A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who favorited/followed/reviewed the first chapter of this story! Hope you enjoy chapter 2!

Disclaimer: I won't ever own them…

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They were both silent for a minute after Kate's speech and she refused to look into his eyes. Her head was rested on his bare chest, her ear right above his heart and she could hear it beating. His hands were rubbing circles on her back and she hugged him close to her.

"Are you going to say anything?"

"I'm trying to determine where to start."

Kate nodded against his chest, "okay."

She wasn't sure how much time had past when she heard Rick sigh. She pulled back and looked up at him and tears started to form in her eyes when she saw the tear stains on his cheeks. She kissed both cheeks before claiming his mouth again with hers and he responded immediately. When they finally broke for air she sat back only barely, afraid to lose contact with him.

"Rick?"

"First, there are no regrets about last night. "

"Good."

"But…"

"But what?"

"With everything else? I should have been there with you. I should have…I dunno, done something…"

"No," Kate said firmly and with a shake of her head. "I'm not going to let you blame yourself for any of this. You did do something, you tried to stop me. I'm the one that didn't listen. I'm the one that ran straight into a fight and brought Esposito down with me. I'm the one to blame here for this. Not you. I'm going to let you think that. Besides, I'm kind of glad you weren't there Castle. Had it been you with me, instead of Esposito, Maddox…he could have killed you. Even with Esposito's combat training he was overpowered. I don't want to think about what the outcome would have been if it had been you."

"But…"

"No buts," Kate insisted with a smile. "I should have listened to you before. I shouldn't have let my…obsession make me so blind."

"We both made mistakes with that Kate," Castle answered with a sad smile, "but we can only move forward now. And as long as moving forward means you in my bed."

Kate smirked. "Don't think you're going to get rid of me now Castle. Besides, now that I'm jobless I'm going to need a rich boyfriend to support me."

She meant the comment as a joke but the underlying emotion came through and she felt herself start to realize just what her decision really meant.

"God, I quit my job."

"Yeah," Castle started, "that's something else we're going to need to talk about to. When you're ready to. No rush."

"I didn't see like there was any other option. I was so mad about what Gates was saying and what she was accusing us of and I just…I just didn't want to hear it anymore. I wanted out of there. I wanted to fix things with you and I dunno…I think I was saying the words before I even realized what I was saying. I don't know who I am without the job Rick. I've always been the job. How do I do Kate?"

"Do you want to be just Kate?"

"I want us to work."

Castle leaned back and forced her to meet his eyes. "We're going to work Kate. Whether you have a badge or not, we're going to work. I'm not going to let this go. So I don't want you even thinking about that. You need to do what you want."

"I want to be with you."

"Good," Castle assured her, "because that's happened. But I was talking a career. I mean, if you don't want to work another day in your life I have more than enough money to support us for several lifetimes. But, I don't know if I can see you being happy doing that."

"I don't know if I can separate myself from the case if I'm still a detective. What if I get pulled back into it again?"

"You'll have me to keep you from going back down the rabbit hole. And Javi and Kevin. And Gates, I'm sure too. She respects you, whether she's upset with you at the moment or not, she respects you and what you do for the victims."

"I know…"

"Maybe…maybe you should go and talk to Gates. See if it is too late to take back your resignation. I doubt she's filed all the paperwork yet And…"

"I'll think about it."

"Okay."

It went silent again and Castle could nearly feel the gears in Kate's head turning. So many things had changed in the manner of hours that he was having a hard time keeping up. He could only imagine what her thought process was.

Before either could start talking again, Castle's phone started going off again. He wasn't surprised to find Ryan's name flashing across the screen this time.

"It's Ryan, should I answer?"

"He'll keep calling if you don't," Kate answered, "and I should talk to him too."

Castle nodded and placed the phone to his ear. "Hey Ryan."

"Castle have you seen Beckett since yesterday? Her phone is off and…some things went down and I just don't know. Lanie says she hasn't seen her and Javi won't talk to me. And I know she said that you were 'off the team' but I just thought…"

"Slow down Kevin," Castle answered with a sigh, "Kate's fine. She's here."

"Thank god." Kevin Ryan's voice audibly relaxed. "Can you put her on speaker? I need to talk to…both of you."

"Sure," Castle told him quickly and pushed a few buttons before Kevin's voice filled the room. "You're on speaker Kev."

"There have been some…developments…"

"What are you talking about Kevin?" Beckett spoke up. "I resigned Kevin, you shouldn't be talking to me about any of this…"

"You may have resigned, but Gates made it perfectly clear to the rest of us that you and Javi were suspended, I think she's hoping to talk you into coming back…but that is besides the point right now. I'm sending a car to pick you both up and bring you down to the precinct. We shouldn't do this over the phone…"

"Kevin," Beckett interrupted, her brain attempting to take everything in, "what are you trying to say? Are we in danger?"

There was a pause that spoke volumes to both Castle and Beckett and they looked at each as Ryan started to speak again.

"We think so. I'll fill you in when you get here. We're just taking precautions."

"Precautions?"

"Make the uni's that come for you give you the password I'm about to tell you before you leave with them. And Castle…not to scare you, or your family, but I would make sure that your mom and Alexis are out of town for a few days."

"I'll arrange it."

"Make the uni's give you the password, don't forget, it's 'feed the birds'. They should be there soon, like twenty minutes."

"Thanks Kevin."

"You got it."

They got off the phone quickly and Beckett turned to Castle, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. "Where is Alexis and Martha?"

"Mother is in the Hamptons for the weekend. But I'll call her and convince her to stay there longer if I need to. And Alexis had an overnight graduation party at a friends house. I'll see if she wants to go out to the Hamptons or stay with Paige. Just precautions."

"God I'm so sorry for dragging your family into this."

"Hey," Castle said as he was shaking his head, "no. Don't…don't do that. I don't care if this is too soon or whatnot, but you're my family too Kate. I'm concerned about mother and Alexis, but they'll be fine. I'm worried about you too. Kevin sounded…odd. I have a bad feeling about it."

"Me too."

"Let's get ready to go. Do you wanna shower really quick, we don't have much time…"

"Yeah," Kate answered affirmatively, "and uh…"

"What is it?"

"Do you think your mother or Alexis might have some clothes I could borrow? I threw my stuff in the washer before I made coffee, but they won't be dry in time…"

"Oh, of course. I'll show you to the extra closet upstairs. Mother and Alexis always put extra stuff in there, whether they are just tired of it or plan on donating it, or it doesn't fit anymore…there is always something…"

"Great," Kate answered with a smile. "Castle…"

"Yeah?"

"I…just, thanks. For everything. It means…a lot to me."

Castle nodded, "always."

In the twenty minutes it took for the uni's to get to the loft, both Kate and Castle had been very efficient. Kate showered quickly and raided the 'clean-out closet' for something to wear. She was much taller than both Martha and Alexis so she ended up selecting a flowy summer dress that rested right above her kneecaps. It was definitely not something she would normally wear to the precinct, but she would have to take what she could get.

Castle called Martha in the Hamptons and gave her the cliff notes version of what was happening, promises more details when he had more time, but made her promise to stay in the Hamptons until he gave her the all clear to come home. When he called Alexis it had taken some more convincing, but he'd eventually been able to assure her that he would be fine and that spending some time with Paige and her family in Brooklyn would be the best thing for her. She also demanded details, which he agreed she would get at a later date.

The uni's showed up, flashed their badges and answered with the password without any incident. Kate and Castle sat quietly in the backseat of the squad car, their fingers brushing against each other on the seat.

"I'm trying to figure out what is going on," Kate whispered as they sat in standard NYC traffic on their way to the precinct. "But I don't know where to even start."

"I don't know either," Castle admitted. "Something to do with your case…or your mom's."

"But then why are being be called in? I mean, I resigned and if I'm not at the twelfth then neither are you."

"I guess we'll find out when we get there."

"I don't like this Rick. I feel so powerless."

"Me too."

Kate leaned her head on Castle's shoulder and closed her eyes. Everything from the last twenty fours hours started to hit her and her eyes released a few more tears as she yawned and winced.

"You okay?"

"I'm a bit sore," Kate admitted after a second, "I think the rooftop fight with Maddox is starting to make itself known."

"And maybe other exercise?" Castle asked with a wicked grin and Kate smacked him lightly on the chest.

"Guess that could be a possibility. Don't act so smug."

"Me?" Castle questioned as innocently as possible, "smug?"

"Shut it."

"Yes ma'am."

Kate shook her head, but for the first time since Ryan's phone call she had a genuine smile on her face. It faded though when they finally came into view of the precinct. Kevin Ryan was waiting out front, just under the lip of the building, hands shoved into the pockets of his slacks, his gaze bouncing from building to building. He was nervous or anxious, Kate wasn't sure how to read the uneasiness in her former teammate, but it made her worry.

Kate looked at Castle before leaning in a giving him a kiss.

"Okay," she said with more confidence than she felt. "Let's find out what the hell is going on."

….

A/N: Pretty please with sugar on top take a second or two and let me know what you think of this story so far. Is it worth going farther?