Thank you to all who made it through the most case-heavy chapter I think I've ever written! But as so many of you have been kind enough to point out, it was necessary to get to this point in the story…which I hope you will all enjoy, and maybe see as a bit of a payoff for sticking around past the last chapter!

Thank you for all the reviews and kind words, and especially to those who reviewed as a guest that I wasn't able to thank personally.

Unfortunately, I still don't own Castle…

xxxxx

Stepping out of her car in the driveway of a huge house, Beckett only had a second to take in the view before a sharp pain shot through her side. Nearly 3 hours in a car with 2 badly broken and 1 slightly fractured rib had not been the best choice; then again, she realized as far as bad choices go, she'd made a lot worse recently. She leaned forward with her forearms bracing herself against the car and had to take a few moments to breathe and try to stretch out just a little before she could stand completely upright again and shut the door.

As she slowly walked around to the trunk of her car, she had time to finally really take in the full view of his house. Damn, Castle…you rich or something? Of course, she'd known he was well-off…the way he dropped money so freely, had so easily dropped 100 grand at the shot to catch her mother's killer like it was not much more than a penny to him. But seeing this house that was borderline mansion territory really kind of smacked her in the face with his wealth.

She grabbed her bag with her left hand out of habit and instantly dropped it, wincing in pain and grabbing at her ribs. Right side, Kate…you can only lift with your right side. Granted, she'd been told she wasn't supposed to lift anything at all, but she wasn't about to not carry her own bag inside. She'd honestly fought with herself over whether to leave her bag in the car, just in case she decided she didn't want to stay; she'd decided instead to go ahead and carry it inside. She could leave it at the door and make it clear to him she wasn't agreeing to stay yet; she just didn't want to have to go back out to her car to get the bag if her decision was yes.

She waited another moment for the pain to subside a little before grabbing her bag with her right hand this time. It was still painful, but it wasn't anything she couldn't manage as she made her way to the door and knocked. When the door opened and she saw Castle standing there, the pain in her side was momentarily forgotten…because he looked better than he had in the hospital; he looked almost, almost like himself again. And she'd missed him. "Hi…" was all she could think of to say in the moment, and she realized that was definitely not her finest hour.

"Hi," he returned, offering her a small smile before stepping back so that she could come inside. "So you're staying?" he nodded toward the bag in her hand.

"Uh…you did offer," she pointed out, though it wasn't an answer. She set the bag down beside the door as she stepped inside, her eyes widening as she looked around. She felt like she was so far out of her league here, that it wasn't funny.

"Right, I did…I do…I just thought…" Castle was stumbling over his words.

"That I wouldn't say yes?" she finished his thought for him as he closed the door.

"Yeah," he admitted, studying her for a moment. She had a scabbed-over cut on her lower lip and looked like she had a few scrapes on her like she'd been in some kind of fight. That wasn't like her; she was too good of a cop, too good at defending herself to get scraped up by an average suspect. He was curious, but he wasn't sure asking her about it was the best way to start the afternoon.

She saw him looking, and knew he was going to wonder. "I'm fine, Castle. Just a few scrapes." And broken ribs. She downplayed her injuries, seeing no need to elaborate on how hurt she was just yet. "Where's Martha and Alexis?" she changed the topic.

"They left about an hour ago to go back to the city. Alexis has school for another couple of weeks, so they come out Friday afternoon and go back Sunday morning," he answered.

So they were alone. Nothing and no one to interrupt them. No case for her to be able to bury herself in and hide behind. If they really wanted to sort through everything unspoken between them and deal with the fall out of…well, everything…it seemed like it was now or never. "So…just us…" she breathed deeply, her eyes searching him.

"Just us," he nodded, his eyes meeting hers and holding her gaze for a few moments. "I'm sorry I haven't called you…" he added quietly.

"I understand why you didn't," she offered a small smile of understanding. Because she did understand why he'd been upset; this case, her mother's case…the way she acted when she investigated it, the things it did to her…add to that the fact the shooter had been after her and shot him instead; she hadn't been lying to him when she told him she couldn't pick it up for the same reason a recovering alcoholic didn't pick up a drink. "I didn't exactly call you either."

He was quiet for another few moments, just watching her. "I should show you to a guest room," he realized, finally tearing his eyes away from her.

"Right." Even though she hadn't completely, officially agreed to stay. She was careful when she knelt down to pick up her bag, making sure she used her right hand. She was also careful to mask any pain she felt, in no hurry to reveal her medical status to him just yet. She wasn't going to lie to him about her injuries, but she also wasn't going to just volunteer the information either. She figured it would come up when she told him about the shooter anyway, and she would tell him about the shooter.

The way she was moving was not lost on him, but he didn't comment on it yet. He'd ask her later. He led her upstairs, not moving very quickly at all. He was still supposed to be taking it easy, and stairs weren't exactly his friend at the moment.

"If you tell me which room it is, I'm sure I can manage to get there on my own. You don't have to come up the stairs," she told him, noticing the difficulty he was having. Of course, the stairs weren't necessarily her best friend with broken ribs at the moment either. They really were quite a pair, weren't they? In another scenario, this would have been laughable.

He shook his head. "I'm good. The stairs are good for me," he insisted stubbornly.

She eyed him for another moment. "Ok, but if you fall on your ass, I'm saying 'I told you so.' And I'm taking a video."

"That's fair," he agreed. He continued up the stairs slowly, careful to keep his breathing and heart rate slow. Once they finally made it to the top, he took another moment before walking down the hallway and giving her an abbreviated tour and finally stopping in front of one of the bedrooms. "You can have this room. There's a bathroom inside…and a view of the ocean. You've got complete privacy."

She stepped inside and moved to place her bag on the bed. It was a beautiful room, but the view she saw from the window was the most spectacular thing about it. "Castle…" she breathed.

"It's extraordinary isn't it?" he said softly from his spot in the doorway. He hadn't entered the room, not wanting to intrude on her space. "It's the perfect room for you." Because he thought she was extraordinary; In spite of everything they had said to each other, everything they had been through, every way she frustrated him or pissed him off, he still thought she was the most extraordinary person he'd ever met.

Meeting his eyes when she turned back, she blushed slightly at his words coupled with the way he was looking at her. "Laying it on a little thick, aren't you?" she raised an eyebrow.

"I'm still medicated," he shrugged with a smile. "I'm going to let you get settled. I'll be downstairs if you want to talk before dinner."

She returned his smile with one of her own. "We probably should, don't you think? We have a lot to talk about."

He nodded. "I'll make us some coffee," he agreed, turning to head downstairs and leaving her to her own thoughts until she was ready to join him.

xxxxx

She took some time to try to prepare herself for the several discussions they needed to have, figuring they should start with what she'd been doing the last two weeks. After what she figured was enough time for him to have coffee made, she started down the stairs, following the smell to find the kitchen since she hadn't had a tour of the lower level yet.

"Why don't we take our coffee outside?" he suggested, handing her a cup made just the way he knew she liked it.

She brought the mug to her lips and inhaled the aroma deeply before taking a sip, savoring it. No one could make coffee taste the way he could; she didn't know what he did that was so special, but even fancy coffee from coffee shops didn't taste as good as his. And she had missed it recently. "Sure," she agreed to his suggestion.

He led her outside to the back porch, gesturing for her to pick her seat before he sat down in a seat opposite her. "I need to talk to you about your mom's case," he started.

Taking a deep breath, she released it slowly. "Actually, can you let me go first?" she asked him. Seeing him nod, she took another deep breath. "The shooter's dead." Seeing his eyes widen slightly, she continued. "I didn't do it," she told him. "I wanted to…I almost did. But I didn't."

"Then how?" he asked, not following.

"Another sniper took him out."

"Another sniper? You've got another sniper after you?" he asked.

"No…I don't think so. I think the sniper was just after Maddox. He screwed up by shooting you instead of me. I think the other sniper was cleaning up his mess so that the case could be buried again."

Castle was quiet for a moment, digesting the information she'd shared with him. "Could be. Maybe not," he told her. Seeing her questioning look, he took a deep breath. "I got a phone call yesterday from a man claiming to be a friend of Montgomery's," he started. "The man told me Montgomery sent him a file before he died…a file that had all the names, all the proof someone would need to bring down the man behind your mother's murder. The file is supposed to be used to keep you safe," he continued, watching her, trying to judge her reaction.

"Well it didn't work since Maddox tried to kill me more than once," she murmured.

Castle took note of her words to ask her about them later. He needed to finish with his explanation before he lost his nerve. "He told me he didn't get the file until after the shooting. But now that he has it, he struck a deal. If they come after you, he uses the information in the file to expose the person behind your mother's murder. But you can't go digging into your mother's case anymore. If you do, they will come for you." He gave her a minute to digest the words. "He said he's already taken measures to make sure you're safe," he added. "So, maybe it was him who took out the shooter…Maddox, did you say his name was?"

She stood and began pacing with her coffee cup as she digested the information Castle had just given her. She supposed it was possible this man who had called Castle had been the one to take care of Maddox and clean up the files; it made just as much sense as her theory that it was Maddox's employer cleaning up his mess. Either way the case got buried again.

He watched her pace, watched her thinking. "Beckett…" he started.

"Do you believe him? This…man who called you?" she asked, turning to him then. "Do you believe that if I stop digging, I'll really be safe?"

"The way this man talked…yeah. Yeah I do," he answered honestly. "Look, I know what the case means to you…but I don't want to see you killed for this. Your dad doesn't want to see you throw your life away for this."

She narrowed her eyes at the mention of her father. "What does my dad have to do with this?"

He sighed, realizing he hadn't told her about that either. "Your dad came to see me…before Montgomery was killed. He asked me to try to convince you that your life is worth more than your mother's death. His words, not mine," he told her quickly, not wanting to be on the receiving end of her wrath for words he hadn't said.

Great. Her father was conspiring with Castle against her now too. "What else did my dad say?" she finally asked.

Well, she wasn't yelling at him. Castle took that as a positive sign, at least. "Not much, really. Just that he was worried about you. That you cared about me. That unless I was dumber than I look, he knew I cared about you too. And that I should stop you from throwing your life away. Again, his words, not mine." He was quiet for a moment before he had to ask. "How mad are you right now?"

She glanced at him before taking a deep breath, wincing slightly at the inhale. "At my dad? A lot, actually. But at you? Not as much," she admitted softly.

He noticed her wince and couldn't not ask anymore. "Are you okay? You haven't seemed quite…right… since you got here. You said Maddox tried to kill you more than once, and you're too good at your job to get scuffed up by some random arrest. So the split lip, the scrapes…I'm going to assume are from Maddox?"

She knew it would come out sooner or later. And she'd promised herself she wasn't going to lie to him about it. "Yes," she nodded. "And some broken ribs."

"Broken ribs?" he immediately took a step toward her, only to be stopped by her holding up her hand.

"I'm fine."

"Broken ribs is not fine," he shook his head.

She sighed. "They hurt, but I'm fine, Castle. It's nothing I can't handle. It just hurts to breathe a little too deeply. The doctor said they'll heal in about 6 weeks."

"So you're off work for 6 weeks…which is why you were able to bring a bag to stay for a few days," Castle began to put the pieces together.

Beckett looked down at her coffee for a moment. "It's a little longer than 6 weeks," she admitted, taking a slow drink of her coffee. Seeing his questioning look, she bit her lip slightly. "I kind of got suspended. I'm not allowed back until September."

"What?!" he almost laughed. "I'm both outraged and impressed by that."

She rolled her eyes at his reaction. "Shut up."

"I'm sorry," he chuckled. "What happened? How did you get suspended?"

She sighed. "The new captain hates me." She shot him another look when he laughed at her words. "I'm serious, Castle! She did her whole hostile takeover and decided to use me to make an example out of so that everyone else in the precinct would see what happens when you go rogue."

He couldn't help but laugh some more. "You did go rogue…"

"It was my case! You're my partner! She didn't want to let me go after the shooter!" She cut him a look because his laughing was not helping. "Castle, if you don't stop laughing, I swear to God…" she threatened him.

"Okay, okay…I'll stop," he held up his hands in surrender. "So September, huh?"

"Yeah, September," she answered, her eyes daring him to start laughing at her again.

He gave it a few moments before getting serious again. "What are you going to do with your mother's case?"

She was quiet for a bit, unsure of the answer herself. "I think for now…I don't rock the boat," she finally decided, looking out over the beach. "Whoever that second sniper was cleaned up the mess and took all the evidence. I don't have anything to really run with. And this guy who called you says I'm safe for the time being…" she trailed off with a shrug. She wasn't going to abandon the case, but she was going to put it down for awhile...at least until she could find another lead.

"Is that enough for you?" he asked her seriously.

"It's enough for now," she answered, turning to him with a small smile. "I'll get justice for my mom one day. I'd like you there when I do."

He met her smile with one of his own, stepping closer to her and taking her hand in his. "I'd like that too." When she didn't pull her hand away, he felt a little braver. "So…what are you going to do this summer?" he asked curiously.

Finishing the coffee in her cup, she shrugged. "I don't know. I've never not worked for more than a week. I don't even know what to do with that much free time," she admitted.

"You could stay here," he suggested.

"Yeah, right!" she laughed.

"I'm serious, Kate," he told her. "I've got the space. You need to heal, I'm healing. It's peaceful. You brought a bag."

She laughed again, shaking her head. "I brought enough clothes for a week, not the entire summer, Castle."

He shrugged. "I have a washing machine. And you can go get more clothes. Or go shopping here."

She shook her head again. He really wanted her to spend the summer with him. In the Hamptons. Her. "Why don't we just see how this week goes?" she finally suggested. It wasn't a yes. But it wasn't a no either.

xxxxx

Thanks again to all who read and review! I truly love knowing your thoughts on my chapters. And I hope this gave you a bit of a payoff for the buildup through the story so far.