Title: Save Me, Partner

Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own Castle, or any of the characters.

Summary: Based after Beckett's secret has been revealed but Castle's has not, but not on any specific episode or anything. Castle has decided that he is done shadowing Detective Beckett, and has finished their last case together. That night she gets an interesting call from a drunk Richard Castle at 4 in the morning.

Her phone rang from across the room. Ugh.

She sighed and lifted her big blanket, forcing herself to get out of bed. She had just gotten home at around eleven the night before after closing a big case and barely got any sleep. Speaking of which, what time was it? Glancing at the clock that shined 4:16, she assumed the call was another body.

She didn't feel like working, or talking to anyone for that matter. Her week hadn't exactly been spectacular. The case had been so difficult, and Castle had announced to her that it would be his last case with her. She had no idea why, but it hurt.

She was finally starting to open up to him and then everything just stopped. He stopped wanting to hang out, and started partnering up with the boys in lieu of tagging along everywhere she went. He even cut back on bringing her coffee. She didn't understand what had happened or what she had done.

When the case was over she hoped to get a minute to talk to him, but he was already in the elevator and sent her a lingering look before the doors slid shut. She couldn't even get it all through her mind.

She picked up the phone and answered "Beckett," groggily. However, it wasn't dispatch that answered this time.

"Beckett! Hey you, wake up! What are you doing?"

Castle's voice was all too happy and slurred on the other end, snapping Beckett's mind more awake.

"Castle? It's four in the morning, I was sleeping!" she said a little more harshly than she meant for it to come out. "What is it?"

"I was just here, and I was walking. I was walking here, and all of a sudden –Whew! You gotta, um… You need to, you need to see. Come here," Castle sounded all too excited.

Beckett looked at her phone, confused. Hadn't he just left her? What exactly was going on?

"Castle, where are you? Are you drunk?" Beckett asked into her phone. "Where are you?"

She heard a clunk on the other side and some shuffling and muffled curses until Castle picked his phone back up. "Drunk? Noooooo! I'm fi- *hiccup* – fine. I'm at the Old Haunt," he giggled over the phone. She rolled her eyes even though he couldn't see it and stood up. "I was gonna go to the Precinct and then I .. um … and then I .. you need to come save me."

Now Beckett was more alert, even though he was just laughing. "What? What happened Castle? What's going on?" she all but yelled into her phone.

"I can't .. get .. out," Castle said choppily like he was struggling with something. "Come save me Beckett! Save me, partner!"

Beckett went to grab her coat and keys, and walked out the door with her phone still pressed against her ear. "We're not partners, anymore remember? You left Castle. Yesterday was your last case."

Castle giggled into the phone again and just said, "I know, I miss you."

Kate went silent for a minute and her eyes got big. After a short time passed and the other side of the phone was just muffled noises of Castle struggling with something, Beckett replied. "Yea .. um … I'll be there in a few Castle. I'll see you then."

She hung up her phone and dropped it into the passenger seat of the car as she got in. She put on her seatbelt and just sat, staring out the windshield for a few minutes. Then she glanced over at the phone sitting in the passenger seat of her car. With one last thoughtful look she started the car.

…..

Beckett found a parking spot about two and a half blocks away from the old haunt and started to make her way down the sidewalk. Spring was starting to bloom in the city and the weather wasn't as cold as it had been even the week before, but the night still wasn't warm enough to forget the coat. By the time she made her way over to the Old Haunt her pinks were a slight pink and her hands were stuffed in her pockets.

She headed down the small set of steps and stopped before the door. She could see her own reflection on the glass in front of her.

She remembered the last time she had been here. It was with Castle and the boys after a case. It had been an exciting day and they were all winding down from everything that had happened. And Montgomery had … Oh.

Montgomery. He was here the last time she had been to the Old Haunt. It was before her world around her had collapsed and her mentor, her friend, had stood before her in that hangar. Everyone had been so happy, she almost wished she could go back. Then she would still have her real captain, instead of Gates always looking over her shoulder and disapproving. And she would still have her partner. The one that wanted to work with her every day and hadn't walked away for some reason that was beyond her.

Beckett thought that losing her mother was the worst pain that she could ever feel. She'd been injured before, and lost people. Hell, she'd been shot! But nothing hurt worse than losing someone that you care about and not knowing why. She never thought anything could ever hurt her that bad again. Until now.

That's why she had built a wall up inside in the first place. If you don't let anyone get close, you can't lose them. But she had been through so much with Castle, and she couldn't help opening herself up to him. She loved him, and he loved her back didn't he. She just didn't understand.

Then she heard a siren go off in the city street and snapped back to the here and now.

Taking one last look at her reflection, she sighed. Her eyes were puffy and red. She might not have been crying, but she had come pretty damn close. She closed her eyes for a minute and composed herself before pulling on the door.

The sign said closed and usually the door was locked, but not right now. She took a cautious step inside and looked around. The lights were off and she couldn't see anything.

Beckett stepped forward slowly with her hand over her holster. "Castle?" she called, but there wasn't an answer. She pulled out her phone and called him.

"Hi!" Castle exclaimed into the phone cheerfully.

"Castle, I'm at the Old Haunt. Where are you?"

"Oh! When did you get here? I'm in the office, come down here!"

Castle clicked off his phone before she could respond, so she just returned hers to her pocket. She opened up the secret stairwell, and made her way down to the office. Looking around the room she spotted him.

"Castle, what the hell?"

Soooo, let me know what you think. I'll be sure to update it soon.