A/N: not gonna lie, this has been a long time coming. It's been over 18 months since I updated this, so here's the quick recap version: Rick, Kate, and Martha are guardian 'angels' and have these magical scrolls with messages on how to keep their allotted person safe. That's probably about all you need, but if you want to re-read the whole thing, please do! Posting this for #CastleFanficMonday, go check out other writers' stuff on the twitter/tumblr hashtags :)

"Hey Lanie, what do we got?"

A couple of weeks on from her explosive eviction, Beckett had moved out of the Castles' loft and into her own new apartment. Exposed brick and timber, with yards and yards of bookshelves, it almost made her glad she'd had to move.

Almost.

"Female, forty-three years of age, named Harriet Laumeyer. Cause of death is exsanguination following two bullet wounds, one to the thigh and the other to the lower abdomen." The M.E. looked up from her notes with a consolatory grimace at Beckett and her partner and Kate's mind immediately jumped back to the image of the message her scroll had given her that morning.

Today.

"I got something," a voice called from the next room, and Beckett shook herself out of her thoughts as she followed the sound away from the body. Castle threw a quick 'thanks' over his shoulder as he hurried after her.

"Beckett, the victim was married to a Devan Laumeyer, this is his wallet." Beckett raised an eyebrow at Ryan. "And this wallet…" he lifted his other hand to reveal a second square of leather, "…belongs to a Francis Jones, who lives a few blocks away."

"Huh…" Beckett made a note of the address, and tapped at her notebook as she thought. "Castle and I'll head to this guy's place, see if he's in. Meantime, you and Espo grab a couple uni's and start the canvass. We'll meet you back at the precinct later."

Kate looked down at her scribbled writing and shrugged away the strange feeling crawling up her spine. No time for gut feelings today.

Today.

'A few blocks away' in New York terms meant a twenty minutes or so drive in Beckett's cruiser, and this early on in the case there weren't all that many questions to ask or theories to bounce around. Castle gazed out of the window, seeing only his thoughts as the streets moved by.

He considered the scroll residing in its new safe place, his jacket pocket. After discovering his mother's slip and being unable to figure out much other than which was hers, he'd slipped what he hoped was Kate's scroll into her bag while she packed to leave the loft. In the time since then he's come to realise he'd messed up almost as badly as his mother.

He had Kate's scroll. And that could only mean that she had his. He hoped there was nothing incriminating on it.

As it was, there was nothing to be done about it now, and he'd enjoyed the two or three messages meant for her that he'd seen, especially because they were clearly about him.

There was one that had said, "Don't go yet, stay a while longer," which had pleased him to no end once he'd realised the switch. He'd have been more than happy for her to stay at the loft, for however long she wanted, and if only she weren't so stubborn, she'd have been able to see that. But, of course, she had his scroll, so it had probably cautioned her not to push for more.

He sighed, the deep breath coming just as they passed a horse and carriage. He saw Beckett glance at him from the corner of his eye, but she made no move to engage him in conversation so he continued his line of internal enquiry.

This morning, he'd seen his – her – scroll sparkle and change to a new message. Probably the most simple one yet.

Today.

Frankly, he was trying not to freak out about it. Having walked half into the frame of the front door while talking to Alexis as they walked out, narrowly missed landing on his backside when he tripped on a small step outside her school, and scalded himself on the precinct's coffee machine, he wasn't sure that the message wasn't for Beckett to cure him of his sudden clumsiness. Today, with any luck, would be the last day he ever smacked his face on a lamp post.

A man could dream.

"Stop dreaming, Castle, we're here."

Perhaps not.

Of course, it was five floor walk-up, and the apartment they wanted was on the fifth floor. Beckett kept a steady pace, having been left behind by Castle as he started off at a sprint, only to have to wait for him to catch up by the time he made it up the last flight out of breath and tugging at his shirt collar.

She couldn't resist snarking at him, "Did you bring your inhaler?"

"Oh, ha… ha…" he wheezed in reply. "Just… give me a… a minute." She rolled her eyes and smirked, wandering a little way along the corridor to find the correct apartment.

A moment later, her face was blank and she hissed over at her partner, "It's open! Come on, Castle!" She drew her gun and disappeared through the door just as he caught up with her, hot on her heels as the sounds of an escalating fight spilled through the apartment.

"…slept with her! And ain't no one gonna do that again, Francis!"

"Listen, Devan…" the apartment's owner spoke in hushed tones, a false calmness to his voice as the dead woman's husband got louder and louder.

"Shut up! Just shut up or I'll kill you too!"

Francis gasped, "You… you killed her?"

"Course I killed that damn whore, she's slept her way around the entire firm!"

Gun up and ready, Beckett announced her presence as she rounded the corner of the dark corridor to the kitchen, "NYPD, nobody move!"

When he came to recall it later, Castle would have sworn on every bible he could lay his hands on that the ten seconds that followed played out in slow motion.

Devan Laumayer, caught unawares by the sudden intrusion, swung his gun around in a swooping arc towards Beckett. The man's eyes were wild and almost unfocussed in his rage.

From his position to the side, Castle saw Laumayer begin to scrunch his face and raise the gun up in readiness to pull the trigger. He moved fully into the kitchen, distracting the man at the last second. The bullet went wide and whizzed past him, leaving a scorch mark across the shoulders of his jacket.

Beckett immediately returned fire, but with Castle barrelling his considerable weight into her, her shot also went wide. There was a loud shriek as the partners hit the vinyl floor with a thud that had Castle automatically shielding Beckett's body with his even as she tried to check he was unharmed. He was propped up on one elbow as her free hand swiftly ran from his open collar to his waist, around to his back and up to his shoulders before she was pushing him off her. Castle's heart was thumping so hard he thought it might burst through at any moment, though if it was from saving her life or the sudden caress he wasn't certain.

"Drop the weapon! Drop it!" Beckett was up and moving over to Laumayer even as he dropped his gun to clutch his arm, letting out another shriek of pain. She stepped over to Laumayer and slapped her cuffs onto him at the front so he could continue to hold his wound, while Castle got up and led the other man out to the living room.

Having deposited the victim's lover on a couch, he went back towards the kitchen, only to be met by Beckett coming the other way. He gathered her up into his arms as she wound hers around his neck and they hugged each other tight for a long moment.

"NYPD, identify yourself!" Esposito's gruff voice boomed, causing Castle and Beckett to jump apart, eyes meeting in mutual commiseration at the abrupt ending of their embrace, and the man on the couch to leap up off it in surprise.

His hands shot up above his head, "Francis Jones, I'm F-Francis Jones!"

"Hey, guys, it's clear," Beckett headed towards the front door. "Laumeyer's in cuffs in the bedroom, can you read him his rights and take him down to the station?"

Esposito and Ryan harnessed their guns and nodded in reply, shifting past Castle, who was attempting to act normal while leaning against the wall of the corridor. Both detectives narrowed their eyes at him in suspicion, and when they were out of sight he breathed a sigh of relief.

He heard Beckett begin to introduce herself to Jones, and he pushed off the wall to join her for the interview.

As soon as they walked into the bullpen, Rick split away from the group to make coffee, and take a few moments to himself. He was desperate to check the scroll in his pocket; he could feel it almost vibrating with energy, like it was fizzing with excitement.

He tapped the coffee grounds into the filter and set the machine to begin its work before he glanced around to make sure he was alone and not being watched through the windows. He drew the scroll out of his jacket pocket and let it unfurl in his palm. As he expected, the previous message had gone and a new one had replaced it.

You could trust him with your heart like you trust him with your head.

"Huh."

Beckett signed her name with a flourish, the movement dragging Castle out of his daze. He'd lost track of time, hadn't really meant to stay while she completed the paperwork, but at some point he'd just started staring into the middle distance and become lost in his thoughts.

"All done," she declared, flashing him a quick smile. He took a restorative breath and flicked her a half-hearted grin in return. "Walk you home?"

"Sure. Give me a couple minutes." Kate nodded as he headed in the direction of the men's room, and when he was out of sight she shuffled some files around on her desk to form a little barricade. She pulled the scroll from her jeans, where it had been sitting for hours, and let it unroll in front of her. Ever since she'd realised hers was not the only scroll – and that she had somehow gotten Rick's while she had been at the loft – she'd been keeping it as close as possible. It never travelled around in her purse now; she knew it was stupid, but she felt his presence with her when the scroll was within one layer of material to her skin.

Words are not deeds.

"Do you want to go to Remy's on the way?" Castle called out to her on his way back into the bullpen, his voice causing her to jump and scramble the scroll back into her pocket.

"Uh-…" She fumbled and tripped over the words before they could get out, and grabbed her coat from the back of her chair when she stood up. She knew the scroll wanted her to do something but she needed time to process it all. Process the day, the near miss, the messages…

"Not tonight, Castle, I'm beat. Rain check?"

She glanced away so she didn't witness his momentary deflation, see his face crumple and his shoulders sag when he hid his hands in his pockets. She was determined to never be a disappointment for him again, to try to show her feelings like he did so easily.

Kate reached out and touched her fingers to his forearm. "After the next case… Take me some place we haven't been to before."

She couldn't help but smile at the hope in his eyes.

A/N: Huge thanks to Jo for making me send this to her to beta. There's one more chapter to go. I'm determined to finish this story!