669. Chapter 669

After Linchpin

Episode 4.16

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I do tell a lot of lies, but I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

Kate rested her head on Castle's chest, then lightly ran her hand over his stomach.

Castle turned his head towards her. "We have to find some way to talk to each other when neither one of us is facing death. You know, like normal people do."

Kate grinned. "Yeah, like we're normal people." She thought back to the moment in the basement of the McKinley building when Sophia Turner was about to shoot Castle. She had whispered, "I love you.", knowing she'd never get another chance to say it. Then Danberg had killed Sophia and the two of them had rushed off to save a little girl's life.

By the time Castle had caught up with them the lobby was full of CIA agents, unobtrusively cleaning up the mess, as Danberg had put it. Then they headed for the precinct. Danberg had briefed Captain Gates, and had managed to give her almost no useful information at all. Then Danberg had compounded Gates' fury by telling her that she was never, ever to try to find out anything more about the operation Beckett and Castle were on. He had managed to leave the threats of what would happen to Gates if she did try to Gates' imagination.

Once Danberg had given her back her car keys, she'd pulled on Castle's sleeve and walked him out to her car and took him back to his loft.

"Yes, I meant it." She had said. "I thought we were both going to die and I wanted you to know. I probably wouldn't have told you if we hadn't been facing death, but I'm glad that you know."

"I love you too." He had replied.

"I know."

She had seen the change in his face. "You do? How?"

Luckily, she had a prepared answer. "You do recall that I'm a detective? Rick, everyone on the planet thinks were together. Didn't you think that eventually I'd figure it out too?"

"One more reason that I'll never be able to write Nikki Heat to be as extraordinary as the real life Kate Beckett."

"I hope you'll keep trying. I'm looking forward to reading more of her adventures."

"And those of Jameson Rook?

Beckett scrunched her nose. "I suppose." Then she laughed. "Of course I want to read more about Jameson Rook." Kate leaned into him. "But what I told you that day at the swings is still there. The wall is still there, but it's a lot weaker. And it'll never be truly gone until I solve my mom's murder." Kate leaned up and kissed him. "But that's enough talking." She led him to his bedroom.

Much later they continued their conversation.

"I almost got you killed today." He said suddenly.

She shook her head. "No, Sophia Turner, or whoever she really was almost killed me."

"My former muse, someone I….had feeling for, tried to kill us both. And I was so impressed with Sophia and the CIA and all their cool toys….If there's one thing I should have learned from working with you, it's that all the toys in the world don't mean a thing. It's the people. People like you." He lightly brushed his lips over Kate's."

"And people like you."

Castle laughed bitterly. "She called me a reckless, immature, self-centered jackass and I can't argue with her."

"Well, for a reckless, immature, self-centered jackass, I think you been an outstanding partner. You do realize that I don't fall in love with reckless, immature, self-centered jackasses, don't you?"

"You enjoy saying reckless, immature, self-centered jackass, don't you?"

"Only when you deserve it, and you hardly ever do anymore." She lifted herself up on one elbow to talk to him. "Rick, Sophia lied to you and she fooled you into thinking a lot of things about her that weren't true. However, she did the same thing to the CIA and for a lot longer. She even fooled me and I'm extraordinary, remarkable and tall."

"You were suspicious of Sophia from the start."

She nodded. "Because I didn't think she had any interest in solving the three murders. I was never suspicious of her not being a dedicated and patriotic CIA agent."

"And when we had to save a little girl's life, I froze like some rookie. I'm supposed to be your partner. I should have been right there with you and all I did was sit there and stare at Sophia's body like a damned idiot."

Kate looked thoughtful. "Do you remember anyone else who froze when things went south?"

He looked away. "That was different. You'd been shot."

"I fell apart once and couldn't do my job. Then I fell apart again and needed my partner to get me through it. And I fell apart during that sniper case and I wouldn't let my partner help me. I've frozen and screwed up plenty. If you want to feel bad about freezing up today, then I should feel even worse for my screw ups."

Castle looked like he was about to argue with her, so Kate decided to change the subject. "I know I said Sophia lied a lot, but do you think she was telling the truth about your father? Do you think he's a CIA agent?"

Castle looked at the ceiling and thought. "We'll probably never know for sure. If he's stayed out of my life for this long, he's probably some deeply undercover super spook."

Kate ran her hand over his cheek. "A super spook and not just someone avoiding child support payments?" She teased.

"Mine is a better story."

She kissed his chest. "It's all about the story, isn't it?"

Castle went on. "It makes sense, though, if he was in the CIA. How many guys with a couple of somewhat forgettable novels under his belt could get any kind of access to the CIA, let alone what I got? And Sophia was about to kill us. What difference would it make it she told the truth?"

"Some people lie so much they just can't stop." Kate said, not really wanting to burst Castle's balloon.

"So, we'll probably never know." Castle stared at the ceiling some more. "I never loved her, you know. The relationship we had was nothing like what we have. I was never her partner. And you're a vastly superior muse in every way. There's no reason for you to have been jealous of Sophia."

Kate was about to tell Castle that she'd never been jealous of Sophia, but she couldn't tell another lie right now. "I have been jealous of every woman you've ever been with or had any feeling for going back to that girl in the eighth grade who stole your lunch money and laughed about it."'

"Really?"

She nodded firmly. "And don't believe any woman who says she's never been jealous of the women in her man's life."

"So I'm your man?"

She ran her hand down his stomach and kept going. "Let's see if you are."

Meanwhile, far away….

"General Volkov, the woman failed, and she's dead."

Gregor Volkov nodded. "For all that Moscow accepted the ideas of that mathematician, I never saw the plan as having much impact even if it had succeeded. Which it hasn't."

The aide thought that Volkov was unusually calm about the failed mission. "But if it had worked….?"

"But it didn't." Volkov said smiling. "However, the woman did provide me with some very useful information. Very useful indeed." He picked up a file from his desk. "We need to begin planning something else. Something personal."