This is by Cassie Bones, an excellent writer! Check out her stories if you haven't already.
BECKETT'S POV:
She blinked back the remains of her tears, internally kicking herself for letting herself be weak in front of Trapper John. Now he had leverage over her. Beckett swore to herself that she would remain strong from this point on. She had to be. Beckett steeled herself, waiting for him to return to the SDB room. Trapper John appeared as expected, and looked into a suitcase. She peered over as well to see what looked like C4. A lot of it, connected together by wires.
"So, what's really going on here?" Beckett piped up, as Trapper John appeared hesitant.
"In hindsight, it might not have been the brightest idea to store you in here, where you ask annoying questions," he growled.
"Just one question so far, actually," Beckett retorted.
Trapper John looked at her, irritated. "Shut up."
She ignored him. "You aren't going to get away with this, you know. Might as well turn yourself in now, reduce your sentence."
"Oh, Kate. That's the best part. We ARE going to get away with it," Trapper John corrected. "A cop hostage gives us the biggest advantage you could imagine."
"I won't be a hostage forever. And once we've parted ways, I won't stop until you and all your little bankrobber friends are in prison where you belong," Beckett threatened, trying to regain control of the situation.
"And what makes you think you'll come out of this alive, Kate?" he asked jovially.
"You don't want to kill a cop, do you? My partners won't stop until they catch you."
Trapper John scoffed. "I'd like to see them try," he said, cruelly, before straightening and walking to the door. He glanced outside, then to Kate, then back outside. "Okay," he said, "get up. You're going to sit with the others."
Kate attempted to stand, but with her hands tied behind her back, it was futile. "I can't," she said, "I'm a little tied up at the moment."
Trapper John laughed. "The cop is funny," he said, grinning as he walked over, grabbing her arms roughly to help her up. Kate hissed as she felt a pain in her shoulder and heard a light popping sound.
She cried out in pain. "My shoulder!" she exclaimed. Trapper John rolled his eyes.
"Don't be such a baby," he growled, pulling her back out into the main lobby. Castle's eyes widened the moment he saw Kate emerge. He tried to catch her eye but noticed that she was wincing in pain as Trapper John practically dragged her over to the circle, before throwing her towards them.
"Take a seat," he ordered, "and no funny business."
Kate did as she was told, taking a seat right next to Castle, who helped her down gently.
"Kate," he said, looking very concerned, "are you okay?"
Kate was practically tearing up as she looked at him but she forced her voice to remain steady.
"Castle," she said, "would you happen to know how to repair a dislocated shoulder?"
Anger flashed through Castle's eyes and he nodded, turning her body gently so he could undo the knot on her hands. Kate winced as he jostled her arm slightly, but stayed silent so as not to spook him. Finally, the rope was untied and Kate could move her arms again. She did so carefully as she turned back around, her face a mask of pain.
Castle looked at her concernedly. "What did he do to you?" he whispered, glaring over at where Trapper John was talking to Dr. Huxtable.
"He pulled a little too ** my arms to help me up," Kate answered, wincing, "do you know how to fix it?"
Castle nodded. "Yeah. Alexis did this a couple of times in her reckless phase."
Kate scoffed. "Alexis had a reckless phase?" she said, skeptically. "Seriously?"
"She was seven and she liked climbing things," Castle responded. "Tall things that she couldn't get down from by herself. Sometimes, she would," he popped Kate's arm back in quickly, before she could react, "fall." Kate whimpered at the pain, burying her head in his shoulder, instinctively, a couple of sobs breaking loose. Martha reached around Castle to pat her back.
"It's going to be alright, Dear," she soothed. "We'll get you a real doctor when we get out of here. Everything's going to be just fine, you'll see." Kate mumbled something into Castle's shoulder.
"What was that?" Castle asked, looking down at her. Kate looked up, tears streaming down her face.
"I said, 'if we get out.' Trapper John said that there's not a really big chance of us getting out of this alive. I think he's planning something, Castle." Castle's heart broke from the woman next to him; the woman he once thought was so strong and sure of herself was having doubts.
"We'll get out of here," Castle insisted, "alive and well. I promise."
"You can't—"
"Yes," he said, "I can and I am. We're going to make it back to them, Kate. Back to Alexis and your father and Ryan and Esposito and Lanie…even Gates will be thrilled to see us when we get back. I promise you. Okay?"
Kate nodded. "Okay," she said, quietly, before laying her head on his shoulder again. "But how?"
"I'm thinking," Castle said, looking around. Suddenly, they were interrupted by a phone ringing. Trapper John answered it.
"Where's my van?" he barked into the phone, then listened for the answer. "It better be," he growled, "or else Detective Beckett's gonna be the first to go. Got it? You have five minutes." He hung up. "Alright!" he shouted, turning to the circle of hostages. "Everybody up now! We're moving you back!"
Castle's eyes widened in fear and Martha's hand clenched his shoulder. Kate noticed their stricken expressions.
"What?" she asked, worriedly, "what's wrong?"
Castle turned to her, fear etched in his eyes. "Kate…they have C4."
Kate's eyes widened. "What?" she hissed. "Wha—how do you know?"
"I saw it about fifteen minutes ago; before you came in. I was going to try to get a message to you but then Sal had the seizure and you were here. Everything just went by so fast. I'm sorry, Kate, I failed."
Kate cupped his cheek. "Castle," she said, "this isn't your—"
"Hey you!" Dr. Quinn shouted, pointing her gun at them. "Get up and get a move on. NOW."
They did as they were told, Castle standing up first before gently pulling Kate to her feet, keeping his arm around her as they made their way to the back, in a barred room with a bunch of security boxes on every wall. They shuffled in, taking a seat near Martha, who looked relieved to see them. As soon as Castle sat down, Martha slapped the back of his head.
"Are you trying to get yourselves killed?" she scolded. Castle glared at her, rubbing his head and Kate couldn't suppress a tiny chuckle, which evaporated as she caught sight of the robbers setting up timers outside, attached to bombs rigged with C4. Her chuckle turned into a gasp and she grabbed Castle's hand. He turned to her.
"What is i—"
Her mouth on his cut his question off, his eyes widening slightly in surprise before closing as he leaned into the kiss, moaning slightly.
When she pulled back, Kate's eyes were filled with tears and her forehead was leaning against his. "I'm so sorry, Castle," she whispered, kissing his lips softly again. "I'm so sorry."
"This isn't your fault, Kate," Castle responded. "You couldn't have known he would recognize-"
"Not that," Kate said, shaking her head. "No, I mean…I lied to you…"
"About what?" Castle asked, confused.
"About that day…about what I remember…"
Martha gasped behind him, but Castle paid her no mind, his eyes filling up with hurt. "But…why?"
Kate shook her head. "I don't know. I think it's because I was scared, but that's ridiculous. And then I figured it was because I wasn't ready—because I'm too **ed up for you."
"That's ridiculous," Castle huffed, but Kate placed her finger on his lips, silencing him. "And now I realize that there's no use fighting it anymore, because we only have so much time in this world and right now…it's about to be taken away, Castle and I don't want to die without you knowing how much I…" she faltered.
"How much you…?" Castle prompted.
Kate looked up into his bright blue eyes, her own green ones shining with unshed tears.
"Richard Castle," she said, softly, cupping his cheek, "I love you."