Hello everyone. Another chapter. Yes indeedy. Sorry it's been a bit long in the making, but I have been struggling with it a bit. Real life and real issues crafting it how I wanted with constant interruptions. But now it seems to be done. And of course, it's not yet the final chapter because I have realised that it didn't want to end just yet.

Thank you to everyone who has continued to follow, read and comment on this fic. You are all awesome! A big shout out to Shutterbug5269 for the heads up on some info that I should have been aware of. I hope that I have done some justice to the catch and the ongoing conversation we have been having about what to do about it. Nervous...

Anyway, I hope you like this one. The next chapter will take a few days due to real life intervening as always. Thank you all once again for sticking with me. And once again gratuitously begging for feedback!

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In the break room, Kate had given Castle her cell phone whilst she and her coffee had returned to Captain Montgomery's office to ask permission to take the writer home. She would have preferred he return to the hospital, but he had begged her outright not to take him there. She couldn't blame him for that. She wasn't a huge fan of hospitals either, and what was likely now waiting for him outside the doors of the 12th made going anywhere but the safety of home unthinkable really. So she had agreed to take him home if Montgomery would release her. That way she could be sure he would get there and be safely delivered into Martha and Alexis' hands. But first, she knew her part of the conversation with the Captain had been cut short by Espo's interruption and he would be expecting her return.

And he was.

She had barely tapped the door with her knuckles before she heard his curt: "Come!"

"Sir..." She spoke as she entered the room. Montgomery was sitting at his desk, pen in hand, files open, laptop open. All business. Kate tried to keep the edginess out of her voice, her body language, as she waited for him to look up.

"Ah, Detective Beckett. Castle gone home?" Her Captain spoke, finally making eye contact with her.

"No sir. If you could spare me I was going to drive him home myself." She said. "Esposito and Ryan have things under control and Louis Carmichael has asked for a lawyer before we interview him. We have about an hour before she arrives."

"Carmichael?"

"The uh new suspect in the Baxter case, sir. It looks like Baxter wasn't calling the shots as well as making them. It looks like that honour lies with Carmichael, Baxter's lawyer. Or whomever is controlling Carmichael. It looks like this goes much further than we thought. " She watched Montgomery's eyebrows rise, and tried not to white knuckle her coffee cup.

"I see. That makes things more - interesting." He said calmly, but the gleam in his eye was unmistakeable. It would be a point back in his favour if the Captain had something juicy to put into his next report for the Mayor. God, she hated politics. "Good work Detective."

"Actually sir, it was Castle who put the pieces together."

"Castle." Montgomery repeated, nodding thoughtfully. He dropped his pen to the desk top. "Yes, we were interrupted about the Castle incident. Where is he now?"

"Break room. He's calling ahead to the loft, trying to arrange a discrete entry to his building."

"Good luck with that."

"Yeah." She felt her tongue stick on the word and Montgomery pursed his lips.

"OK Detective. This morning. Tell me what happened."

Tell me what happened. And just how to do that? The morning had been nothing short of one of the most harrowing of her career and he was asking her to put it out in there, right now, in a rundown that would later mirror her report. How could she do that? The tangled up, complicated mess that was the raid and its aftermath, and the Mayor's surprise reaction, had her so unprepared for this inevitable and predictable question from her boss that she was unable to answer him. At least not right away.

"Sir, before we go into this morning's raid, may I ask about Mayor Weldon's decision to keep Castle attached to the 12th?"

"You may not."

"Sir!" Kate couldn't help the flare of anger in her voice; the control she had over her frayed nerves was wearing thin. She had thought she had lost her partner twice this morning, had been steeling herself to help the wheels turn to have him removed from the precinct for his own safety, and she couldn't bring herself to even touch upon the intense moment they had shared in the stationary cupboard right now. She was exhausted. Edgy. She'd even giggled like a damn kid in the break room, the stress of the day destroying any attempt she made to hold it together as the others decided the Mayor award was so hilarious they needed to prank Castle. And on top of that, though she felt that she and Castle were inching towards a place where she could perhaps work with him to prevent future incidents like this morning, she was not that far from removed from her original position: to keep Castle alive against his better judgement. And so to have any hope of protecting him ripped from her with the stroke of a politician's pen without even being able to ask why, was purely and simply outrageous. Her anger, her instinct to fight, flared and pushed at the threads of her tattered self-possession. "Sir, Mayor Weldon's office may have a firm grip on the pulse of the city's media, but some sound bite confirmations from someone who probably wasn't even there this morning, does not give him the right to make arbitrary decisions about someone's life! Castle-"

"Detective Beckett!" Montgomery stood to his full height behind his desk. "I will remind you to watch what you say. The Mayor's office have made their decision based upon sound advice, and relied upon credible witnesses to confirm this morning's events. However, they also have to take into account a number of considerations that perhaps those from outside his office may find difficult to understand or accept. As I said earlier, this is an election year, with all the machinations and devices that go with it. And what Castle did, withholding his condition and apparently flinging himself in between you and a very very large, very very angry man, yes I have more information than you might think Detective, has put the election campaign into a very difficult position."

"The campaign-" Kate almost choked on the word.

"Yes Detective, the campaign. What Castle has done is put the spotlight on himself, his relationship with the Mayor, the conduct of this precinct and your own judgement." He said, and Kate winced. "You took a civilian, the famous Richard Castle no less, into a police action that appears to have nearly cost him is life. You allowed him to participate despite the fact that he has no training to do so and no one, as far as I can fathom, was assigned to him during the operation."

"Sir," Kate reacted without thinking, going on the defensive. "You know that Castle has accompanied myself and my team on numerous actions in the field before without-"

"Has he?" Montgomery said, looking deliberately obtuse. "Oh, even better. He has been put in the firing line on multiple occasions!"

"Sir, that's not how-" And she suddenly understood. He was letting her vent and demonstrating where her fighting the Mayor was going to end up. Still... "What are you getting at? That if I push to have Castle benched, to protect him, that the fallout is going to come back on us, on me?"

"Beckett, the fallout from this is going to come back on everyone, from every angle. There's even talk of a lobby group, a deaf citizens of New York activist group, that is going to take action against the City, against the Precinct, against you and I, for failing in our duty of care under the Americans with Disabilities Act."

"What?"

"Castle is deaf. If the Mayor's office makes a move to remove him they can argue that the primary motivation is discriminatory. As it is we are going to be audited to make sure that we can and will accommodate his needs to ensure his safety and his fair and equitable treatment whilst he is at this station ."

"But Castle didn't tell anyone in this precinct, or the Mayor. And anyway, his hearing is not the entire story."

"Doesn't matter. As I said: this is an election year."

"Sir -"

"Beckett." He interrupted, but the fire had gone out of his eyes. "Look, I know it's part of you to want to protect those around you, both in and out of uniform. It's part of what makes you a great cop. But what is going on here has very little to do with being a good Detective, a good person, and a lot to do with smoothing the political waters as fast, and as with as few waves, as possible. And that means that Castle has to stay: right where he is. With you."

Kate stared at Montgomery, pursed her lips.

"What if I don't want him in the field with me anymore."

"That could be difficult to accommodate right now, Detective." Montgomery said. "But," and he sighed. " I think we might be able to get a little creative around the edges of his agreement with the City, if we are discrete about it." He held up an index finger as Beckett nodded. "Very discrete."

"Understood." Kate felt some of the weight lift from her shoulders. The political powers that be had rendered any objections she had to Castle's continuing presence moot, but perhaps it would still be possible to reshape his involvement in the field? The supply cupboard conversation had changed things for her, for them both, but she could not ever consider his safety as second to satisfying his enthusiasm for their work. There had to be a way to manoeuvre through the political wagon circle that had sprung up around the Mayor and his political allies. If there was, she would find it.

"I hope so Detective. The last thing we need is a lawsuit right now." Montgomery went on, and then paused and she recognized that look. What had he picked up upon? "You said that Castle's hearing was only part of the issue this morning? I think you had better sit down and fill me in on this other part." He sat down himself as Kate scrambled for words. Sometimes Montgomery was just too sharp. She followed him down to sit in her own chair.

"Castle." She said, and paused. Considering. "He thinks he's seen what we do, what he thinks we do, and that there is no reason why he can't join in."

"In this instance it was to protect you, an officer of the law, when you were in need of help."

"Exactly."

"I beg your pardon?"

"He - Well, he- I- He thinks he's Dirty Harry, sir. He thinks he's seen all our moves and he can just, just join in."

"And he can't-?"

"Yes, I mean no, no he can't. What happened this morning was that he was nearly killed, trying to - trying to protect m- an officer of the law when he should have stayed out of it."

"Which is why the Mayor wants to give him a medal. And don't look at me like that Detective. I know what nearly happened this morning, and you are having a tough time with it. I can see that. But that's what people do in life, whether they wear a uniform or not, they make decisions to protect one another when the situation calls for it."

"But-"

"But nothing. What Castle did this morning was to make a decision to protect someone when it was needed. It was a damn brave thing to do. I know: I've seen Baxter. Now that someone that Castle made a decision to protect happened to be you." He looked her pointedly. "And I know just how much that gets under your skin. I do. But that man saved your bacon today, possibly your life, and that is a hellava thing to swallow down. I understand what you are going through, better than you might think. But that is for you to deal with. You and Castle. And I suggest that you do deal with it because he's going to be around this place for a while yet."

"Sir." Kate acknowledged his words, feeling like she'd just been ambushed and shown up all at the same time. Damn the man...

"Now, Castle needs to go home. And you need to be back in one hour to interview Carmichael. Dismissed Detective."

CastleCastleCastleCastleCastle CastleCastleCastleCastleCastle CastleCastleCastleCastleCastle

Castle was just about asleep.

Finally.

Kate snatched a glance at him as she turned their car away from the 12th and blended them into the traffic; anonymous and innocuous, just another vehicle in a river of many. All the cameras and reporters were left far behind them, at last. Beside her Castle was hunched into his seat, his broad frame filling the cramped space and his knees pressing against the glove compartment, watching as the city rolled passed them. And he was starting to drift with the quiet rumble of the car. She could see it in the slow nod of his head; in the relaxing of his bruise stained jaw; and in how his unbroken hand had started to release its clench to lie curled now in his lap. In a few more minutes he would be out. And after the near riot of their escape from the precinct, she was relieved for him.

The number of reporters and camera crews that had been waiting for them as they left the station had been truly staggering. And truly awful. A sea swell of human greed that slammed into them, and like a roaring wave it rocked into their car and broke over it. And oh my god, the noise of it. The calling, shouting and blows to the windows, the roof, calling for Castle to come out, for her to stop the car. Instantly she had been reminded of that zombie movie cliché: hordes of slavering mindless creatures descending upon a victim's car, swarming and swarming until the long camera pull back reveals the vehicle vanishing under a mass of Undead - never to be seen again. Swallowed up. Gone. In the thunderous rush of the moment as she hunched over the steering wheel slowly pressing the car through the hard fought for human corridor of straining unis, and above her anger, she had felt the pull of it, that unconscious pause in her thinking as she waited for him to make those same cinematic connections and start cracking apocalypse movie jokes. With the both of them starring as the leads of course.

But it didn't happen.

And when she looked over at him, she could see why. God... She didn't think she had ever seen Richard Castle cower before. But there was no mistaking that that was what he was doing. He was a big man, tall and broad shouldered, and was forever annoying her by taking up more space than seemed polite. It was a routine frustration of their driving around together that he routinely got his knee in the way of the gear stick, thumped into her if he leaned even a little towards the driver's seat (which he was wont to do in moments of excitement), and smacked his head on the door getting in and out of the car. But now... Now, all of that big burly presence had shrunk down to fit neatly inside the confines of his car seat as he curled into himself, back arched against the door, splinted hand up as if warding off a blow to the back of his head. It was so completely shocking to see that for a moment Kate nearly choked on the sight and the car jerked to one side as she clenched the wheel. It was the body language of someone who had had enough; everything was defensive and in retreat. Losing ground and knowing it. Exhausted. Spent. And behind him, framed in the car window, the noise and the press of distorted faces and camera lenses, just kept on hunting him and hunting him as if they could smell the end was near.

"Castle!" She called out. He didn't react. Of course- She pulled hand from the wheel and reached out to grab his knee. His hand instantly came down on top of hers, gripping so tightly she felt her bones creaking. She bore it without moving away and pressed down harder herself feeling the muscle and bone of him resisting the grasp of her fingers. And it was worth the pain, because he finally looked up to find her face, but now with eyes that showed that he was beyond compensating for his hearing loss. He didn't even track near her lips and instead roved unsteadily over her face. She watched him take fast shallow breaths. And so she learned something else terrible and new: that when Castle was exhausted that incredible ability of his to co-ordinate all his senses to compensate for his hearing just unravelled like so much fraying cloth. And so she put it all into her eyes, in to the grit of her teeth, the hard planes of her face. It's ok. Its fine.Just hang on.Hang on to me. This was them. Together. They would be ok. It was almost over. He watched her steadily, and then squeezed his eyes shut.

Kate had pressed down on the gas then, using the flare of the engine's roar as a warning to the uniforms outside the car that she was getting impatient. The car throbbed under them, rearing up as she stayed on the brake. And then the unis were winning the battle, the crowds were parted by force and she released the brake and eased back on the gas. And they were moving. She kept her hand on his knee. He didn't let her go.

Castle didn't let go of her hand until well after they had lost sight of the flashing cameras and shouting reporters, and even then it was only a lessening of the crushing grip he had on her. And eventually she was the one who had to pull free, to have both hands on the wheel to avoid crashing into a parked car that suddenly cut in front of them. They drove on until they were stopped by traffic lights. And she took the opportunity to check on him again. He was stilled curled towards her, but now it was more of a slump than a rigid bending of spine and limbs. He was staring out of the front window, his face in deepening lines of pain and fatigue.

"Castle-" She started, before remembering how futile her voice was right now. Right. Touch then. She reached over once more, this time feathering her fingers against his hot cheek, trying not to startle him. It worked and it caught his attention. "OK?" He watched her dully for a long second and she let her fingers settle along his jaw, lightly covering some of the bruises there. Her thumb smoothed along the unblemished skin along his cheekbone. A ghost of a smile touched his lips in reflex.

"Had better days." He said finally.

"Yeah." She gave a tired faint smile. "Me too."

"Sorry."

She shook her head, dismissing his apology. "Don't be." She whispered, pleased that his gaze dipped this time to catch her voice on her lips. And she surprised herself that she truly meant it. "Let's get you home."

End

But of course not the end of the fic! The next chapter will find Beckett, Castle and other back at the loft and in a much better place than they were.