A/N: Hi sorry I took so long to update but I was having a little writers block and didn't know how to start this chapter but I finally buckled down and finished it :) hope you like it.

Chapter 5

(Three months later)

"Castle, how do I look?"

"Kate, you look fine."

"You've said that about everything! This is my first day back to work since I was shot and the first day meeting the new boss….Ryan says she used to work for IAB."

"Kate," Castle said as he walked up to her and cupped her face with his hands, "You look great and the captain will love you, you are a great detective, one of the best I know."

Kate let out a sigh and leaned her forehead on his then said, "Be honest, is this really okay?"

Castle let out a chuckle then said, "Best one."

"Your just saying that to get me to shut up, aren't you?"

"You know me too well but we will be late for our first day back if we don't get moving now so move it." He placed a light kiss to the tip of her nose and started to walk out of his bedroom, she's been staying at his place since she got out of the hospital almost all of her clothes is there and his family has gotten used to having her around all the time and he loves being able to hold her in his arms at night it has defiantly helped his nightmares. Kate followed behind him as he left the room just a bit in front of her she said,

"What was that? I want a real kiss." She stopped in the doorway of his office and crossed her arms in front of her, Castle looked back at her and Martha and Alexis quietly chuckled in the kitchen at the couple.

"Kate…"

"Castle…" she said as she walked closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and said, "I want a real kiss, we will be at work all day and I won't be able to kiss you so give me a real kiss or I will hide your Star Wars collection."

"You wouldn't." she raised her eyebrows at him just daring him, "Why am I even fighting not to kiss you?" she shrugged her shoulders as he wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her closer to him as he leaned in for a kiss. Their lips touched it was a light kiss that didn't last that long because they had to do and Castle didn't want to listen to her complain about messing just her lipstick and then being late for work. "Love you, Kate." Rick said as the pulled apart,

"Love you too, Castle" she placed one last light kiss to him lips than untangled herself from his arms and made her way to the kitchen to get breakfast.

They exited the elevator at the homicide floor; Beckett and Castle were bickering about almost being late when they heard the sound of people clapping, Beckett smiled at them and made her way to Ryan and Esposito as Castle talked to L.T. about his summer break which was spent waiting on her hand and foot,

"Hey boss, welcome back."

"Yeah Beckett we all missed you and writer boy over there." Esposito said as he gestured to the direction of Castle with his thumb. Beckett looked over at him and they caught each other's glance and they both smiled at each other as Beckett thought, 'God it's good to be back.'

"Yo Beckett, you okay?" Kate looked back at Esposito and shook her head slightly to get back to plant earth,

"Yeah sorry,"

"It's okay Becks. The new boss should be back to welcome you back soon just a quick warning though," when Beckett nodded her head he continued, "She is nothing and I mean nothing like Montgomery."

"Yeah boss, she's kind of scary… they call her Iron Gates for a reason."

"Okay boys there's no need to try and scare me, Lanie did a good enough job last night." The boys laughed then said,

"So did you tell Castle to be good?"

"Yes I told writer monkey over there to behave himself or he will be missing some of his collectables." They started laughing and Castle walked up behind Beckett and placed his hand on the small of his back and said,

"What's so funny?"

"Hi." Kate whispered to him as she unconsciously leaned into his side

"Nothing bro, Beckett here was just telling us how she was getting you to behave yourself but I think you should find a way for her to too."

"Well the new boss has never seen us work together so all she knows is this is normal." Kate smiled up at Castle she was still super tired they've both been having trouble sleeping her with the pain from the scars and nightmares and he was getting nightmares still some nights and would wake up every few hours to make sure she was okay.

"I'm too tired to care what this might look like." Beckett said as she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes,

"How about you go sit at your desk and I'll make us some coffee, how does that sound?"

"That sounds wonderful." She stood up straight and walked over to her desk laying her head on her desk staring into the office that once belonged to her boss, friend and mentor. A few minutes later a mug of coffee was placed in front of her, she sat up and mumbled a "thanks" to Castle as she cradled the warm mug in both hands and breathed in the smell of coffee,

"You and your coffee, sometimes it feels like you only keep me around because of my amazing brewing skills." Castle joked, Beckett rolled her eyes at him then took a sip of the amazing beverage, she let out a sigh after a couple sips then said,

"I so needed this." Castle laughed at her. The bullpen was still buzzing with uniforms talking and walking up to Castle and Beckett to welcome them back, there was laughter and Ryan and Esposito were throwing a baseball back and forth to each other when they heard one of the uniform's cough, Castle and Beckett watched everyone scramble around to desks of pulling out folders or notepads to look busy, Esposito dropped the ball into one of his desk draws and quickly shut it with a bang and him and Ryan pulled out their paperwork and got down to work; Beckett watched in disbelief at how fast they got down to work and Castle watched them too and looked over at Beckett and whispered,

"What's with them?" Beckett shrugged her shoulders took a sip of her coffee and booted up her computer,

"Morning everyone" Said a woman in her late forty's to early fifty's as she turned and to enter her office which once belonged to Roy Montgomery, 'That must be the new captain.' Beckett thought, she stopped when she noticed the once empty desk of Detective Katherine Beckett was now occupied by her and who she assumed was the detectives writer tag along, "Det. Beckett, may we have a word in my office?" Kate looked up at her from her computer screen and nodded her head, the captain entered her office and Kate took one more sip of her coffee before she got up to talk to the new captain, she patted Castle on the shoulder and whispered,

"Wish me luck"

"Luck" he whispered back to her as she walked off and into the office.

"Welcome back, Detective. I'm Victoria Gates; I am your new captain."

"It's good to be back Ma'am"

"Please Detective its Sir or Captain."

"Yes Sir."

Captain Gates smiled then said, "Detective, please sit." And gestured to the chair in front of her desk,

"Thank you." Kate replied with a sweet smile as she took a seat in the chair, she crossed one leg over the other as she watched her new captain waiting for her to speak.

"Well Detective, I see you tag along is back as well."

"Yes Sir, Castle was helping me out at home after I got out of the hospital…isn't that what partners do?"

"Yes partners….I heard a rumor about you two being an item, is that true?"

"Don't believe everything you hear Sir." Kate Stared down the Captain not giving anything away, she wasn't a suspect in the box she knew how to stand her ground and not get intimidated by people, and it was her job not to.

"Yes detective," Gates leaned on her forearms on her desk and looked at the young detective, "I hear you were the youngest female officer to be promoted to detective…you beat me by six weeks, detective. You also have a remarkable closure rate."

"Thanks to my team, Sir"

"Yes Detectives Ryan and Esposito are quite good too."

"Castle been a lot of help too Sir, we wouldn't have closed as many cases as we did without him." when she said that Captain Gates leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms and looked out the window of the office, Beckett followed her glance and her eyes landed on Castle he was sitting on the edge of her desk looking at a blank murder board and talking on the phone to who she presumed was his daughter who's first day of school isn't until tomorrow, he had that smile on his face that he gets only when he talks to Alexis and it warmed her heart every time, god she loved that man, a small smile broke onto her face with that thought.

She hadn't noticed the captain stopped looking at Castle and was now watching her, studying her. Victoria Gates was not dumb she knew there was something between those two but she wasn't sure if they were dating or not she did not know them well enough to figure that out but she was sure the detective had feelings for her tag along.

"Well Detective to be honest I don't approve of this agreement but if he behaves himself I don't see why he shouldn't stop following you, but he messes one thing up and he's out of here, got that?"

"Yes sir. Now can I have my gun?"

"You've have been on leave for three months detective, you have to requalify."

"Bu–"

"No buts Detective. Now that's all you may go."

Beckett stood up and opened her mouth to speak then closed it again not able to think of anything and turned on her heels and left the office fuming.

"Yo Beckett what did the captain want?" asked Esposito

"Boss you okay? You look a little mad."

Castle looked up at his girlfriend and saw that Ryan was correct she looked pissed, "Kate?"

"I want my gun Castle! She says I have to requalify." She stormed over to her desk and opened her bottom drawer and pulled out her purse and stormed out of the bullpen.

"Uhh I got her." Castle said as he ran after her yelling, "Beckett hold the elevator!" she did cause she wanted him with her. He stepped into the elevator and pulled her into his side without thinking about waiting for the doors to shut. Captain Gates smiled at them, Beckett was a force to be reckon with and Castle seems to know how to handle her without getting hurt, she saw him pull her into his side and she had a feeling that if they weren't close he would be a dead man but she also thought that if that was true she wouldn't have held the door for him.

Castle and Beckett left the elevator his arm still around her shoulder as they made their way towards the shooting range, he smiled at the officer as they entered, and the officer smiled back at them and handed over a Glock 17,

"Good luck Detective, Mister Castle."

"Thanks Larry!" Beckett yelled back to him as she put on her protective gear and stepped up to the bench, Castle gave her a thumbs up when he was all set and she started shooting at the target.

When she was done Castle came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle and rested his chin on her shoulder and whispered into her ear, "All better?"

Kate giggled and rolled her eyes before she answered, "Yeah, but I will be even happier when Gates gives me my gun."

He laughed into her ear and the sound caused a shiver to go down her spine, he placed a light kiss to the top of her head then pulled back, she turned around and smiled at him before they made their way back to Larry to give him back the gun,

"All done, Detective?"

"Yeah," she smiled at him as she and Castle made their way back to the elevator to go back upstairs when she hear Larry yell,

"Oh and Detective I didn't see anything and neither did the cameras!"

Beckett laughed then said, "You're the best Lar!"

The rest of the day went by pretty well, she got her gun back, and they got a case, just a simple pop and drop which was solved exceptionally fast because the boy's mother found the gun and bragged him into the police, it was sad that he was just a kid, he said it was an accident that he thought it wasn't loaded. Beckett was hoping he didn't get that bad a sentence because he was only sixteen, she would never say it aloud but she was really hoping the judge would give him at least fifteen – twenty with the chance of probation. Castle led her into the loft, he was happy the Captain let everyone go home early tonight because Beckett seemed exhausted still. They made their way to the living room and Castle sat on the couch and patted the cushions next to him and she plopped down, Castle pulled her feet up into his lap and took off her shoes and started giving her a foot massage, Kate laid back into the couch and closed her eyes starting to relax, sleep soon took over and she was fast asleep. Castle stood up, placed a blanket over her and kissed her forehead before he made his way to the kitchen to make dinner.

About twenty minutes later Kate woke up from her nap and smelt something amazing cooking she got off the couch and made her way to the kitchen and said voice sounding as tired as she was, "What are you making?"

"Your favorite."

"umm" Kate mumbled as she made her way to castle and wrapped her arms around his waist, "need any help?"

Castle turned around in her arms and wrapped his arms around her upper back and leaned down for a light kiss then said, "You can help stir so I can keep hugging you." She smiled at him and then let go of him and he did the same before he took her shoulders and slowly turned her around so she was facing to stove and the wrapped his arms around her waist, she took the wooden spoon off the side of the pot and gave it a quick stir then brought the spoon to her mouth to try some then said,

"Mmm, have I ever told you how much I love your tomato sauce?"

"Yes about fifty times now but I never get tired of it."

"Have you made the pasta?"

"Yes it is in the pot cooking right now." He took one arm from around her waist and took the pasta spoon from the side of the other pot and gave it a stir, "I think it's just about done, how's the sauce?"

"Complete and delicious." She said as she turned off the heat,

"Okay," he kissed to top of her head then let her go to strain the spaghetti.

"Dad, Kate I'm home!" Alexis yelled as she entered the house,

"Hi pumpkin!"

"Hey Lex!

"What smells so good? I'm starved" she asked; when she entered the kitchen she saw her dad had his arms wrapped around Kate as he put their dinner on plates, Kate was laughing and kept saying, "Castle this is ridiculous, I think you can go two minutes to serve dinner so you don't hurt anyone or dump the food."

"Nonsense Kate." Alexis laughed at them and sat in one of the chairs at the island,

"How was your first day back, Kate?"

"It was good."

"She got mad at the new boss." Castle stated

"I did not."

"You're so cute when you try to deny things." He teased Kate rolled her eyes at him then pinched his arm lightly,

"Ow that hurt!"

"Don't be such a baby Castle."

"Yeah dad she barely touched you."

"You're on her side? Now that hurts." He said feigning hurt.

"You're such a drama queen Castle."

"I get it from my mom." He said as he placed a kiss in her hair and let go announcing, "Dinner is served!" they all sat down at the island and ate their dinner with light conversation about their day.

A/N: Thank you for reading :) I would like to thank everyone who has followed, favorited or reviewed on this story it means so much to me :) so to all of you who are read this, you rock!

Love,

Angela

UPDATE: Hi this is going to be the last Chapter, sorry but I haven't really been inspired to write for this in awhile so thank you to everyone that had read it and take care XOXO