Only one look at her fiance was enough for Kate Beckett to understand: he had something on his mind.

A cunning smirk was shining on his face and his eyes were twinkling.

"So I was thinking," said Rick, giving Kate her favorite beverage and taking a sit. "When we work a case together, this desk is, sort of... kind of our space."

Kate took a sip from her cup of coffee and looked at Castle. At this moment Rick got his hands on a sculpture of elephants and continued.

"These elephants on parade have crept me out since day one," Rick twirled them in his hands and pointedly looked at Beckett. "So what do you say? Let's just get rid of these..."

Castle stretched his hand with the sculpture over the trashcan, still quizzically looking at Kate.

"Oh, sorry. Do you have a problem with that. If I try to get rid of something that obviously has deep meaning to you..." elephants were still hanging above the trashcan.

Kate just leaned to her fiance and whispered with a loving smile.

"If you don't like the elephants, I don't like the elephants..."

Castle was speechless. Kate played him during his own game. Ah, he hopped so much that this will work and Linus will stay on his lawful place.

At this moment Karpovsky ant two younger officers were leading a suspect to the interviewing room. This perp was a huge brawny man and, unluckily for our couple, he decided to resist the arrest right at that moment.

The suspect dashed to his right and crashed right into unsuspecting Castle.

Rick couldn't predict this turn of events and jumped from his chair. Fingers of his right hand slipped from the lacquered sculpture and it flew into the air. Realizing what happened, Castle tried to grab it. But his efforts were in vain. Nothing could save the family of elephants from the tragic meeting with the precinct's floor.

BAM

Everything went silent. Only sounds of a brawl between officers and the perp could be heard. Shocked Castle couldn't look away from shards on the floor.

The voice of Karpovsky took him out of this state.

"Sorry, Castle," she slapped him on the shoulder. Obviously officers overpowered the perp already took him away. "Overly rampant suspect we got here. You ok?"

"Ah... I..? Yeah... Yes, fine," Rick glanced at her and gave her a fake smile.

"Ok, then I'd better get going," with these words Karpowsky was gone.

Only now Castle chanced a look at Kate. Disbelief was written all over her face; like she still didn't process what happened. Though tears already started to well in her eyes. This elephants belonged to her mother and were a kind of family relic, so...

"Kate... I... I..." Rick knelt and stated collecting pieces of the figure. "I will repair it. I will give it to the best reconstructor. You won't see a difference..."

Then he froze. There was an audio tape among the pieces of the largest elephant...

Kate broke from the trance she was in, collected herself and crouched next to Rick.

"Everything's fine, Castle. Though now I'll just need to accidentally burn Linus." she tried to laugh it off, but on the inside she wanted to sob. Kate put a hand on Castle's shoulder and only now noticed confusion on his face. "What is it, Castle?"

"A tape," Kate leaned closer to her fiance and saw a small audio tape in his large right hand.

Suddenly, a memory from her past resurfaced in Kate's mind.

After catching Kate in the precinct's archive, Captain Montgomery ordered her to be in his office the first thing in the morning. 'That's the end,' thought Beckett. 'Captain'll fire me and I'll never get to be a detective and find my mother's murderer.'

But everything went different. Montgommery only asked her about her mother's case, asked if Kate found anything among her belongings. Found a tape.

"Was there any tape among your mother's belongings..? Are you sure..? You looked through everything, didn't you..?"

Then she didn't pay much attention to this discussion, but now every piece of puzzle started to form a whole picture. Elephants belonged to her mother. Montgomery's questions. Audiotape in Castle's hands. Maybe this is the last puzzle piece that will help them solve her mother's case once and for all.

"Castle, give it to me," ordered Kate and stretched her hand for the tape. He immediately gave it to her.

Kate twirled it. It was an old little tape. It was unlikely that precinct still has a player for this type of tapes. But even if there is, it could only be in one place. In a storage.

Still with a tape in her hand, Beckett jumped up and rushed out of the bullpen.

"Kate! Wait. Where are you going?" Castle stood up and wanted to march after her, but remembered about the broken figure.

"Ryan, can you collect the pieces, please?" without giving him a chance to reply, Castle clapped him on the back and went after Kate. "Thank you, bro." Rick shouted and disappeared around the corner. Ryan was left sitting at his desk with an open mouth.

Castle fond Beckett in a storage area of the precinct, while she was furiously looking for something.

"Kate, what are you looking for? What's on this tape?" asked Rick. Then he walked up to her and lovingly put a hand on the small of her back.

"A tape player," she answered without diverting her attention from the task at hand. "I don't know what's on this tape, but it must be something important, if mom took all this effort to hide it. I just feel it. It's a main key to my mom's case.

"Well. Then what does this tapeplayer look like?" asked Castle and started helping her.

After they found the tape player, the rest of the day went right before their eyes at the speed of light. Information on the audiotape. Bracken's confession. A talk with Gates and a decision to pass the case to FBI. A call to Jordan Show and her promise to meet with them as soon as possible. All these left our couple exhausted physically as well as mentally.

Castle and Beckett entered the loft with only one wish: get under the covers of their bed as soon as possible. But Castle stopped in the living room and turned Beckett by the hand to look at him.

All day long Castle wanted to tell Kate something, but with everything going on around them, he didn't have a chance. But now...

Now they were alone in their loft and nothing could stop him.

"Kate," Rick gently squeezed her hand in his own and looked her right in the eyes. "I'm so sorry I broke your elephants. I really just wanted to fool around..."

Kate interrupted his carefully planned monologue with a loving kiss. When they pulled away, there was a bright smile on Kate's face.

"Rick," Kate put her free hand on his smooth-shaven cheek. "You have nothing to be sorry for. If you were not as clumsy as you are, the main evidence in my mother's case would still be sitting right in front of our noses, god knows for how long," Kate smirked. "So I should thank you, and thank you I will..." She seductively smiled at him and winked.

"But elephants..?"Rick tried to protest.

"We can always repair them," Kate interrupted and leaned in to kiss him again. "I love you, Rick."

"And I love you, Kate."

"Always."

"Always."

They still had a lot to overcome in the future, but for now they can just relax and enjoy each other's company. And enjoy they did...

An: It's my first story for Castle Fandom. I'm pretty nervous. Hope you liked it.

If you find any mistakes, please, let me know, and constructive criticism is really appreciated.