Castle: Beckett's Security Blanket

Chapter 2: A Roommate For Rick

A/N: Holy story alerts Batman! You guys are seriously amazing! I was overwhelmed with the interest for this story already. I decided you guys deserved chapter 2 right away, but don't get too used to getting an update every day okay? lol. I do have the next few chapters written already but I want to pace myself out so that you guys are never waiting too long for an update. Anyway, on with the story. Please enjoy :)

"Kate!" Castle called out loudly as his fist pounded against her apartment door. "Kate it's me, open up" he called frantically. She never told him why she needed him, when he questioned her she simply replied "I'm okay, just hurry. Please" and that was more than enough for him to get him there in what could certainly be considered record breaking time.

The door swung open revealing Kate on the other side and Castle released the breath he didn't realize he was holding before quickly letting himself inside.

"Are you alright? What's happened?" he asked, his gaze wandering frantically around her apartment to see if there was any apparent cause for her panic; a break-in or otherwise.

"I came home and…" she started and then stopped; hanging her head and shaking it slightly as if to try and control herself from getting over emotional.

"Kate, what is it?" He asked again softly; noting how obviously shaken she was.

"He was here" was all she said and he returned with a puzzled look.

"Who was here?" he asked; looking around the room in confusion.

"I came home" she began again, stepping away from him and heading a few feet over to a small table where she picked something up that he couldn't quite see. "I had a shower and when I went to get into bed I pulled back the covers and this was lying in my bed" she finished, holding up what was in her hand so he could see it. It was a hardcover copy of Naked Heat except the word 'Naked' was crossed out with a thick black permanent marker and was replaced with the word 'Dead' above it.

"Dead Heat" he read aloud and then paused for a beat. "That son of a bitch" Rick muttered angrily as he took the book from her hands; she had already secured it in a large ziploc bag to keep any fingerprint evidence in tack.

He stared at it for a few moments before finally lifting his gaze to look back at Beckett. When his eyes locked with hers he felt an involuntary sigh escape him and he frowned slightly before reaching his arm out, wrapping it around her shoulders and pulling her against him in a comforting embrace. With her head nestled underneath his chin and his hand rubbing small circles on her back he felt her tighten her grip around his torso and he knew she was pretty shaken up; she didn't have to say it, and he wouldn't force her to either.

"Come on" was all he said before bending down to grab the black duffel bag that lay near the door and leading her out of the apartment with his arm still draped across her shoulders.

She only responded with a small nod and then followed him out of her apartment, stopping to lock the door as she closed it behind them.

"The door was…" Castle began but Beckett interrupted.

"Locked, yes" she nodded firmly. "And all the windows too. Honestly Castle I have no idea how anyone got into my home"

"We don't have to talk about it right now" he said calmly; knowing full well she didn't need an interrogation right now. She needed a friend. She needed him.

She gave him a small nod of gratitude and then continued to follow him out of her apartment building in silence until the stepped onto the dimly lit street just outside.

"Really Castle?" she asked in mild shock as she noticed his cherry red Ferrari double-parked at the curb in front of her building.

"You said hurry" he shrugged. "I didn't know what to expect but I knew this would get me here a lot quicker than a cab"

"Thank you" she whispered softly as he opened the passenger door for her to climb in.

"Always" he smiled; ensuring she was fully inside the car before carefully closing the door. He stopped just before climing into the car himself to send a quick text to Alexis letting her know that everything was already and she needn't worry; knowing full well she wouldn't go to bed without hearing from her father first after the way he ran out of the loft earlier.

The ride back to Rick's place was one of complete silence. Kate stared out her side of the car without as much of a whisper passing her lips and Rick concentrated on the road; stealing a glance in her direction about every thirty seconds or so to see if there was any change in her expressionless stare. There wasn't.

Castle felt so helpless sitting there beside her. Normally her mind would be going a mile a minute and he would see it in her features but not tonight. She was obviously so very far beyond tired. The team had pulled an all-nighter the previous night tracking down what they thought at the time to be a hot lead; which of course turned into nothing but a dead end. Tonight they were supposed to be able to get some much needed rest to get a fresh start in the morning but so far the evening was shaping up to be anything but peaceful for her.

"Hey," he finally spoke softly over the low rumble of the engine as they idled at a stop light just a few blocks from his loft. "We'll figure this out, I promise" he assured her as his hand left the shifter to give hers a gentle squeeze.

She turned her hand over so that his palm fell flat against hers and their fingers intertwined. She still had yet to look at him but the subtle need she had shown to have him close made him feel slightly better somehow so he tightened his hold on her hand and didn't mind that he now had to awkwardly reach his left hand across himself to reach the shifter as the light turned green.

Within a few minutes they pulled the car into Castle's reserved spot in the underground parking garage below his building and Castle killed the ignition. Beckett still seemed to be off in space somewhere so he let cleared his throat in an effort to get her attention.

"Kate?" he questioned softly and she finally snapped out of her daze and turned her head to look at him.

"You alright?" he asked; inwardly chiding himself the second the words left his lips. 'Of course she's not alright, you idiot'

"Fine" was her abrupt answer as her hand quickly left his and she pulled on the door handle to let herself out.

Castle rolled his eyes at his own ignorance; certain she couldn't see him do it, then stepped out of the car himself and grabbed her bag from the back seat.

He armed the Ferrari with one click of a button on his key fob and then headed for the elevator doors with Kate falling in step beside him.

"Alexis and my Mother are probably already asleep" he mentioned casually as the elevator slowly carried them from the parking garage floor to the penthouse loft. She simply nodded in response.

"Just so you know. So you won't have to worry about anybody making a big fuss or anything" he continued so she understood why he brought it up to begin with.

"That's good" she responded quietly.

"Not that, we have to be super quiet or anything. I mean, if you want to stay up and talk or something. Or, we don't have to…" he continued his nervous rambling.

"I'm just really tired and need to sleep" she answered numbly and he nodded.

"Yeah, that's probably best" he agreed as the elevator dinged; announcing their arrival at the top floor.

Once inside Kate stood in the middle of the living room and simply looked around; unaware of where exactly she would be going. She had stayed at Castle's once before but it was when his mother wasn't there so he had a spare room, but now with her acting studio getting another renovation she was back in the loft and thus occupying said bedroom.

"Through here" Castle announced, nodding his head towards his office door. Kate followed after him into his large office and then through another door at the back of the office which she found out led to his master bedroom; a room which she had yet to see in the Castle manor.

'Master' was putting it mildly. Kate could swear that his bedroom was bigger than her entire apartment and if she wasn't so distraught and tired she might just be inclined to pull out the measuring tape and find out for herself. The walls were Dior Grey in color and an abstract painting of dark reds browns and oranges hung on the north wall hovering over his king sized bed that was draped in jet black sheets, pillows and a duvet comforter. At the end of the bed was a large wooden bench chest and Beckett let a small smirk form on her lips as she imagined all the toys and costumes of his that probably lay inside the chest.

"Bathroom is through here" his voice snapped her back to reality and her eyes settled on him as he reached in through a doorway and flicked on a light switch. "There's a corner shower in there, or Jacuzzi tub if you prefer it. Figured you could use my bathroom because two women fighting for the main bathroom in the morning is more than enough drama for me without adding a third into the mix" he explained with a small chuckle and she nodded before he flicked the switch back off.

"So…" she felt him suddenly become nervous as his eyes drifted back to the bed.

"I can just…" Kate began; gesturing with her thumb pointed over her shoulder back towards the living room where the couch was.

"No, no" Castle quickly interrupted. "I was going to…"

"You don't have to" Beckett disagreed. "The couch is fine for me. Honestly. I'm not going to kick you out of your bed"

"You wouldn't be intruding" he said without realizing how that might have sounded. "I mean, it's not an imposition. I was going to sleep in my office, at least there's four walls and a door so much more privacy than the living room. Not to mention it has a very comfortable couch. I've fallen asleep in there when I was supposed to be working more times than I'd like to admit actually"

"Well then I guess I'll sleep just fine then" she responded with a firm nod; apparently not taking no for an answer to his chivalrous gesture.

"Alright, alright, fine" he conceded, tossing his hands in the air. "The office is all yours then. But if you change your mind, feel free to kick me out and just roll me off the bed in the middle of the night, the carpet is unbelievably soft" he smirked at her and she cracked a small smile in return as she nodded her head.

"Deal"

"Goodnight Kate"

"Goodnight Castle" she replied before walking back out into the office and softly closing the door to his bedroom behind her.

She found a blanket and pillow folded up on the end of the couch and realized he wasn't lying when he said he'd slept there on several occasions. She glanced back towards the closed door that separated her and Rick and briefly wondered if it would be strange of her to be changing in this room or if she should go to the main bathroom so that she wouldn't disturb him. The thought left her mind as quickly as it had entered it; she knew at the very least Rick was very much a gentleman and would have the common sense and decency to knock before entering what was now her personal space so she shrugged it off and reached into her duffel to find something to sleep in. Pulling out a black camisole and a pair of pink cotton pyjama bottoms Kate quickly got changed and then settled herself into the soft suede sofa; hoping to finally get some much needed rest before what was sure to be another very long day began.

A/N: Thanks for reading folks. Stay tuned, there's more to come! PS: I hope Beckett doesn't come off as too OOC in this fic, but in order for this storyline to play out she has to be off her game just a little bit. Anyway, story alerts are love and reviews are like double rainbows! ;)