A/N: Hey guys! so this is the next chapter...now please remember this is completely AU and that any medical dialogue is just made up. I do research, but this is just for you guy to have fun, so...anyway...as usual PLEASE ENJOY AND REVIEW that I absolutely love to see what you think of this story...

Beckett was certainly taken aback by Caroline's statement. She knew that Castle was happy, otherwise he wouldn't have proposed to her, but on the other hand Beckett was sure she was also a cause of pain and misery in his life. The loft was silent. She had conflicted emotions at the moment, since her heart was telling her to run into their bedroom and comfort Castle in anyway she could, but her more rational side was telling her to give him some time to process whatever he talked with Burke because she knew how hard those sessions could be. So, she cleaned up the kitchen table, washed the dishes and put the leftovers in the fridge. Then she walked into Castle's office.

He wasn't there and the room looked completely normal. Beckett walked slowly up to the master bedroom. The lights were off, but the thin moonlight was enough for her to see the prominent figure of Castle's back sitting on his side of the bed. He had his head down and as she got closer she could see he was trembling slightly. Beckett sat near him, but far enough to give him space but at the same time encouraging.

"I guess you know everything now." His voice was hoarse and weak. She waited silently. "I know I should've told you before but...I just couldn't..." he sighed. "Still can't." A part of her heart broke because she knew the feeling all too well.

"Rick..." She loved to say that name even if the circumstances weren't the best. "As much as I want you to tell me about your past, or whatever happened last night, I also know how hard it can be to just open up...so, you don't have to tell me right now, but I think that holding secrets from each other is not gonna help you or us right now." She said firmly. God, he loved this woman so much. It wasn't until Castle lifted his head to stare at the sealing that she noticed a small key in his hands.

"You're right." Beckett could see how Castle was grasping at the correct words. "I can't tell you what you want to hear right now." He toyed with the key between his fingers. "I couldn't even tell Burke about whatever it is that's going on with me...but I'll find a way I promise you that." Then, he turned to looked at her. His blue eyes were clouded and stormy almost lost. "The key opens the bottom drawer in my desk." He gave the key to her. "It's the 'Story Graveyard'." Only Castle would have a story graveyard. She almost smiled. "I'm sure you noticed the leather notebook last night. It's in there. I kinda promise Caroline and myself that I'd let you read it. But I have to ask you something in return."

"Anything." Beckett reassured him by holding his hand and looking at the insecurity of his expression.

"Please don't leave me." Her heart broke even more for him. "I promise you that whatever you read or whatever tell you about me, I'm still the Castle you know." His voice broke and a tiny rebel tear escaped his eye. He wiped it quickly. "I promise you I'll do better...I promise you I'll the husband you always wanted...I promise..."

"Castle." Beckett cut him and gently ran her hand through his face and hair. "I'm not leaving remember?" she let out a small smile. "I'm done running from you. You are the one thing I never really knew I wanted." She admitted. "But now that I have you, I'm not letting you go Rick, you hear me?" He looked at her with watery eyes. "I'll be here in anyway you need."

"Thank you Kate." Castle said, letting out a breath he didn't even know he was holding and kissing her deeply.

"Always." She promised. Then she stood up and let Castle with her. "Come on, let get into bed and get some rest. We'll talk in the morning."

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The first thing he felt when his senses came back was some kind of coldness at his back. It was dark and there was an odd metallic smell as if it was steel. Castle tried to lift his arms but couldn't. He soon realized he was completely paralyzed, and yet he could feel everything. Then, a door opened, but it was small and right behind his head and suddenly the platform in which he was lying motionless was being pull by someone. As soon as his eyes adapted to the blinding light the horror, panic and fear crushed against him like being hit by a truck. Looking right down at him was Lanie. He was lying in Lanie's table. He was dead.

How? He didn't remember getting there, let alone dying. However, Lanie wasn't alone. Right next to her was Kate, but the thing that terrified him most was the man at his left. His grey, dead skin was almost matching his dark shirt, all covered in blood. He had a deep gash in his head and a large, sharp piece of glass stuck in his throat. He was almost smiling at Castle. At his misfortune.

"What are you doing here?" Castle asked in vain, for no sound came out of his mouth. He couldn't move and he was slowly starting to feel claustrophobic. Lanie was looking at him almost excited to open him up and Castle felt nauseous. He tried to focus on Kate, but her expression wasn't showing sadness, instead it was...relief? Shit. What the hell was going on?

"Who would've thought..." Lanie said turning to grabbed something from the small tray behind her.

"Lanie what happened to me?" No sound came. His mouth didn't even move. He was growing desperate every minute that went by.

"Rick Castle, crime novelist dead." Beckett said mockingly. "How ironic don't you think?" She turned to the dead man beside her. The man just smiled even wider. Even more evil.

"I'm not dead!" He was really scared now.

"Well I don't think anyone will miss him." Lanie replied almost laughing.

"Yeah, he deserved what he got." What? Beckett never talked like that. Never, in the years she'd known her, she'd actually wished for someone to die. "Such a coward can't have a place among us."

"I didn't do anything!" Castle screamed, but no one seemed to listen. Then as if could get any worse Lanie took the scalpel and start cutting diagonally from his shoulder. "AAAAAHHH!" He felt a deep pain from the cut. "Stop!" Nothing. "Please Lanie!" The dead man was laughing even harder. "STOP!" He begged. "He looked at Kate. "Kate! Make it stop please!" Her expression was cold. It was pointless. He was trapped. The pain was too much...

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He woke up startled. Covered in sweat, Castle sat on the edge of the bed with a sudden urge to throw up. Immediately, he went to the bathroom and leaned on the toilet and threw up everything his stomach had in it. His head was throbbing badly. When he looked himself at the mirror. He was pale and had dark circles under his eyes. His hair was wet from the sweat, just like his T-Shirt. But the thing that caught Castle's attention was a small, red stain near his shoulder. As he pulled the neck of his shirt down, he revealed a medium, superficial gash.

"Shit..." This was not good at all. He peaked at the bedroom and found it empty. Until then Castle hadn't realized that it was actually bright out there. Beckett probably went to work while he was sleeping. He went back at the mirror to clean himself up, showering and putting some tape on the cut.

He got dressed pretty quickly, choosing a dark shirt so that Beckett wouldn't notice the bandage. As he poured himself a cup of coffee, he found a small note from Beckett.

"There's coffee on the counter. Didn't wanna wake you, you looked exhausted. I'll see you at the precinct. Kate."

He grabbed his keys and left the loft.

A/N: More to come soon...