179. Chapter 179

After The Late Shaft, Again

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I'd be shafted if I claimed to own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

Kate walked out into the bedroom in an old tee shirt of Rick's with her hair in a messy bun. He smiled at her. "You're adorable."

She smiled at him. "You're pretty adorable yourself."

"And you're absolutely irresistible."

"Liar." She said softly.

"What?" He sat up on the bed.

"I said "liar.", because you are a liar."

"What…When…I've never…Well, not about anything import and…"

"Two words, Castle: Ellie Monroe."

He sighed and fell back on the bed. "You're never going to let me forget that are you?"

She shrugged. "Kind of hard to. You're really kind of cute when you come staggering into the office after a night of passionate lovemaking with a hot, sexy actress. It does attract the eye."

"Believe me, it's nothing compared to how I look after a night of mad sex with a hot, sexy cop. As you well know."

She frowned slightly and cocked her head to one side. "Um, maybe."

"What do you mean, maybe?"

"I was completely resistible when you were sleeping with Ellie Monroe." Kate stopped and thought for a second. "Not that you were doing any sleeping, of course." She turned to him and smiled. "All you were interested in me for was the Bobby Mann case. Ellie for fun, Kate for hard work and drudgery. Not that you ever were one for hard work and drudgery."

"Hey! Who was it that insisted that Bobby Mann had been murdered? Me! That's who. It was my fine-tuned investigative senses that brought Hank McPhee to justice."

"Fine-tuned investigative senses?" She scoffed. "Are you kidding me? Bobby Mann told you that someone wanted him dead. How hard was it for you to sense that?"

"I had to get my idea past a very skeptical detective, as you may have noticed. And it wasn't the first time I came up with the right theory that you had openly derided."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Sure, if you say "mob hit" and "spy" often enough, sooner or later we'll get a mob hit or a spy. All that your fine-tuned investigative senses amount to is the law of averages."

"I can't believe you just said that." He said sadly.

"And that wasn't the first time the law of averages came to your rescue."

"Oh! Now that is unfair. I've been a big help on your cases. On our cases. You've told me so a hundred times. You've told other people."

"I'm not talking about your work on our cases."

He was confused. "Then what are you talking about?"

"Me. You sleep with enough women, and eventually you end up with me. Although it took you forever."

"Wait! Wait! It took me forever? Are you serious? May I remind you that at that stage of our relationship, you were still terrified that I might see you naked, or offended that someone might think we were a couple. I was just responding to your lead. I assumed that any sort of relationship beyond the work relationship was out of the question. Is it my fault that you're so damned good at not letting people in?"

From the look in her eyes, Rick knew he had gone too far. He quickly rolled off the bed and went to her, taking her into his arms and holding her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. With all the pain in your life, I'm amazed that you let anyone in. That you functioned at all. You are truly remarkable and I love you. Forgive me?"

She rested her head on his chest. "Of course. There's really nothing to forgive. I know exactly what I was like back then."

He nodded. "You were remarkable and adorable."

She laughed. "Thank you. But I was trying, although it was probably too little for you, or anyone else, to notice. "

He walked her over to the bed and gently put her down and then joined her. "It's my fault if I didn't notice."

"No it isn't. I tried to tell you that Ellie was only sleeping with you to get a part. You said I was jealous."

"And I was wrong."

She shook her head slowly. "No, you were right. Of course I was jealous. Any woman who's in any kind of a relationship with a man is going to be jealous of any woman who is interested in that man." She looked into his blue eyes. "Maybe I should have admitted I was jealous."

"No. I was too egotistical to listen. I would have gotten a big ego boost at the thought that Kate Beckett was jealous of me and Ellie Monroe. On the other hand, I might have realized that I did have a chance with you."

"Your failure to realize you had a chance with me way before that continues to amaze me."

"See! My fault entirely."

"I was really angry with you, there at the end, when we had solved the case. If you remember, I invited you out for a hamburger at Remy's. I made a move, not a big move, I'll admit, but I did want to be with you."

"I wanted to be with you, too."

"And then you said you had a date. I assumed it was with Ellie. I was embarrassed for you. Rick Castle, playboy, permanent resident of Page Six, man about town, the white whale himself, couldn't do better than a woman who'd used you? Who was screwing the network president and who knows who else to advance her career?" She ran her hand over his chest. "I came close to suggesting you go out with me." She said softly.

"You should have."

She shook her head again. "No. I couldn't have done anything. I was still too hurt, too damaged, too screwed up, to be what you needed and deserved."

"And even with all that, you were still adorable and remarkable."

"While I was giving you my little tirade, I looked up and saw you smiling. Then you told me that your hot date was with Alexis. And I saw a little bit more of the Richard Castle I was fascinated with. The one I wanted to be with. The one I could love."

"You should have met him a lot sooner. But some egotistical jackass kept showing up, and ruining things."

She laughed. "But you were an adorable, remarkable egotistical jackass."

"Thanks. I think." He hugged her. "But, it all worked out. I found the best partner the NYPD has. I found my best friend. I found my muse. And, most importantly, I found the woman that I will love for the rest of my life."

"S-o-o-o, we should thank Ellie Monroe for keeping us apart until we were ready for each other?"

"Not a chance."