Rick Castle watched his partner, his soulmate, as she took down the so-called "dragon" without missing any heartbeats. He could tell her captain was impressed by her persistence, how she didn't back down even though the senator after a while started making threats about how he could destroy her career in a heartbeat. It took a lot longer than he had thought but eventually she got him to slip up about the murder on her mother and that was enough for them to close the interview with a win. Bracken was taken away while Gates went to make the calls to a judge who'd take on the case. Meanwhile Kate went into observation just when Rick was about to go out of there, which resulted in her pushing him back inside, closing the door after her. Before he could ask her what was wrong she had her arms around him in a tight hug, her head buried into his chest. He let his arms go around her in order to hug her back, nestling her into his body. This was cozy. And a complete other side of her than he'd been allowed to see before he figured out her secret.

He nestled his nose into her hair, taking a deep breath filling his nostrils with her wonderful sense. God, she smelled so much more now than before. And so much more enchanting. He felt the tension in her body relax and he couldn't help but kiss the top of her head.

"Castle, you'll get us caught," she mumbled in warning and he just chuckled.

"You're the one hugging me," he reminded her.

"Right," she murmured, slowly letting go of him. "It's just been a tough couple of days."

He nodded, grabbed her hand and pulled her close again. The way their skin was heated by the touch was still something he was getting used to. And the tingles going down his fingertips as he stroked her cheek were amazing. He used his newly heightened hearing to make sure no one was close to opening the door before he leant down and captured her lips with his in a gentle kiss. She tasted sweet and he knew he would never tire of tasting her.

"Do we really need to split up?" he asked once they broke apart and she nodded.

"I don't want them suspecting you too." She raised onto her toes to kiss him again. It felt too much like a goodbye kiss for him to really enjoy it. "Come on," she said, "time to go."

Before she could open the door he pulled her back and kissed her lips one last time, leaving both of them gasping once their lips parted.

"Not cool," she accused him in a panting whisper which only made him smile because, thank god, she was as affected by the kiss as he was.

She hit his chest lightly, opened the door and was exiting the observation room before he could pull another stunt. Rick took a deep breath to gather his thoughts before following his muse into the bullpen where she'd already sat down at her desk to write the report this case required. He sat down in his chair to join her, also to keep her company for as long as he can.

"You're not escaping paperwork?" she asked with a surprise in her tone.

"No," he simply said and she narrowed her eyes.

"Castle, go home. I'll see you tomorrow," she said. She scanned the room real quick to see if anyone was giving them any special thought. When she saw no one did she snaked her hand down and under the desk in order to put it on top of his knee. "Just go, I'll see you tomorrow and I promise to call you as soon as it's safe," she whispered as low as only they could do.

He put his hand on top of hers, tickling her skin with his fingertips. "As soon as possible," he murmured back and she nodded. They pulled back their hands simultaneously and he said goodbye the same way he always did. Then he went home. And tried not to think too much about the fact that she was still in danger. That she could be facing people he had no idea how to fight. And once again he felt useless.


A week of sleepless nights went by before Rick horrifyingly opened the door to what felt like the worst scenery since her shooting.

"Kate?!" he yelped out and wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and hold her tight. But the blood prevented him.

She had a broken lip with dried blood under it, she also wore a black eye and her clothes were ripped. He started moving as if to touch her but pulled back again because it looked like it hurt everywhere.

"Oh my god, detective Beckett?!"

Rick turned around to see his daughter look as horrified as he felt. He looked back at Kate just in time to see her bite her lip before immediately letting go and grimacing with pain.

"What happened?!" Alexis asked, and then set off towards the bedroom. "Dad, help her to the couch and I'll get the first aid kit."

That snapped him out of his glaring and he carefully reached for her fingers to take her inside. She hissed at the touch but followed inside with a small limp in her step and his heart broke at the sight of her pain.

"What happened?" he asked and she shook her head in exhaustion as she sat down slowly.

"Let's just say we're safe now," she told him and jerked her body along with a hiss as she let her back touch the back of the couch.

"How?" he asked but when she opened her mouth to answer she quickly shut it again at hearing his daughter coming back from the bathroom.

"Here you go dad," Alexis said, giving him the first aid kit without hesitation. "Anything else you need? Detective Beckett, do you need water or something else? Something stronger?"

Kate smiled but shook her head. "No, thank you. You're so sweet Alexis," she said and the girl smiled too.

"I'll, uh, leave you two alone then." Alexis patted her dad's shoulder before leaving with a "Shout if you need me."

Once they were alone again Rick started taking out cleansing pads to start the work on her broken lip. She flinched when the pad nudged her skin and he immediately mumbled his apology. They kept quiet for a while as he cleaned her wounds, he'd found another one on her shoulder when he accidentally nudged her there.

"They, uh… ambushed us," she started telling him in a low voice, not wanting anyone but them to hear. "I don't…" she took a shaking breath. "I don't like when we have to… it goes against all my beliefs but… they almost killed dad, started making threats about you. They didn't know about you but they…" she gulped and he saw a tear go down her now watery eyes. "I couldn't let them get to you. Couldn't let them just… kill my dad too."

"So, it's over?" he asked and she nodded. "We're safe?"

She nodded again. "Yeah, we're safe. And Bracken's behind bars." Her eyes teared up even more and she smiled at the facts she just stated. He smiled back with relief, putting a bandage over her wound at her shoulder.

"Ow," she whispered and he apologized. "Don't worry, it'll be healed tomorrow."

"All of it?" he asked as he started looking for more wounds down her arms.

"Yeah, one of the perks," she teased with an eye roll. She was quiet for a few seconds and then sighed. "Sometimes I wish this weren't part of my life."

"Are you kidding?!" Rick half-screamed and her eyes widened in surprise. "It's so cool! I haven't yet explored everything but so far I think the heightened senses are awesome!" She gave him a look and he smirked. "I don't have to bury my nose in your hair to smell it."

She shook her head. "Wait till you change," she said and he felt a nervous but excited jolt in his stomach.

"It can't be that bad, considering you told me there's no clothes allowed," he wiggled his eyebrows and she lightly laughed at that. That is before she took in a deep breath as a gasp and put her hand over her stomach.

He got a serious look on his face and he stood up. "Come on, let's make a full examination of your injuries." She looked up at him with that judging "uhuh" look on her face and he grunted. "Not like that, I'm not even thinking about that, you're hurt." She tilted her head a bit and he sighed. "Oh stop, come on and let me take care of you."

He, as carefully and gently as he could, grabbed her hands and helped her up from the couch. Grabbing the first aid kit he led her towards his bedroom, thinking there she could tell him more of what happened without curious ears plus he could lift up her shirt without the risk of exposing her to any of his family members. Once in the bedroom he told her to sit on the bed while he closed the door.

"Ow."

He turned around to see she was trying to remove her shirt, which gave him perfect sight over the wound right under her left breast. He walked up to her and helped her get the shirt the last way over her head.

"So, you were ambushed? Where? Is everyone okay?"

She nodded, hissed at the sting when he started cleaning her wound but opened her mouth to tell him everything. "Yeah. We thought we'd ditched them when they came out of nowhere. We were going to go over strategies on how to get rid of them but it quickly turned into a battle right there in the meadow. Thankfully we have an emergency plan for how we react when in fights, either with other wolves or with hunters. I'll teach it to you once you've gotten used to the change. It also helped that we were five wolves." Her belly flinched when he started bandaging.

"How many hunters were there?" he asked when she didn't continue. "Oh, and do you have any wounds on your legs?"

She shook her head. "No, just sore. They were nine hunters," she looked down with a small sorrow in her eyes. Were.

"You want something to drink? Water, coffee?" he waited a beat and then thought out loud. "Or something stronger?"

She looked up at him and smiled. "A coffee would be nice." He went to raise up but didn't get to come far before she opened her mouth again. "Wait." she took a hold of his hand and pulled him closer to her again. When her other hand landed on his cheek he didn't hesitate to lean down and meet her lips in a gentle kiss, he did his best to not hurt her already broken lip.

When they pulled away he kissed her forehead before straightening up again. The smile on her lips warmed his heart.

"Mm, thanks," she said and he chuckled.

"I'll be right back," he promised and went to make that coffee he offered her.

While making the coffee he heard footsteps coming down the chairs and turned around to see his daughter walking carefully down while looking towards the couch.

"Hey pumpkin," he greeted her and she looked at him.

"Hey, where's detective Beckett?" she got a worried look in her eyes. "She didn't go home all alone did she?"

He shook his head, secretly happy his daughter cares enough about his partner to ask about her. "No, she's in my bedroom. I'm not going to let her go home by herself."

The redhead's shoulders relax. "Good," she sighed. "So, how is she doing? What happened?"

Rick started pouring the coffee into a cup and while he did so he quickly tried coming up with a good enough excuse.

"She got into a fight with a suspect who turned out to be the killer," he explained and turned to his daughter.

"She got a lead and she didn't tell you?" she questioned with surprise in her tone.

Oh shit. "No no, she texted me, but it was all in a hurry so that's why she went there without me. Esposito and Ryan was close there but didn't get there before the killer made a run for it and Beckett had to catch him."

"Oh," his daughter looked towards his bedroom and smiled. "And she came here… dad, are you and detective Beckett in a relationship?" She crossed her arms and looked at him with a smile stating she already knew the answer.

"I-uh, I… think so?" His daughter chuckled, shaking her head.

"I'm heading for bed, see you tomorrow. Say goodnight to Beckett from me," she said and walked up to him, giving him his night hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Night pumpkin."

He took the coffee cup and set off to his soulmate in his bed.

"Coffee coming up," he said but stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes met the sleeping woman laying on top of his cover.

He smiled and took a sip of the coffee before putting it down on the nightstand in order to take care of his partner. As gently and carefully as he possibly could muster he tucked her in under the cover and then went to make himself ready for bed. Before he did though, he took out his phone, put it on silent, and snapped a photo of her. She would kill him if she knew, but he didn't care. She looked so peaceful, it really looked like everything had sorted out and that she could finally relax. And it felt amazing.


A/N: Thank you so much for reading and thank you all for your reviews! They truly help a lot giving me inspiration to actually continue this story. Now, I'm not sure but perhaps next chapter will not be a chapter at all but more of an epilogue, but I will have to wait to see how it turns out when I start writing it. I'll let you know on twitter which one it leans to! Until next time, xxxx