A/N: I'm so excited to finally be publishing this chapter! This was the first scene in my head when I got the original idea for this story. This scene was what I saw, and everything up until now developed to help set the scene for it. After watching "Target" and "Hunt" I worried that maybe it would be hard to write this without drawing too much material from Castle's reactions in those episodes, but it turned out that the focus here was really more on Kate, with just a little of Rick. So, those eps actually really helped me to figure out just what he might say here. I really hope you like it!
As always I would really value any constructive feedback you have for my writing. I feel like every comment I've read has helped to make me better, so I thank you all, and I welcome more!
Disclaimer: Castle is only mine in my head, and even then only for the briefest moments until I remember that AWM is just so much better at this than me :)
As Castle looked out over the wide expanse in front of him he noticed a wall of clouds slowly moving towards them. The dark grey swells matched his mood perfectly as he contemplated how exactly he was going to make it through the next few minutes. Miss Travers and Anita and most of the kids had worked their way across the suspension bridge successfully and were now waiting on the other side of the valley for the rest of the group. One by one, the students managed to walk across the planks, some tentatively, some excitedly, but they all made it across. Despite the evidence to the contrary, Castle was still worried that the bridge was not safe.
Kate, being of level head, examined the bridge as well, hoping to find evidence that might help to reassure Castle. The bridge had been constructed of a combination of sturdy cables and thick rope suspended from four giant wood poles secured deep under ground, two on each side of the valley. Spanning the chasm, the bridge struck out from the edges of a relatively steep dropoff, high above the river, which twisted and raced along the valley floor below.
The walkway of the bridge was made of planks of wood, each about a foot and a half wide and about four feet long. They stretched from one side of the valley to the other, which Kate guessed was approximately thirty or forty feet.
As she looked at the landscape around them, Kate realized that this was the narrowest part of the valley for quite a distance, though further down the river she could see the alternate bridge Miss Travers had mentioned earlier. It was a more stable looking bridge for sure. Constructed directly on the valley floor out of wood and cement, it rose several feet above the river, and was wide enough to allow ATVs, in the summer, and snowmobiles, in the winter, to cross. It would have been further out of their way to cross that bridge, and would not have allowed for the spectacular view they had from this high up in the valley, but it was an option if Castle needed it.
As she examined each plank before them, Kate noticed that some did look more worn than others, no doubt from countless people crossing back and forth, but they all looked to be reasonably secure. Unlike some suspension bridges, this one did not have additional bracing under each plank, but rather the boards were secured at each end by the cables and ropes. As the students walked along, the bridge creaked and swayed under the weight, but it didn't seem to Kate that there was anything for them to worry about.
"What do you think Castle? Think you can make it?" Kate looked at his worried features as he swallowed thickly.
"Um," his voice cracked and he cleared his throat to try to hide his nerves.
Alexis, standing beside him and holding his hand, smiled with excitement as she waited for her turn to cross. Kate was again impressed by her fearlessness and hoped it would rub off on her father. "Don't worry Dad, you're going to be just fine. Look, Paige is next and then Officer Beckett can go. You can watch them walk and see that it's safe. Then I can walk with you so you're not so scared."
Castle smiled meekly down at his daughter, wishing in this situation that he had her self-assurance. Everything else in life that he had ever faced, he'd done so with confidence, almost to the point of reckless abandon at times, but there was something about not having anything solid under his feet that just set his heart racing. But now, looking down into Alexis' eyes, brimming with excitement, he set his mind to tackling this fear head on. He'd done it at the climbing activities the day before, he was determined now to do it here too.
Paige was halfway across the bridge when Castle was able to take a deep breath and look at Beckett with some sense of clarity and poise. "Okay," he said, sounding more sure than he really was, "let's do this." Kate nodded back at him and started crossing. She was more than halfway across when she looked back to see how Alexis and Castle were doing.
Alexis had struck out ahead of Rick and was nearing the halfway point in the bridge when she stopped to check on her father.
"Dad, look, the bridge is fine. It's totally safe." Alexis was observing Rick who was hesitating over his first step onto the bridge. He looked up at her and watched as she started bouncing lightly on the board she was standing on.
"Alexis, I don't think you should do that. We don't know how old these boards are. Maybe you should just..." Castle had pulled his foot back again to solid ground as he admonished his daughter, trying to get her to take it easy on the old boards.
As Alexis bounced, Kate could feel herself rising up and down like she was on a raft in a wave pool. She watched as Alexis' feet actually lifted up off the boards as she jumped higher and higher, "Alexis," she called gently not wanting to be too hard on the girl, "Alexis..."
Realizing her antics weren't helping her dad, and not wanting to get in trouble, she tried to stop herself, landing hard on the board beneath her.
CRACK!
Alexis felt her feet land but this time something felt different. As she was trying to stop herself from bouncing, the rippling of the bridge making it difficult, she looked down to where she could now see the wooden plank splitting beneath her feet from the strain of the twisting bridge and her weight pressing down on it. Her head looked up to Castle, terror instantly etched across her features.
"Daddy...?" she said softly as the bridge continued to ripple.
"Alexis!" Castle called out reaching his hand out towards her.
She didn't know why she started, but just in that moment, Kate started running. Maybe it was something in the way that Alexis had suddenly raised her head up to look at her father, her hand raising slightly towards him, maybe it was the crack she heard and felt under her own feet, different from just the rolling of the bouncing bridge, more jarring, maybe it was the way Castle called out to Alexis, his eyes widening in surprise and panic as he realized what was about to happen and knew he couldn't stop it. She didn't know why she started, but before she even realized it, Kate was tearing back across the bridge.
Kate ran full out across the wood planks to where Alexis had stood moments before and was now falling through a hole that had just opened up beneath her. For Kate, it all happened in slow motion. She noted the way Alexis' hair flew up above her head, the loose ponytail billowing and puffing as if a giant fan was blowing from underneath her. She saw the bright pink backpack that had been a beacon to Kate earlier, gradually drop below the floor of the bridge, still attached snugly to Alexis' shoulders. She saw two pale white hands rise slowly up and extend out in an effort to grasp onto anything she could, her survival instincts kicking in.
Kate focused on the hands and the backpack, knowing that she needed to grab hold of at least one of them to save Alexis. Nearing the missing floorboard, Kate took one last step and dove forward, flying horizontally above the boards, stretching out her hands as far as she could. Just in the last possible moment, Kate stuck her hands down through the gaping hole and closed her fingers around every part of Alexis that she could. She landed with a hard thud on the bridge, slamming her chin on a floorboard, the wind getting knocked out of her, but her grasp remained tight. She opened her eyes, tears stinging at the corners and looked down to see Alexis dangling below her. Kate had managed to grab hold of one strap of the backpack with one hand and a fistful of the light blue sweatshirt that so perfectly matched the color of her terrified eyes in the other.
"Alexis!" Kate yelled down to her, as the girl struggled wildly with fear. "Alexis I've got you! I've got you!"
"Daaaaaddyy! Help me!" Alexis shrieked as only a terrified nine-year-old girl could.
"Alexis!" Kate could vaguely make out the sound of Castle's voice, though he had yelled as loud as he could. She was so intent on not letting go that everything else seemed to have shifted to the back of her awareness.
"Alexis!" Kate called again. "Alexis, listen to me. It's Officer Beckett. Please, Alexis, listen. You have to stop twisting. I've got you but you have to stop moving so I can pull you up." Slowly Alexis started to come back to her senses, realizing now that she hadn't actually fallen to the raging river below, that for now, she was still okay. Her left hand grasped Kate's left arm with such ferocity. With her other hand, she held tight to the strap of her backpack.
"Officer Beckett! Don't let me fall! Don't let me fall!" Alexis wailed now at Kate.
"Don't worry Alexis, you're okay. You're not going anywhere. Just take a deep breath and try to hold still." Kate tried to be as reassuring to the girl as she could but her mind was racing. The one thing Kate knew about herself was that in a fight or flight situation, she would always fight, but in this moment, the only thing she could do was hold on as tight as she could, and if she was being honest, she wasn't sure if that was going to be enough.
As she took stock of her grip on Alexis, and her own position on the bridge, Kate felt something change. Alexis' struggles had pulled her farther through the hole, and Kate discovered that she too was slipping. As she slid slowly forward under the weight, Kate splayed her legs out to the sides of the bridge, desperately searching for something to hook onto with her feet, anything that would stop her slow descent. Finally the edge of her shoe caught on a board that sat slightly higher than the one beside it, preventing her from completely falling through the hole.
Somehow, Kate managed to look up, trying to assess her situation. Her eyes locked on Castle, now on the bridge too, slowly trying to make his way towards them. Thankfully, he was being cautious, making sure his steps were secure and the bridge was stable before moving forward. Despite the look of panic on his face, it was clear his only concern was for Alexis' safety, his worries of stepping out onto the bridge now a distant memory.
"Castle, be careful...but hurry... I've got her, but...uugh" Kate groaned through clenched teeth that mimicked the force of the grip of her fingers, as she struggled to maintain her hold. As the sweat built up on her hands the fabric of Alexis' sweatshirt slowly began to slip. Kate looked down into Alexis' eyes realizing that she too felt the subtle change.
The face staring up at her was like nothing Kate had seen before. The sheer panic on her face, the way her eyes bore pleadingly into Kate's, the trail of tears streaming down her cheeks, caused Kate's eyes to water as well. She blinked hard to clear her vision and control her emotions. If she was going to get them out of this, she had to stay in control. Kate tightened her grip as best she could, holding her breath in hope that it would help her to hold tight to Alexis.
"Castle...?" Kate called out as he arrived, her voice rising in pitch as she continued gritting her teeth together. "Castle, I've got her but you've got to help me. She's starting to slip."
"Kate! Alexis...I'm here baby, just hold on." Castle tried to be as reassuring as he could, but then Kate heard him pleading a whisper, "Please."
Castle lay down on his stomach on the boards across from where Kate still lay, her arms and head, and now shoulders and part of her upper body filling the hole. If Castle had asked her, Kate would tell him she had no idea that she had slipped that far. He surveyed the situation, trying to figure out how best to help.
"Kate," he said to her, only loud enough for her to hear, "Kate, I can't reach through the hole, there's no room to get my arm through."
"I can't pull myself up Castle. If I let go to grab the boards I'll drop her. I can't...I'm not letting go of her. You've got to pull me back out. I can hold her...just... you've got to pull us out." Kate was breathing hard now, realizing the tricky position they were in. She shifted slightly, trying to see if she could actually lift Alexis up a bit, anything so she could get a better grip on her. But as she moved, she could feel her position on the bridge change again. Her foot lost hold of the grip it had on the board, she could feel herself gradually falling farther through the hole and she had no idea how to stop herself. The boards underneath her bounced as Castle stood and stepped over the hole that she now filled as quickly as he dared. The movement caused her to fall farther still until when she had almost gone in to her waist and thought for sure she would fall right through, she suddenly stopped.
Castle had finally managed to get around behind her and grabbed on to Kate's waistband, keeping her from sliding all the way through. As he looked down to where his hands held tight, he was surprised to see the cold hard steel of her gun, strapped to her waistband. His eyes widened in shock but he managed to push aside the hundred questions that sprung to mind of why she would have brought her gun on a hike with a bunch of school kids. Now was not the time. Grasping her waistband tighter with one hand, he manoeuvred his other through the hole in the boards, scraping his arm along the jagged wood, to grab her shoulder. The boards continued to bounce as Castle jockeyed for a solid position, but at least Kate was no longer slipping through.
"Okay, I'm gonna pull you up now. Please Kate, please don't let her fall."
"I've got her Castle, I've got her. Just pull. Hurry, please," Kate felt her words come out through her gritted teeth strong and steady, but at the same time laced with pleading and panic. Then finally, imperceptibly at first, she felt herself being lifted out of the hole. She looked down at Alexis and smiled with as much reassurance as she could.
"Hold on Alexis. You're dad's here and he's pulling us up. Just hang on." But in that moment, Kate's hold of Alexis' sweatshirt finally gave way, the soft material slipping through her hand, damp with perspiration from the effort. Alexis screamed as Kate quickly managed to squeeze the backpack strap tighter with her left hand. Kate called out in shock and fear and pain as the sudden shift of weight pulled and strained all the muscles and tendons in her arm and shoulder. She felt something pop and cried out again, the tears now bursting from her eyes, but she refused to let go.
Alexis also gripped tighter to the straps of her backpack, the instinct to hang on to anything she could driving her. She held tight but stared horrified into Kate's eyes as she realized that only a thin strap of canvas was all that was keeping her from falling into the river below. Looking down, Alexis saw swells of water racing headlong down the river, quickly winding its way around large boulders. From this height Alexis somehow knew that she would not survive a fall.
"Castle, hurry! Oh god, please hurry!" Kate was pleading now, the pain searing from her shoulder down her arm right to her fingertips, burning through her back and neck. She tried to reach her other hand down to grab on to the strap but the angle at which her left arm now stretched prevented her from reaching it with her right.
Kate could feel herself slowly rising up through the hole, Alexis coming along with her. She felt hands grasping at her body, her shoulders, her arms, until finally she could get her knees under her on the boards. More hands reached down into the hole, as her upper body finally cleared the opening, to grab onto Alexis.
Castle, and Don who had managed to carefully make his way back onto the bridge, finally pulled Alexis free. Kate's hand still gripped tightly to the backpack, her brain not yet comprehending that it was safe to let go, so as Alexis stumbled into her father's arms, Kate was dragged along with her. The three of them collapsed into a pile of arms and legs on the bridge, all holding each other tightly, all too afraid to let go. Kate could feel Castle's arms enveloping her and Alexis both, holding them tight to his chest as tears of relief trickled down his face. She could hear him whispering over and over, "Oh thank you. Thank god you saved her."
None of the three knew for how long they sat holding each other, but finally, Castle moved, cupping Alexis' face and turning it up to his, looking over every inch of her to assure himself that she was okay. "Baby, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Alexis blinked innocently staring deeply into her father's eyes and shook her head as tears silently streamed down her face.
"No. I'm not hurt," she whispered.
"You're okay? You're sure?" he wiped the wetness from her cheeks and ran his hands through her hair, which had now mostly fallen out of the ponytail she had carefully placed it in that morning. He brushed the loose strands away from her face and kissed her forehead, holding his lips to her brow as he looked to the sky to issue a silent prayer of thanks.
Castle pulled Alexis in close to his chest again, and now took a moment to look at Beckett who had been silent since they were freed from danger. He noticed as he looked her over that her hand was still firmly clenching Alexis' backpack, knuckles white with strain. He gently placed his hand over hers and tried to pry her fingers loose, but she wouldn't let go.
"Kate," he said softly, "Kate, it's okay, you can let go now. She's safe, Alexis is safe, you can let go." Slowly her eyes turned up to his, then, the words registering in her brain, she looked down at her own hand. Suddenly, her fingers flew open, like they had just touched a hot stove, releasing her grip on the bag. Castle took hold of her hand and tried to massage the blood back into circulation, but she winced in pain, pulling her stiffened hand to her body and cradling her injured arm with the other.
"Kate, you're hurt," he started, looking down on her with concern.
She looked up at him gritting through clenched teeth. "No, I'm fine," she said trying to mask the pain she was feeling as tears threatened to fall from brimming eyes.
"No, Kate you're not." Castle paused looking around. "Don, can you help me get Alexis off the bridge?" Don had managed to get on the other side of the hole in his efforts to help get Kate and Alexis to safety. Castle gripped Alexis and got her to standing, while Don carefully stepped back across the hole and manoeuvred around them.
"Daddy?" Alexis looked back at him in concern, afraid he wasn't coming with her, and not wanting to let him go.
"Alexis, honey, you go with Don. Kate's hurt so I've got to help her. Don't worry, we're right behind you. Go." His voice though comforting to Alexis had a tone of worry that he knew he wouldn't be able to shake for some time.
Castle turned back to Kate who had propped herself up against one of the thick cables holding up the bridge. Her breath was ragged and her face showed signs of exhaustion and pain. Her right hand cupped her left shoulder while her arm lay limp across her lap. Castle was afraid to touch her, not knowing how badly she was hurt. He finally placed his hand lightly on the side of her face and brushed away the mess of hair that had come loose from her braid and was partially hiding her features. He gently wiped away the tears that had fallen down her cheeks.
"Kate, how bad is it?" he asked her quietly.
With her eyes closed, Kate pursed her lips, breathing deeply through her nose, trying to assess for herself the answer to his question. He watched as she slowly massaged her shoulder, wincing as she encountered several tender spots. She tried moving her shoulder in small circles, the crinkle in her brow deepening as she winced from the pain. She finally breathed out through her mouth, the tenseness in her jaw lessening slightly.
"I think it's okay...I mean, it hurts...but I don't think it's dislocated." She opened her eyes and found herself looking into deep pools of blue, rimmed red. She could see the concern etched across his face so she smiled to try to ease his worry. "It's okay Castle, I'm okay." Castle was unconvinced by her words, and the look on his face told her so. "No, really Castle. It does hurt but I'm going to be okay. I just...can we maybe get off this bridge?" Looking around her she realized that she would much rather be having this conversation on solid ground. She wasn't really worried about any of the other planks snapping, but just to be safe she wanted to go.
"Oh, yeah, sure. Come on, let's get you up." He slowly stood and reached down to help her gingerly to her feet. They stood still for a moment, allowing Kate to steady herself and try to calm her racing heart. Castle put his hands on her arms and pulled her close to him as gingerly as he could. She rested her head on his chest, finally letting herself relax from the adrenaline coursing through her. "Kate, you saved her, you saved my little girl. Thank you. I don't know how I will ever repay you for this. I can't believe what you did, but thank you, thank you."
He kissed her head and held her close to him wishing there was more he could say or do. He didn't know what he would have done if Kate hadn't been there to catch Alexis. Regardless of anything he had been thinking to this point, Castle now trusted Kate fully, without doubt. He leaned her back and stared into her eyes, both of them blinking back tears that threatened to fall. Not knowing quite how to deal with all of the emotions she was feeling, Kate simply smiled back at him and said quietly, "Always."
Coming back to the present, she checked herself over, assessing the damage. Kate suddenly realized that her sweatshirt had risen up above her waist, revealing the gun strapped at her lower back. She tried to pull it down to cover the weapon, but found it harder to do with only one working arm.
"Here, let me," Castle lightly grasped the hem of her sweater and pulled it down concealing her gun. She looked up at him tentatively, not sure what his reaction would be, having clearly seen what she had tried to hide. Sensing her discomfort and not wanting to start what would likely be a long conversation, he simply said, "We can talk about it later." Kate nodded, relieved for the moment. She really only had so much brain power right now and currently it was being used to keep her from falling over in pain, exhaustion and shock.
Turning away from the hole, they walked together, Castle's arm resting lightly around Beckett's waist, helping to support her as they moved. It was only as they neared the end of the bridge that Castle and Beckett realized that all of the students, Don, Liz and Anita were gathered at the end of the bridge, cheering their heroes once again.
As they finally took their first steps onto solid ground, Alexis flew from the crowd and threw her arms around Kate's waist. Grimacing in pain, Kate wrapped her own arms around the little girl, silently voicing a prayer of thanks of her own that Alexis was okay. The two stood wrapped together, tears flowing freely down their faces in relief.
As the group moved away from the bridge to give the survivors some space, Miss Travers started to organize them to finish the final leg of their journey back to camp. Kate glanced up at the same moment that Miss Travers was scanning the group, a look of concern slowly rising on her face. She looked up and saw Kate's worried expression returned to her.
"Miss Travers? Is something wrong?" Kate asked, as fear crept back into her already emotionally overtaxed brain.
Still scanning the group, Miss Travers asked, "Has anybody seen Paige?"