kate

Esposito's hands gripped the wheel to stop shaking, willing his friend to be at the house they were nearing, willing her to have fought as he knew she would have, to still be alive. Castle was sitting in the backseat of the boys' car, fear gripping him as he thought of all the horrible possibilities that could be happening to Kate at that moment. Ryan looked at Esposito, just as scared for Kate's well-being. He couldn't wait to get to her and make sure his friend was okay. Gates was kicking herself. She should have put her foot down and not allowed Kate to be involved in this at all. She had known it was dangerous; it was why she'd said not to involve Castle.

"Javi, over there," said Ryan loudly as he pointed to a house in the distance.

Castle looked out the window and was already unbuckling his seat belt when Esposito pulled up at the gate. They all braced when Esposito threw on the brakes, getting out.

"Castle, don't make me handcuff you," Esposito said, remembering the first case the writer had worked with them when Kate had handcuffed him to keep him in the car. "Stay back until we give you the word."

"NO! She's my fiancee. I'm coming."

"Listen, man, I swear I'll tell you the second it's safe, but we don't know what we're walking into here." It was why he hadn't let Lanie come when she'd wanted to be there for Kate.

Ryan stepped in. "You guys go, I'll stay with him."

Esposito started to argue, but Gates nodded, answering how Kate would have, for the same reason, the little girl who had stolen the hearts of the team. "I'll let you know when it's safe."

"Thank you," said Ryan.

Castle watched the two go off into the dark night and couldn't stop fidgeting. He wanted to see Kate so much, to know she was alive, and this was making it harder for him. There was gunfire from the woods. One shot. That was it. Castle took off running, with Ryan close behind, towards the shot.

Only adrenaline made Kate stand after she'd fallen, with her lungs burning, and take off in the opposite way from where Elena had gone. Was it a hallucination or had she seen lights there earlier? 

Ryan and Castle caught up with Esposito and Gates, just as a figure was coming into view. After a minute, Castle took off again, running forward despite shouts behind him to stop, and he grabbed the figure. "Kate, are you okay? Kate?"

"Castle..." She whispered, collapsing into his arms.

"Kate, talk to me," said Castle gently. "Babe?"

"Hurts. Hurts so bad." Her arms instinctively drew over her chest.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered, then turned. "Get an ambulance!"

Ryan whipped out his phone and dialed 911, hurriedly asking for an ambulance at his location. She shivered, still soaked with the ice cold water in the winter air. Castle took his jacket off and wrapped it around her, pulling it tight to warm her as much as possible.

"Can we go home, babe? I want...I wanna go home."

"After we get you checked out. I promise."

Esposito found the note for Castle, pocketing it, knowing it wasn't evidence, but something Kate would want only her partner, her fiancée, to read. Gates was waiting for the ambulance to arrive, not wanting to interrupt the couple, even though she wanted to wrap her lead detective in cotton wool for a while to ensure that this didn't happen ever again. The ambulance finally arrived and Kate tried to get up and walk so they wouldn't have to try to get the gurney down the hillside. Castle stopped her straight away and lifted her into his arms so she could rest. As soon as they got to the gurney, an oxygen mask was slipped on and extra blankets were added to her, but she kept his coat because it felt like he was still holding her. Castle refused to leave her alone, no matter what happened. He wasn't going to let her out of his sight for a while.

"Go with her, Mr. Castle. We'll be right behind you," Gates said softly, forcing herself to stay where she was needed. The figure on the gurney, that was her detective, it was her fault, whether or not it was a homicide case she'd been on.

Castle didn't need to be told twice. He climbed into the ambulance, holding Kate's hand tightly as they sped off to the hospital.

"I'm sorry," she tried to say from under the mask.

"No, you don't need to be. Just rest Kate, please just rest."

"Love you..."

"I love you too."

She smiled, holding his hand as her eyes closed.

Castle felt her hand go slack in his and he started worrying again. "What happened? What's wrong?" he asked, panicked.

"She's having trouble breathing." The oxygen was helping but it just wasn't enough.


"Can you fix it?"