A/N: I need to apologize for the prolonged silence. There's a major plot twist coming up and I just had to wait posting the next few chapters to make sure everything that has to be said and happen before then is set up properly, so the dominos can fall smoothly in the second part of the story. I don't want to miss something and then realize ten chapters from now, oh dear, I need to go back and rewrite that scene so it doesn't screw up the overall timeline. Besides, I'd rather have long stretches between updates when there's less action, rather than have readers wait in agony when we're in the thick of it.

That being said, I hope you're still reading and the interest in this fic has not waned. Be prepared for another long stretch between chapters as I am figuring out the puzzle pieces. There's some major drama coming up. I'm shooting for once a week updates. Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites.


They never made it to the restaurant like Rick had promised. While Kate's body finally succumbed to the exhaustion from running down leads non-stop all week, Castle dozed off, too. And when he woke after a short nap, he simply didn't have the heart to wake her and drag her out of bed for a night on the town. Not when she needed her rest so obviously.

It was sometime around midnight when Beckett stirred in her sleep and blinked bleary-eyed at her fiancé who was propped up against the pillows next to her in bed, typing away on his laptop.

"You know, if I didn't actually know you're writing about the fictional version of me, I might just get jealous that you bring your laptop to bed." She purred and stretched.

Castle watched her bend and twist like a cat and licked his lips. "Trust me, as long as you keep your feline agility like that, there's no need to feel jealous."

"Getting hard again so quick?" She rolled on her side and reached under the sheets. Kate frowned when she touched the silky smooth material of his boxers instead of the hot flesh of his penis. "So not cool, Castle."

"You were asleep. And judging from the way you just stretched like a cat ready to prance and prowl I was right to protect my most valuable… assets."

Kate snorted. "Your loss. Just for that I'm going to shower. Alone." She threw over her shoulder, as she climbed over his legs.

"Wait," he stopped her mid-move, "are you hungry?"

"Actually I'm famished," Beckett replied and sure enough her stomach rumbled just when her brain was reminded of food.

"Let's order something from room service real quick before the kitchen closes. I left the menu on your bedside table."

"Ok." She retreated back to her side, while Castle already picked up the phone on his nightstand. "Do you already know what you want?"

"Yeah, I had a look while you were sleeping. They don't have full dinner after 10pm, but there are a variety of sandwiches and salads for you to choose."

Kate nodded and perused the folder, while Castle already ordered the wine and his sandwich.

0~0~0~0~0

After a light dinner, Rick ran Kate a hot bath. Instead of joining her, he let her soak alone, hoping it would give her enough time to process whatever had happened at work today. He wasn't stupid. He had recognized the signs immediately, when she rushed into his arms and kissed him so desperately. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy it, and they had both missed each other a lot, but he hadn't seen Beckett act so… needy for a lack of better word, since Gates had suspended her last summer. She couldn't have been fired already, could she? He knew Beckett sometimes bent the rules and went through a brick wall with her head, if she got caught up in a situation, but surely getting suspended one week into her new job would be a new record. Nah, it must have been something else. Maybe they'd been hazing her again about Nikki Heat, though he didn't know when they'd found the time, considering they were on the hunt for a national traitor.

The fact remained, however, that whenever Kate Beckett's professional life lay in shambles, she turned to him, Richard Castle, for reassurances that not everything in her life was going up in flames. He tried his best to be there for her, while she wrestled her demons. A small part of him actually took pleasure in it. Not that her job had taken a blow, but that she came to him. Needed him to tell her in not so many words but rather through gestures and touches that, no matter what happened, she still had him. That she hadn't sunk her private life with her professional one. It had taken them such a long time to get to the point, where she no longer shut him out, when that happened. Of course, he also knew that the healthy thing for her would be to talk about it and not hide behind glances and touches, so when she emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in one of those fluffy hotel robes, he reached out for her hand and pulled her into bed with him.

It took astonishingly little coaxing before she explained how she'd wanted to impress her new colleagues and got sent home when she chased a suspect without back up. Castle was livid. Naturally, he chastised Kate for being so stupid to put her life into danger like that, but mostly he was pissed that her new colleagues hadn't been there to have her back.

"Don't be mad, Castle." She tried to calm him down. "Nothing happened, I'm fine."

He shook his head and inspected every inch of her body for possible scratches and injuries.

"I'm pretty sure I would've noticed a blood trail by now, if he'd actually hit me. Besides, I was wearing my vest."

"Vests leave bruises," he reminded her, as his palm slid over her soft skin.

"He missed, Castle. He was a pretty bad shot."

"Don't do that to me, Kate." He kissed her shoulder blade. "I can't do this, if I have to worry about your safety all the time."

"Castle, nothing has changed. The risk has always been there, since the day we met."

"Yes, but back in New York I was with you."

"Need I remind you that it was my job to protect you and not the other way round?"

"Says the woman whose life I've saved on numerous occasions." He cast her a look.

"Shhh," she silenced him with a kiss. "I love you and I promise you I won't throw my life away in exchange for a quick collar. Ok?"

"Ok," he whispered back and deepened their kiss.

0~0~0~0~0

Sunday morning Kate Beckett was roused from her deep sleep by a vaguely familiar tune. "Castle, your phone," she mumbled sleepily and swatted his chest.

He reached for his cell groggily, "That's Skip." He checked the time. 8.13am. He wondered what the young man wanted from him so early.

"Who?" Beckett frowned.

"The realtor I've made appointments with this weekend." Rick explained and accepted the call.

"We're not buying a home from anyone named Skip!" She protested sleepily. The pillow muffled her groan.

"Skip, my man, how are you doing this fine morning?" Rick listened attentively to what the other man was saying and nodded his head occasionally. "No, that's fine. We understand. Don't worry. We'll see you at 11.30 then…. Yeah that's right, I'm bringing Kate along this time. I will. Bye."

Castle hung up and turned around to look at Kate who pretended she was asleep. "Skip had an emergency so we're meeting him at 11.30 instead of 10.45. He'll show us both properties back to back."

"I gathered as much. We're still not buying a house from Skippy."

"Aw, come on, Beckett. Give the kid a chance. You'll like him, you'll see. He's got your sense of humor. He showed me this condo yesterday and it had this god-awful flokati rug in what I assume was otherwise supposed to be the man cave. So Skip looks up from the rug, straight into my eyes and asks, 'How many Fraggles do you think had to die for this monstrosity?' Perfect dead pan delivery, too, I'm so gonna steal that for my next book."

"Fraggles!" Beckett exclaimed and straightened up in bed. "That's what that tune was!" It had been driving her crazy for the last few minutes that she couldn't identify the ringtone melody.

"Yeah, figured after that comment it would make a great ringtone for Skip." Rick grinned. "Now, how about we take a morning shower, order some breakfast and then get ready to meet Skip in Georgetown?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her seductively.

0~0~0~0~0

Maybe it was because Kate was with him this time, but Castle found the first townhouse they viewed already more appealing than either of the condos he'd visited yesterday. Skip gave them the quick run down on the details, before he excused himself to give Rick and Kate some privacy to explore by themselves.

It was a three-story house with 2500 square feet, a simple white façade and a stone staircase flanked by a large bay window on either side. A fairly large entrance hall with checkered tiles and high walls welcomed visitors into this stylish townhouse. A spiral staircase with a black iron cast handrail dominated the right side of the reception room.

Beckett stood in the middle of the hall awestruck. She knew that living with Rick would mean a certain lifestyle, but this bordered on decadent. She twirled once around herself, taking in the impressive surroundings. The room was large enough to host a small cocktail party. That was probably the original purpose of the whole floor, representation.

Castle had already ventured past the open archway into the next room. Very much like the previous hall, this living room was intended to entertain guests. A landscape of sleek, European-style modern sea foam green sofas adorned the left back corner. A pair of equally minimalist white armchairs completed the ensemble. Beckett noted that, surprisingly, the antique coffee table made from mahogany wood did not clash with the modern furniture.

She also noticed the dreamy look Castle gave the gigantic plasma screen mounted on the opposite wall. Beckett could already envision herself traipsing down the spiral staircase in the dead of the night, asking Castle to quit playing Halo on the big screen and join her in bed.

"What are you thinking?" Rick asked when the ghost of a smile hushed over her face.

Not wanting to rehash an old argument, Kate simply shrugged her shoulders, "Just trying to envision us living in this place."

"And?"

"I don't know…"

"It just doesn't feel like us." Castle finished for her and they both nodded slightly.

"Come on, we can at least take a look at everything to get ideas." Kate reached for his hand and Rick looked down where she linked her fingers through his. Little PDAs like this reminded him that they were no longer actively hiding their relationship from the world, or in particular the NYPD. That was one of the good things about her new job.

"Kate, there's something we need to talk about." Rick started uncomfortably when they stood in the kitchen. She gave him a curious look. "Paula wants us to do a few interviews together on Saturday." They slipped through another archway and found themselves in the dining room.

"Why?" Kate whined. "I hate doing interviews about Nikki Heat."

"I know." Castled hedged for a few moments. "It's not really about Deadly Heat, though I imagine there'll be some questions to be fielded about Nikki and Rook's relationship." He paused and squeezed her hand nervously. "Paula wants us to do an interview together… about us. About this." He lifted their hands to hold up her engagement ring.

"Oh!" Kate let out a breath. "You told her about us?"

"They figured it out on their own, well Gina really did, after your phone call."

Beckett looked at him silently, biting her lip.

"Say something?" Rick asked nervously.

"Gina knows?" She knew the day was coming when she'd have to face Rick's other ex-wife about their relationship, especially now that they were officially engaged, but the confrontation with Meredith had been enough.

"Relax, Gina is not going to make herself comfortable in the loft, claiming her old spot. We have a purely professional relationship now, she knows her place in my life."

Kate wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. "You have too many ex-wives." She mumbled into his shirt.

"I know but this is a mistake I won't repeat again." He smiled down at her and she lifted her head, beaming at him. "This one's gonna last forever!" He declared and kissed her softly.

"Do I really have to do the interview? I don't want to talk about us, it's no one's business what we do." She pulled back.

"You're right, but if we don't speak out with the truth, they might print lies about us."

"They're still gonna print lies about us anyways." Beckett rolled her eyes. "They'll probably paint me as some gold-digging, star-struck fan who snatched one of New York's most eligible bachelors."

"Well you did strike gold with me and you are my number one fan."

"In you dreams, Castle, in your dreams." Kate tried to pull away, but Rick pulled her back.

"In my dreams, Beckett, you dress up like Nikki and bring a bottle of Tequ…"

"Is that what you want?" She interrupted him, suddenly feeling a little insecure. She'd never been one to care much about men's opinions, but she wanted to keep Rick forever. Never before had she been in a relationship where she actually wanted to please another man. Even now it wasn't so much pleasing Rick as trying to respect his needs and desires. When he looked at her confused, she explained, "Do you want me to be a bit more slutty?"

"What? No!" He kissed her soundly. "You're perfect just the way you are. I wouldn't change a thing about you. I like the way you dress for me, even at work. Professional but accentuating just the right parts. Makes it all the sexier. If you knew how many times in those incredibly long four years I went home to take a cold shower before bed..."

"Oh please, don't lie to me. You went out to pick up a blonde and have hot sex with her instead."

"Maybe, at first. But not later, after Gina and I split," he lowered his voice and held her a little closer in his embrace, "while I was waiting for you, I'd just go home. Alone."

"And write dirty little sex scenes for Nikki and Rook?" She teased him.

"And masturbated thinking about you." Castle finally conceded. "There. Happy now?"

"You never told me why you broke up with Gina?" Kate asked carefully and pulled back from his embrace. "I didn't ask before, but we're getting married…"

"She wasn't you." Castle stated simply and shrugged his shoulders. "We were fighting a lot, as everyone could read in the papers, until we were arguing about fighting. It was not the relationship I wanted I realized quickly. In my mind I always compared her to you. Beckett would say that, Kate wouldn't do that. You know, looking back we never had a chance. She wasn't whom I wanted. You were constantly on my mind ever since you turned down the weekend in the Hamptons. But you were with Demming first, and then Josh… and I foolishly tried to convince myself I was in love with Gina again. But it doesn't matter what the brain tells us to do. The heart wants what the heart wants."

"Ohh." Beckett drew out the word shocked. "I was actually thinking about your divorce, you know so I'd know what… I mean so we won't repeat old mistakes…" She was rambling and she knew it, but he had just told her he'd been in love with her all along. Almost from the very beginning. She wanted to ask him why he took Gina to the Hamptons in the first place, but he couldn't have known that she'd ditched Tom for him. "You were in love with me even then?"

He gave her a small nod.

"Why didn't you say something?"

"And have you throw it in my face at every opportunity?" He looked at her incredulous. "Besides, you were with Josh at the time. You hated my guts back then, Beckett. Why would I make myself vulnerable like that? And I tried to test the waters; that's why I invited you out to the Hamptons for the weekend. To see if we would connect outside of the precinct as friends or… lovers."

"I think we connect pretty well." She smiled and gave him a chaste kiss. "And hate is a pretty strong word."

"So what do you say about the kitchen then?" Castle had shared more than he wanted and was looking for a distraction. He turned her around in his arms, so she could see for herself.

"It's ok. Not as nice as the one at the loft, but bigger and better than my old one anyway."

"Doesn't look like anyone's ever cooked in here, though." Castle remained skeptical.

"That would mean we'd get the appliances in pristine condition."

"Since when are you the one looking for the silver lining?" He grinned at her.

"Must be from hanging around you too much."

They left the kitchen and returned to the entrance hall. As they were ascending the spiral staircase, Castle made a comment about using one of those in his next novel.

"So Nikki finally takes down the door and there he is. The suspect they've been trying to find for days, hanging by a rope from the spiral staircase. It looks like suicide and a letter with a confession lies conveniently on the sideboard in the room, but you and I both know it's a red herring, of course. The real killer set him up as a patsy and strangled him."

Kate shook her head, smiling, as she listened to her fiancé spinning already the plot for the next Nikki Heat. Which reminded her of the party on Saturday.

"Castle?" She called his name for attention. He had already entered the first bedroom.

"Yeah?" He turned around.

"How many interviews?" Beckett followed him into the room. It was of decent size but didn't have a lot of light. It would make a good guestroom but for Alexis they'd have to find something better.

"You mean on Saturday?"

She nodded.

"Only a select few. Paula suggested I'd do a press conference announcing our engagement. Afterwards she'll arrange an exclusive with a few reporters who've been treating me kindly in the past. That's where you'd join me. You wouldn't have to be at the press conference."

"I won't answer any intimate questions about us." She was leaning against the wall, her arms folded.

"But you'll do it?"

Kate nodded, "They'll badger us until we do it anyway. I don't want them to follow me around while I'm working. They'll just print what they want in the meantime. If we do the interview now, maybe they'll leave us alone and stick to the truth for once."

"That's what Gina and Paula said. And Kate, you've handled press at crime scenes before, you already know the two most important words when dealing with someone from the media."

"I do?" She frowned.

"No comment." He grinned. He was just about to lead her out of the bedroom, because really, there was not a lot to see, when Beckett's cell phone rang.

"It's work." She checked the caller ID and Castle's face fell.

"I thought you said Rachel sent you home for the weekend? Which, by the way, is even a new record for you, Beckett. One week in on the new job and already you break the rules? Where's the straight-laced NYPD detective I met five years ago, who wouldn't even let me jump the line at the DNA lab?"

"She hung out with you for said five years." Kate rolled her eyes. "Look, I forgot to mention that there'll probably be an inquiry this afternoon about the shooting yesterday. They're calling to schedule it." Rick nodded.

"Beckett," Kate barked into the phone, "what's up Hendricks?"

"It's over."

"What?"

"We got him, Nikki. It's over."

"What? When? How?"

"It's all over the news. He beat us to it and went public. Turn on your TV, it's breaking news on practically every station."

"I can't. No TV access. I'm looking at houses with my fiancé."

"Oh, I like this new domestic side of you, Detective Heat."

"Shut up. So what's next for us?"

"Rachel wants us in the office at 3pm for a debriefing. That includes you. Your hearing is scheduled afterwards."

Kate looked at her wristwatch. It was now almost noon. "Ok. I'll see you then." They said good-bye and hung up. When she looked up, Castle was gone. Great, now he was pissed at her. She checked every room on the upper floor for him but couldn't find him.

Finally, she went downstairs again. Maybe he was talking to Skip. She hoped he hadn't stormed out of the building. Kate could understand that he was upset that she got called away, when he expected to spend the whole day with her. If she left straight from the next property, perhaps a little early, they could at least do their second viewing.

"Edward Snowden." Castle greeted her, when she found him in the living room, watching the news with Skip. He didn't look mad at all. Curiosity had simply gotten the better of him, so when she mentioned TV in connection with her case to Matt, he'd hurried downstairs to turn on the TV. "There are conflicting reports on his whereabouts, some say China, some say Hong Kong, some Japan, some Russia. A few mention Hawaii."

Dammit, Hollister's team had the right suspect all along, even if he'd managed to evade them, while she risked her life chasing down a junkie.

"Is he the guy?" He looked at her and she crossed the remaining distance between them in a few strides.

"No, I can't tell you the names, but he wasn't the one my team was going after. Hollister's team was deployed to Hawaii to follow up on leads regarding Snowden."

"Oh, so he was on your radar?"

"He was one name of many on Rookie's list of new suspects. Nothing indicated that he was the whistleblower." Kate tried to keep the information as vague as possible, since Skip was in the room with them, while still answering Castle's questions.

"It's always the quiet ones. So you have to go in?" He muted the TV and turned to her.

"Yes, later. We meet at 3pm. That leaves us with a little over two hours before I have to leave. Let's wrap up this one and rush over to the other property." She glanced at Skip for confirmation, "You set them up back to back, right?"

"Yes," the younger man nodded eagerly. He looked at her with a hint of awe, probably brought on by the knowledge that she was an investigator on such a high profile case.

"Did you look around upstairs more? I didn't check out any other rooms." Castle drew her attention back to him.

"A little. The master bedroom was ok, a little dark for my taste, but the en suite bathroom was to die for. Marble stones, brass finishing, a ridiculously sized Jacuzzi tub and a shower large enough for two." She grinned at him.

"But?"

"Nothing else. And I mean nothing. The master bedroom with its walk-in closet and en suit bathroom takes up most of the space on the top floor. There's another bedroom, which is larger than the one we were in when I got the call, and a smaller but full bath for the other bedrooms to share."

"Would the second bed and bath be big enough for Alexis?"

"Yes, but I'm still not feeling the vibe."

"That's okay, Kate. We're buying a house together for the first time. No one expects us to fall in love with the first property we see."

"Shall we take a quick look at the lower level?" She grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the entrance hall, where Skip was already waiting.

The lowest floor was not accessible by the spiral staircase but a small door slightly hidden behind it. A short dark set of narrow stairs led down to what Rick jokingly dubbed the dungeon.

"Where was this when Alexis turned fifteen? I could have used this to lock her away from the boys."

"Like Alexis ever gave you reason to be concerned about teenage pregnancy. She can lecture you on responsibility." Beckett rolled her eyes.

"I thought that was your job," Castle quipped.

"It's not really a finished basement," Skip interrupted their banter, "even though it's partially below ground level because of the way the house it built into hill. Technically we're street level now, because the stairs outside lead from the street to the mid level with the reception rooms."

They reached the end of the stairs and spread out on the lowest floor.

"Now the nice thing about this lower level is that it gets lots of light still. It would be ideal to set up a space for guests. It's like a small apartment. The separate level means they can be fairly independent of you, there's also a small kitchenette and a large bathroom that can be shared between the guest rooms. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll leave you two to take a look around, while I make a phone call upstairs. Reception isn't too good down here."

Once Skip was out of earshot, Castle turned to Beckett, "Can you say servants quarters?"

"I know. I bet the previous owners were stinking rich with live-in maids and butlers."

"They couldn't have had a cook the way that kitchen looked untouched." Castle chuckled. "So who slept in the third bed room?"

"The chauffeur!" They simultaneously shouted and broke out into laughter.

"You're right, this house is so not us. I like luxury but this is even a little over the top for me."

"Though I quite like the idea of a separate floor with a small kitchenette for Alexis."

"She won't be living with us, Kate. Much as it would please me, I doubt she'll move in with us here in D.C. after college."

"I know but I thought it would give her the independence she needed when she returns to visit us. I found it really difficult the first time I came back from college and stayed with my parents again. Suddenly all my new-found independence was gone, my dad wanted to know where I was going, my mother wanted to know if I'd be home for dinner…"

Silence spread between them, because even though neither one of them mentioned it, they both knew what happened a few weeks later. Young Kate Beckett would have willingly traded all her independence for a few more years with her mother.

"Come on, let's head over to the next listing." He took her hand and squeezed it softly to give her a little bit of reassurance.