Author's Note:

Sorry for the super long delay in updating – I've had a busy few days. Had to say goodbye to a lot of my friends as they went away to university. :( And began school, as I'm sure a lot of you have too. Hope things are going well with you all!

I would like to thank TheDanishWriter, Trisana Sarrasri, Jag389, gloriajv, Liz, glo1196, Caskettismagic14, Katherine Alexis Castle, and BeeIncarnate... You guys are great people. Thanks so much for leaving me such lovely feedback. I really appreciate it. :) Thanks to all the Story-Alert people too!

Here's Chapter 8! Hope you like it. I'm trying to make it longer, and since I'm currently on a five hour drive, and it's dark, then this is the only thing I can really do right now. Lol.

EDIT: I've been working on this for a few days now, so this is going to be a big update. Possibly epic, if everything goes my way. A lot of things are going to happen in it, and that is because this is likely going to be the second-last chapter. With the season premiere days away, I'm sure that I'm going to see the first episode and want to write a different, more "accurate" fic...because this one will just be too wrong for words, probably! ;) But I hope you like this second-to-last chapter, I'll try to tie up as many lose ends as possible, and stay tuned for a nice new fic!

Hang in there guys, only 3 days left! We've waited four months. We can wait these last few days!

~Pippa

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, except for George. :) Sorry for the crazy long author's note.

Chapter 8: What Are We Now?

Castle was asleep for the first time in over 24 hours. For once, he wasn't up silently begging Kate to wake up. He wasn't dreading every minute, fearing that her heart would suddenly stop and she would be gone forever. He wasn't sitting there in case she would actually wake up without warning, terrified that she didn't know where she was or where the people she loved were. She was safe, she was protected in the hospital, and that meant that he could sleep. He could relax, and actually know that she could do the same. He wasn't permitted to stay in the hospital any further, since the favour George had done him had already expired, since Kate was alive and conscious, which was a huge achievement from the way the doctors talked about it. It sounded like they were extremely close to burying her, and as much as Castle tried not to think about that fact, he found that thought consuming him every time he looked at her, or thought about her. The fact that the love of his life had almost been ripped away from him. The fact that he had been the one to put her in danger. He couldn't bear to look at Mr. Beckett either, knowing that his irresponsibility had put Kate, Mr. Beckett's only child, in danger, and she had almost died because of him.

It was bittersweet. Kate was alive, barely, but alive nonetheless, and she was expected to recover. But the integrity of the bullet was not maintained, and it was therefore impossible to determine what kind of bullet was shot at Kate. This was very unsettling for the hospital, as the assassin was not caught, and the chance at survival from one of those bullets was one-in-a-billion, especially from a trained marksman. Which this guy was. So the guys at the twelfth were forced to accept that they were no closer to discovering the identity of the man who shot one of their own.

More importantly, Kate was on a slow mend, but was ultimately progressing. She spent a lot of time sleeping, and wasn't very awake when she wasn't. Despite the many drugs they'd given her, Kate was still in a lot of pain. She insisted she wasn't, Castle knew her well enough to know that she was lying to him. For a brilliant, tenacious woman that always knew when she was being fed a load of garbage from a suspect – or a friend, for that matter – she was a phenomenally poor liar. But Castle didn't press her. He knew she wouldn't be honest with him, with anything. And as much as that hurt him, that was to be expected for now. She was still in shock over what happened, no doubt, and he would push for her to get therapy later. He remembered what Mr. Beckett told him about her when she first got out of the academy: she wouldn't admit it to this day, but she had been in a state of ongoing fear. Kate, the steadfast, immovable force, had been scared. She couldn't go anywhere without her gun and her badge at the ready. She couldn't help but discreetly track people that looked a bit "off" (like the motorcycle-riding, mullet-sporting yahoo in the grocery store, or even the heavily-tatooed woman that was standing stoically in the middle of the street, staring into space), as if she expected them to suddenly snap, whip out a sword and murder someone right in front of her...Mr. Beckett knew that Kate believed that as a police officer, she was responsible for everyone's safety, and that if anything happened to anyone around her whether she was on or off duty, then she failed. Just like the cops that failed her mother. And nothing he could say would offer her any comfort, and she would continue to beat herself up no matter what.

Castle tried to get the doctors to remove the breathing tube so that Kate could breathe on her own, but they insisted that it stay in for at least another day. "We can't be sure of exactly how much damage there is, so we want to ensure that there is as little stress placed on her system as possible." Castle was not pleased, as he could see that it was very painful for Kate. He could tell that she was willing herself not to cry, and forcing back tears most of the time. Her wound was still healing, so if she allowed herself to cry, the pain would be excruciating. To make matters worse, she couldn't let herself cry in front of him. She couldn't worry him more than he already was. And her father...her father wouldn't want his little girl to be in pain and have there be nothing he could do for her. So crying was out of the question. Talking was out of the question, too. The damn breathing tube was there to stay, and even though it was rubbing her throat raw, and making her feel nauseous. But as soon as her father walked through her hospital room door, she felt a smile just naturally spread across her face, or at least as far as it could go with the breathing tube still there.

He gave her butterfly kisses, like he used to do when she was small, and told her stories and jokes to pass the time. He told her the story about how he met her mother, he told her the story about the happiest day of his life (the day she was born, of course), and how he was so proud of her and loved her more than anything. A strong, stubborn man himself, Mr. Beckett wouldn't tell her that he couldn't live without her, and wouldn't tell her exactly how much he had worried about her while she was in surgery. He wouldn't tell her how scared he was. So, he simply reminisced about good times with her, and unconsciously held her hand tightly the whole time, as if he feared he'd lose her if he let go. It hurt her, but Kate was just so grateful to have him here with her, that she didn't mind this small bit of additional physical pain. Especially since it took away some of her emotional pain.

So far, Kate was never alone. Her time awake in the hospital so far was accompanied with either her father or Castle at her side, sometimes both. They took turns with her, so each one had their own private time with her. And the subjects of conversation stayed happy. She asked no more questions about the shooting, and Castle and her father didn't voluntarily tell her anymore.

She loved when her friends visited on their morning break. She could communicate with them now since Castle had given her a notebook and a pen to write with. While she was writing, she also made flash cards with various faces on them. She wasn't able to be very facially expressive with the ventilator, so the faces would help her illustrate (literally) how she was feeling, pain and mood combined.

"How are you feeling?" Castle asked.

Kate held up the face that just had a line for a mouth. The "so-so" face. Castle considered this. Judging by the fact that Kate would always downplay her pain, he estimated that she was in considerable amounts of pain right now. So if she said it didn't hurt at all, it probably hurt a bit. And if she said it only hurt a bit, then she was probably in a lot of pain. The way her eyes were sunken in, the way they were always glazed over, and the way she seemed to flinch every time she took in a breath; all of these confirmed it. But she was not allowed to be given any medication until they could be sure her body was completely free of toxins. So for now, there was nothing that could be done for her pain.

He nodded with a tight smile, grudgingly accepted her lie, and looked at the other faces she had drawn on separate pieces of paper ripped out of the notebook. One happy face. One face with a slight smile. One so-so face. One slightly sad face. One face that had tears. One that had X's for eyes. Even when she was injured, Kate Beckett had to do things efficiently.

"Jeez, KB, is there anything you can't do?" Rick had asked facetiously, in an attempt to cheer her up.

Kate smiled with her eyes, and picked up the pen and notebook.

Nope.

Castle smiled and said, "I didn't think so."

This got a satisfied eye-twinkle from Kate, and for a moment she looked happy. It lasted for a full three seconds, until she thought of something that was bothering her. She held up the face that looked slightly sad.

"What is it?"

She picked up her pen and paper, and scribbled a few words quickly.

Where's Josh?

Castle cringed. He obviously didn't want to tell her. "He's coming, Kate. He'll be here soon."

Liar.

Kate's eyes narrowed, and she underlined the question furiously. The pen made a thick intent in the paper, that likely affected several pages underneath. Don't you dare lie to me.

Castle swallowed. "I tried calling him as soon as you woke up, but I haven't been able to get an answer from him."

Kate's face softened, and she looked sad. She started writing furiously again.

Did you try his cell? It's 555-2948. He always has it with him.

Castle nodded. "I know, Kate. I called his office and his cell. I left a message, so he should be here soon."

She wrote just one more word.

Okay.

She grimaced and gripped her writing wrist tightly with her left hand. She closed her eyes, and breathed in deeply.

"Are you all right, Kate?" Castle asked in concern, standing up. "Do you want me to get the doctor?"

Kate relaxed slightly, to show him that there was no cause for alarm, and just rubbed her wrist.

"Hand cramp?"

She nodded slightly, but then stopped abruptly. She'd admitted to feeling pain. Castle didn't seem to think anything of it.

"It must be too much writing for you. You should take it easy." He was quiet for a few moments before continuing. "We don't have to talk. I could just keep you company. I have a deck of cards. Finally, I'll be guaranteed to beat you at poker."

Kate's eyes twinkled. She would be smiling or laughing right now if she had the use of her mouth. But then she shook her head slightly, and reached with her left hand to pick up the paper and pen. She was switching hands. Apparently Kate was the Ambidextrous Detective. Wouldn't that make an excellent title for a book?

"Oh, you WANT to talk to me? Gee, Kate, I'm touched."

Kate looked at him in a condescending but playful way, and tapped the pad gently.

You can talk enough for the both of us, Castle. You talk too much. You worry me to death.

Castle laughed at the Clarence Carter reference, but the smile left his face suddenly when he wondered if she had heard him singing to her. Had she heard the discussion between him and her father?

Then Kate turned pale suddenly and her eyes widened and she got very preoccupied with something on her left hand. She was sure going through a roller coaster of emotions.

"What's wrong, Kate?" asked Castle, but then he saw what was worrying her. She had caught sight of the engagement ring on her left finger, and was staring at it with an indeterminable expression. Confusion? Anger? Humiliation? There wasn't a paper face for that...

Her dark eyes flashed when she looked at Castle, obviously demanding an explanation.

What was he supposed to say? Obviously Josh thought he would be here right when she woke up, and it could have potentially been a kind of romantic and beautiful moment... And it sure would have prevented this extremely awkward situation.

He shrugged. He had no idea what to say.

Kate looked up at him, and her eyes flared. She was furious. She grabbed the pen, with her right hand, and scribbled furiously:

Did you do this, Castle? What the hell is this? What did you think you were doing!

"N-NO!" Castle sputtered quickly. "No, no, that's not mine. It's Josh's."

Kate's eyes widened and she looked very much like a deer in the headlights. She blinked, stunned. For once, Kate Beckett didn't know exactly what to say.

"Do you want me to call him now?" Castle asked, shakily. He was very uncomfortable, and didn't know how to make this easier on Kate.

She swallowed, grimaced, and picked up the paper pad. She considered very carefully what she wanted to say, and wrote slowly:

Yes, please.

Castle nodded and stood up. "Another thing you need to know. I haven't said anything to anyone about this. It's still somewhat a secret. You, Josh and I are the only ones that know."

Kate stared straight ahead and said nothing. There were tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. Castle needed to leave. She needed to be by herself right now so she could think.

"I'll be back, Kate. See you soon."

Kate was now alone with her thoughts, which was a frightening thing. Could he? Could he be my one and done?

Castle walked out of the room, and stepped forward when he received a text message. "Dad! Dad! Dad!" It was Alexis.

"I'm here now, Dad! So is Martha, Lanie, Ryan and Esposito. we can't wait to see Detective Beckett! Love you lots, xoxo Alexis."

Castle smiled, and was feeling warm and fuzzy until he felt something big and heavy grab his shoulders and shove him. Hard. He hit the wall of the white hall with such force that the wind was knocked out of him. He looked up, blinking furiously, bewildered. Who had pushed him?

Once he caught his breath and could see straight, he looked up to see a very angry Josh staring at him, breathing heavily, eyes mad and accusing.

Castle sputtered, and was breathing, but couldn't talk coherently yet. He just stared back at Josh in utter confusion.

"What the fuck, Ricky?" Josh demanded. "What are you doing spending time alone with MY girlfriend, and NOT calling me and telling me that she was about to wake up?"

"I tried, I really -"

"She's probably seen the ring. I was supposed to be there with her when she saw it. You RUINED it."

"...You were out of line," croaked Castle.

"What?"

"That was all wrong. Kate deserves a decent proposal. Not a sucker punch to the face when she's the most vulnerable."

Josh's nostrils flared and he looked quite dangerous. "You ASSHOLE!" He grabbed Castle again.

Castle forced himself to chuckle, even though he actually was quite scared. "Oh, look, you're at least giving me a chance to fight back now. Not that super cowardly cheap shot you did before."

"Shut the fuck up!"

Castle was pinned. His arms were raised above his head, and Josh was inches away from him. He was trying to intimidate him. He kneed Castle in the groin, and Castle slid down the wall, groaning in pain.

"Why don't you fight back, chickenshit?" sneered Josh. "I thought you learned all kinds of combat tricks from my girl. Why don't you use them and stop. Being. Such. A. Wimp!" He punctuated each word with a punch to Castle's crumpled body. Castle made no move to fight back. Kate would never forgive him if he attacked her boyfriend. Instead, Rick stood up awkwardly, cracked his joints, and nodded at Josh provocatively.

Josh bared his teeth and stepped towards Castle abruptly, intending to intimidate him, but the novelist did not flinch; instead he puffed himself up to his full height, so he was just an inch taller than Josh.

He looked at him calmly, despite the pain he felt in his left eye. That was going to be a shiner. And don't even get started on his wounded manhood. Figuratively, and literally. Castle touched the side of his head and felt something wet. Blood? Sweat? Whatever. He called Josh out again.

"Do you fix little children with the same hands you're using to attack an innocent man?"

Josh glared at him, and clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. He made another threatening move towards Castle, but Castle did not flinch.

"Can we just talk? Like a pair of civilized men? Novelist to Doctor. Mano a mano." Castle asked, genuinely.

Josh bared his teeth, grabbed a non-protesting Castle's shoulders. "Okay, I guess one or both of us needs to work on our Spanish," Castle chuckled in a goodhearted manner as he was shoved again. Castle didn't go very far, and didn't fall over, but he shuffled awkwardly back to where he had originally been standing.

"This is all your fault!" Josh bellowed, walking towards Castle again.

"Josh, don't," Castle said calmly, but the now beet-faced doctor did not slow down.

Then there was a high-pitched cry, and a small red-haired figure flew at Josh. She pummelled him with fists so quick they were nothing but blurs, and finished it with an uppercut to the nose. Josh's eyes were as large as sand-dollars, and he turned a pale green colour before he staggered and fell, heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

Alexis angrily threw herself towards him again, but Castle firmly, but gently, grabbed her from behind, preventing her from taking another hit at Josh. "That'll do, brave bird. That'll do." He smiled, and touched his daughter's cute little nose affectionately with his pointer finger. He then pulled her close and hugged her while supporting her head. "Thanks for having my back, baby girl. Good to know that all those years of self-defence classes paid off."

Martha, and Lanie ran towards Castle to hug and comfort him, while Ryan and Esposito stepped towards Josh disdainfully. He tried to get up, but Esposito stepped on his hand. Josh grimaced and groaned in pain.

"Not cool, bro," Ryan said, shaking his head. "Doctor or not, you mess with him, you mess with all of us."

"Now back the fuck down." Esposito snapped.

Josh did back down, and the dynamic duo handcuffed him roughly. "Josh Davidson, you're under arrest for assault against a member of the NYPD."

If Castle hadn't been bleeding from his head at that moment, he would have relished the fact that Josh's bloody face was contorting into extremely amazingly foul facial expressions and turning all kinds of incredible colours, but he was too preoccupied with the fact that at that moment, he was considered a member of the NYPD. At least as far as Josh's arrest was concerned.

Esposito pushed Josh forward, and he and Ryan led him out of the hospital.

10 minutes later...

"One of us has to tell her."

"You tell her."

"Nuh-uh. You should tell her."

"I can't tell her!"

"Come on Dad, you can tell her."

"Kiddo, she deserves to know."

"It should come from you, Rick."

Lanie, Martha, Alexis, and Mr. Beckett all looked at Castle simultaneously, and nodded sympathetically. Castle swallowed, and nodded, and prepared to walk into Kate's room. He was all cleaned up, and no longer looked like a battle victim. The head wound was cleaned, and the bruise on his eye was deep, so it would not show up for another few days. He appeared okay in body but not in spirit. He still walked with a limp because of the groin attack, but if he walked slowly, it was less obvious. He was embarrassed by how big a fuss was made over him, since he was nowhere near as damaged as Kate.

Castle swallowed, and told himself that Josh was very clearly an asshole, and that Kate was a strong, beautiful and intelligent woman who deserved a man that was infinitely better than Josh. A man that loved her more than anything, would put her first no matter what, would always be right there by her side, would tell her that she was beautiful, sexy and smart, and never let her forget that she was the best woman in the world, and he was lucky to have her.

Me... Castle thought.

God this was going to be hard.

Stepping into the room gingerly, he knew that he was about to take away the one possibly happy thing left in Kate's life. She lost Montgomery, she almost lost her life, and now she was about to lose her honourable boyfriend.

Kate's face went from a dull slate to a bright visage when she saw him. Her eyes lit up, and she grabbed the pad and pen. Scratched, but beautiful fingers moved rapidly as she wrote, back and forth, back and forth.

Hi Rick! I've been thinking. I never thought that Josh could be my one and done before today. But then I thought about it. I'm happy with him. I feel like he can take care of me. I think I love him as much as he loves me. He's showing me that he wants to make an effort and be there for me. I think this could be a turning point for us. I'm thinking of accepting his proposal.

She looked completely neutral until she caught sight of Castle's expression. He was looking melancholy when he first walked in, and as he read her note, she could tell he was getting deeper and deeper into emotional depth that was the road less travelled for Richard Castle.

Her forehead furrowed. She grabbed the pad back from him and quickly scribbled another note.

What happened to you? You're bleeding.

Castle put his hand to his head again, and touched blood again. He sighed. It had started bleeding again. For once, Castle was not grateful for his battle wound. It was going to make things so much harder on Kate. He opened his mouth to speak, but Kate's brow was already furrowed again, and she was writing quicker than he could think of a reasonable explanation. She held up the pad and stared right at him, demanding an explanation.

Where's Josh? What HAPPENED?

There was no turning back now. Castle sighed, and started to shake his head. "Kate..."

Kate sat up in bed slowly, grimacing in pain and trying to swallow the wave of nausea and dizziness that overcame her. Castle reached out with both hands, and tried to get her to relax, but she was sitting up and staring at him before he could stop her. Kate looked at Castle in the eye and reached out with her writing hand. She put it on top of Castle's badly scuffed hand, and squeezed it weakly.

You can tell me anything. Always.

Kate knew. She just knew.

Kate was horrified when Castle finished the story. She was humiliated, and hurt, and above else, furious. At Josh, first. How could Josh do this to him? How dare he attack her partner? An innocent man that thought the world of her and not saved her life more times than she could count, made it fun and worth living. And what Josh did to her...? How dare he put her on the spot, and propose to her when she was comatose? How dare he add even more drama to her plate? How DARE he propose to her at all, when he hadn't been there for her, and was distant and just unavailable?

But above all else, she was angry at herself. It was her boyfriend that did this to her partner. If there was anyone to be angry at, it was her. It was so over between her and Josh. If she had had enough strength, she would rip the ring off her finger and throw it across the room. And then consider dipping her finger in acid. Or cutting it off. But that didn't matter. What did matter was that her partner had just been attacked by HER asshole boyfriend. She couldn't believe it. She was furious, and wanted to kill him. If it weren't for the breathing tubes and the fact that her whole chest still burned and screamed with pain every time she took a breath, she would have marched right down to the twelfth herself, and said more than a few choice words to him. But for now, she had to make amends with Castle. He was hurt, and it was her fault.

Castle...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry...

"It's not your fault Kate. It's my fault."

Don't be stupid. You're hurt.

Castle waved her note away dismissively. "I'm fine."

You did nothing wrong, Castle.

"If I hadn't been arrogant and reopened this case, Montgomery would still be alive right now. You wouldn't be hurt. You still would be an amazing detective and a brilliant and beautiful woman, but no one would want you dead. You wouldn't be constantly put into danger every time you go out into the world. You would be able to have an ordinary life.

Kate's eyes narrowed, and she wrote back stubbornly:

Maybe I'm tired of ordinary. Maybe I want extraordinary.

"You're extraordinary the way you are," retorted Castle, "and you were that way before people were trying to kill you."

The injured detective's mouth became tight and defiant around the breathing tube. She glared at Castle in desperation, and flipped to a page that she had already prepared. On the spot, out of frustration, she added another sentence, and underlined it.

We need to talk. You are delusional.

Castle looked around the room before staring downward, and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Wait, what? We're actually going to talk, now?" He looked at Kate, with his elbows resting on his knees, and palms facing up, before continuing, "About something serious that matters, but doesn't have anything to do with work? When have we ever done that?" His tone was incredulous and hopeless.

Kate's heart broke and her eyes filled up with tears, but this time, she didn't bother hiding it. She'd hurt her partner, and she'd been too scattered and self-focused to notice. The record needed to be set straight, and it needed to be set straight now. Shaking fingers grabbed the spotting pen again. It took her a few minutes to write this next message.

Castle. You've been nothing but good to me. YOU encouraged me to catch my mom's killer. YOU kept me going. YOU made it easy and FUN. You helped me be strong when I felt the weakest and most vulnerable. You're one in a million and you shouldn't regret ANYTHING that's happened.

He shook his head. "But I do. I regret everything I ever did to get you here."

Kate passed him the pad again, and glared at him suspiciously again.

You weren't planning on ever telling me why I'm still here, were you?

"What are you talking about?"

My dad told me what you did. I would have been a goner if it weren't for you. Do you regret saving my life?

"You're strong, Kate. You would have made it," Castle said nonchalantly. Kate flipped another page that was covered in writing. She'd prepared this. Her wrist must be killing her by now.

Dad told me everything. He did what no one else around here would. He told me the truth. I'm a detective, I deal with facts. And now, so do you. So...Fact. I would have died if that bullet had hit me head on. Another fact. It would have hit me head on, but YOU protected me. You tried to push me out of the way, and succeeded in moving me just enough out of the way so that my life was spared. Third fact. You would have taken that bullet if you could have. If you hadn't tried to push me out of the way, I wouldn't be here right now. That bullet would have destroyed me. And what's left of my family.

Castle shook his head. He didn't want to even think about what would have happened had that bullet run its course. No. He wouldn't. He couldn't.

I promised you I would stay with you. You asked me to stay with you. I said "Always." You just didn't hear me.

"What?" Castle asked. Was she referring to...?

Kate rolled her eyes, and grabbed the pad. She wrote, and thrust the pad at Rick.

I love you too, you idiot.

Castle looked over at her, and watched Kate intently. "Are you feeling all right?" He reached over and put his hand on her forehead. Cool as a cucumber. Castle couldn't say the same for himself.

"Are you...serious?"

Kate stared at him, unwavering.

"Kate, you have no idea how long I've waited to hear that," Rick said simply, with a huge dorky grin spreading over his face.

Kate held up a paper face: the happiest one with a wide grin that matched Castle's.

2 Days Later...

"Castle! Wait!"

Castle turned around, searching for the source of the voice.

George ran up, and by the time he got to Castle, he was completely out of breath.

"Calm down, Georgie, I'm not going anywhere yet. Visiting hours don't end for another forty-five minutes. Right?"

George took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and started talking.

"Well, you know how you said that you would do any favour for me in exchange for helping you out and letting you stay here for a few days? And then I told you the favour I wanted, and you didn't want to do it?"

"...Yes...?" Castle replied, cautiously.

George ignored the hesitation in Castle's voice, and continued.

"Well, instead of having you clean all the bed pans of the geriatric patients like I'd originally asked – I've since discovered that, apparently, I am not allowed to allow outsiders to perform tasks like that – I was thinking it might be better suited if you would come here once a week for readings. To the long-term care patients. They need some entertainment, and most of them are quite familiar with your work. As much as I wanted to get someone else to do the bed pan cleaning, I'm sure that this would be better suited for your skills, and I'm sure the patients would get a lot out of it."

George paused and let the terms of agreement sink in. "Do you accept? A deal's a deal?" he asked.

Castle smiled. "I would love to."

George nodded. "Perfect! Be here every Saturday at 6 pm, and read until 9. We will provide you with

water."

"Uh, thanks George, that's very generous. Sounds like a plan."

George rocked on the tips of his toes awkwardly. He had no more to say.

"Actually, George?"

"Mm?"

"I was planning on talking to you about a donation to the hospital, if that's okay."

"Yes, of course! What are you looking for?"

"Well I have something very specific in mind."

"The Beckett-Castle Support Ward for Bereaved and Orphaned Children and Young People?"

"I knew you would love it." Wink.

"Wow, Castle...I can't believe you did this. Thank you."

"It's going to help so many people. They won't have to suffer in silence. There will be counselling, mentoring programs, fun activities for them to do...I just really think it's going to be great."

Kate smiled. "Especially if it's got our names attached to it."

Castle made a face. "I know it's a bit of a mouthful, but they insisted that calling it the Caskett Ward was in bad taste."

Kate Beckett playfully swatted Castle in the arm with the paperwork. She was recovering quite nicely. Just taken off the ventilator the day before, Kate was breathing and, fortunately for Castle, talking on her own now. Her dad and her friends were thrilled that she was doing so much better, and showered her with flowers, cards and presents to celebrate her soon-to-be homecoming, which would occur "as soon as Katherine feels up to it," according to George. It was just days away, since Kate could already sit up in bed now, and almost ready to try standing and walking. That would likely happen the next day.

In the middle of the day, when Beckett and Castle were eating the hospital lunch food that was just stereotypically awful, they didn't talk for a few minutes. He would look at her, and she would be concentrated on eating (she was starving, as it was her first solid food in almost 2 days). She would try to catch his eye, and he'd be poking at his tray, trying to figure out if the casserole was moving on its own, or if he had just bumped it.

"I did call him, you know."

Castle looked up from his haunted tray of food. "Sorry?"

Kate sighed, put her fork down, and leaned in closer to Castle. She spoke in a significantly lower voice.

"I called Josh last night, after you left."

"Oh."

There was an awkward pause, before Castle spoke again. "I didn't ask."

Kate's small chuckle became a lilting laugh, and Castle reflected on how much he missed her laugh.

"You were not asking very loudly," she said softly.

Castle winked. "I know. I'm a jedi like that." But he became serious a few seconds later.

"Are you okay?"

Kate looked at him in the eye, pursed her lips, and calmly shrugged. "Never better."

"Good."

There was silence again, and Castle opened his mouth to speak. Beckett cut him off.

"No, I don't want to tell you what I said to him..."

"Aww..." Castle groaned sarcastically. "It's okay, Kate. You don't have to tell me what you said. That's personal."

"...because I recorded it." She winked playfully.

"What?"

"Yep. I have a recording of that phone call."

"...Why?"

"Now don't get any ideas." Kate said in a mocking manner. "Because I don't think my impression of his snivelling, whining drone would be accurate enough."

"Ha-ha. Now why did you actually record it?"

"I will just keep it to myself." She looked down shyly, and repeated: "Yes, I'm going keep it. To remind myself to never be stupid like that again. If I've got something special, right in front of me, acknowledge it and hang on to it like my life depends on it. And if I've got a dud, just let it go like it means nothing to me. Instead of keeping the jerk and letting the sweet one go on being...under-appreciated."

Castle blushed softly, and found that he was speechless.

Beckett looked back at him fondly and bit her lip softly. She looked away shyly, but eventually returned his loving gaze.

"It sounds like you've got things figured out, KB," Castle managed.

"I'm working on it," she replied coolly and looked away again. "I'm not perfect."

"You are to me," Castle said softly. He meant it too. He was so genuinely sweet, and fiercely loyal, and that's why he was perfect, too.

Kate looked back at him in surprise, and her lips parted as she tried to think of an appropriate thing to say. But before she could, Castle leaned in close, and, almost in slow motion, kissed her tenderly on the lips. Despite it being the second time they'd kissed, Kate was overcome with love and appreciation for the lowly novelist she'd previously overlooked. She allowed herself to give into these feelings for the first time in 4 years, and gave herself to him, kissing him back with enthusiasm. She imagined themselves being joined together forever in this way, and wondered if this was how her Nikki Heat counterpart would do it. She ran her fingers through his hair, and when they broke apart, she smiled like a little kid, or Richard Castle, on Christmas.

"Let's try this again," Rick said, and Kate was quiet. He smiled, and in between words, he kissed her passionately on her soft pink, now upturned mouth.

"I love you, Kate Beckett." Castle said, touching his forehead softly to hers with the final word.

"I love you, Rick," she declared, almost as if she was admitting it to herself. She'd never been able to say it out loud before now. "I love you, I love you, I love you." With each successive "I love you," she felt as though her love for Rick Castle was multiplying. She felt that she was one with him, and felt that he could only be her one and done.

Author's Note:

Over 6200 words of Caskett Love. Sorry it got a bit cliche towards the ending. I've never actually written romance before. This is my first romantic fic, I've just realized. So I hope it wasn't awkward and that it worked out. Let me know if not though, so I can learn!

This was supposed to be the ending, but there was no Beckett-to-Beckett moment, or Mr. Beckett-to-Castle moment, and it's honestly incomplete without either. I think I would like each friend (Lanie, Esposito and Ryan) to talk to her as well. The next one will be the official ending. With EVERYTHING wrapped up nicely, if things go my way. Next one is the epilogue, so hang on! :)

I was thinking, and I've decided that I might actually make some spin-offs from this - possibly a short oneshot containing a transcription of the call to Josh, a fic that shows Castle doing the readings at the hospital and the people he sees while there, the day they set up the B-C Counselling Ward, or I might do the usual fluffy Castle Marriage-and-Babies fic, even though those are SO common, haha. I haven't decided, but will likely be inspired by the new season. So stay tuned! :)

I would especially like your feedback on this chapter, since it's quite different and much longer than the other chapters before it. So if you have time, and feel like writing me a review, I would really appreciate that!

Ch 9: Epilogue should be up sometime this weekend! :)

~Pippa