My first Castle fic (not to mention shortest too). Personally, I thought that the Season 3 finale Knockout episode could compete for one of the best episodes yet.

Spoiler Warning: Hey, if you want to ruin it for yourself, go right ahead...

"Captain Montgomery once said to me that for us there is no victory. There are only battles."

For once in her life, Kate Beckett was at a loss for words.

And yet there she stood, stoic, her lips speaking the words that her heart beat to. Her face portraying no emotion her soul wept out. And her hands beneath the podium, shaking, as they struggled not to give themselves away.

"And in the end the best that you can hope for is to find a place to make your stand."

The words flowed out of her mouth on a single string, unbroken, as she silently wept for the loss of a father figure. The man who had sacrificed everything to keep the ones he cared for safe. Who willingly gave his life to right an ancient wrong.

"And if you're very lucky, you find someone willing to stand with you."

In that moment, as she locked eyes with Richard Castle, she knew. She knew what they were, what they had always been. She knew that in that moment she'd crossed the irreversible, finally understanding what she'd always been too slow to realize.

They'd kissed, and they'd never talked about it.

They nearly died frozen in each others arms, and they never talked about it.

She hadn't known what they were, but now she did.

They weren't over. They could never be over.

They were only just beginning.

And then, of course, she had to be shot.
Honestly, though. You have to admit it. Those Castle writers are crazy smart...how else could have Castle said what he said afterwords?