A/N: Well. Although I have been a Castle fan for about a year now... this is my first time posting in this archive for a simple reason. The talent of the Castle fandom is overwhelming and I feel like I'm throwing myself to the sharks if I try and post something...

But after 47 Seconds and The Limey, my heart's breaking waaay too much for me to ignore my egging writing mind. This is a very, very, VERY hopeful piece... there's no way that this is gonna happen in Headhunters but hey. A girl can dream right?

DISCLAIMER: No. I'm not Marlowe. Otherwise...well, I'd put Stana in charge of deciding Caskett's fate.

He still got nightmares about it, sometimes. About the freezer. About the sniper shot. The fact that...they'd been so close to one of them not making it. Although he tried to stop loving her, he couldn't. His mother was right. Love was no a switch that you could just turn off. But one night, it got too much. He was in chains, unable to do anything as Ryan and Esposito were tortured and then killed...Beckett following soon afterwards by a masked, mysterious "Dragon". Her blood poured out of her body, colour draining from her face and Castle was unable to do anything but watch in horror as the one woman who held his heart...died.

He woke, sweating and gasping, his bed sheets constricting, like ropes that kept getting tighter. He threw them off himself, suddenly remembering that freaking Jacinda was beside him. He tip-toed out of the room, grabbing his trousers and t-shirt on his way out, quietly changing in his office before slipping his shoes on. He needed to get out of here...just for a while. Castle shut his door behind him, hurrying down the staircase to properly wake himself up. The doorman, Todd, gave him a confused smile at his presence, which the writer explained with a short explanation of 'Need some air.'

Castle dug his hands into his pockets, letting out a huffy breath of air as the night cold hit him.

Central Park.

Maybe that would be a good place to go. Clear his head.

He decided to walk...the night air wasn't as icy anymore...and brought a welcomed sense of freedom.

By the time Castle reached Central Park, his face was slightly numb, though he really didn't care much. And then he saw it. Her silhouette. He'd know her outline anywhere...and this was like some completely cliched romance movie. What the hell was she even doing here?

'Kate,' he called quietly. There's the unmistakable click of a gun and he instinctively raised his hands as the weapon got pointed straight at him.

'Kate – it's me!' he said quickly, his words tumbling over each other in his still, half asleep state.

'Castle?' Beckett exclaimed. 'What the hell are you doing here?'

'I could ask you the same thing,' Castle shot back.

'I'm revisiting the crime scene to try and see if I missed anything. What's your excuse?'

'Nightmares. I needed some air.'

'All the way over in Central Park?'

'Yes.'

There was a short, uncomfortable silence, which was broken by Beckett taking the initiative to speak. 'So...how's it going with Slaughter?'

'Alright. It's sort of...' Castle swallowed, trying to conjure up the right word. '...different.' Different. Well, it wasn't exactly a lie. He wasn't going to blurt out how much he wished he could come back to his old team...

No. That alliance ended with Beckett's lies.

'Is it planning on being permanent?' asked Beckett and Castle felt his stomach knot at the shakiness in her voice.

'I'm thinking about it,' admitted Castle. He saw her stance waver and her bottom lip get chewed on. He could clearly see the hurt spread across her face...the same hurt that had been present as soon as he'd given her the cold shoulder.

'Oh,' she said shortly. 'Okay, then. I guess...we just kind of miss you being around.'

I miss you guys too! His head was screaming but he just nodded.

Another bout of silence.

'What happened, Castle?' Beckett shouted suddenly, startling Castle completely and he took a surprised step backwards.

'What do you mean?' he asked, playing dumb.

'What did I do?' Her voice had lowered to a whisper and again, it was trembling. Now, she wasn't even hiding the tears that were shimmering in her eyes that was breaking his heart entirely.

'You lied,' said Castle bluntly. Beckett frowned...it was obvious that there was only one thing he could be talking about but... 'H...how?' she asked quietly.

'You were all for pouring it out to Bobby Lopez but you thought it insignificant to tell me.'

'You were behind the mirror.'

'Yes.'

More silence.

'Look, Kate,' Castle sighed. 'If you didn't feel the same way...you just had to tell me. I wouldn't have walked out or anything if you still wanted me as your partner. But you lied...'

'Wait...just hold up,' interrupted Beckett. 'Didn't feel the same way?' She let out a laugh, roughly pushing back hair from her face. 'Oh my God, you've got to be kidding me. Castle, for a writer who has to read people – you really can't even read your own partner?'

'What's that supposed to mean?' Castle demanded.

'It's supposed to mean that I love you and the only reason I didn't tell you is that I was scared that you'd only said it because I was dying! It's not like you ever said it again!' Beckett sucked it a sharp breath, as if suddenly realising what she'd said. Her head dropped, her gaze averting down to the grass beneath them.

'You didn't tell me...because you loved me?' Castle repeated, nose wrinkled in slight confusion. Beckett nodded slightly. Neither of them said anything for a very long time...Beckett carefully avoiding his eyes while Castle stood there, trying to process the information.

Then, Castle stepped forward, grabbing her arms and pulling her towards him, meeting her lips gently.

At first, not one of them moved.

But then, Beckett locked her arms around his neck, kissing him back as she wove her fingers into his ruffled, dark brown hair.

His arms wound themselves around her waist, pulling her closer without breaking the kiss. Eventually...and reluctantly...both of them ended the kiss, resting their foreheads against each other.

'Kate,' Castle breathed.

'Mm hm?'

'Where does this go from here?'

He didn't miss her grasp on his jacket tighten at his words.

'I don't know,' she replied.

'Hey,' he said softly, tilting her head upwards so that he could meet her eyes. 'What're you scared of?'

'That I'm gonna screw this up,' whispered Beckett. 'I've got so much freaking emotional baggage...there's no way in hell that I'm as simple and uncomplicated as you need right now.'

'Oh, please tell me you didn't listen to that!' Castle groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. 'Kate...your mother's murder...you being a cop...the shooting...it's all a part of who you are and I love you for who you are. And...'

'I love you too.' Beckett cut of his words, giving him a small smile that assisted the sentence she'd just said. Castle grinned, stealing another quick kiss before murmuring one word against her lips.

'Always.'

'So will you be back working with our team, tomorrow? We need your insightful theories. We've hit a dead end.'

'I'll be back,' promised Castle. 'I just need to do one more raid with Slaughter which I told him I'd be there for.'

'And then tell him that you're terminating the temporary partnership that you both had,' ordered Beckett, her eyes narrowing.

'I will, I will,' said Castle hurriedly but he was still smirking. 'It's freezing out here. You want to grab some coffee?'

'Are any coffee shops even going to be open at two in the morning?' chuckled Beckett.

'I can think of one that makes the only coffee you'll ever put up with,' teased Castle, linking their fingers. 'But can we grab a cab? My legs hurt.'

Beckett rolled her eyes, leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder as the slowly walked across the deserted park towards the nearest New York cab in sight.

There was silence between them. A comfortable silence. One that implied I love you.

A/N: Too fluffy? Too unrealistic? Tell me. Please.

NOTE - The raid that Castle is set to go on is where he gets hurt... just saying(: For now, this is a one shot but if you want me to add another chapter about Castle getting injured and Beckett having a freak out or something... just say so. Or if it's just too horrendous to even bear...tell me not to even consider writing another chapter(:

Just be nice about it :b Lol.

Read and review, people! Reviews keep my fingers typing! :D