705. Chapter 705

After Watershed

Episode 5.24

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you know I don't own Castle? Rating: K Time: See above.

Rick poured a glass of champagne for both of them when they got back to the loft. He handed one glass to Kate. "Are you ever going to stop looking at that ring?" He teased.

"Maybe in a few decades, I'll get used to it, but for now I just want to look at it and think, "I'm engaged to marry Richard Castle."

"Ahem, that's the ruggedly handsome Richard Edgar Alexander Rodgers Castle."

She grinned at him. "Are you going to put that into the wedding vows? Ruggedly handsome Richard Edgar Alexander Rodgers Castle, I Katherine Houghton Beckett to solemnly swear…." She giggled.

"I guess not. The wedding would take too long. Espo and Lanie would want to get on the dance floor, the Ryans would be wondering if they were ever going to eat. Gates would stand up at the part where the minister says "If anyone knows why these two should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace."

"She would not!" Kate insisted. "Are we going to invite her?"

Rick shrugged. "I don't know. We haven't discussed the wedding yet. Big wedding with everyone we know? Small wedding, limited to family and close friends only? Somewhere in between?"

Kate shook her head. "We'll have time for that later. I need to plan my move to DC first." She looked down at her hands clutched in her lap. "When I was thinking about this, I didn't realize how hard it was going to be leaving you behind."

"You're not leaving me behind. Door to door, DC is just a few hours away. Since my time is mostly my own, I could drop down to see you on a weekday after you're done working, stay the night, make you breakfast, kiss you goodbye and get back to New York ready to write more Nikki Heat."

A serious look came over Kate's face. "Rick, what's going to happen to Nikki?"

"Nothing. You don't think I'd stop writing Nikki just because you're going to DC, do you?"

"No, but will she stay with the NYPD? Will she become Special Agent Heat, a Fed?"

Rick thought carefully for a moment. "For the time being, she'll stay in New York. After that, I don't know. One thing I do know, is that Nikki and Rook will be getting married."

''I hope Nikki doesn't spend the day he proposes thinking that Rook is about to dump her. That would be awful."

"No. I don't see that. Rooks proposal should be sincere and heartfelt. Unlike certain people I know, it shouldn't come as a total surprise to Nikki that Rook is going to ask her to marry him."

"Are you ever going to let me forget that?"

Rick looked over her head and into the distance. "No. I think I'll remind you regularly that you thought that I was going to dump you. And I'll tell everyone that you thought so little of my undying love for you, that you thought I'd dump you just because you were going a few miles away."

She slapped his chest. "Castle! Don't you dare do that!"

Castle stroked his chin. "Well, I suppose I could be convinced if you were really, really nice to me."

"Haven't I always been nice to you?" She said in a low, sultry voice.

"Well, not at first. You acted like you didn't like me at all."

She ran a finger over his chest, just above his shirt. "That was a very long time ago. I think I've been very nice to you for a very, very long time now." As she spoke, she moved closer to Rick until her lips just brushed his.

"Come to think of it, you have. Very, very nice."

She pulled back. "And I'll keep being nice to you as long as you're nice to me." She took his hand in hers. "Castle, I really did think you wanted to break up with me. I had thought about it for…well, quite a bit. I was determined to be calm and in control."

"You do in control as well as anyone I know."

Kate give him a minor glare. "I was determined that I wouldn't cry or beg. I wouldn't offer to not go to DC. I was going to explain that we didn't have to break up. I was going to use Jordan Shaw as an example, since you were so fascinated by her toys."

He shook his head. "No, I've been fascinated by your toys, not hers."

Kate grinned. "Oh, you didn't want an electronic murder board and a Fed-mobile?"

"No, just you."

"Well, you have me now, Mr. Castle."

"Thank god."

Kate looked away again. "But as soon as I saw you, as soon as I saw how serious you were, I was afraid I'd fall apart and beg you not to break up with me. I was about ready to start crying just before you got down on your knees and proposed."

"You have never had to beg me for anything, Beckett."

"Oh? Not even changing the name of a certain fictional police detective to something less stripperesque?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I thought we had an intelligent conversation and I convinced you that my knowledge of best sellers was superior to your own. That's the way I remember it."

"You would."

Rick pulled Kate to him and hugged her. "I know I've hurt you in the past, and I hate myself for it. I just want to do everything I can to keep you safe and make you happy. Okay?"

"Rick, I want to love you more than anything. I want to make you the center of my life, but…."

"Bracken." Rick said sourly.

"I have to stop him. I have to make him pay for what he did to my mom and to all the others. And I can't just walk away."

"Yeah, sooner or later he'll come after us."

"Rick, he'll come after me."

"Bracken is nothing if not utterly ruthless and thorough. He knows I'm rich, he knows I know people. Not just retired art thieves, but people like Sal Tenor, the mobster. He might even know about my father. I'm not at all sure how dad would take either of us getting murdered, but having seen him kill, I'd take no chances if I were Bracken."

"Thinking of backing out, Mr. Castle?" She teased.

"No. But I am thinking that the final Mrs. Castle will be very interesting to live with."

Author's note: To the guest reviewer who asked what I'm smoking? You'll have to find it for yourself.