The Watch (Part II)

He had waited. God knows for how long. It normally took the guys from Internal Affairs
about an hour to investigate an officer involved shooting, but when Captain Gates showed
up at he scene, on her day off, Kate knew that the woman was there to make her life hell.
They had been walking on eggshells around each other for the past two months, especially
since it was the Chief of Detectives who'd made a personal visit to her apartment, told her
that he refused her resignation and gave her back her badge. She knew the Captain was
just looking for a reason to take it again. Well if Gates wanted it, she wasn't going to give
it up so easily this time.

When Kate finally made it to the hospital, nearly five hours later, she found Rick fast asleep,
slumped down in an uncomfortable looking chair in the ER waiting room. He didn't have to
wait; he could have called her and taken a taxi home, but he had waited…for her. Was this
going to be a running theme throughout their relationship? Was he always going to be
waiting for her? It had to stop.

He woke when she brushed back a lock of hair that had fallen down over his forehead; he
looked up at her and smiled. He smiled! Damn, the man had the patience of a saint! She
held out her hand and he took it.

"Come on, let's go home." The corners of his eyes crinkled when she said home.

It still felt strange when she said it, but considering how much time she spent there and how
little she spent at her own apartment, she might as well start calling it home. It was home.

….

What was it? He knew there was something he was forgetting. He rubbed at the splint some more, deretmined to...

That's it! It had only been a brief sound amidst a cacophony of sounds, but it helped him to
remember. Crap! Where was it? Where was it? He felt around with his good hand in the
dismembered jacket that lay in his lap. He searched in the two bottom pockets, in the breast
pocket, nothing! Next, he felt the front pockets of his pants.

"Where is it? Where did it go?" He wasn't asking her, but she had been watching his frantic
movements and wondered what was going on.

"What are you…"

"Have you seen it? Have you seen my watch?"

Oh, that.

She didn't reply, not right away.

"We have to go back; we have to go back to the alley." He voice was panicked. "…or maybe
check in the ambulance…"

"Castle." She knew where it was.

"…or maybe at the hospital."

"Castle!"

"Huh?" He looked over and watched as her right hand slipped into in her jacket pocket.

She pulled out his watch, or rather what was left of his watch, and held it out to him. A tiny piece
fell out and landed with a quiet 'plink' onto the seat of the car. His face fell with the part.

He gingerly took it from her. "Not my watch!"

"It's a good thing it was your watch, or your arm would probably be broken." She replied.

"But it was a part of me; it was a part of us!"

She wrinkled her brow at his statement. "What are you talking about?"

"I bought this watch right after we met. I bought it for you."

She arched an eyebrow.

"Well, I didn't buy it for you, per se; I bought it to impress you."

She rolled her eyes.

"…only you never noticed."

She snickered. That wasn't true, but she wasn't telling.

She laughed, but he was serious.

"It's a part of us Kate. It's been with us through everything."

She thought he was being a bit melodramatic.

"…your exploding apartment, the freezer, our dip in the Hudson…"

She snicker again before adding, "…your trip to the Hamptons with Gina."

He cut her a glare and continued, "…the hanger…the funeral."

Oh shit. He was really serious about this.

She needed to apologize, and quick. She wanted to reach for his hand, to give it a squeeze, but
seeing the splint…that wasn't possible, so reached over and placed her hand on his cheek.

"I'm sorry."

He captured her hand with his good one and pulled it to his lips, giving it a brief kiss. "I know."
He gave her a smile.

Yes, it was ok. She relaxed, and then she stuck her foot in her mouth again.

"How about we go this weekend and I'll help you look for a new one."

That set him off.

"I don't want to get a new one! I want this one!" He heaved a sigh, and she thought it best that
she just shut up for a while.

When they arrived back at the loft they settled into a more normal conversation.

"What do you want for dinner?
"I don't care."

"I'll clean up, you go take a shower."
"I think I'll need a sponge bath!"

"Do you want to watch the news?"
"Do you want me to fall asleep on the couch?"

"While you're up, can you bring me something to drink?"
"What do you want?"

"You left the seat up on the toilet again."
"Yeah, well you left to down this morning."

"Gates said what!"
"I told her to call Chief Reinhardt. That shut her up!"

By bedtime, the watch seemed to have been forgotten.

Kate finished up in the bathroom and slipped into her side of the bed just as Rick exited the walk-in closet.
She could hear him jiggling something in his hand, and when he sat down on his side of the bed, she saw
that it was the watch. He held it up reverently before placing it on the edge of his nightstand.

She waited to hear his usual nighttime endearments, but all she heard that night as he turned out the light was…

"I know a jeweler in the Diamond District that might be able to fix it."

Author's Note: I know it's a short chapter, but it ended at a nice spot, and I wanted the finale to be separate from this.