937. Chapter 937

After Crossfire

Episode 8.22

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: One more time! I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

As soon as he heard the sound of her key in the lock, Richard Castle rushed to the front door. As Kate opened the door, he put his arms around her and drew her inside. "How did it go? Is everything okay? No problems? If there are any problems, we can fix them. Really. Kate, we need to…." Further talk was stopped when Kate pushed her lips against his. After a moment, he stopped trying to talk and kissed her back.

She broke the kiss. "Yes, Castle. Everything is fine. I've had my last physical exam and I'm cleared for full return to duty. See?" She showed him the medical report that said just that. "Although One PP has made it clear that they expect their precinct captains to act like precinct captains, and not like detectives, or avenging angels."

Kate was trying to sound cheerful, but Castle didn't quite buy it. "Kate, if there's any kind of problem, anything at all, you know…." Once again, Kate kissed him until he stopped trying to talk.

"There was one thing, Rick. I talked to Lieutenant Pirelli from Personnel."

"Are they thinking of transferring you?"

She shook her head. "No, he just wanted to remind me that I've been shot three times on the job and I do have residual problems. Part of my liver was damaged by Caleb Brown. The sniper that shot me damaged my lungs and…"

"If the NYPD won't pay for something, I will." Castle said. "Whatever it is, we'll get it done. Just tell me what it is?"

She smiled at him. "Castle, you know all of my medical problems. They're relatively minor, they're as fixed as they'll ever be, and won't keep me from being a cop, but…."

"But?" Castle said, beginning to worry all over again.

"Pirelli said that because I was shot on the job, I'm eligible for disability retirement. If I put in my papers now, I'd get a pension just a little bit less than if I stayed for the full twenty years without any disability. If I wait another nine months, until I had another full year in, I'd get more than if I retired normally after twenty years."

"Kate, it's not like we need the money."

"I know. And I know that there are a lot of people that think that I grabbed my millionaire and his money. That's not true, but I've always tried to not be a financial burden. I pay my own way. But, you are a millionaire and I have to accept that."

"Do you want to retire early?" Castle asked, a bit surprised.

"I think I do. We got Bracken and Mason Wood. I got justice for my mom, which is why I became a cop. I want a change."

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to be Mrs. Castle." She said, kissing him again.

"Excuse me, but you are Mrs. Castle. I remember it clearly. I was even at the wedding. You were too."

Kate laughed. "No, I've been Detective Beckett and then Captain Beckett. You've always been very good about allowing me to have my own way in our relationship. And I've been way too good at getting my own way. I want to be Mrs. Castle for a change. I want to go to book signings with you and tell everyone how wonderful my husband is. I want us to ride our Harleys together. I want to watch you write. I want to make chocolate fudge brownies for you with peanut butter icing. I want to just be your wife. I want to prove to you that being Mrs. Castle is all I will ever want."

"Can you start the brownies right now?" Castle teased.

"I think I will." Kate headed for the kitchen and began working.

"Kate, you've been busy your whole life. Do you really think that you'll be happy? That you won't get bored?"

"Like Bracken suggested to you? That I need to tilt at windmills?" She shook her head. "I don't want to be that kind of person anymore, but I was thinking of going back to law school. Doing what my mom was doing. Being a force for good and being one hell of a mom."

Rick put his arms around her waist. "You know I'll do anything for you." He nuzzled her ear. "Including taste testing brownies."

Nine months later.

"We're going to miss you, girl." Lanie said, starting to tear up.

"That goes double for me, Ryan and Vikram." Espo added.

"The owner will still let us drink here at the Old Haunt, though, won't he?" Ryan said, smiling.

Castle laughed. "You guys are always welcome here. You're my friends. The best friends I've ever had. Or at least the best friends that I'm not married to."

"So Alexis and Haley are taking over the PI business?" Lanie asked.

"Rick decided that he'd had too much excitement in his life, much the same as I decided. We still own the company, but Alexis and Haley are junior partners. Assuming they make it work…"

"Which they will." Rick broke in.

"Assuming they make it work, they'll buy us out eventually."

"So what are you going to do now?" Vikram asked.

"Whatever we feel like."

Three months after that.

Rick and Kate were laughing when they came in the door. They took off their helmets and hung up their leather jackets. "I lived in DC and I had no idea how fascinating it was. I could stay in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum alone for a week easily."

Rick was looking through the mail. "You didn't have much time for sightseeing. You were too busy saving your husband's life, remember." He stopped at one envelope. "Do you know a Mr. Columbia? You have a letter from him. A pretty big one, too." He handed her the letter.

Kate took the letter and opened it, with a mixture of dread and curiosity on her face. She read the letter, then read it again. "Castle…..Castle…..I GOT IN!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him.

"Well, of course you did. You didn't think Columbia would turn you down, did you?"

Kate was starting to cry. "I never thought I'd be accepted. Not at Columbia. I was hoping that I'd get in somewhere in New York City, but Columbia….."

"Tell you what. To celebrate, I'll make you some chocolate fudge brownies with peanut butter icing."

"Go to it."

Three months after that.

Apparently the students at Columbia Law School weren't that friendly. At least that's what Kate thought as she walked into the cafeteria for lunch. Several students glared at her and when she headed for one table with an open chair, a woman quickly put her backpack and computer on the chair. As usual, Kate sat at a small table by herself.

She opened her laptop and began working, while eating the lunch Castle had made for her.

"Excuse me, can I join you?" The speaker was a petite brunette that Kate recognized from one of her classes.

"Certainly. No one else seems to want to sit anywhere near me."

The woman laughed as she sat down. "Can you blame them?"

"I'm sorry." Kate said, mystified. "Blame them?"

"Sure. You're Captain Kate Beckett…."

"I'm Mrs. Kate Castle." Kate quickly said.

"Sure. You took down a Senator who was a lock for the Presidency and some power crazed CIA spook. Oh, and two of the most notorious serial killers around. And no one knows how many other criminals. And you're married to a rich, famous and very handsome man who's written a series of best sellers about you. And to top it off, you're drop dead gorgeous."

"I thought Columbia Law School was supposed to attract top level people."

"Mrs. Castle, there's top level students and then there's you. When the elite law firms come to Columbia in another three years, they'll push all of us ordinary people out of the way to get to you. And the ones that don't get you will be so disappointed, they'll just leave without even noticing anyone else. It sucks to be us."

"I'm not going to a top tier law firm. I intend to work on my own doing what my mother did, helping those with no voice and being a great mom."

The woman laughed. "That's funny. My mom and dad are lawyers and they do a lot of pro bono work, just themselves. I plan to go to work for them, which is why I'm not too jealous of you. I'm Nancy Hancock, by the way." She held out her hand and Kate shook it.

Three years after that.

"See?" Castle said to the toddler on his lap. "There's mommy up there. She's wearing a cap and gown because she's graduating today. Can you say graduating?"

Lilly said something that might have sounded like it started with a G and then laughed.

"Now we have to be quiet because the graduation is starting." They sat with Martha, Jim, Alexis, Haley, Vikram, The Ryans, Espo and Lanie and watched until the announcer called the name they'd been waiting for.

"Katherine Castle, Doctor of Laws." As Kate walked across the stage to accept her degree, she could hear her cheering section.

Once the commencement was over, Kate rushed to her friends and family. She got a hug and a kiss from Rick and Lilly and a hug from everyone else.

"What now?" Alexis asked.

"We're going the Old Haunt for drinks and dinner and a special dessert made by my lovely wife."

Author's note: That's the end of the After…stories for season eight, but not the end of the After….stories. However, I don't plan to start with Flowers for Your Grave and work all the way through to Crossfire again. I do plan on writing more of the AU Castle stories, like the ones about Captain Kate, the pirate, Kate "Idaho" Beckett, the archeologist, Beckett of the Yard, and all of the others. I also plan to write more conventional After….stories that will be longer than the ones I've been writing. We also have a few chapters of I, Spy to go. I already have one After story in mind set at the end of season two. But first, I have two stories in the works. One is a Castle set in Season Seven and the other is a non-Castle Sci fi story that's a crossover from Farscape and the universe of Poul Anderson's Terran Empire. Further down the road I have an idea for a story that will bring the characters of Rick and Kate into the CoDominium novels of Jerry Pournelle. And I have an idea, just an idea, mind you, for a sequel to I, Spy.

I shall return.