I saw a post-finale video set to Losing Your Memory by Ryan Star (there are a few of them, and I can't remember for sure which it was but I believe it was by MileyTheBest11) and in those few minutes listening to the combination of lyrics and dialogue from the show, I thought of a number of scenarios that I'd like to see play out. Here is the beginning of the culmination of a few days worth of listening to the full song on repeat and fleshing out the ideas that I liked/thought worked the best.

Hopefully it all translates to paper as well as it did in my head. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Reviews are well appreciated.

Enjoy.

Call all your friends
Tell them I'm never coming back
'Cause this is the end
Pretend that you want it, don't react

The damage is done
The police are coming too slow now
I would have died
I would have loved you all my life

The colors of East Hampton blend together into a chaotic palate as the driver rushes towards the address that the chief had delivered solemnly over the phone. Greens and browns overtake tans and blues swirling with whites and blacks, forming the whirlwind backdrop of her nightmare. Only… no, she confirms as they screech around a corner, almost jumping the curb, to spot lazy grey smoke columning towards the sky. No. She is wide-awake, and the man she was this close to marrying's car is down in a ditch and up in flames.

She's out of their getaway car before it's even in park, heels snagging her skirts before she has the frame of mind to haul them up in front of her, racing to the edge of the embankment with two hands full of white silk and chiffon. If his radio-silence and the report of an accident from Chief Brady hadn't been enough to fill her with unadulterated panic and dread, the sight of his car lit like the Olympic torch paired with his lack of presence on the scene certainly is.

"Oh God, Castle!" she chokes, falling forward as she reaches the curb. Her arms wrap around her knees and her head falls to her chest as she gasps in the heavy air, struggling to clear her lungs and her head. "Castle!" she screeches, so horribly she doesn't realize it's her at first. "Oh God, no!" she pleads desperately, lifting her head to watch the scorching wreck. Never has she felt more desperate, more helpless, or more alone. "Please."

Orange fingers lick over the roof, singeing the shiny silver paint until it begins to flake off. They dance out the driver's side window, a carefully choreographed back and forth as they fight with the breeze coming in off of the water. The putrid scent of melting leather and burning rubber wafts over but there she stays, tears trekking down her cheeks as she watches her fiancé's car burn. She can't bring herself to admit that she's probably watching him burn, as well. "Oh God," she whimpers, dropping her skirts to bring her hands to cover her mouth, shaking her head as her vision blurs with the sobs that she can't contain. "Castle, why," she cries. One hand travels down to clutch at her chest, her heart pounding painfully in its cage, fighting to be freed to search for its other half. How could it all go so horribly wrong? Just once, why couldn't she have gotten the long end of the stick?

This was supposed to be our perfect day. But once again, perfect had paved the way for disaster. For what felt like the thousandth time and was certainly the last, their chances were lost. Like fate is agreeing with her, the pressure and heat within the cab suddenly becomes too much and the remaining windows burst, sending shards of glass and a cloud of smoke out in all directions. Kate falls to the pavement behind her, elbow digging into the gravel as she prevents her head from smacking the concrete.

"Oh geeze, Detective Beckett, I'm sorry," she hears behind her. "I wanted to speak with you when you got here, before you saw… too late now, though. Here." She rolls onto her back to see Chief Brady standing over her, hand poised to assist.

"Chief Brady," she grimaces, wiping her face with one hand as he helps her stand. "I…" she pauses, realizing she has no words. "Thanks," she whispers, releasing his hand and bringing it over to rub the stinging patch on her arm. She heaves a sigh, swallowing back the next wave of grief so that she can try to have a real conversation. "I…" but still she has nothing.

"Why don't we move over here?" he suggests, palming her upper arm to lead her over to his car as a fire team finishes setting up their hose.

"Yeah, okay." She follows him quietly, tripping over her skirts again. They're already covered in ash and dirt, though, so who cares? Ruined, just like everything else. She brushes her hands over her hips as a distraction, finding a tear in the fabric just as the water bursts to life behind her. She fingers it, rubbing her hand along the frayed edge as Brady stares at her expectantly. "What?" she finally asks. When he doesn't respond she continues, hands clenched in the soiled fabrics to keep from lashing out, "I'm standing in front of you in my wedding dress, Chief Brady, while my fiancé's car shines like the goddamned sun behind me. You called me to come out here, so don't stare at me like you're waiting for me to start talking. I've got nothing. I've now lost more than anyone should ever bear, so I've really got nothing. I'm not going to ask you questions. I'm not going to take charge. I'm going to listen to whatever you have to say and then…" she trails off, shrugging her shoulder. "I don't know what to do here," she admits, the grief melting away to reveal a deadened emptiness as the men behind her attempt to drown the flames, the hissing of the water meeting the fiery metal making her cringe.

"Right," he says awkwardly, as though he had thought she would be ready to step up to the plate. "I-"

"Why don't you just tell me what happened?" she says monotonously, seeing him flounder. There's no other way to get through this than to suppress her emotions.

"Well," he nods. "We're not entirely clear on that yet. The witness who called it in said that Mr. Castle's car passed her by while she was at a red light. She said another car came up from behind her, blew the red light and followed on in the same direction as Mr. Castle. By the time she got here, Mr. Castle's car was at the bottom of the embankment and was already smoldering. She was unable to reach it to see if anyone was in need of assistance, but she called it right in. Nobody else passed before we got here, at which point it was too late to get to. We don't know if that other car was involved or not. There are a number of crossroads it could have turned off on, or it could have blown by Mr. Castle before anything even happened. One of my officers is trying to get a clearer description of that car from the witness as we speak." He nods towards one of the other chargers, where Kate sees an officer looking extremely impatiently at an elderly woman. Great.

"So really, we know nothing."

"Not yet," he confirms quietly, avoiding her gaze.

She bites the inside of her cheek, blinking away tears, as she turns to look at the wrecked car once more. "Please excuse me," she says, not caring whether he does or not as she pulls her phone out from her bra, dialing Martha before she can even begin to think what to say.

"Katherine, darling," she answers on the first ring. "Have you found Richard? How is he?"

"Martha, I… He… His car…" Shit, she swears to herself as her voice raises uncontrollably. She should have figured out how to do this before she made the call. "Martha, he didn't… there's no way… I'm so sorry," she sobs. "I'm so sorry."

"Oh, oh no. I'll be right there."

"No!" she yells. "You shouldn't see this."

"Give us ten minutes," she says bravely, dismissing Kate's concern.

Us. Oh, god. "Martha, please. Do what you're going to do but do not bring Alexis out here. It's not fair. It's not right. It's not…" she trails off, unable to contain herself, failing to notice the call end. She stands there in a trance, phone still held to her ear, until she hears the slamming of a car door. Her hand drops away from her face as Martha catches her eye, pale as a ghost as she wraps Alexis into her side. They hadn't believed, either. Not until they were standing in front of the evidence. After everything that he had been through, how could it be a car accident that had finally done him in? It just didn't make sense, no matter how you looked at it.

Alexis breaks, face and eyes as red as her hair as she begins to panic. Kate stares, unsure how to begin to console her. She can't even console herself. But Martha steps in, ever the graceful leader, and wraps Kate up in her other arm. "There there, kiddos. We'll be all right." But even the actress can't keep the tremor out of her voice.

"What happened?" Alexis finally manages.

"They don't know. Not yet," Kate offers. "They have a witness, but she didn't see anything actually happen. Anything now is pure speculation."

"How could this happen?"

"I've been asking myself that all weekend," Kate coughs, almost a laugh. "After everything…. How could this've happened? …I'm so sorry," she repeats.

"It's not your fault, Kate," Alexis whimpers. "I just… I don't understand."

"None of us do, sweetheart," Martha tries to soothe her. "Nothing ever makes sense. Not like this."

They stand huddled together, hugging each other close as they watch the crews fighting the blaze.

"Excuse me, folks?" Brady has reappeared, interrupting. "I think it would be best if we took you down to the station. This probably isn't the best place for you as they initiate an investigation."

"Of course," Kate agrees, not wanting his daughter or his mother to see anything post-fire. This will already always be with them; to see him after all this... But she, on the other hand, needs proof, knows she'll never be able to fully accept that he's gone until she sees him for herself. But she won't leave them to fend for themselves in the punishingly quiet police department, and so she takes the lead behind Chief Brady, pulling the other two behind her by the hands for support. If all had gone to plan, they would've been family now. Officially, at least. And they all need family, now. They won't ever get through this without it, and as they all squeeze into the back seat of the squad car Alexis leans her head onto Kate's shoulder, closing her eyes and trying to remain fully present as Martha, on the other side, clutches Alexis' hand in the one that is not wrapped around herself, in a faux display of holding herself together.

It's quiet, other than their sniffles and coughs, for the short duration of the drive. They're herded into Brady's office once they arrive, left to sit and stew in the prospects of their future without Richard Castle.

They're mostly silent while they wait, for what only God knows. Only the occasional noise of grief, and the brief period where it seems like every phone in the building rings, interrupt their sorrowful thoughts.

Two years ago, when Kate had almost lost him the first time, it would have been almost bearable. She'd never truly had him, never imagined what a genuine future she could have with him. But after that night, and everything since... losing her mother had been the worst thing that could ever happen to her... until Castle. It was one thing to lose her biggest role model, her confidante, someone that had been there for her her entire life. It seemed like the worst tragedy. But it was on a whole other level to lose someone like Castle... he was her best friend, there through thick and thin, able to overcome all of the odds with her. He was her lover, her fighter, her everything. Now that she'd experienced it, grown used to it, how was she to go home to a place where he no longer was? How could she go home to spend her evenings quietly, no longer discussing casework, or drafts, or weekend plans? How could she live the rest of her life without ever putting her arms around him again, without his fingers running through her hair, without snuggling up to him when the alarm went off? Now that she'd had that future right at her fingertips, she didn't know how to live in a world where it no longer existed.

And how selfish, she thinks. Because she's lost her mother, and she knows what it's like. It may no longer be the worst thing in her life but it is the worst in Alexis', and she's sitting here crying over her own lost future. Until Alexis meets her own future, she'll be just like Kate. Except this time, there'll be someone there for her. Kate, and her grandmother, and they won't fall into the bottle like her own father had. She'd learned from his mistakes, and her own loss, and no matter what she was going through, she had to remember that Alexis was going through something equally terrible. She needed to hold it together, at least while the girl was present. She could cry for her own loss when she was on her own. She left her place by the window, making her way to sit on the old brown couch next to Alexis, and held her hand out in offering. She contemplated it, tilting her head, and bursting into a fresh wave of tears as she grabbed it tightly. It would take time, but they could do this. We have to do this.

"I have some bad news, and some good news, and then some more bad news," Brady says when he reappears over an hour later. "There's an abandoned SUV up in flames over in South Hampton. It's similar to the description we finally got out of our witness. This is purely speculation, but there's a fair chance that they're connected, which means something more sinister is going on than an accident. Next, you'll all be very relieved to know that Mr. Castle was not in his car."

"Oh my god," the women celebrate in unison, releasing their collectively held breath, laughing in relief. Kate lays her head back against the couch, smiling for the first time since ending her call with Castle. We don't have to do this.

"Unfortunately, we have no idea where he is."