Bittersweet
Author: daxcat79
Rating: PG
Pairing: Rick/Kate, Ryan/Jenny
Genre: Romance, Drama
Summary: The day after is bittersweet.
A/N: This is how I handle the insanity of last night's season finale. Spoilers for "Always".
Disclaimer: I own nothing, just borrowing.
Bitter
Jenny's trying so hard to help. She doesn't know what's wrong, but he didn't sleep all night and she can tell he's upset. When nothing else works, she eventually just wraps her arms around him and holds on tight. He supposes it's all he ever needed from her anyway. Someone needs to hold him together, while he's falling apart. He knows he saved their lives, but it doesn't seem to matter. There's nothing he can do to make this right. Beckett is gone. Javier won't even look at him. He feels like he's lost the only family he's ever known. They were in so deep, and nothing about what they'd done felt right. Kate Beckett was hanging on a roof seconds from falling and Javier had been knocked out cold. His instincts told him he'd have lost two friends yesterday if he hadn't bit the bullet and told Gates what they'd done… were planning to do. So why does he feel so guilty about it? Why does he feel like Judas?
"Jenny?"
"Yeah?"
He wants to ask her if he betrayed them. He wants to ask if it had been better to let them go. He wants to ask her if ihe/i should have been their only back up, with Gates still completely unaware of the dangers they were facing. He wants to ask. He's not afraid of the answer.
"Nothing... just... I love you," he whispers, and slides a hand back to link with hers. His eyes fall closed and he leans back into her. Jenny's arms are holding him up, her chin resting on his shoulder. It's just enough to keep him sane. He won't ask those burning questions, because he already knows the answer. He did the right thing... whether they forgive him or not.
Sweet
Something is different. She's not fully awake yet, but she knows. She can sense it. She's let go of her mother's case, quit her job, and the world didn't end. If anything... she feels free. She feels alive, and not just waiting to live. She can hear something beside her... breathing. Warmth surrounds Kate, and there's an arm lying possessively over her hip. A new chapter in her life and it isn't as scary as she thought it would be. Four years he waited for her. Why did she make him wait so long?
She turns in his arms, smiling wide as her eyes drift open and see he's already awake. There's a question in his eyes, so much he still needs to hear. All he really knows for sure is that she wants him. What will it mean for their future? Will they have one? Even now he's still waiting for her. He's waiting for her to tell him what 'this' is. She's not good with words… that's his thing, but she's willing to try. She knows what he needs. After what she's put him through, he deserves nothing less. "I love you."
She showed him how she felt the night before, but this time she tells him. She can tell it was the right thing to say when his smile reaches his eyes, like a child on Christmas day. She's made him happy. It's only fair. He's made her happy too. And she won't stop here. She wants it all. 'This' is only the beginning.
"I love you too."
He doesn't have to say it. She already knows. She doesn't mind hearing it again though. Someone loves her. Castle loves her. She was dangling from a roof yesterday and for the first time she was truly scared she would die alone, never knowing what might have been. Now she has a second chance. Everything has changed, and she's not afraid anymore. She smiles back at him, and leans in for a kiss (a promise). He's more than her partner… cause now he's just hers.
The End