A/N: LAST CHAPTER! What else can I say? Enjoy!

Kate woke up on a stretcher in the backside of an ambulance, parking in front of the house of Herbert. She felt dull ache in her spinning head and lower arm. It took some time for her to get the memories of the recent past.

She opened her eyes and tried to move her arm. She knew she could lift it, but she felt burning pain when she tried, so she shortly gave up on it. At least her bones stayed unbroken...

'Esposito?' the latin detective appeared in the car. 'What happened?' Beckett asked, and made a note for herself, that she could speak raucous, but quite normal, and she could also breath much more easily. She noted that fresh, rain-scented air smelled good.

'Yo're better, as I see.' he smiled. 'Castle's got you out and we met halfway. We'd called ambulance earlier. One of the cops got shot. So you were treated shortly.' he explained.

'How long was I passed?' Kate asked.

'Not so long. Though we're done with the building. It's over.'

'You caught Herbert?' Beckett asked with sudden fire and tried to sit up, but she needed Esposito's support.

'Whoa, easy...' he helped her.

'Herbert?' Kate asked again, even more empathically. Esposito hesitated, then finally confessed.

'He wasn't there... I'm sorry.' Beckett's world collapsed.

And now? Where? How? - there were no more leads, no more clues... Nothing...

A paramedic wearing a medical mask passed the ambulance, and Kate's mind filled with different thoughts. Her heart got heavy of the feeling of guilt, disappointment and even her arm hurted much more now.

Castle... - she thought about the writer. Did he hear what she said...? Or did she actually said it loudly...?

Then like a lightning bolt, the realisation striked into her mind. She wanted to jump off the stretcher, but Esposito stopped her.

'Yo ain't going anywhere!' he said strictly. However Beckett now was heated with excitement. The thoughts raced in her mind like Formula One cars.

'Where's Castle?' she asked, collapsing back.

'He was here a minute ago...' Esposito mumbled, and looked around.

'Could you please get him for me?' she asked. His colleauge raised an eyebrow, but left to satisfy her request.

As soon as he got out of sight, Kate jumped off the stretcher, trying to fight her spinning head and aching arm, she floundered out of the car. She looked around. She knew exactly whom she was looking for, and soon she pointed out a person sneaking into the overgrown roguish surrounding the house.

No one noticed in the scrimmage as she approached one of the police cars, and took a gun from cubby-hole. Beckett looked around again to see if someone spotted her borrowing that weapon.

No one could stop her now...

Running - at least fast-walking on uncertain legs - she dashed against the high vegetation to catch the suspect: the paramedic with the medical mask. All others on the scene did their jobs without a mask, which is logical knowing it was a shooting not some kind of radioactive air-pollution. The mask was good for only one thing: it hid the man's face...

And to be honest, it was her last straw to hold...

Her boots stuck into the mud with every other step, her arm pulsated with pain and the painkillers still made her senses dull, but ignoring that, holding the gun in her unhurt hand she headed persistently after the guy.

'Stop!' she shouted as she approached him on about a thirty legs quarter. The man stopped. Then slowly turned around to face Beckett. Instead of firing the gun immediately, Kate took careful steps to get closer and closer... She wanted to see Christopher Herbert's face. Devil's face...

They were just a few steps far from each other when the detective piped up again.

'Take it off!' she pointed at the mask with her chin. The man tractably obeyed.

Kate froze. It was really him: Christopher Herbert.

She didn't understand why couldn't she simply pull the trigger. Her hand was shaking, and she felt her eyes burnt by the heavy look of the man in front of him. She ignored the ice-cold raindrops washing her face.

'Kill me.' he piped up. His voice was deep, prim, and way too calm. 'That's what you want.'

Kate took another step towards him and pointed her gun forward, but didn't shoot. She couldn't. She didn't know why, didn't understand... Until that moment that was all she wanted, to end this. She wanted what Adam wanted. To make Christopher Herbert pay...

'No.' she replied, not letting down her gun. 'Adam Deston would kill you without hesaitation. But I'm detective Kate Beckett.' she speaked loudly, determined and suprsisingly temperately. And for the first time in days, she ment it...

But Herbert only laughed.

'Then I could simply walk away.' he remarked, and ignoring the weapon he approached the detective, who pressed the gun against his temple. He stopped.

'Fine... Let's do this way...' he said suspiciously. It scared the hell out of Beckett how he was calmer than death. Then she felt screaming pain in her lower arm as he squeezed on her wound.

She fell on her knees, tears heating the corner of her eyes, so Herbert easily took away her gun. She knew that the stiches tore, and she felt blood covering her arm.

'However, I'm not so ethical, so you'd better say goodbye...' Herbert told.

Kate lost her patience. It was the second in one they that a man pointed a gun at her, this time at least it wasn't her own. She closed her eyes, considering her chances, then thought about the people who were important to her...

Johanna Beckett... Adam Deston... Richard Castle...

Then she opened her eyes and looked right into Herbert's.

'Beckett!' a yell could be heard from somwhere around, maybe Esposito as he was looking for her. Though Kate didn't really care, the only thing she cared about was the fact that it was her only chance. If Herbert's attention was dragged by the male voice... She deciced that she's not going to die easily.

She stood up and pushed the man, who stepped aback losing his balance, and as his shoe slipped on the mud he fell.

Kate reached for the gun.

'Beckett!' another yell, she clearly recognized Castle's voice.

Her little plan seemed to work, her fingers reached the gun, but Herbert pulled her to the ground. The weapon ended up tucked into the soft mud, and now Kate was the one who got confused.

Then she felt the burning ache striking into her arm again, and she screamed out. She was on top of the man, but now she had to bowl off him. Beckett flourished with her hand, trying to free the other one. Her eyes filled with tears, so she blindly fought against the air surrounding her.

Her pain eased. Maybe she managed to hit Herbert? It seemed the only explanation. Kate dug her hand into the mud, leaning on her healthy arm and wiped her eyes with the other hand. She felt slimy, muddy blood smearing her face, but she finally regained sight.

Kate saw a bony fist getting closer and closer, and she didn't have the time to parry. She felt her cheek aching in a spot as Herbert hit her, and she fell to the ground again. But what she found right next to her fingers quickly changed the odds.

She gripped the gun and sat up.

Two shots fired.

Herbert screamed out in pain. Both bullets hit his shoulder, and he landed in the mud. Kate squatted next to him, pushed the gun against his chin, and speaked in a heavy-breathing, crunchy, anger-filled voice.

'I didn't say I'm not gonna shoot you.' she hissed then added: 'I arrest you, you sonovabitch!'

Esposito and two other cops appeared in seconds to carry off Herbert.

'Are you okay?' he asked the woman sitting on the ground, her face covered with mud, blood and sweat. She replied with a nod, then asked him by a small gesture of her head to leave her alone...

And Kate leaned her back into the mud staring at the grey sky. She felt cool raindrops stroking her face, then she closed her eyes. A heated drop of tear came out under her lid and she let out a quiet laughter...

Now it was over...

oOo

Beckett was sitting on her desk in front of the board on the 12th's. She was supposed to be in hospital, but she didn't feel like spending this night in a sterilized ward with dull green walls.

Instead she slowly took off the pictures of the case from the board, giving each one a last, meaningful look.

Castle soon appeared next to her, and helped with the „cleaning". Neither speaked. Kate gripped the picture of Adam from under the „victims" label, and sent him a sorrowful smile.

'It's hard to believe...' she piped up quietly. 'That I'll never see him again.' she looked up at the writer, who was taking Geronn's photo.

'I know it's cliché...' he started 'But at least he's in peace after all.'

On the outside, Beckett was smiling gratefully, but inside she could't put up with the fact yet.

'It's not fair he couldn't be there when we caught Herbert.' she said finally.

'Trust me, he was.' Rick told with serious face. Kate first didn't understand what was that supposed to mean, however it eased her heart. She put down the picture smiling, and got off the table.

'You just said, we caught him... Though the credit is only yours.' he piped up again. Kate looked deeply in the sparkling blue eyes, and she realised that she could never get through this on her own...

'Believe me, Castle... Not only...' she replied. Though these few words would never be able to express the gratefulness she felt for him. And she knew it. For a few moments they were just staring at each other, then Beckett distracted her look. Her face darkened, and she observed the ground while speaking.

'My mother's killer is still at large...' Castle put down the photo too, carefully adjusting it next to Charlene's.

'Just give yourself some time.' he adviced. Kate looked at him.

'I-... I don't want that to cost this many lives...' she did a leisure gesture with her hand towards the „victims" section on the board.

'You were not the one who killed them, Kate...' he started, but Beckett cut in.

'Revenge was.' she looked straight into the writer's eyes. 'When I was standing face to face with Herbert... I felt like we were holding the gun together... Adam and me.' she was completely aware how strange it sounded and she didn't expect anyone to understand. But then and there she felt it... 'Adam would've shot him, and I was the one, who kept him back.' she watched the writer's face, waiting for his reaction. Surprisingly he was more like sympathetic than puzzled.

'Castle, when I'm gonna hold the gun, who will keep me back...?' she asked. It was easy to discover the worry, or maybe fear in her voice.

The writer took a step towards her.

'You. Yourself.' he told. He could read the unsatisfaction in her eyes. 'Or if that doesn't work, just call. I will.' he flashed a smile and touched her hand gently. Beckett looked down at their crossed fingers. This answer was more stisfying – way more satisfying...

'Kate...'

'Castle...' they piped up at the same time.

'You start...' he intended to be a gentleman. Beckett heasitated for a few moments, observing one sea-blue eye, then the other, and she repeated the words she had already told so many times in the past few days, but she felt yet not enough:

'Thank you.' A smile appeared on both's faces. Both knew what he was going to say.

'Always.' after a few silent moments she asked her question.

'What did you want to say?'

'Just that...' he started like it was only some kind of small talk. But it wasn't... 'I love you too.'

Beckett froze. She was staring at the writer with rigid look.

So he'd heard... - then her lips turned into a beautiful smile, she leaned in and closed her eyes.

That infinite moment while they were kissing she was finally feeling that serenity and peace she'd been desiring. An eased feeling replaced the suffocating darkness in her heart. She knew she was never going to forget. But all the painful, horrible pictures just felt so remote and calm. The storm was gone, and nothing left, but her and the blue eyes...

They changed sparkling looks when they pulled away. In spite of how much horror they had to bear these days, now there, in each other's arms, without walls between them this was the only thing that mattered.

'You two truly have things to explain...' a voice in the doorway interrupted, which belonged to an equator-wide smiling Lanie Parish. Castle and Beckett looked at her like exposed children stealing sweets.

'One sure thing that I'll never make a pact with you again...' she added, speaking to the writer, then left the doorway with a meaningful wink.

'What kind of pact?' Kate looked at him confused. Castle put on his most innocent look.

'Nothing!' covering his totally transparent lie, and keeping Beckett from questioning, he placed another passionate kiss on her lips.

It worked...

**Three days later**

She put a bouquet of flower on the grave, labelled with the name of Adam Deston. For a few more moments Kate was staring at the cold marble stone before she started speaking.

'Thank you.' she was looking at the small, golden ring on her palm. 'I listened to your advice...I've chosen true love.' she whispered and looked at the writer standing near. Then she turned back to the grave with a few last words to her old lover. 'Good bye, Adam.'

She stood up, and walked to Castle. First, he was observing her face, then his look wandered down to her fingers touching her mother's ring, hanging in her neck.

'We're going to catch him...' he said. Kate replied immediately.

'I know.' and she ment it. She thread the golden ring on a lace, and put it on, next to the other one. She deepened a look into Castle's blue eyes and repeated with a smile: 'I know.'