Standing in the dead woman's apartment, Castle couldn't help but stare at Kate. Could this really be their last case together? Could this really be it? The more he thought about it, the more that ache in his heart grew. As much as he loved a certain British spy, he wasn't sure he could just forget about Kate. No, he knew he couldn't just forget about her.

Castle knew that he and Kate had a strange relationship. They weren't a couple in love, able to stand against anything. They didn't hate each other, people who could walk away without a second glance. Some might call them friends, but he knew better. Kate didn't let anyone close enough to become friends, but they were something. He couldn't just leave behind that something, not without leaving part of his heart behind too, the part she had stolen.

Then again, he could take the three book deal and still see Kate. Castle sighed and shook his head. It would never work, ever. They were from different worlds. He was on of the privileged, she was on of the type that, for a while, had barely hung on by the fingernails. He respected that, but he knew it was a barrier that would forever separate them. No, if he took this book deal, he knew he might never see her again. She would turn into a memory, haunting the dusty pages of his Nikki Heat novel. He didn't want it to end that way, but he knew, if he took the deal, that's how it would.

That's why he couldn't take that deal. He wanted to call his agent right that moment, tell her that he wanted to do three new Nikki Heat novels instead of spy novels. He wasn't letting Kate go. He would never be ready to let her go. He smiled, content with his decision.

In a sense I come from both worlds that are mentioned in this story, and I have respect for both. I think that people with money should do good with it, and I know what it's like to not have any hope left. It's hard to hang on, it really is, and all the more to those who have gotten through it. I find myself feeling better, than realizing that I'm still drowning. It's a hard line to walk.

I do not own Castle.

~DI4MGZ~