Book Signing

The end of the day was starting to feel dreamlike for Detective Kate Beckett. It had started off like any other, waking up next to her fiance Rick Castle, making breakfast and small talk with his mother and then another murder. Nothing out of the unusual except that for Castle it had been.

When she'd found him in the coal factory, lying on the ground almost lifeless she had feared the worst but then he'd come around and she'd thought he'd been knocked on the head a little too hard but it wasn't that at all.

The fall that he had taken hadn't been cause for too much concern since Castle had connected it to his sleepless nights.

A dream was the only logical explanation for it. Just like there were no such things as UFO's and zombies alternate universes didn't exist but whatever had happened Castle had come to realize just how important his life with Beckett was. A life without her, no matter which dream or parallel universe seemed oblique and empty.

And so he'd proposed again. And she'd said yes again but this time there would be no more waiting, no more trying to get Castle's memory from his ordeal back, no more trying to find their solid ground.

Castle had managed to find that solid ground and with it she had found hers.

The waiting was over. It was time to start living.

Beckett looked over at Castle whose eyes were focused on the road. They would drive to the loft to pick up Martha and Alexis first and then make their way to pick up Jim Beckett. From there the open road called for a small trip up to the Hampton's where soon time would no longer wait as they became husband and wife.

"You're pretty quiet over there," Beckett said as Castle had one hand on the wheel and the other holding her left hand as he massaged her ring and finger.

"I was just thinking," he said, "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"If you're gonna propose again I'm pretty sure that there's a limit for that sort of thing," she teased.

"No not that. I know what your answer would be." He glanced over slightly. "How come you never told me we'd met before?"

Beckett shook her head, unsure of what he'd meant. Had he really hit his head that hard?

"I don't- I thought you said you went to a world where we hadn't met."

"No not that. Here in this reality, before you came to me to consult on the Flowers for Your Grave case. We'd met before that, at a book signing."

"How did you know," she asked bewildered.

"You told me," he said glancing over again. "Well the other you. I guess it was more like my subconscious reminding me but I remember everything. It was for one of my old Derek Storm novels, back when I was still new to writing him and you must have been a rookie. You waited in line for hours. What I can't remember is if you were able to get it signed. Did you?"

"I did."

"Do you still have it? I'd like to see it."

"I think I can find it somewhere in my long library of Richard Castle novels," she said with a smile.

Castle smiled and then asked again, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"And give you more ammunition for how much of a, what was it you called me, a 'really deranged fan'."

"Those were your words, not mine I just called you a-,"

"'Hard core Castle groupie', that's right." Beckett shook her head and got serious. "In all truth that was a really hard time for me back then Castle. It's funny how before we even met, before you helped me solved my mom's murder it was your books that got me through it. They got me through it when I didn't have any leads Castle." She turned to look at him, "Thank you for that."

Castle had parked the car. Now he truly looked at her and squeezed her hand. That was all they needed from each other, no words of your welcome, nothing they could say that could solidify further the new truths they'd learned about each other.

"You ready?" he asked.

Beckett took a deep breath and smiled.

END.