Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

Prompt #36: 3XK - When the bodies started to drop, she made sure Castle was never out of her sight for a moment.

Words: 712

That bastard's back.

Kate Beckett stared down at the dead body and felt the cold dread clench at her stomach. She was very scared of few things, but this ranked highest on that short list.

This wasn't like the last time, when only Ryan's stolen gun surfaced and had them fearing the worst. No, there was a body this time. An actual body of a young woman, strangled in her apartment and laid out in a funeral pose, as if asleep.

Jerry Tyson, the Triple Killer, was once again roaming the streets of New York City.

But this time, as he'd told Castle years ago, he changed up his game. Along with all the earmarks of a 3XK murder, this victim was a redhead, the spitting image of Alexis. To add hurt to the horror, she was found with Heat Wave clasped beneath her folded hands.

It was a message directed straight at Castle. It's your fault she's dead.

Once Gates learned about the connection, she promptly benched Castle at the precinct and ordered a protective detail on his loft apartment for Martha. Personally, Beckett thought this was awfully lenient for the captain. But Gates had her reason - what place in New York City was safer than a police station? (Beckett wisely decided not to mention the Dick Coonan debacle years ago.)

Watching Castle was like watching a caged animal. When he wasn't staring at the murder board, he was reading through every case file they had on Tyson and his murders, and when he wasn't doing that, he was brewing another cup of coffee. The cycle continued without end until Beckett finally took pity on him and drove him home.

Her home.

She didn't care how many patrols were sitting on his loft, Castle was safest with her. No way in hell she'd let Tyson anywhere near him.

A couple of glasses of wine later and Beckett still had to wrangle him into staying on the couch. It was like Castle was unable to shut himself down.

"We'll catch him," she assured the writer for the umpteenth time that night, resting a hand on his bouncing knee to stop it. "Ryan and Esposito are going over all the evidence with a fine-tooth comb. Everyone's on high alert. Tyson will slip up eventually, we know it's going to happen."

"He's back to torture me." The level of self-loathing in Castle's voice was caustic as acid.

"Hey." Beckett reached over and touched his cheek, gently pulling his face to look at her. "We're gonna catch him."

"But how many others will die before we do?" His voice was raw with pain. "We don't even know if he'll stop at three women like before. He's changed his M.O, Kate, and now we have to change how we think in order to catch him."

"That's not your fault, Rick."

"I thought it was Alexis."

Beckett blinked, then understood. "Rick, Alexis is at college. She's fine, remember? You called her just this morning. She's safe."

The look in Castle's eyes changed to feral in an instant. "If he goes after my little girl..."

"We'll nail his ass to the ground before he gets anywhere near her," Beckett finished. Impulsively she leaned closer to kiss him, and when he crushed her lips in response, she let him.

Later that night Beckett lay beside him, staring at the ceiling as she listened to Castle breathe. She sat up and looked over her shoulder at the sleeping writer. A small smile touched her lips. For the moment, his expression was peaceful and calm.

But as long as Tyson is loose, he won't sleep so easy again, she understood. Can't always knock him out with sex. Careful to move quietly, she slid out of bed and pulled his t-shirt over her head for cover. She padded into the kitchen barefoot and pulled out her copy of the case file.

Jerry Tyson was going down this time. Kate Beckett was making sure of it. He wouldn't hurt Castle or his family, ever.

After all, they were her family as well.

Gotta say, completely loving Season 5 so far!

Review please! We're getting close to 125, can we go to 150?