Last Call

The dipping of the mattress. A slight brush of lips over her temple, her ear. Kate stirred, lifted her head enough to blink open one eye. The room was dark but she could just make out the faint outline of Castle crawling into bed with her, naked except for his boxers.

"Hey."

He smiled into the darkness, settled down close to her. "Hey."

"How'd it go?"

He shrugged against the pillows. "Same old, same old. Did some schmoozing, met about two hundred of my 'biggest fans' after the press conference."

"Exciting."

He snorted, draped an arm over her back. "Totally. But at least people are getting excited for the movie release."

"That's good."

"Yeah," he agreed, but it was late and he hadn't seen Kate since six a.m. and, frankly, right now he didn't care how popular the movie was going to be. He just wanted to curl up with his amazing partner. "How was your night?"

"Long. Didn't reach a stopping point until almost nine, so I pretty much got home and came straight here."

He nodded, feathered his lips across her temple again. "Sorry to wake you."

She shook her head, lifted to join their lips together softly. "No, it's okay. I was reading until just a few minutes ago."

"New book?" he questioned, because it never ceased to amaze him that she was just as well-read and bookwormy as he was.

"No." She slipped her right hand out from beneath the pillow, still clutching the leather cover of their journal.

Castle's arm tightened around her as his lips made contact with her skin once again; he knew that falling asleep clutching the notebook was her way of saying she missed him.

On days like these, the feeling was very much mutual.

"Did I miss anything new?"

She shook her head. "I waited for you, like always."

He kissed her again, reached over to flick on the pale bedside lamp. "Thanks."

She hummed softly in response, flipped to the next unread page and settled against him in the bed.

Dear Kate,

We should have more cases like this one. You and me undercover in a bar as I watch you shake out your hair and put on lip gloss and unbutton your blouse and eat a cherry way too sexily. All I could think about was running my fingers through your hair and tracing the line of your bra with my tongue and kissing the lip gloss from your mouth.

You are an evil, evil woman to do things like that in public and expect me to just stand there like I'm not attracted to you.

Yes, I was jealous. I don't admit it very often, but I was. In fact, I usually ignore it and try to pretend it's not happening. But when you were flirting with the bartender and he was looking at you like that, eyes raking up and down your body like he thought he could have you... We're not even dating; we're just partners, both with other people in our lives. I have no right to be so jealous. But I had to pretend we were together because it just wasn't right to let him think you were available. I could tell he thought you were just another pretty face looking for a good time, but you're so much more than that.

On a related note, undercover missions are becoming my new favorite activity, especially when we can go out and pretend we're a couple.

Speaking of which, going out for drinks after we solve a case should become our new tradition. I had a lot of fun last night, and that scotch was absolutely delicious. I'm pretty sure I could persuade the mayor to share some more of that stash with me. And hey, I own a bar now, too, so we can go there any time, stay as late as we want, and have the entire place to ourselves. We can sing and dance and play pool and darts and drink as much as we want.

And if the others aren't up for it, you and I could always go together. Just the two of us, alcohol, and a bar to ourselves. I'm liking this idea already.

-Castle

No one spoke at first, both caught up in memories from that night, memories of a team that was built like a tight-knit family, memories of a life that was ended far too early.

"I wish we'd done more things like that," Castle mused softly, sadly. "Before..."

Kate nodded against him, lifted a hand to hold him close, because she knew they both still felt the sting of the loss of the man who played the role of Captain, mentor, and friend.

Kate would always have mixed feelings about his demise; despite his deep-seated betrayal, she'd forgiven him and she would always feel the pain of his death, the hole he'd left in her heart and her life and her trust.

"I miss him, too."

Thoughts?