"Let's talk through everything," Beckett said standing in front of the murder board with Castle, Ryan, and Esposito.

"Yes, fill me in," Castle replied as his eyes sped across the board trying to take in everything he had missed yesterday. Beckett was glad the boys hadn't made an issue about Castle's reappearance.

"Our victim is Felix Price. He was stabbed three times in the abdomen and chest. His record is clean, but I wouldn't be surprised if he is wrapped up in whatever heroine dealings Rivera was into," Beckett explained.

"What's the connection between Price and Rivera?" Castle asked.

"They are coworkers at a gas station. The other employees said the two were friends," Esposito filled in.

"Are we completely ruling out Rivera as a suspect?" Castle questioned.

"We have about 10 people willing to vouch that he was at a bar downtown during the time of the murder," Ryan answered.

"But can they be trusted?" Castle asked.

"I think so. The bartender and a few servers said they had never seen Rivera in before. It doesn't seem like it was a regular hangout for him. I didn't talk to anyone that I think is lying on his behalf," Ryan replied.

"So we are looking for someone that knew both Rivera and Price. Someone that would benefit from killing Price and framing it on Rivera," Beckett added.

"Someone else from the gas station?" Esposito wondered.

"I think it's a good possibility. If anything, maybe someone will know of anyone else they hung around with. Let's run all the employees and see if anyone has past drug chargers. There's got to be other people involved with heroin. It came from somewhere," Beckett agreed.

"Whoever is the head of this though would never lead the cops to Rivera when he had the heroin at his place. The guy wouldn't want his stash seized by police. He lost a ton of money in this," Castle reasoned.

"That's a good point," Ryan nodded.

"Thinking about the amount of heroin we found in Rivera's place, this has to be a decent sized ring. There have to be more people involved," Esposito inferred.

"Definitely. Narcotics is analyzing what we collected. Hopefully, they can connect to a known ring. That will help us narrow it down," Ryan said.

"Ryan, Espo, you guys head back to the gas station and see if you can find out anything about anyone else these two hung out with. Castle and I will talk to Rivera's family and see if they know of anyone that would want to frame him," Beckett ordered.

"Well that was incredibly unhelpful," Castle sighed as he and Beckett got into the car after finishing up their interviews.

"Hopefully, the boys had more luck."

"Want to stop and pick up lunch before we head back?" Castle asked. He could tell Beckett was struggling a bit and thought it would be a good idea to give her a little time before heading back to the precinct.

"Sure, we should grab something for everyone," she replied quietly.

"No, Beckett. I was thinking about just getting us food and bringing it back to eat in front of them," he joked.

"Right. Sorry," she said quickly. She had been fighting to stay focused.

"I'm just teasing," he smiled and rubbed a hand down her arm.

"I guess I'm just a little tense," she admitted after a pause.

"I could tell. I could feel it when you were sitting next to me the whole time we were talking to Rivera's brother."

"It just hit me when we walked into his apartment. What if his brother was involved? Anything could have happened while we were sitting on that couch. If we asked a wrong question, he could have freaked out. I have no idea if there was a gun in that apartment."

"Kate," Castle said gently.

"I know it's dumb. I never thought like that before."

"Um, I might be over stepping here, but, um, maybe you should think about going to see Burke a few more times."

"Six sessions was enough, Castle," she snapped.

"It was just a thought."

"It was bad enough he made me do three more than the required minimum number of sessions."

"You said it was helpful though."

"Helpful doesn't mean necessary," she retorted.

"Ok," he nodded. He knew this wasn't the time or place to start a fight.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Subject change. Where do you want to go to eat?"

"Why do you think Castle wasn't here yesterday, but showed up today? I know there's no way he would willingly miss her first day on active?" Ryan asked Esposito as they were heading back to the precinct after their interviews across town. They hadn't been much more successful than Castle and Beckett.

"I figure she made him, and it took him 24 hours to wear her down."

"Why wouldn't she want him here, though?"

"It's Beckett. Who knows?" Esposito shrugged.

"Yeah true. You think she's really doing okay?"

"Yeah. She's just adjusting. Give it a week or two."

"I think Castle being back will help."

"I gotta say I'm surprised she actually has been letting him help her. I would've thought she was more likely to run away and ignore him."

"I don't know. She spent years pretending not to be interested in him, but we all knew she loved him," Ryan stated.

"Still, man, this is Beckett. She doesn't accept help from anyone."

"Things are different when you love the person the help is coming from."

"God, you are sappy," Esposito sighed.

"I'm happily in love."

It was a little after 8:00 that night when they got a confession. It turns out Beckett was right to be worried about Rivera's brother, Chad, while she and Castle were talking to him. The narcotics department had led them to a young dealer that had been arrested for selling heroin matching the chemical signature of the kind they had recovered in Rivera's apartment. It was even in the same little plastic bags based on the red stripe they each had. The kid quickly cooperated in hopes of getting a plea deal on his original charge. He told them that both Riveras and Price were dealers, and Chad was mad at his brother for letting Price get involved. Apparently it was taking away his business and making him look bad to the boss. He decided to take them both out so that he could move up in the ring.

"Are you coming to the loft?" Castle asked Beckett as she was putting her coat on.

"I think I'm actually going to head to my place tonight."

"Why?"

"'Cause I've spent the past three nights at yours."

"So?" He questioned.

"I should spend some time at my own place, you know?"

"Well … yeah."

"Don't be upset. I spend about half my time at my place. This isn't so unusual."

"I know."

"So why are you acting like it's a big deal?" Beckett asked.

"I'm not."

"Castle."

"Sorry. I'm sorry," he said quickly.

"Come on, I'll give you a ride home."

"Thanks."

"We can't talk about this stuff in the precinct," Beckett said in the car as they headed to Castle's place.

"Gates and most people had already left, and we were whispering," he justified.

"Still. I'm not risking you getting kicked out and me getting an ethics violation."

"Right. Ok."

"I don't like this any more than you do," Beckett said gently. She really didn't want to be the bad guy in this, but they had to be careful. It was too risky.

"I know you don't." He reached out and rested his hand on her leg as she drove.

They spent the rest of the ride just chatting and talking about nothing.

"Do you want me to come in the morning?" Castle asked as Beckett parked in front of his building.

"You don't have to. I'll call you when we get a new case and you can meet us there."

"Okay. That works."

"Thanks for coming with me today," Beckett smiled.

"Always."

They leaned across the center console and kissed. Castle wove his fingers through her hair and pulled her closer.

"Love you," Beckett whispered as she pulled back.

"Love you, too."

"Are you sure you don't want to come up for a bit?"

"No, I really should head home," she said sadly. She had been spending so much time at his place lately. She was worried he hadn't seen Alexis enough and wanted to give them a night alone.

Beckett changed her clothes and settled down on the couch with a book and a glass of wine. She had really missed being able to do this during her recovery. She wasn't allowed alcohol for almost two months. She wasn't a big drinker, but she did enjoy a glass of red after a long day. Beckett tried to get into her book, but it wasn't really happening. She had been thinking about what Castle said about going back to see Burke practically all day. She would lying if she said she hadn't thought about going back herself. Burke had encouraged her to keep coming the day he signed her release form, stating that just because he was approving her for active duty didn't mean she wasn't going to face issues coming up. Beckett had dismissed him at the time, as she really thought the worse was behind her. As she truly gave up reading and put her book down, she thought back to her first day on desk duty. She had thought she was fine that day too.

After a brutally long day of sitting at her desk pouring over phone records, Beckett couldn't wait to get home. Just sitting in the precinct had made her nervous and on edge. Almost everyone in the room was wearing a gun at their hip, and her eyes had zeroed in on it every time someone walked by. Every creak of a floor board and scuff of a shoe had practically made her jump out of her seat. A fight had broken out between a suspect and a detective in an interrogation room and the yelling just about sent her running. It was awful. When she got home, she thought everything was going to be fine. She had insisted that she and Castle spend the night apart. She was determined to get back to her old life and that included sleeping in her apartment. It also included comforting herself after a long day. That was how she handled things. Beckett was never one to need someone to come home to. However, tonight was different. No matter what she did she couldn't seem to relax. Nothing was helping. Not tea, or music, or a bath, or a good book. Nothing. It was nearly 9 o'clock and the anxiousness was nearly killing her. She knew she should call Castle. She had promised she would call and tell him about her day, but she just couldn't. She wanted to, but she couldn't. She knew if she heard his voice she would completely break down. Kate continued to putter around her apartment, trying to find something to do, when a series of police cars and ambulances sped past her building. The sirens made her physically jump. That was it, she was done. She couldn't take it any longer. Determined to at least keep some independence, she grabbed her car keys and headed out. Kate really wanted to just call and make him come to her, but her stubbornness wouldn't her let do that. She wanted to prove to herself that she was really okay, despite the evidence to the contrary. As Beckett sped towards Castle's loft, her resolve continued to fall. She was starting to feel extremely down on herself for needing him. She had tried all day and all night to stand on her own. About halfway there, tears started falling uncontrollably down her face. She didn't even realize it at first. When she finally arrived, she practically ran to the elevator and then to his door when she reached the right floor. She banged on the door incessantly, not stopping till he answered. As soon as Beckett saw him, she threw herself into his arms. Castle wrapped her up instantly and pulled her inside.

A/N: Thoughts? Thanks for reading. I really don't have much to say about this one. I wanted Kate to struggle a bit in her first case just like she did in Rise. I'm following the overall pace of the season as far as her recovery just including Castle in the process. She will be more open but not too open as it progresses. I want to try to keep everyone in character the best I can. Next chapter should be up in about 3 days. Thanks for all the follows and reviews!