Consider this the calm(ish) before the storm.

Headhunters

"Are there more?"

Castle nodded. "One or two, yeah. I don't recall exactly."

Kate glanced back down to the page, needed only to skim the first line before understanding that this too was going to be a difficult one.

"Sure you want to keep going tonight?"

She nodded resolutely. "Yeah. I know reading these hard ones is good for us but I'd..." she trailed off.

"Rather not re-live it more than you have to?" he finished.

Kate smiled up at him, eyes reflecting the deep level of understanding between them. "Yeah."

He nodded. "Then let's keep going."

Dear Kate,

I'm confused. You lied to me for months. You told a suspect you remembered your shooting, yet you couldn't find it in yourself to be honest with me. I told you I loved you. And you couldn't even tell me you heard me. For weeks now, the only explanation that's made sense is that you don't feel the same and wanted to avoid hurting my feelings.

(By the way, if that was your plan, it failed. Miserably.)

But then I found out today that you were still looking out for me. You looked into the case, had my back even when I was off shadowing someone else. You risked your job for me.

It doesn't add up, Kate. If you don't have feelings for me and don't really seem to have much regard for my feelings, why would you risk your job? I know how much it means to you. If you would risk it for me, does that mean you think I'm more important? I haven't gotten that impression lately, but maybe I'm wrong. After all, I've been fairly preoccupied with being heartbroken. Maybe I missed something.

Did I?

I need to know, Kate, because I've tried everything and it's not working. I went to Vegas. I went on dates. I hung out with Slaughter. And despite it all, I still love you. I still want to be with you. Somewhere deep inside, some part of me is still clinging to the hope that we might someday have a chance, and it's so much a part of me that I'm willing to work through the pain and heartbreak if it means we could be together.

It's killing me, wanting something so badly and having it stripped away only to then have another seed of hope planted in my mind by your actions today. So tell me – is this real, or is it just a scene I wrote in my head?

The truth is, I miss our partnership. I miss what we had. After working with Slaughter, I realize how lucky I am to have a partner like you. Someone who cares and looks out for me and doesn't shove me in way over my head. Someone who is respectful of others, of the job and the badge. Slaughter gets the bad guys but he crosses a lot of lines to do so. He has no respect for most people, especially women. The things he said about Alexis and about you… they're not worth repeating. I still stood up for you, though, because no one, especially you, deserves to be spoken about like that.

But it's more than that, Kate. It's not just our partnership I don't want to lose. It's everything else, too. I'm afraid at the very thought of my life without you. I don't know what I'd do. Despite it all, I still want us to have a chance. I still don't want to give up on this, on you. But I also don't want to keep blindly clinging to hope that's never going to lead anywhere.

I want to keep fighting for this, Kate. For you. I want to move past the hurt and anger, because loving you is worth whatever pain we might put each other through. But it's not going to work if this is a one-way street. Both of us have to want this. Both of us have to be willing to work to put all of this behind us, to forgive and move on.

For you, I'd do it.

So I need to know: are you in, or are you out? If I stick with this, will I be fighting for something that's never going to happen? Or do we still have a chance?

I need a promise, a guarantee. If you can give me that, then I'm here and I'm waiting and I'm ready to fight for us. You know I love you. You know I want to be with you. Now, it's your turn to tell me what you want.

Castle

"It was always you," Kate whispered as she finished reading, the words so soft that Castle wasn't sure she intended him to hear. "It was always you, Castle," she repeated, louder this time, as she lifted her head to seek out his gaze. "Even when I didn't want to admit it, you were always the one I wanted."

He smiled gently, the one that crinkled the corners of his eyes and was so full of adoration and love that it melted Kate's heart. Even after all this time, she still wasn't used to the ways he looked at her, how his eyes spoke so many words. She probably never would be.

"I know," he murmured. "And what you did during that case made me reconsider my assumptions."

"I'm glad you did."

"Me too," he agreed quietly.

Because now – knowing what their lies had very nearly caused them to throw away – fighting through the deceit was clearly one of the best decisions they'd ever made because it'd led to this.

To them.

Thoughts?