Hello, readers...well September 24th is getting closer...Our girl is in trouble, yet again...now what?

Enjoy...let me know what you think

As always, my thanks the magnificent trio I call my friends...

XXOO,

Melody

Kate's head was throbbing, the room was spinning, and her eyes wouldn't focus. Her hands were above her head, fastened to the wall and an intense pain in her left arm prevented any movement. Her left eye was nearly swollen shut, and blood ran down the side of her face dripping onto her chest. Looking down she realized she was naked from the waist up. Shit, she was in trouble.

Her lips were swollen, caked with dried blood and she worked to moisten them. Any attempt to move elicited a painful groan. Everything hurt, and there was no way to get comfortable. She tried to move her feet, but they too were restrained, attached to the wall.

Kate was exposed and at someone's mercy. She raised her head to look at her surroundings. Where was she? Maybe it was a warehouse, she couldn't tell. Her body continued shivering from cold, along with the severity of her situation.

Out of the corner of her eye, she detected movement, and moments later a voice, greeted her. "My, my Detective, you are a sound sleeper. I thought you would never wake up."

The person attached to the voice came closer, his features initially blurry, but as her vision focussed she recognized him as the storage attendant, why had he attacked her?

"What do you want, asshole." Kate demanded, her voice raspy, yet trying to keep it even and controlled. He was lustfully staring at her chest which unnerved her, accentuating her vulnerability.

"You haven't figured it out yet? Tsk, tsk, tsk, some Detective you are!" he ran his finger down the right side of her face. "I'm disappointed. You're not as tough as I thought you'd be, though you did give me a decent blow. You may call me Cole Maddox, it's not my real name, but it will suffice." Maddox was smirking, thrilled with his power over Beckett.

His hand ran down her face and onto her chest, slowly circling the scar in the middle of her chest and ultimately tracing the surgical remnants on her left side.

Oh my God, her vision glued to his face as Kate realised that this is the bastard that shot her, made her life hell. Rage grew inside her and she struggled against her restraints. Her emotional pain, along with the urge to lash out at him was more pronounced than the physical pain she was experiencing.

Maddox rested his hand on the middle of her chest, on his bulls' eye, and a sick, satisfied smile spread on his face.

"You should be dead, you cheated me once, but you won't again." His words were full of venom; he was determined to finish what he'd started.

Kate was compelled to strike out at him and her anger spurred her on. She jerked her head forward, butted him in the nose and blood erupted all over his face. He howled in pain, clutched his face and glared at her. Maddox took his free hand and backhanded her across her left cheek and drove his fist into her left side.

Pain consumed Kate, her vision blurred, but she refused to pass out, gritting her teeth as she willed herself to remain conscious.

"Untie me and we'll see who walks away, jackass." Her fury kept her focused on him, she wanted him dead and this desire was driving her forward.

"Wow, you do have guts. I strangled you while you were unconscious, but decided I wanted to watch your eyes as your life ebbed away. So how shall we end this, Detective?" His face was rubbing up against hers. "I could put a bullet through your skull, but that's too quick. I could slit your throat and watch you drown in your own blood. The options are enticing. Or, I could release you and see how long you can withstand more physical punishment, ultimately beating you to death. Which is it to be?"

He loved this part, emotionally abusing his prey. He licked his lips, she was a beauty. Fierce, determined and even with no chance of survival, she met his stare, not backing down.

He made his decision, and removed his knife from the sheath and cut the restraints on her ankles and her thighs. He trapped her body to the wall, leaned into her, thinking what a magnificent creature she was as he rubbed against her chest. With her pinned underneath him, he cut her arm restraints.

Maddox immediately stepped back and marvelled as Kate's body dropped to the floor like a rag doll, not much fight left in her. She struggled, moaned and groaned as she endeavoured to support her weight, finally managing a crouched position, her left arm screaming and useless and she planned her next option. She would have only one move and it better be good or she was dead.

She pushed her body forward, aiming towards his legs. He was ready, braced as she valiantly tried to encircle his legs and pull him down. Her effort had failed and her head was yanked back by her hair.

Kate stared up into his cold face, ready to die. "Rick", she murmured, her voice soft and resigned, as she closed her eyes.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The sound of a gun firing erupted in her head, her body falling in a heap and she squinted up at Maddox's head as the exploding parts rained everywhere. The thud of his body hitting the ground brought her back to reality, she hadn't been shot, Maddox had.

She couldn't move, the pain and overwhelming sense of the relief kept her on the warehouse floor. Kate heard voices, his voice. Castle was here and she was alive.

Rick's arms encircled her and lifted her to his chest. He wrapped some material around her to cover her exposed torso and stood with her in his arms.

Words failed them both, he dove his head into her hair, but she was too weak to lift her arms and both of them stood trembling in relief.

Rick exited the building with Kate safely in his arms and stepped into a waiting ambulance.

Her eyes remained closed, her body still and she said nothing during the entire trip to the hospital. If he hadn't felt her breath on his cheek, he would've believed she had died. The medics wanted to examine her, but he wouldn't release her. She was safe only in his arms.

Once they were in the trauma bay, he gently laid her on the gurney. The nurses and doctors rapidly began cutting off her clothes, examining her, shouting out orders and cleaning off the blood.

Kate's naked body was splayed on the gurney, even to his unprofessional eye he saw the severity of the injuries she had incurred before she was covered with a sheet. She had bruises, scraps, cuts and swelling everywhere.

Rick was transfixed and couldn't look away, his warrior was hurt again and his heart was broken.

The hospital staff tried to make him leave, but he firmly refused, there was no way he was leaving her. As his adrenalin level waned, his injured side woke up. He reached down and his hand came away with blood on it. He had opened up his wound, but he didn't care, his wound could be fixed later.

Kate started fighting the nurses and doctors, moaning and trying to get up, her one eye open, looking around frantically for an escape route. Her struggles lessened as she spied Rick. Her movement was restricted by the nurses and doctors, she mouthed, "Rick!" as her body succumbed to their examination.

Rick longed to touch her, to comfort her, but realized that the medical team needed to care for her, his time would come. A familiar voice rang out as the trauma door opened.

"Jesus, Rick, this has got to stop. One of you is going to die!" Steve vocalized as he moved to Kate's side. He listened to the nurses and doctors update and indicated she needed an emergency scan of her entire body. He ordered some additional pain medicine and sedation. He leaned over and whispered in her ear for several moments.

Rick wasn't able to hear his words, but Kate's restlessness stilled and he thought he detected a slight head nod from her. Soon her gurney was being moved to the radiology department for diagnostic tests.

Steve walked alongside her gurney, stopped momentarily to comfort Rick. "I'll stay with her, I think she'll be Ok. We'll know more after the X-rays."

Rick grazed his hand on Kate's shoulder as the gurney passed him. He longed to pick her up and take her home, but knew that would have to wait. Steve would take care of her.

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After what seemed like an eternity, the gurney carrying Kate returned to the trauma bay.

She was very still on the gurney and this scared Rick. He moved towards her, but Steve halted his progress.

"Let them work on her while you and I talk, come on. Let me show you the X-rays."

"Why is she not moving?" Ricks voice panicky.

"I drugged the hell out of her. She kept moving in the scanner, making it impossible to get good pictures." Steve ended his words with a chuckle, remembering how uncooperative she could be.

They proceeded into the X-ray viewing room and Steve illuminated the various films and began describing Kate's injuries.

"She has a concussion, which is no surprise, but no bleeding on the brain. The bastard broke her left cheek and cracked her mandible. I've asked a plastic surgeon to look at her cheek, mandible and close the lacerations on her face.

Her neck is bruised where he strangled her for some time and will be sore, but hopefully no serious injuries. I'm going to ask a specialist to look at her throat, specifically her larynx, just to be sure.

Both her ulna and radius on her left lower arm are broken. It looks like she took a direct hit from some sort of rigid object. Fortunately it's a fairly clean break with no nerve or artery injury. The orthopaedic team will cast the arm and it should heal in 6 weeks.

The attacker really beat on the left side of her torso and broke four ribs on that side. He was certainly trying to inflict damage to that side. Her spleen and kidney on the left side, both have a grade 1 laceration, fortunately these injuries will heal with bed rest. She'll have a lot of pain as well as difficulty breathing and will probably pee blood on and off, but that to will stop with time.

Steve shook his head as he finished. "Where is that guy now?" Steve was furious and disgusted that one human being would do this to another.

"Later Steve, I can't talk about it now. Trust me, he won't hurt her again," Castle's voice firm and deadly.

"Rick, let me look at your side. You're bleeding."

"After I know if Kate's okay. I want to go back in there."

Steve could tell Rick was too distressed to be treated so he led him back into the treatment room.

As they returned to the treatment area, Rick could tell the medical team had been busy. They have inserted an IV into her uninjured arm as well as a catheter in her bladder to drain her urine. Steve had been right, her urine was bloody. Even though Steve had told him his would happen, Rick frowned and continued to worry.

He watched as the Orthopaedic surgeons manipulated her left arm. Even though she was sedated and they had numbed the arm, a moan escaped and she grimaced. Rick tried to get close to her, but Steve held him at bay.

"Let them do their job, she won't remember this."

"Yeah, but I will." Rick was running his hands through his hair.

Once the arm was set, an X-ray was taken to ensure it was in the correct position and the head of Orthopaedics came over to explain the procedure.

"Mr Castle, we were able to realign the bones without having to put a plate or screws in the bones. The bones should heal nicely and with rehab, Detective Beckett should regain full function of her arm."

"Thank you." Rick just wanted the doctors to leave her alone, but he knew they weren't finished.

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The plastic surgeon entered, came over and talked to Steve and Rick.

"I just reviewed her films. Her cheek bone is slightly cracked and doesn't need any surgery. It will be good as new in six weeks, just keep her from boxing." He laughed, not realizing keeping Kate in line may not be that simple.

"I'll stitch up the various lacerations, she'll still be a stunner with very little scarring. Since I'm here I can also go ahead and stabilize her mandible fracture. I think I can avoid having to wire the jaw shut. She won't be able to chew for six weeks and she'll have lots of pain. The most difficult part is the potential weight loss. Most people lose around ten to fifteen percent of their body weight. Looking at her, I'm not sure she can afford to lose that much." He chuckled while both Steve and Rick groaned. Getting Kate to eat was always a challenge.

The specialist came to examine her throat and larynx. He placed an instrument down her throat to visualize the damage. He called Steve over to look at her throat.

"What's wrong?" Rick asked concerned over the latest doctor.

"It looks like Kate's larynx is bruised and the nerve may be slightly damaged." Steve let the specialist answer.

"So, what does that mean?" Rick was getting tired of the Doctors sticking tubes in Kate, causing her further discomfort.

"Her voice will be hoarse and weak. It may be difficult for her to swallow and painful to talk. She should really avoid talking for an extended period of time."

Rick snorted in disgust. "You obviously don't know Detective Beckett very well. Her being quiet maybe a problem." He shook his head and looked at Kate. "No, let me rephrase that, it will be impossible."

The Specialist nodded and responded. "Then she will be in pain and her words will be difficult to understand. The injury will only be temporary, but the more she fights it, the longer it will take to heal."

The various doctors finally finished with Kate and Rick could relax some. It killed him to watch anyone cause Kate discomfort, even though it was in her best interest. He started to move towards her, when Steve grabbed his arm.

"Time to check you out big guy."

"I'm fine." Rick wanted nothing to do with Steve messing with his side.

"When you get your medical degree then you can decide, until then, sit down."

Rick undid his shirt, allowing Steve access to his injury.

"Jeez, Rick, what the hell happened? This is almost as bad as it was originally." Steve directed the nurses to get more cleaning solution and suture material.

"I asked you what happened?" Steve was clearly annoyed with his friend.

"When we found out Kate was in trouble, I ran out of the precinct, hit the side a couple of times, trying to hurry. Felt it pull and when I picked Kate up and carried her out, it tore open, but I didn't care. I was only thinking about Kate."

"Now we're back to ground zero with this injury. You'll need another week to heal properly."

"I can't promise you that. Once Kate is stable, she'll want to go home. I'll need to take care of her, you know that."

"Damn it, you two are so frustrating. It's in both of your best interests to stay here for a week. I can get her a huge private room with another bed, couches, etc. It will be like home."

"You know how crazy she gets being in a hospital. I won't put her through that." Rick was digging his heels in.

"Calm down, right now she's not going anywhere. She'll sleep most of the night plus we'll give her something to keep her under control. I'm going to get that room and make sure you're both settled in for the night, you understand?"

"Whatever." The nursing staff had finished dressing Rick's wound and he moved to be near Kate.

Rick gazed down at his battered love, tears running down his face. She was sedated and quiet. He leaned over and rubbed his nose in her hair. The events of the day were weighing him down.

"Kate, please let me know you hear me, I...need...to…know". Ricks face was next to Kate's as he whispered in her ear. Kate turned her face into his and mumbled something unintelligible.

"That's my girl. Now don't fight the drugs. Everything will be Okay, I promise." He stroked Kate's face relieved that she was able to understand.

So, what did you think? I love comments...