Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I really am touched that you all like this story so much and that I have so many dedicated people who both read and review each chapter.
Okay, well it's finally up. I'm sorry this took so long but I got so busy and then when I did have free time I just couldn't bring myself to write. Well, I could write, but not this particular story. You'll get more of an explanation at the bottom, just read for now.
"Do you love me?" She broke the kiss and sat straight up, still straddling him, her blouse still hanging loosely on her shoulders and her hair still sticking up at odd, beautiful angles. But her face was much different; it was vulnerable. Her eyes were swimming with emotion and fear, fear that his answer may not be what she wanted to hear. At this moment, there were no more layers to the Beckett onion; right now she was letting him see her core.
"Of course." There was no hesitation in his reply, mostly because in so many of his dreams she had asked him this before. And his reply had always been instantaneous, always the same.
"Good, because I love you too." A grin spread across her face and his face mimicked it. She reached down and rested her fingers on his cheek, fingertips ghosting along his cheek, jaw line and then his lips. Her eyes locked on his after a moment, communicating all she felt. He hoped his were doing the same, because even though he was paid to convey everything through words he wasn't sure that was possible right now.
The way her expression softened further and the emotion that was flaring to life in her eyes told him he'd succeeded. He reached up with both hands to cup her face, rubbing both thumbs on the skin beside her earlobes.
"Kate, I will love you forever. One day I'm going to ask you to marry me, and you will say yes. And then, decades later, we'll be sitting on that porch downstairs, both very wrinkly, but also very happy. I'll always love you, no matter what." This time, it was her reply that was instant.
"Prove it." Along with an arsenal of emotions she was just allowing to surface there was a slight twinkle to her eyes, a mischievous, teasing twinkle. Using both of the hands that were still holding her cheeks he pulled her towards him. Mouths met and hands roamed. Their movements languidly slow, loving. Each touch was an affectionate caress, every movement of their lips telling tales of devotion and sincerity. He rolled over on the bed, pinning her underneath his body. For once, she didn't make any sound of protest; she was relinquishing control. His hands stopped on the hem of her shirt, slowly ridding her body of the unneeded object. She had asked for proof, and proof he would give her.
He was rudely awakened by the sound of a knock at his door. He felt around the bed just in case, Kate was not there. He had had dreams where she starred before, but this was much different. Usually, those dreams were full of passion, of lust. But that, well what he had just dreamt of was much different. Another impatient knock on the door reminded him that someone was probably on the other side of it. Removing the covers and rising from his bed he made his way over to the door. Looking over at the clock on his bedside table he checked the time, did he oversleep or something? Nope, that wasn't it, unless now he was expected to get up by midnight. He threw the door open, anxious to see what was so important that he had to be woken up at 12:00 am, and in the middle of one of the best dreams he had ever had no less.
"Captain?" Sure enough, standing just outside his room was none other than Captain Montgomery. What the hell?
"Castle," the captain brushed past him into the room leaving him standing dumbfounded by an open door, "sorry to wake you, I was planning on doing this in the morning but I didn't know if it would be such a good idea to say what I want to say with everyone else roaming around the house."
"Um, and what exactly were you going to say?" He was curious, in fact now he was wide-awake. The man standing in front of him was the composed, wise captain of the 12th precinct. What could be so important that he was barging into his bedroom at midnight?
Montgomery sat down on the edge of his bed, obviously trying to figure out how to phrase this correctly. The captain began to play with the edge of the bedspread with one hand while the other rhythmically tapped his knee. After a moment, he looked up and found Rick's eyes, his own deadly serious.
"Listen, Castle," so that's exactly what he did, listen, "ever since Kate showed up at the precinct I've known there was something different about her; something special. She's more driven, more determined and more intuitive than most of the cops I've seen. Sure, she was a little bit broken when she first started but having to deal with the unsolved murder of your mother would do that to anyone. In fact, if it was anyone else who had faced that they would have shattered and never gotten themselves pieced back together. But not Kate; she's a fighter. She's strong and she picked up the pieces of her broken life to mend the puzzle. But for years I knew she wasn't completely fixed, there was still some pieces missing, some holes. She wasn't happy, not completely. But when you showed up, Castle, you began to fill in those holes, you repaired damage that had been there for almost a decade. Sure, in the beginning you annoyed the hell out of her, probably still do, but she doesn't want to shoot you anymore. I'd never seen her like this before, that's how I knew exactly what it was. She was happy with you, fully and completely. Whether she realized what happened or not, she fell in love with you. So what I'm trying to say here, Castle, is that if you hurt her, if you take away the happiness that she hasn't had for ten years, then I'm going to hurt you in ways you never thought possible. And I'm sure I'd have at least two talented detectives and a very skilled medical examiner helping. We all love her Castle, as a sister, as a best friend and, in my case, as a daughter. And if you hurt her, your whole world will be turned upside down."
He gulped and tentatively took a step back, he'd always known Montgomery had an intimidating side but he'd never seen it at its full force before. And he was pretty sure that was the point of this little late night talk. In fact, he felt a little nauseous, but was sure that was caused by thinking about hurting Kate. He'd never hurt her; he was completely and totally in love with her. The captain had been talking about how before he'd met Kate she had holes in her soul, in her heart; well he'd had some of his own. And, apparently just like he'd done for her, she'd filled those holes in one eye-roll at a time. Every teasing comment, each smile sent his way and every time she opened up to him just a little bit more repaired a hole until he was all patched up. So even if he were able to, he would never hurt her.
"Sir," he started a little hesitantly because frankly, he was a little scared, "I would never hurt Kate. I've never even felt this way about anyone before. She began filling in the craters my past left in my heart from the moment I started helping on our first case. I wouldn't dream of hurting that woman, that amazing woman. Because just like you do, I love her. I love her as a best friend, and I love her as so much more than that too."
The captain rose and began walking towards him; he held his ground even though he was terrified that his speech didn't impress Montgomery at all. Stopping a couple of feet from him Montgomery put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. All fear evaporated and he knew that the captain understood.
"You're a good man, Castle." Montgomery patted his shoulder before lowering the arm back to his side.
"Thank you, sir." He smiled back; he couldn't help the grin that was forming on his face. He was touched at just how concerned this man was for Kate's wellbeing. He, and the rest of the team, were Kate's family, and he had a feeling they were becoming part of his unorthodox family as well.
"Goodnight, Castle." Montgomery walked towards the door with a much more relaxed gait than when he had come in. Anybody could tell the captain was relieved, relieved that he had made his point and that he wouldn't have to be killing anyone any time soon.
"Night, sir." Castle offered a small, warm smile in the captain's direction. He was rewarded with one being sent his way too. Montgomery turned and was halfway out of the doorway when he suddenly stopped.
"Castle?" He questioned.
"Yes?" He answered; curious as to what else the captain had to say and, he had to admit, a little scared.
"I'm glad you two finally pulled your heads out of your asses." And with that, Montgomery was gone. He grinned yet again and headed back to bed, curious as to what he'd dream after he drifted back to sleep. Hopefully, it would be the same dream he'd been woken from, he could get used to that one.
When I wrote the last chapter I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the chapter after this one, but I couldn't figure out what to do with this chapter. I swear, I wrote and rewrote this so many times. And finally, I've settled on this. I always knew someone was going to have some sort of talk with Castle about Beckett, whether they knew about them dating or not. First it was Alexis, but since she just talked to Kate I decided against that. Then it was Martha, but I have bigger plans for Martha later on. Then thought maybe, as a little surprise, it could be Thereasa, Montgomery's wife. But then I decided they didn't know each other well enough. So then, after a lot of thought, I decided on Montgomery because he knows they're dating and and he's basically Kate's second father.
So what did you think of it? Do you think I made the right choice with Montgomery? Did you like his dream? I know I did. Did you think Montgomery was in character? Did you think Castle was in character? All these questions and many more are ones I would love to know the answers to. And, as always, if you have any suggestions just tell me and they might end up in the story. And don't worry, the next chapter will be up much faster than this one was.