A/N: I've been having some uploading and formatting issues so I apologize to those who may follow the story and get e-mail notifications. Twice now I've checked the story before I posted, and it's been fine, then I look at it after it's been posted and it's all screwy. So, I appreciate your patience and loyalty and, of course, reviews.

Stronger (post-7x15)

The bed was cold.

Rick wasn't surprised; lately his wife had developed a bit of insomnia, thanks to the one-two punch of almost dying and having a career crisis. Most nights he didn't even know, sleeping through her vacating the bed. She was usually only up for an hour or two, anyway, sometimes just sitting up in bed until she got tired again. But tonight – tonight felt different.

A glance at the clock gave him the godforsaken time of 4:17. Not only was her side of the bed empty, but he could see a sliver of light coming in from the living room. Ah. One of those nights. Rick considered leaving her alone – sometimes she needed to work out whatever was bothering her. But he'd been doing that a lot lately, and the insomnia had only gotten worse. And besides that, he was cold.

He padded into the living room to see her on the couch, staring into the fireplace, wrapped in a blanket with a drink in her hand. "Kate?"

Beckett started at the sound of his voice; she hadn't heard him walk up. She gave him a small smile as he knelt in front of her and took her free hand. She set her glass down and took his other hand in hers. "Hey," she said softly. "Did I wake you?"

"No. You okay?"

"Yeah." Kate barely got the word around the sudden lump in her throat. Tears stung her eyes; dammit, she told herself she wouldn't cry tonight. She turned her head, trying furiously to blink them away before her husband saw.

No such luck.

Rick saw the tears, and usually he ignored them, but he couldn't this time. Not when his beloved was in so much pain. No matter how she tried, he could see the pain in her eyes, that faraway look that hadn't disappeared in weeks.

"Hey, it's okay." He joined her on the couch, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her onto his lap. "It's okay, Kate."

"I had a dream tonight," she started, finally, once her sobs started to subside. "I was on that table—"

Nieman.

"—and she had her scalpel and I got free but then the boys came and you weren't there and they said you were gone, you had been shot and they'd been too late—"

Dammit.

"—and I turned around and just started stabbing her…she was dead, but I just kept going and going—"

Rick tightened his grip. "Oh, Kate. Sweetie, I'm sorry. I'm here. I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere."

They sat like that for who knew how long – he'd lost track of time – but eventually his bladder started screaming.

"Kate. Babe," he whispered in her ear, nudging her. Her only reply was a grunt. One glance at her face told him everything he needed to know, that she was finally asleep. He hated to move, to let her go, but he had to. He managed to stand without waking her and placed a kiss on her forehead as he retreated to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, he was back on the couch, Kate in his arms once again. It was going to be a long road – Jerry Tyson had haunted them for years, and it had only gotten worse when Nieman appeared. Rick knew there would be more sleepless nights and a lot more tears. But he also knew that they'd get through it.

The next night, it was Beckett who was awoken by her spouse's irregular sleep habits. Castle had always been a heavy sleeper, but since their twin brushes with death…

She woke to him thrashing his head, brow furrowed, her name coming from his lips in an increasingly panicked tone. She touched his shoulder. "Castle…"

"No…Beckett…Kate…no…no!"

The last "no" was almost shouted, Rick waking himself up and bolting to a seated position, eyes frantic. Kate sat up with him. "Castle." She touched his cheek, turned his head towards her, searched his face with her eyes.

Castle finally relaxed as his brain shook the last remnants of his nightmare. "Kate. You're okay." He framed her face with his hands, needing to touch her to make sure this wasn't another dream. "You're okay."

"Oh, babe," Kate breathed, taking him into her arms. "The same?"

Rick nodded against her shoulder. "Yeah. Nieman had—you know." He sighed in contentment as they laid back down, his head on her shoulder, the mirror image of the previous night. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For waking you."

Beckett stroked his head, running her fingers through his hair, lightly massaging his scalp to help him relax. "You can wake me any time."

"Thanks." Rick felt himself falling back asleep, but forced himself to lean up and kiss his wife. "I love you," he murmured, staring into her eyes, those eyes that betrayed every emotion she tried to hide.

Kate gave him a small smile. "I love you, too." She kissed him again, deeper, raising an eyebrow when she felt him stir. "Really?"

Castle shrugged. "Maybe the rest of me needs to be convinced that you're okay."

Kate rolled her eyes, but pushed him on his back and straddled his waist. "Oh, really? And just how am I supposed to do that?"

Castle ran his hands under her shirt and up her sides, making her giggle – Kate was ticklish, and the way she squirmed when he did that…well, there was a reason he did it so often. He lifted her shirt over her head. "I have a few ideas."

Kate laughed, her first real laugh in days, and bent down to kiss him. "So…what's the first?"