A/N: Woke up this morning with this story flying through my head. It hasn't been beta'd so any mistakes I'll own up to. It's a little cheesy and a little fluffy but who doesn't want that from these two. It started as a quick one shot but more story is floating around my brain. It could be expanded later on this week so keep an eye out. Thanks for reading, reviewing, etc.
Sterile white and cream walls assault her vision when she walks in the building. The world so much like one she remembers from her own history blurs in its motion around her. Nurses, patients, beeps, cries of pain and anguish all blend around her to distract her from what she is here for. She can't be bothered to take in the details here tho. She is on a mission. A mission greater than any case, tracking down any lead, finding any suspect. She's looking for him. She will always look for him.
She looked for him for months when they all thought there was nothing to find. They had a body, a car, evidence and more painful reminders of his being gone than she could handle. But she knew him. Knew that he wouldn't give up on their fairytale that easily and neither will she. She won't walk away from him ever.
She finds him where she always does these days, sitting in a chair with a book and a blanket staring out the window. He's waiting from someone. He's waiting for her.
He just doesn't know it yet.
The last few months this journey has been the same. Come in early, sit with him a while, listen to his stories and leave with a heart heavier than the day before. Heavy because she misses him. Heavy because she loves him. Heavy because he's not there. She hasn't been the same since that day. The weight of the world sits on her shoulders and she's not sure if he would recognize her even if he did know her. So much has changed in the months that have followed but this has been the way for the last few.
The greeting is always the same. The instinctual gravitation of his attention to her arrival in the room where he watches her, just like he always did. He abandons the window then, too focused on her to keep a look out anymore. His arms have gained strength so his appearance in front of her takes less time now than it did in the beginning. When he's in front of her she swears she can see his heart rate speed up slightly under is too thin frame.
"What is a gorgeous girl like you doing in a place with old farts?"
She smiles. It's not the one he loves, that is still buried behind a wall but it's a smile that he returns easily. "The only old fart I see around here is the one in the wheel chair in front of me."
And just like that they are back to basics. Back to the easy banter and loaded looks. He may not know who she is anymore or why she is there but they are them here like they always have been. He asks her to join her, entertain him, take him away from this mundane place. They talk for hours about books she's read that he doesn't remember, movies that they've seen together that he doesn't remember, they talk about everything that doesn't matter that he doesn't remember.
He always has the same book in his hand when she comes and every time they sit down to eat lunch together, not the 5 star restaurants of the past but decent food for the location, she brings it up.
"What is that book you've been clutching all day? Must be a pretty good one."
He looks at it like it's Longbeard's long lost treasure. She doesn't have to see the cover to know which one it is. It's their beginning and one that they all hope will be the key to fixing everything.
"It's Nikki Heat. They tell me I wrote it. I'm a writer or something. Not that I can remember. I don't remember much these days. But they tell me I wrote it about someone special. I read it this morning. She really must have been extraordinary."
And that is something new. She tries to keep the reaction off her face but her heart skips in her chest as her breathe hitches slightly. He read it. He never reads it. Just holds it in front of him all day waiting.
"That's an interesting name for a character. Why don't you tell me about it a little bit? Don't think I've read that one yet."
His face lights up like a kid on Christmas and he dives in telling her all about Nikki Heat, the kick-ass detective and her faithful companion Jameson Rook. She laughs when he says that Rook is a little pathetic always following Nikki around. He doesn't see why he would waste so much of his time on one girl.
When his speech slows down and his eyes begin to droop she takes him back to his room. The familiar path down the hallway past the sympathetic nurses and people who have it way worse off is painful but oddly comforting. He's still here. That is what she holds on to.
She waits by his side while he naps, catching up with the boys and Lanie about the current case. Alexis calls to see if there is any progress today, always just as hopeful for a miracle as herself. When he wakes he's adorable when he realizes she's still there. They pass the time in the afternoon with him hearing her story; it isn't until dinner that she gets to theirs.
Sitting in the over lit dining room she starts to tell him about them. About that first case and how she pulled him out of his book signing. About the near misses, way to close of calls and times when signals were crossed and all looked hopeless. She tells him about the others that littered the road, Montogermery, although she skims the details in his death, the boys and Lanie, his ex's, her ex's, everything. She tells him their story like he would tell it to her. When she gets to the fateful night of the rainstorm she is tearing up and so is he. Their first year is full of laughter and more than a few tears. His proposal brings a smile and her time away isn't as painful anymore. She tells him about time travelers and killing monks, fashion queens and teen proms. She tells him it all up until the day they were supposed to wed.
By this point in the story he is back in bed, exhausted from another day of healing. His body will slowly recover and he will be able to move back into the loft, write, even play laser tag, if he remembers any of it. As he lays down he asks where her husband is and why isn't he mad that he monopolized her all day. This is the part that hurts. Everyday she has to remind him of what happened and who he is to her.
"We never got married."
"He didn't deserve you."
"What?"
"Anyone who would leave a woman like you at the alter doesn't deserve you."
"He didn't leave me at the alter. There was an accident on the day of the wedding. He never made it to the venue."
"I'm so sorry. Was he ok?"
"I hope he will be someday. He's a remarkable man, a little annoying and childish sometimes but he's my world. I wait for him everyday just like he waited for me."
"Where is he?"
And here it is. The moment where fiction becomes reality. It's always make or break and she hopes that today is one of the good ones. Their have too many bad days along their journey. They deserve some good ones. They deserve a chance to spend the good ones together.
"I'm looking at him."
The pained look on his face turns to confusion. "Did you say you were looking at him? Is he here?"
"He's you. It's me Rick. It's Kate. I'm right here. Please come back to me."
He looks at her for several minutes trying to process everything. She holds her breath like always just waiting to see what will happen next.
"Kate." The smile that accompanies the whispered words could light up the room. It's the smile he only gives her, the one she hasn't seen since she left him at the loft to get ready to be his wife. The doctors said he could regain his memory and it could happen slowly or all at once. With Castle she always knew this was how it would be. Like a romantic comedy she swears she made him sit through early on in their relationship. His blue eyes are clear and she can see in them that he remembers. He remembers everything. In that moment of clarity she knows he has found his way back to him again.
"Hey Castle. Took you long enough."
She knew he would return to her. They always find their way back to each other. After all if you don't even believe in the possibility of magic, you will never find it.