A/N: First off, I haven't read anything Castle related in the last week or so (besides my regular updates), so if this idea's been done (as I'm sure to some extent it has), my apologies. I just had to get a reaction down and out after the final scene of this week's episode. (6x02 - simultaneously, I have to comment on OMG we're in season six? Time flies by when you're watching Castle, doesn't it?) That being said, yes, there are spoilers up through said episode. Nothing for tonight's though. EXCITED!

Anyway. This is just some random fluffiness. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This is where I give you the usual rundown. I own nothing, all proprietary characters and events belong to the writers who got paid to write them in the first place. Okay. You can read now.

"Fired?"

Kate felt her mouth hanging open, but the indignant sounding word hadn't come from her mouth.

"Look, Mr. Castle, I'm just here to inform Beckett. This doesn't really concern you-"

"Like hell it doesn't!" Rick was outraged. Kate Beckett? Fired? The two concepts refused to align in his head. "I thought you said she was a great agent? One of the best you've ever worked with?!"

Agent McCord inclined her head slightly. "I did. And I do firmly believe that. But she's clearly not the type of person the FBI is looking for."

"For whom the FBI is looking. And that's besides the point," Castle corrected as he crossed his arms firmly and squared off in front of the agent. "She got the job. She's been in training for it, she's done nothing but good for you."

"Mr. Castle," McCord pleaded, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Please. Don't make this harder than it is."

Castle opened his mouth once more to protest, but Kate finally found her voice, and placed a gentle, restraining hand on his arm as she spoke. "No, it's okay, Rick." She turned and smiled tightly at Rachel. "I understand. Thanks for taking the time to deliver the message in person."

Rachel McCord nodded encouragingly. "I'm sorry it had to be this way, Kate. For what it's worth, I really enjoyed working with you. It's nothing personal, believe me, it's just... this job requires sometimes sacrificing the good guys in order to get the bad guys. It's not easy to do."

Kate nodded, still somewhat in shock. "No, I understand. I don't, but I know what you mean." She smirked slightly. "I guess I've just spent so much time catching the bad guys and fighting for the innocent, it's hard to blur those lines so suddenly."

They said their goodbyes and parted ways. As Kate shut the door behind her no-longer partner, she heaved a sigh. When she turned back towards the loft's living room, Kate watched her fiancee as he stalked back and forth restlessly. "Rick?"

He came to an abrupt halt and turned to face her directly. "This is unbelievable. How can they just fire you like that? No prior warnings, no formal calling you into the office- you're a great agent, Kate! You've solved countless cases, federal or not. I can't believe they just did that to you!" He started pacing again.

Kate didn't know whether to be upset or amused at his reactions, smiling slightly as he tripped over the corner of the rug and kept pacing almost without breaking his stride. "Castle, I understand why I might be upset, but why are you so offended by this?"

"Me? How are you not offended?! You just got fired, Beckett!"

Well, he certainly wasn't wrong about that, she thought to herself. And God, how those words smarted. Fired. She had never been fired before in her life. Sure, she'd quit plenty of times, sometimes just to get out in front before she was fired, but never had she been so blindsided like this. And something about the word "fired" was just so demeaning and hurtful, it just smacked of failure. And yet, somehow, Kate couldn't find it in her to be all too upset by the news.

Obviously, Rick was taking it pretty hard though.

She walked up and stood directly in front of him, just to block his path and keep him from that infuriating pacing. "First of all, stop, you're gonna wear a hole in the floor if you keep trudging around like that." Rick frowned almost petulantly as she rubbed his arm consolingly. "And secondly, no I'm not mad. In fact, I might even be a little bit relieved. What I don't understand is why are you so upset?"

Castle arched a brow at her. "You're not upset that you just got fired?"

Kate lowered herself to sit down on the arm of the couch. "Well, I don't know, really."

Castle sat down besides her gently, wanting to say something but thinking maybe she needed a couple of minutes to process it.

She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "I've never really been fired before. I'm not quite sure what I should be feeling. I mean, I guess I'm a little disappointed in myself. I thought I could handle it all, you know? The job, the fiancee," she elbowed him slightly in the shoulder with a small smile on her face. She still couldn't quite get over how that word felt on her tongue. She liked it, and vowed to say it as often as she could. Well, as often as was socially acceptable in the situation. "It's kind of strange. I thought this would be a great new challenge for me, that I'd kick it's ass."

"You did," Castle jumped in quickly. "You were an awesome agent, even McCord said so."

Kate's responding smile didn't quite meet her eyes. "Yeah, I guess so. But at the same time, so many of the things they did over there- how they worked, thought, and reacted in the situations- it was the complete opposite of what I instinctively wanted to do. And yeah, at first I thought of it as a challenge, but really it started to become a burden. It's so frustrating, Castle!" It was now Kate's turn to pace, as she launched herself up off the couch and retraced Castle's earlier path. "I mean, all I wanted to do was help that poor girl to escape, not be used the way that our government was ready and willing to use her. It's only right! And that's what they fire me for? The second I stick my nose where they think it doesn't belong, and they cut me loose? I mean, this kind of thinking is exactly what got us so far in the Valkyrie case! But now, as soon as it calls into question what they do it's all of the sudden not okay?"

"It's a double standard," Castle agreed, watching her stalk mercilessly across the carpeting. Maybe she was more upset than she'd even realized.

"Exactly! And where do they get off in manipulating people like that anyways? It's all just use, use, use until there's nothing left and then dump 'em the second they're no longer needed!"

Rick eyed her almost warily, unsure of whether she was talking about the case or her. He cleared his throat and jumped in before she got any more riled up. "You know Kate, that's not what they did to you. You really were a great agent. If they didn't want you, it was because you're too damn good for them."

She smiled at him. "I know. Honestly, it's kind of a relief though. I wanted to come home."

Castle stood up and pressed a kiss against her lips. "I did too. But home... Home isn't just New York. We could have been happy in DC. Home is where you are." His eyes crinkled with his smile.

"No, it's not," Kate corrected him firmly.

"It's not?" Just like that, his smile disappeared, replaced by a frown. What was she talking about? Of course it was. He'd proposed to her, hadn't he? She was his home. Unless... unless she didn't feel the same anymore? "What do you mean, no?"

"I'm not home for you. Just like you're not home for me."

Well, that hurt a bit. "I... what..."

Kate took mercy on him finally and shot him a smile. "Home is here, with my friends and family. It's where the 12th is, it's where you bring me coffee every morning. It's where my team is, where my boys are, where I can visit my best friend even while working. It's you chasing me around on cases like a puppy and spinning theory with me and going home with you at the end of the day."

Castle's smile came back. Kate grinned wider and wrung her hands. "It's waking up next to you in bed every morning. It's meeting Alexis for coffee and your mother for drinks. It's having lunch with my dad, and dinner every single night with you."

"And dessert," Castle added with a devilish grin. "We can't forget that."

"Yeah," she leaned in closer, her smell intoxicating him as she breathed almost against his lips. Oh, how the tables had turned. "Definitely can't forget dessert."

Castle swallowed thickly and was about to lean forward that last micrometer to kiss her when she laughed and pulled away. He stood there blinking for a few moments as she walked away towards the kitchen. "You're still too easy, Castle."

He smiled and hopped around the corner of the couch as he ran to catch up with her. She squealed when he got his arms about her waist and pulled her back against him. "Oh no you don't!" He pressed his lips against her neck and nibbled playfully up to her earlobe.

"Castle!"

"Nope! Tease all you want, but if you're gonna be my wife, just know there's going to be consequences," he growled against her pulse point, causing her to squirm.

It suddenly hit her what he'd just said. Kate spun around in his arms, surprising him, and would up with his lips on her cheekbone, close to her eye. She couldn't keep the smile out of her tone as she spoke though. "Castle! Stop!"

He pulled back gently. "What?"

"What did you just call me?"

He looked puzzled again, the blood from his brain pooling somewhere else right now. "When?"

"Just now. You... you said wife."

In the span of a moment, various emotions ran through him. Arousal, then fear, love, panic- "A-and?" he practically spluttered out the word.

Kate smiled, and Rick instantly felt his heart soar at the shy look that she paired with it. "And... it sounded nice. I don't think you've called me that yet."

He grinned in return and pulled her body tighter against his to show that he definitely wasn't averse to the idea of calling her his wife. "Yeah? Think you like "future wife" better than fiancee?"

"I just might," she spoke in a low, seductive tone and this time was the one to start the kiss.

They spent a good while kissing before Castle pulled away, question sitting on the tip of his tongue. "So... if you're out of work..."

Kate had to prod him a bit. "Now that I'm out of work, what?"

Castle grinned, relieved that she wasn't mad at him for bringing it up. "Does that mean you can start to wear my ring?"

Kate felt her heart flutter in her chest and suddenly noticed the presence of the two cold, sparkly bands hanging against her chest. She looked down her shirt and slowly, carefully pulled the chain out so that the rings were visible. She examined each ring carefully, noticing for the first time how similar they were. Her mother's, of course, had a smaller rock, because her father was a practical man and Castle was Castle and grandiose should have been his middle name... But the cut and style of both the rock and the band was in fact quite similar. He was such a thoughtful man, Kate thought to herself. He got her a ring he knew she'd love.

And he was right. There was no reason for her not to wear it. Not yet anyway. Of course, if she got her job back at the precinct, she might have to wear it around her neck again, at least for deniability purposes. But right now... She unclasped the back of the chain and carefully slid her fiancee's ring off, leaving the other in its place. As she placed the necklace back around her neck, she held out the ring to Castle, tears of happiness shining in her eyes. "You wanna do the honors, Mr. Castle?"

Castle wordlessly took the engagement ring from her and slipped it onto the appropriate finger, brushing his lips against her knuckles after doing so. A tingle ran down her spine at the dark look in his eyes, and suddenly she couldn't hold herself back. She wrapped herself around him and began kissing him with a fiery passion.

They slowly traveled back towards the bedroom, their passion taking control of them as they shed their clothing. Tonight, Kate thought, tonight wasn't about getting fired, or work, or anything else besides them. Working so far away, and all around the clock, really didn't give her much time for anything else. It was Agent Beckett 24/7 with no breaks in between. She'd almost forgotten what it felt like to just get to be Kate and Rick. She hadn't told Castle this, because he'd beaten her to the punch with his apartment in DC idea, but she'd been thinking of quitting a lot lately.

Suddenly she pulled her lips from his, causing him to groan in protest. They were so close to the bed now, he didn't want to stop yet.

"What about the apartment? In DC?"

Castle shrugged. "What about it?" He returned his lips to her jawline.

"Castle, did you already get it? We don't need it anymore, can you still back out?"

His brow crinkled, amused by her. "We're half naked and you're worried about being able to back out of a real estate deal?"

"Cas-tle..."

He grinned. "It'll be fine. I didn't finish signing the paperwork yet because they wanted your signature and I figured you should see it first. They gave me the key and told me we could check it out and turn in the papers at the same time- mmph!"

He suddenly found his mouth taken over by hers in a fast, hard kiss that left him even more breathless.

She grinned, lips red already from all of their kissing. "I love you, Richard Castle."

"God, I love you too, Kate. You have no idea."

She arched an eyebrow at him playfully. "Really? Maybe you could show me..."

He growled and lifted her up as she squealed gleefully, carrying her the final distance to their bedroom.

Perhaps getting fired was the best thing that could have happened to her.

A/N #2: Review if Caskett-y fluff is what you want more of!