OKay so this came to me and I'm not sure if it's what I wanted when I started out, but I think it fits in with the AM series and the characters. I know it might be a little confusing the way I did it, but I think that in the end it's a good take on a proposal between our favorite duo. I took the things that happened in Always and tweaked them a bit to fit in with how I wrote 2 AM. Takes place shortly after the end of the first am story, maybe a a couple months after they moved Alexis into her dorm.

We're done.

Castle had the night planned perfectly and it sure as hell didn't include chasing Beckett down in the pouring rain. Their argument had escalated so quickly that when she said those haunting words he had been glued to the spot, giving her a good head start. Just this morning they were laughing in bed oblivious to the storm that would explode on them by the end of the night. A routine call that ended with coming face to face with Beckett's shooter, a secret rendezvous in a parking garage, and an argument that could put World War II to shame. And why was she the one so mad that she walked away? Yes, he might have made a backdoor deal with this Mr. Smith for her life; but she was the one who put herself carelessly in harms way, and all he did was do his his job as her partner and protect her from getting shot in the chest. Again. By the same man.

"Kate." Castle shoved his hair out of his eye so he could see where the hell he was going. It was a torrential down pour and it seemed they were the only two people idiotic enough to be in it. "Beckett, will you wait one god damn minute!"

Beckett evaded his grasp and kept trucking ahead. Pride kept her from running, "Go away, Castle."

"Not until we talk."

"There's nothing left to talk about."

"The hell there isn't." He finally got a grasp on her arm and yanked her around so she had no other choice but to face him. Later, he would feel guilty about how roughly he touched her. NO matter how furious this woman made him at times, he would never do anything to harm her. "I'm not going to let you just walk away without talking to me."

"Let go." Beckett growled, her eyes burning bright with anger.

"No. You want to run away because it's what you're good at." A cast of guilt briefly crossed her face. Castle pressed on before she could argue, "It's so much easier for you to run instead of face your emotions. I won't let you do that this time. Not after all we've been through."

Beckett squared her shoulders, shoving hard at his chest, "You arrogant bastard! How dare you throw this all on me? You promised me that we would work this together." She continued to look at him, her cheeks becoming redder by the second. Her anger was raging and there was no way to wrangle it back in. In truth they both had reason to be angry at each other. "You looked me in the eye and promised me. Then you go and make a deal for my life."

He didn't deny it. Given the chance he would have done the same thing again because all that matter was her safety. Her life. Ever since the day he told her about his secret, Castle had been having the same nightmare almost every night and each time he would wake up in a cold sweat fearing that it was real. The only thing that calmed him was looking down at her sleeping form nestled against him. That's why he tried to bargain with this Mr. Smith to get Maddox off Beckett's tail. In the end it didn't matter and he shuddered to think of what Beckett's fate would have been if he hadn't followed her to that hotel.

"How could you do that, Castle?" This question was almost lost in the roar of the pouring rain.

Did she really have to ask? "Because I love you, Kate. I watched you die. I saw the lights go out in your eyes." Nearly a year later and Castle still saw her on the grass bleeding in his arms. "If making a deal behind your back made it so that never happened again, then so be it."

"You lied to me."

"I did it because of everything we've been through together!" He yanked her close enough he could feel her warm breath through the chilly rain. "Four years I've been right here! Four years just waiting for you to open your eyes and see that I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. Every morning I wake up next to you hoping that it will be the day that you tear down that last wall of yours and let me all the way in. But you don't. You keep me at arms length because you're afraid of what happen if you do."

Her eyes narrowed, "Go to hell Castle." Beckett shoved him back and resisted pulling at her hair or worse his. His words carried truth, but she tried to drown it out. What was it about this man that both infuriated and captivated her at the same time? Walking away was far easier than dealing with her emotions. She hated that there was truth in his accusations. "You know what, Castle? My life was just fine before you came along. It was great in fact, and then you came into my life and screwed it all up. You shoved your way into my personal life, kicking up my worst memories, making me face them when I tried so hard to bury them."

So was that what this truly was about? Not that he went behind her back, but he forced her to relive the pain of both her shooting and her mother's murder? "Well, excuse me Detective Beckett for fucking up your life for the past four years." An ache was growing in his heart. They were really nearing that line, weren't they? It didn't matter that the last six or seven months were filled with happiness and love. This was the end. He had been so sure that they would make it.

"I can't do this." Beckett stalked away before whirling around after a few steps. He looked so heartbroken, drenched, standing in the middle of a deserted sidewalk in the pouring rain. This wasn't just about the lies or her mother's murder. He had nearly died today, throwing himself in between her and Maddox. Just a painful reminder of how easily she could lose him because of his instinct to protect her. "I just can't."

"Can't what?" Castle yanked her back, tightening his grip when she struggled. They were going to stay out here catching their death until she actually said the words. Until she gave him an explanation that satisfied him. Castle refused to believe that they were over and was sure as hell wasn't going to let her go without a fight. "Say it Kate. I want to hear you say it to my face. I want you to explain to me how you can just throw all that we have away over some bad memories."

"Idiot." She hissed, the words low in her throat, her fingers clenching the front of his shirt. His brow was raised, his eyes glinting with this challenge and resisted the urge to slap that look off his face. So she did the next best thing and kicked at his shin, just grazing him when he jumped back. "You nearly got yourself killed today. When you yanked me out of the way that bullet could have easily struck you."

Now he was confused. This argument had started over his lie and now she was mad at him for keeping her from getting shot. He sputtered, his grip almost bruising, "Are you angry at me for saving your life?"

"Yes!" Beckett huffed trying to break free, "Why, Castle?"

"Because I can't live without you." The explanation was so simple. Didn't she understand that by now? "I saw the gun and all I could think was not her." He remembered the night he held her in the alley after their scuffle with Grey, tattered and torn with a knife in her side. He remembered the sickening feeling coiling in his stomach that he was going to lose her and there was nothing he could do about it.A feeling Castle swore he wouldn't go through again if he had the ability to prevent it.. "Not again."

"Don't you understand that if something would happen to you because of me I would never be able to forgive myself?" The answer was starting to wane and was being replaced by paralyzing fear. "I can't tell Alexis and Martha that you're gone. I just can't do it, Rick. I can't watch you die."

"I can watch you either, Kate." His touch was gentle now as he brushed her soaking wet hair off her cheek. "You can't ask me to do nothing in a situation like that."

"This is the problem." Beckett concluded. It hurt to say all this, but she had to push through it. Break it off now and save them the pain of loss. Nothing was more important to her than Castle, not even figuring out her mother's murder. "So we're done."

Oh no, they weren't! Once again, he shot out on hand to catch her elbow so she couldn't escape. Castle knew that she was on the verge of clocking him upside the head. "And you're going to walk away because it's the easy way out?"

"Yes."

"Bullshit. Kate Beckett never takes the easy route. And if you think I'll just let you walk away you're an idiot."

With her anger spiking, Becket started shoving at his chest over and over again. He always had to make things so damn difficult. Walking away from him was the most painful thing she ever attempted to do in her life. She loved him with everything she had, but she was a coward at heart because she rather walk away never to see him again than watch him die while trying to protect her. "You don't have a choice. This is my life-."

"Tell yourself whatever you want to make you think you're doing the noble thing. When it comes down to it you're just scared." The way her hands jerked against his chest Castle knew he hit the nail square on the head. Kate Beckett carried herself around like she was invincible and that nothing in the world could rattler her. In truth, she was her own worst enemy. So he was going to stand his ground until she was convinced that she was safe in loving him. "That's right, Kate Beckett you're being a coward by running away. Well, I won't let you walk away; and if I have to stay out in this god damn rain for the rest of the night to convince you to stay, I will … because I love you."

Tears burned the back of her throat. "Castle, please."

"Not enough time? Then…" Castle released her to go rooting through his water logged pocket until he found what he was looking for. His heart was beating in his throat, his hands shaking with nerves. His big romantic plan had been blown all to hell because of this God for saken argument. Of course things could never be easy for them. So in the middle of the pouring rain, Castle got down on one knee and held out a ring. "How about the rest of your life?"

Everything just seemed to stop. In a single moment, Beckett felt her world turn her upside down leaving her gaping at the writer like a fish.

"Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you marry me?" There was no way he could keep his voice from trembling. Castle was so sure this morning that when he actually got the nerve to ask her that she would say yes. Now fear was rising that she would view this as a last ditch effort to get her to stay. "I know this wasn't how you pictured this to happen, but I love you so damn much and all I want to do is spend the rest of my life loving you. And just maybe somewhere along the line I can convince you that being with me is worth the fear."

Beckett stood there, her hands covering her mouth and tears filling her eyes unable to speak. This was really happening. The love of her life was soaking wet, kneeling in the middle of the sidewalk in New York, and proposing to her.

Castle gave the speechless detective a nervous smile, "If your answer is no please tell me quick and put me out of my misery."

"Yes." Beckett lowered her hands revealing her smile, "My answer is yes. Yes, I'll marry you."

He hesitated fear that he misheard her through the roar of the rain, "Yes?"

"Yes!" She was laughing now, excitement and happiness filling her to the point she thought she was going to burst. "Yes! Yes!"

"Yes!" Grinning like an idiot, Castle slid the ring on her finger and barely got to his feet before Beckett was in his arms kissing him senseless. So this wasn't how he planned this moment and even though they would never forget it. Every time it rained they would be reminded of this life changing moment.

Beckett latched on to her future husband as he lifted her off her feet and spun them around in dizzy circles. "Rick." Laughing, she rained kisses all over his damp face until they came to a staggering halt. "I love you so much and I know I'm not the easiest person to love…"

"It keeps me on my toes." Castle brought her left hand up to place a kiss in the center of her palm. "I love you and promise to always keep fighting for you. Even if it means going rounds with you."

They hardly made it through the threshold of the loft with their clothes on. They made love in a mad frenzy on the living room floor, desperate to mark each other down to their very soul so they never could go without one another.

Beckett arched against him giving herself over to him as they took the tumble over the edge of oblivion. This was what she wanted. Today she nearly died and all that matter was that she and Castle made it out alive. Her shooter was in the wind and she was okay with that. "I love you."

Castle shuttered at the breath tickling his ear, "I love you." He nuzzled her cheek, "It means everything to me, Kate. There isn't anything in the world I wouldn't do for you. I'm sorry I broke your trust."

"Stop." She shushed him with a gentle touch of her lips. "I just want you. Today when you pulled me out of the bullet all I could think about was I might lose you. Maddox got away and I didn't care because you were alive. All I want is you."