A/N - I think Martha's character is wonderful. A beautiful puzzle piece in Castle's life. A part of what make's him who he is and how he reacts to situations and people. He values his mom, her experience and her advice, begrudgingly. ;-) I'm a mom (a mom who is a geek and a mom of geeks) and I have wondered how she reacts and feels about her son's escapades. I hope I do her justice. Please let me know.

Martha's Heart

Chapter One

One Night

He was captivated from the start. He watched her move gracefully as she entered and exited. The story, lost to him waiting for her to be seen again. She was not the center of attention, but she should have been.

Come on, snap out of it. It hadn't been that long since he had been with a woman. He thought: Bucharest.

The lights went out and after a few beats came back up. There she was; stage left. She was a part of the ensemble, but God she should have been up front, center stage. His pulse quickened. For the tenth time, he checked the playbill; she still wasn't listed with a picture. He read: Ensemble; Harold Anderson, Juliet Babcock, Jennifer French, Marvin Graham, Niles Mason, Oscar O'Leary, Tricia Patterson, Hugo Phillips, Martha Rodgers, Gina Stevens, William A. Tinker, and Betsy Walker. Okay, it was one of the girls: Juliet, Jennifer, Tricia, Martha, Gina or Betsy, twenty percent. He always calculated the odds. It is how he remained alive for so many years.

He tilted his watch toward the stage. How much longer would the play go on? It was a production called Plaza Suite, a play at the Plymouth Theatre in New York. It felt good to be back at home, and he didn't want to spend his first leave in three years in his hotel room, so he ventured out.

It was a hot late August evening and a cool air conditioned theater seemed like a great idea. The play made him laugh. God, he hadn't done that in a while. He saw her near the beginning of the first act. His heart dropped and then came all the way back up into his throat. He remained in a constant state of anticipation for the rest of the play. They were nearing the end of Act 3 and the play. She had not been back on. Oh! What if she wasn't coming back on stage? He did not know why, but he had to meet her. The entire company took their curtain calls. There she was.

The house lights came back up and he darted for the door. He had to get to the stage door. He exited the theatre onto Plymouth street and turned to the right and then into the ally. There was a small group of fans waiting outside the stage door so he just melded into the throng. One after another, actors came out and then there she was. She was with another actress.

He rushed forward. "Excuse me, miss?"

They both turned around and appraised him. The red head turned up her nose at him but the blonde smiled. He smiled back. "Come on, Martha." The red head impatiently tugged on Martha's arm.

"I'll meet you there, Trish." Martha couldn't take her eyes off him. The connection was instantaneous. Trish started to walk away. "On second thought," Martha called, "I'll be joining mister…" She looked at him for the information.

"Johnson, Alex Johnson."

"Mister Johnson. I'll see you tomorrow." Trish shrugged her acceptance. This wasn't the first time she had been dumped for a guy and it wouldn't be her last.

Martha turned back to Alex. "Shall we?" gesturing ahead.

They ended up in a quiet little bistro on Eighth Avenue. They talked well past midnight. They talked mostly about her; her history, her likes and dislikes, the type of food she preferred, her hopes, and dreams. Martha had never been shy about sharing herself and was more than willing to impart everything about her to him. At one in the morning the wait staff politely, but firmly asked them to leave. They walked the streets ambling and talking some more, not hearing the night sounds of New York, the sirens, or music. They went to his hotel for a drink in the lounge. It was nearly two o'clock.

Alex looked over his glass of scotch at her and made a decision. "Martha. My work takes me all over the world and I am not in one place for very long, ever. But, I'm on…vacation right now and I would love to spend every moment with you." He was confident. He had an air about him that exclaimed that he usually got what he wanted, one way, or another. Martha was mesmerized. She had met her fair share of men since she had been in New York, but Alex took her breath away. She suspected that he had given her a false name. He was not wearing a ring nor did he have a tan line where one would have been. She would see where the night took them.

"How would you like to begin your vacation?" She slowly looked up from her glass of wine and met his eyes. The fire burning there was unmistakable.

He rose from his seat and came behind hers to pull it out for her. He left a tip on the table and clasped her hand. He guided her toward the elevator. His room was on the seventh floor. They rode silently with two other couples who both got off on the fourth floor. The doors closed and they came together. Want and need etched in their features. Exploring and touching quickly in the elevator. The doors opened to the seventh floor and they released each other from their embrace. He guided her to his room, unlocked the door with one hand, and led her in with the other on the small of her back. They continued their exploration of each other as soon as his door closed. Thoroughly and repeatedly, they discovered each other. Their lovemaking was sometimes hard and fast and sometimes slow and tender. It was as if they knew everything about each other and nothing at all at the same time. Reason and logic had no harbor in their room that night. Their two souls came together, drawn inexorably towards each other in a fevered dance of passion. They fell to sleep sated and entwined in each other's arms.

Martha awoke as the sun was stretching tendrils through the draperies hanging in Alex's suite. She stretched and rolled over in the bed. It was empty. She blinked her eyes and looked for a clock. Her watch had been discarded on the chest of drawers last night. She stood and walked over to the dresser. There was a silver tray with a single red stemmed rose, a cup of cold coffee and the hotel stationery envelope. She picked up her watch; it was six thirty in the morning. She opened the envelope unfolded his note and read:

My dearest love,

Most people try for a very long time to meet that one special person that completes them. Their other half. The person they are fated to be with. Most people don't come close. They settle for what feels right at the time. Martha, dear, I have found my missing part in you. I have searched my entire adult life for love like the love we shared last night. I know I will never find it again. You are a wonderful, warm, open, and caring woman and any man would be a fool not stay with you and love you. Know that, if I was free and my life was my own, I would not be that fool. Nevertheless, I am. I am not in control of my time or location. I want you to know that I am not married. There is no other and I dare say that there will never be any other woman who captures my heart as completely as you have. Martha Rodgers, I love you and will always love you.

~Alex

Martha swallowed, took a deep breath, and folded the note back into its envelope. She brushed the tear from her cheek and began to get dressed.