*Edit: 27/09/2012
I apologise for all of the mistakes that this story was originally posted with - that is what I get for writing at half past two in the morning - any errors have now been put right, and my little story will hopefully be a much better read than it was.*

Hello!

I was re-watching After The Storm *for the fifth time* and I couldn't escape my longing to write a story that was based around Castle's offer to take Beckett someplace safe, and the heart-melting hug that they shared afterwards.
I know that we have all be waiting for Castle and Beckett kisses, but I honestly believe that they managed to show more love in five seconds of cuddles then they would have in forty minutes of kisses.
So, that is the basis of my little story - I hope that you will enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Everything and everyone belongs to their rightful owners, I am simply borrowing them for a little while.

Someplace Safe

She felt ready to crumble under the weight of his crooked smile, showing himself off to the public and thriving on the flash and sparkle of the television cameras; smiling as if he had a right to the entire world, and really, Beckett supposed that he did. An ownership wrapped up within the ever tightening grip that he had on the world of politics; his very own slice of the institution at the heart of America, and a claim over the people who believed wholeheartedly in the superhero he was pretending to be. All of them fooled by his ornately crafted mask of lies and deceit, each and every person cheering his name and ticking that voting box utterly fooled by the smile that felt like a noose around her neck. That damn smile that made her feel sick to her stomach; hatred and fear and emotions too tainted to fully understand coursing through her veins like poison, shattering her heart into more pieces than it was made of.

But then Castle was by her side, so close that her body could share his warmth, but not quite touching – allowing her space to breath, to think, to find the courage to let him in completely.
And even though it took her a moment to find that courage, she did so without a single regret, because she's wasn't scared anymore and she certainly wasn't hiding. Castle is her bravery, her ultimate leap of faith, and with him she feels strong and daring and filled with the reassurance of his love.
Of course she is terrified of all that is surely yet to come, but at the same time somehow ready to face whatever may be awaiting her – awaiting them, as long as Castle is there to hold her hand when it all becomes too much to bear.

His voice was her guiding force that night; soft and caring, every syllable knitted with a certainty that Beckett couldn't quite muster for herself, knowing that her reply would shake and quiver with the strain of tears that she refused to let fall – not that night, not for that monster who was still sickly smiling down at them from the safety of his shining news report.
So instead she stepped closer to Castle, flooded ever more by the delicious warmth of his body as it ghosted across her own, his eyes alight with the longing touch her; to hold and caress and absorb the horrors that haunt her life, and yet still he holds back, waiting until she is ready.

She tells him the truth, no longer worried that he will think of her as weak, wanting to share it all with him. Letting out every ounce of fear and pain, of suffering and heartache, of happiness and hope.
His reply, those quiet words that echo out into the night are her breaking point, beautiful beyond belief and overflowing with the love that not a week before she had so foolishly feared,

"Let me take you someplace, Kate. Someplace you'll be safe. "

And maybe a week ago she would have seen them as a trap; a cheap and easy trick to keep her away from her deadly quest for vengeance, but in that moment they felt like love incarnate.
They are the hopeful words of a kind-hearted man; a man who is desperately fighting for the life that they have only just allowed themselves to live. A genuine offer that is filled with only the purest of intentions.

Even as he speaks, Beckett is taking one last gulping breath of the courage that Castle provides, knowing then that she is finally ready.
Ready to face the stark and almost shocking truth of the situation in which they find themselves; the strangeness of running not towards, but away from the demons she has been hunting for what feels like her entire life. And ready to unravel within the warmth of his arms, to sink away from the real world and all of its horrors, to let love and light wash over them like the soft kisses of the ocean as it meets the sand.

All that she used to feel is still there, the bite of grief and revenge always threatening to consume her, but for a brief moment in time she is utterly unaware of them, conscious only of the beating heart beneath her cheek and the loving arms that she is wrapped up in.
Slowly, savouring every blissful second that she can, Beckett allows herself to fall asleep in his embrace. Even in the wake of all that has happened – of all that she now knows, the unfaltering strength of Richard Castle allows her to sleep safely that night; to slip away from the harsh line of the Devil's smile, and to beautiful dreams of the man she so greatly loves.

End.

What did you think?
Please do let me know - good or bad, any feedback at all is greatly appreciated.

Thank you ever so much for reading,
Katie