She waited for the explosion, maybe some yelling about her lying to them. But only silence surrounds them. She can hear the traffic below whizzing past her apartment building.
"I-I really don't know what to say." Ryan says honestly. She nods she can understand that.
Luka decides to add his two cents, " Blaire here is the strongest person I have ever met. She fought for her life when she had nothing to live for. She was the miracle case at the hospital. Not one person expected her to wake up the first time she was in a coma, but the second time people thought we should just pull the plug on her life. She came back with a vengeance and I can see she has made friends here."
All eyes are on him as he continues speaking, "I know you are all angry or hurt or whatever for her lying to you, but Blaire was just trying to save her life. She wanted to move on with a fresh start. Not have her past shadow her forever. In between her two comas Blaire was one of the happiest people I know. She was so full of life even though she had lost everything."
"How could you stay so positive after losing everything like that?" Castle asks knowing if anything like that happened to him he wouldn't be able to be happy.
"I'm not sure I just knew I needed to keep living." Kate replies lost in her memories.
"I remember the first time I took you around the hospital, you were so enthralled by the city rushing below. No wonder you moved here to New York."
Kate smiles at that remembering her excitement at the cars rushing around the city.
"Blaire here couldn't keep a smile off her face, she would laugh and joke around." Luka adds.
"Kate, I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this. I wish there was something I could do to make it all better. I wish I had known you went through all of that sooner." Castle says. His kind words touch Kate deeply, she doesn't show her emotions on her face but by the twinkle in her eyes Castle knows just what she is thinking.
The room once again settles into an uncomfortable silence. Castle tries to lighten the mood a little bit, "Soooo Blaire is it? How very OC of you."
Kate lets out a giggle. She quickly covers her mouth. Holy crap she just let out a giggle.
Luka laughs, "Ah there is Blaire giggle I remember."
"So what is with the whole Blaire Kate thing?" Castle asks seriously this time.
"Well my full name is Blaire Katherine Collins Beckett. I know it's a really long name but my parents each gave me their last name when I was born. I decided to go by Kate here in New York in hopes of starting anew."
By the time they finished talking it was close to midnight and everyone began to trickle slowly out of her apartment. Ryan the first to leave to go home to Jenny, Lanie second claiming she was tired. Esposito leaves with Lanie but not before having a word in private with Kate.
"You might think this makes you weak. But, it makes you stronger than I ever thought you were. I hope you can realize that." In a unusual display of emotion Kate wraps her arms around Espo giving him a huge hug.
"Thank you Espo." He nods and quickly leaves to catch up with Lanie.
Castle was the last of the motley crew to leave.
"Thank you for telling us this Kate. None of us think anything differently of you. Actually, we do think differently of you. We see you as stronger than we thought before. You're one of the strongest people I know. I am proud to call you my friend, partner, muse, and-" but he trails off before he finishes.
She knows what he wants to say, but he can't not now. Kate knows in time they will address the real issue.
Castle turns to leave after a quick hug.
"Oh and Castle, if any of this ends up in a Nikki Heat book I will kill you."
Castle lets out a chuckle. That's the Kate he knows and loves, wait loves. Yea, he loves Kate. He'll tell her, but not tonight. Tonight she needs to put her past to bed that way she can move onto her future. Hopefully with him.
Finally Luka comes up offering a hug.
"It was good seeing you again Blaire."
"You too Luka. I'm glad I was able to see you again. This time stay in contact."
He nods, "I'm sorry you had to drag all this up again."
Kate smiles, "It's ok. The past is always with you not matter what and I just need to embrace it." Luka nods and gives her one last hug after exchanging numbers.
"You always were a fighter, a one in a million shot." With that he leaves and gives a small wave from the elevator.
Yes, Kate is laying her past to rest. It's all out in the open. She can finally be free. She curls up on the couch. Her wine in her hand and opens up her overly used copy of Derek Storm. With a content sigh she lets the words wash over her taking a break from her hectic life to dive into someone else's.
Tomorrow is soon to come and bring a new case but now she is content to relax and let the day wash over her.