Summary: In those final sixteen seconds, they saw the unspoken truth in each other's eyes. Now that they have been given a second chance, will Castle and Beckett finally find the courage to admit their feelings? Two-part one-shot, spoilers for Countdown.

Author's Note: So this is a two-part one-shot for now. The first chapter is Kate's POV, the second is Rick's. Takes place at the end of/right after the episode.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Castle or it's characters.

Chapter 1

"I'm sorry." As Agent Fallon repeated the words, the harsh reality began to set in. They were going to die. They were going to be vaporized by a dirty bomb that would destroy the city they loved, and no one would even be able to tell that they had been here. In sixteen seconds, it would all be over.

"Castle," Beckett whispered. It was all she could manage as she reached out and took his hand, looking deep into his eyes. She saw in them a mixture of fear and sadness, but there was no mistaking the pure love that was also present. The love that had never been given a chance.

As a cop, Beckett knew every day when she left for work that there was a chance she may not return home. It was a risk she accepted as part of her job, but the full implications of that had never been clear until now. Usually in a life-or-death situation, she did not have time to think, but this time she did, and the fact was that she was going to die with regrets. Suddenly she wished that Josh had gone to Haiti. That he had not been there when she woke up because then maybe she would have had the courage to finish telling Castle what she had started to say in the freezer. Then at least they could die knowing the truth.

With time running out, Beckett knew she should speak up. She knew she should tell him what she had wanted to say before but she found herself unable to speak. Instead she just held his unwavering gaze, hoping that in these final seconds he would see in her eyes the unspoken truth.

Back at the precinct that evening, Beckett watched in confusion as Castle headed towards the elevator. She knew he had been about to say something else….something much more profound than "I should go home, get some rest. Long day. Good night."

She had finally forced her own "good night" out of her mouth when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find Josh there and let herself be pulled into his embrace, but she could not stop herself from watching a defeated looking Castle walk away from her. As she stood there in Josh's arms, suddenly everything felt so wrong. His arms were not the ones she wanted to feel around her. His eyes were not the ones she wanted to look into. He may have stayed in the country this time, but for the most part, he had not been there when it mattered the most.

Beckett's mind flashed back to the freezer, to the final moments before she had lost consciousness, and the things she had almost said. To the look in Castle's eyes as they faced what they thought were their final seconds together. They had nearly died three times in the last three days, coming within milliseconds of death, and if Beckett had learned anything from that, it was that life was too short to keep holding back. As she heard the elevator doors shut, she knew what she had to do.

"Josh, I have to go," she said, stepping away from him.

"Kate, I thought…."

"I'm sorry, Josh," she interrupted, grabbing her coat from the back of her chair. "There's somewhere else I need to be right now." And with that, she headed for the stairwell, leaving the precinct without a backward glance. She knew she owed Josh an explanation, and she would give him one later, but right now, there were someone else's arms she needed around her. She had flung her arms around Castle's neck before, in the heat of the moment, celebrating their narrow escape, and the feel of his arms around her shoulders had assured her that they were alive and that everything was going to be okay. He had held her so tightly and in those few seconds, she had felt safe. But now, as the adrenaline was wearing off, the reality of the last few days was coming crashing down on her. She needed to feel safe again, and this time, she had no intention of letting go.

Beckett raced outside, scanning for signs of Castle. When she did not see him she hurried to her car. Cursing the New York City traffic, she contemplated using the siren before deciding that was an abuse of power. As desperate as she felt, going to Castle's place hardly counted as an emergency. As she sat through the same stop light for the third time, her mind floated back to Josh. She had left him standing there, confused, likely facing the confused stares of her coworkers as well. She knew she should have explained, or at the very least made plans to see him later. She should have at least acted excited that her boyfriend had chosen her over a trip to Haiti, but at the moment, all she could think about were nice ways to convince him to go anyways. If she knew he was leaving again, maybe she would not feel so bad about breaking his heart.

As great of a guy as Josh was, Beckett knew that was exactly what she was going to do. She was, once again, going to break a perfectly good guy's heart for Richard Castle. What has he done to me? Beckett wondered. Two years ago, Josh would have been perfect. Now, suddenly no one else is good enough. Shaking her head at the ridiculousness of it all, Beckett turned the corner on to Castle's street. As she parked, she full implications of what she was about to do hit her and she hesitated with her hand on the door handle. Part of her brain was screaming at her to turn around, to go back to Josh. But for the first time ever, the part of her that wanted Castle was screaming louder. Before she lost her nerve, she stepped out of her car and headed inside. Calm down, she told herself. After what happened today, there's no more time to be scared, so suck it up. Hoping that she looked more confident than she felt, Beckett took a deep breath before knocking on the door.