Hey thanks for the reviews! This is a definite twist, and I hope you all like this chapter tons!
Castle thought for a moment that the man was joking. Of course he was joking, fans did this sort of thing all the time. But as he stood as an opposite, the man had no humor in his face.
"What?" Castle asked, despite the fact that he'd heard exactly what the man had said.
"You heard me, dumbass. Give me your wallet."
Castle did nothing for a moment before smiling. "Excuse me sir, but we are having a private conversation here." The man reached to the inside of his jacket, revealing a fairly large gun pointing to the both of them. Castle's eyes glanced down, his face turned ghastly white as he noted the safety was off. Beckett regained her posture, and the cop she was inside surmounted the giggling girl.
"Woah." He said, surprised. "Okay, easy. Easy" Castle stalled for a moment, still perplexed. Kate inched forward, holding her hands out.
"Hold on there." She said softly. As she moved forward, the man's energy exploded.
"Stop right there!" he yelled. The man jumped into the dim light of the streetlamp, showing his entire face. To their surprised, dark black charcoal was smeared everywhere so that his identity would remain a mystery. Kate wished someone would hear him scream as it echoed in her ears.
"Alright. Just hold on a tick." Castled grasped her arm and tugged her back, he had to protect her, "It's okay, here I go." He slowly reached his hands to his pocket, showing the man that he didn't pose as a threat.
Kate stood on her toes, which was hard in heels, planning her jump on the man. She pictured Nikki Heat pouncing, with Rook standing not far behind her to reply with a witty remark. She shook the thought out of her head, as she needed to focus and instead she was predicting a future book.
Castle had nothing to defend them with, the only thing he could do would be to give the man his wallet. Stay calm. Castle looked over at Kate, showing his confusion, hoping she had a plan. He fumbled around in his left pocket for a moment, but soon discovered it was empty. He stopped a moment to look at the mans face, when memory struck him. He had seen this man before, more than once. Although the charcoal made it hard to place.
"Have we met?" he asked suddenly, trying to reach through the man. Regret slapped him as he realized that making conversation was just about the worst thing he could do while he was being robbed at gunpoint.
"Shut up or so help me I will shoot you AND the lady!" he screamed. Castle snapped his head back down, fearing to make eye contact with the man. At this point, he didn't give a damn about his wallet, but he was trembling afraid for Kate. If she got shot, it would be all his fault.
"Other pocket," he whispered, steadily removing his hand to the next pocket. The man was becoming agitated.
"Hurry it up!" he screamed, glancing around for witnesses. Kate attempted to spring without warning, waiting for the mans unexpected moment.
"Sorry." Castle whispered, feeling the hot sweat on his brow. "Got it." He pulled out his leather wallet, looking up at the man's immoral face. He was clearly a troubled man, but something about him was awkwardly familiar. "Here you go." He outstretched his arm and leaned forward so the robber could grab it. Kate saw her moment and leaped out.
"Hey!" the man yelled. Castle dropped the wallet and wrapped his arms around Beckett attempting to pull her back as she grasped the thief's hair. He knew she didn't have a chance against him.
"Stop!" Kate yelled, furious the Castle had interfered with her escape plan. An earsplitting crack filled the air as the gun went off. Kate felt Castle's grip release and when she looked over, she saw his shocked expression. The gunman looked startled. Kate was lost, she glanced down and saw Castle's side soaking with blood. She peered back to his face to see him breathless as he slowly reached his hand up to support himself as the sudden rush of discomfort made him weak. Without anything to prevent him from collapsing, he outstretched his arm to try and sturdy himself on Kate. Kate watched, bemused as he tipped backward and crashed hard on the sidewalk, clutching his side. Kate stood in awe for a moment before the gunman bent down quickly to snatch the wallet and then sprinted off into the darkness. Kate was frozen, allowing only her eyes to bounce frantically from Castle to the runaway criminal. She darted off in search of the offender, pushing harder and harder, gaining speed but her heels made it nearly impossible to catch up completely. He leaped around the corner, making her stop, gasping for air. She had lost him. Damn it. Kate glimpsed behind her to see Castle crumpled on the floor in the distance. She pulled off her heels and bolted over towards her partner.
She found him lying helplessly on the ground, head rested against the sidewalk curb. "Castle." She whispered, kneeling beside him. His face was dead white and his eyes skipped back and forth, unaware of the situation.
At the sight of her return, he grimaced with a look of pain and relief. Kate could hear the fright of desertion in his breaths. She removed his over jacket, revealing a large pool of blood on his button up shirt and the bits that had dripped aimlessly to the cement. She sneered inside, but managed to keep her face lively, she couldn't upset him.
"You're going to be fine. Okay? Just stay with me." She found herself repeating the same lines in every redundant movie she'd regarded with distaste. His face didn't look that at all of Castle. There was no boy in him now; just a serious, pale and sweaty face that she didn't recognize. This had to be a dream, it just had to. Things like this only happened in movies and books, but not in reality. It HAD to be a bad dream. But Kate knew too well that things like this happened more than expected, more than she wanted to think about. But not to him, not to Castle.
Kate could feel her heart pounding in her throat. As he looked defenselessly at her, his breathing intensified. Each inhilation was a gag as the blood poured from his side. His hands were clasped tightly around the wound, afraid to expose it. Kate pulled back his hands. She scowled at the gunshot wound, peering into its endlessness. It was bad, the shooter had been standing so close to him that Castle was bleeding away. He stared at her before his eyes began to lead away from life. "Castle!" she yelled to get his attention, "C'mon, you're okay. I just need you to stay here with me, all right? Hey!" she barked at the top of her lungs, examining the very bare streets. "Hey! Help!" she screamed, "Help!" She watched while her partner slowly slipped into deliriousness. "Hey. Just stay awake, help is coming." She placed a hand to his side and drove her palm into the wound, putting pressure on it. Wait, help wasn't coming… nobody even knew they were there….
Damn it.
Hope you all like intensity, but please let me know what you thought of this chapter- good or bad. Review please! And thanks for reading! Next chapter is coming soon!
~ShinyLane1.2