A/N: Thanks Joanna for your assistance.

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or any of its dialogue, but all mistakes are mine.


Security


Fic prompt for Lou: Kate spends the night in the guest room after Cops and Robbers, and wakes with a nightmare in the middle of the night


She should be sleeping, that much was certain. Yet every time she closed her eyes the explosion replayed behind her eyelids. The same explosion that had haunted her dreams and had jolted her awake, screaming into consciousness.

Kate could have lost her best friend today. The man she had seen a future with. The man she had wanted to be more for. In a split second, he could've been killed, as she had stood behind the barricades, watching it all unfold.

Completely helpless.

Dinner with Castle and his family had been exactly what she had needed tonight. It had been reassurance that he was there, alive and well. Celebrating life as Martha had put it.

They had finished a couple bottles of wine with their meal and had talked until well past midnight. At his suggestion, she had agreed to sleep in the spare bedroom instead of going home in the middle of the night, one notch beyond tipsy. Knowing that he was sleeping under the same roof had been her comfort and she fell asleep almost as soon as her head sank into the soft down-filled pillow.

If only she could have stayed asleep, but unfortunately her rest had not been a peaceful one.

The nightmare that plagued her thoughts was an image of her standing outside the bank just like she had been earlier. The bomb blew and instead of finding her partner in the vault unharmed, he had been lying there with a bullet through his head. She had pushed too far and Trapper John had decided to leave her with one last parting gift before his own demise.

Sweat beaded down her chest as her breathing finally started to slow from her last jolt awake. Kate knew each nightmare had brought more screams ripping through her teeth. Her only hope was that the walls in the loft were more soundproof than they were in her own apartment. She would hate that her presence here would prevent Martha or Alexis from sleeping soundly in their own rooms down the hallway.

Kate took another deep breath and sat up as she ran her hands over her face.

He was alive.

He was fine.

She repeated it like a mantra.

Even though she knew it was true, the thought of losing him nagged at her subconscious. She couldn't understand, why was she putting her life on hold? Why she couldn't tell him the truth and dive into it with him? Of course she knew all the answers to the questions, but at this point in the dark of night, none of her reasons seemed as important as him.

She was so lost in thought that when she realized he was standing in front of her, she had to blink a couple times to make sure he was really there.

"Castle? Wh-what are you doing in here?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"I was getting a glass of water downstairs when I heard you scream," he said, walking closer to the bed. Her stomach dropped at the idea of her screams echoing throughout the loft. Dropping her head in her hands, she sighed before looking back up at him.

"I was that loud? God, Castle, I'm sorry. That's mortifying. I should leave, let you guys get some uninterrupted sleep."

"Negative ghost rider. I don't care about that - are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she whispered, playing with the loose thread on her blanket.

"Beckett—"

"Nothing to wor—"

"Kate?" She could feel him hovering next to her, his voice thick, yet hesitant.

"I had a nightmare about today. It's just a dream. Not real," she admitted, shaking her head and wringing her hands together.

"But it felt real to you."

She bit her bottom lip and nodded.

"Very, but if I woke anyone up…I really should go. Sun should be rising soon anyway."

"What happened?" he asked sitting down on the foot of the bed and turning toward her, meeting her confused expression. "In the nightmare, what happened?"

She shuddered at the image now running again through her thoughts; she slammed her eyes shut so he couldn't see the fear held inside.

"Explosion, like today. Everyone survived, but you," she croaked out. Her eyes remained closed while she worked on soothing the tears threatening to fall. She would not cry in front of him.

She wouldn't. Not when he was alive.

Silence fell over the room as words for once seemed to fail him as well. Words might have been absent, but after a moment she felt the warmth of his skin cover her hand and squeeze. Blinking away her hesitation, she looked up and stared at the concern etched over every inch of his features.

"I'm here."

Her lips quirked up into a small smile and she nodded.

"I know."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," he teased with a concerned look that was half smile, half wince.

"There's no way of knowing what tomorrow will bring."

The pad of his thumb traced small circles on the top of her hand, heating even inch it danced across.

"You're right. There's not, but we just have to live with the questions and find our way."

Kate watched as he squeezed her hand one more time, before letting it go.

The moment was gone, farther over the line than they would usually allow, but why did there have to be a line in the first place? His touch against her skin; it had felt natural, more natural than it should have with their rules, their lines and her walls.

It had felt necessary and right.

"Thanks Castle," she murmured, turning her chin down breaking his stare.

"Try to get some more sleep if you can," he said, patting her knee through the covers as he stood up to leave.

Leaving…

"Stay." The word slipped from her tongue.

"What? Kate…"

"Stay," she said with more confidence as she pulled back the covers to invite him into the bed. Castle stood cemented to the floor with hesitation flooding his eyes, thought she didn't really blame him. Her invite was out of their comfort zone, but maybe it was time to take some risks. She rolled her eyes when his jaw dropped open, but only a wordless breath escaped his lips. "Come on. It'll help me sleep. Having you here will help."

Castle looked at her before agreeing with a nod and a growing smile.

"Anything to help," he stated, crawling in next to her under the blankets. He laid his head down onto the other pillow and sighed.

Castle was next to her and everything would be okay. She couldn't allow herself to think about this as anything more than one friend comforting another, but in the back of her mind she knew it was another significant crack in her ever crumbling wall.

Kate eased herself closer to his side where his scent and warmth overwhelmed her senses. Closing her eyes, she knew she could face whatever would come for her in her dreams. In her last moments of alertness, she felt him wrap his arms around her.

He was her security.


The End

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