As soon as Beckett threatens Trapper John with a bullet through the skull, she knows without a doubt that Castle is the one. Mainly because she's terrified and she's having trouble breathing, and she keeps thinking about what will happen if Castle never steps foot outside of the bank.

(Her life will be cold and empty, and she'll probably break into a thousand pieces.)

"Castle, Castle, Castle," Beckett whispers to the inside of the empty van, and then she wishes, and prays, and hopes.

That's when the explosion rocks the van.

XXX

The night that there's a sniper loose in the city (and after she finally passes out from sheer exhaustion and far, far too much alcohol), Beckett dreams about Castle.

They're walking through a labyrinth together, the starry sky stretched out above them, and Castle is trying to tell her a joke about a Minotaur walking into a bar. She rolls her eyes at him, and means to tell him to just stop talking already, but instead it comes out as a question.

"Who are you?" She's always confused by the words as soon as they leave her mouth, but Castle stares back at her like he's been expecting it, and then he says, "Ariadne."

Beckett shakes her head at him. "Castle," she says, and her voice is filled with exasperation and affection. Castle stops walking then, and frowns at her. "Ariadne," he repeats, and then says it again and again until it's bouncing off the walls of the maze. Pretty soon it's the only thing Beckett can hear, and she desperately wants to tell him to shut up, because he's Castle, and not anyone else.

But when she opens her mouth to speak, no words come out, and she is left staring back at Castle silently until he grabs her roughly by the waist and crashes his lips into hers.

XXX

Somewhere in the back of her mind, there's a little voice that's telling Beckett that it is a horrible idea to be walking down the street with Castle at one in the morning. But the voice is already pretty hazy (thanks to a glass or two of some alcoholic concoction) and it's steadily growing weaker due to the way the brisk January wind ruffles Castle's hair.

"It was a nice wedding," Beckett says, and as soon as it slips out of her mouth she realizes how lame a statement that is, because of course it was a nice wedding. Ryan and Jenny could have been married in a barn and would have still been able to make the ceremony sweet and touching and nice.

Castle turns to look at her, his eyes twinkling. "Yes it was," he says, and then he stops walking suddenly. Beckett bumps into him, and somehow, Castle's hand manages to skim along her arm, come to a rest against her hip, and then retreat as though nothing has happened. Beckett stares at him for a moment and tries to ignore the way he's looking at her (like she's everything, like he'll follow her to the ends of the earth, like he's still amazed by everything she does).

"Where are we going?" he asks softly, and there's a sudden warmth that catches high in Beckett's chest and spills into her cheeks. She shrugs. "The Old Haunt?" she suggests, unsure, because everthing's becoming fuzzy, and she might or might not be gripping Castle's lapel with all her strength.

He smiles at her. "Of course," he says and then half reaches for Beckett's hand.

"I have to tell you something." It spills out of her mouth before she can stop it, and all she can think about is that it will only take twenty seconds for her to tell Castle the truth. Twenty quick and painful seconds.

"Shoot," Castle says with a smile, but he stops when he sees her face. "What is it Kate?"

She opens her mouth, and now there's no going back.