Kate remembers back to the last case she worked right before she was promoted to Captain

Six years ago…

Ryan and Espo transported Jones back to the precinct. They had the man responsible for acquiring information to aid in the escape of criminals and persons of interest in cases in New York. Rick and Kate were in a cab heading back to the hospital to see Lanie, who was still in the process of finishing her paperwork to leave the facility. And yes, to Kate's relief she was in fact, very much alive.

"Oh Kate, it's good to finally be out of there. I need you to tell me what happened after I was given the antidote."

"Well, I broke a top-grade hacker out of federal prison, he and Ryan were able to get the address where Jones was hiding and Ryan, Espo, and Castle arrested him. I was taken by one of Espo's friends, who was really no friend at all and handed over to Jones. The boys and Rick rescued me, and the virus that was placed on the servers has now been contained for good."

Kate looks over to Rick and asked,

"Babe I didn't I leave anything out, did I?"

"Yes, you forgot that the people that Jones tried to release were detained and are back in jail, and you failed to mention that you, my dear are hopelessly in love with me!"

"Well the last part goes without saying, Rick"

"Wait, what? When did this happen?" Lanie asked them still confused by their confession.

"Well officially about…" Rick checks his watch and says "… three hours ago."

"My god, you guys seem to have ruined all our plans." Lanie tells them.

"Your plans? I don't understand." Rick responds.

"I take it that neither of you have been back to the loft yet, have you?" Lanie inquires.

"No, we came right to the hospital, well after we charged Jones and picked up everyone he was releasing." Kate told her.

"Oh. Well, there is something the two of you should know then."

"Lanie, what did you do?"

"Kate, I was only doing my girl a solid. Please don't be mad."

"Lanie?"

"Well, there are some people who thought that you should be together, I mean really together. So, we staged an intervention."

"You what!"

"Kate we were worried that the two of you would never see that you belonged together. So, Alexis and I decided to make you aware of it. Your dad and Rick's mom are waiting there right now with Alexis."

"Really, Lanie? If I wasn't so happy right now, I'd smack you. But I guess we really should go and break the news to them right Rick?"

"Huh, what was that?"

"Rick, didn't you hear anything that we just said?"

"No, not really. I was too busy trying to get over the fact that you are so in love with me."

"I am babe. But we still need to talk after we get this intervention mess cleared up."

"Okay. So, what are we waiting for then, let's go."

Xx

Captain Montgomery had placed a call to the federal prison where Pierre came from. He had a long conversation with the parole board and was able to get him released only if he agreed to have an implanted tracking device implanted in his body. The distance the tracking device has would be determined where he would live and the distance to and from his new job. The job he would have now if he wanted it, was going to be a consultant with the NYPD, to be exclusively reporting to Sgt. Ellis and her team. His main responsibilities would be to search out and destroy intrusions within the NYPD's computer network, repair and maintenance of most electronic devices, and updating and installing various programs system-wide.

"Ryan, send in Mr. Dandaneau would you please." Roy yelled from his office.

Pierre came up and knocked on the captain's door.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Pierre asked timidly thinking that he was in trouble.

"Come in Mr. Dandaneau, and please have a seat."

He does all the time keeping his eyes on the man in front of him.

"Pierre, how would you like to be free? Sort of?"

"That depends, Captain. What did you have in mind?"

"If I were able to secure your release, do you think that you could work for the NYPD?"

"That would be a feat Captain! Last time I checked, I was in prison for violating a federal law. To my knowledge, the NYPD cannot hire a felon."

"I see you have an understanding of the law. Very good Mr. Dandaneau. But what I can offer you if you agree that is, is a consulting position here at the 12th. You would report directly to Sgt. Ellis Monday through Friday 8 am to 4 pm. You would also be fitted with an electric monitoring device. And I can assure you that this device cannot be tampered with."

"I'd be free? Like out of prison?"

"That would be the agreement. But you'd be here every day of you remaining sentence, which I'm informed is for the next three years."

"A tamper-proof device? Nothing is tamper proof Captain!"

"Mr. Dandaneau I'm here to tell you that this one is because it will be implanted at the base of your skull."

Pierre turned white as a ghost.

"You have until this meeting is over to decide Mr. Dandaneau, after that the offer will be rescinded."

There was no hesitation on his part. He took the offer.

"Alright, I'll take the job." He replied.

"Excellent choice Pierre, welcome to the team. I'll have Detective Ryan take you over to the cyber division and get your implant installed. Then with all the great work you did in this case, I'll give you the weekend off. Report back here on Monday."

"Thank you, Captain Montgomery. I won't disappoint you."

Roy nodded his head and Pierre left his office happy that he was out of prison.

Xx

Jeremiah Jones was charged with three counts of murder in the first degree for his dealing with the three German mercenaries. The additional charges involved cyber crimes on a state and federal level and the freedom of information act considering that he had access to personal records of many of the officers of the NYPD. If the U.S. Attorney General pushed the charges he could see the death penalty. He was also charged with the kidnapping of a police detective, along with Esposito's ex-friend. They were arraigned and are now at Rikers awaiting trial.

Xx

It seems that not everybody came out of this incident unscathed. Alexis and Lanie from time to time have to go and see Dr. Young. The chemicals that they had inhaled in the morgue that day gave them an unfortunate side effect. Just about every six months they needed to be treated for reduced lung capacity. This required a treatment session with Drs. Young and Allen. The treatment restores their lung capacity back to about eighty percent. And over time they will most likely lose more. They will never be at one hundred percent ever again.

Xx

"Rick are you ready?"

"Ready? For what?"

"I need to talk to you, babe. It's kind of important."

"Okay Kate, you have my attention."

Kate walked over to the man she loved and pulled him down to sit with her.

"Rick, I love you and I want to be more for you. So, I know that you have money, but I have been offered a position that would give me more time to spend with you. Better hours, but more responsibility."

"Kate, are you leaving the NYPD?"

"No babe, I am considering a move to Captain. Roy is retiring and he asked the chief of detectives if there was a way that I could take over his job after he retired."

"Roy retiring? Wow, I never thought that I'd see that happen. That's good for him, but what about what you want Kate? Do you want to be a Captain?"

"I'd like to move up Rick. I think I can make a difference. I just wanted to ask you what you thought."

"I'll tell you what, since we love each other so much, how about you take this promotion but there is a catch."

"A catch? What kind of catch?"

"The catch is that if you are serious about being a Captain, then I want you to be my wife. That's the deal."

"Hmm, that sounds like a win-win for me! So, you're proposing to me then?"

"I am Kate because I can't see my life without you in it."

"Well, in that case, I accept Mr. Castle."

Present day…

Kate parks her eco-friendly car in the parking spot in the garage under the loft. The trip home was easy this afternoon because she was able to leave just a bit early, perks of being a Captain. She enters the loft and calls out for her husband.

"Babe, you home?"

"In the study." He returns.

She walks in to see the sight in front of her, something she finds loveable. He is on the floor, sitting cross-legged, in front of their daughter wearing a tiara. To her left is Mr. bear and to his left is her favorite stuffed animal, a lion. They are all sharing tea at her small tea table and he plays the part well, with a cup in hand with his pinky raised up sipping at the cup.

"I hate to interrupt your tea time, but Lily can I have your daddy for a minute?"

"Sure mommy, we were almost done anyway."

Rick slowly unfolds his stiff legs trying to make them work again. Slowly he gets up with the help of his wife.

"So, what's up hon?"

"Remember Pierre Dandaneau?"

"Sure, why?"

"Well, there will be a ceremony for him on Monday. He designed a system for the department that makes our jobs a lot easier. He found a way to cross-reference still pictures with facial a recognition program. The program had a 98% success rate."

"Wow, who would have thought."

"I know right. He was a pain in the ass for the first year after Roy retired."

"But he settled down, and he found someone who he cares about a lot."

"So, how are they doing?"

"Really good. He cares about her and tries to make sure that she is always comfortable."

One day when Kate was working a little late, Alexis came to her office with a long-time friend to ask her something about a class she was taking. The second Pierre noticed her he was head over heels in love with her. He loved her from the very start.

They watched as he went from a reformed felon to a productive man in society. He turned his life around and he fell in love with a beautiful woman completing his return to the right side of the law.

~FIN~

A/N: I would like to thank everyone who came along for the ride! This was a blast to write and I hope that you liked reading it.

P2P