So, like everyone here.. Caskett at the swings sent me into a whole bunch of emotions & crazy theory building in my imagination so I decided to write a fic about it.. enjoy! (:

Disclaimer: Seriously? If I owned them, they would be on a Honeymoon on a Tropical Island making Little Castle Babies. But no, Marlowe likes angsty Caskett. :(

It's a warm April day, birds chirping and the sun shining brightly across the Manhattan skyline. Any other day, Detective Kate Beckett would have called it a normal day.. Waking up with Castle at 5am because there's been a murder, running down leads all day, interrogating suspects, and listening to Castle's crazy theories that deep down inside, she secretly loved. But today was not a normal day. The FBI & Homeland Security had taken over their murder case, and she really did not want to deal with them today. It was only two weeks ago that she had received a call from the FBI headquarters in downtown Manhattan wanting to interview her for a possible job offer. She knew that they would approach her about the job offer since it was the day the Agent, (Andrews it was?) told her she would be getting the news about whether she got the job or not. Maybe they would call during the day with the news, either way.. she sent Castle home to avoid him finding out about it. She didn't want to tell Castle right away because she was afraid of it turning into a fight about her not telling him, and it was stupid to say something if she didn't even end up getting the job. No, she wouldn't tell him just yet. So she made up an excuse that she was going shopping with Lanie that afternoon, and went to the interview.

She knew that she had to tell him, it was bothering her to be keeping a secret from him.. her mind drifted back to the last time they kept secrets, they had an angsty fight, he said he was done and she almost died. She wouldn't think about that right now, he would understand why she had kept this secret from him. It wouldn't turn into a huge argument, after all they are healthy and alive and there's not someone out there wanting to kill her. They would be fine, wouldn't they?

Her father's words were etched in her mind from earlier that morning when they went out for breakfast, a routine they had grown accustomed to over the years, "Katie, if he really loves you he would support you no matter what, don't be stressing yourself out over the fact that you're keeping it a secret from him. Don't think of it as necessarily a secret, do you remember when you told me that he got a possible deal for writing his next three books on a 'Certain British Secret Agent,' James Bond. He wouldn't say the name because it would be a jinx, its just like you won't tell him because you don't want him to get his hopes up. Your mother used to tell you whenever you didn't know what to do in a situation,"Katie, follow your dreams, if it feels right to you, do it.' Then after you overcame the situation, she would end it with her famous, 'I told you so.' Point is, don't worry about the bad what if's, think about the good what if's.

She knew that her father was right, she needed to stop stressing out over it. She could almost hear her mother say, 'I told you so.' Letting out a laugh, she thought back to all the moments she hated hearing that word, right now she would give anything to hear her mother say that one more time. Then Roy's words played in her head, "I've spent most of my life walking behind this badge, and I can tell you this for a fact... there are no victories, there's only the battle. And the best that you could hope for is that you find some place where you can make your stand. If this is your spot, I will stand with you."

She only hoped Castle would stand with her. Making up her mind, she dialed her speed dial #1. After three rings, she finally heard his voice.

"Hey."

"Hey, whats up?"

"Just wondering if we can meet at the park, by the swings?"

"Uh, yeah of course, I was just doing some writing.. I can be there in 10 minutes? Is everything alright? Are you alright?"

She rolled her eyes, it was just like Castle to be asking her these questions.

"Yes Castle, everything is fine, I'm fine. 10 minutes sounds great."

He knew she was rolling her eyes through the phone at his questions, it was a classic Beckett mannerism.

"Alright, see you in 10."

"Bye, Castle."

"Bye, Kate."

Sighing, she hung up the phone and pulled out of her parking space at the 12th and began the drive to the park.

After his phone call with Kate asking to meet at the park, he knew something was off with her.. she had even been acting odd since about 2 weeks ago, but she shrugged it off like it was nothing.. 'I guess she's going to tell me what's going on today.' he mused. Closing his laptop and moving it onto his desk, he got up and retrieved his keys to his Mercedes, his jacket & his cell phone. Putting on his jacket and his shoes, he went out the door and down to the parking garage to get in his car and drive to the park.

When Kate arrived at the park, she could see Castle sitting on the swings, the same swings she was at 1 year ago when she made the decision that changed their lives. The same swings they were at together for the first time 2 years ago, three months after no communication. She suddenly got anxious of how his reaction would be, she sat in her car for a few more minutes until she built up the courage to realize that she was being stupid and she needed get her ass out of that car and go talk to her boyfriend. It was time to come clean. She pulled her keys out of the ignition, clicked off her seat belt and got out of the car. Locking her car doors she began to walk towards Castle sitting on a swing, god he really is really ruggedly handsome and sexy too. She could just see his reaction if she told him that, it would make his already big ego even bigger.

Castle noticed Kate walking towards him, she had a look on her face that he couldn't make out. Was it sadness? Anxiousness? A mix of both? He was snapped out of his reverie by her voice.

"Hey."

"Oh. Hey, so what did you want to talk about?"

"There's something I need to tell you." Kate said as she sat down on the other swing, facing opposite him.

"Okay.. go ahead and tell me." Castle smiled, hearing a little anxiousness in her voice.

"I.. I uh got a job offer." Kate says looking at him in the eyes.

"Thats amazing! I knew Gates would promote you, it was only a matter of time." Excitement comes out of Castle's voice.

"That's the thing.. it wasn't Gates, its not actually even a job offer at the 12th, its an FBI offer.."

"The FBI?" Kate nods, looking down.. unable to meet his eyes.

"Wow, that's huge, it's what every cop dreams of isn't it? Is that where you were this morning, at an interview?" Castle replies with a mix of confusedness and happiness in his voice.

"I uh.. no actually, I was at breakfast with my dad." Kate says, still looking down.

"Oh right, I remember you do that often now. Kate, how long?" Castle says, looking straight at her for an answer, disappointment visible in his voice.

"Two weeks. They came to me after the case when I protected Vaughn. Apparently word got out how impressed Vaughn was with me and he recommended me to the feds. Today I got the call about whether the job offer was official or not.." She finally looks up at him in the eyes.

"And.. what did they say?" Castle replies a bit annoyed that he didn't hear about it earlier.

"They said the offer was on the table.. But I have to make my decision fast because they also have someone else that is up for the job as well." Kate replies, looking down to focus on the hangnail on her thumb, anything but Castle's face.

"Oh.. are you really considering it?" Castle asks looking straight ahead, his lips in a thin line.

"Yeah, Castle I really am. You're right, it is every cop's dream. I've worked homicide for a little over 10 years now and although I do love it.. I'm not getting any younger here, you know? They said I could start six months of a trial period in either Washington or in San Francisco." Kate says looking at him.

"How could you not tell me? I mean.. this is a huge deal. It's a one-in-a-million job opportunity, Kate. This is the freaking FBI. And it's Washington & San Francisco. What would happen to us? Did you even think about us at all? We could have talked about this, Kate." Castle replies anger evident in his voice now.

"I'm sorry Castle, I just didn't want you to get mad because I didn't tell you and then it ended up that I didn't even get the job.." Kate says, looking at Castle with sadness.

"Yeah, yeah I know. But it doesn't matter if you didn't end up getting it, what matters is that you shared it with me, but you didn't, Kate. And that hurts. I thought our relationship was stronger than that, that we could tell each other anything. Hell, I thought we knew each other better than that." Castle replies, looking at her straight in the eyes, searching for some sort of response from her.

Castle just stares back at Kate, trying to get some sort of response out of her but nothing is coming out.

"Let me ask you this, Kate. What do you want? Do you see a future with me? Do you want a future with me? Because I do. I see the whole nine yards, Marriage, kids, white picket fence house, you being Alexis' stepmother officially, my daughter idolises you, Kate. She already sees you as a mother, she's confided in you at times when she couldn't confide in me, when she needed advice, she came to you. I see us growing old and gray together, but do you want that Kate? If you take that job, we could still do that, absolutely. But it would definitely be a different lifestyle. Do you remember Jordan Shaw during the Dunn Case? She misses birthdays.. she gets home at ungodly hours in the morning, she doesn't get to see her husband and daughter at nighttime nor as much as she would like to. Is that the kind of lifestyle you want? I mean.. yes the FBI is a huge career opportunity, but is it worth it?" Castle states honestly, hoping that Kate would see where he's coming from and that he's all in.

"I.. I don't know. Yes, I do want a future with you but I also want this career opportunity. It's huge for me. I don't want you to feel like I didn't think about us at all. Because I did. I thought about how it would affect everyone, the boys, they're like brothers to me. Martha and Alexis, they feel like my family. And you, of course. You've stood by me, always. Even when I was wrong.. four years, you've been my partner, you've been my friend. And now you're my boyfriend, and my partner. A year now. We've been together a whole year, its been amazing.. you've been amazing. After that bomb scare, when you distracted me and we started talking about how far we've came, how we got to be where we are now. And I finally got to say 'I love you' to you. That was a huge thing for me, I've only been in one serious relationship, and only told it to one man other than my father, and that was Will. And to be honest Castle, I kind of feel like how Will did when he had to make the choice between me or the FBI in Boston. I've been stuck in a rut for a long time with my job, and I really think this job will be great for me, but I don't want to feel bad if I take it." Kate replies, looking straight at Castle, she knows that he's angry with her and she also knew this was coming.

Castle gets up from the swing and stands, looking at Kate he says, "Make your choice, Kate. I don't want an 'I don't know', I want a honest answer.. I'm all in. You know, when you asked me where we were going that night after the Vaughn case was closed, I knew what you actually meant, where we were going in our relationship. I was afraid to tell you because I thought I'd scare you off, but now you know. So Kate, what do you want? Take a hard look at everything and if you see a future with me, that's great, I'll stand with you every step of the way. And well.. if you don't then maybe it just wasn't in the cards for us. I'll see you later Kate, make your decision." He starts to get tears in his eyes halfway through his statement, realizing the actual truth of what she sees in the future.

She just stares at him, a blank expression on her face.. trying to take all of what he said in, did he really think that she didn't want a future with him? How could he think that, after all they've been through and how much in love they are. Maybe she went about the situation wrong, thinking everything was going to be peachy when she dropped the news on him. Well, she was wrong, it was not peachy at all.

"Rick!" She calls, tears pooling in her eyes.

He turns to face her, tears pooling in his eyes as well.

"I'll call you later, you need some time to think." He says in a low whisper, she could barely hear him.

He turns to leave once again, a look of sadness and disappointment on his face, feeling the square blue velvet box in his pocket, the box holding a Tiffany's engagement ring.

And now she had a major decision to make.

What did the future hold?

Love it? Hate it? If you guys like it, I will make this into a 2-shot with her decision (:

Please review! (: