A/N #1: I wasn't going to write a third Post-Reckoning chapter, but thanks to Theputz913, I'm going to write one more chapter. This one is going to deal with the aftermath of those two days. The song for this one will be 'I Don't Want to Live Without Your Love' by Chicago.

All the Songs Make Sense

Chapter 54: Aftermath

Thought it wouldn't matter
If we didn't stay together,
And if it was over,
Maybe it was for the better.
I was thinking I'd be alright,
'til I thought it all through.
Now I know that I ain't really living
If I have to live without you.

Kate wasn't surprised when she woke up to find Castle staring at her. "Hey," she whispered, sighing when his lips met hers in a tender kiss. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"A little."

"I'm okay," she rested her head on his chest once again, listening to the steady beat of his heart. "When are you going to tell me what happened with Tyson?"

"Which part?"

"What happened after I got called away?"

"The beginning. That's as good a place to start as any. Tyson was released because the DNA didn't match the tooth we'd gotten from Gretchen Cutler. So, Gates came in and let him go. They walked out of the bullpen hand in hand, like a couple of demented sweethearts. He was Tyson. Why didn't the DNA match?"

"Nieman told me that Michael Boudreau donated his bone marrow to Tyson. I guess it was after the fall from the bridge. When a person is given donated bone marrow, their body takes on the DNA of the donor. My guess is Boudreau outlived his usefulness once Tyson got his bone marrow."

"So, his body is out there somewhere?"

"Probably."

"She got a call right after they got on the elevator."

"It was probably Amy Barrett telling her that she had me."

"That's what I think, too. Are you hungry?" He felt her nod against his chest. "I'll make us some breakfast."

"No," Kate stopped him when he swung his legs over the side of the bed. "It can wait. What time are your mother and Alexis due home?"

"I don't know, yet. Not until this evening. Why?" He smiled when she pushed him down and swung her legs over his hips. "Oh, okay."

I don't want to live without your love,
I don't want to face the night alone.
I could never make it through my life
If I had to make it on my own.
I don't want to love nobody else,
I don't want to find somebody new.
I don't want to live without your love,
I just want to live my life with you.

"Why did Lanie have my wedding ring?" Kate asked afterwards, cherishing the rapid beating of her heart against his.

"I'm not ready to talk about that, yet."

Kate sat up, tugging the sheet around her. "Hey, are you okay?" She brushed her hand over the stray lock of hair that fell across his forehead. "I'm here now, Rick, and I'm okay."

"You weren't okay yesterday."

"No, I definitely wasn't okay yesterday," she admitted. "And, I'm not perfect today, but I'm home now and it will get better. I just . . . I see her, Castle. Every time I close my eyes, I see her face. The way that she looked in that final moment."

"Kate, you did what you had to do," he reached up, only to have her shrink back from his touch. "Talk to me," he sat up, the sheet falling to his lap.

"She . . . oh my god, this sounds absurd. She was going to take my face. Literally. She had this computer program. She was going to kill me and take my face. She kept touching my face. I couldn't move away from her. She had me gagged and my hands were strapped to the table. I managed to weaken the stitching on one of the cuffs. That was how I got away. It must've been after Tyson was killed. She knew that something was wrong when he didn't call back."

"He thought that he was setting me up, but in reality, me and the boys set him up."

"It could've backfired on you."

"It could have, but it didn't."

"Rick—"

"I know that it was stupid. Ryan and Esposito had my back. Espo could hear me while I was in the house. Nothing was going to go wrong. I told you that I was going to do whatever I had to do to get you back. I could see you on that monitor, Kate."

"She told me that you were going to see me."

"Failure wasn't an option," he reached up and pulled her back down to his chest. "He wasn't leaving that house alive."

"Was she with him?" Kate asked, referring to Amy Barrett.

"Yeah. She wasn't a victim, Kate. She was a full-blown participant. I think they were grooming her as a potential protégé."

"Or one of his future victims."

"No, she was a willing participant," he insisted.

Kate could tell that Rick was becoming increasingly agitated, so she made the decision that they needed to stop talking about what had happened for the time being. "Rick?" She sat up so that she could look at him. "It's okay. We don't have to talk about it, anymore. Let's get some more sleep. Then, you can cook me something to eat. Okay?" He nodded and smiled when she bent down to kiss him. "Will you try to sleep?"

"I'll try to sleep."

Kate lay down with her head on his chest, smiling when he pulled the sheet and blanket over them. She closed her eyes, trying to rid herself of the final moments of Kelly Nieman's life as she drifted off to sleep.

Guess I had to go away,
So much I had to go through.
Guess I had to lose you
To realize how much I love you.
Can we make the fire burn again,
Burn a little stronger?
'cause I've been alone, and baby,
I can't be alone now any longer.

When Castle woke up, Kate's side of the bed was empty. He got up, slipping into his boxers and t-shirt before padding into the kitchen, smiling when he saw Kate at the counter, wearing his discarded button-down from the evening before. "I woke up and you weren't there," she smiled when she felt Castle's arms slip around her waist, pulling her against him.

"I needed coffee, and I figured that you probably did, too," she turned in his embrace, offering him a cup of coffee.

"Thank you," he took a sip before kissing her. "I was going to make you breakfast."

"I know, and you still can. After we take a shower," she placed a hand on his chest, steering him backwards toward their bedroom.

After a long, steamy shower, they returned to the kitchen where Castle removed items from the refrigerator while Kate took a seat on one of the stools at the counter to watch him. "I'll call Alexis after we eat."

"Why did you send them away?"

"After I got arrested for assaulting Tyson—"

"When are you—"

"Soon. After Gates released me from holding, he called me. Ryan traced the call and it was coming from here. But, he wasn't here. He'd somehow done something to make us thing that he was here. Anyway, I didn't want to chance my mother's and Alexis' safety, so I sent them out of the country."

"What did he say?"

"He was calling to rub salt in the wound. I begged him to let you go and to take me. He said," Castle's voice caught and his eyes began to water, "he said if he killed me, he only killed me once. But, if he had you, then he could kill me over and over again."

"When she called me, she played that song," Kate stared down at her hands, fixated on the chafed skin on her wrists. "The one that had been on that flash drive."

"Who called you? Nieman?" Kate nodded. "Amy must've sent her a message when you showed up at the meeting spot."

"I just heard the first few words and then something stabbed me. I didn't see who it was. Whatever she gave me took effect immediately. The next time I opened my eyes, I was strapped down to that table." She got up and went into the kitchen to help Castle with breakfast. "I need something to do," she said when he looked at her.

"Ryan and I went to see him after you went missing. He even let us search his apartment. But, of course, you weren't there, and they had alibis. I went to see him by myself a few hours later, and this time, I was going to get answers."

Kate could still see the simmering anger as she watched her husband dice tomatoes and onions for omelets. "What happened?"

"He opened the door and I kicked it in. I pulled out my gun and demanded to know where you were. He kept insisting that he was Michael Boudreau. He gave me all this bullshit information about where he'd grown up and who his parents were. I guess one of his neighbors heard the commotion and called the cops. I was about to shoot him when the police showed up. He pressed assault charges against me."

"Shit, Castle."

"That was when Gates told me to get inside of his head. To find out what his story was. She told me that she asked you one time why you kept me around—"

"Because you look for the story," Kate smiled, remembering working with Gates alone one day shortly after she'd become captain.

"Yeah. I went to talk to Marcus Gates. He was the one who told me about the house where I encountered Tyson."

"When are you going to tell me?" She slipped her arms around him, pressing closely to him, her head nestled against his shoulder.

"I can't talk about it, Kate," he shook his head.

"Shh," she soothed him. "Let's have breakfast and relax. We don't have to talk about anything right now."

After breakfast was done and the dishes washed, Castle took out his cell phone to call Alexis. His daughter answered on the first ring. "Hi, dad."

"Hi, sweetie. I'm going to put you on speaker," he pressed the button and put the phone on the coffee table. "What time is your flight?"

"In a couple of hours. We're getting ready to leave for the airport now. Kate, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Alexis. I can't wait to see you and Martha."

"We can't wait to see you. We were so scared."

"I'm okay, Alexis. Your dad is taking excellent care of me," she smiled at Castle.

"I don't want you to miss your flight," Castle said. "Call or text when you land."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"I scared the hell out of her," Castle remembered. "It would've been hilarious if I hadn't been so freaked out."

"I'm sure that it freaked her out, too."

Castle got up and began walking around the room. Kate had been strapped to a table for the entire two days. She knew that Castle had to have lived a hellish existence during those two days. After all, he'd assaulted Tyson and had been temporarily jailed. She knew that Tyson had called and taunted him regarding her. But, she knew that something awful had happened. Something that was still affecting him deeply. "Rick? It's okay."

"No," he turned to face her, tears streaking his face.

"Babe, talk to me."

"We were looking for the van that they used to take you. We got a call saying that the van had been spotted outside of a warehouse. When we got there, ESU said that there was a woman inside. We could see . . . we thought that it was you, Kate. A woman tied to a chair. When ESU breached the premises, we heard you shout at us not to come in. There was a shotgun that was aimed at the chair—"

"Oh my god," Kate put her hand over her mouth.

"They had rigged the shotgun to go off when we entered. Kate, I thought . . . I thought that it was you. She was wearing your clothes and her hair . . . I ran over and I cradled what I thought was your face . . . her hair came off in my hands. That's when I realized that the hair was a wig and the woman wasn't you. But, she was wearing your clothes and she was wearing your wedding ring . . . they killed her and they . . . wanted us to think . . . wanted me to think—"

"Shh," Kate ran over and threw her arms around him, holding him while he sobbed. "Rick, it's okay. It's over now. They're dead. They're never going to hurt anybody ever again. It's okay," she repeated.

She led him over to the sofa, sitting with him and waiting for him to get him emotions under control once again. He finally looked at her with a watery smile. "I'm so glad that she didn't hurt you," he reached out and touched her cheek, relieved when she didn't pull away this time.

"Me, too," she moved closer and kissed him. "I didn't believe that it was you. But when you came over and touched me, I knew that I wasn't dreaming."

"No, you definitely weren't dreaming," she smiled, remembering the words she'd said to him after their first morning together. "I just want to spend the rest of my life holding you and loving you."

"Come on, Castle," Kate rose to her feet and pulled him to his feet.

I don't want to live without your love,
I don't want to face the night alone.
I could never make it through my life
If I had to make it on my own.
I don't want to love nobody else,
I don't want to find somebody new.
I don't want to live without your love,
I just want to live my life with you.

It was Castle's cell phone that woke them up from a post-coital slumber. "Ah, Mother and Alexis have just landed at JFK. They'll be home in about an hour. What do you say to one more round in the shower?"

"You may have to carry me," Kate smiled and stretched, her movements lithe and cat-like.

"I can't believe we slept that long."

"Well, neither of us had slept much in the two days before. We needed the rest."

"And, the sex," he added.

"Yeah, we definitely needed the sex," she smiled. She stood up on the bed, walking over to Castle and locking her legs around his waist. "Let's take a shower, Castle."

They were relaxing on the sofa, enjoying glasses of wine when the door unlocked and Alexis walked in first, followed closely by Martha. "Kate!" "Katherine!" Both women ran over to Kate, embracing her tightly.

"Are you all right?" Martha asked. "We were so scared."

"I'm fine. I'm relieved that it's all over now."

"Hi, dad," Alexis hugged and kissed her father.

"Hi, sweetie. Hello, Mother," he kissed his mother on the cheek.

"I'm so thankful that you two are both all right. Richard gave us quite the fright."

"I heard."

"Are you ladies hungry?" Castle asked. "Because Kate and I were discussing ordering in."

"Chinese?" Alexis looked at Kate, who nodded. "While we're waiting for the food, you and dad can fill us in on everything. You're okay with that, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm okay with that," Kate smiled at Castle, who looked extremely pleased to have his family together once again.

Oh, if I had to make it on my own,
My life would never be the same,
My love would never be the same.
I don't want to live without your love

A/N #2: The next chapter will be Post-7x22 and will include another Chicago song.

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