Hello! This has been rattling around in my brain for a while, because I've always thought that there was so much potential for Castle and Beckett to become more after Cops and Robbers.

Let me know what you guys think!

Martha and Alexis had retreated upstairs, both exhausted after the day's events. Beckett and Castle remained downstairs, having offered to clean up after dinner. Despite this not being a common occurrence, they had the system down. Castle brought the plates over to the kitchen, then Beckett would rinse them, and place them in the dishwasher, and they were soon finished.

"Do you want a glass of wine?" Castle asked, heading over towards the cabinet that held the wine glasses.

"After today?" Kate asked. "I would love one."

As Castle began pouring them both a glass of wine, Kate drifted over towards the couch, lost in thought. Weeks ago, she had come to the realization that she was ready to face what Castle had said to her in the graveyard the day she was shot. It was only today that she realized she wanted to say it back. But she couldn't tell him without admitting that she had heard him – that she'd been lying to him for the better part of a year, could she?

She was interrupted when a glass of wine appeared in front of her, and Castle settled himself next to her on the couch. "You okay there? You looked like you were thinking pretty hard about something."

Go for it, Kate. She thought to herself, setting aside her glass of wine. She took a deep breath, and turned to Castle. "There's something I need to tell you."

He followed her example, setting his glass on the coffee table, and shifting to face her more squarely. "Okay."

Kate was silent for a minute, and Castle wondered briefly if she had decided against telling him. "Castle, I… I heard you. In the cemetery, what you told me when I got shot. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I didn't think that I was ready to face it, and everything was just so overwhelming." She was babbling by this point, looking at the floor, her lap, the ceiling, the door – anywhere but Castle's face, worried what she might find if she looked.

"Kate, look at me," he said quietly, grabbing her arm.

Tentatively, she turned her head, looking over at him, worry evident in her eyes. To her surprise, she found no anger or hurt there. Instead, she found him looking at her calmly, a slight smile on his face, even. The worry in her eyes quickly turned to confusion, followed by panic.

"Kate, I've known for weeks that you heard.

"And you're not angry?" She asked. "Castle, I didn't tell you for months! I don't understand how you can not be angry with me."

He leaned back, though still kept eye contact. "I was angry at first. I was furious. I couldn't figure out why you would lie about it, but after a while I figured that you must have had a reason for not telling me."

"Castle… I'm sorry," Kate murmured, looking away again, and trying to blink back tears.

He was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "I suppose now it's my turn."

She looked over at him quizzically.

"To tell you my secret," he explained simply, before taking a deep breath, and beginning. "After your shooting, I got a blocked call from a man who said his name was Mr. Smith. He told me that before Montgomery died, he sent Mr. Smith an envelope. It contained… it contained all the information they had on your mother's killer." He saw Kate's face pale, saw the shock in her eyes. He continued on, hoping that he hadn't just replaced the damage he had tried so hard to undo after he had opened her mother's case. "Montgomery had a deal. As long as you didn't look into your mother's case, you wouldn't be hurt. After he died… Mr. Smith asked me to do the same. He told me I was the only one you'd actually listen to, and that if I wanted you to live, I had to convince you not to look into it." He paused, and took another deep breath, resolving not to look at Kate. "He never said that I couldn't look into it, though. I've been digging around a little, seeing what I could find, but… it hasn't turned up too much."

Kate stood quickly, bumping into the coffee table and almost knocking over their glasses. She turned, taking deep breaths to try to calm herself, and began to pace back and forth across the living room.

"Kate, I know that I should have told you, but—"

"No," she interrupted, and raised her voice. "Castle, I'm not mad that you didn't tell me. To be perfectly honest, if it had been you instead of me, I would have done exactly the same thing." She turned to face him, tears threatening to fall. "I'm mad because you're looking into it. Are you a complete idiot? You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Look, Kate, it's not like I haven't gotten myself into trouble before," he reasoned.

"Castle, these are trained killers. You're a novelist."

"Kate, I was just trying –"

"Damn it, Castle, I don't care what you were trying to do!" she took another deep breath, and opened her eyes, looking straight at Castle. "Where is the murder board?" she asked, as calmly as she could.

"What?"

"Your murder board, Castle. Where is it?"

Castle stood up, fidgeting under the murderous look in here eyes. He led her into his office, flicking the switch to turn on the screen he used to plan out his novels. Escaping out of the plans for his next book, he clicked on the file marked simply, 'Kate.'

Kate held out her hand for the remote, trying to look anywhere but the picture of her own face, which filled up the center of the screen, and the lines that extended outward from it. Quickly, she found the button to delete the file.

"Kate, are you sure…"

She shushed him harshly. A window opened on the screen: Are you sure you want to delete this file? Yes.

The file closed, and when the home screen appeared, it was no longer an option. Satisfied, Kate set the remote back on the desk, and turned to Castle. "When it is time to open that case again, we will open it together." Her anger fled, and she sighed. "I know that you were just trying to help, but Castle, you could have gotten yourself killed. Did you even think about how I would have felt if you'd been killed?"

"I know how you would have felt. I watched you die, Kate. I did this because I didn't want to have to watch it again."

Kate shook her head. "No. You got to see me come home alive. You got to tell me how you felt. Castle, if you keep looking into this without me, you're going to disappear. I wouldn't get to see you come home, and I certainly wouldn't be there to tell you that I love you." By this point, containing the tears had become a lost cause for Kate.

Castle froze, not daring to believe what he had just heard. "Kate…"

"You almost died today. You almost died in that bank, and I didn't get a chance to tell you." She was now gasping for breath, desperately trying to hold back her sobs.

Still in shock, Castle stepped forward, pulling Kate against him, and holding her tightly as she tried to pull herself back together.

"I'm right here," he murmured, pressing a soft kiss to her head. "I'm not going anywhere now."

Kate pulled back, her eyes red, but her crying under control. "I'm sorry," she muttered, looking down at the floor. "I just completely broke down on you." She made a sound that Castle identified as something halfway between a laugh and a sob.

"Hey… Kate, look at me," he said, tilting her face up to meet her eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for." He placed his hands on either side of her head, his thumbs gently wiping away the tears that lingered there. "I was the idiot who's nearly gotten himself killed. And besides, I'm happier than I've been in years." He laughed, and pulled her into a hug again.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his chest, burrowing her face into his neck and letting herself feel his pulse – reassuring her that he was there.

"Come on," Castle said, untangling himself and taking her hand. He led her out into the living room again, and pulled her down onto the couch next to him. She laid her head on his shoulder, letting him wrap his other arm around her, and closing her eyes.

"Castle?" she asked, after a few minutes of content silence.

"Hmmm?"

"There's umm… There's something that I've been meaning to do all day."

"What?" he asked, turning to look at her.

She smiled, and pressed her lips to his. He froze for a moment, surprised, before responding, moving one hand to cradle the back of her head, and resting the other on the small of her back. They could feel the tension melting away.

It was not a frenzied kiss. It was slow and chaste, gentle, and, in both of their minds, absolutely perfect.

Finally, Kate pulled away, though her arms stayed wrapped around his neck. She grinned, and told him, "Castle… as much as I love Martha, she has terrible timing."

His jaw dropped, but was rapidly replaced by a huge smile. "You were going to kiss me! I thought I was just imagining it!"

She bit her lip, and smiled, knowing the effect it would have on him.

His expression fell for a moment as he contemplated something. "I'm dreaming, aren't I? This has got to be a dream. Kate, am I dreaming?"

"I don't know," she replied, her eyes twinkling mysteriously. "Why don't you tell me?" With that, she leaned in for another kiss, this one far less chaste than the previous. She shifted so that she was sitting on his lap, her arms wrapped firmly around his neck.

Reflexively, his arm circled around her, pulling her closer, while his other hand tangled itself in her hair. When she finally pulled away, out of breath, he gasped, "Yeah. I'm definitely dreaming."

"Well," she whispered in his ear, her voice more hoarse than normal, "If that's all you dream about, we won't be having much fun."

He shivered, looking her in the eye as she pulled back, before flipping them around, and trapping her between his arms and the back of the couch. "Trust me, I have a very good imagination."

"I look forward to seeing what you can come up with," Kate told him, with a blank face and a practiced even voice. "For now, though, I think I'd like some of that wine you got us earlier." She slipped out from under his arm, and reached for the two glasses, handing him his with a smug smile on her face.

They sat in silence, drinking their wine, with Kate's head resting comfortable against Castle's shoulder. Soon enough, the wine began to make both of them drowsy, and they drifted off to sleep.

Thanks for reading!

This will be continued shortly :D

~ Erin