I have a Beta!

Thank you Elizabeth!

This can't be happening-not after everything we've been through….. Kate franticly made her way down the steep embankment.

Kate stumbled and fell numerous times, but each time she got up and kept pushing, her determination to get to him stronger than the challenge of traversing the unforgiving terrain. She stumbled again, painstakingly inching her way closer to him.

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The fire flared and pushed Kate back; she raised her hands in front of her face to shield it from the intense heat and watched in horror as the flames boiled out of the car; it was fully involved.

Kate looked up toward the sky. She needed help; no, she needed him. The bride-to-be felt the mist fall from the sky before she saw it.

The fire-fighters were at the top of the ravine with their water hoses aimed at the blazing car and Kate watched the water patterns change from a fog spray to a full-on direct assault, their hoses all trained directly on the burning car. She blinked rapidly; she had to see.

Drowning would be better than burning to death. I was with him once, trapped in a car. I remember being mad at him for leaving me to search for my gun; I knew he was trying to save us, but I just wanted my last moments on earth to be with him. I was abandoned as the water rose higher and higher. Scared, though not of dying; I thought I was alone until I woke up and he was right there smiling up at me; those big beautiful blue eyes filled with love - Kate's attention snapped back to the here and now.

The fire-fighters opened the hose nozzles full force and the water rained upon Kate's shoulders, her sodden dress weighting her down. Each step was slowed, every fiber in her being screamed get to him, you have to save him, it's not too late.

Everything was happening so fast that her world was spinning out of control, but Kate experienced every sound and smell. It was if the earth halted its rotation and she was stuck in a slow-motion world. The car was still smoldering when she made another attempt to get closer.

Kate closed her eyes, she didn't want to look but knew she had to. She gritted her teeth and willed herself to open her eyes. She couldn't believe what she saw. Everything inside the car was burned away. The only thing left was a smoldering frame. Kate focused on the driver's seat, it was empty.

Kate stood transfixed, staring into the car. "He's not in the car," she looked up, shaking her head. She repeated once again, her voice breaking from the overwhelming stress of the moment, "he's not in the car."

Her announcement echoed through the crowd. His family was gathered at the top of the embankment anxiously awaiting any news of a beloved son, father, and friend.

Where is he? That was the question on everyone's mind.

Espo descended and helped Kate up the slippery embankment. Lanie, her maid of honor, was waiting at the top. Kate could read the heartbreak in her best friend's eyes. The feisty medical examiner had championed the two finally getting together and Kate wished she'd listened to her sage advice… "Girl, you need to pull your head out of your ass and go for it." If she had, maybe she wouldn't be standing in a ruined dress alone on her wedding day.

Ryan wasn't aware he shook his head as Kate came into view. His eyes trained on her mother's beautiful wedding gown, covered with mud and soot.

Kate had been so happy for him when he married Jenny, her eyes shining as she and Castle, her plus one, congratulated him and his bride. Jenny had told him that night, after watching the pair dance the night away, that they would be the next ones to get married. He had laughed her off because Castle and Beckett weren't even a couple then. The happily married Irish man's heart was breaking for her; she hadn't deserve this, neither of them did.

Kate nodded as each of her friends uttered assurances that they would find him. They were trying to remain strong for her, but she could read the fear in their eyes. She knew she needed to get moving, time was ticking and each second counted.

Espo took Ryan and began to reconstruct the events leading up the Mercedes going over the embankment. They locked eyes and nodded as they reached the same conclusion after picking up the broken tail light cover off the pavement; that this was no accident, someone had pushed Castle off the road. This changed everything; now it was personal.

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Kate's brain was focused on finding him. There were so many variables: was he hurt? Espo and Ryan had proved that he was forced off the road; who had done it? She mentally ran down the list of suspects. It was a long one because she and Castle had put so many dirt bags away over the years. Mob hit, alien abduction? Kate rolled her eyes Castle's wild theories definitely rubbed off on her.

She smiled as she recalled their memories, wonderful moments shared through the years. She barely remembered life before him, she hadn't have much of one, her only focus was finding justice for her mom and living had been pushed to the back-burner, but not today - I will find you, Castle.

Kate uttered assurances to Martha and Alexis that she didn't even believe to be true, not at the moment anyway, but they were staring at her as if she held the answers to all of life's mysteries.

The heartbroken detective believed in her soul that he was still alive. She felt him, and that was the only thing holding her together.

The Hampton's police officer on scene didn't flinch when Kate started issuing orders. He knew full well that this was out of her jurisdiction, but the man missing was one of her own. The officer had heard the stories from Chief Brady, how the detective and her missing fiancé uncovered the drug ring and the murderer of Aaron Lerner. It was the biggest case to come to the sleepy little hide-away of the rich and famous.

Brady had taken another job "so he could be a real cop" instead of enforcing leash laws to protect the locals' pristine flower beds. He said after the case he couldn't go back to just presiding over the sleepy little community. He needed more.

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Kate set up a command center at the Hampton's house, in her mind it was ground zero.

The first night she listened in on every interview the boys conducted. They talked to each wedding guest and caterer that had access to the grounds and she used Castle's storyboard to construct her timeline.

It was three in the morning before she stopped. The boys had insisted that they all get some sleep. She was talking incoherently and would freeze in place for several seconds at a time. Kate reluctantly agreed. She saw how tired they were and realized it was pointless to continue until the new day dawned.

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Kate pulled a t-shirt that held his scent out of the laundry hamper. She kicked off her shoes and climbed into bed, not even bothering to get undressed. With his shirt clutched tightly in her hands, she raised it up, closed her eyes and inhaled; his warm and musky scent filled her nostrils.

The would-be-bride buried her nose in his shirt and cried herself to sleep.