so give me hope in the darkness
So give me hope in the darkness that I will see the light
'Cause oh that gave me such a fright
But I will hold as long as you like
Just promise me we'll be alright
-Mumford and Sons, Ghosts That We Knew
"Agent Beckett?" Kate stared at the paperwork piling up on her desk, and she didn't register Agent McCord's voice. While it may have simply been lack of sleep that caused her to miss the call, "Agent" Beckett never really sat right with her. She would always be Detective Beckett in her heart.
So when the call came again, this time more impatiently, Kate's head shot up from her desk. "Agent Beckett, are you coming?" Kate nodded, and sighed inwardly. She picked up her coffee mug and drained the last little bit. Even though it was every bit the same as the coffee Castle made her at home, it tasted funny in her throat, like it was missing something. Well, it was missing something. It was missing the heart.
"Coming right now, Agent McCord." Kate saw a small throng of her co-workers, including her boss, go into the observation room, and she smiled inwardly. They all liked to see her go at potential criminals in that room. Kate did like the room, but not as much as she liked the room in the 12th. Take care of that room for me, Castle, she thought to herself.
Kate stepped up out of her chair, and she began to walk over to the interrogation room. "George," she nodded quietly to the guard. He nodded back at her as she walked into the interrogation room.
"Hello Mr. Steinberg. My name is Agent Kate Beckett." She saw that the boy was young, no more than 16. How could he have murdered a 14 year old girl?
"Hello Agent Beckett. Would you mind telling me why I'm here. And please don't call me Mr. Steinberg. That's my father's name." The boy seemed pleasent enough.
"Okay, Rudy. And you're here to discuss the murder of Lena Katellen" Nate frowned.
"Lenie isn't dead." Kate closed her eyes, covering the pain she felt for the boy. She was sure that someone had told him.
"She was found dead this morning." She saw the pain flicker in the young boy's eyes. He ran his nimble fingers through his lemony yellow hair and tried to stifle a sob.
"No. Not my Lenie." Tears began to tumble from the net of blonde eyelashes covering his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Stein- Rudy," she said quietly. "But if you can, would you answer a couple of questions for me?"
Rudy wiped stiffly at his tears. He nodded quickly.
"What was your relationship to the victim?" Kate looked sympathetically at the young boy.
"She... she was my girlfriend." He sighed.
"And, if you don't mind my asking, exactly how well was your relationship going?" Kate sighed at the boy's frown.
"You don't think I killed her?" He started to look panicked. "I would never kill my Lenie!"
"Of course not Mr. Steinberg, I just need to check into every possibility." Kate knew she needed to keep him calm.
"Well, uh, things were going well. I mean," his voice began to crack, and it almost fell to a whisper, "I loved her, Agent Beckett."
Kate stared thoughtfully at the young man. He had his life set out for him. He was in love with a beautiful girl, he had a nice future set out for him, and one day he just wakes up and his dream girl is dead. Murdered. Strangled and taken from him.
"If you don't mind me asking, is there someone like that in your life, Agent Beckett?" Kate's mind immediately flew to Castle. "Someone who you love?" Kate nodded softly.
"Yes, I have a fiancée in New York," she said distantly, her mind so far away from the interrogation room.
"How far would go for him, Agent Beckett?" Rudy Steinberg looked honestly into Kate's eyes, and she felt his pain piercing into her eyes.
"To the ends of the earth," she whispered, blinking back tears.
"And could you possibly imagine strangling him to death?" Rudy held back yet another tear.
"No," she whispered. She saw the security camera in the top left corner close, meaning that the agents had left the observation room. Good.
"Agent Beckett, do you love him?" Rudy's voice was quiet.
"Yes."
"You know, Agent Beckett, the test of true love is how long you're willing to wait for someone. How long will he wait?"
The words sunk in like a rusty knife. Kate stood up from her seat and left. She grabbed her jacket on her way out of the headquarters.
"Agent Beckett!"
"Agent Beckett, where are you going?"
"Agent Beckett, there's still a suspect in the room!"
Kate ignored the calls from her co-workers. There was something she had to do.
Not four hours later, Kate was standing outside of Casa Castle, banging out the door. Richard opened the door, his face lighting up when he saw her.
"Kate!" She jumped in his arms and he spun her around in his giant bear hug. "You didn't need to come down here, I told you I'd wait for you, the day I proposed. I'll wait forever if I have to, as long as I get to be with you at the end of it all."