So yes this is the final chapter of this particular story. I hope to do some more writing very soon, and currently I'm milling over a couple of ideas for new fics, so watch this space! Thank you once again for your support and I really hope you enjoy the final chapter.

Peace!

They drove back to the precinct, to finish up some paperwork - well Beckett did at least.

Castle sat perched in his usual chair at the end of Beckett's desk, writing fervidly.

He felt a presence behind him, warmth radiating from just above his left shoulder.

"New material?" He heard the lady detective's voice say. He hastily stuffed away the papers as she made her way to her seat. "Detective Beckett, your highly inquisitive tendencies do not suit me when I am in the middle of writing top secret, world-changing story lines."

Beckett raised an eyebrow. "So this is obviously something other than Kate Beckett the biography then?" Castle gave her a half exasperated - half amused look "You mean Nikki Heat?" "Oh yes that's the one", Beckett smirked.

Castle grinned, he couldn't believe how accepting and even affectionate Beckett had become of her alter-ego. He would never forget the look on her face when he described the character to her for the first time. A mixture of rage and shock, particularly following the words "kinda slutty".

"Meaning no offense here Kate, but you do know that you aren't the only thing that inspires me here. The precinct, the cases, even the idiots we get coming through here everyday; and I'm not just talking about Esposito and Ryan". Beckett tried not to smile at him. Castle continued. "They're all in a way my muses."

Beckett leaned intoxicatingly close to him and whispered more sultrily than she meant to "But I'm what keeps bringing you back every. single. day." Castle closed his eyes as her breath on his face made him shiver. After he caught his breath he croaked "That's true".

Their eyes met with a jolt of electricity. Beckett sucked on her bottom lip before speaking again.

"Castle why did you that before?... Kiss me I mean. You know you didn't actually have to do that to prove your theory."

Castle swallowed a lump in his throat. "Maybe not, perhaps I needed to do it to prove something else though." Beckett looked at him seriously. "Like what?"

This was too much for Castle, and he wanted out. He stood up abruptly to escape and was rocked to the core when Beckett grabbed his arm and said with more conviction than she thought she could muster "Rick!"

Turning back around slowly he looked up at her with shame. He felt like such a coward.

She loosened her grip but never relinquished her grasp on his arm. "I know", she finally choked out. Castle lifted his gaze to meet her fiery eyes. "I know", she repeated smoother this time, and he knew that she knew. She'd heard.

Looking around the room, and seeing no one in the direct vicinity, she stood and stepped forward to cup his cheek with her gentle palm.

Castle sighed into her warm hand, turning his head slightly, allowing his lips to lightly graze her skin. If Beckett's heart had been rapid earlier, then now it was more like a thunderstorm in her chest. Every fiber of her body went numb as she tentatively took one step and then two toward him.

Both breathed raggedly, both anticipating what was now bound to happen. Beckett bowed her head and spoke ever so softly. "I didn't enjoy that kiss today, I couldn't. Enjoyment only occurs when a person has a sense of what's going on. As soon as our lips met I lost all consciousness. All those things you just mentioned; the precinct, the case, Ryan and Esposito... they all disappeared. For all I could tell I was Alana Vestig. Only for as much loathing as she felt for Paul Thompson, that's how much love I felt for you."

Castle stared straight at her now, not believing this could really be happening. "Rick", she said for the second time in two minutes. Oh man. How could just his own name sound so enticing? "I love you too."

Castle thought he might float away if Beckett's hand wasn't still holding him.

Struggling to speak, Castle said slowly "Kate. About a year ago, we kissed for the first time. It wasn't planned, and we never talked about it again. It's taken us a year Kate, and I kissed you today because to me, that was about a year too long. Inhaling, he closed whatever space was left between their two bodies. "And now I don't think I can wait another second."

Beckett only got out the word "Don't" before the word "Wait" was engulfed by Castle's mouth. They kissed like no two people had ever done so before. At least not in the confines of the 12th. And at last the weight of that wait had been literally swallowed into the endless abyss of their love.