Hey amazing FanFic friends So I wasn't sure whether or not to continue this story. I've always found it hard to continue once the writers establish canon, but I want to try anyways! Here's what's happening in my world of Castle. Thanks so much for your support and comments, please keep 'em coming, I need them now that Castle's back! Otherwise I'll just be fangirling over what's canon and leave my poor story and I don't want to! This was drawn up pretty quickly but I DO want to try to keep this more regularly posted.

LOVE YOU ALL!

(Also, be sure to check out Nycbeckett and her Castle Fanfic as well! Go comment on it! She's super sweet!)

xx

KE

The only thing lighting the dirt road up to Jim's cottage were a few sparsely erected street lamps and whatever dim glow the crescent moon gave off. The street lamps cast an orange glow through the car window and flickered across Kate's face as she slept.

They had taken three cars and the trip took nearly three hours. Esposito and Ryan had taken responsibility for packing their own bags and their "security gear" while Martha, Jim and Alexis had packed bags for themselves, Castle and Beckett. They had agreed that the best departure plan would be to keep Castle and Beckett at the hospital as long as possible while they prepped the bags and cars and then pick them up through the Ambulance Garage. Esposito and Lanie were taking Castle and Beckett, Ryan was driving Alexis and Martha, and Jim was leading in his car.

Esposito grimaced as the car hit a fairly large pothole. Kate moaned softly in her sleep as the car dipped up and down the dirt road.

"Javier, could you try not to hit every pothole in the road?" Lanie whispered, glancing back at Kate and Rick in the back seat.

"Believe me, I'm trying..." He muttered, his eyes pinned on Jim's taillights. Lanie checked the time: 5:43AM.

"Are we almost there? I don't want to keep her propped up like that for too long. She needs to lie down." Lanie said. Esposito shrugged.

"I'm fine Lanie. Stop worrying." Kate's voice made Lanie jump. She craned her neck to look back at her.

"Girl, you scared the crap out of me...how long have you been awake?"

Kate smirked but kept her eyes closed. Her head was resting on Castle's shoulder.

"Sleeping on and off. We're there." She answered. "I remember that bump in the road. Always woke me up as a kid." It seemed like just as the words left her mouth Jim's car vanished around a corner. Esposito hit the left signal and pulled up behind him. Kate let her eyes open slowly. They felt gritty and heavy, and she pressed her palms against her eyelids. Ryan's headlights lit up the driveway behind them as he pulled in and then, almost in sync, they all turned off their engines.

The sound of crickets swam through the air, muted at first, but louder as they opened their car doors.

Lanie came up to Kate's door and opened it for her.

"Come on, let's get you inside." She held out her hand to help her up. Kate winced, and clutched the car door with her other hand. Finally she was standing on the gravel driveway. It was warm and it smelled different there. It wasn't like New York. It smelled like...nature; trees, fresh rain, campfires...and 6AM.

"Smells like dirt...and rain. Which is mud. It smells like mud." Castle had emerged from the car looking groggy and still half asleep. Half his hair was sticking up on end and he was leaning on the car door, probably to help him stay standing. "Did you know Washington Irving's story Rip Van Winkle took place in the Catskills?" He muttered through a yawn. He stood up and slammed the car door shut. "Except he didn't spell it Catskills...with a C-A-T..." Castle kept on going. Apparently when he was tired he was like the Little Engine that Couldn't Stop Talking. He was ambling up the driveway behind Jim, Lanie and Kate. "He spelled Catskills with a K-A-A-T..."

"Castle," Lanie sighed, without turning around, "I was awake this whole trip making sure you were actually asleep and not unconscious. I haven't slept...if you don't stop talking about cats and their damn skills, I'mma smack you." That seemed to work and they made it up to the front steps in silence. Ryan and Esposito pulled the bags out of the cars and lined them up along the porch. The porch light was making a steady buzzing noise, which was only made louder by the bugs that were flying around it. Alexis still had her eyes closed and was leaning on Martha, who seemed to be particularly interested in swatting flies with her black gloves. Castle, who still hadn't said a word since Lanie shut him down, was practically hugging one of the porch pillars. A small spider was threatening to crawl across one of the sleeves of his blue plaid shirt. Lanie shifted her weight from her left to her right foot and readjusted to support Kate.

Jim turned his key and opened the door. The door creaked on its hinges and immediately everyone could tell that no one had been inside for a while. By the looks on Jim and Kate's faces, they probably hadn't been back since before Johanna had died.

"Alright, everybody in." Jim took a deep breath and flicked the light switch.

It was like the slow amble of the living dead. After everything that had happened in the past couple weeks, they could barely summon enough energy to move. Ryan and Esposito were the last to step inside, after tossing the suit cases and duffel bags from the porch to the foyer.

"We're gonna keep you two on the main floor for now. I don't want you climbing any stairs and hurting yourselves worse than you already are." Lanie lowered Kate gently onto the sofa in the living room.

"That couch turns into a sofa bed." Jim gestured to where Kate was sitting. "There's a guest bedroom through that door." He pointed to the door to the right of the television. "Bathroom's the door to the left."

"Martha, Alexis; you two can have the second guest room upstairs." Jim continued. "You three, if you don't mind sharing...Katie's old bedroom has a daybed in the corner, so three of you could squeeze in there if you like." Ryan held up his hand, volunteering himself, "I know...daybed." He chuckled.

"Well..." Martha was starting to wobble under the pressure of Alexis leaning on her. "It's been a helluva week. Shall we?" She gestured upstairs. The mention of sleep was enough to snap everyone out of it and head to their respective bedrooms. Lanie and Jim managed to alternate supporting Kate and prepping the sofa bed. Castle had somehow managed to slip away to the guest bedroom and pass out on top of the comforter. One of his shoes was halfway off his foot and the other was in the middle of the room.

"Get some sleep, okay? You need anything and you call me." Lanie said firmly from the stairs as she headed to bed. "I don't want to hear these stairs creak. If you fall down and get killed I swear I will bring you back and kill you myself."

Kate's eyes were halfway open but she laughed, softly. "Yeah, I hear you. I'll be fine."

Lanie just raised an eyebrow and shook her head at her. "Mmmhmm..." she smirked and disappeared upstairs.

It was just Jim and Kate in the living room now. He sat slouched in the brown leather La-Z Boy watching his daughter breathing. He had never taken his daughter's life for granted, it wasn't that this was some sudden realisation, it was just...a day ago she had been nearly dead on an operating table. Hours ago she was hooked up to machines that were breathing for her. Now here she was, breathing on her own again...Lying on the same couch that she had sat on as a little girl watching the Fox and the Hound, begging him to bring home a fox for her.

They grow up too fast. He thought. From carrying her around when she was no bigger than the length of his forearm, to crawling...to training wheels...and after the training wheels come off it's like a race to grow up. Jim ran his fingers through his grey hair and for the first time he felt very old. He pushed himself out of the recliner and crossed the room to the sofa bed. He pulled up the blankets over Kate and made sure she was warm enough. He bent over and kissed her forehead and then, he walked towards the kitchen. There was one more thing he needed to do. He quietly opened one of the kitchen cupboard doors and pulled out a glass. He held it under the tap and filled it to the brim with water. Jim found his way back to the living room and set the glass of water on the coffee table beside Kate. Smiling to himself, he turned his back and headed up the stairs, lost in memories.

"Katie, is that you?" Jim crept down the hall, his feet sinking into the soft carpet.

"Daddy? Daddy I'm thirsty. I need a drink of water." A quiet voice echoed from the bathroom. He peered around the bathroom door and there she was, huddled behind the toilet in her little pink housecoat.

"Why are you crying, kiddo? What's the matter?" He squatted down beside her and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Nothing Daddy." She whispered. "I-I am fine." She said in her big-girl speak.

"Come on Katie, you can tell me. I'll keep it a secret, I promise. Won't tell anybody." Jim gently bopped her nose with his finger.

"No...no I just needed a drink." She said again. Jim turned and saw her plastic cup on the floor. He picked it up and held it under the tap. A little squeal of terror came from behind the toilet as he turned the tap on.

"It's a little loud, isn't it?" He whispered, turning the tap down until it was just dripping." There you go. All better." He held the cup out to her and she crawled out from her hiding place.

"Thank you." She coughed and took a small sip of water. Then she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her housecoat.

"Come on, let's get you all tucked in. Where's Mr. Biggles?" Jim followed her own the hallway to her bedroom. She plopped the cup on her bedside table and a drop sloshed down the side.

"Daddy!" She laughed; pulling a very "loved" stuffed panda out from under her sheets. "His name is Bamboo!" Jim grabbed the old panda bear and made him dance across the mattress.

"Ohhh, I'm so sorry Mr. Bamboo." He put on his best panda-accent. Kate bent over and giggled.

"Haha...Daddy, you're silly. Give me him. You're going to make him dizzy." She leaned back and slipped underneath her blankets with Bamboo wedged between her arms.

"Goodnight Katie." He bent over and kissed her forehead.

"'Night Daddy." She said quietly. Jim turned for the door.

"Daddy?" Kate whispered again.

"Yeah honey?" He replied. Kate fiddled with Bamboo's paws, refusing to look up at him. Brave little Katie. Avoid defeat at all costs.

"Can you always bring me my water?" She asked him, being sure to add, "A-secretly?" Jim chuckled.

"I'll tell you what...every night before bed I'll make sure you've got your quiet water by your bed. Okay?" Kate nodded.

"Okay."

Jim hit the lightswitch, grabbed the doorknob and started to pull the door closed.

"Daddy?" Her voice sounded so quiet and small in her room.

"Yes, honey?" He asked, through the crack in the doorway.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too." He whispered back.