A/N: I have no idea where this came from! I just wrote it and continued writing it for a week and now... well. Here it is. This is a future fic which was probably brought on by the reveal of the season finale name (ALWAYS?) plus the slight cuteness from Headhunters and the angst in 47 Seconds and The Limey. So...here you go. A family fic.

Kate rolled her eyes and lightly tossed a small piece of bread down to the floor. The family's golden Labrador, Prince, barked and skidded over the wooden boards and scoffed down the food.

'Shhh,' Kate said, tapping the dog's head lightly. 'Don't wake everyone up.'

'Already awake!' a cheery voice sang and Kate couldn't help but smile as her six year old son, Connor James (sometimes known as CJ), skipped into the room, his goldy-brown curls shimmering in the sunlight.

'Ugh...guys please!' came a groggy voice. Rick came trudging down the stairs, one eye open and squinting at the sun...his hair was ruffled and he seemed to still be half asleep. Kate smirked in amusement. 'Told you going out for a drink with the boys wasn't going to be satisfying by this morning.'

'Yes, yes, always listen to you...shut up,' mumbled Rick, yawning and groping for the kitchen bench. 'Coffee...'

'Here,' grinned Kate, carefully pushing a steaming mug towards his fingers.

'Mommy, what does coffee taste like?' Connor asked curiously, tugging on the bottom of her t-shirt. Kate bent down and lifted him, hoisting him up onto her hips. He was extremely small and light for a six year old even though he looked his age and ate healthily.

'Tastes bitter for you,' provided Rick as he took another long gulp of coffee. Connor wrinkled his nose in confusion. 'What's bitter?'

'Bitter's the taste of spinach when your grandpa tries to cook it,' explained Kate and Connor groaned and buried his face in the crook of Kate's neck. 'I don't like coffee,' he announced, his words coming out muffled. Kate met Rick's eye and both of them had a look of adoration for the son upon their faces. The silence was interrupted by Kate's phone buzzing loudly on the kitchen bench.

'Someone's dead!' yelled Connor loudly and Rick couldn't smother a laugh.

'You've gotta stop saying that every time my phone rings!' scolded Kate but she was smiling as she pressed the phone to her ear. 'Beckett.' After a couple of seconds she glanced at Rick and gave him a short nod.

Yep – someone definitely was dead.

'Come on, buddy,' said Rick, scooting around the kitchen bench and taking Connor into his own arms. 'Let's get ready. You've gotta get out of here so me 'n mommy can work.'

'This isn't your work,' corrected Connor proudly. 'You write stories.'

Rick chuckled, kissing the top of Connor's head. 'That's right. But this helps with my work. So come on.' He left Kate to write down the address and finish getting breakfast ready for Connor while he guided the six year old up to his bedroom.

Rick and Kate had decided to still live in the Castle loft after they got married. Kate was generous enough to give Alexis her apartment, which the young girl was extremely excited about...especially as she was heading to NYU. Rick still kept Alexis's room the way it was so that if she ever stayed at the loft (which she did during Christmases and Thanksgivings), then she could have her old room. The loft had two spare bedrooms...although one of them was barely used and that one became Connor's room once he was born. The walls were now painted green and blue and the floor painted red. He had a huge bookshelf and a bed in the shape of a giant baseball with a children's Police set of a sheets. Connor took immense pride in the fact that his mother was a cop and that his father was a bestselling author.

'What do you want to wear today?' asked Rick, flopping down on Connor's bed and gathering up the discarded clothes from the day before off the floor, tossing them into the laundry basket in the corner of the room.

'My Harry Potter jersey!' Connor decided, pulling it out of his closet. Rick smiled to himself. He and Kate had started reading Connor the first few Harry Potter books and now the six year old loved them to bits.

'You need a few more clothes than that, buddy,' reminded Rick. 'Here.' He picked out a pair of jeans and an Avatar the Last Airbender t-shirt as well.

'Hurry up, Connor,' said Kate, looking in through the door. 'Rick, you coming for this one?'

'Is it interesting?' Rick asked. Kate rolled her eyes again. 'Very. Espo seems to think it's your cup of tea.'

'I'm there,' Rick promised with a laugh. Although he'd finished the Nikki Heat series about three years ago (after writing nearly the same amount of books he had written for Derrick Storm), Rick had been asked to stay as a consultant to the NYPD after all the successful cases their team had solved. As well as that, Rick decided to write a new set of novels and instead of basing them around one person, he wrote it about a group of rookie cops in the academy. It also gave him an excuse to keep showing up every day to work with the police.

'How did Espo sound?' he asked. Kate bit back another grin. 'Terrible,' she said truthfully. 'Jenny's gonna kill you. Ryan's supposed to be babysitting Lucy and Felix this evening.'

'Aw shi...' Rick began but fell silent when he quickly remembered their son was in the room. That, and the look his wife shot at him. Connor giggled and sent his father a sneaky smirk, his ocean blue eyes sparkling.

'Oh, don't you start with me,' chastised Rick, ruffling Connor's curls in a good-natured way. The little boy ducked under his father's arm and wrapped small arms around his waist. 'Do I have to go to Harold's today?' he complained.

Harold was the young college student who looked after Connor during the holidays and weekends if Rick and Kate were both busy and Jim wasn't free to babysit. Although Harold was extremely smart and a very capable caregiver...he was, to say the least, stuck up and an extreme nerd. He was as by the book as you could get in a babysitter and Connor...sort of... hated him.

'Well, you can't come to the precinct today, sweetie,' said Kate apologetically. 'The captain's got some people coming to do a survey of how the precinct's running during this week and we can't have hyper six year olds running around.'

'I'm not hyper!' Connor protested, pouting.

'I know, she's just being mean,' said Rick, waggling his eyebrows at Kate who threw his shirt at him and closed the door on the two boys who acted as if they were the same age.

'Dad, I wanna go see Leo again,' said Connor. 'Why can't I go to his house?'

'Because he's going to his grandma's and she can't take care of two of you,' invented Rick, although he had no idea where Ryan's oldest son was going for the day. Connor threw his pyjama top onto the ground as he pulled on the t-shirt his father had picked out. 'I don't like Harold,' he whined. 'He's so boring.'

'I'm sorry, buddy,' Rick said softly. 'But Harold's a good guy. And it's too difficult for us to get you to the good daycare place.'

'I know,' sighed Connor heavily. He kicked his pyjama trousers to the washing basket and shimmied into his jeans before looping his arms into the Harry Potter jersey. 'Ready!' he said brightly. Rick smiled, guiding him by the shoulders out of the room and back to the living room. 'Get some breakfast in you,' he ordered. Connor jumped up onto the kitchen bench, digging into the cereal his mother had left for him. Kate waltzed up to Rick, linking their fingers and pulling him into the study, lighting closing the door behind them. She gave him one of those sexy smiles he loved before locking her arms around his neck and kissing him softly.

'Good morning by the way,' she smiled.

'You taste like coffee,' Rick commented.

'Don't I always?'

'Mm...yes. And I like it.'

Kate blushed slightly, Rick taking the opportunity to duck down and kiss her again.

'Bleuuugh!' Connor shouted from the living room. 'Mom, the chocolate flakes are all gross!'

'Probably stale,' sighed Kate with a quiet curse.

'Go fix it,' teased Rick, earning a poke in the chest.

'We'll be leaving in ten minutes, Rick!' Kate called, now in the kitchen. 'Be ready!'

'I will be,' Rick promised.

Twenty minutes later, the Castle family left the loft to start the day.

~[]~

'Hey drunkards,' greeted Kate teasingly as she swept past Ryan and Esposito...who frankly, looked like hell.

'Mm,' Esposito mumbled.

'Wha...oh, hi Beckett,' said Ryan groggily. Rick joined the miserable cohort, standing by the edge of the stage inside the massive theatre that was now swarming with cops.

'What've we got, boys?' asked Kate. Ryan yawned, running his fingers through his unusually untamed, blonde hair. 'Female, approximate early twenties. Shot five times in the chest and neck.'

'Five times?' echoed Rick. 'Jeez, someone wanted her dead. ID her yet?'

'Not yet, uniforms are running it down,' Esposito spoke up tiredly. 'She was found during a dress rehearsal of Hamlet and two of the actors went offstage to carry the stunt woman who was playing the dead Ophelia, onstage. Instead – they found the body.'

'This is completely a literary case!' Rick said excitedly.

'Whoop de do,' groaned Ryan, flopping down on a chair and burying his face in his hands as he yawned again. 'Crap, does anyone want to look after Felix and Lu for me while I catch up on like, three hours sleep? I put on a straight face for Jenny this morning but if I come home like this, she'll track you down and hurt you, Castle.'

'I know, I've been warned,' Rick murmured in agreement, his eyes hovering towards Kate who just returned his glance with another infamous look.

'Detective Beckett,' said a uniform cop, approaching the team. 'We've got an ID. Vic is Josleen Reayson. She was recognised by one of the actors...she works in the ice cream shop across the road.'

'Remind me to never take Connor there,' said Rick grimly, glancing through the open exit doors at the shop across the street, that had a flashing sign saying i scream for ice cream.

'Crap, that's Leo's favourite place,' swore Ryan in irritation. Rick spun round on his heels, pointing two fingers at Ryan. 'Speaking of Leo,' the writer said, 'what's he doing this afternoon? Connor really wants to catch up with him again.'

'He's coming to the precinct...' began Ryan but was cut off my three synchronised oohs.

'What?' the Irish detective asked, his blue eyes wide with wonder.

'Bro,' said Esposito. 'We're having the precinct checkup this week. I don't think Gates is gonna be happy with you having your eight year old son running round and causing havoc.'

'Oh come on!' Ryan exclaimed. 'What did I do wrong for the universe to hate me so much today?'

'It's okay, man,' Rick said sympathetically, clapping him on the back. 'Just watch Annie with Lucy tonight and think about tomorrow.'

Esposito and Kate both burst out laughing as Ryan took a weak swipe at Rick, who dodged back with a grin.

As Perlmutter gave the detectives the basic rundown on the state of the body, the team headed back to the 12th to set up the initial evidence...where they ran into a tall, dark man in a shiny black suit. He gave the five of them a raised eyebrow and then slunk away, his eyes running over the bullpen.

'I'm guessing he's one of the guys checking out how smoothly this place is running,' said Esposito under his breath. 'Yikes.'

'You say that again,' muttered Rick as he sat down at his chair, turning so he was completely facing the murder board. Kate shook her head with a smile, amused. As she took her seat, she stretched her legs so that they brushed against her husband's. His eyes darted upwards as his eyes creased in returned merriment.

'Guys,' warned Esposito. 'No moments this week. Yeah, it's cute and Gates has learned to put up with it but these assessors won't be too impressed. You should know better.'

Immediately, two sets of legs were retracted to rest underneath their chairs. Kate give Esposito a death glare and Rick smothered the beam rising to his face with a perfectly neutral, passive expression.

'Uh – Detective Beckett? Mr. Castle?' a uniform cop said hesitantly. 'Um...your...son is here...'

'What?' Rick and Kate both said loudly, scrambling up to their feet. A small figure appeared from around the corner of the bullpen.

'Connor?' Rick said in confusion as the six year old shuffled uneasily towards them. His bright blue eyes flickered upwards and both Kate and Rick were startled to see tears welled.

'Hey, hey, hey, come here,' Kate said softly and Connor ran towards her, bursting into tears as his mother's arms wrapped around him.

'What's going on?' Gates demanded but her voice was gentle. She had warmed up to the team and did love their usually incredibly well behaved kids.

'No idea, sir,' said Rick truthfully. He returned his attention to Connor, running a hand through his wild curls. 'Hey buddy. What's going on? What're you doing here?'

'H...Harold...' whispered Connor into Kate's jumper. 'A...after yo...you dropped m...me off...' He sniffled, rubbing his eyes roughly with the back of his hands. Kate grabbed his wrists to stop him making his eyes more puffy that they already were.

'Connor James Castle,' she said quietly. 'Where is Harold?'

'He's dead,' Connor coughed out before bursting into tears again.

'Dead?' Rick, Kate, Esposito, Ryan and Gates all echoed in complete shock. Kate regained herself before everyone else, lifting Connor up onto her lap and gently wiped the tears away from his face. His head was hung, his eyes fixed on his trembling hands that were clasped together tightly. Kate carefully separated them before speaking. 'CJ, look at me.'

Connor glanced up reluctantly.

'I know it's scary, okay, sweetie? But you need to tell me everything that happened.'

'What's going on here?' asked the assessor in the sleek suit, his voice gruff.

'We may have found a body,' Gates informed. Connor shook his head in response to Kate's request, burying his face in her chest.

'He's terrified,' mouthed Rick, his face full of anxiety.

'I know.' Kate nodded. She slid Connor off her lap and onto his father's. Rick tightly fastened his arms around Connor as he stood up. Connor locked his legs around his father's waist and Rick was startled to feel the little boy's body shaking uncontrollably.

'Shhh,' the writer murmured. 'It's gonna be okay. Kate, where are you going...?'

'To Harold's apartment,' Kate said firmly, grabbing her coat. 'Espo, I'll text you the address. I need you to call up residents in the surrounding apartments, ask if they heard anything. Ryan, come with me. Rick... can you take him home?'

Rick nodded. 'Yeah. Call me with what you find, okay?'

'You know I will.'

And the five of them split up to go their respective ways.

~[]~

The day passed slowly and painfully. Kate called about half an hour after Connor arrived at the precinct. Yes, Harold really was dead. He'd been shot once in the head, straight to the forehead. Connor fell asleep in the car ride back to the loft and Rick was relieved. He'd been a mess at the precinct. Once Connor had been carried up to the loft and placed on the couch to sleep, Rick found himself drowning several cups of coffee in the next two hours. He managed to distract himself with getting another chapter of his latest novel finished but he couldn't shake the image of Connor's petrified demeanour out of his head. By lunchtime, Rick couldn't eat a thing, instead taking a seat beside Connor on the couch. The six year old was curled up under a blanket, Prince asleep beside him, Connor's face peaceful as he slept. Well. At least he wasn't getting nightmares. Suddenly, Rick was surprised by a knock on the door.

'It's open,' he called quietly...his voice weak from the events of the morning. The door creaked open.

'Hey Dad,' Alexis said softly with a smile.

'Alexis!' Rick said in surprise, hurriedly lowering his voice as Connor stirred. 'What're you doing here?'

'Kate called,' Alexis explained, her face softening at Connor's stature. 'She told me what happened. How's CJ?'

'Traumatised,' sighed Rick heavily. 'He hasn't spoken a word since he managed to tell us that Harold was dead.'

'Poor kid,' Alexis whispered, brushing her hand across Connor's creamy cheek. 'I think he'll end up being okay. No offense but he's grown up around death and dead bodies. At first, when I started at the morgue, it gave me nightmares but after about a week...I realised that it was just another part of life and death...even if sometimes the cause of death is against nature. Connor's a strong kid.'

'I hope so, pumpkin,' Rick said, leaning back into the couch, consequently waking Connor.

'Mm...Daddy?' he mumbled, opening one eye.

'Hey trouble,' greeted Alexis with a grin. Connor's face lit up when he saw her and he sat up, launching himself at his older sister.

'Whoa, don't knock me flat,' Alexis laughed. She flattened down into seriousness. 'CJ, Kate told me what happened. Are you okay?'

'Mm,' Connor said cryptically. 'Lex, how long are you staying?'

'Don't you change subject,' Alexis said firmly. Connor chewed his bottom lip, so hard that Rick was afraid he was going to make it bleed.

There was a long silence in which the loft went so deadly quiet, Rick could've sworn he heard his computer's monitor beeping from the study.

'I'm scared,' Connor whimpered. 'What if...what if I saw something like in one of Daddy's books? What if the bad guy wants to come after me...'

'Connor James, noone is going to even get close to you,' Rick promised before Alexis could answer. 'Your mother is a cop. There is a gun lying thirty seconds walk from where you sleep. This is a secure building and you know over ten people who all have connections with police. Connor, you will always be safe, okay?'

Connor sniffled, nodding.

'But CJ,' Alexis added, 'we can't know what to keep you safe from if you don't tell us what you saw in Harold's apartment.'

'Well...' Connor began, sitting back on the couch. 'I know where the key is. It's just above the little bump in the wall beside Harold's door. And I got the key and went inside and he wasn't in the living room so I went to his room. He was in his pjs and there was blood on the floor and his eyes were open and looking at the ceiling. I ran away and went to the 12th.'

Rick let out a shaky breath, glancing at his daughter.

'I'll call Kate,' said Alexis, kissing Connor on the top of the head before grabbing the phone off the table placed by the window.

'Daddy?' Connor asked. 'Do you promise that the bad guy isn't gonna find me?'

Rick's heart broke at the look of pure fear on his son's face and he pulled Connor towards him. 'I promise, kiddo.'

~[]~

Alexis stayed for a few more hours until about five, when she left to go to a birthday celebration but promised to be back the next day to check on everyone. Connor seemed to have a huge weight lifted off his shoulders and spent the afternoon watching Tom and Jerry, reading comics and eating plenty of ice cream. Alexis had given Kate Connor's exact statement and the team at the precinct had managed to check off three of the eight suspects on their list. The other five were in holding until every one came back for the morning. However...they still had the case of the body found in Hamlet so it was nearly nine by the time Kate returned home.

'Hey,' she said, exhaustion coated in her voice as she relieved herself of her trench coat, dumping it on an armchair. 'Where's Connor?'

'In our room,' said Rick, pulling her into a much needed hug. 'He said he wasn't scared but still jumped at the chance to sleep with us tonight when I gave him the option.'

'Good, having him there will calm me down probably more than him,' admitted Kate, tightening her arms around Rick's neck. 'Oh God...this day has been insane. I just need something to eat, a warm shower and bed.'

'There's pasta on the stove,' Rick offered, brushing away loose hair from Kate's straggly ponytail. She smiled a bit, reaching up and letting her hair free. 'Thanks,' she said. 'How's Alexis, by the way? She came round?'

'Yeah, after you called her,' confirmed Rick. 'She's good. Doing well at school. She was mostly worried about Connor though. Mother's doing well with Jack, apparently.'

Kate let out her first laugh since the morning. 'Oh, well that's good.' The small bout of happiness died away almost as quickly as it had come and Kate turned helplessly to the one man who had always been there. 'Rick. Connor found a victim.'

'I know,' Rick said quietly.

'Our six year old son walked in on a freaking dead body! On a man shot in the head! How am I supposed to deal with that?' Her voice cracked. 'My job isn't supposed to come anywhere near him.'

'Kate, this didn't happen because of your job,' Rick assured, grabbing her hands and guiding them both down to the couch. 'How were any of us supposed to know that when we dropped him off at Harold's apartment, the guy was going to be dead? He was a straight A's kid. There was nothing to indicate that he was going to be shot in the head.'

'Things like this can mess up a kid for life,' Kate choked out. Rick shook his head, taking her face in his hands. 'He's gonna be fine, Kate. He's sat through enough horror movies...and listened to me go on about crime stories...and he's got you and Javi and Kevin as cops...he's grown up knowing what the right thing to do is and trust me – he will grow up to be a good man.'

Kate swallowed back the turmoil that had been building up inside her all day, letting it dissipate. 'I know. I know that, right?'

'Of course you do. Today has just been...crazy. A breakdown is allowed at this point.' Rick paused, savouring the smile his words brought to her face before speaking again. 'Do you think you got the guy?'

Kate nodded almost immediately. 'For Harold's murder, yes. It was pretty straight forward. He was helping some other students cheat for money. He wanted to stop because he was starting to feel uneasy about it, threatened to come clean and one of the students he was helping shot him. It's just a matter of figuring out which one. We rounded them all up and three of them have airtight alibis for the time of death window. The other five, we'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see which one breaks.'

'And the Hamlet murder?' asked Rick.

'We didn't get much done on that,' confessed Kate. 'But we're back to work on that one the minute we send one of Harold's cheaters to jail.'

'Hey Mom!' Connor said happily...yet sleepily from the doorway. 'I heard voices!' He slid across the bare floorboards in the fluffy socks that Jim had given him last Christmas, slipping over the surface and flopping into his parents. 'Hello,' he grinned, back to the cheerful self he'd been in the morning.

'Hello trouble,' Kate said in relief, hugging him. 'You sleeping with us, tonight, huh?'

'Well, Daddy said you'd wanna make sure I was okay,' said Connor, puffing out his chest. Kate exchanged smirks with Rick.

'That's right,' she said. 'I missed you today.'

'Did you catch the bad guy who killed Harold?' Connor said out of the blue. Kate's eyes snapped shut and she inwardly groaned before regaining a calmer posture. 'Almost,' she promised. 'We're gonna get him tomorrow.'

'See?' Connor said with a huge smile. 'You always catch the bad guys, Mom! You and Dad!'

'That's right,' Rick said. 'So you don't need to feel scared.'

'I'm not scared!' Connor insisted, narrowing his eyes.

'I'm gonna eat,' announced Kate, letting Connor go and heading back to the kitchen.

'Daddy – I wanna watch a movie!' Connor said, jumping up and down. 'Let's watch Spiderman!'

'CJ, it's late,' said Rick sternly. 'Mom's gonna eat and then we're all turning in for the night. It's been a long day.'

'Awww!' Connor moaned, sticking out his bottom lip in pout. 'But I'm not tired.'

'Go get changed into your pjs, kiddo,' instructed Kate. 'And then maybe we can watch one episode of Tom and Jerry.'

Connor cheered triumphantly, sliding back over the floorboards back towards the staircase, sprinting up to his bedroom, humming the Tom and Jerry theme song.

'He'll be tired when he starts watching,' Kate and Rick both decided, speaking in unison and giving each other a smirk afterwards. True to their word however, half an hour later, Connor was asleep in between both of his parents only a quarter of the way through the episode. Kate had her feet up, resting them on the coffee table in between themselves and the TV. Rick's legs were folded and Connor was lying across them both, his head on his mother's lap and his feet in his father's.

'Psychic,' Rick complimented himself, nodding towards Connor. 'Knew he'd fall asleep.'

'You're not psychic, Rick, you just know your son very well,' Kate corrected with a classic roll of the eyes. 'Should we take him to bed?'

'But I want to finish watching the episode!' Rick complained. 'I haven't seen this one!'

'I married a twelve year old,' murmured Kate.

'Whom you love,' added Rick. Kate smiled widely and carefully leaned over Connor to kiss Rick. 'Whom I love,' she agreed against his lips. She let out a soft sigh. 'Thank you. For looking after Connor today...and being there when I got home. I needed it.'

Rick opened his mouth to reply but Kate cut him off with another kiss before interrupting him. 'Don't say always.'

'Why not?'

'Because I already know it.'

'Apples, then.'

'Where did that come from?'

Rick shrugged, his ocean-y blue eyes sparkling as he grinned. 'Connor's favourite.'

Kate snorted with laughter, pressing her hand to her mouth so she wouldn't wake the sleeping boy between them. 'Okay. You can say it.'

'Thank you...' Rick paused. 'I mean it though, Kate. I love you and I will forever.'

'I love you too. Always.'

A/N: Was the end too cheesy? I think it was. :/ And does Tom and Jerry even have a theme song? It's been like, four years since I last watched it! Oh well.

I really like Connor, I think he's adorable...

ANYWAY. That doesn't really matter(:

So you know what to do – read and review! This was a random...very random story. I hope you like(: