Sorry this is so late (and probably very short too) but I'm buried in work so I might not actually get to stick to my schedule like I wanted to but I'm going to give it my very best effort to. Enjoy!

Protect

Kate sat with Castle as he waited for Jim's return with his mother, her hand running soothingly up and down his back as her opposite hand locked with his. Their games were over and the others were sitting, silently, in the boys' room. Lanie was draped across Javi's bed, on her back, her hair cascading over the side as her boyfriend sat on the bunk below, playing with the strands. Kevin was sitting against the headboard of his single bed, a book open in his lap (though he hadn't turned the page in a full twenty minutes) as he sent worried glances at Castle, whose entire body was rigid as he watched the clock on the far wall, ticking ridiculously slow.

They were like that for two hours, at the very least, before they heard the sound of gravel shifting in the driveway and Castle jumped up, dislodging Kate, and ran to the window. It was still pouring out, but less intense than before, and Jim's truck splashed through a puddle as he parked near the front door, his light shutting off as the car did.

Castle watched as he got out of the car and walked around the front, his breath stuck in his chest as he watched Jim open his mother's door and then reach inside for her. He wondered for a moment what was so wrong that she couldn't pull her own body out of a car, but decided that it was better to go and see for himself.

He ran out of the room and down the stairs at full speed, ripping open the door and running out, his bare feet slipping in the mud and stinging from the gravel getting stuck in his heels and toes, until he saw a flash of red hair and pale skin. His breath caught in his lungs and his step faltered as he watched the extent of his mother's injuries revealed to him.

Her left eye was swollen shut, half the skin of her face turned black and blue, one lip split and sewed back together with stitches. She was limping, leaning heavily against Jim's side as he led her towards the house, meeting Castle—who was drenched to the bone—halfway, holding a blue umbrella over their heads.

The boy couldn't see the rest of her body due to the bright green raincoat she had on, but he knew there was something wrong with her right arm from the way she cradled it against her body.

"Rick," Jim said, once he was close enough to hear over the sound of the rain. "Go get your mother's bags and head inside before you catch cold."

Castle wanted to point out that it was far too warm for that, or ask what happened to his mother; he wanted an explanation. But there was a lump in his throat that prevented him from speaking. He just nodded and slipped his way through the mud and muck to the back of the truck and gathered his mother's bags, slinging one over his shoulder and tucking the other beneath his arm as he headed back into the house.

Johanna met him with a towel, drying him off and helping him wipe off his feet, before giving him a hug and helping him move the bags to their spare room, where Martha was already sitting on the bed, one swollen ankle propped up on a pillow. She smiled at him—a real, genuine smile; not a grimace, as he had been expecting—and patted the space next to her, inviting him without words to join her. So he did.

He laid the suitcase and carry on down and propped himself on the edge of the bed, not where she'd indicated, by her waist and just looked down at her for a second, fighting past the lump in his throat, which seemed to have doubled in size.

After a moment, he felt a hand reach out, place itself on the right side of his jaw, and turn his head to face her. Martha was stills smiling, but her eyes—or eye, for he could only really see one—were sad. There were tears that mingled with the sparkling blue irises and, upon seeing them, the dam behind Castle's own broke and he crumbled against her chest, careful not to lean on her too much lest he hurt her further, and felt her good arm come around him, the long, slender fingers raking through his hair.

After a few minutes, he felt himself calm enough to pull back and found Martha's face wet with tears as well, her mascara (of course she'd found the time to do her makeup, he thought) was running down her cheeks and her eyes were red-rimmed, but she still had that soft smile on her lips as she looked up at him, her hand cupping his cheek.

"You okay, kiddo?" she asked. And it was so like her—so Mother Martha, who really only came out when her son was distressed—that Castle could only sigh.

"I'm fine," he replied, his voice scratchy. "But I'm not the one with the black eye." Martha huffed. "Mother, what happened? Did you and Gustave get into an accident or something? Where is he, anyway?"

"In hell, most likely," Martha sighed. "Where he belongs." At his questioning look, she took a deep breath and continued. "He's been very…angry since the morning you left. He told me I shouldn't let you come up here, that it was my fault that you were such a…a 'problem child'." She scoffed. "You, my dear, have never been a problem child; a little goofy, yes, and easily distracted, no doubt, but…you have never been a problem." Castle smiled at that, feeling his face flush slightly. "And I made the mistake of telling him that…without any sort of protection."

Castle stiffened at that. "Protection?" he asked, furrowing his brows. She pointed to her eye and then held up her right wrist, wincing as she did. Without her even uttering a word, Castle understood. "I'm going to kill him," he ground out, his fists clenching.

"He's in jail, kiddo," Martha replied, laying her hand on his arm and rubbing it softly. "And according to Officer Gates, he'll be there for a long time now."

"Officer Gates?" Castle asked, his body slackening. "You called the cops?"

"Not me; the neighbors," Martha replied. "Comes with living in a nice building, I suppose. Gustave was too…busy to answer and they walked in right in the middle of it, pulled him away and cuffed him before I could blink twice." She sighed. "The nice lady cop helped me up and got me down to the ambulance and took my statement at the hospital before she let me call Jim and Johanna. She promised that he'd go away, said she got it all on camera, on those little body cams they have to wear nowadays; how about that?"

"So he won't be coming back?" Castle asked.

Martha shook her head. "Not for many, many years," she confirmed. "But now we have to find somewhere else to live."

"We can't stay in the apartment?" Castle asked. Martha shook her head.

"My name is not on the lease," she informed him. "And I can't afford rent all by myself; not in a nice place like that."

"Then you can stay with us," a deep voice said from the doorway. Castle and Martha looked up; Johanna and Jim were standing outside the door, his arm around her shoulders. Martha smiled and shook her head.

"Oh, we couldn't impose…" she started, but Johanna lifted one hand to stop her.

"Martha," she said, "trust us; it would certainly not be an imposition. We have an extra room and it would be a rather tight fit between the two of you, but it would be our pleasure to have you stay with us."

"At least until you're back on your feet…literally," Jim added.

Martha smiled at the small joke, but shook her head again. "I couldn't just stay in your apartment for free, Jim. I'll have to pay rent of some kind."

"I agree," Johanna said, "but not until you've recovered enough to get a job."

"Well, that won't be for a while," Martha laughed, motioning to her bad ankle.

"So be it," Jim said. "We'll be up here for a while, still, so you should be okay by the time we return to the city. I'm sure Rick will be more than happy to wait on you until you're all fixed up."

"What else is new," Castle mumbled, earning a swat from his mother. He laughed and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I'm really glad you're okay, Mother," he said.

"I better than okay, kiddo," Martha replied, hugging him to her, still stroking his hair. "Way better."

In the middle of the library at school, I made myself cry. I hope y'all liked this one.

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