Disclaimer: No, I don't. I own all the Nikki Heat books and season 1-4 on DVD...signed Nathan Fillion photo, signed print of Beckett's apartment, signed note from Andrew and Terri, season 6 crew hat...does any of that count? No? Okay.

A/N: So I really hate hiatus...of any kind. At all. I really can't wait till January. In the meantime, re-runs. And lots of fanfic. Speaking of which, you probably want me to shut up since I'm evil and left you with a cliffhanger. Yep. Shutting up. Carry on, and pretty please review. After this, one more chapter. :)

Chapter 10

"NO!" Kate cried. "No, no, Rick, please," she begged. "Please, no. Oh, god. Castle, please, please stay with me. Don't die on me, Rick."

"Just then, the door to the stairway banged open and Rachel McCord came flying in, followed closely by a medic.

"Rachel, he's unconscious," Kate called out, completely unable to keep the fear from her voice.

"Agent Beckett, just let me get a HAZMAT suit on and I'll come in to administer the antidote," said the medic.

"No!" Kate objected. "There isn't time for that! My fiancé is dying!" She gently eased out from under him and bolted to the door.

"Give me the damn antidote now," she demanded. "Don't you dare argue, give it to me right now." She held out her hand. When the medic just stared at her, she groaned in frustration and wrenched the filled syringe out of his hand and raced back to Castle. She knelt next to him and gently turned his hand over, giving her access to his wrist. She eased the needle into his vein and plunged the syringe, administering the medication. She extracted the needle and was pressing a piece of gauze to his wrist when two very strong pairs of hands seized her from behind. she turned to see that two men in HAZMAT suits were pulling her away.

"What the hell are you doing?" she snapped.

"Agent Beckett, you have to come with us," one of them said. "You've been exposed, we have to get to get you out of here right now."

"No!" she objected. "I'm not leaving!"

But it seemed she didn't really have a choice. Kate fought tooth and nail, but the HAZMAT guys overpowered her. They pulled her from the room, and, even as she protested, re-tested her for the toxin.

It was negative.

When she went back to the room, she stood outside. The HAZMAT guys were now crowded around the bed, blocking Rick from view.

"What are they doing?" she asked Rachel.

"They're inserting an IV and hooking up a monitor," she replied.

"Can I go in?" Kate asked.

"No. You didn't get exposed this time, but they're not willing to let you take that risk again. In a few hours, he won't be contagious anymore and then you can stay with him all you want when they move him to a regular room." Kate really wanted to argue but she just didn't have the energy.

"Fine," she sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair and sank back into her chair. She rested her head in her hands and let out a shaky breath.

"Is he going to be okay, Rachel?" she asked quietly. Her eyes met McCord's, the green-hazel irises scared and seeking, needing to know that her fiancé would be okay.

"He should be. We got it in time," Rachel said. Beckett closed her eyes briefly, a sort of guarded relief coursing through her veins. She wouldn't allow herself to be completely relieved until he could look at her with those sparkling eyes and assure her that he would be okay.

"You alright?" McCord asked.

"No, Rachel. I'm not. I just sat with my fiancé for three hours while he became increasingly sick, to the point where he was screaming into my shoulder. He was curled up in my arms, shaking and crying. He couldn't stop saying my name, crying for me, begging me to make it stop. He looked straight at me and told me he could not see me. He said that he couldn't see me, that I was all fuzzy. He was throwing up to the point that he was dry heaving. I could feel his constricting muscles under my hand. I watched him cough blood and there was nothing I could do about it. I saw the lights in his eyes disappear right in front of me. I felt him go limp in my arms. So no, Rachel, I am not alright." There was silence for a moment.

"If you need anything, just call me, alright?" Rachel said softly. Kate nodded wordlessly.

"Let me know when he wakes up," McCord said before walking away. Kate just watched.

When, finally, the HAZMAT-suited people moved, Kate could see Castle again. Her breath caught in her throat. They'd adjusted him so that he was lying back on the inclined mattress, the blankets having been re-situated so that they were lying smooth around him. He was hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor, which was beeping steadily. Kate sat and watched him for almost two hours. She was about to fall asleep, so she got up reluctantly and sought out coffee, determined to stay awake until he woke up. finally, she found some, and sat down at a little table to drink it. Before she had taken even two sips, she'd fallen aslepp, her head resting on her arms on the table