CHAPTER 1

The air doesn't feel right to Kate. It's like it's without something that's keeping it breathable and fresh and then again, maybe that's just all in her head, and it's all her fault she hasn't been breathing properly for the last few days.

Ever since Castle has gone flaunting his latest conquest Jacinda around Kate's crime scenes and Kate's precinct, there's been an ache slowly consuming her from inside out.

The reason for this all is hidden somewhere in the bombing case, but Kate honestly doesn't know where to start looking and Castle wouldn't say what's wrong.

If only there weren't so many people always interrupting their moments, and just when they were about to say something, anything, and move forward… Instead, they somehow found themselves here, in an endless pit of questions and grudges and metaphorical hatred. There's still place for a little love, though. It just kind of curled into itself after the incident with Castle.

And how about the latest conquest of Castle's: Slaughter. Admittedly, Kate was torn between leaving Castle to deal with his own mistakes, but at the same time, she loved him, so she was slowly dying inside everytime Castle turned away from her and to Slaughter and went and got himself into these dangerous situations she wasn't okay with.

She felt cheated on, yeah. But she couldn't help herself around him. She'd always take him back.

Kate bites her thumb again and hovers it above the call button for the sixth time that evening. She's not exactly sure she wants to be calling him right now, but she can't forget the expression on his face when she said, "That's what partners are for." It was regret and guilt and there was some of that old shine he used to have around her all the time.

"God, this shouldn't be so hard," Kate grits out to an empty apartment and throws the phone on her bed. "What do you do when the man you love starts avoiding you?" she asks herself, then laughs in surprise, "Look at me, now I even rhyme stupid words for a stupid, stupid man."

There's a sigh and a groan and then Kate's tugging her boots onto her feet and grabbing her leather jacket and her black helmet and she's out of her apartment.

Kate's Harley should really be called Use When You Want To Punch/Kiss Your Partner/ (Hopefully)Future Boyfriend. So that's why she's riding it right now. She doesn't know whether to go to his loft and talk it all out with him or just go there and kiss him. Hard.

But she's stuck between the rubble of her walls and his own rejection the last few days, and there are no bridges or pathways to lead her to his side, and besides, he seems to have moved on. Kate should be happy, shouldn't she?

Of course she shouldn't be. His way of moving on from their partnership is finding other partners and blonde bimbos and never bringing coffee anymore and she hates that it has lead to this, that it's probably her own fault for waiting so long and he's moved on.

Between her intense internal monologue, some tears start falling and soon blear her eyes and her helmet seems to tight for the sobs that want to rip themselves out of her mouth.

There's a light and a startling, loud noise. And then Kate looses footing and for a frightening second, it's all suspended before there's a crash. And then it all goes black.

So it's been a long time since I've watched Headhunters, but I hope I got everything right. Um, I got this idea and I had to get it down.

Ariela