It's light at first. Flesh against flesh, warm and tender. A soft push at the bricks as they start to slip out of the barrier. The light pressure of her fingers on the back of his neck is the force against the walls of her heart. The tension between their lips, the final blow at her weakened defenses. And as the last brick falls to the ground at their feet, Rick Castle begins to pull away. But she's not having any of that. Kate Beckett growls, pulling him closer by the lapels of his shirt and stepping over the rubble, out of her chair and leaning into his lap as he's forced back against his own chair.

Her body looms over his, craning his neck farther and farther back as she pushes him to his limits. She bites down on his lip, and they both moan in unison when her tongue slips past his defenses. Tasting him, taking everything he has to offer, all he has left to give. His hands grab at her waist, pulling her down to him. Her legs straddle his thighs and her body melds to his. Castle opens his mouth wider for her, breathing hot air from his nose onto her face. This only makes Kate more eager. The wall is in ruins behind them, and the prisoner has escaped with full force. He's surprised the chair hasn't tipped backwards in his struggle to keep up with her ferocity. The power her emotions drive into him.

Castle slowly moves his hands from her waist upwards, tickling the side of her ribs on his way up, weaving around her arms and brushing against the hands dug so tightly into his shirt, it's pulling the fabric almost painfully against his shoulder blades. But when his hands connect with the hot, flushed skin of her face, Kate's intensity slows. Her mouth opens on a sigh as she backs off, pecking his lips, once, twice before bowing her head against his chin, panting.

The air between them is no longer thick with tension, but light and magnetic. Their chests rise and fall together, as they catch their breaths. The soothing of his thumbs along her cheekbones, her forehead rubbing slightly against his chin, eases them down from the release of their desires. Something they have been holding back for longer than they expected possible.

The only sound in the now empty bullpen, is the pounding of their hearts, and the shallow breaths expelled through swollen lips. Kate lifts her head from his chin, cupping his face between both hands, and kissing him below one closed eye. He opens them when he feels her open mouth kisses. The depths of his oceans swallowing her whole. But she's okay with that. She's more then okay with it. She's swimming through the tides on waves of love and relief. This is living, she realizes, as his eyes flick downwards to her lips, his pools of blue darkening before gazing back into her forest green. He leans in, kissing the side of her mouth, her jaw, her neck before she leans back, hands on his chest as she settles her backside on his knees.

"Kate." he says on a sigh. A whisper.

Her eyes flutter closed, her heart rising at the sound of her name on his lips. Sweet and enticing. She can still taste it on her tongue. She hums softly, tugging on his shirt a little before opening her eyes again. She can see everything in those eyes. Otherwise unspoken. All his secrets that protean to her, but she's neither scared, nor anxious. Well maybe a little anxious. But for a whole new reason. And it doesn't matter how they got here anymore. The lives they led without each other, and the struggles they have been through while standing side by side.

Gazing into the eyes of Richard Castle. Kate Beckett's life has found new meaning. Kate knows, as she eases off his lap and back into her own chair. That everything up until this moment was part of some cosmic plan designed by the universe. A power so great, so unimaginable, that she never believed it could exist. She never allowed herself to see the good in what it could do for her. That is, until this man entered her life. No. It was not a coincidence. Not some morbid curiosity, or ironic sense of justice. It was the rhythm of their hearts. Beating out of tune until all the strings found their proper place in their hearts, connected on a web of destiny.

Kate gives him a smile and stands up from her chair. Pulling on her coat, she turns to leave. "You coming?" She asks, as she looks at him over her shoulder. Castle stares dreamily back for just a second before getting up from his own chair. She hugs him around the waist. Not expecting an answer. He'll follow. He always does.

There is no question about what happens next. Because it's all really been answered. In the longing looks shared and stolen,. In how they keep coming back to each other, how she's slowly been letting him in. The answers is there, in always. Now the future is more evident as these two walk into the elevator of the 12th precinct. The place were it all began.

Oh if walls could talk..

They would tell you of the grand love story that grew and grew over time. From the instant chemistry, obvious attraction, annoyance, and pessimism. To friendship, loyalty, trust and affection. A love these two people have only dreamed about, but never truly felt until they met each other. Some would say too much time has passed. Wasted time that could have been well spent together. But that might just be the loser talking, having lost the ongoing bet throughout the years...

No.

It was just long enough. Timing is everything. And their hearts knew all along what their minds never seemed to grasp. That a great love like theirs takes time, patience...risks...it's why we are alive isn't it?

And so,

As another page turns in this ever changing book of life: Rick Castle and Kate Beckett step out of the elevator side by side and onto the same blank page. The only thing now is to continue writing their story. The difference? Is that his time, they have more control over it. They decide where it leads to next.

Kate looks up at Castle. Her eyes no longer sad, but shining with a happiness she never thought she'd feel again. Lacing their fingers together, she knows that this is where she is meant to be. Kate tilts her head to one side, studying him. She can tell, by the crinkle in his brow that he is over thinking. She can practically hear what's going on inside that mind of his.

"Hey." She squeezes his hand to get his attention, and then answers his obvious unspoken concerns. "How about." She brings his hand up to her lips, placing a soft kiss to his knuckles. "We start with always."

The End