Kate stood there, frozen. She couldn't think, she couldn't breathe. A part of her wanted to scream at the top of her voice, do anything to escape this nightmare. She took a deep breath, calming herself, getting ready to talk to the doctor.

"What does this mean doctor?" Kate asked, once the doctor and she had stepped out of the room. Alexis and Martha stood next to her, still trying to understand what was going on.

"Mr. Castle's body and mind have undergone a lot of stress. This could be a number of things." The doctor said.

"Does this mean he has lost his memory?" Kate asked, still utterly confused.

"No, not necessarily. He might just be confused and under stress. We should let him get some sleep and once the anaesthesia has worn off, he might be fine. Mr. Castle was very agitated when he woke up, so we've given him something to relax. He's probably going to sleep through the night." The doctor said.

"I can't believe any of this is happening." Alexis said, crying.

"Oh kiddo, he's going to be okay." Martha said, hugging her granddaughter, trying to convince herself everything would be okay.

As the days passed, Castle started getting better; each day, remembering a bit more.

"Hey Rick." Kate said, walking into his room.

"Hey, just the person I wanted to see." Rick said with a smile on his face.

Kate smiled at him and took a seat next to the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Kate asked.

"I'm fine but how are you doing?" Rick asked.

"I'm fine too." Kate said, looking down at her hands.

"I know the past few days have been very hard for you and I know we haven't gotten a chance to talk." Rick said, holding Kate's hand.

Kate didn't say anything, she just looked at into Rick's eyes as an overwhelming urge to breakdown took over her.

"Come here." Rick said, pulling Kate's hand to make her lie next to him.

As she lay in Rick's arms, Kate just let go. All of the pain that she had locked up inside of her, every horrible thought and fear that she had about losing him that she had brushed aside just so she could be strong for him and his family came rushing back.

Castle didn't say anything, he just held Kate close to him, trying to let her know he wasn't going anywhere.

The next few days passed the same way for Kate. She spent all her time either at the hospital or the precinct. Espo and Ryan had been trying to do everything to find Castle's shooter but everything seemed to be a dead end. She had been wanting to ask Castle about those unknown calls but was waiting for him to get better. This had been a stressful enough experience, she didn't want to push him before he was ready.

"Hey babe." Kate said, walking into Castle's room with a file in her hand.

"Hey, you look worried, what's wrong?" Castle asked, sitting up.

"We've been trying to find your shooter and to do that we've been trying to piece everything together. The only thing we can't trace are these calls you've been getting. Do you remember who they're from?" Beckett asked, handing Castle the fine and pointing to the highlighted number.

Castle looked at the number and knew instantly who it was from. He took a deep breath, dreading having to take to Kate about this.

Seeing Castle's expressions, Kate knew something was wrong. "What is it?" She asked.

"These calls are from Mr. Smith." Castle said.

"Who is that?" Kate asked.

"He's a friend of Captain Montgomery's. Before he died, Montgomery sent him a file that contained information about the people who killed your mother. Mr. Smith has been using it as leverage to keep you safe. He's been in touch with me to keep you out of danger." Castle said.

"I can't believe you've been hiding this from me. How could you, Castle?" Kate asked, not being able to contain her anger.

"I was trying to protect you." Castle said.

"Goddammit Castle." Kate said, hissing at Rick.

"I knew if I told you, you'd go after them." Castle said.

"That's right. They killed my mother, Castle. You know how important it is for me to bring her killers to justice. It's my whole life." Kate said.

"It shouldn't be, Kate. I was just trying to make sure you would be able to have a life to live." Castle said.

"That wasn't your call to make. What did he say when he called you?" Kate asked, feeling angrier than she had ever felt.

"Kate..." Castle started.

"Tell me." Kate said.

"That they were getting close to him, that they might try and hurt you." Richard said.

"I thought we were past these secrets, Castle. Why can't we just talk to each other? We've been through hell and back, but we somehow can't have an honest conversation with each other. These secrets are going to destroy us." Kate said, picking up her jacket and file and starting to leave.

"Where are you going?" Castle asked.

"I need to think." Kate said, walking out before Castle could say another word.

Castle couldn't believe they were back here again, at this place where she was trying to push him away again. He understood how much she wanted to get justice, he wanted the same thing for her but not at the cost of her life.

Beckett decided to go to the precinct, she needed answers.

"Yo Beckett, you got a second?." Espo asked.

"Yeah, did you guys find something?" Beckett asked.

"We found a homeless man near the park who said he saw a man near the swings around the time Castle got shot. We got him with a sketch artist and asked tech to run it with the database. The results showed that it was a man named Maddox. He's a professional killer." Espo said.

Beckett stood there, trying to process all of this information.

"There's more. Ballistics came back on the bullet and it appears that Castle was shot with the same gun that was used to shoot you." Ryan said.

Kate slumped down in the chair next to her. All of it came down on her like a ton of bricks. Somehow all the anger washed away and all that was left was overpowering guilt. She felt responsible for what happened to Castle. She needed to see him, to tell him she was sorry for everything.

Kate slowly walked into Castle's room.

"Kate." Castle said, sitting up.

"I'm sorry, Castle. I'm so sorry." Beckett said, hugging Rick.

"What happened?" Castle asked, pulling away from her.

"We found who shot you." Kate said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What? Who is it?" Castle asked.

"It's the same person who shot me. They were probably trying to shoot me but ended up shooting you instead. I'm so sorry, Castle." Kate said, as she began to cry.

"Hey, none of this is your fault." Castle said.

"When you got shot, I kept thinking about all of the things I hadn't said to you. All of the things I wanted us to have together, the life I had imagined for us. I kept saying that I would give everything up, just to have you here with me." Kate said.

"I'm here." Rick said, pulling Kate close.

"I don't want to put you in any danger, Castle." Kate said.

"You aren't. I'm okay and we're okay. We can do this together, Kate. I know you want to protect me, just the way I want to protect you but we can't keep pushing each other away. I don't want to be scared of anything, anymore. I want to live my life and I want to live it with you." Castle said.

Kate looked up at Castle and kissed him. She couldn't believe he was here, with her. Both of them held onto each other as tightly as they could, trying to say so many things with a passionate kiss, pulling apart only when couldn't breathe anymore.

"I love you. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get here but I do." Kate said.

"I love you too." Castle said.

Castle and Beckett just lay there in each other's arms. Theirs had been a long journey, filled with more challenges than they could count but neither of them wanted to change a thing, because it was only just beginning.