a.n. Thanks everyone for the reviews and follows! Here is the last chapter of Framed. Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: We got Season 8! If I had owned it, it wouldn't have been so suspenseful.

xxxx

They started slow. They built a murder board in their office, and spent the next week going over the evidence they had surrounding her mother's murder. Kate managed to get a transcript of the tape and they went over that several times, though each time they found nothing new.

"We've got nothing," Kate said, yawning. They'd spent every minute they had going over evidence for the past week. She'd even taken some more time off of work in order to spend more time investigating. They were standing in front of their homemade murder board, looking over the timeline that they had created.

"It's the story, Kate. We have to tell the story. Then we look for the parts of the plot that are missing. First let's go over the characters that we know."

"Okay."

"So we know from what Montgomery gave us, three cops started a kidnapping ring 18 years ago. They were kidnapping mobsters, and then holding them for ransom. All three cops are now dead. Bracken found out about their enterprise, and demanded a cut in order to secure his silence and help. When Bob Arman, an FBI agent, was killed by Montgomery, Bracken arranged to have Joe Pulgatti framed for the murder.

"When your mom got a letter from Pulgaitti around the same time she and I started planning the JI annual fundraiser, she decided to take on his case. When she got too close, Bracken again stepped in and hired Dick Coonan to silence her and frame me. Coonan is in custody, but isn't talking. So they frame me, and get me convicted. But Bracken doesn't know that there is evidence that is out there that exonerates me, and puts him in the crosshairs of the NYPD. But the tape isn't enough, and they weren't able to get enough out of Montgomery before he too was taken out."

"Okay," she said, picking up the thread, "let's say you're Montgomery, and you got blackmailed for almost 20 years by this powerful politician. Doesn't it make sense that you'd keep something as insurance just in case?"

"It does. But he never turned that over to the NYPD if he had it. You said the NYPD talked to his wife?"

"Yeah, she had no idea where he kept any of those files. It wasn't in his safe or any of his home filing cabinets."

"So he stashed it somewhere else."

"If he had it at all," Kate said bitterly. "If it exists, it could be anywhere. We'll never find it. As I said, we have nothing."

"I know," Castle said, sighing. Kate leaned into his side and he put an arm around her. "Let's stop for tonight, just spend some time doing something else. Maybe something will come to us."

She nodded against his shoulder. She was exhausted, and she just wanted to spend some time with him. Pulling back she looked into his eyes and said, "I love you, Rick."

He leaned down and kissed her before saying, "I love you too, Kate. We'll do this, okay? It just might take a while to come up with something."

She nodded, thankful that his optimism hadn't left him. She knew that if she were here alone, she would have long since lost herself in the quicksand.

xxxx

One Month Later…

They had spent the last month theorizing and reviewing what they had, looking for anything new, but they'd found nothing. After a month of spinning their wheels, they decided that they needed to take a break from it.

Kate took another day off of work and they spent the day walking through Central Park, visiting the Natural History Museum and going to the top of the Empire State Building. It was a fantastic Saturday, and Kate found that even with the past month's disappointment, she hadn't been this happy since her mother died.

She had always joked about finding her one and done, sometimes wondering if she was just fooling herself that there'd be one man out there for her, but now that she'd found him she couldn't be happier.

After their day out they made their way back to their apartment to get ready for their date. They planned on going to a fancy restaurant and seeing a Broadway show, something neither had done in years.

Kate was about to go into their bedroom when Castle's phone sounded off. He waved for her to keep going as he answered. Shrugging her shoulders she went into the en-suite bathroom and pulled the dress she planned to wear from the peg on the outside of the door.

She was just about through with her makeup when she heard Castle through the closed bathroom door. He knocked, and said, "Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Babe, we need to talk."

"Now? Rick we'll be late if I don't…"

"Now. Please?"

Getting worried, she slipped on her robe and made her way out of the bathroom. She found him sitting on their bed, holding his phone. His hands were shaking.

"Rick? What is it?"

"I just…" he cleared his throat, "I just got a call from a man named Michael Smith, and he says he was a friend of Roy Montgomery. He told me that he has the evidence we've been looking for and he wants to meet."

Kate sat next to him. "How do we know he's telling the truth?"

"We don't. It could be a trap. But it could also be the break we've spent the last month trying to find."

"So what do we do?"

"What do you want to do? You're the cop remember?"

"Right," she huffed. "Where does he want to meet and when?"

"Parking garage in an hour."

"Really? On date night? Asshole," she said gruffly. "This had better be some damn good information or I'm going to be pissed. I've been looking forward to this night for a couple weeks."

"I know."

"Alright. Let me get my pants back on, and we'll go. Do you think I should call Ryan and Espo to back us up?"

"I don't know. What if we spook him? I don't want to risk this guy just dumping the evidence."

"Alright. Let's go."

xxxx

The meeting with Smith did not go as planned. He'd just told them that he stashed the file in the corner of the parking garage when a van flew by spraying a hail of bullets over the entire area. Kate would have been dead for sure if it hadn't been for Castle who had seen the van coming and had tackled her to the ground and then pulled them both behind a car.

Kate could feel the panic setting in. The sounds of the bullets, the terror that she could have been hit, that he could have been hit all making it hard for her to breathe. She'd been seeing a therapist for her PTSD, so it shouldn't have hit her so strong.

"Kate, look at me," Castle begged, his hands on either side of her face. "Kate you need to breathe. Can you do that? Just follow after me."

It took her almost 10 minutes before she could breathe evenly again.

"What…what happened?"

"You had a panic attack. Smith is dead."

"The file? God, Castle, tell me we have the file."

"I haven't looked yet. I was more concerned with you. Let's go look." He pulled her up and then walked over to the corner where Smith said he had stashed the file. Castle never let go of her hand, which Kate was extremely thankful for.

The file was there. Kate pulled it out of the railing Smith had shoved it into and held it to her chest. "We have to call the murder in, but we can't send this info into Gates yet. I want to know. I need to know."

Castle nodded. "What do you want to do?"

"Take this home. I'll call Ryan and Espo, tell them what happened, but I'll say it was just me. It'll be better if you don't get involved."

"You sure?"

She nodded, then fell into his chest, the file pressed between them. She felt his arms wrap around her. "Let's hope this is it. I just want this to be over."

"Me too. Me too."

xxxx

"This is everything, Rick," Kate said a few hours later. They had spread the contents of the file over their desk, and had went over everything. "We've got him."

"Kate we need to get this to Gates now. If they find out we have this, and it gets taken, it'll be over."

Kate nodded and started packing up the file, making sure she got every piece of evidence that Smith had handed them. This was it. For the first time in over nine years, she had answers. She not only knew who'd had her mother killed, but also the evidence to make sure he paid for it.

xxxx

One Month Later…

It took a month. Gates hadn't allowed her on the investigation, which while it hadn't made her happy, hadn't surprised her. NYPD regulations weren't something Gates could easily get around, and Kate knew she was too close to it, even if she wouldn't admit it out loud.

A month after she and Castle had turned over the file, Gates called Kate into her office.

"Sit down, Detective," the new Captain said as Kate entered her office.

Kate sat, wondering what was going on. She knew it had to be about Bracken. She desperately wanted it to be good news.

"We're going to make the arrest tomorrow," Gates said, looking at her best detective.

"Tomorrow."

"Yes. Now, I know that it's against the regulations, but I've pulled some strings. You get the collar."

"I get to arrest him?" Kate hadn't been expecting to know anything about the arrest until afterward, if at all. She sat there shocked, not really knowing what to say.

"Yes. Now, gather up Mr. Castle and get yourself to DC. All the arrangements are made," Gates said, handing over the information the detective would need. "Let Mr. Castle ride in the car with you, but he can't go in for the arrest. The two of you deserve this."

"Th-thank you, Captain," Kate stammered, still wondering what new dimension she had stepped through. She and Gates had a professional relationship, but she wouldn't call it friendly. After Gates had been appointed by the NYPD to take over for Montgomery, Kate became much more wary of the woman.

Kate left the captain's office, gathered her jacket, and made her way out of the 12th precinct. It was time to get justice for her mom, for Castle and for herself.

xxxx

"William Bracken, you're under the arrest for fraud, drug trafficking, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and the murder of my mother Johanna Beckett. Now turn around."

Kate marched the disgraced Senator down the stairs of the Capitol building and into the arms of Ryan and Esposito. She stood and watched while her partners shoved the man into the back of a cruiser. It was over. The man who had killed her mom, who had framed the love of her life, and who had tried to have her killed was cuffed and on his way to prison.

She walked the rest of the way down the stairs and fell into the waiting arms of Richard Castle. "She'd be proud of you, you know?" he said after a moment's silence.

Kate said nothing as the tears fell down her cheeks. When she finally found her voice, she pulled back so she could look into his eyes. "I couldn't have done this without you, Rick. Thank you. And I'm sorry, so, so sorry that you lost so much time because of that man. I…"

"Shh, Kate. It's not your fault. We've talked about this, remember?"

"But you lost so much. I should have tried harder, looked into it further. I should have made sure."

"Not your fault. It wasn't your case. He made the evidence fit. Now, come on, there's something I need to do."

Nodding, she accepted his hand and followed him. She would follow this man anywhere. Thinking back over the months they'd been together, she realized that he had become her everything, the one thing in the world that she couldn't live without. He was hers, and she was his, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Lost in her thoughts she didn't realize that they had stopped walking until Castle squeezed her hand. Looking around she noticed they were on the steps of the Supreme Court building.

"Rick, what are we doing here?"

"I…I have something to ask you."

"Okay…" Kate said, wondering what he was going to ask her, and wondering what it had to do with the Supreme Court building. He looked nervous.

"This is where you were headed," Castle said, turning them both so they faced the building. "You told me that your goal was be the first female Supreme Court Justice. It pains me to know that that dream was ended because of the tragedy you suffered.

"Your future was derailed because of the monster you just arrested. You make a difference in this world, Kate. You've made a difference in my world. I spent eight years in prison. Eight years of living with some of the most vial humans ever created. But you got me out. If it weren't for you, I'd still be in there, waiting for a needle."

Kate was crying again. She didn't know where this was going, but it was hard to hear. She reached behind her and took his hand, wanting the comfort that he always provided her.

"Not only that, but you gave me a home when I had nothing. You invited me into your life even though you owed me nothing, even though I was less than pleasant towards you for weeks. You gave me life again, and helped me find love again. I am nothing without you, Kate. Nothing. And I know that this is really fast, but I don't want to waste any more time." Standing behind her, he grasped her shoulders and turned her around to face him, then got down on one knee. "You are my life, Katherine Beckett. Will you marry me?"

He was asking her to marry him? She just stood there in shock, not having seen it coming. They hadn't even talked about their future, though she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She couldn't find the words she needed, so she simply nodded her head up and down as the tears continued to fall down her cheeks.

Rick pulled a ring out of his pocked and slipped it on her ring finger, then pulled her in for a deep kiss.

Pulling back Kate said, "yes, yes, yes, yes," then kissed him again. She was getting married to Richard Castle. Her favorite author. Her best friend. Her everything.

xxxx

One Year Later…

They didn't expect an answer. In fact, they knew the answer. But they wanted to be here at least one time to show the man that he hadn't won. That they had both found happiness and that he was no longer capable of taking it from him.

Kate's quest, which had started when she was 19 years old, would end this day. She had the answers, and even if the man said nothing, she would already have her closure. She had justice, and that was all that mattered. There would be no monthly visits to ask the same question over and over again. There would be no tears when the question wasn't answered.

No, she and Castle didn't expect any answer other than what they already knew, but they would ask. They'd ask him why.

William Bracken was behind bars, and would be for the rest of his life. For the first and last time, she would visit him in prison, with her husband at her side, and ask him the one question she knew would never have a satisfactory answer. She'd ask him why.

fin.

xxxx

a.n.2. And finished! Hope you liked it!