This is my first attempt at writing so please be nice. English is my first language but I still suck at it.

I do not own Castle.

It was 18 months since she almost died on the rooftop. 18 months since she told Castle that she only wanted him. But now Kate Beckett was no more. She was still alive and extremely happy, she was still the same person but Kate Beckett was gone. In name only. She was now Kate Castle. This was a recent change, only marrying Richard Castle three weeks ago, but she took to the name change quickly, she had wanted it for years, but now it was officially hers. She was Kate Castle, Detective Kate Castle.

Chapter 1 – One Month after "Always"

After everything that had happened the Chief of Detectives would not accept her resignation like that. So a month after Kate had quit she found herself in a meeting with her former boss, her boss' boss and her boss' boss' boss. Captain Gates, the Chief of Detectives, and the Mayor, all trying to convince her to stay, all but Gates actually, she wanted Beckett gone for good.

"Sir, Beckett is unreliable, she doesn't follow the chain of command, and she is a terrible cop" Gates said so calmly that it made Kate's skin chill over.

"Really Captain?" the Chief of Detectives asked in a sarcastic voice. "Because I have reports, affidavits and sworn statements from no less than 15" He said this as he put the pile of folders on the table in front of Captain Gates "15 highly respected cops, lawyers, MEs and civilians saying otherwise. Would you like to explain why you have a difference of opinion, captain?"

Gates took a minute to gather herself as she looked through the names on the folders. She saw both Ryan's and Esposito's names, Lanie's, Castle's of course, but she was surprised by names like Judge Markway and Mayor Weldon. "Beckett has shown that when it comes to her mother's case she has no regard for the people around her or even for herself! Beckett and Esposito went off without backup or notifying me where they were headed and almost got themselves killed…

Before she can continue Mayor Weldon cut her off "Captain Gates, you must have misunderstood what this meeting was about today. It's not if Kate should be allowed to come back, we are asking her if she will come back. She leads the most effective homicide team in the department with a closure rate at or near 85%. No one else is even close to that. So it's up to Kate if she wants to come back, not you if she is allowed back. But Captain Gates you are right about her mother's case. So Kate we are transferring it and your shooting cases to the feds. Is that all right with you, Kate? Because in truth you really don't have a choice."

Without any hesitation on her part she answered "No, sir. None at all. The sooner the better."

Gates was stunned into silence at both the Mayor's defense of Kate and her willingness to give up her mother's case without an argument. Gates stammered over her words but nothing came out. She sort of looked like a fish with her mouth opening and closing.

The Mayor turned to look directly at Kate "So do you want to come back? Because you are more than welcome to."

"Thank you Mr. Mayor but I think I should discuss this with my partner. May I give you my answer tonight?" Kate asked.

"Sure, I will see you at the poker game tonight. You and Rick can give me your answer by then." He stood calmly pulling his overcoat on. "Oh speaking of Rick, we want him back too, Captain Gates. So, get over it" the Mayor said over his shoulder as he exited the meeting for another.

Gates just sat there in stunned silence. So much so that she didn't hear the Chief of Detectives talking directly to her.

"Gates are you listen to me" he snapped at her.

"Yes, sir sorry. What did you say?" she jerked her head and focused on him.

"I said, what is your problem with Richard Castle and rest of the team here?"

"He's not a cop, sir and the rest of the team follows his lead, and his ridiculously wild theories. They follow him not another cop. They ignore rules, protocol and …"

"And catch more killers, murders and other types of criminals than any other team around." The Chief finished the sentence for her. He continued "The problem here seems not be the officers or Mr. Castle but the leadership, you Captain Gates. So I have decided to lift Detective Esposito's and Detective Beckett's suspension, effect immediately and give the whole team a two week paid vacation. As for you Captain Gates, you are being moved from Homicide to Vice."

"Sir!" Gates exclaimed loudly with an angrily questioning look carved onto her usually stony face.

The Chief just raised an eyebrow and repeated himself "You are being moved from the 12th precinct homicide squad to 45th vice squad. You start there in one week. Now excuse me, I have another meeting to get to." With that the Chief got up and walked out the door before Gates could say another word. But he quickly reappeared, peeking his head back in the room "Kate, I will see you at the poker game tonight and I hope to have your answer then" and with that final statement he was gone.

Gates sat across the table from Kate in shock. Her mouth was hanging open speechless.

Kate took the opportunity to leave but not before getting in the last word. She simply said "Sorry" with about as much sympathy as a swift blow to the stomach followed by a hard kick to the face. Kate turned to hide the smile that appeared on her face and walked out the door. She left knowing that she had to try to convince Castle that she wanted to go back to work and that they would be okay.

Kate called Esposito on the way back Castle's place and explained the situation. The cab ride seemed to take little time as her mind was swimming with ways to talk to Castle about rejoining the force. She believed that he would not want her to rejoin due to his fear for her safety. She was hoping that he did not make her choose between being a cop and being his. Being his, she loved way that sounded but would never tell him that, yet. She would choose him but still she didn't want to make that choice. So when the cab jerked to a stop in front of Castle's loft she felt her stomach drop a little bit. As she walked up to the door, the doorman, whose name she could never remember, greeted her "Hello, Detective. How are you?"

She answered with a friendly smile "Fine and you?"

"Good, thank you."

She smiled but then worry flashed across her face. She was concerned about them if she went back to being a cop. The feeling only worsened as she rode the elevator up to the loft. A place that felt like home long before her and Castle officially got together. She went to unlock the door with her key. The key that Castle had given her the day after she showed up soaking wet at his door. He asked her to move in with him over breakfast that morning because he told her that he could not and would not wake up without her ever again. Kate knew it was impulsive but she felt the same, so she said yes.

After a month, they had gotten closer than either of them thought possible. Even Alexis had starting mending fences with Kate since she moved in. Life was good and Kate didn't want to ruin it by going back to the NYPD. As she entered their loft, she took a big deep breath and held it as she walked in. There he was sitting on the couch reading.

"Hey, how was the meeting? Did they convince you to come back or not?" Castle asked in a nonchalant, matter of fact way. He barely even looked up from his book.

Kate's breath finally escaped her, leaving her feeling deflated. "You knew what the meeting was about, didn't you?" she said only half as angry as she acted. She placed her hands on her hips, taking her now familiar 'mad' pose. "Did you talk Bob into giving me my job back?"

"No. He called me a few days after you quit. He said that he could not afford to lose one of his best detectives. So I told him to give you some time to cool down and figure out everything" He said still not looking up at her because at this point he was hiding a smile.

She started to calm down a bit and began to relax "So they actually just want me back."

"Yes and No" Castle said shocking Kate back to angry right away. "Yes, they want you back but no because he was hoping I would come back too. I told him that it was up to you. I understand the needing time away from me so if you do not want me to then I won't go back. Us is more important than me playing cop" he declared finally looked into her eyes with trademark Castle smile spread across his face.

She just smiled at him as she walked over to stand in front of him. "So you would like to go back to work too, huh Castle? For more research?" she teasingly asked.

"No, not for research. It hasn't been about research for a long time. It's about helping. Helping people get answers when they need them the most, helping the boys and most importantly helping you."

His words caused her eyes to get a little teary eyed. "I want to go back but only if you come with me." His smile brightened his whole face at her words. "Okay we will go back but only after the two week vacation you're going to take me on tomorrow. I have always wanted to go to the Bahamas or maybe Paris or both."

"Alright that sounds good" Castle agreed before really realizing what he had agreed to.

"We have to tell the Chief and the Mayor tonight when they get here for the poker game. So go get ready."

Kate turned to walk away but Castle caught her hips and pulled her to his lap. He looked into her eyes and kissed her deeply before pulling back and whispering "I love you." A soft smile appeared on her lips "I love you," before kissing him again.

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