It was 12am. The gun in his hand had been stripped four times in the last half an hour, put back together and loaded up five times. It was currently sitting silently on his dining room table. Two other pistols in the room. Kate Beckett was fast asleep in his bedroom, one of the loft chairs pulled up to face the door. His eyes hadn't left it for the last half hour. Once she had fallen asleep, he'd snuck out, sitting, waiting. Maddox would show up, she'd seen his face, heard his voice. Castle knew the protocol for men like him, something in him tugged a little. He wondered about Sophia's words, he wondered about his father for a moment, whether or not she was telling the truth, whether or not this pit in his stomach was a hereditary ability.

The pistol was silent in his deadliness on the table. His eyes could see it in his peripheal vision, he'd never get to it before Maddox popped him with a few rounds. He knew that, but it would warn Kate, and she'd be alright. He could live with that much but deeper in his mind, a part he wanted to ignore, was the grueling rage of a man possessed. Kate had nearly died, again, and he had not been able to save her. He would not let it happen again. Not after she has given everything up for him. It was not optional, when the door clicked his hand was on the trigger in a heartbeat, a lock of red hair stumbling through door. "Richard what the hell are-" His lungs released the breath he hadn't even realized he was holding as he lowered the gun, placing a finger over his mouth. "Kate's here, someone nearly killed her today. He'll try again." His voice low, gruff, unrestrained. If Martha was scared by it, she wouldn't show it. She merely nodded, gathered herself and moved to the kitchen.

Refined grace and motions led the older woman back to her sons side in the darkened flat. "Then it is a vigil you will not sit alone." He would've argued, but he hadn't heard her speak. His brow was low, his eyes locked on the door. His lips pursed together and the cold steel still in his hands.

He waited until sunlight. Maddox wouldn't try again in broad daylight. His two previous such attempts on her life had failed, this would have to be quieter, that's how he'd have had Derek or Nikki do it. As the sun crested over the window sills, Martha disappeared to her room. Richard Castle was alone again, he stripped the gun once, placed it back together and then slipped it back underneath the coffee table into a metal holster that held the Glock in place under the table. The other two pistols were just as inconspicously placed around the room. He would protect her, he'd be her quite literal Castle. He'd break down her walls, and use his own to protect them together.