Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!
Summary: Joe and Vera's story forces Kate to think about things with Castle.
AN: This assumes Joe and Vera were killed as was originally suspected. Also, I LOVE ALL THINGS CASKETT! This is my first shot at a less than 1,000 words fic, so be nice! I usually like to ramble for pages. =D
Detective Kate Beckett sat back, trailing her finger aimlessly around the rim of her now-empty coffee mug. The Blue Butterfly case was over. Ryan and Esposito were processing the over-eager nurse, Castle was off in evidence fawning over the lost necklace, and for the first time in months, it looked like Kate might be able to leave the 12th at a reasonable hour.
Yet for all the excitement and enthusiasm in her partners, Kate could help but feel disheartened. She supposed she shouldn't. What was it Castle had remarked to her? That she was "all about the cloud, never the silver lining."? She felt a reluctant, yet obligatory smile sneak through at the thought of the writer. After all, with him seeing the silver lining in everything from burnt toast to their own kidnapping, how could she help it? Today, however, she didn't have the heart to be satisfied by a simple case closing. Joe and Vera were dead; burned to death as they tried to escape the old club.
She shouldn't be sad. Their love story ended over 60 years ago, their killers were dead, the Blue Butterfly was in safe hands, it was over…
"Kate! Kate! Kate!" Richard Castle's voice broke through her reverie as the man himself came bounding off the elevator towards her desk. "You'll never believe – what is it?" He stopped short at her troubled expression.
"What?" She replied slightly defensively.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." She needed him to leave. His presence was making things worse, and she couldn't figure out why.
"Kate." He simply stated as he stilled her unconsciously fidgeting fingers.
Kate felt her breath hitch at his touch, "Damn him."
"I can't stop thinking about them." She sighed.
"Detective Beckett, the secret romantic…" He lightly teased as he sat down in his usual chair.
"I'm serious, Castle." She snapped.
"I know," he hurriedly assured. "I'm sorry." A moment of thoughtful silence passed between the two. "If I may, though, why this one?" Kate looked up, but kept quiet, so Castle decided to push a little harder. "You see tragedy everyday. You comfort victims' families, you watch lives fall apart, you see humanity at its worst. I know you well enough to know that each case is hard, but there's something different about this one…"
"She died before she could tell him!" Kate exclaimed. "He told her he loved her…he said so in the diary…but she never told him."
"How do you know – ?" Castle started, confused.
"When CSU found the necklace, they also uncovered a letter Joe left with his secretary incase his plan didn't work. He wanted her to know that he knew she loved him, even if she wasn't ready to say it. I should have left it with them…I was going to sneak it back after work…but…" Kate paused. "Castle, they spent every minute together. He saved her life, he was willing to risk everything for her and she never told him." Kate's hand absentmindedly clutched her mother's ring over her heart, where the bullet from the previous year had nearly torn her and Castle apart. "He said he knew how she felt, but he didn't know, Rick, how could he have known?"
Castle stared at Kate, stunned and trying to hide the hurt behind his eyes. He wondered if she knew how much she'd just confessed to him. She remembered everything. She remembered him telling her he loved her as he prayed for an ambulance and watched the life drain out of her eyes. She lied.
For a moment, hurt nearly turned to anger, but Castle kept himself in check. After their long talk about trust and Kate's need to break down the walls that were keeping them apart, the last thing she needed was for him to call her out. Besides, that admission wasn't the only thing she'd let slip. She loved him. She may not have said it directly, but her feelings were clear, and for now, that was more than enough for him. Breathing deeply, he swallowed the torrents of words he wanted to say for the few that would move them through this.
"Kate, he knew." He said softly, holding her gaze. "Everyday they were together, something else about her would tell him; her looks, her smiles. She was willing to throw away everything she had to run away with him. She knew she'd be killed if they were caught together, and she didn't care. Now, you can chalk that up to being foolish and romantic, but I promise you, he knew she loved him…he knew she'd take a bullet for him."
Kate's head dropped with a half-hearted laugh.
"How do you always know the right thing to say?"
"I'm a writer, my dear detective, it's what I do." Rick smirked at Kate's signature eye-roll. She was back. "Can I buy you well-deserved drink?"
"Nice try, writer-boy." Kate quipped back, hoping her yearning to say yes wasn't terribly obvious.
"Your loss, detective." Castle stood up, grabbed his jacket, and turned to leave.
"Hey, Castle!" Kate called out. He turned around back to her. "What were you so excited to tell me earlier?"
"Nothing important."
"You sure?"
"Absolutely. Until tomorrow, Beckett." Castle slipped her a parting wink and let the elevator doors close. Kate didn't need to know The Blue Butterfly had turned out to be a worthless fake. She didn't need to know Joe and Vera were killed over it for nothing. As far as Castle was concerned, the only thing Kate ever needed to know about Joe and Vera was how deeply they loved each other. Castle smiled as he pulled the necklace out of his pocket and gazed down at the sparkling blue butterfly. This case had brought Kate huge steps further towards breaking down her wall. Maybe the little butterfly wasn't so worthless after all.
I'm about to watch "Pandora" and I'm FREAKING OUT GUYS! CASKETT FOREVER!