That's right! It's freezer time which means plenty of emotions and devastating flashbacks. (DUN DUN DUN.) It also means that the story will get a bit lighter for a chapter or two before the Gina/Demming issues arrive and the long awaited 'I love you.' Can't wait.
Please keep the reviews coming! They mean so much to me and I'm kinda greedy when it comes to them. Enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or any of the characters.
Chapter 11 - Freezer and the Bomb
Kate woke up in the middle of the night. She'd had an irregular sleeping pattern for a long time before getting shot, but being drugged up on medication didn't help matters. She opened her eyes to find a peacefully sleeping Castle sleeping quietly, his head half hidden by the pillow. She was now under the comforter while he was on the top. Turning over slowly to avoid pain, she was now looking at the alarm clock which read 00:00 in bright red numbers.
"Dispatch, we found the bomb on 55th and 11th."
"Copy. Bomb squad is en route, ETA 3 minutes."
"Dispatch, that's about 2 minutes too late."
Beckett was stood at the rear of a white van, doors flung wide to reveal a dirty bomb with only a minute a half left to go and they had no knowledge of diffusing it. Castle turned round to look at her, his face a picture of devastation.
"Stand by."
That meant sorry, you're screwed.
One option left, call Fallon.
"Fallon."
"Fallon, do you have any idea how to diffuse a bomb?"
"One minute." Castle was staring intently at the timer, decreasing too fast for their liking.
"Where are you?"
"We're at 55th and 11th."
"No, I'd have to see it. Can you send me a picture?"
"Yeah, yeah, hold on."
Beckett took out her phone, and held it towards the rear of the van and sent it to Fallon's phone. Fingers crossed.
"It's uploading right now."
"Forty-five seconds." Castle couldn't keep still. He was visably nervous and who could blame him. She was surprised that she wasn't shaking.
"You got it?"
"Yeah, it opening... It's opening now."
She waiting a few seconds and there was still no answer from him. NOW, she was panicking.
"Fallon?" She couldn't help her voice shaking with fear.
"Hang on!"
"Thirty seconds!"
"Fallon!" She was shouting now, voice still shaking.
"I can't see anything!"
Crap. She'd heard better things in her life.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
16 seconds left. She couldn't speak. The end was here way sooner than she wanted it to be. She had so much to do like finding her mother's murderer, getting married, having kids.
She turned to her partner, mouth open in shock and his face was just as bad.
"Castle..." She whispered. She had so much to say but only his name would leave her mouth in breathy exclamation.
Their hands met and clung together, as though they could hold on to life.
She released a breath from her lungs, and almost smiled at him. She was about to die, but at least she wasn't alone.
She was with the man she l-
The timer stopped. She turned to see Castle with a wad of wires in his hand. The smartass had pulled them and diffused the bomb.
"Oh... Castle!" She turned and hugged him for dear life. Closed her eyes shut and squeezed tightly. Looking towards the bomb, the timer had rested on 00:00 in bright red numbers.
That was close.
Her breathing was heavy and she was shaking. She regretted it as soon as she heard Castle stir beside her. His eyes fluttered open, saw her and his heart broke. She must have had a nightmare.
"Hey, hey. Shhh. It's OK, Kate."
He got under the comforter and rolled her over gently so she was nestled against his side, her arm automatically wrapping itself around his waist. She wasn't crying, but he wasn't a fool in thinking she was fine.
"You in pain?"
She shook her head.
"Nightmare?"
She shook her head again.
"Then what is it? You can tell me."
He put his arms around her shoulders and rested his head on hers, waiting for her to speak. Her breathing had returned to almost normal.
"I... I think I can remember one of the times we almost died." She could feel him tense immediately beneath her.
"Pretty scary, right? So glad we didn't die."
"Can't believe you diffused a bomb." He tensed again, more this time.
"That isn't the one that I have nightmares about."
She lifted her head to look at him. "What could be worse than being blown up?"
He severed eye contact and took a shaky breath.
"Freezing to death." He didn't stop talking to listen to her input. He wanted to get this over with. Like ripping off a bandaid. "I got us kicked off the case and we went rogue. We figured out that Jamal, the victims cousin, was a red herring and we went to find the guy who did it. We found the bomb, but we were shot at before we could call it in and our only escape was to go through a door into one of the containers, which was stupid of us, because the door closed and locked and we were in a storage freezer with Jamal's body frozen solid at the back. We had no phone signal and no way of getting out or turning down the temperature. We huddled together to keep warmer, but it didn't work. You passed out and I thought you'd died in my arms. Next thing I remember is sitting in an ambulance, a blanket wrapped around me, looking up at the doctor."
He decided it was better not to mention that the doctor had been Josh.
"Ryan and Esposito had found us after Alexis couldn't get hold of us. Of course, their first suspicion was that we were rolling about in bed somewhere." He tried to joke to lift the mood a little. It worked a little as Kate chuckled and smiled a little.
"If only they could see us now."
They were silent for a few minutes and Kate thought Castle had fallen asleep until he began to whisper.
"I came home and bought so many blankets and stored them. I know it's unlikely that I'll ever need them, but whenever I shiver, I remember the freezer and I automatically reach for a blanket and curl up in it. It's kind of like my safe place now. You're welcome to share it if you ever feel cold here. I have a big fire in the front room as well. Alexis and my mother are used to me turning it on in the middle of the night at the slightest shiver. I just can't go back there. There was no pain while we were in there, we were just numb, but in that case, being numb was so much worse, thinking you'll never feel again. That I'll never be able to hug my daughter, high-five the guys at the Precinct and I'd never get the chance to make you roll your eyes at me again." He looked down at her to meet her gaze. "What? It's cute. Just promise me that if you want to talk about it, you'll come to me. Even if it's just to share a coffee in silence. I know you're not exactly the hug type."
"Not really. Only with my dad and Alexis, but I don't get the choice when it comes to her. She bombardes me, but I like it. Reminds me that someone cares."
Her eyes were drooping shut ever so slowly.
"We all care, Kate. Besides, you may not be a hugger, but I'm guessing you're a closet cuddler?"
But Kate didn't hear him. She was already asleep.
And she was about to find out what Castle meant by nightmare.
"Can't feel anything" Beckett was trapped in a industrial sized freezer, sat on the floor with her back to Castle, his arm wrapped around her to share the little warmth they had left. They'd been there for a good while and they were shivering uncontrollably. "I always thought, being a cop, I'd take a bullet." She paused again. Her silence filled with Castle's labored breathing behind her. "I never thought I'd freeze to death."
"Hey. W-We're not dead yet." He, too, had little faith but he had to hope. He was speaking in a whisper, close to her ear where she could hear him and feel his breath in her hair.
"I just wish this was one of your books and you could re-write the ending." She regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth. It sounded as though she was implying that it was his fault that they were trapped. And that most certainly wasn't the case at all.
"I-I'm-I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"F-f-for being m-me." She sighed whilst listening to him speak. "For going rogue, for getting you into... into this. If we hadn't gone on our own, we..."
"Shhhh... Castle. No. OK... Shh.." She took a deep breath. "You were right. We found the bomb. We were just too late, OK?" She couldn't face it anymore. Letting out another shiver, she slowly turned into his body so her head was leaning on the front of his shoulder, still tightly encased by his weakening arms. He rested his cheek on her forehead, comforting not just her, but himself.
"Castle..." She was quieter now, and she was struggling to stay conscious. But she had to tell him before she slipped. She reached her fingers up to touch his chin lightly, whilst he looked down at her. "Thank you. For being there." Her hands dropped to a loose hold on the lapel of his icy jacket.
"Always." He had a slight smile on his face, even if it wasn't the right time to be particularly happy.
Gathering the rest of her strength she managed to form part of a sentence.
"I just want you to know how much I l-...
"Kate... Stay with-"
Black.
She woke again. It was still night, and she couldn't prevent the shiver. She turned into Castle even more to steal his warmth. She pulled the comforter up to her chin and settled into his arms for the night.
