I'm so sorry I haven't updated in weeks - real life tended to interfere. To make it up, I will be posting another chapter today.

Their final moments of their relatively short lives were interrupted rather rudely. Kate jerked her head up at the loud banging echoing in the shed, and a wave of dizziness shrouded her, causing her to blink back down at the ground. She didn't know what was going on. Those red numbers blinking in the muted light were all she could see. 6:07…6:04…5:58…

The banging sound increased, making her grit her teeth. The blow she had sustained from their attacker was thrumming, sending a fresh wave of pain. Kate was beaten, dehydrated, and was all but ready to collapse to the ground. Only the ropes encircling her wrists held her up.

Shouts were coming from outside. Her fatigued body barely registered the noise. Castle was saying something but she couldn't hear. Muted words escaped his lips but it was like she was underwater, her brain enveloped in a blanket of fog. She could read his expression though. Panicked at first. Then, cautious. Then a flicker of something similar to hope ran across his features.

Noises were all around her now. People shouting and moving and barking out orders. But she was tired. So, so tired. The ropes were rubbing her wrists raw and a jackhammer was pounding inside her skull and those red numbers were engraved inside her eyelids and why were there so many people here?

"Beckett! Beckett, can you hear me?" That voice sounded familiar. That face looked familiar too. Ryan. That was it. Ryan was talking to her.

"She looks like she's about to hit the floor any minute." Ryan said to someone peering at her over his shoulder. Esposito. That was him.

"Beckett, I'm going to untie you now. Just hold still." Ryan carefully began sawing through. Esposito was doing the same to Castle.

She opened her mouth, maybe to draw in a breath, maybe to thank him, but all she could manage was a single syllable word. "B-bomb?"

"Don't worry. We're working on it." Ryan tried to act nonchalant but even her exhausted self could sense his anxiety radiating from him.

"Castle?" Kate murmured.

A reply came from her left. "Right here, Kate. I'm right here." Her muscles relaxed a centimeter and a tiny twinge of optimism flared up inside her. Castle was with her. Everything was going to be fine.

"Time?" Esposito yells.

"Less than two minutes!" comes a shout back.

"Plenty of time," Ryan murmurs. The bonds finally come free, pooling at her feet, and she stands up shakily. And almost collapses again.

"Whoa there, boss." Ryan wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled her back up shakily. Her legs felt like jelly. Her body felt worse. A metronome was beating inside her head, probably the result of a concussion. A thin slice of blood dribbled out of the gash on Castle's arm.

"Who's the guy?" Kate murmurs, jerking her head back in the direction of the bomb.

Ryan allows her lean on him and grunts, "Dylan Young. Bomb squad."

Esposito and Castle aren't that far behind them, all four of them hobbling painfully towards the door, which is how they overhear Castle's mumble, "How did you find us?"

"You can thank your daughter for that. Poor girl came to us crying about her dad is probably dead because of a bomb by now. Told us that Maddox had called her a few minutes ago." Esposito recites.

"Daughter of Year," Castle chuckles wearily, dry humor wetting his lips.

They could see the paramedics lined up in front of the door, ready to take them to the hospital. Behind them, a cloud-spat blue sky peeks out. A helicopter is perched on a makeshift landing pad Kate almost had forgotten they were on the roof, almost doubling over at the sight.

Maddox, of course, is no where in sight.

"Shaw?"

"Waiting outside."

Ryan tightens his grip on her. "Almost there, boss. Just hang on."

"Time!" Esposito roars.

Dylan Young, the man who had been assigned to deactivate the bomb, stares up at them with just a hint of panic. "Ten seconds."

"Did you get it or not?" Ryan yells.

Young flashes him a glare. "I just need two more seconds to –"

That's when the bomb goes off early.

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