A/N: Beta by Diana :)

Disclaimer: Not mine.

"Hey Beckett, think I'm going to catch some sleep now so I'll be able to wake up early tomorrow to catch Cooper's update," Lee announced, standing up from his spot.

Beckett didn't think twice, keeping her gaze fixed on the computer screen. "Alright."

Ryan and Esposito shuffled to their feet as well.

"We're gonna turn in too, wake us for the second shift will you?" Ryan asked nonchalantly.

Beckett straightened at that. If the boys left as well, that would leave her, Castle and Alexis alone in the living room. Did the three of them conspire together or was it a coincidence?

Before she could venture a question masking her true intent, Castle stood, ready to join the boys.

"No, bro, time to pull your weight around here as well. Beckett's gonna need someone at her back while she does perimeter checks. You're on first shift with her," Espo told him, halting the writer in his tracks.

Damn, they had a point there.

"I'll trade with one of you," Castle offered, bordering on whining.

Beckett seethed. She wasn't exactly jumping for joy herself, but was it really necessary for him to go out of his way to avoid being alone with her?

However, it was Alexis who intervened.

"Dad," she sighed, "Just suck up and deal with it, okay? We might have to be here for another two days at the very least, so you really need to figure out how to deal with this. None of us are happy with Kate, but you don't see the rest of us making things difficult or awkward for the others on purpose."

Beckett had to tamp down the urge of letting her emotions show on her face. Somehow Alexis had managed to put her dad in his place and take a barb at her at the same time. It was lose-lose for the adults, it seemed.

The boys shrugged, entering the bedroom as Alexis crossed the room to give her dad a kiss on the cheek. "Good night, dad. I'll see you in the morning."

As the second bedroom door clicked shut, Castle silently counted to ten in his head. Hmm, seems like he has no say in this matter. When would the people in his life stop making decisions on his behalf?

"I don't bite, you know?"

Beckett's wry tone brought him back to the present. Looks like it was just the two of them.

Walking back to the table, he asked her, "You planned this?"

She snorted. "I'm as blindsided by this as you."

"Yeah, well just hope they don't get to Lee. They're probably plotting some nefarious scheme in there, like meddlesome old grannies with nothing better to do."

A hint of a smile appeared on Kate's face. Castle caught it, asking her, "What?"

"It's just… the way you said that, you had that tone, the one when you're forming wild theories or something. I missed that," she told him frankly, turning back to face her computer screen as though they hadn't just been talking like old times after days of tip-toeing around each other.

Leaning back in his chair, Castle told her, "You'd still better hope they don't get to Lee. He'll soon spread it to the rest of your team and you'll be stuck in DC with a bunch of meddlesome grannies."

It irked her, how he had just assumed she would be returning to DC with her team after this. It was most likely true, but wasn't there even a hint of small wondering if she would change her mind after her time back in New York? She couldn't blame him for coming to that conclusion though, nor did she know what to say after that.

And so they sat in silence.

Half an hour later Beckett broke the silence. "I'm gonna do a perimeter check," she informed him, standing up.

"Alright, you got your walkie talkie?" he asked, turning the computer screen so that it was now facing him.

"Yup," she told him, passing its partner to him.

"Be back soon," she said, checking her holster and flashlight.

Castle had her back, tracking her progress through the screen and keeping an eye out for her, but nothing special happened. Kate returned from her rounds and joined Castle again.

He checked his wristwatch. They had another four hours to kill before it was time to wake the boys to take over.

They sat in silence, neither of them comfortable but both were even less willing to break the tension by talking. Having an actual conversation might make things more awkward.

If they were in a movie this would be the cue for cricket sounds in the background. But they weren't in a movie, so the two of them sat uncomfortably in silence.

Twenty minutes of awkward, mind-numbing tension later, Kate broke. She just couldn't take the quiet anymore.

"Castle, can we talk?"

"You can talk all you want, but it's not going to do you any good. I'm not obligated to listen to you, but sure, go ahead, talk. You can talk to the wall, the chair, hell, you can even talk to yourself – I won't stop you, but I don't have to listen to you."

"Castle, please, I'd like to explain why I had to turn down your proposal. I would really appreciate it if you could listen to what I have to say," she pleaded.

He snorted derisively, angling his body away from her.

"I'm not looking for your appreciation."

But Kate wasn't giving up. "Fine, then I'd like to apologize."

This time, Castle turned around to face her.

"Just what are you apologizing for, exactly? Hmm? Are you going to apologize for making decisions that would affect the both of us without consulting me first? Are you apologizing for being a huge coward and running away instead of dealing with things like an adult? Or are you apologizing for upheaving all our lives without giving us a valid reason? Or do you want to apologize for letting everyone down? Maybe, maybe you'd like to apologize for waltzing back to New York and expecting everything to be just fine and dandy, even though you've clearly moved on! So which one is it, Kate?"

"Everything! I'm sorry for everything that you've said and so much more!"

Castle gave her a leveled look. "Oh no, Kate, you're not getting off the hook so easily."

"I'm not asking to be let off the hook easily either! Just- would you please listen to me? I really want to tell you why I had to turn down your proposal and go to DC."

He deliberated for a few seconds. Those seconds stretched out to what felt like minutes to Kate as she held her breath. In the end he gave her a small nod, settling back into a more comfortable position.

"I wanted to tell you about the counteroffer, but instead you surprised me with your proposal," Kate began.

"Doesn't sound like an apology, Kate."

His tone was flat and bored. It was now her turn to fight for every inch to get him to really listen to her.

"You- you said that you wanted more, that we deserved more. And you were right. I wanted to give you more-"

"More what? Space, right? By running away?"

Kate had to bite back the first thing that popped to her mind. Count to ten, Kate. Just count to ten, she mentally told herself.

When she had sufficiently collected her calm, Kate tried explaining again. "I wanted to give you more out of life. If I'd said yes to you, what would that have been like? The job offer was great, but the counteroffer? It was- it was better than great! I couldn't turn that down! We'd be engaged and I'll be traveling all over the country, going after 3XK. Or, if you came with me, we'd both still be chasing after shadows! I didn't want that life for you, Castle."

"Oh, so you decided that you didn't want that life for me, but it was perfectly fine for you?! Talk about double standards! But guess what, you're missing out on the most important point: IT WASN'T YOUR CHOICE TO MAKE," he told her, enunciating every word slowly as though he was talking to someone who didn't have a very good grasp on the comprehension of the English language.

"Castle, it was for your own good-"

"It wasn't your choice to make, Kate."

"I only did it to keep you safe!"

"And yet here I am, smack in the middle of danger! Or at the very least, my daughter's life is in danger, but we both know that 3XK was coming after me, and he always will."

A loud crash came from the front of the house.

"Get down!" Beckett yelled, tackling him to the ground as her instincts honed from years of training took over.

They both paused from their position on the ground, eyes wide and pulse racing as adrenaline surged through their blood. Nothing else happened, but Beckett quickly rolled to her feet, reaching for her holster. She checked the computer screen to see if the cameras could show anything useful, but they were no help. She headed to the front door to check things out, telling Castle, "Get Lee."

Half an hour later, all the occupants of the house had been roused. Beckett, Esposito, and Lee were still checking outside the house. The first, second, and third sweep didn't turn up anything, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

The only thing that had been out of place was the trashcan out in front, so Ryan was going through the camera footage to see if they could determine what had happened. Unfortunately, the focus of the camera was on the front door, so their view of the yard was partly shielded by one of the street lamps, rendering it unhelpful.

Alexis huddled with her dad in the living room, hovering behind Ryan. For the first time since 3XK's return, Alexis was worried that she might actually be in danger. Before this – before coming to the safe house, she had gradually come to accept the idea that she was one of 3XK's targets, but it was more of an intangible threat; an unsubstantial idea thus far.

Castle whipped his head around as the front door opened and swung shut. Looking at Beckett, Lee, and Espo, he asked, "Anything?"

They shook their heads grimly.

"Must have been a stray cat or some animal that accidentally disturbed the trashcan," Lee told him.

"It's alright, you guys can go back to sleep. We're just trying to be alert so that you're safe, Alexis. Nothing to worry about, it was just a false alarm," Kate reassured the pale looking teen.

Alexis nodded shakily, still holding on to her father.

"Castle, I've got it under control out here. Why don't you accompany Alexis back to the room and stay there with her?" Kate offered, perceptively picking up on the Castles' lingering uneasiness.

Ryan, too, felt his fatherly instincts kick in and intuitively picked up on Alexis' discomfiture. "I'll stay with Beckett. We got this," he offered.

Castle gave them a grateful nod, ushering Alexis back to her room. He rubbed her back soothingly, murmuring to his daughter, "Come on, I'll even check under the bed for monsters."

"Beckett?" Lee asked when it was just the four of them. His boss might have been downplaying things so as not to scare Alexis, but if there was a possibility of a threat out there, he wasn't going back to bed. His tone conveyed his readiness to do his job, regardless of the time of the night. He was here to protect Alexis, and if that meant staying up the whole night, then he was ready to do so.

"It's… It's all right. I think we're all just a little tense around here. We checked outside thoroughly, and none of the windows have been tampered with. It's fine, go to bed. Ryan and I will call you guys if there's anything," Kate said.

Esposito and Lee were dismissed, so they headed back to the bedroom to sleep.

"Come get us if anything comes up – anything at all," Espo told her before shutting the bedroom door.

A/N: Thoughts? And in case I don't post the next chapter in time, Happy holidays! :) Ps. Reviews (both good and bad ones,) make awesomely wonderful Christmas gifts. Just sayin'!