"Wha-?" Castle shook his head, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Moonlight slanted through the doorway, casting an ethereal light round the room. A figure sat huddled into the darkest corner, tears streaming unchecked, head thrown back against the wall. Castle could see the heavy burden of exhaustion etched in to every line of her shoulders. He knew he must be dreaming, because Beckett, Beckett, was sitting slumped against his bedroom wall, sobbing hard now like her heart might just break and outside the walls the city was silent and the room was liquid silver.

Castle slipped out of bed and approached her, certain that at any moment the spell would break, like a bubble popping at the careless touch of a finger. He knelt, wanting to stretch out his hand, to touch her. Beckett dropped her head forwards allowing the heavy curtain of her hair to hide her face. Castle could hear her drawing in deep breaths, getting herself under control. After a minute, she gathered herself, raised her head and looked Castle square in the eye.

It was like a punch to his gut. Her eyes were luminous with unshed tears, which made them look brighter than ever. Castle couldn't help reaching out a hand to gently stroke down the side of her face, his heart clenching as she turned her face into his hand, eyes closing as a small smile touched her lips.

Castle dropped his hand down the line of her jaw, on to her chest. His fingers stretched out to press against the small mark between her breasts, where he could feel her heartbeat pulsing under her ribcage. He could feel life flowing from her, through his fingers, up his arm and straight in to his heart, a direct line of life and love pulsing between them. When her hand crept up to cover his a sudden sob burst from him, a tidal wave of emotion. Beckett gathered him into her arms, her tears mingling with his as she rocked him, whispering desperate apologies in his ear.

"I'm so sorry Castle, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

He pulled back from Kate's shoulder, and paused for barely a second before gripping the back of her head and bringing his lips down on hers in a ferocious kiss. There was nothing gentle as Castle claimed her lips, bruising them, biting. Kate responded in kind, gripping his shoulders, trying to pull him closer, wanting to knit them together so tightly they could never be split apart again. Eventually their frenetic pace slowed, until with a final kiss Castle pulled back, resting his forehead against hers, breathing deeply to try and calm his pounding heart.

Anger and recriminations would come, but as they knelt there on the floor, locked in a desperate embrace in the quicksilver night, all they could do was cling to each other and pray that the spell would last, that time would stop, that reality wouldn't intrude on this perfect, magical moment.


A/N; Just a short update, but I didn't want to keep you guys hanging any longer! There is a lot more to come – clearly there are issues to be resolved! Thanks for reading, I hope you're still enjoying it!