sorry to say but this is the last chapter. hopefully, i will be posting a new story soon, it's gonna be a harry potter fic, and yes i know i've been saying this for a while but i've had to put other things before writing lately and i hope i will get back to writing.

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The trail was cold, just like Castle predicted, the thirty-year-old picture didn't help them find the counterfeiter. All it did was dry up their investigation. Until a little girl was abducted. She fit their profile to a tee under a year old, dark hair, and white. And her parents were murdered, like all of the fifteen other missing person cases they found that fit their profile as well. They were all taken and their parents murdered near where he was supposed to be according to the FBI. Killed the same way as the women and the other parents, a single shot from behind.

They were suddenly on a clock, they needed to find the missing baby girl before he disappeared. Each time he kidnapped a baby he left the area soon after, moving to the next place he would start counterfeiting. Then there was what happened a few hours after they started working on the missing person's case for the new little girl, Beckett was shot. But they had been prepared since they found out he kidnapped another girl Gates was making the three of them wear their kevlar under their clothes, incase he came after another one of them. Which he did. As Beckett and Castle looked around outside of the apartment building the little girl lived in Beckett was suddenly shot from behind. Castle then got a graze wound on his arm as the killer then shot at him, but thankfully he ducked after hearing the first shot.

"Kate! Kate where did you get hit?" Castle asked frantically as he crawled over to her prone form.

"I'm fine, he hit the kevlar. Get back up, I'm fine." Castle gazed into her eyes, worried that he had come so close to losing her to the shooter.

"Kate..."

"Castle we don't have time, he's getting away."

"Right," Castle ran to the officers that were on the screen and called for an ambulance. The shooter had run off and no one had seen who he was or where he went. After getting checked out by the EMT she ordered any camera footage from a six-block radius be checked for evidence of the shooter. Low and behold they did, five blocks away from the crime scene they saw a man running east of the crime scene and they caught a glimpse of his face. He was older, more wrinkled, and had quite a few scars on his face and neck. There was no doubt it was him, it was Morgan Roberts, in the flesh.

They set up roadblocks, called all the transportation companies, buses, planes, subway, and trains.

"Are you alright?" Asked Castle as he gave her a cup of coffee.

"I'm fine Castle," she sighed as she took the coffee cup from the writer.

"Are you sure? Even with the kevlar, a bullet can do some serious damage."

"I'm fine. Why are you so worried? The EMT's checked me out, it isn't that bad." Kate gave Castle an odd look, why was he so worried? Was what Ryan said a few weeks ago? That Castle was in love with her, that that was why he stayed working with her so long.

"Because someone tried to shoot you. Tried to kill you just like he did Ryan, I'd hate if anything happened to you. I..."

"You what?"

"Nothing," said Castle as he took a drink from his cup. He subconsciously gulped, did she know that he was in love with her? She was looking at him like she knew something.

"Are you sure about that?" Beckett had decided that it was now or never, she would find out here and now. "Are you sure it isn't because of something else? Ryan told me something the day he got shot, he told me he couldn't believe I didn't know, that I was oblivious to what was happening. That I couldn't see what was really going on in my own life."

She grabbed his neck and pulled him to her, into a kiss. They moaned simultaneously, opening their mouths, each fighting for dominance as they deepened the kiss. They kissed for minutes until Beckett's phone rang.

"Ah... Beckett," she said as she answered her phone, lightly wiping away the saliva that was smeared across her lips. "You have? Where?... Are you sure it's him?... Yeah, will be waiting. That was one of the roadblocks we set up at the Lincoln Tunnel. They just found him, he was in a large moving van, the baby and two girls in there late teens were found in the back. We got him, they're bringing him and the girls here. It's over."

"What now?" Castle asked as he looked at he now slightly swollen lips.

"Now we finish what we started."

CASTLE

Ryan was released from the hospital a week and a half later after a seventy-two-hour suicide watch, and many psych evaluations. Espo picked him up and took him home to his apartment, but only for a few necessities, then they headed to Javi's apartment.

"So how long to I have to stay here? Just until my wrists and tendon heal right?"

"Yeah, then we can start to look for our own place," well Javier was still worried about Ryan trying something again, he himself freaking out in the future, he didn't want to waste that time they did have. So even if it doesn't work out he wouldn't regret that they had done everything they could while they had the chance. Not to mention that Ryan couldn't live alone for at least four months, most likely longer. Between the suicide attempt and the damage he from said attempt, weight loss, and the shooting he was weaker and need a lot of rehab and counselling. Moving in together seemed like the best option, Javi could help with the day to day rehab and restricted activities, and it helped that Ryan was restricted to desk duty for the next six months pending revaluation after four months and doctor recommendation.

Thinking like Esposito at the time Ryan had hoped it would be a wonderful idea, them living together. While he wasn't as strong as he had been, and still was injured he started to take off his shirt, a large stretchy shirt he could easily remove without irritating his stitches.

"You know all the dreams I've been having, your very good in them, but I wonder can you live up to the fantasy? Are you as good as you think you are?" while his ribs were still too prominent for Javi, Ryan was still very good looking and the striptease Ryan was doing was making Espo's pants a little tighter than he remembered them being. Taking his words at face value Javier turned to fully face Kevin.

"It that so? I don't you know? I've never had sex with a man before, maybe it won't be all that good to begin with? Or maybe you won't be able to handle all of this?" Javier ran his hand down his side, his hand barely brushing his clothes.

"We'll just have to see and find out now won't we?" Javier rushed forward sweeping Ryan off his feet.

"Yeah we should, is now good for you?"

"Yeah now is good," finally Ryan was really looking into those chocolate eyes, while his blue one's gazed right back. Finally it wasn't a dream anymore, it was real, and actually happening. He didn't pull his eyes away as Javi carried him into his bedroom, and laid him on the bed as Javi crawled on top of him and kissed him senseless. He often wondered if anything could go beyond just the dreams, and this was no dream, except that it was a dream come true.

THE END