Several hours later, the makeshift quarantine zone had been dismantled. The virus couldn't survive for any length of time without a human host, so once they were all cured, it wasn't long until the virus had died. Lanie's cure had then been distributed to all the other infected buildings which had also included the World Financial Centre. The death toll had escalated to fifteen.

After everyone in the precinct had been given the necessary drugs, the improvement they felt was almost instantaneous. The fever vanished, the nausea faded and breathing became much easier. All that was left was a feeling of incredible tiredness. Castle didn't trust his legs to hold him up for any length of time, so he had taken up his usual seat beside Beckett's desk, rubbing his aching chest. He felt as though several people had been using his chest as a trampoline when he had been unconscious.

"Some day, huh?" Ryan said, perched on the side of the desk near Castle.

"Tell me about it!" Esposito said. He was still hovering protectively by Ryan's side, as though he expected him to fall ill again at any moment.

"Possibly the worst day of my life," Beckett agreed.

"Yeah, but I died, so I win!" Castle piped up.

"Castle, it's not a contest," Beckett said, with a good-natured sigh.

"Uh, excuse me," came Lanie's voice from behind them, "you might have died, Writer Boy, but I had to create a cure for the flu to stop you all dying. So I win."

"Hey, Lanie," Beckett said, smiling.

"How did you do it?" Ryan asked.

"Well I already had all the chemicals I just had to put them together," she said, shrugging. "It didn't help that I had the Centre for Disease Control shouting in my ear the whole time."

"The CDC was here?"

"Nope, I called them when I started working on the cure. I was surprised that Ethan Ware hadn't called them already actually. They kept telling me that they were really close to discovering a cure so I didn't have to bother. They were talking to me like I was all kinds of stupid, so I told them I had the damn cure, I just had to get it out of this guy's stomach. After that, they were a lot more helpful."

"You were amazing Lanie, you saved our lives," Kate said, smiling. There was a little bit of her that felt sorry for the person at the CDC. Beckett could more than hold her own when interrogating a suspect, but she would never want to be on the receiving end of an angry phone call from Lanie.

"I know," Lanie agreed, smiling. "Considering I haven't studied virology in about ten years, I'm surprised you aren't all in my morgue."

"That's... reassuring," Castle said.

Suddenly, Beckett's phone rang. She walked a little way away from them to take the call. When she came back, she was looking pleased.

"Guess who the detectives at Midtown South have just arrested?"

"The guy who stole my wallet that one time?" Castle asked. Esposito and Ryan joined in the guessing game.

"Michael Jackson?" Esposito said.

"Dude, he's dead," Ryan scoffed. "How about some serious suggestions, like Scarlett Johansson!"

"No, I've got it!" Castle said. "It's Robert Downey Jr! Oh my God, it's Robert Downey Jr isn't it?"

Lanie and Beckett exchanged a disdainful glance.

"They're all yours, girl," Lanie said, throwing up her hands in mock exasperation. "I've got a morgue to clean up."

"It's Harvey Baxter," Beckett said. They're bringing him to us now."

"No Robert Downey Jr?" Castle said, sadly. "But he's so dreamy."

Beckett laughed, rolling her eyes good-humouredly.

The Captain strode out of her office. She was the only one who seemed completely unperturbed by the whole experience.

"I thought I asked you all to go home," she said, frowning. Neither Castle nor the detectives said anything. The Captain shook her head in exasperation. "The FBI is on the way," she said, resigning herself to the fact that no one was leaving until the case was closed. "You'll be handing this case over to them when they arrive."

Beckett looked frustrated. "But I've got the man responsible in police custody. He's on his way in right now!" she said. "This is my case, I want to finish it."

"The FBI will be here in two hours, you can stay on the case until then, but the second they walk through the door, you are off the case. Terrorism is not your jurisdiction. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir," Beckett said. Ryan and Esposito muttered their assent as well.

When the last of the quarantine equipment was getting dragged out of the department, Ethan Ware arrived. He had pulled the hood off of his hazmat suit so they could see his face properly for the first time. He had quite attractive, chiselled features with young eyes, but his face looked tired, exhausted even, like a man whose job had aged him several years.

"Mr Ware, we can't thank you enough for all the help you have given us today," the Captain said.

"Don't mention it, ma'am, I'm just doing my job."

Over Ware's shoulder, Castle saw a man who must be Harvey Baxter getting dragged in by two officers. He looked about fifty with a large bald patch on the top of his head. Being a big man, he was already putting up a decent fight against the two uniforms who were restraining him, but when caught sight of Ware, he became like a man possessed.

"You lied to me!" he screeched at Ware. Another officer hurried over and grabbed Baxter by the shoulders to stop him launching himself at the Department of Health official. The blood drained from Ware's face.

"I have no idea what he's talking about," Ware said, when everyone turned to look at him.

"You told me I wouldn't be implicated you son of a bitch!" Baxter screamed.

Ware gave a nervous laugh. "He's obviously got me confused with someone else..." but as he said it, he took a little step backwards away from Castle, the Captain and the three detectives. Esposito was perching on the end of Beckett's desk next to Ryan, but he stood up slowly when he realised something wasn't quite right. Ryan tried to stand as well, but Esposito put a firm hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down on to the desk.

Baxter was still screaming like a lunatic. The three officers who were still holding him tightly but they had stopped leading him towards the interview room, apparently just as curious as everyone else to find out what Baxter was talking about.

"If I go to prison, you're a dead man, Ware! You told me the job was above board. You lying bastard!"

"He's got you confused with someone else, huh?" Castle said, raising an eyebrow.

Ware opened his mouth to speak, but he said nothing. Suddenly, he turned on his heel and ran for the door.

"I don't think so!" Esposito shouted, launching himself after Ware. Ware had barely got five paces before Esposito had tackled him to the ground. Beckett hurried over to them and handed Esposito a pair of handcuffs.

"He's treating me like I'm made of glass," Ryan muttered sulkily, catching Castle off guard.

"Who? Esposito?" Castle asked.

"Yeah."

"Well you did almost die," he said reasonably.

"I hate sitting on the sidelines."

"Now you know how I feel," Castle laughed. "I've been doing it for four years; you'll manage for a few days." He put his arm around Ryan and pulled him in to a quick man-hug. The whole experience of watching his friends suffer had made Castle realise just how important they all were to him. He did his best to stay away from the cliché of saying that they were 'like family' to him, but it really felt like they were his own flesh and blood. Except Beckett. That would make things very weird.

Esposito started leading Ware to Interview Room Two and Beckett came over to Castle and Ryan.

"Ryan, you're going to interview Ware with Esposito. I'll come in and see you if we get anything useful out of Baxter."

"Okay," Ryan said. He stood up from his perch next to Castle but had to stand still for a few seconds, getting his balance.

"You okay?" Beckett asked, studying him worriedly.

"Yeah, sure, I just need a minute... head rush." Ryan blinked hard as though he was trying to clear his vision before slowly following Esposito in to Interview Room Two.

Castle stood as well.

"So we get to interview Baxter?" he asked.

"Yeah. He's obviously completely convinced that Ethan Ware is behind all of this, so this should be very interesting."

Castle stood up and headed towards their interview room with Beckett slightly behind. He went to reach for the door handle when Beckett spoke.

"Castle,"

"Right, sorry, you go in first," he said, standing back from the door to let her past.

"No it's not that," she said. She looked a little uneasy.

"Kate?" he asked. She wouldn't meet his eye, so he gently lifted her chin so she was looking at him. He studied her intently. "What is it?"

"Remember when I nearly fell from that building?" she said, swallowing. Castle tried not to think about the fact that Kate had nearly fallen sixty feet to her death just a week ago.

"I remember..." Castle was getting a bit uneasy himself now.

"Well I thought it had really put my life in perspective because it made me realise how much I wanted you..."

"But?" Castle said, his heart now pounding against his ribcage. He had the awful feeling she was about to tell him that everything that happened, everything they had done had been a mistake.

"It was only when I thought I was going to lose you today that everything came together. I don't just want you; I love you, so much." She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "But remember I asked you to be patient with me? That I might not be ready to dive straight in to a relationship?"

"I thought I was being patient with you?" Castle asked.

"You are, you've been wonderful, but..." She looked uncomfortable, like she had something important to say, but she wasn't quite sure how to do it.

"C'mon Kate, you're killing me here," he said.

"I don't want to be patient anymore. I want to have a complicated, messy, frightening, wonderful relationship with you. It's going to be scary as hell for me, but the thought of losing you is worse," she said quickly.

Castle felt a wave of relief wash over him.

"You'll never lose me," he whispered, pulling her in to his arms.

"I lost you today," she murmured in to his chest.

"Hey," he said. "Look at me." She looked up at him, her eyes teary. Her nose skimmed against his chin and he almost lost his chain of thought. "You did not lose me. You have me forever, if you want me."

"Of course I do," she said. She lifted her hands and put them on either side of his face. She stretched up on her tip toes and kissed him. Of course, they had kissed before, they had even made love for the first time just seven days ago after Kate had nearly died, but that didn't stop the hairs on the back of Castle's neck standing on end or the little electric shocks that shot up his spine when her lips touched his. Her slim arms wound their way around his neck. Castle had one of his hands on the small of her back and the other in her long, brown hair. A small, deep moan escaped his throat as Kate pressed closer to him and his hands explored her back. All he wanted to do was take her home with him but he knew there was something they had to do first. He just couldn't remember what. Something about a suspect or mass murder or something.

They finally broke the kiss when the need for air became urgent but they didn't move apart. They stood with their foreheads pressed together, gasping a little.

"We, uh, have a suspect," Beckett said finally. "We should probably interrogate him."

"Probably," Castle whispered in agreement but they didn't move. Castle was transfixed by the beautiful woman standing before him and Beckett didn't move either.

"Castle," she said.

"Mmm?"

"We should..."

"Yeah..."

After another long moment, Beckett moved away from him a little.

"Oh, you've got a little bit of lipstick there," she said, smiling. She reached up and wiped away a smudge just above his top lip. Castle's breath hitched in his throat as her thumb brushed his lip.

"Oh, look," he said mischievously. "You've got a little bit of lipstick on your face too. Let me get it for you."

It a smooth, swift movement she was back in his arms and he was kissing her again. He never wanted to let her go.

"Castle," she murmured against his lips. They pulled apart. "We really need to go interview Baxter."

"I'm actually a little preoccupied," he whispered, kissing her jaw, below her ear, down her neck. She gave an appreciative little moan before finally stepping back.

"Come on Castle, I have no doubt that you could keep me busy all day," she said, raising an eyebrow seductively, "but we need to interview Baxter."

Castle frowned. "I don't wanna," he whined.

"That's real attractive, Castle," she smirked. "Come on."

A/N Thank you very much for reading. A few of you were wondering if this story was post-Always; yes it is!

Please review and let me know how you're enjoying the story so far. A huge thank you to those of you who had reviewed already.

Expect the next chapter in two days!