"So I won't hesitate no more, no more
It cannot wait, I'm sure.
There's no need to complicate,
Our time is short,
This is our fate. I'm Yours."
-- I'm Yours -- Jason Mraz

"So," Richard Castle could tell so much was going to go wrong on the IA officer's one word, and suddenly he didn't feel so calm and collected. The last time he'd been on this side of the table was the first time he'd decided that Detective Beckett was a woman worth chasing. Though admittedly he'd been chasing her skirt at first; he'd soon started in the race for her heart.

Their kiss from the night before echoed through his mind, and his lips burned with desire. Other parts of him burned with desire, but that was inappropriate to think of at the moment, so he focused his attention back onto the man interrogating him.

Interviewing him. Interviewing. The suit across from him switched on a tape recorder

"Mr Castle, we are here in an official New York Police Department Internal Affairs investigation, involving the incident occurring on the date June 22, 2010. Investigation number 'IA-1035268'."

Castle nodded, already bored with this 'official' investigation, but he knew he must go through with it. More than his ability to continue working with Beckett and her team hung in the balance.

"Tell me, in detail please, what events led to the shooting." Castle sighed, having gone through this several times already. He knew that Beckett was doing the same thing right now, and that was his motivating factor in not being a sarcastic ass, her words, not his.

"We'd just finished updating Mr Collins on the status of his wife's case, and were headed back to the precinct to meet up with Ryan and Esposito. A fan stopped us and asked for my autograph, so we stopped. Then we decided to stop at the local grocery to pick up some lunch.

Just as we were about to pay for our purchases two gunmen burst into the store and held us up. There was a struggle and after I was hit, the man dropped the gun and ran. The detective secured her man and tended to me."

"Are you aware Mr Castle, that because of Detective Beckett's actions regarding you and the second robber, that man is still not in custody?"

He didn't know that. All that Castle had been told regarding the matter was from Ryan and Esposito. The gun had no record, a sure sign that the robbers were pros and had done the smash and grab before. The partner in custody had refused a deal and not rolled on his partner.

But in all of that, no one had told him Beckett had broken serious department protocol by staying with him and not going after the guy who ran away. The realization of that shocked him. She had purposely broken protocol to save his life.

What did that mean? He rubbed his lips remembering the kiss from last night. He'd learned that all of his assumptions about Kate Beckett and her feelings regarding him were vastly wrong. Where he thought her indifferent, she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

A fact that he truly was surprised to find.

"No. I wasn't aware of that. I assume that the in the minute between the shot and her getting to me, she decided that the suspect wouldn't be apprehended easily. Besides, she already had the first guy."

"Beside the point Mr Castle."

"So what is the point?" He questioned, slipping into the sarcastic ass that Beckett warned him not to be. The man across from him groaned and rolled his eyes.

"The point, Mr Castle, is to ascertain exactly how it came to be you got shot. You are a consultant with the NYPD. You don't carry a gun, and it falls to Detective Beckett to protect you from harm. Had she done her job, you would not have been shot and we would not be having this conversation."

It was then that Castle knew this was basically a witch hunt. He knew that other members of the NYPD outside of the 12th precinct were uncomfortable with him there. Knew that they questioned Beckett's professional integrity for allowing him to follow her. What wasn't common knowledge among the force in blue was his relationship with the mayor, who basically steam rolled Beckett into it.

But none of that was her fault. The blame for his being shot, if it had to fall to anyone but the man who pulled the trigger, was his to bear. If he had stayed behind her, which her body language asked him to, he wouldn't have been shot.

She would have. And that was unacceptable to him.

"Detective Beckett did do her job," he knew he sounded angry, and it was because he was. His actions had once again dragged her name through the dirt. "She stepped in front of me in the first place. It wasn't until I engaged the second man that I was shot."

"Why did you have to engage him?"

"Because she didn't have time to draw her weapon. The second gunman was on her instantly. The door opened after them, distracting them both enough for Beckett engage the first man. The second pointed his gun at her, and that's when I got involved."

"But you're not a trained officer. What made you think you had the necessary skills to successfully disarm and apprehend the man?"

"I dunno. Action movies." If Beckett found out how insubordinate and sarcastic he was being, she would surely shoot him herself.

"Sorry?" The man asked.

"I acted on instinct okay." He wouldn't say the words he was trying to protect her. He couldn't. He hadn't even told Beckett why he'd done what he did. Didn't know if he would tell her the truth if she did ask.

Kate Beckett was proud in an odd sort of way. The sort of way that would make her angry if she learned that he was trying to protect her. She was always telling him to stay in the car and not be a hero.

He should have learned by now that he should listen to her.

"So what you're saying is that you acted on instinct, and your instinct was to wrestle a man to the ground and try and take his gun?" There was a disbelieving tone in his voice that Castle didn't like.

A host of sarcastic comments rose to his lips and he swallowed them back down, a silent sign of respect for his partner. So instead of saying anything he simply nodded, hoping that the interview would be over soon.

But he was right the first time; it was more interrogation than interview.

"Just one last question Mr Castle, you have a family that depends on you, a mother and daughter, would you do the same thing a second time in the same situation?"

His answer came as fast as the words implied. "In a heartbeat."

**

"Captain Montgomery?" Castle asked knocking on the frame of the captain's open door.

"Yes Castle, come in."

Castle walked into the room, his usually calm exterior back in place and a smile on his face. He knew Beckett was still in her interview because she hadn't been at her desk, so he decided to stop by the captain's office.

"I'm sorry I didn't visit you in the hospital Rick. You stirred up quite the storm. Tabloids calling day and night to confirm your death. Respectable newspapers calling to get an exclusive from my detectives, I didn't even have time to get coffee through all the calls."

Castle laughed, his publishers had been endued with the same volume of calls about the same subjects. "Yeah well Oprah called me to get an interview."

"Oprah Winfrey, really? When do you leave for Chicago?" The captain asked, a smiled on his face and a laugh in his voice.

"I don't, I'm waiting for Ellen." He replied quickly.

"Well I'm glad you're okay man."

"Thank you." The both sat down laughing, the hustle and bustle of the busy precinct not touching them inside the office. "You still okay with me following Detective Beckett?"

He asked the serious question first, hoping to get it out of the way. According to his Doctor, Lanie, Alexis and Beckett he wasn't allowed back on a case until he was fully healed, but he needed to know he was welcome back when that time came.

"Of course Rick, and not just because of the good publicity you bring to the department. We kind of like having you around."

Rick smiled, the same happy feeling of having the team over at his house washing over him. He was used to being loved, but that was as a celebrity, he wasn't generally used to being appreciated as a person.

Before either man could say anything another knock sounded on the door frame and Castle turned to see Beckett standing in the doorway. A larger smile lit up his face as he turned to look at her, waves of happiness at her presence filling him.

"Castle, would you like to join me for lunch?" She asked a smile as large as his on her face. Castle looked to the captain who had a knowing smile on, and the man nodded, waving his hand towards the door.

"You kids go. I've still got paper work to file about all this."

Castle stood and shook hands with the captain glad for the permission to return.

"You have a specific place in mind?" He asked, the urge to take her hand in his overwhelming. He didn't though, keeping himself in check, knowing that she wasn't fond of PDA's. He could shout his feelings from atop the nearest clock tower, but he also knew that Kate Beckett was an inherently private person. Whatever was happening between them, was between them.

And for now he liked it that way. Because right now she was his, and his alone, and he didn't have to share that information with anyone.

Once they got into the elevator and were riding it alone, she surprised him and took his hand briefly, squeezing his fingers with hers. The action sent shivers of electricity through him and his body chilled as the doors opened and she let his hand go.

"Anywhere with you is fine by me." Her answer let his whole body up like a Christmas tree, and he smiled following her out of the elevator like he knew he would follow her as long as she would let him.

Discalimer: If I say 'I don't own Castle' one more time, people are going to accuse me of being a broken record. Seriously.

AN: So... for the next chapter, if this were a facebook page my status would read 'Jessie is wondering if she should change the rating of her story.'
Of course, you would all have to respond, weighing in with your two cents.
Question. Why is it 'a penny for your thoughts.' but you opinion is you two cents?
Where is that extra penny going?
Because if popular neuroscience is right the average person thinks 10,000 thoughts a day. That's TEN THOUSAND pennys. Which equals to 100 dollars. I could use an extra hindred dollars a day simply for my thoughts.
Couldn't we all?
So again... rating change 'T' to 'M'...
What do you, the people, think.
This is, after all, a democracy.

Happy Hunting.