Smoke and haze
"Castle?" She called out into nothingness.
She searched the room, desperately trying to force her eyes to adjust... to see through the haze. Smoke grew thick in her lungs and she could feel her time running out.
"Castle!" She barked more urgently than before, her throat coarse from trauma and smoke inhalation.
There was no reply. Nothing but the high pitched ringing that echoed through her ears, piercing into her skull. She pushed her palms flat against her ears, trying to dull the shriek, but that only caused her pain. She brought her hands in front of her face, trying to focus her eyes on the wetness that coated her fingertips. Liquid crimson glistened against her skin in stark contrast to the thick fog that hid everything else from view.
"Castle?" Her urgency intensified as she choked in another breath. "Castle, can you hear me?"
She pulled herself to her feet, stumbling as the rubble beneath her shifted. Her entire body ached, but she had to push through. She had to find him. She stepped slowly, aware of the instability around her. One foot after the other, hands held outstretched to guide her near-blind journey.
The eerie creak of the building surrounded her as it shifted under pressure. The groan of structural bones about to lose the fight against physics. This building was coming down. And soon.
"Cas-" She choked, her chest tightening. An abrupt cough rattled in her chest, throbbed in her skull. Another, and another. "Castle!" Her head was pounding, tears filling her eyes.
She was losing herself. Her eyes heavy, burning from the smoke in the air. Each breath grew more laboured, her lungs screaming out desperately. Her head was chaotic - panic, pain, dizziness - the chaos was incoherent.
"Castle..." breathless, faded. Darkness tinted the corners of her vision.
"Kate." An echo. A taunt. Her mind playing tricks on her. Lack of oxygen.
She fell to her knees, too weak to hold herself up. Hands pressed to the wall, she fought hard, but eventually she would succumb.
"Kate!"
Hands at her waist, gripping, pulling.
"Kate, I'm here. I've got you."
Fade to black.
