A/N: I took a week off, sorry for not telling you in advance. I didn't mean to, but I had a bit of a dilemma about what I was doing with the story and where it's headed and how it's going to get there, so I figured I should take some time to decide and actually set down a plan. Which I've now done. So let's get to it.

Recap: Beckett told Castle they're done. But they're not done. Not by a longshot. And Alexis found out about the scroll. There were golden twinkling stars and everything.

Everything moved in slow motion. The muzzle of the gun in his back, Coonan's tight grip around his arm, Beckett's stiff movements alongside them as they walk through the bullpen. He took his cues from her, watching her out of the corner of his eye. There has to be a way out of this. I can practically feel Beckett thinking. Come on, Beckett, you can do this, come o-...

Roy Montgomery stepped out in front of the trio and Castle felt his peripheral vision darken until he could barely focus on the man in front of him. Beckett was speaking, quiet and low, but he had no idea what she was saying. All he could hear was his own blood rushing through his ear drums, throbbing loud and fast. He felt his captor's hand release slightly and he reacted on some deep-seated ancestral level, whipping his head back to crack Coonan's nose. Ow, shit, that, ow, hurts, fuck. He grabbed the back of his head as he leaned against the wall, but suddenly two gunshots pierced his sound-world and he turned to see Beckett rush towards Coonan who was crumpling to the floor, blood flowing from his chest, hot and slick.

Castle watched her start chest compressions. No, Beckett... no... His heart was breaking for her, so desperate to know the answers from her mother's killer that she was trying to save the life of someone who had been about to shoot her. As he processed what had happened, he realised that Coonan hadn't been aiming at Beckett at all, he was aiming at me... oh God, what have I done? He swallowed hard and forced himself back to the present, placing his hand gently on Beckett's shoulder.

It's done, Beckett. You need to stop. Please, Kate... please...

I can't do this anymore. I can't do this anymore. I can't do this anymore.

He repeated the mantra to himself as he visited multiple restaurants to pick up bags full of take-out. Something Italian, something Chinese, something Mexican, something Thai, even fish and chips. Anything she could possibly want, he got. All because he couldn't do this anymore.

Damn, I should've gone to the loft and looked at the scroll. Oh well, too late now. The food would get cold. Castle rode the elevator to the fourth floor of the precinct, trying to steel his resolve even as he walked across the bullpen to Beckett's desk. He was convinced this was the right thing to do, just up and walk away from the best thing that had ever happened to him, because it was all his fault. And he didn't think there was a way to fix it.

So it was time for the last supper.

Beckett looked up from the paperwork she was reading and smiled at him. His resolve began to falter. "Hey Castle."

He tried to smile back, "Whatcha reading?"

"Montgomery's report." She looked down at the form in front of her again. "You come off as Steven Seagal, total action hero." Castle shifted nervously on his feet and rubbed the back of his head with a wince.

"I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Beckett laughed, and noticed he was still standing. She frowned a little and was about to ask him to sit when he began to speak again. "Beckett, I can't do this anymore. I... what happened today, it's all my fault. It was me that went digging at your mom's case, it was me that Coonan grabbed, me that caused the distraction. If I wasn't here, none of it would've happened and you'd still have a suspect." He took a heavy breath and looked at her imploringly, "I'm sorry, Beckett. I'm so sorry."

Beckett regarded him for a moment before laying the paperwork she was holding down on the desk, "Castle, sit down." He sighed and carefully sat in his chair, bags in hand still, and she waited for him to raise his eyes to hers once more before she continued. "You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing. Today was tough. But if it happened over in exactly the same way, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot him again if he was aiming at you." Castle's eyebrows twitched in surprise, and Beckett smiled a little as she leaned towards him conspiratorially, "If you tell anyone what I'm about to say, there's going to be another shooting, but…I've gotten used to you pulling my pigtails. I have a hard job, Castle, and having you around makes it a little more fun."

Huh.

He smiled, for what felt like the first time all day. "Your secret's safe with me." She beamed back at him, wow, what a smile...

"What's in the bags, anyway?"

He blinked his meandering thoughts aside and started placing the bags onto her desk. "I didn't know what you wanted to eat, so... I, uh, brought everything."

"Everything?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "Pretty much."

As Castle took their empty cartons to the trash can in the break room, Beckett tidied up the leftovers and her paperwork. Suddenly, golden stars began to twinkle on her desk, and her eyes widened as a scroll, immaculately tied with a thin blue ribbon, appeared in front of her. She glanced up in the direction of the break room and saw that Castle wasn't looking through the window, so she picked up her purse and put it on her desk to block his view. She stared back down at the scroll and reached out to touch it.

"Hey Beckett, d'you want to take those leftovers home, or are you going to leave them in the fridge here?" Castle sauntered back to her desk to pick up the rest of the cartons and saw her hurriedly packing her bag. She looked up and shrugged.

"Leave it here, I guess. The boys might want breakfast." He laughed and shrugged in return. I wonder what she was in such a rush to hide away in her purse...

As Castle shut the door of the fridge he heard the elevator ding. He came out of the break room just as Beckett rushed into the elevator. She looked at him over her shoulder and smiled, "Thanks for dinner, Castle."

"Yeah. Uh, no problem." Kate Beckett leaving the precinct before me? What the hell? "See you tomorrow?"

She had to shout through the closing doors, "See you tomorrow!"

And I didn't even get to ask her if she wanted to go for a drink.

A/N: Back next week :)