Castle stretches his arms above his head and yawns, watching as Kate pads over to him still in her pajamas.

"You know," he starts as she sits down next to him on the couch. "Addison's back in school, you have the day off, we have the loft to ourselves…"

She grins and leans in to kiss him, lingering by his lips after she pulls away.

"I thought you wanted to pick a font for the save-the-dates today," Kate sighs.

"We have time," he says, tugging on her hip to get her into his lap. "We can do that later."

She ends up straddling his hips, her arms lacing behind his neck.

"Yeah, but if we get this done now, then we have more time to –"

He cuts her off, kissing her again. Her hips roll into his as he deepens the kiss.

"You know, I'm sure I'll be fine with whatever you pick," Kate says, standing up and pulling him with her.

"No fair, I was going to say that and make you pick."

She sighs, spying the font cards on the coffee table. She fans them out and picks up the first one that catches her eye.

"Look, we have a font. Now let's go –"

"Really? That one? I'm not really feeling it."

She trails her hand along his inner thigh. "Perhaps I could persuade you."

Castle visibly gulps and pushes her toward the bedroom. "Yep sounds good, I like it. Now where were we?"

She laughs, letting him guide her away when her cell phone starts ringing on the table.

He groans. "Worst timing ever."

Kate shoots him an apologetic look as she answers it. "Beckett."

He watches her talk, crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his foot. She hangs up and spins back around to look at him.

"Babe –"

"No! Kate it's your day off."

"I know, but Gates needs me."

"She has dozens of other employees, why does she need you? Is this about one of our…top priority cases?"

"I don't know, she didn't say."

She brushes past him into the bedroom to get dressed. He trails along behind her.

"If you hadn't stopped to look at those stupid fonts we could already be –"

She holds up her hand to stop him, before pulling her work pants on. "I will have sex with you when I get home. I promise."

Castle huffs. "You make it sound like a chore."

She turns back to him, clad only her in pants and bra. "It's anything but a chore."

Kate reaches up to kiss him before she continues to get dressed. She grabs her keys and starts to head out the door.

"Don't start without me," she calls over her shoulder.

"I make no promises."


When 2:30 rolls around and all he's heard from Kate is a rushed "I'm going to be late," he decides he's going to have to pick up Addison himself. The girl is clearly surprised when she walks out of school and doesn't see Kate sitting in her Crown Vic.

"Still trying to impress me?" she asks, tossing her bag in the back and sliding into the front seat.

"Nah, I pick up all of my chicks in my Ferrari. It was either this or the car service so."

"Where's Kate?"

"Work," Castle answers, starting the car.

"I thought she had today off."

"You and me both."

Addison sighs, sliding her hand over the dashboard. She glances back at the school, notices people staring and whispering.

"This isn't helping, you know," she tells him.

"Helping with what?" Castle asks, backing out of his parking spot.

"The rumors."

"Would you have preferred the car service with your own personal driver?"

She sighs again. "I guess not."

"You'll be at a new school next year. You can start out with the spoiled rich kid rep."

"Does that mean I can drive this when I turn 16?"

"No, no, no," Castle says shaking his head. "I don't even let Alexis drive this. Or Kate. Except for that one time when she was being really pushy about it –"

Addison laughs. "It's fine. I'll just take her motorcycle instead."

He shoots her a look and she starts laughing even harder.

"Don't. Don't even joke about that."

"Ah come on, Castle, you already raised one teenage daughter. You have to be used to this by now."

He hums pulling out into traffic. "Yes, but have you met Alexis? She made me make her stay home from a road trip with her friends so she could study for her AP tests. You, you come from Kate."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Oh, I've heard all about her wild teenage days. I don't know what to do with that."

Addison laughs again. "Relax. Hitting Jaclyn is about as wild as I get."

"You say that now, but you're only 14. High school may change you."

She shrugs. "I doubt that."

"Right. Remember that when you're trying to steal the keys to your mom's bike."

"Oh the motorcycle thing? I was serious about that. Guys think it's hot, right?"

Castle tightens his grip on the steering wheel. "I'm not…we're not...you…I…"

She shakes her head, laughing. "God, you're so easy."

He groans, extending one arm out to shove her shoulder. "You're mean. Just like your mother."

"Glad to know that torturing you is genetic."

He mumbles something incoherent as he turns the corner.

"So why'd she go into work?"

Castle shakes his head. "Not sure. Gates wouldn't tell her when she called her to come in, and then when Kate called me all she could say was that she's going to be late."

"Have you tried calling her back?"

"It goes straight to voicemail."

Addison chews on her lower lip. "You don't think –"

"I'm sure she's fine, Addie. This is just what she does."


Addison comes down from her room, curls up on the couch besides Castle.

"It's getting late. You still haven't heard from her?"

He scrubs a hand over his face, shaking his head. "They're not even answering my calls at the precinct. I'm going to go down there myself, see if I can't figure out what's going on."

"Will you call me?" she asks as he stands up. "When you know?"

He pauses as he walks in front of her, places a hand on her shoulder. "I will."

"You know, she and I were talking last week about when she got shot. And I was trying to figure out what it would have felt like if I had been there. She told me to ask you."

"I'm sure she's fine."

She looks up at him. "And if she's not?"

"Watching her get shot and sitting in the hospital wondering if she was going to make it, was one of the worst feelings I've ever had in my life. If something like that had happened again, they would have told me. I'm her emergency contact. So whatever it is she's doing, she's fine. Now I'm going to go bring her home and yell at her for making us worry."

Addison gives him a small smile as he walks out the door.

"Castle?" she calls after him.

He spins back around.

"Thank you."


She couldn't do this. She didn't know what was about to happen to her, but she did know there was very strong chance she wouldn't survive. She had to say goodbye. To her fiancé. To her daughter.

Kate gets the idea to spread her blood on the air vent in hopes that CSU will find it along with the letter she's about to write and tuck inside. She finds paper and pen and begins to write.

Dear Rick, I don't know how much time I have, even to write this letter. What I do know now is that I'm in this and the only way I'm going to make it out alive is to see this through. I'm sure everyone is looking for me and if they figure out I was here CSU is going to search this house. They're going to look for blood and they will find it, which will lead them to this letter.

Babe, it's your letter. And I hope you never have to read this, that I can tell you all of these things in person, but if something happens and I don't make it, I need you to know that our partnership, our relationship, is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. You're an amazing man and I love you with all of my heart. Always.

She flips the paper over, starts writing again.

Dear Addison, I can not apologize enough for doing this to you, for breaking my promise. You're an amazing girl and you don't deserve any of this, all of this loss. You have a home with Castle now, and while they may not be your family by blood, they are your family and will care for you. I know the timing on this couldn't be worse; we were just starting to get to know each other. I'm sorry that I haven't been there for you since day one like I should have been. But I want you to know that I have always loved you and that getting to spend time with you these past couple of months have been some of the greatest moments of my life. Take care baby girl. And know that your mom loves you.

She puts down the pen and wipes at the tears in her eyes. She's not going down without a fight. But she had to be sure that they knew. That the two most important people in her life knew how she felt about them. She tucks the letter into the air vent and draws in a shaky breath, preparing herself for whatever comes next.


Addison answers on the first ring. "So?"

"She went undercover," Castle tells her.

"Okay…"

There's a long silence, like he's debating how much he should be telling her. "They don't know where she is."

The news hits her hard. "How do they lose a whole person?"

"Addie –"

"Tell them to find her."

"We will."

There's another long pause before Addison speaks up again. "Alive."

"We'll find her," Castle assures her. "All in one piece."

She hangs up and hugs her knees to her chest.

"It'll be all right," Martha tells her, wandering into the living room from the kitchen. "They always do this sort of thing to me and we haven't lost them yet."

"I knew cops had a rough job, but –"

"Well your mother is not your average cop. She's big on taking the really tough cases."

"I get that someone has to do it, but why does it have to be her?" Addison asks, softly.

"That's just who Katherine is, I'm afraid," Martha says, joining her on the couch. "She loves what she does. It's important to her."

"I get that. But I didn't realize it would be this hard."


Kate nearly falls into Castle's arms when he gets to her. She's shivering and soaking wet, and he tries his best to warm her up with his embrace.

"What happened?" he mumbles into her wet hair as she clings to him.

She just shakes her head, tries to press herself against him further.

"Addie and I were worried sick."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, you didn't know what you were getting yourself into."

"I was supposed to stay home with you today. Instead Vulcan Simmons –"

"Wait, hold up. Simmons?"

She nods, pulling her head away from this chest.

"Your mom's case?" he asks.

"I don't know. Drug money, so maybe."

"Come on," he says, leading her away. "Let's get you home."

But she shakes her head. "Precinct first. We have to deal with this."

"Tonight?"

"It won't take long. I promise."


By the time they get home, Addison is passed out asleep on the couch. The TV is on, the news still blabbing about Bracken and his new campaign.

"I don't need this right now," Kate whispers. "I'm too busy trying to solve her parents' murder and deal with the creepy 3XK flashdrive. Bracken…"

Castle leads her into the bedroom and brings her one of Martha's furs to help warm her up.

"He saved my life tonight. I know it was him that sent that message."

"He owed you one," Castle says sitting down beside her on the bed.

"Or he wants something." She scrubs a hand over her face, pulling the fur tighter with the other. "Castle, I just keep thinking that you're right. That these three cases, they're connected somehow."

"Tyson and Bracken? No. I definitely think I was wrong there. They want different things. But either of them with Addie's case? I'd buy it. If they managed to figure out that she was your daughter…"

She sniffs, leaning her head on his shoulder. He holds her there.

"Do you think you're nightmares will come back tonight?" he asks softly.

"I have no doubt."

He kisses the top of her head. "I'll be here when they do."

She clings to him tighter. "The whole time I just kept thinking about the two of you, you and Addie. About how I wasn't ready to leave either of you yet. You got me through it without even being there."

Kate looks over to the doorway, thinking she heard something, and sees Addison standing there.

"You promised me," she says softly. "You promised me nothing was going to happen to you."

"And nothing did. I'm fine."

Addison runs to her and Kate scoops her up in her arms, holds her as her small frame starts shaking with the force of her tears.

"I was so scared," Addison chokes out. "Nobody knew where you were."

"I'm here now. I'm okay, we're okay."

Castle's arms slip around Kate's back and she leans in to him, pulling Addison with her. She lets her eyes slip closed as the sensation overwhelms her. She made it out alive, and now she's home. Home with her two favorite people, both of them wrapped up in her. She breathes a sigh of relief.

She's home.


AN: I do not own the episode "In the Belly of the Beast." No matter how much I love it.