Hello everyone.

First off, I want to apologise for how long this has taken me to update - I know that I said Saturday, but I ended up covering holiday dates at the shop all weekend and didn't have enough time to do so.

And just before I get on with the story, I would like to say a huge, sloppy thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, alerted or favourited this story. It is so lovely of you to do so, and honestly means the world to me. So, thank you!

...

Part Two

No matter how long you had been doing the job, no matter how many mornings you had gone into work knowing that it could be your last, knowing that danger lurked in the minds of the most ordinary of men, nothing could ever take away the fear that struck with the unmistakable roar of gun fire. Nothing could ever stop the pounding of your heart so strong that it filled your ears and hurt to breathe, the adrenaline that coursed through your veins just quickly enough to stop the trembling of your legs, the terror like nothing else in this entire world.
But that day, that sickly August afternoon that was supposed to have been over hours earlier, that day made gun fire shrivel and wilt in comparison.

As Beckett turned to stare into the very heart of desperation, to face the brothers responsible for the shots that had sounded out mere fractions of a second before, she was met with a sight that threatened to crumble the very ground on which she stood, a twist of fate so devastating that it stripped her of the ability to move, to think, to breathe.
The sturdy demands that Ryan and Esposito were directing at the Finch brothers floated all around her; strong willed shouts to put the gun down, to get on the floor, to give up the game that they had already lost. They were focused only on the job at hand, on arresting the men who had been foolish enough to believe that they could shoot them whilst their backs were turned and get away with it; blind to fear that had encompassed Beckett's heart, and blind to bullet that had left Castle broken and terrified and fighting against the horrifically enticing pull of the darkness.

The pain pressed down on Castle like the weight of the world, but it wasn't as he expected; it didn't burn, it didn't sear, it didn't scorch through his veins like poison. It reverberated deep into his body, shaking his bones and clawing at his muscles. It dragged him down, through the wall that he was slumped against and past the cold tiled floor that he didn't remembering falling to, down into the nothingness that was softly calling his name, pleading with his barely conscious mind to sink into oblivion. It was too heavy, too much.
His grasp on reality was melting away; the determined voices of Ryan and Esposito fading to mere echoes, objects blurring into ethereal colours that could dance and sing and move away from where they belonged, his thoughts drifting like the waves of the ocean.
Beckett was there too, she was everywhere; every molecule of light and sound was filled by the wonder of his beautiful Kate. She was calling softly to him from a destination far away from that dank and ruined restaurant, as if she had somehow personified the awaiting darkness. It was so very beautiful there, that neverwhere world; filled with promises of love and warmth, of relief.

He tried to fight it, to stay awake, to focus only on the crushing pain that was keeping him anchored to the world, but every shuddering beat of his heart sent Castle closer to its welcoming arms, closer to the almost irresistible oblivion.

Beckett was by his side in seconds; falling to her knees that shook too much to stand, grasping desperately at Castle's hand, clinging to its clammy warmth as if she could physically pull him away from the pain that was brutally twisting his handsome features. Words of love and hope clumped at the back of her throat and choked the air out of her lungs; they felt too small and insignificant, not enough. Not enough to save him.
But she had to clear away such thoughts, to shake away the fear if only for a fleeting moment of blind courage, to cling onto level headed Detective Beckett long enough to do all that she could to save the man whom she so desperately loved.

His head was still swimming amidst the strange serenity; unable to make sense of the dancing light that filled the room, but Castle could feel how close she was to him, how very close. Her breath quivering across his skin as her hands pulled roughly at his Kevlar vest, whispering sweet sentiments of reassurance as she tugged his body free. He wanted to help, to take her hands lovingly in his own and promise that he was ok, that he could do it for himself, but his entire body felt like a dead weight, anchored and overwhelmed by pain.
Instead he shut his eyes tightly against the world, and willed away the beauty that he knew to be evil in disguise. Beckett wasn't really a part of the living light, it was just a trick. He could feel the real Beckett, his Beckett, he found her within the pain and the pressure and the tears that leaked from his tired eyes. She was there, she was alive, and in the moment Castle knew that he would live a lifetime of the agony that wracked though his body as long as she was by his side.

Ripping off his vest with a strength that she hadn't been sure of, Beckett revealed the wound that wasn't really a wound at all, at least not one that could be seen on the surface. The bullet had been stopped before it could rip its vicious path through his flesh, embedding deep within the Kevlar that they all so greatly depended upon. But, she knew all too well that Castle wasn't safe, not even close, the angry bruise that snaked its way around his entire left side told her that serious damage was hidden below. A warning sign of internal bleeding and organs that were on the verge of shock; a secret assassin, a silent killer.

She cried out for an ambulance, her voice sounding foreign even as it left her shaken lips; too loud, too scratching, catching breathlessly on every word. Someone called back to her, who exactly she wasn't sure, not that it mattered. Help was coming, real help from people who knew what they were doing.
It was going to be ok; Castle was going to be ok. He had to be.

To be continued..

Sorry for leaving it on somewhat of a cliffhanger, but it is all a part of my plan.
& I certainly haven't forgotten about the secret that Beckett is keeping from Castle, that comes into play within the next chapter.

Please let me know what you thought? Good, or bad - any feedback at all is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for reading,
Katie