The next seven days went by exceedingly slow for Kate. She was always home because Captain Montgomery made her take time off, and she needed it. Not for her sake, but for Rory's. She honestly didn't trust the girl alone by herself, even though she mainly stayed in her room all day. Music was normally played at a medium volume, which made her check in every half hour or so. She was paranoid that something bad would happen and the music would cover it.

The psychiatrist – Cheryl – that Kate literally had to force Rory to see, hadn't gotten anything out of her yet. Kate knew that would happen, that Rory would just clam up, but she really hoped for some sort of eventual breakthrough. Anything to find out what was going on in her daughter's head.

It felt like that time Kate had to take Rory to a child psychiatrist to see why she was misbehaving so badly. Around four years old, Rory was bouncing off the walls with no sugary foods in her system. She was getting so frustrated with nothing and acting out with anger. Kate couldn't handle it on her own, though she tried, so she asked her dad what she should do and he called around to see what it could be. Her little girl had, and still has, ADHD. Of course she didn't want to believe it. Didn't want to think that her daughter had an attention disorder, but once she had medications, it made a huge impact.

But this was different. Rory's ADHD wasn't even apparent in her behaviors lately, which was really strange. Even with medication, if anyone knew Rory, they could still notice the symptoms. Maybe not as much without the stimulants, but enough.

Kate just closed the book she bought thirteen years ago when she was told Rory had the disorder. She drummed her thumbs on the cover because she just read that teens with ADHD tend to abuse alcohol and drugs. This was completely true with Rory. She never would have guessed that Rory was self-medicating, she honestly thought she was just acting out. And there was the possibility that the alcoholism her father had carried on to Rory. She really hoped not because she could not go through that again, never.

Since Kate had an itch on her wrist, she looked down to carefully scratch under her watch. When she noticed the time, she sat upright on the couch and stood up. Almost an hour passed from reading and she hadn't checked on Rory since then.

Once in front of Rory's bedroom, she placed her hand over the handle and twisted it to find that it was locked. Panic hit her faster than any other time, which caused her to pound her fist on the door.

"Mallorie, open the door," she nervously demanded, attempting to turn the handle again. She was about to yell some more until she heard a click. Once she pushed the door open a little and saw Rory sitting back on the bed with three sketchbooks, her eyebrow quirked up. "What are you doing?"

Rory shook her head and closed the sketchbook in front of her. She placed it on top of the others before climbing back under the blanket to lay down.

"Why don't you come out of your room for a little while?" Kate questioned as she sat on the foot of the bed.

No reply.

"We could go for a walk in Central Park."

Rory slowly inhaled, trying to manage a coherent sentence. "Doctor said you can't do that."

"I feel good enough to go to Central Park," Kate blatantly lied. "I've been walking around the house perfectly fine." This was the first time Rory actually spoke today and she wanted to keep it up. Maybe she'd get something out of her, a hint about why she had been so off and distant.

"No," Rory said with an exhausted sigh.

"Rory, it's fine. I think I'm healed enough to walk around for a little while." She watched Rory turn onto her side and place her hand over the ear that wasn't on the pillow. Rory's eyes were squeezed shut, causing her to become incredibly confused. What was her daughter hearing that she couldn't? "Come on," she eventually said, placing her hand on Rory's arm to pull her into a sitting position. She noticed how messy her hair was. "How long has it been since you showered?" She touched her daughter's hair to find it incredibly greasy. "Jesus, Rory."

"What?" Rory questioned, confusion apparent in her voice.

"Go shower, okay?"

"Okay." Rory slid off the bed and sluggishly headed out the door.

"Aren't you going to bring a change of clothes with you?" Kate asked, even though it was too late since Rory was already in the bathroom.

She got off the bed and slowly moved to the closet. When she opened it, she found that there were no dirty clothes in the hamper. Before overanalyzing what she just saw, she grabbed a shirt off a hanger and walked over to the dresser. She pulled open the top drawer for her daughter's clean underwear and the third drawer for a pair of shorts. Then, she carefully headed to the bathroom and opened the door to find Rory sitting cross-legged on the toilet.

"Aren't you going to shower?" Kate questioned as she set the clothes on the sink.

"Right," Rory replied, getting onto her feet and over to the shower.

Kate watched her daughter turn the water on before stepping out of the bathroom. She walked as fast as she could to her room, not wanting to pull on her newest wound like she did a few times. She picked up her laptop and opened it up. Once on Google, she searched mood disorders. She read through most of them until her eyes couldn't focus on the letters anymore and she heard the shower turn off. After shutting her laptop, she dragged her feet to the bathroom and leaned against the wall next to the doorway, patiently waiting.

Within the next few minutes, Rory walked out of the bathroom and directly to her room, ignoring her mom the whole time.

Kate followed her and watched her climb into bed. "I really wish you would trust and talk to me."

"I can't," Rory whispered as she looked up at her tapestry tacked to the ceiling. "I can't."

Kate hurried over to the bed and sat down by her daughter. "Why can't you, Rory?" She took a large and deep inhale. "Do you want to see Trevor?" Rory's head immediately turned toward her. "I'll let him come over. I want to go get a few things from the store since we are running out of stuff to eat and drink. I'll let you two be alone for a very short amount of time."

Rory slowly sat up against her headboard, keeping her eyes glued onto her mom's. She hadn't seen Trevor in days. She couldn't find the right state of mind to say something to him. There honestly was nothing to talk about and she knew he would question her actions.

"Call him," Kate murmured as she ran her hand down Rory's hair. "I'll wait to leave until he's here. And since you're more alert, I might visit a friend, giving you guys even more time. That's a maybe, though."

…..

Trevor finished putting his wallet and phone back in his pocket when the apartment door closed. He understood why Ms. Beckett asked him to empty his pockets because she didn't want Rory using drugs and honestly, neither did he. At least not when she was in her recent state of mind. He thought the drugs and alcohol made it worse, though Rory thought it helped block something…

He picked up the piece of paper on the table and looked at the number Ms. Beckett wrote down. It was her cell phone and the address that she would most likely be at if she wasn't home in an hour. He smiled when he saw Castle's name in parentheses. It was obvious Rory didn't want her mom with anyone and given her condition, he could comprehend her feelings. With his mom and stepdad, he didn't want anyone else in the picture for a while, he needed more time to heal, but Dave was a good man. He cared and so did Castle.

After placing the piece of paper in his back pocket, he headed to Rory's room. Upon pushing the door completely open, he noticed her cutting pictures out of magazines.

"Hey, beautiful," he said just above a whisper. "What are you doing?"

Rory frantically put all the cut out magazine pictures into one of her sketchbooks and closed it. She pushed the books to the edge of her bed before turning her head toward Trevor.

"Alright?" he questioned as he took a seat by her legs. When he got a small smile from Rory, he leaned in and gently kissed her, sensing her need for closeness. "How come you haven't been answering my texts?"

"Busy," she answered with a continuous nod. She stopped moving her head when she noticed his worried stare. "Making something."

"What have you been making? Can I see?"

"Not yet," she whispered and shook her head. She slammed her hand on one of her sketchbooks when he attempted to open it.

"I promise I won't judge."

"No."

"Okay. Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"Want to get something for me?"

"Sure, what?"

Her fingers slowly trailed up his arm and onto his shoulder. His eyes followed her fingers until they were no longer in his view. She lightly played with the hairs at the nape of his neck. She leaned toward his ear and breathlessly spoke. "Booze."

He carefully grabbed her wrist and pulled the hand that was giving him chills to her side. "No, Rory. That stuff only made you worse."

"No, it fucking didn't," she furiously growled.

"Yes, it did. And I'm sorry, but I can't just get that for you."

"Fuck off, then."

He paused, trying to make sense of her sudden anger. "Don't say that," he spoke in a sorrowful manner.

"Fuck off." She intensely glared at him, anger and disappointment apparent in her eyes and voice.

Trevor hesitantly got off the bed and slowly receded to the door. "I love you, Rory and I can't let you drink when you're in this mental state of mind."

"Get out," Rory hostilely screamed, pointing to the door. When Trevor was out of her room, she threw herself onto her pillow and pulled the covers over her head.

Nobody understood her.

Trevor stayed next to Rory's bedroom door for a few minutes. He knew she was only angry because something was going on in her head that she wouldn't voice aloud. He knew she loved him, but it was really hard to believe it after she yelled at him like that. But he knew it was something that would pass, at least he hoped.

As he walked out of the apartment and down the stairs, he opened his phone to the picture of him and Rory on the trampoline at his uncle's. She was so lively and positive then.

What the hell happened in such a short amount of time?

Once he was outside and had been walking around for a while, he made a random right turn and his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out to see that he had a new text from Rory and it was a video. He glanced around to find that he was kind of surrounded by people, so he stepped off to the side to watch the video.

Rory's phone looked like it was set on her computer desk while she recorded it. He had to turn the volume up and pay close attention since her voice was so quiet and low. When her words finally registered, he almost dropped the phone.

He just listened to her goodbye forever message.

At an immense speed, he pulled out the crumpled up paper out of his back pocket. He was about to dial the number until he saw that he was close to the address. Without any thought as to the crowd, he ran.

It took him quite a while to find the correct address and when he did, he ran up to the doorman. "Does a Richard Castle live here?"

"Yes. May I ask who's wishing to visit him?"

"Please, this is a life or death situation. I need to speak with the woman that arrived here not too long ago. She came to visit him. Please," Trevor spoke so fast that he wasn't sure as to what he just said. His eyes were already filled with tears that illustrated his fear and he need to get to Ms. Beckett.

"Alright, alright." The doorman held the door open for Trevor and he ran inside.

Instead of waiting for an elevator, he sprinted up the stairs, taking two at a time. When he was on the correct floor that the piece of paper had, he opened the door and stepped into an empty hall. It took too long for his liking to find the correct apartment number and when he did, he basically pounded on the door until it opened.

"Trevor?" Castle questioned with a slightly raised eyebrow. He could see the boy's tears in his eyes, so he attempted to usher him inside.

"I need to show Ms. Beckett this video," Trevor replied, unlocking his phone to the video and hovering his thumb over the play button.

"Beckett," Castle said over his shoulder.

Within seconds, Kate was at the door. She took a quick glimpse of Castle before stepping closer to Trevor.

"What's wrong?" she asked since she could sense his distress.

"I was closer to here then your place. Just watch it," Trevor nervously whispered. He pressed the play button and held his phone out to Ms. Beckett and Castle. Once it ended, he looked up to see panicked expressions on both of them.

"Let's go," Castle said because he could tell Kate was still trying to wrap her mind around what she just saw and he knew she couldn't find her voice.

…..

Kate roughly pushed the apartment door open and dropped her purse on the floor. Her abdominal wound was really hurting, but she would worry about it after she got to Rory.

Once in front of her Rory's room, she quickly opened the door to find nobody in sight. She spun around to see Castle and Trevor directly behind her. Then, she stepped further into the room and noticed cut out magazine photos scattered on the floor and the sketchbooks Rory had earlier opened.

"I'll go look in the other rooms," Trevor anxiously announced before taking off.

"What are these?" Kate questioned herself aloud as she turned the sketchbook pages. All the photographs didn't make any sense to her. It was Castle's slight gasp that made her attention go on him. "What?"

"Every single one of these," Castle speedily murmured, turning the pages in one of the sketchbooks. "Every picture and word has to do with death."

Just like that, Kate's heart plummeted to the bottom of her stomach. Her breathing quickly picked up speed until her eyes fell on a liquor bottle. She reached for it and grabbed onto it, regretting the motion because of her scar. It was a half empty bottle of vodka.

"Mallorie!" she yelled with a lot of terror in her voice. She was about to stand back on her feet until Castle's arm was on her shoulder.

"I think she's under the bed," Castle spoke at a small whisper, afraid he might frighten Rory if she was where he thought her to be.

Kate glanced back at him before bending down on all fours. She slowly lowered herself, so she could look under the foot of the bed. When Rory was in her view, a huge wave of relief washed over her.

"Mallorie, what's going on?"

"I didn't-" Trevor silenced himself when he saw Castle's hand up in his direction. He nodded his head, showing that he understood to be silent.

"They're out there," Rory distantly stated, curling herself more into a ball than she already was.

"Who's out here?" Kate questioned with a lot of confusion.

"They're after me."

"Who?"

"Them. Something bad will happen."

Kate watched as Rory brought her hands to her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. If only her daughter was a little closer, she would attempt to pull her out. Looked like words were her only tool. "Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise."

"You don't know that!" Rory screamed, causing Kate to be startled. "They don't talk to you! They are after me. They always have been," she stammered as tears started to slide out of her eyes. "It's almost time," she mumbled to herself, but loud enough for Kate to hear.

"Almost time for what?" Kate nervously asked as she bit down on her bottom lip. Her daughter was scaring the living hell out of her, but she needed to keep her talking. She needed to know what was going on.

"The end," Rory nonchalantly answered, bringing her eyes onto her mom.

"Whose?"

"Mine."

Words were swarming around in Kate's mind, but she couldn't find the ability to form a coherent statement with them. Her daughter just admitted that her death was coming soon. How was she supposed to respond to that?

"Your end is not coming," Castle replied when he saw the look on Kate's face. He leaned down, so he could see Rory. "None of us will let that happen. Your mom, Trevor, your grandpa, and me, we won't let anything bad happen to you."

"I can't fight them," Rory cried, looking into her mom's eyes. "I can't."

"We will help you," Castle protectively replied. "Where is this all happening, Rory?" He noticed Kate's quick glance and a thank smile.

When there was no reply, Trevor finally decided to speak up.

"It's happening inside her head." All eyes, except Rory's were on him, which made it harder for him to explain. "This sort of conversation, um, happened at my cousin's when we ran off together. It wasn't this scary, though."

"You neglected to tell me?" Kate questioned with a snarl as she sat up to look at the boy.

"You were under a lot of stress in the hospital. I didn't want to add to that."

"That is not something to keep from me. If she talked about her life ending, I think that is a hell of a lot more important than what my condition was."

"I know and I'm sorry, but when were at my cousin's I, uh, searched stuff about depression."

Castle turned his head over at Kate and saw that she was fuming with anger, but her concern over Rory was keeping it under control. His eyes fell back on Trevor who was nervously trying to find the right thing to say.

"What did you find?" Castle questioned to make the boy's mind get back on track.

"There are a lot of kinds of depression. Lots. And… psychotic depression stuck out the most," Trevor answered with a low tone, staring at his lap. "I asked my mom about it and she said people with psychotic depression have all the other depression symptoms like hopelessness and then some."

"Like?" Kate asked, peeking back under the bed to find Rory apprehensively biting her fingernails.

"Hallucinations, delusions, out of touch with reality, anger for no reason, umm, sleeping during the day, staying to themselves, and neglecting physical appearance."

Kate's eyes widened. Most of them described Rory. She honestly had no clue if her daughter was hallucinating or having delusions, but it all made sense.

"How is it treated?" Castle inquired.

"I think in a hospital setting, something like that, but I'm not sure," Trevor answered with a slight shrug.

"I'll call her psychiatrist, but after I get her out from under here," Kate announced as she laid down on her stomach to look at Rory. "Come on, kid. Let's get out of here."

"I can't. I can't," Rory shook her head and scooted back a bit when her mom's hand reached for her.

"I will protect you, Mallorie. Nothing will happen to you when I'm here. Do you understand?"

"Nobody will let anything bad happen, Rory. We promise," Castle interjected with a soothing tone.

Kate got herself onto her knees and looked over at Castle and Trevor. She stood up on her feet and walked away from the bed. "Can you two lift it, so I can get to her?"

"Do you think that's a good idea? What if she… freaks out?" Trevor anxiously inquired, keeping his eyes glued on the bed.

"I don't like that she's under there, obviously drunk because half of that booze in gone, and alone. If she does have a form of depression, I don't want her to feel alone," Kate murmured, so Rory couldn't hear.

"Okay," Trevor obliged and walked over to the bed. He nodded at Castle and they both lifted it, so it would lie on its side. They kept it in the position as Kate rushed down to Rory who curled into a ball immediately after the bed was no longer over her.

"Stop!" Rory screamed.

Kate gently slid her arms, one under Rory's head and the other under her legs to lift her up. She sharply bit down on her lip when her scar hurt, but she had to move Rory away from this spot and she did.

Once she situated Rory against the wall, she sat down beside her and pulled her into her arms. "I won't let anything bad happen to you. None of us will. Do you understand me?" she questioned as the side of her face rested on top of Rory's head.

"I can't," Rory managed to say through her foggy mind.

"You're not alone in this. I won't let you be. None of us will." Kate tightened her arms around her daughter's body that was heavily rested on her. "I have a feeling you don't really sleep while you're in here all day, so let's go lay you down and you can, okay?"

"No," Rory answered as she shook her head.

"I'll stay with you," Trevor added in, getting Rory's stare to fall on him. "You should really sleep." He helped Castle set the bed back how it was before walking over to Rory and bending down to her level. "Come on," he said with a slight smile as he held his hands out to her. When she hesitantly took them, he pulled her onto her feet and guided her out of the room.

They entered the living room and he sat down on the couch with her. Since her head instantly rested on his chest, his arm snaked around her waist. He securely held her, afraid that her thoughts would take over again. He didn't want anything to happen to her, and if he could prevent it, then he would do whatever it took to.

"He's really good to her," Castle stated his observation when the two teens were out of the room for a few moments.

"You're really good with Rory too. You care so much, Castle, and I could never thank you enough."

Castle took a deep inhale, debating on whether or not to say what he wanted to. He decided he should given what just happened. "I care about you, Kate, and she's your daughter. She's who you would die for right away if need be. I can't just not be concerned over my… uh, partner's daughter. You would be the same way if the roles were reversed."

Kate gently placed her hand on his cheek. "Thank you, Castle."

"Always."

...

"A falling star,

Least I fall alone.

I can't explain what you can't explain.

You're finding things that you didn't know.

I look at you with such disdain.

The All-American Rejects - It Ends Tonight


AN: Always.