For the remainder of that Sunday, Rick sat on the couch wondering where his wonderful weekend with Kate had gone so horribly wrong. His desire to write vanished the moment she walked out the door; he only wanted to mope. He couldn't even bring himself to go in to the bedroom that evening, and opted instead to sleep on the couch.

The next few days followed a similar pattern, alternating sulking inside while sulking with long walks on the beach. It all boiled down to disbelieve. In his heart he truly thought she would come around, it would just take time, but if a wonderful weekend together did not bring her walls crashing down, he wasn't sure what else to try.

Tuesday, over a week since he last saw her, he was once again seated at his computer, forcing his way through a new Nikki Heat chapter. His cell phone rang and he answered, so desperate for a break he didn't even care who was on the other end.

"Yo Castle, how's it hangin' man?" the cheerful voice of Esposito greeted him.

Pleasantly surprised, Rick smiled. "I'm not doing badly, how about yourself?"

"Not bad. Hey man look I got you on speaker here."

"Hey Castle," Ryan chimed in.

"Hello!" Castle said, smiling even larger.

"And Beckett's here too," Esposito informed him.

"H-Hi Castle," he heard her voice, though it was more distance than the men's voices, leaving him to wonder if she was merely standing further from the phone or try to be quiet so as to fly under the radar.

"Listen, Castle, we have a case we want to run by you."

"A case?" he said with intrigue.

"Yeah, we need a theory, because we're stumped," Ryan told him. Then he explained the situation: a man was found shot dead in his apartment. The apartment doors and windows were locked from the inside and there were no signs of forced entry. "So the question is: how did the killer get in and out?"

"Oh I know this one!" his giddiness returning instantly at the prospect of a new mystery to solve. "Ice bullet! No…Ghost killer!"

"It's not a ghost killer, Castle," the annoyed voice of Kate informed him.

"It could be."

"Let's assume it's not," Esposito added.

"Ok. Ok. And it's not a suicide?"

"No for two reasons. One, we didn't find a gun at the scene. Two, it would be incredibly difficult to shoot yourself in the back," Kate told him.

"Shot in the back? Hmm. And the door was locked?"

"Yes, both dead bolts."

"Have you checked the junk drawer?"

"The junk drawer?" Ryan questioned.

"Yes," Rick said. "I assume you checked the victim's key ring to make sure his apartment key was still on it. He would have had a spare key somewhere inside the apartment in case he had to give it out to someone. Mother always throws ours in the junk drawer."

Silence filled the other end of the line and Rick could just see in his mind's eye the three of them exchanging glances. "Uh, thanks, we'll look in to it." Esposito said.

Rick could then hear shuffling on the other end of the line and a click as though someone had picked up the receiver. "Castle?" her voice filled his ear and made his heart ache painfully.

"Yes, Kate?"

"Do you, um, do you know when you're coming back to the city?"

"Well I-"

"Because I really want you to come back. I…I need to talk to you about some things."

Refusing to get his hopes up, Rick sighed. "I…I have a meeting with my publisher on Friday. I'll be in the city before then…I'll be in touch."

"Thanks, Castle," she said and he could hear the genuine relief in her voice.

As Rick put his phone back on the desk he stared at it and rubbed his chin. If she wanted to talk to him to convince him to come back and be her partner again, he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear it. Then again if she—no, he wouldn't let himself think it. It hurt too much.

Thursday morning Rick arrived back at his apartment after a month-long stay at his beach retreat. He showered and shaved for the first time since the morning Kate left him. Then, dressed in a crisply pressed navy blue shirt and camel-toned jacket, he headed off to the precinct.

Rick had to admit as he walked in to the familiar building that he would miss the 12th if he was unable to make regular pilgrimages there. Something about cop life burrowed its way under his skin. He could have never been a cop, of course, due to his jumpiness around bullets and scary thugs, but he appreciated the tough work they did for the city more than he ever thought he could.

He hardly took three steps on to the homicide floor when he ran in to his old partners. "Castle's back!" Ryan announced happily. The two shook hands and a moment later Esposito joined them, giving him a similar greeting.

"Dude, it's been boring around here without you!" Esposito told him.

Rick chuckled. "I'm sure it has. Is Beckett around?"

"Yeah I think I saw her go in to the break room a minute ago," Ryan informed him. Rick nodded a thank you and headed off in that direction. As he rounded the corner of the hall he saw her standing a foot away from the coffee machine, her arms folded across her chest. He paused for a moment, contemplating the best entrance, but in doing so realized that she was speaking with Captain Taylor. It took him just a second to deduce that their conversation was a serious one.

"…He's one of the best men I've ever know," Kate said, her voice insistent. "He's smart and intuitive. He's sharp. He thinks outside the box and yes sometimes his theories are a little unorthodox but I'll be damned if he hasn't been imperative to every case I've had. Captain, you don't understand how much-"

"I do understand, Detective," the Captain told her. "I watched you two on your last case together. He is smart. I saw his value, but the fact of the matter is that he is not a cop; he's a civilian and he should not be given an all access pass to crime scenes."

"He doesn't have an all access pass! He," she cut off her speech abruptly, cleared her throat and continued in a softer tone. "Captain, please. Castle is an important part of my team."

"Yes, I understand that. It's clear you care about him very much but you had a team before him and you'll have a team after him. If it's a matter of wanting a partner to work with that can be arranged."

"I already have a partner," Kate said defiantly. The captain cleared her throat. "Please, ma'am I am begging you to reconsider."

"I'm sorry, Detective, but my decision is final. Effective immediately Richard Castle is no longer a consultant of the NYPD. I trust you will pass along the message."

After her words, Rick heard footsteps moving in the other direction. He was thankful she chose the other exit so he did not have to come face to face with her and pretend he hadn't heard what was just said.

With a heavy heart, he took a deep breath. So this was it; this was how it ended. Ironic that he no longer had to struggle with the choice to walk away or to stay; the decision had been made for him.

He craned his neck to gaze in to the break room and saw Kate wringing her hands out in front of her. Even at that distance he could see her boiling and just about to break. It came just a moment later with frustrated tears spilling over her cheeks. She covered her mouth with her hand and turned towards the wall.

Using that opportunity, Rick took three large strides in to the room and said gingerly, "Kate?"

He heard her sniff and could see her hands moving across her face from behind, presumably wiping the tears away. She spun around with a fake smile across her face. "Castle, hey. I'm glad you came."

He took a step closer to her. "Are you ok?"

She let out a breathily laugh and wiped the corner of her right eye with a knuckle. "Did you hear what the captain said?" He bobbed his head once in confirmation. She shrugged and moved her hands to her hips. "So…I guess that's it, huh?"

"Kate," he spoke as he took one more step towards her.

"I'm okay," she said while nodding vigorously. Both her tone and expression told him she was anything but "okay."

"The captain is right, you know. You're and amazing cop with or without me. Ah, who are we kidding—you're definitely a better cop when I'm not around pulling on your pigtails."

She shook her head and spoke genuinely. "That's not true."

"Look, Kate, you and I both knew this had an expiration date. I mean, honestly I'm shocked I got away with it this long. I mean, who needs three years of research to write a book?" he shrugged comically, trying to lighten the mood. "You're going to be fine without me, Kate. You and I both know that."

Her bottom lip trembled violently as she looked towards the floor. Two tears escaped her eyes but she made no move to brush them away. When she looked back at him a steady stream of them began to fall. "But what if I want you."

He shut his eyes and counted to three before opening them again. He had never seen her cry before so he was unable to prepare himself for the way he was feeling. Each of her tears was like a stab in the heart and he didn't know how much longer he could stand strong. "Kate-"

"No, Rick, listen. You were right. You were right about me. I am scared. I've always been scared. I…I keep one foot out the door, ready to run when things get tough or if they get too real. Real is scary; real can hurt you…but without having anything real you…you don't get the good things either.

"The truth is that I love you." The words left her lips so easily she almost laughed. God, she had been scared to say them but once they were out there they felt right. "I love you. I've loved you for a long time, actually. I just…"

"You were scared," he jumped in, providing the words she was at a loss to find. She nodded. He took two steps towards her so they were barely a foot apart. "Are you still scared, Kate?"

She closed her eyes and nodded as two final tears followed the same trail as the rest. "Yes," she whispered. When she opened her eyes he was right there in front of her, his body barely an inch from hers. "But not scared enough to fight this anymore. I-"

Her words were lost when his lips crashed in to hers. She let him gather her up in her arms and kiss her just like he had so many times before, only this time she kissed him back with everything she had.

After several minutes their lips broke apart but their foreheads remained together. His arms were around her waist; hers around his neck. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice cracking on the second word.

"Shh, it's okay," he said, moving one hand up to stroke her cheek though their foreheads remained together. "It doesn't matter anymore."

They stood this way for a moment as Kate breathed away her tears. Then, with a sniff, she dropped her hands to his biceps. "I…I can't believe we'll never work another case together."

"I know, I know," he sighed before kissing the top of her head. They were silent for a minute before a sly smile crossed his face and he pulled back to look her in the eye. "Hey, I have an idea. How about you move in with me and then we can talk about your cases when you come home from work?"

She let out an astounded gasp and took a step away from him. "Move in with you? I'm not moving in with you."

"Why not? Alexis is going to college soon—something I'm in complete denial about, by the way. My mother keeps saying she's moving out so statistically she has to be right one of these days. Then I'll be all alone." Though he found this conclusion to be entirely rational, he still saw skepticism in her face. "C'mon," he said enticingly, giving her waist a squeeze. "You know you want to."

Kate bit her bottom lip and stared at the buttons on his shirt. Damn, she did want to. She wanted that weekend in the Hamptons to be her every day: waking up in Rick's arms, sharing breakfast with him, making love to him whenever she wanted. She wished for a moment that she could be a different person—a free-spirited, spontaneous person—who would say to hell with caution and move in with him immediately. Yet, she was not that person; she was too rational to do anything like that. Still…his offer was very tempting.

"I…I'll think about it, okay Castle?"

"Deal," he grinned before kissing her sweetly. "Now," he sighed heavily, "I guess we have to go break the bad news to Ryan and Esposito."

"What? That you're finally off the market?"

"Ha-ha," he responded flatly. She grinned at him.

With one of his arms still strong around her waist, the two of them re-entered the squad room where they were immediately met with cheers and applause lead by Ryan and Esposito. Kate blushed furiously and buried her head in Rick's shoulder. Wasn't it bad enough that they gave her grief for being Nikki Heat? Now she was going to be the detective that cried and made up with her boyfriend in the break room.

As the cheers died down, the two instigators approached. "Castle, we're gonna miss you around here, but I think I speak for everyone when I say: finally!" Ryan said, gesturing between the two of them. "So when you gonna get married?"

Kate's jaw dropped and she glared at him. Ryan immediately shrank. "Don't mind him," Esposito defended. "He just doesn't want to be the only married guy on the team."

"Ah yes," Castle began nostalgically. "The life of a bachelor…oh how I'll miss it—ow!" he groaned when Kate jabbed him the ribs. "I'm kidding I'm kidding! I wouldn't trade single life for this." With that, he tightened his grip on her waist and swung her towards him. He then smothered her lips with his, earning them a catcall from across the room.

"Castle!" she hissed and scrambled out of his embrace. "Not here! I already get made fun of enough because of you!" He raised his hands defensively and shrugged, showing he hadn't meant any harm by it. Though she glared at him, she wasn't really angry; she was too happy.