I absolutely love watching and re-watching all the best Castle moments and being able to call it 'research.'
I don't own anything you recognise.
Rick's phone began to ring on the edge of the counter, it was Gina. He began to place the phone back down when his mother's look of disapproval made him falter.
'Richard, you've been ignoring her all week and you know what happens when you don't take her calls.'
'I don't have to write.' Rick smiled cheekily.
Martha waved her hand in annoyance. 'No, she comes over here, forces you to write and then we have to put up with her.'
Rick pouted like a small child, 'but I don't have time to write. I have to look after Kate.'
'Rick, I'm not a child, I can look after myself.'
'But you're hurt.' He sounded desperate, looking for a reason to avoid writing.
'Stop avoiding Gina. Now you pick up the phone or I will.' Rick pushed the phone in her direction, she just lifted her eyebrow slightly and hit answer before throwing it at him.
Gina's voice carried through the phone clearly enough that Rick left the room to take his berating in private. Martha and Kate laughed at his attempts to soothe the irate publisher.
'Now he'll be sitting with his laptop all day pretending to write how about we have a girls day? Here in the apartment of course.'
Kate smiled at Martha. 'That'd be nice.'
As Martha set up all the necessities for a proper girls day Kate watched on in amusement. She was still the Martha she remembered, even if the memories weren't real. Settling down on the couch with her was like slipping on her favourite pair of jeans, familiar and thoroughly comfortable.
Martha could sense that there was more going on than Rick had told her but she didn't want to push. Instead she let the quiet do it for her, as the movie rolled she saw the first tear roll down Kate's cheek. She tried to wipe it away quickly but Martha had already seen, she tried to laugh it off but the other woman's motherly instincts wouldn't let her.
'Kate I know that you've been through a lot lately but it seems like there's something else bothering you, something that you don't know who to talk to about. I may seem like a bit of a carefree actress but I have a good ear, and good advice for everyone but myself.' When Kate just looked at her Martha continued, 'I'm not going to give up until you agree to tell someone.'
Kate bit her lip hesitantly, 'how much has Rick told you?'
Martha took her reply as a good sign, 'how much has Rick told me about what?'
'My mental health?' Kate scrunched up her nose at the words, she hated the term, it made her feel unstable.
'He just said that you are a little confused and shaken up which is understandable.' Martha was looking at Kate with such compassion that Kate forgot that she had to keep everything locked up.
'Well for once he put it modestly.' Kate took a deep breath, tears beginning to brim in her eyes. 'I have retrograde amnesia. And not only that my case isn't even normal, instead of losing my memory I've changed it.' Once again she paused to regain her composure, and when Martha nodded for her to continue she did. 'Ever since I woke up I've had all these memories of being married, to your son, memories that I feel are real.'
Martha placed a hand soothingly on her knee as Kate felt the second tear roll down her cheek. 'Kate, do you want to talk about it?'
'I – I don't know.' She began fiddling with the hem of her shirt as she tried to blink back the tears.
Martha remembered Rick telling her once about Kate's inability to open up, no matter how much she needed to. She decided that the best way to continue would be to prompt her again, 'how about you tell me what you remember?'
Kate was a little uncertain, but talking was supposed to work miracles, at least, that's what everyone told her after her mother died. Kate nodded reluctantly, trying to think of where she should start. 'Alright, but I'm no Richard Castle at storytelling...'
As the fog swirled around the two they held each other tight. She rested her head on his shoulder, hoping to transfer a little bit more warmth. Being a detective Kate knew that she could die any day, in her profession a long life wasn't promised so she had prepared herself for death. Only this was not the death scene she had seen so many times in her nightmares, there was no blood, no heat, only cold, bone chilling, lung invading cold. She could feel herself slipping away, slowly loosing grip on reality. Did she want to die with things left unsaid?
'Castle,' her shivering, made it almost impossible to speak. Lifting her hand slowly she touched his jaw, wanting to make contact with him at least one last time. 'Thank you... for being there.'
'Always.' It was one word that held so much meaning, even more so when they were both about to die.
'I just want you to know how much I love you...' Kate trailed off as her body turned against her and shut down sinking her into a dark, dreamless sleep.
His heart soared at her words only to be brought back to reality when he felt her slowly fade away in his arms, he attempted to keep her awake knowing that if they fell asleep there was little chance that they would make it. 'Kate, stay with me.' He refused to give in and admit that she wasn't going to wake up. Desperately he forced his frozen lips to keep moving, praying that he could save her, 'stay with me. Kate.' As he too felt himself slowly sinking into nothingness he muttered the words that he'd never found the courage to admit before. 'Kate, I love you.'
The lights were too bright and the noise was too loud. She closed her eyes to block the blaring white. She could feel a warm hand in hers only the voice was wrong.
'Kate.' Josh knelt by her side and leant in for a kiss. Kate turned her head causing his lips to make contact with her cold cheek instead.
Frantically she looked out the back of the ambulance, searching for the writer's handsome face. 'Where's Castle?'
'He's in the other ambulance, but I don't think he's awake yet.'
'I need to see him.' Kate tried to sit up but Josh stopped her before she could.
'Not so fast, you can see him in a moment just let us check you out first.' Kate relented, lying back on the hard stretcher. Josh did the routine checks demurely, the past few moments were causing him to face a truth which he had tried so hard to deny. She hadn't even acknowledged him properly but was ready to run to Castle's side. Josh knew that their whole relationship was just a distraction, a means of self preservation.
As soon as he was finished he helped her up and down the ambulance steps, as her feet hit the hard pavement she rushed away from him and towards the other ambulance. She stopped in her tracks once she reached the entrance to the next van. He wasn't awake, he was lying there, peacefully, like all the cases that Kate hated to work where the killer was almost always a serial killer.
The paramedic inside wouldn't let her enter, instead she was ushered away by one of the uniforms.
Josh rushed over to her with the blanket that she had forgotten about in her haste to see Castle. He wrapped it around her shoulders and hugged her as she stood there awkwardly waiting for him to release her. 'I thought you were in Haiti?'
'I couldn't leave.' I couldn't leave and lose my chance. Josh knew that if he had left he would have lost Kate forever.
Before Kate could even make sense of the emotions in her heart Josh was called over to the ambulance. He was awake. Kate stayed where she was just for a moment to catch her breath before strolling over to a car where she could see Rick slowly waking. As his eyes met hers everything seemed to drop away, she was just relieved that he was okay.
When he was finally able to come over and see her she smiled warmly out of relief.
'Saw your boy's back in town.'
'Mm-hmm,' Beckett nodded looking over at Josh.' He came back.'
Castle couldn't help but shoot a death glare at the handsome doctor, luckily neither Beckett nor Josh saw it as both were looking at each other. 'So what does that mean to you?'
Kate paused, deciding what to say, 'it means that we have a chance.' A chance that I'm not sure I want to take. She pushed those thoughts from her mind, at the moment the case came first. 'Come on Fallon wants to debrief.'
Rick left soon after to calm the nerves of his daughter and mother who had called frantically for the past hour. Kate was going to offer him a lift but if the past few hours had taught her anything it was that things shouldn't be left unsaid. No one can tell when it's going to be their last chance and before she could have all the conversations she needed with Rick there was one thing that had to be said.
Pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders she walked over to Josh for the tough conversation. When she reached him he once again tried to pull her into a hug only this time she stopped him. She tried to be as quick and painless as possible.
'Josh, we need to stop pretending.' Kate paused, regretting looking him in the eyes, the sadness there was becoming unbearable. 'I need to stop pretending, I need to stop pretending that you're him and that I'm yours because we both know it's never going to happen.'
He looked into the distance, tears beginning to brim. Kate placed a hand on his arm softly but removed it quickly, not wanting to drag this out. 'Josh, I'm sorry.'
'It's okay, I understand. I may not be a detective but I'm not an idiot, I've been waiting for this.' Josh smiled dejectedly, 'he will make you happier than I can and that's all I can ask for.'
As she walked away from the scene with a small smile on her face, she didn't turn back, Kate had freed herself from one binding and she wouldn't regret it.
'I can't see anything.' At Fallon's words both writer and detective lost all courage. 'I'm sorry.' They were going to die, along with too many innocent New Yorkers and all because they were too slow. 'I'm sorry.'
With fifteen seconds left on the timer they were forced to once again accept that they were going to die. Neither of them could make it out alive. Each was filled with regret at things left unsaid, but both knew that there wasn't time for any admissions.
As the seconds seemed to fly by they fought the desperate urge to run, knowing that it wouldn't do any good.
TEN
'Castle.' If she was going to die, she'd die with his name on her lips.
NINE
They stared at each other with remorse, both wishing that they hadn't dragged the other into this.
EIGHT
They held onto the other's hand like it was their last link to life.
SEVEN
The fear each felt was overrun by only one emotion, love.
SIX
He placed his other arm around her waist and pulled her towards him.
FIVE
Each gravitated towards the other until their lips collided.
FOUR
Their kiss was filled with passion and desperation.
THREE
Each grasped at the other trying to get closer.
TWO
Castle moved away from Kate, a determined look on his face. If they were going to die, well he'll be damned if he wasn't going to go down fighting.
ONE
Time seemed to slow as he reached out to grasp the multicoloured wires. Both turned away as he pulled back forcefully.
ZERO
A puff of smoke and a few sparks flew from the counter. Both looked back slowly, shocked that they were still alive. Neither could believe that it had worked, Rick was still waiting for his plan to backfire. As the realisation that they were going to live slowly sank in they both gave in to hysteria.
'Castle!' They reached for each other at the same time, wanting nothing more than to feel the other's comforting arms proving what neither could quite believe, that they were alive. The hug ended when both needed confirmation that the timer was still on zero, that it wasn't just some weird after life that they were stuck in.
Rick stepped back, adrenalin pumping through his veins. He wanted to dance and scream 'who's the boss? That's right, I'm the freakin' boss!' instead he settled for a 'YES!'
Kate laughed at him before both were overcome with the need to hold each other once again. They stood there kissing passionately in the street until the wail of the first siren approached them.
It was only once they were back in the break room with a cool beer in each of their hands that they were able to breathe normally.
There was a slightly hysterical atmosphere in the small room, yet Esposito couldn't quite get over the seriousness of what had just occurred. 'You guys don't know how lucky you are.'
'Actually I do.' Rick looked over at Kate smiling kindly. They both knew how lucky they were to live another day, to be given another chance at doing the right thing by each other.
The tender look shared between the two didn't go unnoticed by the boys; neither did the way Beckett's eyes trailed over Castle as she followed him out of the room.
Once Fallon had left the two faced each other, building up the courage to confess everything that had gone unsaid just hours before.
Castle was the first one to talk, 'hell of a day, huh?'
Kate nodded in agreement, 'hell of a day.'
'I was wondering...' Kate lifted an eyebrow as he paused, 'do you want to go to dinner? Debrief each other?' Kate bit her lip to stop the inappropriate remark that was building only Rick interpreted it as indecisiveness. 'Come on, it'll be great.'
Smirking Kate gave in to the immature impulse, 'oh you have no idea.'
As the two gathered their things and walked towards the elevator they didn't notice Esposito and Ryan exchange a bill from the doorway of the break room.
As Kate wound up her story she looked up from the tabletop which her eyes had been trained on throughout the whole story. Martha looked back at her speechless. She just reached for Kate and held her close, she couldn't imagine the confusion that was coursing through the detective's mind.
Kate relaxed as Martha hugged her, maybe the people who told her she should stop bottling things up were onto something.
While Kate was pouring her heart out to his mother Rick was sitting in his office alternating between pretending to write and having a staring contest with that yellow envelope. No matter where he put it, under files, in his draw, in the safe, it seemed to taunt him. He was torn, no matter what it held he would have to deal with the repercussions yet he was itching to see what was inside, finally his curiosity won out.
He toyed with the edge of the envelope as he pulled it back slowly. He closed his eyes and reached inside, feeling to see what it was. Files, seven files, and a single sheet of paper. He pulled the note out first, shutting his eyes once again and breathing deeply to calm the beating in his chest.
Rick,
I've trusted you with this because I know you'll do the right thing. I know you wouldn't do anything to hurt her and I know you'll be the only one who could stop her running head first into his clutches. Protect her, no matter what it takes. If she is never ready, never let her find out about this. Justice is important but not as important as her life.
He stopped reading and placed the letter back into the envelope, he couldn't keep reading, not now, he wasn't ready to drag himself through the torment of having this sort of information once again.
Is it sad that we are doing role-plays in school and every single time my teacher says it all I can think is 'you afraid of a little role-play? Hah.'
All the reviewers are absolutely amazing! Seriously, you guys can make my terrible day seem like the best day.
