A/N: should have said in the last chapter, but Castle has no affiliation with Smith in this fic. Also, there will possibly be spoilers for 6x22 in the next couple of chapters, just in case you haven't seen the episode. (Are you living in a cave?)

5.38am. It wasn't even 6 in the morning and Beckett was stumbling bleary eyed into the shower. Her cell had rung not even ten minutes ago, Esposito calling her back in so they could get to work on the case. Just four hours after she'd collapsed into bed, exhausted from travelling, and all the information the boys had thrown at her the previous night, she was up again and nothing short of a caffeine IV was going to sort her out today.

As she stood under the steady stream of warm water, her mind flashed back to what she could remember about last night. In all honesty, she'd been so tired when she'd arrived at the precinct that not everything had gone in. What she had determined though, was that this case needed the utmost care and precision, almost a year since she'd been shot and now they had a lead, she'd be damned if any of them were going to screw it up and ruin everything.

And the chance to get a name behind her mothers murder..god, she'd waited so long for that, resigning herself to the fact that she'd never have justice but now..well it was within arms distance.

Thoughts of Castle and what she'd left behind in LA flittered through her mind. She didn't know where her leaving left them, she could tell he'd been pretty pissed at her dropping everything for work once again but there had been something in Gates' tone that had told her she needed to be here and she was right, there was no way she'd give up a lead like this on her moms case. But how would Castle see it? She made a mental note to call him that afternoon, she just had to pray he picked up because after everything they'd been through, he had every right to start ignoring her again after this.

Esposito had said she was needed at the precinct ASAP - meaning she had no time to make coffee or stop off for one on the way. Thank god for the stupid espresso machine Castle had brought a few years back. She laughed, remembering the disgusted look on his face as he'd drunk the coffee that apparently tasted 'like a monkey peed in battery acid.' She didn't even want to know how he'd come to that comparison. Damn adorable man child.

The drive to the precinct passed in a blur, the sights of New York passing by her just like most mornings. What she wouldn't give to still be on that beach with Castle.. Maybe one day, if they ever got this mess sorted and Castle moved back, they could vacation there, just the two of them, do the whole dating thing properly. Normally thoughts like that scared the hell out of her, too much of a commitment, but with Castle..always was the only commitment they needed.

The precinct was practically empty when she arrived, everyone else still luckily tucked up in bed or waking up and having coffee and breakfast before heading into work. Espo and Ryan were nowhere to be seen when she arrived but they'd obviously been in not long ago - a steaming cup of coffee was placed in the centre of her desk, waiting for her.

Beckett almost ran to her desk to retrieve the coffee, taking a grateful sip of the hot liquid, oh how she'd needed this, the lack of sleep and stress wearing her down and tiring her- holy shit.. "Castle?" she whispered, unsure if she was actually seeing him or it was just a figment of her overtired imagination.

"Hey, Beckett," he replied with a small smile.

"Wh..what are you doing here?" She asked, lowering herself slowly into her chair. Was this really happening right now?

"I uh..came to see you," he said. "I mean..I was angry that you left but after what we've been through I had to tell myself you wouldn't have left for nothing. And then when I landed back in New York, I had a text from Ryan updating me on the case..why didn't you tell me?"

"I only found out when I landed last night..I went home and crashed before Espo woke me up at the crack of dawn. I was going to call this afternoon but..I can't believe you're actually here!" She had dreams about this moment for so long, having her partner back in the precinct to help the tea out on cases and provide light relief when they didn't think their day could get any worse but seeing him here..it was the last thing she ever would have expected.

"Well, I couldn't let you get away again," he said. "Besides, when the woman you've been crazy about for over three years admits that she's in love with you, it's a lot harder than you'd think to forget about her." He sent her another smile and his words made her positively beam, her smile lighting up her whole face.

"Are you saying.."

"Katherine Beckett, I am absolutely positively and hopelessly in love with you and I think if we can work out a way to put the past behind us, we can figure out a future together."

She was on him before he even had a chance to breathe, her lips crashing down on his in a passionate frenzy that had them both fighting for breath. "I love you," she gasped, "so much. Don't you ever doubt that, okay?" She leaned in to kiss him again but they were broken apart by clapping and cheering. Glancing around the room, they saw Ryan, Esposito, Lanie and Captain Gates stood there, grins on their faces as the congratulated the new couple.

"About time, guys!" Lanie said to laughs from the others. "But seriously, I'm so happy for you both, you make a lovely couple."

"Thanks, Lanie," Beckett smiled, her best friend had been so important to her over the past few months and it was something she would never forget.

"Just...keep the kissing to a minimum, yeah?" Espo said, looking slightly disgusted. "Seriously, it's like seeing my parents make out."

"Shut up, Espostio," Kate warned, shooting him one of her best 'don't mess with me' looks. Well, it worked, always did - it was something she secretly liked, knowing she could shut the boys up with a look.

"I shall pretend I didn't see that," Gates said, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. "And if you can remain professional at the precinct then I see no reason for it to be a problem."

"Thank you, Sir," Beckett said, curling into Castle's side. God it was good to have him back. Obviously they still had a lot to talk about but that would have to wait until they were done for the day.

"So..I guess I need to fill you in, hey?" Beckett said to Castle. She was glad he was here for this, she needed him here, she couldn't do it on her own. It had been down to Castle that they had even realised it wasn't just random gang violence, it was only right that he was still around if they were lucky enough to catch the son of a bitch behind this.

"We'll leave you to it," Ryan said and Beckett was grateful for that. The boys had done some amazing work but she still wanted to fill Castle in alone. By now, a couple of the other detectives who were early risers had started to appear at the precinct, so they headed to the break room for some privacy. They'd just sat down when Espostio interrupted.

"Sorry guys but I thought you should know..we've got a name on your shooter - Cole Maddox. We're trying to locate him now but we're going to see Smith soon, intel says he goes for a run at 7 every morning so we're planning on interrupting."

"Thanks, Espo," Beckett replied as he headed back out into the bullpen. Cole Maddox. It felt weird saying his name in her head, after so long of not knowing who had tried to kill her, now she had a name..

"They..found your shooter?" Castle asked, wondering how much he'd actually missed.

"Looks like it," Beckett said with a shaky laugh. "Let me give you what they've told me and then we can see what else they've found..there was a break in at Captain Montgomery's place. I don't know all the details, just that the guy who did it was called Orlando Costas. They found his body and traced him back to his last location - Montgomery's place, where they worked out he was paid to break in and steal something."

"What?" Castle asked.

"Photos. Apparently there was one in particular he wanted - this Smith guy that Espo was talking about, they think Maddox is after him but they don't know why. Ballistics came back on the gunshot that killed Costas and it was the same guy that shot me - that's when Gates called and asked me to come back."

"You did the right thing," Castle reassured, obviously picking up on her hesitation to continue. "Yes, I was angry that you upped and left but this is your moms case, nothing is more important than that.'

"I love you," Beckett whispered and she'd say it a hundred times over if the look on his face was what she'd get everytime. "I can't even begin to explain what you've done for me and you didn't have to do any of it. If it wasn't for you, we'd still be sat here thinking my mom was murdered by some thug off the street, thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," he retaliated, "we don't have him yet."

"We will," Beckett replied confidently. "The whole team is back together now and nothing is going to stand in the way of us getting justice."

"You really are a remarkable woman," Castle mused, causing Beckett to blush. "Not many people would be strong enough to go through everything you've been through and still come out fighting."

"I guess it helps to have a great partner," she teased.

"Well duh," Castle laughed. "God, if it wasn't for me you'd be frozen to death in a freezer or something."

"If you say so," Beckett said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, as you just heard, Espo has name and hopefully they'll track him down soon. In the meantime, they're going to figure out how Smith fits in with all of this and why Maddox would want to find him." She chewed her lip nervously. They were so close and yet so far at the same time, it was killing her not knowing what was going on and feeling so helpless..all she wanted was Maddox in that interrogation room so she could tear him to pieces until he gave her the name of his employer. And then she'd make sure he went down for the rest of his life for murder. What gave him the right to end peoples lives like that? Who let him decide who lives and who doesn't?

"Hey," Castle interrupted her thoughts, taking her hand across the table. "We'll get him, okay?" He just had to hope they really could, he wasn't sure how much more pain and suffering he could watch her go through.

The boys came back a little over an hour later with Kate still having had no luck in tracking Maddox down. He was good, she'd give him that, he obviously know they'd be looking for him and knew how to hide. "What did you get from Smith?" She asked as Esposito and Ryan joined them at her desk.

"He wouldn't give too much away," Espo said. "Seemed like he was worried about who would over hear. But what he did sat was that Montgomery sent him a package shortly before he died."

"Did he say what was in that package?" Castle asked.

"No," Ryan said, shaking his head. "wouldn't tell us that. We guess it has something to do with Beckett's moms case though, given that Montgomery was.."

"Yeah, possibly," Beckett said, cottoning on to Ryan's line of thinking. It was the only scenario that made sense - Montgomery had sent the package to Smith, obviously someone he trusted, and this package probably had proof of who was behind her moms murder. "But how do we get this package?"

"I don't know," Espo said, "but we need to get to it before Maddox does, no doubt he'll destroy any evidence left linking whoever's behind it to your moms murder."

"Well then," Castle said, "we need to find Maddox. We find him, we might get a name. But even if he doesn't give it up, at least we know he isn't going after Smith for that package."

"Yeah, except the guys a ghost," Esposito explained. "No wife, no kids, no address..not to mention he's a trained killer and the photo we have of him might not even be accurate."

"There has to be something we can do," Ryan whined.

"I'll go and see Smith," Beckett announced, standing up abruptly from her seat. "He might not have told you guys anything but this package sounds like it directly relates to my moms case, he might have a harder time refusing me." And with that, she holstered her gun and grabbed her keys, heading towards the elevator.

"I hope she knows what she's doing," Esposito muttered.

"You comin', Castle?" Beckett called over her shoulder. Just like old times.

A/N: little bit more case-centric for now, but there will be more Beckett and Castle relationship chats soon!

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