A/N: I wish to apologize to all the readers for being so long away. My real life has been difficult. I was laid off at work and I have been concentrating on finding a new job, Needless to say I have been in a rather bad head space for quite awhile. Hopefully I am beyond that now and will be able to continue to write. Please enjoy the chapter and forgive the typos and grammar, D.

Chapter 25

The Precinct

Everybody

Kate slumped down in her chair with a heavy sigh. The two editors had yielded nothing new. Both men did their best to exonerate themselves while pointing their fingers at each other. Both men had solid alibi's for the time of the killing. Max Weller did admit to a brief conversation with Browning but said that it had to do with the expose' he had wanted to do on Benjamin Smythe. It had been in front of witnesses just outside the ball room and after Browning had promised to show proof of the affair to Weller, before he broke the story, the two men had parted company Eric had told Weller he was going to bed and had left the party. Weller had returned to the Ball and did not leave again until after the police had interviewed him.

"We are running out of suspects" Esposito opined

"We must be missing somebody. Tell Ryan that we will need to talk to Roxy tomorrow morning. Maybe she can shed some light on Browning and who might have ransacked her room."

"I'll let him know, you might want to go easy on Roxy if Kevin is present. I believe our boy might be just a tad too emotionally connected. I believe that Roxy might be working her Mojo on Ryan. Have you seen the video we recovered from Browning apartment?"

"The torture porn? Yeah I watched as much as I could stand. I can't imagine the hell she went through. I think I'll give Doc Simmons a call, maybe he can shed some light on her emotional state."

"Probably not a bad idea, she has got to be royally whacked out from all the shit she has been put through."

"We'll call it a night and start fresh in the morning." Kate stated.

"You got it. I'll go relieve Ryan at the safe house. See you in the morning." Esposito said as he headed across the bullpen.

Castle's Apartment

Kate, Rick, Alexis and Martha

"Dinner was wonderful." Kate complimented Alexis and Martha.

"It was my Granddaughter's masterpiece rather than mine. My idea of cooking is Chinese Delivery." Martha confessed."Well since dinner is done and Alexis is upstairs already, I think it's time for me to retire upstairs and go over the new scene that just got added to the play."

Martha's exit was like the lady herself, grand. Kate sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace and waited impatiently for Richard to come back with the blanket. She did not have to wait long before he returned with a large fluffy and extremely cozy blanket. He gently spread the cover over both of them and sighed contentedly.

"Going to sleep already?" Kate teased.

"No, just enjoying life, right now. Besides, you know, 'knocking boots'… There is nothing better than a great meal and a good couch cuddle."

"Wow, I didn't know that you were so easy."

"Sssshhhh, please don't spread it around, everyone thinks I'm an intolerable bastard. If word gets out, not only will my rep be ruined, I'll have to contend with hundreds more women who think I should be their boy toy, as much fun as that sounds, I'm just too tired right now to deal with it." Rick confessed.

"Awww, you poor baby, I'll lend you my old police baton so you can beat them off with a stick." Kate supplied.

"You laugh now, but the next time we are out in public and I am mauled to death by rabid fan girls, you'll have no one to blame other than yourself."

"That brings up a good question…" Kate started a question

"I'm sorry Kate you will have to wait until we have been going steady for at least six months before I include you in my will."

"That's not what I was going to ask, Beefcake."

"Well what then?"

"I just want to be as prepared as possible, how long until you think we will be outed… you know as a couple."

"About as long as it takes us to go out on a real date. I mean the gossip columns have already been whispering about us already. The fact that we are only seen together while you are working has kept the whispered song from becoming an aria. I have talked with Paula, my agent about ways to handle the fallout. She has been waffling between 'just shoot me' and 'I'll handle it'. She is good at what she does and I pay her very well so she may be able to come up with something. Otherwise we will be on our own."

"That doesn't sound too encouraging." Kate remarked.

"Oh, we'll handle it fine. What I am afraid of is the attention getting so bad that I have to stop working with you."

"What do you mean?"

"You saw how bad the media was after my little painkiller and alcohol indiscretion. Think about seeing that every time you left the house. At first it is going to be overwhelming but it will die down and then Brad and Angie or Jen and whoever she is dating will do something note worthy then we will be golden. Once it is old news everything so go back to normal somewhat. So long as we give them an opportunity to photograph us during red carpets or at charity galas the press shouldn't go all Princess Diana on us."

"That still doesn't sound very hopeful." Kate lamented.

"Relax Kate, that problem is still sometime in the future, as long as we are not overtly out on a date. Meaning that we keep our heads down and don't hit the swankier restaurants and clubs we should be fine."

"Maybe not, Browning caught us. What's to keep some other reporter from stalking us?"

"Eric was a special case. He was looking for blackmail material. He probably had been sitting outside my building for weeks before he caught on to us. Most reporters and the paparazzi are descent enough they just want a good story. Once we are outted if we try to hide they will circle like sharks, but if we give them a few choice morsels they won't be so bad. I am truthfully more worried about your colleagues. I don't want you to get a lot of blowback."

"Oh, they'll give me a hard time for a while, but they know that I got to where I am because of hard work and not because of you. So long as I don't rest on my laurels, I should be fine. My closure rate was the best in the Precinct before you came on board, so I have some ammunition if things get too dicey at work. Besides I've got Ryan and Esposito on my side, between the three of us we can handle any problems at work."

"Then the last sector of the population we need to contend with are the crazies. I'd hate to think there is another Dominic Strom out there, just waiting for me to get all happy before the shoe drops again."

"Richard, we can't put our lives on hold just because there maybe someone out there waiting to hurt us. Truthfully it could just as easily be some nut job I put away that comes after you to hurt me."

"I think that I would prefer that, actually. I think I would go crazy if something from my life got you hurt or killed. You are one of the bright lights in the world, Kate; I would hate to see that light go out."

"Oh my God, Doctor Simmons was right, you have no self esteem. Listen to me, Richard; you touch more lives than I ever could…"

"It's not the same… You save lives. I… I just write."

"Rick, you just don't realize the power of your words. Can't you believe that you words help people?"

"Come on Kate they are just words…."

"Just words? How can you say that? There are people out there, millions of people, who buy everything you write because your words speak to them. Those words give comfort. Your words… Your World, it helps people. Do you know why I read mystery novels?"

"I never really thought about it…"

"I read because it helps me get through the tough days. I love the twists and turns of the plots, the red herrings. I love trying to find the killer before you reveal them on the page. But mostly I love the fact that Derrick or Nikki will always get the bad guy. Through Hell or High water, regardless of the personal consequences they are going to put away the culprit. On those bad days, the ones where I let the bad guy get away or after a trip to a horrendous crime scene, I retreat into those books for comfort and normalcy. Sure they are fiction but they are still a shelter from the horror of the evil of this world. So the next time you belittle your work I will personally kick you in the ass."

"Wow, Kate, I never knew you were so passionate about my books."

"Not just you work but the genre..." Kate said lamely, knowing she probably gone too far.

Castle allowed her to skate with her excuse and leaned in and kissed her. The passion and tension were there in full measure. Kate allowed herself to be swept up in the roiling storm of her emotions and reveled in her love for the sometimes arrogant but always caring man beside her, her sides burned where his caress swept from her hips and on to her back. Her body ached for his touch to continue but his hands stayed pressed to her back. She gave a frustrated moan and press against up against him. At last he pulled regretfully away. She searched his eyes looking to see how he was feeling. She saw the war between his pain and desire flash across his face like lightning during a summer thunderstorm. In the echo of the clash she saw the vestiges of his fatigue, even after his enforced nap at the Precinct.

"What can I do to ease your pain?" Kate asked.

"Stay with me tonight, no pressure, no funny stuff. I just want to be with you. I want to wake up and see that you are still here and not some mirage that my fevered mind has cooked up."

"You are an easy man to please. I actually brought spare clothes. I was planning to stay in the guest room but your room works too."

She got up off the couch and held out her hand. Castle eagerly clasped the proffered hand and rose from the couch.

"My one caveat is that you sleep in pajamas. I'm not interested in any surprises tonight."

"Done, you are an easy woman to please. I promise no mystery poking tonight"

"Good, I would hate to have to break something because it got loose."

Castle gulped "I guess I should wear a cup just to be safe."

"I don't think you need to go that far."

A/N: I hope it was worth the wait.