Nothing in her life had ever felt so good as the arms of Richard Castle, wrapped around Kate so tightly that she could feel his every breath and every heartbeat. They clung together for a few moments, babbling out their love and relief to each other, then it was Castle who pulled back to look over at the inert form on the floor.

"Better secure him," said Kate. "Stand back, okay? I'm going to deactivate that damn magnet in the ceiling."

"Got it," said her partner, giving her arms a last squeeze before stepping over to stand against the wall.

Kate cuffed Mason Wood, then rummaged in his pockets until she found the remote and turned off the magnetic element in the ceiling. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that both her and Castle's guns had clattered to the cement floor; pocketing the remote, the keys, and other paraphernalia she found in Wood's pockets, she called out for Castle to get the fallen weaponry.

There was no reply or sound of movement besides her own. She rose from her knees to find the guns lying on the floor - along with her husband.

"Castle," she shouted, fear flooding her body. Even as she raced toward him, her brain was screaming at her: Aren't we done with this? When does it end?

He lay crumpled against the wall, half-sitting, half-lying down. His eyes were closed and his skin was pale. Kate felt frantically for a pulse, finding one at last in his neck, searching for some sign of injury.

He didn't seem to be bleeding, but when she pushed up his sleeves she saw needle marks in the crook of his elbow.

"What the hell did they do to you?" she snapped. She yanked out her phone and saw that there was no connection, then recalled the nature of the building she was in. No chance of calling anyone for help.

Kate was getting ready to haul Castle over her shoulder, maybe get him into Wood's vehicle, get him out of here and to a hospital, even as she knew that whatever they'd dosed him with was probably untraceable and untreatable. One thing at a time, she thought, and grabbed Castle's wrist and his belt, focusing on the search and rescue training she'd gone through long ago -

- and her own wrist was gripped tightly in a slender hand, preventing her from further action.

"Don't move him," said the owner of the hand, quietly but firmly. "Sit him back up."

Kate looked into the eyes of a woman she had trusted more than once and said, "Back off, Rita. I don't know who's friend or foe any more."

"How's his pulse?" she asked Kate, who shook her head.

"Faint, but steady," she replied. "Who were you calling?"

"Backup," said Rita shortly. "Any idea what happened to Castle?"

"Needle marks, no sign of other injury," Kate reported. "I didn't even know he was here, until he burst out of that stairwell with a gun in his hand."

"Got the drop on Mason Wood?" said Rita.

"Not really," said a faint voice. Castle, his head lolling to one side, his mouth working to get words out.

"Castle - what happened? Were you poisoned? What did they give you?"

"Needle," he muttered. "Truth agent."

"I believe it," said Rita in answer to Kate's inquiring look. "But by their very nature they're not lethal. Easier to question a subject when he's alive."

"Twelve seconds." Castle's voice was fading. "Kill me in twelve…"

"Help me get him to Wood's car," said Kate. She couldn't just sit there waiting for further help.

"Where are you going to take him?" Rita demanded. "There's a battle going on upstairs; I guarantee you that the garage has been secured. Mine was the last car to get in before the safety doors slammed shut."

"This can't be it," Kate cried out in frustration. "We can't end like this, Castle. Castle!"

They'd won, hadn't they? Caught the Big Bad - escaped death, more than once - found their way back to each other. Now, any victory Kate could claim from this year of hell would be tainted and bitter, without Castle.

She cast her eyes frantically around the room and her gaze fell on the furnace. They'd both nearly ended up in there - reduced to ashes, or at least to a melted corpse like the one in the trunk -

The hand under hers stirred and her eyes snapped back to Castle, to see his fingers moving, his eyelashes fluttering.

He was struggling to lift his eyes to Kate; she leaned in and heard him hiss, "Story. Caleb."

"Caleb's dead, Castle," she told him. "It's over. Can you tell me what happened to you?"

His eyes closed again and he sighed out her name.

"Caleb Brown?" came the voice of Rita from over Kate's shoulder. "Is that who you're talking about?"

"We found his body, burned, in the trunk of a car," Kate told her. "DNA evidence, Caleb's briefcase, even a clue scratched out before he died."

But it doesn't matter, she thought bitterly. Dead or alive, it doesn't matter. Except that Castle had said the name, and by now she knew better than to dismiss his observations, however belated. What did Caleb have to do with Castle's current state? What story was Castle thinking of?

"Castle, who was it?" Rita grabbed Castle's other hand and took hold of his chin, tipping his face up. "Who was questioning you? Did he give you a name?"

His eyes were still closed as he managed to say, "Flynn."

Rita dashed for the garage exit, flinging ithe door open and disappearing into the darkness. Kate was ready to mutter, "Good riddance," but a moment later the woman reappeared with something in her hands.

"Give him this," she said, thrusting it at Kate.

"What is it?"

"Antidote," said Rita, ripping open the plastic package and pulling out a syringe.

"How do you know?"

"How's his pulse?" Rita countered. "Slowing down? He looks like he's losing circulation. Look at his fingertips - they're turning blue. We have to do something, Kate."

She was cracking the seal on a small bottle and filling the syringe with it; she handed it to Kate.

"Trust me," she said. "One more time. I haven't lied to you, Kate, and I'm not lying to you now."

"Who's Flynn?" Kate demanded.

"An amoral man who makes his living mixing chemicals to use on unwilling subjects," Rita told her. "I know him."

"Where did you get this? How do you know it'll work?"

"It's a broad spectrum treatment for the types of lethal poison Flynn prefers. I got it off of Caleb Brown when I tracked him to your strip club lair, earlier today. I'll tell you all about it after you save your husband's life."

Kate stared at the other woman.

"What do you have to lose, Kate?"

Kate took a deep breath and focused on the place where the other needle marks appeared, held Castle's arm still and injected the clear fluid into it. When she was done, she dropped the syringe on the floor and lifted his hand to her cheek, watching his face.

"He's cold," she whispered, laying a hand on the pulse point in his neck. "So cold. Castle, don't, don't leave me. Come on. We won, babe."

#tbc#