Beckett entered the precinct apprehensively, with Castle behind her. She wasn't sure if Captain Gates would still be there, but she always followed orders. So here she was.
She made way over to her desk and smiled at Ryan and Esposito, who were sitting talking.
"Hey guys." she greeted them.
"Yo boss!" Esposito returned, "How was LA?" He held out his fist as Castle exchanged their usual greeting and bumped them together.
"Any idea what the urgency is?" Beckett enquired.
"Nope," Ryan answered, "We were just about to go home when she told us to wait until you got back."
Beckett looked over to her office and watched as she finished her conversation on the phone.
"What's going on guys, did I miss something?" Castle spoke, looking at all three of them with one eye sweep.
Gates now made her way out of her office and was approaching them.
"Detective Beckett, can I please see you and your team in my office." It wasn't a question, she commanded them.
As Castle followed behind, Gates turned to face him and clarified, "This does not extend to you Mr Castle. This is strictly for NYPD employees, not writer tag a longs."
The words stung as Castle backed away, a look of concern on his face. Gates had made no secret of her disapproval at Castle's presence. He wondered if this was now the end of the road for him.
He made his way over to his chair and sat down. He had a perfect view into Gates' office.
Apart from Gates, nobody sat down. Castle watched as she began talking. It was killing him not being able to hear what was going on. He witnessed Beckett in some sort of confrontation. Her hands when to her hair and then up in the air in protest. What the hell was going on in that office he wondered.
Ryan and Esposito both tried to calm her down but she was riled. Beckett looked out over to Castle and then back to Gates as she continued her objection.
Beckett flung the office door open and stormed out as Castle called after her.
"What the hell happened in there?" he asked the guys as they came back towards him.
"We tried Bro, we really tired." Esposito detailed, "She is really not your biggest fan."
"Tried what?" he asked, but a sinking feeling in his stomach told him he may already know the answer to his own question. "Please guys, what happened in there and where did Beckett go?"
"She's been told to take a few days off." Ryan answered as he rubbed at his chin, "I've never seen her like that before." Both Ryan and Esposito stared at each other.
"Like what? Will one of you please tell me what is going on?" he pleaded.
"Iron Gates tore her a new one." Esposito explained, "She told Beckett that she wanted you out, that you had no place in here pretending to be a cop. That yesterday's little stunt just proved how reckless and dangerous it is to have you here."
"Oh." Castle said, feeling deflated.
"Beckett starting quoting statistics to her, telling her that you not only had the best results in the city, but the state." Esposito continued.
"I guess she wasn't impressed then?" Castle asked.
"Bro, she seriously has the bit in between her teeth. Beckett flew to your defence, telling her that you came as package deal. How you were the best partner she has ever had and if you went then she was no longer interested at working at the twelfth."
"Well that's just crazy." Castle said.
"What went down in LA bro? I've never seen her so determined."
"Nothing really. We just, well we just sorted a few things out, I think. Where did she storm off to?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. I think she just needed to cool off, you know how worked up she can get." Ryan pointed out.
"I have to find her." Castle said.
"Thanks guys." Castle said almost running of the precinct.
He stood outside the entrance and looked in both directions. He was hoping to find her there, cooling off like Ryan had suggested. Nothing, she was no-where to be seen. His next stop was the garage, to see if her car was still there. It wasn't.
"Damn it Kate, where are you?" he spoke out loud in frustration.
He quickly hailed a cab and gave the driver the address to Beckett's apartment. Flinging him way too much money when he arrived, he speedily made his way inside.
Deciding that the elevator was taking far too long, he made his way to the stairs. He panted as he took them two at time.
He reached her door and knocked on it. There was no answer. He pulled out his phone and called her, again no answer. It went straight to voicemail so he left a message for her to call him as soon as she got this message.
There was nothing much else he could do until she made contact, so he decided to head home.
Getting out of the elevator he noticed an object sitting outside his door.
"Beckett," he said, "I've been looking everywhere for you. Why didn't you answer your phone?"
"I just needed some time to think. I started walking and before I knew it, I was here." She stood up as he unlocked the door.
"Why are you sitting outside?" he asked as they made their way inside.
"I did knock, but no-one answered. I guess they're out."
Castle walked over to the fridge where Alexis had left him a note, in case he got home and she wasn't there.
"You're right," he confirmed, "I guess they got sick of waiting for me to get home. Both have made other plans for tonight, looks like I'm all alone." He looked behind him to find her still standing next to the door.
She closed the door behind her and made her way over to him. "It's freezing in here Castle. I thought my apartment was cold." She observed, hugging herself.
"Let me start this fire and then I'll get you something hot to drink."
Castle moved to light the fireplace. It was really only for show as the loft was centrally heated. On harsh New York winters, it added extra warmth to the loft.
Pressing a button, the flames roared and the fire came to life. Beckett stood next to it, rubbing her hands together trying to heat herself up.
Castle made two hot chocolates and came to stand beside her. He put the mugs on the table and moved behind her, encasing her in his embrace.
She didn't stir, just keep staring at the fire.
"The guys told me what happened." He told her, putting his chin on her shoulder.
She carefully leaned back into him closing her eyes.
"Kate," he spoke, now turning himself around to face her, "If I can't be at the precinct anymore, then we'll just work around it. Don't do any silly because of me. You've worked too hard to get to where you are and more importantly, you're the best at what you do."
Kate placed her hands on his chest and looked deeply into his eyes. "Castle, you're the best partner I've ever had. I don't wanna lose that." She moved to the couch and sat on the ground, her back against the front of it.
Castle joined her, his hand supporting his head as he softly spoke, "We both knew it might come to this one day. Frankly, I'm surprised I've lasted this long." He laughed, trying to lighten the mood as she raised her eyebrows in agreement as she recalled Montgomery's words to her on that subject. "Besides, who said anything about you losing me? Just because I can't be there, doesn't mean you won't see me. You won't get rid of me that easy detective."
Kate reached out and took a sip of the hot chocolate that was sitting on the table. Leaving a slight chocolaty moustache, Castle reached over and affectionately wiped it away before licking his finger.
"What exactly did she say to you?" Castle was curious. As much as the guys had told him what had gone down, he wanted to hear it from her.
"Just that you were reckless and one of these days your actions might not turn out so favourably." Kate decided to spare him her actual words, she could be kinder. "Of course she couldn't dispute our record, but she firmly reminded me that you are not a cop and should be leaving the detective work to the real ones."
"Why did she tell you to take a few days off?"
"When I said that I wanted you to stay as my partner, that we were a team, she told me to consider my position very carefully."
"Thank you Kate." They were facing sideways now, locked into each other. "You don't have to do this for me. In fact, I won't let you do this for me."
"Castle, I…"
"No Kate, I mean it. I can fight my own battles. I'll speak to her and if this is how it has to end, then so be it. I won't pretend I won't be devastated, but knowing you are still here for me will be worth it." He creased his forehead at her, asking for clarification. When she smiled at him he continued, "Besides, she can't stop me showing up at the precinct to bring my girlfriend coffee or lunch, or just to see the guys."
"Girlfriend huh, is that what I am?" her reply a little lighter.
"What?" he mocked as his eyes went wide, "How about significant other?" She was now rolling her eyes at him and shaking her head as he went on, "Lover?" His voice deepened as her eyes grew darker, "Wife?" he threw in for good measure.
"Wow Castle, you've gone right through the whole courtship and straight into marriage." Although the idea of spending the rest of her life with him did not scare her as much as she thought it would.
"I just want to get to the honeymoon phase." He teased, a tease that earned him a playful slap to the thigh.
Her hand didn't move from his lap, instead she squeezed it a little tighter and rested it there.
"I like this." He told her.
"What?" she asked.
"This. You being here, us talking. It's nice. I like that you can be honest with me. You know you can tell me anything, right?"
"I know," she confirmed.
Castle's hand snaked along the front of couch seat and he lovingly started to play with the nape of her neck, his fingers gently brushing through her hair.
"Can I show you something?" she asked.
"You can show me anything you like." He replied huskily.
"Behave." She told him as she reached for her purse. Not missing the child like pout he had.
Castle was interested to see what was so important in that purse. It always amazed him to see the amount of stuff women actually kept in there. He watched as she opened a side zip and took out a letter. She fingered it carefully before she handed it to him.
"What's this?" Castle held the letter, not opening it just yet.
"This was the last thing Royce left me. I want you to read it."
"Are you sure? I imagine this to be extremely personal?"
"It is and yes, I'm sure."
Castle carefully unfolded the piece of paper. It was worn and he imagined that Kate had read it over and over again. He began to read it as she watched him. At certain parts he would stop and look at her and she knew what parts those were. She knew that letter off by heart.
His eyes were filled with sadness. He could remember her standing over his body in that alley and Lanie handing her that letter. He now knew the inner struggle she had been going through.
"Wow," he responded, "I don't know what to say Kate."
Kate didn't say, but he could hazard a guess that Royce had been in love with her too. Being her training officer he of course, didn't step over that line.
"Are you still fighting it Kate?"
Kate pursed her lips together and considered her words carefully. "Do you remember the conversation in the hotel room?"
"Of course, I meant every word of it and even to this day, you still amaze me."
Kate blushed and broke eye contact for a fraction of a second.
"They way you looked at me that night. I could feel it ya know, that connection." She shifted her position slightly so she was now kneeling at his side. "I was a coward Castle, I ran from my feelings. Royce was right; I was fighting it all the way." She cleared her throat slightly and went on, "After I left you, I stood behind that bedroom door and …" she stopped talking and took his hands in hers.
"What?" he asked, his look penetrating her.
"I came back out and you were gone. All I could see was the door closing and your shadow from the crack in the door walking away." Her grip tightened on his and he knew what a big admission this was for her.
"What did you think would've happened if I hadn't gone into the bedroom?"
"Truthfully, I don't know. Maybe it was the best thing, ya know? Maybe we had go through all that to get to this."
"And what exactly is this?" Castle had to push now; he had to know where he stood.
"This is me not running. This is me not fighting it anymore. This is me risking my heart."
"You know I would never break it intentionally?"
Damn, he could be so sincere at times that it made her regret not doing this sooner. "You better not. There will a line a mile long to take you out if you do." She smiled at him.
"Speaking of taking out, how would you feel about going out on a date with me? I would like to do this properly." You could see the excitement all over his face.
"There's only one problem with dates Castle." She began to tell him, "It gets to that awkward part of the night when you ask yourself if it's appropriate to kiss said date."
"Uh, I see. Do you have a suggestion to that predicament?" One of his hands had now found its way around her waist and he was pulling her slowly towards him.
She licked her lips slowly, paying special attention to her tongue lingering on her bottom lip. She breathed out, "We could always get that part out of the way just now. Ya know, just so we could actually relax on the date."
"Hmm," he considered, "I can see the logic in that."
His next move was so quick that he almost lifted her off of her knees altogether. He swept her into his arms and kissed her like he had always wanted to. The passion in both their eyes was so intense it gave them both goosebumps.
He heard her let out a small moan and that spurned him on to deepen the kiss further. It was a frenzy of hands, lips and tongues as they couldn't get enough of each other.
Castle was quickly losing any self restraint he had. Kate was relentless though, her hand moved to his neck and she grabbed a fistful of his hair. The passion in her was reaching fever point too.
She pressed her body into his, trying to mould herself to him. She could feel the rhythm of his heart pounding, matching her own.
His lips moved down to her neck as he peppered soft kisses along it, reaching her ear. Gently blowing it, his tongue darted out to tease the lobe as he sucked it.
"Castle." She groaned out, pulling him back to her mouth.
When they did finally break, both of them were breathing hard.
"My god Kate, do you have any idea what you do to me?"
The fact that she was almost straddling him, gave her an indication that she did. "Well, if it comes close to what you are doing to me, then yes, I do." She whispered. "I think it's safe to say you can turn off the fire now." She added.
He dragged her to a standing position and because he could not bear to break contact, walked her towards the fire and turned it off. He spun back around kissed her again, as he playfully pushed her back to the couch.
He has a serious look on his face as he sat them down.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Are we okay? I mean this work thing. We'll sort it out together, deal with whatever is thrown at us?"
"Yes Rick, we're okay. We'll do this together, all of it." She reassured him.
That was all he needed to hear as he laid her down on the couch. This was a new chapter for both of them.
Unlike the fire that he had just put out, their love would never need to be stoked.
A/N So there we have it, final chapter. Was everyone happy with how things turned out? I hope so. A huge big thank you for taking the time to read this and leave a review. It made me a happy camper. Hopefully see you all again next time.x
