A New Beginning

Chapter One

At the hospital, Beckett was lying in the hospital bed where she had remained unconscious since her surgery following the shooting five days ago. A disheveled looking Castle was asleep in a chair across the room. He woke up when he heard her mumbling and starting to stir. He jumped up out of the chair and went to stand by the bed, hoping she was starting to finally wake up. He looked around and almost shyly leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Hey Kate, it's Castle. I'm here."

He saw that she had deep frown lines between her closed eyes. What he couldn't see was that she was not actually waking up, but was re-living the scene in the airplane hangar when he was about to pick her up and carry her away from the Captain. Getting more agitated she said, "Go away, Castle. Leave me alone. Please!" Castle, falsely assuming that Beckett was aware of her surroundings and of his presence, looks hurt and moves back from the bed. As he does, the nurse on duty comes quickly into the room to check her vitals. Shooting Castle an irritated look she said, "You are upsetting the patient. You're going to have to leave." With one last puzzling look back, he left the room.

Meanwhile, at Castle's house, Martha was sitting on the couch in the living room practicing lines for an upcoming audition. Alexis came in and sat down next to her with a loud sigh.

Martha stopped and said to Alexis, "Darling, what's wrong? You look upset."

"It's Dad. I'm really worried about him. He spends almost all of the time at the hospital and when he is here, he just sits around moping."

She patted Alexis' leg reassuringly. "Your dad is going through a hard time right now, but don't you worry. Beckett will be up on her feet in no time and things will be back to normal."

"But that's just it. I don't know if I want things to be back to normal. Dad could have been killed Gram. If those men had found him with her at that hanger, and then at the funeral- when he tried to push her out of the way when that gun went off..." she had to stop because her voice was shaking so badly.

Martha leaned over to hug her close. "I know sweetheart, I know. When I think of what could have happened..." She shuddered before going on. "But it didn't. Your father is fine. It's over."

"This time. But what about next time? As long as he is with her, he will always be in danger. He'll never be safe."

Martha smiled knowingly. "Sometimes there are more important things than being 'safe' you know. He won't leave her. And he shouldn't. She's good for him."

Alexis frowned. "She doesn't seem good for him. Even before the shooting it seems like he had been upset a lot, always worrying about her. Don't get me wrong, I hope she's going to be okay, but I kind of wish she would go away."

Overat the 12th, Ryan, Esposito and Castle were sitting around talking. Esposito had his feet up on the desk.

"So how is she doing, man?" Esposito asked.

"Okay, I guess. I just left the hospital. She is starting to wake up." He looked away remembering how she had told him to leave her alone.

Ryan smiled. "Well, if I know Beckett she'll be back to work in a month."

"I hate to break up this little tea party, but shouldn't you all be working?"

They looked up to see a woman standing there staring at them. Dressed in a dark suit, she had a stern, no-nonsense look on her face.

Esposito said, "Can we help you?"

The woman crossed her arms in front of her chest. "As a matter of fact, you can. I'm Ms. Tomlin. The new Captain."

Esposito's feet hit the floor with a thump and they all quickly stood up. Ryan and Esposito introduced themselves. She looked at Castle and raised her eyebrows. "And you must be Mr. Castle."

They all snickered. He held out his hand and said, in a deeper voice than normal, "Yes Ma'am. Mr. Castle, at your service."

She looked at him, ignoring his outstretched hand. "I hear that you have been a fixture here for the past few years. I don't know in what capacity-"

"Well I've-" he interrupted.

"But" she said over him, "your services will no longer be required."

Ryan and Esposito started to protest but she just turned around and walked away, going into her office and shutting the door behind her. They all looked at each other shocked.

Thenext day, Josh and the nurse on duty were in the room with a still unconscious Beckett discussing her progress. Reviewing her chart, Josh seemed happy with the results. To the nurse he said "She's doing great. I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't wake up today or tomorrow."

The nurse nodded. "She seems like she was in great shape. I bet she will be out of here in a month."

Josh smiled. "You don't know Kate. I bet she'll be out of her in two weeks." The nurse smiled back and walked out, leaving Josh alone in the room with Beckett. He was putting her chart onto the end of her bed when he noticed her moving around. He went and sat next to her. Again, she was re-living a time from her not-so-distant past. This time it was when she was lying on the ground right after being shot. She heard Castle say "I love you. I love you, Kate." She opened her eyes and looked directly at Josh but in her mind, she 'saw' Castle. She reached up and took his face in her hands and said, "I love you." Neither of them noticed, but Castle was standing in the door to the hospital room. He saw her holding Josh's face and heard her declaration of love. Looking stricken, he quickly walked away without letting anyone know he was there. Josh looked at her strangely as she slipped back into a deep sleep.

Backat his place later, Castle was sitting by the fireplace drinking a glass of scotch. Martha came in and saw him. "Oh Richard, darling you're home! How's Kate?"

"Good. She's doing good. She is awake, and talking."

Martha looked at him closely. "Well if she is doing so well, why the long face?"

Before he could answer, Alexis came bounding into the room and sat down next to him on the couch. "Hi Dad. How's Beckett?"

He gave her a small smile. "Better. She's doing better."

Martha said, "Your father was just getting ready to tell me why, if she is doing better, he looks so glum."

He hesitated but then decided to fill them in. "A couple of days ago, she woke up briefly. But she didn't want to see me. Actually, she told me to go away and leave her alone. Then when I finally decided to go back, she was with Josh."

"Well of course she was with Josh. He is, after all, her doctor," Martha said.

"You know he's more than just her doctor. They've been dating. And I heard her tell him that she loves him."

Martha shook her head. "No, you must have not heard correctly. Anyone with eyes can see how she feels about you. I can tell you, she is not in love with Josh."

"No mother, that's what you see because that's what you want to see. She wants me to leave her alone, and I can't blame her. This whole thing was my fault."

"What!" she said loudly. "Richard, what on earth are you talking about? What happened was in no way your fault. Why would you even think that?"

"Think about it. What if I hadn't carried her away that day? What if we all stayed and fought those men together. Maybe the Captain wouldn't have died. And if he didn't die, there would be no funeral. And if there was no funeral, Beckett wouldn't be lying helpless in a hospital bed with a hole in her chest!" He got up and started pacing.

Alexis jumped up and ran to hug her father. "No Dad. This is not your fault. It was hers. You tried to get her to let it go, but she wouldn't. If you hadn't carried her away, Captain Montgomery would be dead, she would be dead, and maybe you too. She was selfish. This was her fault, not yours."

Castle smiled down at Alexis and hugged her tighter. "What would I do without you?" He opened his arms up and motioned for Martha to join them. Hugging them both, he said, "I love you very much. Thank you."

Martha responded with, "We love you too, darling. So much."

He leaned back so he could look at both of them. "Well it's a good thing, because you are going to be seeing a lot more of me. Let me tell you about the new Captain..."

Thenext morning, at the hospital, Beckett started to finally wake up fully. Josh is there.

"Hey there sleepy head. You're awake! How are you feeling?"

She looked around the room. "Like I was hit by a truck. What happened?"

Josh frowned. "Don't you remember? You were shot." He watched her closely as it all started to come back to her.

"The funeral. Roy." She closed her eyes for a moment, collecting her thoughts. "So how bad is it?"

He sat down on the side of the bed. "Well, not good. But it could have been worse. The bullet missed your heart by an inch. It was touch and go for a while there. You probably would have been dead, but somehow Castle figured out what was going to happen and pushed you. It caused the bullet to miss its mark."

"Castle! Was he... was he hit?" The idea made her sick to her stomach.

Josh patted her hand. "No. No he wasn't hit. He's fine." He saw her look around again. "He's not here."

Josh cleared his throat. "Um. Before you woke up you, um. Wow, how do I put this? You told me that you loved me."

She looked very uncomfortable as she searched for the right words. "Josh, I-"

"It's okay Kate. I know you didn't mean me. You love him? Castle?"

"To be honest, I don't know how I feel exactly. I'm so sorry Josh, but I don't think it's fair for us to keep going the way we are when I'm feeling so...

He grabbed her hand. "Really. It's okay. I've known for a while that things weren't going to work out with us. I was just waiting for you to figure it out. You look tired. Why don't you try to get some sleep."

More for the opportunity to process what had just happened than to get sleep, she nodded in agreement and shut her eyes.

A few minutes later, Beckett could sense that someone else had entered the room. Figuring it must be Castle, she pretended to be asleep for another minute while she tried to calm her racing heart. She opened her eyes and smiled. Her smile faded just a bit when she saw Alexis in the doorway instead of Castle.

"Alexis, hi." Looking around she asked "Did your dad bring you here?"

"No. He's not with me."

Beckett patted the bed beside her. "Well I'm glad to see you. Come sit down."

Alexis crossed her arms and stayed in the doorway. "No thanks, I'm fine."

Becket sensed that there was something wrong. "Are you mad at me?"

Alexis blurted out, "My dad was almost killed because of you! He would have been killed if those men had found him with you. And he was almost shot trying to save you."

Beckett looked stunned by her outburst. "I know. I'm so sorry."

Alexis continued as if she hadn't spoken. "When my dad first starting hanging out at the station with you, I thought it was great. He was writing and having fun. He seemed really happy. But he hasn't been happy for a long time. And now, because of you, he's a mess. You could have walked away from this last case. But you wouldn't. He had to watch you get shot. He thought you were dead! And what about next time? Will he be the one to get shot next time? As long as he is with you, he will never be safe.

"Alexis-"

"No. Hear me out. He won't walk away from you. You know he won't. But if he means anything to you... if you care about him at all, you have to let him go. Please!" Alexis, fought back tears, running out of the room.

Beckett too is had to fight back tears as she tried to take in everything Alexis said. She lay back down and turned over, letting the tears roll down her cheeks into the pillow.

Meanwhile, back at the 12th, Ryan and Esposito were discussing the new Captain.

"This is not good, bro. Not good at all," said Esposito shaking his head.

Ryan nodded in agreement. "How serious do you think she is? I mean, she can't just come in here and get rid of Castle like that can she?"

Esposito shrugged. "I don't know. Hey, maybe we should try to talk to the Mayor?"

"I have a feeling she doesn't care what anyone says. Even the Mayor. No, what we need is a plan." They smiled at each other as they both thought the same thing.

A few minutes later, the new Captain walked over to them and dropped a file on the desk. "We have a case, gentlemen."

Ryan picked up the file and started to flip through it. "You know, with Beckett in the hospital that leaves us a little short -handed. Maybe Castle could step in just until she's back?"

Esposito quickly chimed in, "That would be very helpful."

The Captain looked from one to the other. "Are you trying to tell me that you are not capable of solving this without a tag-along mystery writer? Because if that's what you are trying to say..."

They both jumped up, assuring her that they could handle the case. She nodded and walked away.

They grabbed the file and left the building. As soon as they were out of ear shot, Esposito pulled out his cell phone and made a call.

Twenty minutes later, they were standing at a crime scene looking down at a dead body. From behind them, they heard a male voice say, "Hello boys. You rang?" They turned around to see Castle smiling at them from behind a pair of dark sunglasses, looking like he was ready for business. They smiled back.

"Let's get to work."