A/N: Soooo, guess who forgot she'd written stories for four episodes and that it was time to post a new update! :/ Heh. Oops. That's what I get for attempting to be a student, intern, working girl and dedicated fan all at the same time. I hope this is worth the extra few days' wait!

Probable Cause

They head back to his place that night. Kate wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to deal with "family time" right now, but she'd be damned if she'd say no to anything Castle wanted at this point. And there may or may not have been a giant part of her that wanted nothing more than to curl up in his bed with him.

Martha was on them the moment Castle pushed open the door, flying into a tizzy at the open cuts on Kate's face and dragging her upstairs to get patched up. Kate allowed herself to be sat on the closed toilet and immediately disinfected. She tried not to wince as she felt the alcohol stinging in her cheek, and watched as Martha took a seat next to her on the edge of the bathtub.

"I'm so glad Richard found you," Martha said suddenly. "Or, rather, I suppose you were the one who did the finding," she corrected with a wink.

Kate chuckled at the memory of their first meeting but shook her head in disbelief. "You probably shouldn't be. He wouldn't be dealing with arrests and serial killers if it weren't for me."

"You're far too hard on yourself, darling. My son dragged you into your working relationship kicking and screaming, so as far as I'm concerned, there's no one to blame for the danger he's in but himself. You, on the other hand, get him out of it." She squeezed Kate's knee. "And I am so very, very grateful for that."

Kate looked away shyly. "Yeah, well. It's nothing he wouldn't do for me."

Martha smiled. "He loves you, you know."

After a beat, Kate met her eyes again. She nodded. "I know."

That night, after a dinner that Kate didn't even need to fake-smile her way through, she and Castle retreated to his room. After a quick trip to the bathroom, she emerged to find him standing at the window, his back to her.

"You okay?" she asked quietly, moving to stand next to him.

"He's still out there," he murmured, his eyes scanning the skyline in front of them.

She sighed. "You do know how implausible that is, right? I shot him. You shot him. He fell off a bridge. The odds of him surviving all of that are miniscule."

"Yes, I know, I sound crazy," he said impatiently. She slid her hand into his and he took a deep breath. "But we didn't find his body. And until I have evidence, I don't believe this guy's dead."

"Hmm," she hummed. "You sound like me." He chuckled. "What makes you so sure he's alive?"

"I… understand him," he said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Obviously I don't on a very fundamental level, but… I plot fake murders because I like working out all the details, the clues, figuring out how the police might go about solving it." He looked at her. "Tyson kills for the same reason. It's like a performance for him. He has the actors, the scenery, the script. He enjoys manipulating people and having the exact outcome he wants to happen actually happen. I get that."

"So you're saying this was his plan from the beginning? To fake his own death?"

"Well, I don't think he would've been upset if I had actually been killed in prison. Hell of a backup plan, right?"

She shuddered slightly. "You could say that."

"This is the ideal situation for him. He managed to almost ruin my life while ensuring that nobody will be looking for him anymore. He's good to go wreak as much havoc as he'd like now, because as far as the world is concerned, he's dead." He sighed and turned back to the window. "But he's not. I swear he's not."

Kate smiled sadly and tugged on his hand. "Come on. Let's go to bed. We can talk about this another time."

"He watched us."

She froze. "What?"

"He told me. He'd been poking around in my life for a good long time, and he said he… he watched us making love."

"Oh my god." She dropped his hand and wrapped her arms around her stomach; she'd never felt so violated. "Oh my god."

"Yep," Castle said morosely, violently pulling the curtains shut before turning to face her. "Horrifying, isn't it?"

She took a deep, steadying breath that caught in her chest when she saw the unhappy expression on his face. "Well," she said slowly. "At least we put on a good show."

He snorted. Their eyes met, and they simultaneously burst into laughter.

He reached out and grabbed her waist and she stumbled into him, hiding her mirth in his shoulder as his chest quaked with laughter. "God," he wheezed, "that's so accurate. That's probably the best action he's ever gotten."

She giggled wildly and pulled back to look up at him. His eyes were happy again, sparkly and exactly the way they should be. "How about a private performance tonight, hmm?" she asked, reaching up to kiss his jaw.

"Mmmm. Yes." She felt him smile before nearly falling as he pulled her after him. "But we are doing this nowhere near the window."

The Final Frontier

"Vin Diesel."

Rick tore his eyes away from the glass in the observation room, through which he was watching Davis sweat as he waited for his interrogation, and turned to face his girlfriend, who was leaning against the doorframe. "What about him?"

"He's bald and attractive."

His brow furrowed. "Are you trying to get me to set you up with him, or…?"

She laughed and pushed off the wall to come stand next to him. "No, goofball. It means that if you woke up bald tomorrow, I'm not entirely averse to it. But none of that pattern baldness nonsense."

"And why is that?" he asked, quite amused.

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you think that's attractive?"

He cringed. "No."

"Exactly. If you're in, you've gotta be all in. Just accept the fact that you're bald and get rid of all of it, ya know? Go for broke."

"Well," he said with a chuckle, "it's good to know our relationship doesn't hinge on whether or not I have hair."

She laughed and reached up to scrape her fingers through his hair. "Kind of a moot point, don't you think?"

He shrugged innocently. "Hey, crazier things have happened. Like you turning out to be a total fangirl."

Her mouth fell open. "I am not!"

"Puh-lease! Don't bother denying it, Beckett. You're a fangirl."

"Being a big fan of one show does not mean I'm a fangirl," she said indignantly.

"One show? Do the words 'Temptation Lane' mean anything to you?"

She huffed, glaring at him. "I do not have any Temptation Lane costumes."

"But you're just as attached to it," he reminded her.

"Look, I only get like this about things I really, really like."

It took him a moment, but a glorious possibility struck him and he grinned devilishly. "Like my books?"

She gaped at him. "I promise you I do not own an 'I heart Richard Castle' t-shirt."

"That can be remedied."

"No."

"That will be remedied."

"Castle."

"Maybe for your birthday…" he mused.

"I swear, if you—"

"No," he breathed excitedly, "for my birthday!"

"Castle, I would not wear that."

"Why?" he asked with a pout. "Do you not heart me?"

He was suddenly very afraid that he'd gotten much too close to pressuring her to say the L-word and mentally kicked himself for speaking without thinking yet again. But based on her amused smile, she didn't read too much into it.

"Of course I heart you, Castle. But that does not mean I need a t-shirt that says it."

He paused. "What about a sweatshirt? Or shorts? That'd be kind of fun, right? My name written across your—"

"No, Castle."

"Okay, what about something only I would see? Oh, wow, this opens up a whole new world of possibilities!"

She shot a brief glance heavenward and shook her head in exasperation. "I'm pretty sure the things you like to see me in don't have enough fabric to fit your name on them."

He cackled. "I didn't hear a 'no'!"

She looked him dead in the eyes. "No." But before he could deflate too much, she stepped forward and whispered in his ear, "But I'm still up for that private signing if you are."

Swan Song

As soon as Joel Mitas returned to the 12th Precinct after his brief trip back to the production studio, he found himself being very nearly bodily dragged into an interview room by Detective Beckett. Castle was hot on her heels (as usual), and he snapped the door shut as soon as the three of them were inside before perching on the edge of the table.

"Joel, we have a situation," Beckett began sternly, her posture rigid and tense.

Joel fought the urge to gulp. "What can I do for you?" he asked, straightening his glasses nervously.

Detective Beckett glanced over at Castle, who stepped in. "Is there a policy preventing coworkers from dating at the company you work for, Joel?"

"Yeah. Why?"

The writer and the detective shared another look, and Castle took a deep breath. "Yeah, you can't send your footage to Captain Gates."

Joel opened his mouth in surprise before realizing… well, he wasn't very surprised. He'd just assumed it was common knowledge that these two were an item. "I, uh, but I have to," he said.

"Why?" Beckett asked angrily. He met her gaze and was interested to see genuine fear there. If he'd learned anything in the few days of filming her, it was that for as much as she could school her features, her eyes were hopelessly expressive.

"I have to keep the boss happy, right? Yours and mine," he answered. Beckett rubbed her hand across her forehead in agitation as he continued. "And what would be my grounds to deny her request? It's perfectly valid."

Castle pinched the bridge of his nose. "There could be some really serious fallout that comes from her watching that." Beckett suddenly rushed to shut the blinds on the window into the bullpen, and Castle used her flurry of activity as cover. "She could lose her job," he whispered urgently.

Joel blinked, a weight of unease beginning to settle in his stomach. He'd been able to watch the way Detective Beckett operated and it'd be a damn shame for such a great cop to be penalized for falling in love.

She reappeared at Castle's side just as Joel was raising his hands in supplication. "Alright, I'll see what I can do."

"Look, that footage might ruin our partnership for us," Beckett said urgently. "Gates is looking for any reason whatsoever to throw him out, and she will not hesitate to use this as an excuse."

Joel glanced at Castle in time to see the utterly besotted look on the man's face as he gazed at his partner. And they were each more concerned about the other being penalized? Jeez, this was no office fling.

Unable to find any reason to argue anymore, Joel sighed. "Okay. I'll make sure there's nothing incriminating in what I give her."

"You will?" Beckett asked cautiously.

"We're here to observe, not mess with the way things are," he answered honestly, seeing Castle nearly sag with relief out of the corner of his eye.

Beckett's posture visibly relaxed as well, and she smiled at him for what may have been the first time. "You're good people, Joel. Thanks."

She turned and left the room. As soon as the coast was clear, Castle was on him, gripping his hand and clapping him on the shoulder. "You rock, man!" he said under his breath, genuine gratitude shining in his eyes.

Joel watched him disappear out the door after his girlfriend and sighed. He had a ton of footage to start sifting through and a lie to devise… but damn if he didn't think those crazy kids were going to last.

After Hours

Kate could barely stay awake as she shuffled through her keys, the paint of her front door cool against her forehead. She and Castle had shaken off their parents as they left the precinct, and now he was swaying slightly on his feet as she finally forced the correct key into the lock. The door clicked open and they stumbled inside, movements clumsy with exhaustion. It had been a long, long time since Kate had gone this long without sleep and to say she was out of practice would be a gross understatement. She'd made it through the night on adrenaline and anxiety; once they'd ebbed, there wasn't much left keeping her on her feet. So, despite the various other activities she'd rather be doing with Castle in her bed, she wasn't quite sure either one of them was up for any of it.

However short Leo said life was, Kate was sure they'd have plenty of time for that later.

She was out of her heels in two steps, coat deposited over the back of the couch after a third, and halfway to her bedroom before she was aware of having moved at all. Castle followed her in and stripped down to his boxers as she fumbled into a t-shirt and leggings. She slid under her comforter with a soft sigh of contentment and was soon being gathered up into Castle's arms and arranged so she was resting on his chest.

"This is nice," she mumbled against his skin, eyes falling closed. "We don't spend many nights together just sleeping."

"Hate to break it to you," he whispered, "but it's not night anymore, so…"

She groaned and felt a chuckle vibrate through him. "You're lucky I'm too tired to bitch about you splitting hairs."

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm lucky for more reasons than I can count."

She smiled and squeezed his waist affectionately. Silence fell and she began to doze off, but he spoke again.

"Can I ask you something?"

She yawned. "Now?"

"Yeah."

She rubbed her eyes blearily. "Mkay. Go for it."

"Do you really think you're 'just some cop'?"

Huh. She hadn't been expecting that. She turned to look at him, her chin resting on his sternum. "What?"

He looked nervous, almost. Really concerned and sleepy and adorable and god she wanted to kiss him but didn't have the energy to move that far. "In the basement," he said. "You said I'm a world-famous, bestselling author and you're just some cop." He swallowed, his gaze intense. "Is that how you feel?"

"Yeah," she said, exhaustion loosening her tongue and her inhibitions. She shrugged a shoulder. "I think you forget that I spent a long time before I met you reading your books and seeing pictures of you in tabloids and—"

"That's the complete opposite of the way I see it," he broke in, cutting off her mildly slurred babbling. She stopped, surprised. He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "The way I see it, you're a superhero, and I'm just some guy with a laptop and an overactive imagination." She swallowed around the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. "So please, never feel weird about the whole different worlds thing, because that is not my world." He smiled almost shyly, love shining in his eyes. "You are."

It took Herculean effort, but Kate dragged herself up and kissed him one, two, three times before hiding her face in the crook of his neck. "You're kind of wonderful," she murmured.

He squeezed her gently. "Well, you once quit your job for me, so I figured it was only fair that you know it goes both ways."

She chuckled, borderline delirious now. "I did, didn't I?"

"Mmm," he hummed, kissing her forehead. "You're far too good for me."

"Funny," she mumbled as she lost the battle with unconsciousness, "I was thinking the same thing about you."

A/N: You know what I realized just now? In December I will have been writing this story for THREE YEARS. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?! Man. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing and just being generally awesome! :)