I hated my Chapter 5, I know most of you didn't like it either. But give me one more chance, I still have some ideas in my head and even if Chapter 6 isn't that good, the story will develop and you'll like it. I promise.

CHAPTER 6

The effect of the anesthesia was fading, and Castle started to feel the pain of the surgery, he was laid on the bed beside Kate. She realized he must have been on pain, because he couldn't stop moving himself trying to find the right position. She knew how it was. And the worst thing was that cold weather was starting to pop up in New York. She cuddled with him, so both of them could get warmer. They heard some voices outside the bedroom so they decided they would get up and go outside to check what was going on, but before they decided to have a shower together.

Both of them put on a rub and left the bedroom, Martha and Alexis were already up, they had made the breakfast so all they needed was to eat it. Kate sat beside Rick so she could have a look while they ate, just to make sure he wouldn't do anything that would make him feel more pain. She bit a piece of the pancake Alexis' had made and said:

"Alexis this is delicious, congratulations!"

"Thank you Kate" - She replied and went with Martha to the living room to watch some TV. Alexis was on vacation from school and she was enjoying her time with her grandma and going out with her friends, but it looked like she was on vacation from her boyfriend too, so Kate called her to have a little chat.

"How are you with your boyfriend?" – Kate asked.

"Well, I told him I needed a time from us. What you said to me about not being sure and the fear you had of breaking my dad's heart made me think that I should do the same. I have to understand what I'm feeling and then decide something"

"That's right Alexis. You should do that. Just, don't stop talking with him. Don't lose contact. Imagine if you decide to give it a shot and then you realize you can't because you totally froze the relationship… You don't need to talk to him, just give him a sign that you're alive" – Kate told her and smiled.

"I'll do that" – Alexis said, gave Kate a hug and left.

As she left the room, Rick's gaze was at Kate like he was amazed of how lovely she could be. Kate's look was at Alexis.

"She's a smart kid, Rick. You've raised a great daughter". Then she rolled her gaze to Rick, who was already staring at her, and gave him a tender kiss. Interlacing their tongues, since Martha and Alexis were concentrated on the TV.

Someone was at the door and Martha went to see who it was, she opened the door and Ryan, Esposito and Lanie were there.

"We tried to reach Beckett but she wouldn't pick her phone up. And since we knew Castle was out of the hospital we thought we should pay him a visit to see how he is" – said Esposito.

Before Martha could say anything, they smiled and got in, just in time to catch Rick and Kate in the middle of a kiss.

They were shocked but they took it nicely since they had already suspected of it. The only thing they weren't sure was if they had already consummated it, but judging from their clothes, the two detectives and the medical examiner could just imply they had. Kate immediately blushed.

"Hey… guys…. You're…. here…" – she said embarrassed.

"We just wanted to know how Castle was, but I see we didn't have to worry, did we?" – Lanie said.

"You guys want pancakes?" – Castle asked trying to break the awkwardness.

"We didn't set a bet if they found out together" – Castle whispered in Kate's ear.

"Well, then I guess we both won. Fair enough"

They all sat at the table and enjoyed Alexis' pancakes while they filled Beckett on the case.

They told Beckett they had identified the John Doe through face recognition in their database. His name was Rob he was in the system because a few years ago he registered a complaint about his neighbor, nothing out of the ordinary. They finished eating and left Castle's loft and headed back to the Precinct. They got a call on their way; another body. Ryan and Esposito went to find a connection between the victims while Lanie was doing the autopsy to state COD and TOD. It didn't take too much to find out that Rob and Ted (the second victim) were related. Ted was Rob's alumni. Rob was a lawyer and he was ministering private classes and Ted was one of his students. Ryan called his office to talk with Elaine, his secretary and Esposito went to talk to Ted's family.

After revealing the shock truth to Ted's family, Ryan appeared near the glass and nodded Esposito. He excused himself and went to talk to Ryan.

"Turns out Rob was a great teacher, he had all the certifications from the highest top Law schools around the world. His father was rich so he grounded everything. When I asked about the way he used to teach, Elaine said he used some cold cases that had no way of being solved and gave to his students so they could see how a real case was, and as homework, they should create an ending to "solve" the case".

Esposito got worried, he had a hunch but wouldn't say anything before Ryan could finish.

"Yeah Bro. I can see the look on your face. Rob took Johanna Beckett's case to teach the boy. And guess what…" – Ryan continued.

"Ted found out more than he should." – Completed Esposito.

The air was tense in the Precinct, should they tell Gates about the connection? Should they tell Beckett? Esposito asked Ryan to wait a little bit before telling anyone. He gave Lanie a call.

"So Lanie, anything?"

"Yeah, I was about to call you. Definitely Rob's COD is a gunshot; 9mm. The guy shot Rob in his left shoulder right beside his clavicle, the killer shot him precisely in his artery, causing his death. I state the time of death as I said at the crime scene, between 4 and 6 am. And you guys won't believe it. Ted has the same COD, but the TOD is different; around 2 to 4 am. I can assure you it was the same guy who shot both."

"Any chance this guy could be Beckett's sniper?"

"Any? Lots of chances and if you really wanna know, he tried to put her down again, but Castle saved her so now you're looking for Castle's shooter too, all in one Espo."

"Thanks Lanie."

Esposito turned off the phone and turned to Ryan.

"Yo Ryan, you're not gonna believe this Bro. Cole Maddox is back."

"Espo we have to tell Gates."

"I know Bro, but what about Beckett?"

"I don't know… She won't stop if she starts digging again. We all know that and no matter what we do we won't stop her either."

"It's her mother Ryan. We need to."

"Ok, but while you go tell Beckett, I'll tell Gates."

"Ok"

Esposito headed to Castle's loft, when he got there he was tense and Beckett could feel it in him, and so did Castle. Castle told him to come on in, but Esposito said he was going to be fast because he needed to go back to the Twentieth.

"Beckett, there's something I have to share with you. The second victim we got today is connected to the first. Rob was a law professor and Ted was his private student. The thing is, Rob's way of teaching was to grab some old cases with no probability of being solved to show his students how real case files was, and they should "solve" the case, by creating a story with the evidences found in the files. He took you mother's case. Rob and Ted were killed with single gunshot in their left shoulder, hitting precisely in their artery. The guy is a pro. And the gun matches Maddox's"

Kate was paralyzed. She wasn't even blinking. She felt groundless.

"I'm sorry to shout it all at once like that, but you need to know and I know Gates would've tried to stop me, since you're off the case"

Esposito stopped and his face was consumed by sadness just by looking at Kate's reaction, but he had to continue.

"He tried to kill you again Becks. Castle saved you"

Kate turned to Rick and hid, wrapping herself around his arms and resting her head on his chest. She always wanted to make people look at her and see a strong woman and the truth is she had been strong for too long; she knew she wouldn't look weak if she started crying. So she did. Rick held her even tight and rested his head on hers.

"Shh, shh, Kate. It's ok" – Rick whispered.

TBC