I think I'm going crazy; Castle won't be on television this week because of some stupid movie. _

Chapter 4

Kate woke up to a delicious smell. She stood up and walked towards the kitchen, to find Castle making eggs and bacon.

"Hey, Castle."

He turned around. "Oh, hey sleepy head. Sit down, breakfast is almost ready."

She sat down. Not long after, Castle set down a plate in front of her.

"The wound still hurting?"

"Nah, not really. It stings a bit sometimes, but that's about it."

They ate their breakfast. When they were finished, Castle cleared his throat.

"Do you eh… do you maybe wanna go to dinner tonight? You- you can say no, if you think it's too soon, but I was just thinking…"

She smiled at him, finding it incredibly cute how he couldn't find his words. Crap, cute? Really Kate? She thought to herself.

"Castle, I asked to take it a bit slow, not to wait until we're both old and grey. So yeah, I would love to."

He smiled. "Great. And about fooling the boys and Lanie, I have the perfect idea."

"Please, tell me it's not something stupid." She moaned.

"O, trust me, it's not." Then he whispered something in her ear. Her smile grew.

"Perfect, although I hate to admit it. Now, go change, we need to stop at my apartment before we head to the precinct, I really need to change clothes." She softly pushed him towards his bedroom.

"So much for being nice and cozy." He muttered.

She caught a glimpse of herself in the window and desperately tried to flatten to hair. Alexis came down.

"Kate, you're still here!" the young girl said, obviously happy.

"Oh, hey Alexis. Yeah, we fell asleep on the couch." She realized how that must've sounded and she blushed. "That's not- it's not what you think, really."

"I understand, Kate, relax." She gave the detective a warm smile.

Castle came out of his room and saw Alexis. "Hey, pumpkin."

"Hey, dad. Sorry, I need to be quick, I'm a bit late." She walked to the kitchen to make herself breakfast.

Castle turned to Kate. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, c'mon, let's go, I think the boys are already at the precinct. They really work hard when it's about one of our own. Well, they always work hard, but now…" She didn't know how to continue.

"You guys consider me as one of you?" He said, while opening the door and walking towards the elevator with Kate.

She thought about that, not sure if she should say this. "Actually, we do. It's just- over the past years you slowly sneaked inside." She hadn't said it out loud, but they both knew she wasn't just talking about the team.

When they arrived at the precinct, Ryan and Esposito were sitting at their desks. Esposito was the first to notice them. Surprised to see Castle in quite a good state, he didn't acknowledge the fact that Beckett and Castle came in together, or at least he didn't think it through.

"Bro, how are you doin'?"

"I'm fine, thanks."

Ryan, not wanting to ruin his good mood, decided to speak up. "Eh, Castle, do you want to go and see the sketch artist, you know, to describe the guy who…" He trailed off, not really wanting to say it.

"Yeah, sure, anything to get him off of the streets."

Esposito took him to the sketch artist. With Castle's help, they had gotten a pretty good image. Esposito gave it to Kate and she hung it on the murder board. Then she mentally corrected herself. Not murder board, crime board. He isn't dead.

"Castle, I don't know if you noticed, but we put detail on you, Alexis and Martha. If he tries to finish his job, he won't come far, I can assure you." Then she turned to Ryan and Esposito. "Did they find anything at Castle's apartment?"

"They found a pair of fingerprints which doesn't belong to any of you guys, but they're not in the system." Ryan answered.

"Okay, guys, why don't you make copies of the sketch and show them around in and around the building. Maybe someone knows him or remembers seeing him, that day or more often." Kate said to the two detectives.

"Right, boss." Ryan and Esposito answered in unison and they got to work. Soon they left.

Kate took Castle to the break room. Once they were inside, she spoke to him.

"Eh… about tonight…" she begun.

"Wear something nice and make sure you're ready at 7." He finished.

"Like you can read my mind. Coffee?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure."

She filled to mugs and handed one to him. They drunk their coffee and chatted a bit. Then Kate's phone rang.

"Beckett."

"Yo, Boss. Someone recognized the guy as a Philip King. We've got an address. 276 West 22th street."

"Okay, great. Wait for me and I'll be there soon."

She looked at Castle. "We've got him."

I really hope you liked it. Please review, I would appreciate that.

-xxx-