Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or any of the characters mentioned. All rights go to ABC and Andrew Marlowe.

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Chapter 1: Anywhere But Here

She spoke each word and meant it. Although she felt like there was a knife in her gut, she said it with sincerity.

"Our Captain would want us to carry on the fight."

She had to pause because her eyes began to blur with tears. Trying to hold them down she spake a few morewords.

"And even if there is one..."

She stopped after she heard a shot in the distance. Then she faintly heard Castle's familiar voice yell her name.

"Kate!"

Not a second later, she felt the most immense pressure she had felt in her entire life. 'Oh my God. I'm shot. But...' Before she could finish her thought, Castle had grabbed her and thrown both of them to the ground. Her head slammed against the ground but that pain was blocked out by the radiating one coming from her chest.

Castle was layed on top of her. She saw him slowly lift his head so he could see where and if she had been hit. As she watched him scan her body she knew he had seen the wound becasue he imediatly looked up and got a sick look on his face. He locked eyes with her just as a tear trickled down Kate's cheek. She tried to reach up to him but there was a dead limp feeling to her entire body.

"Kate please! Stay with me, Kate! Don't leave me please! Stay with me, okay?" He pleaded. The pain was excruciating and Kate could not breathe no less speak. She wanted so badly to call back to Castle. She wanted to be in the safety of the precinct doing paperwork. Hell, she would rather be listening to Castle make witty remarks then be in the pain she was in. She wanted to be anywhere but here.

Air was not entering her lungs. It was hardly exiting. She realized that this could be it. This could be her last breath. As she tried to gasp she heard something. It was faint and distant but she knew what it was.

"Kate. I love you. I love you, Kate."

It didn't ease her pain like she wanted it to. She just continued to get weaker and weaker until the edges of her vision started to darken. It closed in until she could only see one thing: The deep blue eyes of the man who had told her he loved her. She closed her eyes almost in relief.

It was cold and dark. Kate was alone. There was no noise and so she just sat there. A small flutter of light slowly engulfed her and she wanted to shield her eyes but again, she didn't have the strength to move. When her eyes got use to the light, sound slowly got louder to where it was audible. She heard the sirens feint cry. Then she saw a hand reach over her. Most likely grabing something to stop the bleeding. 'Blood.' She was soaked in her own blood. It was making her sick. The blackness started to come over again. Right before it did she felt a hand slip into hers. She tilted her line of sight so she could barley see Castle. On his face was a look of terror and concern. His eyes were puffy and red. She saw one single tear in the corner of his eye slowly start a decent down his pale face. It reached his chin and was about to drop when the blackness took over again. She heard one last thing until it was dark and cold again.

"I will always be here." It was definitely Castle speaking.

And by those words she was eased into a long peaceful rest.

As her eyes started to open she saw something she didn't expect. Herself. She saw herself laying in a hospital bed motionless. Kate then realized that she was floating. Just hovering over her own body about ceiling height. It took her a moent to relax and know what was going on. 'Am I dead?' She thought to herself. 'No. Definitely not.' She knew this because she recognized a heart monitor in the corner of the room. It was still beeping.

She also recognized one other thing. There was someone in the room. She realized this was odd becasue it was dark outside and the clock read 3:04. 'Visiting hours are over. Everyone should be home sleeping,' she thought to herself. It had been a full day with her getting shot, the funeral. She was even more taken away by who it was and who it wasn't. She expected her boyfriend. The one who had said that he cared about her. Instead it was the one she had conyinually pushed away and had been in a fight with recently. 'Why is Castle holding my hand? Better yet, why is he here at three in the morning?'

After that thought, she heard the heart monitor beep really fast then form a straight line. At the same time the image of that room started to fade and everything went black again.