I'm so sorry for how long this chapter took. It's short, so I apologize for that too. This story has been giving me trouble. Also, this semester has seriously been wiping me out. Thank you all for being so wonderful and patient. Your kind words and encouragement mean the world to me. I hope to try and update more frequently now. You can follow me on tumblr for prompt fills at veritas-always. Those are more frequent than these chapters, unfortunately. Thank you again. Here's to you.

3x06 - 3XK

She's just climbing into her cruiser when her phone starts buzzing in her pocket. She fishes it out, sees Martha's name on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Katherine," the older woman breathes into the line, "Thank god."

"Martha? Is everything alright?"

"I think something's happened. I just got off of the phone with Richard and he- he said he loved me. I don't know for sure, but-"

"Oh no," Kate cuts her off, starting her engine and speeding out of her parking spot, "I'm on my way to him right now, okay?"

"Okay. Just- get my son home safely."

"Of course, Martha."

"Thank you, kiddo."

Kate hangs up with his mother, calling Esposito and telling him to meet her at the motel with back up.

When she gets there she barely has her car in park before she's jumping out, sprinting up the stairs to her partner. She kicks the door open, registers Esposito only ten steps behind her in her peripheral, but she only has one person on her mind.

"Castle!" she shouts just as her flashlight lands on him.

"Clear, he's gone," he says, and god, she's never been so happy to see him. "I'm fine. Ryan needs an ambulance."

A faint no, I don't comes from the corner, but Esposito's in the room, he's got Ryan. She focuses on unbinding Rick's hands, and then she pulls him up, clinging to his body in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she tells him, the sound a little bit muffled by his jacket. He squeezes her tightly, burying his face in her hair.

"Me too," he tells her. She presses a kiss to his lips, just needs the reassurance that he's really okay.

"Now I know I got knocked out, but I'm definitely not imagining this."

The sound of Ryan's voice cuts their kiss short. Kate turns slowly, finds both of her boys with their arms crossed, eyebrows raised.

"So," Esposito hedges, looking she and Rick up and down, "Something you'd like to share with the class?"

"We were going to tell you," Kate starts, but they're both already shaking their heads.

"Nope, the damage has been done."

But then they're grinning, pulling the couple into a round of hugs, and Kate lets out a breath of laughter.

"We're happy for you," Ryan says, giving her a reassuring smile. She glances at Rick, sees his eyes alight with love and joy and she's seriously so glad that he's okay.

"Thanks, guys," she says sincerely. "Now go, there's an ambulance downstairs."

Ryan sighs, but goes anyways, his partner right behind him.

"Cat's out of the bag," Rick says. She shrugs, pulls him into another hug.

"It's okay. Was gonna happen eventually."

She takes him home not long after their talk by the pool. She really hates that he feels so guilty over something that he couldn't have even stopped. He was literally at the hands of a serial killer, has no cop training, or even one logical reason why he should be put into a situation like that in the first place. He's just a writer. God, and she's his partner. She should have had his back, should have seen this sickening twist sooner. If she had, maybe she could have stopped him from knowing what it's like to be overwhelmed with a tiring sense of injustice when a killer gets away.

"I can hear you thinking from over here," he murmurs from the passenger seat. She drags her eyes away from the road, meeting his for a moment. He's studying her, but what's new?

"Sorry," she tells him softly, sliding her hand onto his thigh and giving it a squeeze.

"You know that it's not your fault any of this happened tonight, right?"

She almost bites out a hasty response, but she doesn't. Instead she just bites her lip and keeps quiet, because she feels like she could have stopped it. Just like he does, too.

"You shouldn't be put in these situations," Kate finally says. "You're not a cop. Being tied to a chair by a serial killer was not anywhere in that paperwork you signed at the beginning of this, Rick."

"Well, it kind of was in the paperwork, just maybe not those specific terms." She throws a glare his way, doesn't want to make light of this. "I knew what I was getting myself into. Nothing you say is going to change the fact that I'm your partner and it's staying that way."

"I just- you have a daughter, and if something happens to you-"

"And I have you too. Like it or not, I'm not quitting."

She huffs out a sigh and swings her car into a parking spot just the block down from his building.

"I don't want you to quit," she says softly, "I just don't want something to happen to you because I wasn't there to protect you."

"Ditto," he tells her. She reaches a hand out and brushes her fingers across his cheek, smoothing out the worry lines embedded into his skin.

"Come on, let's go see your family."