A/N: Ficlet prompt from Anonymous: Castle is the one who is shot in 3x24. Martha and Alexis weren't at the funeral and I'm omitting Josh because I don't feel like writing that drama.

The next thing she knows she's being tackled to the ground by Castle.
"Castle, get off me." She tried to push him off but he was limp. Once she finally rolled him off herself, she saw the blood puring out of his chest. Her mouth gaped open, tears threatened to fall, as she positioned herself above him, holding pressure against his chest. His eyes were still open, that had to be a good thing. She was completely oblivious to the panicked scene behind her.

"Castle, you need to hold on okay?" A tear fell from her cheek and landed on her hands that were now covered in blood. He blinked slowly. "Alexis still needs you. Your mom needs you…I need you."

He used all the energy he had left to curve his lips up slightly. She let out a weak smile, trying to give him all the strength she had. She felt a hand on her shoulder pulling her back but she stayed firmly in her place. "Don't you dare die on me." She relinquished her position to a paramedic and slowy stood up, telling them she was riding with them in the ambulance and there was nothing they could do to stop her.

When they got to the hospital, they rushed him back to surgery immediately leaving Beckett alone in the hallway outside the door they just wheeled him into.

While she was waiting for Lanie, Espo, and Ryan to get there, she found a bathroom and started washing the blood off her hands. She went back out to the hallway and was sitting on the floor picking at the bits of dried blood that were stuck in her nails when Lanie, Ryan, and Espo got there.

Both Ryan and Espo were talking on their phones, trying to figure out what the hell happened.

Lanie bent down to Kate. "How is he?"

SHe just shook her head and kept her focus on her nails. "They took him into surgery. His heart stopped twice in the ambulance."

"Sweetie…"

She looked up at Ryan and Espo who had just hung up their phones. "How about the shooter? Where is he?"

"Gone."

"Gone? How can he be gone?" She stood up.

"We don't know but he left his weapon behind."

"It's a mark eleven. Modified sniper rifle. A favorite of Special Forces. We're checking for prints now."

She put her hands on her hips, trying to keep it together, and took a few steps away then turned back to them. "Did you call Martha and Alexis?"

Lanie put a hand on her shoulder. "I can."

"No. I'll do it."

(...)

She took a deep breath outside the door before going in. When she saw him, lying in the bed smiling, Alexis holding his hand and talking to him, she couldn't help but smile herself. A few days ago, she didn't know if Alexis would ever see her father again…if she would ever see the man she loved again.

Alexis looked up at her and the smile instantly left her face, but it stayed on Castle's. "Beckett…"

"I can come back later."

Alexis stood up. "No, stay." She kissed Castle on the forehead and told him she'd be back later then walked past Kate out the door.

She walked toward the bed. "Brought you some flowers." She set them on his bedside table where there were a bunch more then sat down in the chair Alexis was previously sitting in. "How are you feeling?"

"Probably as good as I look."

She smiled sadly then looked down at her lap. After a few seconds she looked back at him. "That bullet was for me."

"I know."

"I should be the one there not you."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Castle, you have a daughter who needs you, and your mom. You almost died, you did die, because of me."

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat…no pun intended."

That got a laugh out of her and she looked down in her lap. "Why?"

"Because I need you too." He reached out for her hand and she took it then looked up at him. "If I didn't do anything, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"You almost didn't live at all."