Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to Andrew Marlowe and the other powers that be at ABC.

Author's Note: Because it seemed a little out of character to me that Castle would have really let the entire summer go by without trying to find out how Beckett was doing, even if he was respecting her space.

How Is She?

"Katie?"

"Yes?"

His daughter looked up at him and managed a smile and Jim felt his heart squeeze inside his chest. Katie was finally, after nearly two weeks at the cabin, beginning to look and sound more like herself again. Physically, he knew she still had a long ways to go—and the knowledge hurt him—but finally, she had recovered most of the strength in her voice at least, no longer sounded so weak and unlike herself.

"We just ran out of orange juice so I'm going to run out to the store to get more groceries."

"Okay, Dad. I'll be here."

Jim managed to smile at the faint irony in her tone, even as he could almost cry—again—at the knowledge that she still wasn't able to stand up without pain and had a hard time moving around. "I'll have my cell so if you need anything, call me."

She rolled her eyes a little. "I'll be fine, Dad. I'm not a 5-year-old."

Jim didn't respond to this. "I'll be back soon."

"See you later."

Jim had just parked in front of the store when his cell phone rang and he grabbed for it with a jolt of his heart. Oh God, Katie! Very few people called him these days—everyone at his office knew he was out of town taking care of his daughter so there shouldn't be any work calls. He relaxed as he saw that it wasn't Katie. It wasn't anyone on his contact list, in fact; he didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?"

"Jim?" It was a male voice that sounded vaguely familiar but for the moment, Jim couldn't place it.

"Yes?"

"This is Rick Castle."

"Rick, hello," Jim greeted, smiling a little. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Rick answered rather hurriedly. "I hope I'm not bothering you. Ryan gave me your number. I hope you don't mind."

"No, no, of course not," Jim answered immediately and sincerely. "You should have my number. Javier and Kevin have known my number since right after they started working with Katie. And you are her partner, after all."

"Her partner, right," Rick agreed but there was an odd note of… uncertainty… in the agreement.

A moment of silence hummed over the line and Jim sensed that the other man was debating with himself, as if making this call in the first place had been an impulse and now the writer didn't know what to say. From what he could tell from Rick's voice and words so far, Rick sounded rather hesitant. Uncharacteristically unsure of himself, judging from what Katie had always said about Rick's usual cocky attitude. And while Jim had guessed, even from Katie's stories about Rick, that Rick probably hid a lot of vulnerability behind his usual carefree demeanor, he also had gotten the impression from almost the first time he'd met Rick that Rick was someone who was generally at home in his own skin, so to speak. Even when Jim, a total stranger, albeit one whose existence he was aware of thanks to his relationship with Katie, had shown up unannounced on his doorstep, Rick had barely batted an eye, had invited Jim inside and offered him coffee or water or something else to drink with as much ease as if Jim had been an expected guest.

"What can I do for you, Rick?" he prompted mildly. "Did you want to talk to Katie?"

But even as he asked it, he suddenly, belatedly wondered why Rick hadn't just called Katie directly.

"No!" Rick burst out. "No, I—that is, I don't want to bother her. I—I just…"

He trailed off and after a moment, Jim asked, "Yes?"

"I—she said she needed some time and I understand that. I don't want to bother her while she's recovering or—or anything but I just… How is she doing, Jim?"

Jim listened with some surprise as Rick—the writer, whom Kate usually described as being so glib—stumbled and stammered through this explanation before finally blurting out the last question, a wealth of suppressed emotion in his tone, and Jim suddenly understood.

Of course. He should have realized it sooner. He had noted that Katie had seemed to be unusually reticent. At first, it hadn't been obvious. She'd been in too much pain, her physical recovery was taking up all her attention—and his, understandably. It was only in the last few days or so, when Katie was beginning to show more flashes of her usual self that it had become clear that Katie was rather avoiding people, avoiding talking to anyone else besides him. He knew Javier, Kevin, and Lanie had all called Katie since they had arrived at the cabin but Katie hadn't spoken with any of them for long, had put them off citing her physical condition. He had noticed this but hadn't thought much of it beyond that. And he knew that Katie had broken up with Dr. Josh Davidson just after she'd been released from the hospital. The timing might have been abrupt but Jim hadn't been that concerned because he'd always known that, however much Katie liked Josh, she hadn't loved him, hadn't really let him in to her life. Now, Jim realized, belatedly, that Rick was the one person that had conspicuously not called and, more than that, one person that Katie was equally conspicuously avoiding the mention of entirely. Which was odd. Very odd, now that Jim thought about it, since for the last two years at least, there were very, very few conversations with her in which his daughter had not mentioned the writer's name at least once and usually much more than that.

"She's better, Rick. She's gotten a lot better." 'A lot better' was a relative term but it was still true. Katie could sit up again, not without support, but she could sit up. She had regained most of the strength in her voice. She could stand and walk around for very short lengths of time, once he had helped her to actually push herself to her feet.

Jim heard the sound of a sigh on the other end of the line, as if Rick had let out the breath he'd been holding. He thought he heard the words, "Thank God," but couldn't be sure.

Rick Castle was in love with Katie.

He had wondered about it for a while now, had suspected it, had guessed that it was true almost the moment he'd met Rick and the guess had hardened into near certainty when Jim had seen Rick in the hospital. But now, sitting there in his car, Jim knew that Rick Castle loved Katie.

On the heels of that realization, Jim felt a sudden surge of empathy for the other man, for what he must have gone through in these past couple weeks, after seeing the woman he loved be shot and then not being able to see her recovery with his own eyes…

"Good. That's… good," Rick managed to say and Jim could tell he was trying to sound calm but the effort left the other man sounding almost strangled. "That's all I really needed to know."

"She was griping at me for treating her like a 5-year-old as she put it just because I told her to call me if she needed anything while I was out shopping."

He heard Rick give a brief chuckle, although it sounded rather forced.

Jim sobered. Rick deserved better than light-hearted assurances. They both knew only too well just how close it had been.

Jim wasn't over it, knew he never would get over it, would never completely stop having nightmares about seeing Katie be shot. And he guessed Rick felt much the same.

"She's still in some pain," he admitted now, seriously. "She needs help to move around. But she is getting better, Rick."

"She's too stubborn not to," Rick said in what Jim guessed was an attempt to sound calm and unaffected, although it failed as Rick's voice cracked ever so slightly.

Jim could almost sense Rick's mortification at this betrayal of his emotions emanating over the phone line and he deliberately pretended he hadn't heard it at all. "You know Katie. I half expect she'll be announcing tomorrow that she's ready to return to work."

"Right. Too bad for her that the NYPD won't let her come back so soon." This time, Rick succeeded in sounding almost glib.

There was a pause and then Rick said, "Thanks for telling me, Jim."

"You don't need to thank me, Rick. I'll tell Katie you called."

"No, don't!" Rick paused and then tried for a small laugh. "I mean, that's not necessary. I don't want her to feel like she has to call me back or—or anything. She should just focus on getting better."

Jim hesitated. He rather thought Katie should know Rick had called, that Rick was so worried about her, but then he gave in. He didn't really know what was going on between his daughter and Rick at this point. They were partners and friends and Rick was clearly in love with Katie while Katie… Well, Jim suspected that Katie was in love with Rick too, but he didn't really know. And right now, Jim was more concerned with Katie's physical recovery. He just wanted his daughter to be healthy again. After that, after Katie was physically herself again, Jim could start to be concerned about his daughter's relationship with her partner.

"All right. I won't mention it."

"Thanks, Jim. I—is there anything you need? Anything she needs to help her get better? Just name it and I could have it sent to your cabin."

"Thanks for offering, Rick, but I think we're fine. There are stores out here and the main thing Katie needs now is time to heal and rest."

"Okay. But if you think of anything, anything at all, let me know."

"I will, Rick," Jim promised. "Take care of yourself." He debated telling Rick that he would try to encourage Katie to call but then decided against it. The decision to call or not would be Katie's and if she decided not to—well, he didn't want to insert himself into the middle of the relationship between his daughter and the writer.

"You too, Jim. And I know you'll take care of Kate too."

"She's my daughter," Jim said simply before he suddenly remembered something he did want to say to Rick. "Oh, Rick."

"Yes?"

"I wanted to say, thank you for—for having Katie's back, for being such a good partner to her. I appreciate it."

"You don't need to thank me," Rick interposed hurriedly. "I—well, Kate is amaz—I mean, it's an honor to be her partner. Sir."

The last word was added somewhat belatedly, adding to the general lack of glibness in the words, and Jim suppressed a laugh even as he welcomed the urge. It was good to know he still had his sense of humor after all these endless days and weeks of worry. Yes, Rick Castle was most definitely head over heels in love with his daughter. So in love that it seemed to throw him for a loop, although, Jim allowed, it was something of an awkward situation right now and it wasn't as if Rick knew him very well or as if Rick and Katie were an established couple.

"Actually, Jim, I…" Rick began again, his voice somber, "you shouldn't thank me. If anything, I—I owe you an apology."

Jim frowned a little. "An apology for what?"

He heard Rick let out his breath and then the other man was confessing, in something of a rush, "I don't know if Kate told you but I was the one that started all this; I looked at the file and started digging into the case. What—what Josh said at the hospital that day, he wasn't wrong. It—this was my fault and I'm sorry. I had no business prying the way I did and I—I owe you an apology."

"No, Rick," Jim said automatically and then realized at the sound of Rick sucking in his breath how that had sounded and quickly corrected himself. "I meant, you don't owe me an apology. Whatever… whatever you did, this, what happened to Katie wasn't your fault. I know that. She—she told me about… Coonan," he almost choked on the name, and had to pull himself together so he could continue. "That… that really wasn't you, that was… fate or something for that case to come up and fall to Katie. And everything that happened since then, from what Katie's told me, it's come to her without either her or you looking for it. And if I've learned anything over the years, it's that we can only take responsibility for our own actions." He paused and had to swallow the lump of emotion in his throat. "I don't blame you for anything, Rick. And I meant what I said earlier, I appreciate what you've done, what you did, to try to save Katie. I appreciate how you've been there for her."

"Don't thank me, Jim. I l—I mean, Kate's a friend as well as my partner and I—we, our team at the precinct, we all have each other's backs, Ryan and Esposito would do as much for Kate."

Yes, but with Kevin and Javier, it was also their jobs to have Katie's back, Jim thought but didn't say. He was thankful for Kevin and Javier, thankful to know that she had such a stalwart team behind her, but Rick was voluntarily choosing, of his own will, to put his own life at risk to be Katie's partner and a man who had a mother and a daughter he loved as much as Rick did, from Katie's stories, would not risk his life lightly. And Jim hadn't missed Rick's little slip before he'd caught himself.

"Still, thank you, Rick," Jim said aloud.

"I hope Kate recovers quickly," Rick answered rather hurriedly in an obvious bid to change the subject. "Let me know if there's anything she needs, anything I can send to the cabin."

"I will. Thanks for calling, Rick. Take care of yourself."

"Thanks. You too, Jim. I—bye, Jim."

"Goodbye, Rick."

The call ended and Jim contemplated his phone for a minute, thinking about the writer and Katie. And found himself wondering, as always, what Johanna would think, wishing desperately he could talk to Johanna about this. He was a man and Katie's father; he wasn't the best person for any number of reasons to try to help Katie with her romantic life.

But—Jim let out a steadying breath—Johanna wasn't here and Katie was wounded and she needed him. He would do what he could to help her recover physically first and then… well, and then he would simply be there for Katie and support her and hope that Katie found the happiness she deserved.

He paused and then, on a quick decision, saved Rick's phone number in his contacts list. He somehow knew that he would have more occasions to talk to Rick in the future. The man was in love with his daughter after all, and he strongly suspected his daughter was in love with the writer in return. So yes, he should know Rick's number. For the future.

~The End~

Author's Note 2: I was driving over a bridge the other day and found myself completely distracted because I realized that the ocean was the exact color of Nathan Fillion's eyes. I'm lucky I didn't crash my car from swooning. As it is, I think it's official that I may be a little (and by a little, I mean completely and totally) obsessed with "Castle" and in love with Castle, the character and the actor. So, um, yeah, there'll be more fics to come because I can't get him out of my head.

As always, reviews are much appreciated! Now to go back to swooning over Castle, until the new episode starts. Happy Castle Monday!