I heard one final shot and let her go; I knew it was over. She ran to the hangar, but, for the longest time, I couldn't do anything but stand there at the car and let the realization of what had just happened wash over me. Montgomery was dead. He had sacrificed himself to save Beckett. She had wanted to stay with him, but I stopped her, and for that, she would probably never forgive me. What she doesn't know is that if something had happened to her, I'd never forgive myself.

Suddenly a shock went through my whole body. Beckett is in there with him right now, alone. I jogged to the door and threw it open. I could see nothing but silhouettes of Lockwood and his henchmen all lying motionless on the ground, but then the sight of something moving caught my eye. Seeing her there stopped me in my tracks and crushed my heart. There, next to the chopper, lay Montgomery. She was kneeling next to him, her head on his chest, his hand in hers, sobbing.

A million things flashed through my mind as I ran toward her, things like 'He was like her father,' and 'I have to make this right.' Finally I reached them, but stopped just short. I could hardly make my voice leave my body. "Kate," I whispered.

Her head shot around to glare at me with fire in her eyes. "You!" Lunging at me, she began yelling about how I killed him and he might have survived if I hadn't taken her away, all the while advancing, pounding on my chest, slapping at me, trying to make me into the physical object of her pain. I didn't retreat and I didn't defend myself—perhaps this was my way of punishing myself for what had just happened, even though it wasn't my fault, even though it was his plan. When she ran out of words and began to tire, the angry blows turned into defeat and she simply placed her hands on my chest, looking for solid ground.

Not knowing what to do, I simply whispered her name again. "Kate."

Instead of hitting me, she looked me right in the eye. There I saw pain like I had never known; it was deep and intense and I just wanted to make it stop. We collapsed into each other then. I enveloped her into my arms and she cried into my chest, her arms tightly around my waist, hands clenching the back of my shirt. Neither of us said anything, we just cried with one another, swaying gently; a futile attempt at comforting ourselves, a desperate dance for peace. It seemed like hours before either of us moved; as long as we held each other, we could pretend like none of the past ten minutes had happened. They had, though, and we needed to report it.

Before the hangar was filled with cops, I looked at her, I wiped a tear away, and I said, "I'm so sorry, Kate." She looked away as even more tears came. "I know how much you cared for and admired Captain Montgomery." I needed her to really understand what I was about to tell her, so I gently grabbed her chin and forced her to make eye contact with me. "I am right here for you, Kate, okay? Montgomery found his place to stand, and so have I. I'm standing right here next to you. You will never have to do this alone because I am standing with you. Always."

All the anger, the arguments, and the hurt that had passed between us the past day were gone. She hugged me then, and brokenly whispered, "Thank you."

The next thing we knew, the hangar was flooded with cops.