She had been tossing and turning all night. The struggle earlier that day with the suspect probably made for these nasty aches all over her body, and all of which made a point to keeping her up for intervals at a time. By 4, after the eighth time of waking up and reaching out beside her, she figured there was no point anymore.

So she got up and out of bed, slow enough and stealthy enough so as not to disturb her husband who sprawled out in bed, dead asleep. Catching a glimpse of him she smiled briefly, before she ventured out into the living room in search of a remedy for her restlessness.

She sought help from the kitchen, naturally, hopeful for something when she opened the fridge. She examined each shelf thoroughly, scanning through for something that would satisfy, put her to rest before having to drag herself out of bed in a couple hours. Still gripped to the handle of the fridge, she looked out into the kitchen again, a sudden lax in her legs and shoulders when she focused her eyes on the bottle of Merlot still sitting on the dining table.

With a steady walk she cautioned her way towards the cabinets, wary of the powerful squeak they had to them at this volume of quiet and grabbed the first glass she could. When she reached the bottle, a sigh lingered between her lips as she poured, grateful for the marooned elixir spilling out before her. She sat herself on the couch and took swig after swig, not so much cherishing each like she normally would, but rather waited and gaged the effect on her body. A rush drove her to finish her dose, but with clear dismay mounting her face as she met her eyes with the bottom of the glass, she let a heavy huff out. Her eyes shifted towards the bottle again, tempted to try another. You have work in a few hours. It would just be one more glass. Surely that would send her off to slumber.

So there she went, off to pour another glass, this time more generous than the last. When she raised it to the moonlight flooding parts of the room, the light hit it well enough for her to spot a dark figure in the distance. Slightly startled her body jerked, and so did the glass, spilling some of the contents to spatter on the floor. When the figure emerged from his place, her arms sunk to her sides, relieved to find her husband walking towards her.

"Damn it, Castle," she said while checking the spill.

"It's four in the morning you shouldn't be drinking anyway—especially not without me," he said squatting down to clean the mess. A soft laugh escaped her as he stood back up, tossing the wet tissue on the table before taking away her glass, and taking a couple sips of his own. He set it down as she took a seat back on the couch, shortly joining her to figure out what was going on. They leaned into each other, her legs folded but leaned up against his left calf; his arms expanded, but reaching out around her ready for an embrace.

"I couldn't sleep."

"I see that," he started. "I woke up for a second and I saw you were gone."

Her eyes shut tight, and she bit her lips out of a clear discomfort. He noticed this, despite facing her against the moonlight, most of the shadows overtaking her, he still noticed this. "I've just got these pains in me. I can't really explain them. They've kept me up almost every hour."

"How would you describe them?"

"I don't know. It's like being restless, but you feel something with it, an actual ache, you know? Just…all over."

"Well uh, are you thinking about anything while these aches are…for a lack of a better verb, aching away?"

She thought for a moment, paused in the moment, reaching for what had been on her mind all day.

Oh, she thought. That's right.

The realization manifested on her face, enabling him to press again.

"What, Kate? What happened?"

She had to muster up some strength for this—crying over it once was already enough. Maybe that's why it was buried so deep. She didn't want to admit it was the reason that kept her up. "So today I ran into Detective Lowell. Do you remember her?" He nodded no. "She's from kidnapping."

Oh, he thought. It's about this.

She gathered from his look that he knew where this was going, but he still went along, curious to hear the story entirely. "What did she say to you?"

"She needed help on a case….missing husband, has been for about four months now. They have no leads, and she remembered Demming mentioned my 'abstract thinking' to her before. Thought I'd be of help. Though I think either she must've either been out when you were MIA, or she was tactful and just didn't wanna bring up that aspect of my experience with kidnapping."

"How kind of her to not bring it up, but still use you nonetheless," he spoke lighter than he thought of it. She smiled again, and took a hand to his face. She brushed away his hair and cupped his cheek.

"No baby, no. I could've said no. I didn't. There's a reason for that." Her hand slipped down to rest on his shoulder, but he took it and pulled her in, reclining back onto the couch with her on the inside of the couch, wrapped up in him.

"What happened with us. That's why you helped her—that's why you're still up, trying to knock out using wine."

"I just can't get past this. I know we both agreed we just have to, we have to move on with our lives and we have, and it's been everything. It's just—I wake up at night sometimes still, worried that I'm not gonna see you there next to me."

He needed to remedy her mind, somehow, even if just for tonight. But what could he say? There would be no relief without answers. Right now they had to wait, to not put off life while they did, and just hope for something that would lead them somewhere. "I'm gonna be honest with you hon, I don't think we can completely stop worrying about that until we put this to rest. But what I do know is that no matter what happens with this, with us, I will come home to you every time. Every time. You know why? Because I love you. Too much. Still."

She looked up at him and smiled again, and sighed, but a good one. A thankful one. So thankful for the good spirits he has for them, for the sake of them. "I'm kinda starting to like you too, Castle." She held his neck and kissed him, letting it linger, letting it suspend, cherishing peace that filled her up. She rested her head beneath his chin and held onto him. "Thank you," she whispered, the peace finally taking her away.

"For what?" he whispered back with equal exhaustion.

"For coming home…for coming back to me."

She felt his smile against her head, followed by a kiss against her temple. "Always."