ok, my mojo is back with this chapter, I think. At least I feel more confident. Let me know, please? I'm a littl down cuz i got only 2 reviews on the previous chapter :c

But, any how... This story will be over in the next chapter, it'll be a long one but i'm starting the new semester like next week and I want some time to write my own story that's been put on stand by cuz of this one and I don't like to post between long intervals of time.

Oh, again thanks to my friend here A.R-062 for his help. You rock :D

Disclaimer: Nah, still nothing.

"Yes, Becks…He's doing fine, I think he'll ace the test, actually. …. Mmhmm talk to you later. Bye."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in. Ryan, any word on the double?"

"Yes ma'am, we just caught the guy, he is in custody and we're about to question him. You wanna come?"

"Sure. Be right there."

Had he heard her right? Becks? As in Beckett? They don't seem to hate each other but… They never go any further than mandatory pleasantries. He would have to ask Beckett later, right now he had a killer to catch.

…

"Good job on the interrogation, boys."

"Thank you, boss." Both said at unison.

"Since you have no other cases and its Friday, go home and take the weekend off, this one was a tough one."

"Really?" Esposito gave him a 'shut up' look, "I… mean, thank you Boss, see you on Monday."

Lisbon nodded, turned 180 degrees and walked to her office.

"Come on, Bro, let's go celebrate, text the others."

"On it. Oh, by the way, do you know if Beckett is friendly with Lisbon?"

"Our Beckett? No way, they've barely say hi to each other every time they're in the same room. Why?"

"Well, I was about to tell Lisbon about the SOB in the interrogation room when I heard her saying something about a he who is doing a good job and that he'll ace some test, so I thought of Castle, right? But she directed to the person as Becks and that seems kind of friendly, right?"

"Yeah, it is weird. We'll talk to them about it over drinks; right now I'm going to see Lanie. See you in a couple of hours?"

"Sure, bro."

Both said their good bye's and went on opposite directions.

…..

It had been a week since the event on Alexis's school. She still felt tingles in her stomach every time she remembered the way he had dropped her off at her apartment and given her a kiss so sweet and torturously slow that had her toes curling and her knees nearly buckle. It was indeed a night to remember. Now they were at Rick's loft, enjoying the evening.

Rick popped his head from the kitchen. "Kate? Did you get a text from Ryan?"

"Just did, actually, you want to go?"

He shrugged. "Only if you want to, do you?"

"Sure, I wouldn't mind. It's been ages since I've talked to Lanie."

"I'll text them."

A ding sounded from the kitchen.

"Oh, they're ready." His head disappeared in a flash.

Kate tried to hide her smile from her boyfriend who currently looked like a little child. They had spend the day together, just being with each other, until Rick got the idea in his head that he had to bake brownies…and that Kate had to teach him.

"Come on, Kate, I'm not asking for those heavenly cookies, just the brownies. Please? Pretty please with brownies on top?" He was playing dirty with his puppy dog face on full power.

They had been discussing this matter for a little over half an hour.

"Ok, Ok, fine! But, you can't make them all the time. We have to watch our figure if you want to pass that test in a month."

His face fell a little, for a fraction of a second before he pulled her up and gave her a sweet kiss that made both forget their names. "Thank you. Now, come on, let's make brownies."

The kitchen was a disaster but baking with someone couldn't have been more fun. They've had flour fights, chocolate kisses and eventually Kate had to take a shower. Now she was wearing one of his pajama pants and a large green lantern t-shirt.

"Rick! You're still covered in flour and chocolate." She said as he hugged her tightly.

"Of course! I'm the chef after all."

"Chef, huh? We'll see about that. Now come on, you have to take a shower."

"Nah, I'll just change."

She began to play with his hair. "Rick, you have flour on your hair…and chocolate, how did it get back there?"

"Oh, I think it was during our little… distraction."

She blushed and he kissed her. Immediately her hands went to his hair and began to caress it. After they pulled apart he had a wolfish grin. "See what I mean?"

"Shush, and go… I need to change anyway."

He pouted." Why? You look great."

"Castle, I'm not going to Remy's with your clothes on."

"But they look so much better on you." He grinned.

"Go, shower. Now."

"Fineeee…Care to join me?" He wiggled his brow.

"Go!"

With one last peck on the lips he left and she went to the guest room to change. They had been officially dating for a month now and she still had the occasional nightmare, so the days they had movie nights she just stayed, which was why she had clothes and other accessories at his place.

…..

"Ah, look at you two, arriving together. Isn't that cute, Espo?"

"Sure is, bro."

Rick took a look at Kate, silently asking what to do. She laced his hands with hers and watched as the other two detectives left their jaws on the table, Lanie and Jenny smiled knowingly at each other.

Once the pair sat, Kate was the first one to break the silence. "So, who won?"

"Won what, Beckett?" Asked Esposito, playing dumb and not doing a good job.

"Yeah, what?" intervened Ryan.

"Smooth, guys, really smooth…Ok, since none of you are talking, let's just move on. How was the case this week?"

"A double, took us forever but we solved it. As a reward, Lisbon gave us the weekend off."

"Really? Congrats guys."

"Thanks Boss."

"Oh, Beckett... there was something we wanted to ask you." Said Ryan a little insecure.

"Shoot."

"Have you talked to Lisbon recently? As in today? At about 4?"

"Eh, no, I was eh...teaching something to Castle."

"Really? Tell me, Beckett, what exactly you were teaching to our boy here?" Asked Esposito

"Yeah, maybe self defenses move that we haven't heard of?" Chimed in Ryan.

"Guys, it's not what you think." Intervened Castle

"Then what, Castle?"

Beckett had had enough. "Ugh, what the hell…We were baking brownies, ok?"

Both detectives were doing their best trying not to laugh, and honestly were doing a great job, considering. "Brownies, huh? How domestic…"

"Well, they were delicious" commented an offended Castle.

Ryan and Esposito almost fell from the table in laughter.

Her voice was ice cold. "Ryan, unless you want me to go back to work solely to get you two on paperwork for two months, you'll drop it."

Castle grinned and squeezed her hand under the table.

"Dropping it…Back to topic, I heard Lisbon calling someone Becks and talking about what I assume is Castle and the big test."

Castle and Beckett shared a quizzed look.

"You don't think…"started Castle

"They're the same age…"Followed Beckett

"Yeah, but what are the odds?"

"Right."

"Uh, guys? Care to fill us in?" asked Ryan for the group.

"Last week, Lanie and I were talking and I came to the conclusion that maybe someone had talked to Lisbon about Castle and the situation at the precinct."

"I had thought about it, too. I mean, who would dare to go to Lisbon for me? Especially if she is the new boss."

"So, it couldn't be someone at the precinct."

"But, who else? Mother wouldn't nor Alexis."

"And we only know one more Beckett."

"So you think…your dad?"

"It's the only one I could think of, but it doesn't make sense that he would go to Lisbon to talk on your behalf."

"Maybe he knows her?"

"Possibly…"

"You're having dinner with him on Sunday, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ask him."

Somewhere along the line, their faces had been coming closer and closer until they were only millimeters apart. They had matching grins on their faces. A not so subtle cough broke the spell.

"What?" He asks, confused by the shock faces on their friends.

"Nothin' just glad you haven't lost your touch, that's all," responded Lanie.

"Are you two always like that?" Asked an amused Jenny.

The whole table responded at unison. "Yes."

…..

"It has been some time since we shared with all of them, right?" Rick commented while they were close to her apartment, holding hands, a few hours later.

"Yeah, it feels good to gang out with friends."

"Do you know how you're going to ask your dad about Lisbon?"

"Not sure. I think the direct approach its better."

"Me too…So, eh… Are you ok with the boys finding out?"

She stopped in front of him and took both of his hands in hers." Rick, I hate to burst your bubble, but I think they already knew."

"What?"

"If they hadn't, they would've made more of a fuss about it, plus… Lanie got this new purse about the time we went on our first date. She said she had got it from Esposito but… It was at least a couple hundred worth."

Realization downed on him. "And Esposito it's not the kind to just give expensive gifts without reason."

"Exactly."

"But, still… are you sure?"

"Rick, I love you and I'm not ashamed of our relationship. Sure, they'll tease us…a lot…but it'll pass and in the grand scheme of things, it won't matter that much."

"Katherine Beckett, you have no idea how much I love you." Before she could respond to that, his lips were on her.

It was a passionate kiss, more so than any of their previous ones. What she had said, and the way she had acted in previous weeks was all being demonstrated in this kiss. All the love and passion they felt for each other. When air became crucial they parted, but remained connected through their foreheads, breathing rapidly and with big smiles on their faces.

"Show me."

"What?"

"Show me how much you love me."

He kissed her. "Are you sure?"

"More than ever." She kissed him.

She took his hand and led him to her place.

…..

It felt different, waking up in his arms after the night they just had. Even if they had shared many nights and had awaken together before hundreds of times. This time it was different, a good different. Now she knew what it truly meant to make love, what it meant to be loved. He really was her one and done, not that she didn't know it, but after last night there was no denying it.

She was still in bed, surrounded by blankets and the man in question. Her back was pressed against his broad chest and one of his arms was hugging her waist while the other was being used as a pillow by her. He was still sleep; head buried in her hair and his breath tickling her neck. She'd never felt better. His breathing changed and she knew he was awake so she stirred gently until she was face to face with him.

"Hey…"

"Morning. Slept well?"

"And you call that sleeping?" the man besides her joked causing her to grin like a fool, "Yeah, you?"

"Better than ever." She smiled, locking eyes with him, drowning in those powerful blues that showed her all the love she could possibly need and more. A small and warm smile adorned his lips, which combined with his incredibly cute bed hair made him extremely hard to resist. She kissed him lightly. "Morning" she said when she pulled apart. She began to move out of bed but was brought back by two very strong arms.

"Where are you going?"

"Shower."

"What? But it's too early." He whined, still holding her.

"Rick, it's 10, plus, don't you want to join me?" He was out of bed and in the bathroom before she could blink. She laughed and followed him.

After that particular long shower they went to the kitchen to start on brunch or an early lunch was more like it. He was in his jeans looking trough the fridge for something eatable. There wasn't much. "Kate! You have no food in here!"

"That's not true."

She was wearing nothing but his boxers and shirt. "See? I told you it looked better on you." He said as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "They're comfortable." "Not sure about that" he chuckled, "but they look great on you, and as I was saying, you have no food.

"Yes, I do."

"Where? I don't think the human body is prepared to process styrofoam or that furry thing on your bacon."

She checked the fridge and the shelves. "Huh, I was sure I had something."

"Ok, let's order in then we'll go grocery shopping."

"Italian?"

"My thoughts exactly."

About thirty minutes later, food arrived; a delicious spaghetti a la carbonara for her and lasagna for him. They ate on the couch, snuggled together and exchanging the occasional bite.

When they were satisfied, they headed to a grocery shop not far from her place and spent a good part of an hour picking goodies and canned food. Mostly stuff that would last more than a week.

"Well, this should last you like a month." He said as he entered her apartment.

"Hope so, I hate grocery shopping."

"Ah, come on, it wasn't that bad right?" He dropped the bags on the counter kitchen and hugged her from behind, nibbling her ear which caused a chill down her spine. "No, I guess not." She was proud that her voice sounded so calm. He started kissing her neck and she knew if she didn't stop this, they would never finish putting away the groceries. "Rick, groceries." "They're all canned, they can wait." He spun her around and kissed her more passionately. Yeah, they can, she thought, before getting lost in him.

After their little detour, they putted away the groceries and watched a movie. Rick saw something in her DVD collection that made him grin the rest of the afternoon, but it was information best kept hidden for the time being. At about 6, Lanie called to invite her over for drinks at around 8 with Jenny while the boys played halo or poker or something of the sort. Since Alexis was out with Ashley and Martha had a play, they agreed.

It was around 10 when they had finished talking about wedding preparations and Kate couldn't take it anymore. "So, Lanie, you didn´t tell me Esposito moved in."

"Wha-what are you talking about?" She asked avoiding Kate's gaze.

"Well, his console is here and it has dust in it, I saw a few of his things when I went to the bathroom earlier and there are a lot of things I hadn't seen before that I know aren't yours." She challenged.

"Ok, fine. He asked and I said yes. He was practically living here anyways."

"I'm happy for you, when did it happen?" Asked Jenny.

"A week ago."

"And you didn´t tell me, because…?" Asked Kate.

"Why did you think I invited you all over tonight?"

"Nice saved. Still, you could´ve mention it."

"Like you've mentioned that you finally did the deed with writer boy over there?"

"Wh-how…Lanie!" She was a few shades red.

"It's all over your face, honey, you haven't looked this relaxed and happy since you two went out."

"You do seem happier, Kate." Stated Jenny.

"Nothing escapes you two, huh?"

"Our guys may be the detectives, but we're woman." Responded Jenny.

"That's my girl." Lanie sheered while clicking her glass with Jenny's.

Kate sighed. "Ok, yes, after we left Remy's it sort of happened."

"Girl, details."

"Oh no, I'm not the kiss and tell kind of girl."

"Ok, on a scale from 1 to 10?"

"100?" She asked more than said in a shy way.

"That good?" asked both women in shock.

"It's not just the act, girls, we connected in a level I'd never connected with anyone. And the love in his actions, it had no words. I thought I'd made love before, but seriously I had no idea."

"Wow." Whispered Lanie.

"Yeah, wow. I guess you could say you've found the one, huh?"

"Without a doubt, yes."

Lanie hugged her and said "I'm so happy for you, girl."

"Thank you, Lanie."

"Me too, Kate, you two are good for each other."

"Thank you, Jenny."

About an hour later, after teasing Lanie a bit more and challenging the boys to a game of Halo, which resulted in Kate coming first, followed by Castle, then Jenny, to the surprise of everyone, Esposito, Lanie and finally Ryan, everybody decided to call it a night and went home.

"I think jenny it's some kind of undercover agent." Said Rick very seriously while strolling down the street to her place. Kate just looked at him quizzically.

"Ok, I'll bite, what are you talking about?"

"It was the same in poker night! She seems son harmless and yet beats the guys and almost us and in Halo! I mean Halo!"

She couldn't help to roll her eyes. "Rick, she has brothers, older brothers."

"Oh…that could explain the poker and maybe the halo. Ok, so she is not an undercover agent but at least she is a closet geek."

"A what?"

"You know, geeks that act like those stuff it's not for them but they are really dying to try it. Like you!"

"I am not!" Kate gasped indignantly.

"Kate, I saw your DVD collection. Besides the DVD's of Stargate, a series which I love, by the way, I saw two green lantern movies, animated movies."

"I knew it was weird you haven't commented on that earlier."

He smiled "Why didn't you tell me? You know I'm a geek and proud of it, too."

"I know. And I don't know; it never really came up."

"This is great! Now we can go to Comic-Con! And dress up!"

"Wow, down boy. Maybe this is why I didn't tell you."

He pouted and took both of her hands in his, stopping in front of her. "You've never go to Comic-Con?"

"No, I have work and…"

"Next year," he interrupted her, "you're coming with me and Alexis. You'll love it, I promise you that."

"Next year, huh? You're pretty confident, Mr. Castle."

"Nice change of subject Ms. Beckett. And to answers your question, yes, I am. I'm in this forever and always, Kate, you know that."

"I do, and I'm in this forever and always, too. What's with that smile?"

"I like the way you say 'I do'"

Yes, he had said it. Yes, they had only been dating for a month. Yes, it should be freaking her out, but…why on earth wasn't she? Because he is your one and done, said the little voice in her head.

She must have been thinking too long because he spoke before she could even open her mouth. "Sorry, too much."

"No… it's not."

He laughed. "Kate, I saw your look, I'm surprised you haven't run like crazy shouting 'fire'. But it's ok, really."

Even if he was smiling and looking at her like he always did, there was something, a shadow that resembled too much like fear to her liking. She had to amend that.

"Rick, you know that I love you, right? And that I'm in this relationship a hundred percent, don't you?"

"Yes, yeah, I know." He answered a little too quickly, but didn´t avert his look.

"And you know you're my one and done, right?"

"I…what?" He blinked a couple of times before smiling his 1000 watt smile. "I am?"

"Of course you're, you doofus," She swayed him on the arm playfully. "When I say always, I mean it. The marriage reference just caught me by surprise."

"But you do want that?"

"Yes, not right away, I like this that we have."

"Me too, love, me too."

"You'd like that, too, right? I mean marriage."

"With you, of course."

They had been standing in front of her building for a while now and neither seemed willing to go away from each other. They both knew they had to; she had lunch with her dad and he had to spent some time with Alexis before her horrible and soon departure to school with her boyfriend. That thought alone made his insights turn.

He hugged her, a bear hug, and breathed in her scent, her intoxicating cherry scent. She buried her head on his chest, nuzzling her nose on his neck, hugging him back tightly as well. After what seemed like no time at all but an eternity as well, they pulled apart and smiled lazily at each other, shared their "good bye's" and "I love you's" before each going home. As the night went on, though, it didn't feel like home to neither of them without each other's presence.

…

Lunch with her dad was going great, she had mentioned the change in Lanie's and Esposito's relationship and the advancement of Castle in his training. This gave her leeway to the question that had been eating her up for two days.

"So, dad, Ryan heard something really interesting on the 12th on Friday."

"Really? Some gossip about one of your friends?"

"Something like that; he heard Lisbon talking on the phone about Castle and his progress." His eyes went a millimeter wide for a fraction of a second, but it was all she needed.

"Well, it could've been the mayor, or commissioner. They're both Rick's friends, right?"

"True, but Lisbon referred to him as Becks. Weird huh?"

"I…ok, just don't be mad."

She went silent and he sighed in defeat.

"I've known Lis since high school, before I met your mother. We were like brothers, inseparable. When I met Jo, the three of us became very close and as time went on, life happened; I married your mom, she got married to her current husband and had to fly out to D.C. We communicated over letters and some visits. You were probably too young to remember. The visits ceased and we communicated via email or the occasional phone call. After your mother…I wasn't in shape to be around anyone and truth be told, she reminded me of her, all those memories…" He took a deep breath and she placed her hand on top of his. "After you told me what had happened with Rick and Lis, I had to talk to her. I know how much he means to you and you two needed a little push."

"Dad, I'm not mad. Far from it, actually. I'm glad you could reunite with such a close friend. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Lis and I thought it would be less of a pressure. She told me you don't exactly like her and I understand that, she does too."

"I don't…"

"Katie," he interrupted her, "it doesn't take a shrink to know that you feel she is replacing a man who can't be replaced. It's understandable."

"Since when did you become an expert in human mind?"

He laughed. "You must be rubbing off on me, but seriously, we didn't want you to feel like you had to be nice to her, or that people would think she had favoritism with you because of our friendship."

"I understand that, still you should've told me."

"I know and I'm sorry Katie. Besides, it was fun to do something likesneaking and hiding. I felt young again." He grinned.

"Oh, dad, you're spending way too much time with Rick."

He laughed; she noticed he was doing that a lot lately. Maybe Lisbon was good for him. Even though he should've told her about Lisbon, she understood his reasons and was partially correct about the misinterpretations people would get about that relationship. A thought occur to her.

"Should I tell Lisbon that I know?"

"I could tell her and you could talk to her when you see her in the precinct if you want. It's not like she is expecting you two to become friends over this."

"Understandable. I'll tell the boys and Lanie, but only they will know."

"I think it's for the better."

Lunch went by smoothly after that. They even went for an ice cream at the park and a movie. After they parted ways, promising lunch next Sunday, she went to her place and found it rather lonely. She decided to clean. After a few hours, the place was immaculate and she was truly hungry. She ordered some Chinese and found his first novel. It wasn't one of his best, but to her, the first was the most important and she found that she could read those again and again and never be bored.

She was so engrossed in the book that she almost missed her phone beeping rather soundly. It was him.

"Hi, gorgeous."

"Hey, Rick. How is bonding time with Alexis?"

"Great; we played some laser tag, watched a movie and ate some of the brownies," he said with glee in his voice. "She is on the phone with Paige now."

"I'm glad you guys had fun. What did she think about the brownies?"

"She loved them, so much in fact that she couldn't believe that i've made them."

"Oh, ouch, I guess after the smorellet it's not easy to trust in your culinary expertise."

"You just don't understand my genius mind."

"Of course, Rick, that's the problem." Sarcasm was all over her tone.

"I miss you, though. How was lunch with Papa Becks?"

"Papa Becks?"

"Yeah, I'll come up with something better."

"You better," she laughed. "Lunch was great; we talked and even went to the movies."

"That's great. Did he confess?"

"Even if he is not a criminal?" She chuckled. "Yeah, he did. Apparently they go way back. They met in High school."

"Wow. Really?"

"Yeah, they were like brothers and when dad met mom, the three of them became inseparable."

"Again, wow. At least they got together again, your dad must be happy."

"He was; he was laughing more." Her voice was soft and wishful.

"I'm really glad, love." His was soft and caring.

They continued to talk for hours about everything and nothing. It was already 10 past 12 that Kate finally convinced Rick to go to sleep if he planned on being a match to her in practice. Besides, he had laws to study. He groaned in recollection of that particular memory and begrudgingly went to bed.

It was the morning of Monday, after the event, he was sitting in his chair waiting for Kate to come from the lockers to go for brunch when Esposito slammed a book, a very large book, next to him at Beckett's desk causing him to jump and barely retain a not so manly shout.

"What the hell, Espo?"

"This just came for you. Talk to Lisbon, she'll explain." Before he turned to leave for his desk, Castle caught the devil's grin Esposito had on his face. He got worried.

The book was more of a hardcover bluish folder with no letters or symbol to inform the reader what the thing actually was for, besides scaring the crap out of writers like him. Without another thought he went to Lisbon's office, after a soft knock he got a muffled response to enter. He felt like he was in school again, being called to the headmaster's office. He entered quietly and sat uncomfortable in front of her desk.

"Cap? Esposito gave me this," he said as he showed her the folder, "he said you could explain."

"It finally got here, I see. This, Castle, is the only book you're going to focus on for a while, until the exam."

"Ok," he said confused, "but what is it?"

"A recompilation of every law you must know to approve the detective's exam."

"What? I have to learn all of these? And take the what now?"

"As you know, you're studying to being Beckett's partner. You'll carry a gun and you'll be able to defend yourself and Beckett if necessary. But that is not all what partners do, if it were you'll be just her bodyguard." She waited until he nodded in understanding. "So, as a detective's partner," she accentuated on the word detective, "you must know what she does, including a formal knowledge of the law and protocols."

"But, the exam it's a month away, ma'am."

"I'm aware, but that it's the physical exam. The test will be two months from now, in October."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry Castle, you've been working for three years here, you must have picked up something."

"Yeah, I guess," He sure didn't looked convinced "…May I ask something?"

"Go ahead."

"Why did it come just know? I mean, I know I have two months but…"

"Well, it isn't easy getting authorization to release this kind of information to a civilian, especially a writer, so it took time. Besides, I had to see if you were actually committed to the cause." She gave him a little smile as he stood there dumb fooled, with a look she gave him he knew the conversation was over, so he gave her a nod and stood leaving the office. Once he was out of sight, she smiled. Oh, the things you do for love, she thought.

So, there you have it!

Reviews are love :D

-AC