No other Kill Shot fic will be better than this. I might as well stop looking for more.

AMAZING!

Nice... so very, very nice.

"Drop off my coffee and run? That's no fun. Ooh, that rhymed." - Wow. That is so very *you*, and yet it's still Castle, because I can hear him saying it, and you saying it, and that's just - that's awesome!

"She forgot he doesn't yet know - just how deep and dark she's managed to fall." Ohhhh... no words. I can't.

"The awareness doesn't dim, not even by that comparison, because the tenderness that wraps around his mouth and warms his eyes is just too good, too intimate. All too close to what she longs for." Um. Crying over this. No joke.

"His other hand slides suddenly to her waist and she's pulled. Right against him, her forehead crashing into his collarbone, her eyes blinking back the burn of tears, enfolded in the darkness of his arms, listening to his love holding its breath." Omw, Laura this is so perfect and beautiful and them and I'm crying those happy tears and reading this line over and over and you just... wow.

I love it. All of it.

Mixed feelings.

I always go very personal in these reviews. What feels right or feels true to me and what doesn't. The fact is I rarely feel a need to critique your actual writing, because it is so good. Your skill with the English language is uncontested. So it usually comes down to how you write the characters and what you choose to have happen between them. And while you are one of the best fanfiction writers out there you are also the one (of those worth reading) I disagree with the most. So, since it's all subjective commentary, you should probably feel free to ignore everything I say. Since we simply have some irreconcilable differences in how we see the characters and the show.

I find Castle too strong here, too much the hero. I also feel you undermine one of the things I liked best in Killshot - that he didn't push her, that she never broke down in front of him or wind up being comforted by him and that in the end what she thanks him for is simply leaving her be and he respects that. I'm not saying it's always the best strategy between them, it certainly causes as many problems as it solves, but in this case it was the right thing to do, even as it was the right thing for her to avoid and ignore his fights with Gina in 'Poof! You're dead' - which he thanks her for in turn.

All the boys helped Beckett through 'Killshot'. They covered for her and watched her back, and while it's true that Castle asked Espo to speak with her about her flashbacks, her mode, her mood, what Esposito did and the way he talked to her is unusual in a modern show. There was no emotional exposition. He didn't try to comfort her. He didn't tell her she didn't have to be strong, in fact he talked to her about how to be stronger. He ignored her tears rather than catch them, and gave her a rifle instead of a tissue. I loved the whole thing, all of it.

I don't see Castle as the long-suffering, stoic hero. I hated his character in the first season and for most of the second, but he won me over as he matured and as the story become less about his one-upmanship over Beckett and more about a partnership. He became the man who made her laugh and leapt through theory with her, and while he never seemed to care as much about either the crimes or the victims than he did, at least it all became more than just a game to him. I do think that every aspect of their relationship has developed consistently and I deeply respect Marlowe for it. I don't think they will ever and could ever be the sort of couple who simply live for each other, become as entangled with each other as if they were two becoming one. I believe there will be and should be always spaces in their togetherness and they will always be more like partners and best friends, teasing and flirting and helping each other through their daily lives, than enraptured lovers.

D'awwwwwww. What a cute, little fic. You write fluff so well. You should totally write Romance novels! :D I like how you incorporated the coffees, and how you showcased their partnership. Your Rick and Kate are too adorable.

I do have a question for you. Why do you put a '*' around words? Is that for emphasis? I've never seen that before in written work.

Oh! I really liked how you referenced her bandages from the episode. Nice touch. Again, so cuuuute.

yep, i've wanted castle to see that scar, too. good stuff, really enjoy your voice. defly told as always. i measure a good writer by how easily i forget that somebody wrote what i'm reading. nothing clunky and unnecessary with your words. super enjoyable reading back through your archive.

I like how you're extending the moments of the show! These things should be in the show, just enough but not all the way.

Your writing is what every shipper wishes would happen on the show! Very very well done!

Fantastic! Is there more?

Sigh. Kill Shot. SIGH. I am so excited you did a post-ep. Here I go!

She holds out the coffee, watching the cup in her hand instead of him, unable to go quite that far. "It's not a hundred." – Bawww. Is she coming to tell him that she found his partner? :)

How easy it is to please him. – Aww. So cute.

His eyes lighten and his grin goes from silly to a little bit hopeful, as if he's been waiting for that and hasn't seen it for awhile and the return is so sweet. – Buh, so adorable!

He gestures for her jacket and she slides an arm out, switches hands with her coffee, lets him take it down her other arm. He lays it over the back of the couch, as if offering her an easy escape route. If she has to run. She just might. It's been known to happen. – I love this, how he helps her… and then the last three sentences.

"Yeah, that was a lame one. Even for me. But since - miracle of miracles - I'm 2 for 2 so far, and my partner doesn't usually laugh at *all* of my jokes, I'm gonna stop while I'm ahead." – Love.

"I was at my therapist's." For a different kind of damage. Rebuilding the muscle of her heart that has long since atrophied. Twelve years without movement, and now that it's needed, now that she wants it beating and active and engaged (for this man), it's like a stone in her. – Oy, this is beautiful!

He stops talking, his mouth gaping open, and a world of shut the hell up you idiot written on his face. – LOL.

She suddenly wishes she had something at her back to lean against. A wall or the counter. It's exhausting standing up on her own two feet. Just a place to rest. For a moment. – Oh, Kate, you’re breaking my heart.

"He's helped. Someone to push. A relationship I can't royally screw up by resisting. By shutting down. It's safe." – Poor Kate.

"I could use a therapist," he says, a bitterness in his voice she doesn't like. "I don't exactly know what the hell I'm doing here. I'm not sure that *not* pushing is what you need from me." – Oh my, this literally twisted something up in my chest. Ahhhhh!

It's her turn to gape at him, caught off-guard by the honesty in his ragged voice. They don't talk like this. - *gulps* I’m so nervous.

"No, it wasn't. You say that, because you think that if you lash out at me, I'll ditch you or stop lo - stop being your partner. As if that's even possible-" – oh my godddddddddd, you’re killing me, smalls!

She stands there for a moment, wanting to go, escape, but it would be nice to lean against the kitchen island and stop for just a moment. Settle herself. Just be. – Just be… around him. ASdoiasjd! So much FEELING I have right now. HAHA.

"What the hell did you do?" he gasps, and snags her wrist, drawing it towards him. – OH SHIT, SON! OHMYGODDDDDD I wanted someone to notice this during Kill Shot.

She forgot he doesn't yet know - just how deep and dark she's managed to fall. – Seriously, you are twisting my guts up with this. Much like the episode itself.

He's in love with her. – I love how this pops up unbidden in her mind, just like that. So good.

"I can be clumsy when I'm excited," he mentions off-handedly, leaving her brain scrambled again. In an entirely wrong way. – LOL. :)

A lot of the pain is in her head. – Oh my goodness, you… just… you.

"See? Take a breath. You got this." – Oh poopy, he said “you got this.” AHHH!

He sets the peroxide to one side, twirls the cap back on, and then leans over to blow on her arm, holding her by the wrist and the elbow, his lips millimeters from her skin, his breath cool and ticklish and lovely. – Oh my gosh, not-uh! He DOES NOT. How cute is that?

She blinks, feels the awareness crawl up her arm and into her chest, flare out just under her skin, bright and electric. – Yummmmmmm.

And then she lets the rest of it come out, exposes a few of the uglier wounds. Like remittance. "If you push me too hard, if you don't give me space, you know I push back. I lash out. What if I push you too far?" What if I hurt you? – You’re breaking my heaaaaaart.

"Don't say that," she says quickly. "It's too easy." – Sigh. Sigh. SIGHHHH.

I did. I just did it behind your back. How's that for a confession? I made everyone else do my dirty work because I knew that if *I* pushed, you'd stop smiling at me. You'd maybe even level some tired out ultimatum, just like last time, re-using *your* old lines, and I'd have to-" – Oh, I love love love this.

"I got your back, Kate. Even when you don't know it." – What a sweet man.

"I don't want to be like this anymore," she says quickly, needing to get it out. "Be like what? Amazing? Strong? Determined? Beautiful." – I love that; her confession, his response. So good.

"Be. . .in need of bandages." I was drinking to escape. I was drinking and it only made the flashbacks worse and Castle, I remember everything, everything, and most of it is bad. – My heart is not going to survive this night, reading ALL of your stuff at once. You’re killing me. Dead.

"It's okay for now," he says, and steps into her when she won't come. Making up the distance. Being the one to move. – That’s such a Castle thing to do.

His other hand slides suddenly to her waist and she's pulled. Right against him, her forehead crashing into his collarbone, her eyes blinking back the burn of tears, enfolded in the darkness of his arms, listening to his love holding its breath. – Oh my gosh, this… especially the last bit about his love holding its breath. OH MAN. You rock my world.

"I don't want to waste any more time," she whispers, and she's not even sure he can hear her. – I can hear exactly how her voice sounds here. Love it.

She closes her eyes, gives in to the rest his body offers. – YES! THIS! YES. Oh my GOD, I love you. Seriously, this is just… exactly what I wanted, without even knowing I wanted it. I pointed out all those other lines, where she wanted to rest, and this just… ASODIJSAIOJD! I LOVE THIS. Hahaha. Okay.

I’m done freaking out now. But seriously, you amaze me. Rock my world. Make me want to cry. And hurl. And laugh. And lay on the floor and die from the perfection. I love this show, so much, and I think the writers are perfect and I think… “Why do I even read fanfic? The writers on the show do it better than everyone.” And then I come here, and I think, “THIS… THIS is why.” Because you just make it better. You supplement the show with such perfection. And I just… I can’t get enough. YOU make me fall even more in love with these characters with each and every chapter you write. And it’s because you do it so well, you write THEM… how I see them, how I think they are. And you just… make the show that much more lovable. So kudos. And please don’t ever stop. HAHA.

(I wish I could favorite this story twice.)

Oh, and I don’t think I’m going to be reading anymore of your stuff tonight because I need to go to bed. But I’ll finish catching up tomorrow night! :)

Dare I say it?

Yes.

A nice example of "chiaroscuro".

(The word /concept came first, then the memory of its use in the ep.)

"Roger and the Amazing Resistance Band"-I liked that. Made me smile, too. Good thing he stopped while he was ahead. Liked the moments of honesty, as Kate tells him she was seeing her therapist, and he comprehends-everything is understood. Then he opens his mouth. "He stops talking...a world of shut the hell up you idiot written on his face."-just loved that line. The pushing-not-pushing conversation, and Castle wondering if he should see a therapist: I really liked this part. The world of unspoken conversation between the two as he cleans and bandages her cut: I especially like how you convey the meaningful looks in words- "His eyes flock to hers, wheeling..." "A lot of the pain is in her head."-good one. Keep 'em coming, cc.

Breathtaking!

This is lovely. I was hoping someone would write about him noticing the cuts on her arm, and this was perfect. It made a wonderful bonus scene for a great episode. Thanks for writing it! :)

Touching chapter; I like how you end your stories.

I think it will happen some odd way; we won't expect it, except through spoilers of course.

End scene of 'Kill Shot' as much as signaled that, or am I too hopeful?

'Cuffed' will likewise get us all charged up, with a couple more episodes with similar teases and then we will have to wait a month! AARRRGGGHHHH!

Anyway, you are a literary machine!