The team had been spending months on this case, tracking and tracing everything they could. Running down every lead they had, but only now did they get their biggest break.
"Lower East Side, Columbia Street." Ryan said as he grabbed his badge and gun from his draw. This guy had been slipping through their fingers every day that they failed to get a location on him. Espo followed Ryan to Kate's desk, along with a few others from the precinct. She was also getting herself ready for departure.
"Right guys, grab your stuff, I will brief you further on site, just know he's not getting away this time" They all scattered grabbing their jackets and heading for the elevator, Castle had a cheeky look on his face and smirked at Beckett.
"What now Castle?" She asked with a sigh but with the widest of smiles.
"Nothing, I just love it when you get all bossy to the guys." He stood from his chair and sat on the edge of her desk as she tucked her sig into her holster.
"Ahh, so you like that huh?" She questioned but did not wait for a response and made her way to the elevator with the giddiest of grins. Half way to the elevator she peered back and saw Castle in a deep day dream about her last words.
"You coming Castle?"
He jumped off of the desk startled and distracted, "oh yeah, yes."
She continued, still with a proud smirk.
On scene Beckett wasted no time. "Right, I want a three block perimeter, no one slips past us this time." Beckett stretched the blueprints of the complex office building they were about to raid over the bonnet of the SUV. She ran her finger along to the east side entrance of the building.
"I want alpha swat team coming in here and then making you way up these flights of stairs to the second floor." She then pointed to the adjacent entrance and noted that she wanted heavy cover but no one entering. Bravo squad was to obtain the third floor.
"Espo, Ryan and I will take the front entrance along with a few guys and make our way through the lobby and up the stairs." When everyone had their vests on Beckett told them one more time how high the stakes were this guy could not escape again. It was late afternoon and the clouds began to darken with every minute that passed.
"Okay everyone, assume positions around the building and wait for my go." As everyone dispersed Beckett saw Castle strapping on his 'writers' vest near the boot of her car.
"Whoa, you're not coming in Castle, not on this one." She said as she approached him.
"But I'm already strapp-"
"-No Castle I don't care, this guy is armed and dangerous; I'm not letting you come in"
"That's why I have this bad boy" He said as he pointed with both of his thumbs to the navy vest with a bullet hole in the side.
She rolled her eyes, "Castle, wait in the car for once okay?"
He gave in and sat in the passenger side whilst undoing his vest. Before she shut the door she leant in and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek. "Thank you; I know how difficult this is for you."
He made a sarcastic sad face which made her giggle and from his car seat watched Beckett walk away and assemble her team near the front entrance. As drops of rain began to skim the side of his window, he strapped his vest back up, got out of the SUV and ducked in behind some swats that were making their way into the building.
The race was on as all teams were told to lock down their areas of the building as quickly and as swiftly as possible. Roughly three minutes after Beckett gave the go signals, Alpha squad called in confirming that they secured the second floor. Thirty seconds later bravo had secured the third. All that was left was Beckett and her team to lock down the first. Castle was at the very back of the squad pushing through the hallways into the back office, ensuring to stay out of the eye line of Beckett. They were getting to their final strides before Beckett held up her fist and signaled them to a halt. She then instructed with her fingers for two men to make their way through the side door of the office as her Ryan and Espo took the main access point. There was no one for Castle to hide behind so he joined the team at the front entrance.
"Hey guys" He said with a light whisper.
"Castle what the hell?" argued Beckett, clearly annoyed.
"Well, I just thou-"
"-no I don't care, just stay the hell back"
Beckett could not afford to have her mind focused on other things, not at a moment like this. As she initiated entrance to the apartment both teams spread out throughout office, Castle crept in just behind them watching them clear it. Beckett's first assessment of the area was spacious with lots of hiding places, she also identified possible ambushing places of the office and kept a close eye on them. As all teams cleared the inside of the room, they all knew something was wrong. The space was too clear and had a certain scent in the air, a smell that made them cautious.
"Hey Beckett check this out" Espo called from across the room next to a draw with Ryan peering over his shoulder.
"It Looks like some kind of explosive was being made, C4 maybe?" asked Beckett.
"Possibly." replied Ryan. "But we won't know for sure until CSU take a look"
Castle had begun to weave around the room trying to find something he could create a massive conspiracy about but found nothing.
"How come he's not here, our intel was solid" Said Castle as he continued searching the room with his eyes. No one replied because no one had an answer. Beckett took one final scan of the room and took a breath of disappointment.
"Okay, well let's move out, no point wasting our time in here much longer, we'll have CSU clear the scene, see if they can pick up on some things" Everyone followed Beckett's instructions and headed for the door except for Castle. He was standing in the center of the room, still feeling as though something was off. Beckett still standing at the door asked him what he was thinking.
"Our lead was brilliant, all of our sources pointed to this building, he had to be here. Why isn't he?"
"Sometimes Castle we are too late"
"But we weren't too late. Even if he was here, he left in no hurry without a panic, it's like he led us here for this exact moment" Castle began to walk around the room some more, organizing his thoughts.
"Come on Rick let's just get out of here" She said with hints of distress. As he complied he began to stride towards the door that Beckett had already walked through. Then it happened. A flash of light then sudden darkness appeared before Castle. The walls around him burst and floor beneath him fell. Only then did parts of the fire begin to spread.
The loud initial shock of the building blew Beckett several feet down the hallway away from the office.
She landed face down with a shooting pain in her left arm. As she grasped her arm in attempts to find the source of pain and tried to regain her senses and find her bearings. She staggered to her feet flinching at the constant ringing in her ears continuously changing in pitch. Only then did she remember the few seconds before the blast and who was in the room as it detonated. She dusted herself off and entered a state of mind that ensured her to block out the pain and disorientation. Stumbling towards the room, all she could see was a hole ripped in the side of the building. She soon got to a point where the floor had collapsed down to the level below, knowing very well she had to go down if she had any chance of finding Rick. As she climbed down she felt a gush of hot wind being emitted from the growing fire graze her face. She took a moment to look through the rubble trying to locate Rick. Then she saw him, lying in the corner of the wreckage, covered in rocks and debris. She sprinted over to him avoiding the large sharp corners of metal that seemed to once have been within the structure of the building. As she got to him she did her best to fight her emotional connection towards him. He was slumped over and unconscious. Kate lifted onto his back so she could have a clearer understanding of his injuries. He had a shard of glass deeply embedded in the right side of his torso, something his 'writers' vest failed to protect him from.
The first steps were to check the pulse. His was faint but present. She then checked his airways. All was clear it was just a matter of stopping blood loss from his chest. Although the glass was still inside him it did not entirely stop blood seeping from the side of the wound. The emotional wall that Kate had built up to keep herself strong in Rick's moment of weakness had shattered down. Tears began to fall from her cheeks as she did her best to apply pressure to the area. She soon heard the voices of medics and the sound of a battering ram on the door right next to them. They burst through and saw Kate cradling Rick as he held on to his last few threads of life. The medics pushed her aside and she crawled and knelt with her back against the wall. She rested her head in her blood soaked palms and let the medics gather Rick onto the stretcher. They moved him out as quickly as possible and all of the noise and chaos began to muffle out. She sat there, shaking and trembling. Time had begun to slow down, people's screams became stretched and cries slowly died out. The explosion happened so fast it's as though time was now slowing down to allow nature to catch up. She sat there, hoping for the best but anticipating for the worst. Since the death of her mother he was the one person she had let herself grow close to, the one man she had let herself love. Now she faced the shuddering truth that he may be experiencing his last few moments on this earth, and she would be left alone. Just like she had before.