Murphy Was An Optimist

by RGoodfellow64

Epilogue

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Disclaimer: See the other chapters.

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Mini-Authors Note: I know, I know, this was supposed to be finished but…well read the authors note at the end.

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This was the best morning that Kate could remember, despite the last minute demands from the DA's office looking for more details on a case from almost a year ago. She had hardly slept at all last night but felt more refreshed than she has in months and it was all because of what she and the man sitting next to her did…talk. Honestly. Openly. Truthfully, which was a very difficult thing for Kate to do. Even before her mother's death, Kate held things close to herself. In high school and at Stanford, people thought she was open and friendly, but she held most of herself off from everyone. Her mother's death just intensified what was already there.

She snuck another glance at Ric…Castle. She had to remember to think of him as Castle when they were a work now, which she discovered was harder to do than she thought. Her eyes immediately went to his lips and she had to hold herself back once again from asking him to join her in the conference room. Damn those lips were addictive! She'd really had no idea, even after that amazing kiss to save Ryan and Espo, the kisses last night made her wish that the couch they sat on was much larger than it was…although being a loveseat it ensured they sat close to each other…very close.

Naturally, as she was thinking of that and blushing, he had to look up at her. However, it was a soft smile, as if he knew what she was thinking and was thinking it too. The little laugh lines on the side of his face deepened as his eyes held hers.

"Ahem!" The sound came from the direction of Esposito's desk.

"Make that a double, ahem," Ryan added as Kate and Rick turned to look at the two detectives.

Esposito's eyes narrowed and he waved his right forefinger between Beckett and Castle, "Are you sure nothing happened other than talking down there last night?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ryan agreed. "There's a lot more eye sex going on than normal."

Kate rolled her eyes as Castle said, "Guys, we talked," he paused and continued, "And really, Ryan, eye sex?" He shook his head and went back to looking at his phone. Kate shook her head as well and looked back at the papers on her desk but her mind was on what had already happened today.

She was at her desk by 5:30 in the morning after getting home at 1:30 when she left Rick at the Old Haunt. Everyone else had called it a night long before, and Rick called a car service to make sure she got home safely since she'd arrived by taxi. She smiled at his words, "Don't say it again, Kate. I'm the boyfriend now and no matter how you got here it's my responsibility to make sure you get home safely." He paused and added, "My mother would be so proud to know I remembered that."

As the driver held the door open for her, Kate turned and kissed Rick one more time, "I prefer 'Partner' to boyfriend, sounds more mature and grown up."

He gave her a quick hug and stepped back as she entered the town car. "I think I like that too." Suddenly his eyes lit up and he said, "Ooo, I have to get you your own laser tag system so you can help me beat Alexis!"

"Did I say grown up?" Kate asked, with a smile. "Must have been someone else I was talking about."

Rick smiled back and said, "Let me know when you're in your apartment." Kate recalled the texts that flew back and forth between them after she left Rick at the bar, and before she finally had to end the conversation to get some sleep.

As she was leaving for work that morning, she met Mr. Hooper, a neighbor from the first floor who was just coming in from walking his dog. "Big doings here last night," he told her while trying to keep the dog from jumping on Kate.

"Oh? What happened?"

"Some crazy guy managed to get in the building and was knocking on doors and yelling in the hallways till the police took him away." He paused a moment and said, "Maybe he was on drugs. Too bad you weren't home; you could have arrested him yourself."

Kate smiled, "I'm glad I wasn't, I still would have had to call it in since we don't live in my jurisdiction." At his confused look Kate added, "I work out of the 12th Precinct and we live in the 8th Precinct's district."

Mr. Hooper shook his head, "Ah well, we had some excitement for a while anyway," he said before waving and wishing Kate a nice day. Kate thought about what he said. She took this apartment with the idea that living in a building filled with mostly retired people would be quieter, and so far it was, but maybe if things like what Mr. Hooper was talking about kept happening, she'd have to move again. Shrugging her shoulders, she headed to the subway to get to work.

Sitting at her desk, Kate turned her head and looked at the Captain's office and smiled again, thinking about her conversation with him when he arrived this morning.

She was going through the NYPD policy's for any information about working partners being in a romantic relationship when Capt. Montgomery came off the elevator and stopped in front of her, "Beckett? Why are you here so early? You finished the case last night."

Kate looked up from her computer and said, "Just doing some research, Captain." She paused a moment then added, "May I speak to you sir…privately?"

With a puzzled look, he agreed and led her into his office where he closed the door behind her before sitting at his desk. "What do you want to talk to me about, Kate?" he asked.

Kate sat straight in her chair and tried to project professionalism but when she started to speak her voice cracked and she had to clear her throat before she started again, "Sir, uhhh, I was, um, I was looking over NYPD policy and I want to ask you a question."

Montgomery looked surprised as Kate seemed flustered, but nodded his head for her to continue, "Um, well Sir, uhhh, that is I…" she took a breath and then in a rush asked, "If one partner isn't actually a member of the NYPD, is the no fraternization policy between working partners still valid if they become romantically involved?"

Montgomery held back a smile at the nervousness of his top detective. He actually thought it was cute the way she was acting and it reminded him of his own daughters, neither of whom would date until they're at least forty years old. He knew Kate was talking about herself but he had to drag this out for fun just a bit so he kept a straight face and asked, "Is this a rhetorical question, Detective, or are you asking for someone else?"

He watched in delight as Detective Kate Beckett blushed. It was so hard to hold back his smile that he had to look down at some papers on his desk before he looked back up at her again.

"Um…well, Sir, it's not really…I mean, I'm not asking for…uhhh…"

Montgomery found himself smiling, 'Damn,' he thought 'I always knew Castle was good for her!'

Kate saw the smile on the Captain's face and he asked, "I can assume then that you are speaking about yourself and an un-official consultant who helps you with your cases?"

Kate watched as Montgomery's smile widened into a delighted grin and she smiled back, still blushing, "Yes, sir, you can."

"When did this take place, Kate?"

"Uh, last night, sir," she replied.

"Damn!"

"Sir?"

"I was off by almost two months!" Montgomery explained.

"Sir?"

He shook his head, "Nothing, Kate. For the record, there is no policy that covers romance between a member of the NYPD and a private citizen, even if said citizen volunteers his time to work with the NYPD."

Montgomery watched as Kate's face bloomed into a huge smile. "Thank you sir!" she said, but stopped speaking as he raised his hand, "Just make sure you both keep the romance outside the precinct, Kate."

She was nodding her head so quickly that he worried it might come off her neck, "Don't worry, sir, we will. No one will even know that we're dating."

Montgomery shook his head, "Kate, everyone already thinks you two are together. Just keep it to a minimum and I'll have no problem."

Kate's mind left the memory as her cell phone pinged; when she picked it up, she saw a message from Rick, "When do you want to tell everyone?"

Kate motioned to him and he leaned forward as she whispered, "Lanie first. If she doesn't hear before the boys she'll kill us both."

Before he could respond a loud "Ahem! Ahem!" came from Esposito's desk.

"Geez, guys!" Rick said as he pulled back from Kate, while she said, "I wonder if we need any dumpsters checked out?"

Rick picked up the empty coffee cup by her phone and asked, "Refill?"

"I'd love one, thanks," she replied as he got up from his chair and headed to the break room. It was only a few minutes before 10am and she had already finished the first cup of coffee and the bear claw he'd brought for her when he came in at his usual 9am.

Kate returned to her paperwork and enjoyed the cup of coffee Rick brought to her, especially the little heart he arranged on the top of the coffee with milk. They then continued as normal, Beckett working at her desk and Castle working on his phone, the occasional beep or whistle informing everyone that he was winning the game.

The morning seemed to drag but by 10:50 am, she finally finished getting all the information requested by the DA's office. Kate looked at Rick with a smile and was about to speak when her phone rang. She shrugged her shoulders, picked up her desk phone, answered with "Beckett!" and listened for a moment. "Wait a minute! What?" she said into the phone.

Rick looked at her, as did Esposito and Ryan, "Why do I care that your credit cards are maxed out?" She paused a moment "What do you mean, bail?" she asked.

Rick leaned forward to try to hear who was on the other end of the line as Esposito and Ryan came over to stand in front of her desk.

"Why would you need…" Kate stopped and listened before she raised her voice, "Arrested! Why were you arres…"

Now all three men were leaning towards Kate, trying to hear who was on the line that made her so upset.

"At my place?" her voice was even louder, which made other officers look towards her desk. Castle got up and tried to put his ear next to her phone but she waved him away, "What do you mean…are you the idiot who was knocking on doors and scaring my neighbors?"

Ryan, Esposito and Castle all moved back as they saw the angry look on Kate's face. "They're elderly! What the hell were you thinking?" she yelled into the phone. She listened a moment then said in the same tone of voice, "I thought I made things perfectly clear last night, we are over! I don't want to see you, I don't want to hear you and I have absolutely no intention of paying your bail, jackass!" she slammed the phone down on her desk, closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to compose herself.

Ryan and Esposito looked at Castle who shrugged his shoulders back at them. Then they pointed their fingers at him then at Beckett, glared at Castle and mouthed the words to find out what happened. He cleared his throat and said, "Ummm…"

Kate opened her eyes and looked at Rick then back at Esposito and Ryan. She then picked up her cell phone and dialed a number, she held up her finger for silence from the men and waited a moment before speaking, "Hey Lanie, wanna grab an early lunch?" A moment later, she nodded her head and said, "Great! Meet you at Remy's," before she disconnected the call.

"Beckett?" Ryan asked, "Is everything ok?"

Beckett smiled up at him, looked at Castle then back to Ryan, "Things are great," she replied.

"Didn't sound like that to me," Esposito said, and glared at Castle for not taking charge and asking the questions.

Beckett pulled her purse out of the bottom desk drawer and got up from her chair, "Come on, we're all heading to Remy's, we'll tell you about it there."

As Castle stood up Ryan asked, "We?"

Beckett shook her head and they all headed to the elevator. As they arrived, the doors opened and they halted before stepping in as they saw Demming standing there, holding a big box that looked very heavy.

"Uh, we may be delayed a bit," Rick said as he reached for his pen.

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AUTHORS NOTE: Ok. Now, really, this is done. I just couldn't leave it like that at the end of chapter 3, my wife absolutely wanted to know what happened with Josh and Demming. Happy wife means Happy RG, so you get this last piece of the story.

Why did Josh call her desk phone? She blocked his number from her cell, so he had to go old school. Also, for those who want to know, Lanie, Esposito and Ryan will find out at Remy's who won the bet…we all know it wasn't Capt. Montgomery. Oh, and speaking of Montgomery, Kate had no qualms about telling him she was dating Castle, after all, he wanted Castle there. This isn't the same situation as with Capt. Gates. Anyway, thanks for reading.