258. Chapter 258

After Need to Know

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: You need to know that I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

"Kate, you're one of the best agents I've ever worked with, but I'm here to tell you you're fired."

Kate was stunned. She tried to say something, but nothing came out. Castle put his arm around her and held her.

"McCord, what does Kate need to do now?" He asked, holding Kate gently and trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

"She'll need to come in and process out. There's no need for her to rush." McCord turned to Kate. "Kate, you can come in at any time. Just call us first." She shook her head. "And I'm really sorry this happened."

"I'll bring Kate to DC tomorrow." Castle looked down at Kate who nodded. "I think the faster we get through this, the better."

"Again. I'm sorry." Then McCord left.

Kate turned to Rick, put her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. She laughed bitterly. "This was my great Federal job. This was the job that I risked us for, Castle. I could have lost you. The job that I did for three months instead of being with you."

"You couldn't possibly lose me. Anywhere you want to go, any job you want to take, I'll be right there with you. I promise."

"Oh my god! You rented a place in DC. A place we have no use for. Damn!"

"We can get out of the lease, or if we can't, we can sublet it. If we have to, we'll have a nice place in DC if we ever get invited down by the Obamas."

"I wish I had talked to you about the job before I did the interview. I should have, but I didn't. I should have "Always talk it over with Rick first." tattooed on the back of my hand so I never forget it. I'm so sorry, Castle."

"No! I do not want to hear you say you're sorry one more time in the next…year, at least. You did the right thing. You saved a woman's life. And you should have taken the DC job, since you are the best detective on the planet. And I don't like you apologizing. Do that again and I'll…Kiss you, tell you I love you more than I've ever loved anyone, then I'll make passionate love to you and make you know that you are loved like no woman in the world has ever been loved."

Kate smiled to herself. "I am s-o-o-o sorry, Cas…."

She didn't get the last word out before Castle's lips covered hers. Then, "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone. I love you infinitely more than Kyra, Meredith, Gina, and all the women I've ever been with combined." He gently squeezed her ass, then picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

Two hours later, Kate knew that she had been loved like no other woman, and she loved it. "I love you, Castle." She whispered.

Rick suddenly sat up. "I gotta make a call."

"You do? Who?"

"My moving guy. I need to get him to DC tomorrow so you can get all packed up for the move back to New York."

Kate giggled. "Okay, I get that you have a CIA guy, and a jewel thief guy, and all sorts of other guys, but a moving company guy? Really?"

Castle picked up his phone. "Didn't I tell you I had a guy for everything?" Before Kate could reply, Castle was talking to his moving guy.

They flew to DC the next morning, stopped by Kate's apartment to let the movers in and drove to Kate's old office. Castle was unhappy that he had to wait in the lobby, but understood. He kissed Kate and settled down to wait in the lobby with an old copy of National Geographic magazine. After half an hour, he started to get nervous. What if they're threatening her? She knows about Secretary Reed and how he covered his ass. He won't want to have that get out. No! Someone threaten Kate Beckett? Never happen. I have nothing to worry about.

After an hour, he wasn't so sure. I should have called my lawyer. They could have her on a plane to Guantanamo Bay by now. Who do I know there? Anyone? Who can I contact? He took a deep breath. I'm over reacting. If anything had happened, Kate would raise such a stink that I'd hear about it.

After an hour and a half, he was looking through his phone contact list to see who he could call to get Kate back. There's that Englishman who runs a private military company. He can get helicopter gunships, troop lift ships, troops, heavy weapons. Then there's the German…"

"Ready, Castle?" She said.

He quickly turned off his phone. "How'd it go?"

"Fine." She said, heading for the door.

He quickly caught up to her. "Kate. You say things are fine when I know they're not. What did they do in there? Did they threaten you about Reed? I should go back there and tell them just what I think of them." Castle stopped and turned back towards the lobby.

Kate grabbed his arm. "Rick. Everything went fine. I had a lot of forms to fill out and no one threatened me. Rachel told me how sorry she was and complimented me. Have you been talking to her, because she said I was remarkable? Both Hendricks and Richmond said how sorry they were that I had gotten fired and that there was too much politics in DC, but then it's DC, so of course there's politics. Villante was very nice to me. He said if I ever needed anything from the AG's office when I'm back with the NYPD, I should call him direct." She reached up and kissed him softly. "Now can we please get out of here and not talk about this any more?"

They drove back to Kate's apartment where the moving crew was just finishing. "There are just a couple of things that I set aside that I want to take back personally, Castle. I'll just be a second." Kate went into her bedroom and came out with a small overnight bag. She took a last look at the now empty apartment, sighed deeply, then put her arms around Castle. "Castle, take me home."

"Kate, your place in New York is empty. The movers won't get your stuff there until tomorrow sometime."

Kate kissed him. "Castle, take me home."

Once back in Manhattan, Kate relaxed as Rick drove the Ferrari. Then she noticed something. "Castle, where are we going? We're not headed for the loft."

"We just need to make a stop. It's right here on Fifth Avenue." He parked and they got out.

As soon as she was out, Kate saw where they had parked. "Tiffany's? Castle, I do not need some expensive present to make me feel better about this. You know that. All I need is you."

"Oh, we're not going to Tiffany's. I had huge billboard put up. It says, "The Attorney General is an idiot for firing Kate Beckett." It has your picture on it. You look gorgeous, by the way, but you always do. Come on, it's just around the corner."

Kate stopped. A look of absolute horror was on her face. "Castle…You didn't…You couldn't…You…You…" Then she saw his smile.

"Gotcha. We are going to Tiffany's. But if you won't accept my present, the billboard goes up."

Kate laughed and admitted defeat. "Okay. I'll accept the present."

Inside, the two were ushered into a cozy alcove where a young man awaited them. "Good day, Mr. Castle, Ms. Beckett. I think you'll like what we've done for you." He handed a small jewelry box to Castle.

"Thank you, Bernard." Bernard smiled and left them alone.

"What is it?" Kate asked.

"A solid silver charm bracelet." He removed the bracelet from the box, keeping the charms covered with his hand. "The first charm is a pair of handcuffs, to commemorate our first case together." He pulled out the second charm. "The next is a tiny purse, to commemorate the first time I saved your life. And next is a kitten, for obvious reasons. After that is a tiny book and engraved on it is "Nikki Heat." And next is a heart. Engraved on it is RC + KB. Then there's a little movie camera, for the movie Nikki Heat. Next a little stethoscope to commemorate the bank robbery where you saved me. Next is a little Santa hat to remind us of new traditions. And last is a little plaque that says, "Always talk it over with Rick first." Since we can't have you running around looking like some tattooed felon, can we?"

Kate put the bracelet on, managing to not tear up too badly. "Castle, I'm going to kiss you, then I'm going to tell you I love you, then I'm going to make passionate love to you, and show you that you are loved like no man has ever been loved."