A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews! Can't believe people from the first hour are STILL willing to read the story. It's a short chapter, but it just happened. Another two chapters coming up soon. Please leave a comment if you liked it.

Copyright: Just a teacher. The night before the school year 21-22 starts which drove me to try and write away the anxiousness. Apparently, it worked. I do not own Castle.

The next few days went by in a blur.

The strange man who had been following Johanna around the museum had finally made his move. Despite his disguise Johanna had immediately recognized him when he walked into her sight. Jim only had to take a single look at his wife to realize that something was off and asked the man to leave. ''We're closed.'' He tried. The man raised his hands defensively and revealed that he was holding a knife. They both audibly gasped.

Johanna almost tripped over her chair as she tried to back away from the man. Jim immediately stepped in front of his wife, using himself as a shield. ''There is no reason this has to get violent. We can just talk. That's what you want, right?''

''Mom, I forgot my-'' Kate looked up from her bag as she took a look at the scene that played out in front of her. She instantly dropped her bag.

''Kate. Don't.'' Jim yelled, but it was already too late. She had started running and managed to get the element of surprise on her side. The man startled and turned around to face Kate quickly. Jim immediately took his chance and grabbed the chair in front of him to whack the intruder in the back. He fell forward and Johanna shrieked. To their surprise he didn't stay down and just as Kate was close to him, the intruder managed to kick a chair to her, making her trip.

Jim stood stuck in his place, protecting his wife in the only way he knew. The man started walking towards Jim and Johanna once again, but Kate had other plans. She jumped up and ran to the man once again. Effortlessly, she jumped on his back and managed to drop him to the ground. She reached for his arm and started smacking his hand against the ground, praying that he would let go of the knife. He punched her hard across her face and she could feel her head pounding but she didn't stop. She could feel a sting in her shoulder, and she heard her mom let out a desperate cry. The intruder made quick work of using her moment of weakness to his advantage and managed to pin Kate beneath him. He stopped moving and dropped right on top of Kate out of nowhere.

Jim found his footing once again and managed to grab another chair to beat the living daylight out of the man. Kate immediately pushed the lifeless body aside and got away from him as soon as possible. Her mom ran over to her and hugged her while she cried hysterically. Jim quickly ran to the bar and grabbed a roll of duct tape.

The door opened once again. ''Good afternoon! I- What happened?!'' Castle immediately ran over to Kate but changed his mind as he saw the man lying on the floor. He grabbed his cellphone and dialed 911. Jim started taping the man's legs together before moving to his hands. ''Police are on their way. Johanna, is she okay?''

''I don't know.'' She cried.

''Castle, I'm fine.'' She managed to get out with a weak smile. It was only then he saw the blood running down her shirt.

''She's losing too much blood.'' He gently pushed Johanna away and laid Kate down on the ground. He took off his jacket and started applying pressure to the wound. She blinked a few times before her eyes started to droop. ''Stay with me, Kate. Don't leave me, please. Stay with me, okay? Kate... I love you. I love you, Kate.''

Jim sat down next to his wife and hugged her tightly as she cried into his shirt as tears rolled down his face. The sound of the sirens closing in faded into the background as Rick desperately tried to keep his love awake.

'Veritas' closed for unknown time after intruder pulled a knife on owner. Richard Castle was taken in by the police for questioning earlier today.

''Really. That's what they're going with.'' Rick tried to rub the sleep from his eyes as he watched his girlfriend sleep. He dropped the newspaper on the floor and grabbed her hand. Her parents slowly walked into her room.

''Rick, you have got to go home.'' Jim said softly. ''She'll still be here in the morning.''

''I know, but I can't.''

''Yes, you can. You have our permission.'' Johanna said as she stepped closer to him. ''Honestly, I'm not sure what we would've done if you hadn't been there.''

''You would've done the exact same thing if I hadn't been there.'' The tension from the day was still lingering in the room.

''Go clean yourself up, honey.'' Johanna said as she motioned to his shirt. He still had her blood on is shirt. Shit. He choked back his tears as her mother walked up to him and hugged him tightly. ''Go home. Take a shower. Nap and then come back.''

''Johanna- I-''

''No buts young man. I don't want to see you before 8 am.'' She tried to sound stern but failed miserably. He resigned, too tired to fight her and grabbed the newspaper from the ground. Jim grabbed it from his hand and threw it in the trash. He grabbed Rick by the shoulder and nodded, thanking him without words. They weren't necessary anyway. Rick took another look at Kate who was sleeping soundly and gave her a kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.

He tried to make a quiet exit but found himself in the middle of camera flashes the moment he stepped out of the hospital. He felt his blood boil and tightened his fists until he heard a familiar voice in the crowd. He saw a man pushing the camera's out of the way, but then he saw the person attached to the familiar voice.

''Castle! It's Lanie. Over here!'' He held his hand in front of his eyes trying to shield himself from the flashes. She grabbed his arm. ''Let's get you home baby.'' He simply nodded and let himself be guided to her car, while Esposito tried to shield him from the photographers.

''The doctors said that she is going to make it, but she lost a lot of blood.'' He lowered his voice. ''There was so much blood Lanie.'' She stayed silent.

Lanie had grabbed a towel from the bathroom and made it wet. She sat down next to him and gently started to remove the blood from his arms. He hadn't even noticed it was still there. ''Security wouldn't let us in.'' She said softly.

Javier was rummaging through the refrigerator, trying to find some ingredients to whip up a quick meal. Rick had told them several times that he wasn't hungry, but his stomach had let them know otherwise. It was way after midnight, and it had been at least thirteen hours since he'd last eaten. He was handed a glass of water and downed it quickly. Lanie removed her hand from his arm and told him to stand up.

''You are going to take a shower now and after that you're going to eat whatever Javier manages to make. Do you understand?'' He nodded and made his way to his bedroom. He grabbed some clean clothes and made his way to the bathroom. He took another look at himself in the mirror and immediately started undressing himself. The shower was way too hot, but he stepped in anyway. He then proceeded to scrub himself raw trying to remove her dried blood from his body. He swore that he saw her light go out and the thought alone was enough to get him to choke back the tears.

Esposito knocked on the bathroom door. ''Rick, you okay buddy? You've been in there for a while.''

He scraped his throat and hoped that he sounded normal. ''Yeah no, I'll be right out.''

He turned off the shower and quickly dried himself off. As he walked back into the living room, he saw his mother sitting at the dinner table. She stood up as soon as she saw him and pulled him into a hug. Javier and Lanie looked at him apologetically.

''Mother, I'm fine.'' She started crying softly into his shirt. ''She is going to be okay.'' He hugged her more tightly and kissed her on her the top of head.

''I know I should've waited, but someone showed me the picture of you outside the hospital- with blood on your shirt- and I just had to see you-''

''It's okay.''

''I'll leave you now. I see that you have people who can help you.''

''You don't have to.''

''Please Richard, we both know that I'm not quite capable of providing the emotional support that you need.'' He nodded, too tired to deny it. She took a deep breath and collected herself before excusing herself and leaving the house again as fast as she had come.

He led out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and watched Lanie motioning him to sit at the dinner table. Once seated, Javier put a bowl of pasta in front of him. ''Eat.''

''Thanks guys.''

The next morning rolled around quickly. Dead exhausted he'd fallen asleep at some point during the night. Even if it was only for three hours, it was something. Lanie and Esposito had dropped him off at the hospital in the morning telling him they'd check up on them in the afternoon after they were done with their work.

And there he was at 8:02 holding three complete sets of breakfast standing outside of Kate's room. He heard chatter and quickened his pace.

He froze in his spot as he spotted the Becketts. ''You're awake!'' Johanna immediately walked up to him and grabbed the bags of food from his hands.

''There's no way you're getting rid of me that easy.'' She said softly as he chuckled and walked up to her. He gave her a kiss on her forehead and grabbed her hand. She squeezed his hand tightly.

''We're going to take this and eat it outside. Some fresh air will be good for us. Thanks Rick.'' Johanna said, while giving Rick her chair to sit on.

''Of course, I'll see you guys in a moment.'' Johanna and Jim held hands as they left the room.

He turned to Kate and brought their hands to his lips. ''Don't ever do that to me again.''

She chuckled softly. ''I'll try.''

''Are you in much pain?''

''No, not at all. The pain killers are doing their job.'' She winched as she tried to move closer to Rick. ''The doctor said that I can go home tomorrow. The CT scan came out clean and even though I have a minor concussion, that can only be fixed by resting and thankfully, I can do that at home.''

''Kate Beckett. Resting. That's unheard of.'' He joked keeping his tone light. ''And your shoulder?''

''Surgery went fine, I should be able to use it fully within the next few weeks.''

''That's good.'' He said, a small smile appearing on his face. Until he got a random flashback to seeing Kate lie on the floor. ''God Kate, I can still see you-''

She untangled their hands and brought her hand to his face, gently stroking his cheek. ''I know. It's okay.''

He scraped his throat. ''Have you discussed what you're going to do once you're allowed to go home? I'd love to help. You could stay with me. In the guest room- if that's what you want.'' He rushed out the words.

''Rick. I can't ask that of you.''

''You're not asking, I'm offering.''

''I'd love that very much.'' He leaned forward and gave her a chaste kiss.

''Ugh, morning breath.'' He joked.

She laughed. ''You're such an asshole.'' He gave her another kiss with a smug smile on his face.