a/n: For Deb838 who must be the only person who doesn't like the Doctor.

Please excuse any mistakes, it's fairly late and I'm too knackered to do another read through.

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Disclaimer: Castle belongs to the ABC. The genius behind Castle is all AWM's. No profit is being made from this and no copyright infringement is intended.

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Questionable

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There's a heaviness in the air after she says it, a stillness, and a rich, shimmering something that makes his heart swell in his chest, stick in his throat, and all he can think is –

Is she serious?

Rick's choking on the rush of words trying to escape, tongue thick with the noise inside his own head because – she can't be serious, can she?

But she is – one look at Kate and he can see that.

Her face is open in a way that even he rarely gets to glimpse. Her lips are upturned, happy. Her sparkling eyes are unguarded, bright with hope and need and something a lot more elemental than just love.

The noise inside his head stops. His focus narrows. The rest of the world disappears until all he can see is her smile, shy and pleased and so damn beautiful that his heart starts to pound because – God, she's serious.

And if she's serious, then – yes. A thousand times yes.

Baby Miranda chooses that moment to interrupt – must be genetic, he thinks – and she lets out an unhappy cry.

Rick resumes the rocking motion automatically, ashamed to admit he'd almost forgotten his arms were full of Ryan's squirming, gurgling newborn.

It's the moment Kate realizes they're not alone, that they're still standing in a hospital room in front of their friend and his new family. He can see it in the way her shoulders stiffen.

The light in her eyes vanishes in the space of a blink and Rick knows he has to act quickly, his window of opportunity sliding closed fast.

He has to say something – anything – before she shuts him out completely, but when he does finally manage to speak he blurts out a, "You can't do this."

It's obvious, even before her face pales, that he's said the very worst thing possible.

"Oh."

"Kate-"

"I need to go."

Kate spares Ryan and Jenny a weak smile before she's flying out the door.

In his rush to follow her he nearly leaves with the baby.

Ryan takes his daughter. His friend's face still slack-jawed, the detective looking as stunned as Castle feels.

"She's beautiful guys," Rick says. "Congratulations." And then he's out the door, making a beeline for the exit as fast as his legs can carry him.

Rather than wait for the lift Rick takes the stairwell, knowing that's what she'd do, and he skips the steps two at a time, practically running.

His height may be an advantage, but Kate's definitely fast, and she's almost at the ground floor by the time he catches up with her.

"Wait," he says, snagging her hand before she rounds the last landing.

"Let go of me, Castle," she says, making a half-hearted attempt to snatch her hand back from his.

He doesn't let her. "No."

It's a risky move on his part, the knowledge that she could toss him down the stairs if she wanted to very real thing. He takes it as a good sign that she chooses not to.

They stand in silence, chests heaving – his from exertion, hers, he thinks, from hurt – and he's not quite sure how to fix the mess he's made.

Best to start, he decides, at the very beginning. After a moment he quietly repeats his earlier statement, "You can't do that, Kate."

She doesn't look at him as she replies, "Let's forget it, okay?"

"Did you mean it?"

Her eyes, when she meets his, shine with everything she's holding back. "Of course not."

"You can't just toss something like that out there and not mean it."

"Guess you can."

"No, you can't."

"You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Not a chance."

When she looks away he slides his fingers along her jaw. Kate doesn't shy from his touch, instead leaning into him and so he cups her cheek in his palm and turns her back to face him.

It's a hard thing for him to do, but he waits her out as the quiet between them stretches.

Eventually, she speaks. "I need to know, Rick. Are we going to get there one day? Is that where we're headed?"

Yes, is what he wants to say. Instead, in a soft voice he asks, "Is that where you want us to end up?"

Kate opens her mouth to reply just as the door a few floors above them opens. Whatever it is she's going to say dies on her lips.

Two men dressed in scrubs quickly descend and Rick nods at them, sliding closer to the wall to let them pass.

He waits until the door closes behind the men before he prompts her, "Kate?"

Kate drops her forehead against his chest. He's sure she can feel the pound of his heart. "I can't believe we're having this conversation in a stairwell."

"I can't believe you proposed in Jenny's hospital room."

Kate's head snaps up, instinctively jerking backwards, putting physical space between them. Her shoulders tense, correcting her posture into a defensive one. "I didn't propose."

He continues as if she hasn't just denied his claim, "I mean, I guess I understand on some level. It's true what they say about women watching men with a baby. Makes us completely irresistible."

Her shoulders drop a fraction. "Shut up, Castle."

"I just can't believe you proposed-"

"I did n-"

"-when I was going to. You couldn't wait for me to ask you properly?"

"-what?"

"I had a plan all worked out – and not some spur of the moment thing either," he confesses. "It took me nearly two months to find the perfect ring."

At her gaping expression he continues, "I know you don't like big, public proposals, so the helicopter was out. I thought about a carriage ride through Central Park, but I'm not sure how you feel about horses."

"Castle-"

"Yeah, I figured nothing of the equine variety. That's why I decided I was going to cook for you. I know you like my cooking. Or, at least, you said you liked my cooking."

"Rick."

"What? You don't like my cooking?" He makes a face. "I suppose it's not too late to make reservations at La Grenouille. The ring was going to be slipped into the bottom of your desert. I got the idea from that case – remember the one with the frozen chef?"

On some level he's aware that he's rambling but he doesn't seem capable of stopping. "I was thinking about taking a course to make those fancy edible sculpture things but do you know how long those take? Six months! That's before you factor in the waiting lis-"

Kate finally succeeds in silencing him with a kiss.

For a split second he feels grateful and then he can taste fire and hope and so much damn love that he can feel nothing else.

He's smiling when they break apart.

So is she.

"So the answer is yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes," he says, "I'll marry you."

A grin splits her face, a wide eye-crinkling kind of happy.

"But you can't just blurt it out like that. I expect you to ask me properly, Kate."

"You want me to get down on one knee?"

Rick nods.

And so she does. "Will you?"

Rick pulls her to her feet. With a smile he presses a kiss against the fourth finger on her left hand. "Always."