It ain't pretty

It ain't pretty when a heart breaks

Lady Antebellum

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A year had come and gone, and here she was, standing right outside the Hoover Building, taking in its wholeness, contemplating on the cases she and her new team had solved, the psychopaths they put into prison, and the families whom in their behalf, they sought rightful justice for their loved ones. It seemed to be only yesterday when she first landed in Washington, a for-good suitcase rolling behind her, and now it was time to pack her bags again and go home. The FBI was good for Agent Katherine Beckett; not for Kate. Hell, she missed being plain, old Kate. The only thrill she got was delivering closure to the victims robbed too early of their lives, and even that, wasn't enough. After all, nothing could ever be enough for as long as she was still in D.C. Who was she kidding? Her life was in New York. Hell, her heart was in New York; or wherever he is, for that matter. She wished she had known that earlier; specifically that afternoon in the swings, when he got down on one knee and asked for her hand in marriage.

He made it clear that he wanted her to stay, and that was all it took for him to keep their relationship going. He told her he loved her, too many times, and she was too frightened to even take it in at the time. Because right now, standing all alone in a foreign city, dressed in a corporate suit and pencil skirt uniform, and surrounded by people she barely knew, she'd pay the world to hear those four words again.

Kate had never completely moved on. She wasn't unhappy, or anything. She loved her job, and could even say she could love her new co-workers if she stayed a little longer. It was just that in the back of her mind, he'll always be there, nagging at her for what they could have been. Richard Castle became the second most important person in her life without her knowing it.

And she knew, deep in her heart, he hadn't moved on either. Richard Castle lay low in the first few months of their breakup. He stopped making headlines, stopped making book signings and didn't make it to Manhattan's Top Ten bachelors. The latest Nikki Heat novel was the only thing that reminded her of his existence, and it crushed her heart when the acknowledgement on the second page only read 'Farewell'. Then that was it. Nikki Heat was given a nice, happy closure; a life with Jameson Rook, a toddler in her arms—a happily ever after kind of ending—all the things they could have been.

Kate couldn't help but let the constant pang in her chest eat away at her. So she gulped the contents of her wine glass.

"Agent Beckett, I knew you'd be here," a familiar voice pulled her out of her thoughts, realizing she had been alone for too long outside of her farewell party.

"Agent Krauss," she addressed out of respect. Thomas Krauss hasn't always been her type of coffee. He managed to pull her strings to the point of snapping, and he was probably glad to finally have her out of the office. Thomas was the typical big and tough agent, with a towering height of 6'4'', clean cut brown hair and sapphire blue eyes—not at all hard to look at. In more ways than one, he reminded her of Castle.

"Please, call me Tom," his mouth broke into a charmer smile.

Kate smiled half-heartedly. Now he's flirting? "Agent Krauss," she repeated.

"Look, I'm sorry if I gave you a hard time, Kate." Kate turned to him at the mention of her name, her lips pursed together and her eyebrows furrowed. "Fine, Agent Beckett—I'm sorry I gave you a hard time. I just have these issues with new people. Don't take it personally, though. Personally…"he trailed off, holding out his finger in the air "…I think you're pretty. Cute."

"Oh, please. What is it that you need?" Kate caught him off-guard. Even from a distance, she could smell the alcohol reeking out of his breath.

"I need you to write me a recommendation letter,"

"For what?" To be honest, she didn't expect that. It didn't make sense how someone as highly praised as Thomas Krauss would want out of his job. But then again, he was a little out of his mind.

"For a girlfriend," he stared on. The guy is drunk in midday. Kate felt sorry for his liver. "Please, Agent?"

"Sober up, Krauss." She dropped on him one last time before returning to the party.

The small party ended in no less than an hour later, and once everybody had uttered their goodbye speeches, and gave Kate their warm, goodbye hugs, she was officially gone. She caught a sight of two other agents dragging Thomas Krauss on his side to his car. That guy was impossible.

She surrendered the keys of her FBI-issue SUV, badge and gun, and took a cab back to her apartment. Kate already packed her suitcase two nights ago, and sent the rest of her boxes to New York the day before. All that was left to do was secure her boarding pass and fly back home.

That is, if she still had a home to go to.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Castle drove his black Porsche through the busy Manhattan streets, on his way to completing his Saturday routine. Alexis got her driver's license, and he thought she earned the red Ferrari he used to own. In the past seven months, he had been unexpectedly better. No. Better than better, if that was any possible. He never thought he could move past the bitter breakup with his muse so quickly. She never called, and so did he; he stopped going to the precinct and settled down with late night poker games with the boys and short conversations with Lanie outside of work. Altogether, he turned away to all the things that kept him from moving on from Kate. And to his surprise, it worked!

Seven months later, he was back to his old self, and he thought of his relationship with Kate as the northern star that brought him closer to the real thing. Or so he thinks it's the real thing.

When he decided to put an end to the Nikki Heat Series, he never thought he would want to write again. But then he proved himself wrong, when he met the inspiration for his new character Samantha Winters—the kickass lawyer who sidelines as a professor at Harvard and an amateur crime novelist. In exchange for her inspiration for the character, Castle agreed to show her the ropes in the mystery world. And there they were, exchanging kisses in the morning, checking on each other every other time, him bringing her flowers for a promotion, and then going back to his flat for a nice dinner.

He smiled at the thought.

Castle spotted the familiar building and parked in the curb. He grabbed the bouquet of white roses from the back seat, and went his way inside the law office.

"Good day, Mr. Castle," said Aaron the day shift security guard. Some were stoic towards her, but not good ole' Aaron Lovett.

"Good day back, Aaron." He gave a wide grin, and waited in the lobby.

He glanced at his watch. He had called her and she said she was just about to leave her office and would meet him in the lobby. In no less than a moment later, the elevator door opened, and a herd of people exchanging smiles and laughter rushed out. Then out of the similarly dressed people, he spotted her, a wide smile plastered on her mouth. His heart swelled at her happiness. Because hell, he knew how hard the woman worked, and totally deserved the promotion. She spotted him from afar, and waved at him.

She had the face of a goddess and a heart of an angel.

He waved back, and watched as Stefanie Patrick inched closer, closer, and closer, then into his arms, his smile only getting bigger as she pressed her lips against his.

"I got the job, Rick!"