I stopped the last chapter where I did because I don't know how this works. But, you guys wanted me to finish it...

So, please, suspend reality a little bit and pretend I have some knowledge of the NYPD policies and procedures.

Another lazy ending, too. But hopefully you'll be happier with this one than the last :'D

Thanks.

He stood in the break room, watching through the crooked slits of the window coverings.

Across the bullpen, Beckett was sitting in the chair opposite Gates' desk, eyes locked on the wooden name plaque in front of her as she gnawed on her thumb nail.

He wanted nothing more than to rush in there, to hold her and tell her everything would be okay. But, he didn't know that. They hadn't been keeping their relationship a secret for the thrill of it; there were real rules in place keeping them from dating, and real consequences for breaking those rules.

So he waited, watching. What else could he do?

They hadn't announced their presence, but he could feel them lingering behind him. Ryan's anxiety had filled the room the second he walked in, and Castle knew that Espo wouldn't have been too far behind.

"She's all alone," he said softly, hoping one of them would fill in the blanks, explain exactly what had happened after her bombshell confession in the interrogation room.

"She's been in there for almost an hour now," Ryan informed him.

"Gates must have told her to stay put," Esposito added. "She hasn't moved an inch."

"Where is Gates?" Castle asked.

"No idea."

They boys moved closer, standing either side of Castle, joining the watchful guard.

She stood, pushed her hands through her hair to move it off her face, and began pacing the floor. Each anxious step she took wound the coil in Castle's gut tighter.

"Why didn't you guys tell us?" Ryan asked after a few moments.

"What?" Castle looked at the man, confused. It took a second for his brain to catch up, to realise what had been said while he was distracted.

"That you guys were together," Ryan clarified. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Castle shrugged. "The more people that knew, the more likely it was that Gates found out and booted me."

"Does Lanie know?" Esposito asked.

"I honestly couldn't tell you," Castle answered honestly. "It's still fairly new, so probably not."

He turned his attention back to Gates' office. He felt so useless, there had to be something he could do to fix this.

His eyes drifted to the elevator. The carriage's arrival - announced to the entire floor with a single ding - usually went unnoticed, blended into the background humming of busyness. But now, in his heightened state of nerves, every sound seemed amplified.

Gates stepped out of the carriage, started her purposeful stride toward her office.

Castle rushed from the break room, almost barreling over Esposito in his haste, determined to intercept.

"Captain-" he called out to her, but she held up her hand to stop his words.

"You need to go home, Mister Castle."

The one part of this interaction that took him by surprise was Gates' total lack of anger. She was obviously frustrated, yes, but not angry.

"Is she in trouble?" he asked softly, a little scared to know the answer.

Gates sighed, stopping her journey to her office. "She went against regulation. A romantic relationship between partners can be dangerous, for everyone."

"It's my fault. You know me, I'm very persistent."

"I appreciate what you're doing, Mister Castle, but..." her voice trailed off as she gathered her thoughts.

Castle could see that she felt torn and, for the first time, he felt like maybe Gates had been on their side the whole time.

"She's a grown woman, well aware of the consequences for breaching the contract that she signed when she joined the twelfth precinct. I can't ignore that, regardless of my personal opinion of Detective Beckett."

His guilt weighed heavy on him. Kate had warned him of this, of the risk they were taking by giving into their feelings. She had warned him that they couldn't have the best of both worlds without one - or both - of those worlds crumbling down around them.

But he had insisted. Blind optimism, or perhaps just greed, had led them here.

"Please, Captain, this job - this precinct - it means everything to her."

Gates looked at him with such pity, a million apologies in her eyes and it was clear that he had been right; she was on their side.

"I've been on the phone to a friend of mine on the committee, trying to find some way around this."

"And?" he prompted her to continue, eager to clean up this mess.

The expression on Gates' face was less than promising, though.

"We can argue that you aren't technically an employee and therefore none of the NYPD regulations have been broken," she started, summarising the conversations she had had. "With my recommendation that you continue to work together..." She paused, shook her head slightly, defeated. "It's still a long shot."

Usually, he was the guy who'd take the shot, no matter how long. But, even if this did somehow work out in their favour, she would still have to go through the process of sitting in front of a disciplinary committee to defend herself, to justify her actions. He hated the thought of that.

"Or?"

"Or you can withdraw from your unofficial consultant position and there will be no need to report the breach."

She had that one locked and loaded, an 'out' for all three of them, ready for the taking.

"Done."

She looked at him, surprised. She obviously hadn't expected him to jump without hesitation.

"You don't want to consider it?" Gates asked, knowing how much he had grown to love his rather unorthodox role here at the Twelfth. "This means you will no longer be welcome in this precinct as anything more than a visitor. You won't be privy to information about cases. No more ride alongs, interrogations-"

"I get it, Sir. I mean, this is the likely outcome anyway, right? And if it saves her from this rigmarole..."

"And you don't want to discuss this with Detective Beckett?" she asked, her voice almost begging him to be cautious in his decision.

"And have her tell me that my selfless act doesn't count because it was in response to her selfless act? No thanks. I plan on being able to hold this over her for years to come."

"Very well, then. Consider the issue rectified."

"I just have one question," he said, unable to ignore the temptation. She looked at him, silently granting him permission to continue. "You really would have recommended we still work together?"

Gates glared, but relented quickly, answering his question.

"You have an intriguing mind, Mister Castle. Despite how badly I wanted to be right about you, you've proven yourself to be an invaluable asset to the Twelfth."

"Word's out at the precinct," she said as she swallowed a mouthful of special fried rice.

They'd caught a case mid-afternoon, so she didn't get home until well past dinner time; thank goodness for leftovers. She had called Castle as she left the precinct, so he was already waiting for her when she arrived home.

"I overheard Harrison telling someone you had to leave because you were so hopelessly in love me with you couldn't stand to be there anymore." Her recount of the event - with just the right amount of drama tic flare - seemed more amused than frustrated, which Castle took as a good sign.

"That didn't take long," he responded as he settled down on the couch beside her. "Are you... okay with that?" he asked, just to be sure.

She smiled brightly. "You think I'm ashamed of you or something?" She nudged her shoulder against his. "I'm fine."

She leant forward, placing her bowl on the coffee table before snuggling into Castle's side.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

He sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just wondering what I'm going to do with all my free time now."

"I have an idea," she said as she repositioned herself, straddling his lap. "It's a little... outside of the box."

Her fingers combed through his hair, tickling his scalp.

"Mmm," he moaned, his hands roaming up her sides. "And what would that out of the box idea be?"

"You could always..." She leant in, whispered in his ear: "finish writing that book you're halfway through."

"Uh-uh." He shook his head. "I have a better idea."

He pushed off, flipping her onto her back and pinning her to the couch with his body in one smooth movement.

She wasted no time, craning her neck to capture his lips. She had missed him today, and she was going to show him exactly how much.