Chapter One:

Like a steady beat, she felt life fill into her body and air fill into her lungs. A suffocating weight laid over every inch of her being and as she slowly opened her eyes to focus out the foggy surroundings, Kate Beckett was taken aback to discover that her sight was not compromised at all. She felt a weak tightening of her hand and another rush of air fill into her lungs, yet when she realized that it was not Richard Castle, the man who had just confessed his love for her, when Kate saw that it was not him nor any human being standing sympathetically over her numb body but the blinding fog she had mistaken for her sight, she suddenly remembered what had happened. She remembered the immediate pain that wrapped over her broken heart so cruelly and she remembered the sight of a transparent tear as it rolled down the face of the man she loved.

Kate slowly lifted her head and stared further into the fog that engulfed the once panicked cemetery. She tried to squint her eyes for a better look, but the remaining strength she felt in her bones she used to wipe the tingling tear that had now made its way to her jaw. If anyone had been there to see her wipe it with her hand that was covered in a white glove, they would've thought it was effortlessly done. However, Kate did not have the mind of an ignorant spectator. She knew what it meant. The numbness, the cold she could feel on her own skin, the struggle to breathe, as she slowly sat up and placed her forearms to rest on her bended knees, she knew what had happened. With a deep exhale, though Kate didn't have the satisfying feeling of allowing carbon dioxide to leave her chest, she firmly placed her hand on the dewed grass and pushed herself to stand up. She frustratedly chuckled at her own arrogance, and brought her other arm to assist in bringing up her numb body on weakened legs. It felt as if she was dead-lifting the ground and her arms lightly trembling until she opened her eyes to see that the weakness had lowered to the muscles in her legs. She held her head back to give herself the biggest breath she thought she could muster, and her hazel eyes widened at the sky. It was dark and the bright sun and its almost uncomfortable heat had so quickly left that she wondered if she had been unconscious for decades. The blanket of fog wrapped around everything she could see, only leaving a faint outline of the tombstones that stood firm like the very soldiers who sacrificed their lives to earn their bittersweet honor.

Kate lowered her head and yet another thing caught her by surprise. She didn't dare to get on her knees for a closer look, because even though a part of her felt mortified, her professionally engineered mind could understand. It was as obviously seen as the darkened sky. There lay, in the middle of the damp, lush grass, a pool of blood that had crept into the comforts of the ground.

"It's mine." She barely heard herself say and suddenly tears ran to the edge of her eyes. "Please, I can't be. No. I can't. Not yet. I never got to tell him..."

As she felt the heavy tears fall down her cold face, she quickly clutched the place in which the bullet pierced.

"This can't be enough. No." Her voice now growing in strength with every word. "This bullet cannot be enough. It's just a tiny piece of metal, it may place a hole in my heart but it can't change what I feel. I needed-I need to live long enough to...I just...I can't lose him like I lost-"

"Heya, kid." A hoarse voice broke through her concentrated thought. "I never thought I'd see ya' here and frankly, I wish you were just a ghost."

Her eyes widened and she couldn't bring herself to actually search for the man she last saw dead. She clutched the bullet wound tighter and she tried to hold onto every breath that mysteriously entered her chest.

"Royce?" She whispered, afraid that if she spoke any louder his illusion would vanish.

Heavy footsteps made their way through the blinding fog until soon a shadow came closer and closer. The shadow outstretched their arms and the same hoarse voice illuminated a chuckle to her ears.

"Mike, is that you?" She stood as still as she could hold herself and soon the pain of her standing soon vanished. There was a light breeze that now flourished on her skin and she could almost make out the figure's familiar features.

"Kate, you don't belong here. I deserved this ending but you, you deserve an ending that doesn't seal who you are because who you are can never be sealed. You don't belong here, Kate. This isn't your ending."

In the moment she thought she saw the smile that had become her release, she lightly shook her head and ran towards him and suddenly she remembered all the times she had run to Royce before. It seemed he was always the one who understand, even when he didn't. He was her backbone, her hidden strength, the invincible superhero she aspired to even be affiliated with. Kate wrapped her arms around him and before she could feel the firmness of his torso and the scent of his clothes, she immediately felt the firmness of her own arms wrapping around her. Quickly she opened her eyes to see that the faded figure of her first love had vanished through her arms and she knew that she was standing alone again.