Again, I feel like I need to thank you for your reviews and follows and favourites. I just want you to know that even if I don't respond to each one individually, I appreciate them all.

And a disclaimer, coz I feel like I should every now and then. I'm a random Aussie chick who should write less and sleep more... I don't own Castle or the characters.

The following morning Beckett went into the precinct early, she wanted to get a head start on finding out more about Toni. She had requested the help of one of the guys from narcotics to help locate possible dealers in the area and others who may know who Toni was.

When Ryan and Esposito came in, they asked where Castle was and Beckett had to explain how the evening went. She didn't do it with as much flair as Castle would have. Giving them the basic details, they couldn't do anything but laugh. He'd been at the precinct for a couple of days and he was already injured, it was a little funny.

By 8am she decided, she had let Castle sleep in long enough and she sent him a text to find out how he was doing.

His response came back faster than she had expected.

Much better and I'm walking almost normally already. Doc says I'll be fine. I was going to tell you when I came in this morning.

There was no way she was going to let him come in. She didn't care what the doctor said, she wanted him to rest.

Rick, take the day off and rest.

But I don't want to rest.

Kate could almost hear his whining tone when she read the message and laughed picturing his puppy dog eyes while he pouted out his bottom lip. She had definitely made the right decision in going home last night.

Rest. The more rest you get, the faster you'll heal and the faster you'll be back.

Oh man! How can I argue with that?

You can't.

I'll take the day off then. Will I get to see you at all today?

I don't know. It's really busy here.

She was teasing, she knew it was mean, but it was also fun.

Please, you can't leave me alone all day.

You know, I do have a case to solve. I could be stuck at the precinct ALL day.

Oh, come on Kate, come see me. It's your fault I'm stuck at home.

Was he really blaming her for hurting himself. A second ago, she had been teasing, now she was annoyed. She picked up her phone and dialed his number.

"Beckett, are you calling to tell me you're on your way to visit me?"

"No. Do you really blame me for your injury?" she asked straight away.

"Oh, Kate. No, I knew you were just teasing me, so I was playing along. I would never blame you for my injury. It's not the first time I've fallen over running up stairs."

Kate let out a short laugh. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"So, how did you know I was teasing?"

"Kate, I know you."

"Hmm…" she responded as she thought about it.

He really did know her, and she was surprised how well he had gotten to know her in such a short space of time. Usually that would frighten her, but with Rick, it was different. She loved that he knew her so well.

"So, will I see you today?" Castle asked, snapping Kate out of her thoughts.

"I hope so," she said. "I'll let you know when I'm leaving the precinct tonight and I'll stop by. Do you need me to bring you anything? Ice cream?"

"Oh detective Beckett, how did you…?"

"Maybe I know you too."

"Well, ice cream would be great, I'll probably have finished the tub I've got in the freezer by the end of the day."

They finished their conversation and Beckett got back to the search on her computer.

It wasn't long before she started thinking about Castle again and how great things were going. She'd even met his mother, and she was okay with that. She was comfortable.

She met his mother. She got stuck on that thought for a moment. Martha was great, and she really seemed to like her. The short conversation they had at the door had really surprised her, and it had somehow warmed her heart.

Thinking about meeting Rick's mother did start making her feel a little sad knowing that he would never be able meet her own mum but she couldn't let herself feel down about it, she had a job to do. She looked back at her computer and put aside all thoughts of Rick and parents.

With the help of the narcotics detective, Beckett was able to find Toni's where abouts and brought her into the precinct for questioning. Unfortunately, she had an alibi so they were unable to arrest her for the murder. She did have more information however, that was of use to Beckett, so she had gone out to pay a visit to another bar owner and was now on her way back to the precinct when she found herself driving through Castle's part of town.

She decided she'd stop in and see how he was doing. She made a quick stop for ice cream and made her way to his loft.

She knocked on the door and was surprised when Rick answered it himself as quickly as he had. She was actually surprised he answered it at all and had expected Martha would be answering.

"Beckett? Closed the case already? Without me?"

"No, I'm still working, but I was driving through and wanted to see how you were doing."

"Much better now that I've seen you," he said, receiving an eye roll from Kate.

"And, I brought you some ice cream," she said holding out her hand with the bag of ice cream.

"You are the best!" he said, eyes wide and grinning.

Kate had never seen anyone so excited about ice cream before it made her laugh.

"So, can you stay?"

"Only for a few minutes, I have leads to follow."

As she entered, she spotted Martha standing in the kitchen getting herself a glass of water but before she could say hi herself, Martha spoke.

"Good afternoon Kate, stopping by to check on Richard are you?"

"Yeah, I was in the neighbourhood. Thought I'd see how the invalid is doing."

"Hey!" Castle said trying to sound upset about being called an invalid.

"Well don't mind me, I'm just heading up to my room for a little siesta, so I'll be out of your way."

"Martha, you don't have to leave." She didn't want Martha to think that she wasn't wanted.

"Kate, this is always siesta time for her. It's okay," Castle said reassuringly.

"Right."

"Well, enjoy your nap, Martha."

"I will dear, you enjoy your visit," she said making her way up the stairs.

Kate watched as Castle made his way over to the lounge. He was right, he really was doing a lot better. And although there was definitely a slight limp in his step, he didn't seem to be in any pain and was moving fairly fast.

"So Rick, what did the doctor say about the ankle?" she asked as she sat down beside him.

"It's not too bad. He says I have slightly twisted it, but it didn't look too serious so he said to make sure I put ice on it a couple of times today, and keep it strapped and he says I'll be back to normal in no time. So, tell me about the case? What's happened today? It's so annoying that I can't be there helping."

Kate started to tell Castle all about the case, Toni and the information she had gathered since the morning.

Castle listened closely and tried to piece all the bits of information together in his head.

"So, the bar he was at that night, something went down there?"

"Yeah, and it had something to do with the other bar owner that I visited today. I'm just not sure exactly what it was yet."

"That paper the victim had in his pocket. It was a partial address right?"

"Yeah," Kate said, unsure what Castle was thinking.

"Were you able to figure out what that was?"

"No, too much of the paper had been torn away, we're not really sure why the ripped address was still in his pocket."

"Right. And the bar owner, the one from last night, he said he hadn't seen our guy at all the night of the murder."

Kate nodded beginning to see what Rick was thinking.

"You know what I think," he said.

"We should question the bar owner again, maybe bring him into the precinct this time."

"Exactly. Interrogate his ass!"

That made Kate laugh. "And I'll run his address, maybe that's where our victim went," she said.

"Exactly. I think the bar owner caught onto his drug dealings, from the other bar owner."

"And then spoke to our guy"

"Arranged a private meeting at his place."

"To maybe collect some goods"

"But then what?"

They sat silently for a minute.

"He confronted him about selling drugs in his bar, and wanted him out" Castle continued.

"The guy refused."

"And BAM" he said loudly, making Kate jump, "his life was cut short."

"You could be onto something," Kate said. "I guess now we just need to find the evidence and figure out why and how the body ended up where it did. I guess I better get going then."

Rick got up from his seat again, even when Kate protested and walked her to the door.

She walked through the door way and Castle watched her make her way down the hall, but half way down she stopped and turned to look back at him.

"Castle, will you come with me somewhere tonight?" she asked thoughtfully, but with a little bit of tentativeness.

"Of course," he smiled hoping to get one of her beautiful smiles in response.

He did. Kate smiled back. "I'll come by tonight to pick you up," she said and then she turned back to make her way to the elevator.