The day they head home, something feels off. With Kate. He can't put his finger on it. He wants to put his fingers on her, see if he can get it out of her when she's naked under him.

His mother left the night before, wanted to get back to the city for a party, so this morning it's just him and Kate. Which is wonderful. He's been eyeing her over the rim of his coffee mug since she handed it to him, and she seems oblivious.

Her own mug is long empty but her slender fingers are still wrapped around it even as she gazes out of the window. He swallows the last dregs of caffeine, stands up from his chair and eases her mug from her hands. She looks up at him, gives him a beaming smile. It helps to ease something inside him, but he's still concerned.

He washes their mugs and plates by hand, gives her a little more time to herself. As he's drying the last of it she comes up behind him, wraps her arms around his waist and laces her fingers together at his stomach. He finishes up, turns in the circle of her arms and kisses her cheek with as much tenderness as he can muster.

"You okay?" He holds her gaze, tries to convey how serious he is.

She blinks up at him, smiles softly. "Yeah. Just thinking."

He wants to ask about what but he doesn't dare. He can't stop himself from needing her, they both know that. But he doesn't need to know her thoughts. "Okay."

He shrugs, brushes it off and goes to move away from her. She tightens her arms, her eyebrows knitting together. "Hey. Do I not get a kiss?"

He laughs, darts towards her with his mouth already open. He tries to keep it chaste but she's pushing him back into the counter and rolling her hips against his and shit, shit, he is going to lose it if she doesn't stop right now.

He tears his mouth away from hers, pants against her forehead. "Christ, Kate. I thought we agreed to head back to the city right after breakfast."

She raises an eyebrow at him, a slow and sinfully seductive smile spreading across her face. "You are breakfast."

In the car on the way back to the city, Kate tries to pay him more attention than she did on the way out here. She lets him chatter inanely, fills the silence with stories of her own. She's trying to distract herself from her own brain.

Ever since she was very young, trips away have always signalled the end of vacation. She and her parents always went away for the last week of summer break, so returning always makes her feel ready to start back to work.

And by that merit, she should be going back to the precinct. Only she's not, and she still can't work out how she feels about it.

She wants to go back. She misses the thrill of solving cases. She misses her team. She misses having that structure to her life. And now, after this summer, she finally trusts herself to be able to stay away from her mom's case. She trusts that next time, when Castle comes to her and begs her to stop she'll remember everything she has to lose and she'll walk away.

She knows Gates will take her back, the boys have told her as much. She's a damn good detective, and the captain knows it. She feels ready. She feels refreshed, open and relaxed and happier than she's ever been.

She stretches a hand across the center console, presses her palm to his thigh. "Hey Castle? I think I'm ready to go back to work."

He startles, his gaze flying to her. She gasps, pushes on his thigh. "Castle, eyes on the road."

He turns his head back, looks at the road, but his attention is still on her. "Just like that? You're just ready?"

She shrugs, chews on her bottom lip for a moment. He's told her so many times how every time she does that he's consumed with a desperate need to rescue her perfect mouth from her teeth. It doesn't make her want to stop.

"I've had-" she pauses, sighs, tries to collect herself. She wants to get this right, try not to hurt him. "The most wonderful summer. But it feels done. The air's turned. Can't you feel it?"

He grins, glances at her again. "Yeah. Feels like Fall, huh?"

She beams at him, so inordinately glad that he understands. "Yeah. It feels like it's time. I quit because I wanted a life and I needed time to learn how to be with you, how to do this right. I needed to prove to myself that I could exist without my mom's case ruling everything. And I think I'm doing okay?"

He doesn't look at her this time, just reaches a hand down to squeeze her fingers briefly. "You're amazing. This is so much better than I ever dared hope."

She flushes, caught out by the naked honesty in his voice. "Me too. And I think I'm ready to do it right, balance the job and my life."

"Well you don't have to do it alone. I'll be there to say 'it's time to go home now Kate, you're not sleeping in the break room again'." She laughs softly. They both know she probably won't take kindly to that. She so desperately wants to believe that she can still be good for him if she goes back to work, but she knows it's going to be a battle.

She's quiet for a moment, letting their words settle in the car, and when she does speak again she's so quiet that she wonders if he's heard. "I know what I'm missing now, Castle. And if my mom's case crops up again and you come to me and beg me to stop, I promise you I will. You, this-" she waves her hand between them, "I don't want to lose it. Not to that."

As if she has a preference. As if there's any way she could lose him that wouldn't ruin her.

He nods, his profile so striking even now that it takes her breath away. "I trust you. I really do. I trust you to listen to me. And if this is what you want, if you truly want to go back, then you have my unwavering support."

"I know. I know I do. Thank you." She shifts in her seat, curls a leg up underneath her so she can see him more easily, watch him drive. She'll never tell him, but she loves it when he drives. It's hard for her to relinquish that control, but she trusts him.

She loves watching the ripple of muscle in his forearms, the furrow of concentration between his eyebrows. He always takes it so very seriously when she lets him drive, determined to show her that he can do it just as well as she can.

She loves the way he glances at her, not wanting anything, just checking that she's okay. She thought she'd find it stifling, but the way he cares for her just makes her feel safe in a way she hasn't since her mother's death.

They don't speak until they arrive back at the loft, when she steps out of the car and arches her back, her muscles protesting vehemently. She likes the feeling of her vertebrae clicking back into place, the tension draining out of long stretches of sinew.

He growls softly, rounds the car and backs her up against it, his tongue hot and heavy in her mouth before she can draw a breath. "You are so hot."

She laughs, scrapes her teeth along the stubble at his jaw. "Yeah, well, so are you." She drops her head to his shoulder, groans. "I gotta call Gates and ask for my job back."

He laughs into her hair, takes her hand and squeezes. "Yeah, good luck with that."

"What if she says no?" he opens his mouth and she presses three fingers to it, shoots him a glare. "Don't you dare call the mayor."

He pouts at her, huffs a sigh and starts leading her across the underground garage to the elevator. She lets him press the button, lets him step in first when the doors open. The small things, things like this; she doesn't even have to think about anymore. They just happen, the things she can do to please him that don't cost her anything.

In the loft, she closes his office door in his face so she can make the call. Pointless, really, since the walls are bookshelves and he can hear everything. He laughs at her as she grovels to the captain, pleads and cajoles, makes promises she has no intention of keeping.

She's glad for it, though. She didn't know how badly she really wanted her job back until Gates made her fight for it.

She comes out of the office, beams at Castle. "She wants me in first thing Monday morning. I have to requalify at the range in order to get my weapon back, but apart from that I'm good to go."

He laughs, delighted and free, pulls her into his arms and kisses her reverently, his hands mapping her back, winding in her hair. "I'm so proud of you."

Just like that, everything clicks back into place. Just like that, she's whole.

END

Author's Note: So here it is. We've reached the end. It ends here because I wanted this to be a summer headcanon, and now that we have the promo and therefore some idea of what's really going to happen, it feels like it's time for this fic to come to a close.

I want to thank you all for sticking with me through my somewhat erratic posting habits, for your wonderful reviews and your genuine submersion in my little bit of fiction. You have never failed to make me smile.