Title: Therapy In A Box

Summary: It's the last chapter. Stuff happens.

Disclaimer: I don't own most of the characters I write about. If you recognize a name, odds are it isn't mine. But seeing as this is a fanfic website, you probably knew that already.

Thanks again to Sunshiny-Kate, the best beta a writer could ask for!

The first few minutes of their drive were spent in silence, so Beckett jumped when Castle started laughing.

"What's so funny?" She asked with a quick glance in his direction.

"We are."

"What do you mean?"

"We haven't seen or spoken to each other in three weeks, then I come to therapy with you and we end up making out in an elevator."

"I see your point." Beckett chuckled.

"Dr. Burke is good." Castle said.

"Well, Burke had nothing to do with what happened in the elevator. That was all us."

"I like the sound of that."

"Of what?"

"Us."

Beckett smiled and took her right hand off the steering wheel and reached for Castle's hand. He laced his fingers through hers and she rested their joined hands on the console between them. They fell back into silence as Castle lazily ran his thumb over the smooth skin of Beckett's palm.

They reached their destination about twenty minutes later. By then Castle's slow, gentle strokes had Beckett all worked up. Her mind thought back to that day in her apartment when he'd made similar motions on the other side of her hand. If the man could have her breathing a little faster with just a thumb on her hand, she wasn't going to survive this relationship. But since she had to go somehow, she figured that naked in a bed with Richard Castle would be a better way to leave this world than most.

Her face crinkled up when she realized she called what they had a relationship. It surprised her how easy it was to say it, even if it was just in her head. It had just been her natural thought. Wasn't that what they had though? Maybe it had taken a new direction now, a fantastically wonderful direction, but hadn't they been in a relationship of sorts for years now? They had fights, they made up, and they were always there for each other in so many ways. Weren't these the things that couples did?

"A penny for your thoughts?" Castle asked, bringing her back to reality.

"I was just wondering what we are."

Castle sighed and studied her before answering.

"We are who we are. Partners." He cocked his head to the side. "With benefits."

Beckett laughed as she pulled her hand away from his and slapped him on the arm. When she started to turn away Castle grabbed her wrist. He gently tugged her to him and kissed her softly. When they broke apart she locked her eyes onto his.

"I love you, Rick."

"I love you too, Kate."

They shared a smile and then he let go of her so they could get out of the car. When Castle joined Beckett on the sidewalk he put a hand on her back, high enough to not be inappropriate, but low enough to make her want it lower. She sucked in a breath and looked up at him.

"Castle?"

"Yes?"

"Let's solve this case really fast, okay."

"Okay." He smiled and shifted his hand half an inch further down her back. "But Detective Beckett, I must implore you to stay professional about this. We are at work now, and must not let our feelings interfere with our jobs."

Beckett rolled her eyes and turned away so he wouldn't see her smile. She was actually glad that he removed his hand, because the heat building in her abdomen was getting hard to suppress. They went around the corner of the building and saw the yellow tape across the doorway. They went in, nodding a greeting at the uniformed officer watching the entrance.

"Beckett!" Esposito called out. "Over here."

She waved and headed towards him. She noticed a surprised look on his face and followed his gaze behind her to Castle. She turned back to Esposito, who had been joined by an equally surprised Ryan.

"What do we have, guys?" She asked, ignoring their questioning looks.

The two detectives glanced back and forth between Castle and Beckett a few times, then looked at each other before turning their attention back to Beckett.

"Is that a hickey?" They asked her at the same time.

Beckett smiled and raised her eyebrows.

"You didn't answer my question." She said.

"You didn't answer ours." Ryan pointed out.

"I asked first."

"Okay." Ryan opened his notebook. "Drake Foster was a theatre critic. He was found by the dog-walker when he was returning Foster's pooch. The kid's name is Simon Mink."

"Did Mink see anything?" Beckett interrupted.

"No." Esposito picked up where Ryan had left off. "He picked up the dog, took him for his normal thirty minute walk, and then came back and found Foster dead on the floor."

"COD?" Beckett asked.

"Don't know yet." Lanie called from the next room, where she was examining the body. "I'm about to take him to the morgue."

Beckett followed her friend's voice until she found her crouching down over the victim.

"Hey, Lanie."

The medical examiner looked up at Beckett and smiled. Then her eyes flicked to Beckett's neck and when Castle walked in Lanie shook her head and smiled again.

"Welcome back, Castle."

"Thank you, Lanie." He replied. "It's good to be back."

"I can see that." Lanie said before looking back to the body. "Anyway, preliminary COD is strangulation, but I'll know for sure after I get a look inside."

"Okay. Thanks." Beckett said before she went back to the other room. "Ryan, have you and Esposito canvassed for witnesses yet?"

"Yeah. So far no one saw anyone coming or going other than Mink."

"Where is this kid?" Beckett asked.

"He left." Esposito explained. "We questioned him and told him not to leave town in case we needed to talk to him again."

"Let's head to the precinct then." Beckett said. "We need to find next of kin and start going through Foster's financial and things, look for motive and anything else to put us on the killer's trail." Ryan and Esposito nodded and Beckett started for the door, but stopped after a few steps. "Oh, and to answer your question, yes, it's a hickey."

She left the building and Castle started to follow her.

"Yo, Castle." Esposito said. "Hold up."

Castle turned back around and saw both detectives holding out a hand, fingers up. He smiled and fed their birds. They returned his grin and he trotted off after Beckett.

When he caught up with her at the car, she surprised him by throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him hard. Castle pulled away first.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what's up with the PDA?" He asked. "I mean, you actually admitted to the guys that you had a hickey."

Beckett smiled and kissed him again, this time soft and quick. Then she brought a hand from behind his neck and caressed his cheek. The love in her eyes gave Castle the answer he needed and he didn't give her a chance to tell him what he already knew. He just leaned in and kissed her back, letting her know that he understood with his gentle touch.

"What is he doing here?" Gates demanded.

Beckett and Castle hadn't made it ten steps off the elevator before the captain had stormed out of her office.

"He's working a case, Sir." Beckett offered simply.

"Who authorized him to come back?"

"Sir, Castle has a signed contract with us. He can come and go as he pleases, so long as he doesn't hold the department liable for anything."

Gates crossed her arms and stared the writer down. Castle smiled at her, but she didn't return the expression.

"If I hear a single theory about the CIA or ninja assassins, I will tear up that contract."

"Yes Sir." Castle nodded. "I'll play it straight."

"We shall see." Gates said before turning on her heels and striding back into her office, slamming the door behind her.

"You're right." Castle laughed. "I think she missed me."

Beckett laughed too and then they headed for her desk. Castle saw his chair still where it had been for nearly four years and it made him smile. He said nothing as he sat down and pulled out his phone. He started playing while Beckett pulled up the records they needed on her computer so they'd have something to put on the murder board. Everything was right with the world.

A few hours later the foursome were up murder creek without a lead paddle. Foster's murderer had been sloppy and they had fingerprints from his neck. Unfortunately, the prints weren't in any database. They hadn't found anything unusual about Foster, he had no family, and they couldn't find any reason that anyone would have wanted him dead. Nothing seemed to be missing from his home, and they were out of ideas. The only thing they knew to do at this point was to talk to Mink and see if he'd lied about seeing anything. Which is why he was currently sitting in the interrogation room.

"Espo, Ryan, why don't you two take point on this one. Castle and I will watch from observation."

They nodded and went into the room housing the sweating teenager and Castle followed Beckett into the viewing room. He shut the door and stepped to the window, where she was watching the already unfolding interrogation.

"Why didn't you want to question him?" Castle asked.

Beckett didn't answer him. Not with words anyway. She turned to him and pressed her body to his before kissing him. She controlled the kiss, her movements relaxed and languid. He responded by wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her like he would never let go. When she needed to breathe, Beckett detached her lips from his and smiled up at him as she reached around and placed her hands in his back pockets.

"Oh." Castle chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "I get it. Detective Beckett, you're hot for me."

Beckett didn't want to give Castle the satisfaction of telling him that he was right, so she used her still pocketed hands to press him harder to her. She ground her hips against his and the moan that flew from his throat made her lower abdomen burn deliciously. Her whole body felt as if it were on fire, and it was invigorating.

Castle knew he was right, and he was grinning when he kissed her, but it faded fast as he became lost in her lips. Their tongues quickly began to get to know each other, and Castle learned that Beckett really liked biting his lips. He was growing fond of it himself. Each time she took hold of his skin with her teeth, she would follow it with a soothing kiss or lick.

They found a rhythm that allowed them to stay locked together, breathing in tandem. Their kiss grew in intensity and the exertion they were putting out actually had them both covered in a sheen of sweat.

Without breaking the kiss, Castle turned Beckett and pushed her up against the glass. He was becoming a big fan of walls. He ran his hands down her arms and took hold of her wrists. He pulled them up above her head and held them there, trapping her beneath him.

Soon they were both panting, their shared breathing no longer able to keep up with their passionate mouth-to-mouth explorations. Castle moved down Beckett's neck, kissing her hickey before continuing down to her collarbone. She showed her approval by lifting a leg and looping it around his knee. But as good as it felt, it wasn't what she wanted.

"Castle." She whimpered. "Come back up here."

He immediately obliged her request, and covered her lips with his again. Several more minutes passed before she tugged her arms from his loose grip and wrenched herself away from him.

She said nothing as she left the room, and a shocked Castle didn't know where she'd gone until he heard the door of the interrogation room slam open. Through the glass he saw her step up to the table. She stood between Ryan and Esposito and put her hands on the table, leaning down to Mink's eye level. Castle's view was undoubtedly the best.

"Listen, Mink." Beckett began. "You had to have seen the killer. And if you saw him, I guarantee he saw you. If he saw you, then he's going to want to protect himself. That means he's going to come after you. We can protect you, but only if we can catch him. So this is the last time we're going to ask you. Did you see anything?"

Mink squirmed in his seat and swallowed nervously. He blinked at Beckett several times and finally answered her.

"I saw him." He whispered.

"Can you describe him to a sketch artist?" Beckett asked.

Mink nodded and Beckett straightened up.

"Ryan, Esposito, get the sketch guy up here. Once he's done, get the picture out to unis and to the media. Then you can call it a night." She started for the door. "See you in the morning."

Before they could say anything, she walked back out of the interrogation room. She returned to the observation room and grabbed Castle by the hand.

"We're leaving, Castle. Right now."

"Where are we going?" He asked as he let himself be dragged towards the elevator.

"Home."

"So." Dr. Burke began. "It's been a while since you've been here."

"Yes it has." Kate agreed. "Nearly three years." She looked at Rick sitting at the other end of the couch and sighed, then turned back to Burke. "I'm glad you could see us today."

"Well, it was fortunate that I had an opening. How are things?" He asked Rick.

"Things are, well, they're-"

"They're fantastic." Kate offered.

"Fantastic is a good word." Rick said with a smile.

He reached across the back of the couch and tucked a few stray pieces of hair behind her ear. She leaned gratefully into his hand.

"And since the baby arrived?" Burke asked.

"Even better." Rick answered as he put his hand back down.

Kate nodded in agreement and smiled at her son, who was looking at her from his perch in Burke's arms.

"Well, Monty is a handsome young man." Burke said as he looked down at him.

"He takes after his father that way." Kate replied.

"Yeah, but he gets his everything else from Kate." Rick added. "Especially his bossiness."

He didn't try to dodge the playful slap that came his way.

"And what is Monty short for?" Burke asked them.

"Montgomery." Kate answered. "His full name is Rodger Montgomery Castle."

"That's quite a mouthful." Burke chuckled.

"Well, he's quite a handful." Rick explained. "So it fits."

Burke laughed and looked and Kate.

"Tell me about your new job."

"Being captain is different, but it's perfect for me." Kate told him. "It allows me to still have a hand in getting killers off the street, but not have to worry quite as much about not coming home." She smiled somberly.

"So you fulfill your need for finding justice without the mental burden of worrying about putting your son through what you went through?" Burke prodded.

"Exactly." Kate nodded.

"Well, it sounds like you two have everything figured out."

"Not everything." Rick said. "But we figure it out together as we go."

"But you're happy with that?"

"We are." Kate stated.

"Yeah, we are." Rick agreed.

"Good." Burke smiled.

Monty yawned loudly, and Kate glanced at her watch before standing up.

"I guess that's our cue. It's almost his nap-time anyway."

She took the baby from Burke and placed him in the car-seat carrier that had been sitting on the couch between her and Rick. Burke and Rick also stood up, and after shaking hands, Rick picked up the carrier. Kate hugged Burke and then picked up the diaper bag.

"I'm glad you got to come by and let me meet him. He's wonderful." Burke said as he walked them to the door.

"It was good to see you, Dr. Burke." Kate responded.

"It was good to see you two as well."

The couple left and Burke closed the door behind them. They reached the elevator and didn't have to wait long for it to arrive. They got in and Kate pressed the button for the first floor. About halfway down, she noticed Castle staring at the panel of buttons.

"What are you looking at, Rick?"

"That." He chuckled and pointed a finger at the emergency stop button.

"Don't even think about it." Kate scolded, but she had trouble hiding the smile that was trying to spread across her face. "We need to get Monty home."

"Yes ma'am."

He lowered his hand and took hold of hers. She squeezed gently and cleared her throat, trying to sound serious.

"You know, our shower is about the same size as this elevator. Maybe Monty will go down for a good nap."

Rick looked down at his son.

"Monty, you hear that? I'm going to need you to take a nice, long nap. Don't ask why though. It would scar you for life."

The brown-eyed infant cooed in response to his father's voice, and both Rick and Kate smiled. The elevator arrived at the first floor and they headed for the exit, hand-in-hand.

A/N - Hope y'all enjoyed this story. I had fun writing it! Thank you for reading. Until next time, Paige