What I made of all the hints for the season 3 finale and the picture of the last shot.
Disclaimer: Not my characters, although I keep wishing...
Kate Beckett looked up from the pictures when Esposito nudged her chair and handed her a bullet-proof vest.
"Here. The SWAT teams are ready and waiting at the meeting point. Everyone's waiting for us."
"Thanks."
She looked around the bullpen and for the first time in what felt like days she just took it in. The precinct was in a flurry of commotion and hectic rush. There were officers and detectives putting on vests, Ryan was handing out some rifles and she could spot Lewis and Walker amongst the crowd, two SWAT team leaders she'd worked with previously. They were the best. And they needed the best.
Her mother's case had been ripped wide open a few days ago when Lockwood had managed to escape. But instead of dead end after dead end they had actually made some head-way. And thanks to Castle and the money provided by him, the intel they had gathered was actually worth something.
And it all came down to this evening.
Lockwood and his associates were moving tonight and the satellite images in front of her showed where everything was going to take place. It was now or never. She had been staring at the images and prints for so long that they had been burned into her memory. She could walk around the premises blindly if she had to. There was just one last thing to do.
She got up from her desk and secured her vest around her, before walking over to where Castle stood putting on his own vest.
Reaching him she motioned for him to turn around. "Here, let me."
"Thanks." He smiled grimly and turned to let her fasten the straps on his back. But instead, he felt them loosening around him.
"What the-"
He whirled around to face her.
"No." He shook his head.
"Castle-"
He kept shaking is head and quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her into the empty observation room.
In here it was eerily quiet. All the hustle and bustle from the bullpen faded as soon as the door fell close behind them.
"Kate, I-"
"No." She held up her hand and took a step towards him. He was shaking. Whether it was from anger or nervous energy she wasn't sure.
Kate stepped well into his personal space until there were only inches left between them.
"Rick. You would do anything for me, right?"
He nodded instantly.
"I won't ask anything else of you, ever, but please, just do this. Go home. Go home, grab Alexis and Martha and take them to the Hamptons. Because if we succeed tonight, all hell is going to come down on us."
"I can't do that, Kate." His voice was pleading with her as he shook his head. "Don't ask me to leave you. Please. I can't do that."
"Castle." Her voice lost the softness it had held only moments before. "This may well be the most important day of my life and I can't compromise this mission by having to worry about you."
"I've been there for everything, Kate! Hell, I even stood next to you when we thought a nuclear bomb was going to explode in our faces. What makes you think I'm going to leave you now?"
Her voice was more levelled than he expected. She knew the gravity of her words. "Because I'm asking you to."
Castle just shook his head. "No. I know exactly what's likely to happen tonight and I know all the dangers and risks and that's exactly why I won't let you do this alone!"
"But I won't be alone! We're gonna have half of New York's SWAT teams with us next to the most capable officers and detectives I know!"
He raked his hands trough his hair in frustration. "Don't you get it? I wouldn't care if you had Superman with you, Kate. I have to be there! I have to see with my own eyes that you're going to be okay!"
"Why can't you just listen to me for once?"
"Why can't you just trust me and let me come?"
Her eyes were burning and she blinked rapidly to avoid any tears materialising in her treacherous eyes.
She got it. She really got it.
He wanted to stay for the same reasons she wanted him to leave.
Had it always been this obvious?
Kate took a deep breath before moving in on him again. She lifted her hands to gently cup his cheeks and stroked them lightly with her thumbs. Rick automatically circled her wrists with his fingers, seeking the physical connection as much as she did.
"It's going to be okay."
He dropped his forehead down to touch hers, breathing in her scent deeply. "You don't know that."
"Rick. I have to think that. And if something happened to you, I… I couldn't deal with that."
His gaze burned into hers as he tried to convey his message.
"But I couldn't live without you, Kate."
He feared she might draw back at his more than honest words about that thing they didn't talk about. Ever. But Kate smiled softly and on a whim quickly brushed his lips with her own. But as she tried to move back, Rick would have none of it and grabbed her head, kissing her properly.
Gone where any insecure movements from their first kiss, both moved into it as if they'd done this a hundred times. Kate's hands wound into his shoulder and hair, her fingers raking over his scalp as Rick cradled her face. One of his arms was securely around her waist, keeping her close, while their lips and tongues touched and teased with practised ease.
Kate pulled back first, after giving his lips a small peck for the last time.
"I have to go. And this time you won't be coming with me."
The defiance in his eyes was almost instant. "Kate."
"I'm serious here. I want you to leave. Leave and don't look back, Rick."
She wound herself out of his arms and walked over towards the door, going back into the bullpen without granting him another look.
Rick moved too and leant against the doorjamb. He could only watch as Kate commandeered a room full of personnel and everyone moved out. Esposito came up to her and handed her additional clips for her gun.
"Javi?"
"Yeah?"
"Stay with me tonight, okay?"
He could see that Esposito was shooting him a quick look out of the corner of his eyes, before facing her again. "Wouldn't be anywhere else."
She was one of the last to leave the bullpen, leaving him behind with one last glance thrown over her shoulder in his direction.
"You coming?"
Surprised, he swivelled around to find Ryan standing on the other side of him, offering him a gun and several clips. They were the last ones here.
"Come one, hurry up and fasten your vest. My buddy's team is waiting around the corner for us, we have to hurry. Oh and Castle…"
He waited until Rick looked at him.
"Please don't get shot on my watch."
It had been a trap. The moment they had come up in their vans in their assigned spots, all hell had broken lose.
Ryan and Castle had been with the team closest to Beckett and when the writer saw his muse stealthily moving forward and dodging bullets to get from building to building, he had to follow her.
And somehow, with Ryan hot on his heels, they had managed to catch up to their two team mates. Together they had tried to move in closer on the target, but when they had stumbled upon an open square between buildings, they had been forced to take cover in an empty and relatively secure building.
Beckett had cast one look at Castle and he knew she was furious. Although he supposed that the blown op was a far greater problem at the moment than his mere presence. That and the fact that Ryan had been shot. Granted, it was only his arm, but from the amount of blood oozing from between his fingers and his groans, it had to hurt as hell. The young detective was sitting against a wall with his partner in front of him speaking rapidly into his radio. Beckett was pacing the concrete floor and Castle was left to watch and flinch whenever he heard the rapid gunfire from outside. There was no way to tell where it came from or who was shooting.
"You okay, Ryan?" She kneeled down in front of him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
He nodded at his boss. "Sure, it's a through and through, but I don't think an artery's been hit. I'll be fine."
Beckett nodded. "Okay. Lockwood and the others are right outside in the building across the square. We still don't know how they plan to make it out of here, so we have to be quick."
She got back to her feet but before she could walk more than a few feet towards the door, Esposito moved and blocked her way.
"We can't go out there right now, you saw the snipers on the roof."
"Esposito, move." Her voice was dangerously low.
"No." He took a step further into her personal space and lowered his voice. "There are snipers on the roof, the open space provides no cover whatsoever. We would be dead within seconds. We don't stand a chance against them."
Beckett looked at him with a steely gaze. "This is the only chance I have. So either you come with me or move out of my way."
"You can't possibly go out there!"
"I can and I will. And if you don't want to come with me, I suggest you move out of my way, Detective. And that was an order."
Esposito wordlessly moved aside, but not before quickly shooting a look at Castle, who stood in front of the door, his jaw set in determination. As she walked up to him, his mind was made up.
"No, Kate."
"Castle-" Her tone was dangerously low and threatening.
"I won't let you walk out of here and you can't order me to."
She took a few steps further into his direction, until they stood toe to toe. "I'm going to go out there and get my mother's killer, with or without you, Castle. It's your choice."
"Kate, it was a trap. They knew we were coming. And the only thing you'll achieve by going out there is getting yourself killed." He grabbed her upper arms in frustration, hoping to appeal to her common sense. But she shrugged out of his grasp and tried to shove him. He didn't move an inch.
"Get out of my way, Castle."
They all looked up as they heard a distinctive noise getting louder and louder. A helicopter. Esposito moved over towards one of the only windows not nailed shut.
"A helicopter is about to land about forty yards from here. Black, no id marks."
The fire in Kate's eyes was rekindled instantly. "I mean it, Castle. Move aside! This is the only chance I have!"
"You know I can't, Kate. I can't let you go out there and get shot! Not even your mother is worth that!"
The hurt and anger in her eyes, her whole posture was instantaneous. The fingers of her right hand tightened around her gun till her knuckles turned white.
He hadn't meant to say that. Not because he didn't think it was true, but because he knew what it would do to her. To them.
"Your mum is dead, Kate. She's been dead for over twelve years. And I know that you want to bring down her killer and get justice, but this is not worth it! You can't end this if you're dead, too!"
He could see the way she blinked rapidly and took deep breaths. When she spoke, her voice was almost calm and measured above the helicopter noise from outside. Almost.
"I'm going to do this with or without you, Castle."
He met her hard glare head-on.
"So what is it going to be?"
He couldn't do this. He met Ryan's and Esposito's looks over her shoulder. This was it. His last ace up his sleeve.
He was going to lose either way.
"No. You have to chose, Kate." He stepped aside so she could see the door. "Your dead mother or me."
Richard Castle could only watch helplessly as Kate Beckett brushed past him without a second thought or glance and bust through the door. The noises from the helicopter outside were deafening. But hey were not able to drown out the new array of gunshots.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Esposito at the broken window, trying to cover her, but Castle couldn't. Over the deafening noise of gunfire and helicopter, he couldn't make himself watch. He slid down the nearest wall, all strength leaving his body as a lone tears rolled down his cheek.
So... Again, I hope you like! Let me know!
Wow. Do you know how hard it is to build a whole story around one scene in your head? Puh..