A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and/or added this story in the past few chapters, even if the number of people reviewing have been going down each chapter. I'm really happy so many people are reading this though, so thank you to everyone who is taking the time to read this, because even that means a big deal to me, I was worried that no one would read it. Ah the joys of being a first time fanfiction writer. The maths in this chapter in regards to everyone's ages works assuming the story is set in 2012, Kate was still born in 1979 and had Jack in 2001 and Rick was still born in 1969 and had Alexis in 2000, so he had her when he was a bit older just to keep her at the age I have her in my story. I have no idea how old you have to be to apply to the police academy in America, but suspend your disbelief please. Otherwise, it works. I think. Please tell me what you think of it, I'm rather insecure about my writing, bbut even just having people read it makes me do little happy dances every now and then. And now this absurdly long A/N will come to an end. Cookies for anyone who actually reads all 227 words of it.

Disclaimer: I can't be bothered writing this every chapter so I decided to buy Castle. Wait. No I didn't I have no money. It's not mine. :(

The next few days passed without incident and the five of them ended up with a routine; Alexis and Jack went to school, Martha occasionally left to do auditions but would spend most of the time talking to Kate, Kate would spend a lot of time sleeping or sitting on the couch talking to Martha, and Rick would made sure neither of the women needed anything, then he would retreat to his study to write just enough to keep Gina off his back for a while longer.

After a while, however, Kate got tired of not being able to do much and started browsing Rick's bookshelves to try and find something interesting to keep her occupied not she was sleeping less. She was getting bored and was sick of her inability to do much with her right hand as well as the aches caused by her cracked ribs. She'd also found as she started to decrease the strength of the painkillers she had been taking and the lack of anaesthetic, that she had begun to have nightmares about a faceless man attacking her. It was frustrating her not being able to remember exactly the events that had occurred on Saturday.

On Friday afternoon, when Kate had just finished 'A Rose for Everafter' for about the fifth time, Martha sat down next to her and gave her a warm smile before speaking; "You know, when Rick first mentioned you I judged you quite harshly. I wondered how a mother could go out every day, leaving her child at home or at school, knowing she may not return home that evening, speaking as a single mother myself, I just don't understand it," Kate opened her mouth to speak but was halted by Martha's raised hand. "Now that I've met you my opinion of you has definitely changed, you love your son, anyone can see that, and judging by the hell of a fight you must have put up you will do everything in your power to make sure you return to him at the end of the day. I still don't understand though, why do you do such a dangerous job? There must have been plenty of other paths you could have chosen and you must have either been pregnant or have had Jack by the time you decided to become a cop. I don't mean to be nosy, and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I was just wondering why become a cop?"

Kate blinked, processing Martha's small speech before giving her a sad smile. "I had Jack when I was 21, and by then I was a cop, I couldn't really see any other option at that point and everyone was really supportive off me so I stayed. What's the reason I became a cop? Well, I don't tell many people this; when I was 19 my mom was killed, murdered, and they never found her killer, the detective in charge just attributed it to gang violence, boxed it up nicely and then forgot about it, leaving it unsolved. I decided that I was going to become a detective to make sure that it would never happen to other people, that someone would keep pushing until there were answers, so I signed up to the police academy as soon as I could.

"I'd just graduated when I found out I was pregnant, and Captain Montgomery was really supportive, so was everyone else. I didn't want to give up the one chance I had of actually finding out what happened to my mother, but after Jack was born my priorities changed somewhat. I worked as hard as I could to climb the ranks quickly. I ended up working in vice for a while as a fast track to detective, I'd get my dad to look after Jack if I had to do all-nighters or stake outs.

"When I got to Detective, life got a bit easier; I actually got to keep most of my days off and could cut out early if I only had paperwork to do. Everyone at the twelfth precinct is a huge family, and they were more than happy to include Jack in that. Lots of the detectives and uniforms I work with have kids, granted, most of them are married so it does make life a little easier but they were more than happy to give me advice as well as second hand gear that I needed when Jack was younger. It was difficult paying for everything on a cop's salary," she smiled. "But it was worth it; now Jack has an entire precinct of cops watching out for him."

Martha nodded. "And Jack's father?"

"He's not around anymore, he probably doesn't even know he exists," Kate said abruptly, and Martha knew she had pushed too far as Kate's eyes turned cold.

Kate picked at a loose thread in her pants and rolled her shoulder in the sling, testing its strength as an awkward silence descended. She really hated it when conversation turned to Jack's father, but it was inevitable, every time they met someone new they'd want to know the story; bad divorce, tragic love story, one night stand. They always wanted to know all the sordid details; details Kate never wanted to have to dredge up again.

A knock at the door provided a welcome escape from the awkwardness. Martha went to get the door and when she returned Kate could see Ryan and Esposito behind her.

"Hey guys, what're you doin here?" Kate grinned at her friends.

"Well we did come to see you earlier on in the week but you were asleep and we didn't want to wake you. We just thought we should update you on what's happening at the precinct," Ryan said returning her smile.

"So it turns out, our boy Harrison was mad that his girlfriend dumped him last month and decided that the world would be better off without successful blond women," Esposito said tossing the case file on the seat next to Kate.

"Do you have a new case yet?" She asked as she flipped through the case file.

"Nah, just catching up on paperwork, most of it is yours by the way. How come you have so much paperwork to complete?"

"I'm just lucky I guess. So Harrison didn't confess then?" She asked having finished reading the report.

"Nope, I guess he figured that even though we'd caught him trying to kill you that we wouldn't have enough to charge him or something. He just stayed silent in the interrogation room but we managed to track down his ex-girlfriend and she told us he was violent and abusive, and when she managed to escape he threatened to kill her and every other 'uptight bitch in this city' and we managed to get a DNA from him and it matched that left as some of the crime scenes, and the witness statements were enough to tie him to the other crimes. We pretty much have an airtight case against him, so he should get life when it goes to trial," Ryan filled Kate in on all the details she had missed.

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate you coming over and keeping me in the loop. It's awful not being able to see this case all the way through," she was interrupted by both Ryan and Esposito's phones going off.

"Looks like we just got a new case," Ryan raised his eyebrows. "Tell Jack we say hi, we'll let you know what's going on when we find out more details." They waved and Martha let them out.

Rick then entered the Kitchen from his study and brought Kate's antibiotics and painkillers to her along with a glass of water. She took the antibiotics without protest but didn't reach for the painkiller.

"Kate, you need to take the painkillers too," Rick tried to convince her.

"I'm fine, I don't need them," she shook her head at him, not wanting to take them as she hated the way they made her feel sluggish and dulled her reflexes.

"Does your shoulder and ribs still hurt?" He took her stubborn silence as a yes and thrust the meds in her direction. "Then take them, there's no point in you being in pain if you don't have to be."

"It doesn't hurt that much Castle. Like I said, I'm fine. I'm tired, so I'm gonna go and lie down for a while. Can you please let me know when Jack gets home," and with that Kate retreated to her room.

She sighed and began to undress; slipping off her track pants and the button-up shirt she had been wearing. She glanced at the oversized shirt she had been using as nightgown but figured that she wasn't planning on going to sleep, and couldn't be bothered trying to get it on and done up and she didn't really want to call on Martha to help her, so she just slipped under the covers in her underwear. About half an hour later, much to her disappointment, her eyes started slipping closed without her permission and soon enough she had fallen asleep.

...

Rick stared after Kate as she left, wondering why it was so hard to get her to accept his help and take the painkillers. It wasn't that much of a big deal and if it would make her life easier, then why was she fighting him at every turn? His mother returned to the room and, looking around turned to him.

"Where did Kate go?"

"She was tired and went to lie down," he sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. "I just don't understand why she won't let me help her. She won't even take the painkillers anymore."

"Richard, she's a single mother, and a detective, she's used to being extremely independent. I really don't think that she lets even her closest friends look after her much, and you've known her for less than a week. It's not surprising she keeps shutting you out, and rejecting the painkillers is one way she can stay in control. Don't push her and just be there if she wants someone to talk to, that's all you can do. Trust me; don't go trying to fix everything unless she asks you to. Anyway, how's your writing going?"

"Good actually, I think I'm almost finished the next book. I just need to write a few more chapters and I think I'll be done. Well, there'll still be some things that will need fixing or changing, but mostly done. In fact I think I'll work on that now, the sooner I can get it finished, the sooner Gina will be off my back for more chapters," he headed back to his study, checking on Kate on his way passed. He smiled softly when he saw that she was already asleep and had curled herself into a loose ball in the centre of his king sized bed. She looked just like a small child in her parents' bed.

He must have lost track of time while writing, because when a noise interrupted him and he checked the clock it was almost time for Alexis and Jack to get home. He figured he may as well wake Kate up now so she could have a shower and get dressed before the kids showed up. He heard the noise again, it sounded like a whimper, and it was coming from Kate's room.

When he entered her room it became apparent that she was having a nightmare, she was tossing and turning, trying to escape an invisible assailant. She whimpered again and Rick could see tears trailing their way down her face. She buried herself deeper into the bed, hiding her face in the pillow. He reached for her, hoping to shake her awake, but as soon as his hand made contact with the skin of her arm, her right arm swung at him and she cried out in pain, sitting bolt upright in the bed. He then noticed that she was wearing nothing but her bra and panties, and he felt his body react to the expanse of creamy white skin that was visible, but then mentally scolded himself; now was not the time for thoughts like that.

He reached for her again, now that she was awake, hoping to be able to give some comfort, but was soon as his hand entered her line of sight, she flinched back form him. He tried not to be hurt by this, but it must have shown on his face regardless, because her expression immediately turned apologetic.

She was using her left hand to support and massage her right shoulder and Rick realised that she must have hurt it when she swung at him.

"I'll get you some painkillers, okay?" She just nodded, probably grateful to have him out of the room for a while although she hadn't seemed to notice that she was only in her underwear with Rick in the room.

When he returned, Kate had cleaned up her face and had managed to slip on an oversized top over her underwear and was attempting to button it up one handed. She blushed when she noticed him, but he just made sure his eyes never left her face and handed her the glass of water and two of the codeine tablets before leaving again.

He searched the house for his mother and sent her in to check on Kate, hoping that Kate would be less embarrassed with the older woman in the room than Rick and then made a mental note to offer Kate a massage at some point, after all, it was sort of his fault she had hurt her shoulder again.

About ten minutes after Alexis and Jack retuned from school Martha and Kate reappeared. Kate looked a lot better in Rick's opinion and she had her arm in a sling.

She gave Rick an apologetic smile. "Sorry about before. I guess now we know why the surgeon told me to sleep in the arm brace."

Rick waved her apology off but before he could speak Alexis and Jack cane down the stairs. Kate gave Jack a hug and started questioning him about his day, and Rick did the same with Alexis before going to fix them a snack. Alexis trailed into the kitchen after him.

"Me and Jack were wondering if we could go and see a movie tonight. You and Detective Beckett can come too if you'd like. I think Grams wants to go out with some friends from the theatre."

"You'll have to ask Kate, but it's fine with me. What movie?"

"Were thinking the Muppets, it looks really cool."

"I'm so coming then, I love the Muppets!"

"Why are we talking about the Muppets?" Kate asked as she and Jack walked into the kitchen.

"Because we're going to go see it!" Rick crowed triumphantly as Kate and Jack both raised an eyebrow in freakish symmetry.

Kate turned to Alexis. "Want to explain what your dad is trying to say?" She asked jokingly.

"Well, me and Jack want to go see the Muppet, so I asked dad and now he wants to come too. You are invited too Detective Beckett, if you wanna come you can."

"That sounds great," Kate grinned, happy to get out of Castle's apartment. "When are we going?"

"We've checked the times, and it's showing at 6.30 tonight, we figured we could get dinner somewhere afterwards or something," Alexis shrugged. "We didn't really think that far ahead to be honest."

By 8.25 the movie was finished and Rick was looking for somewhere to eat that was not too fancy but not too 'McDonald's-y' either. In the end, after an our or so of wandering around trying to find somewhere that appealed to everyone Kate mentioned that she was feeling rather tired, and Rick thought that maybe she was just trying to save him from finding a place to eat, but looking over at her she did look rather tired and somewhat more pale than usual.

They all headed home in a cab that Rich was lucky enough to hail for them and when the got back to Rick's apartment, he phoned for some pizzas to be delivered while Kate rested on the couch and Alexis and Jack discussed video games.

Alexis and Jack decided on playing guitar hero and Rick joined in after giving Kate some more pain meds while waiting for the pizza to arrive. When the doorbell went signalling the pizza had arrived he brought it into the living room along with napkins only to find Kate fast asleep, and Jack and Alexis sprawled on the remaining seats looking tired as well.

"Do you guys actually want food or do you just want to go to bed?" Rick asked quietly, mindful not to wake Kate up.

Alexis mumbled something unintelligible and then shuffled up to bed, followed closely by Jack. Rick shrugged and put the pizza in the fridge, they could eat it for lunch tomorrow, and after all, pizza was best cold anyway. He wasn't worried about any of them being overly hungry; the amount of popcorn and lollies they had consumed during the movie was enough to keep them full for weeks.

He looked at Kate, debating whether or not to try and move her to her bed, she wouldn't be that hard to carry, from what he had seen earlier today she was very skinny, almost unhealthily so, that was one of the reasons he had bought so much junk food at the cinema, not that she had eaten much of it but it was the thought that counts. He decided against moving her, she looked comfortable enough and he was worried that he would wake her up while moving her and she wasn't getting enough sleep as it was. He was also afraid she would try and hit him again and injure herself further so he just got a blanket from the linen closet and covered her with it. Even tough he knew it was somewhat creepy and odd, he just felt like watching her, observing her as she slept, not stalkerish at all, he told himself. Before he could slip up to the spare room, he ended up falling asleep in the recliner he had been sitting in.