With many, many thanks to Editor Psolly, without whom this fic would not exist. She is patient, helpful, perceptive, and deeply appreciative of Castle's scruff.

Epilogue part 2

"You're dating Richard Castle?"

"No! Lanie. No."

Lanie eyed Kate suspiciously over her coffee. "But you're seeing him again?"

"It's not -" Kate sighed. "It's just dinner with his family. It's not a date."

"Really." Lanie leaned back in her chair, poking at her salad with a fork. "So this is your third time going out with him. But somehow it's not a date."

"I just - I almost put him back on death row, Lanie." Kate sighed, setting her sandwich down. "It's nice to just - get to know him."

Lanie frowned, and Kate had the sinking feeling that she'd said something she shouldn't have.

"'Get to know him?' Really? I thought this was just him interviewing you."

"Well -" Kate wasn't sure exactly how to explain it. "It is. But - I don't know. We've just - gotten to talking." She shrugged. "That's it. We're just getting to know each other."

"How well?"

"Lanie -"

"Don't 'Lanie' me. I know you. And there's something going on here."

Kate shot her a reproving look. "You think you know a lot."

"Then why have you been keeping this a secret?" Kate took a long breath, but Lanie pressed on. "If he didn't mean anything, you would have casually mentioned that you were having coffee with the guy who was the single biggest case of your career."

"It's only been three days."

"Three days. Three dates. You're telling him things about your life that you don't just open up to everyone. Kate, you have to know this is looking more and more like you're dating him."

She wasn't wrong. Kate pinched the bridge of her nose. "If the press found out -"

"Oh, I know. I get it. It'd be a nightmare." Lanie fixed her with a keen look. "But you're still having dinner with this guy. You really like him, don't you?"

Kate looked down at her desk, her barely-touched sandwich, and realized she didn't know how to answer.

"Alexis? Mother?" Rick shut the front door behind him, shifting the bag of groceries to his right arm. "Anyone home?"

"Hi, Dad." Alexis' head popped up from the couch. "Gram's here somewhere. I think."

"I'm here, darlings." His mother breezed in from the study. "Richard, are you cooking?"

"Yes, and that segues perfectly, so thank you, Mother." Okay. Smoother than he'd thought. "We're having company for dinner tonight. Kate will be joining us. Beckett. Deputy Beckett."

So much for smooth.

"Okay."

He eyed the couch suspiciously, but Alexis had gone back to reading whatever book she had for homework, unfazed.

"Richard."

His mother joined him into the kitchen, watching patiently over her wineglass as he started pulling out ingredients for dinner.

"Something I can help you with, Mother?"

"It's Kate now, is it?"

Of course. He might have known it wouldn't be this easy. "Mother, I'm not -"

"Richard, darling. I have no problem with this." She gestured wildly with the hand not occupied holding her wineglass. "I like her. My question is simply: do you know what you're doing?"

"I'm trying to start cooking."

His mother shot him a baleful look, the one that said I've been able to read you for forty years, Richard. "She's a pretty girl, kiddo. You're not blind."

Kate was gorgeous. But that wasn't the point. "We're just talking about what happened. I still want to write that book, and I need her input."

"You could do that on the phone. Or via email," his mother pointed out. "Instead, you're having dinner with her. Dinners. You've invited her here. Does she know it's a date? Do you know?"

Rick leaned on the counter, working a retort in his mind. He thought - he'd thought there was an understanding. But in words, it lost its charm. Like last night, that quiet moment outside the diner, was all a dream, with smooth edges and perfect colors. And now it didn't make sense.

"Have you thought about what might happen if people found out? She's smart, Richard. I'm sure she knows the media would have a field day if they suspected you two were seeing each other. But that isn't stopping her."

Rick knew what headlines would say. Law enforcement, in many ways, was still an old boys' club. How long would it take the press to claim she'd let him go because she wanted to sleep with him? What would her superior officers think?

This could ruin her career.

"This is a bad idea." His heart sank in his chest.

"I didn't say that."

He blinked at her. "What?"

"So maybe it's not the best idea." his mother shrugged. "Bad ideas run the world. If you like her, then tell her. If she's worth it, then who cares? So you met in an awkward way. That doesn't matter if you truly believe this is something real. All I'm telling you is you should think this through. Decide what's real. And then don't turn back."

He still vividly remembered that day in the library, the moment their eyes met on the steps. He'd seen the hesitation in her eyes. She didn't want to catch him.

He knew that was real.

Rick wrapped his arms around his mother, pulling her into a tight hug. "Thank you."

"I'm always right, darling." She patted his back. "I'd think you'd have learned that by now."

When he heard the knock on his front door at precisely 6:59, he opened it to find Kate there in jeans and a soft grey sweater, hair tugged back into a ponytail, her eyes glittering. He'd seen her smile before, but this was different. She looked softer. Brighter.

She was looking at him like she was seeing him for the first time.

"Hi."

"Hey," he breathed. "Please, come in."

Dinner was too easy.

Kate had walked in not sure what to expect. Didn't Alexis still resent her? Did Martha feel comfortable with her being in their home?

But over coq au vin and roast potatoes, green beans with Dijon vinaigrette, fresh-baked focaccia and the best red wine she could remember drinking, Kate was amazed to find the air calm. Alexis was a little shy, if anything, but polite and pleasant.

Kate was about to ask about the girl's college plans when Alexis wiped her mouth with her napkin. "Dad, is it okay if I go to study group?"

"Tonight?" Castle looked surprised. "I didn't think you had a meeting this week."

"We do." There was a brittle, too-bright quality to her voice. Kate knew a liar when she saw one. "Can I go?"

"Uh - sure."

Alexis grabbed the bookbag next to the sofa, slinging it over her shoulder. "I'll be back by ten, Dad." She kissed his cheek. "Bye, Gram. Nice to see you again, Deputy Beckett."

She was out the front door before Kate could say You can call me Kate.

"That was weird," Castle murmured. "Obviously lying? That's not like her."

"Do you think something's wrong?" Kate asked. She didn't want to intrude - this was Castle's daughter - but after all, she'd been a teenage girl herself once. Hopefully Alexis Castle was less of a hellion than young Kate Beckett had been.

"I'm not sure. She doesn't usually run out like that."

"Oh, darlings. Really?" Martha swirled her wineglass. "She left because her father's on a date and she doesn't want to watch you two kissing. I'd thought that was obvious."

Kate choked on her wine.

Rick watched helplessly as Kate coughed, reaching blindly for her napkin. Her face was pink, and he didn't think it was just from the choking.

"Mother -"

"I'm going upstairs, you two. I'll be in my room if you need me." She folded her napkin neatly, serenely oblivious to the waves of awkwardness from the other people in the room. "I'll be here when Alexis gets back, so if you two would rather go over to Kate's place, you're welcome to."

His mother swept up the stairs with an air of triumph, leaving Rick mortified, staring across the table at Kate, who was taking hitching breaths. "I'm sorry. My mother is - blunt."

"Yeah." There was a look on her face he couldn't quite pin down. But her shoulders were stiff, the line of her jaw more pronounced, and Rick was suddenly struck by just how little he really knew about her. He couldn't read her well enough. He didn't know what she was thinking.

"If - if you're in the mood for some dessert, I've got profiteroles," he offered. "And coffee ice cream."

He held his breath, but she stood, slowly pushing her chair in. "I should go."

"Kate -"

"Castle, I can't -" she let out a shaky breath. Skittish. "This is a bad idea."

"Kate. Please. I know -"

She turned away sharply, and Rick felt his chest tighten, the air rushing out of his lungs. He'd been so sure there was something here.

She grabbed her jacket from the back of the sofa where he'd laid it. And in a single moment, the silence as he watched her walk towards the door and out of his life, he realized just how badly he wanted her to stay.

He followed her, his heart hammering, trying to bring himself to say goodbye. He couldn't. "You don't have to leave."

Her hand settled on the doorknob, and he could see the faint tremor in her wrist, her fingers curving slowly.

"Kate."

Her hand tightened on the doorknob for a moment, and he tried to tell himself It's for the best. It would never have -

And then suddenly her lips were on his and she was kissing him and he couldn't breathe.

He froze against her for a moment, but before Kate could catch her breath, he was kissing her back, one hand tracing the edge of her jaw.

She was wearing flat boots tonight, not heels; she could normally look him in the eye, but now Kate had to stretch up on her toes to reach his mouth.

The kiss ended as quickly as it had begun, but rather than let her pull away, Castle dove in to steal another one, long and drugging. She could feel her back pressed up against the door, trapped between the cool steel and the heat of his body. The kiss went from gentle to needy in seconds, overwhelming as he pressed her back against the door, his hips tipping against hers. It was too much, sensory overload, his lips and his hands setting her skin on fire as she just gave in.

When he finally pulled his mouth away from hers, she felt weak. Her fists bunched loosely in the soft fabric of his shirt, and he looked down at her, his eyes dark.

"This is probably a bad idea," she whispered.

"I know." He kissed her again, brief and light. "We could keep it a secret."

"But the book -"

"It's not just about the book, Kate." His voice was quiet. "I don't think it ever really was."

She breathed in the soft warmth of his cologne, her hands settled against the broad expanse of his chest. It was too easy. It was all too easy.

"I like you. I really like you. And I know it would be easier if I didn't. But you -" he let out a breath - "you fascinate me, Kate. And I think maybe you and I could be extraordinary."

He brushed a wisp of hair from her face, and Kate swallowed hard.

"Aren't you tired of me chasing you?"

He smiled at her.

"I'll let you catch me this time."

fin.