There was blood everywhere. And as glad as Castle was that the body on the floor wasn't Kate's, the blood-soaked figure in front of him did little to comfort his racing thoughts. There was blood… everywhere. He couldn't stop staring at the stain between his wife's legs as he walked towards her, thinking about the life that she'd just told him about that morning. And then she looked up at him, and everything crumbled. "Oh, Kate."

Kate's forehead hit his collarbone just in time for him to catch her, and then her body was shaking. "Castle," she moaned as he scooped her up, one arm under her knees and the other cradling her to his chest. "The baby…"

He looked up to see that most of the other cops had already spread throughout the room, securing the area and checking on the most certainly dead Dr. Neiman, but Ryan and Esposito simply stood by. And by the matching look of horror on their faces, they overheard Kate's cries.

"Shh… It's okay." He looked towards the two detectives again. "Can you guys call a bus? She needs to see a doctor!"

"Already on it, bro." Esposito motioned towards the paramedics as they entered the room, stretcher in tow.

Castle quickly deposited Beckett onto the stretcher, making sure to never break contact. She was still shaking, but as the paramedics began to wheel her out, Castle noted that sobs weren't what was wracking Beckett's body. She was shaking with a blank expression on her face. "Kate, honey? Can you… can you look at me?"

It took her a second, but soon enough she rolled her head towards him and offered a quick squeeze of the hand. "Good, good. We're going to get you to the hospital, and it'll be okay." And as he looked down into her vacant eyes, Castle hoped to god that he was right.


She passed out in the ambulance, every so often waking up terrified, and trying to rip off the oxygen mask, before slipping back out of consciousness at the comforting sight of Castle.

It wasn't until they had safely arrived at the hospital and escorted Kate into a private room, that Castle took his first breath. He watched her, taking solace in the brief time that they had before a doctor came in, aware that she would wake up into a nightmare soon enough. Asleep, he could pretend for a few seconds that they weren't about to go through one of the worst moments of their life together. Asleep, the horror was on pause.

But his thoughts of sleep were quickly pushed aside as Kate's eyes fluttered open, searching his face as she took in her surroundings. "Hospital?" Her throat was scratchy, but question clear.

"Yeah," Castle whispered as he pulled his chair closer to her bedside.

"Neiman?"

Castle pushed back the strands of hair that had fallen loose from the quick ponytail he'd twisted his wife's hair into, giving both of them a moment before answering. "Dead. Espo just texted me. You really did a number on her."

Beckett huffed out a noncommittal noise before freezing. "Baby?" Her hands shot to her stomach, not that there had been a bump there to begin with, but she nearly pulled her IV out doing so.

"Kate, I—"

Just then the door swung open and a tall, hardened women walked in. "Mr. and Mrs. Castle… I'm Dr. Taylor." She quickly flipped through Beckett's file once more before leaving it at the end of the bed. She pulled out her stethoscope and motioned for Kate to lean forward, listening to her lungs, her heart, before pulling back. Sympathetic green eyes met blue, and then hazel, before flicking to the floor. "You've had a hellish two days, so I'll keep this short… but almost everything looks okay, so you're free to leave as soon as you feel ready. You need to make sure to get some rest over the next few days, but there shouldn't be any lasting injuries, except for…" The older doctor sighed and flexed her hands before saying, "I'm sorry, but during your kidnapping you had a miscarriage. The fetus was only nine weeks along, so again, there shouldn't be any lasting damage to your uterus, but it appears that the stress of the past few days was too much for your body…"

Kate let out a sob and buried her face in her hands, just as Castle shifted from his chair to the edge of her bed. "Thank you, doctor."

The woman nodded and made to leave, before spinning around. "Mrs. Castle?"

Kate looked up, bloodshot eyes barely making it to the doctor's face. "The past few days would have been too much for any woman's body. This wasn't you. None of this was on you." The doctor left before Beckett could argue or say anything more, leaving the couple alone.

Beckett had shifted her head into Castle's sternum, which soon became damp with tears. He could only hug her tighter, trying to keep all of her pieces together, trying to help in any way that he could.


She wanted to give her statement that day, while it was all still fresh. Castle had suggested going home first, allowing Kate time to change into something other than NYPD sweats, but she refused and simply pulled the hoodie tighter around her body.

Somehow there were cameras outside of the hospital. Not many, but enough to freak the both of them out. Uniforms were waiting outside, pushing back the press as Castle and Beckett crawled into the back of a squad car, driven by LT.

Castle turned briefly to watch as eager photographers — no, paparazzi — snapped away at the departing Crown Victoria, a new wave of anger rolling over him that he fought to suppress. Beckett needed him to be strong, not lose his cool over such a trivial thing in the face of all that they'd been through.

He turned his attention back his wife, who sat pressed against the window, the cool detective once again, preparing to give her statement as if it were any standard case.

Castle knew better than to question her decisions, and instead sat quietly next to her, dying to touch her, but knowing that she would seek him out when she was ready.

He adopted a similar attitude when they finally returned to the 12th, reaching out when he noticed that his partner had a slight limp, pain evident in the staggered way that she was walking. Her face gave nothing away, though, and she simply stared straight ahead as he walked her to the elevator.

Her brows furrowed together when they came to the homicide floor, looking to him for comfort as the doors opened to worried looks from all members of the team. Castle barely heard the clapping and simply hugged her close to him, occasionally whispering soothing words to her as they made their way to Gates.

While the captain didn't know the specifics of their situation — yet — for Kate had wanted to hold off from telling anyone until she entered her second trimester, the older woman was well aware that something more than the horrific kidnapping had happened.

"Why don't we step into my office, detective, and I'll take your statement." Beckett nodded solemnly and headed into the office, and Castle made to follow, but was stopped by a gentle but firm hand to his chest. "Mr. Castle, why don't you wait out here, so that detectives Ryan and Esposito can explain the terms of the assault charge against you."

"But captain—"

"I'm sure that you'll be pleased once you hear what said terms are." She moved in closer, so that only the two of them could hear her speak. "Detective Beckett is in good hands with me. I just need a statement, nothing more."

Castle nodded his agreement, well aware that Gates spoke the truth, but still wished that he could be in there while his wife recounted the past forty-eight hours. "C'mon, bro. The mayor and chief of police say that you can come back. This will be your 'community service'. Isn't that great?" Esposito asked, struggling to maintain his own focus and look away from the captain's office.

Castle smiled, pleased with the arrangement, but still kept his gaze fixed on the office as Beckett sat across from Gates. The boys looked on too, both surprised but understanding when Gates momentarily dropped her head into her hands, before standing up and hugging her lead detective. "I'm so sorry," Ryan whispered, definitely aware of what had happened to his sister, the pain etched into his face.

Castle sighed. "I know." He refrained from saying anything more and simply watched as Beckett spoke, frozen until she stood.

She made her way through the door that Gates held open, and straight towards the elevator. He followed immediately, watching as the rest of the squad looked on at the beloved detective, everyone wondering just what had happened over the past two days.

Castle didn't say anything until the elevator doors had closed, and only then asked where Beckett wanted to go. "Home, " she mumbled, and released a shuttering breath, before finally crumbling and allowing herself to be pulled into his embrace. "Take me home, Castle."


Let me know what you think about the direction that this is going in. More to come...