The final chapter has now arrived... I hope you all enjoy! - yoto

Alexis Castle awoke the next day staring out the window of her bedroom. She sighed, thinking about what happened last night.

Almost like something out of Dad's books. She thought, thinking back. As dramartic as I'd imagine from him... I wonder how he's doing?

"Alexis?"

The young Castle turned around to find Martha Rogers standing there, a small smile on her face. Alexis smiled back. "Good morning."

"Morning, kiddo." Martha said. "Did you get some sleep?"

"Yeah, a little." Alexis replied, looking at the clock. 10 AM. Everything happened at 3 AM. She thought. I've been asleep for 7 hours. She turned back to her grandmother. "I'm sorry I woke up so late."

"Oh, sush, it's fine." She replied, "I actually turned off your alarm when I woke up; I figured you needed some sleep."

"It was a long night." Alexis admitted. "How's the lovley couple doing?"

"Beckett's awake, your father is not." Martha explained. "Typical for the man, up at the crack of noon... anywho, the detective made us breakfast. She asked if you would join us."

Alexis hopped out of bed. "Aren't we supposed to be mad at her or something?"

"I doubt it... she's had a tough week, from what I've heard from Rick." Martha moved so her granddaughter could leave her room. "Let's allow her to be innocent until proven guilty by your father, alright?"

The conversation ended as they walked to the kitchen counter, the aroma of freshly-made bacon and eggs permeating the apartment. Katherine Beckett looked up from the stove, a small smile on her face. Alexis somewhat smiled back, more focused on the food than the awkwardness of the situation at hand. "It smells delicious, Detective Beckett!" She exclaimed.

"Thanks, Alexis." The muse replied, looking back at the stove as she prepared something in a frying pan. "I figured it's the least I can do, since you guys were so kind as to give me a place to stay for the night." She stopped shaking the pan and took a moment. "I'm sorry for intruding last night... it wasn't your problem, and I'm fairly sure you two got as much sleep as I did -"

"-which isn't much, I take it." Alexis said. "I can see that you're still tired." Beckett said nothing. "As for your apology, Detective... it's as heartfelt as it is unnessicary. Even though we don't see you often - my grandmother and I - we still care about you. Your apart of our admittidly dysfunctional family, wether you like it or not." She took a piece of bacon. "Anyway... what's in the pan?"

Beckett chuckled. "I made an omlette for Martha - would you like one too?" She lifted the pan off the stove slid the omlette off of it and onto a plate, where both Alexis and Martha could see it. It made both female Castle's mouths water.

"Yes, please!" Alexis said as Martha took her omlette away from the counter.

The next couple of hours went by smoothly, with Beckett able to rest a bit more since she found that Captain Montgomery gave her the weekend off. The three women talked a bit about general events in their lives - Alexis' new boyfriend, Martha's new project, the latest prank pulled at the 12th. They shared funny story, happy stories, anything positive that they could think of.

All the conversation ended when they heard a groan coming from upstairs.

"Ah, it's about time." Martha mused, looking at the clock. "It's 1PM. Honestly, I don't know where he inherited his laziness. The man wouldn't wake up at 8AM if the place was on fire." She chuckled.

A couple of minutes later, the writer arrived downstairs, looking past where the ladies were sitting and instead heading towards the fridge. He emerged from the kitchen with a carton of milk and a glass. That's when he first looked at the three women sitting in the living room, staring at him.

"Oh, hey, guys." He said, nodding toward them.

"Hey yourself." Alexis replied. "Did you sleep well?"

He shook his head. "Nope. And I doubt any of you faired any better." He took another sip of milk. "Beckett." He said. "I think it's time to talk."

Here it comes. Beckett thought to herself, gulping quietly. "Sure." She replied, looking toward Martha and Alexis.

Martha was the first to get the hint. "Come on, kiddo, I think you and I need to leave."

"Wha-?" Alexis started, getting partially dragged by her grandmother to the door. "But, I wanna make sure Dad's-" She was cut off by a sharp look by her father. The two left in a hurry, the door closing behind them as they left the loft.

The writer and his muse stared at each other for a minute, neither of them saying anything. Beckett looked straight towards him, but Castle gazed into his half-empty glass of milk. He sighed, chugged the rest down, and went over to the sink.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, washing the glass out. His voice was restrained, not as calm as he would of liked for it to have been.

"Better." She responded. A fake laugh. "My ankle's all healed, and I actually got some sleep. I'm better than what I've been in a while, Castle."

The writer nodded. "That's good. Great, even." He smiled at her, but it never reached his eyes. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

But Beckett stared. "No, you're not." she replied calmly. "You're pissed; I know it, you know it, everyone knows it. So, let's just get this out in the open, alright? One last go around."

Castle didn't even hesitate to start unloading on her. "I was scared for you, Beckett. I was never angry, never pissed - I was concerned for you. You just went off the walls, and you left the Precinct, and you didn't even know where you were going! I-"

"I'm sorry, Castle." There, she said it - no sarcasm, no attitude; a simple, quiet apology that made even the writer become speechless. Seeing that he wasn't talking, Beckett continued. "I know what I did was stupid, and I know that my emotions got too far away from me. I never meant to go that far; once I lost it, I just... I couldn't get it back. Not there, not inside that interrigation room. I had to run." She walked towards him lowly. "I just didn't expect anyone to come running after me." She eventually ended up right next to the writer, who was stopped at the sink.

He smiled, and this time it was legitamate. "You do realize that Esposito was ready to kill that guy, right? If I didn't go after him, he would have."

Beckett laughed. "You? You couldn't even take down a puppy, let alone a suspect!"

He played along. "Oh, that hurt. I honestly think you wounded me with your sarcasm this time." He shrugged. "And puppies are too cute! Who would want to take down a puppy?"

They laughed for a second, the tension finally broken. Beckett looked out a window for a second while Castle just looked at the perfection that was Katherine Beckett. He looked straight into her eyes as she turned to look at him suddenly.

"Thanks." she said. "Thanks for... everything, Castle. Thanks for not giving up on me."

He smirked.

"Always."

Thanks to everyone who's read. I'm greatful for being able to finish this story with such support. Cheers! -Yoto