AN: This chapter is based off of Season 4 Episode 9 "Kill Shot". Thank you again to everyone for following, favouring, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. Don't forget to Review. :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.

Showing Symptoms

My aunt has been acting really strange lately. I think she's still dealing with the issues of getting shot through the chest. Sometimes I catch her starring at her scar in the mirror, I try to avoid her knowing that I know she does that, but she looks so sad sometimes.

Sometimes I even see her touching it and I wonder if it's consciously or unconsciously. I was getting ready for school and eating breakfast when my aunt dropped a mug on the floor. We both jumped at the loud sound and unexpected moment.

"Shoot," my aunt said cleaning the mess.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

"No I got it, I don't want you to cut yourself."

"Okay."

My aunt took me to school and it was a really boring day. We had a test and it started raining so we couldn't go out for recess. After school, I went home and started doing some homework. I turned on the TV and the news was on. I was about to turn it, but it started talking about a local sniper terrorizing our streets.

I wondered how my aunt was feeling about this. I hoped it wasn't bringing back her worst memory. I decided to head to the precinct to see how she was handling it. I road my skateboard to the precinct and I went to her floor. When I got there, it looked like they just finished up a meeting. I saw Castle and Ryan, but I didn't see my Aunt Kate anywhere.

"Emily, what are you doing here?" Castle asked.

"I saw the news. I wanted to know if my aunt was okay," I said.

"I don't know, I think its brining up her sniper memories."

"Do you think she has PTSP? She's been acting strange."

"You mean PTSD?"

"Yeah that."

"I think she does, but she's trying hard to fight it. I could tell she's bothered by this case."

"I hope she's okay."

"Me too."

"I should head home."

"You should stay. We don't know who or where the sniper will strike next. I think it's best for you to stay and wait for me or your aunt to take you home."

"Okay."

I stuck around the precinct and I was sitting in one of the rooms with Ryan, Esposito, and Castle. They were talking about my aunt's condition and I really wish I knew how to help her through this, but what's a nine year old supposed to do. They were going through a surveillance tape, trying to find out who stuck a flag on a sign to gage their shot.

Eventually someone showed up on the surveillance video, but you couldn't see his face. Ryan left the room to go find out if victims, coworkers, or friends could recognized the guy. Esposito's phone rang and he answered it. He hung up and told Castle they found out where the sniper shot from.

I got to tag along with Castle and Esposito, heading to the location of where the shooter was. It was in a tall building and the space the shooter was in looked like it was getting remodeled.

"Hey what's that?" I asked pointing to something on the window.

"It's a paper doll," Castle answered as he picked it up.

Castle thought it might have been left by the shooter, but Esposito said it could have been one of the workman's kids. They were discussing where the sniper would have took the shot and Esposito acted it out. Esposito found the shell casing from the gun and it could be the next step in the case.

We went back to the precinct and they tried to get a hit off the print they found on the shell casing. They finally found one and Castle tried to reach my aunt, but she wasn't answering her phone. I was extremely worried for her, I feel like I need to be her rock when she was always mine.

My aunt Kate arrived at the precinct and she looked a little out of it.

"Emily, what are you doing here," my aunt asked.

"I wanted to check on you," I said.

"I'm fine," she said.

The three of them started walking to the elevator and I followed behind. They were filling her in on what they found and who the print belonged too. Esposito got in the elevator, but my aunt stopped short looking completely frazzled. I think Castle noticed too and he told Esposito they'd stay here and brush up on this Ford guy and prep for the interrogation. Esposito agreed and my aunt quickly walked away.

Castle told Esposito a quick "thanks" before the elevator doors closed.

"Do you think she'll be all right?" I asked Castle.

"Yeah, I'm sure she will. Once this case is all sorted out, she'll work through it. Your aunt's a strong woman, she'll get through it, maybe not today, or tomorrow, but someday," Castle said.

"Yeah," I said.

They found Ford, and I was sitting in my aunt's chair as Castle and my aunt interrogated him. I was hoping he was the killer, so we could finish up this case and my aunt could work through her PTSD. Eventually they came out and Esposito told them that Ford's weapons weren't a match. Then Captain Gates came out and confirmed Ford's alibis.

Captain told my aunt to go back in the interrogation room to get his help and left. They tried to convince my aunt since she was hard on Ford and played bad cop, now Esposito was going to play good cop.

"Okay, fine," my aunt said and walked away.

I was sitting at the desk with my aunt and everything was quiet. My aunt looked at the investigation board and she looked lost in thought. Castle came over and brought her some coffee. He took a seat in the other chair and they started talking about the paper doll, and Castle thinks it might have come from a high end coffee table book.

Esposito came up to us and said that Ford was no help, he couldn't ID the man in the photo. My aunt's phone rang and she said they found the place the sniper shot the other victim. I tagged along and we went into the room where the sniper was. There was another paper doll and Ryan was bagging it.

Esposito found some bull skin and he put it in a bag Ryan held out. My aunt told them to go and they quickly left the room. My aunt started to reminisce on one of the victims, Sarah Vasquez, life and peering out the window. Castle tried to give my aunt a piece of mind that we'll catch this guy. Then she shot back at him about how they didn't find the guy that shot her.

I felt bad for her and she told me to come on. We went home and ate some dinner. The whole night was quiet and I didn't know how to talk to her. I felt like we were pulling away from each other and my aunt seemed to be in a faraway place. I went to bed early and she barely said good night to me.

I fell asleep and later that night I heard my aunt's door open. I wondered if she couldn't sleep. I cracked open my door and watched her fumble around the room in her pajamas and take a seat at the coffee table. She kept pouring herself a glass of liquor and drinking it down like water. My aunt looked awful and completely out of it. I didn't know if I should be scared or concerned, more for her or for me.

I kept watching her, her brown waves of curly hair hanging over her face like a wild woman. She knocked over the coffee table with a scream of terror and I jumped as the glass shattered. She looked around and shut the blinds like someone was out to get her. She said something and grabbed for her gun which was laying in the broken glass.

She pulled herself against the wall between one of her tables and shelves, holding her gun. It looked like she was bleeding, but I was too far away to tell for sure. She was looking around and she looked scared, frightened, and out of control. I stepped out of my room and walked towards her, making sure I watched out for the glass.

"Aunt Kate?" I asked.

She pointed the gun at me and I froze terrified that she was going to shoot me. I felt a tear roll down my cheek and I felt powerless to help my aunt.

"Emily," she said looking around, finally coming back from her memories.

She stood up slowly looking at her arm, which did have blood trickling down it.

"I'm so sorry," she said and pushed her hair back with her other hand.

She took a step toward me and I took a step back.

"Emily, please don't be scared of me. I just had… I just… I'm okay right now."

"What if you do it again?" I whimpered.

"I'm not."

"You don't know that."

She came closer and I tensed, afraid she was going to go back to that dark place. She wrapped me in the arm that wasn't injured and I felt her crying silently. I wrapped my arms around her and we stayed like that for a while. We both needed this moment, just to be close to each other, to feel each other's pain. My aunt told me to go back to bed and she went to clean up her wound.

I didn't want to leave her alone, but I didn't want to make her mad. I did what I was told and I fell asleep soon after.

When I woke up the next day, my aunt left me a note that said she went to work and I didn't have to go to school today. I ate some breakfast and watched the news on TV. The news was continuing to follow the story on the sniper and it made me think of my aunt. I turned the TV off and thought about what to do.

I decided to go see Castle, he always knows what to do. I road my skateboard all the way to Castle's apartment and right when I was about to knock on the door, it swung open revealing Castle.

"Hi Castle," I said.

"Emily, what are you doing here?" he asked as he closed the door behind him.

"I wanted to talk to you," I said.

"Well I was on my way to the precinct," he said.

"We can talk on the way."

"Okay," he said and we started walking towards the elevator.

We got to the street and started walking towards the precinct.

"So Mini Beckett, What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked.

"My aunt was acting crazy last night and I wanted to know what I should do. How can I help her?"

"I don't know, Emily. I think your aunt needs to do this on her own and also with her therapist. You mainly just have to be there for her when she needs it. You need to be good and not get into any trouble, keep her stress level down."

"Yeah that sounds like a good plan. Did they find anything yet?"

"I don't know, but Alexis helped me decode the paintings in the two different paper dolls."

"Really? That's great, but how does that help?"

"If we break down the paintings and their names, we find the street names that link to where the next murder will take place."

"So each painting has a name that corresponds with the street he's planning his next hit."

"Exactly."

"Nice work."

"Thanks, but I couldn't have done it without Alexis."

"She's smart."

"Yeah."

We arrived at the precinct and Castle ran down his theory to everyone. They all seemed to understand and except the concept. Then the phones started ringing off the hooks and I knew that that couldn't be good. They all headed out the door and I had to stay behind because it was still an active scene.

I was sitting at my aunts desk and I kind of overheard Castle say my aunt was spiraling out of control and she shouldn't be on this case. Apparently she had a little moment while talking to the victim and ran off. I bet it didn't help that the new victim had the same name as me. My aunt walked over to her desk slowly and looked at me.

"You should go home," she said.

"I don't want to," I said.

"Emily, go home," she said sternly.

"Beckett," Esposito said.

"Yeah," she said.

"Come with me for a sec," he said.

"Okay. Emily, go home," she said and they walked off.

I decided to do what my aunt said and go home. Like Castle said, I don't need to cause her any more stress. I went home and as it got later and later, I decided to eat some left overs and I fell asleep on the couch waiting for my aunt to come home.

I woke up the next day and my aunt didn't come home last night, so I figured that they were still working hard on the case. I decided to stay home, I didn't want to get in the way of this case and I thought it was best for me to be in the house, just in case the sniper is on the prowl. I ate some cereal and watched cartoons, staying away from the news because I didn't want to hear any more about the sniper.

Later that day my aunt came home and smiled softly at me. That smile was a welcoming change that I was very happy to see, I don't think we shared a smile for the past week.

"Did you catch him?" I asked.

"Yes, Esposito took him down," she said.

"That's great," I said.

"Yeah," she nodded.

She sat next to me and pulled me close to her body and she said, "Emily, I love you so much. You know that right?"

"I know Aunt Kate. I love you too," I said.

She stroked my hair comfortingly and said, "I know this past week has been hard on us. Even the past four months since the shooting, but I'm working on it. I'm trying to overcome this PTSD and I know you're concerned about me. I want to thank you for being by my side through this, I know it's tough, and I'm sorry for the other night."

"It's okay Aunt Kate, I understand. It turns the tables on how you're always concerned about me."

"Yeah, but you shouldn't have to be concerned about me. You're just a young girl, you should have happy moments, not sad and crazy ones."

"It's cool, I'm used to it and I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Just try not to get too used to it. Like I always say, just be a kid."

"Okay."

"Can I ask you a serious question, Em?"

"Sure."

"Are you okay? Not just from everything that's been happening lately, but with your mom, the kidnapping, and memory loss."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"This situation made me experience the most terrible memories I could even think of. I just wanted to make sure you're okay after everything you've been through."

"I promise Aunt Kate, I'm fine. I have you to lean on and if I ever feel lost or scared, I know I can come to you."

"Okay, I'm glad you feel that way."

"Can we get dinner from that Italian place?"

"All right. All right, we'll get dinner from there."

"Yay."

She laughed and gave me a kiss on the forehead. We ordered dinner and they brought it in about fifteen minutes. We ate and talked like we used to do before everything happened. I'm glad everything worked out well and hopefully my aunt gets through her PTSD and we'll be okay.