With her disappearing, a part of Castle does as well. With her gone, the boys lost their partner, boss and sister and Lanie lost her best friend. Jim lost his daughter, the last family he had left. New York City lost their best detective and the women that kept their families and streets safe. The nights grew darker and the days grew longer. The precinct was different without her around and the detectives and officers always looked at her empty desk in longing. Something was missing there and everyone knew it was her.
She wasn't replaced at the precinct, the boys just picked up her slack. Nobody wanted to replace her in hopes she'd come home. Castle spent his days trying to forget her through writing and his nights through drinking. He made sure to be there for Alexis and have a night out with the boys every once in a while. The boys had made an unspoken promise to Beckett that if anything ever happened to her, they'd keep Castle safe and so they did. Lanie spent her days working where she saw her best friend everywhere. She always expected to see her walk through those doors to her office with questions on their latest investigation but months went by, and Beckett never came back and slowly, things went back to normal without anyone really noticing. Of course, it hit Esposito and Ryan everyday they walked into the precinct that she wasn't there and what she did and everyday Castle wakes up to an empty bed. It hit Lanie every time she met a cute guy and picked up her phone to call Kate and it only went to voicemail that Beckett was gone. Left them but they all know why she left and cut them all off. Even if she left without a word and never explained, they all know. She left them to save them from herself and some days they hate her but most days, they just miss her. How can you hate someone for trying to keep you safe?
She's been on the run the past four months. Running from New York and from Esposito, Ryan, Lanie and Castle. From everything that she ever loved. She only lets herself keep in touch with her dad and only once a month if that. She's a ticking bomb and someday soon, she's going to explode and she's trying to minimize the damage. The threat on her head also is on their head and that's why she mainly left. It's why she's been on the run but today the threat on her head has been cut and now she's being chased. Not only are his men after her, but now so are other people looking for some fast money. Suddenly, she aches for Castle and his comforting words but she knows that's impossible. She left him.
They're hot on her tail, she can feel them gaining on her but she can't stop. She doesn't want to die, she suddenly realizes but it's not enough to keep her alive. She feels the bullet rip through her shoulder and she stumbles for a few steps and then gains her footing once again and she tries to make up for lost time. She takes a turn onto a familiar alley and races down it. The bullets hit the walls on either side of her and she risks another glance behind her and sees the two men hot on her tail. Their faces are blank, no emotion and she wonders for a few brief seconds if that's how she looks, cold and ruthless. She doesn't care, not really. She can feel the bones in her shoulder grinding together with each step. It'd been broken when she jumped out of her apartment window when she was trying to first get away from these men. Luckily, a broken shoulder, a foot that sends sharp pains up her leg with each step and a nasty cut on her forehead are the only wounds she got from the fall. She only has to get down this street and then across the street and she'll be safe. For a brief second, she thinks she's going to make it but then she's falling and she suddenly realizes that she's screaming. Blackness dances at the corners of her eyes and she can make out the two men approaching her with self-satisfied grins on their faces that she wishes she could wipe off but then suddenly, she doesn't have to.
She hears the gunshots go off and both men's mouths open in silent screams as they fall to the ground. One is grasping his stomach and moaning but the other is already dead with a bullet to his brains. Beckett glances up and sees a familiar face gazing down at her. He kneels besides her, murmuring something that she can't make out and then he stands up and delivers the final blow to the first man. He goes back to Beckett and picks her off gently and then carries her across the street to the motel she's been at the past few months. She wants to thank him but the words aren't coming out of her mouth and then she succumbs to the darkness.
She wakes up when he sets her on her bed. His eyes are panicking and she can see the worry dancing in them as well. Espo, she croaks. His gaze snaps up to hers and she sees for the first time the blood that stains his shirt, pants and skin. Her eyes find his again. Thank you, she says, softly. Shit… Beckett where are you shirts? Or pants? He asks, glancing around her room. She wishes she could say something comforting but she can't think of anything. Top dresser, she wishes. He can hear the pain in her voice and it only causes him to panic further. He races to the dresser and pulls out a couple shirts before going back to her. Keep talking to me, Kate. He says, wrapping a shirt around her arm right above the bullet wound and the one around her thigh. He can see she's lost weight, too much weight. Her cheekbones jut out too far and her eyes seem sunken into her face. None of that matters though. All that matters is she's bleeding out and he doesn't know what to do. Lanie is on her way, he finally says. Her eyes snap open, betrayal running through them. She tries to sit up but he holds her down. It's that or the hospital, he says. She doesn't get the chance to answer because suddenly the door is flying open and Ryan and Lanie are standing there.