A/N: As stated, I will be starting every chapter with a flashback of their time together, working my way up towards the start of the story. If it gets too confusing, I can just mark it in bold. Let me know. :)


"Hey, Kate?" Rick called from the closet.

"Yeah?" Kate called back from the bedroom. Most of the clothes left were the ones she hardly wears. Over time, most of her regular outfits had migrated over to his place already.

"What's this?"

"What's what, babe?"

"This shoe box with the duct tape around it."

In an instant, her mind raddled as she dropped her clothes and ran out of the bedroom toward the closet off her living room, putting herself between her new husband and the top shelf, realizing what it is he had found. "Nothing."

Rick raised a brow, smiling knowingly at her. "Okay, it's definitely not nothing."

"What! It's... it's private. I don't have to tell you everything."

Rick just narrowed his eyes then reached down and grabbed her left wrist, putting her wedding and engagement band in plain view, then raising his own left hand, showing his own wedding band to her. "Yes, you do."

Kate pursed her lips, flicking her eyes between her husband and her wedding ring. They're married now. And hiding this from him is not a good way to start off. "Fine." She said, raising her brow and moving her head back to look down her nose challengingly at him. "But you have to promise me... not to let it go to your head."

Rick's eyes moved about around her, "I'm not promising that."

Kate sucked her teeth before rolling her eyes and turned around, grabbed the shoe box off the top shelf and handed it to him. She watched for a moment as he pulled the tape off the sides of the box and took off the lid. His brow knitted in curiosity before he set the lid down and took the book out. His eyes then moved up to her, his smile starting to perk. "I stood in line for an hour."

Rick's eyes widened in an instant as he dropped the box to the floor and opened the front cover, seeing his trademark signature. "Wha... how have you never told me about this?"

"I-I..." She hesitated, "didn't want you to realize that you were right."

Rick shook his head, doing a brief doubletake before looking back at her with a half-smile. "Right about what?"

Kate bit the inside of her lip before speaking. "Only hardcore Castle groupies read Hell Hath No Fury."

Rick's smirk turned slowly into a full Chesire grin, his brow lowering knowingly. "So you stood in line... for an hour... just to get a copy of Storm Front signed... by me."

Kate nodded her head, tightening her lips together nervously, waiting to get slapped in the face by his overinflating ego. "It was a rough time in my life, and you... might have helped me realize that the good guys could always find a way to win in the end. And... where I was, trying to cope with my mother's death... that's what I needed. So, not only did you help me close my mother's case by becoming my partner, but you also... might have helped me get through her death by becoming my favorite author."

Rick's smile softened. "And you just married him."

Kate looked back up at him, looking at his soft, easy gaze, her muscles unclenching with a smile. She snaked her arms around his neck, slowly stepping into him. "I was not a Castle groupie."

"No, that would be a little weird considering you are a Castle now."


Kate and Rick both storm out of the elevator once the doors are open enough, both their hearts pounding and aching. Kate immediately finds Ryan, Espo, and LT at their desks, all jumping up at the sound of the elevator door opening. "Hey, Beckett," Ryan says with his phone in his hand, "I just sent out the amber alert, Tori's pulling traffic cam footage from the park, and the FBI are dispatching agents now. They should be here any minute."

Kate comes to a frantic stop, her legs still unable to sit still, her mind flooded with images of her son and her arms desperately aching at the need to feel him in them again. "Okay," She says, running a hand through her hair, "what else?" She asks, pacing in a fast circle.

"Beckett," Esposito starts from beside Ryan in a calm voice. She stops and looks over at him. "You sure Henry didn't just wander off?"

"Yeah," Ryan starts, "Sarah Grace did it last year when Jenny's sister took her to the park. She was gone for nearly twenty minutes before we found her playing with someone's dog at the other end of the park."

Rick is quick to dismiss the theory. "No, Henry knows better than that." He says in a shaky voice. His whole body is trembling. This can't be happening again. He's already had to go through this once in his life. The thought of this happening to his defenseless three-year-old son is making him sick to his stomach.

"We've been taking him to that park since he was out of diapers. He knows better than to wander off." Kate says with a deep tremble in her voice as she paces restlessly in front of her husband.

"We were only there for... a few minutes at most before we had to leave." Rick says.

"I should have been watching him." Kate says, an emotional quake coming into her voice.

Rick takes this chance to take a step forward, putting a soothing hand on her back. "We've taken Henry to that park dozens of times, Kate. We-"

"I'm his mother, Rick!" She says, spinning on a heel to look at her husband. "It's my job to make sure this doesn't happen."

"We can't assume the worst right now, Kate." Rick says in an easing voice, putting his hands on her arms.

It's then that Ryan interrupts. "We have every cop in the city looking for him, Beckett. Now, did you guys already search the park?"

"Of course, we did. Four times." She says, still trying to work the shake out of her voice.

"What about the other parents?" Esposito cuts in. "Did you guys notice anyone out of the ordinary? You said you guys go there all the time. Did you guys notice anyone new coming around?"

"No, we..." Rick says, feeling his wife pace her way out of his grasp, feeling a deep stab of guilt hit his gut, "we usually let him play on his own as much as we can."

"He doesn't like it when we hover." Kate says from a distance away, her hands tucked into her back pockets. "He likes to be independent as much as he can."

Rick feels himself huff out a silent chuckle. "Something he got from his mother." He says, looking at the floor as he feels a very heavy smirk push its way onto his face. It's only a second before he feels her eyes boring into him from a few feet away. He just looks back down to the floor, feeling small.

"Alright, well," Ryan starts again, looking down at his phone, "we've called the press to get Henry's face out there, but... they need a picture."

Kate stops her pacing, her expression going blank as she turns and heads out of the bullpen, over to her office on the other side of the bullpen and opens the door. She stops at her desk, reaching down to the picture frame she has sitting in front of her wedding picture and the picture of them at the hospital, the first day Henry was brought into the world, with the tiny, seven-pound two-ounce baby boy, with her in the hospital bed and Rick sitting on the side, both of them looking down lovingly down at their newly born son.

The frame she has in the center is the one of just her and Henry, the day she first surprised them with the lake house. It was just after his third birthday, so it's one of the newest ones. His hair is a bit longer. He has his bright, carefree smile shining across his face, sitting next to her on the porch swing outside. She's leaning down and hugging him from above while he has one arm around her neck. He was so excited about getting in the water. He's always so excited about learning new things.

They can easily crop her out of this picture.

With a heavy heart, she turns the frame over and pops out the back, carefully taking the picture out and setting the frame back down on her desk, then moving back out to the bullpen, where Ryan and Esposito are still standing at their desks, while Rick is looking down at his phone. "Here." She says and hands the photo to Ryan. "It's the best picture I have."

Rick shoves off LT's desk and leans over, looking down at the photo she handed them. He remembers that day, their first day up at the lake house she surprised them with. "The first day at the lake house?" He asks, looking back up to his wife.

Her eyes are glazed over, blank, hollow as she nods her head, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "You can crop me out of the picture. Get it out to the press as quickly as you can. Just make sure I get it back."

Ryan nods, looks between her and Rick, then moves out of the bullpen without another word, picture in hand.

"Now, I hate to be the one to suggest this," Esposito starts after a moment of tense silence between her and Rick. "But can you two think of anyone who might do this?"

Kate scoffs and shifts her weight. "Javi... there are hundreds of people I can think of that might have it out for us, okay? How does any of this help get our son back?"

"He's just trying to help narrow it down, Kate." Rick says, stepping in front of her again with a worried arch in his brow.

"Rick, I promised that I wouldn't let my job get in the way of being his mother." She says, her heart aching. "I promised him that I'd always protect him and that nothing would ever happen to him. That's what I told him, Rick."

"You're the best mother Henry could ever have, Kate." He says in a low voice, taking a chance and cupping her cheek with his hand. "We're gonna get him back."

"I want him back, Rick." She says, the desperate, painful heartache coming out full force, grasping the sides of his jacket. "I need my son back. I need him in my arms."

Rick soothes over her cheekbone with his thumb, softly caressing her as a stray tear leaks out from her lashes. "We're gonna get him back, Kate."

"Guys," Esposito says from the side. Rick and Kate both separate and look over to him. "We have every uniform in the city on the lookout, and the FBI should be in here any minute. So... what are your orders, Lieutenant?"

Kate lets out a sigh, hardening herself, icing her nerves and steeling her resolve, strengthening her heart and her emotions against everything. It's a way she hasn't felt since before she put this ring on her finger. "Go over every case Castle and I have closed over the past ten years, starting with anyone who has a history of violence towards children or has been charged with kidnapping of any kind, then go to anyone who's killed more than once. LT, you go see what you can find on the traffic cam footage. Henry was wearing a red coat with blue seams down the arms and a green hood, blue jeans, and red tennis shoes with black laces and white socks."

"And the press?" Esposito asks.

"We'll wait for the FBI to show up to hold a conference, but make sure Ryan gets Henry's picture out to them. Have them run it as often as they can and get the lines open." Kate orders. Both Esposito and LT step away from their desks and head out of the bullpen to do their respective tasks.

After a moment, her eyes find the worried gaze of her husband. "Kate?" He asks quietly, stepping up to her again.

She looks up at him, feeling like a shell, the only thing her mind focusing on is her son. "I'm gonna need you to talk to the press for me."

"Yeah, I'll take care of it." Rick says quickly and puts a hand on her side. "Kate, we're going to get through this, okay? But I need you by my side to do it."

"I'm not stopping until I have my son back, Rick." She says in a low voice.

"And neither am I, Kate." He says with a pinched brow, shifting his weight. "You're not doing this alone. Henry's our son. He's all I can think about too, Kate. But he's not the only one I'm responsible for right now." He says, softening his brow as he puts a hand on her stomach.

Her eyes go down to his hand, over the child they have on the way, and her shell begins to crack. She swallows the rising emotions, feeling her eyes burn as the feeling of her son in her arms flashes in the memory of her muscles. "I just love Henry so much."

"So do I."

"Lieutenant Beckett?" A male voice says on her side.

Realizing the FBI is finally here, her mind switches in an instant and she turns, but is frozen when she sees whose flashing their badge at her. "Will?"

Sorensen smirks and keeps his badge facing the two. "Supervisory Special Agent Will Sorensen with the FBI. This is my team." He says, motioning toward the agents behind him before flipping his badge closed and slipping it back into his breast pocket. Sorensen looks over his shoulder. "Go ahead and get the phone set up. Val, I'll let you know when we're ready for the press."

"Yes, sir." The straight-haired blonde chirps sternly and moves passed him, along with a few other agents following in tow.

Rick looks over to Sorensen, seeing him smirk over at his wife, clasping his hands in front of him. "Long time, no see, Beckett."


A/N: Originally, I wasnt going to add Sorensen as the FBI agent, but as I fleshed out more of the story, I felt it would be a nice throwback. Originally, I was going to have someone more 'Aaron Hotchner'- esque, but Sorensen adds more to the story.

Thanks for everyone who reviews and followed. I hope I'm capturing the heartache and emotions okay. Hope it doesn't feel too empty. Let me know. :)