This is the final chapter and I can honestly say I'm so excited for it! This is my first story and I am really happy with how it turned out...and the response. You guys have been amazing! This is for lisahomeandawayholic and ninak05 because I want you guys to always remember that, no matter how bad, there is life after the fall.


They had a month. A month before things turned upside down. Everything had been going great. Alexis had healed wonderfully, they hadn't heard from Meredith (which was fine by everyone), Kate's father was doing great— he was continually going to his AA meetings and talking to his sponser, and Kate and Rick were closer than ever. Kate spent most of her time at the loft with Rick and Alexis (days and nights). She kept waiting to feel smothered, kept waiting to feel like she wanted space, kept waiting to freak out and want to run…but it never happened. She thoroughly enjoyed spending as much time with the Castle's as she could and she found that for the first time in her life, she didn't want to be alone. There had been numerous movie nights, days out, and picnics in the park. She and Alexis had a couple more girls days and Rick had taken her out on what were, without question, the most romantic dates she had ever been on, and she wasn't ashamed to admit they left even her smitten. There had been no more talk of Kate giving up the case, or the case in general. It all seemed to still be on the backburner and although she never confirmed it, Rick thought that perhaps Kate had made her decision and let everything go. All in all, they were doing really well, their little family. However, suddenly the rules of engagement changed and Rick knew he was wrong. They had new leads, Ryan and Esposito had been kidnapped, Lockwood had escaped, and Kate was running at the case head first and not looking back. There was now no question—she had made her decision, and her decision was definitely not letting it go. They all knew the risks, but no one could seem to get through to her, not even Castle. He tried, but was resigned to the fact nothing he said would made a difference. However, when Jim Beckett came to his loft a few weeks after everything started up again, begging him to get Kate to stop, he had to try again. As a father, he understood where Jim was coming from and he couldn't tell the man he gave up. After Jim left he tried to call Kate and get her to come to the loft, but she said she was exhausted and was taking a break and relaxing. He knew that was a lie…he knew her to well to believe that. So, now he was standing at her door, desperately trying to figure out what he could say to make her see she had to stop. He tentatively knocked and waited for her to answer.

"Rick," Kate said surprised, "what…what are you doing here?"

Rick took in her appearance. She had dark circles under her eyes that no amount of make-up could cover, and she looked completely worn down. Without waiting for an invitation he walked into her apartment and gasped when he saw all the papers and files on the floor in front of her make shift murder board. He knew she wasn't relaxing, "So this is what you call taking a break, Kate? Sitting here going through these files for the hundredth time?"

She shut the door and walked over to where he was standing by the window, "Come on, we talked about this. I'm…"

"Do NOT say you are fine Kate."

"Rick…"

"No Kate. Look at this place; look in the mirror. You haven't slept in weeks…and I bet you can't even remember the last time you had a proper meal. You are running yourself into the ground. You are spiraling out of control and you can't see it."

"What do you want from me Rick?" she asked, raising her voice in frustration.

"Stop." He said simply. "I want you to stop this and walk away."

He saw the anger flash in her eyes, "How can you ask me to do that? You, of all people, know how much this means to me!"

"I do, but Kate…you can't do this anymore. If you keep doing this they will kill you!" He said, raising his voice to match hers.

"So, what? I'm supposed to just give up? Castle this is my mother," she yelled. "I can't just forget about it!"

He cringed at 'Castle'. He was back to 'Castle'? Crap. "You told your dad you would think about this. You told me you would think about it. Think about giving this up, think about what it was doing to you and everyone else around you. Did you even consider that Beckett? Did you consider everyone who loves you? Did you even think about letting this go or did you just say that to make your dad and I happy?"

"How could you…of course I thought about it! I constantly think about it—it kills me!"

"But not enough to step back?" he spat out.

"I…"

Castle sighed. Yelling was getting them nowhere. He closed the distance between them and grabbed her hands, "I'm not asking you to forget about it Kate," he said gently, "You will never forget her. But you have to forget this case; you have to let it go for now. One day…one day we will figure this out. One day they'll make a mistake and we can go after it. One day it will be safe. But for now, you have to stop. I just…God Kate do you have any idea how much it would kill me if anything happened to you? And what about Alexis? And your father? They would be devastated. And Lanie and the boys…and Montgomery. Kate think about all the people the love you." He cupped her cheeks to make her look him in the eyes and saw the tears running down her face. He rested his forehead against hers and whispered, "Kate I love you. I…I can't lose you. Please…please stop."

"I…I can't I...Rick, I have to do this." She said softly, more tears falling. He closed his eyes and sighed, then gently pulled away and looked at her. That look…she couldn't describe the look he was giving her, but it terrified her. It made her feel like she had just been sucker punched. "Rick?" he shook his head and started walking toward the door. She grabbed his arm in a desperate attempt to stop him, "Rick, please."

"I can't watch you get yourself killed and if you continue to run at this that is what's going to happen. Apparently I can't stop you but I am not going to stand by and just watch. I…I'm done Kate." He said as he pulled out of her grasp and walked to the door.

She ran after him, "Rick, wait! Please…please don't do this."

He opened the door and looked at her one last time, "Bye, Kate." He gently shut the door and she sank down against it, completely falling apart.

Kate spent a good 15 minutes just sitting on her floor crying, trying to figure out how things had gotten so out of hand. When she finally lifted her head from her hands her eyes immediately went to the picture of her and Castle that sat on the coffee table. It had been taken about 3 weeks ago on one of their days out. Kate and Alexis had decided they wanted to go to the museum. They heard the museum had a new dinosaur exhibit and they knew Rick would love it, so they wanted to surprise him. They went so far to blindfold him, much to Rick's indignation. When they were in front of the exhibit, they finally took the blindfold off. Ricks face split into a huge grin and he had quickly grabbed Kate in a hug, picking her off the ground and spinning them around in excitement. And that was the image that Alexis had captured on her iPhone; Rick spinning them around, holding on tightly to each other, both laughing unabashedly. Alexis had surprised her with the picture a few days later and it quickly became one of her favorites of her and Rick. They just looked so happy and care free and…and in love. "What am I doing?" she asked the empty apartment. She loved him. She loved him and she just let him walk out of her apartment, out of her life? How could she do that? How could she give up the best thing that ever happened to her for a fight she knew deep down she may never win? Without a second thought she shot up and went to her room to slip on her flats. She ran to the door, grabbed her keys off the hook, and quickly jetted out of her apartment. She immediately stopped in her tracks when she saw Rick standing by her door. "Rick?" she breathed, relief flooding her voice.

"Took you long enough," he said, giving her a slight smile. She threw herself in his arms, the tears again beginning to flow.

They silently held onto each other for several minutes before Rick ushered her back into the apartment and onto the couch. She was the first to speak, "I can't do this anymore Rick." When his face fell she made herself clearer, "Oh no, no Rick. I'm not talking about us. I…I can't keep chasing after shadows anymore." He nodded his head in understanding so she continued, "You're right. I couldn't see what was happening. I was so focused on solving this case…"

He grabbed her hand, "I know, Kate."

"I can't do it anymore Rick. I…I'm so tired of fighting a losing battle. I don't think I can win this thing."

"But you can Kate." She looked at him confused but he continued, "You can win—by living. By living your life and being happy, you are winning."

She squeezed her eyes shut and Castle wiped the tears that fell with the hand that wasn't holding hers.

She opened her eyes and looked at him, "I think that's what my mom would want."

"It is," Rick agreed gently.

"I think she would want me to live and be happy and not…not throw my life away for something that isn't going to…isn't going to bring her back." She chocked the last part out through sobs.

Rick squeezed her hand, "She would."

"I think…I think it's time I start doing what she would want."

"Kate, are you…"

"I'm done." She confirmed.

"You're…"

"Done," she finished for him. "I'm done."

"You're…really?" he asked in disbelief. She gave him a slight smile and nodded her head, "And you're…are you sure?" Again, she shook her head. "Why now?" he asked softly. Still not believing this was happening.

"I've never…I…now I…" Kate struggled with the words. He squeezed her hand in support. "I have something to live for now." She said softly, surprising him by looking him straight in the eye.

"Kate…" He let out her name in a whisper.

"I've never…I didn't have that before but now I…now I have something more important than a case to live for. And I love my mom Castle. I love her so much and I'll always miss her and think about her and wish I could have done this for her but I…I can't lose you. And I want to live. I want to be happy and live my life…with you."

He saw the sincerity in her eyes, could hear it in her voice, "You…your serious aren't you?" she nodded at him. "You're…you're really done."

"Mmhmm"

"Oh thank God," he breathed as he grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.

She smiled against his ear and whispered, "I love you Rick. I love you so much."

He pulled back and gave her a soft smile, tucking some stray hair that had fallen out of her loose bun behind her ear, "Oh, Kate. I love you too." He brought his lips to meet hers and when they broke apart some time later, she was in his lap, burying her face in his neck.

"How am I going to do this Rick?"

He loosed his arms that were around her enough to pull back and look at her. He brought a hand up to gently stroke her cheek, "One day at a time Kate."

She nodded and then suddenly got up and walked to her room. He watched with curiosity as she opened her closet and, reaching on her tip toes, pulled down a box. She slowly walked back to the living room and stood in front of her open home-made murder board.

Castle got up and walked over to stand next to her. He put a hand on the small of her back, "Kate, you don't have to do this today."

"Yes I do." She whispered, her eyes never leaving the board. She reached a shaking hand up to one of the pictures on the shutters, stopping a few inches from the photograph. Her hand started shaking more as it touched the picture. She kept her hand there for a few seconds before quickly pulling it back and making a fist out of frustration.

"Kate…you really don't need to do this today."

She turned to him, eyes brimming with tears, "What if I can't do it Rick? What if I try and then I fall right back into it and…"

"Hey," he said, placing gentle hands on her shoulders, "That's what I'm here for. That's why we are going to handle this just like we've handled everything else...together. If you fall, I'll catch you. If you fall, we'll get through it and move forward. You'll see Kate…you'll see that there's life after the fall."

She nodded and gave him a small smile as a few tears fell down her cheek. She took his hands that were on her shoulders and laced his fingers with hers. As she stared into his deep blue eyes his words finally registered and she realized just how right he was. There may be days where she feels like she can't handle it anymore. Days where all she wants is to run back into this thing. Days where she feels like she's falling…but that will be ok. It would be ok because Castle was right—there was life after the fall.


Ok...so what did you think of the story? What did you think of the ending? Remember, I want to hear what you guys may want to see in a new story. Thank you so much for reading and commenting and letting me know what you thought of my very first story!

Also, remember I want to know if any of you guys have something you might like to read in another story? I have some ideas...but since you guys are the ones reading...I wanted to write something you guys wanted to read :)). So, if you have something, let me know! Thanks again so much for the kind words!