Thank you sooo much for the amazing reviews on the first chapter. Glad you all liked it!

Anyway, without further a due, here's chapter 2! Hope you enjoy! (:

"Castle, we have to talk." she whispered, as he nodded against her shoulder and sat up.

"How much did you hear?" he asked.

"Pretty much all of it. You guys were yelling pretty loud. I heard my name being spoke, so I decided to see what the fighting was about."

"I'm so sorry you had to hear all of that." he apologized, realizing that she heard all of the things Alexis had said about her, and everything he had also confessed to his daughter.

"Don't be. It's the truth. Your daughter needs you, okay? I lost my mother tragically, I don't want Alexis to lose her dad, by the same people who are involved in my mothers' case."

"What are you saying?" he asked, nervously.

"I'm saying that it would mean a lot to me and a lot to your daughter, if you would stop shadowing me. You and I both know you have enough research to keep Nikki Heat going for years."

"What about you though? I don't…I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I was a cop way before I met you and I managed to keep myself safe. I can do it again. It just won't be….as much fun. Besides, I got a couple months anyway before I head back to work, and even then I'll be on desk duty for a while."

"I don't want to have to worry about you all the time, after that." he confessed.

"You won't have to. You can still help us with cases. I'll still call you for help or your weird, silly theories. It's just…too dangerous for you to go in the field with us anymore."

"It won't be the same, not seeing you guys."

She put her hand on top of his and squeezed it. "Tell you what, we'll go out for coffee every other day. You can come visit me anytime you want. This doesn't mean goodbye."

"So that's all we're gonna be? Friends who occasionally hang out?" Castle asked furiously, as he stood up.

"What else is there? I'm with Josh, Castle."

"Which I don't understand, especially when he barely visited you while you were in the hospital."

"He saved my life! I owe him." she said, not exactly believing it.

"How many god damn times have I saved your life? Huh? I don't get deadly squat. I have always been there for you, when Josh never was. I show you day after day just how much I care about you, but you still don't give me the time of day! I love you Kate, so much I can't stand it. I know you don't love Josh. You know you don't love Josh. So why the hell are you still with him?"

Kate put her head down in shame. "I don't want to talk about this." she whispered.

"Kate, we have to talk about this. Haven't you realized that life is too short? You were dead for 30 seconds Kate, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Yes! It means so much to me Rick! I get to live another day, and who can I thank for that? Who is the one who brought me back? Josh! That's why I'm still with him. I know I have no future with him, but for right now, I'm going to thank him for saving me life. Shouldn't you be grateful to him?"

"Of course I'm grateful that he saved you, but that doesn't mean I like the guy. Or the way he treats you. He was never there. I was at your bedside 24-7, giving you all the care you needed. I offered my home to you, so I knew you would be well taken care of. And does Josh even come to visit you? No!"

"He has a job!" she yelled, defending her boyfriend, even if she didn't believe that was a necessary reason to not visit.

"We all have jobs Kate, but part of a relationship, is making your partner more important than the job."

"Which brings us back to you not shadowing me anymore."

"Don't change the subject Kate."

"I just did. It's late. I'm tired. Try to get some sleep." She said as stood up and walked out of the room, leaving Castle to think about the nights events.

The next morning, Castle came downstairs to the smell of fresh coffee and bacon. He only got a few hours of sleep the night before, his conversations with his 2 favorite woman playing over and over again in his head. Alexis was sitting at the island, reading something and Martha was pouring herself some coffee. Where was Kate?

"Good morning Richard!" his mother greeted him.

"Morning Mother, Alexis."

Alexis didn't even look up from her book.

"Where's Kate?" he asked.

"Don't know darling. Figured she slept in this morning. Sounded like you two had a late night."

He looked at the clock. 9:26. She never slept this late. He ran up the steps, and into her bedroom. All of her stuff was gone.

Panicked, he pulled out his iPhone and pressed 2 on his speed dial.

Her phone went straight to voice mail.

"Shit." he thought.

Where was Kate Beckett?

Thoughts?