A/N: Thank you all so much for your patience! Here's the third chapter, hope you'll enjoy it and I hope I'll get some time to write the next chapter soon! Until next time, xxxx


When Castle eventually got home, he'd tried to find Beckett but her car had been long gone once he got down to the garage. In the cab home he thought he met the protective detail the new captain had put on her on their way back to the precinct. For a second he thought about turning the cab around again but then figured the reason they weren't following her was because she'd been as stubborn as always and lost them. He tried calling her, but there was no answer.

"Dad! You okay? Did you find the shooter?" Alexis interrupted his thoughts as she ran into his chest, arms hugging him tight.

He put his arms around his daughter, kissed the top of her head. "No, we didn't find the shooter yet. And I got kicked out of the precinct so I'm not really okay."

"What?! What did you do to make Beckett kick you out?" his mother came rushing towards him with wide eyes.

"I didn't do anything!" Castle immediately defended himself, and his daughter pulled away slightly in order to look at him. "But apparently the new captain is not a fan of mine."

He was already trying to figure out how to get inside the precinct again, thought if there was any chance the captain would let him back in if she saw how helpful he could be. Or perhaps it was better to call the mayor and see if there was something he could do about it.

"Maybe that's for the best."

Castle turned to look at his daughter with shock written all over his face. "What does that mean?" he asked with partial fear in his voice. There was no way this was anything good. He was just getting closer to Beckett, and he knew she was starting to let him in too.

Speaking of Beckett, he still couldn't quite understand how she could've been so fast. Dodging the bullet like she did… it was… weird.

"Dad, you almost got shot today," Alexis interrupted his thoughts again and he furrowed his eyebrows. "What if you had been the target?! What if you'd been standing a little closer to her?! I would've lost you!"

He could see the fire in his daughter's eyes, the anger and the fear taking over her otherwise calm blues.

"Alexis," he said in a calm tone but she shook her head with anger still evident.

"Don't try to minimize it dad! You jumped in front of her! I saw it!" She was accusing him and even though he wouldn't have done it any different he was definitely starting to understand the pain she was going through.

"Okay, pumpkin, I won't." He tried calming her, opened his arms again and she immediately snuggled close. "But I still have to help her. I can't lose her either." It was only whispers but he knew his daughter heard it, could tell by the way she was suddenly letting go of her anger and fear in form of tears and sobs into his chest.

Castle met the eyes of his mother, saw the worry she felt too but could tell she didn't blame him nor the detective the way his daughter seemed to be doing. In fact, Martha just nodded and announced she'd go fix something for them to eat on before he'd need to go out again. As soon as the food was finished both Castles joined the older one at the table to eat. They ate in silence, too much going on in every single one of their minds. Castle had started to think about the way Beckett dodged the bullet again, the way she'd moved out of the way and dragged him with her. It had almost been as if time had slowed down for her and she'd moved faster than the bullet and everything else. Almost as if… no. Beckett made it out of her to tell him she believed in no such thing as the supernatural. Which meant that, adrenaline had to be the answer. Right?

"You love her, don't you?"

Castle looked up and stared at his daughter, who was eyeing her food, playing with it the way she did when she was a kid and asked him questions about her mother. Questions like why she wasn't there, why she didn't visit often, why they weren't like a real family.

"I…" he stammered, not sure what to answer. Did he love her? Yes. Then why was it so hard to admit to his own daughter? "It-uh… well, it's not about the books anymore." He carefully watched as his daughter nodded slowly, accepting the vague answer.

"Then you should tell her. Stop following her blindly and just tell her," his daughter said with small anger still hearable in her voice.

Her statement had him almost choking on the piece of food he just put in his mouth. "It's not that simple," he coughed.

Alexis rolled her eyes, a move he secretly wondered if she'd picked up from the detective because she had never really rolled her eyes like that before he became his partner's shadow.

"Of course it is. If you don't tell her she won't know and she's not going to make the first move," Alexis said in a matter of factly tone.

No, she wouldn't. Castle sighed. His daughter was right. As usual. But that didn't make it any less complicated. In fact, it was only starting to feel more and more impossible.

––––––––––––––

Kate didn't return to her apartment until 3am and was met with a sight she didn't believe seeing until she'd rubbed her eyes a couple times first.

"Castle?" she whispered in slight surprise as the figure sitting down in front of her door became more and more clear. It was indeed her partner sitting there, and as she observed him she noticed he was actually asleep.

Kate tiptoed closer, listened to his steady heart beat. She hadn't heard it this calm in hours, days. Ever since they had that falling out before Montgomery was killed. Not even at the funeral had it been this calm. It sounded so peaceful. Kate had a big urge to just sit down beside him, lay her head on his shoulder and fall asleep right next to him. But she knew that wouldn't be a great idea, in fact, the posture he was sitting in would most likely hurt his neck.

"Castle," she whispered a bit louder than earlier, this time bending down her knees in order to get down to his level. "Time to wake up."

As gently as she could manage she reached out her hand, soothingly putting it on his shoulder in order to shake him carefully. He groaned, and she could almost swear she heard him mumble something about five more minutes. She would've chuckled if the circumstances were different. Right now, though, there was still a killer out for her and from what she could see there was no protective detail following him.

"Castle, you're not safe out here," she whispered a bit louder, again shaking his shoulder.

He suddenly gasped and jerked awake as his eyes were looking all around them, before they settles onto hers. "Kate?" His eyes filled with happiness before they filled with confusion and worry. "Where have you been?"

As so many times before she couldn't stop the thought of telling him, but it was quickly drowned by the voice of reason. The voice who had always told her that she, and especially he, was better off if he didn't know and simply left her alone no matter how close she'd come at telling him. She'd seen what had happened with her parents and she wasn't going to make the same mistake.

"Sorry, I've been out running," she wasn't lying, "I just had to get off all the energy I wasn't allowed using for police work."

"Oh." He nodded and she raised onto her feet, picking out the keys from her pocket.

"You wanna come inside?" she asked and he immediate jumped to his feet with a 'yeah' on his lips.

Kate unlocked the door and didn't close or lock it until he was inside the apartment with her. She wasn't sure why her partner had come to her apartment and focusing on her hearing she could tell his heart was pounding in a stressful manner, which didn't exactly calm her own.

"You want something? Coffee?" she asked as she got rid of her shoes and jacket only to turn around and see he was trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. He was actually kind of cute.

"Only if you want some," he answered and she smiled.

"When have I ever said no to coffee?" she muttered and he chuckled.

She went to put on the pot as she felt his presence following her, his eyes observing her the way he usually did. Maybe even closer than he usually did. But she couldn't think like that, she couldn't afford to start thinking like that. Deep down she knew telling him was inevitable, but that didn't mean she hadn't tried her best to turn the tables. It wasn't that she didn't want to, it was just that she didn't want the heartache again. Not after her mother.

"So, how are you feeling?" Castle asked, his tone careful and filled with anxiety. Not that she blamed him.

She turned to him as the coffee started brewing and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm good, the run help. But I'm still pissed Gates kicked me out." Even Kate herself could hear the small hatred in her voice. The new captain would not be able to stop her, no matter how hard she'd try.

"You know, now that I think about it. All the best cops, I mean like Dirty Harry, Cobra, the guy from Police Academy, they all have one thing in common," Castle sounded almost a tiny bit excited about something and she couldn't stop the pull in her lips.

He gave her a look as if he was trying to see if she could figure out what he was thinking about and so she decided to play his game and start thinking about it. After a few minutes she pursed her lips, "Plucky sidekick?"

He smirked but shook his head. "Well, that, and they always do their best work after they've been booted off the case. Like you and me."

She bit the inside of her cheek. "Well, I was booted off the case, you were kicked out of the precinct."

He huffed, "She'll take me back in." The smile spreading across her lips was the first real smile she'd worn in hours. "What kind of flowers do you think she'd like?" That comment had her laughing slightly as she shook her head.

Turning around she reached for the finished coffee pot and started pouring them their beverage into the cups they usually used. "You're stupid."

"Made you laugh," he countered and glancing to him she could see the wide smile on his lips.

She could also hear the heartbeat of his, it didn't sound as stressful as it had when they first entered the apartment. She wondered what had made him so stressful before he got there. Or maybe it had been the fact that she hadn't been there that had made him start thinking things. Apparently he hadn't given up on the hope that she'd gone out on her own, considering he had stayed instead of trying to find her. Then again maybe he hadn't known where to start looking.

"Thanks." Castle took the cup she handed him and they both stood facing each other as they took the first sip.

She observed him as he sipped on his coffee, could feel the stress even as she saw the smile still on his lips. He was definitely trying to be as normal as he could. Well, his normal. It was starting to freak her out, worry her more than it ever had before. It also made her think about what had changed. Was he starting to figure out she wasn't human? Was that what had changed? Her pulling away and therefore dodging the bullet?

"So," she started, took another sip, "that's what you came to tell me at 3am?"

He shook his head, sticking his hand into his pocket to check his phone. "In my defense I came here at 10pm."

"Yeah, sorry about that," she apologized lowly.

"It's okay, I was the one who came without even calling first," he shrugged his shoulders. "To answer your question, I-ah, I wanted to check how you were doing. I understand if you wanted to be alone but I just… I have Alexis and mother when I go home and I figured perhaps, I mean, maybe you didn't… want to… be… alone."

Kate could sense the nerves he felt, could even smell it. He was nervous about something and it made her even more stressed and nervous about what it could be about. She'd been so careful to never be overly strong or overly fast whenever he was around and the fact that she managed to dodge and be fast enough to not get hit by the bullet was a big slip-up from her end. She'd been extra careful with him since she knew he was a big fan of the supernatural, and the way he'd always tried to turn her into a believer made her even more suspicious he would be able to figure it out if she wasn't careful enough. Plus, she knew he was something more than just another human to her. He wasn't just some guy who followed her around for inspiration. It might've started that way for him, but she always knew there was something more. She knew it was a force pulling them together. It was why she'd been so determined not to let him in so easily. She thought his small infatuation with her being a cop would fade if she was constantly rude to him. It never faded.

"Speaking of Alexis and Martha, how are they doing?" Kate asked, slightly changing the subject. Before he answered she could see the glimpse of love in his eyes, could smell it in his scent, and she felt her heart skip a beat. She'd been seeing and smelling it more often than not the last couple months. And it was getting harder and harder for her to ignore.

To be continued...