4x02

"How cool was that?" Castle asked, practically ecstatic.

"Which part?" Beckett shot back. "That that was our murderer, or that he just got away? I'm calling an APB." She's about to dial when her phone comes to life. She answered the phone. "Espo, I gotta call you back." About to hang up, Esposito's voice on the other end stopped her just short of doing so, but her frustration is growing, because that was their murderer, and they did just get away.

"Whoa, whoa, wait! You're going to want to hear this," Esposito starts.

Beckett doesn't have time for this. "Yeah, we just saw our suspect. He fled the crime scene." She needed to call in an APB now, while there was still a shot of catching the SOB.

"Yeah, and I know where to find him, because I know who he is."

"What? How?" Beckett asked, all ears.

"Well, he bought a samurai sword at a pawn shop today. And now, get this: he paid for it with a cheque. His name is... uh... Chad Hockney. His photo matches the mystery man from the crime scene."

"What's his address?"

She filed the address away in her memory, and turning to Castle she said, "Let's go."

"Uh, where?" he said, almost tripping to follow her to her crown vic. "No, don't tell me," Castle added when Beckett didn't offer an answer. "I'll just follow you like a puppy."

Beckett flipped her hair over her shoulder and tossed a sultry look over the roof of her car at him, because they both knew that while it was partially true, it wasn't completely. Their relationship may have started out in such a way, but he was so much more to her now, and they both knew it, danced around the issue. They were partners, and that meant something to the both of them.

They sped away, and it didn't take them long to get there, or get up the stairs to the apartment. Beckett brought her foot up and kicked in the door, gun drawn. "NYPD! No not move a muscle!" Beckett growled, weapon trained on the suspect.

"Unless you can move faster than a speeding bullet," Castle added, practically goading the superhero into action. The faux superhero did just that, swinging the samurai sword wildly towards Beckett. Castle moved quickly, pushing his partner out of the way and she crashed into the wall with a grunt.

Chad brought the sword down, slicing the skin of Castle's forearm. He cried out at the shock that this just happened, not from the fact that he actually felt anything. Chalk it up to the adrenaline pumping through his system. "Put it down!" Beckett yelled from behind Chad. Castle leaned back against the door, holding his arm to his chest while he stared into the mask of his assaulter who seemed ready plunge his sword into his gut. He dropped the sword to the floor with a clatter.

Beckett stepped forward and swiftly slapped a set of cuffs on him. With the suspect subdued, she looked over at Castle. "You okay?" she asked, noting the blood drenching the fabric of his jacket.

"Yeah," he replied. "I've had worse."

"Okay. I've got a first aid kit in the trunk."

Downstairs, she forced Chad into the back of her car and yanked the mask off his face. "I was just going to bring you to the station to ask you some questions, but you made this a whole heck of a lot easier for me." She proceeded to read him his Miranda rights and slammed the door shut. Castle was fumbling around in the trunk for the first aid kit and she joined him. "Here, let me see," she said, reaching for his arm.

She helped him out of his jacket and rolled up the bloodied sleeve of his dress shirt. "Oh, this is bad, Castle," she said.

He nodded his head. "Just now startling to feel it."

Beckett hissed, almost feeling the pain for him. "This needs stitches."

"Well, this is a much better story to tell," he mumbled to himself while Beckett busied herself with administering first aid.

"What do you mean?"

Castle was mesmerized, watching her clean up the blood as though this wasn't her first time (it wasn't). "Well, I almost chopped my hand off while cooking." He shrugged his shoulder. "Now I can say I was attacked by a super villain."

Beckett chortled. "There's nothing super about him, Castle. But... thank you."

"Hmm?"

"For pushing me, but really, you didn't need to. I would have..."

"I know." However, he knew that disabling a suspect, or worse wasn't something Beckett enjoyed, but hey, if he was honest with himself, he could admit that he was just being overprotective of her.

"I'm going to take him to the precinct, and then take you to the hospital. You okay with that?" she asked while packing up the kit and disposing the soiled materials. "Then we'll take a run at him."

"Yeah," he smiled and headed for the passenger seat.

Castle emerged from the hospital room, his arm wrapped up in white bandages. Beckett rose from her seat in the waiting room and rolled her eyes at his excited smile. "Ten stitches!" he said excitedly. Another eye roll and she started walking towards her crown vic.

"Should I drop you at home?"

"What? No! I'm not leaving you now. You need me."

"Fine, Batman. Get in."