Chapter 4

Time for a fluffy chapter! :p
Fan shout out of the week: Bella Paige! Hehe. Thanks for the reviews and I'm glad you're loving the story :)

Kate drove as fast as she could back to the precinct. Castle didn't bother telling her that it would take Esposito a little while to pull all of the videos. They got back to the precinct and Beckett walked up to Ryan. "Any hits on the sketch yet?"

He shook his head. "No but it's still running so maybe we'll get lucky."

"Thanks Ryan." She turned to Esposito. "How long until we can get the videos?"

"We won't have them for another hour and a half."

She could tell he was frustrated and upset. She wished she had another job for him to do, but until the videos came in there was nothing any of them could do.

Until then Esposito sat at his desk looking frustrated and sighing every few minutes. Ryan sat at his desk watching the computer screen scan through images from multiple databases. Kate kept going back and forth from the break room refilling her coffee mug. Castle simply sat there keeping an eye on all three of them and occasionally checking his phone.

After a while Ryans' phone rang and everyone looked up at him as he checked the caller ID. "Crap, it's Jenny, we were supposed to have dinner tonight. She made reservations at this place like a month ago." He was about to pick up the call when Beckett spoke up.

"Go have dinner with her Ryan."

"No way, not while Lanie is still missing." He looked back at his phone as it indicated that he had a missed call.

Beckett stood up and walked over to where he was sitting. "That program runs itself yeah?"

"Yeah."

She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Then go have dinner with your fiancé. If anything pops up one of us will call you, but until those videos get here there is nothing any of us can do."

He looked up at the detective and saw the sincerity in her eyes. He hated walking away but knew she was right. He nodded and walked towards the elevator, already dialing Jenny's number.

Beckett sat back down at her desk and drained what was left in her coffee mug. She knew she had probably had enough coffee for one day but it was one of the few things that comforted her, so she headed for the break room again. After her mug was refilled she looked at her watch. It was just about 5 o'clock. They had 43 hours left. She stood in the doorway looking back and forth between Esposito and Castle.

Castle seemed fairly content. He had a small notebook he was jotting something down in and he hadn't said anything in almost 20 minutes. Esposito on the other hand looked like hell. He kept rubbing his face with his hands and staring over at the murder board. She knew this case was putting as much strain on him as it was on her, if not more. "You should go to Esposito. Like I said to Ryan, until the videos get here there's nothing any of us can do."

He looked at her with a stunned expression. "You think I'm going to leave while she's still missing?" he could feel himself getting worked up again and paused to take a steadying breath. "No, not a chance."

She set her mug down on her desk and went to stand in front of him with her arms crossed. "Esposito, you're tired, frustrated and upset. When the videos get here I will start going through them and call you if I find anything at all."

"I can't just go home and let you do this by yourself."

"You can and you will. You're no good to us, or to Lanie if you're worn out and overtired." She stayed where she was, holding her ground until her words sunk in.

He hung his head for a second then stood up and grabbed his coat. "You'll call me?"

She nodded. "The second I find something. I promise."

He nodded and she watched as he got on the elevator before turning to Castle. "Any chance I can get you to go home too?"

"Do you know me at all detective? As long as you're here so am I."

She was taking another sip from her mug as a man walked up to her holding a shoe-box size of DVDs. "These traffic videos yours?"

She nodded, signed the evidence log and thanked him. Castle perked up a bit as she popped the first video into her computer. He was soon disappointed though as he realized that nothing exciting was going to happen right away. She noticed his reaction and smiled a bit. "Welcome to one of the tedious parts of being a cop."

"Thanks for the invite" he said with a smirk as he went to get himself a cup of coffee.

The software was a bit outdated so while she waited for the video to load she went to check on Ryans' computer. It was still running photos but she could tell it was almost done and still no match had been found. Who the hell is this guy? She asked herself as she watched the program do its job for a minute. She went back to her own computer and seeing the video fully loaded started sifting through video footage. She hated how long it was going to take but knew it needed to be done.

Lanie had a fairly common car so she had to carefully check the license plates of any cars that looked like hers. What made it even worse was she knew the clock was ticking. She didn't realize her mug had been refilled until she lifted it to her lips. She looked up at Castle and smiled. "Thanks."

He simply nodded and let her get back to work. As much as she felt bad that he was staying she was glad for the company. "You don't have to stay you know Castle. I can do this."

"Kate I already told you, I'm not letting you stay here by yourself not while this guy is out there. Plus I already texted Alexis and told her not to wait up."

"Is that why you're staying? Because you're worried something is going to happen to me?"

Rick hesitated a second before nodding slowly.

She reached out and rested a hand on his knee. "Castle, nothing is going to happen to me. It's not me he wants, it's a challenge. He won't get that if he has me too."

"Nevertheless, I'm not leaving you by yourself. I'm sure if I don't stay you'll end up spending the night on the couch in the break room."

She tried not to let it show that that's exactly what she had been planning to do by turning back to the screen and continuing to look through the video. She was barely blinking as she carefully analyzed every second of footage. A couple of hours later she looked up to find Castle gone. She swallowed a hint of panic but figured he had just gone to the bathroom.

A few minutes later she smelled something and looked up from the screen to see Castle walking towards her with two bags. He set both of them on the edge of the desk. Out of one bag he started taking various take out containers and setting them in front of her.

"Thanks." She said, realizing how hungry she was. "What's in the second bag?"

He pushed the bag closer to her so she could see for herself. "A change of clothes, a pair of more comfortable pants and your toothbrush and toothpaste, just in case there's nothing I could do to convince you to come home tonight."

He was still standing and she looked up at him with her jaw hanging. She was touched by the gesture and only slightly surprised that he had known what she was planning to do. Then her thoughts backtracked. "Wait, how long were you gone for? I didn't even noticed you left until a few minutes ago."

"About an hour. You were pretty wrapped up in your video so I didn't say anything. I didn't want to bother you." He smiled down at her as he saw the shock register on her face. And hoped she wasn't upset that he had gone through some of her things.

She stood up to meet him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt him stiffen up for a second before putting his arms around her waist. She knew she didn't usually do this at work but everyone else had left for the night. Plus he deserved at least a hug for this. "Thanks Rick." She said, taking a step back and opening one of the take out containers. As she ate she kept playing the video. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Castle was watching her. She would have asked why he was staring, but she figured she probably looked like hell. His looks said he was more worried about her than anything else.

Castle asked the occasional question or made a remark here and there but for the most part he just let her work and kept the coffee coming. What seemed like a short while later but was actually over an hour Beckett leaned back and stretched from where she sat in the chair. She looked at the clock in the corner of the computer screen and was surprised to see that it was almost 10pm.

"Ready to go home yet?" Castle asked

"Castle I can't. Not tonight. I need to get through these videos."

"The videos will still be here in the morning when Ryan and Esposito are here to help you."

"In case you didn't notice Castle, we are sort of on a time limit here and we don't exactly have a lot of it," she snapped.

He could tell she was getting frustrated and tired. They still hadn't found anything useful. He decided to change tactics. "What you told Esposito goes for you too. You're no good to Lanie worn out and overtired."

Her eyes shot daggers at him as she realized he was using her words against her. She hated that she couldn't find much on the videos, that they were running out of time, that there was nothing she could do. And she hated that he was right. She could feel her energy draining and even the coffee wasn't helping anymore. She knew she needed to get some sleep but she had to find something on these videos. They were the only lead she had and she wasn't ready to let that go.

Her gaze softened and he could see how torn she was. She needed some rest but he knew taking the time to sleep was not very high on her priority list at the moment. "Kate listen to me, we can solve this case and get Lanie back, but we need you focused and rested to do that. You need at least a few hours of actual sleep and you're not going to get that on the couch in the break room. Now I can pick you up and carry you to the car if I have to, but I would really like to not have to do that."

She could see that he wasn't going to budge and she turned back to the computer, shutting the program down. "A few hours," she said as she grabbed her purse and coat. "And then I'm coming back early to finish this."

"Deal."

A little while later they walked in the front door of the loft and dropped their keys on the table by the door. Kate headed straight for the stairs while Rick went around shutting off all the lights. He went upstairs and threw on a pair of sweatpants before getting in bed to wait for Beckett. His mind went through the events of the day, as awful as it was to relive. A big part of him knew they could solve this, but a small voice in the back of his head kept telling him that he had reason to be worried.

When they walked in Kate made a beeline for the shower without saying anything. Castle had kept quiet most of the time she was looking at the videos but she needed this few minutes to herself. She set the water on extra hot and let it sting her skin. She ran her fingers through her hair and tried to make herself relax. It wasn't working. She kept replaying the video they had received of Lanie just sitting there, telling them she was ok. Maybe she had said something that was supposed to be a clue and Kate was just missing it. Maybe there had been something in there they could use after all. Kate tried to push these thoughts away as the water began to release a little bit of the tension in her body. Beckett stalled in the shower for as long as she could but eventually turned the water off and grabbed a towel. After drying off and putting on the sweatpants and old t-shirt she had started using at pajamas she opened the door to see Castle laying on his back in bed, hands behind his head.

She crawled under the covers and scooted close to him, laying her head on his bare chest. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she wrapped one of hers around his waist. He began rubbing slow, soft circles on her shoulder and she allowed her eyes to close and her breathing to even out. It had been a long day and it felt amazing to just let him hold her.

Kate was close to sleep when she had something she wanted to say. "Castle?"

"Hmm?" he mumbled.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything. For being there today and not…turning anything into a joke. For letting me lose myself and then bringing me back." She pulled herself up to his shoulder and began planting soft kisses on his neck and collarbone. "I'm glad I have you around to keep me grounded, and find me when I lose myself," she said between even more kisses.

He hummed at the feel of her lips on his skin. He shivered as her warm breath hit his neck as she spoke. But he managed to stay focused on her words, and the touch of her lips was nothing compared to the fact that she was telling him how much he meant to her. The voice in his head was trying to convince him that she was only telling him these things because she was afraid that he was going to go missing as well. He made the voice shut up. He knew she meant what she was saying. For her to open up like this was a big deal and he knew she wouldn't say it unless she truly meant every word.

He reached over and put a finger under her chin, tilting her face up until their eyes met. He wanted her to know he meant what he was about to say as well. "I'm glad I'm here too. And I always will be here to come find you. I'm not going anywhere Kate, and I'm not letting you go anywhere either." He pressed a gentle but urgent kiss to her kips, hoping to convey all the emotion that words never could. His life revolved around words, was built by them, but he never seemed to be able to find the right ones for her.