Disclaimer: Currently just an unemployed high school grad... One day though...

A/N: I think I passed my French exam so you guys get another chapter!

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Enjoy,

~Rose

Chapter Six

"And all that you can fake"

"Kate," Dr. Burke said in greeting as the ex detective entered his office. The last time he had seen her, she had seemed so angry. Things with her writer weren't going well and it had been emotionally draining Kate. She looked a lot happier this time. She looked content.

"Hello Dr. Burke," she replied with a smile. She headed for her usual chair and sat down. Dr. Burke couldn't help but noticing she didn't have her normal stiff posture; she was much more relaxed.

"How are you Kate?" the doctor asked.

"I'm-I'm a little overwhelmed but good."

"What happened?"

"My mother's case came up again," she said quietly. Burke could see the hesitation in her eyes but she continued. "Castle tried to get me to back down. He told me he loved me again. He told me I loved me yet I still didn't back down."

"And why do you think that is?" As much as the doctor tried not to get too attached to his clients, he was glad that the writer had told Kate he loved her again; she had been starting to get worried that she missed her chance.

"He told me that he has been keeping information from me about my mother's case. He knew how much it meant to me but he still kept it from me. I felt so betrayed. I just couldn't let it go."

Burke knew that the writer would have had a good reason to keep it from her, namely her safety. He didn't know much about her mother's case—just what he had read in Kate's file—but if she had been shot over it, her life was definitely in danger.

"He told me he couldn't watch me throw my life away anymore. He told me he was done and walked out of my apartment. I was so hung up on my mother's case; I should have gone after him. But I didn't, instead I went out chasing the sniper with Javi and almost got myself killed again." She took a deep breath and ran her hand across her forehead, clearly upset by what happened next. "I was dangling from the top of a roof and suddenly I didn't care about catching my mother's killer anymore. I didn't care about my job or even my life at that point. All I cared about was Castle and the fact that I might never get the chance to tell him how much I love him."

The still broken woman in front of Dr. Burke was almost in tears by now. He could feel the remorse and regret seeping out in a wave of emotion. He knew she loved Richard Castle but he didn't see just how much until today. What he saw in her eyes was true love—the kind of love that couldn't be faked.

She smiled then and her entire manner changed. "I called out for Rick but he never came. I thought I heard his voice but then it was Ryan that pulled me up, not him. Gates was there too and she was furious. We hadn't told her that the case we were working on was connected to my mother's murder and Espo and I must have broken a dozen rules. She suspended us both."

Carter Burke was surprised that Kate was taking this so lightly; her job was her coping mechanism. "And how did that make you feel?" he asked, cringing at the cliché.

"Honestly, I didn't even care. As I looked at my badge all I could think was that I didn't have to hide behind it anymore. I wasn't afraid to admit what I really wanted anymore. I resigned." Shock passed over the man's face but he didn't say anything as Kate went to continue. "I couldn't do it anymore. I can't keep putting my life in danger like this. I went to Castle's loft that night and told him how much I love him and that I didn't want to keep denying this any longer."

"So you two are together now?" Burke asked with a small smile.

"We are," she beamed. "Actually, he's here with me today. I was wondering if you wanted to meet with the two of us."

"Of course. Bring him in."

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