During a particularly cold night, Kate's scar at her side aches and pulls a bit. Castle and his large warm hands come to the rescue.

A Tumblr prompt fill.

"The wound is the place where the Light enters you."

― Rumi

It's been a few years since the shooting - since the surgery, but every now and again, usually when it's really cold, Kate's scars hurt. She used to joke with Castle and tell him that she always knew when it was going to snow. He'd reply with "Oh, yeah? News tell you that?" And she'd say, "No, my scars did." She always meant for it to be funny, but he never laughed.

Like tonight. It's the beginning of December and it's 15 degrees outside. The sidewalks and roads are icy and although she's bundled up in a sweater, coat, and a scarf, her skin still prickles and pulls at her scar.

Luckily they're walking into the entrance of Castle's building now, and soon she'll be warm and the bunched up tissue on her side will stop aching.

As they walk inside and shed their winter attire, Kate subconsciously rubs at her scar. Castle notices out of the corner of his eye and glances over at her.

"What's wrong?"

She looks at him sympathetically, because this issue seems to hurt him more than her, physically anyway. "My scar is pulling a little bit. It'll stop soon." She smiles at him, and he smiles back, although she can tell it's forced. She knows that every time she mentions her battle wounds, he's right back to that day, watching the life slowly drain out of her. It's been years, and it still haunts him.

She walks into their bedroom, rounds the corner to the main bathroom to get changed into her pajamas when she notices that he's followed her. She takes off her shirt, flings it to the corner to pick up later. "Castle?"

He stalks up to her. His big hands, which are now warm, settle at her sides, his palm enveloping the scar at her side. She can feel the heat radiating off of him and onto her skin. With his body warmth and the pressure of his hand as he rubs her side, and she feels the tissue loosen making the ache start to disappear.

She leans into him and wraps her arms around his midriff. "I'm okay, Castle."

He tightens his arms all the way around her, pulls her in as close as he can get her and rests his chin on top of her head.

"I know."

She smiles and leans back, searching his face. He's smiling. Genuinely smiling. Because he knows that she's okay. Knows that he couldn't help her then, but he's helping her now. More than he probably realizes.

She kisses his chest and steps out of his embrace. "C'mon, babe. Let's go to bed."

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Twitter: kateofthecastle

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