Timeline/Spoilers: Post-Always (4x23) / no future spoilers

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. To date, I have published nothing for pay, and until I do, I write just for the fun of it. :)

Summary: Kate finds comfort in Rick's arms. Based on and inspired by txduck's gorgeous drawing, entitled "Just Before the Dawn," which you can find at random-ship DOT livejournal DOT com / 14967 DOT html (no spaces). Please give her ALL THE CREDIT for the pictures, because I had nothing to do with those but follow her inspiration. :)

A/N: Fics 1 and 2 are sequential and can be considered a two-parter, but, depending on what txduck is inspired to draw next, each of the rest of these may stand alone. (Okay, technically Drawing #1 was the 2nd picture she did, but this one takes place first chronologically, so I'm switching them around for the sake of this series of one-shots.) I hope you enjoy the fruits of our combined imaginations! :D

Posting this unbeta'd (as I was too impatient to wait, lol), so mistakes are mine. :) Cross-posted at my LiveJournal, emstories, where you can also view the picture if the other link won't work for you (emstories DOT livejournal DOT com).

PS: I don't know if/when spoilers for next season are out, so I'll just make this warning now: This is a SPOILER-FREE ZONE. Please do not spoil me (or the other readers, just in case) in any way. Thank you!

Enjoy! :D

#1 – Comfort

It hadn't taken much time for Kate to fall asleep that first night in Rick Castle's bed, though she was restless. She had nightmares of the fight she'd had on that roof that ended differently each time. As the night progressed, she nearly died in a few of the dreams, slipping from the building's edge before Ryan or sometimes Castle could even get to her. Twice, she woke up quivering from the sensation of falling. She brushed it off the first time, rolling over to keep from waking Rick, who was at least a foot away, sleeping soundly with his back to her. The second time, she convinced herself she was just chilly and went in search of something small and not too cumbersome to sleep in, surprised to find an old white tank-top of hers on a shelf in Rick's closet that she must've left behind during her short stay there a couple of years earlier. It was enough of a cover, since she really wasn't all that cold.

The third time she fell off the building in her dream, she saw the ground coming up so fast that it brought her to tears when she instantly awoke, and her soft cries that followed roused Rick from his sleep.

"Kate?" he whispered, since he couldn't see her in the dark.

"Sorry," she sniffed, trying to calm herself. "Bad dream."

"Oh. Want me to hold you?"

Normally, she'd feel weak for accepting comfort for such a silly reason, but right now, at this moment, she wanted nothing more. Without answering, she scooted closer and lay with her head on his chest, his arm around her, and her body curled against his side.

"Want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "It's just what happened last night playing over and over again in my mind."

"Hm," he murmured in such a way that made her ask what was the matter. He answered, "I just didn't think that I was so bad in bed that you'd have nightmares about it."

His joke did the trick in making her laugh. She relaxed a bit more, burying her face in his bare chest and draping her arm further across him to his other side. She was quiet for several minutes, but knew he wasn't falling back asleep and was probably waiting to see if she wanted to talk. "I almost fell off a building last night," she softly admitted.

He squeezed her tighter and kissed the top of her head. "You said you almost died."

"Ryan caught me just in time," she nodded. "The funny thing is, I thought I heard you coming for me when I was dangling off that roof, about to fall. I heard your voice. I called for you. You answered back. And then you weren't there."

"I wish I had been there."

"No," she disagreed, "I had to figure out all on my own that it wasn't worth risking my life. I was too stubborn to listen to you, even though you were right. Finding my mother's killer won't bring her back. And in that moment, I realized I didn't want to die trying to accomplish that. I didn't…I don't want to lose you."

"I'm here, Kate," he whispered and kissed her head again.

"I feel better with your arms around me like this."

"Then I'll make sure I have them around you all night."

And he did.

When she woke up in the morning, before she even opened her eyes, Kate felt safe and warm. She was on her right side with Rick snugly up behind her, his arm securely around her ribs. It made her smile to know that not only was he keeping his promise, but that he was able to do it in his sleep. She could hear his soft snores and deep breaths with his face over her shoulder. It was also at that moment she realized the dreams had stopped when he'd begun to hold her.

She hated to move, but nature was calling and doing so fiercely, she had no choice. Moving slowly, she gently removed his arm from around her stomach first, placing it on his own thigh. Then she rolled to her stomach and peered over at him through her curtain of tangled hair. Because it was late morning, it was plenty light enough to see his handsome face, and she had to fight the urge to kiss him awake. She had to attend to a few things before indulging once more in his kisses, and the second thing included starting a pot of coffee.

A stealthy check of the apartment from Rick's bedroom door several minutes later proved that Alexis was either not yet home or was up in her room, so Kate chanced sneaking across the living room. She recalled that Rick had said his mother was in the Hamptons, so at least she didn't have to worry about her, too. Kate had put on one of Rick's big dress shirts over her short tank top and underwear, determined not to take long in the kitchen. She'd just get the coffee pot going and would hurry back to shower and dress before anyone could catch her. It wasn't that she was afraid of her new relationship with Castle being discovered by his daughter; she just didn't want to be discovered half-naked.

Kate was glad that she knew where most everything was, having spent that couple of days in his apartment before when her place had been bombed, so she was able to get the coffeepot all set up in no time at all. She'd just turned it on and pivoted to leave the kitchen when she saw Rick crossing the room in a pair of pajama pants, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Kate couldn't prevent a smile from breaking out on her face. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No," he said automatically, rounding the counter to approach her and slip an arm around her waist. "Okay, maybe. I reached for you, and you weren't there, and that woke me up, so, yeah, I guess you could say it was your fault."

She smirked and kissed him. "I needed coffee."

"I thought that had to be the only reason you'd leave my bed."

Kate chuckled, leaning into him contentedly. "We should get dressed before Alexis catches us—"

He shook his head. "I don't expect her until lunchtime." He turned and leaned his hips against the counter, pulling her comfortably against him, leaning in to kiss her. "We have the whole place to ourselves, at least for a couple of hours." He pecked her lips and then pulled away only enough for her to see that his eyebrow was raised playfully. "That's enough time to start christening every room in the house, starting with the kitchen."

"Ew," Kate laughed again, leaning back and away from him as he advanced. "Anywhere but the kitchen."

"Ooo, and the lady accepts the challenge," he joked, catching her lips again.

The sound of a key in the lock was enough to jolt both of them from the kiss, though he assumed it was his daughter coming home a little earlier than expected; he peered unconcerned over his shoulder at the front door. She really hated that his bedroom was beyond the door and such a trek across the open living room, leaving them both trapped. There was nothing she could do but hide and hope that Alexis would go right upstairs to her room before noticing Kate was there and scantily-clad, her hair twisted and tied in a messy knot on the top of her head, leaving very little about what had transpired the night before to the imagination.

"Mother," Rick greeted in surprise when he turned and saw her come in, as Kate cowered behind his back, unsure if Martha would be easier or harder to confront in this predicament than Alexis.

"Oh, good morning, Richard, darling," Martha replied, coming in with her suitcase and closing the door behind her.

"What happened to going to the Hamptons?"

She sighed dramatically. "My friend, Barbara Schrimsher, was on her way to stay there with me when she got a call that her mother took a turn for the worst. She had to fly out to California to be by her side, and you know how I hate being in that big house all alone."

"Yes, I do, Mother."

"So, I thought I'd come home and cheer you up," she said lightly, setting her suitcase at the foot of the stairs. Then she stared at her son curiously. "Though you seem a bit happier now. You were so melancholy last night. Did something happen?" She apparently saw the stiff way he was standing. "Are you…hiding something?" she asked, trying to see around him.

"Only a certain Detective Kate Beckett behind my back." He squeaked out an "ow!" when Kate pinched the back of his waist, but she knew it was pointless to hide anymore.

She stepped out sheepishly and offered a timid smile. "Hi, Martha."

Martha cheered and clapped gleefully, and she hurried over to hug her. "Well, that explains the change in Richard's mood," she chuckled. Leaning back in their hug, she told Kate, "I can't say I'm all that surprised, though I am surprised it took this long."

Kate glanced up at Rick to note that he was smiling proudly, even as he possessively put his arm around her waist. "I don't care how long it took," he revealed, staring down at her. "I'm just glad the wait is over."

"Well," Martha clapped once, making a decision. "I suppose I'll just repack my bag and get out of here to give you two some privacy. Oh," she suddenly remembered, "but Alexis will be home before too long. Perhaps you two should be the ones to go to the Hamptons for the weekend."

Rick immediately liked the idea of being alone with her and looked to Kate for her opinion. "What do you think?"

"Your…beach house?" she asked hesitantly. He'd offered to take her there once before, but it had been too early on in their relationship, and she'd been too confused about what she really wanted at the time. Before that, she'd heard of his beach house in the Hamptons on fan-based websites and had wondered what it was like for far too long, although she wasn't certain if her interest was as his friend or merely as a fan who was curious enough to see his other secret lair.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Just for the weekend. I promise to have you back in time for work on Monday morning."

"Oh, s-sure," she spit out. "Though, um, I don't have to be back Monday. I don't…I'm not a detective anymore."

"What?"

Kate looked between their two confused and shocked faces and explained, "Gates put me on administrative leave, and instead of accepting that consequence…I resigned."

Martha's eyes widened, and Rick's mouth dropped open, but it was the elder woman who apologetically took her leave. "It seems you two have a lot to discuss. Have a wonderful trip, and don't worry a bit about Alexis and me. We'll do just fine until whenever you decide to return." She hugged Kate again and smiled, lightly tapping her cheek. "Kate, welcome to the family."

"Thank you, Martha."

Rick continued to study Kate's face until his mother was out of earshot up the stairs. "You quit?"

She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "I told you, when that guy got away, I didn't care anymore."

"Yeah, but…I thought you were just talking about your mom's case. You walked away from your job, too?"

"Don't try to make me regret it, Castle. I did what I felt was right." She narrowed her eyes at him. "I thought you'd be thrilled that I'm not risking my life anymore."

"I am," he shrugged, the look of concern still on his face despite the casual acceptance of the news. She realized then what he was worried about when he said, "As long as you didn't do it for me."

She reached up and cupped his cheek. "I did it for me. And for us."

He kissed her and then asked, "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know," she shook her head and smiled. "I'll take some time to think. I have some money saved up; I might go back to school… I'm in no hurry to decide."

"Good," he smiled, wrapping his arms around her waist and locking his hands low on her back. "Then, how about we take the next month and spend it in the Hamptons? Mother and Alexis can come up for July 4th, and then we'll decide what we're going to do when we get back here."

"We?"

He shrugged again. "We're in this together now, aren't we?"

She remembered his words from the night, I'm here, Kate, and knew he was essentially saying the same thing again. It made her grateful to feel so overwhelmed with his love. Was it really possible for someone to love her this much?

She couldn't find the words to push past her tight throat, so she just nodded, reaching up to kiss him again, hoping it would be enough and sure that it would be for now. One day she'd have the nerve to speak her heart, and until then, she was assured that Rick was patient enough to wait just a little bit longer.

Reviews are love! :)