Author's Note: Sorry for the length of time between posts! This chapter gave me a lot of problems; I was trying to incorporate Cuffed into the chapter, but just couldn't find a way to do it that I was happy with, so I went with this instead. There will be a "Cuffed" chapter, just... not this one. Enjoy! And I love reviews!


Ricki's loft…

Kate Beckett couldn't remember the last time she had a day off.

Okay, so that wasn't entirely true; there was that week she took off after arresting Bracken. Still, with all the cases they had been working of late, Captain McNulty had seen fit to give Kate and the boys a few days off. For her part, Kate decided she wasn't going to go anywhere if she didn't have to.

Laziness was a part of it, but as the sun began to peek through the windows of Ricki Castle's bedroom, Kate nuzzled into the crook of her lover's neck and decided there was no place else she would rather be.

Martha and Alexis were out for the day, treating themselves to the spa treatment before using Ricki's credit card to get Alexis ready for her first day at Marlowe Prep. Ricki had fretted the night before about her daughter being high school age now. Clearly, the years were going by too quickly to Ricki's liking, though Kate had to admit she was adorable when she pouted.

The loft was silent save for Ricki's deep, rhythmic breathing. Kate glanced up at her fiancée, floored once again by the fact that they were going to get married. Time was, Kate thought she'd never tie the knot with anyone. After Will Sorenson shipped off to Boston, Kate hadn't put forth much effort into relationships, focusing instead on her work.

Even the relationships she did have after Will – Demming, the detective from Robbery, a doctor named Josh who spent more time jetting off to Africa than lounging about with her – Kate always had one foot out the door. Some of it was self-preservation. Between losing her mother, watching her father lose himself in a bottle, and watching Sorenson walk out on her, Kate was tired of losing the people who meant the most to her.

More than anything, though, Kate lived in her work. She was as dedicated to her line of work as Josh had been in his. The independence was nice, and Kate had convinced herself that very distance was exactly what she needed. But more than once, Roy Montgomery had warned her about burnout… and then Dr. Burke had told her many of the same things.

She never believed a word of it. At least, not until she met Ricki.

Ricki began to stir, grunting softly under her breath before her eyes fluttered open and a lazy smile crept onto her face. With a contented sigh, the writer leaned in and kissed Kate on the forehead. "Morning."

"Hey, Castle."

"So," Ricki pulled the covers up over both of their heads, hiding the two women away from the rest of the world. They were both blissfully naked, and Ricki's thighs ached with the memory of the previous night. "How should we spend the day?"

"Um, I dunno." Kate feigned an innocent look. "We could read."

Ricki's fingers stroked gingerly over Kate's shoulder. "We could watch TV."

"We could get something to eat…"

"Could to that, yeah…"

Their lips met for the first time that morning, morning breath be damned. Ricki's eyes fluttered closed again, the hand not resting on Kate's shoulder coming up to rest in the valley between her breasts. Ricki paid reverence to Kate's scar every chance she got, because it signaled not only her lover's survival, but her strength and everything Ricki admired in her.

Ricki had her own scar – which Kate instantly found. Their legs tangled together as the kiss deepened, mouths parting and tongues dancing against each other. Whereas the previous night had been frantic and impatient, the morning sun brought with it a certain laziness and the desire to take their time.

"Ricki," Kate whispered when the writer's lips moved along her jawline.

Ricki's lips made their way to Kate's ear and she stopped, taking a moment to savor the warmth of her lover's body pressed against hers. No matter how many times they woke up next to each other, no matter how many times Ricki's fingers got to trail over Kate's smooth skin, she was still amazed.

Ricki had killed off Derrick Storm because the sense of wonder was gone. Not just in her writing, but in her life. The lifestyle demanded of a best-selling author with a bad reputation was exhausting, especially as Alexis got older. Nikki Heat was a fresh start, not just creatively, but it was almost as if Ricki's entire life went on reset.

"I can't believe I'm gonna marry you," Ricki whispered in Kate's ear.

"Me neither," Kate answered with a watery smile, bringing Ricki to face her. She traced a small circle over Ricki's cheek and leaned in for a tender kiss. The cop with a broken heart who never thought she'd marry anyone was about to tie the knot – to a woman.

Her favorite author, no less.

Leaning down to kiss the tip of Kate's nose, Ricki arched a brow. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

Kate's mouth opened, but nothing came out. That wasn't unusual for her – Ricki was the one who had a way with words, not Kate – but she hated going blank like this whenever Ricki asked her a question. Ricki was understanding and patient, offering a soft smile and keeping quiet to give Kate the time she needed to piece together what to say.

Sharing wasn't Kate's forte – at least, not verbal sharing. But she had been trying with Ricki, and she could tell that she was getting better and that Ricki appreciated the effort.

"I'm just… overwhelmed." A soft smile crept onto Kate's face. "In all the best possible ways."

Ricki smiled and brushed aside a strand of Kate's hair. It was far longer and fuller than when they first met, and it no longer had that hint of red that made Kate look like such a spitfire back then. Now it was almost runway model-quality, even when it matted to her head and sticking out all over the place from a night of sleep.

Ricki was convinced more than ever that Kate Beckett couldn't look bad if she tried.

"Remember in Gathering Storm?" Kate asked. "When you wrote that speech Clara Strike gave?"

Ricki smiled. "'You saved me, Derrick,' she finally admitted with a hitch in her voice. 'And I don't just mean the firefight in the hangar. I mean…' She paused to gather her thoughts, hands clasped together and her eyes suddenly glued to the floor. 'This job will swallow you whole if you let it, and for a long time, I let it. The agency was my life, and it was killing me.

"'But you… Derrick, you're the best thing to happen in my life in a long time. Probably longer than I can remember. This life is hard, borderline impossible. Far too many sleepless nights and far too few pats on the back. This sort of job, you do it right, no one even knows you exist. But I do exist, and it's because of you.'

"Storm was at a loss for words. His mouth opened and then shut. He felt the briefest of smiles tugging on the corners of his mouth, but the bullet wound in his side made its presence felt once again. He held a cloth to the wound with as much pressure as he could, his forehead coated in sweat.

"'Volkov wants to put a bullet in my head tomorrow?' Strike's jaw set. 'Let him. He might kill me, but he can never take away these last few months. You mean everything to me, Derrick Storm, and no matter what happens, that will never change. You are, and will forever be, a part of me, and you will always have a home in my heart.'

"Storm didn't know what to say, so he did the one thing he knew would get the message across: he grabbed the back of Clara's head with his free hand and kissed her as fiercely and as passionately as he had the strength for."

Kate arched her brow and smiled one of those giant toothy smiles she knew Ricki loved. "You remember that entire passage after all these years?"

Ricki shrugged. "I did so many readings for Gathering Storm, I was muttering that scene in my sleep."

"Well…" Kate's finger trailed along Ricki's jaw. "That's how I feel about you."

"Kate…"

"Before I met you, I was…" Kate shook her head. "I don't know what I was, but I was definitely not happy. I had those walls around myself and I was keeping everyone at arm's length and it just… I look back on it now and realize how miserable I was.

"But then I met you. And… you taught me how to be my best self and how to look forward to the adventures of tomorrow. You showed me that there's more to my life than what happened to me, what was taken from me."

Ricki leaned in for another kiss, pouring every ounce of love she could into it. She could feel the emotion prickling in her eyes, and though she would be the first to admit she was definitely the sap among the two of them, Ricki found herself not wanting to cry. For some reason.

"I just wish Mom could be here to see all this," Kate said once the kiss broke. "To see you. She would've loved you, Castle."

A dopey grin spread across Ricki's face. "Oh, yeah?"

"Mmhmm."

"Well, I'm sorry that I'll never get to meet her." Ricki's eyes flickered downward briefly before they came up to meet Kate's gaze again. Both women had tears in their eyes, yet none of them were falling.

"S'ok, Castle." Kate smirked. "Sometimes, I think Martha's enough mother for both of us."

Ricki cringed and shook her head. "Can we please not talk about my mother when we're both naked?"

Kate huffed a quiet laugh before wrapping her arms around Ricki's shoulders and pulling her into a long, slow kiss. Their tongues teased briefly before Kate nipped at Ricki's lower lip, cocking a brow and biting her own lip.

"Deal. Now…" One of Kate's hands ran down Ricki's back before she grabbed a handful of the writer's left butt cheek. "I think I have an idea for breakfast…"


Best Travelers hotel…

Justin Marquette sighed as he checked his watch. His guest was almost a half an hour late. This was not the job he had been promised. Were bills not stacking up as high as they were, he would've never taken this job in the first place. It wasn't even a role for an actual series or a film; it was just some stupid self-help crap.

Unfortunately, this was what his career had become.

It was either this or some off-off-off-Broadway crap he couldn't even pronounce.

The money wasn't even all that great. But it was money, so he really had no choice but to take the gig. The check had cleared that morning, and if nothing else, Justin was getting a free room out of the deal.

Not that Best Travelers rooms were that great. But still, free was free.

He sighed again when the knock finally came at his door. He had specifically requested Room 147 per the instructions of the job. He had felt strange requesting an exact room, but hey, a job was a job. Justin made sure the annoyance was off of his face.

He opened the door and took a step back once he saw the face of the person he'd been expecting. "Been waiting for you. Come on in." Turning his back to the door, Justin opened the door to the black fridge up against the wall. "Let me get you a water."

Turning around with a bottle of water in-hand, Justin barely had time to react when he saw his visitor standing in the doorway pointing a gun at him. The shot rang out in the small room and Justin staggered backward when the bullet sank into his chest.

With a grunt, Justin dropped the water bottle and grabbed the back of the red chair to his right. When he fell back to the floor, his baby blue shirt stained with blood, the chair fell back with him.

Even in death, Justin Marquette's eyes were wide with surprise.