It's short I know, but I had to get it down. Expect more soon!
Castle's eyes fluttered open only to close on a groan. After a few moments he tried again and was still blinded by a blinding white light wheezing by over head. "Kate." He whispered his partner's name as he tried to get his bearings straight. He was moving and he could hear a bunch of voices but couldn't make out any words. Just a bunch of muffled sounds over loading his brain. The writer began to panic when shadows began to loom over him in the shapes of heads. "Kate."
Beckett hustled after the gurney and paramedics as they shouted orders back and forth. She tried to listen so she knew exactly what was happened, but found herself to focused on Castle to catch anything. His head was lulling to side to side in a jerking gesture that set panic afire in her chest. "Rick." Ignoring the protest from the paramedics, she wedged herself in by his bed side to take his hand and almost instantly the writer stilled. "You're safe. You're at the hospital."
"Okay you got to move." The doctor was the one who spoke as he gently pushed away Beckett from the moving gurney.
Beckett slowed to a stop knowing this was far as she was allowed to go. She watched helplessly as they wheeled the man she loved down the hall. Was this how Castle felt when they were in opposite spots last year? Did he have the heavy ache in her chest of fear? A stomach clenched so tight with so much uncertainty she thought she'd get sick? Dazed, Beckett stumbled back until her back found a wall. Her legs trembled and wanted to give out, but she refused to give into it. She had to remain strong. Had to keep her thoughts from wondering to what could happen because Alexis was going to need her reassurance that Castle was going to be all right.
She didn't have much time to really prepare herself. Beckett heard Lanie calling after Alexis and looked up in time to see the teenager striding through the front door of the ER. Beckett's heart tightened when the Alexis's gaze took in the dry blood that caked her hands and clothing. It was hard to read the girl's expression so she wasn't sure what was to come. There was going to be anger and lots of it that much she knew. Her mind went back to their last meeting and that look that was on Alexis's face as she blames this whole ordeal on the detective. And Beckett knew she was right. If she was just had walked away from her mother's case this would have never happened. So Beckett deserved the girl's fury and hatred.
Pushing away from the support of the wall, the detective squared her shoulders and readied herself for whatever was to come. Yelling, maybe a slap, or just a total brush off. Whatever it was Beckett would take it like she deserved. What she wasn't ready for was for Alexis to latch on to her as if her life depended on it. Shocked by the desperate embrace, Beckett stood like an idiot for a few moments before she could get the message to her brain that Alexis was seeking comfort. Wrapping her arms around the red head, Beckett leaned back against the wall only for them to slide to the floor, still clinging onto one another.
"It's okay." Tears and words of comfort were whispered into the girl's hair as Alexis broke in her arms. "It's going to be okay."
"I'm so sorry, Kate." Alexis sobbed into the detective's neck.
"None of that." Beckett began stroking a hand over her hair.
"The things I said. I know you love him and would never want this for him-."
"You were angry." Beckett assured. "And I was the reason. So no apologizing for you, okay."
"I still had no right to say those things. To talk to you like that." Alexis knew now how foolish she was for flying off the handles like that. Beckett was the only woman who ever dated her father that would never hurt him intentionally. Never want anything bad to happen to him. It was just so hard to keep everything straight after such an emotional day. And for crying out loud the woman had used her body as a shield to protect her from a storm of bullets.
Beckett gently drew Alexis away so she could wipe the wetness from her cheek. "It's okay." She repeated.
"Thank you." Alexis whispered fiercely. "For keeping your promise."
"Always." She tucked a stray lock of hair being Alexis's ear.
"What happened?" Martha finally asked altering Beckett for the first time they weren't alone. The entire team surrounded the two on the floor. Ryan and Espositio were on their phone trying to handle everything so Beckett didn't have to while Lanie was already at the nursing station.
"He's hurt." Beckett felt the grip around her tighten. "I don't know how serious. I ran into the commissioner on my way out and I think he must have tipped them off."
"He was talking to the captain when I ran upstairs to get the boys." Martha explained, "She kept him in there long enough for them to run off after you."
"They knew I was coming because they had something waiting for me. Luckily, Castle has some great hidden talents and managed to free himself from his restraints." Beckett figured she'd wait to tell them about the whole bomb thing just for a little bit. Right now she just wanted everyone to focus on the fact that he was alive and safe.
Lanie came back up to the group with a pair of scrubs, "I managed to batter for these." She handed them to the detective. "There is a bathroom down the hall."
Somehow, Beckett managed to push herself onto shaking limbs before reaching down to help Alexis stand. She almost pulled back when she remembered the blood, but the teenager latched on never the less. Together both women made their way to the bathroom. Alexis took the scrubs from Beckett so she was free to wash the blood from her hands. Beckett wrenched on the water and waited until she could see steam before plunging her hands under the stream of water. She took a moment to look at herself in the mirror and nearly gasped. Her face was void of all color, her eyes were blood shot, and she had soot from the ash of the fire. Her hair was sticking out every which way from her loose pony tail and she just looked like hell.
One the verge of breaking down again, she turned her attention back to the task on hand. The white porcelain sink was stained red with the watery blood now leaving her hands. It nearly made Beckett's stomach turn. Her knees began to tremble as she reached for more soap. Her hands were nearly raw, but she still scrubbed as to her they weren't clean yet.
"Kate." Alexis appeared at her side when she noticed the fulgurous scrubbing. She looked down to see Beckett's skin started to split around her finger nails. She set the scrubs aside before reaching off the cool down the temperature of the water. It was hard to see Beckett looking like she was on the verge of shattering. The detective had been the only strong one in the past twelve hours, making sure that she and her grandmother were okay. It made Alexis's guilt triple because she had forgot in the moment in the bull pen that Beckett was going through the same thing she was.
"I'm sorry." Fighting tears, Beckett gripped the edge of the sink until her knuckles turned white. She was supposed to be the strong one damn it! Alexis and Martha needed her to stay level headed and calm. They needed her to be able to assure them that Castle was going to be okay. That this was all going to be over. The thing was Beckett knew the first two were true, but the last she couldn't say for sure. She and Castle were supposed to die tonight and everything else was just to be swept under the rug. Now that that plan had gone to hell Beckett wasn't sure what to suspect.
Alexis didn't say anything, just simply handed her some paper towels to dry off her raw hands. Beckett hissed at the pain. Alexis tried to distract her by babbling on about nothing while handing the detective the fresh clothes. Beckett did her best to smile, and instead of taking the scrubs, she pulled the girl into a hug. Beckett knew that Alexis was pulling herself together for not herself, but to help keep Beckett from crumbling. It was so easy to see her nineteen year old self in the teenager, trying to be the strong, and brave while she was most likely breaking apart behind the mask.
"I love you Alexis." Beckett whispered and heard a small sigh escape from Alexis. "And we're going to get through this together. I don't want you to pretend that you're okay. I'm here for you. So when you need to, lean on me. Okay?"
"Okay." Alexis soaked up the comfort of the embrace.
Beckett pulled away and headed towards a stall to change.
"Kate." Alexis spoke stopping her in her tracks, "I love you too."