Montgomery

They think I don't see. That I'm stuck in the goldfish bowl of my office and oblivious to what is happening outside in my department. But even if the door is closed, the atmosphere out there radiates through the glass.

Like at Richard Castle's farewell party last year. The team was there when Beckett came in all flirty, asking to speak to Castle privately outside. We all watched in horror as the scene played out in front of us, like a car crash in slow motion. We couldn't look away from the crumpled wreckage that remained as she watched Castle walk away arm in arm with his ex-wife, her feelings betrayed in by the shattered expression on her face.

It's a look I know, because every time I see her the past is always there. The NYPD's failure to catch her mother's killer twelve years ago hasn't scarred me as much as her, obviously, but it has made me protective. She doesn't think she needs to be protected, and I used to agree, but what has occurred over the past year has made me think. And it has, mostly, been Richard Castle that has been there for her. I'm losing count of the times he's regaled us with his embellished heroic tales of saving her life. But it wasn't just Beckett he saved this time, it was a hell of a lot of New Yorkers, too. So as much as I sometimes want to smack him on the back of the head like the twelve year old he sometimes is, I'm glad he's here.

Over the past year Beckett and Castle's relationship has been as up and down as an oil company's share price but thank goodness it has come full circle and seems to be on a better path. Relationships are all about trust. I know Castle has always trusted Beckett with his life, but it has only just recently become a two way street. The progress they've made trying to solve her mother's murder has brought them closer than ever before. They are slowly becoming opposite sides of the same coin.

Unfortunately, cops don't get much down time because this city really doesn't sleep, especially when it comes to death. I'm proud to have each and every one of them working for me, and I think I've got the best. If you cut any of them they'd bleed NYPD blue. And after these two years with Kate Beckett, I'm pretty sure Richard Castle would as well.

So here I am completing a pile of reports while watching my team out in the bull pen, taste-testing wedding cake samples. Ryan has been instructed by his fiancée to get as many opinions as possible and I'm still waiting to give mine. You'd think that being Captain would give me first dibs, but it looks like Ryan and Esposito are keeping me out of the loop.

As for Castle and Beckett, they're huddled at her desk and look as close as I've ever seen them. Almost dying twice within twenty-four hours seems to have had a profound effect. They need these moments, this time to breathe.

Author: Wig257