This is a missing scene for what is quite possibly one of the best episodes of the series. In the Belly of the Beast is absolutely amazing. All credit is due to Andrew Marlowe and his crew for this pinnacle episode.
This takes place just after Elena walks away. The reunion I'm guessing we all wanted to see.
Spoilers, obviously…
She didn't know how long she sat there on her knees in the dirt, staring off into the suffocating darkness. Minutes – hours – passed before she gathered her feet underneath her and stood. Spots swam in her vision and the entire forest tunneled for a moment before she took a few deep breaths and it all snapped back into place. She had staggered into the trunk of a tree, and the bark was rough and scraping beneath her palm.
Phone. Find his phone.
She fell to her knees once more, but this time it was salvation that drove her, not supplication. Her fingers were numb – late winter nights were still cold, especially out here away from the bustle of the city. She ignored the blood that was pooling on the other side of the body, but she was careful not to get any of it on her. His phone was in his left pocket, the side he'd fallen on, and in the end she had to roll him over into his own blood to get at the device.
It beeped as she slid it open, and her trembling fingers hit several wrong keys before she managed to dial one of the only numbers she'd memorized.
"Esposito." His voice was even, but she could detect the hint of panic beneath the surface. She tried to call his name, but all that came out was a desperate croak. The memory of ice water burning her throat and lungs made her cringe, but she forced her throat to swallow a few times before she tried again.
"Espo."
"Beckett? Where are you?" A loud crash echoed down the line, and then she heard his voice, faint and worried.
"Kate? Is that Kate? God, is she alright? Where is she?"
"I'm fine," she reassured Esposito, knowing he'd pass along the message to her partner, her fiancé. "I'm in the woods outside of Scarsdale. I was pretty out of it when he brought me here, so I can't give you anything more."
"Are you alone?"
Kate looked down at the body at her feet, and her eyes closed against the memory of the barrel of his gun, the flash of a knife, and a figure disappearing into the dark.
"Yes, I'm alone."
"Can you turn the GPS on? We'll get your position and coordinate with local PD."
"Yeah," she nodded. "I can do that." She looked around for a moment, and figured she could make it back to the car at least. "Espo?"
"Yeah?"
"Hurry." He gave her a half-chuckle before she hung up. It took her a few tries, but she managed to find the location settings and switched the GPS to on. She tucked the device in her pocket like a lifeline, then debated on picking up his weapon. They had come alone, but there were wild animals in these woods. Still, the cop in her wouldn't let her contaminate the scene any more than she already had, so she left it and pointed herself in the direction she thought the car was. He had marched her for almost half an hour, and more than once she'd fallen in her exhausted state. She trudged back up the last incline, then turned across the strike of the hill. If she didn't find the car in the next thirty minutes, she reasoned, she would sit down and wait for them to come to her. But the lure of the warmth and comfort of a car's interior drove her onward.
As she walked, her thoughts drifted to the one thing that had seen her through these last twelve hours: Castle. Each time Vulcan Simmons had ordered her dunked into that freezing tank, each time they had cursed and struck out, she heard Castle's voice pleading with her to just hold on. Hold on, Kate. We're coming for you. She knew her friends – her family – would never give up. They would throw themselves into the task of finding her, so she just had to hold on.
Her footsteps faltered over an exposed tree root, and her knees slammed into the hard ground. She let out a cry of pain as it jarred her already damaged body, but she struggled back to her feet with a groan of determination. She would get back to him. They were going to be married in a few months, and nothing was going to stop them – not drug lords, or two-bit hitmen, or never-ending woods. She was going to marry Richard Castle and they were finally going to start this next chapter of their lives together, stupid fonts and all.
Had it really only been twelve hours since then? It felt like a lifetime to Kate; a lifetime she'd spent without him by her side. No, she reminded herself. He was there. He's always been there. He'd been the only thing on her mind as they'd interrogated her, and when she got home she promised herself that she'd tell him. He had to know how vital he was to her, how she couldn't imagine spending another moment of her life without him, and if he didn't she was going to make sure he learned it and never forgot. He'd done so much for her in these last five years, pulled her out of a life of despair. When she got home, she was going to marry him and tell him every day just how much of her life had been consumed and brightened by him, like a sunrise over a bleak landscape.
There was enough moonlight through the trees for her to make out the silhouette of the sedan that had brought them here, and she let out a quiet sob of relief as she stumbled toward it. Her hands fumbled on the door handle, but she managed to find the strength to pull the door open. As she sank into the driver's seat she cursed herself for forgetting the keys, but the lack of wind was enough to keep the chill from reaching her bones. She tugged the door closed and pressed the lock button, another defense against her and the horrible nightmare this night had become.
"Beckett!" The faint cry of her name was enough to pull her out of the haze she'd fallen into, and as she opened her eyes she saw the sharp blue and red lights dancing off of the trees. Turning her head, she watched her team pour out of the Crown Vic that had skidded to a halt mere feet from the car. Her hand flew to the handle and she tugged, crying out in frustration when it didn't catch and release her. She remembered the locks, and her fingers tripped over themselves trying to find the mechanism. She managed to press the button just as Esposito reached the door, and he pulled it open and reached for her in one motion.
"Got you," he whispered as she fell against him, and she allowed herself a brief moment to soak in his reassuring warmth. Ryan was next to him, and she slipped from one partner to the next easily. She felt his relieved laugh brush through her hair, and as she lifted her chin over his shoulder she caught sight of the third figure.
Ryan released her quickly as she pushed past him, all thoughts from her mind gone save for one. It was the same thought that had seen her through the torture, the fear. Castle.
She took two steps for his every one, and they met in the middle in a collision of bodies. The sharp pain faded away as his arms came around her, crushing her against his chest as he breathed his gratitude across her skin. Her tears soaked his shirt as his fell into her hair, and they stood there for a moment unmoving as CSU and paramedics swarmed around them. She clutched his shoulders in a desperate attempt to crawl inside of him and hide away from the pain and fear that loomed behind her. But in an instant they were gone, replaced by Esposito and Ryan as they stood like sentinels at her back.
"It's over," Castle whispered over and over, as if reassuring himself as much as her. "You're safe. I've got you."
"She needs to be checked out," Ryan's quiet voice slipped between the quiet murmurs, and Beckett found enough strength to pull back. Castle's face was a mixture of desperation, guilt, and relief, the lines on his face suddenly making him look so much more worn and old. Beckett lifted herself up and pressed her lips against his, attempting to take away the pain and fear that had no doubt settled in him since he'd discovered she was missing. He responded viscerally, his fingers digging into her hips as he allowed her reassurance to wash over him. A deep growl reverberated in his chest, and Beckett nipped his lower lip gently before pulling away. His head leaned forward, kissing her own in a gesture that had come to represent the strength that they only had when they were together.
"Castle," Esposito insisted, and the writer moved his opposite arm across his body to slip his fingers between Kate's before turning her around and tucking her into his side. The four of them made their way to the waiting ambulance, and a paramedic who looked both amused and annoyed.
After the medic warning her to take it easy for at least a week, and Beckett refusing to go to a hospital, she settled into the back of Ryan's car with Castle. She'd watched his face as the EMT had listed her injuries, and she'd tried to sound as clinical as possible as she catalogued what had happened. But she'd seen Ryan suck in a sharp breath at the mention of the ice water tank, and as she'd talked about the blows to her face and sides she gently soothed Castle's white-knuckled grip on the gurney.
"Gates wants us back at the precinct." Ryan's tone was a question, and she had no doubt he'd defy the captain if she said she just wanted to go home. But Beckett wasn't one to just wallow and hide away to lick her wounds. Gates wouldn't call for her if it weren't important, so she told her friend to take them back to the 12th. She could feel Castle's labored breathing next to her, and she shifted a bit until she could lay her head against his chest. He relaxed just a little at that, twisting to the side so she could stretch out along his body and soak up his heat. Her eyes fell shut, then slammed open again as her heart pounded in her chest.
"Rest, Kate," he whispered as his arms came around her frame, holding her in a way that let her know he would never let her go. "I'll wake you when we get there."
Her eyes fluttered closed again, and as she took in a deep breath and the scent of home, she finally allowed herself to slip under.
I have to say it again. This episode was incredible. Reviews are inspiring, as well as appreciated.