Okay, forget the fluff chapter I mentioned. It will come later. I just didn't feel very fluffy after this weekend's drama. I'm seriously disappointed in some of the Castle's fandom right now.

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"Detective Beckett," Captain Gates' voice cut through the air, "my office."

Beckett dropped the pen she was currently using to complete yet another report. She could see Detectives Ryan and Esposito watching her questioningly; they looked scared. Their hard-nosed leader had that effect on everyone, well almost everyone; Beckett despised her too much to be afraid of her.

"Don't ask me?" She shrugged at the boys as she rose from her chair. She glanced at the man sitting in the chair next to her desk, "Wish me luck?" When all her husband offered was a half smile and a curt nod of the head she huffed, "I guess not then."

As she turned she felt Rick's hand on her wrist, "Always Kate, you know that."

She looked back briefly; immediately realizing her mistake. If she hadn't looked back she could pretend he wasn't still mad at her; could ignore the tension that had settled between them over the last two weeks. It had started pretty much like this; she had been called into the Captain's office.

"I just got off the phone with the chief of D's." The Captain looked perturbed, as usual. "Seems they feel that I'm wasting a valuable resource."

"And what might that be… Sir?" Beckett had trouble maintaining a respectful tone.

"You, of course. I'm pretty sure I don't have to remind you about them keeping score. So you're being reassigned."

"Reassigned?"

"It's just temporary. Vice is looking to raid a drug trafficking ring. They had an undercover officer infiltrate the ranks of some biker gang. Guess he's been under for awhile now; gathered enough evidence to hopefully bring down the whole thing."

Beckett knew how Vice worked; she had done a few undercover stints for them while she was still in uniform. It usually required that she wear something very sleazy and hang out on some street corners that even scared the crap out of her.

"Um… they do realize I'm pregnant right?" She instinctively touched her abdomen.

"Of course, they've requested you for your interrogation skills not your waistline; this time anyway."

Beckett tried to ignore the contemptuous tone. She really didn't care that her superior seemed to hate her; the feeling was mutual. She took the file she was being handed and listened to her orders.

Apparently the raid was taking place as they spoke. Vice anticipated the arrests of at least thirty gang members. Of those, quite a few were suspected to be high enough in the ranks to have information pertaining to their ultimate target, the supplier. They were hoping that Beckett would be able to glean the name out of them. Apparently the Chief of D's felt that an attractive, albeit very pregnant, woman would have more success than the tough-edged members of the Vice squad.

Needless to say the news had gone over like a lead balloon with Castle. The idea of his wife being anywhere near these types of criminals scared him to death.

"What do you want me to do, Castle? It's not like I don't interrogate murder suspects every day."

"These guys are different Kate." They were having this argument in the break room; away from prying ears. "They won't think twice about hurting… a cop." He ran his fingers through his hair, "You should've said no."

"It's my job Rick."

Before he could respond there was a raucous from the bullpen; apparently her suspects had arrived. He could see them being brought in one by one; he watched through the blinds over his wife's shoulder. They were huge; every last one of them at least six-feet-something with the muscles to match. There were piercings and tattoos; too many to count. But it was the filth coming out of their mouths that had Rick blocking his wife's exit from the room. Her back was against the wall, a cup of tea in her hand. He placed his right palm against the drywall to the left of her shoulder; his left hand rested on her belly.

She couldn't meet his eyes; they both listened to the cat-calls and vulgar innuendo that seemed to fly so easily from each man's mouth. Castle could see that the only two women currently in the bullpen were Karpowski and Velazquez, and no offense to either of them, but they were no Kate Beckett. His stomach actually turned at the mere thought of what she would have to endure.

The next week had been absolute hell. Castle wasn't allowed in the interview room, his pretty-boy looks, Gates' words, would be a distraction. So he watched and listened from the observation room as man after disgusting man ogled her. The creative ways in which they expressed their desire to get her alone had him one step away from breaking the glass and ripping their tongues out. Of course only after he stabbed their eyes out with his pen so they couldn't look at her anymore.

The first few nights they fought about it constantly. He would beg her to ask to be taken off the case; she would accuse him of being more of a Neanderthal than the gang members she was questioning. In the midst of it all they tried to celebrate Rick's birthday and their first Easter as a married couple, but the tension was still there under the surface. It only got worse when Kate's twenty-four week check-up revealed yet another slight increase in her blood pleasure. Rick was livid, she was distracted and that distraction almost had dire consequences.

It was on the seventh day of interrogations. Vice had peddled almost every one of the now forty arrested gang members through Beckett's interview room. Somehow she had practically reduced ten of them to tears; had gotten pertinent information leading to the arrests of additional gang members from at least twenty and had even tricked a few of the minor players into implicating themselves in various other unrelated felonies.

"This is the last one, I promise."

It wasn't twenty minutes later that Kate was in the restroom trying to calm the shaking while Castle was being restrained by Ryan and Esposito. She hadn't even seen it coming; she thought she was in total control.

The gang's top dog, Vance Scranton, was proving to be a tougher nut to crack than the rest of his crew. Vice was sure he was the ringleader, but had nothing on him other than the statements of a few of the other bikers. With zero corroborating evidence they needed a confession. Beckett listened to the same innuendo; apparently being the leader didn't make him more creative in that respect. She laughed while he offered her a 'better ride' than her baby-daddy could ever dream of giving her, she scoffed at his meager attempts to insinuate that her unborn children were bastards and even physically jabbed him in the chest from across the table a few times. For a second she thought she had him; thought she had pushed him just far enough. When what she had actually done was push him over the edge.

Before she knew it the table separating the Detective from the criminal was on the move. Somehow Scranton had managed enough forward momentum, even in shackles, to shove the piece of industrial style furniture towards her. Luckily being somewhere between a seated and a standing position allowed her to react quick enough to bear the force of the attacking metal with her hip. Had she been seated she surely would have been hit directly across the abdomen, had she been standing erect the blow would have knocked her off her feet.

The seconds that followed were a blur. The uniformed officers that had been stationed in the room restrained Scranton; Castle had busted into the room like a runaway freight train. She remembered enough to know that he checked on her first; she assured him she was fine. However, when Scranton snickered and called him the Sperm Donor all hell broke loose again.

"Bring your Partner."

The Captain's voice brought Kate back to the present. She heard Castle gasp behind her; never in the five months that 'Iron Gates' had been in charge of the twelfth had she allowed him to join Beckett or the boys in her office.

"Maybe she wants an autograph?"

"Shut up Castle, you're in enough trouble."

Castle obeyed. Apparently trying to beat the pulp out of a suspect was frowned upon by the NYPD. Even if said suspect had just assaulted a police officer. He actually hadn't had enough time to inflict as much damage to Vance Scranton as he had wanted to. Ryan and Esposito had pulled him off of the smug biker before he landed more than a few punches. Nonetheless the whole escapade had put him on the Captain's shit list. Well, farther up the list than he already was.

The Captain spoke as she shut the door to her office. "I just got word from the DA. Looks like Vance Scranton was sprung a few days ago." She held her hand up to stop any protestations, "they just don't have enough evidence to make anything stick."

Castle was on his feet. "What about assaulting a police officer? Doesn't that get him a few years, at least?"

"Need I remind you Mr. Castle you got in a few good licks of your own? Oh wait, that was only after your partner here provoked Mr. Scranton. We're lucky he's not filing police brutality charges against the force and assault charges against you."

Kate grabbed Castle's forearm; silencing him before he could make things worse. "So, why are you telling us this? Now that it's in the DA's hands I'm done with the case remember?"

Gates' expression softened, "It seems that some of the other Detectives on the case have reported incidents since Scranton's release."

Kate's heart skipped a beat, "What kind of incidents?" She knew Rick had heard the slight waiver in her voice; there was no way he would have missed it. She could feel him staring at her from his position to her right.

"Nothing too serious," Gates flipped through a few files. "Looks like a few reported being followed by some bikers, a couple others claim their wives were approached..."

"Nothing serious!" Castle was on his feet again.

"Mr. Castle, may I remind you…"

Kate interjected, "Not necessary Sir." She pulled Castle to her side before steering him towards the door.

"Another minute Detective?" Beckett stood in the doorway and turned to face the elder woman. "I think you need to take a few days; let this blow over."

"I thought you said it was nothing serious?"

"Kate," the Captain had never called her by the diminutive before. "I think we can all agree that you have a little more at stake in this situation. Like I said before, it's a liability. A liability I'm not willing to let you risk anymore. Now go home."

Rick was already gathering Kate's things by the time she returned to her desk. Either he had overheard the end of the conversation with the Captain or he had just had enough. By the determined look on his face either scenario was possible. She decided not to argue with him; it seemed all the fight had run out of her.

"I asked the boys to follow us home, just in case. I'll talk to the security guys when we get there; let them know to beef things up again. At least for the next few weeks."

Kate nodded in agreement; she had gotten used to the extra muscle around the building since Montgomery's death. They were well trained professionals, quiet but effective. A few minutes later the four of them were pulling out of the parking garage and headed to the loft. They were still about ten minutes from home before either of them said anything.

"I'm sorry Kate."

"For what?" She couldn't look at him, the traffic was stopping ahead.

"For overreacting, for looking like a fool, for embarrassing you."

"I think I should be apologizing for underreacting. Shut up, I know that's not a word." She reached out and pulled his hand to her stomach. "Why isn't it as instinctual for me as it is you? Why do I fight it so hard? Shouldn't the mother in me win over the Detective in me?"

"Yes."

"Well thanks for not coddling me." She took the opportunity to look over at him, the light was red. She seemed to have lost the boys somewhere in traffic; hopefully they would catch up. "It just seems like it should be a bigger deal."

"What should?"

"Don't you get it? I think that was your last day as my partner. I'm not sure I can do it without you anymore." To her own ears she sounded pathetic. The light turned green and she accelerated through the intersection.

"Kate," Rick turned in his seat. "You…"

The exploding windshield cut his sentence short. That's when Kate saw them; two motorcycles heading directly at them from an alley to their right. She was losing control of the steering; she had to assume a second bullet had taken out at least one tire. She steered into the swerve before the passenger side crashed into a garbage truck. The sound of metal on metal was loud but not loud enough to cover Kate's screaming.

"Rick!" The Crown Vic came to a halt facing their assailants who were slowly approaching on foot.

"Get out Kate!"

She couldn't her seat belt was jammed. Thank God Vance Scranton was arrogant, otherwise Kate was sure he would be running at them instead of sauntering like this was the shoot out at the OK Corral. "Rick get down!"

Another bullet hit somewhere in the engine in front of them. From this distance neither of the men seemed to be that great of a shot, at least not with the shotguns they were brandishing.

"My foot's stuck Kate, you need to get out! Go!" He had thrown himself across her lap; putting himself between the babies and the bullets. He reached passed her and shoved the door open.

"Rick, my seat belt!" He tried the mechanism to no avail.

Kate's adrenaline was pumping so hard, her chest heaved like she was running a marathon. Of all the time's for her Motherhood instincts to take over; the cop in her demanded she stay and fight, the mother in her screamed at her to run. She couldn't let the internal conflict render her useless.

"Castle, hit the bar under my seat."

She was thankful that he acted quickly, her seat slid back with a hard click. She leaned to her right; grabbing her weapon from her purse that she had thrown on the floor behind the passenger seat; she hadn't been able to wear it on her hip while driving for a few weeks now. She took another second to grab her husband's bullet proof vest. She threw it over his head and shoulders. They were within fifty yards now. Scranton took aim; the bullet exploded through the engine. Flames began to crackle instantly; the car was now on fire.

Knowing Scranton would need a beat to re-cock the double barreled weapon; Kate decided to take out the other guy first. Her hands were shaking but she never doubted her ability; her training would kick in. It had to, it wasn't just her she was protecting, it wasn't just him either. One shot, he was down and she knew he wasn't getting back up.

"Kate?"

"One more Rick, you just keep doing what you're doing!"

She could tell she was screaming, but she had no control over anything at that moment; only her weapon. Scranton got off another shot; it missed high just skimming the roof of the vehicle. He was playing for keeps now, no more games, he wanted them dead. Kate steadied her aim, the flames were beginning to block her view, the smoke was thick and putrid in the air around them. Rick coughed against her hip. Another smooth squeeze of the trigger and Scranton was down.

"Okay Rick, I got'em. You're gonna have to cut me out of the seat belt. My pocketknife is in..." Kate's startled at the sound of more gunfire to their back. It dawned on her; there had to be a third shooter; no way Scranton could have shot out the windshield from that angle. She heard footsteps approaching; aimed her weapon.

"Beckett. Castle. You two alright?"

"Ryan, get her out of here now!" Castle was struggling to sit up. He handed Ryan the pocket knife.

Once free from the burning car Kate tried to lean back in and pull her husband out but she was being pulled back. Esposito's arms were too strong. He shoved her against the facade of the nearest building; she couldn't see the car anymore; she couldn't see him.

"Go, I'm fine!"

"No way Boss," he continued to stand guard in front of her; blocking her from any further assailants. "We don't know how many there might be. I called in backup."

"But Rick!" She was practically hysterical.

"Ryan's got it covered."

"Javier," Kate was sobbing now; she pushed on Esposito's back, "Please, he was stuck.. his foot. Ryan's not big enough."

"That's bullshit and you know it Kate."

"Oh God, where is he? Castle! Don't let him burn..." Kate doubled over; she was in so much pain.

"Kate!" Rick caught her before she hit the pavement.

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Oooh, a little cliffhanger, I'm not usually so good at those. Yeah it's Castle Monday!