Author's Note: A little break from the case here, for those who are looking forward to some Castle/Beckett goodness.

Chapter 4

When Castle climbed into bed, back against the headboard and eyes staring blankly at the wall, Kate finally broke the ice.

"Hey, you okay?" she probed, gently nudging his shoulder with her own.

He shrugged, fiddled with the hem of his t-shirt. "Just this case."

Kate straightened her legs beneath the covers, rolled onto her side and propped herself up on one elbow. "What about it?"

Another shrug but no verbal response.

"Castle."

His eyes shifted to his lap, following the absent-minded motions of his fingers as they teased the edge of the fabric, pausing on a small irregularity in the stitching. "It's nothing."

"Rick," she chastised lightly.

"I just...we're missing something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," he countered, still unwilling to meet her eyes. "But we have to be. It's the only story that makes sense."

"No, it's not," Kate disputed. "And you know that. So what's really going on here?"

His fingers twisted in the fabric, bunching the material in agitation. "People her age don't just drop dead."

"Sometimes they do."

"I know, but. Just," he sighed heavily, tipped his head back, eyes staring unfocused at the ceiling. "She's not that much older than Alexis."

Oh. Right. Kate's stomach sank. She should've made the connection sooner. Sure, there was a bit of an age difference, and the girls hailed from drastically different backgrounds. The dark auburn of Jenna's hair was clearly from dye and her eyes were green rather than blue. Nevertheless, the similarities were there, and Kate silently reprimanded herself for not catching on sooner.

"Castle," she soothed, rested what she hoped was a calming hand on his arm. She may have missed the initial signs, but at least she could be here for him now. "Nothing's gonna happen to Alexis"

"I'm sure that's what Jenna's family thought too," he protested, and the pain in his voice struck low in her gut. He finally turned to look at her and she could see the hurt darkening his eyes, the deep-seated empathy he felt for this family. "And now she's just - gone. And if something happened to Alexis..."

Suddenly he was turning away, reaching for his phone. He swiped his finger to unlock the screen, was abruptly halted by a hand on his arm even as he scrolled through his contact list, selected a name that clearly wasn't his daughter's. Kate snatched the phone from him, pulling it away from his ear and ending the call before it had a chance to go through.

"What're you..."

"It's ten o'clock at night," she reminded him as she glanced at the screen. "And who's Dr. Jacobs, anyway?"

"Alexis's pediatrician. I mean, I know she's not a little girl anymore, but any doctor can do the tests, right? And..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what tests?"

"I..." he stammered uselessly.

"Castle, Alexis is fine," she assured him in a low voice. "She's perfectly healthy, and..."

"You don't know that."

"I..."

"I just think she should get checked out," Castle justified.

"Okay," Kate conceded. He had a tendency to be overprotective and she knew there was nothing she'd ever be able do about that. "But maybe you can wait until morning to schedule an appointment for her?"

He sighed, relented, his shoulders sagging in defeat. "Fine."

"I promise you," she whispered, offering a gentle smile. "Alexis is perfectly healthy."

"You can't promise that."

And sadly, she knew he was right. She couldn't promise a healthy future for his daughter any more than she could promise to come home safely every night. It was the danger of her job. A fact of life.

But there was one thing she could do that might help. For now, at least.

"Hey, Dad,"

"Actually, it's Kate."

"Kate," Alexis greeted happily before her brain seemed to take off in a different direction. "Wait." Her voice faded, as though she'd pulled the phone away from her ear to double check. "This is Dad's phone. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," she promised hastily. "Just a bit of a rough day back at work."

"A case?" the girl asked. She'd shown an increasing interest in Kate's work ever since the Innocence Review project she'd been a part of last year. It'd certainly been a turning point in her relationship with Castle's daughter, a foundation on which to begin building.

"Mmm," the detective answered, sought Castle's gaze as she spoke. "Your dad's taking it kind of hard. I think he might like to hear your voice."

At Alexis' affirmative answer, Kate smiled gently, held out the phone to her husband.

She stuck around for the first couple minutes of the call, long enough to watch the light begin to return to Castle's eyes. When it became clear that their conversation was far from over, Kate lightly patted his thigh, slipped from the bed, and padded out to the kitchen. She pulled a glass from the cupboard, filled it from the tap and took her time sipping the cool liquid. She meandered over to the window with the beverage, stopping in front of the wide pane and taking in the view, the Manhattan skyline glowing and the streets below alight with activity.

The kitchen light illuminated just enough that she could see her own reflection shining back at her too. It was faint and slightly distorted by the glass but despite that, she could see the smile in her eyes, the glow of her features. She was happy. Completely, radiantly happy. Castle had always made her happy, long before she was willing to admit it, but this was something more.

And maybe some of it was leftover from their blissful honeymoon, but it wasn't just that. Sure, they'd already lived together, were already basically married prior to the actual ceremony. Hell, in many ways they'd behaved like married couple long before their engagement.

But now it was different. Now they'd promised each other everything. Forever.

A broad smile split her face.

Professionally, she was still Kate Beckett. And after less than three weeks, it still sounded strange to her own ears when she introduced herself otherwise.

But she had to admit, Kate Castle had a nice ring to it.

As the soft hum of Castle's voice faded from the air of the loft, Kate set her water glass aside, switched off the light and made her way back to him. She couldn't hear what'd been said, but from the more upbeat lilt of his voice as the conversation had progressed, along with the soft smile on his face as she re-entered their bedroom, she could safely assume things had gone well. He certainly seemed to be much more calm and relaxed.

"Thank you," he murmured as she slipped back into bed, head tilted in her direction, eyes deep with earnestness.

Kate merely offered a smile, situated the covers over herself and reached out to switch off her lamp. Castle, however, wasn't satisfied with her response, and he leaned over, caught her lips in a kiss full of gratitude.

"No really," he reiterated as they separated. "Thank you."

She blinked open her eyes, found his penetrating gaze locked on her. "Anytime."

It wasn't the first time a case had hit close to home, and Kate wasn't nearly naïve enough to think it would be the last.

It was, however, the first night since the wedding that they fell asleep fully clothed.

Thoughts?