Kate ran into the bank, her heart pumping. The smell of explosives could still be smelt. It made her feel like expelling the breakfast she had eaten that morning.

"Castle!" she shouted repeatedly.

No answer. Did she just get her perfect partner killed? Had she just robbed a young teenager of her father by putting him in danger? She pictured Alexis going through the rest of her life without her father. Without her father to walk her down the isle one day. Everyday she had pulled him into crime scenes and into firefights with dangerous criminals. Everyday she had put his life in danger. Was this the last straw?

"Kate!" a gruff voice coughed out.

It was Castle. He was alive. Kate turned immediately towards the source of the voice. She ran as fast as she could; almost as if it was her family she was saving. She had already lost her mother, she couldn't stand losing another person she cared so dearly about.

There he was. Along with everyone else that had been in the bank when it had been robbed. He was covered in dust and dirt but, his cheeky smile was anything but, gone.

"Kate!" he exclaimed, "I was starting to think that you had forgotten about me."

"Never," she said, chuckling and looking deep into his eyes.

Kate captured this moment with every part of her brain that was still functioning after such a stressful day. She had managed to rescue her partner and she finally felt whole again. There was nothing missing. That part of her heart that had been left gaping since the morning was finally filled. The sensation was new to her. She hadn't cared about someone this much in a while. It was perfect.

"There are other people here, you know," a voice piped up next to Castle.

It was Martha. She was gesturing her hand towards Kate to be freed. Kate laughed at herself and looked at Castle who was shaking his head. He had also obviously also felt the moment. Kate moved towards Martha and cut her free. The other uniforms seemed to be handling the other hostages all right, so she felt it was right to debrief Castle.

"Even as a hostage I help you Kate," He stated. "I think you might just have found the perfect partner."

Kate laughed. She might have just done that. Castle was always there for her in every way. He was there as a friend, colleague and writer; always there for her.

"I think I might just have." Kate smiled back. This put an even bigger grin on Castle's face as well as boost his ego.

Their eyes caught each other and they held a stare. Castle smiled and it made Kate blush. She couldn't believe how much she had just gone through since the morning.

She had gone from doing paperwork to almost losing her partner. The thing that even surprised her more was the fact that she did so much to get her partner back safely. She had let her guard down and run into a building without support; just for Castle. Where had the Kate Beckett from three years ago gone? The one that had walls around her that could not be pulled down. The one that could not be distracted by anything? Was Castle the one? Was he the one that was meant to pull down those wall with her?

Her eyes were still lost in his when she saw it. It was Castle's face. The smile had dropped instantly out of nowhere. Kate dropped her smile as well. Had she done something? Was she making him feel uncomfortable?

"Castle, are you..." she started off.

That was as far as she got in her sentence. From that point on everything started to slow down. Castle ran in front of Kate and pushed her aside. She was dizzy and confused when she saw it. It was the man who orchestrated bank robbing. The man who let her into the bank to save a dying hostage. He was standing up, his medical scrubs covered in rubble and dirt. He had his gun pointing towards them. Kate realized it too late. Bang, Bang, Bang. Three bullets rang out in the air; the third bullet ringing out a bit later. The air from Kate's lungs were sucked out. The instant silence that swept the building was creepy. The shell casing of the three bullets could be heard falling on the floor. Kate inhaled a small breath. Then there was ten other shots that could be heard but, this time there was no silence. There was no sound of the casings hitting the floor. Just shouting.

For Kate it was still just silence. Then she saw Castle. He turned to face her, his face pale. No expression, no charming smile. It was then the room went quite for a second time. This time it went quite not because of loud gunshot but, a loud voice ringing out across the room. It was Kate.

"Castle!" she screamed tears coming to her eyes.

Castle was standing toward Kate, his hands clenching his stomach. Blood dripping down them. He looked down at his hands at then back to Kate. Castle's legs betrayed him as he fell to his knees.

Kate rushed over catching him before he fell on his back. Tears were now streaming down her face. She caught him in her arms. She looked into his blue eyes but, this time instead of seeing the confidence and charm she normally saw, she saw worry and death.

"Castle, I need you to stay with me," she quivered.

Kate wasn't even sure how she was managing to get her words out. This man, this wonderful man, had just come out of a hostage situation and had just taken three bullets so that she may live. He had been looking out for her since they had started to work together. Kate had already lost too many people that she cared about and she wasn't going to let life take away another person she cared about.

"I'm… I'm... so…" Castle started to push out.

"Shh," Kate pushed her fingered against his mouth.

"Don't. I just need you to stay with me." Kate managed to say between sobs.

Kate managed to pull her hands out from around Castle and put pressure on his wounds.

"Kate, I… need to tell… you something," Castle spat out.

Kate slowly nodded her head. Her face was red now, tears collapsing down the sides. There was no way that she was letting Castle die. She never admitted it but, she knew, always, that he was the one. The one that completed her, the one that would always be there. The one that would be there, forever.

"Always," she sobbed out.

Before Castle could even start his sentence, two officers had grabbed Kate by her arms and was holding her back. She started to kick and bite wanting to do nothing but, get Castle back into her arms and hold him tight. They were taking him. Taking her castle away from her. They could do that that to her. She could faintly hear people saying that he would be fine but, she didn't trust anyone. Castle was the one to trust.

Before she knew it, he was on a stretcher and in the back of an ambulance. She could see him looking at her. His face was strained. He had wanted to tell her something important; she could tell. The doors to the ambulance closed and the uniforms that were holding her back let go.

She ran and ran. She pushed through the crowds that were around the bank. She didn't pay attention to anything else. She needed to get to that ambulance before it left with her life in it.

She was just to slow. The ambulance had already pulled away and was now roaring off. She had failed. She had blew the chance with her perfect partner. Not her detective partner, her life partner. It pained her to think that after this day, nothing would ever be the same between them. It also pained her that she never got to tell him the secret she was locking up deep inside of her. The one that she herself didn't even know until a few moments ago, when the most important thing in her life flashed before her eyes. She loved him.