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Previously: Kate had stumbled her way to Castle's apartment telling him what had happened.

III

Castle and Beckett wandered down the beaten streets of New York City in strained silence, which somehow seemed like a repetitive occurrence with them lately. The rain that had tormented the sky since she had left her apartment had since ceased. The stillness of the air caught in her lungs as she struggled to breathe, the world pressing in on her, yet the only thing she could truly feel was the lingering warmth on her lower back where Castle's hand rested.

Kate wanted to say something, anything, to break the silence, to take away the pain that she had inflicted upon Castle - thanks to her 'problems' - but she was at a loss for words. He glanced at her then, smiling warmly as if there was absolutely nothing wrong in the world. Yet, Kate couldn't help but feel as if she was balancing on the edge of a cliff, waiting for the final push that would send her over. She couldn't understand how he did it. Here they were walking down some lowly street in New York City and he simply treated it as some kind of luxury walk in the park. Kate couldn't handle it. She didn't want to handle it. The overwhelming need to be by herself settled in once again. She needed to get away. She needed space. Something. Anything. The ability to breathe freely. She shuffled forward placing some distance between her back and Castle's hand as they arrived at the front of her apartment building.

'Kate,' Castle murmured.

'C'mon Castle, it's cold. Let's just go inside and get this over with.'

'Get what over with, Kate?'

'You taking me home and reassuring me that everything will be alright even though we know it isn't,' Kate said, regretting her words as soon as they had come out of her mouth.

Castle stopped abruptly, staring at her blankly, 'is that really how you think of me? That I'm just going to brush something like this under the carpet and pretend everything's going to be okay. I'm taking you home because I know you'd have argued and argued at the slightest hint of me trying to get you to stay at my place. I also thought you'd be more comfortable in sorting out yourself here without the prying, worrying eyes of my mother and daughter. I wanted to be able to be there for you and look after you despite your objections because you're "Detective-Kate-Beckett-who-doesn't-need-anyone." I just want to be here for you, Kate. You don't have to do everything on your own.'

'I'm sorry, Rick. I didn't mean-'

'Don't worry about it, Kate. Let's just get you home and then we can sort everything out there,' Castle said, and with daring determination took hold of Kate's hand before she could object, dragging her into the waiting elevator.

Kate had to admire him for his determination and pure nerve. She stared at their joined hands and shifted her fingers so they were intertwined. She liked this, whatever it was they were. She felt safe. Castle squeezed her hand briefly, thrusting a smile her way before exiting the elevator and heading towards her apartment door. He stopped suddenly causing Kate to almost run head first into his back. She looked around him to see the reason for the holdup and noticed the door to her apartment stood wide open.

'Did you leave it like this?'

'Yeah, I-'

'Stay here,' he said, halting her mid speech.

Kate ignored his warning and trailed after him as he strode into her apartment. It was as if she had walked into a living nightmare. Her books had been strewn across the room, their pages ripped out; the legs of her coffee table had been broken, fragments of glass and china littered the floor. Nothing had been left untouched. Yet one thing remained in the madness: Josh Davidson. He sat perched on the sofa that had been dragged out to face the door of her apartment, her service weapon in his hand. The primal, savage gleam to his eye that Kate had noticed earlier that evening, shone brighter. He was like a wild dog without a leash and Kate and Castle were his only obstruction.

A million thoughts cascaded through Kate Beckett's mind at once. How could she have been so stupid? How could she simply have left her apartment like she did with him in it and the door wide open? If all hell broke loose and Castle died because of her stupidity, Kate wasn't sure how she could ever live with herself.

She tried to edge herself around Castle, get the civilian out of the way, that was her first priority but he yanked his arm out trying to push her behind his body. Now isn't the time to be chivalrous, Castle she thought wildly.

'Funny. I wandered if you'd be back at all tonight. I figured you'd go sauntering after your little writer monkey,' Josh said, with an amused expression plastered on his face.

'Nasty cut you've got there, Davidson,' Castle said, pointing to the large gash in Josh's cheek.

Kate stared at the pair incredulously, completely at a loss as to what this conversation was trying to pertain.

'Give me the gun, Josh,' Kate said.

'And why should I do that, Kate? Scared I might hurt someone?'

'Stop being ridiculous, Davidson and just give Beckett the gun,' said Castle, changing up the tone from his earlier little 'bromance'.

Josh quickly got up from his seat and stood directly in front of Castle, invading his personal space. Castle's grip tightened ever so slightly on Kate's arm, his fingers biting into her flesh. He was worried for her. Kate was worried for him. At least she was ready for this kind of confrontation. Castle was still a civilian and this was no situation for a civilian whether it turned out to be nothing or not.

Kate shifted her attention from Castle to Josh and registered every line of hurt and fatigue that was etched upon his features. He was a man at the end of his tether but not a man who was about to shoot down two people in the middle of an apartment. What was his game? What joy did this little charade bring him? This whole situation was so unlike him, Kate wondered vaguely whether she ever truly knew the real Josh Davidson.

'You've slept with her haven't you, Rick? Dirty little slut isn't she,' Josh said, poking the point of the gun into Castle's chest.

Before Castle had a chance to react, Kate had already removed herself from Castle's grip and was putting events into motion. Her leg swept out, coming into contact with Josh's foot sending him backwards in a flurry of limbs, the gun rocketing out of his hand. She knelt down, pressing her forearm into his windpipe.

'Don't you ever point a gun at Castle again because I swear to god it will be the last thing you ever do. Do you understand me?' Kate said, venomously. Josh nodded fervently, gasping for air. 'Get out and don't you dare come anywhere near me again or I will personally ensure that you end up in a cell with your name on it.'

As soon as Kate had removed her arm from the crook of Josh's neck he was on his feet and out the door, macho facade gone and instead replaced with a terrified little boy. Kate couldn't help but wonder what on Earth gotten into his mind?

She rocked back from sitting on her feet, landing on her bum, the day's events beginning to overwhelm her once again. How could things have gone so drastically wrong in the space of 24 hours? Kate felt not only physically exhausted but also emotionally, her entire body ached after being put into the day's fight in more ways than one. She just wanted this day to be over, to wake up in the morning and for none of this to have happened. Kate stifled a dry sob as Castle wrapped his arms around her body, helping her up and guiding her towards the bathroom.

'Er, Kate,' Castle said, looking completely lost. 'I'm going to go clear up some of the mess while you have a shower. Shout if you need anything.'

'No, Castle wait, I... I can't,' Kate said, motioning at her clothing.

'Oh. Oooh. Are you sure? I could call Lanie...'

'It's fine Castle. It's not as if you haven't seen a hundred girls in their underwear before.'

Castle stood rooted to the spot, his jaw quite literally hanging on the floor. Kate was relatively shocked at the fear she saw in his eyes. She wasn't quite sure why she had insisted that he help her when Lanie would have been the prime person to help her in this kind of situation. Kate wasn't sure about a lot anymore. She shivered slightly at the feel of Castle's hand lightly motioning across her arms as he tried to gently tug the scraps of shirt off her body. He sucked in a breath of air at the exact moment her top fell away. Kate could see the patches of red and purple that littered her torso in the mirror reflection making her look like some kind of punch toy that has been dragged through the dirt a couple of hundred times. She saw the hesitation in Castle's eye as he reached out and stroked a couple of the bruises as if he was trying to inspect just how much damage had been caused to her body. His fingers gently caressed the bottom of her breast leaving a tingle of heat in their wake.

'Kate-'

'It's fine, Castle. It's just some cuts and bruises. It's not like I haven't gotten them before,' Kate said, looking anywhere but at Castle's pity. The last thing she needed right now was to be treated like some kind of domestic abuse victim. She just wanted to put the whole charade behind her and pretend like this had never happened - that Josh Davidson had never happened. 'Just get me out of these jeans and you can go do whatever it is you do.'

He didn't try to say anything more knowing he'd only aggravate her more and instead placed his focus in being equally as gentle as he dragged the denim down her long, slim legs. A slight blush rose to the detective's cheeks at the intimacy of the moment.

Kate couldn't believe she was about to say this, 'Castle, I er, I kind of need you to undo my bra.'

'Kate, you don't have-'

'Oh shut up, Castle. I'll turn around so you don't see anything. Just undo the clasp and I'll do the rest. Please.'

She felt his fingers stumble with the clasp of her bra for a second which utterly surprised her. Kate thought that as a playboy millionaire he'd of at least had a little bit of experience in undoing a woman's bra.

'Oh and Kate...'

'Yeah, Castle.'

'I haven't seen a hundred girls in their underwear,' said Castle and with that he was out the door. Kate shook her bleakly, he was such a liar.

Kate manoeuvred herself into the shower with little difficulty. The spray of the shower head irritating a few sensitive areas on her skin yet the rhythmic ebb and flow of the water soothed her tranquillity. Her feet slipped slightly on the shower jel curdling under her toes, her vision becoming a little blurry. She felt herself wavering slightly in perfect rhythm with the pounding water. There was nothing she could hold onto, she was in a glass cage with no hope. Her voice lost in her throat. Drip, drip, drip, the marionette fell; the darkness threatening to take her.

A/N: Oooh la laa what's going to happen now? Thanks again to Marie for beta-ing this for me - she is just a giant ball of amazingness.

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