Summary: Through all of the secrets and the lies, the betrayal and the pain, the destination was always the same. They were meant to be together.

Author's Note: Umm...I really don't have much to say here. So, yeah. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine. And neither is the post I based this off of.

Chapter 7

Castle woke alone, the room bathed in pre-dawn light. The panic was instant, the fear that she had left. He rolled over in a hurry, felt the warmth lingering on the sheets. Wherever she went, she had not been gone long. Could not be too far away.

Castle sat up, swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and caught sight of something in his peripheral vision.

Kate, standing in front of the window, blinds cracked open, her figure silhouetted by the light shining through. His entire body relaxed immediately as he slid out of bed and crept over to her.

She did not turn around, but he could see in the reflection in the window that she was cradling her mother's ring to her chest.

"Kate," he whispered, his warm breath caressing her neck, making her shiver.

She leaned into him and his arms made their way around her torso, hands coming to rest softly on her stomach.

"Come back to bed."

She sighed, shook her head slightly. "I can't sleep."

"Why not?"

"You keep dying in my dreams." Her voice was quiet, the word 'dying' catching in her throat.

Oh. Oh, Kate.

"God, I'm so sorry," he said softly, his voice wracked with guilt. "This is all my fault." He dropped his head forward until his forehead rested against her temple. "I'm so sorry, Kate."

She shook her head again. "I've had nightmares for years. That's not new. But you've never," her voice broke, "died before."

Kate was trying to hide the tears but a couple escaped anyways. Castle's hand darted up to catch them, his other arm turning her to face him, folding her into his embrace.

"I'm here, Kate. I'm here and I'm safe and I'm not going anywhere."

"No more case," she said softly, shakily, her arms finding purchase on his back, ring clasped tightly in one hand.

"No more case," he agreed, his lips moving against her temple. He held her lovingly as her tears dried up, hands stroking her hair, lips kissing whatever skin they could reach. In fact, if not for the lingering terror of her dreams, she would probably be a mushy mess right now, fighting to hold herself upright.

"Come back to bed, Kate," he tried again, taking a step back, bringing her with him. She went easily this time, making no move to leave his arms even once they were settled under the covers.

Castle gently pried open her fingers, removed the necklace and placed it on the table beside her bed. As he settled back into bed, his arms found their way around her, cradling her to his chest, his body surrounding hers, warm and solid and grounding her to reality, pushing away the images of her sleep-addled brain.

"Sleep, Kate," he murmured, breath washing over the top of her head.

She burrowed deeper into him, soaking up his warmth and comfort and the pure love that was radiating from his body.

"Mmmm, love you, Castle."

Sleepy Kate was officially his favorite version of her. He was in love with every facet of her, of course; the Kate who was a confident detective, the Kate who could match him innuendo for innuendo, and frequently outwitted him, the Kate who would slip into a skimpy dress and mercilessly tease him on the dance floor.

But more recently, he had become acquainted with the other sides of her, too. The Kate who touched and hugged and kissed him so tenderly. The Kate who was no longer afraid to let her feelings show, to allow the love to shine in her eyes. The Kate who was opening up to him about her struggles. The Kate who was willing to fight for them just as fiercely as he was.

But cuddly, half-asleep Kate, who lazily kissed his chest and mumbled words of love, was his favorite of all. Because the feeling of falling asleep to her voice and waking with her in his arms was something Castle was not sure he could put into words. Not to mention the fact that he was the only man who got to see that side of her, and he was infinitely grateful for that, for the fact that they were finally getting their shot at happiness. And love. And forever.

He ran a hand through her hair, planted a kiss to her temple, and felt her stir slightly. He froze, not wanting to wake her; she had clearly been exhausted last night...this morning...whatever time it was that they had finally gotten to sleep.

One hazel eye blinked open, then the other, the man wrapped around her slowly coming into focus. His blue eyes were shining with happiness, overflowing with love and adoration and every other associated emotion, and Kate felt herself smile. She could not remember the last time she had woken in such a manner.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself," he replied.

She reached up, ran a palm across his stubbly jaw, realizing that he looked good all rumpled and sleepy and unshaven.

Really good.

"Sleep okay?"

He nodded, leaned into her touch. "Yeah."

"Me too," she murmured, eyes conveying how much she appreciated his presence, how much he had helped her to push away her demons for the night.

"What time is it?" Kate asked after a brief silence.

Castle rolled over, looked at the clock. "Almost ten."

"Okay." She had not slept that late in a long time, but apparently she had needed it.

"Are you on call today?"

She shook her head. "I have the whole weekend off."

"So we can stay right here, right?"

She could see the teasing glint in his eyes, mixed in with the seriousness of his suggestion, and as much as she wanted to agree, wanted to remain right here with him as long as possible, she had plans. And they needed to finish their discussion from last night. This morning. Whenever it was.

"I'm meeting my dad in a couple hours," she reminded him.

Oh, right. The lunch that he had been very much looking forward to. Except now he was nervous, especially given the current state of things. Yes, they were cuddling in bed, and smiling and happy. But there were still underlying issues that he knew were going to have to be discussed, sooner rather than later.

"Right."

"So I have to get up soon."

He nodded thoughtfully, propped himself up on one elbow. "Do you still want me to come with you?"

Kate faltered. Did she? She already knew her father and Castle got along. She knew he would not mind having her partner there. But she also wanted to talk to him about her partner, about recent arguments and such. And that would be much less awkward if Castle was not present.

"It's okay if you don't," he added quickly, as if sensing her internal battle. "I understand. This case is as personal to your father as it is to you and I understand if you want to talk to him without me there."

"I..." she hesitated. She was relieved that he knew her so well, but still felt bad about excluding him. But this was really something she needed to do alone. She needed to talk everything through with her father, see what he had to say, get a second opinion. "Yeah, okay. Thanks."

"No problem," he said softly, squeezing her shoulder. "There'll be another time."

Kate studied her partner, looking for signs of anger, but found none. "Are you sure you're okay with that?"

He nodded. "Yes. I mean it. There will be time for the three of us to have lunch later. I have things I can go home and do. And you're welcome to stop by after you're done."

Kate smiled. "I just might."

On the nightstand behind her, her cell phone rang, and she reluctantly extricated herself from his hold to answer it.

"Beckett."

"Hey, sweetie," came a familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Dad."

"We still on for lunch today?"

She sat up, pushed some stray strands of hair out of her eyes. "Of course."

"Same place as usual?"

Kate smiled to herself. "I'll meet you there."

When she turned back around, Castle was fixated on her, a soft smile on his lips and a tenderness in his eyes.

"What?"

He shook his head, disbelieving. "I just...I...you, Kate."

She raised an eyebrow, considered making fun of his complete lack of eloquence. There was something so enthralling to know that she held that much power over him, simply by sitting in bed with him in pajamas and no make-up and eyes that were still probably a little reddened from last night.

"Me what?" she prompted.

He lifted up off of his elbow, kissed her lightly. "I'm just glad to be here."

She slipped out of bed, turned, placed both hands on the mattress and leaned over to kiss him again.

"Me too, Castle."

Two hours later, Kate stepped through the door of her favorite diner, the bell overhead signaling her entrance. Her eyes settled on her father immediately, tucked away in a corner booth with a glass of water in one hand. His head rose as she neared, and he greeted her with a smile as he stood to embrace her.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, sweetie," he responded as they separated.

Kate slid into the booth opposite him, discarded her jacket and purse next to her.

"It's so good to see you."

She smiled, hoping her face belied everything her exhaustion, the stress of the last week. "You too."

"How are things going?"

Before she had a chance to answer, a slim blonde waitress, probably in her teens, appeared at their table. She placed a glass of water in front of Kate, topped off Jim's glass, and then pulled out her notepad, ready to take their order. It briefly crossed Kate's mind that perhaps the young girl should work on her timing a bit; if they had not eaten here many times before, Kate would have no clue what to order, as she had not yet picked up the menu.

After she departed, Jim returned his attention to his daughter, who was staring blankly at the salt and pepper shakers, a line of worry creasing her forehead.

"What's wrong, Katie?"

She snapped her eyes up, realized she had been doing a miserable job of concealing her inner turmoil. She wanted to discuss it with her father, but she had been hoping to start out the meal on a more pleasant topic.

"Nothing," she said quickly.

He fixed her with the fatherly glare, the one that reminded her that it was useless to try to lie to him, and Kate complied. She never had been able to get away with it.

"Rick," she said finally.

Jim raised an eyebrow, the concern in his eyes temporarily overshadowed by mischief. "Rick, huh?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason. He's just usually 'Castle' when you talk about him."

Oh. Damn. Why did fathers have to be so perceptive? Why did she have to be too tired to successfully hide anything today?

Jim was not oblivious to his daughter's feelings for the author, nor the fact that those feelings were very much reciprocated. And Kate was under no delusions about that. But she had been hoping to keep things under wraps at least until they were more established, had more fully recovered from everything.

"Anyways," Kate said, deflecting the question, "we had a fight. A huge one."

"What about?"

Jim saw the hurt and anger pass through her eyes. "He's been working on my case."

"For how long?"

"Since the summer."

"Ah. And you just found this out?"

She nodded.

"How?"

Kate hesitated. Somehow answering with 'we were stumbling across my living room, attached at the mouth, until he saw the murder board I have hanging in my window' did not seem like the appropriate answer.

"He, uh, he told me."

"Why now?"

Why did fathers always know how to ask the most annoying and overly astute questions?

"He felt bad keeping it a secret." It was the truth...the paired down version, but the truth nonetheless. Her father did not need any more details than that.

"And you were upset?"

She nodded. "Still kind of am."

"Why?"

"Because he lied," she answered, exasperation making its way through.

Jim nodded slowly. While he did not condone the fact that Castle had lied to his daughter, he had spent enough time with him in the hospital waiting room that it was obvious to him why Castle had chosen that particular course of action. Not smart, necessarily, especially given how much deceit Kate had experienced in her life. But completely understandable.

He was also grateful to know that Castle had listened to him last May, had taken his words to heart when he asked him to keep Kate safe. Actually, maybe he had taken it too much to heart; Jim had never intended for Castle to put himself in the line of fire. But either way, there was one glaringly obvious reason Castle had done all of this, and Jim wanted to make sure Kate understood that.

"Do you know why he lied?"

Kate sighed. "Yeah, he explained it all."

"You don't sound like you liked his answer."

"No, I...I get it. I see why he did what he did. But it still hurts that he didn't trust me."

"I don't think it was about trust, sweetie," Jim replied bluntly.

"He said it was." Along with other things she was not about to bring up with her father.

"That was some of it, maybe," Jim said, "but I think there was more to it. And I think you know that, too."

"Dad, I'm not having this conversation with you."

It was one thing to know that Castle loved her and to have said the words back to him. It was entirely another to admit all of this to her father, especially when the whole thing was still so private and special and new to her.

"Katie, you don't have to tell me everything that was said," Jim clarified, seeming to sense her hesitance. "I just want you to consider that maybe this was about more than trust. Maybe it was about your safety, too."

"I know," she admitted. "I know it was."

"You sound mad."

"I am," Kate admitted, the words spilling out. "He exchanged my safety for his. He put himself in the line of fire for someone he never even met."

"He didn't do it just for your mother, Katie. He did it for you. And I think you know that, too."

Kate sighed heavily. She did. She knew all of this, and more. But that did not help the situation, because Castle was in danger, and she would not rest easy until he was safe.

"Katie, what are you really upset about?"

Lovely. Now he was playing the role of father and therapist. And to make matters worse, he had drilled right down to the core of her anger with one sentence. One question. Broken trust could be fixed. Wounds could heal. Walking around with a giant red 'X' on your back was a lot more difficult to overcome.

"He can't do this, Dad," she said finally, eyes brimming with tears. "I already lost Mom. And Captain Montgomery. I can't lose him, too."

Jim reached out, covered her hand on the tabletop. "I'm sure he'd stop if you asked him to."

"I did."

"And?"

"He said he would."

"Then what's the problem?"

"He knows as much or more than I do. He'll still be in danger."

"Have you told him all of this."

"Yes."

"Then aside from watching out for him, that's really all you can do, Katie."

She dropped a head into her hand, defeated. "I know."

"He only has your best interests at heart."

"I know," she repeated.

"Everyone makes mistakes."

Kate thought back to last weekend, to when her own secret had come to light. Had it really only been a week? It felt like more. A lot more. Probably because the range of emotions she had experienced in the last seven days topped any week in the recent past.

"I know, Dad."

"He's a good man, Katie."

Kate smiled just as their food arrived, images playing through her mind. Yes, Castle had made mistakes. So had she. But that did not make either of them a bad person.

No, not at all.

Because in all honesty, she could not think of a better man than Richard Castle.

Thoughts?