Hello all! Well, we're almost at the end of this story, and the finale I have in mind will blow your minds even more than they were blown in the last few chapters. I must also shout-out to the awesome J.D. Robb book 'Treachery in Death' which gave me the idea of the salutes in the last chapter. But you know I would never end on a dark albeit happy ending so there's still a little more story to tell!

'Let me drive.'

'Castle, I...oh, god I'm even too tired to argue.'

'Hence why I'm driving.'

Beckett walked out with her husband, but refused to loop her arm through his - that was pride; however much she felt the true weight of being a human being right now, she was still a cop and her men would look to her for authority.

She saw Ryan and Esposito were standing by Esposito's Crown Victoria, and no, her eyes weren't failing her; they were indeed playing a spirited game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

'No, I thought we said best of five,' Ryan insisted.

'Best of three bro, your turn.'

'Man!'

'Did I walk in at recess time, boys?' she asked, and both looked at her.

'He gets to go in and deal with Pearlmutter while I handle the rest of the troops,' Esposito declared. 'How are you, Kate?'

'Oh, you know me, nothing spices up a Saturday morning like a showdown with a badge-wearing murderer,' Beckett replied lightly.

'How are the ears?'

'They're pretty good, the space was big enough my sound isn't too bad. Good work today, and all of this week.'

'Hey it's nothing,' Ryan scoffed, and decided Pearlmutter could wait a minute or two more, since Cowlan was still dead and the surly ME would be crankier with more people in his space. 'I'll call Jenny and tell her you'll stop by when you go to see Adam and Christine,' he told her, pulling out his cellphone.

'I think we've all earned a good stiff one after this,' Esposito said with a eary sigh, and Beckett couldn't resist snickering.

'Thought those were for Meredeth only, Detective.'

'There she is, a good dirty joke.' He grinned from ear to ear as he pulled out his own cell and made the call to Meredeth, to let her know the case was done.

'Okay, now, we go,' Beckett said, turning to Castle to give her men a little privacy and slipping her hand into his as they moved up the block to where her vehicle sat.

'Look at you holding hands on a crime scene, Detective. You sure you didn't get your own brain rattle like Adam?' he teased her, and took the light body shove she gave him in the right spirit. 'We're going to Saint Vincent's?'

'Yeah, I need to find out what room they're putting Adam in.' Beckett opened her passenger door, then patted her pockets. 'I- where's my phone?'

'Oh, right.' Castle unzipped one of his many pockets on the riot gear uniform and passed her the iPhone. 'Here you go.'

She dialed the number for the Saint Vincent desk and gave her information to the not-as-helpful-as-she-could-be receptionist but was given the bare bones of what she needed. 'He's in Internal Medicine, room three-three-one.'

'That's the same wing as Pediatrics,' Castle commented, 'we can visit him and go by and reassure Honey-Milk her man is in one piece.'

'Yeah, that's true.'

Beckett let out a massive yawn, and closing her eyes, heard the hum of the engine being turned over. 'Wake me up when we get there.'

'You got it,' Castle replied, but a quick glance sideways told him his warrior woman was already out like a light.

As they were informed that Adam was just out of surgical recovery - a procedure done to ensure there was no permanent damage to his nasal cavity or lasting scarring, they were told - Beckett roused herself from her sleepy state to visit Christine Doran first. Now that her colour was back as well as her memory and her energy, Beckett wasn't at all surprised the woman's reaction was barely controlled anger as Beckett gave her the whole sordid tale.

'I'm so sorry for your loss, Christine,' she told the woman.

'Don't be. That fucker is burning in hell now for what he did to my baby, and Angela and Timo are together again with their baby. When the time's right, I'll see them again.'

'I hope you don't intended to determine that time for yourself,' Beeckett said, chosing her words carefully.

'No, no, there's been too much interference with the universe's plan already. I'll live out my time here and I'll see them when it's right, like I said.'

'Christine, you do know you'll probably be called to testify in this case, right?'

'Just say when and where, I want that...that fucker to pay for all the hurt and anguish he caused.'

'I can tell you don't swear a lot,' Castle commented, and Christine laughed.

'Never thought I'd meet the famous Richard Castle in my life, and certainly not like this,' she told him, patting his hand; the motion set her IV tubes dancing.

'Well, maybe then, this will help.' He produced a signed copy of the latest Nikki Heat. 'To keep you company while you get better and prepare for the trial.'

'Thank you. Both of you.' Christine looked at Beckett. 'I will never forget this.'

'I don't doubt it.'

Beckett rose, subtly signaling Castle their time was done. She passed Christine a card. 'This is the name of the counselor I worked with after I lost my mother. She'll be expecting your call when you're ready.'

With that, she turned and walked out, headed for the stairs and not the elevator to head to Adam's room. 'When did you get a copy of your book?' she asked her husband.

'We made a little stop at the precinct before coming to the hospital. You were out cold and no, no-one saw you sawing them off in your own car,' he added, anticipating her outburst. 'Julian still had a box of them at his desk so I snagged a few copies just in case.'

Beckett couldn't think of a thing to say, since it was so like him to do that. 'I'm sure the last thing Adam wants is to read about being embroiled in a scandalous case involving dirty cops.'

Her prediction turned out to be dead wrong, for when they walked into Adam's room, he was lying on his side in bed, a bag of clear fluid dripping down an IV into his right arm. His face was still red and swollen but his eyes were alert, scanning the pages of a copy of Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.

'Appropriate, somehow,' she said softly from the doorway, and Adam looked up, waved a little. He picked up a little notepad and blue marker, scribbled something on it to show to Beckett.

Can't talk yet, doc's orders, need to let the face muscles rest.

'Fair enough, because I just want you to listen right now anyways.' Beckett pulled up a chair, sat down and to Adam's amazement, stroked his hair like he was her own son. 'You are so brave, Adam, braver than I ever thought someone could be after what you've gone through.'

Don't make me blush, it hurts too much.

'Okay, then better news. What I was going to say to you before we found out Sean Delancy was the bad guy all along, was that Montgomery is putting your name in for reinstatement to the Detectives Bureau. You'd start at the bottom and work with Detective Newman as his trainee, but you'd be in Homicide with me and my boys at the Twelfth if we can get the approval.'

Beckett watched him scribble on a fresh page and laughed when he turned it around, saw the WOOHOO in large capital letters and he made the notepad dance back and forth. 'And one more thing. The case-wrap party is next Saturday night at the loft. Bring a date if you want.'

I'd rather just be me with friends

'And family,' Castle added, standing beside his wife and putting a hand on her shoulder, the other patting Adam's sheet-covered leg. 'You're ours now, regardless of whether or not you're reinstated.'

Aw shucks, Castle

'Oh, almost forgot.' He gave him the copy of Nikki Heat. 'Don't worry you'll be immortalized in one of these soon enough.'

Thanks a million, both of you. Sleep now, wanna snooze.

Beckett nodded, and with the mother affection she felt for Adam sweeping through her, she watched his eyes sink shut under the weight of the drugs in the IV then kissed his brow as she would RJ's when he was sick.

'Sleep tight, Adam.'

'It could be very easy of me to get jealous of you kissing a handsome young buck like Adam,' Castle joked as he pressed the button for the elevator.

'He's the kind of man I envision our son becoming when the time is right,' Beckett replied, watching the doors slide open and blinked when she saw Daniel Brick in his street clothes. 'Hey! Aren't you supposed to be home with Andrea?'

'Not right now, because she's in labour. Her water broke just a couple hours ago.'