Because sometimes things hit me and I don't stop writing.

He's not really surprised when Will Sorenson walks back into the twelfth. Their suspect killed his ex-wife and took off with their six year-old daughter, and well…he knows how Kate feels about cases involving kids, and Will is the best.

She warned him. Gave him a day's notice that Will would be coming in with his team and that he needed to make sure it wouldn't be a problem, because she could not deal with the case and any jealous notion he might get at the same time. So he took those twenty-four hours, made sure he was there for her, and mentally prepared himself to deal with the Fed.

Will's polite enough as they work the case, only mildly annoyed with him. Though, Rick's caught several disapproving looks from the man as they work through tracking down the man and his daughter.

He's not stupid, he's fairly certain he knows exactly where those looks are coming from. But he doesn't have to defend himself to the man. He's made it up to Kate and it's not the time for a pissing match. Not when there's a little girl's life at stake.

Rick does exactly what Kate tells him to do. He gets coffee, reads reports, searches phone records and financials with Ryan, whatever needs to be done. And he stands loyally at Kate's side as she holds the little girl – Riley – as she cries for her mother when they find her.

Riley refuses to let go of Kate the entire ride back to the precinct. She buries her face in Kate's neck as they walk into the building and ride up to their floor, her little hands gripping in her shirt as she sobs. Both, Rick and Will can see that Kate's shaken, and the two make every effort to give her a break but Riley is having none of it. It isn't until Rick pulls up a photo of Alexis on his phone that Riley calms enough for him to pull her into his lap for a while.

Rick sits, telling the girl stories about fairies and princesses while Kate goes with Will to calm down and give a statement for the agents to file into the report. He can feel Riley's fingers playing with the pocket of his jacket as he watches Kate through the break room window.

She's standing beside her desk, arms folded in front of her as she talks to Will. There are a few nods in his direction. Kate smiles and Will sighs. Did he as about what they are? It's not like they're hiding what they have together anymore. But at the same time, they also haven't gone out of their way to tell anyone. Will is smart, he thinks. He probably figured it out.

And he's pretty sure he kissed Kate just before going in to get Riley.

"Rick?" He must've trailed off because Riley's tiny, strained voice catches his attention.

"What's up, Sweetheart?"

"What's her name? The girl who's daddy you are." She's still holding his phone with the screen frozen on the picture of he and Alexis on her last birthday.

"That's Alexis."

"I think she's pretty."

"Aw, I think so, too."

She turns her head to look where he was looking and asks, "Do you like Katie?"

He smiles. "Yeah. I like Katie a lot."

The little girl still tucked into him sighs, "I like her, too."

She's quiet fore a few minutes, still sniffling from crying and rubbing her eyes, before she poses another question. "Mommy's gone, isn't she?"

Rick can't help but press a gentle kiss to the top of Riley's head. "Yeah, she is. I'm sorry, Sweetheart."

"And my daddy? He did a bad thing."

"He did a very bad thing," he nods. "Katie's going to make sure he can't hurt you like he hurt your mommy." He can feel her hiccupping, fighting more tears, "But just because he did a bad thing doesn't mean he doesn't love you, Riley."

She nods into his chest, silent. Kate walks into the room again, holding out a little bottle of water for Riley. Rick carefully removes her from his lap, setting her in between he and Kate on the couch so she can drink.

"Okay, Riley. Your mommy's sister is here to take you home. She's gonna take care of you, now."

He thinks Riley smiles, just a little bit, before taking Kate's hand and leaving to go to her aunt. He's so focused on watching Kate interact with Riley, and how she speaks to the aunt that he doesn't notice Will come in until after the man's already sitting next to him.

"You know, I didn't think she'd take you back after what you did. With her mom's case?"

Rick turns to face him, intent on making sure Will knows exactly how serious he is about Kate, and finds the man's face…softer? He definitely doesn't look like he's planning on killing him.

"Kate told me a little bit, about what happened. She told me you apologized." He pauses. "I wasn't expecting that from you."

"Shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

"I know. And, for that, I'm sorry. I've known Kate for a long time, and I know how hurt she was then, and how much it must've taken for her to forgive you."

"Trust me, I know. It wasn't easy. Still isn't, but we got here somehow." Rick can't help but smile to himself, looking out again at Kate, still talking to Riley and her family.

"You really love her."

He doesn't hesitate. "I do."

"It's just so strange," Will laughs and Rick looks at him, confused. "No, not – strange that you love her, or that she loves you. Well, I guess a little. I would have never guessed she'd end up dating the guy on the back of all those books." Will huffs out a laugh again, "I still can't believe she waited in line for an hour to have you sign one."

"She what?" Kate's been to a book signing? To actually have her book signed and not tease him? Why hadn't she told him?

"She hasn't told you?" Rick shakes his head. "About two months after we started dating you were doing some signing in the city and she wanted to go. Took the day off work for it, if you can believe that. She was in love with your books."

"Really…?" Another layer of the Beckett onion peeled. He has to remember to ask her about it.

"You know, I still don't like what you did, even if you did have a good reason, but I'm not blind. Obviously the two of you have figured things out, and I can tell she loves you. And you care about her. Just don't hurt her again."

"Doing everything I can to keep that from happening."

"Good." Will shoves to stand from the couch, turns back to look at him before leaving the room. "Take care of her, Castle."

Rick sits there, stunned at the encounter. Will Sorenson was actually nice to him? Sure, he practically threatened his life, but he sort of complimented him? He acknowledged their relationship without insulting him, so that's progress. And he told him that Kate was a big enough fan of his to wait in line for him to sign her book.

He knew she read his books but this is new.

Kate breaks his train of thought when she leans in, holding her jacket and bag. "Gates gave us the rest of the day. Ready to go?"

He grins at her, just so proud and in love. "Yeah."

They curl into his couch after gorging themselves on celebratory ice cream sundaes, content to just sit together and watch mindless 80's sitcom re-runs. She's warm and relaxed at his side, all the stress from the case washed away. The television is low, really just background noise, casting a bluish glow over the room.

He idly runs his fingers along her shoulder as he thinks back over the day. "Riley really liked you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. She told me when you were out talking to Will."

She hums and shifts in just a little closer, as if there were any more space between them to close up. "She'll be okay. It'll take time, but she'll be okay."

He leans over, gently kissing her temple. "You're great with kids. You know, the few times we've been around any."

"Yeah, well," he can feel the curve of her lips as they smirk against his chest, "I've gotten a lot of practice with you."

"Funny woman," he chuckles. "So, I talked to Will, actually."

"Hmm, well, neither of you are wounded so it must've gone fairly well."

"He told me something kind of interesting."

"Oh really?"

"He said that you once stood in line for an hour to get my book signed?"

Rick can feel Kate freeze. Her breath catches for a beat before she finds the words to speak again. "I did." Her voice is small, almost as if it's still a secret. "You were signing for one of the Derrick Storm books, obviously, but I brought In Hail of Bullets instead. It was my mom's."

He doesn't even know what to say.

"I don't know what to say." He sighs. "I wish I remembered. But-"

"You sign a lot of books." She turns her head up to look at him. "Honestly, I'm kind of glad you don't remember. Will's the only one who knows I was there for a reason."

He wants to ask. He really wants to ask why she hasn't told him this before and why she looks like he just ripped open a scab, but it's one of those things that he knows he has no right to probe about. If she wants to tell him, she will. He knows she would.

"You remember what I told you about what happened after my mom's murder?"

She lost herself in that dark hole, he remembers. Just like he remembers everything that's happened with the case since she told him all those years ago.

"Your books got me through that. You write so well, Castle. Not just the mysteries but also the stories you write about the victims, and the ones left behind. Your books made things make sense and just…helped me figure out where I wanted to go. Will only knows because of that signing when he asked why I was so set on going. If he weren't so damn good at his job he wouldn't have found out at all."

It sucks the air out of his lungs, the weight of what she just told him - of how much of herself she gave to him in a few sentences. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her so that she's practically in his lap. "Thank you," he whispers into her hair. "Thank you for telling me."

"Just don't let it go to your head, okay?"

"Me? An ego? Who do you think you're talking to, James Patterson?"

She shoves his face and laughs. He loves when she laughs. Especially after cases like Riley's.

"Thanks, Castle, for being cool about it. And for writing."

He leans in and kisses her properly, not moving until he can't contain himself anymore. "Anytime you want a story, I'll write you one."

"Gonna hold you to that," she teases.

"Counting on it."

Thanks for reading!

Tappin
=)

So, for anyone reading To Shatter Illusions, it's looking like some sort of hiatus, for which I apologize. I never wanted to be *that* writer, but I'm having trouble finding time to focus on it. So it's still going, just, no idea when.