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Enjoy.

(I love this. We get our own built-in BETAs! xD Talk to you more tomorrow! ~MTAM)

All of her life, Katherine Beckett had trouble sleeping. As a child she had nightmares, and would wake up crying for her mother. As she matured, the nightmares decreased until high school when they were almost gone. She had never worried about them, and let life go on. Still, she would wake and feel drained. She would sleep for hours and get up more tired than she started.

Years rolled by and she started college. Kate found her own apartment and had yet to sleep well. Boyfriends came and went, and temporarily acted as a distraction from the poor sleep. She ignored the tired feeling that pulsed behind her head every time she stirred awake, and started to rely heavily on coffee.

But when her mother was taken from her, not only did her entire life shatter, her nightmares came back with a mutated vengeance, in the form of night terrors. If there was little hope before, there was even less hope now that she could fall asleep. She once went through 3 days without sleeping before passing out from pure exhaustion, predictably plagued with visions buried in her subconscious. When she joined the force, she slowly learned how to sleep again, even if it was restlessly. It was better than nothing.

Her life once again moved forward with an unsteady pace, and she tried her hardest to keep up. The night terrors faded to unsystematic nights where Kate couldn't bring herself to lay down for fear of her mind's horror.

After her promotion to 'Detective' some of the nightmares where put to rest. Kate gained confidence in herself as she brought forth justice and truth to those who were so like her all those years ago. Her life moved quickly with a slew of new cases and new people. Her dreams haunted her day by day in the back of her head, but her hopes began to cut through the determined fright. Kate learned how to deal with herself and her dreams. She became better at ignoring the pain that had always inevitably come with sleeping.

And then she met him.

Richard Castle.

To say that he didn't change her would be a lie, just as if he said he was left unscathed by her.

Meeting each other seemed to mend part of their broken selves.

At first Castle had been comic relief, and Kate hid the fact that she began to care for him. His jokes put some of the dread of her nightly tribulations to rest, however ironic it might be.

The pulling of her pigtails so to speak, brought innocence forward, and began to repair some part of the extensive damage that had been wreaked on her. She began to realize that he was the medicine that she had needed for the longest time.

Slowly, she realized that when they were apart, for more than just a night, she couldn't sleep. She didn't even want to try because she knew that sleep would only bring more pain.

That summer was the worst. After he left with his ex-wife, she pushed herself harder and harder. Without him there she forgot to eat, and slept less and less. Kate took more visits to the precinct's gym, and much fewer to her own apartment. Kate began to form a shell. Because when he left, he took part of her.

Later, Kate ignored the suffering as she tried to sleep. She used anything to distract herself, taking more cases and spent more time with Lanie. Club after club, party after party, Kate tried to forget. She met Josh and he was perfect to fill the gap. Entirely different than Castle, but he served as the distraction she desperately needed.

Fall came and things changed again. Castle came back, and Kate couldn't help but him in again. She didn't want him to hurt her like he already had, but somehow she knew if he came back he'd be there for a long time.

Life transformed again, six months later when Kate caught Josh cheating on her with one of the nurses at the hospital. Surprisingly she didn't seem to care. Realizing that Josh wasn't her one and done had happened a month after they met, and when he stepped out, it served as the excuse she'd been trying to create.

She and Castle were once again single, but they were not alone. Neither acknowledged it, but they had each other.

After getting closer, Kate kissed him for the second time in her life, and that night she slept so soundly she was almost late to work.

Castle pursued her with a renewed vigor, knowing that they were playing for keeps.

They were betting on forever.

It was fitting that Kate realized that her one and done had been decided for almost 3 years. It was ironically fitting that the detective who prided herself on her job, and rightfully so, couldn't see that her future was sitting in that chair next to her desk for so long.

And once she realized it, nothing held her back.

Because honestly, she was tired in all senses of the word.

Exhausted of trying to ignore what was there, and of the restlessness nights stemming from the damage wreaked on her heart.

Luckily, fate had decided that Kate wasn't going to be tired anymore. She wasn't going to toss and turn on the brink of sleep. There was a distinct difference between dozing and lying there, half awake. Dozing was much more restful, and fate had finally given them forever to doze side by side in blissful peace.

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MDH