Author's Note:- Think Hunter Parrish for Chester Darwin NYLF xx

Castle was the first to pull away, gently letting go of her and taking a step back.

Kate wrapped her arms around her middle once they were parted, missing being held by him acutely, trying hard to look at him and not the floor.

"So, I guess we have five years' worth of stuff to talk about, huh?" Castle murmured. He wasn't looking forward to the conversations, knew he wouldn't enjoy hearing about the time he could have been with her but wasn't, but he also knew that he would tear himself apart with possibilities if he didn't ask, and he knew that Kate would need to know about his side of it too.

Kate nodded. "Yeah, I guess we do." She scuffed her toe against the ground awkwardly. "Don't think the coffee shop would appreciate us back though." She murmured, slinging a thumb over her shoulder in the shop's direction, huffing when Rick let out a note of laughter.

"No, I don't think they would." He smiled brightly. "How about a walk?" He asked slowly, hoping that that hadn't been her leading into ending their time together.

Kate nodded, a muted but sure smile on her face. "Sure."

"Becks!" A male voice sounded out in the cacophony of noises, reaching Kate's hearing from her place beside baggage claim.

Kate looked around for the source of the exclamation, spotting the blonde shaggy hair over the sea of people.

She smiled softly, at six foot nine Chester Darwin was someone who could make her feel tiny even in her highest heels.

She smiled for him, letting him come to her, her body aching and fragile after the flight.

"Hey, Chest." Kate greeted happily but quietly, exhaustion quickly coming to claim her.

"Hey, Becks. How are you doing?" He asked quietly, concern coating his words like treacle.

She had lost so much weight since he had seen her last, and she looked awful. Her left arm was casted practically all the way up, and a walking stick took up her right hand. He could see the tan edge of a back brace from where her shirt had ridden up, and the circles under her eyes made her look like she'd taken a punch.

His heart ached for her.

"If you're very careful, you can hug me." She chuckled, laughing a bit harder at the eager look on his face.

He carefully wrapped his arms around Kate's chest, cradling her gently, trying to ignore the rigid feel of her brace, the way she felt like she'd snap if he held her too hard.

He pulled away slowly, taking her carry on from where she had slung it over her cast.

"Just didn't wanna hurt you or get beaten with that battering ram." He chuckled, nodding to the impressive cast she was still sporting.

"Wouldn't batter you, Chester." She replied, her voice breathy, she was getting tired now. She shook her head. "Love ya too much for that." She smiled as wide as she could.

Chester puffed out his slim chest in faux pride, making Kate laugh before she winced, hand cupping the middle of her back.

"Don't make me laugh." She begged, even as she chuckled.

"Sorry Becks." He murmured, gently wrapping a supportive arm around her waist. "Car's waiting for us, come on."

Kate moved slower than evolution and was hating it, but her back was delicate and painful. It had been only ten days since she was discharged from hospital after her surgery, to fix her spine with plates and screws. Airport security had been tricky, though she guessed she'd have to get used to that now.

"I borrowed Leah's car, figured you'd prefer something a bit higher off the ground than my Ferrari." Chester murmured as he gently led her through the airport, keeping his arm around her and keeping her tight to his chest. The last thing he wanted was someone bumping into her or jostling her. She was even littler that usual in her ballet flats, so she tucked nicely under his arm. He knew just how bad it must be because she was letting him coddle her.

Kate internally shook her head at herself, she really must have a thing for guys with Ferraris. "Yeah, I appreciate that." She smiled. "How is that sister of yours?"

Chester laughed. "She's good. Two sproglings later, she's having fun." He smiled down at her reproachful look.

"Chest, they are your nieces!" She scolded gently.

Chester shrugged. "Still sprogs."

They walked slowly, side by side, no particular destination in mind, just wandering aimlessly.

They'd made it less than a block in silence, before Castle cracked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"So, California." Castle started, wishing his exes would stop moving there. "Not what I expected, I have to say."

Kate chuckled a little. "Me either." She shrugged, fiddling with her fingers anxiously. "I got an email from an old friend, who I met at Stanford and had stayed in contact with periodically. She'd heard about what had happened, had heard about the precinct." She gave him a soft smile, getting one back for the expression. "Leah has been a good friend to me over the years, was a shoulder to cry on when my mom died, and dad fell apart. She'd just had her youngest, offered for me to come out and forget it all for a bit." Kate smiled, she was ever so grateful for Leah's hospitality and couldn't thank her and Chester enough.

"That was nice of her." Castle smiled, glad that Kate had someone in her corner, back when she was nineteen and again when he couldn't be there for her.

"Yeah." Kate agreed happily. "She had Alysia, who had just turned two, and then Lucy was born about ten days before the precinct happened, so she was about two months old when I made it out there. It was a nice change of pace from constant therapy and doctors appointments." She shrugged, trying to stay away from the bad points of that time, needing an emotional break.

"You were still seeing doctors two months after?" He asked concerned, watching her carefully.

Kate shrugged, meeting his gaze easily. "Maybe we can talk about that in a bit?" She asked quietly, not ready to tell him that she had broken her back and dropped a lung indirectly because of his daughter, needing to move away from Alexis for a moment.

"Sure." Rick murmured caringly, aware that this was awkward and happy to come back to subjects, happy enough to get a bit lighter for a bit, give them both a break.

"But yeah, so I went out and had 'baby time'." She chuckled. "It was good, it was lovely."

"Yeah kids are good like that." Castle smiled, glad she had found some sort of happiness. "They're always a good distraction."

"It was actually while I was spending time with them all, that Chester and I started creating KC Clothing." She told him softly. "I woke them screaming one night, while he was staying." She murmured shyly.

"Kate…" Castle offered slowly, turning towards her, wanting to offer her something, any kind of comfort.

"Nah, it's okay, happens a lot." She shrugged it off, but Castle's heart tumbled at the present tense.

He slipped his hand into hers, squeezing it in support. He tried to take it back after the moment, maintaining that emotional boundary, but when Kate clasped it a little tighter, he surrendered it to her, more than happy to wander and hold her hand.

"So, I woke them up," Kate continued, with a huff of self-deprecation, "and while Leah settled the girls back down, given that I'd woken them both up and frightened them, Chester came to me. I wasn't actually awake, but he woke me up, held my hand while I sobbed through the explanation of everything that had happened, about your hand and stuff." She shrugged, self-conscious. "He spent the rest of the night in my bed, holding vigil to try and at least limit my night terrors."

Castle grit his teeth at that last line.

She was yet to tell him who Chester was to her, before they were business partners, and if this conversation was going to lead to an admission that she had moved on in the five years they'd been apart, he was alright without that knowledge. He wouldn't blame her, of course he wouldn't, he knew just how long five years could be, but he didn't think he could handle hearing about it, and he hated how much of a hypocrite that made him.

"Becks?!" Chester called, running into the room, her heart wrenching cries and screams tearing him apart. "Kate!" He made it to the edge of her bed, leaning over, his hands gripping the sheets. "Kate, it's me, I'm here, it's okay." He shushed, trying to soothe her, but she continued to scream, tears leaking from her closed eyes.

He watched her for a moment, she wasn't even awake, and he had no idea how to help. Her night terrors apparently bad enough to make her scream her lungs out, but strong enough to keep a hold of her and not let her escape into consciousness.

Chester put his knee up on the bed, hesitating before crawling over to where she was laid, laying a firm but gentle hand on her stomach, trying to anticipate her startle reflex, before taking her hand and shaking it gently, not wanting to move her too much because of her lung and back.

"Kate, you gotta wake up." He told her, calm but firm, leaning down to talk directly into her ear, it had always worked before. "Kate, you are safe, but you need to wake up."

Kate gasped as her eyes flew open, the weight on her stomach holding her, stopping her from jerking her back too much, and for half a moment she was back in Rick's bed, safe under his touch. Her eyes darted down to the hand on her body, but the fingers were too thin, the hand too pale.

"I'm okay, Chest." She murmured huskily, dropping his hand to wipe her eyes. She hadn't had a nightmare in front of him for so long, and it still made her shy.

"You clearly aren't. I'm not going to go away until you tell me, so you may as well start." Chester told her, his no-nonsense tone settling her. His raised eyebrow seemed stern, but the twinkle in his eye and the smile flirting with his lips gave him away.

She carefully pulled herself into a seated position, crossing her legs, accepting that she was about to tell him everything. "We were sat at my desk when the bomb went off…"

"I told him I didn't want to be a cop anymore, and he said that if it wasn't too weird for me to work under him, he had an apprenticeship available at the fashion house he worked at. Would love to work with me. I ended up taking it. A year later, I ended it with a degree in fashion and design, had an apartment out there, and Chester and I had agreed to go into business together." Kate summarised with a soft smile. "It was weird for me too." She assured him with a laugh and a wry smile.

"Yeah cop to fashion designer, hardly a sideways step." Castle joked lightly, loving the sound of her laugh.

"Well it seems I'm good at it. KC is doing so well." She continued, a proud mother smile splitting her face, dropping his hand to tuck her hair behind her ear shyly.

"It's really good, Kate. Doing so much good." He smiled, hadn't been surprised when he'd read about the company's charitable contributions. "I'm proud of you."

Kate looked up at him, blushing, a little surprised how much that statement meant to her now. "Yeah?"

"Of course." Castle promised sincerely, smiling at her with so much emotion. "So, KC? Kate and Chester, I guess?"

Kate slowed down, blush deepening, intriguing her ex. "He wanted to call it DB, Darwin and Beckett." She shrugged, shyly. "I said we should call it KC, he agreed it sounded better, was less likely to be misheard for a sex act." She chuckled, before pausing, debating just how much to reveal here. But she knew he wouldn't judge her, felt safe in telling him her secrets. "I called it KC Clothing, because I had always hoped that one day…" she stopped, and Castle's heart stopped when he realised that she was stroking her bare left ring finger.

"You wanted to marry me." He let out, his voice low and sad at the realisation that they had wanted the same things, and it had still all gone so wrong.

Kate's face and chest flushed beet red and she shrugged shyly, dropping his gaze. "I liked the idea."

"So, you liked the idea of marrying me, enough to name your company what would be your married initials, and I had your engagement ring in my safe." He growled, incredulously. "And then our lives were literally blown apart, and my daughter told you to stay away, which led to us not seeing each other again for five years."

Kate sighed. "That just about sums it up." She shrugged.

"Fuck!" Castle cursed loudly. "I'm going to have very serious words with my daughter."

Kate sighed, laying a calming hand on his forearm. "You can't blame her, she was worried…"

Rick closed the distance between them, cupping her cheeks again, silencing her immediately.

"We would be married right now, Kate. We could be married and living together, and hell I'd be lying if I said I'd never imagined you having our baby." He confessed, making her blush and drop her eyes shyly. Castle lowered his tone, stroking his thumbs across her cheek bones, bringing her gaze back up to him slowly. "We could have been a family right now if she'd never told you that."

"Yes, we could have." Kate whispered regretfully.

"Very serious words, Kate." He promised. "I'll get to the bottom of this."