"Kate." Her brow furrows at the gasp of her name, the sound of a voice that has haunted her for the last year. But never real. She's already fading, unsure how long she's actually remained lying on the hallway floor, maybe he's calling for her from that dreamland she knows so well, telling her to let go. "Oh, Kate. I've got you," his voice continues to soothe her, and – and someone is touching her, hands cradling her face, hovering along her wounds.

Kate peels her eyes open, fighting to focus on the blurry image of Castle on his knees above her, blue eyes alight with panic as he looks her over.

It isn't a dream.

"Castle?" she slurs, can't manage more than the attempt of his name before her head is lolling to the side, the picture of him disappearing, but not his voice, his touch.

"I'm here," he promises her, his hands slipping beneath her to heft her body up, easing her into the embrace of his scent, his warmth as he cradles her against him, scoops her from the floor. "I've got you."

Her head finds rest in the juncture between his neck and his shoulder, her body melting into the wall of his, and her eyes fall closed for a final time, but she holds tight to the fabric of his jacket, the reassurance of this reality, and give into the need for unconsciousness.


Blood, so much blood. The glitter of glass in her hair. He wants nothing more than to take her to a hospital, but after what the boys had told him… no, he had to take her somewhere safe, somewhere that she couldn't be found. No one knew to look at him, not after they had ended their partnership over a year ago, and that meant no one would think to consider Richard Castle taking an impromptu trip to his private beach house in the Hamptons as anything out of the ordinary.

It wasn't secure enough for his liking, but it would do as a temporary haven for now, until they could figure out a better game plan, a way to keep her safe, and alive.

"Castle?"

He jerks his head in her direction, dividing his gaze between Kate and the dark stretch of road ahead, but by the looks of it, the pale shade of her face and her bleary eyes, he may need to pull over soon.

"Hey, we're almost there," he murmurs, resisting the urge to reach over, squeeze her shoulder or her knee, do something to assure them both with his touch.

"Almost where?" she rasps, her eyes trailing slowly along the interior of the car before shifting back towards him with great effort. "How did you find me?"

"To the Hamptons, for now. At least until you're in better shape," he explains, giving into the need for her skin beneath his fingertips, grazing his hand over her knuckles for just a moment. But Kate turns her palm up, curls her fingers around his before he can withdraw his hand and return it to the steering wheel. "And Espo told me. We weren't sure which motel you'd gone to, so I just went to every one that seemed like a good hideout."

"You… you wanted to find me?" she mumbles, blinking against the obvious pull back towards unconsciousness, and Castle brushes his thumb along the inside of her wrist.

"I - we have so much to talk about, Kate. But I heard your last message and I knew you were in trouble."

"Didn't want to drag you into this," she sighs, her head drifting back to rest against the folded fabric of his coat against the passenger window. "I'm sorry, Castle. So sorry for everything-"

"Shh, not now," he murmurs, squeezing her limp fingers. "You didn't drag me into anything. I just reclaimed my job as your partner."

"You heard the last message," she breathes out, but her eyes have fallen shut and the rise and fall of her chest is beginning to slow into a steady pattern. "I meant it."

The swell of his chest crushes his lungs, slams his heart up against his ribs, and he has to force out a deep exhale to manage an even breath. Even after he had told her they were over, he had known it was a lie, that they could never be over. Even after nearly a year and a half apart, nothing had changed.

He had refused to admit it to himself, to accept it as true, but he had always known that sooner or later, they would come together in an inevitable collision. He just hadn't expected for it to be like this.

Castle sighs and gives her hand one final squeeze before carefully extricating his fingers and returning them to curl around the wheel. "Love you too, Kate."


The next time Kate's eyes slide open, daylight is breaking along the horizon and the car has come to a stop in a driveway she doesn't recognize.

"Kate?" his voice calls to her softly, his hand gentle at her shoulder. "Do you think you can walk?"

She winces at the mere thought, her head feeling like a thousand pound weight on her shoulders as she tries to ease her body into a sitting position, to meet Castle's eyes in the grey morning light, still not wholly convinced that all of this wasn't some sort of twisted nightmare.

"Here, why don't you try to eat a few of these first," Castle murmurs, reaching between them into a plastic bag and producing a sleeve of plain crackers, opening the pack, but her mouth feels like cotton, and the crackers would taste like dust on her tongue.

"Water first?" she croaks and he nods, drops the crackers to retrieve a bottle, aiding her clumsy fingers in curling around the plastic and holding on even as she lifts the top to her lips, manages a few sips. "Thank you."

"How bad is your head?" he inquires, placing the crackers in her lap and grazing his eyes along the matted hair atop her scalp, the clotted abrasions she can feel lining multiple pieces of her skull.

"It hurts," she whispers, barely able to speak past the sharp ache piercing throughout her head. "But it shouldn't be too bad. I think – think it's mostly the alcohol. They-"

"I saw what they did," he mutters, producing a packet of Tylenol, emptying the gas station brand bag on the console between them. "Also saw that they got what they deserved."

Kate accepts the two pills he hands her, downs them with another sip of the water and closes her eyes against the wave of nausea sweeping over her.

"Come on, Kate. You look like you need to lie down."

She wants to argue, tell him how desperately she needs to stay awake, to talk to him, but she nods instead, saves it for once they're safely inside his… mansion?

"Where are we again?" she asks once he's exited the driver's side and walked around to assist her in climbing out of the unfamiliar car without injuring herself further.

Castle hooks an arm around her waist, draws her body up from the passenger seat slowly and lets her lean against him while he shuts the door. "Hamptons."

"This is your house?" she whispers, feeling a quiet huff of amusement ruffle the hair clinging to her forehead. "Wow."

"I wish we were here under better circumstances, but I think you'll like it," he murmurs, guiding her towards the front porch and holding tightly to her body as they ascend the steps.

She wishes she could properly appreciate the entryway he leads her through, the magnificent interior of the beautiful house he navigates through with ease until they reach a door to what looks like one of many downstairs bedrooms.

"No, Castle, blood on the bed-"

"Least of my concerns." Castle practically drags her to the bed, her legs useless limbs that refuse to function, and helps control her descent to the soft sheets and fluffed pillows. "Just try to rest for a little while. When you wake up again, I'll have breakfast ready and we can discuss what we're going to do next-"

"Rick," she gets out, catching his wrist, gritting her teeth through the pulsing waves of the headache breaking against the wall of her skull and looking up to meet the worsening concern of his eyes. "Please don't leave."

It's wrong to ask anything of him, let alone something so… needy, something so unlike her, but it's been too long since she's seen him, since she's had something more than the pained echo of his voice in her ear, and he just saved her life. She doesn't want to let him go.

Castle sighs and she lets go of his hand, curls it into her chest and closes her eyes against the sight of him turning away. But then the mattress at her back is dipping, the warmth of his body is fitting against hers, and his arm is draping carefully over her waist.

"I wish I had called you back, listened to your messages sooner," he confesses, the spread of his hand over her stomach almost enough to distract her from the remorse in his voice.

She had suspected her messages had gone unheard, and it stings, but the hurt doesn't stick, dissipating before it can begin to linger.

Kate covers his hand, draws it up to her chest, to rest over her heart. "You listened to the most important one right on time."

"I should have picked up when you called-"

"No, Castle," she quiets him, shifting just enough so that her shoulder presses into his chest and she's allowed a glimpse of his stricken face. "I hurt you, I forced you to finally walk away. I didn't blame you for not answering."

"I was your partner. I shouldn't have just given up," he protests, using his unrestrained hand to brush some of the blood-dried hairs from her face.

"You didn't. You just took some time, like I did, remember?" she murmurs, lacing their fingers over her sternum.

"That was different," he sighs, but it wasn't, not in her mind. "You were shot in the chest, recovering from a-"

"And I broke your heart," Kate sighs, remembering all too clearly the look on his face during that last night in her apartment, the fight that finally broke him, how his eyes had beseeched her and all of his hope had crumbled as he told her he loved her for a final time. She remembers thinking in the back of her mind, that that was the look of heartbreak. "Not too different. The only person to blame here is me."

He shakes his head, but she silences him before he can speak his argument.

"I'm sorry, Castle. There's so much I have to say, that I want to say when I feel better than this, but you have to know that I'm truly sorry for hurting you."

His chest expands at her back, his heartbeat slamming against her shoulder blade, and she takes advantage of the hand twined with hers, brings his knuckles to her lips for a kiss before she can drift away again.

Castle touches his mouth to her temple and she thinks that it feels like silent forgiveness.

"Sleep, Kate. I'll be right here."

Beckett nods, her head giving into the softness of the pillow beneath, her body to the warmth of his surrounding her back, and the tentative, unfamiliar sensation of peace in her chest.