Set maybe mid season 6ish? Not entirely sure about this one, but here is it! 12precinct42344 and Castle1701; thank you so much for your kind reviews; hopefully you continue to enjoy it!
#3 / Capture the Flag
"Red leader, red leader, come in, over."
"This is Red Leader, I have you at my six and the rest of the team at my two and eight. Move on my command. Over."
He leans his head out to the right, and pulls it back just in time to hear the thwack of a bullet hit the tree on the left. He looks behind him and gives her a thumbs up. They've revealed their positions by shooting at him, and he knows the rest of the team is on it. She radios the enemy position and gives him the go ahead to move forward. Gun at the ready, he shoots first then tentatively steps out and runs left. He can hear the spray of bullets behind him, he's not sure who's gun it's coming from but as he makes it to cover to see her run past and duck for cover about ten meters in front of him. They're one step closer to the flag. Excellent.
He loves team bonding days with the precinct. They make him feel so much more part of the team, the celebrations at the Old Haunt afterwards are always a blast as well, comparing war wounds and tales of the day.
He was only allowed to come this time due to uneven teams and some input from Kate to Gates. Waivers signed, amour on, gun at the ready, he was excited and ready to go waaaaay before Kate was. Kate wasn't so excited. Lethargy seemed to pull at her in the morning and she took forever getting ready. They met at the precinct and then all carpooled from there. The teams were the homicide squad from the 12th (Kate, Espo, Ryan and himself) vs the homicide team at the 4th precinct (Barnes, Sullivan, Delmanix, and Mandic) He didn't really know them so well, and they'd only played against them once before. They'd won, but only just. When Kate had briefed them she reminded them to be on their guard and play smart. He loved when she took charge. Shaking his head, he realises that she's giving him strange looks. Oh right. Head in the game. That may have been another tip she'd parted with, looking pointedly at him.
She looks ahead and radios back.
"Flag is less the half a click away, last time they laid a trap, I think they'll try again. I spot two moving behind which leaves two in front. Castle, Espo, cover Ryan and I, try and take the two behind. Divide and conquer boys. I'm going to cover Ryan as he heads for the flag. I suspect trees so make sure you look up. On my mark."
He let's out a low breath, spots Espo in the cleaning and nods at him. Espo nods back, signals for him to look at the grounds, whilst he looks to the trees. Castle scouts the ground for movement, and hears Kate and Ryan move forward. He walks backwards moving his gun in a sweeping motion, just as he's been taught. He hears the whizz of the bullets before he sees the bright explosions of colour behind him. She was right, two behind, which leaves two in front. He unloads in the general direction of where the bullets came from, ducks for cover and waits before moving again.
He hears a whoop and sharp intake of breath. Instinctively he knows that it's her. Abandoning the game he runs after the sound. Shit, shit, shit.
He was supposed to cover her. Shit.
He enters the clearing and all of a sudden he can't breathe. She's lying in the grass with red on her chest. He races over to her. "Kate?"
There's tears on his face. It's stupid he knows. How longs it been since the shooting? This is stupid but he can't breathe.
"Castle?" She's sitting up next to him. "Hey, Castle, come on, breathe." She's rubbing his back and motioning for Espo and Ryan to finish the game. They back off quickly. He's aware, but he's not. He's breathing but it's really hard to stop the flashbacks. Green grass, sharp intakes of breath. Red. Red. Red.
Her voice wasn't there though. He can hear her voice? He slowly sucks in a breath. And out. He becomes more aware. In. Out. Hearing returns. And sight. She's sitting next to him, hands in his hair. He looks up and meets her eyes.
"Hi," she whispers, "you back?"
He nods. "Bit of PTSD?" He nods again. "Ready to stand up?" Answering with action, he moves to stand. She grasps his arm, under his elbow and helps to heave him up. He realises that not too much time has passed, Espo and Ryan are still walking off and the team from the 4th are following with their guns at their sides. He's so embarrassed. She moves to wipe the red from her chest.
"I'm ok." She looks at him and smiles.
"I know." She replies. "Let's go wash up and get changed. We can talk about it later."
Later they're lying in bed and comparing wounds, they'd gone 4 more rounds before heading to the haunt. She'd asked him to stay back but he hadn't wanted to, fearing that the absence of not knowing what was happening would be worse than being in the fight. Plus he didn't want to let the team down. He justified it as facing a fear that Dr. Burke would want him to. She conceded but she'd been careful to cover him and stay close. A constant voice in his ear as well.
He looks over her body in the dimly lit room. Finding blue/green patches of bruises. His eyes meander up to her chest and side, where the larger of the incisions lie. Now just thin cream lines they are barely visible in this light. He reaches out to touch them. She takes his hand and places it on her chest.
"Still here, Castle. Not going anywhere."
He feels the thump, thump, thump of her heartbeat. He breathes for what feels like the first time since she was shot earlier that day.
As their breathing matches up, he pulls her closer.
"I've booked an appointment with Burke. A refresher, if you will."
She smiles. "Sounds good. Want me to come?"
"Mmm, maybe."
For now he's content that she's in his arms. She's alive. He's had an ok day. And they're together.
Next Chapter will be up relatively soon! It's half written! Thanks for reading!
