Chapter 3
Kate was desperately wishing she hadn't gone out to eat dinner. She was alone, without any work to distract her, and she was finding it more than a little hard to ignore her thoughts. She was trying to be strong for him, but she couldn't stop thinking about how that toxin would affect him if they didn't get the antidote in time. First, he would find himself moving more slowly. Then, his fever would spike, as if he had the flu, and he would be cold and sweaty. Then, light sensitivity and a horrible headache. His whole body would cramp; every muscle would ache. He would then find it difficult to breathe. He would cough blood, before becoming delusional, at which point, he would never be able to recover, and he would die within 18 hours.
Kate shivered at the thought. She couldn't let him go through that. He was the sweetest, most loving man she'd ever met. He didn't deserve that. There was really only one person in the word who, in her opinion, did deserve it.
After picking up dinner, Kate took it back to headquarters.
"Have you talked to Castle's family?" Rachel asked. Kate shook her head.
"He didn't want me to call them yet," she said quietly.
"Oh." There was silence for the rest of the meal.
They made some progress in the next few hours, making it one step closer. Kate went to see Rick again, but only stayed for a few minutes. Time was ticking.
They picked up a promising suspect-Cameron Messer, a young ex-Marine. Kate and Rachel interrogated him. They did the dance for about 20 minutes.
" , if you know anything about this-anything at all- you need to tell us now."
The arrogant marine snorted.
"You guys are acting like a cop got infected or something!" he said. "For God's sake, it's just a mystery writer! Why the hell does it matter?"
Later, KAte wouldn't even remember getting out of her chair. All she would remember would be shoving Messer to the ground, socking him hard in the jaw, and towering over her with tears in her eyes.
"That's my fiancé you're talking about!" she said. "Don't you dare talk about him like that! How dare you?"
Messer didn't know where to stop.
"Seriously? This is some kind of personal vendetta to avenge your fiancé's death? How touching."
Kate punched him hard, right in the nose.
"Beckett!" McCord called. Kate was pounding Messer, seemingly unable to control herself. Rachel and a couple of uniforms grabbed Kate by the shoulders.
"No! Let me go!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "You ass!" she sobbed. "He's not dead yet, do you hear me? He's not dead! He can't be! He has to be here, he promised! You worthless piece of garbage, you can't talk about him like that! You don't know him, you don't know who he is! Go to hell, Messer!" she screamed.
"Kate, calm down," Rachel said.
"No, I can't! He can't die, Rachel, he can't! Always! He said Always, he has to be here!" Kate had failed to notice that the uniforms had taken their prisoner to a different room, leaving Kate and Rachel alone. Rachel gently lowered her partner to the floor, sitting next to her.
"I know, KAte," Rachel said softly. "I know. I know you love him, I know you need him, I know he means the world to you. But you have to calm down right now. Now isn't the time or place, Beckett. I need you to breathe and calm down, alright?" she said. Kate took a shaky breath.
"Rachel, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it," she expressed. "The way he was talking about Rick like he was worthless and already dead, I just couldn't take it, you know?"
"Yeah, I know," McCord said. "But you need to pull yourself together, or I will have no choice but to take you off this case, you understand that, don't you?" Kate nodded.
"Yeah. I just...can you give me a few minutes?" she asked.
"Of course," Rachel said as she stood up, and then left, leaving Kate alone there on the floor with her thoughts and fears.
