A/N: Again, trigger warning for some discussion and details of domestic abuse. It's a bit more explicit than the previous chapter - please read at your own discretion.

Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Castle or anything from the show.

Thoughts are in italics as always.

"So do you think it's sprained?"

"I'm not sure, but it really hurts."

"Going by the size it's swollen up to, my guess is yes."

"How would you know, Castle?"

"Alexis sprained her ankle a few years ago," the writer explained. "It looked a lot like yours does now. I don't even know if this ice is going to do anything for the swelling since we waited so long."

"It'll be fine Castle," Kate supplied patiently. "Just give it some time. You've already wrapped it, so the ice should do the trick."

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital? I can run you over now-"

"Castle, I'm fine. We've been over this. It can wait until morning, or sunrise at least. That's not far off now," Kate interjected as Rick gently placed the bag of frozen peas to her sore ankle. She could feel the chill through even the tea towel wrapped around the bag, and she bit her lip to stifle a gasp of pain.

"I'll come check on you in a couple of hours," Rick insisted, sitting by her feet on the edge of his bed. He was careful not to bump her ankle, which he had wrapped and elevated on a couple of small throw pillows. "Just ice it for a few more minutes and then you can sleep for awhile."

"Bag off bag off-" She hissed.

"What?"

"Take the bag of peas off!"

"Oh! I'm sorry," Rick apologized, removing the bag as she asked. "Too cold?"

"Yeah, even with the tea towel," Kate sighed. "So much for that idea. Guess we'll just have to stick with the wrap for now."

"Well, I'll leave it next to you on the bed, so if you change your mind later you can still use it, maybe once it's warmed up a bit. Sound ok?"

"Fine with me."

Rick tossed the bag of peas onto the bed next to her, but made no move to get up. Kate tilted her head, curiousity written all over her face. "What is it, Castle?"

"I can't figure out why you called me," Rick said quietly. "You could have called one of the guys, your father, or even Lanie. But you called me instead. Why?"

Oh boy. They were veering into territory that Kate didn't want to discuss; at the same time however, she felt Rick had a right to know. She hated feeling torn like this. Self-preservation usually won out over honesty, but Rick had put himself out for her.

"There would be too many questions from either one of them," she admitted somewhat reluctantly.

"Yeah but we talked in the bathroom," Rick pressed. "I asked you tons of questions, many of which I probably shouldn't have asked."

"Why do you say that?" She inquired.

"I'm... I'm your partner, Kate. And we're friends. But I thought that only extended so far. I just got concerned and upset when I saw how hurt you were and my writer's brain wanted to know the backstory behind what happened, so I just kept asking questions and prying without considering what it took for you to tell me-"

"Castle, no. No. That's not why I told you what I did."

"Then why did you?"

"Why are you asking me these things?" Kate countered.

"I'm just curious about why you chose to call me instead of calling someone closer to you," Rick explained. "I don't understand why you chose me when you had other options available."

Kate exhaled loudly. Apparently there was no way out of this conversation that Rick was insistent on having. Fine. The sooner she got it out of the way the better.

"I... didn't want to call my dad because I didn't want to worry him. I know he's concerned about me because I'm a cop, worried that I'll be put in the line of danger and something serious will happen to me. Nevermind that my mother, his wife was murdered. I know he stresses about that happening to me as well. He worries about me enough; I didn't want to add any weight to that burden."

"Fair enough. Why not Lanie? You two are best friends."

"I love Lanie like a sister. I don't know if she knew what was going on with Josh and me, and I know she would've been supportive if I had told her I needed help, but... I don't know. It's hard to explain," Kate said flatly. "Just something about the way I suspected she'd react. Like she'd be disappointed in me for not knowing better, for not leaving him when I should have. I couldn't bear to have to face her disappointment in me. It's the same reason for why I didn't call Ryan or Esposito either. I don't like letting people down."

Rick snorted. "Oh, we all know you don't."

"I'd smack you if you were closer," she said sourly.

Rick grinned at her, an impish expression lighting up his face for a few moments despite the seriousness of the moment, and Kate couldn't help but smile back. There's that Castle we all know and lo-like. Like. He's a good guy.

"So, why did you pick me then?" Rick continued a minute later.

"You're not going to let me get out of this one, are you?" Kate sighed in mock exasperation. She'd already made up her mind to tell him everything, but she didn't want to hand it to him on a silver platter.

"Nope. So cough it up."

Kate fiddled with the hem of Rick's shirt, unable to meet his eyes. She wasn't sure what she'd see in his expression, in his gaze, and didn't want to be distracted while she peeled off another couple of layers of the Beckett Onion.

"You're my partner, Rick. I trust you, as much as I trust Lanie or the boys. You know why I didn't call Lanie, the boys or my father, so once I'd removed them as options for me, I didn't know who else to call. You sent me that text as I was leaving for home, and... and I guess I decided to take you up on it."

"Kate," Rick said gently, and she slowly brought her eyes up to meet his. "Thank you for calling, for reaching out to me. I would have come no matter what. I would do anything for you."

Her eyes widened, and Rick quickly added, "Because you're my partner and that's what partners do for each other, right?" Smooth move idiot.

"Yes, you're right, that's what they do for each other." She paused, contemplating her next words carefully. "I would have done the same for you if you had been in trouble and needed me." Kate fought a grin as he flushed a light shade of pink at her words.

"Well, I guess I will let you get to sleep then," Rick said as he moved to leave. "I'll have my phone with me, and yours is beside you on the nightstand there, so text if you need help with anything. I'll come downstairs fast as lightning and help you."

"Wait-" Kate started, reaching a hand out to him.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Could you stay a little longer, Castle?" She mumbled the words, and Rick realized that Kate Beckett actually had a shy streak. Who'd have thought?

"But you won't sleep with me here," he protested. "And you should rest before we talk again in the morning. We still need to figure out how to explain this to Montgomery, since you might have to miss a few days of work, what with your ankle and the bruises."

"I'm not tired though," Kate insisted. "I just really don't feel like being alone right now, and you're good company Castle."

Rick hid a smile at her admission. She really wants me to stay. He knew that if they were at the precinct, or anywhere else, Kate Beckett would rather have drank monkey pee in battery acid before admitting that she liked having him around.

"Well, I suppose I can stay for a bit longer," he said playfully, moving around the bed and carefully climbing up onto the empty side next to her. He moved the bag of peas closer to her so it was within arm's reach if she decided she wanted to try using it again.

"I wasn't exactly telling the truth earlier, in the bathroom," Kate blurted out suddenly. Rick looked at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"When you asked me –tried to ask me, rather – if Josh had ever tried to take advantage of me sexually. I said that he had never raped me, but that's not exactly true."

"Oh Kate," Rick whispered as his heart broke for this woman sitting next to him on his bed. While he had thought he'd already heard the worst, here she was telling him that her earlier admissions had basically been the lesser evil by comparison.

"We went out for dinner one night, to celebrate something. I don't remember what it was anymore." Kate's hands fluttered about as she started to speak, so Rick reached over and gently pinned them to her lap with one of his own. "We both had wine to drink, and I had more than usual. Both of us were less inhibited than usual. For me that translated to being louder, chattier, and more of a flirt. For Josh, it usually resulted in a weaker cap on his anger and sexual energies."

Rick said nothing, wanting her to continue at her own pace without interruption from him. Kate twined their fingers together and gave his hand a squeeze as she took a deep breath and continued speaking. Her gaze flickered back and forth between Rick's face and the bookcase on the other side of the room, like she couldn't look at either one of them for more than a few seconds at a time.

"We took a taxi home that night, as we'd both had alcohol and neither one of us wanted to risk driving. As we were coming back into my apartment, I said something that annoyed him. I don't remember what it was. He got angry, I apologized, and he said I could make it up to him by being intimate with him. Put a perfect cap on what had been a nice evening. I said I wasn't in the mood, but it was like he didn't hear me. He grabbed me by the wrist and started pulling me towards the bedroom, with me resisting and saying I didn't want to have sex. He pulled me into the bedroom and threw me onto the bed. I was disorientated because of the alcohol I'd drank at dinner, and by the time I could see straight again, he was on top of me. I tried to push him off, roll him off, anything to get him away from me. But every time I tried to lash out, he pinned me down again. Somehow he managed to unzip his fly and was trying to work himself between my legs." Kate's voice broke as she glanced momentarily at Rick. "He penetrated me with his fingers, trying to get me into it, even though I was crying and telling him that I didn't want it, that I wanted him to stop. It hurt so much." A couple of tears traced their jagged paths down Kate's cheeks as she took one more deep breath, trying to calm herself. "He only backed off when I told him I'd see to it that he lost his job and went to jail for a good long time if he forced himself on me. That was when he punched my face and stormed out of my apartment. It was the finale from earlier, right before I called the transition house."

Rick was stunned. Actually stunned wasn't even the right word for it. There wasn't a word accurate enough to describe the maelstrom of emotions, thoughts and feelings raging around inside of him. Urges to scream, cry, rant and vomit warred inside his head, and he closed his eyes against them all. How was she able to recount such an event so calmly? If he were in her shoes, he would probably be hysterical. But then again, that's probably why I found her on the bathroom floor earlier, crying so hard she couldn't even sit up. She probably had been hysterical, I just missed it because I wasn't in the room.

"Castle? Are you alright?" Kate asked worriedly when he didn't move or say anything.

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" He breathed. "Why did you let me let you go home to that abuser? Why didn't you let me know how bad you'd been hurting, even before tonight?"

"Castle I told you-"

"I know what you told me!" Rick released her hands on her lap and ran one hand wildly through his hair. "I know what you told me, and I know why you did it. But how could you do that to yourself..." He trailed off, unable to finish his thoughts as a wave of nausea hit him. He lurched off the bed towards the bathroom, needing a moment to compose himself. Kate stared after him as he disappeared inside; she had not been expecting quite this reaction from him.

"Castle?" She called him after him.

"Just... give me a minute Kate, okay?" There came the sound of running water, and Kate guessed he was splashing water on his face.

"Alright."

When several long, tense minutes passed and Rick still hadn't reappeared, Kate swung her injured ankle down off the bed in preparation to go meet him in the bathroom. Murphy's Law dictated that that was, of course, the moment when Rick would emerge from the bathroom. As soon as he saw what she was attempting to do, he rushed forward and helped her gently ease her ankle back onto the throw pillows.

"Here, try the ice again." He reached over her for the bag of peas and gingerly let it settle on her ankle. To Kate's immense relief, the chill was more tolerable than it had been the first time around. "How's that feel?" He asked her.

"It's better. Thank you Castle."

"You're welcome." He looked down at her. "I'm sorry for what you just saw."

She shook her head. "It's fine. I just wasn't expecting that sort of reaction from you."

Rick had a pained look on his face. "Kate, how did you expect me to react when you told me what Josh had done to you? I can't even think about it without wanting to empty my insides."

"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything then."

"No! No, I'm glad you told me, I really am." Kate shot him a questioning look, and he clarified himself. "That's not the sort of thing one should keep buried inside. You'll give yourself an ulcer, or worse. So please feel free to tell me anything you want," Rick insisted. "Regardless of how I may react, including what you just saw, I'd rather you told me and let it out versus keeping it shut up inside you. You're my partner, and I want to be there for you if you need a friend, or even just someone to talk to."

"I couldn't ask for a better friend, Writer Boy." Kate smiled at him, and Rick decided he'd let that one slide. Her smile made the gentle poke tolerable.

"Besides," She added. "I'm here now, right? When it got that bad, when I couldn't take being around him anymore, I reached out to you. I didn't stay long enough to let him do what he did again. And you came through for me."

Rick nodded, lost in thought. She was there with him, safe, and that's what was most important.

"Are you ready for bed now?" He asked finally.

Kate yawned suddenly, surprising even herself. "Apparently I am." She paused. "Thanks for letting me stay the night Castle. I really do appreciate what you've done for me."

Rick smiled at her, saying so much with that simple gesture. One day he'd tell her everything, but today was not that day.

"Do you want any extra blankets before I go?" He asked her, moving towards the linen closet next to the bathroom.

"Sure, a couple would be nice."

"Coming right up."

Kate busied herself by making sure she was comfortable on the bed watch Rick as he retrieved the blankets for her. It had nothing to do with the attractive view she would have of his backside if she sneaked a peek while he couldn't see her. Nothing at all. "Hey Castle?"

"Yeah?" Rick answered as he stretched up to reach the spare blankets on the top shelf.

"Do you ever feel like our lives are made up of nothing more than puzzle pieces?"

Rick grabbed the blankets and tugged, accidently bringing some other linens tumbling down on top of him. "What do you mean?" He asked as he tossed Kate's blankets to her on the bed, and then started putting the other ones back in the closet.

"Our lives as puzzle pieces. Our families, our friends, our jobs, our partners," Kate explained, looking at Rick as he closed the closet doors. "We go through life trying to make everything fit, sometimes where it shouldn't, because we're trying to achieve that innate desire to be whole, to have all of our pieces fit together in one big puzzle."

Rick sat down on the edge of the bed, unsure of where she was going with this conversation. "That makes sense, in a way."

"You have your writing, your fans and your work. Those are all different pieces, although they fit together in the same segment of the puzzle. Then you have your family – your mother and your daughter. Those are two more pieces."

"And then there's our partnership, that's another piece," Rick supplied, watching her face for her reaction. Kate just smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, that would be another. It would fit in next to your writing piece, no?"

"Something like that." Rick wasn't about to tell her how closely his work, family and partnership pieces fit together. That would be too much for her to deal with right now. "What about you Kate?"

"I have my work, and my dad. That's two pieces there. Lanie the boys, that's two more." Kate was suddenly struck at how small her puzzle was, how many pieces were still jumbled around in the box, still waiting to be put into place. Castle's piece was on the board, she acknowledged, but it hadn't found its correct space yet. There's still time though.

"Don't worry, Kate." Rick's voice brought Kate out of her thoughts. "These loose ends, they won't be like this for forever. Once you see the doctor, maybe see a therapist, things are going to get better. You'll start putting your puzzle pieces in their correct places, and you're going to love the way it looks when it's finished. I know it."

Kate's eyes welled up at hearing the tenderness in his words and the look on his face. She bit her lip to try to hold it all in, and Rick stood up abruptly to leave the room. He knew when she'd hit her limit and that she didn't want to break down in front of him again, even if it was for a different reason this time.

In the doorway, Rick turned back one more time to look at her. "Good night, Kate."

Kate pulled the blankets over legs and up to her chest before answering him in kind. "Good night, Castle." He smiled at her, then closed the door behind him as he left.

Alone in the darkness of his bedroom, Kate closed her eyes.

Out in the living room, Rick was making himself comfortable on the couch. There was no way he was sleeping in the guest bedroom upstairs; should something happen between then and when he woke up, and Kate got hurt, he would never forgive himself. So the couch it was.

He got settled in, pulling the blankets off the back of the couch and over himself. It had been such a long, exhausting night, but he was so relieved that Kate was safe and with him. She's home. He would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Moments later, with those busy thoughts finally fading away, his eyes fell shut and he was gone.

A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long to finish. Life just caught up with me and I've been busy with jobhunting and other things. A big thank you to everyone who has stuck with me and supported this fic up to this point. I know Kate's a little OOC depending on how you view her (and Rick too?), so I'm sorry for that.

Special thank you to bexiboo900 for being amazingly supportive, and lonestarpassion for the awesome graphic she made for my fic. 3