Hi guys! Look at that! New chapter is up before Christmas!

First of all I want to thank you for all your follows, favourites and reviews, they are very much appreciated!

Second: I realized that Beckett will want to close the case, I didn't really think about that when I started this story :P. I've thought a lot about how I wanted to do this and I've decided that I'll keep as close to the facts as possible. Obviously, things happen differently, because events have to fit the story :).

Disclaimer: I'm not good enough to own Castle!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

The next morning Kate wakes to the delicious smell of pancakes. She gets out of bed and puts on an oversized NYPD sweater before she goes to search for Castle. Rick. She should start calling him Rick.

She finds him in the kitchen flipping the pancakes that woke her up. "Hey," she says as she walks up to him.

"Hey, coffee?" he asks, holding a steaming cup out to her. She accepts it with a kiss. "Hmm, I can get used to that."

"Thanks. Me too," she says with a lazy smile.

"Don't you have to work today? I didn't want to wake you, because we went to sleep pretty late last night, not that I'm complaining, and you looked kind of tired yesterday, but we still have a case to solve."

"Hmm, your pancakes woke me, so technically you woke me," Kate says with a smile, "but yes, I do need to work today. What time is it? I thought I'd go in around seven, you should go home and change first before you come to the precinct."

"It's six so you still have some time, but you go take a shower and I'll have breakfast ready when you get back."

"Good idea." She starts for the bathroom but turns around and says, "Oh, and thank you for letting me sleep a bit longer, I needed it."

"Sure. You look good," he remarks as he puts some of the pancakes on a heated plate and throws a new batch in the pan.

"Thanks," she says with a grin. She feels good, better than she has felt in ages. She feels free, the heavy feeling that had been on her shoulders ever since she started her mom's investigation has lessened. That doesn't mean she doesn't want to catch her killer, because she does. Maybe even more now she knows Castle - no, Rick - will be with her every step of the way.

She strips down quickly and turns on the shower. It takes a while for it to get to the right temperature, so she ponders on what their next step should be. Maybe she could get a lead out of Castle's mystery guy, find out who he is. She should be able to trace those phone calls.

She washes quickly and returns to Rick who is just pouring her another coffee.

"Hey, your coffee had gone cold, so here's a new one," he greets with a smile.

"Thanks." He earns another kiss for looking after the coffee that she so ungratefully forgot.

"Hmm, you like kissing me, huh?" he teases.

"Well, you're being sweet and I like sweet things," she says as she sits down next to him.

"So do I get another one if you like my pancakes?" he asks with a childish ring to his voice.

"You don't have to ask for another kiss, I don't need a reason to kiss you anymore," she says as she leans in and plants one on his cheek. "Besides, didn't Esposito say that pancakes are an edible way to say 'Thank you so much for last night'?"

"Only you fell asleep on my shoulder last night before we could do anything," Rick says.

"Really? Weird, I don't remember that," she says with a frown. Honestly last night is a bit of a haze, like she drank too much, only she didn't drink anything else apart from the wine and the three glasses she had weren't nearly enough to get her drunk.

"Yeah, you must've been really tired. Not that I mind, you can fall asleep on my shoulder anytime," he says with a smirk. "You're cute when you're asleep."

"Wait, I woke up in my bed, how did I get there? You didn't-" she breaks off, he didn't carry her, did he? That would be just too embarrassing.

He seems to notice her hesitation and says: "I carried you. Don't worry about it, you're very light. Speaking of, eat your pancakes." In her confusion over where her memories have gone she didn't notice that he had put a plate of pancakes in front of her.

"Thanks," she says quickly as she takes a bite. "You know, you could've woken me up."

"Tried that, you were dead to the world, so I carried you, figured that you'd be more comfortable in your bed."

"Hmm, I bet you were very comfortable too if I fell asleep on you," she says with a smirk that she tries to hide with another bite. "These are amazing, by the way."

"Thanks. I'm told I'm very comfortable, just wanted you to be comfortable today too." He makes a face as he thinks of the times he fell asleep behind his desk, writing.

"Okay, then thank you for taking me to my bed." They eat in silence for a second and Kate lets her mind wander. It seems surreal that Castle is here now, that everything seems so normal. She couldn't have guessed it yesterday morning that she would wake to the smell of delicious pancakes. But she couldn't have guessed yesterday morning that they'd have a massive fight that night either.

"Thank you for protecting me. Even though I still don't like that you didn't tell me about it, I do understand."

Rick stares at her, his eyes prying into hers. "Always," he says in a soft voice as he comes closer. She reaches out to him and puts her hands on his waist.

"Just please, never meet with a shadow in a parking garage again without me, or one of the boys, knowing about it." She looks up at him and tries to put as much love in her eyes as she can. Lets him see the stupid, treacherous tears as she tries to blink them away. She can't bear the thought of losing him.

"Hey," he says as he put a hand on her cheek, "I won't." He pulls her in for a hug and she lets her head rest on his chest, breathing him in. She doesn't believe him, she knows he would do all over again if it means that it will protect her and she loves him for it. She can't stop him from being him, childish, egotistical and irresponsible as he is, he will do anything for the people he loves. But that's part of why she likes him so much.

She moves back but keeps holding on to his hand. She's desperately searching for something lighter to talk about when he asks: "So how are we going to tell everyone?"

Kate chuckles. "Well, I'm not really one for keeping secrets, and I don't think you'd be able to keep it from them very long…"

"Detective, I'm wounded," Rick says in mock horror.

"And I'm not one for PDA either," she continues, deciding to ignore him. "But I don't feel very comfortable with just telling them, it seems a bit weird."

"So what do you suggest? Just act normal and let them draw their own conclusions?"

"Actually, that might be fun," Kate grins, then remembers that they're in a crucial murder investigation. "But not yet, after the case is closed. Maybe then we could warm them up to the idea."

"Deal." Rick gives her a warm smile. "Now, it's getting kind of late, we should get going."

"Yeah, you're right." Kate jumps up, grabs their plates and puts them in the sink, she'll deal with the leftovers later. Rick has another idea though because he's right behind her and grabs the plates and turns around to put the leftovers in the bin.

"Go work. I'll clean this up, then go home to change and come in as soon as I can," he says as he puts the plates back in the sink.

"You want to do that?"

"I'm already doing it, aren't I? Now go," he says with a little smile.

"Okay, thank you. Don't be long," Kate says as she kisses him goodbye. She went in for a quick one, but Rick pulls her back in by her waist and opens up for her. He slides his tongue into her mouth for a quick but thorough ravishing, leaving her wobbly on her feet as he retreats.

"Now that is a proper goodbye," he says as he pulls her back in for another quick kiss. "That should do it for the rest of the day, or at least 'till lunch. I assume I can't kiss you hello?"

Kate hasn't fully regained her wits and says, "Huh, what? No, you can't…" Then she gives him a wicked smile, "yet."

Rick grins and pecks her lips once again, "Good, now go, I'll be right behind you."

"Fine," Kate sighs and starts for the door, then she seems to remember something because she turns around again. "Lock up when you leave?"

"Yeah, sure, but I don't have a key."

"Really? I thought you had one made after my old apartment blew up?"

"Yeah," Rick admits sheepishly, " but I don't have it on me now, it's at the loft."

"Okay fine, here," Kate says as she rummages around in her bag until she's found her keys. She throws them over to him and quickly puts on her coat. She can feel his gaze on her as she opens the door and shoots him a grin as she closes it behind her. It feels so weird to leave him behind in her apartment. But she trusts him, so she doesn't really have a problem with it. He'll probably want to be at the precinct as soon as possible, so he won't go snooping around.

The drive to the precinct is quick, since she's ahead of the real morning rush. The homicide floor is already buzzing with busyness when she gets off the elevator. She sits down at her desk and boots her computer. She wants to find out who Castle's guy is, and quickly. While her extremely computer takes its time to boot she goes in search for her team. Both Ryan's and Esposito's desks are scattered with files, so she assumes they're in already.

She finds the duo in one of the conference rooms. "Morning boys," she says briskly.

"Morning, Beckett," they say in unison.

"You're cheery this morning," Esposito observes.

Really, is it that obvious? She hasn't even been here for ten seconds and he's already spotted it. "I'm hoping for a break on the case," Kate says quickly. "So what have we got?"

Ryan starts to explain about the video they saw last night. They've managed to identify the man just outside the screen as Cole Maddox. They've tracked him to Lower East Side.

"Okay, keep tracking him until Castle gets here, then we'll go and get him. He shouldn't be long. Now, Ryan, I need you to track a phone number that called Castle a couple of days ago."

"Why?" Ryan asks puzzled.

"Because the man that called him might have more information about this case," Beckett says without explaining it further. It's not her story to tell.

"On it," Ryan says without questioning it. Beckett nods and returns to her desk where her computer finally booted. She pulls out her phone and sees that she has a text from Castle:

Leaving the loft now Xx

She smiles at the kisses at the end and allows herself to revel over what happened the night before, then shakes herself out of it and returns to her computer.

Half an hour later, Castle walks in. He obviously put much thought in his outfit, making sure it doesn't resemble in any way to what he wore yesterday.

Beckett gets up and motions that he should follow her into the conference room. "Ryan and Esposito have found the guy in the video, tracked him to the Lower East Side," she explains him. "Ryan, did his location change?"

"Nope, still the same. What's the plan?" Ryan replies.

"Castle, Espo and I will go get him. You keep an eye on him and let us know if he moves," Beckett orders. "Now, I'll go inform Gates of our whereabouts." The stupid rule that they should call it in when they're going anywhere for a case is still intact. Kate always has to hide a smile when she thinks back to the day she was cuffed to Castle. She still prides herself to have survived that day without killing or kissing Castle. Of course, the kissing thing is now irrelevant.

Gates nods absentmindedly when Beckett sticks her head around the corner of her captain's office to tell her where they're going.

"Beckett? Can I talk to you for a sec?" Castle says as she walks to her desk.

"Break room," Beckett mutters and she changes course. She can feel Castle at her back, he's too close. Or has he always been this close and is she only noticing it now?

Castle closes the door behind him when they reach the break room. Beckett moves to casually lean against the counter, next to his espresso machine. She's glad to see that Castle keeps his distance. The door may be closed, but the blinds aren't drawn.

"Going after this guy isn't backing off like we discussed yesterday," he starts carefully.

"I know, Rick, but if we don't go after him now, he'll disappear again and next time it might be harder to find him," Kate says, her eyes pleading. She knows that going after Maddox now means that they're one step closer to being free from this. "I promise you, if we get him, it's over. If we get him, we have the guy who shot me. He might talk… He might tell me who killed my mother. If he does… I don't know what I'll do, but I don't think he will. So after we catch him, we'll probably hit a wall. I promise you that I won't go and try to find a way around it."

"Okay," Rick says with a sad smile. "Of course you have to go after him, I wouldn't have it any other way. Just be careful, please." He doesn't have to say more, his eyes say it for him.

"I'm always careful," Kate says with a little smile.

"I know," Rick answers and they look at each other for a second. The unnecessary tension dissipates and all that's left is a slightly awkward silence. Kate has the feeling that Rick has something else to say and it only takes him another moment to say it.

"It's Alexis's graduation today," Castle starts.

"Yeah, I know. We talked about that a couple of days ago, remember? We're doing that double feature. Are we still doing that double feature?"

"Yes, of course. No, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come, actually," he says shyly. He carefully takes a step towards her.

"Really?" Kate hates the way her voice rises an octave and makes a face. Rick doesn't miss it and smirks.

"Yeah, I mean, Alexis would love for you to come," he explains.

"Just Alexis?" Kate teases.

"And me, too," he admits with a grin.

Kate's face breaks open with a beautiful smile, she sees Rick's breath hitch. Kate ponders on how to answer his request. She wants to go to Alexis's graduation, but she also wants to keep working on the case. Her grin falls when she realizes this. She tries to regain her composure, but he has seen it.

"Look, I get it. Decide later what you want to do," he says and he raises his hand as if he wants to reach out to her, but then remembers where they are and drops it again.

"Thank you," Kate says with a grateful smile and she suppresses the urge to kiss him on the cheek. "Let's go."

Castle follows her back out and they find Esposito waiting for them.

"Do you need to get a room or can we finally go get Maddox?" he mocks and deserves a glare from Beckett.

On the ride to the Lower East Side Castle is chattering non-stop to Esposito about some video game. Castle loves the game while Esposito thinks it's crap. Now Castle's trying to convince him otherwise. Beckett stopped listening long ago.

"Hey Beckett, did you get anything on my contact?" Castle asks her as they get out of the car.

"No, not yet, Ryan is running your phone records now. He'll probably have the guy's number when we get back," she says as she looks around the neighbourhood they've tracked Maddox to. "Okay let's see if anyone has seen our guy." They split up, Castle went into a hotel and Esposito left to talk to people on the street. Kate wasn't happy with leaving Rick alone, but this way they'd have more chance of finding him as soon as possible. Beckett went into the first café she saw. She showed Maddox' picture to the barista, but he didn't recognize him.

It took a while, but eventually she got a call from Esposito that he'd found Maddox' hiding place. She called Castle and told him to meet them at the address Espo had given her.

Five minutes later they stood in front of a tall building. "The manager says he's here on a one month lease and has agreed to let us in his room," Espo says.

"Okay, let's go, then. Castle, wait here," Beckett says with an authority that Castle doesn't dare to challenge and he nods.

Beckett and Esposito get lead to the apartment by the manager and he lets them in with a spare key. After they've cleared it they get a good look around. The apartment doesn't look very habituated. Aside from some files they immediately recognize as Montgomery's and a laptop on the desk it's pretty empty. Espo starts poring over the laptop while Beckett looks into the files.

"He must've stolen them from his house last week." She opens the photo album and sifts through it until she finds an empty page. At that moment, Beckett's cell phone goes off with Castle's ringtone.

"What, Castle?" she snaps.

"Maddox is on his way up," Castle says a little breathless.

"Okay, thanks. Stay where you are, we've got this." She hangs up and takes a deep breath.

"He's coming," she tells Esposito.

Thoughts?