Goodnight Demon Slayer, Goodnight
Richard Castle never got over the image of walking into his bedroom and instead of seeing an empty, unmade bed, he saw the most beautiful woman one could imagine. Most nights, Kate Beckett (or Castle if she wasn't at the precinct) would still be awake, going over case files when her husband would come to bed. But there was always that one rare night where he would come in and she would be well within the realm of sleep.
Tonight was one of those nights. They had been working a tough case involving a murdered teacher and her missing best friend, a high profile journalist with blood ties to the Sicilian Mafia. They had tracked the missing girl down to an old abandoned building sometime yesterday morning and had made the move last night. Her captor gave up when he saw the force that the NYPD had put out to find this girl and allowed himself to be taken in without a hassle.
But that wasn't what made the case tough. No, it was the information that Esposito had dredged up about the girl that had made it bad. Castle had been the only one near his wife when she closed the manila folder contain the info the Esposito had handed her a few hours prior and laid her head on Castle's shoulder.
"How can someone live through all of this and still keep going every day?" Castle said nothing, he knew better at this point. "I mean, I know I went through a lot of shit after my mom died, but watching a beloved parent slowly die from an incurable disease and know that there is NO-ONE to blame, I could never imagine it." Castle placed a soft kiss on the top of his wife's head, silently giving her the strength that he knew she needed. "And the pain for her doesn't stop there. I don't think I can finish reading this." Beckett dropped the manila folder on her desk and pushed it away. "I can't sit here and continue reading the tragedy that this girl's life was."
Castle remembered how Kate was fighting back tears when she undid the ropes that were tying Marissa Bervote's hands together behind her. He also remembers the words that Marissa told Kate once Kate had confronted her about the stuff in the manila envelope.
"Detective, it's simple really. My father loved me and taught me that strength lies in those that rise about the opposition. I put up with what I did because I refused to break and show my mother that I was weak like her. So please, don't cry for me. I've already shed enough tears."
Slipping into bed with his sleeping wife, Castle leaned over and in a soft voice, sung a few words to her, "Goodnight demon slayer, goodnight. Now it's time to close your tired eyes. There's devils to slay and dragons to ride. If they see you coming, hell they better hide. Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight." Pressing a soft kiss to her cheek, he laid his head onto his pillow and joined her in the magical world of sleep, where the only demons they had to slay were the ones that involved the alarm clock.
(A/N: Damn you Voltaire! Damn you and damn this song! Ok, so, I guess it's only fair that the song "Goodnight Demon Slayer" would inspire me in this fandom. Anyhoo, I wrote this at 1:30 in the freaking morning, so if it doesn't make any sense…I guess I apologize. Read, review, and please don't get eaten by lawn gnomes…cleaning that up can be horribly messy
Also, I don't own Castle or the song, no, those belong to their respective owners...I'll just return them at a later date!)