"I still can't believe it was costume jewelry." His disappointment was palpable- and repetitive- as they exited the precinct and walked together, a habit they'd developed and something that she grudgingly admitted to herself that she looked forward to. "I wonder if Dempsey knew."
"I'm sure he did. It was probably part of a big show, protecting the necklace and the woman who wore it, helping to keep the illusion of the oyster with his pearl." She'd have sworn the PI's diary was rubbing off on her as well, cheesy forties dialogue running through her head and twisting with her thoughts of the case, thick as thieves. "I don't know, Castle- I think if Dempsey had a real necklace like that, he'd have kept it hidden away rather than parade it around on the neck of some dame."
"Some dame, hm? If I didn't know any better, Detective, I'd say you thought the diary was as cool as I did." The diary wasn't the only thing that was cool, leaves rustling faintly on the trees as a gentle wind kicked up, and Castle pulled the lapel of his coat a little tighter. "It's getting colder. I would have thought spring was ready to kick in by now."
"Not quite. Groundhog saw his shadow- six more weeks of winter, remember?" Beckett shivered as the breeze worked its way around her thick scarf. "I'd love to go home and relax with a fire, but hearing that story about Sally and her husband I don't think I'll be eager to huddle around the flames any time soon."
"Well, all you and I are cursed with is our own good looks, so I don't think we have anything to worry about." As his hand came up to hail a cab Castle smiled, the light from a streetlamp catching his eyes and making them shine. They always shone when he was on the case with her, a gleam of suspicion and intrigue flaring up as the clues flew in and his theories formed like icicles on overhangs in wintery New York. The gleam changed as she began to smile, and his arm lowered inch by inch, a cab pulling up to them at the curb. It was brighter now, and as he opened the door Beckett stepped up, pulling a thin silver chain from beneath her coat.
"Well, let's see if we can't break our own curse, then." His lips were warm against hers, and although she'd kissed him before it seemed different now, cast in a glow of its own creation. Somehow she wondered if she wasn't channeling Vera, a dame in love and not afraid to run away from the mob and the darkness to find her own life. Her mother's murder had been a noose, piano wire garroting her ability to love, and she was damned if she wouldn't take this page from Vera's playbook.
"I'd say 'Here's looking at you, kid'." Castle lifted his hand again, this time to gently cup her cheek before ushering her into the cab, his body firm against her as he followed her in. "And I'd say here's to the beginning…of a beautiful friendship."
"We're already friends, Castle."
"Then here's to the start of something more." She could see the reflection of the butterfly in the rearview as the cab pulled into empty streets, a light rain beginning to fall against bleary windows. They were setting off into the night as Vera and Joe had, and would live as they would…
Happily ever after.