I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH THE ORIGONAL IDEA OF CASTLE!

Chapter 1

Beckett gave a small smile as Castle set her coffee directly in front of her before he took his seat beside her desk. "Good morning, Detective." He smiled making her shake her head.

"We don't have a case." She told him and watched him shrug. She looked at him a minute. "You're hiding."

"I am not." He said taking a drink of his coffee.

"Your mother still working on her fundraiser?" Castle nodded making Beckett smirk. "How's Alexis?" Castle looked at her and shrugged. "Still having nightmares?"

"Yeah, had another one last night. Was pretty bad, she woke up screaming, our one neighbor came over to make sure everything was okay." Beckett felt sorry for the girl. Ever since she had been kidnapped three weeks ago, she had been having nightmares every night. Sometimes several times a night. Castle was beginning to look worn from the lack of sleep and she could only imagine how Alexis was fairing. "She won't talk about them. She won't go see anyone." He sighed and looked at her. "I don't know what to do."

"Do you want me to try to talk to her? I mean what she went through is hard on anyone, even someone as smart and strong as her." He looked at her as he heard a tone in her voice telling him she knew first hand. He had known she had a very hard time after she was shot but he never wanted to pry so he didn't really know how bad she had gotten.

"If you want. I'm open for anything." He said looking away. His eyes snapped to hers and a smile tugged at his lips. "Maybe you should spend a few nights. My bed is plenty big enough."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head as her phone rang. "You keep on dreaming there, Castle." He grinned as she answered. "Beckett…. Yes, this is she…." Suddenly the phone fell from her hand and hit the desk making Castle jump and look at her.

"Beckett?" He asked but she was staring at her desk not responding. He reached over he took the phone seeing the call was still connected he put the phone to his ear.

"Ms. Beckett?" He head a female voice say.

"This is her partner, Richard Castle." He responded. "I'm sorry she can't continue this call."

"Are you able to take some information?"

"Yeah." He said and furrowed his brow, never taking his eyes from Beckett.

"We have Mr. Beckett here in Bellevue. He was in a car accident and his family really should get here as soon as they can. I am sorry I cannot release much else but it is important that she get here immediately."

"Is he okay? I mean is there anything else you can tell me?" He asked still watching Beckett.

"I am sorry but we can only tell the family to come in over the phone."

"Yeah, thanks." He hung up and put her phone on the desk. Looking at her, a minute longer he saw her fighting back tears. "Come on." She looked at him. "Let's go, grab your stuff."

"Castle-" She began.

"Don't argue with me, get your stuff. I'll be right back and we can leave." She watched him stand up and walk over to Gates' office where she was talking with Esposito and Ryan about a case they had just solved. She wanted to stop him to tell him she could take care of things on her own but her voice would not work, her body would not move. All she could do was sit and think about the phone call. All she heard was her father was in the hospital after a car accident and she felt her heart drop.

"Castle!" Gates yelled but he ignored her and continued in with a serious look on his face.

"Beckett needs a few days off." He said making the three look at him.

"What?" Gates asked. "You cannot walk into my office and-"

Castle cut her off as Ryan and Esposito stood up. "Her dad was in an accident. The hospital called and told her she needs to get there now." He explained. He glanced at the two men who were looking more and more worried about Beckett.

"Go." Gates said. He may have grown on her but there was no way she would allow him to act like one of her detectives and she sure as hell wasn't going to let him just waltz into her office without permission. However, she knew this was not the time to reprimand him or even kick him out of the precinct. He nodded and turned with the two men behind him.

"Let us know what is going on." Ryan said making Castle nod as they stopped outside of Gates office to talk quickly.

"Take care of her Bro." Esposito told him.

"I'll call you as soon as we know anything." He reassured them before he walked back over to find Beckett hadn't moved from her chair. "Kate?" He asked softly before he bent a bit to look at her. "Come on, I'll drive." She only nodded and let him lead her towards the elevators, handing him the keys to her cruiser. Ryan and Esposito looked at each other worried. For Beckett to hand over her keys willingly to Castle, meant there was something much worse going on than they thought.

Beckett sat in the passenger seat with things flying through her head. She could not lose her dad; he was the only one left. She did not need Castle with her, and she definitely did not need him to drive. What was wrong with her? She just handed the keys over and allowed him to steer her to the car and take over everything. She damn well knew she could take care of herself but she just could not speak up or fight for dominance right now. She stared out the window silently as she fought back the tears once again at the thought of losing her dad.

Castle pulled the car into a parking spot and they got out moving quickly through the ER to the information desk. "I got a call that my father is here. His name is James Beckett." She told the woman. She nodded and started typing on her computer. It only took a minute but it felt like an hour to Beckett when the results came up.

"It says the doctor is with him right now. Just have a seat and the doctor will be out." The nurse said and Beckett tensed, shaking her head.

"No, I need to see him." She told her.

"I'm sorry ma'me, please have a seat." Castle watched as Beckett shifted her stance. "The doctor will be out to talk to you when he's finished."

"I get a call that he was in an accident and I have to get here immediately then you tell me to sit and wait? I am not going to just sit back until you are good and ready to tell me something. I want to see him; I want to see my father." She said as she dropped her voice to the one she used while interrogating suspects.

"Those are the rules and there's nothing that can change that. So please step to the side and wait." Beckett wanted to jump the counter and scream at the woman. This was her father they were talking about, not just some random person. She opened her mouth to begin telling this nurse what she thought of the rules when she felt Castle put his hand on her arm, making her look at him.

Castle looked at the nurse and gave a small smile. "Could you check and see how long the doctor will be?" Beckett looked at him about to snap when she saw the nurse roll her eyes.

"He'll be out when he's out. I don't know what to tell you." She said, sounding like she was losing her patience for them. Beckett's eyes snapped to the nurse only to have Castle lean a little farther closer.

"How about you tell us you will check, and then you go and actually check and tell us. Unless you want to have this hospital sued for about a dozen things."

"For what? We haven't done anything." She told him as she leaned forward.

"I can have a team of lawyers come up with more than a dozen things you and the hospital have done wrong, you see it's a benefit of being a rich author. Besides, it's not really me you should worry about."

"Oh really Mr. famous author?" She asked sarcastically.

"Yes you see if you don't get us the information we want I'm going to have to make a call that will have you out on the curb by the time I'm done my conversation, besides, Jim's daughter, here, she's a cop." The nurse looked at them un-amused.

"Castle." Beckett said. He looked at her and saw the worry clear on her face. He pulled his phone out and started to dial as she walked away with tears coming to her eyes.

"Hey Bobby." He said looking at the nurse who only rolled her eyes. "Listen I need a favor…. No, I'm at Bellevue-…no, I'm fine, it's Beckett's dad. Beckett wants to see him and this nurse wont-" He paused listening. "Thanks." He hung up and walked over to Beckett who was standing to the side with her arms wrapped around herself. Without a word, he reached out and pulled her to him. Her arms slowly slipped around his middle and she felt the tears slide down her cheeks as she began to cry. She was mentally kicking herself for allowing herself to cry in public, to cry in front of Castle, but she could not seem to stop as she felt him hold her tight.

After a minute, she pulled herself together and pulled out of his arms. "I just want to see him. "

"I know I'm sure he's fine. They probably want to get everything they can before they talk to you, so there's no question they can't answer." He told her.

"You called the mayor again didn't you?" She asked making him smirk. She shook her head and felt a smile tugging at her lips. "You can't solve everything by phone calls to the mayor. He has other things to do than to do things for you and get you out of trouble."

"Yeah, well it was neither this time." He told her with a grin. "He was helping you." She shook her head and looked at the nurse sitting behind the desk triumphantly. "Bob will take care of things."

"Castle you can't get people fired for doing their job." She was trying to keep a level head and think about other things rather than what was going on with her father.

"First of all I'm not going to get anyone fired, and secondly, you want to see your dad and she said no." He looked at her, locking eyes. "I don't like hearing no." She shook her head and leaned back against the wall. They looked over as a tall man rushed from the back doors to the front desk. He looked very upset with the nurse. Not even five minutes later, another man walked out with thick glasses and a long white coat. Talks to the nurse before talking to the nurse who points at Castle and Beckett. Castle gave her a little smile as the doctor walked over.

"Ms. Beckett, I'm Dr. Perly." He extended his hand and shook hers. "As I understand it you are the only family?" Beckett nodded, not wanting to think about that fact. "I would like to speak with you alone about your father's condition." He glanced at Castle making Beckett look at him then back at the doctor.

"He can come." She said softly making the doctor look at her. "He promises not to call the Mayor again." She looked at Castle who shrugged.

"As long as they do what you want, I will only call Bob to give him an update." He told her making her nod and look back at the unhappy doctor before he led them through the doors and to a little meeting room to speak. There were only two chairs so Castle stood to the side leaning against the wall watching and listening as Beckett and the Doctor sat across a table with a file between them.

"I have a few forms for you to fill out first." He said, opening the file and pulling out several papers. "Do you know of any will or living will your father may have?"

"No." She shook her head.

"As his only living relative you will be power of attorney if he cannot make his own decisions on his medical care. These forms state that if the need arises you will be the one calling the shot." He slid the papers across the table making Castle push off the wall and walk over behind Beckett to look at the papers. This earned him an unhappy look from the doctor. Beckett scanned the papers and signed where needed.

"Okay." She said sliding them back.

"We need your contact information as well. Your home number, cell phone if you have one and work place." She began listing everything. "If you have a second person to call in order to get a hold of you, indicate them and list their numbers as well." Beckett looked up at Castle, not wanting to ask him to do such a thing, it was her family after all and she would always be able to be reached. But in case something was going on… she didn't need to wonder long, Castle bent taking the pen from her hand and he started writing his name and numbers on the paper.

"Castle…" She said softly making him look at her and smirk.

"If your phone goes out I'm either with you on a case, at the precinct or I can get a hold of you easily." He explained making the doctor look between the two.

"Case? Precinct?" He asked curious.

"I'm a detective with the 12th precinct." Beckett told him making him look at her a moment longer before looking at Castle. "He consults on cases." He pulled the paper back and looked at the name before looking at Castle.

"Richard Castle? The author?" Castle nodded making the doctor nod and begin to hurry through his papers. "Okay, well these will be for his admission to the hospital and the additional care we will be giving him here." Beckett signed the papers.

"How is he?" She asked worried.

"He is unconscious at the moment. A drunk driver in a shopping center parking lot hit him. The car took most of the damage but he does have several broken ribs, a fractured femur, internal bleeding that we were able to stop with minor surgery, and there are small fractures to his skull. The impact of the car hitting jostled him around a bit, which caused slight cerebral edema. The nurses are getting him moved to his room now and they will take you up as soon as he's there." He shook their hands and left without another word.