A/N: I apologize for it being a while since I last published something. I have a list of several story ideas, but I was just having a hard time putting it down onto paper, then I got sick. But, I'm back. This is my 9th Castle FanFiction story and my second multi-chapter. I have not finished writing my first multi-chapter story. I didn't like the way it was going.

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle. Castle will always belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC.

"Thank You Kate"

Martha and Beckett wait patiently and anxiously in the living room of the loft for the return of Castle and Alexis. Castle and Alexis were returning home from Paris after Alexis' kidnapping. Martha and Beckett were having a conversation when they heard a noise coming from the front door. As the door starts to open both Martha and Beckett practically jump out of their seats in anticipation to see whoever was at the door. When they saw Alexis emerge through the door they were both relieved and excited to see Alexis home and safe. As Alexis walks over to greet her grandmother, Beckett nearly knocks Castle over when she runs over to him to give him the biggest hug she has ever given him. With the impact, Castle had dropped his bag down onto the floor.

While hugging Castle, Beckett goes up onto her toes to whisper into Castle's ear. "Don't ever do anything like that again without me, ok?"

Castle tightens his embrace with Beckett to give her reassurance and whispers back in her ear. "I won't."

Beckett releases the hug she had on Castle to move her hands onto his cheeks and gives him a smile. Beckett turns away from Castle so she can greet Alexis and give her a nice warm hug. "Welcome home."

"Thanks Kate," Alexis replies as she gives Beckett a smile. Alexis looks between Martha, Beckett, and her dad and lets out a sigh of relief. She's home, she's alive, and she's safe. She had been on quite a journey and decides on heading to her room to lie down for a little while. "I'm going to go lie down and rest for a little bit before dinner, if that's ok."

Castle looks at his daughter with nothing but love in his eyes. "Of course, pumpkin. Take your time. Do whatever you need to do." He kisses her temple and watches her walk up the stairs toward her bedroom. Once Alexis disappears down the hall, Castle picks up his bag and heads toward his bedroom without saying a word.

Martha and Beckett look at each other with concern. They both turn to look back in the direction of Castle's bedroom. Beckett is the first one to speak. "What do we do Martha?"

Martha takes a breath and slowly exhales. "Just give him a little more time darling. Let him decompress from everything that's happened."

"I can't imagine how he must be feeling right now. I can't even imagine what he went through either. I feel like one of us should be there with him."

"I understand darling. Just imagine what Alexis went through and how she must be feeling."

"I know Alexis said she wanted to rest, but she probably needs someone right now."

"You're probably right darling." Martha lets out a breath. "You go check on Richard and I'll go up and check on Alexis."

Beckett nods in agreement and walks toward Castle's bedroom. When Beckett walks into the bedroom she sees Castle sitting on the edge of his bed with his head down. She looks over to the bag sitting next to him and sees that it's open, but nothing has been taken out of it. She slowly walks over to him trying not to startle him. "Castle?" she asks quietly.

Castle doesn't move. Once Beckett has reached him he slowly looks up to make eye contact with her. When he finally makes eye contact with her, she can see that tears have formed in his gorgeous blue eyes. When he tries to speak all he can get out is a whisper, "Kate." He looks away from her and puts his head down again.

Beckett could see that Castle was hurting a little. She wasn't sure if it was because he was scared or if he was relieved, or a little bit of both. She kneels down beside him and puts her hands on his knees. She speaks to him in a whisper doing her best to try and sooth him. "Hey, Castle. It's ok. She's ok." All Castle could do was nod as tears ran down his cheeks. Beckett rubs one of her hands over his knee to comfort him and to let him know that she's there.

Castle shakes his head in disbelief. "I almost lost her Kate. I was so close to losing my little girl."

Beckett stands up to step between Castle's legs so she can sit on one of his knees so she's closer to him. She grabs his face in her hands and uses her thumbs to wipe away the tears from his cheeks. "Sh, Castle. It's ok. You didn't lose her. She's home and she's safe. If it feels like a dream, go see for yourself that she's ok. Maybe you need to be close to her. She's right upstairs."

Castle shakes his head that's still in Beckett's hands. "I can't. Not yet."

Beckett moves one of her arms around the back of his neck while her other hand is placed over his chest. She looks at him with love and concern in her eyes. "Do you need to talk about it? Do you WANT to talk about it? If you're not ready, I understand. But, I'm right here whenever you're ready."

Castle takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. "It exploded."

"What exploded?" Kate is rubbing her hand on Castle's back.

"The building that Alexis was being held captive in." Castle needed a moment to get it together before he continued. "It was like she was being held captive like an animal. She was held in a cage." Castle takes another deep breath. "I managed to get her out of the cage and out of the building before it exploded."

Beckett herself now had tears in her eyes. "You were in that building?"

Castle nods. "How else was I supposed to save my daughter, my only child?"

"Castle, what if you couldn't have gotten her out? What if it would have taken you too long for the both of you to escape?" Beckett has to take a breath to get her emotions under control. "Martha would have lost the only family she has left. She would have lost her granddaughter AND her son. Her own flesh and blood. How can someone live after that? And what about me Castle? I can't bear to lose another person I love."

"I don't know. I was in the moment. I was focused on…" He pauses. The last thing Beckett said had reached his ears. His eyes go wide. Had he heard her correctly? "Wait. What?"

"I know what it's like to lose family. I went down a dark rabbit hole and barely made it out. If Martha had lost the two of you, I don't think she would have been able to survive."

Castle shakes his head. "No. Did you just say something about someone you love?"

Beckett's eyes go wide in realization on what she had said. Had she really said it out loud? She was so wrapped up in the moment. This was not the way she wanted to tell him that she loves him. There's no turning back now. Beckett takes a breath to compose herself. "I love you, Castle." That brings one of the biggest smiles to his face. She finally told him how she really feels.

"I love you too, Kate." Castle gives Beckett a passionate kiss on the lips. Beckett reciprocates the kiss wrapping both of her arms around Castle's neck to try and pull him closer to her.

They break away from the kiss. "It's all going to be ok, Castle. Should I help unpack?" she asks as she refers to the bag sitting next to him.

"No. That can wait until later." He goes in for another kiss and Beckett follows.

They're still kissing when they hear footsteps come into the bedroom. "Richard?" Beckett and Castle break away from each other, as if they were teenagers who were caught making out. "Oh, sorry to interrupt."

"What can I do for you mother?" he asks, hoping to get his mother out of the room quickly.

"Oh, nothing darling. Just wondering what you would like to have for dinner."

"Oh, I really haven't thought about it. I had a long flight and a tiring journey. I don't feel like cooking."

"Who says you had to cook darling? I can cook something, if you'd like."

Castle gets a panicked look in his eye. Beckett can feel Castle tense up and looks at him. "Castle, why don't we order in for dinner tonight? That way, none of us would have to cook. We can spend some time together."

Castle looks at Beckett and smiles. "Sounds great Beckett. Good idea. I'll order pizza. Just something simple. I can order from Alexis' favorite pizza place. She's been through a lot and I'd like to do this for her."

Martha replies, "alright, darling. You are a good father." Martha turns around to walk out the door.

Castle takes his phone out to place the pizza order. Once he has finished ordering he puts his phone away. He reaches next to him to grab his bag that has been sitting on the bed. He places the bag down on the floor next to the bed and wraps one hand around Beckett's waist and the other to wrap around her shoulders. Beckett has been sitting on Castle's knee the whole time. Castle leans back to lie on the bed and he pulls Beckett down with him. He just wants to hold Beckett close. Although, he thinks he should be keeping Alexis close. But, he wants to spend time with Beckett. They lay there in silence just enjoying being with each other. They had been laying there for a while. They had no idea how much time had passed. They were just enjoying being with each other, even in silence. Castle is just about to doze off when there is a knock at the door.

Martha is the one to answer the door. Martha calls out to him. "Richard! Pizza is here."

Both Castle and Beckett sit up to get off the bed. Castle finds his wallet so he can pay for the pizza. After finding his wallet he walks out of the bedroom toward the front door. Castle hands the money to the pizza delivery boy, "here you go. Thank you." Castle takes the pizza boxes from the delivery boy and closes the door. He turns to walk toward the dining room table, "Alexis! Dinner!" He sets the pizzas down on the table, while Martha grabs plates from the cabinet.

Beckett goes to the fridge in search of something to drink. She finds a few bottles of beer and grabs one for herself. She turns to look at Castle, "want a beer, Castle?"

"Sure. Thank you."

Martha, Castle, and Beckett sit down at the table ready to eat. Alexis hasn't come down yet. Where could she be? Is she asleep? "Where's Alexis?" Martha asks. All Castle could do was shrug his shoulders with a slight panic in his eyes. He didn't know where his daughter was. All he knew was that she had gone up to lie down and rest for a while after they came home. Martha stands up from the table, "I'll go check on her and tell her that pizza is here."

"Thank you, mother."

"Of course, darling." Martha heads up the stairs in search of Alexis.

While Martha went to check on Alexis, Castle and Beckett dig into the pizza as if they hadn't eaten in days. The two of them are eating in silence when Beckett looks over at Castle. She can see that there is worry in his eyes. She doesn't say anything. She just reaches over to grab hold of Castle's hand. Castle looks over at her and gives a weak smile. "Thank you."

"Always."

They hear Martha coming back down the stairs. "Alexis is asleep. I left her a note on her bedside table. When she's hungry she can come down and eat."

Castle looks at Martha, "thank you mother."

When the three of them have finished eating they start to clean up. Beckett can tell that Castle is exhausted. "Castle, go get yourself ready for bed. Martha and I can finish up here. Try to get some rest. You've had a rough few days."

Castle looks between Beckett and Martha to make sure that it was all right. Martha just gives Castle a nod. Castle walks up to Beckett to give her a kiss. "Ok, thank you. Both of you."

Martha replies first, "of course darling. Now get some rest."

"Always. Get ready for bed and I'll check on you when we're done here," Kate answers and gives Castle a kiss on the cheek.

Castle gives Beckett a nod in understanding and another kiss before he walks away. Martha and Beckett finish cleaning up everything from dinner when Martha decides she is going to head up to her room. "Well, I'm going to go up to my room. Have a good night Katherine."

"Good night, Martha." Once Martha has headed up the stairs, Beckett is left alone. She turns the lights off in the kitchen and heads to Castle's room. When Beckett walks into the room, Castle is just getting himself settled into bed. "Hey, everything is cleaned up in the kitchen and dining room. The lights have been turned off and your mom went upstairs to her room."

"Thanks, Kate."

"Always." She walks up to his side of the bed and gives him a kiss good night. "Try to get some rest. I'll come by tomorrow morning before I head to the precinct."

"What?" Castle is confused.

"I'm going home to leave you to get some rest."

Beckett starts to walk off toward the front door so she can head home to her own apartment to get some rest herself, but Castle stops her. "Kate?" He hesitates for a moment, almost afraid to ask what he's about to ask. "Will you... will you stay here tonight?"

"I don't have a change of clothes."

"You have some clothes here that you left. They're in my closet and they're clean." He can see that Beckett is thinking about what to do. "Please, Beckett? I don't think my mother will be able to handle both me and Alexis if we end up having nightmares."

Beckett can see that he is afraid that he will end up having nightmares about what had happened the last few days. She really didn't want to go home anyways, but wanted to give him a little bit of space. "Ok, let me go get changed." She heads into his closet to grab one of his t-shirts to sleep in and heads to the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. When she walks out of the bathroom, she sees Castle is a little restless. He can't seem to get comfortable enough to fall asleep. She walks over to the bed and climbs in on her side and scoots closer to Castle. Castle reaches for her hand so he has something comforting to hold on to. "Sh, babe, it's going to be ok. I'm right here."

Castle didn't think much of anything about the pet name Beckett had just called him for the first time. It just flowed right off of her tongue, like it was natural. Beckett can feel how tense Castle is just laying next to her. She opts to let go of his hand and do something she never thought she would ever do, with anybody. Castle whimpers a little when Beckett releases his hand, but he settles when she reaches her left arm behind his head to pull him closer to her. She has her left hand on his shoulder with her arm behind is head and takes her right hand and brings his head onto her chest.

Castle figures out what Beckett is trying to do and easily curls into Beckett as if he was a scared little boy. With his head on her chest, she runs her fingers through his hair until he has fallen asleep. Once he has fallen asleep, she kisses his head. "Good night, babe. I love you." It doesn't take her very long to fall asleep while holding Castle's head against her chest.

To be Continued