Title: Rock Foundation

Disclaimer: I do not own the Castle characters or their story lines. I just borrow them for fun.

Summary: A Sequel of sorts for my one-shot Rock Solid. Kate and Rick deal with the aftermath of Knockdown and move forward with their lives, learning to balance their partnership with their budding relationship.

Author's note: I'm really glad that everyone is enjoying this story so much. Last week I got an obscene amount of hits on Tuesday for this and What Pales in Comparison, and I have to tell you, it kiiiinda made my week. Okay, it totally made my week. So thank you for reading, and thank you to those of you who review every time, those of you who have reviewed and those of you who don't, but are reading anyway. Lots of love!

Emma

Chapter XVII:

"Kate?" Rick asked groggily. He squinted in the dark and found her sitting against the headboard, her legs pulled up to her chest.

"Hey," she replied, lifting her head from her arms. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"S'okay," he told her as he pulled himself up and scooted over so he could look at her. "Why're you awake?"

"I woke up a while ago and just couldn't go back to sleep," she shrugged. He knew that tone. That was the 'I'm upset and lying about it,' tone.

They'd gone to sleep after eating dinner and playing a board game with his family. He'd invited her to stay and she'd accepted, smiling shyly. They hadn't done anything this evening, content instead to cuddle up under his comforter and chat until they had both fallen asleep.

He looked her over now. She was swimming in his tee shirt and boxers, the neck of the shirt drooping over one of her shoulders. Her face was slightly puffy, as though she'd been crying, and she looked absolutely run down. The change was startling; she'd been very upbeat all day and while they'd had dinner.

"Kate," he said gently, moving to run a hand over her back. "What's the matter?"

She gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Nothing."

"Honey, what's wrong?"

Kate felt the little resolve she'd had begin to crumble. No one had called her 'Honey' in the longest time. The last person that had was her…

"I'm," she looked over at him, unsure of what to say. He smiled encouragingly and simply continued to rub her back, his other hand coming to rest on top of one of hers on her knee. "I miss her," she whispered very quietly.

Rick let out a breath and leaned over to kiss her temple. "Of course you do."

"I just…being with your Mom and Alexis…it made me happy. It made me really happy. But I woke up and then all I could think about was how I'll never…never have that with her. How she'll never get to meet them, or you…how she won't be there for Christmas. How she'll never meet her grandchildren. How she won't be there for the wedding…how…" she finally let go and tears began to slip down her cheeks.

Rick wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap, cradling her against his chest. "Oh Kate," he said sadly, pressing his lips against her forehead and rocking them side-to-side. "I'm so sorry."

She nodded into his chest and he felt her wrapping an arm around his neck, her other hand twisting into his shirt as she allowed herself to feel. He was so focused on holding her that it took him a few minutes to realize what she'd said. Grandchildren, the wedding—his mind began to whir, pictures of their future swirling tantalizingly before his eyes. But then she let out a sob and he crashed back to earth. There would be time for all of those things, but right now, she needed him.

He felt her trying to reign it in—could feel her forcing herself to breath regularly. But she was shaking with the effort and her eyes were squeezed shut.

"Hey." He tilted her chin so that he could look at her. She slowly opened her eyes, her lips pulled resolutely between her teeth. "It's okay to cry."

She shook her head and took a steadying breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to unload this on you."

Rick had to take a second to get his brain to function. "Kate, if we're going to do this, really do this, then you have to know that I'm here for all of it. For the good stuff. For the bad stuff. For when you want to kill me because I'm a pain in the ass." She gave a very small laugh. "For when you want to hug me, kiss me, do the unmentionably amazing things you can do to by body." She whacked his chest and he smiled. "But mostly, Kate, I'm here for you. I'm here when you want to cry, laugh, scream, shout, cuddle, talk…anything and always."

Their eyes met and he leaned down to kiss her. He felt her tears against his cheeks and pulled back to find her weeping again, but the edge of desperate pain was gone from her face. He used his thumb to wipe away the tears and pressed butterfly kisses to her skin. "If it were reversed, would you do the same for me?"

"Of course," she whispered.

"Exactly. So just let go, Honey. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

Kate met his eyes as he rubbed her cheek. She leaned in and kissed him for a moment, before she buried her face in his neck and let herself grieve for the loss of her mother. His hands rubbed her back and legs and his lips pressed kisses to her face and hair. And while she cried and a part of her broke all over again, she couldn't remember anyone but him having held her like this. She'd always been stoic with the other men she'd let into her life; crying, grieving, feeling— they made you weak, and the men she'd dated wanted her to be strong.

But Rick…Rick had seen her at her worst. Had seen her shoot the man who killed her mother. Had watched her slam dirt bags up against glass. Had seen her get her heart broken. He'd seen it all, and he was still holding her, still kissing her. He still looked at her like she held the answers to the world in her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered into his neck a few minutes later. "I," she pulled back and snuffled. "I don't do sharing very well."

He chuckled softly. "I know. But you can. I'm here to share with."

Kate nodded and leaned her forehead against his while her breath came back to her. He pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose and she smiled. "I'm still sorry I woke you. We're both going to be exhausted tomorrow."

"Nothing a bit of coffee can't fix," he shrugged. "And plus, it's only 1am. We went to bed embarrassingly early last night."

"Must be because you're getting old," Kate replied as yawn split her swollen face.

Rick laughed. "Yeah, I'm the old one."

He gave her a sweet kiss before shifting her off of his lap and standing.

"Where are you going?" she asked, confused as he extended a hand to her. "Where are we going?"

She stood and he led her into the bathroom, turning on only one of the lights so that they weren't blinded. He rummaged in the cabinet and came out with a washcloth. He guided her to sit on the seat of the toilet and then ran the cloth under warm water, returning to stand in front of her with it. Then he gently cupped the back of her head with one hand and began running the washcloth over her face with light strokes, wiping away the traces of her tears.

Kate felt her breath catch in her throat. It was such a tender gesture. Here he was, doing something she wouldn't have even remembered to do for herself. She couldn't remember now why she'd ever doubted him—why she'd ever been hesitant to jump in with him.

When he was done, he draped the cloth over the bath and then turned to look at her. "Do you want water, food, an actual bath?" he asked quietly.

Kate shook her head and stood to wrap her arms around him. "Thank you, Rick."

"Anything, Kate," he replied before they broke apart and walked back into his bedroom together, their hands entwined.

They climbed back into bed and Rick pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her as she laid her head on his chest and wrapped a leg over his stomach. He smiled when she kissed his chest and let out a contented sigh.

"How're you feeling?" he whispered.

"Much better," she replied just as softly. "Rick, I…" she didn't really know what to say, only that she wished she could find words to tell him just how amazing he was. Finding that she didn't have the words, she leaned up and kissed him.

He smiled into the kiss and shifted her so that she lay atop him. They kissed lazily, neither trying to move forward. Tonight wasn't about the physical stuff. It was about her knowing that he would always be there. And he thought that maybe she did know, maybe she believed him. There were many ways to prove that you trusted a person, but for Katherine Beckett, the highest trust came in seeing her at her most broken—when all her walls were down.

Even splotchy and puffy, she was beautiful. In fact, he thought this was the most beautiful she'd ever been. Because here, with her lying on his chest, her lips making lazy circles against his, and her breath mixing with his, Kate had never seemed more real. He loved the super cop she was during the day, but this—the real Kate— was the woman he felt himself falling for harder than he'd ever fallen before.

After a long while, they pulled apart and Kate lay back down, shifting slightly so that her head was pillowed on his chest, with the rest of her body molded into his side.

"Goodnight," she whispered into his skin.

"Goodnight, Kate," he replied.

And then sleep took them both.

…

"You okay?" Lanie asked.

Kate looked up from the corpse lying in the alley. "Yeah, why?" she asked.

"Your eyes look a little bloodshot, that's all."

Kate shrugged. "It's nothing."

Lanie looked unconvinced. "Where's your shadow?"

"He's having breakfast with his family and then he'll meet me at the Precinct."

"Were you supposed to be having breakfast with them?"

"And what if I was?"

Lanie grinned. "Nothing. I was just wondering."

Kate caught on. "Everything's fine in Castle land, Lanie. My eyes have nothing to do with that…much."

"Much?"

Kate glanced around. "I may have, uh, opened up last night."

"Are we talking rain gutter or floodgates here?"

"The latter."

Lanie looked up at her, a small smile on her face. "I'm proud of you."

"For what?" Esposito asked, coming over to stand that the feet of the unfortunate woman.

"For having guessed that our victim was smothered to death," Lanie replied without looking up. "There's also a stab wound to the upper thigh, which, if suffocation hadn't killed her, would have caused her to bleed out."

"TOD?" Kate asked.

"Probably around midnight."

"Anything from the uniforms?" Kate asked Esposito.

"No wallet or belongings in the alley," he replied.

"That's because she still has her wallet on her," Lanie interjected, pulling the aforementioned item out of the woman's pocket and handing it to Kate.

"Cecile Waters, 36. She's a teacher at the school a few blocks from here," Kate relayed. "Alright. Let's head back and contact the school, find out what we can about her. She's wearing a ring, so we should try to find the husband as well."

Kate looked up as Esposito handed Lanie a dollar.

"Told you she'd catch the ring before we got the body back," Lanie gloated.

"One of these days, you'll be wrong," he grumbled before stalking away to meet Ryan at the mouth of the alley.

"What's that about?" Kate asked as she and Lanie stood.

"Nothing," Lanie shrugged.

"I'm giving you a week," Kate told her, before she walked away, leaving Lanie with the body.

…

"Where's Kate?" Alexis asked as she came down the stairs and found her father making breakfast, Grams seated at the counter.

"She got a call about an hour ago," Rick replied, placing a plate of French toast out for his daughter.

"And you didn't go with her?"

Rick shook his head. "I wanted to have breakfast with you."

Alexis smiled. She hadn't worried that including Kate in their lives would change things, but it was always nice to get that reassurance.

"So, what's on your agenda for school?" Rick asked as he joined them on the other side of the counter.

"I have a test in Physics and we're playing volleyball in gym," Alexis relayed. "Orchestra practice after school and debate team after that. Then I'm studying with Paige again."

"Well that sure beats my day," Martha remarked from the lip of her coffee mug.

"I'm sure everything will go perfectly," Rick replied.

Alexis laughed. "Thanks. It won't be that bad. I'll probably be home by 9, at the latest."

"Hopefully, I can say the same," Rick laughed. "What about you, Mother?"

"I'm meeting a friend for lunch and then I have a dinner date with a few colleagues from the guild."

"I'm glad we all have things to do," he said happily.

"Will Kate be here tonight?" Alexis asked after a couple minutes.

The question caught him off guard. Kate had stayed over for the past few nights, and it was beginning to feel very normal to have her in his bed. But would she be there tonight? He honestly didn't know. "I'm not sure, Sweetie."

"Oh, okay."

"Why?" he asked.

"I like Kate, Dad," Alexis rolled her eyes. "So I like having her here."

"I'll second that," Martha agreed.

"Alright, well, I'll invite her and be sure to let her know that she has the Castle apartment seal of approval."

"See that you do," Alexis ordered. She hopped off of her stool and grabbed her bag. "Gotta go. See you tonight."

"Bye, Pumpkin. Have a good day!" he called after her. "I suppose I should go clean up. I'll see you later this evening, Mother?"

"Of course, Dear." He smiled and cleared their plates before he began to head toward his room. "Oh, and Richard?"

He turned. "Yes?"

"Make sure you keep that girl. She's the one."

He couldn't figure out quite what to say. What did you say when your Mother declared your girlfriend of a week to be the love of your life? What did you say when you knew she was right?

He settled on giving her a nod and wave and then scampered up to his room. He looked at the rumpled bed that he hadn't made and images of the previous night flew back through his mind. Laughing and talking their way into sleep early in the evening, then waking and comforting a grieving Kate mid-way through the night— the pictures made him smile and he set off to meet his girlfriend at the Precinct with an extra bounce in his step.

…

"So, what have I missed?" he asked as he set their travel mugs down on Kate's desk and dropped his jacket onto his chair.

Kate didn't turn to look at him but did reach back to grab her coffee. "Cecile Waters, a school teacher at PS. 56," she gestured to the picture of the victim.

Rick came around the desk, grabbing is own coffee, and leaned against the edge with her, staring at the board. "COD?"

"Asphyxiation," Kate relayed. "And she was stabbed in the thigh."

Rick looked at the picture of the nice looking teacher. The blonde was laid out in an alley, her blue eyes staring blankly ahead, hands clasped on her stomach, and a puddle of blood oozing out of her thigh. "Wasn't…" he began.

"Our last victim killed much the same way? Yes. But I've been back through that case this morning. Furgus confessed and his DNA was all over that body," she recounted a bit defensively.

Rick nudged her with his hip. "I wasn't suggesting that you booked the wrong guy, only that maybe there's more to this than the one murder."

Kate glanced over at him. "Right. Sorry."

He shrugged. "Ego's still intact, no worries. So, what do we know about Cecile?"

"She's married. They're bringing the husband in as soon as we can get a hold of him, and a few of her co-workers mentioned that she'd been tense this week."

"Any of them know why?"

Kate shook her head. "Not a clue." She got up and walked around him to sit down in her chair, opening a file on the computer to begin to log what they'd found. "How was breakfast?" she asked.

He smiled and moved to his own chair. "Good. Alexis wanted me to let you know that you're welcome at the loft as often as you please."

Kate blushed faintly and met his eyes. "That's sweet of her."

"Mother concurs," he added, smiling as the blush deepened.

"You've got a nice family, Castle."

"Yeah, they're great," he nodded. "Of course, if you don't show up at least four times a week, I think they may move in with you."

Kate's eyes widened comically. "That…would be tough. My apartment's not that big," she finally managed, once the shock of the comment had worn off.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to be around more then. Can't risk my mother carting all of her stuff over and stealing your bedroom."

"Why would Mama Castle need to take over Beckett's bedroom?" Ryan asked.

Kate and Rick looked up at him. "Castle was just telling me that Martha's worried that she's got roaches in her room."

"Not the whole apartment?" Esposito added.

"Would it be my Mother if it was?" Rick asked the two of them.

"Oh, come on, Castle. Your Mother's not that bad," Esposito chided.

"Bad, no. Dramatic? Well, you've only seen the tip of the iceberg there, Esposito," Rick countered.

"Alright," Kate laughed. "While the three of you discuss the merits of Castle's Mother, I'm going to go see Lanie about the forensics."

"No, wait," Rick stood and followed her, pushing past Ryan and Esposito. "I wanna come. I missed the scene."

The guys laughed as Kate and Rick got into the elevator, and Kate caught, "Whipped," and "Puppy," before the doors closed.

"I'm not a puppy," Rick whined.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Kate shrugged.

She let out a squeak as he pulled her into his chest, wrapping his arms around her and leaning down to whisper into her ear, "And if that happens to be a gorgeous Detective?" He nipped at her earlobe.

Before she could utter anything other than a small, breathy moan, the doors opened and he released her, striding purposefully down the hall. Kate stared after him.

He turned and flashed her a grin. "You comin'?"