A/N: Sorry to have gone so long without an update for you guys. I spent a couple of weeks really pushing at another story that I just wanted to finish and have off my plate, and then ended up writing a prompt that, of course, I just had to add more chapters too. (Seriously, I never learn!) I'm pretty busy with university work, but I will try to keep a steady update going on this story and hopefully get back to doing a chapter a week. Also, because it's been quite a while, I can't remember exactly what I was originally going to have happen in this chapter…

"Happy to call it Tyson's work now?" he asked, staring at the blonde woman lying supine beside the coffee table with her hands folded over her middle.

"Castle," Kate scolded, unappreciative of his tone. "Let's just get the facts first, okay?"

He stared at her for a moment, but she glared right back just as unwilling to back down.

Finally, he gave an almost imperceptible nod of his head and turned back to the body with his hands in his pockets. The boys scrambled to pretend they hadn'e been watching the scene unfold as she whirled around and directed her attention at the Medical Examiner.

"Lanie?"

"Definitely strangulation. I'm not committing to a time of death right now, but it looks like she could have been here a few days with the level of decomposing that's been going on."

Kate nodded. The stiff, rigour mortis was expected with virtually every body they caught, but the woman lying on the carpet before her was in the first stages of bloating, something that was a little more unusual for them.

"Any ID?" she requested, eyes lifting to first Ryan and then Espo.

"Yeah, found her driver's license in her bag on the table. Vic's name is Thea Mathison, 25 years old," Ryan answered, reading allowed through the ziplock bag he'd placed the contents of Thea's purse in. "The neighbours say she was in med school."

"Right, do any of them know anything about her murder?"

"We've asked around but nobody recalls Thea acting differently or hearing anything out of the ordinary recently. The guy in the apartment below found her after taking in some of her mail and trying unsuccessfully to give it to her for three days."

"Could she have been dead that long, Lanie?"

"I already told you I won't be giving you any specifics until I've got her back to the morgue," Lanie admonished. As she spoke, Lanie jotted down her last few observations onto her paperwork and the signalled over to of the CSU techs to help her get the body into a bag and out of the apartment. "I'll call you as soon as I get anything," she told Kate as she passed, squeezing her arm.

"Thanks," Kate replied, attempting a smile for her best friend. It was difficult when she could feel Castle brooding in silence at her side, however. Turning to the boys, she said, "Well, if uniforms are canvassing the neighbours, we might as well head back to the precinct. There's nothing else for us to do here. Ryan, can you pick guys pick up CCTV on the way out?"

"Sure."

Nodding her thanks, Kate turned to Rick and braced herself. His flat face sent a flare of something dark through her, but she pushed it aside and tried to catch his eyes before leading the way to the door. His footsteps were quiet, barely there, as he followed her back to the elevator, the two of them standing in silence.

He opened his mouth when they were finally alone, but she beat him to it, asking, "C-can we just not do this now?"

"When then?"

"Later," she requested. "When I get home this evening. I just- I just need to be able to do my job today, Castle, and I can't do that if you're going to stand there at my shoulder, glaring and sulking."

He paused, trying to grasp what his wife was telling him. He thought he understood, but it didn't make sense.

"You want me to leave?"

"Just for today," she replied, nodding. "There's nothing for you to do anyway, Castle. You can go home and get some writing done, and then when I get back we can talk about this without anyone watching, without interruptions."

He felt numb as he slid into the back of a cab. It was like he'd stepped back in time to a point when Kate was still pissed at him over his private investigation of her mother's case, back when he first started following her. She didn't want him with her at the precinct. He tried to be rational, to remember her explanation but he felt as rejected as he had when she lied to him and he thought she didn't return his feelings.

He was barely aware of giving the cab driver his address. He paid on autopilot, probably handing over too much cash, before going into his building and up to the top floor.

"Hey Dad," Alexis said, surprising him. "You…okay?"

He threw on a bright smile and replied with as much enthusiasm as he could. "Yeah, fine. What brings you back from your dorm?"

"Oh, just wanted to drop off some books I don't need any more, and steal your ice cream, of course." She winked at him and held up the tub of Ben and Jerry's she'd apparently pilfered from his freezer. "Kate having a paperwork day?"

"Yeah, it was just a boring day so I came back to write," he lied. "Enough ice cream left for your old man?"

Alexis peered inside the tub before tilting it to show him the quarter that was left inside. Keeping her spoon, she handed over the ice cream and watched as he grabbed a fresh spoon for himself and pulled out enough Ben and Jerry's to give any normal person a brain freeze. In two mouthfuls, the ice cream was gone and he rinsed the carton under a cold tap before throwing it into the recycling bin.

"Right, I'm gonna go write," he announced, keeping his smile in place until he was in the confines of his office where it didn't matter if he was miserable.

At the precinct, Kate pulled a second murder board up alongside the one bearing the details of Carrie Richards' murder and began adding what they knew about Thea Mathison to the empty whiteboard. Rather than stare at the meagre amount of information they had, she settled at her computer and pulled up digital copies of all of the files on Jerry Tyson.

Ryan was hidden away in the tech room with Tori once more, continuing to work through CCTV feed in search of someone following Carrie to Jason's apartment, while Esposito worked to get in contact with Thea Mathison's parents and fiancé so an initial interview could begin. Ruling out any potential enemies would be useful until they had forensic evidence linking she and Carrie to the same murderer.

Somehow she missed her lunch break while combing through the 3XK files, searching for anything that either hinted at him having an apprentice of sorts or linked him to her two victims. Had Castle been there, he'd have dragged her away from her computer and insisted on taking her out for fresh air and some real food. As it was the boys silently left a fresh sub on the corner of her desk, but she was so zonked out that she didn't even notice it until her stomach's rumbles grew loud enough to draw her attention.

She ate while reading, going over and over information she probably knew by heart anyway, waiting for new information. The empty box sat on her usually tidy desk, along with a half full cup of cold coffee. Nothing got through to her as she read through the files of every murder attributed to the Triple Killer.

When he emerged from his office, having written nothing, of course, in the five hours he'd spent in front of his laptop, Alexis was gone. It perplexed him that she hadn't come to say goodbye, leaving him to wonder if she perhaps had but he'd been too wrapped up in his thoughts to hear her.

Hungry, he whipped up a quick omelette filled with a cheesy, sausage and ratatouille combination that took slightly longer to create. The distraction was good for him anyway, even if the food was kind of tasteless as he ate, staring at the clock slowly ticking towards seven, wondering where his wife was.

He washed his dishes by hand, checking the digital read out of the time on the microwave, before dismissing his worries by telling himself a hot, new lead had probably just come in and Kate wanted to follow it before the trail got cold.

By nine o'clock, he couldn't quite believe it anymore though. Still, he sat on the couch waiting. She'd said she'd be home and he trusted her.

Somehow it got to half eleven and he could no longer tell himself she was on her way. He grabbed his things in a hurry, pulling his trainers on even as he opened the door.

The precinct was quiet, almost empty even. He didn't think there was a time when he'd ever been there that late. The cop on duty at the front desk recognised him though, letting him past without a single question.

His heart was in his throat right up until he rushed out of the elevator and caught sight of her familiar chestnut curls sprawled out over the top of her desk. She was just asleep, he realised with relief as he approached her slumped over figure, watching the slow rise and fall of her back with each measured breath.

Crouching beside her, he ran his fingers through her hair, pulling it away from her face with care before stroking a single finger down the slope of her nose and over her lips, waking her gently. Her eyebrows still knitted together however as she cracked open her eyes.

"Castle? Time's it?"

"12:14," he replied, checking his watch. "You fell asleep at the precinct," he explained as she straightened and looked around in confusion, clearly still foggy with sleep.

Thinking back, she vaguely recalled the boys telling her they were going to head home for the night, their judging looks clearly suggesting she quit for the evening too, but she had one last file to get through so she'd mumbled something about leaving as soon as she was done. Apparently she fell asleep before that though.

She mumbled an apology, remembering that she had told him she'd be home to discuss the whole Tyson thing again.

"S'okay," he muttered, before she cut him off.

"No, Castle it's not. I said I'd be home and I got carried away with looking for links between Tyson and our two victims. We're starting a family – I should be home with you. It won't happen again."

He smiled softly. Hearing her talk about their family, even if it was kind of non-existent at that point in time, seemed to do funny things to him. "Did you find anything?" he asked, unable to completely turn off his hopeful tone.

Kate ran a hand through her hair before replying, "Nothing. I read every report, every line of every file, and there was no mention of either Carrie or Thea as witnesses or friends of the other victims, nothing. I can't even find a link between Carrie and Thea."

Squeezing her hand, he spoke reassuringly. "You will. You'll figure it out, Kate. You always do." After one more squeeze of his fingers around hers, he stood and began clearing the rubbish from her desk, gathering her phone and the few other things she'd bring home. "Come on, you look like you're gonna need a coffee to stay awake."

While he stepped into the dark breakroom, flipping on the light switch before he started up the espresso machine, Kate slid open her drawer and pulled out her badge and holstered gun, securing them on her belt just in case. In the academy they all heard the stories about cops who got attacked on the way back from work when they were winding down and coming off alert – Heck, Rick always seemed to have scenes where Nikki was caught in gun battles when she was technically off the job.

"Here," Rick said, pressing a warm, metal travel mug into her hands. "Come on, let's go home."

He ushered into the kitchen before anything else, pushing her into a seat and watching her eat the quick sandwich he'd rustled up. Only when the whole thing was gone did he follow her into the bedroom and get changed for bed, the two of them working in unison until they were stood side by side in the bathroom brushing their teeth.

Wired from caffeine, Kate lay awake in his embrace for a few minutes before she felt his breathing pattern on the back of her neck change.

"Kate, you should be sleeping," he mumbled, tightening his arm around her waist to pull her more securely into his chest.

"Sorry, I'm just thinking."

"About?"

It wasn't easy under the weight of Castle's arm, but she twisted to face him somehow, meeting his eyes as she answered, "Our family."

He grinned, the skin around his eyes crinkling with his happiness.

"Yeah?"

She hummed, pushing her own arm under her head so she could level her gaze with his. "What do you think they'll look like?"

"They?" he quizzed, quirking a single eyebrow at her.

She elbowed him at that. He knew what she was talking about, he just wanted her to say it. Acquiescing, she clarified, "Our kids. What do you think they'll look like?"

"Just to be clear," he said, pushing himself up on one elbow. "There's definitely going to be a 'they'? We're talking multiple Castle babies?" Kate rolled her eyes, pushing him square in the chest with one palm to send him rolling away from her before his balance evened out and he came right back, nudging his nose against hers before responding to her question. "Just like you, hopefully. Big, green eyes… curly hair, noses that crinkle when they're annoyed at us."

"What about your eyes?"

"You think you can say no to a baby boy with these eyes? One look in these puppy dog eyes and you'll be saying yes to everything, Kate," he joked.

Shrugging, Kate had to agree that he was probably right. Denying Castle something could be hard enough. She couldn't imagine how much worse it would be with a tenacious child who would have no qualms about tantrums or constant begging.

"You think you can say no to a Beckett girl? We're wild childs, remember."

"Urgh, don't remind me. I'm counting you to help me out there. You're the one with experience in that department. Alexis was practically a saint growing up."

She chuckled, her hot breath falling against his cheek before she burrowed further down under the comforter and rested her head nearer his neck.

"Whatever they're like, they're gonna be pretty great," he finally said, wrapping both his arms around her and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She nodded her agreement, grazing her lips over his neck a few times until she was lulled to sleep with the rise and fall of his chest against her cheek.

She was already up, sitting at the breakfast bar with a mug in one hand and, strangely, the newspaper in the other. Ordinarily, he found her looking at something case-related if she was reading in the morning.

"There's still coffee in the carafe," she said as she heard his approaching footsteps, looking up to offer a smile as he rounded the bar and voiced his thanks.

"I didn't hear you get up," he mumbled as he concentrated on pouring black coffee out of the French press before grabbing his favourite flavour of creamer and dosing his beverage.

Kate shrugged. "You were out like a light – didn't even hear me in the shower, right?"

He scrunched his face as he tried to recall waking up, but he was pretty sure he'd slept right through the night after briefly waking up to find Kate still awake. He definitely didn't remember hearing the shower, though it couldn't have been that much earlier that his wife had been in it – her hair was still wet, drying naturally into loose curls down her back and creating a wet patch on her bathrobe.

Setting his coffee down after one sip, he began searching the cupboards and fridge, amassing ingredients for breakfast.

"French toast? We've got bacon?"

"Sure," Kate answered, turning the page over on the newspaper and displaying the headline of the article she'd been reading - the name Thea Mathison staring out at him. Setting it down, she finally broached the topic the both of them had been avoiding. "About yesterday…"

He spun, leaving the egg soaked bread frying over a low heat on the stove.

"I am open to the idea of it being Tyson, you know-"

"-I know," he replied. "But you're right. It could be someone emulating him, or another Marcus Gates." She nodded, pleased that apparently they didn't have as much of an issue with the situation as it originally seemed like they did. "Lanie'll probably finish the autopsy today, right?"

Kate nodded. She was expecting to at least hear something from their ME even if Lanie hadn't completed her examination of Thea Mathison's body.

"So maybe there'll be evidence that will tell us what's going on."

It felt like they'd barely sat down when Kate's cell phone rang, Lanie's picture appearing on the screen.

"Hey Lanie," Kate answered, finding that Castle was already watching her attentively when she turned to him.

"I've done the autopsy. You free to come down and see me?"

"Sure, we'll be right there," Kate replied, hanging up and pushing her arms through the sleeves of the aviator jacket she'd literally only just taken off.

"You'd think she could have called while we were on our way here," Castle grouched as he stood and checked his pockets to make sure he still had his phone.

Rolling her eyes, Kate patted his shoulder and stepped past him. "You can take it up with Lanie when we see her."

He was still – annoyingly – grumbling about the inconvenience though when they got into her Dodge and she shot him a look that quite clearly said enough was enough.

"Sorry."

While she drove, he fiddled with the heating dial, trying to find get the air conditioning to give out something other than cold air. What was it with police cars? It seemed like there was always a problem – if it wasn't a spring digging into his rear, it was a broken air-con unit. It felt like it had been years since Kate got her brand-spanking new, sleek and shiny, blue Dodge Charger back when it had no problems.

"Castle," she reprimanded when he accidentally turned up the intensity and jet of cold air blasted through the small space inside the car. Hurriedly he thumbed the button back down, holding his free hand up in apology. "It's a fifteen minute journey; can't you keep your hands to yourself for that long?"

He shot her a look at that, his mind clearly going to the gutter.

Muttering, Kate said, "I think I've changed my mind. I don't think I'm gonna be able to cope with having your kids."

"Might be too late," he replied, looking smug and assured of his virility. The expression was still on his face as he followed her into Lanie's autopsy room, quite clearly staring at her – so much so that Lanie raised an eyebrow at him.

Ignoring her caveman of a husband, Kate addressed her best friend. "Anything to link Thea back to Tyson?"

"As we suspected, the strangulation was caused by the same nylon rope from the other Triple Killer murders and that of Carrie Richards," Lanie replied. "I didn't find any fibres under her fingernails this time, but I found something else during the fluorescent spectroscopy." Grabbing a handheld UV light, Lanie held the device over Thea Mathison's ear, jaw and neck, revealing the dispersed marks she'd recorded earlier. "It's saliva," she told them. "Unfortunately, there's not enough there to be able to collect DNA. From the pattern, I'd say he was standing behind her, talking in her ear, perhaps while he strangled her."

"Her heel was broken, wasn't it?" Rick asked, receiving nods from both women.

"You think that's how it happened? He strangled her standing up and she-"

"-broke her heel while fighting him? Maybe," Castle answered, finishing Kate's sentence.

"Seriously, do you two share one mind?"

Ignoring Lanie's oft asked question, Kate posed one of her own. "Did you get a time of death?"

This time Lanie nodded and grabbed her completed file of notes, a copy of which she would email through to Kate once they were done speaking. "I'm confident to place the time of death at around seven thirty on Tuesday evening."

"The day before Carrie," Rick mumbled. "Could there already be another body we don't know about?"

"All I'm willing to say is that Thea Mathison was definitely killed by the same person as Carrie Richards."

With a pained expression, Kate said, "Unless we do get a third victim, this technically isn't even a serial we're after."

"Okay, so we're definitely looking for the same guy. But why Carrie? And why Thea?"

Esposito spoke up, leaning back in his chair as he detailed the results of his discussion with Thea Mathison's parents and fiancé the previous afternoon. "Just like Carrie, Thea didn't have any enemies or problems. I had uniforms escort her fiancé around her apartment and he doesn't think anything's missing. There's no obvious motive here."

"But he picked these two for a reason…" she muttered, tapping the end of her red board pen against her lip as she thought, willing Castle not to say 'Because they're blonde.' "We find that reason, we find how he found these two women, how they're connected, and we find him…"

A/N: Yeah, apologies again for not updating for ages. Let me know what you think?