It's not long after Castle and Beckett have left the precinct that two men dressed in suits enter it. Esposito nods to Ryan as the men head straight for Beckett's office. "Feds," his partner says as Ryan comes up next to him.

Ryan nods, agreeing. He'd already known that. Finding the Captain's office empty, the two men turn to the detectives. "We're looking for Captain Beckett," they say, their tone making the statement sound like a command.

"She's not available," Ryan replies. He's not intimidated by these guys, but something is making him feel a bit wary of them.

"Is there something we can help you with?" Esposito asks.

"I'm agent Foster and this is agent Maloney from the Attorney General's office." After showing the two detectives their badges, Foster continues, "We are here to transfer a Vikram Singh into our custody and enter him into witness protection."

Maloney hands Esposito the paperwork, and he thumbs through it, but Ryan doesn't spare it a glance. "We aren't finished getting our information on this case from him yet," he tells them.

"We will take care of finishing his interviews," Maloney responds, sounding almost bored, "and get you all the notes and pertinent details that you need. But now, he's coming with us."

Both Ryan and Esposito are shaking their heads now. "No way. We'll wait for our captain," Esposito insists.

Ryan adds, "This is highly irregular," for good measure.

"We know this is quick," Foster says, "but you realize the sensitivity of this case. We can't waste any more time. At any point now, we believe, he will be targeted and possibly assassinated. We do this now."

The agent's words sound reasonable, but Ryan still doesn't like it. Unfortunately, he also knows that they don't really have the cause or the authority not to do as they're told. Esposito looks at Ryan, and he shrugs at his partner. What choice do they have? Esposito nods to the lieutenant guarding the door to Interrogation 1. The officer had heard the exchange and moves to get Vikram ready to go. Esposito signs the paperwork, albeit looking reluctant and annoyed, hands it back, and within minutes, Foster and Maloney are headed out with their charge.

Ryan sighs as the agents and Vikram disappear behind the elevator doors. "She's not gonna be happy." Esposito shakes his head.

Castle and Beckett walk back to the precinct. It had been agreed upon silently, giving the two of them a chance to digest everything, to talk maybe. Kate holds the arm that he had offered to her as they stepped out onto the sidewalk, and leans into him slightly, but as far as conversation goes, she doesn't particularly know where to start. Her initial instinct is to discuss their next step with Vikram, but she knows that's not the most important thing right now.

And there it is again, isn't it? This whole time she had her priorities so mixed up. She needs to tell Castle that, to promise that she will do better. But that's not all he's thinking about either is he? He just met his stepmother. He just learned where he was when he went missing and how he lost his memory. He just learned that he had been dragged back into his father's world, again, and barely managed to get out alive. 'Are you ok?' seems inadequate.

Fortunately, Castle speaks first. "At least we know now," he says, "what happened, those months. Sort of."

"Yeah," she replies. "You've got to at least be happy that you have some closure there."

Castle nods. "I just hope he makes it out. It obviously took some ingenuity to get me home safe. It might not be as easy for him."

"If there's one thing I know about Jackson Hunt," Beckett says, "it's that he can get himself out of danger as well as he can get into it."

"True," Castle replied, and he seemed to relax slightly at that. "So, Vikram," he prompted.

If he was going to say anything else about the previous subject, Beckett knows it won't be now. Nor is it the time to talk about the two of them, either. She forces her focus back onto their next move, standing straight and squaring her shoulders. She keeps her grip on his arm, however. "We have enough from Rita that I think we can leverage him," she says, then pauses. "I think you should be in there this time." She sees Castle nod out of the corner of her eye, but neither of them say much of anything else for the rest of the walk.

When they make it back to the precinct, Esposito and Ryan rush to meet them before they can even make it to her office. "The feds were just here," Esposito tells him. "They took Vikram."

"What?" Kate almost shouts, shocked. Esposito doesn't repeat himself. She'd heard him clearly and he knows it. "Why?," she demands. "We weren't done with him." She looks between the detectives and Castle. "I only told the DA what Vikram wanted a couple of hours ago. Why did they act so soon?"

Ryan opened his mouth, but when she turns to him, he must see the angry confusion in her eyes, because he snaps it shut. Whatever excuse the agents gave him and Esposito, it must not have been worth him repeating to her. "Who were they?" she asks instead.

Esposito hands her the paperwork. "Agents Foster and Maloney from the AG's office."

Beckett looks over the paperwork. It does seem legitimate, but she's having a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that her best way of ending this had just walked out of the station and out of her grasp. She would never see him again.

That thought brings her anger back to its boiling point. She pushes the papers back into Esposito's chest and moves swiftly into her office, not looking back at the boys. It's not the detectives' fault, but she's frustrated.

She knows Castle has followed her, but she doesn't look back at him either, and instead heads straight to her phone to dial the DA's office. She gets his assistant who cheerily informs her that the DA is out of the office, and Beckett forces herself to stay calm as she leaves a message for him to call her back.

She sits down heavily on her chair, and after closing the door, Castle crosses to the couch and lowers himself to perch on the edge of it. He waits for her to speak first. It takes her a minute, and when she does she hates the defeat she hears in her own voice. "What are we going to do now, Castle?"

His gaze is so steady and reassuring and understanding. She doesn't know how he does that. "We keep working the case, Kate," he tells her, like there was never another option. "Like we always do. This time together."

She nods. He's right. But she's not sure how long she could keep going now. She wants this case over, she wants her family back. She wants her husband back more than anything.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a knock on her door. Castle gets up and throws her a questioning glance. She stands up and nods, and her husband opens the door.

A man and a woman step into her office, both looking very professional, glancing between her and Castle. "Captain Beckett?" the man asks.

"Yes?" Kate replies, stepping out from behind her desk.

He and his partner turn towards her and extend their hands for her to shake in turn as he makes the introductions. "My name is Special Agent Don Avery and this is Special Agent Lisa Harwood. We are from the Attorney General's office."

Beckett is immediately on edge. Did something go wrong with Vikram's transfer?

"We have been contacted by your DA," Avery continues, "and he informed us you have a Vikram Singh in custody and recommended he be put into witness protection. We wanted to go over some things with you and then interview him to see if he qualifies."

Beckett's mouth drops. She can see Castle mirroring her expression in her peripheral. "What?" she finally forces the word out. "You guys already took him. Just…not that long ago."

Both agents look confused. "Captain," Avery says slowly, "we just got this case and I can assure you no one from our office has done any such thing."

Kate snaps her head around to look at Castle, and their gazes lock. He realizes what happened as soon as she does. Vikram is in the wind.

She doesn't blame Ryan and Esposito. These guys were good. After rechecking all the paperwork, it really did seem legit. Even the names were real. The detectives would never have known. It seemed LOCKSAT had someone in the Attorney General's office as well.

That didn't stop her detectives from beating themselves up, though. And while she feels bad for them, she lets them do so. It's a good lesson to learn. It's too late for Vikram though, she knows. By now he's probably dead somewhere like all the other casualties of LOCKSAT, and if not, he soon will be.

It's now the end of long day after a long night. Beckett was ready to head home. Castle was waiting for her. And she didn't have to sneak over this time. This whole stupid separation thing was over. It shouldn't have happened in the first place, but either way, it was behind them. She was just about to say goodbye to the boys and walk out when her phone rings. She sighs, but stops to pull it out. "Beckett" she answers.

"Kate," a voice replies, and it puts her hackles up. She knows that voice.

"Vikram," she says angrily. She looks at Ryan and he catches her eye for only a moment before he begins to trace the call. "Where are you?"

"You still don't get it do you?" Vikram responds, almost sounding amused.

"What are you…?" Beckett stops as it dawns on her. "You weren't taken," she breathes. "You left."

"You almost had me Beckett," Vikram chuckles. "Almost."

"What do you want Vikram?" She looks over at Ryan as he works. She knows now his efforts will likely be futile, but they can at least try.

"Just to reassure you that I'm ok," he says with another twisted laugh. "I'm sure you were worried about my safety after being taken. I was really never in any harm of course. Oh, and I wanted to tell you that I will be watching you, waiting for an opportunity to finish this." She opens her mouth to ask exactly how he plans on doing that, but he speaks over her. "And Kate? There is nothing you can do to stop me." He pauses for a moment, and she grits her teeth. She hears his breathing on the other end of the line, but, after a moment, she realized she really has nothing to say to him. Not yet, anyway. That will come. She doesn't know when, but she knows it's inevitable.

She is snapped out of her thoughts when he finally speaks again. "And do me a favor," he says, "tell Castle his daddy says hi."

Click. He's gone. And as she stared at he phone, she realizes he is so much more than a lieutenant. Is he LOCKSAT? Has her quarry been right next to her the whole time?

She looks over to Ryan hopefully, but the detective shakes his head. Right, she'd known it wasn't going to work. It's over… for today.

She stays a few extra minutes to check with the Public Defender's office, and she isn't surprised to find out that there was no Ms. Sheila Randall working there or ever had. The woman was a character, just part of Vikram's plan. They gave her enough information to make her jump and then left her with a dead end. She has been so taken in by this guy. Maybe Castle was right, she thinks, this is an obsession, and somewhere deep down I didn't mind. I liked being broken. "Not anymore," she muttered softly to herself. "Never again." Vikram had used her weakness against her, and it had nearly cost her both her marriage and her life.

She had survived, though. And she could still save her marriage. It's time to make amends.

"Castle, are you here?" Kate calls as she walks in the door to the loft.

"In the study" he answers.

She puts her things down on the counter and walks back to find him. "Rick, we need to talk" she says solemnly. She regrets her tone as soon as she sees the pained expression appear on his face. "No, no nothing like that," she rushes to reassure him.

He seems to relax slightly, but his brow furrows, and he gets up from his desk. Putting the papers he's been looking at back in the top drawer, he takes her hand and leads her to the couch in the living room. There's a bottle of wine on the coffee table with two glasses. Castle pours.

Once they're both comfortably settled, Kate starts. "Vikram called me just before I left."

Castle tenses immediately. "Are you kidding me?"

"He just wanted to taunt me," she replies, almost dismissively, "to continue to control me like he has for the last few months." She pauses and takes a drink. Vikram isn't what she wanted to talk about, really. But she continues to stare into her glass, not quite able to find the words, and she can't bring herself to look at Castle either.

He senses her inner struggle, however. "What is it Kate?" he asks tenderly.

It takes her a few more moments to gather her thoughts. And all the while, he waits patiently. Too patiently. She'll never understand why he waits for her, always waiting and never giving up on her. She knows she doesn't deserve it, deserve him. But she's glad, no, more than that. She's grateful to him for waiting for her.

Finally she wills herself to speak. Best to start with the most important thing. "I'm so very sorry," she says, and she puts all the sincerity and regret she can possibly muster into those few words. "I can't believe how much I hurt you. All for my," she swallows, "obsession."

Rick takes her hand and squeezed it softly, looking at her compassionately as he does so, but he doesn't interrupt.

"I was wrong in how I handled things," she continues. "I should never have shut you out. You are my partner, and I didn't act like yours." She can feel the tears on her face now, but she manages to add, "It won't happen again. I promise you that." She hopes he can hear her conviction.

She's not sure if he's just waiting for her to finish or if it's because of the hurt she caused, but Castle says nothing back to her. He's just facing her, not angry, but not smiling. Just watching her, listening.

So she keeps going. "I told you once, I was broken. And I still am. But one thing you said, you said I like being broken. And maybe I did before but now, Rick, babe, I don't. I want to get fixed."

His eyes soften, but he still doesn't say anything. "I have to get fixed," she adds, determined, "for myself and for us, Rick." She takes a breath. "So I am going back to meeting with Dr. Burke."

"Oh?" She must have startled that response from him. She smiles a little.

"Yes. I actually started this afternoon. He got me in for an appointment." She pauses and then continues, "He helped me through my feelings for you after I got shot. He helped me realize how much I need you, how much I love you. I think he can help me with this, too." She chokes up on the last words, and suddenly she can't keep herself from sobbing.

As she starts to break down, Rick pulls the wine glass out of her hand and puts both hers and his on the table. He pulls her close to him, doing what he can to calm her. It takes a while, but when she does eventually calm down, he pulls back to look her in the eyes. "I want to help too," he says, and it's so tender she wants to start crying again. But before she can he leans into kiss her gently. It's exactly what she needs at that moment. To be wrapped up in him and his forgiveness. He always knows what she needs.

Rick and Kate just sit there for a while, not saying anything, just him holding her and each soaking in the love each has for the other. Castle sighs contentedly. He has his wife back, and he couldn't be happier about that.

Her apology is easy enough to accept. No matter how angry he gets with her, he will always forgive Kate. He loves her. It really is as simple as that. Her promise to never shut him out again, however, is quite a bit harder to believe in. She's let him in only to push him away time and time again. And she had promised him no more secrets only hours before walking out on him. It's been an emotional roller-coaster that he desperately wants off of. He doesn't think it's healthy for either one of them.

But Kate has to be the one to change it. She said she was going to, and he wants to believe her. But can he really trust her to break the cycle? Then again, he wants her to be able to trust him with everything, so maybe he needs to trust her with this. Even if it goes against reason, considering their track record, he chooses to believe her, and to act on that belief.

So when they finally start to move to get up and off the couch, he stops when she says it again. "Rick, I am sorry."

He reaches up to brush her hair from her face and cradle her neck. He's appreciative of the regret she's expressed over the hurt she caused, but he has forgiven her. However, he's already starting to realize that she may have a harder time forgiving herself. "I know Kate," he tells her, kissing her forehead, then pulling her into a hug. "No more apologies."

She nods into his chest. But as they head off into their bedroom, he notices her tense up again. "What is it, Kate?"

She looks up at him, and there's a fear in her eyes that he rarely sees. "Rick, nothing's changed," she says. "Vikram's out of custody. I still have a target on my back, and now so do you. What keeps them from… just killing us?"

He is surprised by her vulnerability, or rather, surprised by her willingness to share that side of her, even with him. He's never seen that part of her before, but he's glad she's giving him the chance to do so. He once told her he would spend the rest of his life figuring out the mystery of her. And those words have proven true. Still, despite his musings, he doesn't hesitate. Castle takes her into his arms, and looks into her eyes reassuringly. For him, it's an easy answer. "We do, Kate," he says. "Together. Always."

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this story, and especially to those of you who have favorited, followed, and reviewed. There will be a sequel - I am not quite sure when, but it is coming! Thanks again!