Disclaimer: I do not own.

Everyone's attention was caught when they heard their Captain's door swing open and saw a tired Victoria Gates standing at the entrance of her office.

"Detectives…we have a lead."

…

His name was Rodrigo Vazquez, a 32 year old ex-cop who was kicked out of the LAPD for drug use, he served jail time then ultimately moved to New York. He was a friend of Cooper's who had been with him earlier in the evening at a restaurant in SoHo, Esposito and Ryan took charge and questioned Vazquez until he was a nervous mess.

Beckett, Castle and Gates stood behind the Observation room glass, watching as the scruffy, tired Vazquez was burned continually by the two junior detectives.

….

"What were you two talking about in the restaurant?" Esposito asked and crossed his arms over his chest while sitting back in his chair. Ryan sat at the edge of the table, his blue eyes boring into Rodrigo's terrified pools of mud.

"J-Just normal stuff man, you know women and work." He stuttered out, his voice cracking and sweat shining off of his forehead. Ryan stood up and leaned over the table, making Vazquez lean away from him.

"You tell us what the hell you were talking about, or I'll tell our guys down in narcotics all about those drug deals you've been doing in the Bronx." Ryan's blue crystals shook Rodrigo to his very core, his hands trembled and as he took a deep breath he silently cursed.

"I can't go back man, don't make me go back!" Esposito locked his gaze with Vazquez.

"Then you tell us everything right now." Esposito's icy tone of voice was enough to break the spineless dealer and he spilled out all the information he knew about Cooper in a heartbeat.

"You see man he was talkin' about some chick, Kelly, Kourtney, I forgot her name…"

"Kate?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah man! Kate was the name, so anyway he was goin' on and on about how great she was and how even though she has a man he would find a way to be with her. Honestly, he was scaring me a little bit. I didn't find out about that phone call until you guys told me. I've known Cooper for a long time, he's never been like this. Although he's shown some possessive tendencies with past girlfriends."

"What do you mean possessive tendencies?" Esposito questioned, writing down as much of this information as he could.

"He was dating this one girl a few years back, Tammy or Tamara or somethin' like that. Anyway, girl came down to the station to pick him up for their date. Coops told her he'd be a few minutes cause he was wrapping up some paper work. So ms. Lady went over and started talking to another cop, name was Lancaster. Anyway, when I was walking out of the station I saw the two of them in an alley, boy was he yelling at her about talking to other men. Seemed very jealous and angry, she never talked to anyone after that. Few weeks later I found out she moved to Arizona, got sick of his bullshit. Can't blame the girl, that ain't right."

Esposito and Ryan shared a look and asked if there was anything else. As they wrapped up their interrogation Beckett had left the observation room.

…

"Kate?" Castle cautiously walked into the break room, watching as his girlfriend's hands shook on her mug of coffee. He quickly took it from her hands and watched as she fought from touching him.

"Come here." He made the decision for her, pulling her into an all-encompassing bear hug and kissing the top of her head.

"God Castle, I don't know what I'm gonna do." She breathed into his neck and clenched the baby hairs at the back of his neck.

"Shh Kate, you're not alone. You've got a whole team working for you, and you've got me every step of the way. We're gonna catch this guy together."

She closed her eyes and held him tighter, praying he was right.

…

"Yo, so turns out Cooper was spotted at a bar up in Buffalo. We've got an APB out on him." Esposito announced as he dropped into his chair. The rest of the day was filled with calls and financials.

"We should hopefully get a call on his whereabouts soon enough, we've alerted border patrol up in Canada as well. Son of a bitch could have the idea of sneaking up there." Ryan finished for his partner and they pounded fists, leaning back into their respective chairs.

"Thanks guys, hey why don't you head home? It's almost eight and you guys really did a great job today. Fresh start in the morning?" The boys sprung up from their chairs, smiles on their faces as they nodded and shrugged on their coats. They said their goodbyes and headed out into the frigid New York air.

Castle placed his hand on top of hers and locked gazes, his crystals meeting her forest hazel eyes.

"C'mon Kate, let's go back to my place. It's been a long day and you're exhausted." Beckett nodded and stood up, only adding to Castle's belief that she really was totally spent for the day. They gathered their things and headed out, the cool air awakening their senses.

….

"Drive you home?" Beckett held up her keys and Castle nodded, they made their way toward the parking garage while making small talk. Their bones were tired and all the coffee they had consumed during the day. Castle hopped in first while Beckett fiddled with her phone.

The parking garage was silent, which is why when Beckett heard a faint echo her senses spiked up. It was getting louder and closer which made her reach for her gun, her heart was beating in her ears and her hands were slightly trembling.

"Miss me, Kate?" Beckett spun around, Glock in her hands as he came face-to-face with her worst nightmare.

"Get away from me." She spat at him, watching as he walked closer. He had some light facial hair now, and a grey hoodie with some jeans made him look more like a civilian than she'd ever seen.

"Now now, no need to keep fighting it." He held his hands up and stopped a few feet away from her. Castle struggled with his door, finally getting it open before running beside Kate.

"Oh look, it's the monkey. Put the gun down Kate, I just wanna talk." His smug tone made her want to crawl out of her own skin. She was all too aware of the empty lot and even though Castle was there, she needed help ASAP.

"We can talk like this." She gritted out, her knuckles were white from gripping the gun and she was getting more and more tempted to put a round in him as each minute passed.

A cruiser whizzed by and the siren suddenly jolted Beckett and Castle, leaving them unfocused for a few seconds. It was long enough for Cooper to kick the gun out of Beckett's hand and pull out his knife, he shoved her to the ground and grabbed Castle. Holding the knife to the author's neck, Cooper's bloodshot eyes met Kate's terrified one's.

"Cooper, put him down. Let's talk about this okay?" Kate assured, hoping her calming tone did some good.

"No! If I can't have you, then no one can. You're mine, this bastard doesn't deserve you." Cooper pulled at the writer's hair, exposing more of his jugular to the sharp blade.

"What do you want." Beckett spat out, her blood rushing through her veins faster than she could remember.

"You. Runaway with me, marry me. Be with me damnit why don't you care anymore?!" Cooper screamed back, pieces of his shattered soul could be seen in this interaction.

"Hey, I told you things change. But put the blade down and we can talk about it."

"I won't!"

A loud 'bang!' was heard and Cooper crumpled to the ground, clutching his knee as he rolled around in agony. Kate ran over to a stunned Castle, clutching him like he was water in a desert. Esposito picked up the knife as Ryan cuffed the former cop, dragging him up and away toward an ambulance.

"Where did they come from?" Beckett asked, too puzzled to think clearly.

"When he first showed up I shot Espo a text, telling him to get his ass down here and that it was an emergency. It was only a matter of time." Castle answered and she smiled up at him, because her love for this man wouldn't ever stop growing. He always did the best things in the grimmest moments.

"Hey, you guys alright?" Esposito came over and checked them over briefly, making sure no cuts were sustained.

"Yeah we're okay, thanks Espo." Beckett gave him a hug, thankful as ever that they showed up when they did and ran over to give Ryan one as well.

"Thank you so much boys." She told them both with a smile adorning her lips.

…

Gates had showed up about five minutes later, she was briefed by the boys and immediately made her way over to Beckett.

"Detective, Mister Castle are you two alright?" She sounded genuinely concerned, which made Beckett happy because she felt as though she was finally establishing a solid relationship with her Captain.

"Yes Captain Gates we're okay. I'm just happy this is over." Castle and Beckett both nodded and Gates gave Kate the next day off.

"Take care the two of you." Gates announced and walked off, back into her car.

…

"Well, it's over babe." Castle looped his arms around her waist, leaning down to kiss the smile on her lips.

"I love you Rick, thank you."

"I love you too Kate."

….

"So he's going away for a while huh?" Castle asked a few days later while they were laying around the loft after work, sipping on wine and watching some television.

"Yeah, he's going to be seeing a therapist due to some…attachment issues. But otherwise yeah he's going to become very close with his jail cell." Beckett smiled and they toasted, relief adorning their features.

"Kate, with everything that's happened there's something I've been thinking about and I know it might seem sudden but with us being so close the last few years I think it could work out for the best." Beckett's eyes perked up and she watched as he fiddled with his wine glass.

"Marry me." He pulled out a ring, watching as her eyes went wide from shock.

"Castle…it's so sudden." Her voice was trembling, she couldn't believe he was actually doing this.

"I know it is, but we've been partners for years and we don't have to get married right away. We can just be engaged, but after that incident a few days back I know I couldn't stand losing you. You're it for me Kate, and I'm in this all the way; I love you." His speech warmed her heart and god when it came to this man Kate Beckett simply turned into a puddle of goo. A smile broke out onto her features and she kissed him fiercely.

"Yes Castle, I'll marry you."

Done! I know it went by quick but I wanted to wrap this up because I was sick of leaving this story hanging in the air unfinished. From now on I'm going to be sticking to oneshots, so please lookout for those. I would love to accept prompts for some oneshots as well so feel free to message me. Thank you to all of you who have stuck with this and who have supported me and this story, you are all truly amazing individuals and I love you all.

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