A/N: Again, thank you to everyone who has followed/favorited/reviewed this story. Your words of encouragement are very helpful.
Some people seem to be upset or disappointed that Kate (and Castle's) child is a girl, and that her name is Jo. Yes, it is common for a Caskett child to be female. As far as the name goes, the reason behind it will become apparent as the story unfolds. The idea for this story is from a GIF set by veraflynns on Tumblr. It has always been my intention to give her credit and share the address, but I wanted to wait until the revealing chapter was posted.
katecastle. co. vu/ post / 94374978325 / castle-beckett-appreciation-week-day
(take out spaces for link to work)
They ride in silence to the scene. As expected, the victim is posed just like a character in his books. The whole time they're there, they only speak to each other when it's required. On their way out, he finally speaks up.
"None of this makes sense."
"It doesn't have to anymore. That's three murders, Castle. Serial murders don't need motive."
"I know that. Mystery writer, remember?" he reminds her, pointing to himself. "And 'Castle'? What did I do to warrant you calling me by my last name?"
"Sorry. It's a cop thing. I did it out of habit, I guess."
"Anyway, I meant the details. If this guy is copying my books, wouldn't he want to get the details right?"
"Yeah, probably."
"So what's next?'
"Ryan and Esposito are working with CSU over at the pool. But we're still low on leads because of the random nature of the murders. Other than going through this newest victim's financials and retracing her last hours, I think we need to go back to looking through your mail."
A hint of a smile crosses his face from the passenger seat of the car, and she is thankful that they seem to have reached some kind of tentative agreement. At least he isn't asking her to drop him off at home. She knows she has a lot to make up for, and they have much to discuss, but at least he seems to have dropped the subject in favor of solving this case. Everything else can wait. It's been seventeen years. What's a few more days?
Kate' s heart sinks when Harrison Tisdale is holding a gun to Castle's head and threatening his life. But she's angry, too, that Castle didn't follow her instructions and stay in the car. She doesn't even want to know why his shoe is off and currently in a pile of trash.
Tisdale continues to threaten Castle, but then Castle elbows the killer in the face and disarms him. Once Kate has the guy handcuffed, she pushes Castle against the wall.
"What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed?"
"Relax, the safety was on the whole time." He laughs, but she doesn't share his excitement.
The thought crosses her mind at how close she could have been to losing him just when he returned to her life. She has no idea what the future holds for them, but she knows that she can no longer deny her daughter the chance to know him, or for him to know her.
Uniforms show up within a few minutes to take their murderer back to the precinct for booking. She catches Castle digging his shoe out of the trash in the alley out of the corner of her eye and can't hold in the giggle that escapes.
"You think it's funny, Detective, but I honestly don't know what this is on my shoe," he says when she comes up to him after the uniform cops leave.
"Detective?"
"That's what you are, isn't it? And anyway, you decided to start calling me by my last name yesterday."
"Touché."
She points them in direction of her Crown Vic, and they walk out of the alley in silence. When they reach the street, she knows that she needs to start the conversation she promised him once the case was over. But doing so makes all of this real. It signals a return of Rick Rodgers-Castle-to her life, and she knows deep down that this time his presence is permanent.
"I don't know how to do this."
"I don't expect you to, Kate. If you did, we'd be having a completely different and possibly uglier conversation."
"Why are so being so understanding?" she asks, not sure why he's so at ease right now that he's able to crack jokes about their predicament.
"Don't mistake, I'm still very angry. But I like to think that I know you well enough to know that you'll honor the agreement you made in the interrogation room."
"I will. I just...like I said, I don't know how to do this. It's not just about you and me. It's about-"
"Jo, right? Her name's Jo?"
"Yeah…" she says while she notices all the people milling around the crime scene. "Listen, I have some paperwork to do back at the precinct, but that should only take an hour. Are you able to grab dinner once I'm done?"
Castle nods while doing a horrible job of hiding a smile before they both get in her car and go back to the precinct.
The car ride is silent. But this time, the silence is full of anticipation instead of anger.
A couple hours later, tucked away in a corner booth at Remy's, they find themselves devoid of words to start either one of the conversations they need to have. To Rick, it's obvious which one is more important. He just has no idea how to broach the subject.
"So, just to be clear, Jo's…"
"She's your daughter, Rick."
"And you're absolutely sure about that?" He regrets the words the moment they come out of his mouth. This is not the way to start the conversation.
"I already told you. There was no one else. I wasn't lying to you." Her words are biting, and the bite hurts. Kate sits back and takes a deep breath, and her next words are calmer, softer. "I never lied to you."
"No, but you did fail to tell me a couple fairly important pieces of information. Lies of omission are still lies, Kate. You should know that."
"I know. You make it sound like I'm proud of my actions."
"I don't think that. I'm just trying to understand them. The last time I saw you-before a couple days ago-was at LaGuardia after Christmas. You were supposed to come back to Stanford just a couple days after me. But I didn't even get a phone call, Kate. It was like you disappeared off the face of the earth."
"I wish you could stay a couple more days," Kate told him, her arms wrapped tightly around him as they waited for his flight to be called for boarding.
"Me, too, but I think your parents are probably sick of me. And I'm sure they'd like to spend some time with you-just you-before school starts again," he said, kissing her forehead.
"They like you."
"No, your mom likes me. You dad, on the other hand…"
"He's like that with all my boyfriends."
"All?"
"What? You don't think that you're my first boyfriend, do you?"
"No, it's just that you make it sound like there have been so many before me."
"Oh, Babe," she laughs, resting her head on his shoulder. "Does it really matter? And I seem to remember hearing about your previous exploits on numerous occasions."
"But-that's-I-"
"Do you realize how cute you are when you're all flustered like that?"
"Do you realize how sickeningly sweet we're being right now?"
They burst into a fit of laughter that extends no further than their little bubble, despite being in the middle of LaGuardia just a few days after New Year's. The terminal is a flurry of activity all around them, business people and airport employees blending together with scenes that look similar to that of Rick and Kate.
The silence they find in the hustle and bustle around them is short-lived, the woman on the intercom calling the flight that will send Rick back to Stanford for the last semester of their freshman year.
Kate walks with him as far as she can, her fingers intertwined with his until they reach the gate.
"You'll give me a call when you get in?" she asks as she messes with the buttons on his jacket.
"You do realize it's going to be after midnight here, right?"
"I'll stay by the phone so I won't wake my parents."
Rick smiles and pulls her in close, his lips brushing hers as his flight is called once again. "I better go. You're coming back Sunday, right?"
"Mom and Dad want to have a family dinner tomorrow. Mom mentioned going into the office for a while during the day, so we'll meet her there. And then I'm on a flight back Sunday morning."
"I'll miss you."
"Two days, Rick. That's all it is."
"Still...feels like a lifetime."
"You'll survive." She gives him a quick kiss and slaps him as he walks away. "Love you."
He keeps walking, afraid that if he turns around he might never make it onto the plane. He waves instead, his voice thundering through the terminal as he disappears from sight. "Love you, too."