Castle 1. Caught

**Disclaimer: I don't own, write for, or produce Castle.**

**A/N: This story picks up at the end of the infamous scene in the hotel room in 3x22 To Love and Die in LA but it's my own take on how the story could have continued. Further proof that I don't have anything to do with Castle. All mistakes are my own and further comments will be at the end. Enjoy.**

Kate Beckett silently closed the door to her room for the second time that night, her thoughts and emotions a tangled maelstrom in her head. Castle had been so sweet and no one, not even Beckett, could deny that there was chemistry between herself and the writer who had gradually become her best friend. She had been so close to just closing the distance between them right there on that couch in a hotel suite in LA, but she hadn't. She had chickened out and fled to her room. The first time she closed the door she could do nothing but lean back against the bright cherry red door and wonder what had just happened. She knew now that she loved Castle and she was certain he had feelings for her as well. She just didn't know how deeply those feelings ran. She had been ready to take the plunge once before and had been burned when he had walked away from her for the summer with his ex-wife. Was that what she was afraid of: rejection? No, she had seen the look in his eyes. He had wanted to kiss her just as badly as she had wanted to kiss him. So what was the problem? Why had she run?

When Kate realized she didn't have an adequate answer to that question it dawned on her that she didn't need to run from him any longer. She was ready. It was clear that Castle wanted to be more than friends and this was her opportunity. All she had to do was open that door and go back out to him. It wouldn't even require an explanation she was sure. All she had to do was go back to Castle and he would welcome her with open arms. And so that's what she did, she opened that door to go back to the man she loved… Only to find that he wasn't there. Beckett looked up from the couch where she had expected to find him waiting just in time to see his bedroom door click shut behind him.

Once again Kate Beckett's courage failed her. It was one thing to walk back into the emotionally charged room and join the man on the couch, but it was something else entirely to walk across that same room to knock on his door. The moment for action had passed and to follow him now would require talking and explanations. Words were one thing that Kate knew without a doubt weren't her weapon of choice. Castle was the wordsmith, not her. She spoke through actions and so she resigned herself to wait for another opportunity to show him how she felt in a way that she was much more well-versed in. When Kate shut her door the second time, she had no idea just how soon that opportunity would arrive.

* * *

Beckett worked to shove her swirling emotions back into that box deep within herself so that she could relax enough to go to sleep. After all, she still had to find the man who had killed Royce, and in order to do that she needed rest. Try as she might though, she couldn't keep thoughts of Castle out of her head that night. She found herself imagining what would have happened had she opened that door and found her partner still sitting on the couch where she had left him.

She would have walked across the room to him to claim her spot next to him on the sofa. Reaching out with a hand she could have slid her warm palm against his cheek to cup his face while he stared at her with a mixture awe and confusion and hope. It would have taken such little effort to pull his face towards hers where their lips would meet in a kiss that wasn't tinged with the fear and desperation of their undercover kiss several months before. Passion would ignite between the two and clothes would fly. They may not even make it to a bed before becoming consumed by that passion and joining together for the first time.

Images of their slick, naked bodies grinding and thrusting against one another in an age old dance flooded the forefront of Kate's mind and she was filled with a growing sense of arousal. Warmth spread from her core through her body to the very tips of her fingers and toes and she knew that if she were to check, she'd find herself wet, her labia engorged with heated blood, and her clit standing at attention sensitive to every touch.

There was no way she would be able to relax enough to sleep without finding release and with Castle several closed doors away she didn't see the harm in providing the relief for herself that she had hoped to get from him that night.

Kate pulled her loose purple top off over her head where it was tossed in a bundle at the foot of the bed, followed quickly by her bra. She slid a hand up her side, lightly tickling her sensitive skin until she could cup her right breast in her hand. She molded the flesh in her hand, rolling and pinching her nipple until it came to attention in a hardened peak her left hand soon joining in and giving the same attention to her other breast. Beckett continued to tease herself with one hand while she moved the other slowly down her body until it came into contact with the elastic of her tight fitting black yoga pants. Slipping her fingertips under the waistband she released a breath she didn't even realize she had been holding.

Both hands now engaged to shuck off her pants and simple bikini panties in one sure movement, baring her wet core to the cooler air of the hotel room. Kate teased around her entrance with her index finger, dragging some of the moisture found there up her slit to her clit. Repeating the move she circled her clit with one finger, not quite touching yet. When she could take it no longer Beckett pushed one finger as deep as she could into her warm, wet heat, her breath hissing through her teeth at the sensation.

A second finger joined the first and she couldn't help but compare the size of two of her slender fingers to a single one of Castle's. It quickly became him in her mind with his fingers buried deep within her sopping folds, thrusting quickly in and out. "Oh Castle" she sighed, her breath coming in gasps now punctuated by the occasional low moan deep in her throat.

* * *

Rick Castle watched the woman of his dreams walk away from him again. For just a moment, as he stared into her expressive hazel eyes, he thought that she was going to lean forward and kiss him, but then Kate stood and ran back to the relative safety of her own room.

He should have known better, Castle berated himself. He knew that the situation with Kate was complicated and he knew her better than to think that she would give in to his charms that easily no matter how emotionally charged the situation became. Kate Beckett was a challenging, intriguing woman but he was determined to find a way to break through her defenses. He just had to find the key to getting into Kate Beckett's heart first.

With these thoughts in mind Castle stood and made his way back to his own room. He shut the door and leaned back against it, releasing a sigh. He had been so sure that he had got through to her for a moment, looking back at the moment.

No, enough. Kate Beckett had been running circles around him for nearly three years and it was time to confront her about what had just happened; about what had been happening between them for years. There was something there, he knew it. He just had to get Kate to admit it too.

With one more deep, fortifying breath Castle opened his door and walked back across the living area to Kate's doorway. He paused with his hand raised to knock when he heard a gasp coming from the other side of the door. Was something wrong? Was she hurt or crying? Should he just go in?

"Castle…" he heard in a low breath voice that undeniably belonged to his partner.

The man in question lowered his hand and moved closer to the door trying to figure out what was happening on the other side of the cherry lacquered wood, not sure what he was supposed to do. It sounded like… but no, it couldn't be. Castle's eyes widened in shock and arousal as he realized the noises coming from the other side of the door were those of a woman masturbating, and that woman had to be one Kate Beckett.

"Oh, Castle" he heard again and jumped away from the door as if it had scalded him, thinking he had been caught but when Beckett didn't come storming out to shoot him he approached once again. A moment later he realized that she had no idea he was there. On the contrary, she was imagining him while she was getting herself off!

Castle felt his member jump to attention in his fitted dress pants. As much as he wanted to he couldn't open the door for fear of being killed, or worse, castrated but he wasn't strong enough to just walk away either. Instead, he quickly unzipped his pants and pulled his now fully hardened cock out through the slit in his boxers. Rubbing his thumb over the engorged head he spread the small bead of moisture that had collected there before wrapping his hand in a loose fist around his hot flesh and began pumping up and down. Spurred on ever faster by the sounds of the woman on the other side of the door in the throes of passion.

* * *

Kate thrust a third finger into her body riding her hand with a desperation she hadn't felt for a very long time. "Oh yes, Rick, right there." She groaned as she curled her fingers within her body and pressed her thumb hard against her clit.

With one final strangled cry, Beckett felt the waves of her climax washing over her, her back arched tight as a hunters bow. She felt as if she had broken into a million tiny pieces as she rode out her orgasm, her fingers slowing, trying to prolong her pleasure for as long as she could until she collapsed back onto the mattress breathing heavily.

When her breathing slowed she became aware of the grunts drifting towards her ears from across the room that she couldn't hear before due to the sounds escaping her own mouth. Standing up on shaky legs, Beckett walked curiously towards the door to the rest of the suite.

She gasped in shock when she heard the familiar deep voice on the other side of the bright red door. "Kate!"

She reached for the handle and depressed it without thinking, throwing the door open to reveal the site of Richard Castle standing outside her door with his hand wrapped tightly around his shaft, pumping frantically, his eyes closed as he cried out her name again.

"Castle?!"

**A/N cont: So what do you all think? Is it going alright so far? I promise not to leave you all hanging for long. I know where the next chapter is going and it should be up in a day or two. After that though I'm asking for your help. I want to continue this story and dig farther into their relationship after LA. I have some ideas for some fun once they're back in New York. No, not necessarily the smutty kind of fun, although I'm sure some of that can be worked in. Anyways, I'm interested in what you guys would like to see in this story out of these characters. I love getting your input and it really helps me develop ideas for future chapters, so basically, the more ideas I get from you guys, the longer I can keep this story going before I run out of things to write. Please, let me know what you think. Thanks all!**


	2. First Night

_Previously on What Happens in LA_

_Castle and Beckett had each retired to their own rooms after an emotionally charged moment in an LA hotel suite. When Beckett realized she had missed her opportunity once again she returned to her bedroom to give herself the pleasure she had hoped to gain from her partner. Unbeknownst to her, Castle had come back to take his own action but before he knocked on the bedroom door her realized what she was doing and began to masturbate as well. Kate finished and heard Castle on the other side of the door._

* * *

"Castle?!"

Beckett's eyes widened in shock as she took in the scene in front of her. Richard Castle was standing outside her bedroom door with his fist wrapped around his member and calling out her name.

Heat flooded her system with a strange mixture of both arousal at the sight in front of her and embarrassment when the realization hit that Castle had heard her fingering herself.

Time seemed to slow down as Rick's head whipped around in surprise at the door opening and her alluring voice calling his name from much closer this time. She saw his eyes darken even further and it was in that moment she remembered her own state of undress. Her body burnt under the heat of his gaze and she gave him all the time he needed to survey her flushed skin from top to bottom.

It was clear the moment that realization hit Rick Castle as his hand dropped away from his body and his stormy blue eyes snapped up to meet with her own hazel ones. "God, Kate, I'm sorry. I didn't mean- I didn't- I'll just go now. I'm so sorry." He stumbled over his apology before turning quickly to make for the privacy of his own room.

"Castle, wait." Kate called before he could take so much as a step away from her but she still reached out to grab his wrist to ensure that he couldn't run away from her.

"You don't have to go Castle." She told him looking down at an imaginary spot on the floor, suddenly shy.

"What do you mean Kate? I don't understand" he questioned, turning back towards her but not pulling his wrist from her grasp.

"Castle, after I first left the couch I realized I couldn't come up for a good explanation as to why I was running away from you, from us, and I came back out to continue what I had interrupted-"

"But I was already gone" he filled in, understanding and hope shining out of his eyes when she brought her gaze back up to his face, searching, questioning.

"I couldn't go to sleep without some relief, so, well, I'm sure you know what I was doing in there. I wanted you Castle, not my own hands, but you. I still do." She admitted with a slightly deprecating chuckle. "I don't want to hide anymore Rick, I'm ready. That is, if you still want me?"

"If I still want you?! Kate, for someone to smart- Of course I want you. I'll always want you, I just didn't think you saw me that way."

Confessions over it seemed to dawn on both of them that they are missing several typically essential pieces of clothing but neither made a move to cover their bodies. Instead, with another shy smile Beckett slid her hand down Castle's wrist to grasp his hand, his fingers curling to twine with her own and she pulled him slowly through the doorway and into her room.

When she came to an abrupt halt a few feet from the bed, Castle nearly crashed into her but he managed to catch himself at the last second, his hands coming to rest on her hips to keep from falling over her serving as a reminder that she was standing naked in front of him, in a bedroom. Wow.

Darkened hazel eyes met blue once again and this time when Kate felt the yearning to feel Castle's lips against her own she didn't run away. She stood on her tiptoes, finding herself several inches shorter than him when she wasn't wearing her heels, and kissed him softly, shyly.

One kiss turned to two and soon Castle found himself with Beckett's tongue stroking the roof of his mouth and his arms wrapped tightly around her, his length trapped between their bodies. He got lost in the feel of her in his arms and all ability to think left him for a moment but he regained brain function all too soon and gently pulled away from her, trying not to hurt her in the process.

"Kate, wait. What about Josh? We can't do this if you're dating someone else."

"Castle, I'm not dating Josh. We broke up a few weeks ago when I realized without a doubt that it would never work between he and I. Josh is a great guy but he wasn't who I wanted and it wasn't fair to string him along when it never would have lasted. I just didn't know how to tell you without revealing that the true reason behind our break-up was you."

"Oh thank God" Castle groaned before pulling Beckett against him once more and attacking her lips with passion. The dam had broken and all of their pent up feelings were being released at once.

Kate walked them both slowly backwards until the backs of her knees came into contact with the mattress and she sank down onto it, pulling Castle down on top of her.

"Get those pants off." She huffed, her fingers going to work on the buttons of his shirt. After a few seconds of fumbling in her haste, Kate just gripped the shirt and tore it the rest of the way open, buttons flying in all directions, giving her access to the broad expanse of his chest.

Castle worked to comply with her demands, tucking himself back into his pants and boxers just long enough to pull them both down over his ass until he could kick them off to join the pile of Kate's previously discarded clothing at the foot of the bed.

"You're gorgeous, you know." He told her, taking another moment to appreciate the woman beneath him before lowering his head to her neck before he began to lick and suck at the soft skin before him.

He had wanted to take his time and worship her body but Kate was having none of it and he was still painfully hard. Castle nudged his knee in between her legs and she quickly let her thighs fall open in invitation. Taking the time to trail his hand down her body until he reached the peak of her thighs to check her readiness.

"God, Kate, you're so wet" he groaned in longing knowing the moment couldn't be put off much longer. He lowered his head to her breasts taking on nipple in his mouth, licking and sucking on it with vigor as he took himself in hand and lined up with her entrance. Just before he sank his length into her wet heat something occurred to Rick Castle.

"Shit, Kate I don't have a condom" he lamented, praying that she would have somehow brought one with him.

"I'm clean, what about you?" she asked, barely pausing in the assault her mouth was making on his broad chest, her fingers splayed across his back and shoulders.

"Yeah I'm clean, but still…"

"Castle, I'm on the pill. We're covered."

"The pill isn't 100% though."

"I'm ok with that if you are. I trust you Castle, if my birth control fails then we can call it fate or whatever you want, but I can't stop now just because we didn't bring a condom."

Teasing his length against her entrance, put more at ease now, he asked her one last time "Are you sure this is what you want Kate?"

Beckett's hazel eyes met with Ricks as she answered "Yes Castle I'm sure. I just want you."

His eyes slammed shut for a second, just soaking in the moment before Kate moved impatiently beneath him, grinding against his groin.

Finally, realizing that she really meant it, Castle leaned forward and met her lips in a searing kiss. He braced himself above the detective and pushed into her tight channel with one smooth thrust.

Both people let out moans as they came together, fitted like matching pieces to a puzzle.

"Kate you're so tight, so perfect."

Castle filled her perfectly and completely, barely giving Kate a moment to adjust before he began thrusting rhythmically. She moved her hips to meet his every thrust, not content to be passive in this moment, urging him on ever faster, harder.

Their sweat slicked bodies accelerated in their movements. Castle was getting closer and closer to that moment of climax but he wouldn't let himself go over that ledge unless Kate was with him. He reached one hand down between their writhing bodies to press his fingers to the protruding nub of her clit, circling his fingers around it.

"Come for me Kate" Castle commanded, his breathing ragged and his pistoning hips beginning to lose their rhythm as he pounds into her over and over again.

Beckett wrapped her fingers in his hair and pulled Rick down to her, their lips meeting in sloppy open-mouthed kisses. Their panting breaths washing over each other's swollen lips and flushed faces.

Castle swallowed her strangled cry as her body writhed and jerked beneath his when the moment of release hit her like a freight train, rendering her incapable of coherent thought or speech.

Finally feeling her inner muscles fluttering as she broke around his member, Rick allowed himself to let go. He thrust sloppily, once, twice, three times more before burying himself to the hilt in her heat and pumped his seed into her body as it hungrily sucked every drop he had to give.

The lovers collapsed together, Castle just barely managing not to crush the woman beneath him with his weight.

"That was-"

"Yeah"

"Why did we wait so long to do that?"

"Right?"

Finally beginning to catch his breath, Castle lowered his head to meet Beckett's lips in a tender kiss.

Her eyes softened as she gazed up at the man she loved, amazed that she could freely admit to herself now that she did indeed love him. She still couldn't seem to tell him about it yet though so she resigned herself to showing him in every way she possibly could instead.

They continued to kiss languidly for long minutes, just basking in each other's presence.

"I never pictured you for a cuddler Kate Beckett" he observed, finally breaking off the kiss.

"Normally I'm not Castle, I guess it's just one more thing you bring out in me. I could lay here with you like this forever."

The writer smiled gently at his muse, wondering if this woman would ever cease to amaze him and quickly deciding that the answer was probably no.

He found himself marveling over the fact that he was actually lying in bed with this remarkable woman after having just made love to her and she wasn't running away from him. Instead, she had invited him into her bed and into her life, or so he hoped. But that would be a conversation for later as Kate smiled widely when she felt his length twitch to life, still buried within her body.

"Round two?"

"Oh yes, definitely, but this time Kate Beckett, I will have you screaming" he promised with a mischievous gleam in his eye before meeting her lips in a much more passionate kiss than those of a few minutes before. This kiss was full of hunger and promise.

* * *

**A/N: Thoughts? Comments? Please let me know what you thought. We'll have one more chapter in LA before they have to go back home to New York to face the music, but we'll actually start getting into the plot in the next chapter. Now is when I need your help though. What do you want to see in this story? I have a handful of half developed ideas for what I want to include but I'm also very interested to know what my readers want to actually read so leave a review or send me a message, anything works but I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for reading, the next chapter will be coming soon.**


	3. Revenge

**Disclaimer: Although parts of this story come from Castle, I don't own the show, I just watch it.**

**A/N: I forgot to mention last chapter that while this story will mostly follow canon, I will be taking a few liberties here and their such as getting rid of Josh sooner than actually happened. Also, I think I've answered all the reviews up to this point. I want to thank everyone for your comments and apologize if I somehow missed anyone.**

* * *

They had finally fallen asleep in a sated mass of tangled limbs sometime in the early hours of the morning. Few words had been spoken aside from the gentle caress of new lovers learning how to pleasure their partner.

Kate woke first, the early morning sun streaming through a gap in the curtains and directly onto her face. She turned to shield her eyes from the glare, unwittingly burying her face into the side of one Rick Castle.

The feeling of another warm body in her bed startled Beckett fully awake. She sat upright in bed, the arm that had been wrapped around her just below her breasts slipping to her waist. It was only a moment later that the memories of the night before came pouring through her mind and a radiant smile overtook her features. She looked down at the sleeping man beside her. He looked so peaceful and relaxed while he slept, the lines that normally marred his face during his waking hours all but erased in sleep.

Kate couldn't help but marvel at the fact that they were finally here, finally together. She had been fantasizing about this night for so many years now, but no amount of imagination could overcome the perfection of finally giving in to their desires.

She couldn't resist reaching out a hand to trace her fingers lightly over the features of his face. His soft, slightly parted lips and fluttering lightly veined eyelids. Caught in her own internal musings, Kate didn't realized that cobalt blue eyes were now shining back up at her as the writer awakened.

Castle thought he was dreaming when he felt feather light fingers against his lips, his eyes, his cheeks. He wasn't ready to wake up yet from his best dream yet in which he finally hooked one Kate Beckett. And as a bonus, it seemed that he was even dreaming of the morning after. This was one dream that he wasn't yet ready to give up, but nature had other ideas and at the urging of his full bladder, he finally opened his eyes, expecting the woman beside him to disappear as he did so. But no, the realization hit him that he wasn't dreaming this time. It had all actually happened. He was here, in bed with Kate Beckett, after having some of the best sex of his life with this mystery of a woman.

"Hey" she murmured softly when her eyes met his and she realized he was finally awake.

"Hey" he breathed back, still marveling over the idea that this wasn't an elaborate dream his mind was making up for him.

As much as he wanted to lay there and memorize every feature of the beautiful woman sitting above him, his bladder had other ideas and Castle knew he needed to get out of bed or risk embarrassing himself completely.

Beckett watched in amusement as Castle excused himself and got out of bed before quickly making his way over to the ensuite bathroom. She admired the view of his muscular back and shoulders, not to mention his uncovered ass when he crossed the room.

Returning a minute later, he couldn't help but be struck by the sight of the woman he loves sitting up in bed, the sheets pooled around her waist and naked torso unashamedly on display for all to see.

He once again rounded the bed and climbed back in beside her, likewise covering his waist with the sheets before leaning back against the headboard, lost in thought.

"What is it Castle? I can hear your mind whirring from over here" she laughed gently at him, laying her hand on his forearm to gain his attention.

"How is this going to work Kate? Was this just a one-time thing because you caught me half naked outside your door or-"

At this point Beckett cut him off by lightly placing two fingers of her free hand across his lips.

"No, Castle. This is it for me. I told you last night I ready, that I was tired of running and I meant it. I'm ready for this, for us. That is, if you are?"

"Oh, Kate, of course I am. I've been ready for a long, long time, I just had to be sure that this is what you wanted too." Unable to wait a moment longer he leaned forward to capture her lips with his own once again.

He had just laid Kate down on the bed when the ringing of a phone broke the silence of the room.

"Mm just ignore it" Castle mumbled against her lips, his hands felt like they were everywhere on her body at once, her mind couldn't keep up with it.

"Castle, we can't do that. We're here to catch a murderer remember?"

With a frustrated growl he flung his arm out and grabbed the phone off the nightstand.

"What?" he barked into the mouthpiece after hitting the button to accept the call.

"Castle?" he heard Ryan ask on the other end of the line "Why are you answering Beckett's phone?"

"Uh, Beckett's, um, she's in the shower and uh asked me to get it" he made up quickly on the spot, his eyes widening as he looked at the woman in question, fearing how she would react to his mistake.

Her fearful stare met his for a moment before Ryan continued,

"Oh, ok, well when she gets out can you let her know that I got ahold of the security company. They said the only guy who was scheduled to be at the loading bay the night of the robbery was a guy named Reggie Walsh. I'll send you guys his address in just a minute."

"Ok Ryan, sounds good, thanks, bye" Castle hung up the phone without giving the Irishman a chance to respond and then collapsed down onto the bed beside his detective.

"See, that, right there. What do we do about the boys, and your dad, and my family, and-"

"Castle, relax, ok? I'm serious about you, about us. They're going to find out eventually so don't worry so much about it."

"All the same, I would like to keep this between us for now if that's ok with you? It's just so new and I really want to be able to keep this to ourselves for a little while until we're comfortable before everyone else begins interfering."

"If that's what you want, then we won't tell anyone, but Castle, I'm in this. Now come on, get dressed. We need to go talk to that security guard."

"How? You aren't a cop here, remember?"

"Reggie doesn't need to know that." She smirks, shrugging her shoulders a little.

* * *

Having gotten the name of Ganz from the security guard and information from Ryan, they were able to track down where Russel Ganz was located at the poolside of the Eastway hotel by the concierge Maurice.

With this information, Beckett sent Castle to the pool to find Ganz and wait for her to arrive with the explicit instructions not to approach him or do anything that could possibly tip Ganz off.

That is how Richard Castle found himself lounging at the poolside bar, watching Ganz and waiting for the arrival of his girlfriend. He nearly did a spit take when she arrived; walking seductively out of the pool in a bronze one-piece bathing suite with patches cut out along the center line and the back of the suite. Not to mention the jolt of arousal that coursed southward through his body. Her entrance even put her walking away from him after that first case to shame as she snapped out the sarong and tied it around her waist before settling down in a lounge chair.

A fierce surge of jealousy and protectiveness washed over Castle as he watched their suspect approach her and sit down beside her to strike up a conversation. He couldn't hear what they were saying from where he sat but he could barely stand to watch this man be so easily seduced by the woman he loved, even if he knew it was all for show.

Averting his eyes from the pair in the lounge chairs, Castle realized that Ganz had left his cellphone behind in his cabana. Deciding that he could use a distraction, and help at the same time, Castle quickly made his way to the cabana and opened Ganz' calls. He took a picture of the list and made his way back out just in time as the suspect made his way back across the pool deck.

He waited for Beckett behind a thin screen of bushes, but wasn't expecting her anger when she approached him.

"So what happened?" he asked hoping to wrap this up so he could take her back to their hotel for the afternoon. The sight of her in that swimsuit were doing things to his body and he wouldn't be able to hide it for much longer.

The last thing he expected was for her to jab him in the arm with one long, pointed finger.

"Ow"

"I was trying to keep him from seeing you and so I pushed too hard and he made me. He called me green, Castle, what the hell were you doing?!" she ranted, poking him again. Frustration and embarrassment over being made like a rookie fueling her anger.

"I saw his phone in the cabana. I thought it was worth the risk."

"Wait, you took his phone?" Beckett questioned suspiciously.

"No! No, I took a picture of his recent call list."

"What?! Where is it?"

"Don't, don't poke me"

"Poke you? I want to kiss you!" She said offhandedly as she took a look at the picture he had taken.

"Ok, we need to trace these numbers, see if we can trace one of them to Ganz' buyer."

"Ok, now can we call Seeger?" Castle questioned, not wanting to have to run all the numbers themselves.

"Fine, yes, we can call Seeger, but afterwards, I was serious about that kiss Castle."

"Oh, believe me detective, I have much more than a kiss in mind for you as soon as I have peeled that sinful bathing suite off your body." He murmurs in her ear, his voice an octave lower than normal while he crowds up against her so that she can feel his arousal against her stomach.

"Well, in that case Mr. Castle, let's get that phone call made so we can get back to our room" she whispers seductively, pushing even closer into him.

* * *

Dressed once again Castle and Beckett meet with an irate Seeger in their hotel room but they are able to come up with a plan to find both Violet and the location where the bullets are going to be sold.

Now they're huddled around the coffee table in the living area of their suite, calling Mannis' cellphone to try to get a location on where the sale is going to happen.

"Yo" a disembodied voice answers their call.

"Esposito?!" Beckett exclaims in confusion.

"Beckett?"

"Are you with Mannis?"

"Yeah, I just shot him. Wait, why are you calling him?"

"Look, we need to know where and when Ganz is selling those bullets."

"Done."

The next thing they hear is Esposito trying to convince Mannis to tell them the location of the meet and Ryan's voice occasionally chiming in, in the background. Eventually Mannis gives up that they were supposed to be meeting at Santa Monica pier at six o'clock and that Ganz was the one who shot Mike Royce.

* * *

The group sped to the pier, hoping they would make it in time to catch Ganz and stop the sale.

Once there, Castle and Beckett followed a tatt'ed man with a briefcase along the pier to an unmarked white van parked next to a picnic area where Seeger was waiting. Beckett ran around them to the van to arrest the driver, expecting it to be Ganz, but when the driver exited the van it was someone else entirely.

She shoved him against the side of the van and pulled his hands back behind him.

"Where is Ganz, where is he?" she questioned but the man just laughed off her demands.

Looking around, Beckett spotted a still burning cigar butt on the ground not far from the van. Ganz was there, but where? She scanned the crowd and caught sight of him walking away from her down the pier.

Without another thought Kate ran after him. As she began to catch up, she slowed down slightly so as not to tip him off as to her presence.

Ganz took off right as she grabbed her gun, shoving bystanders between them as he went.

"Police! Stop!" Beckett yelled but of course he kept going and she couldn't shoot without the risk of hitting someone in the crowd.

They both jumped off the side of the pier to the sandy beach below and she followed him down beneath the pier to where she had a clear shot.

A feeling of victory overtook her system when Beckett fired that bullet and hit him in the right arm. Her quarry downed, she took her time now to approach him, gun still held aloft. Visions of Mike Royce flashed across her sight as she stalked towards the man who killed him.

"I knew you were a cop" he smirked, looking up at her from the sand.

"My name is Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD. Michael Royce was my friend. You shot him, and you left him in an alley like a piece of garbage." She informed him, gun still pointed. A new scene now flashed in front of her eyes, crime scene photos of her mother, also left to die alone in an alley. And while she hadn't caught her mother's killer, she could get revenge for the death of her mentor.

"Consider this poetic justice" she continued.

"He said something about hell raining down on me. I never imagined hell looked like you." He told her, seeming to resign himself to his fate.

"Kate!" she heard a voice ring out behind her. It was his voice. The blinding rage dissipated as quickly as it had appeared and Beckett remembered that she had so much more to live for now than revenge.

"Russel Ganz, you are under arrest for the murder of Michael Royce." She stated, the men behind her finally drawing even with the pair.

With Seeger now on the scene and her decision made, Kate walked away from the man still lying on the ground with a sense of pride for not losing herself in the pursuit of justice as she had done in the past, before Castle.

"You ok?" that same man questioned as he fell into step beside her, right where he belonged.

"Yeah" she answered with a reassuring smile just for him.

* * *

Sitting on the plane on the way back to New York, Kate recalled Castle's question in the hotel room before they left.

"So how close did you come? With Ganz?"

"Let's go home Castle" she had responded, not quite willing to admit, even to him, just how close she had come to pulling the trigger and ending both of their lives.

Looking over at the man now sleeping beside her in the first class seat, she couldn't help but thank whatever higher power there was that she hadn't pulled that trigger. She had still gotten justice, Ganz was going away for a very long time, and she didn't lose herself or the man that she loved in the process.

Pulling out Royce's letter, she looked it over again even though she had nearly the entire thing memorized by now.

_And now for the hard part kid. It's clear that you and Castle have something real, and you're fighting it. But trust me, putting the job ahead of your heart is a mistake. Risking our hearts is why we're alive. The last thing you want is to look back on your life and wonder, if only._

_If only you knew, Mike. _Kate mused with a soft smile on her lips. She had made the jump and there was no doubt that she was in this for the long haul. She didn't want to wonder any longer, she wanted to be happy, and the man beside her provided that opportunity. Kate Beckett was no longer fighting, she was ready to face the future. Or was she?

* * *

**A/N cont: I hope you enjoyed actually starting to get into the plot but I promise we'll have some more smut later, I just won't write it into every chapter. Next our couple will have to go home to New York to face the music. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter and what you'd like to see yet to come. I've gotten a couple really good ideas from some things you guys have said already but could always use more.**


	4. Inquisition

"Castle, wake up." Kate called softly, squeezing his upper arm gently. The writer mumbled something unintelligible before slumping further into his seat.

"Hey, we're about to touch down, you need to wake up." She told him, a soft smile playing on her lips. Smirking slightly, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. Getting no response, she placed another kiss on the corner of his mouth, rubbing her hand along his arm a little more roughly.

"Rick, wake up" she said one last time, her lips brushing against his own. Sleepy blue eyes finally blinked open as she leaned back to give him some room.

"Welcome back sleepy head" she teased, leaning back in to press a chaste kiss fully against his soft lips.

"Mmmm I could get used to waking up like this" he murmured, bringing a hand up to hold the back of her neck lightly and capturing her lips for several long seconds.

"Yes, well as nice as this is, we're just about to land" she reminded him, removing his hand from the back of her neck and settling back into her own seat but not relinquishing her grip on his hand.

"Well so much for making it into the mile high club. I guess there's always next time" Castle lamented, a mischievous glint in his cobalt eyes.

"Who says I haven't already joined?" Kate quips back, smirking sassily.

Castle just gaped back at her, at a loss for words, causing Beckett to laugh brightly. "What's the matter Castle, cat got your tongue?"

'I, well, uh."

"C'mon writer boy, pick up your jaw, it's time to get off."

With that, she stood up and opened the overhead compartment to get their carry-on luggage, giving Castle a minute to regain his composure.

He finally found his legs and took the bag she handed to him before they both made their way off the plane and into the busy terminal of La'Guardia.

Beckett's tinkling laughter rang out again as they stepped over the threshold of the airport, "Kate, have you really done that?" Castle asked falling into step beside her "Because that may just be one of the hottest things I've ever heard."

"Oh Castle, if you think that's hot, you have a whole lot to learn, and I'm going to thoroughly enjoy teaching you." She answered with a wink before sauntering away from him towards the baggage area.

* * *

"So Detective, what are we doing now?" he asked as they walked past baggage claim, not having brought any luggage other than their small carry-on suitcases.

"What do you mean 'we' Castle?"

"Well, I, yeah I mean we. I've been waiting three years for this, I'm not letting you go so easily just because we're back in the city. I thought this was what you wanted Kate?" he answered, a small amount of vulnerability showing in his when she met his questioning gaze.

"Oh, Castle, no I didn't mean that I don't want to be with you. This is what I want, never question that. But you have a family waiting for you at home and Lanie insisted on picking me up when we back. She probably just wants to make sure I'm ok, but I can't get rid of her without telling her about us and I thought we were keeping it between us for now?"

"Yeah, I mean we are, I guess we are, this just all seems so surreal Kate. Sometimes I think it's all just an elaborate dream that I never want to wake up from."

Her heart broke a little bit for him at that moment and she quickly pulled him into a hug.

"No, you aren't dreaming. I promise, this is real and we aren't going anywhere. Ok? I'll tell you what, you go home and spend some time with your mother and Alexis and give me some time to reassure Lanie and get rid of her and you can come over to my place tonight?"

"You're amazing, you know that?" Castle replied, pulling back from her slightly to capture her lips in a lingering kiss.

"So that's a yes?" she asked, a pink blush spreading over her face and neck in response to his softly spoken compliment.

"Yes, that's a yes. You deal with Lanie and I'll take care of the redheads, Detective. Until tonight."

Castle pressed one more, quick kiss to her lips before releasing his hold on her and walking towards the exit of the airport.

Kate rolled her eyes as she watched him leave but couldn't wipe the smile from her face. She followed in the same direction a few moments later in search of her other best friend, knowing she had to be on her A-game if she wanted to get past Lanie's interrogation without revealing everything.

* * *

"Hey girl! Damn, it looks like the sand and sun did you some good. I haven't seen you looking this good for a long time." Lanie greeted as Kate settled herself into the passenger seat of the car.

"Well we caught the guy, Lanie, what do you expect?"

"Well, a little birdy told me that a certain author accompanied you across the country. Now I'd hope that you would have been sensible and jumped the man already. I know I would have if a man followed me that far!"

"Lanie!" Kate exclaims, her face beginning to pink in a light blush.

"I'm just sayin' girl. That man is wonderful to look at fully clothed, I can only imagine how much better he'd look without them and all the rumors claim that he's just as talented between the sheets as he is at writing." She feisty woman smirked at her friend, knowing how riled up Kate would get from this conversation. The brunette didn't disappoint as she stared straight ahead out the windshield, her face now bright red.

Unbeknownst to Lanie however, embarrassment only made up for part of the flush on Kate's face. The rest of it came from a flood of heated arousal as she remembered just how good Richard Castle was in bed. _Oh Lanie, if only you knew_. She smirked internally.

"You know it's complicated between us Lanie." Kate reminds her friend, trying to find a way out of telling her best friend about the new developments in her relationship with Castle without outright lying to her.

"I know you say that, but girl, how complicated is it really? You love him, and I know even you aren't blind enough not to notice that he cares for you too. Hell, everyone knows it. We're all just waitin' for you two to get your act together already before you spontaneously combust one of these days and take the entire precinct out with you!"

"I know, Lanie, I know." She acknowledges hoping the confession will be enough for her friend for the time being until she and Castle are ready to out their relationship to everyone.

"Well then what are you waiting for? If I didn't know any better I'd say that's why you're looking so relaxed. Heaven knows if I spent nearly a week having the best sex of my life I'd look about like you do right now."

"What? Why would you even think that?" Kate asked, panic skittering across her face before she was able to control her features again. A quick look to the other woman showed that her focus was on the road and not her best friend, a fact for which Kate breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes, she swore, Lanie could act as a human lie detector when she was paying attention.

Luckily for her, they arrived at her apartment shortly thereafter, interrupting Lanie's interrogation for the time being.

"Hey, thanks for the ride Lanie. I think I'm just going to order in, maybe take a bath, and get an early night. I didn't sleep well on the plane and the jet-lag is starting to get to me." She stated, hoping her friend would take the hint that she didn't want company tonight, or at least company that wasn't a certain author.

"You're sure you aren't just tired from getting it on with writer-boy all weekend?" Lanie smirks, not able to pass up the opportunity to tease her friend.

"Ugh, good night Lanie!" Kate yelled back to her friend and with a quick wave she turned and was gone.

"That didn't sound like a denial to me Kate Beckett." Lanie muttered under her breath as she watched her friend go, but deciding to let it drop for the time being, she put her car into gear and drove away.

* * *

**A/N: Uh oh, looks like Lanie might be a little suspicious. Otherwise this was just a little filler chapter to keep things moving, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. The next one is going to be fun and fluffy so try not to eat to much sugar before reading it, I'm not responsible for what happens if you do. That being said, the good news is I have the next several chapters outlined and ready to be written. The bad news is the new semester starts on Monday and I won't have as much time to write so the daily updates are probably going to be less common, but I'll still try to update every few days.**


	5. Walk of Shame

**A/N: This chapter makes What Happens in LA officially my longest story ever and there is a long way yet to go. I want to thank you guys for your support so far and I hope you enjoy this newest chapter. Martha always makes things a little more amusing.**

* * *

Kate opened her door that evening to the sight of Castle standing in the doorway, hands laden with bags of Chinese food. "Jeez Castle, how much food did you get?" she questioned, her tone exasperated but the light in her eyes giving away that she wasn't actually angry.

"Well, I wasn't sure what you would be in the mood for so I got a little bit of everything. That is alright isn't it?" he asked, still unsure, not quite on firm footing with this new development in their relationship.

"Of course it's alright, Castle. Relax a little alright?" She took some of the bags out of his hands and led him into the kitchen, setting the cartons out on the counter. Realizing that he was still hanging back, she released a little sigh.

Walking over to him, she stopped inches away, reaching out to wrap her arms around his waist and pull him the rest of the way to her so she could press her lips against his.

"Let's eat supper and then I'll help you relax, hmm?" she murmurs, her mouth a hairs breadth away from his, pressing her body against him to make her point crystal clear.

Finally seeming to come back to himself, he smirked down at her. "I knew you couldn't wait to get me into bed from the start, Detective."

"Oh don't flatter yourself Castle."

"Admit it Beckett. You were just as powerless to resist me then as you are now."

"Careful, or I might have to prove to you just how well I can resist you…" she fired back, moving half a step away from him.

"No! Wait, I take it back." He jumped in quickly, pulling her back against him and crushing his lips to hers, the food laying forgotten on the counter.

She parted her lips to his seeking tongue, allowing him to deepen the kiss, and released a soft moan into the wet cavern of his mouth.

She melted, boneless, against him as his tongue continued to plunder her mouth, tangling with her own and stroking the roof of her mouth. Exploring every crevice he could reach until air became a necessity and they broke apart, chests heaving.

"Wow. Are you sure we have to have supper, or can we just skip straight to dessert?"

His question evoked the eye roll that he had anticipated.

"Come on Castle. You're going to need something to eat to keep up your strength tonight." She promised with a wink before turning back to the kitchen and pulling down some plates.

He stared after her, dumbfounded, for a moment wondering how this incredible woman could get him so turned around every time. Watching her lithe body stretch up to retrieve the plates from an upper cabinet, he decided it didn't matter, because now she was all his.

* * *

She woke early the next morning to him leaning over her on the bed, kissing her gently.

"I have to get home, Alexis will be up soon. I'll see you later at the precinct, ok?" he asked, his hand cupping her face and pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"Mmm yeah. Precinct. Later. Alexis."

He chuckled at her half asleep rambling. "I'll come armed with coffee, but for now, get some more sleep. You need it after the night we had." He reminded her, images of her body rising above his as she rode him flashing in front of his eyes.

With one more, quick kiss he turned and left. Kate was asleep again before the front door closed behind him.

Images of their night together assaulted him on the ride down the elevator and he felt an answering tightening of his pants around his arousal. Steeling himself, he walked out into the chill morning air, hoping it would help get his body under control. He really did need to get back before Alexis woke up if he didn't want to reveal where he had been all night, and that wouldn't be possible if he went back up to her apartment like his groin greatly encouraged.

Finally managing to get some semblance of control, he got into his car and drove back to the loft, lost in thought, reveling at the fact that he now got to hold Kate Beckett in his arms.

Even in New York, the traffic was light that early in the morning and he made good time in getting home. He might even have time to sleep a little more before he would have to get up and get ready to go to the precinct.

He parked the car and made his way into the lobby, greeting Jonathan, the night doorman, on his way past with a small wave but otherwise paid little attention to his surroundings. Had he been looking, he may have noticed the red head stepping into the elevator with him just before the doors shut.

"And where are you slinking back from this morning, Richard?" Martha Rogers asked, casting a knowing smile in her son's direction.

"Mother!?" he asked, looking up at her in surprise mixed in with a healthy dose of anxiety. His mind struggled to come up with a plausible explanation as to his early, or late, arrival home but he came up empty.

"So, who is she?" Martha asked, taking note of his disheveled appearance and the smile that he couldn't seem to wipe from his face. She had her suspicions, of course. Richard hadn't so much as been on a date since ending things with Gina for the second time and even a blind person could see that he cared deeply for the lovely Detective Beckett. She couldn't see her son having spent the night with another woman and risk ruining his chances with Beckett. Now, she just needed to get him to admit it.

"She? Who are you talking about Mother?" he asked, deciding that ignorance was his best defense at the moment.

"The woman who you spent your evening, and I'd wager a good part of the night with. I wasn't born yesterday kiddo. I know a walk of shame when I've seen one."

"Speaking of, Mother, why are you just now arriving home?" he asked hoping to derail her line of questioning.

"Much the same reason as you I would imagine" she shrugged unapologetically.

"Forget I asked." He shuddered and tried to think of a way to bleach the images of his mother and some mystery man from his mind. His mother's sex life was something he actively tried not to think about.

"So, how is Katherine?" she asked innocently, trying a different route.

He stiffened in response, trying desperately to find a way to deny that it had in fact been Kate that he was with.

"Oh, come now Richard. Surely by now you would know that I can read you like a book. I did raise you after all. Not to mention I can smell her cherry shampoo from here, and you have a lipstick mark on your jaw. How long has this been going on between the two of you?"

His shoulders slumped as he accepted defeat. "It's only been since we were in L.A." he admitted, praying Kate wouldn't kill him for giving in so easily.

"Really? I would have thought that you two would have gotten together shortly after Gina was out of the way." Martha mused aloud.

"She was still dating Josh then. Besides, there is no way to make up Kate Beckett's mind for her. The more you push the more she digs her heels in."

"Well, I suppose that much is true. So what gave her the final push then?" She raised her brow in amusement as she watched the emotions played over her sons face. Arousal, awe, fear, wonder, peace.

"Um, she uh-" he paused, suddenly becoming aware that he couldn't possibly share that story with anyone, but least of all with his mother.

"It must have been quite something to have you speechless." She noted.

"Oh, that it was, Mother, that it was." And just like that he was lost to his memories once again, adrift in a sea of her above him, below him, writhing in pleasure one moment and turning him into a puddle the next.

"I just hope you know what you're doing Richard. Katherine Beckett is a special woman and she doesn't give herself easily. If you lose her, you won't get her back."

Brought down to Earth again by his mother's warning he knew how lucky he was to have been given a chance at all with his long and sordid history with women.

"I hope I do too Mother." He admitted, now lost to thoughts of the future and what he hoped it held for the two of them if he could manage to keep her forever. Thoughts of the two of them waking up together every morning in the loft, Kate heavily pregnant with his child, brow haired children with her eyes and his sense of adventure running the two of them ragged, growing old together. All of these combined into his hope for the future and brought a smile to Castle's face that could have lit the whole of New York.

* * *

**A/N Cont: So... Now Martha knows. I know the last couple chapters haven't seen much interaction between Castle and Beckett but it's always so much fun seeing the supporting characters play with them. The next chapter will show more of that as well as a reinforcement of the M rating on this story. As ever, I love to hear your thoughts and suggestions so I can keep as many of you happy with the direction this story is going as possible. The next chapter will be up soon, I promise.**


	6. Alone Time

**A/N: So, as promised, another long awaited smut chapter. And some fun with the boys.**

* * *

The next couple days yielded only paperwork for the detectives and Castle for which Castle was immensely grateful. Kate had fallen sick with the flu, much to her annoyance, on Thursday and he knew she would never agree to call in sick to work. He was at least able to convince her to get some antibiotics and to spend the weekend with him in the loft with Alexis and Martha away at a spa retreat. This is how the couple came to be cuddled up in Castle's sinfully comfortable California king bed late on Saturday morning.

Castle leaned forward to kiss his girlfriend, but she pulled away at the last moment. "Castle, I don't want you getting sick too."

"Kate, you don't have a fever anymore so chances are you aren't contagious anyways and I really don't care, now shut up and let me kiss you." He retorted wrapping his arms tighter around her to pull her body against his own and he lowered his lips to hers again. This time she didn't pull away.

They kissed languidly for long minutes, just luxuriating in each other's presence.

That is, until Castle's hand began creeping up from where it had been resting on her hip below where her shirt had ridden up.

The kiss deepened and Kate could feel her skin tingling in the wake of his hand as it continued on its northward path to cup her left breast. He tested the weight of it in his hand, enjoying the way she fit perfectly in the palm of his hand.

Shifting even closer he began to pinch and roll her nipple between his fingers, causing her to release a soft moan. Right then and there he decided he wanted to hear that sound from her for the rest of their lives, if only he could convince her of it.

Her hand lowered along his body now until she was able to feel his firm length tucked away in his sweatpants. She copped a quick feel and was just reaching to free him from his sweats when the doorbell rang.

"Mmm ignore it." He mumbled before diving back into the heaven that was kissing Kate Beckett.

The bell rang again a minute later, followed by a pounding on the door.

She fell back on the bed with a groan and pulled an arm over her eyes. "Just go get rid of them and then hurry back or I'm going to start without you." She growled, pushing him towards the edge of the bed with her free hand.

Grumbling unintelligibly he climbed out of the bed and made his way to the front door.

"Whoever it is can just- oh" he stopped abruptly when he opened the door. On the other side stood none other than Detectives Ryan and Esposito.

"We can what bro? Hm?"

"Well, I uh, never mind. What can I do for you boys?" Castle asked thinking about their boss waiting for him in the bedroom.

"Duh, Castle, the new Call of Duty game just came out this morning remember? We planned to come over here and play it weeks ago."

He released the breath he didn't even realize he had been holding. "Oh, um Call of Duty, right." He mumbled under his breath, trying to figure out how to get out of this situation.

The boys, taking this as an invitation, made their way past him and into the loft.

"The X-Box is still set up, right Castle?" Ryan asked from his place in front of the TV.

"Uh, yeah, let me just go get dressed, and I'll uh, yeah."

With that, he made his way back into the bedroom to find Kate sitting up on the bed, half naked, glaring at him.

"What are they doing here?" she hissed, pointing towards the door to the living room.

"Well, apparently we had a game day planned today that I totally forgot about and I'm not sure how to get rid of them now without telling them why we have to cancel…"

She sighed, annoyed. "Fine, give me a couple minutes to get dressed and I'll sneak out while you guys are busy with you game." She stood up from the bed and began gathering her clothes in her arms.

"Wait, no, Kate this was supposed to be our weekend. I can get rid of them, I will. I'll figure something out. You just stay here. And don't start without me!" he warned putting his hands on her shoulders and lowering her back to the bed.

He turned for one last glance at his girlfriend in just her underwear before making his way back out to the boys."

"Yo Castle, I thought you said you were going to change?"

"Oh, um well I was but-"

"And why are you still in your pajamas this late in the morning anyways?" Ryan jumps in.

"Well, I-"

"Yeah, what were you doing all morning? And why did it take you so long to answer the door?"

"Guys-"

"Now that he mentions it, you do look a little less put together than normal, Castle."

"Really, I-"

"Did you have company last night bro?"

At this, Castle stops trying to talk his way out of it and just stares at them in a mixture of fear and confusion.

"Oh my God he did!" Ryan yelped gleefully.

"Who was it? I can't believe you've been holding out on us man. Or was it just a one night thing and then you sent her packing?"

"Wait, or is she still here? Is that why you took so long?"

Castle realized in that moment how it looked when he and Beckett bounced theory off each other, going back and forth like a tennis match. And speaking of his girlfriend, how was he going to get himself out of this mess. He couldn't tell the boys the truth but he didn't want to lie and somehow upset Kate.

"Dude, she isn't seriously still here is she?" Esposito asked looking towards the door to his bedroom in disbelief.

"Well-"

This time it wasn't one of the boys who cut him off, it was the sound of a door opening, causing three pairs of eyes to fly to the bedroom door to reveal a disheveled Kate wearing one of his own button down shirts and the yoga pants she wore to bed.

"Beckett?!"

"Yes, she is still here" she spoke "And she would really appreciate it if you would give her boyfriend back. Now go home boys, you can play your game later."

As she talked she walked across the room, reaching Castle as she finished. She reached out and grabbed him by the waistband to his pants and slowly pulled him back to the bedroom, completely ignoring the other two detectives in the room.

The bedroom door shut behind them with a sense of finality, leaving Ryan and Esposito staring at it, stunned.

"Did you know-"

"No, bro, I had no idea. I wonder how long that's been going on."

"I wonder if Lanie knows?"

"Ooh, who won the pool?"

"I have no idea, dude, but it looks like Mom and Dad finally consummated the marriage."

"I said go. Home." Beckett's voice echoed from between the shelves of the bookcase.

The tone of her voice caught the detectives' attention immediately and they quickly packed up their game and left the loft, still somewhat dazed.

* * *

"Now, Mr. Castle, that is how you get rid of the two of them." Castle himself was still staring at his girlfriend in disbelief.

"Kate, I thought you didn't want anyone to know."

"I know Castle, but they were going to find out eventually and I'm ready. We've been great so far and I won't let those bozos mess up us, or our lazy Saturday in bed."

"Well, after that performance we will definitely be spending our Saturday in bed but I don't know that you can call it lazy." He grinned easily, his eyes gaining a predatory glint as he walked her over to the bed and laid her down onto it.

He descended on her hungrily, devouring her lips with his own and covering her body with his.

"Oh, and now might be a good time to tell you that Mother knows too. She caught me coming home the other morning and just kind of guessed where I had been."

"Ouch" he yelped when she bit the tendon in his neck harshly. "You bit me! That's going to leave a mark Beckett."

"Good. Don't _ever_ discuss your mother in bed again Castle. Or anyone else for that matter." She growled before forcing his sweatpants down over his hips.

"Yes ma'am" he quipped back, reaching for the buttons on the shirt she had stolen.

She looked up at him through her eyelashes and bit her lip coyly as the shirt fell open. "Kate, you- you don't have any underwear on! Are you trying to kill me?" he gasped, pushing the shirt off her shoulders and flinging it across the room.

"No, if I killed you then I couldn't do this." She retorted, starting at his collarbone and kissing her way down his body.

"Kate you don't have to- Ah" he groaned as she enveloped him in the wet heat of her mouth. Taking him shallow at first, flicking her tongue over the head of his cock, relishing the salty drop of pre-cum leaking from the slit.

He lay flat on his back, gripping the sheet tightly in his fists, trying desperately to let her be in control without gripping her head or thrusting his hips towards her.

She worked him over like a pro, gripping the base with one hand and stroking rhythmically and cupping his scrotum in her free hand, testing the weight and squeezing gently in time with her strokes. Releasing him with her hands she opened her jaw wider and began to bob her head up and down his length, taking him in deeper.

No longer able to resist completely he reached down to tangle his fingers in her hair but still not putting any pressure against her head. He let out a groan when the last of his length slipped into her mouth, his head nestled against the back of her throat. _Does this woman have no gag reflex at all? Must be one perk of spending time with dead bodies for a living. _He mused before she brought him back with a wicked twist of her tongue against the underside of his shaft.

"Kate you have to stop" he begged, pulling her gently upwards with his fingers still tangled in her brunette locks as he felt the tightening of an impending orgasm coiling at the base of his spine.

She released him with a wet pop and licked her lips grinning as she shimmied out of her pants.

He shucked his shirt and grabbed her, rolling her underneath him and devouring her lips with his own.

"No Rick, I want you inside me" she demanded when he started to make his way down her body to return the favor. Instead, he checked her readiness with two fingers, causing her hips to buck against his hand.

"Jeez, Kate your soaked." He commented in amazement as he climbed back up her body and aligned himself with her entrance.

"Just get on with it" she panted out a warning, pushing her hips upwards towards his straining erection, trying to get some semblance of penetration.

"Yes dear" he smirked back at her taking himself in hand and sliding his length up and down the apex of her thighs. Parting her slick folds, causing her to gasp when he passed over her clit before he finally stopped teasing and push forward, sinking into her.

"Yes" she hissed wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him towards her so she could press her lips against his pulse point, sucking and biting before soothing the spot with her tongue, intent on marking him as hers.

He pushed into her slowly, inch by inch, causing her body to stretch to accommodate him. Finally, their hips met and he paused there, just luxuriating in the feel of her surrounding him.

"Castle, move. Please" she begged shifting her hips, desperate to get some sort of friction.

He heeded the warning in her tone that she couldn't take much more teasing and grabbed her legs, shifting them so that they rested on his shoulders, he began to pull out of her as slowly as he had pushed in.

His thrusts began to speed up as his control slipped a little.

"Faster. I need it faster" she instructed, causing him to speed up even further, the slapping sounds of their bodies meeting filling the room.

He pushed forwards farther, forcing her legs up towards her body even more and allowing him to penetrate her farther at a slightly different angle. Her moans and writhing below him cluing him in to the fact that this was really doing it for her.

As he felt that tension coiling inside his body again he felt his control snap until he was plunging in and out of her with abandon, all sense of rhythm forgotten.

She reached down to rub her finger frantically against the little bundle of nerves.

"Castle!" she called out, shattering into a thousand pieces as pleasure coursed through her body in a tidal wave of sensation. Moments later he thrust fully into her and followed her over the edge, spilling his seed into her body, still fluttering against him.

He rolled off of her as he began to come down from his high, both of them laying side-by-side gasping and panting for breath.

"Still worried about getting me sick?" he enquired when he had enough breathe and brainpower to speak again.

"Shut up" she growled, elbowing him weakly in the side.

The pair suddenly became aware of the ringing of a cellphone echoing throughout the loft. He looked at her in confusion. "I thought you weren't on call this weekend?"

Rolling over, she grabbed the offending object off the side table, her eyes widening and a laugh escaping her kiss swollen lips before she turned it for him to see.

_Lanie: 12 missed calls_

* * *

**A/N Cont: So what do you think? I can assure you Lanie and the boys won't take this laying down. The next chapter will include lots of reactions from various people. I'd still love to hear what you guys think, what your favorite parts are that you'd like to see more of and what new things you would enjoy reading in this story. Anything helps. Oh, and can I just say that I absolutely loved "Deep Cover"? We don't get to see playful Beckett very often and I thought Caskett was adorable in this episode, especially that first scene in the kitchen.**


	7. Reactions

**A/N: Here's another update for you all. I just want to reiterate how great you've all been. Without further ado, here's some of the reactions from the people surrounding Caskett.**

* * *

The next week had brought the group what Esposito happily referred to as a "Jack shot Jill over Bill" murder in which the husband had shot his cheating wife. It was a pretty simple case to solve, though it had taken a few days to actually find the husband, who had tried to flee the country.

The following week found the gang prepping for an upcoming trial. Even without an open case, Castle could be found sitting loyally beside Beckett's desk playing Angry Birds and just generally seeing how well he could distract her and the boys from their work before she threatened him with bodily harm.

First thing Monday morning, however, found just the three detectives present in the squad room. Beckett was staring at her computer monitor lost in thought of the man she had left to sleep in that morning. One thing she had learned about Richard Castle was that he was most definitely not a morning person. The boys were engrossed with trying to watch her without getting caught. Castle was the only one authorized to watch Kate Beckett without suffering her wrath.

"When do you think they started up?" Ryan piped up from where he was filling out paperwork at his desk.

"I don't know bro. I can't believe we didn't notice it though." Esposito responded, stealing a quick glance up at his boss.

"I guess she has been… happier lately but I didn't really think much of it."

"Well, if even Lanie doesn't know when exactly it happened then how are we supposed to figure it out?"

The question elicited an answering shrug from the Irish detective.

"I'll tell you one thing. I wouldn't want to be Beckett when Lanie gets ahold of her though."

"I'm with you on that one bro." both men shuddered at the thought of the fiery Latina woman turning her questions and annoyance on either of them and felt a pang of sympathy for their boss.

* * *

Beckett finally tore her attention back to the present and started in on the paperwork piled up on her desk that she was supposed to be reviewing for the trial. As she flipped through the papers she realized that she was missing one of the ME reports.

"Hey, boys, do either of you have the ME's report on the Valduarez murder? I don't have the last page."

Both Ryan and Esposito answered in the negative.

"Alright, well, I'll go see about getting another copy of it. If Castle shows up before I get back, let him know I'm with Lanie. It could be a little while." She muttered the last part under her breath.

After having ousted her new relationship to the boys, she had turned off her cellphone for the weekend and ignored any and all calls from the feisty ME. She had been hoping to avoid the coming talk for a little longer but she really did need that paper and work came first. She just hoped she was prepared to confront her best friend.

Sighing, she stood up and made her way out of the precinct and into her Crown Vic before driving to the morgue.

"Katherine Beckett" echoed out as soon as the woman in question opened the door to the morgue, causing her to cringe at the tone in her friend's voice.

"Hey, Lanie" she managed to squeak out, not yet making eye contact with the other woman.

"Don't you 'hey Lanie' me girl. I can't believe you didn't tell me that you and writer boy were finally getting your freak on!"

"Oh, trust me Lanie, it's definitely writer man now." She grinned despite herself, once again caught up in memories of her weekend.

"Kate? Beckett? Hello!" Lanie yelled, waving her hand in front of her friend's face until she finally blinked, focusing on the here and now. "Glad to see you're back with me. That good is it?" she asked, her sense of curiosity overcoming her annoyance at being kept out of the loop.

"You have no idea" the brunette smirked.

"Well, I can't say that I'm not happy for you. We've all been waiting a long time for you two to finally get your act together, you know?"

"Yes, Lanie I know."

"So when did this all happen? And what changed?"

"Let's just say I realized what was important in life after investigating Royce's murder in L.A. And that's all the detail you're getting."

"What? Come on girl, you have to give me more than that!"

Beckett bit her lip, wondering just how much to tell her best girlfriend about what had actually transpired in that hotel room.

Little did the two know that a certain red-headed intern was standing in the hallway to the offices, listening to everything that was being said up to this point.

* * *

When Alexis arrived at the morgue that morning there was no one in site. It was Perlmutter's day off and Lanie must have been in her office or the restroom. Unphased the teen made her way back to the storage room and hung up her lightweight jacket that had protected her from the chill still hanging in the spring air in the mornings.

Making her way back out to the main area of the morgue, she noticed that there were two very familiar female voices talking. Normally, Alexis wasn't one to eavesdrop but she heard Lanie's nickname for her father and decided to hang back.

Her eyes widened in shock when she took in what the two women were saying. Her dad and Kate were together?

This revelation made her think back to the past couple weeks. Of course, how could she not have seen it?

_Alexis suspected her dad had met someone recently. Since his break-up with Gina he hadn't spent a night away from home. Sure he had plenty of late nights at the precinct but he was always home in the morning. Not to say that he hadn't been home every morning this week since his return from California, but she knew he hadn't spent the night in his own bed more than once that week. _

_One morning she heard him coming in early in the morning, just before her alarm was set to go off. Another night, he had been home for supper and to watch a movie with her but when she went downstairs to get a drink in the middle of the night, her father's door had been open and he wasn't in his bed. In fact, he wasn't in the apartment at all. _

_Then, that next week after her spa trip with Grams had been the night that she knew for certain that her father had a new woman in his life. Alexis had originally planned to spend the night with Paige and her family, but their plans had fallen through at the last minute. When she returned home that night, she expected to find her father parked in front of the television with his x-box or locked away in his office writing. _

_What she found instead was a lit up apartment with no one in sight. Unfortunately for her, that didn't mean the apartment was empty._

_The first thing the teen saw upon entering the loft was that there was clothing scattered around the living room; shirts, pants, a pair of high heeled boots were flung towards the kitchen, even a lacey bra was hanging off the lamp behind the couch._

_If that evidence wasn't damning enough, the sound of a grunting and a woman moaning, loudly, were echoing from her father's bedroom._

_Alexis stood in the entryway, frozen for a moment before it filtered into her brain what was happening. She turned and walked right back out of the apartment, calling everyone she could think of until she found somewhere else to spend the night._

Oh God, that had been Kate she'd heard moaning from her father's bedroom that night. How would she ever look the woman in the eye again?

It wasn't that she wasn't happy for the couple. Even she had seen the attraction that existed between the brunette detective and her father, but she really didn't want to walk in on a scene like that ever again. It was even worse now that she knew who the woman was instead of being able to believe it was just some blonde bimbo that would be gone in a week and she would likely never meet.

Deciding she'd heard enough, the girl cleared her throat and continued the rest of the way into the morgue.

The two women stopped talking immediately, Lanie looking smug and Kate looked panicked.

"H-hi Alexis." Kate greeted, running her hand through her long tresses, her embarrassment clearly showing through.

"Hi Detective Beckett, Dr. Parish."

"Alexis, you know you can call me Kate." The woman stated, still looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"Well, I guess that would be appropriate since it seems like I'll be seeing a lot more of you now. Isn't that right Kate?" the redhead asked before turning on her heel and walking back out, leaving the detective spluttering a reply behind her.

Yes, she was happy that her father and Kate were now together, the woman was good for him, but that didn't mean she wanted to know any more of the intimate details of their life than she already did.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the precinct, Castle stepped off the elevator with two cups of coffee in hand. Finding his girlfriend's desk empty he dropped off her coffee and approached the boys.

"Where's Beckett?"

"Oh, she's just down getting grilled by Lanie. Speaking of, how long did you two think you could keep this from us?"

"Yeah bro, we are trained detectives you know?"

"Look, guys, it was nothing personal. We just wanted some time to ourselves before we told everyone."

"Yeah, whatever you say Castle." Ryan replied before standing up and grabbing Castle by the arm and dragging him into an empty interrogation room, followed closely by Esposito.

Once the interrogation room door was closed, Esposito began.

"Now, bro, you know we like you and all, but Beckett is like a sister to us."

"Yeah, and we protect our family." Ryan added in.

"Right. So I'm only going to tell you this once, so listen carefully. If you hurt her, no one will ever find your body."

Normally the man in question was thankful for Javier's protectiveness of the female detective, but right this moment, the man was downright scary.

"Do you understand what we're telling you Castle? We will hurt you, and Lanie will gladly get rid of any and all evidence. That is, assuming Beckett herself doesn't get to you first." Ryan emphasized and Castle couldn't help but agree with him that it was unlikely the boys would be able to kill him before Beckett would if he ever screwed up, but he wasn't going to tell them that.

"Look, guys. You know me, you know how I feel about her. I would never intentionally hurt Kate. I give you my word."

"Right, so long as that's understood, we need to reschedule our Call of Duty day since you're girlfriend kicked us out the other day." And just like that everything was back to normal between the three men.

"Yeah, Castle, what's up with that anyways? You're so whipped dude."

"How can you call me whipped, Honeymilk." Castle retorted, causing Ryan to realize his shoelaces were suddenly very fascinating.

"Ha, he's got you there man." Esposito admitted.

"Really though, we'll have to enlist Lanie to get Beckett away for the day so we can play. I've heard the new graphics are amazing." Ryan finally got back on point, taking the interest away from him.

"Speaking of, I wonder how the girls are doing. I hope they haven't injured each other yet…"

* * *

**A/N Cont: I hope I did everyone justice and kept them all in character. I will say I much prefer writing Alexis' thoughts in the context of the getting together before the shooting and all the Season 4 drama. She's a lot less accepting after everything that happened that summer and it's fun to write her as still being mostly carefree and young. Up next we'll continue on with the canon episodes and keep things moving along. I'd love to hear what you guys think so far and what you see coming up.**


	8. Dinner

**A/N: I got a request for more Castle and Beckett and here it is. I hope you enjoy. Also, bonus points go to whoever can find both Season 5 references in this chapter, one is much more noticeable than the other.**

* * *

"Your boys are scary Kate." Castle told her once they were both seated at her desk with fresh coffees.

"You want to talk about scary, you should have seen Lanie. Not to mention your daughter."

"My daughter? What happened with Alexis."

Beckett looked at him meaningfully, well aware that they were still seated in the bullpen.

"It's nothing major Castle, don't worry. I'll tell you later ok?"

"You do realize that by telling me not to worry, it's just going to make me worry more, right?"

"Look, I promise to tell you everything later but now's not the time."

"Alright. But I'm holding you to that." He informed her, still trying to figure out what his daughter could possibly have done to scare someone like Kate Beckett. Sometimes having an author's imagination was more of a curse than a blessing.

"Castle, I can hear you thinking from over here. Calm down and help me get these papers organized." She ordered, handing him a stack of files.

"Yes ma'am" he quipped back, watching her carefully and catching the upturned corners of her lips before she could hide her amused smile completely.

The two sat in silence for a while after that. He organized that files into the correct order while she read them over to re-familiarize herself with the details of the case for when she had to testify in court.

"Hey, I have a great idea. Why don't you come have dinner with us tonight? I can cook my famous pasta carbonara for everyone. Mother already knows, but we don't have to say anything about being together. It's not like we've never had supper together as friends before and-"

She finally cut of his rambling by gently grabbing his upper arm with her hand.

"Castle, relax. Alexis already knows about us, and I'd love to come have supper with your family tonight." She admitted, dipping her head to catch his eyes.

"Really?" he asked, surprised that she would give in so easily.

"Yes really. It's just after four now. Why don't you go ahead and take off to get supper made and I can get off work and be ready by seven. Sound good?" she asked smiling gently at him.

His heart swelled as he looked at the woman in front of him. She really was trying to make this work and wanted to have dinner with his family as a couple. At a time like this, he couldn't deny her anything.

"Of course, that sounds wonderful. I'll see you at the lot in a few hours then."

He stood up and put his jacket on before turning back to her. His blue eyes met her steady gaze once more and he found himself lost in the expressive hazel depths.

"I so wish I could kiss you right now." He breathed out, his eyes flicking to her slightly parted lips before trailing back up to her eyes once more.

"Yeah, I know." She responded, standing up as well looking at him tenderly.

They were lost in a world of their own then, no one else existed outside the bubble of silence that was surrounding them. He considered, trying to find a way to convey everything she meant to him without giving away their relationship to the entire precinct. She may have been alright with their family, both blood and not, knowing about them, but he also knew how fiercely independent she was and that Beckett would have having everyone else know about them.

Glancing down at himself, he came up with the perfect idea. He gave her a meaningful look and extended his hand out. She look down at his hand and then back up again, confusion written on the sharp planes of her face. He allowed a small smile and nodded to her in encouragement.

Finally she reached out and wrapped her small hand around his own, their eyes locked on one another.

"This is me softly touching your face, pulling you in for a long, slow kiss." He told her tenderly watching the ways her eyes lit up and her mouth stretched into a wide grin at his words.

"And this is me kissing you back," she responded, glancing down at where they were joined "running my hands through your hair." Her thumb rubbing small circles against the smooth, soft webbing between his thumb and index finger.

"Best handshake ever." He told her, his voice low, intimate.

"Yeah" she agreed, her smile stretching wider before she ducked her head in embarrassment, breaking their eye contact.

The moment dragged on until he realized that their firm grip and his charged emotions were causing perspiration to break out along his palm.

"I think my hand is getting a little sweaty." He informed her, breaking the contact.

"I know, it's kinda gross." She replied, pulling her hand back and subtly wiping it on her slacks.

"Sorry" he whispered, whether it was for his wet hand or for breaking the moment was unclear.

"No worries." She put him back at ease with a gentle smile before turning back to the work on her desk, clearly indicating that it was time they parted.

He gave her one more, long look before making his way out of the precinct.

* * *

Castle opened the door and promptly pulled Beckett into his arms, their lips crashing together hungrily.

He finally released her lips but still held her close a few long seconds later leaving the woman panting and looking up at him with wide eyes. "Castle what was that? Your family is here, remember?"

"Kate, I told you I wanted to kiss you hours ago. I couldn't wait any longer. Besides, they both know now. How does Alexis know by the way?"

At this she looked down, no longer willing to meet his eyes, and studied her fingers as she twined them together nervously.

"She may have, ah, heard me and Lanie talking about you down in the morgue."

"And what were you saying about me Beckett?" he asked, an amused glint in his eye, "Where you telling her about how ruggedly handsome I am or how good I am at making you scream when I-"

She placed a hand over his mouth, muffling the rest of what he was going to say.

"Castle! Your seventeen year old daughter and mother are somewhere in this apartment. Shut. Up." She hissed at him, looking around as if expecting a red head to appear at any second.

"Oh, right." He capitulated, finally releasing her from his arms. "Well, either way, supper is just about ready. You're welcome to go change in my room and by the time you're done dinner should be served."

Her exasperation melted as she regarded at the man in front of her. "I missed you too Castle" she whispered as she stepped forward and placed a soft, chaste kiss against his lips before turning and walking into the bedroom.

As promised, the last of the dishes were just being placed on the table when she emerged from his room. "Hi" Alexis greeted the detective as she approached the family.

"Yes, hello darling" Martha chimed in from where she was pouring the wine.

"Martha, Alexis," she acknowledged, her eyes roving over the food spread out before her, "Castle, wow, you've really outdone yourself this time." She told him, smiling at the writer tenderly.

"Nothing but the best for you" he replied, returning her grin.

"Wow Dad, that was cheesy even for you." Alexis pointed out, setting down the salad. "Sit wherever you want Kate" the teen informed her, indicating the table.

She took the seat directly across from Castle and sat down with a long sigh, a feeling of family and belonging that she had long missed flooding through her system and bringing a soft smile to her features.

They began to eat in a comfortable silence but after some time it started to become awkward as no one seemed certain where to start. Finally, Alexis decided to break the ice, "So, when did you two get together?" she asked, looking down at her plate innocently.

Kate choked slightly on the bite of food in her mouth, not expecting the girl to be so straightforward right away, but she supposed she should have expected it. She was Castle's daughter after all.

Speaking of the man, he was just staring at her wide-eyed, not knowing how much she wanted to share.

She swallowed the food in her mouth and took a sip of wine before answering, "We got together while we were in Los Angeles, Alexis." The detective admitted, "I finally realized what was important and that life is too short to waste time on regrets."

"Hear, hear" the actress agreed, holding her wineglass up in a toast. "Words to live by my dear" she continued.

"You would know, Mother" Castle chimed in for the first time, his eyes not leaving his girlfriend, amazed at how much she had opened up from the hardnosed detective he had first met nearly three years before.

"I'm happy for you guys" Alexis admitted in a soft voice, finally looking up from her plate to meet the adult's eyes and the tension in the room went down significantly.

After that the rest of the dinner went smoothly with conversation flowing easily from one topic to another. When everyone had finished eating, Martha excused herself upstairs to digest her food in peace.

"In other words, she doesn't want to have to help with the clean-up." Castle informed her, standing up to take his plate to the kitchen. Kate following behind him with her own dishes, feeling completely at home in the loft.

Kate insisted that she and Castle could handle doing the dishes and that Alexis was free to finish some reading she wanted to get done for one of her classes. This found the couple side by side at the sink with Kate washing and Castle drying and putting the dishes away.

"Well, that could have gone worse." Kate commented as she handed the writer a plate.

"I told you there was nothing to worry about. They both love you. That wasn't going to change just because we're dating now." He reminded her, placing a kiss to her temple.

"I guess you're right Castle" she relented, reflecting on how natural dinner had felt with the family.

"Hey, can I get that in writing?" he quipped, dancing out of the way before she could whip him with the dishtowel draped over her shoulder.

"Dream on, writer boy, dream on"

"Oh but you forget detective, my dreams do come true." He reminded her, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

She stopped what she was doing, her hands still in the warm soapy water and allowed her head to rest back against his shoulder.

He nuzzled her neck, peppering it with small kisses, trailing up her jaw and to the spot behind her ear that always made her melt.

She turned in his arms so that she was facing him, laying her wet hands against his chest meeting his lips in a searing kiss.

He lowers his hands to her ass, copping a feel before grabbing her thighs and pulling upwards. She took the hint and wrapper her legs around his waist, their groins coming into delicious contact.

She rolled her hips against him, swallowing the groan that emitted from deep in his throat. He set her down on the counter but she stayed wrapped around him, not willing to relinquish their contact.

"Hey Dad, have you seen my Chemistry book?" a voice called down the stairs followed by the sound of approaching footsteps.

The couple in the kitchen froze with her head buried in his shoulder and his hands on the button of her jeans.

She pushed him away quickly and hoped down off the counter but nothing could be done about their heaving breath or arousal flushed faces.

"Oh, did I interrupt something?" Alexis asked arrived at the lower level and took in their disheveled appearance.

"No Pumpkin, but I'm just um going to take Kate home now." He answered and never had the detective been so grateful for his quick ability to come up with a cover story, even one as bad as that, since she was drawing a complete blank.

Completely forgetting the dishes the couple grabbed their coats and made their way to the door.

"Good night Alexis" the detective said, before being wrapped in the girl's arms, taking the woman by surprise before hugging her tightly in return.

"Night Kate" she replied against the woman's shoulder.

"Good night Dad" the girl said also giving her father a hug. "See you in the morning" she replied, nonchalantly before turning and heading back up the stairs.

The writer stared after her for a moment, wondering when his little girl had grown up, but then more pressing matters were brought to his attention, namely the tightening that had developed in his pants when Kate had been wrapped around him on the kitchen counter.

"Let's go" he said turning to her and grabbing her hand.

"Yes" she agrees easily, following the writer out the door, a completely different heat now consuming her than the warmth that had spread through her chest when saying goodbye to his daughter.


	9. Games

**A/N: Sorry guys, I know this one took a little longer than normal but I hope it's worth it. A nice fluffy chapter for you all to balance out the angst yet to come.**

* * *

Castle and Beckett were cuddled together on her couch, a movie playing on the television in the background, the day after they closed the Amber Middleberry case.

"Castle, she's always going to be your little girl, but she is growing up. You knew this day was coming" she tried to comfort him, giving his knee a gentle squeeze.

"Yeah but she isn't supposed to be trying to grow up even faster than normal! My baby wants to graduate early and then leave me to go to school in California. What am I supposed to do?"

"You need to let her go if that's what she wants. The harder you try to hold on, the harder she's going to pull away. Give her some space and I promise she'll come back to you. She loves you."

He rested his head on her shoulder, breath huffing against her neck.

"Alright, I'll tell you what. We all have the weekend off. Why don't we have the guys over tomorrow and take your mind off things?" she offers, leaning back into him.

"Ooh I'll do one better, why don't we take everyone up to the Hamptons for the weekend?" he asked, his body tensing slightly in excitement.

Not able to deny him anything when he's feeling so low, she agrees and pulls out her phone to text Ryan and Esposito.

* * *

The group met at the loft the next morning and drove together in Castle's SUV to the house in the Hamptons.

"Wow, this is beautiful." Kate mentioned as they pulled into the circular drive, staring up at the impressive mansion. "Castle, you never told me this place was so big."

"Yeah man, why would you want to live in Manhattan when you've got a place like this?" Esposito asked, also staring at the house in wonder.

"This is a great place to get away and write but I wouldn't want to live out her permanently. The city will always be my home." He commented, seemingly unaffected by his friends' amazement.

They gathered their suitcases and made their way into the house. After leading the group upstairs, he swept his arm out in front of him, "Take any room you want up here guys except for the first one on the right and the second to last on the left. Those belong to Mother and Alexis, but the rest are free for anyone. The master bedroom is on the other side of the house." He informed them, stepping out of their way so the rest of the group could inspect the rooms.

"Oh thank God. I don't really want to know what it is you two do in your bedroom." Ryan muttered as he walked past them.

"Who says it's just the bedroom Ryan?" Castle quipped back, earning him an unamused glare and an elbow in the ribs from his girlfriend and a look of disgust from the two detectives.

Later that evening the group was once again assembled together, but this time in one of the living areas of the house. "So, what is there to do around here Castle?" Lanie asked, having declined his offer of an official tour.

"Well, there's every video game system known to man in here," He offered, but quickly moved on at the unimpressed looks on the girls faces. "and there's the heated pool and the hot tub."

"It's way too cold for that." Jenny commented, putting an end to that thought.

"Well, we could always just crack out the alcohol then." He joked, but was met by five other thoughtful expressions.

"Really guys, that's what you want to do?" he asked images of Kate in a bikini floating around in his brain.

"Well the whole reason we're here is to relax." Kate pointed out, smiling up at him.

"I don't have any beer" he informed them, pulling a bottle of vodka out of the liquor cabinet.

The boys scoffed but he couldn't deny that Kate and Lanie's eyes had lit up at the sight of the bottle.

"Oh, I know, why don't we play a drinking game?" Jenny questioned as they all settled around the table. Esposito groaned but everyone else's interest had been peaked. "What kind of drinking game?" Castle asked, strip poker immediately coming to mind.

"Not that one" Beckett said sternly, poking him in the shoulder. Everyone else around the table gave him confused looks until they caught Castle's leer as he turned his gaze on his girlfriend.

"I agree" Ryan chimed in quickly to forestall any argument.

"Well what about truth or dare?" Jenny asked, looking around at the group.

"What are we, in college?" Esposito asked, unimpressed by the suggestion.

"Ooh, now that reminds me of a game." His girlfriend chimed in, her expression thoughtful. "We always played never have I ever at school. It was always interesting and was definitely a good game with shots." She informed the group.

Kate looked uncertain but everyone else seemed to be considering her suggestion carefully. "Oh why not? It could be fun." Castle commented, giving the female detective a nudge. "What's the matter Kate, afraid I'll learn all your dirty secrets?" he teased turning to face her.

"No, I'm more concerned about them learning my secrets." She answered, indicating Ryan and Esposito who were looking up at the ceiling innocently.

"Well we'll just make a deal that nothing we say leaves this room." Lanie suggested, knowing there were things that may come up she didn't want to be harassed about after tonight either.

Once everyone seemed to be in agreement, Castle retrieved a handful of shot glasses and filled them with vodka. "Who wants to start?" he asked, excitement filling his tone.

"I will," Jenny answered quickly, her hand shooting up into the air, "Never have I ever gotten a tattoo." She stated watching the people around her expectantly. Esposito, Kate, Castle, and Lanie all reached for a shot to no one's surprise.

"What did you get?" Jenny asked Lanie who was sitting beside her. "I have the Chinese characters for 'inner strength' on my hip" she answered on a wince after downing her shot.

"Semper Fi on my shoulder" Esposito offered up, everyone turning to look at Castle.

A collective snicker went around the table when he answered, "I have the Superman symbol on my butt. I was drunk" he offered as an explanation which seemed to be accepted.

"It's my mom's name and birthday on my hip" Beckett answered, looking sadly down at her hands.

"Never have I ever been out of the country" Lanie said quickly, trying to keep her friend from becoming upset. Kate gave her a grateful smile as she, Castle, and Esposito all took a shot.

The game continued on for several rounds, the statements becoming more bold and racy as the alcohol began to take effect.

"Never have I ever had sex in a public place." Ryan said on his next turn. Looks were shared around the table before all four, Castle, Beckett, Lanie, and Esposito reached for a shot. Lanie choked on her drink and pointed an accusing finger at her best friend. "When did that happen?" she demanded. Ryan just looked from his partner to his boss, eyes wide.

"I could ask you the same question" Kate shot back, squirming uncomfortably in her seat. The woman stared at each other for several long seconds in a battle of wills. "It was the precinct." Castle finally broke on his girlfriend's behalf.

"Dude, really?! I won't be able to look at that place the same way again now" Esposito moaned into his hands, trying to wipe the images of the two of them getting it on in the break room or interrogation room from his mind.

"Neither will I" the writer responded with a dreamy look on her face

"Well what about you two?" Beckett asked accusingly, rolling her eyes at her boyfriend.

"It was the morgue of course." Lanie answered matter-of-factly, no longer concerned about admitting her answer now that she had gotten one from her friend.

"Ew really, that's gross" Ryan grumbled, the Irishman now scarred for life.

"Never have I ever been walked in on by a parent." Esposito called out eager to move on.

"Never have I ever walked in on my parents." Kate continued after Castle and Jenny had taken their shots, Castle taking another and being joined by Lanie and Ryan this time.

"Never have I ever kissed someone of the same sex" Castle said when his turned came around, not missing the look shared between Kate and Lanie before both women reached for a shot.

"Wow, what? You two?" he squeaked out, looking at Beckett with wide, questioning eyes.

"Down boy. We were at a club and some guys wouldn't leave us alone so we kissed to convince them we weren't interested." She explained, an amused glint in her eye.

"Oh, so it was just a short peck then." He clarified looking a little like someone had stolen his Christmas presents from him.

"Of course not writer boy. It took a real kiss to convince a couple of horny men that we meant it, they wouldn't have believed anything less." Lanie's confession bringing the excitement back to his expression.

The game continued until everyone was well past tipsy and Esposito declared that he had heard more than he ever wanted to know about Castle and Beckett's sex life, to which his girlfriend replied that she hadn't heard nearly enough.

Regardless, the gang decided to call it a night and said goodnight before making their way to their own bedrooms.

* * *

The next morning Kate blinked her eyes open and just as rapidly closed them again, trying to block out the bright light that felt like it was boring into her head. Not yet ready to sit up, she reached out with her arm, feeling for Castle. When she couldn't find him she opened her eyes at a squint and turned her head to see the empty bed beside her. _Where could he have gone?_ She wondered to herself. It wasn't until she turned her head to look towards the bathroom that she saw the bottle of water, packet of Advil, and piece of paper sitting on the nightstand beside her.

'I'm downstairs making breakfast when you wake up. I'll have coffee ready.' Is all the note said but it still brought a smile to her face. He was such a sweet man.

Unbidden the thought of waking up to him every morning entered her mind. She allowed herself to dream for a moment before banishing the thought to the recesses of her brain. They hadn't quite been together for two months yet. It was way too early to be considering moving in, and definitely too early to be considering even more than that.

After taking the painkillers and showering she felt human again and made her way down the stairs. Her search led her to the kitchen where her boyfriend was standing at the stove. No one else appeared to be awake yet.

She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle, pressing a kiss to his shoulder blade before resting her head against his back and hugging him against her from behind.

"Thank you" she murmured softly, not relinquishing her hold.

"Always" he responded, shutting off the stove and turning in her arms so he could meet her lips in a tender kiss.

"Good morning" she whispered, somewhat shyly.

"Morning" he replied, a smile lighting up his face.

"So did you enjoy yourself last night?" she enquired, hoping the evening had been successful in making him forget his worries about his daughter going away to college.

"Of course, it was just what the doctor ordered. You're wonderful, you know that?" he asked her leaning down to capture her lips once again.

They were still sharing slow, gentle kisses when Lanie and Esposito made their way down the stairs.

"Get a room" the Hispanic man groaned in disgust while his girlfriend just regarded the couple with a knowing look.

"Shut up Javi" Kate replied, pulling away slightly but still keep her arms around the writer.

The man would never admit it but he really was thrilled for his boss and the man she was currently wrapped around. He had never seen Beckett as happy as she had been the past couple months and knew it all had to do with the man she had refused to admit her feelings about for so long. After all the heartbreak she had been through in her life, she deserved all the happiness she could get.

**Thoughts?**


	10. The 3rd Cop

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Castle. If I did, there would have definitely been a new episode tonight.**

**A/N: Sorry everyone, I know it's been a lot longer since the last update than I normally take but this chapter has kicked by butt. It's by far the longest one I've written to date and was difficult to figure out how much to put in and where to end it. Going through the episode, I was at 1000 words before I was 5 minutes in, so I had to do more planning with this one than normal to keep it from being ridiculously long and having way to much information that would just detract from the story. On the bright side it's cold enough here that classes have been cancelled tomorrow and I know exactly where the next chapter is going so it should be much faster in coming than this one was. I hope you all enjoy it.**

* * *

It had been nearly a month since the team had spent the weekend in the Hamptons and things had been going well for Castle and Beckett. Now that everyone knew, she was spending more and more time at the loft and Castle was considering asking her to move in with him. He just had to be sure it was the right time so he didn't scare her away by asking for too much commitment.

This particular Thursday morning found Beckett at the prison, waiting to meet with Lockwood once again. She wanted this case to be over with, she wanted to be able to move on with her life, with Castle, and to get justice for her mother. She released a sigh as she pulled her mother's ring by its chain out from under her shirt. Her past regrets and hopes for the future swirling in a confusing mass in her head just like the twirling of the ring on the chain.

The buzz of the door unlocking snapped her attention back to the present and she put the ring away again. She faked a laugh as Officer Riker tried to offer her today's special of a serial arsonist and declined as kindly as she could before getting back on task and asking to see Lockwood. She knew the officer meant well but she just wanted to see the man who had been hired by the mastermind behind her mother's murder. She wanted this to end so she no longer had to get up early out of the bed she had shared with Castle to go to the prison week after week. She wanted to live her life fully again.

She listened with disinterest as Officer Riker sent through the request to visit Lockwood, her attention only drawn to the man when he turned to speak to her directly.

"Lockwood's no longer in administrative segregation." He spoke, causing ice water to run through her veins. She knew in the back of her mind what was happening but had to ask anyways, "Where is he?"

Her fears were answered when he responded, "He was moved to general population about an hour ago."

"What?! He was in ad-seg for a reason, you've got to get him out of there now!" She demanded, even though she already knew in her gut that it was too late. She was too late. Again.

Impatiently, she continued explaining to Riker, "There's a prisoner in the general population, Gary McCallister, Lockwood is going to kill him the first chance he gets."

This finally got the man's attention and he picked up the phone again to make the call to the other guards to mobilize. After that it was a blur of action. Someone handed Kate a bullet proof vest and she drew her gun before following the guards through the prison to the general population section. As they arrived at McCallister's cell she realized that she had been right. They were too late. There stood Lockwood, a bloody knife in his hand and McAllister with his throat cut lying on the bed.

She stared into his eyes as the cuffed him once again, but this time, instead of the feeling of failure that one would expect to run through her veins, she felt victory. Finally, after all this time, they had new leads to follow. They had another chance.

* * *

After making sure Lockwood was dealt with properly, Beckett made her way back to the precinct to find Castle already there waiting for her. He gave her a questioning look at the expression on her face, so different from the usual disappointment.

Motioning for him to follow her, she made her way into the break room. He had already heard some parts of the story from the boys when she had called to get them started on tracing how Lockwood was transferred and who could have done it. She explained what had happened in its entirety while making herself a cup of coffee, answering his questions the best she could.

"I'm sorry" Castle said, taking a step forward and pulling her into his arms, breaking the no PDA rules that had been set in place early on in their relationship.

"For what?" she asked looking up at him, not pulling away from him as she enjoyed the feel of his arms around her.

"Lockwood kills Raglan, then he shanks McCallister, both of them ex-cops who had something to do with your mother's murder. He's cutting off all avenues of your investigation." He explained, sadness in his tone, as if accepting defeat.

She gave him another quick squeeze before pulling away, shaking her head as she did so. "Castle, he's not cutting them off. He's giving me new ones." She explained, a small smile gracing her features.

Seeing his look of confusion, she continued, "I've been going to that prison every week for the last four months to have a staring contest with the devil, and the devil just blinked. This is exactly what I've been looking for."

He still didn't seem entirely sure but before he could ask for clarification, Esposito and Ryan arrived with information from the prison. They informed her that only corrections officers or clerical staff could have forged the documents to get Lockwood a transfer. Once the group realized that it would have taken money or some kind of blackmail information to have gotten someone to go to that trouble.

It was almost as if she could feel the finish line in front of them sending her, and in turn her team, into action. It was times like these that it seemed almost as if Kate Beckett was an unstoppable force that no one else could match.

* * *

"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked her, carefully scrutinizing her features as she parked the Crown Vic in the garage near the courthouse.

"Really, I'm fine Castle." She answered him with a reassuring smile. "I'm in control and I'm ready for this, so let's go get the bastard."

The couple made their way into the courthouse to where Lockwood was being arraigned. Beckett put a hand on Castle's arm to signal him to stop before walking purposefully towards the front of the courtroom, thinking to herself that it was appropriate for the assassin to be locked up in a cage.

"First Raglan, and now McCallister. What are you doing, collecting the whole set?" she all but spit at him as she stood inches away from the man. "You're a real badass, Lockwood, shanking an old man in his bunk. I don't know what you think you accomplished, but this doesn't change a thing. You hear me?" she continued, "Whoever hired you, he can't hide from me."

"No Sweetheart, you got it ass backwards. You can't hide from him." The man responds, in the same soft, threatening tone.

The two stared at each other for another long moment, both refusing to back down, until the bailiff signaled that it was time for the proceedings to begin. Slowly, she turned away from him and returned to take her seat next to Castle.

As the bailiff continued to speak, three men in uniform entered the courtroom simultaneously and sat together in the middle of the front row. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was, but something just didn't seem right about them, about the way they were acting.

Castle, attentive as always, picked up on her distraction. "What is it?" he asked, his eyes also drawn to the uniforms she was watching closely.

"I don't know." She admitted, her eyes flashing towards Lockwood as he turned and looked back at the men. At this point, she knew something was wrong, but what was it?

Finally it clicked, "They're wearing chrome collar pins…" she mused aloud "NYPD's are brass." Before she could act, Lockwood turned again and motioned to the men. "Now." He ordered. She just had time to push herself and Castle to the ground as the flash-bangs went off.

It took precious seconds before her eyesight returned enough to see one of the guards escorting Lockwood out of the courtroom, but as important as it was for her to follow them, her instincts were shouting even more loudly for her to check on Castle.

"Are you ok?" she yelled over the ringing in her ears, turning to look at him. "Yeah" he answered, meeting her eyes convincingly before she turned and rushed out of the courtroom.

She fell, headlong, through the double doors to find the chains of his shackles in her hands. "Where?" she yelled, demanding that someone point her in the right direction.

"Downstairs" A woman answered, pointing towards the stairwell down the hallway. Wasting no time, Kate stood and took off at a sprint to where she had directed. Hearing voices below her, she looked down through the railing around the stairwell and saw Lockwood and his thugs several floors below her.

She took the stairs at a sprint, with no sense of her own wellbeing, until she found herself bursting through a door that led to the helicopter pad. She looked up in time to see Lockwood shut the door as the chopper readied for take-off.

She knew it was futile, but she was desperate to wipe that smirk from the hit man's face, so she emptied her clip, firing shot after shot at the retreating machine.

She stood there, breathing heavily, staring at the shrinking lights that were carrying away the only lead they had to her mother's case.

"Kate!" she heard Castle's voice from behind, filled with relief, as the doors to the roof burst open once again.

"Are you ok?" he asked, quieter, as he approached her.

Without thinking, she turned into him, bowing her head against his chest as he brought his arms around her, folding her into his embrace.

"I'll be alright." She finally responds taking several deep, relaxing breaths and pulling away from him again. He watches as she visibly pulls her defenses back up around her and squares her shoulders.

"Let's go. We need to get back to the precinct." She orders, turning back towards the stairwell with purpose in her step.

* * *

"Where are we on Lockwood's known associates?" she asked stepping out of the conference room.

"Courthouse security personnel were so used to seeing cops come and go nobody gave him a second look." Esposito answered, handing her the file so she could review it herself.

"They didn't care about anybody seeing their faces." Castle pointed out, watching his girlfriend carefully.

"Did FBI run them through facial recognition?" she asked, not able to keep the smallest note of hope from creeping into her tone.

"No hits, guys are ghosts" Espo answered again.

"Well, what about the chopper?" she asked, feeling that hope start to dive downwards.

"FAA says they flew below the thousand foot radar ceiling."

"They had to know NYPD would have helicopters searching for them so they would want to ditch their copter as soon as they could." Montgomery reminded everyone and Esposito had an answer for that too, "We got locals on the ground checking every small airfield in the tri-state area. I got nothin' so far."

That last spark was quickly dying in her eyes and Castle could tell she wasn't sure they would be able to catch these guys.

"Hey Beckett, we got something. Check your inbox." Ryan called from across the bullpen.

Once they were all seated around her desk, he continued, "So phone calls to the prison are recorded and every inmate has to make collect calls. Apparently, Lockwood made weekly calls to the same number, but week after week the person at the end of the call refused to accept the charges. Until four days ago."

With some of the determination that fueled her day and in and day out coming back to her, she played the recording of the call.

"How's the family?" the man's voice came flowing out of the computer's speakers.

"Same," an unfamiliar male voice answers in a clipped tone. "how are Charlie and Mike?" the mystery man continued.

"Good" Lockwood answered before the call ended.

The group all glanced up at each other, a million questions running through their collective minds, but Castle was the first to voice any of them, "Anything on the phone number?"

"Burner cell. Untraceable" Ryan answered disappointedly.

"Alright, check known associates named Charlie or Mike" Beckett decided.

"They're not talking about people" Esposito interrupted, "That's phonetic alphabet, military jargon. Charlie and Mike means continue mission." he continued on explaining. When Beckett didn't respond right away, Castle continued for her, "Well we know the mission wasn't McCallister. He was just a means to escape. They could have paid off anyone in general population to kill McCallister but it had to be Lockwood because they had to get him out." He theorized out loud.

"Which means Lockwood was after someone else." Beckett continued, easily catching on to his line of thought.

"Who's left?" Ryan asked, confused.

"Me" Beckett pointed out, causing Castle's head to fly around to look at her, but she wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Lockwood could have killed you in the courthouse." Montgomery reminded them, "You're not a threat. You don't know anything."

"I think I know who he's after" Castle stated and she easily recognized that look he gets when he thinks he's solved the case.

She watches him closely as he stands and goes to the murder board.

"We know that your mom was killed because she was working to free a mobster who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of an undercover Federal officer Bob Armen. We know that the real killers were renegade cops who were practicing their own form of street justice by kidnapping mobsters for ransom. These guys were also working for somebody. Somebody big. Somebody who would stop at nothing to keep his identity a secret."

"Which means there's still one loose thread out there." She continued for him as he uncapped an Expo marker and made space on the board where he wrote '3rd cop' in blocky capital letters.

"The third cop," Castle picked up the story again, "the man Joe Pulgatti saw in the ally with John Raglan and Gary McCallister the night that Bob Armen was killed. Whoever this guy is, if he's still around, he knows who's behind this whole thing."

"Which makes him Lockwood's next target." She finished.

"But we looked through the reports. There's no mention of any third cop." Esposito reminded the pair.

"Just because he's not mentioned in it doesn't mean he wasn't there." Beckett points out as she retrieves her ringing phone from her desk.

She hears Montgomery say something about putting a detail on her as she walks away, but before she can focus too much on that thought there's an officer speaking on the other end of the line saying that he is part of the Jersey State Police and that they've found a helicopter that fits their description. She turns back to let the rest of the group know and they all head towards the elevator together, eager to follow a new lead.

* * *

"Yours?" Castle asks as he examines the bullet holes in the side of the chopper.

"Yeah" she answers easily, stepping out of where she had been investigating inside the cockpit.

"That smell. Is that-" he begins but she cuts him off, "Bleach. In the cabin. They're destroying DNA evidence." She confirms for him. The boys return with information about who owns the helicopter but it doesn't seem as if that is going to lead anywhere. The chopper must have been stolen. She orders them to check out the mechanics and anyone else who had access to the hangar but isn't feeling hopeful that anything will come from it.

"Why now?" she asked as the boys walked away, desperately wanting him to come up with a theory that would make everything make sense. "Lockwood was in prison for months. Why would he make a move now?"

"Well, they had him transferred. And they broke him out of a courtroom. That takes time, planning, resources." He answered, wishing he could do more to help her but knowing that she wouldn't appreciate it if he swept her up in his arm right there in front of everyone.

"You know, I think I saw a surveillance camera outside the building. Pull the surveillance, look for a vehicle, maybe get an APB." She speaks as she turns away from him, almost as if she's talking to herself, and he knows she's having difficulty holding it together.

"Let me take you home, Kate." He speaks quietly, coming up behind her. "It's getting late, there isn't anything else you can do tonight. We can start looking through the employees tomorrow but it's too late to talk to any of them tonight. Let me make you a nice supper and we can get some sleep." He offered.

"Yeah, ok." She answered lost in thought and although he was glad she had agreed, he was more worried about her than ever that she hadn't even made an effort to fight an offer she never would agree to normally.

* * *

Castle sat upright in his bed and looked around trying to figure out what had woken him up. A glance at the clock showed that it was still the early hours of the morning and another to the other side of the bed showed that Kate was no longer lying beside him.

He threw back the bedcovers and quickly jumped out of bed, grabbing the baseball bat from underneath the edge of it. A memory of Kate stating 'me' when asked who could be left running through his mind. What if she had been taken, what if she was in trouble? He wondered in the seconds it took him to reach his bedroom door, but upon entering the living room, all the steam was taken out of him.

There she stood, in front of the window overlooking New York, a statue in the dark. He put the bat down quietly and pieced together the clues. She had allowed him to take her home from the precinct and order them Chinese. She had even eaten a decent portion. They had decided to go to bed early and, after changing into sleep clothes, had curled up together where he had drifted to sleep to the sound of her even breathing.

She must have woken up at some point and come out here to watch over her city, assuming she had slept at all. A wave of sympathy broke over him thinking about her not being able to sleep for all of the unanswered questions that must be flooding her brain.

"Hey" he whispered as he approached her, alerting her to his presence.

She didn't even turn so she must have known he was there the entire time.

"Go back to sleep, I'm alright." She replied, her arms crossed tightly across her small frame.

Ignoring her as he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and looked out the window over her shoulder. "What's going on in that head of yours?" he asked quietly in her ear.

"I just couldn't stop going over all of the case details, trying to find something I could have missed." She admitted, finally turning to slip her arms around his waist, returning his embrace.

"Well then we'll go over it together." He responded, "Come on, go sit on the couch and I'll make us some hot chocolate."

"Castle, you don't have to do that. You can go back to sleep, I'll be fine on my own." She protested even as she allowed him to guide her over to the sofa.

"If you think that I'm going to be able to sleep in there," pointing, "with you out here, then you need sleep even more than I do." He argued back, placing his hands on her shoulders to lower her into the seat.

"Mmm" she murmured back in concession, settling back into the couch.

When he returned a few minutes later, two mugs of hot chocolate in hand, she was in the same position as when he had left her, seemingly lost in her own thoughts.

She snapped out of it when he approached and smiled gratefully as she took the mug he held out in offering.

"Wow, Castle, this is great." She hummed appreciatively after taking her first sip of the warm drink, wrapping both hands around the heated ceramic of the mug.

"Thanks" he smiled back at her and taking a seat next to the detective on the couch.

"So, let's walk through this again. Arman told us he was in the ally when…"

* * *

The next morning found them both sitting at her desk in the bullpen, methodically working through the list of airfield employees who could have had access to the helicopter when Ryan practically ran towards them, excitement shining from his eyes.

"So we ran financials on everyone associated with the prison; guards, civilians, medical staff. We found a guard named Riker. He's underwater on his mortgage, maxed out his credit cards, and he was about to lose his condo." He went on to inform them that he had traced a payment to Riker the day before Lockwood was broken out and he hadn't shown up to work yet that day.

The group mobilized and rushed to find the guard with a new sense of purpose. Upon arriving at the guard's home, they found him sitting in a chair in front of the black television with a bullet hole in his head.

It was with a heavy heart that Kate called in Lanie and CSU. They had lost a good lead to these people but there was still a possibility that they would find something in his home or on his computer.

Once the ME had arrived and finished her evaluation, they were able to piece together some of what had happened. Riker had been killed the night before after completing the job. His phone records showed that he too had called the burner phone that Lockwood had been contacting during his stay in prison, presumably to negotiate prices for transferring the assassin. They also found that the money was untraceable as it had been bounced through banks in countries like the United Arab Emirates.

They continued investigating the guard and his life to see what they could find but it was clear that this was a very sophisticated operation and the man had no idea what he was getting into.

They all knew that the vital part in cracking this case was figuring out who the third cop was. Either he was the next target, or he was the one who was behind it all, but either way he would be able to answer all the questions floating around this investigation.

The boys were ordered to go back through all of Raglan and McCallister's reports and any other information that could be found about them from when they were on the force. Tensions were running high and everyone was feeling the effects of a sleepless night, causing Beckett to be more short tempered with everyone around her than she would normally be, including Castle.

Unable to take it any longer, she grabbed what case files she could take with her and decided she would go back to her apartment to look at them in peace. Castle had offered to accompany her, but she had declined. She hated hurting him, and knew he just wanted to help, but this was one of those times that she needed time to herself before she said something that she would regret. This case was playing havoc with her emotions and she had to get a handle over it, now.

Meanwhile, back at the precinct, Castle had remained to help the boys look through the old records. Without thinking he placed his drink down on one of the sheets of paper and left a wet ring on it. This turned out to be the break we needed as he realized that the striations on the paper didn't match and that the file had been altered.

Castle decided to go check in on how Kate was doing while Ryan and Esposito went to look through the records and see who could have altered the old files.

* * *

He paused with his hand raised to knock on her door, apprehension causing him to stop. He knew she wanted time, that she was having a hard time controlling herself on this case, but he also wanted her to know that she could lean on him and that he wasn't going anywhere.

With new resolve he knocked on the door and listened for her soft footsteps to approach.

When she did open the door, he could see that her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. She had clearly been crying.

"Oh Kate" he murmured, pulling her into his arms, glad that she went willingly into the comfort he offered.

"I just want this to be over with." She mumbled, holding him tighter.

Castle didn't know what he could say to comfort her. He didn't have the answers that she was looking for, so he just held her tightly, supporting her in silence for once.

They stayed that way, just inside the door, until her phone beeped with an incoming text. She pulled away from him to retrieve her phone.

"They're going to talk to a Mike Yanavich. He was in charge of the records room and graduated from the academy with Raglan and McCallister and owns a bar over on Fulton" She summarized after reading the text from Ryan.

"He would be the perfect person to be our third cop!" he theorized excitedly, "Should we go with them?"

Before she could answer, her phone chimed again, but this time it was with an incoming call. Castle read 'Montgomery' on the screen over her shoulder.

"Beckett" she answered the phone, hazel eyes locking with his blue ones.

He could hear the captain speaking on the other end of the line but couldn't understand what was being said.

"What did you find?" she asked before clicking the phone onto speaker so Castle could hear what was going on.

"Meet me in the hangar where we found the stolen chopper and I'll explain everything." The man's voice echoed out of the speakers clearly now.

"Ok, we're on our way." She spoke before hanging up the phone and turning to grab her coat off the back of the couch and walking towards the door without a word.

The silence continued during the drive to New Jersey, going unbroken until Castle's phone began to ring.

"Hello?" he answered, confused as to why Montgomery would be calling him instead of Beckett.

"Castle, Hi. I'm at the hangar where we found the chopper, can you meet me there as soon as possible?" the man requested, only confusing him further.

"Yes sir, I'm on my way." He answered before Montgomery ended the call without another word.

"That was strange." Castle commented, looking at his phone as if it would answer his questions.

"What was?" Kate asked, speaking for the first time since leaving her apartment.

"Montgomery just called to ask me to meet him at the hangar too." He explained, looking over at her.

"Hmm" she hummed, her brow furrowed in thought. "Maybe he called the whole team in, if he found something big enough." She suggested.

"Yeah, maybe.." he conceded, allowing silence to fill the car once again.

They pulled in to the hangar and parked the Crown Vic.

"Listen Castle. I want to thank you for coming to see me tonight-" she started before getting out of the car but he quickly cut her off.

"Kate, I'd do anything for you. You should know that by now." He answered, reaching over to take her hand in his own, giving it a comforting squeeze.

She just smiled softly back at him and got out of the car, knowing that he would be following her like he always did.

"Captain?" she calls as she walks into the hangar, approaching the helicopter that still bore her bullet wounds.

A door at the far end of the hangar opened, drawing their attention just as Montgomery stepped out of it and her phone chimed simultaneously.

She stopped, Castle right behind her, and looked down at her phone to find it was another text from Ryan. The blood drained from her face and she nearly dropped the phone before Castle took it from her to see what it said.

_3__rd__ Cop- It's Montgomery_


	11. Gunshots

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Castle unfortunately.**

**A/N: Another longer chapter for you and a much faster update than last time. Hope you guys enjoy.**

* * *

_3rd Cop- It's Montgomery_

Castle's eyes widened in shock, his mind not able to comprehend the sight before him. He looked up to see the man still approaching them and reached out to grab Kate's arm, trying to hold her back but she was having none of it. She pulled out of his grasp even as Montgomery revealed that he was holding a handgun in his grip.

She finally stopped about fifteen yards away from him, Castle standing a few feet farther behind her. She subconsciously reached towards her own Glock on her hip. "Put the gun away Roy" she spoke, grateful that her voice didn't betray the myriad of emotions running through her body.

"Kate I'm not going to jail for this, I can't put my family through that." He finally spoke, still holding the gun off to his side.

"Why?" she asked, taking another step forward, not having to elaborate that she wanted to know about her mother. Why he hadn't told her, why he did it.

"I was a rookie when it happened Kate." He admitted, taking his own step towards the couple. He went on to explain how he had been following the corrupt cops around and had been in the alley when Bob Armen was killed. That it had been his gun that had killed the undercover cop. How he had used her as a way to make up for his past sins, by protecting her and training her. Despite the relief she felt at finally getting some answers to the case she had been following for so long, there was still one glaring question rolling through her mind over and over again.

"Did you kill my mother?" she asked, voice never wavering and Castle couldn't help but wonder how much it was costing her to appear so calm and collected when he could see the fury that was lingering just below the surface.

"No that was years later, but she died because of what we did that night." He answered and she released a breath she hadn't even realized she had been holding. The two cops now only standing a few feet apart.

"Then who killed her?" she asked, calming infinitesimally.

The writer stood, watching them both closely as Montgomery confessed, knowing better than to speak and break the spell that was weaving it's way around the two of them.

"I don't know how but somehow he found out what we had done. He could have turned us all in. Instead, he demanded the ransom money. He took that money to become what he is, and God forgive me, but that may be my greatest sin." Montgomery continued, but it wasn't enough for Kate.

"Give me a name, you owe me that Roy" she insisted, an amount of desperation seeping into her tone.

"No Kate. I know you. I give you a name and you'll run straight at him. I may as well shoot you where you stand."

Castle knew he was telling the truth and although he hurt for his partner, he couldn't help but be grateful that she couldn't go chasing after this shadow man with her blinders on and get herself killed in the process, but the next words out of her mouth froze the blood in his veins.

"That's why you brought me here, isn't it? To kill me?" she demanded, coming face to face with her captain, Castle taking a protective step closer to her. He didn't realistically think that he would be able to stop what was happening with the two of them standing so closely but he knew, if it came to it, he had to try. He had to try to protect Kate at all costs.

"No, I brought you here to lure them." Montgomery answered quickly but Castle didn't relax a muscle.

Kate on the other hand seemed more inclined to believe her mentor, "You baited them?" she asked some degree of awe and surprise in her voice as she understood what was happening clearly.

"And I need you to leave. They're coming to kill you and I'm not going to let them, I'm going to end this." He spoke with more urgency as a car approached the hangar in the distance.

"I'm not going anywhere sir." Kate replied stubbornly.

"Yes you are," he argued back before turning to the writer, "Castle get her out of here."

"But captain I-" he started before being cut off.

"Don't argue with me this is why I asked you to come here. If you care about her, you'll get her out of here. Go, now!" he insisted, prodding Castle into action.

"Kate" he spoke, reaching out to take her arm, but once again she shook him off.

"Captain, please, you don't have to do this!" she begged, tears evident in her voice.

"This is my spot Kate, this is where I stand." He replied stoically, prepared.

"No! Sir, I forgive you. I forgive, you" she absolved him even as Castle grabbed her around the waist, refusing to release her this time.

"Castle, no, please!" she pleads with him as the tears escape her eyes and being to roll down her face. It physically hurts him to do so but he ignores her and picks her up, holding her arms down to her body as he carries her towards the door in the back of the hangar that Montgomery had entered through.

He could hear gravel crunching beneath the car's tires as it came closer and he walked faster, not wanting to drop her but he knew they had to be gone before Lockwood arrived.

She didn't stop fighting against him until he had drug her through the doorway and kicked it shut behind them.

"Shhh, Kate shh" he soothed, setting her down and gathering her up in her arms as her body shook with sobs.

"Castle let me go" she whimpered against him through the tears as he walked them both over to Montgomery's car, needing something tangible to support them both.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" he replied, holding his hand over her mouth and tilting his forehead against her own, begging her to forgive him.

They both jumped when the first gunshot echoed from the darkened hangar, followed quickly by a handful more.

She gripped him tighter in the silence that followed, seeming for the moment to have lost her will to fight and this broke his heart more than hearing her gut-wrenching sobs.

It's not until one more shot rings out in the night that she seems to come back to herself and pulls free from Castle's grasp before sprinting back to the warehouse.

He remains against the car for another long moment, not sure he can face the scene that awaits them, until he hears her scream of agony and he's off. Following in her path, he runs as fast as he can. When he bursts through the door, he finds the woman crouched over the body of her friend and mentor and his heart shatters into even smaller pieces.

He rushes forwards and collapses beside her, pulling her shaking form into his arms. He's surprised to find tears running silently down his cheeks and dropping to mix with hers on the rough concrete floor beneath them.

They stayed that way for a long time until they heard the sounds of sirens in the distance.

Kate pulled away from him and pushed herself up off the ground as the first squad car came into view. She flashed her badge to the officers and explained to them that she had received a call from her captain asking her to come to the hangar and that he had found some information pertaining to a case. Leaving out Montgomery's confession, she told the uniforms that she and Castle had arrived afterwards and had found all of the men dead in the hangar.

The men didn't seem to question her version of events when they learned that one of the men was Hal Lockwood, a prison escapee who had been charged with a multitude of murders. It seemed that someone in another part of the airfield had heard shots and had called 911 after he had fled the premises, allowing enough time for Castle and Beckett to have plausibly arrived after the shots but before the officers.

After she had finished giving her statement, Kate walked slowly back over to Castle. Both looked as if they had aged five years in less than an hour.

"God Castle, I can't believe he did that. I can't believe he was part of it. What do I do now?" she asked in desperation, wrapping her arms around his solid bulk once again.

"Kate, he did it because he cared about you like a daughter. And now, we grieve and we work to accept everything that happened tonight." He answered her the best he could, wishing he could take all her pain away from her.

She took a deep, calming breath and then another and gave him one last squeeze before pulling away. "I don't know what I'd do without you" she admitted, giving him a small, watery smile.

"The feeling is mutual Kate. I couldn't live without you either." He replied, barely able to keep more than that from spilling from his lips.

"Come on, they've got this under control. We need to call the boys." She reminded him as the Jersey State ME's van pulled into the now crowded hangar.

* * *

"Hi guys, thanks for coming so quickly." Beckett greeted Ryan and Esposito at the door.

"Beckett, what's going on?" Esposito asked as soon as they were through the door.

"Come sit down and we'll explain everything." She answered instead sweeping her arm out to indicate the living room where Castle was already seated on one side of the couch.

Her response did nothing to lessen their anxiety but they did go and sink into the armchairs, allowing Beckett to sit next to her partner, at which time she surprised them all by taking his hand in hers.

"Montgomery is dead." She spoke without wasting any time and just as quickly as they had sat down, both detectives were on their feet once again.

"What the hell happened?" Espo demanded while Ryan just stood there, staring at her in shock and disbelief.

Once they had regained their seats, Beckett explained everything that had happened after she had left the precinct and received Montgomery's call, answering their questions the best she could.

She looks at the men surrounding her, sharing their heartbreak. Castle still looks shell-shocked, Ryan has tears silently rolling down his face, and Esposito is looking across the room stone-faced, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"No one. No one outside this immediate family ever needs to know about this." she continues, realizing as she speaks that they are a family. Not in the conventional sense but in every way that matters, the four people in that room are her family as much as anyone she share's genetics with.

"As far as the world is concerned, Roy Montgomery died a hero." She finished, turning to look at each man in turn until they all met her steady gaze, even Esposito.

Although it felt like he had betrayed them, no one would argue with her because he was still their captain. He was still the man they all respected and mourned.

The group sat there in silence after that. Kate was still gripping Castle's hand in her own, taking comfort from his solid presence. When she couldn't take it any longer, she gave him one last squeeze before standing up and gathering both of her boys in a hug, an arm wrapped around either of their necks. Lending comfort and taking it at the same time. When Castle wrapped his arms around her, folding her into the middle of the tri of men, the group was complete.

"I need to go tell Lanie." Esposito is the first to speak and breaks away from the group.

"Yeah, and I should go see Jenny too" Ryan agrees, and both partners make their way towards the door.

When they're gone, Kate turns in Castle's arms to face him once again. "Let's go to bed."

* * *

After having completed their bedtime routines much more quietly than they ever have before, the couple is buried under a mound of blankets in Beckett's bed. They're spooning, bodies aligned as if they were made for each other with her head falling just below his chin. He has his arm wrapped around her stomach, resting just below her breasts, her hands resting on top of his as she cuddles back against his body.

If they weren't so close Castle never would have noticed when her body began to shake slightly.

"Kate?" he asks, tightening his arm around her.

"Just go to sleep Castle" she says quietly, but she can't keep her voice from breaking on his name.

"Not a chance" he replies as he turns her to face him so that he can see the tears that are trailing down her cheeks from her red-rimmed eyes. He can't help but wonder why she would feel the need to hide that she was crying from him, but then again Kate always has been independent and he should be thankful that she's leaned on him today as much as she has. Even as recently as a couple months ago she never would have allowed him to hold her and sooth her the way he has today.

He reaches up and gently wipes the tears from her face, but they are almost immediately replaced by more.

Their eyes meet and he can see the anguish pouring out of her hazel eyes more clearly than he ever has before and he can't help but feel broken for her, this woman who has lost so much, so many people she has trusted have been taken from her. Her mother, her training officer, and now her mentor.

He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead, then her temple, and then her cheek. The salty wetness of her tears coating his lips. Before he could pull away again, she shifted and pulled a hand up to the back of his neck, fingers playing with the baby fine hairs she finds there.

They continue to stare into each other's eyes and she puts a miniscule amount of pressure on his neck as she leans forward to capture his lips in a soft, tender kiss.

When he feels her tongue swipe across his bottom lip, he finally pulls back.

"Kate?" he asks, looking at her in confusion, noting her darkening, sorrowful eyes.

"Castle, please." She begs, and she looks so lost, he knows he would give this woman the world if she asked for it.

He meets her again and they kiss languidly, not in any hurry tonight. This night isn't about passion, or lust, it's about reaffirming life and sharing feelings that can't be described with words alone.

His hands slip underneath her shirt, formerly his shirt, as his lips blaze a path from her jaw to her collarbone, taking time to lave at her pulse point until a moan escapes from deep in her throat.

He rolls her over onto her back until he hovers above her, wondering at this woman who has him so enchanted. He's never felt like this about another human being before, and though he had sworn off marriage after Gina, he can't help but wonder if the third time really is the charm.

Nimble fingers soon have all barriers between them laying in piles on the floor around the bed. He wants to worship her body, to map it's every contour, but tonight isn't the time for that. Tonight, he stares into her expressive eyes as his fingers trail over her pubic mound and between her folds, his own ocean blue orbs widening in surprise at how wet he finds her already.

They never break eye contact as he slides a single finger into her, slowly drawing it in and out of her receptive body.

Her eyes finally shut when he slips in a second finger and his lips descend on hers once again, his tongue mimicking the motion of his fingers farther south. He continues to move, slowly but steadily, building her up and stretching her body slightly to help accommodate his length later.

"Rick, now." She insists, breaking away from his seeking lips, not able to take the slow teasing of his fingers a moment longer. She needs to feel him, to be joined with him so that she can't tell his body from her own.

She can probably count on one hand the number of times he has actually listened to her instructions, but this is one of those times, as he withdraws his finger, swiping them across her clit lightly as they trail back up her body to cup her breast.

He takes himself into his other hand and positions his head at her entrance. She wriggles her hips in anticipation, pushing forward to try to feel his length inside of her where she wants it.

He doesn't keep her waiting long as he lowers his body so that it's resting on one elbow and uses his hand to direct himself into her body.

She groans at the delicious feeling of being stretched and filled by his impressive manhood as she takes him in, inch by inch until their pelvises rest against each other.

Tonight isn't a night for exclamations and words as their lips meet once again, smothering the small moans and grunts that they draw from each other as their bodies begin to move in a slow tandem. One always chasing as the other retreats, moving in a dance as old as time, the soft glow of the city the only light illuminating their forms in the night.

He fights the urge to speed his motions, maintaining instead a slow rhythm of thrusts that push deeply into her body. As they both climb, she wraps her legs high around his waist, ankles locked to keep him close and allow him to sink that final inch into her, causing her to let out a sharp cry of pleasure that he promptly swallows.

Her climax washes over her gently, but no less powerfully that night. She doesn't scream and writhe in pleasure as she has on other occasions but her body clamps down around his as she clings to him tightly.

He continues to move throughout, prolonging her pleasure as he now seeks his own, and several strokes later his rhythm falters. His hips stutter to a stop with his length buried inside her body and he empties himself into her, his face pressed against her neck, their skin slick with sweat.

When their wet skin begins to feel the chill of the air he rolls off of her and pulls the blanket up over them once more.

This time when they try to sleep, it is with her head pillowed on his chest, both of their arms wrapped securely around the other.

* * *

It has been three long, trying days since Montgomery was shot in that hangar to protect Beckett from harm and it is the day of his funeral. All four of the gang from Beckett's team have been asked to be pallbearers and Kate can't help but feel a sense of pride for the man next to her as she takes up her handle on the coffin. When Castle had first walked into the 12th precinct he had been an arrogant playboy. But over time, he had grown, and he was now accepted as one of their own by New York's Finest. Nothing displayed this acceptance more than his being one of the people asked to carry the captain to his final resting place.

Kate remains stone-faced as she watches a weeping Evelyn Montgomery accept her husband's flag, surrounded by her daughters. She can't help but feel conflicted by the sight. The Montgomery she had known lived his life as a devoted father, husband, and cop and that was how he was being buried, but at the same time how could she reconcile that image with the man who had been keeping this terrible secret from her. He knew the answer to the biggest question in her life, and she hadn't even known.

Regardless of what the man had done wrong, nothing would have justified those two girls to have lost their father at an age not much younger than she had been when her own parent was stolen from her. She was thankful that as far as his family knew, they had the answer to who had killed him. As far as they knew, Hal Lockwood had killed him instead of being taken back into custody. Only the family of the 12th knew the truth; that the killer Kate had been seeking for so many years had now taken another person from her.

It was with this decision made that she took to the podium to speak for her fallen captain.

"Roy Montgomery taught me what it meant to be a cop. He taught me that we are bound by our choices, but we are more than our mistakes. Captain Montgomery once said to me that for us, there is no victory. There are only battles. And in the end, the best you can hope for is to find a place to make your stand. And if you're very lucky, you find someone to stand with you."

At this, she looks up at Castle, standing off to the side and finds him looking right back at her. In that moment, an understanding passes between the two of them. They both know they've found that person; that they wouldn't have it any other way because neither would want to live in a world without the other.

She gave him a small smile before continuing, "Our captain would want us to carry on the fight. And even if there is-"

"Kate!" Castle's yell cuts through the silence of the cemetery. She just has time to look up at him before a searing heat cuts into her chest and knocks the breath out of her lungs, followed by Castle tackling her to the ground, driving out any remaining air.

"Kate. Shh…. Kate. Stay with me Kate," he orders her frantically. She can tell that he's cradling her body but all sensation has abandoned her other than the burning in her chest.

"Don't leave me please. Stay with me ok?" he reverts to begging and she wishes she could promise him that she won't leave him, that she'll be fine, but she can already feel the blackness closing in around the edge of her vision.

The last thing she hears before the darkness takes over completely is his voice, "Kate, I love you. I love you, Kate."

She wants desperately to answer him; to tell him that she loves him too, always. No matter how hard she tries though she can't force the air necessary to speak into her lungs. She can't take that desperate look from his eyes. She can't fight the inevitable any longer.

* * *

**A/N cont: So this is sort of the end of part 1 of this story, I want to thank you for sticking with me so far and hope you enjoy the rest of this story too. The next chapter is going to change things up a lot. There's a little angst coming up but it's going to mostly be coated in fluff and probably some more smut so we'll see how it goes for our pair in the next few chapters. Let me know what you think?**


	12. Surprise

**A/N: A short chapter but it is coming barely 12 hours after the last one and is more of a set-up to the rest of the story line anyways.**

* * *

The next hour flies by in a blur of noise and flashes of color. Someone, either Ryan or Esposito, pulled him away from Kate. He couldn't understand how they could do that to him until he realized that it was Lanie now crouching over the body of the woman he loved.

"Someone call an ambulance, she's alive"

Lanie's words seemed to unlock the chain that had slowly been winding its way around his heart, allowing him to breathe once again. Fortunately, someone had already called 911 and he could hear the sirens approaching in the distance.

He watched in silent shock as the EMTs loaded her onto a gurney followed as if tied to her by a string as they quickly wheeled her into the back of the ambulance. He didn't even feel the hand on his arm until Esposito swung him around forcefully.

"Castle!" he shouted, trying to get the writer to focus.

"Listen man, only one of us can go with the ambulance. It has to be you. I'm going to take your family and meet you at the hospital. Do you understand me?" he asked, looking the writer directly in the eye.

Castle blinked a few times before some awareness flooded back into his system. Kate needed him, he had to get it together. He looked up to see that everyone else was already in the ambulance, waiting for him. Without a backward glance, he hurried into the back and sat in the open seat in the corner, out of the paramedics' way.

It seemed like the longest ride of his life. He knew Lanie and the EMTs were doing the best they could, but she had been shot, there was only so much they could do. Although his brain understood this to be fact, his heart skipped a beat when the line showing her heartbeat went flat. He couldn't do this without her, he needed her in his life. She couldn't die like this, they couldn't die like this.

When they arrived at the hospital he was forced to stay in the waiting room when they wheeled her towards the surgical center. Her heart had started again, but he still couldn't help but feel that this could be the last time he'd ever see her alive.

This realization stopped him in his tracks and he collapsed onto one of the chairs, not caring who was around him as he drowned in his own grief.

"Dad!" A voice yelled, a voice he knew well. He stood up in time to nearly be knocked over again by the force of Alexis flying into his arms. No matter how he was feeling, he had to be strong for his daughter, his mother. He had to believe in Kate, she was a fighter, she could pull through this.

It's been more than two hours since the woman he loved lay bleeding out in his arms on the too green grass. Lanie had returned from the surgery center minutes after his daughter and the rest of the detectives had arrived in the waiting room. Ryan and Esposito have settled down now, having made all the calls they could for the time being.

Lanie and Esposito were sitting close together on one side of the waiting room, talking quietly to each other, her eyes red and puffy from the tears she had shed.

When Martha arrived she had spare clothes with her for Castle. It wasn't until she arrived that he realized he was still covered in Beckett's blood. He didn't want to leave the waiting room in case someone had information about Kate but Lanie convinced him that they wouldn't have any news for a while so he rushed to the bathroom to change his clothes and wash his hands, trying not to retch at the sight of the red blood swirling down the drain in the porcelain sink.

"Where's my daughter?" he heard a male voice demand as he walked back down the hallway towards the waiting room. He opened the door to find that the voice belonged to Jim Beckett. As he met the man's gaze across the room, he didn't know what to say. He didn't know how much Kate had told her dad, if the man even knew they were a couple.

"How could this have happened?" the man asked, his despair evident in his every feature and action.

"We aren't sure yet, but we're going to find out." Ryan spoke up from his position by the door.

Jim seemed to accept this and he sat heavily in a chair, much in the same way that Castle had an hour before.

With this, everyone seemed to settle in for the wait. Lanie and Esposito remaining close to one another. Ryan filling Jim in on everything they had found so far. Alexis had settled down with her head on her father's lap while he carded his fingers through her long red locks, her even breathing leading him to believe that she had finally fallen asleep.

Castle himself just stared into space, memories of his time with Kate running through his mind, both from before and after they had gotten together as a couple.

"I'm going to go get some coffee, would anyone else like some?" Martha spoke after another half hour had passed in almost complete silence. It had now been nearly three hours since the shot went off with no word on Kate.

"Coffee would be wonderful" Esposito spoke up from where his arm was wrapped around his girlfriend comfortingly.

"Richard?" she inquired softly, looking over at her son with a mixture of determination and pity.

"None for me Mother." He answered, knowing he wouldn't be able to stomach the thought of coffee ever again if she didn't manage to pull through. Coffee was their thing, it was how they greeted each other every morning, it put a smile on her face when she took that first sip, it was the one thing she allowed him to give her without argument even before they were officially a couple. Coffee would never be the same again unless Kate was there to enjoy it with him.

She nodded in understanding before making towards the elevator, Ryan standing to accompany her, needing to escape the quiet sorrow of the waiting room for a few minutes.

Espo stood and began to pace the length of the room restlessly. They were all beginning to wonder how much longer they would have to wait before getting the verdict on their friend, but no news was good news right? He pondered.

"Castle, she's a fighter. If anyone can pull through this, it's Beckett." Lanie told him in a soft voice as she crossed the room to sit in the armchair beside him.

"I know Lanie, just keep reminding me from time to time." He answered trying to summon up a smile for her but only managing more of a semblance of a grimace.

Martha and Ryan returned and the waiting resumed, everyone trying to remain hopeful but wondering what was keeping the doctors.

"Someone's coming" Ryan was the first to speak, his excited exclamation bringing everyone to their feet, including Alexis who had awoken just a few minutes earlier.

They all watched in anxious anticipation as the middle aged man dressed in scrubs made his way into the waiting room. "Family of Katherine Beckett?" he inquired, looking around at the group.

"I'm her father." Jim spoke up, taking a step forward.

"My name is Steve Rogers, I was the lead surgeon working on your daughter." He introduced himself, extending a hand towards Jim which the man promptly shook with his own.

"How is she? How's my Katie?" he asked, some of that desperation from earlier creeping back into his tone.

"Well, it was pretty touch and go for a while, and she did experience cardiac arrest during surgery but we were able to get her heart beating again. When the bullet entered her body, it shattered one of her ribs, barely missing her heart. One of the rib fragments punctured her lung causing it to collapse. We've managed to repair the rib and reinflate her lung. We'll watch closely, but at this time they are both doing just fine." The surgeon explained.

A breath of relief went around the room and Castle's face split into a wide grin as he gathered Alexis up into his arms and squeezed her against him tightly. Lanie and Esposito mirrored their pose off to their right and even Jim and Martha had grabbed each other in a tight hug followed by her snagging Ryan by the arm and pulling him into a hug as well.

It took a minute before the full meaning of the surgeon's words filtered into his brain clogged with relief that she would be alright.

"Wait, they?" Castle asked as he released Alexis partially, but still keeping one arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Yes, she and the baby are both fine."

* * *

**A/N Cont: For some reason this one was hard to write but I hope I did it justice. I'm also hoping that you all enjoy this twist in the story, because everything else has been leading up to it. I know at least some of you saw it coming. I don't like leaving you all on a cliffhanger but there's a good chance that there won't be a new chapter available until after the weekend, sorry, it's just how the chapters are coming out. I may get some inspiration and get it out sooner though, we'll see. If I don't, have a good weekend everyone.**


	13. Meet the Father

**A/N: I hope you all head a great weekend. I wanted to respond to everyone's reviews this afternoon since I had some time but figured you'd appreciate a new chapter a little more and you're all so wonderful that I wouldn't have had time to do both. I was blown away by the response to the last chapter and loved seeing all the reviews, favorites, and follows that flooded my inbox over the last few days. I'm thrilled you all enjoyed this new twist in the story and that not everyone saw it coming as I'd feared. That being said I'll shut up now and stop torturing everyone with the last cliffhanger I left you on. Enjoy.**

* * *

"Baby?!" Castle coughed, choking over the word, his vision narrowing down the man in scrubs in front of him.

The rest of the room erupted into noise after that as everyone began talking at once. Everyone except Jim Beckett that is. His eyes were glued to the writer who had first spoken, little doubt in his mind as to who the father was.

"Enough" the older man finally shouted, loudly enough to cut above the rest of the voices in the room. All heads turned to face Jim as their voices died in their throats.

The doctor gave him a grateful nod before clearing his throat to speak again, "We ran Ms. Beckett's blood work when she was brought in and one of the tests came back positive that she was indeed pregnant. Without conducting an ultrasound it's difficult to tell, but I would estimate her to be between seven and nine weeks along. Now, with that timeframe, she may not have even known, but regardless, they are both doing fine now and are being taken to her room. A nurse will be here to take her immediate family to see her soon. As for the rest of you, I suggest that you go home and get some rest. You can come back during normal visiting hours in the morning."

With that, the doctor gave them one last look and turned to head back through the doors to the surgery wing again.

Now that he was gone, all eyes turned to look at Castle, who was still standing, open-mouthed, staring at the door the surgeon had just walked through.

"She's pregnant" he muttered as if to himself, bringing a hand up to run it through his already abnormally unruly hair.

His movement seemed to break the spell once again, and before he knew it he was holding a beaming Alexis in his arms.

"Dad, this is wonderful, do you think she knew?" she nearly squealed, excitement radiating off of her in waves.

"Oh, Darling, congratulations." Martha chimed in, striding forward to give her son a kiss on the cheek.

Castle opened his mouth to answer his family, but the words died on his tongue as his attention was drawn to the woman in question's father, still standing off to the side of the detectives who were watching with rapt attention.

"Well, I guess I don't have to ask who the father is." Jim drawled as he stared into the younger man's eyes.

Castle extricated himself from his daughter's arms to focus his attention fully on Kate's father.

"Jim, um I don't know how much she told you, but I- I've been dating your daughter for the past several months. I uh…" he trailed off as a smile broke over Jim Beckett's face.

"Well it's about damn time." He answered, causing a sigh of relief to echo throughout the room from the people watching the confrontation.

"Sir?" Castle asked meekly, still not sure if he should be running for his life or not.

"My Katie hasn't really been happy since we lost her mother," The man admitted. "until she met you."

"I'm happy for the two of you, and I've always hoped to have grandchildren. That being said though, I do hope you'll make an honest woman out of her." He continued, but this time there was a little menace behind his words when he stopped to wait for Rick's response.

"Of- of course sir. I love your daughter. I would marry her tomorrow if she'd let me." He stated earnestly.

At this, a smile broke out over Jim's face and he stepped forward to shake Castle's hand. "Well, in that case, you can call me Jim. Although, if you ever break my daughter's heart, I know plenty of people who will help me hide the body." He said, sweeping his arm out to include the detectives and the medical examiner still watching them with interest.

Castle gulped loudly but took the man's hand. "I will never purposely hurt her, I promise."

* * *

After that, the nurse had arrived to escort them to Kate's room. Lanie, Esposito, Ryan, and Castle's family had said their goodbyes and promised to return in the morning, leaving only Jim Beckett and Richard Castle to continue on into the hospital.

Castle froze when the woman asked him about his relationship to Kate before allowing him to follow her down the hallway, but was saved when Jim answered for him that he was Kate's fiancé. He looked at the man in shock but didn't say anything further as the nurse nodded and led them both through the double doors.

Jim's words had sparked Castle's imagination and now it was running away from him like wildfire. Kate was pregnant, she was having a baby, _they _were having a baby. He knew he loved Kate, but he hadn't seriously thought about marriage yet. The idea still made him nervous after his last two attempts had failed. Now, however, he realized as he spoke the words to Beckett's father that he meant every word. He did want to marry Kate Beckett and have a family with her. Now it was just a matter of getting Kate on board with the idea.

With those thoughts in mind, he found himself standing outside her hospital room. For the moment, she was the only occupant, and Castle made a mental note to talk to the hospital staff later and make the arrangements to ensure that she continued to have a private room.

He stood back as Jim approached his daughter's bed. From where he stood, he could only see the man take her hand. He couldn't see Kate's face or hear what the older man was saying, but he was content to allow them their moment.

He excused himself to go speak with the nurses then, allowing them further privacy.

Jim sat at his daughter's bedside, just holding her hand for a while, letting his feelings of gratitude overwhelm him. He may have lost his wife, but he still had the daughter who looked so much like her. He really was proud of the woman his little girl had become and he knew at least some of the credit had to be given to Richard Castle.

He wasn't sure how he felt about knowing they were having a child. He knew his Katie cared for the writer, but he was shocked to find that they had been together for months and she hadn't called to tell him about it. And now, his little girl was pregnant. He was going to be a grandpa, but he didn't know if this was something his girl had even wanted. After her mother was gone, Kate had given up on the idea of having a happily ever after with her own family and he couldn't help but hope that she had changed her mind.

Some time later, he heard the writer enter the room again. Kate was still asleep and although he would have loved to be there when she woke up and it pained him, he knew the man she really needed was now standing unobtrusively in the doorway waiting for his turn.

Jim gave her hand one more squeeze before standing out of his chair and making his way across the room.

"Take good care of her son. I'll be back tomorrow." Jim spoke and made his way out of the hospital. He would be back the next day, but before that, he needed to tell his wife the good news.

Castle approached Beckett's bed and got his first real look at her. She looked peaceful, with the blanket pulled up around her waist and the hospital gown hiding the bullet wound in her chest. Without the machinery that was keeping track of her vitals, he may not have even known that she wasn't just sleeping. The only dead give-away that something was seriously wrong was how pale she was. Memories of her blood covering his hands and clothes, flashed through his mind.

He looked away for a moment to get himself under control. She was ok, she was alive and she was pregnant with his child.

His eyes strayed to the table beside her and he noticed that her belongings were resting there in a bag. Her father's watch and her mother's ring were there with the rest of her belongings. 'I hope you'll make an honest woman out of her.' Jim Beckett's words replayed in his mind as he gazed at the ring.

Without really thinking what he was doing, Castle reached out for the bag and dumped the ring on its silver chain out into his palm. He really did want to marry Kate. He realized now that subconsciously he had wanted to for a long time. He loved her and wanted to share his life with her and he knew he needed to make his intentions clear.

He undid the clasp and pulled the ring off its chain. He didn't know if Kate would actually want to wear her mother's ring, but it would do for now until he could make a trip to the jewelry store after she had woken up and he'd talked to her.

He took her left hand into his own and gently slid the ring onto her third finger; a promise that when she was ready, they would be the family that he had always wanted and, he believed, she secretly had too.

He then sat back in the chair with her hand still gripped between his own to wait for her to awake. They had a lot to discuss when she did.

* * *

**A/N cont: So... somewhat of cliffhanger but not as bad as the last one I hope. Now I have a question for you all though. From here on out I don't have the chapter contents completely planned out like I have in this story up to this point so I want to know what kind of chapters you'd like to see. I can continue writing short chapters like this one and the last one and have new ones up typically every day or two, or I can write longer chapters like 10 and 11 were with around 4-5,000 words and probably take a couple extra days in between updates. What would you guys like to see? **


	14. Awake

Kate Beckett woke to the sound of something beeping. She was in the hospital? Confused, she opened her eyes only to slam them shut again at the bright light filling the room. Slower this time, she cracked her eyes open and peeked at her surroundings.

It seemed to be a standard hospital room, nothing out of the ordinary, until she realized that there was someone beside her.

As she recognized that it was Richard Castle sitting beside her with her hand clasped in his own, his head resting on the bed at her hip, the memories of what had happened flooded back to her. Montgomery's sacrifice, the funeral, her eulogy, the gunshot. She clearly remembered Castle tackling her and his whispered confession as the darkness closed in on her.

Castle loved her. She supposed deep down she had known that for some time, but now she knew for certain that it was true. What she didn't know was what she was going to do about it. She knew she loved him and that she was falling harder every day, but she couldn't get the memory of Castle tackling her to the ground as the gunshot went off out of her mind.

Someone was out there gunning for her, and Castle had tried to take that bullet for her. He had a family, a daughter. He couldn't do things like that. She couldn't be the one responsible for Alexis losing her father like she herself had lost her mother at a similar age.

As much as it pained her, Kate knew she had to keep him safe, and that meant keeping her distance from him until this was over, until her mother's killer had been brought to justice. Until that happened, she'd never be safe, and she wasn't taking him down with her.

Her decision made, Beckett's mind quieted again and she slowly drifted back to a dreamless sleep.

When Castle woke, he realized that weak sunlight was now filtering through the curtained window. He had fallen asleep with his head resting on the hospital bed beside Kate, her hand still clutched between his own. He looked up and noticed that she was still sleeping, but her color seemed much better than it had the night before.

He sat and toyed with the ring on her finger, daydreaming about spending the rest of his life with this extraordinary woman.

A soft sigh brought him back to Earth and he looked down at her in time to see her eyes blink open.

"Kate?" he asked excitedly, squeezing her hand a little tighter.

"Can you hear me?"

She blinked rapidly a few times, adjusting to the bright lights of the room.

"C-Castle" she spoke as her eyes finally remained open and their gazes locked together.

Her voice cracked and broke even on that simple word and she winced as she cleared her throat to try again.

"Water?" she asked causing him to jump up, nearly knocking over his chair.

"Right, yes, I'll get you some. Wit, can you even have any water? I should get the doctor, yeah that's what I'll do." Castle spoke so quickly that she had a hard time keeping up with him.

She couldn't help but let a small grin stretch across her face as she watched the writer dash out of the room towards where she guessed the nurses station was.

Castle returned a few minutes later carrying a cup filled with ice chips and noticeable calmer.

"The doctor will be in soon and the nurses said you can have some ice." He informed her as he regained his seat next to her once again.

He slowly fed her ice chips until a man she didn't recognize, but she assumed to be her doctor based on his white coat, entered the room.

"It's nice to see you awake Detective. I'm Dr. Carter and I'll be in charge of your recovery." He spoke, reaching out to shake her hand which she took tentatively, feeling a pulling in her chest and realizing she must be on strong painkillers not to be feeling anything else.

The man then shook Castle's hand in greeting before continuing, "Do you remember what happened to you?" he asked kindly, picking up a clipboard that was hung from the bottom of the bed.

"I was shot at a funeral." She replied, her eyes losing focus as memories washed over her once again.

"That's correct," the doctor's voice regained her attention, "the bullet passed through your chest and shattered several of your ribs. One of those fragments then punctured your lung. You also had severe blood loss from the bullet itself ricocheting within your ribcage but luckily it missed all other major organs. You are a lucky woman Detective."

The man gave Castle a meaningful look that was not missed by the cop but she decided to let it go for the time being. Unbeknownst to her, the men had decided that it would be up to Castle to inform Kate of her pregnancy. Everyone involved thought it would be better received coming from him than one of the medical staff.

"What does that mean for my recovery time?" she asked, cringing at the idea of how long she would have to be out of work.

"Well, as you have a very physically demanding job, we don't want to put too much pressure on that lung to soon. I would say, realistically, that you're looking at around three months before you'll be able to go back to work. I'd like to keep you here for the rest of the week just to monitor for any complications or infections."

The man didn't miss the look of horror that passed over the woman's face when he gave his verdict.

"Three months?!" Kate asked. It was worse than she had thought.

"I can't be out of work for that long. We're going to have a new Captain and-"

"Kate" Castle cut her off.

"You have the best closure rate in the precinct. Your job is safe, but you need to take care of yourself."

She sighed in defeat, knowing that she wouldn't be able to talk herself into getting back to work sooner yet. Maybe once she began healing she could talk them into allowing her back.

"Thank you Doctor" she spoke.

The man nodded in acknowledgement before shaking her hand once again and taking his leave with the promise to be back to check in on her again the next day and a reminder that the nurses would be in later to change her wound dressing.

"It won't be all that bad Kate." Castle tried to reassure her, "You can come stay with us at the loft. I'm sure that will at least help keep you entertained." He tried but she didn't even crack a smile.

"Castle, Rick, I'm not coming back to the loft with you." She told him sadly reaching out to take his hand in her own. Her heart aching as she prepared to break the news to him.

"What? Why wouldn't you?" he asked in confusion, but she didn't even register his question as a flash of color caught her attention.

Beckett's eyes zeroed in on the ring that now adorned her left hand.

"Castle, what the hell is this?" she asked in a dangerously low voice.

Having forgotten about the ring in the excitement of her waking up, he now looked like a little boy who had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Well, um, it's a ring. An engagement ring actually." He said cringing slightly at the look on her face.

"And why is there an engagement ring on my finger? Why is my mother's ring on my finger?" she asked in that same icy tone.

"Because I love you" he blurted out taking in the way her eyes widened at his admission, "I want to marry you Kate."

She shook her head as tears gathered in her eyes and took a long look at the ring on her finger before she removed it from her hand.

"No, Castle, I can't. I can't marry you." Her voice broke as she whispered the words that broke both of their hearts.

"What? Kate, what are you doing?"

"Castle don't do this. We can't keep doing this, it won't work." She tried to keep her tears in check but they began to spill down her cheeks despite her efforts.

"Why won't it work? We've been doing great, everything has been perfect. What did I do?" he implored her not even bothering to try to hide the tears in his own eyes.

"You tried to jump in front of a bullet for me!" she screamed at him, finally losing all control. "You can't do that Rick! You have Alexis and Martha. I can't be the one responsible for your death." She continued, no longer able to look at his face and see the heartbreak written all over it, staring down at the ring in her hands instead.

"And you think I wanted you to die? I couldn't just stand by and let that happen!" he yelled back, images of her laying broken and bleeding in his arms playing through his mind.

"Better me than you," she whispered brokenly, "It's over Castle. I can't do this anymore. I'll go to my Dad's place to recover. You should leave now."

"I'm not going anywhere Kate. I'm not leaving you." He answered stubbornly, reaching out for her hands again but she pulled them away from him.

"Castle don't you get it? I don't want you, I don't love you!" she choked out, barely able to force the lie past her lips but she knew it was the only way to make him leave. She had to protect him from herself and the men who wanted her dead.

He recoiled as if she had slapped him before a look of determination took over some of the hurt shining out of his eyes.

"No Kate, you don't get to do that. You don't get to decide what is best for us anymore. It doesn't even matter if you love me because I'm not going anywhere."

As he spoke, she chanced a look up at him, confused as to why her cruel words weren't enough to make him leave her side, but she soon got her answer.

"You're pregnant Kate. We're having a baby and I would never leave my child. Whether you want me or not, we're connected now, and you're just going to have to deal with it."

* * *

**A/N: Uh oh, looks like trouble in paradise. I promise not to leave you all hanging for long though, the next chapter won't be far being. A little angst is necessary in any story and these two can't possibly get along all the time. No worries though, this isn't the end of our couple and there will be plenty of fluff yet to come. **


	15. Talk

Both of them froze as he finished speaking; Castle with some degree of horror and Kate seemed to be in shock.

Pregnant? She couldn't be pregnant. She would have known, wouldn't she?

"God, Kate, I didn't-" he began but she shook her head slightly, cutting him off and he just sat silently, waiting for her to speak.

How could this have happened? She was on the pill, always so careful to take it at the same time every day. How could she have gotten pregnant?

"Castle, how?" she asked. This was what they were best at, solving mysteries. This she could do while her mind pieced itself back together enough to tell her the next step.

"How? Kate, we both know how this happened…" he trailed off, not yet fully functioning either.

"No Castle, no I meant I was on the pill. Dammit Castle, you knocked me up" she grumbled clenching her fist in frustration.

He didn't know how to respond to that safely and decided that it would be a good time to remain quiet.

Beckett thought over the last few months trying to figure out where she went wrong and it was as if a light bulb had clicked on.

"I was sick!"

"Well, yeah a couple months ago you had that flu but what does that have to do with-"

She cut him off again, "No, I took those antibiotics. I can't believe I was so stupid!"

Realizing what she had already figured out he jumped in, "No, it wasn't just your fault. I should have thought of it too." He tried to shoulder some of the blame.

"I can't believe I forgot. I've never had to worry about it before, I've always used condoms as back-up so it didn't matter if…" she trailed off, tears welling up in her eyes.

"God Castle, I'm so sorry." She began crying again, the look in her eyes pleading him to forgive her.

"I'm sorry I messed up so badly. I'm sorry I put you in danger. I just don't know what to do Rick. I'm not ready for this." She confessed reaching out for him.

"Kate, I don't understand. What is going on?" he asked, the hurt her words caused now registering in his system.

"You tried to take that bullet for me! There are still people after me, Rick. I can't drag you into that. I can't let you die for me." She cried harder and he could barely make out her words.

Finally he realized what was happening. She was trying to protect him by leaving him.

"Kate what are you thinking? You thought that I would just walk away? Even if you weren't pregnant I would never do that."

She took a few deep breaths to get her emotions under control again before continuing, her voice still shaky.

"It was- it was the only way I could think to protect you. I'm so sorry Castle, I'm so sorry." She hiccupped, imploring him to believe her.

He sighed in frustration at this woman in front of him. How could someone so smart be so clueless? As much as he wanted to throttle her, he loved her and she was carrying his child. He would never be able to leave her. Leaving her would break his heart beyond repair, there was no doubt.

"Kate, do you love me?" he asked quietly, not able to look at her as he prepared to have his heart shattered.

Her head whipped up and she looked at him in surprise. She thought about his words. She knew now she had made a grave mistake trying to push him away. This man would do anything for her, and he was right. Whatever her answer now, he wouldn't leave her. He would remain by her side to support the child, their child, that was now growing inside her no matter how much it would hurt him.

She then remembered how much she cared about him. The way he made her feel deeper than any man had ever made her feel. Of course she'd thought about a future with Castle. She had dreamed of white weddings and children with brown curly hair running wild through the loft, but was she ready for that now.

Could she accept everything this man was offering her? She really didn't deserve this wonderful man, but she knew without a doubt that she loved him. Whether she was ready or not, there was only one way she could answer his question.

"Yes"

At her answer, he looked up, his blue eyes red-rimmed but he held her gaze with an intensity she had never seen.

She knew he needed to hear it, "Yes Castle, I love you. I love you so much Rick." She told him, a small smile gracing her features.

He let out a breath that he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. She loved him. He wasn't quite ready to forgive her for her harsh words and it would take a long time to forget the way she had tried to run from him, but he knew they could work it out.

He wanted to gather her up in his arms and crush her body against his, but the wires trailing from her body reminded him that she was still lying in a hospital bed after having been shot in the chest, so instead he leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss against her lips.

"I love you too Kate. Now sleep, you need to rest so you can heal. We can talk more later." He told her, giving her hand another squeeze before exiting the room.

Kate stared after him. She didn't want him to leave now that they had finally started talking, but she couldn't deny that she was exhausted and she could feel sleep creeping up on her. With one last look at the empty doorway, she closed her eyes and let sleep take her to a land where her dreams of mischievous blue-eyed boys with her brown curls didn't seem so far away.

* * *

Castle lowered himself into a chair down the hall from Kate's room. He couldn't believe how badly it had gone, but he knew at least part of him should have expected it. She was always protective of the people she cared about over her own needs.

Of course she would think that being around her would be dangerous and she would rather break both of their hearts than risk someone else's safety. She would always risk her own life over someone else's but now she was pregnant.

Oh, God, she was pregnant and he had just revealed it to her by yelling in the middle of an argument. He knew they had some issues still to work out, their relationship was still so new but he hadn't realized they were quite so big.

He still wanted to marry her, he loved her and she loved him, but he now realized that they had a lot of things to work out before that could happen.

They had so many details to work through in their relationship, especially now with a baby on the way. What had he been thinking, just expecting her to go along with getting married?

Kate wasn't Meredith. She wouldn't want to get married just because they were having a child together, and not only that but she always needed to feel in control. At a time when she had the least control over her life and her body, he just had to put the ring on her hand and expect her to go along with it? Yeah, because that was going to work out well. His sarcastic inner voice sounded remarkably like his mother.

And, oh, his family. He hadn't even talked to them about any of this. They knew he loved Kate and they approved of their relationship, but he hadn't even talked to them after the doctor had informed them of the pregnancy.

What would they want? He knew Alexis had always wanted siblings when she was younger, but he didn't know if she wanted one now. She was almost done with highschool, how would she feel about this?

He knew his mother would be thrilled to have another grandchild but he also knew she wouldn't approve of the way he had handled it, both with another accidental pregnancy and then fighting with the child's mother while she was still in a hospital bed recovering from a gunshot.

He knew he had to talk to both of them, but first he needed to iron things out better with Kate. He had to know where they stood before he could talk to his family and answer all of their questions.

A glance at his watch told Castle that it had been nearly half an hour that he had been sitting in the hallway. Deciding to give Beckett more time to sleep, he decided to go get some breakfast that would be better than hospital food and while he was gone, he'd call everyone and let them know that Kate was awake. Maybe seeing her friends and her Dad later would help cheer her up too.

* * *

When Beckett awoke the second time, she found Castle once again sitting in the chair beside her.

"How long have you been watching me sleep?"

"Long enough" he answered unapologetically.

"How many times do I have to tell you that it's creepy Castle?" she asked sounding somewhat like herself again.

"I doesn't matter how many times you tell me, Beckett, I'm still going to do it."

She sighed in defeat, knowing he was right. She also knew it was time for them to talk, whether she wanted to or not. Really, she just wished they could have gone back and redone the morning over again, but where would they be then? That fight allowed them to say some things that they probably wouldn't have said otherwise and had to happen at some point.

"Castle, we have to start really talking." She began

"I know. We've always been so good at silent communication, but that doesn't always work." He agreed.

After that, neither seemed to know what to say for a moment. She was looking down at the blanket bunched around her waist and he was staring at something over her right shoulder.

"Kate-"

"Castle, I'm afraid." she cut him off with her confession.

"I don't know how to be a mother. I mean look at me, I'm in a hospital bed from a bullet in my chest, and, oh no, we were drinking so much that weekend in the Hamptons. What kind of mother puts that much risk to her child?" she asked desperately, feeling the burn of tears beneath her eyelids again.

"Shh, Kate, hush it will all be alright. You didn't know. _We_ didn't know. The doctor said that the baby is fine and now we know that things have to change. It will all be alright." He tried to comfort her, reaching out to lay a hand on her knee.

"I just don't know what to do."

This broken, unsure version of Kate wasn't something he was used to. Even he so rarely saw her completely vulnerable and he wasn't quite sure what to do to comfort her.

"It's going to take some time to figure all this out, but time is something we have. This baby won't be here for about seven more months. We have time, ok?"

His words seemed to do the trick as she took a deep breath and some of the tension released from her shoulders.

"Yeah, you're right," she admitted, placing her hand over his on her knee, "we have time, but there's still so much to do. Where do we even start?"

"Well, the first thing we do is focus on getting you back up and healthy. We can look around to find the best OB/GYN and see about getting an ultrasound and finding exactly how far along you are." The more he outlined a plan of attack, the more she seemed to relax. Beckett was always the happiest when she had a clear line of action to take.

He paused, giving her some time to take it all in.

Of course, Castle noticed when her eyes seemed to focus on something behind him. He turned to see that her mother's ring was laying on the floor. It must have rolled off of the bed at some point and landed just behind his chair.

Her eyes widened as he reached down and picked the ring up, holding it between his index finger and thumb.

"Castle, I-"

This time he cut her off, "No, wait. I know what you're thinking and Kate, I do want to marry you, regardless of whether or not you're pregnant. I was wrong in the way I went about it though, so this is your warning that I will be asking again in the future."

He reached out and took her right hand in his and slid the ring onto the third finger.

"This is my promise to you that I will ask you to marry me Katherine Beckett. When you think we're ready, put this ring where it belongs, on your other hand, and I'll propose the way I should have all along."

"Oh Rick" she laughed as she looked at the ring on her finger. How did she ever deserve this sweet, loving, forgiving man?

"Someday, Kate."

"Someday" she echoed.

* * *

**A/N: I hope I stayed true to the characters and at least this time I didn't leave you at such a cliffhanger as the last couple chapters have been. Have a great weekend everyone!**


	16. Family

**A/N: A little family time. Sorry everyone, I know this chapter was a lot later in coming than you've come to expect but unfortunately this won't be the only slow coming chapter. This is becoming a difficult section for me to write for some reason and the next couple weeks are going to be incredibly busy so I ask that you bare with me a for a little while here and I promise to make it up to you at some point.**

* * *

"How are you holding up girl?" Lanie asked from her place at the doorway.

"Hey Lanie" Kate greeted, waving for her friend to come into the room.

They were alone for the time being. It was nearing the end of the week that she was required to spend in the hospital and she was ready to be released. They'd finally managed to talk Castle into spending some time at home, sleeping and showering and spending time with his family, to which he had argued that she was now family.

Warmth flooded her chest at the memory of his words and the smile he had given her before Lanie all but dragged him out of the room.

They both knew there was a lot of work yet to come before she could even really consider accepting his proposal, but they were determined to put in the time and effort necessary to be ready.

"Hello, Earth to Beckett" Lanie said waving her hand in front of her friend's face.

"Oh, sorry, what?"

"Where did you go girl?" she asked barely suppressing a smirk.

"Just thinking about everything that we still have to do, all the work we have ahead of us" the detective replied.

"Well then I repeat, how are you holding up?" Lanie asked again, reaching out to grip Kate's hand.

"I'm overwhelmed" she answered honestly, "I wasn't even sure that I ever wanted kids, we had never even talked about it and I know for certain that I'm not ready now, even if I wanted them."

"Well, ready or not, sweetie, you're going to be a Mother and you're going to be wonderful."

"Thanks" Beckett whispered, looking down at her still smooth stomach as if expecting to see the child that was growing inside her.

"Have you two really talked about it yet, what you're going to do once you get out of the hospital?"

"Well, I've agreed to stay at the loft during my recovery," Kate began, "I really would rather have stayed at my dad's cabin upstate but it wouldn't be fair not to allow him to be a part of this pregnancy so I've agreed to stay with him."

"Really? Just like that?" Lanie asked incredulously.

Kate huffed out a breath, remembering just how difficult it had been to agree that she needed to live with him for the next several months.

"Yes, Lanie, just like that. I love him. I could never take his child away from him and he would never forgive me if I tried."

Both women knew she was right and Lanie was glad that her best friend had found a man who cared about her so much and that she wasn't running away from her problems anymore but was facing them head-on.

Castle really is good for the headstrong detective and this change in the way she handles emotional challenges in her life showcases that perfectly.

"So what about everything else, what about when you're fully recovered?"

"Oh, Lanie, I don't know yet. I do love him, and I don't know how, but I know that I'm going to marry that man some day, but I don't think I'm ready for all of that yet. Someone tried to kill me Lanie. I can't let Rick get in the middle of that. I can't let him get killed trying to protect me!" At this point Kate is looking around wildly as if expecting masked assassins to infiltrate the room at any moment.

"Kate!" Lanie snapped at her friend.

"Look at me, you are fine, you are both fine, and you know those boys of yours will find who's responsible for this. Don't let what happened become an excuse to push that man away." She admonished.

As the ME spoke Kate relaxed, her sensibilities coming back to her and she realized her friend was right. While on some level she didn't want Castle around because she really did believe she was dangerous to be near, at least for the time being, she also realized that she was using the situation as an excuse to run. She was feeling overwhelmed by finding that she was pregnant and Castle basically proposing while she was in a hospital bed after having been nearly shot to death and she was trying to run from her emotions instead of facing them head-on.

She realized then just how much she needed someone like Castle in her life. He kept her grounded, kept her from becoming too caught up in her work, and he would stand up to her. He knew her. He knew when to push and when to give her space.

She really was going to marry him some day, and with a start, she realized that the thought didn't scare her nearly as much as it had before the shooting. She still knew they weren't ready yet, but she now fully realized that someday soon, they would be.

* * *

"Oh Darling, how is she doing?" Martha asked the moment he walked through the front door of the loft.

"She's doing as well as can be expected Mother" Castle replied, striding forward to give her a kiss on her cheek in greeting.

"Is Alexis home"

"She's upstairs in her room doing homework I believe."

He nodded his understanding and made his way up the stairs, pausing only a moment outside his daughter's room before knocking on the door.

"Come in" her voice came muffled through the door.

"Hi sweetie" he greeted his daughter upon opening the door and finding her seated on her bed, papers and textbooks spread in a semicircle around her.

"Oh, hey Dad. How's Detective Beckett?" she asked, putting down the book that was in her lap, giving her father her full attention.

"She'd doing well. She's healing correctly and as long as everything goes according to plan, she'll be released the day after tomorrow."

"Dad, that's great!" she enthused, a smile lighting up her face.

"Yes, it is" he agreed a smile "Do you mind if we talk for a minute though?" he asked, crossing the room and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Sure, what's up?" the girl asked, curious.

"Well, I know you said you were ok with Kate staying with us while she recovered, but I just wanted to make sure that you were alright with everything that is going on between the two of us."

"Of course I'm ok with it. I'm thrilled that you and Beckett finally got together and I know you've always wanted more children. I had given up on having siblings by now and thought you had too but I know that you love Kate and she makes you happy. That's all I want Dad, for you to be happy."

Castle was struck by the fact that his little girl really was growing up. She was handling things even better than he and Kate were it seemed, as they had both panicked somewhat about the pregnancy.

"Oh, Alexis, I love you so much and nothing will ever change that" he spoke into her hair as he gathered her up into a hug.

"I know Dad and I love you too. I'll always be you're little girl" she responded, hugging him tightly for a moment before pulling back.

"Did you need me for anything else?" she asked looking down at the pile of papers around her.

"No, no that was all. I'll let you get back to your homework."

He stood and made his way back to the doorway. There, he paused for a long moment, just watching his daughter. He was so proud of the woman that she was becoming and he prayed that his growing child would be just as amazing as his or her older sister.

Who was he kidding? This child was going to be half Kate. Of course they would be extraordinary just like their mother.

He walked back down the stairs to find Martha waiting for him in the kitchen with a glass of wine. "Everything alright?" she asked, astute as ever.

"Everything is wonderful Mother. Despite my best efforts Alexis is turning into a wonderful young woman and I couldn't be more proud of her." He spoke, feeling maudlin at the idea of his little girl growing up.

"She'll always need you Richard." Martha spoke as if reading his mind.

He gave her a grateful smile and took a sip of the wine she had handed him.

"When are you going back to the hospital?" she asked knowingly.

"She kicked me out until morning. Insisted that I needed to spend time with you and Alexis too."

"She's a smart woman." Martha commented innocently.

She was glad too that her son had found and fallen in love with the detective even if it had been a bumpy road for the two of them to get together and would continue to be for the foreseeable future. The two of them balanced each other out and cared for each other deeply.

After having seen Rick with both of his ex-wives, she knew that if they could work through these coming months, Katherine and her son would be inseparable for the rest of their lives. She was hoping that they could make it through this, because if they couldn't she didn't think either one would survive a break-up.

While she knew her son didn't want to leave the woman's side, she was glad that he had agreed to give Kate some independence and some time to wrap her mind around everything that had happened within the past couple days.

The life as they knew it had just changed and with any luck, they would be able to adjust to this change and come through the other side stronger than ever.


	17. Morning Sickness

**A/N: We're skipping ahead in time a little here and this story will move a lot faster from this point on. You have been warned. The insanity that has become my life this week is halfway over so chapters should be coming faster again soon, but you've all been wonderful so I can't really complain much. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Castle blinked groggily up at the ceiling, not sure what had woken him. Not hearing anything else after a moment, he closed his eyes and rolled over to wrap his arms around the woman beside him.

His searching arm found nothing but empty sheets on the other side of the bed and it took his mind a moment to catch on that he was alone.

"Kate?" he asked sitting upright in bed and quickly waking up this time.

He looked around and saw a light coming from under the bathroom door. He smiled in relief and propped himself up against the headboard to wait for her to return.

It had been two weeks since they had brought her home from the hospital and it had been a roller coaster ride already. He wanted to help her with everything and protect her, but Kate was having none of it. Warning bells should have gone off in his head that this wouldn't be an easy adjustment the moment they prepared to bring her home.

* * *

"_Castle, I'm not getting wheeled out of here." She insisted, looking dubiously at the chair that was sitting beside her hospital bed._

"_Kate, it's hospital policy, you don't have a choice." He reminded her, positioning himself next to her head so he could help her stand up._

"_I don't care. I'm perfectly capable of walking and I'm not getting in that thing." She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly._

_He sighed in frustration. They had been arguing about this for about ten minutes now and while at first her childish refusal was somewhat adorable, now it was beginning to grate on his nerves._

"_You want to get out of here don't you?" he coaxed "To go home?"_

"_Of course I do Castle. I'm ready to get out of here. I'm ready to go to the loft." She replied, neither of them missing that she wasn't also referring to the loft as home, "but I don't want to be pushed out of here like some invalid."_

"_Kate please, just do this." He begged, his eyes showing his aggravation and belying just how tired he was._

_She was hit with a pang of remorse. This man had been beside her the entire week. He had refused to leave her other than to take a shower every couple days. He was even sleeping in the hospital with her, having sweet talked the nurses into giving him a cot to sleep on and some extra blankets and pillows. _

"_Fine" she conceded, deciding that it wasn't really worth fighting with him over after everything he'd done for her._

_Castle blinked in surprise that she had accepted so suddenly but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth so he didn't say a word as she allowed him to help her into the chair and wheel her out to the town car that was waiting for them at the curb. _

_After getting her settled in the car he returned the wheelchair to an orderly and they were finally able to go home. _

_The ride back to the loft was passed in a comfortable silence with both Castle and Beckett lost in their own thoughts._

_Back at the loft, they began again._

"_I can get my own glass of water." She insisted, as she once again tried to stand from the couch but he remained in her way. _

"_I understand that, Kate, but you don't have to. I'm here. I'll get you everything you want. The doctor said that you can't exert yourself too much, remember?" he reminded her, his hands coming up to rest on her shoulders._

_She sighed in frustration knowing that he was going to be like this for the duration of her recovery and pregnancy._

_She scooted over a little and patted the couch beside her, inviting him to sit down._

"_What about your water?" he asked, sitting nonetheless._

"_It can wait" she dismissed, angling her body so that she could see him clearly._

"_Look, Castle, I know you want to help me, and I appreciate that, but I have to be able to do things for myself too. I can't always depend on you to take care of me." She began, trailing a finger over his knee in a mindless pattern._

"_Kate, I want to be able to take care of you forever, remember?"_

_She gave him a small smile but continued on, "I know that. I would never forget, I love you too, but I've never wanted to be a kept woman, and I won't start now." _

_He knew this about her, it's one of the reasons he loved her, "But Kate, you're injured." He argued back. He knew that she was independent, and hated having to depend on other people, but he really didn't understand why she was so concerned with allowing him to help her now._

_She narrowed her eyes at him, unimpressed with his argument. _

"_Castle, how about this, I promise that if I can't do something I will ask you," she began looking into his eyes and letting him read the honesty shining from her own, "but I have to be able to do things for myself too. Ok?" _

_He mulled her suggestion over in his head for a moment before allowing a small smile to adorn his face. Holding a hand out he waited for her to take it before speaking, "Deal, but can I get you that water? You aren't allowed to lift above your head." _

_Beckett couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth radiate through her body looking at this incredible man in front of her. "Fine, go get the water." She allowed with another smile._

* * *

He finished reminiscing, but she still hadn't re-appeared from the bathroom. Worry suddenly flooded his system and he leapt out of bed, nearly tripping over a pair of shoes beside the bed and hurried over the bathroom.

"Kate?" he called and knocked lightly.

Getting no answer, he grimaced, hoping she wouldn't hurt him for walking in on her if she was using the toilet but worried that something may have happened, he opened the door.

Later, the sight that greeted him would make him smile in remembrance, but at that moment he was only concerned when he saw Kate with her head laying on her arms, sitting in front of the toilet with her arms propped up on the bowl, fast asleep.

He walked across the bathroom and crouched down beside her, "Kate?" he spoke softly, putting a hand on her shoulder, by the steady rise and fall of her breathing.

She groaned as she awoke, opening her eyes without lifting her head off her arms.

A moment later, her arm shot out to push Castle back as she began retching into the toilet.

"Kate, what's wrong?" he asked, moving towards her once again, concerned.

She, of course, didn't answer so he settled for wetting a cloth to cool her face and rubbing soothing circles into her back.

Several long moments later it hit him, "Morning sickness!" he exclaimed in surprise.

Her only response was to give him a withering look before her stomach rebelled once more.

When she had control again she sat back on her haunches, breathing heavily and gratefully accepted the glass of water that Castle extended to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked once she'd had a chance to rinse her mouth.

"This is your fault." She promptly informed him but this time there was no heat behind her glare.

He just chuckled in response and leaned forward to kiss her forehead, then her temple, then her cheek.

"Are you ready to go back to bed?" he questioned in a soft voice.

"Yeah, I think I'm ready." She agreed and allowed him to help her up to her feet.

* * *

The next morning it was Beckett who woke up to an empty bed beside her. The sheets were cold, no longer holding any warmth from his body that had been resting there earlier in the night. She sat up and looked around the room.

There was no Castle to be seen and the bathroom door was hanging open.

Finally, the sound of voices penetrated through the doors of the bedroom. She smiled and swung her feet around to rest them on the floor, standing quickly to make her way out to her family. Wait, family? No, her boyfriend and his daughter. Yeah that's what they were.

She huffed in frustration at herself as she stood up, and promptly fell back onto the bed again, her head spinning.

She was going to shoot the man for getting her pregnant, regardless of whose fault it is, at times like this, it's all on him.

Now that she was more awake she could feel the nausea roiling in the pit of her stomach but for now she was able to control it.

Trying again, more slowly this time, Beckett stood up and made her way out of the room, grabbing her robe as she went.

In the kitchen, Castle was cooking bacon and eggs on the stovetop and talking to Alexis who was seated at the counter.

He noticed her and looked up with a smile just as the scent of breakfast hit her nostrils.

Kate promptly went green and rushed back the way she had come to the bathroom.

Alexis gave him a questioning look but he brushed it off and hurried after his girlfriend.

Once away from the scent of cooking food, she recovered quickly and allowed herself to relax back against the man behind her.

"This sucks" she grumbled, closing her eyes on a following sigh.

Castle didn't answer for a moment, only kissed the back of her head and held her tighter against him. He felt for his girlfriend, and hated to see her uncomfortable but there was little either of them could do to combat morning sickness and they both knew it.

"Do you think you could keep down some crackers and ginger ale?" he asked brushing a piece of hair back behind her ear.

"As long as I don't have to go into the kitchen I think I'll be alright. I guess you're child has something against real food." She answered.

"Oh, my child is it?" he asked his eyes sparkling with humor.

"Yes, at times like this, it's your child."

"I'm suddenly seeing a terrifying vision of what the rest of my life is going to be like." He answered without really thinking about what he was saying, and he stiffened as if waiting for her to freak out about his suggesting they'd be together forever. Instead, she remained relaxed against his chest, letting out a sleepy hum in response.

Castle grinned, both in relief that he hadn't spooked her, and in hope that this meant they weren't as far away from forever as it had seemed when he first proposed.


	18. Appointments

**A/N: I hope everyone had a good weekend. Sorry this chapter took longer to get out than usual but I hope the fluff calms any rage you may feel for having to wait because this one is pretty much coated in sugar. You've been warned.**

* * *

Two weeks later, four weeks since Kate had been shot and their lives had changed forever, and a balance has finally been reached in the Castle loft. Castle and Beckett have reached an understanding about how much help from him she will accept and how much he is comfortable allowing her to do completely on her own.

One thing he won't relinquish control of is coffee. If he has it his way, he'll never let her make her own coffee in the morning ever again.

Kate smiles from where she's seated on an examination table as she reminisces over the last two weeks. _Maybe living with Castle isn't such a bad idea after all._ She muses to herself, but before she can question just how far she has come in the last month, a knock sounds at the door followed by her doctor entering the room.

"How are you feeling Detective Beckett?" he asked her, smiling amicably as they shook hands.

"As well as can be expected." She replied.

"Have you had any trouble breathing?" he asked, taking down notes on a clipboard held in his hands.

"No, no issues with my breathing." She refrained from mentioning how she was usually left gasping for breath after several heated make-out sessions with Castle in the last couple weeks. That hadn't changed since she had been shot.

"Great" he muttered as if to himself scribbling away on his pad.

"And on a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate your pain level?" he asked, reminding Kate of the second fight that she and her boyfriend had over her use of her pain medication. She knew Castle didn't like to see her in pain but she hated the way the medication made her head fuzzy and usually knocked her out for several hours so she took it as sparingly as she could possibly handle.

"It's at a manageable level" she answered instead, not wanting to get into a discussion about her pain medication with her doctor as well.

He leveled her with a knowing look but didn't press, for which she was grateful.

"Well then, let's check out your wound site and we'll get it dressed again and you can be on your way." He continued, setting down his clipboard and approaching the bed as she laid down on it.

Kate pulled down the neck of her shirt herself, revealing the white gauze covering the bullet wound in her chest.

He carefully pealed the tape from her skin and lifting the gauze away from her body. He inspected the angry red wound carefully before declaring that it seemed to be healing well and there were no signs of infection.

He deftly spread a fresh gauze pad over the wound and taped it down again before standing back and allowing her to sit up once again.

"We'll give this another two weeks to finish healing externally and make sure your lung is fully healed and then you can begin physical therapy." He informed her as he threw away her old dressing and gathered up his clipboard.

Kate thanked the doctor and shook his hand once more before following him out of the room and making her way to the nurses' station to book her next appointment in another two weeks.

She couldn't wait to be cleared for physical activity again. Not least of all because she wanted to be able to do more than just sleep in the bed beside the man she loved. Castle of course had been wonderful and hadn't even let on that he wanted anything more than her presence in his life but she knew he missed being able to make love to her as much as she did.

Before the shooting they had never gone more than a couple of days without connecting with each other and even then they rarely spent a night apart. Now, it had been four weeks and she missed sharing that with him more than she would have thought possible.

Lost in thought, she nearly walked right past the town car that was waiting outside the hospital until the driver called out to her.

"Oh, Eddie, I'm so sorry I didn't see you." She answered as she turned, flustered, but somehow not really surprised that Rick had sent a car to take her to her next appointment.

He'd had a meeting with Black Pawn that morning during her check-up but nothing could make him miss her second appointment that day and she knew he'd be meeting her at her OB/GYN's office.

A smile playing around her lips, Kate got into the back of the car and was soon on her way across town, thoughts of her silly, loveable goof of a boyfriend keeping her company until she was able to wipe away the smirk she knew she'd find on his face with her lips. Her preferred method.

* * *

Kate thanked Eddie once again as she exited the car and informed him that she'd ride back with Castle so he didn't need to wait for her.

She then made her way into the building and checked in for her appointment. Looking around the waiting room, she realized that Castle hadn't yet arrived so she settled down in one of two empty chairs placed side-by-side towards the back of the room, content to wait.

She let her mind wander as she looked around the room, noting a variety of women in various stages of pregnancy, some with men at their sides and others alone. Seeing these women, it reminded her just how wonderful a man Richard Castle was and how grateful she was that she wouldn't have to go through any of this on her own.

She knew no matter what happened Castle would never abandon his child and that he would play as big of a role as she would let him. Hell, the man wanted to marry her, she just wanted to be sure that he wanted to marry her for her and not because she'd gotten pregnant.

While she had thought many times about what it would be like to become the third Mrs. Castle, Kate Castle did have a nice ring to it, there was no way she would ever consider becoming the third ex-Mrs. Castle too. If and when they got married, it would be for keeps.

"Hey" a familiar voice broke through her inner musings as the man she was considering sat down beside her.

"Hey" she answered back with a smile, leaning forward to accept his kiss of greeting.

He grinned against her lips and licked along her bottom lip asking for entrance which was quickly granted.

They both lost themselves as what had begun as a chaste welcoming kiss deepened, not coming up for air until a door on the far side of the room opened and a nurse called out the name of one of the other women in the room.

Kate pulled back, her cheeks aflame in embarrassment from having gotten so caught up in her boyfriend in a public place, but a quick glance around didn't show her anyone who was openly staring at them. It seemed that they had gotten away unobserved by the other patients in the waiting room.

They contented themselves to holding hands and talking quietly to each other after that; Castle making her laugh at stories of ways he entertained himself during his boring meetings and Beckett relaying the news that she had received during her previous appointment. He seemed just as happy as she was that she'd soon be cleared for physical therapy to begin.

He hated seeing Kate so helpless and knew she didn't like to let anyone see her that way either, although she allowed him to see much more than she had ever thought she would.

"Katherine Beckett" a nurse called a short time later, standing in the doorway across the room.

Kate nodded to her, and without relinquishing Castle's hand she stood and made her way towards the nurse.

The pair was led down the hallway and shown into a room. Without hesitation, Kate sat down on the bed covered in paper and Castle took the chair beside her.

They didn't speak as the nurse measured her vitals and wrote them down. She couldn't help but wonder if her boyfriend's silence stemmed from butterflies similar to those fluttering in her own stomach as the nurse left her to change into a gown with the promise that the doctor would be in soon.

She smirked when Castle couldn't keep his eyes off of her as she stripped down and then slipped the disposable gown on and tying it behind her.

Kate smiled in greeting as her OB/GYN knocked lightly on the door and entered the room. The petite, blond woman in her mid-40's greeted Kate before turning to face Castle.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Culver." She said, reaching her hand out towards him.

"Richard Castle" he replied, shaking her hand.

The doctor didn't ask him any questions, instead turning towards Kate. "First I want to perform an internal exam and then we can do an external ultrasound which should better tell us how far along you are and let us get a look at your baby. Sound good?" she asked, smiling gently.

Kate agreed quickly, the feeling of butterflies in her stomach intensifying and she shared a look of nervous excitement with Castle.

"Mr. Castle, if you could please step outside while I conduct the internal exam, we'll retrieve you again before doing the ultrasound." The doctor requested.

Castle stood, giving his girlfriend's shoulder a squeeze before making towards the door, but Kate's hand around his wrist stopped him.

"It's alright, Dr. Culver, there's nothing he hasn't seen before and we're doing all of this together." She informed the woman, sliding her hand down to twine her fingers with his.

The doctor nodded in understanding, "You are the father then I presume?" she asked.

Castle nodded an affirmative to the doctor's question and remained in place, waiting to see if he would be allowed to stay.

"Well, in that case you are welcome to remain in the room. Many women bring along friends or family members and aren't comfortable having them in the room for the invasive exam, but as long as both you and Ms. Beckett agree, you may stay." She explained, turning to ready the equipment and putting on a pair of gloves.

Kate gave him an encouraging smile and he took his seat at the head of the bed, keeping a grip on her hand as she laid down on the bed. He couldn't help but marvel at the woman beside him. He'd had very little to do with Meredith's pregnancy when they had Alexis. She certainly never would have let him see her throwing up with morning sickness or attend appointments with her obstetrician.

The doctor explained the process as she went before positioning the stirrups and asking Kate to place her feet in them so she could complete the exam. Even with most of his view blocked by the material of her paper gown, Castle felt for Kate as he listened to the explanation of what the doctor was doing and he found himself extremely grateful in that moment that he wasn't a woman.

The internal exam complete and reassurance from the doctor that everything seemed to be going correctly, it was time for the ultrasound, and the butterflies returned full-force.

While the doctor left to retrieve the ultrasound technician and the machinery, Kate was allowed to re-dress, and once again Castle couldn't tear his gaze away from her form, his eyes unerringly drawn to the white gauze pad that was covering the center of her chest.

Kate didn't seem to notice where on her body his attention lay as she dressed quickly and resumed her prone position on the bed.

A few short minutes later the doctor was back with everything needed for the ultrasound.

Once again she explained the process as she went, asking Beckett to lift her shirt above her stomach and warning that the gel would be cold before she squeezed a dollop out onto her skin.

Everything now prepped, Dr. Culver placed the wand over her abdomen and spread the gel around a little before everyone's attention turned to the grainy black and white image on the screen.

Neither Beckett nor Castle were able to make much out at first but after a short time the doctor stopped moving the wand over her abdomen and pointed to the screen.

"There's your baby. I am officially putting you at 12 weeks along, Kate." she told them.

Beckett gasped as she was able to make out the peanut shaped outline of her baby on the screen, not replying.

Without saying anything else the doctor leaned over and flipped a switch on the machine and the sound of a strange fluttering beat filled the room.

Tears filled Kate's eyes as she stared at the image frozen on the screen and listened to her baby's heartbeat. She turned towards Castle to find a similar expression on his own face.

Eyes locked, the pair barely acknowledged the doctor as she explained that she would print some pictures and give them some time to get cleaned up before meeting them back at the nurses station.

Huge grins stretched both of their faces as they clutched at each other's hands. Unable to restrain himself any longer, Castle leaned forward to press his lips to hers.

"We're having a baby" he whispered against her lips, not wanting to pull away from her.

Kate gave a watery chuckle and kissed him again.

"Yes, we are." She replied, pulling away completely this time.

Finally tearing her gaze away from his expressive blue eyes, she grabbed some tissues that Dr. Culver had left beside her and cleaned off the left over gel on her stomach and pulled her shirt back down.

Standing, Castle offered her his hand and they left the room together, both too stunned to speak for a moment and just reveling in each other's presence.

"Come on Castle, let's go get some lunch" Kate spoke softly once they had collected their pictures and set up a follow-up appointment in another four weeks.

They left the doctor's office with pictures of their child in hand and with an understanding that every step of this pregnancy they would go through together.

* * *

**A/N Cont: So was the fluff worth the wait? Things have calmed down a little now so the following chapters shouldn't take as long as the last few have and we're going to keep moving along with this story. A warning though, I'm not a medical professional nor have I ever been pregnant so most of this is coming from my imagination and a little research so please forgive any glaring errors, especially those pertaining to Kate's recovery. This is fiction and while I'd love to get every detail right for you all, I'm going to make some mistakes, I'll just warn anyone now before it's too late. Otherwise, enjoy the story.**


	19. Boys

**A/N: Surprise! It didn't take a week to get this one out. It's amazing how fast I can write these chapters when I'm supposed to be writing a paper for school. I even managed to get an extra one-shot out and came up with a couple ideas for some other stories after this one. Stay tuned for more coming soon.**

* * *

"I can't believe this is our baby" Kate whispered looking at the photograph in her hand reverently. While she'd known since she woke up in the hospital that she was pregnant, it hadn't really hit her until she saw the child that was growing in her stomach on the screen of the ultrasound machine and heard the sound of its heartbeat filling the room.

Castle just smiled happily and leaned over in the booth they were occupying to press a kiss to her temple.

"I love you Kate." He spoke directly into her ear and wrapping an arm around his waist.

"I love you too Rick. So much." She answered, turning to press a chaste kiss to his lips.

The moment was interrupted by the ringing of Castle's cellphone. He groaned in frustration as he dug it out of his pocket and saw Gina's name flashing on the screen.

He shot Beckett an apologetic smile before answering his phone.

When he hung up the phone, she knew before he even opened his mouth that she wasn't going to like what he had to say.

"I'm so sorry, but they need me to come back to Black Pawn and sign the papers for my new contract that we finished this morning."

Yep, she was right. She didn't like it, but she did understand.

"That's alright Castle" she told him, placing her hand on his thigh and giving it a comforting squeeze. "I'd love to take you home and spend the rest of the day cuddled in bed, but your job is important and I've got other things I can do too."

"Have I ever told you how extraordinary you are?" he asked, a grin spreading across his face.

"Hmmm I think I have heard that before." She teased back. "Come on Writer Boy, let's go pay so you can get those papers signed. I think I'll stop by the precinct and show the boys and Lanie the pictures anyways."

"That's a great idea. How did I not think of it myself?" he asked, frowning slightly as they both stood and walked across the diner to the counter.

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't sound so surprised that I could have come up with a 'great idea" she told him, the twinkle in her eye and the way she bumped her hip against his revealing that she wasn't actually upset with him.

They parted ways at the street, Kate deciding she'd be able to walk the couple blocks to the precinct from Remy's despite the worried side-long look she got from Castle, and him hopping into a cab to get to his meeting across town on time.

Walking into the precinct, she got a distinct sense of déjà vu. It was nice to know some things never change, she thought.

Beckett realized just how wrong she was when she reached the homicide floor.

Her instinctive glance over to the Captain's office where Montgomery should have been was an all too painful reminder that things had changed. Her beloved Captain had died for her and now someone else was in charge.

Before she could get too lost in her thoughts, however, the sound of clapping filled the room and she looked up to see everyone else looking back at her cheering and clapping.

With a self-conscious smile she made her way over to where Ryan and Esposito were gathered around Espo's desk, thanking and greeting people as she went.

"Hey Beckett, what are you doing back so early?" Ryan asked, both boys still smiling widely at her.

"Oh, sorry guys, I'm not back yet, just here for a visit actually" she informed them, taking a seat beside Ryan on the side of the desk. While she had enjoyed the walk, it had left her a little sore, although thankfully her breathing was still fine. Her lung really was starting to heal.

"Oh, then what do you need?" he asked, their looks turning inquisitive.

"I just came to show you some pictures, that is, if you want to see them?" she asked teasingly as she grabbed the envelope of ultrasound pictures out of her bag.

"Uh, Beckett, I think only Castle should be seeing those kinds of pictures." Esposito piped up from his desk chair.

"Can it Esposito!" she snapped back playfully, throwing a pencil at him and watching as the eraser end bounced off his forehead.

He just chuckled in return.

With no other following comments from the peanut gallery, she pulled the pictures out and handed them to the boys.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Baby Castle" she tells them proudly.

Both men stare at the picture for a moment.

"Wow, so you really are pregnant." Ryan comments, earning himself a 'duh' glare from his superior, while Esposito remains quiet for a moment longer.

"I don't see it" he finally admits, turning the picture around in his hands upside down.

Beckett chuckles, but his partner bursts out laughing at his partner and snatches the picture away from him. Turning it rightside up, Ryan points out the lima bean shaped outline of the baby.

"Oooh, now I see it. Congratulations, by the way." He offers to Beckett before both boys return the photographs and allow her to place them back in the envelope.

"Thanks guys. I find it hard to believe at times too" she admits, a small smile still gracing her features.

After a moment of comfortable silence, she spoke again.

"So, uh, what do you guys know about the case?" she asked them.

All happiness now drained from their faces, Ryan and Esposito told her about the groundskeeper that was seen where he shouldn't have been, but that no one had been able to identify him and while he'd left the gun, they didn't have any DNA or fingerprints in their system that matched the ones found.

Beckett felt the blow with the understanding that in all likelihood the man had gotten away with it. A phantom pain in her chest spiked, and she didn't respond right away, but once she had her body under control again she reassured them that she knew they were doing everything they could and that she had faith that if anyone could solve who had shot her, it would be them.

This time a much less comfortable silence ensued, until Beckett's attention was caught by movement in what used to be Montgomery's office. The boys turned to see what she was looking at and saw that the new Captain must have just arrived back from some meetings she'd been at back at 1PP.

"Captain Victoria Gates, AKA 'Iron Gates" Ryan informed her as Beckett continued to stare at the middle aged African American woman.

"Yeah, she started out in IA. She's as by the book as they come." Esposito added.

"Wow, that's not going to win her any popularity points" Beckett murmured as if talking to herself.

"Yeah," Ryan scoffed, "It looks like she brought her distrust of cops along with her."

Before anyone else could speak, Ryan phone began to ring. He walked away towards his desk as he answered it. "Ryan"

"He's paranoid," Esposito pointed out, watching his partners retreating form, "but right." He finished with a pointed look at Beckett.

She found herself actually glad that she wasn't returning to the precinct yet. Now she'd get some time to get used to the idea of a new regime at the twelfth.

It was then that Ryan returned and informed them of a murder downtown. The three detectives said their goodbyes and made their way out of the precinct.

This time Kate hailed a cab, knowing she shouldn't be doing any more significant amounts of walking that day and that the loft was a long walk in optimal conditions.

After a typically uneventful cab ride, she found herself relieved when she finally arrived back at the loft.

She unlocked the door and flipped the lights on as she made her way through the loft.

The sight of two pairs of feet sticking off the end of the couch in the semi-lit living room stopped her in her tracks. A moment later, a familiar red head poked up above the back.

"Kate?!" The teen exclaimed in surprise, rushing to grab a blanket folded up beside the couch and covering both herself and whoever else was with her and giving Kate a view of pale skin as she reached for the blanket.

"Oh God" Kate groaned as she realized she had just walked in on Alexis and her boyfriend.

"I- We um-" Alexis began but was stopped by Beckett holding her hand up.

"I'm going to turn around while you put your clothes back on, and then we can talk." She informed the girl, turning her back on the pair and tapping her foot impatiently.

Now that the shock of the situation was wearing off, she felt the embarrassment of walking in on the teen.

"Are you decent?" she asks when she no longer hears movement from the direction of the couch.

"Yes" a small voice calls back, cluing her in that the girl was as mortified by being caught as she was by catching them.

She turns back around to the sight of Alexis and a young man standing side-by-side, thankfully, now completely dressed.

They all stand there awkwardly for a moment before Alexis breaks the moment, "Uh Kate, this is my boyfriend Ashley. Ash, this is my- uh" she introduces, pausing for a moment over what exactly to call the older woman.

"Detective Kate Beckett" she comes to the rescue, stepping towards the younger couple, not missing how the boy seems to pale at the mention of her title.

"You're a cop?" he asks, his voice breaking on the last word.

Beckett hides the grin that's trying desperately to break through her façade, only nodding at the boy in answer.

"Uh, look Alexis, I think I'm gonna go…" he trails off, glancing at Kate for a moment before leaning over and kissing the girl quickly on the cheek and hightailing it out of the apartment.

The ladies watched him go until the door to the loft shuts behind him.

"Kate I'm so sorry I-" the girl begins but the detective cuts her off once again.

"Don't worry about it Alexis. I was your age once and had a boyfriend. I know how it is. Just promise me you're being safe and don't let me catch you again and we'll call it even, deal?" she asked, turning to face the younger woman with a small smile.

Alexis sighed in relief and nodded in agreement.

"Do you, uh, do we need to tell Dad?" she asked, suddenly nervous again.

It only took a moment of deliberation before Beckett decided, "No, I don't think it's necessary. I don't really want to see his head explode." She said both ladies laughing slightly.

"Thank you" the girl said, stepping forward to give the older woman a hug, surprising both of them. Kate stiffened for a moment in shock, but quickly wrapped her arms around the teen, hugging her close for a moment before letting her go.

"You are being safe though right?" she asked Alexis, feeling somewhat like a hypocrite since she was currently pregnant unplanned.

"Of course. I mean, no offense but I really don't want to get pregnant before I'm ready." The redhead answered quickly, taking a step away from the older woman.

"Oh, no I would never take offense to that Alexis. I mean, I love your father, and I already love our child, but it's always better to wait to have children until you're sure you are ready and that you are having that child with a man that you love unconditionally. Your father and I weren't as careful as we should have been and we're lucky that we both love each other and want to do this together." Beckett explained, taking the girls hand between her own.

"Can I ask you a question?" the teen asked, looking down at their clasped hands nervously.

"Of course you can ask me anything Alexis, what is it?" Kate asks, slightly concerned by the younger woman's anxiety.

"Are you and Dad going to get married?"

Kate paused for a moment, knowing this was one answer she needed to get right.

"Alexis, I love your father very much, and I know he loves me and we would like nothing more than to get married some day, but we both want to make sure that when that day comes, we're certain that we'll be ready to spend the rest of our lives together. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, I guess I understand that." She replied, still not looking up.

"But listen Alexis, no matter what happens, your father is always going to love you. Neither I nor this baby or any other children we may have will ever change that. You're always going to be his firstborn no one can replace you, and I would never do anything to come between you two." She continued, suddenly realizing that they had never really discussed their relationship with his daughter.

"Oh, I know that" the girl said but despite her words Beckett noticed that her shoulders seemed to lose some of the tension she was carrying.

"Well, you're dad is at another meeting right now, what do you say we go get some supper around and it should be ready by the time he gets back?" she asked and Alexis eagerly accepted her peace offering, both ladies headed towards the kitchen where Kate offered to teach the girl one of her own mother's recipes that she'd learned as a child.

Neither of them said it, but they'd both grown a lot closer that afternoon and would only continue to grow as more time passed, a fact for which Castle would be eternally grateful.


	20. Cravings

**A/N: A very short, fluffy transition chapter for you all.**

* * *

"Castle"

...

"Castle" Kate whispered again, a little louder this time, placing her hand on his arm and giving it a squeeze.

"Mmm" the man mumbled, blinking his eyes open slowly.

"Beckett?" he asked, realizing that she was perched on her elbow above him. "Are you alright, is something wrong?" he asked, consciousness flooding back into his system.

"No, nothing's wrong" she reassured him, but the way she bit her lip told him that she had something on her mind.

"Ok. What is it hon, what do you need?"

She didn't even seem to register his use of the pet name as embarrassment colored her face. "Well, um, you know those shakes that Remy's has?"

"Yeah" he answered slowly, not yet understanding why she was talking about milkshakes at, 2:30 in the morning.

"Well, your baby wants one." She looked at him for a moment and when he didn't respond, "Now."

"Now?" he asked incredulously.

She nodded her head slowly in affirmation.

Castle stared at her for a moment to long, long enough to make her nervous, before he burst out laughing. He couldn't help it, she just looked so cute begging for a milkshake in the middle of the night.

"My baby huh?" he asked, catching her use of the possessive.

Kate nodded again, this time with a smile tugging the corners of her mouth upwards.

"Alright" he conceded, throwing the blankets back and swinging his legs out of the bed, still chuckling to himself. Let the cravings begin.

* * *

"So, Castle, do you have a preference over whether it's a boy or a girl?" she asked the next morning from where she was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, her tank top pulled up under her breasts.

"The important thing to me is that the baby is healthy, boy or girl." He responded, approaching from the bedroom and coming to stand behind her, watching themselves in the mirror.

"Of course, but if you could choose?"

"I guess I would like to have a little girl who looked just like you. I loved raising Alexis. Although.. that would put me at a severe disadvantage and if our daughter looked like you I'd probably have to stand by the front door with a baseball bat when she's old enough to date." He rambled rethinking his decision.

"Believe me Castle, you don't want our children to be like me when I was a teenager." Kate reminded him, getting lost for a moment in memories of her own wild phase.

"Well, what about you, which would you prefer?" he asked.

"I think I want to be able to give you a son. A little boy with your sense of adventure and your blue eyes."

They stood there together, lost in thoughts of their future and the child it would hold.

"I'm finally starting to show" Kate broke the silence, bringing her hands to rest on the small bump that had formed where her normally flat stomach was.

"It's beautiful." Castle murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple and bringing his arms around her to place his hands over hers. "You do know what this means though?" he asked.

"No, what?" replied nervously, wondering what he could possibly have up his sleeve.

"This means my mother and daughter are going to want to take you shopping now." He informed her, smiling at the way she tensed slightly in his arms.

Before he could say anything though, she let out a breath and relaxed into him once again. "Alright, I suppose I could talk to Lanie too and we can all make a day of it." She conceded easily. "I think she has the day off Saturday."

"That would be a wonderful idea Kate." Castle found himself grateful that the woman he loved fit so well into his family already. It would make things so much easier when the time came to officially make it all permanent.

* * *

**A/N Cont: Sorry, I realize this is way shorter than any other chapter in this story but it's midterm week so... Anyway, I have a question for all my lovely readers. That would be you. Do you all want to see the smaller details of this story such as this chapter and the girls' shopping trip and things like that or are things getting old and I need to keep it moving along more quickly? I'd love to hear what you think. The content and timing of the next chapter is going to be dependent on your response but regardless there are definitely some more fun things in the works coming up soon.**

**Oh, and on a side note. I took a look through some of my earlier chapters and realized that I desperately need to spend more time proofreading and editing my chapters. Someone yell at me next time I have so many typos please and thank you :)**


	21. Shopping

**A/N: Sorry it took a little longer than normal but it's Spring Break week so... Yeah. :) For anyone who was concerned though, I promise you all I'll never abandon a story. The next chapter shouldn't take long. It's been planned since early on and and should be a fun one with a bit of a twist.**

* * *

Beckett looked longingly at the black high heeled boots on display in the window. Between the pregnancy and having been shot she'd had to give up her beloved heels for the time being and it wasn't something she was happy about.

"Beckett let's go" Lanie's call echoed back to her from farther down the road where the ME was waiting with Alexis and Martha.

The women had made a day of their shopping trip. They'd already picked up several bags of maternity clothes to help see Kate through the remainder of her pregnancy and the girl's had talked her into going to check out a nearby baby boutique.

A small grin took over Kate's features as she caught up with the women and the four made their way into the boutique dominated by pastels.

"Ooh this is so adorable" Lanie squealed, making a beeline for a pale green onesie with an elephant on the front.

The others quickly joined her at the racks of clothing showing off the items that they particularly liked or disliked.

Kate found herself drawn towards the furniture section. She hadn't talked yet with Castle about a nursery or what they were going to do after the baby was born, but just seeing the cribs and matching rocking chairs helped her imagine what it would be like when she was spending so much time in that room with her child.

"It's beginning to become real, isn't it darling?" Martha asked gently as she approached Kate from the side.

"Mmm" She nodded in agreement reaching out absentmindedly to flip over the price tag on one of the cribs.

Martha noticed the way the woman paled slightly and placed her hand on the younger woman's arm.

"Don't worry about it dear, Richard will insist on paying for the nursery anyways what with it being in the loft and all."

"In the loft?" Kate asked, turning away from the display to face the older woman.

Martha met her confused look with one of her own "You are moving in permanently aren't you?"

Move into the loft permanently? Now? The thought was daunting, but then again, wasn't she already living in the loft. As much as she didn't want to admit it, the idea did make sense. Kate did want to marry Castle some day, but no matter what happened between them she would never keep him from his child and moving in would be a step in the right direction.

"We haven't really talked about what's going to happen once I've been fully cleared yet." She finally revealed and it appeared to be enough as the woman gave her a knowing smile and excused herself to speak with Lanie.

Move in with Castle. Wow. A year ago she never would have imagined that she would be considering moving in with Richard Castle and being pregnant with his child. Now she was actually excited about the prospect. She found herself wondering if he would ask her or if she would have to bring it up herself.

Shelving the idea for a later time, Kate made her way back over to the clothing, a small shirt that read "Daddy's Little Man" catching her eye. She stopped and ran her hand reverently over the shirt, resting the other on the small bump that was forming on her abdomen.

"Are you doing to find out what you're having?" Alexis asked, noticing the shirt that had caught the detective's attention.

"Hmm, I'm not sure yet, we haven't discussed whether we want to know or be surprised yet." Kate admitted. "I kind of think I'd like to know so we can be more prepared but we have a couple more weeks yet before we can find out."

"I can't imagine that Dad wouldn't want to know." Alexis agreed.

"That's true, your father is rarely a patient person."

Both women grinned at each other as they continued to peruse the clothing.

"Do you think you're going to have a boy or a girl?" the red head asked a moment later.

"I'm kind of hoping for a boy, but you're father wants a girl so that she can be just like you" The woman said with a gentle smile.

Alexis gave her a surprised look before turning away shyly.

"Would you rather have a little brother or a sister?" the detective returned?

"Well, a little sister would be great, but I think I'd rather have a little brother first." The teen answered slyly.

"First?" Beckett gulped. It was her turn to look at the girl, surprised.

Before either woman could say more Lanie and Martha joined them again, "Alright girl, let's get a move-on we have one more stop yet to make today." Lanie informed them.

"We do?" Kate asked, looking at her best friend in question.

"Yep we do, but I think for this one it's best if just you and I go on our own" The ME informed her friend.

Alexis seemed confused for a moment before a look of horror washed over her face "Oh, ew, yeah no thanks I'll meet you guys at home later." The teen told them before surprising everyone and hugging the brunette and taking her leave.

"I too have some other errands to run and will leave you two ladies to the remainder of your shopping, there are some things about my son that I don't need to be aware of." Martha then left the now thoroughly embarrassed detective and the gleeful medical examiner behind.

"Come on" Lanie said and all but dragged Beckett down the street to Victoria Secret.

"Lanie, I'm already pregnant, and I haven't even been cleared yet, why do I need lingerie?" Kate grumbled to her friend.

"Oh you hush. You'll thank me in a few weeks when you are cleared and you're ready to climb that man like a tree."

"Who says I'm not now" Kate muttered under her breath but the surprised look that her friend shot her meant that she hadn't mumbled quietly enough and the other woman must have heard her.

The next words out of her mouth erased all doubt, "Well then, we really need to make sure you have enough outfits to last until you can wow writer-boy when he can think straight enough to notice a week later."


End file.
