed, battered and bruised. Last night had been a complete disappointment, settling a deep sinking feeling into her heart. It was one which told her the Honeybee Killer would continue to elude them. Shifting under her blankets, sh

Pausing, Rick kept his hands in position, resting on his keyboard. He gave a deep inhale and turned to bury his nose into the sleeve of his bathrobe. “HahEKSSHT. Damb id; this is nod helbful.” He scrubbed at his nose and wrinkled it in protest of the power it had over him. He would not let it win.

ivering, Nikki coughed. The emotional drain of the case, and the pressing hollow feelings about the disheartening prospects, had started taking a physical tole. She was getting sick; adding misery to insult. She turned her head, mussing her auburn tresses and burying her elegant nose into the spare pillow. No one would be using that side of the bed, so she didn’t think twice when she sneezed violently into the pillow’s soft confines. She felt horrible, and the thought that no one was there to take care of her hurt in the many ways she would never admit to. After a hitching breath, she sneezed agai

“HahEischoo!”

Rick kept his eyes closed after the sudden attack, not wanting to see the damage to the keyboard. He groped blindly for another tissue. After a terribly thick blow, he wiped the shiny beads from his laptop screen with yet another tissue.

Sighing, he dug a pen and small notebook out from under the accumulating pile. The first three pages were filled with title ideas, so he flipped to a new page and wrote in capitals ‘Fevered Heat’, underlining it three times. If he had to suffer through his cold, Nikki Heat was going to suffer through hers for at least six chapters.

----------------

Mumbling slightly, Richard curled himself up into an even tighter little ball. Someone was poking him into consciousness, and he blinked his eyes open and saw the figure of a fit female leaning over him, wisps of her in her face.

“Castle, wake up!”

“...‘ikki?”

The female leant back, and Rick tried to figure out what he had said to insult her. He prepared to apologise, but as his lips parted his breath decided to hitch instead.

“HehSheishh! Hurrusch! HuhIssschoo!”

“Jeez, Castle, how long have you been like this?”

“Since yederday, baybe.” He blinked his blue eyes again, waiting for Kate Becket to come into focus. She looked upset, which Rick assumed must be the result of the case going so badly. He coughed, moving his hand from beneath the duvet to cover his mouth until his lungs finished their spasm.

“Since yesterday? There’s no way you could have gotten this bad that fast.”

“I- hih... HihEtschh!”

“Judging from the word-count on the laptop and the tissue monument to Mount Kilimanjaro, I’d say he didn’t go to bed until 7am.”

Wiping his nose on the back of his hand, Rick looked to the bedroom door and the frowning redhead who was standing there. She was holding a breakfast tray, which was holding a large, steaming bowl, a glass of orange juice and a box of tissues. Even though he felt horrible, the congestion making his whole skull throb, he couldn’t help but smile. He had the most amazing daughter in the world.

With a sudden stab of fear, the smile dropped from his face. “My Buther did’dt cook thad, did she?”

Alexis softened, a grin spreading across her face. “Don’t worry, dad, I didn’t let her near the kitchen. I want you to get better, not worse.”

Becket laughed and sat on the foot of his bed as he shifted to sit upright so that Alexis could place the breakfast tray over his legs. He grabbed the tissues and wiped his nose, sniffing while trying to get his nose under control.

“Just blow, Castle.”

“Dot while you’re all here.”

“Just blow, dad.”

“Block your ears.”

“What?”

“Just... Pleehh... HEHAESSCH!” He sniffed, and gave another cough. “Please?”

Alexis sighed and pulled another tissue from the box and handed it to him. She told him that she was going to go do homework, and then disappeared from the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Becket stayed perched on the end of the bed, a smirk on her face. Then she raised an eyebrow pointedly as she placed her fingers in her ears.

Rick gave his nose several gurgling blows before giving Becket a nod to let he know he was finished.

“So why are you here?”

“You usually like watching the bad-guys get arrested, so when you didn’t show up today I was... curious.”

“Did you bring a nurses outfit?”

“Castle!”

“What?” he gave her puppy dog eyes, “I’m sick.”

“Yeah, but from the looks of things you’ve got a pretty good support system without me.” She smiled and rose from the bed. “I’ve got to get back; I don’t trust the guys to do their paperwork unsupervised. Get better soon.”

Rick watched her walk away, leaning back into his pillows. He knew there was something under that exterior that she didn’t want people to know about. Not for the first time he wondered whether she would ever let anyone else into her life.

There was a sheet of paper on the small table next to his bed. He reached for it and got a pencil from the draw. He started making notes about how Nikki Heat would try to hide her illness, but after she gets hurt from sneezing at the wrong time, she would have to submit herself to the care of dashing journalist, Jameson Rook... just like he would always inflict his own care on Beckett when she needed it.

[Jorm]

Heeheeheehee!!! *does sick Castle happy dance*

Don't worry about not having had a chance to edit it, it's still wonderful! I very, very much enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing it!

[blush]

Ooh I love Castle! Neat idea, and I like the title. The whole "nurse's outfit" thing amused me, because Castle just tweeted "Saw a table full of female nurses at lunch today. What is it about scrubs that make women look so McSexy?" 

[Hawkeye]

OAGJDSKLGJSCJHFESJDK. YAY CASTLE! I'm normally not a big fan of colds, but when I saw the word "Castle" I just had to read it because Castle is currently my favorite favorite FAVORITE show on TV. I love how he makes Beckett cover her ears before he blows his nose...such a Castle thing to do!!!

[snuffles]

OMG!! That is just SO castle!! I totally looooooooove it, lol @ the nurse outfit too! Also loved "If he had to suffer through his cold, Nikki Heat was going to suffer through hers for at least six chapters."

[sneezychick93]

Oh my goodness!!! I LOVE how Castle is sick!! I cant wait to see what you do with this story!

[tma]

How did I miss this???

LOVED it!! I could completely see and hear this. Loved that he decided to torture Nikki since he wasn't feeling good (not that I ever do that *innocent* ). And Alexis- that was SO her. Brilliant!!