A/N: I'm so, so sorry I took this long to update, guys. Life got in the way, then my tendinitis was acting up, so I had to stay away from writing for a little while. Thanks for sticking with me, though. I appreciate all your support and feedback. A special shoutout to Castletasmic, who sent me the sweetest message ever earlier tonight. I hope you like it and that this was worth the wait.

Disclaimer: Castle is not mine. Unfortunately.

At the end of the tunnel

Chapter 5

"Let's get you some ice, little guy."

Kate looked back and smiled at the scene. Rick was carrying Alex to the kitchen, her son's little legs wrapped around his hips as he giggled at something Rick whispered in his ear. Alex had taken to Rick immediately and had stuck to his side like glue all day. It was only when they had stopped at the park so the kids could play that he finally left Rick's side. Kate had been watching them curiously and wondered if Alex was just reveling in the fact that Rick actually took the time to play with them and tell them stories. Maybe the fact that he seemed so taken with her favorite author was because he was so unlike his father.

And that was just heartbreaking for her, that her little boy lacked a good male role model in his life. Not that Jake was all that bad, but he never took the time to just play with his kids or just hang out with them. He fulfilled his parental duties, yes, but it seemed that the novelty of being a father had ended for him by the time Olivia turned two. When Alex was born, he had been there at first, but then he started spending more and more time at work and these days he was always too busy to do something with the kids. She had even been surprised when Jake had told her last night that he could stay with the kids for the day. Oh well, she should have known better.

"I think it's here, mom." Olivia opened a door that led to a small bathroom just off to the right of his office.

Her daughter had been desperate to go to the bathroom and, as soon as they had made it to the loft, Rick directed them to the nearest bathroom and told Kate he could take Alex to the kitchen to ice his forehead.

"You okay by yourself, sweetie?" Kate asked when Olivia went in. "I just want to go check on Alex."

"I'm fine, mom. I just gotta pee." She rolled her eyes at her and Kate chuckled at how uncanny the resemblance between them was when she did that.

"Alright, yell if you need anything." Kate insisted and Olivia nodded, closing the door behind her. "We'll be in the kitchen." She called out and heard her daughter's muffled reply through the door. Making her way back into the living room, she found Rick holding a dishcloth with ice to Alex's forehead. She allowed herself to watch them for a couple of minutes, as her son listened intently to a story Rick was telling him, before she made her way into the kitchen. "Hey," She smiled at them, stopping next to Rick to check the damage on her boy's forehead. "How's the head, baby bear?"

"Doesn't hurt so much anymore." The boy replied and Kate leaned in to press a gentle kiss to the small bump on his forehead. "Rick was telling me a story." He continued and proceeded to recount the tale of pirates and the seven seas and princesses and treasures that Rick had obviously came up with while she was with Olivia in the bathroom. "And then, the pirate ended up saving the princess, mommy. And then they found the treasure and lived happily ever after." He told her excitedly, to which Kate grinned and turned to Rick amused. He only shrugged and bumped her shoulder with his affectionately.

"All done, mom." They heard Olivia's voice as she came up behind them. "Feeling better, Alex?" She asked, looking up at her brother that was sitting on the kitchen island. Alex nodded and started telling her the story again, making Kate shake her head with a chuckle.

"Thanks for taking care of him." She whispered, leaning against his side for a moment, while the kids were distracted talking.

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad I could help." She felt his hand squeeze her waist comfortingly for a moment. "You okay?" He asked quietly and she nodded, resisting the urge to rest her head on his shoulder, feeling exhausted all of a sudden.

"Yeah, just tired, I guess." She turned to him and offered a small smile. "I'm glad you could come with us today."

"Me too, Kate." He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and stepped away, his hand trailing the small of her back, her wrist, until it found her hand for a quick squeeze. "Coffee?"

"Yeah, that'd be great." She bit her lip to hide a smile at his tactic to keep her there for a little while longer.

"Hot chocolate for the little ones?" He asked and she nodded, turning back to the kids who were busy playing thumb wrestling, a fierce look of concentration on their young faces.

She watched them for a few minutes while Rick prepared their drinks. They were so carefree, so innocent. She hoped that the divorce wouldn't damage their childhood too much. It was for the better, though, she kept telling herself. The way they were living now, with their parents fighting constantly was way worse. She could already see how it was affecting Olivia, but she would try her hardest to minimize any trauma for her children. Ever since she had told her little girl that they were really getting a divorce, she seemed to be a bit better. It seemed as if having the confirmation that it was actually happening gave her time to come to terms with it. She had even been excited to find a new apartment this afternoon.

"Here you go, my beautiful lady." She heard his quiet voice and narrowed her eyes at him, a pleased smile playing on her lips nonetheless when he handed her the ceramic mug of freshly brewed coffee. She thanked him and watched as the kids squealed in delight when he gave them their hot chocolate. "Good?" He asked after giving the kids a plate with cookies.

"Perfect." She bit her lip again and nudged his side gratefully. He smiled at her and pressed a soft kiss to her temple, after checking that the kids were completely focused on their snack.

"Do you have plans for tonight?" He asked quietly and she shook her head. "Want to stay for a little while? We could watch a movie maybe?" He suggested and she thought she could hear a bit of shyness in his tone.

"I'd love to. But we can't stay for too long. Have to get them home soon." He nodded and she turned to Alex and Olivia. "Hey, guys? How about we watch a movie before we go home?"

"Can we watch Toy Story? Please?" Alex immediately chimed in and Kate chuckled when Olivia rolled her eyes at her brother. The boy had seen that movie way too many times for his own good and Buzz Lightyear was his idol. Kate turned to Rick and lifted an eyebrow in question.

"How about you guys go take a look at what we have right over there. The kids movies are closer to the TV." He told them, pointing to his extensive movie collection.

"You sure about this? Watching a kids movie with two hyper kids?" She asked when Alex and Olivia rushed off to the living room.

"You're forgetting my kid was their age not too long ago." He countered and she nodded with a grin.

"Where is she, by the way?"

"At the movies with Ashley, the boyfriend." He nearly pouted and she rolled her eyes, giving his arm a squeeze. "I just can't wrap my head around it, you know? She's my little girl."

"At least she told you about him. That right there is a huge step forward." She told him, her hand trailing down his arm to find his.

"I guess." He sighed and she tugged him by the hand.

"Come on, let's watch a movie."

"He really likes you, you know." She commented about an hour into the movie, watching Alex's sleeping form slumped into Rick's side. He looked down at the boy and smiled, running a gentle hand through the boy's dark hair.

"Well, it's mutual. He's great, Kate. They both are." He added, looking over to Olivia, who had curled up on the chair and was sleeping peacefully, her hair covering most of her young face.

"Thanks." She smiled at him and looked down at their thighs pressed together on the couch. They had started out at a respectable distance, but as the movie progressed and the kids fell asleep, they had slowly gravitated towards each other, ending up with their sides pressed together like that. He stretched his arm and let it rest on the back of the couch, his fingers casually doing a slow dance up and down her arm. She rolled her eyes at him and tucked her feet underneath her, leaning more comfortably into his side. "We suck at this." She laughed after a few minutes.

"At what?" He asked, but she could hear the laughing tone in his voice and elbowed him playfully.

"This." She gestured between them. "Staying apart." She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, like she had been wanting to do all day. "I mean, you do realize we've only known each other for a couple of weeks, right?"

"Doesn't feel like it." He murmured and pressed a kiss to her hair. "But, Kate, if you want me to back off, I will." He continued and she lifted her head to meet his eyes. "I mean, I don't want to, but I will. If you want me to, just say the word"

"It's just-" She swallowed and looked away, watching her sleeping daughter for a moment. "I don't know how to explain it, Rick. I…" She paused again, trying to gather her thoughts. "You're making my life a little easier to handle right now, you know, with everything that's been going on." She said quietly and he nodded, pulling his arm back to he could brush her hair behind her ear. "And after what happened yesterday…" She felt a blush creeping up her neck and bit her lip, feeling stupid for blushing over the memory of a kiss. "It's getting harder to stay away, you know? Did that even make sense?"

"It did. It does." He chuckled, cupping her cheek in his palm and she leaned into his touch. "I told you I like you, Kate. A lot. I care about you more than I ever thought possible to care about someone I've only known for a few days. But I do." A timid smile blossomed on her lips as he gently brushed his thumb under her eye in a soft caress. "I know things are difficult right now and I don't want to mess that up for you. So I'm following your lead here."

"It's like I told you, I need to get my life sorted out. Especially because of them, you know?" She nodded toward her kids. "But the feeling is mutual." She turned her head and pressed a kiss to his palm.

"Yeah?" He grinned happily and she chuckled, nodding.

"Yeah." She took a deep breath before touching his hand, wrapping it in hers. "We should probably get going." He threaded his fingers through hers before she could pull away.

"You working tomorrow?"

"No, I usually have the weekends off because of the kids." She smiled when he started caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. "But I'm probably staying home with them." She finished and he pouted playfully, making her roll her eyes.

"I'm going to miss you." He whispered, bringing her hand to his lips.

"Me too." She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, reveling in the feeling of his lips on her skin. "Maybe we can do lunch on Monday? If I don't catch a case, that is."

"It's a date, detective." She narrowed her eyes at him and he grinned sheepishly. "Okay, not a date." He corrected and Kate laughed.

"This is such a mess." She shook her head and stood up, immediately missing the warmth of his body close to hers. He chuckled and followed suit, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"We'll figure it out, Kate." He smiled when she bit her lip and pressed his lips to her cheek again. "I'll help you take the kids down to the car."

She sighed and nodded, leaning down to pick Alex up. They could do this.

"I think I found an apartment." She told him quietly as soon as he answered the phone.

It had been a couple of weeks since that night at Rick's loft and they had seen each other a few times since then whenever they could. They would usually meet for lunch or a cup of coffee at what had become their coffee shop as free time was few and far in between, especially for Kate. That first week after their talk, her team had caught a high profile case that had proven to be one of the hardest of her career yet. She had barely had time to be home with her kids and had only seen Rick once that week. Although their relationship remained strictly platonic, Kate knew it was getting harder and harder to stay away from each other. Their physical contact was friendly, but that lingering tension was always there and, as much as she tried to control herself, sometimes she would find herself leaning against his side while they were waiting for a cab or to cross the street.

During those two weeks, she had barely had time to look for other apartments, but she had been browsing online and had finally found one that looked really good and was within her price range. She had just closed the latest case with her team and was about to leave to pick up Alex and Olivia from school to drop them off at her dad's. Every Thursday night was Grandpa's time as Alex had dubbed it and they usually spent the night at her dad's apartment. Originally it was supposed to give her and Jake some alone time, but for the past couple of years, those were the nights she usually stayed late at the precinct, so she wouldn't have to go back to an empty apartment or go back to Jake and have a fight.

"Yeah? Where is it?" He asked and she could hear some background noise, like he was looking for something.

"Upper West Side. 105th and Amsterdam." She poured herself a cup of the crappy coffee at the break room. "Want to go check it out with me? If you're not busy." She added as an afterthought and took a sip of the hot drink, grimacing at the taste.

"I just need to finish writing this chapter, and then I'm all yours, detective." She could hear the smirk in his voice and shook her head, amused.

"Want me to pick you up?" She offered, making her way back to her desk to check her emails before she had to leave.

"No, that's okay. I can come meet you. Are you at work?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving soon, though. Have to pick up the kids from school and then drive them to my dad's." She explained and took another sip of her coffee. "Want to meet me here?"

"Sure thing. I'll be there in an hour. Twelfth Precinct, right?" He asked and she confirmed. "I'll see you soon, Kate."

"See you soon." She said warmly and was about to hang up when she heard him calling her name. "What?"

"Dinner later?" He said softly and she bit her lip, trying to ignore the mutinous butterflies in her stomach.

"Dinner later." She agreed and hung up, taking a final sip of her coffee to hide the smile that had made its way to her lips.

Making an effort to pull herself together, she checked her email and the news while she waited for him. It was close to 2pm and the kids wouldn't be out until 3, so they still had time. When she had exhausted all her possibilities on the internet, she thought she would get a head start on the paperwork for their latest case, which proved to be a great distraction. She had been so concentrated, that she jumped, startled, when her phone rang. Smiling when she saw his name flashing on the screen, she hit the answer button.

"I'm down here. Are you ready to go or should I come up?" He asked and she started gathering her things after shutting down her computer.

"I'll be right down. Give me two minutes." She told him and stood up, pulling her jacket on. "Hey, guys? I'm going to go pick up the kids at school." She told her partners, Detectives Ryan and Esposito, walking over to their desks. "Then I'm going to check out this apartment, okay?" She explained quietly and they nodded. They were always concerned about her situation with Jake and she knew they had her back if anything ever happened. "Call me if something comes up?"

"Sure thing, Becks." Ryan offered her a small smile and she nodded, thanking them.

"Everything going okay?" Esposito asked quietly. "The jackass signed the papers yet?" He said and Kate hid a smile, shaking her head. They were fiercely protective of her and when they found out what Jake had been doing all these years, Kate had to make them promise they wouldn't beat his sorry ass up.

"My lawyer says they'll be ready soon and we'll have to have a meeting to discuss everything." She told them and they nodded.

"Well, you know if you need anything…" Ryan started and she nodded, touching his shoulder gratefully.

"I know, guys. I really appreciate it." She smiled and started to make her way to the elevator.

"Tell Liv and Alex we said hey." Esposito called after her and she acquiesced, waving goodbye at them when the elevator doors opened as soon as she pushed the button.

Pressing the button to the first floor, she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment. It had been a long week and she was now feeling the toll the latest cases had taken on her. Earlier today a suspect had tackled her and she had fallen on her wrist. At the time, with adrenaline pumping through her veins, she hadn't felt anything, but now that she was starting to relax, she could feel it throbbing painfully. Looking down at her wrist just as the doors opened on the first floor, she grimaced when she saw it was a little swollen. Damn it.

Looking up, her eyes immediately found his and she watched as concern clouded his features when he realized she was holding her wrist. He made his way toward her and met her halfway to the entrance door.

"Hey," He greeted her concerned. "What happened to you?" He touched her left wrist and she grimaced at the contact.

"It's nothing, Rick. Just had an accident earlier." She tried to smile at him reassuringly, but he still looked worried. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'll put some ice on it when I get home." She reached out and touched the hand that was still holding her wrist, tugging on it to get him moving.

"Are you sure? It looks like you sprained it, Kate. Shouldn't you go see a doctor?" He insisted and she grimaced when he touched it again. God, it was hurting really bad now. "Please? At least for my peace of mind?" He smiled at her and she rolled her eyes, fighting a smile.

"I have to go get the kids first. They'll be out in twenty minutes."

"We'll go get them, drop them off at your dad's and then I'm taking you to the hospital." He said and she nodded, seeing no point in trying to fight this.

Handing him the keys (she was in no fit state to drive with an injured wrist), she led him to her car and they were soon parking in front of her children's school. She got out to meet them and hugged them tightly before going back to the car. She hadn't seen them much in the past few days and she missed just spending time with her babies. Alex was over the moon when he saw Rick was driving with them and shot question after question at him the entire way to her dad's place. He had been talking nonstop about seeing Rick again since that weekend and managed to get them to agree to go to the park this Saturday in his own sneaky way. Kate smiled, amused, cradling her sprained wrist with her right hand.

When they arrived at her dad's, Olivia cornered her about her injury, after Alex had dashed away to his grandpa's arms.

"What happened here, mom?" She asked, concerned. "And don't tell me it's nothing. I can see it's hurting."

"I had an accident at work today, honey. Nothing to worry about, I promise." She hugged her little girl with her good arm and leaned down to kiss her hair. "Rick is taking me to the hospital to get it checked out, Liv. It's probably just a sprain, okay? Don't worry that pretty little head of yours." She smiled at her and kept her arm around her daughter. "Did you have a good day at school?"

"Yeah, it was fun. We're learning about the planets in science class. It's really cool." Olivia looked up at her with a smile and Kate nodded.

"Yeah? How about you tell me all about it tomorrow after school? We'll go out, just the three of us. How's that?" She suggested and Olivia nodded, smiling.

Pressing another kiss to her daughter's head, she went to find Alex and her dad to say goodbye before making her way downstairs. Rick drove her to the nearest hospital and they had to wait for over an hour to get the final say from the doctor. Kate rested her head on Rick's shoulder while they waited in the Emergency Room and held onto his hand while they wrapped her wrist tightly after the doctor had confirmed a mild sprain.

He kept her hand in his on the way out of the hospital and Kate turned to him with a wry smile when they reached her car, leaning against it before he could open the driver's door.

"Go ahead, I know you're dying to say I told you so." Her eyes sparkled and she lifted an eyebrow at him playfully. He chuckled and entwined their fingers together.

"I told you so." He said jokingly and touched her cheek when she laughed, rolling her eyes. "I'm just glad you're okay, Kate. And that it wasn't something worse." He told her quietly and she leaned into his touch, letting out a sigh.

"Thank you." She whispered, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek. "You're too good to me." She murmured in his ear and moved to kiss his cheek again, but found his lips instead. Startled for a moment, she froze, but then let out a sigh and allowed herself to enjoy his lips on hers for just a moment. They kept it chaste and she felt his hands framing her face gently, before pulling away and resting her forehead on his. "This is not helping." She said lightly and he chuckled, pushing her hair behind her ear before pressing his lips to hers again in a quick kiss.

"Just a moment of weakness. And I swear it was an accident." He grinned at her and she nudged his shoulder as she made her way to the passenger side.

"Sure it was." She smirked at him and shook her head, getting into the car. He grinned at her, leaning in to kiss her cheek, before pulling the car into traffic. "You're impossible." She laughed quietly and he stole a glance at her, unable to wipe the grin from his face.

"Where to now, milady?"

A/N: Thoughts?