REMEMBER: post-ep fic for 5x15 ("Target") and 5x16 ("Hunt"), so HUGE SPOILERS for those eps in specific and season 5 in general.

A/N: It's been way too long since I wrote a fic (or anything at all, really). So I kind of pushed myself to write this one. I hope it turned out ok, even if it is fairly short. It's a two-parter (fitting for a two-parter-post-ep-fic, I thought).

Disclaimer: it's been a while, but I still don't own any of them…

Chapter 1: Castle's POV

A dad.

He had a dad. Well, he always knew he had a dad, but up until now, he had imagined him to be whatever he wanted him to be at that particular moment in time: an astronaut, a magician, a cook, a doctor, a fireman, a spy.

A spy.

No more imagining. It was confirmed. His dad was a spy, a really good one from the looks of it. He had managed to keep track of them without them ever knowing. All those pictures of Alexis; he figured his dad had had someone make copies, but he didn't recognize half of those pictures. Turns out, his dad had been there to take all those pictures himself. He'd been so close and yet, so far, never making his presence known.

To protect them, he had said. Well, look how that had turned out. An angry flash washed over his features, as he remembered how he had finally met him. But not for long; he was too eager to know more about this man, who had apparently been following him his whole life.

And there was the problem. He didn't know if he would ever get another chance at getting to know him. Now that he knew who his father was, he wanted to catch up, get to know him, have him meet Alexis and who knows… Martha. But he knew his dad would not be able to do that and still do his job properly. It would probably get him or one of them killed, like it almost did this time.

Luckily he could talk about it with Alexis and - as of a couple of hours ago - also his mom and Kate. Martha had turned silent and retreated after a short while, probably to contemplate things. Kate had lovingly held his hand as he recounted the few precious hours he had been able to spend with his dad, never interrupting, knowing he needed to tell the story. Then, when Alexis had gone to bed, Kate had taken his hand and led him to his bed.

And that's where he was now. Lying on his back, Kate's arm draped possessively over him, giving him that still new feeling of being safe. That nothing or no one could hurt him, as long as she was there. The way she had enthusiastically greeted him when he came back and made him promise to never do something like that again without her... she was saying she missed him and even though he had been a bit preoccupied, she had never completely left his thoughts either. It was just something he had to do and she would not have been able to help, because she needed to follow the rules. He needed her to follow the rules. So at least one of them would be there to take care of Alexis if something went wrong. And it could have gone wrong in so many ways. His count for facing the wrong end of a gun had increased exponentially these last days.

A shudder ran over him as he recounted staring at that gun in the woods, flinching when he heard those bullets fly, but never feeling a bullet hit. Kate must have felt his shudder for she tightened her hold on him, without even waking up. He glanced over to his side, where her head was resting on his shoulder. He bent his neck and softly touched his lips to her hair. That seemed to reassure her and her grip relaxed again.

The second threat hadn't felt as scary, as he had known what was coming, but still, the guy could have shot him before his dad had had a chance to blow him up. He hadn't quite realized it at the time, but on both near-death occasions, he now remembered thinking he could not die, was not supposed to die, as it would be the end of Kate. She would not be able to take another loss like that. And believing he was going to see her again was what gave him hope. Hope, that he would find Alexis. Hope, that he'd be able to rescue her.

He'd never once imagined he would find his father as well, but he was glad he did. So far, he was not disappointed, other than he would have loved to see him sooner or more often. He was sure he would meet him again. He knew to look for him now.

His eyes darted to the book on his nightstand: Casino Royal. And even though he already owned a very special copy, this one would be even more special. The first one had given him a goal in life. This one had given him back his father.

And on that thought he finally drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Feel free to let me know what your thoughts were. :) I will post chapter 2 tomorrow.