After her order, Gates turned on her heel and headed back downstairs, but not before throwing one more pointed glance at Beckett. Kate breathed a sigh of relief at seeing her Captain disappear - not only had she gone behind her back and essentially carried out a rescue mission with no back up, she had just been caught making out like a teenager with her boyfriend - who also happened to be her partner, one that Captain Gates really disliked. If she didn't like her job, Kate would have considered not bothering to go back to the precinct, goodness knows what Gates was going to say when she got back.
Glancing over to her partner slash boyfriend, they shared a sheepish look. Getting caught and everyone finding out about their relationship this early wasn't really the plan but the cat was out of the bag now.
"Sorry," Castle whispered, but the grin on his face suggested he was anything but.
"I don't know why you're apologising," Kate said, "I'm the one who kissed you, remember?"
"Well yeah..but if-"
"Oh shut up," Kate interrupted. "All of it comes back to me running off and acting like an idiot so I should be the one apologising."
"I'd just like to point out that you aren't actually apologising.."
"I'll make it up to you later," she grinned, shooting him a sultry glance.
"Ahem." For a moment Kate thought Gates was back but looking back over Castle's shoulder, she could see Charlie grinning like the cat who had the cream. And Ryan looked like a cross between surprised and happy, too.
"Uh sorry guys," Kate blushed. "Forgot you were there."
"Oh thanks!" Charlie said, "I've only been tied to a chair in a basement for the past few hours by some hitman who already tried to kill you!" Kate could have taken her words to be an insult but she knew Charlie was only playing.
"Keep that up and I'll tie you back to the chair myself," Kate teased.
"He uh..got- what's going on?" Esposito had come up, only to find the four of them grinning like madmen.
"Well uh.." Ryan began, "you see the thing is..um.." For some reason, he seemed to be having trouble articulating what had just happened.
"My sister finally figured out that there's one person who has been there for her no matter what," Charlie grinned but Esposito still looked confused.
"Oh for goodness sake, Espo," Beckett sighed, "what Charlie and Ryan are trying to say is that Castle and I are together now." Still nothing. "Like together, together." Esposito was still looking from one to the other, trying to read between the lines. "Oh for crying out loud," Kate muttered, before planting her lips on Castle's once again. Breaking away a few seconds later she looked back to Esposito, arms still locked around Castle's neck. "Get it now?"
"Ew." Was all Espo said. "That's like walking in on my parents making out."
"Same," Ryan piped up. "Can you like, keep the kissing to a minimum, please?"
"Oh be quiet Honeymilk," Kate mumbled. "Come on, we better get back to the precinct before Gates finds another reason to want to fire me."
"She wouldn't do that, would she?" Castle asked, eyes wide with horror.
"Wouldn't put it past her."
"Congrats, bro," Espo muttered to Castle as they made their way back to the stairs. "About time, really."
"I heard that," Kate called from her position at the front of the group.
"They've got a point though," Charlie supplied. "Trust me, if I was here the two of you would have got together a hell of a long time ago."
"Yeah, because you would have driven me to his place every second you were at mine," Kate muttered and Charlie have her a friendly punch on the arm.
"Castle," Beckett said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "You should go home with Charlie.."
"Nuh uh, not likely," Castle said, shaking his head. "I'm coming back with you whether you like it or not."
"Fine," Kate sighed. She knew when he was like this that there was no arguing with him, he could be just as stubborn as her sometimes.
"Come on other Beckett," Ryan said, "we'll give you a lift on our way back."
Charlie followed the boys to their car while Kate and Castle walked round to hers. Time to face the music.
"Well?" Gates asked. "I'm still waiting for an explanation?" She was pacing behind her desk, arms folded whilst Kate sat in the chair on the other side. Just as she had been ordered, Kate had come straight to Gates' office when they arrived back at the precinct, finding her captain already there waiting for her.
"I'm sorry," Beckett said. "I shouldn't have run off after Maddox like that, it was dangerous and I know I'm lucky it turned out the way it did." Well, Maddox had got away and Kate had been left dangling over a rooftop but no one had died, it could have been worse.
"You're damn right you're lucky!" Gates exclaimed. "Do you know the kind of hell that would have rained down on me if something had gone wrong? If your sister had been hurt because you rushed in to save the day? When I first took this job, I was told about you. How you were the one that had the highest closure rate. That you didn't stop until you had justice for the families and that you were one of the best cops in this city. And despite having no choice but to let Mr Castle continue to work with you, I saw this for myself. And yet, today you ruined everything. All you had to do was come to me and say what had happened and I would have had a swat team on him faster than you could breathe!"
"Do you not think I thought of that?" Kate argued. Well, technically she hadn't really thought of that and it had been Castle that had suggested it but she had considered it after he brought it up. She knew she was playing with fire right now, Gates was her boss and had every right to haul her into her office like this but Kate wasn't going to sit there and not defend herself. He decisions might have been wrong but they had felt right at the time. "Maddox isn't stupid, he would have spotted a swat team a mile off!"
"You were running on your emotions, Detective Beckett, not the mind of an experienced Detective! You were too personally involved in the case - he had your sister!" Beckett panicked for a moment, she thought Castle had spilled too much and let Gates know it was Maddox who had tried to kill her at Montgomery's funeral. "The right thing to do would have been to come to me and I would have helped. Answer me this; if Montgomery had still been your captain, would you have gone to him?"
Kate didn't answer. Gates had a point - she probably would have gone to Montgomery in this situation, but at the same time if Montgomery were still here, Maddox probably wouldn't have taken Charlie in the first place. Swings and roundabouts and all that. Gates, however, took her silence for an affirmative.
"Yes, just as I thought. I could, however, overlook your momentary lapse in judgement, based purely on the fact that I have first hand knowledge that you are a brilliant detective and that we all make mistakes sometimes."
"I appreciate that, Captain," Kate replied. "I know what I did was wrong and Castle tried to stop me but I was too caught up in worrying about Charlie that I ignored him."
"Yes, whatever Mr Castle may have done in the past, by coming to me today he essentially saved your life, you should be very grateful. But need I remind you of the many rules you have broken by entering into a personal relationship with your partner? It's completely unethical and I'm afraid I cannot stand for it!"
"Captain, Castle and I..we only started seeing each other recently. What you saw today..was the emotions of a difficult case teamed with almost dying. And uh, Castle isn't actually paid by the NYP-" she broke off at Gates raising an eyebrow.
"But whilst he is here, working with my detectives out of my precinct, I'm not going to allow a personal relationship!"
"Not going to allow it?" Kate repeated, her anger rising. "If today's events hadn't happened then you wouldn't have known Castle and I were even together and we wouldn't be having this conversation!"
"Precisely! You were perfectly happy to lie to me about the nature of your relationship, when it directly affects your professional ability to do your job!"
"The hell it does!" Kate shouted. "Until today you had no reason to suspect anything had changed between Castle and I but now-"
"Detective Beckett I will not allow you to take that tone with me! In fact, with what you're saying you're only solidifying my point further - you have mentioned that this relationship with Mr Castle is recent, and one of the first things you do is screw up an entire investigation!"
"So..what, Castle isn't allowed back anymore?"
"If that's what it takes," Gates replied. "I cannot have my best detective making mistakes like this due to a personal relationship with her partner. And as you have so helpfully pointed out, Mr Castle is not a paid member of this team so I see no choice but to ask him to leave."
"It was me who kissed him!" Beckett explained. "I make one mistake and you punish both of us because of something I've done! You've been looking for a reason to get rid of Castle since the day you walked in here and now you only have a half-hearted one!"
"Detective Beckett I suggest you watch what you're saying," Gates warned.
"Or what? Are you going to fire me?" Beckett asked. "Don't worry about it, I resign." With her final comment, she threw down her badge and removed her gun from the holster before putting it on the desk in front of her and walking out of Gates' office without another word.
"Beckett?" Castle called as she stormed out of the office. She ignored him, grabbing her coat and heading towards the elevator. "Kate!" He called again and she could hear him running after her. He made it to the elevator just in time. "Hey, what's going on?"
"Nothing. I'm fine, Castle."
"And the truth?" He asked. "You're not pushing me away, Beckett, not now."
"I think I just quit my job.." Kate admitted as the elevator made it's way down through the floors. "Gates was angry. Said the reason I'd acted so irrationally today was because of my relationship with you, that I wasn't thinking straight. So I quit."
"Kate, you can't just quit your job! You love your job, you love being a detective.."
"But I'm not going to sit there and listen while she insinuates I'm not a good cop!" Kate argued. "She said the first thing I did after beginning a personal relationship with you was screwing up an entire investigation. She's wrong, she has no idea who we're dealing with here and Maddox would have got away whether you and I were together or not."
Castle didn't completely agree but he could tell Beckett wasn't in the mood for an argument now. "Come on, let's go home." Maybe she'd be thinking more clearly in the morning.
"I'm going back to my place, Castle," she sighed.
"Fine, then I'm coming with you."
They exited the elevator and she stopped, before turning to look at him. "I'm not going to get rid of you, am I?"
"See, you're learning," he grinned, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Chinese for dinner?"
Kate shook her head and rolled her eyes. They'd had the day from hell, she'd almost ruined everything by going after Maddox when Castle specifically asked her not to, she'd found Charlie safe and well - only to be almost killed in the meantime. And then, to top it all off, she'd gone and quit her job - and all Castle could think about was ordering Chinese for dinner.
"Yeah, Castle," she laughed, "Chinese sounds great."
A/N: originally there was going to be two more chapters after this, but I've changed my mind, I'm keeping it going for a bit longer. As always, thoughts appreciated :)