A/N1: Hello peoples and WELCOME to the 14th Chapter of Dancing With Death I have titled 'Breakthrough' I hope you all enjoy this chapter which comes much sooner than I thought it would (Inspiration belted me over the head with a baseball bat ha ha) I would like to make it known I admire every serving officer whatever their rank of the NYPD and do not in anyway thing those who work in the seventeenth precinct are any less capable at their jobs than officers in other precincts. Any police officer in any force the world over should be admired and respected for their sacrifice.

On with the show!


Rick was on a 'only come in if we call you' schedule from the field office for the next week so his full attentions went into helping Kate, Ryan and Esposito at the precinct. A new week started and he got right into the thick of things. Picking up the box containing the 'Body in the Sports Bag' case he and Kate had caught on their first day back after their honeymoon, he sat down at his desk and pulled out a handful of papers. He was trawling through missing person's report trying in vain to identify the victim when he came across one file of a 'Caroline Bannister' a petite strawberry blonde girl of only nineteen years old.

"I think I've found our vic!" he announced, turning to his computer and bringing up the fingerprint data base.

Immediately Kate, Ryan and Esposito abandoned their own work and swarmed around the Special Agent as he typed furiously away on his keyboard, feeding in the information in the missing person's report.

"Caroline Bannister?" Esposito piped up as he peered down at the young woman's missing person report. "Who reported her missing?"

"Her fiancé and mother," Rick rattled off as he hit the enter key and set the scan of the fingerprint database going. "According to this-she was due to met them at their home before going out for dinner. They reported her disappearance to the seventeenth precinct."

"Why the hell did it take two months to hit the missing person's database?" Ryan wondered as he took note of the 'date of report' at the top of the page.

"Probably some little punk didn't pay attention in the 'how to file reports properly' class at the academy," Esposito said in disgust. "There's not a whole brain cell in the entire seventeenth precinct. All the idiots from the academy go there."

Kate let out a snort of laughter.

"When this finishes, I'll ring the officer who took this report and blast them," Rick informed his friend as he kept his eyes focused on the screen in front of him. "We could've found out the vic's ID weeks ago if the report had gone into the system sooner."

A second later the fingerprint scan stopped and flashed 'MATCH FOUND' in bright red lettering. Rick pumped his fist and swung around in his seat to face Kate, Ryan and Esposito.

"Bam said the lady," he informed them with a grin. "Now we can go somewhere on this case."

"If Gates wasn't here, I'd kiss you!" Kate exclaimed grabbing one of his pens and jotting down the 'next of kin' details. "Wish you could be on the books full time."

"Nah, you'd get pissed with him if he were here all the time, Mrs Castle," Ryan informed his colleague. "You go home and he's there, if you came here and he was here all the time, you'd go nuts, we'd go nuts."

"Shut up." The two partners chorused.

"Try as you might, boys. You can't fool me. I know you like our dynamic," Kate teased, playfully ruffling Ryan's hair. "Can you bring up Caroline Bannister's financials and phone records? Castle and I will head out to notify her next of kin."

"As you wish, master," Esposito replied with a grin.

"You call it in with Gates," Kate instructed her partner as she scribbled away on a notepad. "I just need to make a few notes before we can go."

Rick flashed the female detective a wink before turning and striding over to Gate's office and knocking on the frame of the open door.

"Mr Castle?" she questioned.

"Sir, we've just gotten an ID on the vic from the body in the sports bag case and Kate and I are off to notify the next of kin," Rick informed the older woman. "Ryan and Esposito are pulling financial and phone records while we head out."

"Good, keep me up to date won't you?" Gates requested.

"Yes Sir."

Rick turned and headed straight back to his desk where Kate was putting together a folder of information. "Ready to go?" he asked, pulling his jacket off his chair and shucking it over his broad, muscular shoulders.

"Yep, let's go," the female detective replied, pulling on her pea coat and picking up the folder. "Ugh."

"You alright?" Rick asked in concern as they headed toward the elevator.

"Yeah, I'm just still feeling nauseous," Kate admitted. "I've tried some over the counter medicine from the pharmacy around the corner from the loft and those ginger pills Lanie gave me but they're not working anymore."

"Have you made an appointment to see your doctor?" Rick asked in alarm.

"No...because it's only a faint feeling of blahness," Kate replied, leaning forward and pressing the call button. "And what can my doctor do for general blahness? She'll probably tell me to go home, drink lots of fluids and rest. All of which I do when I'm not in the bullpen."

"Well promise me if you get any worse you'll make an appointment, you've pushed yourself when ill before and you almost ended up in hospital because you were so dehydrated."

"I promise," Kate vowed as she scanned the contents of the folder in her hands. "I hate doing notifications. Especially when they're young and just starting out in life, it reminds me of me when Raglan came to me and Dad and told us about Mom. I was the same age as Caroline, y'know?"

"D'you want me to do it?" Rick asked as the doors to the elevator scraped open.

"Hmm maybe," Kate mused. "Let's see how I feel once we get to the next of kin's place. All I want to do right now is kneel on a bathroom floor and pray to the porcelain god."

"I want you to go home and rest, but I know if I press the issue you'll go in the opposite direction," Rick commented as the elevator began descending to the basement parking garage. "But if you are going to be ill, at least let me hold your hair back and pat your shoulder, alright?"

The faint ghost of a smile appeared on Kate's lips and she affectionately elbowed her husband. "Thanks," she replied. "That's romantic in a warped kind of way."

"Well, you know me, Tulip. I've always been romantically warped," Rick commented with a chuckle. "C'mon, let's get this notification over and done with and I'll take you out for coffee on the way back to the precinct."

Kate paled. "I don't think it's such a great idea that I eat anything," she informed her partner. "I don't want to risk being sick in the Crown Vic."

"Let me get some barf bags out of the suburban," Rick suggested as they arrived in the parking garage. "My car is here while I'm on call with the field office and there's some in the first aid kit in the trunk."

"If you insist," Kate relented. "I'm not going to convince you I'm not that ill, am I?"

"Nope," Rick replied at once as he strode over to the gleaming black Suburban near Kate's Crown Vic. "And if you do actually barf I'm going to ring Gates and tell her then take you home. We're trying to make a baby, Kate and there's no point in rushing about and tiring yourself unnecessarily. You'll stress more and it'll be even harder to conceive."

"I could be ovulating ten times a minute and it wouldn't matter because we're not actually having sex," Kate pointed out as she watched her partner unlock his car. "My libido evaporated once we came home from Paris, remember? Actually I think the last time we did it was on the plane ride home."

"I think your libido evaporated because you're stressing about not being pregnant already," Rick announced as he rummaged around in the first aid kit. "And I learned stress can prevent a woman conceiving in grade eight sex ed. I think the key is to stop worrying about making the baby and bam sooner or later there will be a bun in the oven."

Kate couldn't help it and snorted in amusement. "You are perpetually optimistic Richard Castle," she proclaimed as he straightened up clutching a pair of barf bags in his hands his baby blue eyes shining brightly. "It's irritating you know."

Rick chuckled as he slammed the trunk shut. "Yeah it is, but you married me so I can't be that irritating," he replied swiftly locking his vehicle and pocketing his keys. "You have to admit that."

"If I admit anything, you'll prance around like a dressage horse for the rest of the day," Kate grumbled, the tiniest of smiles tugging at the corners of her mouth. "C'mon special agent saucy, let's get this notification over and done with."

A short time later the two partners arrived in the middle class suburb of Morningside Heights at an old apartment block in West 113th street parallel to St John the Devine Cathedral something Kate took quite an interest in.

"I was Christened in that church," she informed her partner a she cut the engine.

"Really? Your family's Catholic?" Rick asked in surprise. "I didn't think your folks were that religious."

"They're not, though they did and Dad still does go to Midnight Mass every year," Kate replied. "It was my Grandmother, Mom's Mom who insisted I be Christened. She was very Catholic."

"D'you believe?" Rick inquired in interest.

"Yes, but I don't go to Church," Kate replied as they got out of the Crown Vic. "If I have any children I'd prefer them just having a naming ceremony with friends and family or be blessed by the NYPD Chaplain. Karpowski and her husband got their twin girls christened by him."

"I'll keep that-" Rick started.

"Aye lady, you can't park there!" a voice called from behind them. "It's for emergency services vehicles only!'

Kate turned around to see a middle aged woman dressed in the distinctive khaki and black uniform of the city's parking inspectors. "Actually, yeah I can," Kate replied in annoyance as she flashed her badge. "Detective Kate Castle NYPD."

"Rick Rodgers Special Agent FBI," Rick added showing the over zealous woman his badge and ID.

"We've actually on official NYPD business, so if you could let us-" Kate continued.

"Just wait a cotton pickin' minute!" the woman interrupted. "That's not a cop car, where are the sirens and lights?"

Kate rolled her eyes in an overly theatrical manner and with a loud huff strode back over to the Crown Vic and opened the driver's side door. She then reached into the middle of the car and flicked a switch on the centre console. Immediately lights on the dashboard and back windscreen lit up and an ear piercing wail began sounding. She let the lights and siren go on for nearly a minute til the parking inspector clapped her hands over her ears and shouted for the female detective to stop.

"ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT!" she yelled.

Kate turned off the siren and light and locked the car before straightening up and fixing the annoyed parking inspector with a hard stare. "Can we go now?" she asked peevishly. "Not all cop cars have the NYPD livery on them. I work at the twelfth precinct homicide department. My boss is Captain Victoria Gates who will be more than happy to confirm my and my partner's identity and credentials when you ring her on this number."

Kate yanked her business card from within her pocket and dropped it on the woman's clipboard. "And if you're lucky she won't bust you for impeding a homicide investigation," she continued. "Now...as I was saying, my partner and I are actually here on official NYPD business, we're about to inform a mother that her daughter was murdered-so why don't you toddle off and continue being a wannabe cop, start by ticketing that Jeep Cherokee over there. It's parked in a loading zone."

And with a hair swish that belonged in an L'Oreal commercial, Kate turned around and strode off towards the entrance to number 407. Rick stood stunned for a minute at Kate's sudden foul mood and torn between lauding his wife for telling the parking inspector off and asking her if she was alright, he turned and quickly caught up with her.

"Alright, what was that all about?" he inquired.

"I just hate parking inspectors, they're all wannabe cops," Kate supplied as they strode through the lobby heading toward the elevator at the back. "And I haven't got the patience to deal with any half wits today. I just want to find the son of a bitch who killed Caroline and put him away. And people like that woman just grate on me. If we go out there after this notification and find a clamp on the wheel or a ticket under the wipers-I'm going to track down that woman and shove them up her-"

"Ah, how about we do the notification first?" Rick suggested, cutting his partner off mid-rant. "Then we can decide what to shove up where."

"You can do the notification, you've done the majority of the legwork on this case," Kate informed him, suddenly shoving the folder she was carrying into her partner's chest.

"You sure?" Rick asked as he pressed the button to call the elevator. "I mean, I know I'm an SA and all but when I go out on the field with you, I'm just a paid consultant of the NYPD."

"There's no regulation saying that only a sworn officer can do notifications," Kate replied mildly as the elevator arrived with a metallic crunch. "And if there is-I'm prepared to catch any hell, alright? I just don't feel like doing much of anything today."

"Okay then."

The two partners travelled their way up to the sixth floor and wandered up the long hallway til they came to apartment sixty-three, Rick cast his eyes at his partner, flashing her one of his trademark winning smiles before lifting a fist and knocking firmly on the door.

Moments later footsteps could be heard from the other side of the door and there was a click of a lock before it opened a crack, a chain separating the middle aged woman who answered on the inside and the two officers of the law on the outside.

"Can I help you?" she inquired curiously.

"Excuse me ma'am, would you be Diana Pilkington?" Rick asked.

"Yessss," the woman replied uncertainly. "You are?"

"Rick Rodgers, I'm a special agent from the FBI," Rick replied showing the woman his identification. "And this is my partner Detective Kate Castle from the NYPD, could we please have a word?"

Diana's face paled immediately. "Shit, it's about Caroline. Isn't it?" she said, not really asking a question.

"Ma'am, it would be more appropriate to converse inside the apartment," Kate informed the woman gravely. "May we..."

"Of course of course! Just a tick."

Diana closed the door then slid the chain across and yanked the door open. "Come in, come in, come in!" she urged the pair. "Tell me what's happened? Have you found Carol-"

"Ma'am, perhaps we should take a seat in the living room," Rick suggested firmly, keen to get the woman in a sitting position before she inevitably broke from the news he was about to give her.

Diana veritably ran to the small living area and dropped into the nearest seat, Kate and Rick took a seat next to each other on the sofa preparing themselves to break the tragic news.

"Please don't beat about the bush," Diana pleased as she twiddled her fingers agitatedly. "Is Caroline dead?"

"It is my unfortunate duty to inform you ma'am that yes-Caroline is dead," Rick replied cheerlessly. "It appears she is a victim of a homicide."

Diana let out a cry of devastated grief. "Nooooooooooo!" she wailed, her eyes filling with tears and her whole body crumpling in defeat. "NONONONONONONONONONOOO!"

"Ma'am, Diana-is there anyone we can call to come and be with you?" Kate asked after several long moments of allowing the woman to purge her grief. "Your husband...other children perhaps?"

"M-m-m'husb'nd," Diana croaked. "Ed-die, he works at the New Y-york T-times, he's-he's a g-graphic-art-tist."

"Would you like me to call him, ma'am?" Kate asked kindly. "Or would you prefer to do it yourself?"

"N'n-o I h-have t-to d-do it m-myself," Diana replied as she took a cotton handkerchief from her pocket and blew her nose. "How did it h-happen?"

"How-" Rick began.

"How did she die?" Diana asked, looking the special agent directly in the eyes

Rick took a deep breath before replying. "The medical examiner that worked the case ascertained she was a victim-...a victim of a ligature strangulation, ma'am. I'm so terribly sorry," he answered reluctantly as the woman let out another strangled cry of grief. "It seems she had been deceased for some time when her body was discovered."

"Oh my god, my baby girl!" Diana cried. "My baby girl!"

Inwardly Rick felt his heart break as he watched the woman before him break down upon taking in the information he was giving her. He knew if the shoe was on the other foot and Alexis had been the victim, he would be reacting in the exact same manner.

"Would you like Detective Castle and I to stay with you while you contact you husband, Diana?" He asked kindly. "There's some procedural stuff we can go through you or wait til your husband arrives home."

"P-please stay," Diana requested her voice barely louder than a whisper. "I n-need someone here."

"Would you like me to make you a cup of tea, Diana?" Kate asked kindly. "It's no trouble."

"Th-thanks Detective th-at w-would be l-lovely," Diana replied in a choked voice. "Tea and coffee is on the bench by the kettle. Excuse me; my cell is in the bedroom."

Diana got up and fled to a nearby bedroom and Rick flopped back in the sofa.

"I hate this part of the job," he said in a low voice as Kate got to her feet. "Actually delivering the news and watching as someone delivers the news are worlds apart. I'd feel the same if it were Alexis you know."

"I know you would," Kate answered, touching his shoulder softly as she made her way into the compact little kitchen. "Your compassion makes you good at what you do, Rick."

"I usually say the same to you," Rick replied with faint amusement watching Kate as she deftly lit the stove and put the kettle upon the flame. "I haven't done this in a while. Last time was just before the wedding."

"We can divide up the notifications from now on if you like."

"Hmm maybe."

A few minutes later Diana emerged from her bedroom, her makeup blotchy and red and streaked with makeup. Kate brought a teapot, mugs, sugar and some biscuits she's found in the pantry over on a plastic tray and settled them on the coffee table while Diana sat down and tried to calm herself by steadily breathing.

"W-when was Caroline found?" she asked in a miniscule voice.

"Six weeks ago, ma'am, but it wasn't until this morning when I was able to determine her identity," Rick replied as Kate poured the older woman a mug of steaming tea. "It appears there was a delay in lodging the missing persons report yourself and Mr Patte-"

"Niall Patterson, he's Carolin-was Caroline's fiancé." Diana choked out

"Yes, well as I was saying there appears to be an undetermined delay in the missing person's report going on the database til yesterday," Rick continued as the mother lifted the mug Kate gave her to her lips with shaking hands. "Detective Castle's team are currently trying to discover why it took so long in the report being lodged so late."

"Are you from the seventeenth precinct?" Diana asked Kate.

"No ma'am, Agent Rodgers and the rest of my team work out of the twelfth precinct," Kate replied. "The other side of town, Caroline's missing person's report came up on the state wide database that the FBI and NYPD both have access to."

"Why did it take so long for the report to go through?" Diana wailed. "Niall and I reported her missing two months ago!"

"We're still trying to work that out, ma'am," Rick replied. "Detectives back at the twelfth are working right now to find out why it took so long to hit the database, but there are official avenues to go through seeing as you lodged this report at a different precinct."

"I understand."

"Would we be able to contact Niall, Diana?" Kate enquired in a soft, sympathetic tone. "As her fiancé, he needs to know too."

"He's back home in Australia," Diana replied. "He's from Melbourne, he's been ringing every two days to see of there's any update. He was organising to make the final move here. He's just been granted a long term working Visa, you see."

"Would you like us to ring him or would you prefer to do it yourself?" Kate asked. "We don't mind making the call, anything to lessen your grief."

"Thanks Detective, but I think it's best if Eddie and I make all the calls," Diana replied with a watery cough. "I have to call my girls and son. Eddie will call his boys and daughter, here's so many people who need to know."

"Well, if there's anything we can do please-don't hesitate to give us a call, either of us," Rick informed the grieving woman as he slid his business card across the coffee table. "We'll work as hard as we can to bring the person responsible to justice."

"Thank you."

Not even half an hour later there was a flurry if panicked knocks at the door to the apartment. A key was inserted into the lock and the door was forced open instantly snapping the slide chain. Instinctively Kate and Rick reached for their firearms and had them half out of their holsters before Diana leapt to her feet and raced over to the door as a man in his late forties stumbled into the room his face the pure picture of alarm.

"Diney?" he called. "Diney?"

Diana wrapped her arms around her husband and held him fast. "They found Caro, Eddie," she whispered. "They found Caro."

"You're the police?" Eddie enquired once he and his wife parted.

"Rick Rodgers, FBI and my partner Detective Kate Castle, NYPD," Rick spoke introducing himself and Kate. "We're working Caroline's case, Sir."

"She's dead?"

"Yes Sir, unfortunately she is," Rick replied gravely as Diana once again broke down in tears "we found her six weeks ago."

"Six weeks ago?" Eddie exclaimed angrily. "What the hell took you so long to come and tell us? Jesus fucking Christ!"

"Eddie please...." Diana pleaded.

"It appears the officer to whom Mrs Pilkington and Mr Patterson reported Caroline missing didn't immediately lodge the paperwork and as a result-her case didn't come up on the missing person's database til last week," Rick divulged. "And then it took the efforts of myself, Detective Castle and two of her colleagues at the twelfth precinct to confirm her identity. We had to trawl through thousands of profiles and compare fingerprints to confirm Caroline's identity-all while working other cases. I do apologise profusely for the delay, Sir, but we were trying our best with the resources we had."

"So why the hell is the FBI involved?" Eddie questioned rudely. "Was it a mob hit?"

"Oh Eddie PLEASE!" Diana exclaimed.

"Sir, I work as a consultant to the NYPD within the twelfth precinct homicide department when I'm not at the Manhattan field office," Rick replied patiently. "Caroline's case was simply one of the cases Detective Castle asked me to assist her and her colleagues in."

"Agent Rodgers help has been invaluable during the investigation so far," Kate piped up at the still angry man before them. "With his help I'm sure we'll apprehend the perpetrator sooner than later."

"Yes, well I apologise for my outburst," Eddie replied sheepishly. "It's just been a hard time I'm sure you understand."

"Yes, Sir, we do," Kate replied. "Now I don't know, this probably isn't something either of you want to do but despite Caroline being identified through her fingerprints and dental records we need someone to come to the coroner's office and identify the body. Would either you or Diana be willing to do that?"


"God, I'm glad that's over, that notification particularly sucked," Rick announced once he and Kate were downstairs and out on the sidewalk and heading back to the Crown Vic. "I'd hate to have to do the notification for a kid."

"Oh, you don't ever want to do that," Kate replied weakly, leaning against her car, her slender face a definite shade of pale. "I've only ever done the notification for a juvenile once and I never ever want to, oh God, I'm gonna UGHHHHHHHH..."

And with that the female detective whipped around bent over and vomited spectacularly over the driver's side door, Rick dropped the folder he was carrying in alarm and hurriedly grabbed his wife's hair as she expelled the contents of her stomach into the gutter.

"Shit, that came on quick!" he exclaimed as Kate let out a truly disgusting choking noise. "That's it, I know it's gross but you'll feel better afterwards."

Eventually there was nothing more to bring up and Kate stood up her mascara running down her cheeks and the faint peach lipstick she had been wearing gone.

"I-don't-feel-well..." she croaked.

"Right, I'm taking you home," Rick announced as he took the keys from Kate and unlocked the trunk to retrieve the bottle of water that was kept there for emergencies. "Damn the precinct, the case can wait."

"Oh no Rick, pleaaase-" Kate began.

"No, you're going home to bed," the Special Agent decided as he poured the water over the side of the door to wash it clean. "If you start disappearing into the bathroom at the precinct, Gates is going to get suspicious and send you home. And you know what Ryan and Esposito are like if they see you being sick, they'll tell Gates and then she'll get pissy at you for not going to her and requesting the day off."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Al-right," she conceded. "oh gross, my mouth feels furry."

"When we get home have a hot shower then brush your teeth," Rick instructed, pouring the rest of the water into the gutter and picking up the dropped folder. "And I'm going to go and buy you another pregnancy test. If you're not pregnant, I'm the Queen of England."

"Rick, I'm not pregnant that pee stick test said I wasn't!" Kate exclaimed as Rick steered her to the passenger side of the car.

"Those things aren't a hundred percent accurate, Kate."

"It said ninety eight percent accuracy. Two percent is microscopic," Kate pointed out as she slid into the car. "I'm due a period, I'll wait for that to happen then I'll know for sure. No point in going to the doctor's or taking another test."

"When are you due?" Rick asked.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure because my cycles have been mucked up since I was a teenager but my boobs are sore and that only ever happens when I'm due a period." Kate revealed. "Don't buy another test, Rick. I know my body; I know I'm not pregnant."

"Well-al-lright," he conceded. "You know how you're feeling physically better than anyone but you're still not going to convince me you're not pregnant. Meredith used to vomit without warning and at random before we knew Alexis was on her way. You sure you don't want to go to the doctors? Maybe they can give you some pills to stop you barfing up."

"No, I'll be fine. I've gotten rid of whatever was making me sick," Kate replied as she wiped the mascara tracks from her eyes. "I already feel better."

"I'm still taking you home and putting you to bed," Rick decided walking to the other side of the Crown Vic and dropping into the driver's seat.

"Rick I am not a five year old!"

"I know, but you are not well," Rick replied starting the car. "If you're feeling better in the morning, then I'll let you go to the precinct but if not I am going to take some time off and stay with you at the loft."

Kate rolled her eyes, the very hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "You're irritating," she proclaimed in amusement. "Alright, I'll let you take me home but I am going in tomorrow morning."

"We'll discuss that in the morning," Rick replied as he put his phone in the phone jack and dialled the bullpen.

"Gates."

"Sir, its Castle, just thought I'd ring and let you know Kate's ill and I'm taking her home to the loft," Rick said as he reversed he car and turned out of the space. "When she's settled, I'll bring the Crown Vic back to the precinct."

"Alright, thank you for letting me know," Gates replied. "Are you alright, Kate?"

"I'm fine, Castle's just being irritatingly cautious," Kate replied dryly as her husband turned the car in the direction of TriBeCa.

"She vomited all over the side of the Crown Vic," Rick piped up pointedly.

"She didn't need to know that!" Kate yelped.

"Yes, she did," Gates replied firmly. "Castle take the rest of the day off and you're off 'on call' duties tomorrow night. Swap with Eggerstrom and Stegner. That's an order okay?"

"Yes Sir," Kate grumbled, shooting Rick the deepest of death glares. "See you tomorrow morning."

"Take care."

The line disconnected.

"Did you really have to tell her I barfed?" Kate asked in annoyance. "I could've gotten away with-"

"No, you wouldn't have," Rick replied cutting his wife off mid rant. "Because if you hadn't told her you were feeling unwell, I would've. And don't give me that look, Kate. I may be doing this primarily because I'm your husband and I love you but I'm also doing this because I'm your work partner and work partner's don't let the other work when they're under the weather. If I were ill, you'd tell Gates and you'd probably ring Brian at the field office."

Kate scowled.


The two partners' rode in silence back to the loft and didn't speak til they reached the top floor where the loft was situated.

"I'm annoyed at you," Kate announced as she strode across the floor of their home. "I am quite capable of going back to work. I'm nauseous not shot."

Rick's face fell. "Not funny," he murmured. "Not funny at all Kate."

"I know, I apologise I shouldn't have said that," Kate replied guiltily as she entered their bedroom. "I appreciate you doing this I just-"

"Don't like going home when an investigation is just starting I know," Rick replied softly. "Just do this for me now and we'll go into the precinct tomorrow, okay? It's only half a day."

Kate smiled and leaned into the kiss he pressed to her forehead. "Alright, I'll do this," she agreed.

Rick stayed til Kate had a hot shower and was tucked into their bed, clad in a pair of cheekies and one of his shirts.

"Alright, I better head back to the precinct to drop off the Crown Vic," he informed her leaning down and capturing her lips with his. "I'll let Gates and the boys know what we got done today, then I'll come right back and if you're feeling up to it I might bring home some curry from the Bangkok Grill, something with extra ginger in it to settle your stomach."

Kate smiled. "You're sweet," she said.

"I love you, Tulip."

"Love you too, Rick."


A/N2: My laptop is in hospital again so the next chapter might be a while in coming. I'll write in the meantime but getting access to the net is going to be limited.

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