Breaking Point: The Sequel to Go Home Castle

This story starts during Knockdown. I re tell the episode some so it fits my version of their relationship. If you have not read Go Home Castle, it will help you to understand where the Castle/Beckett relationship stands in my world.

It Starts off with a lot of fluff, but there is a point to the fluff, and there will be a case. I promise.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

As they sat in the car watching the man guarding the door through a night vision scope, Castle's mind drifted back over the case they were working on and how they had gotten to this point.

He had seen something different in her eyes when he had opened the door at his loft that morning and she asked if they could talk. They had been together and dating for the past few months and he hadn't seen her eyes that guarded in what seemed like forever. He had reached out to hold her and try to comfort her, like he had done so many times before, but she had stepped back. He soon learned why. She had gotten a phone call from John Raglan, the detective who had been working on her moms case. He wanted to meet and tell her something about the case, and she asked him to come along.

She had let him hold her hand briefly in the car before pulling it away. She had been tense, and understandably so, so he didn't take it personally. They had watched the detective get shot right in front of them and from that point on she had tried pushing him away.

Things came to a boiling point when she slammed a suspect into the mirror in the interrogation room and the captain had ordered both of them off of the case. She wouldn't speak to him on the car ride home, only insisting that she would be fine as she dropped him off at his loft and headed back to her apartment.

Kate's mind was also drawn back to the case they had been working on, and the man who was sitting next to her. He had refused to take no for an answer when she dropped him off at his loft after being kicked off the case. He had shown up at her door a few hours later with a bouquet of flowers, only to find her crying on the couch. He had tried again to reach out and comfort her, but she had pushed him away. She couldn't deal with all of her emotions and had to push some of them aside. She had never been able to set aside her emotions regarding her mothers murder, so it had been her feelings for castle she had to shut down. He had come into her kitchen rambling about going back to the precinct to get her mom's case file. His enthusiasm had made her smile and she ended up showing him the murder board she had made on her shudders. The one she kept hidden from the rest of the world. The one she had started the summer he left for the Hampton's with Gina and had taken part of her heart with him. She had started it because she needed something constructive to do with the hurt she had felt. He had seemed to recognize that when he had asked if anyone else knew about it and her answer had been no, but he hadn't pressed the issue.

When they found out it had been a professional hit and the person had been watching her for a while, she became scared for his safety and had asked him to do something for her. His typical "Anything for you" had been his answer; until she had asked him to go home.

Castle remembered the anger that had flared up in him when she had told him that it wasn't his fight. The hell it wasn't. Anything concerning her was his fight, and she should know that by now. She had gotten mad at him over his explanation and had fired out the question "Then why do you keep coming back Rick?" and it had taken all of his will power not to tell her he loved her right then. He knew the timing was wrong and he didn't want her to think he was saying it just because of the nature of the case. So he had responded with the next best thing he could think of. He called himself her partner. The moment he said the word her face had softened and, for a moment, she let herself be the Kate he had been getting to know rather than Detective Beckett. She had whispered okay, and came to sit with him on the sofa, putting her walls back up almost as quickly as she had taken them down.

A string of events had landed them back on the case and, with Esposito and Ryan, they had been closing in on finding the person who had shot Detective Raglan. A man going by the name of Hal Lockwood. They had gotten too close and he had kidnapped Ryan and Esposito and was holding them hostage in the building they were now sitting in front of. Beckett was looking at the guy guarding the door through a night vision scope.

"That guy is going to spot a swat team from a block away, and warn Lockwood. We call in the Calvary and they're both dead."

She sighed as she lowered the scope. He looked over at her and longed to reach for her hand, but she had made it clear over the past few days that she didn't want anything to do with him in that sense.

"I'm open to dumb ideas here." She said quietly, looking out the window at the guard.

"Good, cause I got one."

He filled her in on his plan for them to act like a drunk couple coming in from a night out. He hoped it would at least get them close enough to the guy for Beckett to be able to take him out before he could warn Lockwood that they were there. She rolled her eyes at him, doubtful that it would work, but knew it was probably their only shot.

They got out of the car, giggling and stumbling and Beckett held onto the car as she made her way over to Castle. She fell against him and he wrapped his arms around her, pretending to steady her. The contact sent a jolt thought his body and he realized how much he had missed holding her. He held on a little tighter than he needed to as they stumbled towards the building and the guard at the door.

The guard looked at them and started walking down the steps towards them, his hand on the gun that was concealed under his jacket. Beckett noticed and titled her head up towards Castle's face.

"He's not buying it Castle." She said in a singsong, giggly voice as she turned her body towards him and put her hand on her gun. He knew this was their only shot and had one more idea to make it work. He took her hand and ripped it away from her gun while putting the other hand behind her neck, forcing her to look at him. Her eyes met his and there was a brief flash of recognition as she realized what he was going to do. He leaned toward her, at the same time pulling her to him as he kissed her. His hand slipped around her shoulders as they kissed.

She pulled back and looked at him, stunned. Their eyes locked for a minute and Kate realized how much she had missed him. She had been so busy pushing him away that she forgot how much she liked being with him. She moved towards him again, wrapping her arm around his shoulder as she kissed him back. She glanced briefly over his shoulder to see the guard still moving towards them, but slower, an amused smile spreading across his face. She pressed herself closer to Castle, wrapping both of her arms around his neck as she kissed him, taking his top lip between her teeth. She moaned softly as his hand moved across the back of her neck and though her hair. God she had missed him. She heard the guard chuckle as he decided that they were just a drunk couple making out. The noise brought her back to reality and she looked over Castle's shoulder to see the guard had turned away. She spun away from Castle and hit the guard across the back of the head with her gun; knocking him out cold.

She took a deep breath and blew it out, trying to recover from the whirlwind of emotions that had taken her by surprise with that kiss.

"That was amazing." She heard Castle mutter behind her. She turned to find him looking just as overwhelmed as she felt. She turned towards him slowly, a confused expression on her face. "The way you knocked him out…it was…." He stuttered and nodded his head towards the guard, who was laying on the ground at her feet.

"Lets go…yea" She muttered as she turned towards the building, still reeling. Castle took a deep breath and touched his lips before jogging after her. She told him to stay out of the way, so when they entered the building and heard Esposito yelling, she had taken the most direct route to them, and Castle went around the back. He heard all of the gunfire before he saw anything and wished, not for the first time, that he knew how to use a gun better. He hated feeling so helpless. He climbed on top of some shelving and pressed himself next to one of the cement supporting beams of the building to get a better look. He looked around the corner and what he saw infuriated him. A man with both a snipers stance and gun was aiming at Beckett. He launched himself at the guys back just as he was pulling the trigger. They fell to the ground together and Castle postioned himself so he was pinning the guy to the ground. He let all of his anger and frustration of the past few days come flying out through his fist as he beat the guy senseless. He stopped when he saw blood on the guys face and noticed he had stopped moving.

"You okay?" He heard Beckett ask as she walked towards them. Relief flooded though him at the sound of her voice. He looked up at her, confused as to why she was asking.

"Huh?" He said, meeting her eyes, his hand still curled into a fist. She glanced down briefly at the guy he had just punched out, then back at him. He looked down at the guy on the floor, then back at her.

"Never better."

And he meant it. As long as he knew she was okay, everything else would be just fine.

Kate hesitated, trying to find the right words to say to the man sitting in the back of the ambulance. The man who had just saved her life, not for the first time. Her partner. She smiled as she saw him start to unravel the bandage on his hand and stepped up into the ambulance, taking the seat across from him.

"Hey there Chuck Norris." His laugh turned into a wince of pain as he kept unwrapping the bandage. She reached over and took it from him, gently starting to rewrap it.

"How's the hand?" She asked quietly.

"Excruciating."

"Hm." Neither of them looked at each other; instead they both watched her rewrap his hand. He finally looked up at her.

"How's Ryan and Esposito?"

"Ehm, mild hypothermia. Wounded pride. Guess which one will heal first?" She raised both eyebrows and smiled at him as she softly smoothed the edge of the bandage down. He smiled back at her and sighed. She still wasn't sure what to say to him. The case had been a whirlwind of emotions and he had been there with her, every step of the way, despite her best efforts to push him away. She swallowed, then looked up and met his eyes.

"Thank you." A look of confusion passed over his face and she smiled. "For having my back in there."

He smiled back at her, holding her gaze. He again felt himself fighting the urge to tell her that he loved her. To tell her how much she meant to him. This wasn't the right time either. His usual response in situations like this had been "Anything for you" but that didn't fit what he felt. It wasn't enough.

"Always." His voice was thick with emotion and the sincerity, both in his eyes and his tone of voice, made her breath catch in her throat. She had been expecting his usual "anything for you" response, which always made her smile. This was different. She knew it was his way of saying and promising things that she wouldn't let him say. She smiled at him as she climbed out of the ambulance and waited for him to follow.

They walked over to where the captain was standing.

"Good work you two, and I'm glad you're both okay."

"Thank you sir, so are we."

"There will be paperwork to fill out in the morning, but for now, go home and get some rest."

Beckett normally would have protested at being sent home, but she could feel the exhaustion starting to take over.

"Yes Sir." She said with a smile as she headed towards the car. Kate's mind was going a million miles a minute over everything that had happened that night. She willed herself to push everything aside for now, at least until she got home. She realized how close they had come to something happening to Ryan or Esposito. They had gotten there just in time. The thought of anything happening to either one of them made her cringe, and brought tears to her eyes. She shook her head to clear her thoughts as they climbed in the car.

She hesitantly reached for Castle's hand as she headed the car towards her apartment. It was the first time she had reached for him since the case started and she wasn't sure how much damage she had done to the relationship. He smiled as he felt her fingers wiggle their way between his and he gently squeezed her hand.

"Hey Castle…"

"Yea?"

"Would you mind…staying with me tonight? I…don't really want to be alone."

"Of course."

They stopped by his loft and he ran up, grabbed a change of clothes, and told Alexis and his mother where he would be for the night. It was more common for Kate to stay over at his place, but it wasn't unheard of for him to end up at hers either. They hadn't been spending any nights together during the case, so Martha asked.

"Does this mean the case involving her mothers killer is over?"

"For now. It doesn't really matter though, she asked me to stay, so I'm going to stay."

"Of course you are dear, of course you are."

Author's Note:

If you are here from Go Home Castle, welcome back. If you are new, then just welcome :) Comments and critiques are always welcome, as long as they are worded politely. Flaming is not. If you don't like it, feel free to stop reading.