Chapter 15

Ok guys, this is the last chapter of this story, but it's also the longest chapter I've ever posted. I really hope you enjoy this.

And a special thanks to stevieLUVSAlex for letting me steal an idea

Kate woke up and realized she was still wrapped in Rick's arms. She didn't want to move and she tried to tell herself it was because she didn't want to wake him up. If she was being honest though, it was because she was warm and comfortable and felt safe. Not to mention how happy she felt waking up in his arms. She shifted slightly and smiled against his chest.

"Did you sleep well?"

She looked up at him with surprise. "How long have you been awake?"

"Oh about half an hour. I would have gotten up and started breakfast but you looked so cute and comfortable." He looked down at her with affection as her cheeks turned a shade of bright red and she rolled away from him to stretch. His eyes traveled from her adorable bed hair down to her chest, then down her legs and back up to her eyes, which were staring at him with a smile dancing just below the surface. Castle continued "you drool in your sleep you know."

"Castle! I do not!" she grabbed one of the pillows and hit him with it before getting up and going into the bathroom.

Castle smiled and when he heard the shower running he got up and followed her. She stuck her head out of the shower when she heard the door open. She saw castle peeling his shirt off and her jaw dropped. She had a tendency of forgetting how good looking he was. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"Joining you" he said with a huge grin.

"Is your daughter still home?"

"Yeah."

"And your mother?"

"Mhmm."

"Then you can wait your turn." She said, pulling her head back into the shower and starting to hum to herself.

Castle pouted for a second but headed downstairs to get breakfast started. By the time Beckett got out of the shower he had two plates of pancakes and a pot of coffee made. She grabbed one of each and they headed for the couch.

Castle flipped on the news then turned to Beckett "So now that the case is over, have you thought about what you're going to do about the captains offer?"

She winced and didn't say anything for a second. She didn't want to talk about it but she knew she had to. "I'm not ready for it Castle. I tried to tell him that but he didn't listen."

Castle put an arm around her. "Kate you would be great at captain. Everybody respects you, and you know this city so well. You could do a lot of good in that position."

She looked at him . "I think I would be good at it, but that's not what I said. I said I wasn't ready for it. I'm going to go and talk to Montgomery about it this afternoon I think."

After that Rick was sure she didn't want to talk about it anymore so he dropped the subject. When they were both done he took their plates and put them in the dishwasher before heading up or his turn in the shower.

"Hey Castle, don't take too long, I have a surprise for you." Beckett said as she grabbed the remote and changed the channel. He gave her a confused look but shrugged and continued upstairs. Beckett smiled as she thought of what she had planned for him. It was nothing big, but she wanted to give him something as a thank you for taking her back so easily the previous night.

A little while later they were in the car with Kate driving and Rick asking where they were going every few minutes. she couldn't help but laugh at his childlike excitement . finally they pulled up outside of a house Castle had never seen before. He looked all around him trying to figure it out and then turned to the brunette next to him. "Ok I give up, where the hell are we?"

She grinned at him and said "at your surprise. Now before I show it to you will you promise me something?"

The nervous look in her eyes told him she needed him to be serious for a second. "Anything"

"After this, will you come talk to Montgomery with me?"

He smiled and pressed a quick kiss to her soft lips. "Of course. Now can I have my surprise?"

She laughed and got out of the car, motioning him to follow her. She walked up the front steps of the house and pulled a key out of her pocket to unlock the door. Before she opened it she turned around to face him. "Castle there are a couple more conditions to this surprise. You can't touch anything unless I tell you to, and you can't tell anyone, or use this in one of your books. Technically speaking we aren't supposed to be here." After he nodded she opened the door and took a couple steps inside, closing the door behind him.

"Detective, are you breaking rules for me?"

"Since nobody is ever going to find out about this it doesn't matter now does it?" she grinned at him over her shoulder and led him into the living room. When he came to stand beside her facing the couch she spread her arms out and yelled "Tada! Here's your surprise!"

He looked around for anything unusual about the room. When he didn't find anything he frowned and looked at her. "Ok, I give up again. You win this round, what is going on?"

She pointed at the picture that was hanging next to the couch. "Go over there, and take that picture off the wall."

He slowly walked over to the picture and lifted it off the hook, setting it on the couch. Behind it was a small electronic keypad. He turned to Kate with a puzzled look and waited for directions.

"Now type in the numbers 1-0-2-3-8-9"

He raised an eyebrow but punched the numbers in. When there was a quiet mechanical hiss to his left he whirled around and stifled a squeak as his hands flew to his mouth. He whipped around to face Kate, then back to the panel that had opened in the wall and back to Kate again. She nodded with a huge smile on her face and he dashed over and opened the panel further to reveal the metal door behind it. His jaw dropped and he ran his hands over it before running back up to Beckett.

"Is this…how did you…what…can I really?" he stammered, looking happier than a 6-year-old on Christmas morning. She was amazed at how excited he was.

She nodded and pointed at the door in the wall. "I told you we weren't supposed to be here, and we can't stay for long, but yes, you really can to play with it. You have five minutes." her breath was cut off as Castle wrapped his strong arms around her and actually picked her up and twirled her around once before setting her back down and racing over to the door. He pulled it open slowly and stepped inside. He brought his hands up to his mouth and he mumbled "this is so cool."

She stood with her arms crossed over her chest watching him enjoy himself. She was glad she could do this for him, even if it wasn't much. Even though he had played it cool she knew he was upset that he hadn't been there when they had pulled Kaylee out of that very room, and she knew he was disappointed that he hadn't gotten to see the panic room with everyone else. She walked closer to him and leaned against the frame of the metal-lined room. She looked at him affectionately as he ran his hands over the few dials, and the one small TV monitor that was in the room. It was low-tech as far as these things went, but she could tell he loved it all the same.

"She was in here, when we came to get her." Castle turned to the sound of her voice and walked up to her, wrapping his arms around her again. "She was sitting in that corner, reading a book." Kate pointed when he let her go. She could feel the emotion boiling that she hadn't let to the surface last time she was here. "She was just sitting there, reading a book, like nothing was going on, like nothing was wrong."

Castle put a hand under her chin and turned her face to look at him. "She's gone now, and nothing is going to get to you like that again, I promise."

She sniffed back tears and looked down. "You can't promise that Castle, nobody can."

"Kate, I'm not going to let anything like this happen again. I'm going to do everything in my power to keep you away from this kind of press and publicity. You mean everything to me and you didn't deserve any of this."

She smiled at how protective he was being. She kind of liked it. But even with him standing right there she couldn't help but continue to think of the woman who had been sitting in that room the day before. "She was just sitting there," she said again, knowing that she sounded like a broken record but not able to get the image out of her head. "She didn't even care, she didn't care that we were here, that we had found her, that she was going to jail. None of it mattered to her."

Castle wrapped an arm around her and walked with her back out into the living room. He left her for a second to shut both of the doors in the wall and then he was back and his arm was around her waist. She leaned into him as they walked back out to the car. "Kate, honey, she's gone now. You put her where she belongs. Plus she was crazy, people like that…they don't think right, they think things like this are just a game. But she can't do anything else to you."

She nodded and wiped away a tear as they reached the car. Before she went around to her side she turned around and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry Rick, thanks."

He held her tight for a minute before letting go so she could get into the car. "No detective, thank you. This was amazing." He backtracked quickly as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "No, no you being upset wasn't amazing, that part kinda sucks, I mean the whole you breaking the rules to get me into a real life panic room. That part was amazing."

"Yeah ok Castle, I think you just like getting me upset so you can comfort me after." She started the car and they pulled out, heading for the precinct.

"Ok, I like comforting you but that's beside the point."

She chuckled as he lightened the mood as always. He reached up and rested his hand on the back of her neck, slowly running his fingers through her hair. She had to fight the urge to close her eyes and revel in the feeling. Not many people knew it but Detective Beckett loved it when people played with her hair. They drove the rest of the way to the precinct in silence, just enjoying being close to each other.

They pulled up to the precinct and Beckett turned off the car but didn't move. She just sat there with her hands still on the wheel thinking. What was she doing? She did want to be captain, it was what she had originally started working towards. But so much had changed since she had gotten out of the academy. Nothing was what she had expected it to be. As a rookie you see everything differently. Her priorities had changed dramatically over the last couple of years, she had changed. Captain wasn't what she wanted anymore, wasn't what she needed right now, and she had to focus on that. She knew she would be letting Montgomery down but she had to do what was right for her. She wasn't ready for the position and she knew it. She didn't realize she had gotten so lost in her own little world until she jumped when Castle put his hand on hers. "Sorry, I was…thinking."

"Are you ok?" he asked, looking genuinely concerned. It was a wonder she hadn't given in to him sooner.

She chewed on her bottom lip for a second before answering. "I don't like the answer I'm about to give him, but I know it's what I have to do." She turned towards Castle as much as the car would allow. "Rick when I was straight out of the academy, besides finding who killed my mom, captain was what I wanted more than anything. I wanted to prove that I could work my way up and come out on top. But that isn't what I want anymore. Montgomery said I could do a lot of good for this precinct, and I think he's right, but I can't take the job. I just…I don't want to disappoint him. He has done so much for me…" she let her voice trail off and looked up to see Castle smiling at her.

"Kate, I've told you before and I'll tell you again. You're extraordinary. And if you tell him exactly what you just told me, I think he will understand. As much as he might want you to take this job I don't think he would push you into something you don't want. He'll understand."

Kate nodded and got out of the car. Rick followed her to the elevator and rubbed her back gently as they rode up. The doors opened and when she looked up at him he could see something in her eyes he rarely ever saw. She was genuinely nervous and worried. He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring look and they got off the elevator.

She walked right up to Montgomery's door and knocked. When she got the ok to come in her and Castle filed into the office and she closed the door behind them. Castle sat down on the couch behind her and waited. "Sir can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked.

"Of course. It's good to see you're ok after this case. It was a hard one."

"Thanks sir, but this is about…your offer." She saw him lean to the side and glance around her to where Castle was sitting. "He knows about it, I asked him to be here."

Montgomery nodded. "Talk to me."

She took a deep breath and braced herself. "Sir, I'm sorry but my answer has to stay the same as the first time you asked me. I want the job, but I can't accept it right now." She told him everything she had been thinking and said out loud in the car with Castle. She told him how originally she had wanted the position of Captain almost as much as she had wanted to find her mothers' killer. But then her priorities had shifted, things had changed. She had seen how this job really was and wasn't ready to leave the position she was in. "I'd like to think that I do a lot for this city sir, and I think I have a lot more that I need to do before I can take myself off the streets willingly. There is a lot more I still have to learn about this job, and this city and about myself sir, and until I learn those things I can't accept the position of captain."

Castle's eyes went back and forth from Beckett to Montgomery and he watched the interaction with interest. he noticed how she got more confident as she started talking. And he could see in the captains eyes how much he respected the woman standing in front of him even though he was her superior. He watched as she finished speaking and took a deep breath, and he watched as a smile slowly crawled across Montgomerys lips.

"Thank you detective."

"Sir?"

"Thank you for taking the time to think about it. And thank you for being honest with me. Not a lot of people would be willing to say those things to their superior, and especially after this last case I can imagine it was hard for you." He sat and thought in silence for a moment and Beckett started to wonder if he was going to say anything else. Then he continued "You are good for this city detective, and for this precinct, and I think that even though you get caught up sometimes, and get lost in the job-"

She cut him off "Sir, I don't get lo-"

"Detective don't think I never noticed the late nights you spent, or when you ended up sleeping on the couch in the break room, or how focused you get on certain cases. I think at times this job is a black hole for you detective, but I also think it does you a lot of good, getting to help people like you do. No matter what there is always a job for you at this precinct, and you stay where you are for as long as you need to."

Both Castle and Beckett were stunned at the captains' speech, and at his insight into Beckett's relationship with her job. Beckett realized that she didn't know what to say. "Um, thank you very much sir."

The captain nodded. "You've had a lot to deal with this past week detective. Would you object to me asking you to take the rest of the day off?"

"Normally sir yes I would," she took a deep breath. "But right now I think I could do with some time away from everything."

"Alright then. Thanks again Beckett."

"Thank you too sir, I'll see you tomorrow."

Caste stood up and followed Beckett out of the office and back to the elevator. She didn't say anything until the doors closed. The second they were out of eyesight of anyone else she ran her hands through her hair and buried herself in his shoulder. She didn't cry but her legs felt almost weak. Between breaking down earlier that morning and the conversation she had just had with the captain she felt completely drained. It was all she could do to keep herself upright, even with Castle's strong arms around her.

"You alright?" he asked as he pulled her back to look her in the eyes and make sure she wasn't going to start crying again.

"I'm…I don't know what I am. But I'll be ok. Just…take me home?"

He smiled and nodded. The elevator beeped as they reached their stop and he let her go, knowing she didn't like public displays of affection. She surprised him by clasping his hand in hers before heading off towards the car. As they walked he looked down at their interlocked hands and thought. He thought about the remarkable woman walking next to him, and how she amazed him every day. He thought about how strong she was and how beautiful she was even when she let her weak side show. He thought about how well he knew her, and as they reached the car and she looked at him across the roof he thought about how there was something just under the surface of her eyes that he didn't quite know yet, but couldn't wait to find.

Ok I know a couple of you are going to be upset that I didn't have to take the job as Captain, but I liked it better this way. Please don't hate me too much xD

As Always reviews are appreciated, and for those of you who really liked this story, there is going to be a sequel in the works very soon so keep an eye open.

Also thank you to everyone who reviewed, and added me and this story to your alerts/favorites. You guys are the reason I keep writing :D