Disclaimer:The show Castle and its characters are the property of Andrew Marlowe and ABC

Chapter 1

"I was shot in the chest and I remember every second of it."

The words still ringing in his mind hours later as he sits in his office nursing a glass of scotch. She lied, and a darker part of his mind was telling him he shouldn't be surprised. The same part which started whispering the worst case scenarios regarding him and Kate every time she pushed him away. It was asking him why he was surprised, it wasn't as if it hadn't happened before.

"We have our whole life, right Kyra?"

"Off course we do Rick, you are not gonna lose me anytime soon"

But he knew it was a lie, he had seen all her plans for Europe, even had heard her talk to her mother about her plans of moving. But even then some stupid part of his brain was hoping it to be true, the same stupid part which had compelled him to buy the ring. But the dark part won and he got the real truth when she left him standing at Grand Central Station after their last dance not even 6 weeks later.

"Meredith you need to spend some time with your daughter, she hasn't seen you properly for the past 3 days, she needs her Mom."

"I promise I will spend time with her tomorrow, when you go for your meetings, but I can't today, this audition is really important to me, and crap I'm late, I gotta go."

And she left with a parting Love you, Ricky in the air, and he knew it was a lie, he knew she didn't really love him, she just needed him, for his money, for his fame, for getting whatever she wanted in life. Truth was for her motherhood and marriage was just an obligation, a binding. Still the stupid part of his brain hoped maybe they could make this work, maybe she would change and they could have the happy married life with a house in suburbs with white fences. But the dark part won and he got the real truth the next day when he came home early from his meeting to find Alexis crying up a storm and his wife riding a bald guy on the couch.

"And we have to go the Clay's night club opening.. Richard are you listening to me?"

"Depends, if you are asking as my publisher or my wife, because you are acting a lot like my publisher right now."

"Off course as your wife you doofus, we are married, I love you Richard."

Maybe she did, but not his real self, she loved Richard Castle, the party goer, the playboy, not the loving and caring Dad, not the guy who loved to play laser tag. For her this marriage was actually what it was, a signature on a paper, a contract. All she wanted was a little more control in his life and maybe a little payback for being a pain in the ass. But the stupid part of his brain hoped maybe she would come to love Richard Rogers as well and maybe then he could open the wall around Alexis. But she never did and the wall never opened and the dark part won 2 months later when the both filed for divorce.

And here he was back full circle, strike 4 (because he needed an extra one), reeling back from another lie but this was far worse because this time he had actually truly believed the stupid part of his brain and had been listening to it since the swings. He had been lost in his dreams of his future with Beckett, of how extraordinary they would be that he had phased out the darker part for the most part but now it was back with vengeance, slapping him back to the harsh reality, that no one could love Richard Castle, the fun man child, the 9 year old on sugar rush that he had made himself into to see and experience the world with his daughter and to keep the thoughts of dark demons away from her. But his daughter is all grown now, soon she would graduate from high school and go off to college to face the world's demons all on her own. She's not his baby bird anymore.

He smiles as he looks at the photo on his desk, of him and a 6 year old Alexis perched on his shoulder, both of them laughing without a care in the world. He remembers the day as if it was yesterday

"And now warrior cloud is slaying the dragon cloud, look" he says pointing as two clouds collide and merge together.

His daughter giggles beside him,"Don't be silly Daddy, clouds cant be warriors or Dragons."

"They can be if you have good imagination" he says as he starts tickling her. She manages to say Let me go and swings between laughs and he releases and she dashes towards the swings giggling and poking her tongue out at him which he gladly reciprocates. He sighs and climbs up to sit on a bench keeping an eye on her Daughter as a woman in her mid 20s sits beside him.

"She is adorable" the woman says looking at her daughter.

"She is the love of my life" he replies back without even glancing at the woman. He knows what is coming next, frankly he was surprised they had waited this long.

"If you are thinking, I am here to get you back in the game and sprout some bullshit like you owe your country, you are mistaken Rogers" she says all of a sudden, surprising him and making him turn to look at her.

"Then why are you here Natasha, did father send you?"

"No, I just wanted to see the reason you quit with my own eyes, and also because I didn't get to say goodbye" with that she turns to her purse and removes a photograph of him and Alexis from a couple of hours ago and hands it to him.

He takes it and flips it over after a few seconds to see a note and a number written on the back

'You saved my life once so I'm in your debt, if you ever need me call me'

When he turns to her, he finds her gone. Damn, the old man never taught him that move.

Sighing, he stands up, putting his untouched scotch on the table and moves towards the digital board, switching it on. He looks at her face for a long moment and then turns, removes the photograph from the frame, picks out a burner phone from his bottom most desk drawer and dials and waits till the call picks up. Nobody says anything for a moment but he knows she's there.

He's the one to break the silence

"Nat, I think I need you help." The call drops immediately but the message was delivered, now he just had to wait for her to show up.

Snapping the burner phone in two, he once again turns to look at her photograph on the smart board.

Yep, he knows what he has to do, he won't stop being her partner, after all he promised her Always.

No, he just had to grow up and move on.