Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own Castle.

[No Spoilers in reviews please...]

A/N: Crossed over 50,000 words! If not for the bum shoulder I'd pat myself on the back. Short chapter with a appropriate ending I think.

Beta Note: Thank you elizabeth . bynog for all the help.

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Rick knew it was Detective Beckett making a hasty exit with her ziplock bag, it was most certainly her in calm control as she took control of evidence and scene, rather than the Kate he had been seeing more of. He also realized the kiss on the cheek was only the result of distraction, nothing particularly deeper; though when distracted he tended to do the things buried deepest in himself, without conscious thought getting in the way. What was it? Nothing, or deep?

After she'd left it had only been a little while before Wendy had arrived to poke and prod him once again. Frankly he was glad that his currently confinement to a wheel chair prevented her taking his temperature with anything but an oral instrument, as he was sure she would have done with much glee. She was mean. At least he considered her mean, and since he was undoubtedly the one paying the bills, well it was his opinion that counted.

After a fair amount of sniping at each other, they were interrupted by the simultaneous arrival of Alexis and his mother down the stairway.

Alexis was already dressed and carrying a book bag, apparently he was not to experience much of the pleasure of her company today, "Dad! Are you making trouble?"

He tried to frame the most innocent expression on his face, though from the skeptical looks everyone was throwing his way it looked like no one was buying it. "Making trouble Pumpkin? Never! It always seems to find me though."

The look she gave him was priceless, "Well at least try to avoid it until you're better."

"I wouldn't want to disappoint you."

"You never disappoint me Dad. I have to go, since I'm not going to Costa Rica now, I've got a meeting with some friends about planning some summer stuff, ok? See you later!"

He gave a brief wave as she headed to the door, "Ok Pumpkin, bye!"

Rick couldn't help but smile wider as Wendy picked up her gear to leave too, and he really appreciated her words, "I'll walk out with you, Ms. Castle. I'll be back again later, Mr. Castle. Don't do anything stupid."

He really appreciated her first words, not the final ones.

After Alexis and Wendy left he turned to face Martha, "I got a get well card this morning, a couple actually. One from Bob Weldon, the other from Jerry."

The last part of his comment clearly caught her attention, that name had a way of freezing people into place.

Soon enough her lips moved, but her expression remained stoic, "Jerry Tyson?"

Not that he wanted to irritate her given the urgent situation, but really? Did he know any other Jerry? A more amenable approach was called for though, "Well Detective Beckett certainly seemed to think so."

The expression of relief was palpable, apparently if Beckett was on it his mother felt everything would be alright, "Katherine was here?"

The memory of her visit caused an unfortunate grimace in recalling the taste she'd tricked him into trying. "Yeah, she brought me some green tea. Took the card with her to run some checks."

"What did the card say?"

"Not much, remembering you, get well, that's it. Just odd maybe that it arrived the first day I got home."

"Richard, we need to talk about security again. If Tyson is watching as this card may say, I think a few security professionals may be appropriate."

The story was clear in his mind. If this man was who everyone described, then security would be like waving a red cape at a bull. "No Mother, we already talked about it. If he's watching, having a bunch of guys wandering around in suits with earpieces is going to tell him we know he is out there; that's apparently when he's most likely to do something. No security and he's got no reason to suspect anything. Private security, any security, would be counterproductive."

"Richard, if..."

"If what? If he does come to pay a visit he's just going to work around any security we have. This building is supposed to be secure, that's why I picked it, but from what you told me, he just waltzed in here whenever he felt like it. I'll take my chances."

There was a note of defeat in Martha's voice as she continued, knowing it was a lost battle, but unable to give up in the face of insurmountable odds. "He is a dangerous man Richard."

Rick nodded, acknowledging what she was saying, but his mind was made up. "I understand that. Hired help isn't going to matter though is it? On that topic, get rid of Wendy. I don't like her."

"She comes highly recommended Richard."

"So does exercise, but you don't see me doing any of that right now either. Call someone, anyone. Medical attention needed? Get someone who doesn't treat me like I'm ten years old."

"Even if you act like it?"

Sometimes sure, he acted like a child, but why not? Children have a simple joy in life and why shouldn't he embrace that too?

"Even then."

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This time when Kate slid her key into the lock on the loft door she did it with complete confidence, no hesitation. She didn't just slip into the loft like a nervous guest as she had that morning; she simply entered with a feeling of belonging, dropping her bag beside the door.

Rick was having his pulse take and was chuckling about something with his nurse. It was only when the nurse straightened from bending over him that Kate realized that it wasn't Wendy.

This nurse was almost a carbon copy of Wendy from the rear, but with shoulder length blond hair tied back in a ponytail. When she turned around, Kate felt her stomach clench and her jaw tighten. This nurse wasn't old; she was in her thirties, pretty, with emerald green eyes.

The new woman smiled broadly when she noticed she was being observed. "You must be Kate, I'm Judy. Rick was just telling me about you. That was a sporty trick Detective, with the green tea."

Kate was caught a little off guard as Judy approached, hand outstretched, smile never dropping from her face. Kate felt obligated, sticking out her own hand. "Hi. Umm. Yes, Kate."

Rick was sitting in his chair grinning at the two of them. "Judy is so much more fun!"

Kate wasn't sure what was going on to be honest. "Umm, Rick? What happened to Wendy?"

"I didn't like her, had her replaced."

Judy apparently felt some need to come to a fellow professional's defense. "Now Rick! Wendy is great, okay. She can be a bit of a disciplinarian though."

Kate didn't doubt that, but sometimes Rick needed to be pushed around in her opinion, so a bit of discipline wouldn't hurt; apparently he disagreed.

He was whirring over in his chair, making them both dodge his outstretched legs in a complex dance. "But you're more fun. I've got enough problems right now with this chair, the legs, and an unwanted get well card. I need a little uncomplicated fun what with everything else going on. Right Kate?"

Her breath had frozen in her lungs as soon as the word passed his lips. He needed, he wanted fun, uncomplicated, a bubbly blond; the memory came crashing back, a painful time for them both, but one of which he had no recollection.

She could feel the thought opening like a flower in the center of her mind: Run. Standing still, fighting herself for a moment, before crushing that flower like an invasive weed under her mental heel: No.

Her voice was still a little strained as she spoke. "Right. A lot going on. I'll be right back, okay Rick?"

Kate quickly headed towards the front door, stopping just before it to grab her bag and trot upstairs, tossing the bag on the guest room bed before pulling out her cell and placing the call.

"Kate Beckett, what is wrong now?" Just the sound of Lanie's voice helped calm the still frenetic beating of her heart.

"He has a new nurse, Lanie. Bubbly and blond."

The tone was no-nonsense, blunt. "Girl, are you feeling threatened?"

Kate answered the same way, "Yes. A little."

"What ya gonna do?"

What did she want to do? Go throw out Judy and continue with the kiss she put on his cheek this morning. "Can you come over? We can all sit and talk; maybe tell him some more secrets."

"You're inviting me over to your boyfriend's..."

Kate felt the need to correct that misperception, "He's not my boyfriend..."

"He might not think so right now Kate, but you do; and it's time you started acting like it. I'm on my way. Open a bottle of wine, but none for Castle."

Kate relaxed a little and decided to change into something more comfortable. In the end, it took a good 15 minutes, even though she only brought a small bag with three casual outfits; but indecision was not her friend tonight. In the end she settle on yoga pants, a tank top, and off-the-shoulder sweater. Comfortable, relaxed; the type of thing she always wore at home.

There was a sense of somewhat renewed peace in her veins, reaching the bottom of the stairs she saw that Judy had left and Rick was parked in front of the TV. She called out to him, "Want anything to drink? Green tea?"

He twisted his head part way around to look at her. "Again with the green tea? Trying to make it grow on me?"

"You move around too much for anything to grow on you; you fidget like you're five."

"What's wrong with that?"

She had to laugh at hat, it was so him, "Sometimes it's a little inconvenient Rick, other times it's one of the things I love about you."

He had apparently been struck speechless, though she wasn't sure by which part.

"Hey Rick? I invited Lanie over, to chat, okay?"

She only got a mumbled yes. After collecting the stemware and a bottle of Merlot, Kate settled down onto the sofa; and as she curled up Rick twirled his chair to face her.

"So Detective, uncomplicated fun really pushed your buttons, I saw the reaction; want to tell me what it meant?"

She really didn't want to bring up that old baggage, but eventually he'd need to hear it, so now was as good a time as any. "We were going through a tough patch, though we weren't even together back then. I'd been keeping a big secret, lying to you truth be told; you'd been hiding things too, but that wasn't the root of this little problem. Anyway, one thing led to another and you were dating a blond flight attendant, whom you called fun and uncomplicated, a dig at me really because I'm anything but."

He'd watched and listened patiently before asking, "What was the secret?"

She swallowed, took another sip of wine. "You told me you loved me after I was shot, and I told you I didn't remember it. I kept it secret for months, almost a year before you found out by accident."

He gritted his teeth, grinding out the words, "In the hospital you said you'd tell the truth from now on, right? I'll do the same as I remember. No more secrets?"

It was erie how the issues of their past had caught up already, but yes, from now on she'd agree to no more secrets and it was a promise she intended to keep.

"Agreed. No more secrets."

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There was a knock on the door and Kate leapt up to answer, sweeping Lanie inside with a hug, dragging her over to the sofa and getting resettled.

Lanie smiled over at him, "Hi Rick."

"Hello Lanie."

The conversation started off a little strained, no real context for Lanie and Rick to interact, though Kate continually drew on old cases with interesting victims; a attempting to provide some macabre common ground. Soon enough the discussion started to flow a little better, but mainly between Kate and Lanie, with Rick making only occasional interjections. His head though, was bouncing back and forth between the two of them as if he were watching a tremendously long tennis rally.

Eventually the first bottle of wine ran out, and Kate stood, leaning down to touch Castle on the shoulder even though he hadn't drunk any of it; any excuse was good. "I'll be right back Rick."

Rick and Lanie were having a good laugh when she got back with a second bottle of wine, Lanie's slightly tipsy voice carrying only a little way, "You should have seen how uptight she was before she met you Castle!"

"I helped her? Loosen up?"

"You helped her have fun Castle. I was so shocked she'd put a job above having fun in her life when she told me she'd taken it, with you still in the hospital. I really didn't know what to think."

Kate stopped halfway to the sofa, not sure what to do. She had not told Rick about taking then rejecting the job. His head turned towards her, "You took it? You said you hadn't decided."

She was temporarily at a loss for words, had eventually planned on explaining everything, but there had never been a good time. "Rick, I..."

He had a hand to his head, holding the side, apparently starting to feel some pain. "You did, didn't you. You decided to leave. Then, good for hypothetical boyfriend Rick, you decided to stay instead. But not a hour ago we promised no more secrets and now I find out you had a huge one all along."

Kate held her hands out towards him, almost begging him to hold them. "It was complicated Rick, there was a lot going on. I hadn't decided anything before the accident."

Rick looked over at Lanie, who promptly raised her hands in a 'leave me out of it' gesture, but he wasn't peturbed in the least. "Was this what our relationship was? Her lying? Me lying? Layer upon layer of fabrications because we didn't trust each other?"

Lanie started to speak before Kate spoke over her, "Lanie, please!"

Starting again, Lanie was allowed to comment this time. "I don't know what I can say about either of you to help. You both had poor track records of not talking to each other. Was it a lack of trust? I'll leave that for you to figure out. This is between you. I'll see you tomorrow Kate, at work, as an NYPD Detective; just remember that Rick. She's still here, everything is water under the bridge."

With that Lanie left, giving Kate a quick hug.

Kate turned to Rick again, her voice soft, trying to reach into him. "I was going to tell you eventually Rick. I promise you that."

Rick started to turn his chair away, pointing it in the direction of his office. "It's all water under the bridge now Detective. Like our relationship. You should leave now."