A/N- Thanks to all my cheerleaders on twitter. I was a bit discouraged and had an awful case of writer's block so all the encouragement was much appreciated! Thanks to all that have reviewed/followed/favorited. You make my day, seriously. There is a switch is POV for one scene in this chapter. Hope it's not confusing. Special thanks to Joanna and Janna for your help. :)

Disclaimer- Castle is awesome and I do not own any of it

If You Want the Happy Ending

"Well maybe it is a sign. A sign that ours is a great love story. Cause what's a great love story without obstacles to overcome? Every fairy tale has them. Terrible trials that only the worthy can transcend but you can't give up. That's the deal. We want the happy ending, we can't give up. " - Castle

Chapter 10

The precinct was particularly busy for a Wednesday afternoon. Beckett was originally scheduled to be off today, but wanted to get a head start on any miscellaneous items before diving back in completely tomorrow. She stepped off the elevator still bubbly from the news since her appointment yesterday. They were going to have a little girl and the news still hadn't fully absorbed into her psyche. After they found out the results, they made a beeline for the loft where little clothes or words were needed for the remainder of the day. The hours were vanished as they lost themselves in each other. Not that she was complaining; their honeymoon had amplified the spark for each other. She was constantly buzzing with need to be near him, so it was an uneasy feeling that he was not at her side now. He had a conference call with Gina and some other Black Pawn executives. It was a perfect time for Kate to make herself scarce and avoid the ugly side of Castle's job.

"Yo Beckett, what are you doing here?" Esposito called out at her, as she headed to her desk.

"Yeah, I thought you weren't supposed to be back officially until tomorrow." Ryan chimed in as the pair walked over to where she was standing.

"Well I wasn't. But I didn't want to hang out at the loft while Castle talked to Gina." Her capacity for understanding after his kidnapping had expired and she wanted a new manuscript practically yesterday. "So as much fun as staying around for that call would be, I decided to get a jumpstart on things."

"You just missed us. It's okay. You can admit it…" Her partners laughed at Esposito's joke, but then Ryan shot him a look that didn't go unnoticed.

"What is it guys?" Hesitation washed across their features, but eventually Ryan spoke up.

"We found something a couple of days ago while you were still gone. And it could be nothing—could be—"

"Spit it out, Ryan."

"We were pulling traffic cam footage for our case and we came across a familiar face—" He slightly winced, jogged to his desk and back, to hand her the picture from the case file. A quick glance at the image and Kate knew immediately.

"I wasn't seeing things…" She whispered to herself as she analyzed the picture in her hands.

"Huh?" Esposito looked over at her with a concerned expression.

"Yesterday at my appointment—I swore I saw her watching me and Castle. But she's supposed to be dead. Tyson told me—or was it his double. Damn it!" She felt so stupid. They never had a body, never had any proof to what, Tyson or whoever, had told Beckett while they were being held. But they had no reason to not believe it was true. He was insane so it was completely feasible that he would've killed her and the body would never be found. The other victims that Tyson mentioned having killed—they never found those bodies either. Hell, maybe there weren't even any other victims. She took a deep breath to compose herself and then turned to look at her partners. "Okay—so Nieman's back. What else do you know?"

The conversation was brutal. How in the world was he ever married to that woman? All she seemed to care about was her paycheck and when her golden boy would produce his next bestseller. She even used the words 'If we release it soon enough, the media attention from your kidnapping may help sales'. Ridiculous. He tried to explain to everyone involved with the call that it had been a rough couple months, but the general consensus was he had enough time. Black Pawn paid him his advance for this next book and if he didn't start producing chapters—well then they'd have to reassess his value with the publishing house. To be honest, he was far more interested in other aspects of his life right now. Writing had taken a slight back burner. Maybe Gina was slightly justified in her irritation, not that he would ever admit that to anyone.

Kate had been at the precinct for a couple hours and he hadn't heard from her yet. Hopefully she didn't catch a case while he was on the call because he had been itching to get back to it. And as selfish as it sounded, he didn't want her to work on her first case back, without him by her side. He loved being her partner in life and at work. Plus working on theory with Beckett would definitely help his writer's block problem, which in turn would help his publisher problem.

His focus was solely on Kate and their baby. All that he cared about was taking care of his family and protecting them. Kate suggested that he should go back and talk to Dr. Burke after the latest confrontation with Tyson, but he declined. There was no need.

While he wasn't naïve to think that Kate's profession or their past couldn't potentially lead to future danger; Tyson was different. The vendetta that 3XK had for them was all because Castle couldn't stop him. Castle ruined his plan which in turned caused Tyson to then basically make it his life's mission to ruin his life. Now that was in the past; the vendetta that he was responsible for was extinguished and he could rest easier.

His cell phone rang in the background to snap him out of his internal ramblings. Looking at his watch, he noticed that it was past five. Beckett was probably calling to tell him she was leaving the precinct soon. After everything they had been through recently, they formed the habit of checking in with one another far more often. Smiling to himself, he reached down to answer his phone without looking at the screen.

"Castle."

"Mr. Castle." Confusion flooded his system. He lifted his phone for a second to check the caller ID and now noticed that it was from a blocked number.

"Yes, this is he. I'm sorry, but who is this?"

"Let's just say. I'm an old friend. Hurts a bit that you don't remember me; after all you did to my partner…"

"Your partner?"

"Yes, my partner Mr. Castle. How would you feel if you lost your partner? Would you do anything in your power to make those responsible pay for their actions?"

"That sounds very close to a threat and frankly I still have no clue who this is…" Anger rose within his body toward the voice on the other end. He was not in the mood to deal with anonymous threats.

"It wasn't that long ago, Mr. Castle. Yet so much has changed. She's your wife now, I see. So close to perfection…" That was when it hit him. Son of a bitch.

"I thought you were dead—"

"Well you both needed to think that one of us was. Made things easier, but now—you forced me to change the plans."

"Plans change when you threaten the people I love." His voice spat with venom. She was not going to get under his skin.

"This isn't a threat Mr. Castle. It's a promise. See you soon."

The call disconnected and the loft became eerily silent. At this point, he was pacing throughout his office and his heart was beating erratically. He would not let that psychopath hurt his family. Things had finally calmed down. Things were finally good. Before panic completely debilitated his body, he took a deep breath and reached for his phone. Kate.

She finally reached the loft after the hellish rush hour traffic. Castle's offer that she should use the car service to and from work was becoming more and more appealing. He was being slightly overprotective of her now that she was pregnant, but after everything they had been through; it was completely justified. Plus now, Kelly Nieman was back.

Yesterday at the swings, after they found out the ultrasound results, she really wanted to tell Castle her suspicion but the moment was wrong. They were so excited about the baby and once back at the loft—there was no longer thinking involved. Still, she should have told him about her fear. And now, it wasn't a worry. They had proof.

Once the elevator doors closed, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

"Beckett."

"Kate, where are you?" His voice rang through her phone. The concern was evident in his voice but she could tell he was trying to hold back his panic.

"I'm almost to the door, Castle. What's wrong?"

"Nieman is alive…"

Kate walked through the front door and found Castle in his office as he took a sip of scotch. Their eyes met and relief appeared to wash through his system. He basically jumped out of his chair and took her into his arms. Releasing the breath she didn't realize she was holding; Kate eased into his protective hold as he kissed the top of her head. Gently squeezing his bicep, she wiggled free a bit to look into his eyes.

"What did she say?"

"She threatened you—us. She didn't say much and the number was blocked." His voice was calm for the moment. Now that she was in his arms, he actually didn't seem as anxious as he did with the ordeal from the last couple months.

"The boys found evidence of her. They let me know today—that's why I was late. We were tracking down her possible movements and where she has been over the last couple days. Especially yesterday…" She paused for a moment, seeing the confusion painted on his face.

"Why yesterday?"

"Yesterday, at my appointment. I thought I saw her in the building before we got on the elevators—"

"What the hell, Kate!" He pulled back from her and stormed back to his drink. "Why would you keep that from me?"

"I wasn't keeping it from you. I thought I was crazy and I tried to tell you—but then the doctor interrupted. And then—well obviously we had happier things to celebrate. I didn't want, what I thought was a hallucination, to ruin our day." She walked over to him, ran her fingers through the hair that flopped onto his forehead, and kissed his mouth.

"You should've told me." He said quietly, almost a whisper onto her lips. His anger at her obviously dissipated before it switched back to concern. "She's unpredictable. I couldn't ever figure her out, but now it just seems like she has revenge on her mind."

"Well she may have been unpredictable before, but now she's just getting sloppy."

"What do you mean?"

"Castle, she stayed under the radar all this time. After she packed up her office, we never caught another trace of her—but now. The pictures that the guys had, she isn't being as careful."

"Well she called me from a blocked number—"

"Yeah, but I bet if we have tech trace it…it may not be secure. We may be able to track it." He nodded in agreement and picked up her hand to intertwine their fingers. Pulling her hand to his mouth, he peppered a soft kiss onto the skin.

"So what else did you find? Any leads?"

"Well actually yes. As I mentioned, I told the boys that I saw her yesterday. And right before I left today—we were able to get a hold of the security footage from my doctor's building." Kate led him by the hand, toward the kitchen. "We found her on tape. But I wanted to leave to get home to you. They're working on tracking her movements in the building and seeing if they can pull any other camera footage from the surrounding area."

"You didn't stay and help?" He had every right to ask. It was the usual way she worked. She never backed down and if she had a trail...she followed it.

"Because you were here and I was there—I wanted to talk to my partner. I told Espo to call me if they had any solid leads, but now, with your call—I'd say we should call them. Maybe go back in to the precinct. But first…"

"But first?"

"Feed your wife. I'm starving!" She smiled at him as she sat on to the bar stool. He ran a hand down her arm and then walked over to the fridge.

"You're okay, right?"

"Yeah—you?" He smiled at her while placing assorted food items out onto the counter.

"Kate, as long as you are okay. I'll always be okay in the end. But can you do me a favor?"

"Hmmm…" She responded, looking up at him through her dark eye lashes.

"Can we please catch the crazy Doc before our daughter arrives? I don't think I can handle any more excitement."

"That's the plan, Babe. Definitely the plan."

TBC

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