Ok, so the last couple chapters were a lot of setting the scene, so thank you for bearing with me. But it's getting a move on. Thank you for all of your attention to this story! Here is chapter 3. And nothing has changed in the past few days… so I still do not own Castle or its characters.

Hey? Hey! That's the best she could come up with?

Castle smiled like he had just won the lottery, and in his mind, he had no doubt that Katherine Beckett was better than any lottery prize.

"Hey." Castle replied.

The air became awkward as Beckett just stood in the doorway and Castle stared at her with his goofy smile.

Finally, Castle offered her the seat next to his bed, where she had been when they kissed, and she sat down.

"Do you love me?" Castle wasted no time being evasive.

"Do you love me?" Beckett countered. She knew the answer. She remembered hearing it like it was yesterday, his words as clear in her mind as the pain from the bullet that hit her. But, she knew she could never admit it first.

"More than anything," came Castle's certain reply with no hesitation.

And like that, she could no longer distance herself from him, no longer pretend that she didn't want him in her life. Her lips crashed down onto his. She reached for his chest, his hair, his neck, she wanted to touch him everywhere.

Castle was quick to respond, and put his hands at her waist, pulling her in. Both secretly hoped that this moment could last forever. Slowly, his fingers worked their way under the fabric of her shirt. His thumb rubbed small circular patterns on her waist and abdomen, gradually working up and up until a thumb grazed her breast.

Beckett let out a small moan… or gasp (Castle couldn't really tell) and broke away for air. Smiling, Beckett leaned back into Castle for more, when a whole team of doctors and nurses ran into the room.

Apparently, Castle's heart monitor was off the charts, and due to the intense make-out session, combined with the current state of his left lung, Castle was a little more than breathless.

Beckett felt awkward enough about the whole caught making out in the hospital, but as the first doctor was scolding her for her apparent lack of concern for 'Mr. Castle's condition,' she recognized the doctor in the back of the room, trying to hide his face away, as none other than Josh. The fact that it was Josh didn't matter to Beckett, though. There were absolutely no feelings there now, there never really were. She was with Castle now. Or was she? I mean they hadn't discussed it or anything, but expressing your love for one another and making out in a hospital bed sounded pretty together-ish, right? What was awkward was that he must have saw them doing that and now he was trying his best to escape the room.

Finally, after all the doctors left (she wasn't really listening to them talk anyway), Castle and Beckett just stared at each other. At the same moment, they broke out in laughter over the whole situation.

For the next few hours, they just held hands and talked, it was so natural. When they realized how late it had gotten, Castle asked her to stay the night (even though it was against the rules, he knew a few people that could take care of things.) Even though she rolled her eyes at his connections, she admitted that she didn't want to leave just yet.

Castle moved over in is bed so Beckett could lay down beside him. He was surprised when she actually did climb into bed with him, and even more surprised when she snuggled right up to him.

Beckett sighed contently; did she actually just climb into bed with Richard Castle?

"Kate, I've wanted this… us for a very, very long time."

"I know," Kate simply said. Then she leaned up to give Castle a quick kiss on the lips. This was an innocent kiss, not like their other ones, but it was still packed with love.

"What I mean is… I want to do this right. If you have any doubts, or if you're uncomfortable, if we move too fast or too slow… you have to let me know."

"Well, Castle, there is one thing. It's actually why I got thrown off your case, I don't imagine Ryan or Esposito already told you?" She paused for any glimmer of recognition in his eyes, and finding nothing, she continued, "I… I think Gates might have been right when she said this job was too dangerous for you. She doesn't believe that anymore apparently, but I do. You're hurt Rick. And you're lucky to be alive. You shouldn't be putting yourself in these situations, you have a daughter and a mother to take care of. I love you Rick, and I want to be with you, but not at work, not with your life on the line."

This one hurt Castle. Over the past four years, he was sure he had more than proven himself to be a responsible, well mostly responsible, part of her team. He removed himself from Beckett's arms to look her square in the eyes.

"Beckett… I don't think I understand… I thought you loved working with me?"

"I do."

"And this," he motioned to the monitors next to the bed, "this is a onetime thing. Won't happen again."

"You can't promise that." And Castle could have sworn she saw tears welling up in her eyes.

"Look, you could never let me work with you again, and one day a cab could run me down, or I could slip on a patch of black ice, or hell, I could eat some bad sushi! There are millions of ways to put everyone in danger, all day every day. Now, I love working with you, and it's no more dangerous than walking down the street sometimes. As soon as I am humanly possible, I am going to walk into the precinct in the morning, and if you'll let me, I am going to hand you your coffee and give you a good morning kiss. Sometimes, it's not about the statistical danger, but beating the odds. Let's do that, Kate, let's beat the odds."

"Castle…" her voice almost a whisper, "I can't lose another person I love."

"You won't lose me. You have me. Always." He leaned in to kiss her on the forehead, and pulled her back down so she was resting on his shoulder.

"Always?"

It was so quiet that Castle wasn't sure she really said it. It occurred to him that anything that was supposed to be forever never was, especially concerning her mother. He simply held Beckett tighter. "Always my love," he whispered back, but she was already asleep.

Sun streaming through the window woke Beckett up. At first, she had no clue where she was, and feeling strong arms around her, she began to panic, but, luckily, she remembered last night before she acted rashly.

For what seemed like hours after that initial incident, she watched Castle sleep. It gave her time to think about what happened, but it also gave her time to stare at Castle without fear of being caught.

She just finished sorting out her thoughts when Castle woke up.

"Good morning," Castle beamed, leaning in to kiss her. It was supposed to be a mind-blowing good morning kiss, but Beckett pulled away before it ever really began.

"Castle, we need to talk."

Wow… he knew those words were a death sentence for most any relationship. What he didn't know was how he blew it so fast. Wait… was it a relationship? They hadn't really talked about it, But they did spend the night in each other's arms.

She wriggled out of his arms. This was not a good sign.

"I think yesterday… last night… I think it was a mistake. I think we were caught up in our emotions and we shouldn't have. Let's just… let's just go back."

And for the second time in two days, Beckett was sprinting out of the hospital.

Rick heard nothing from her for four days. Ryan and Esposito kept him updated on what happened at the precinct, and he always asked about her. Apparently, she had solved "his" case and roughly a dozen other Italian Mobsters were now behind bars. She had said nothing out of the ordinary, but had been putting most of her time into her job, more than usual.

Two days ago, he came home. He was about to trek to over to her apartment, but Alexis was watching his every move like a hawk, making sure he "took it easy."

A day ago, he stopped sleeping so much and sat down to do some writing when he got a most unusual call—from Iron Gates.

Now he was walking into the precinct, with coffee as a peace offering, hoping to God Beckett didn't shoot him.

He walked into Captain Gate's office, surprised to see a disgruntled Beckett in there too. Intrigue…

"Castle, thank you for finally joining us, sit down."

Okay… so a lot happened this chapter. What is Gates going to say? Stay tuned :p