Two chapters in one night…I'm on a roll! So I loved writing this chapter, because of the big reveal at the end. Or perhaps you figured it out already and the end is only lame. Tell me what you thought of it in a review! And yes, constructive criticism is as appreciated as compliments.

Disclaimer: I do not own either fandoms, otherwise this would totally happen.

'I thought I would never see you again, you know?'

Martha's visitor smirked as he sat down on the seat she pointed at.

'Even when you performed in my city?'

'My, my, careful with the adjective! I really do prefer our city, my love.'

'I am glad to see you haven't lost your rapier wit with age.'

'Contrary; I have even passed it on to our son.'

Martha's visitor closed his eyes as she brought up their son, and she saw he was close to choking up. Her beloved had aged well with time, and was still dashing in her eyes. His hair was somewhat darker than their son's, but they had the same jawline. Their son had blue eyes, his father had green ones. No; they didn't not exactly look alike. Thank God for that, Martha thought. It had been the one thing she both regretted and enjoyed. But it had helped keeping her son safe, and that was all that mattered. That was all that had mattered for the past forty years.

'He is great, you know.'

'I have seen the tabloids, yes.'

Both smirked at that remark, remembering Richard's "page-six-days", before their son had met their daughter-in-law, Katherine Beckett.

'Who would have known a son of ours would become a writer?'

'A crime-fighting one, that is, thank you.'

'Yeah, you must be proud of him.'

'I am. God knows I am.'

Their harmless banter had turned serious again, and Martha was remembered of the last time they had had a serious conversation…

'You can't stay here.'

She cried, something she rarely did, and even in his eyes tears were found. They were sitting next to each other, and yet had never experienced such a distance between one another. Her head rested on his shoulder, his arms were curled around her, trying to comfort her, yet knowing he would not succeed.

'I don't want to go.'

'You have to, my love. We can't…with the people we are…a child of ours would be a constant hitpoint here. We can't do that to her. Or him.'

'It's a him.'

The corners of his mouth twitched, yet the joy didn't reach his eyes.

'A boy, huh. Our son.'

A throaty sob escaped her, and now he too let his tears flow over his cheeks.

'There's no escape here, honey. I wish I could say we will be in this together, but we both know that's impossible.'

She roughly wiped away her tears with her fists, but it didn't stop the flowing of more tears. He put her fists in her lap again and gently wiped them away with his thumbs, kissing her lips softly.

'When do I go? Where do I go?'

His voice turned business-like again.

'New York. I will provide all the financial needs, you don't have to worry about that.'

'I don't want your money.'

He smirked; 'Oh really? I can remember there was a time you did…'

She slapped him playfully as she remembered the start of their romance. It seemed ages ago; it felt ages ago. And yet not long enough to tire of this man.

'Will I ever see you?'

He didn't answer, just tightened the embrace.

'I love you, you know that.'

'Use your love to make up for two parents for our son.'

They stood up and walked through the door, where all her baggage was loaded in the car already.

'Don't overdo it, don't pick up anything heavy.'

She smirked again, through her tears, printing the cliché advice in her memory. They hugged one more time, shared a deep kiss, and then he abruptly walked away, not able to control his emotions anymore. She lastly walked past Alfred, who was standing at the door with a sympathetic yet sad smile.

'Have a safe journey, dear. And take care of the little one and yourself. Though, if there is one thing I am certain of, it is that he will be safe.'

She smiled at her old friend and hugged him.

'Take care of him, too. Make sure he exceeds in his goals.'

Alfred smiled for a last time as she let him go, and with a last kiss on his cheek she left the building she had called home not so long ago.

'Does he have a family?'

His question startled Martha from the vivid memory, and she blinked a few times before answering.

'He does; he has a lovely daughter from a previous marriage, Alexis. Alexis is perfect really, yet is perfectionistic like her grandfather. She studies at Colombia now, after an initial flirtation with Stanford. She is very intelligent, and will be a marvelous woman when she grows up. Ironically, she is the most responsible of all of us, something I suppose she inherited from you too. After Meredith divorced Richard, he married his publicist Paula, but that didn't last very long either. But I suppose it's true when they say third time is a charm, because his third wife, Kate Beckett, is his current wife. Kate is amazing really, and she loves our son so very much. She is a detective and I suppose you could say he is too, unofficially. They have two children, Bruce Kevin and Dakota Johanna.'

His eyes lit up when he heard it, but he then frowned.

'How? Did you? What…'

She laughed, a carefree laugh that made her many years younger.

'The best thing is that I didn't say a word, love. They came up with it themselves, with both of them. Dakota means forever smiling, which is what they got in their 'Always'.'

He frowned even more, and she eagerly explained: 'It something between them. This word, 'Always', it has been an everlasting promise throughout their courtship, and now they are living that promise. So they named their second child, born five years ago, Dakota Johanna, Johanna after her murdered mother's name. And Bruce…I often played with the idea of bringing at least the name up, but I decided not to. So you can imagine my surprise when Kate brought it up during shopping once. They wanted that name because of the meaning too; perseverance. Another keyword in their courtship. And Kevin stands for the guy who saved Kate when she almost died, who actually gave her back her life because she and Castle got together after that experience.'

'That is truly extraordinary. I can't believe I have a grandson who's named after me, even if it's unintended.'

'I think it is a gift of God, or the universe or whoever runs this world nowadays. To bring you back in my life like this. Because much as I tried, Bruce, I never forgot about you. How could I, right? There is only Bruce Wayne, and I love that man with all my heart.'