Another Knockout fic. Just what I kept telling myself I wasn't going to do. But before you run away maybe you could give it a chance. It's short and hopefully a bit different.

I've been working on this off and on since the finale and I decided to finish it and post it today because it's Canada Day! I'm not Canadian and I don't know how Canada Day is typically celebrated but I celebrated by watching some of my favorite Castle episodes and appreciating the talents of my two favorite Canadians, without whom I can't even imagine Castle existing.

Also, in case you were wondering, I still don't own Castle or the songs. They each belong to their respective genius creators.

-o-o-o-

"Well I've been running from something,
Twenty years in the car
Down a road that's leading me nowhere."

"Twenty Years" - Augustana

-o-o-o-

Roy Montgomery sat at his desk and stared at the package in front of him. He held his phone in one hand, gun in the other. Warm plastic and cold metal. After all these years it had finally come to this, another ultimatum.

For almost twenty years he'd worked damn hard to be the best cop he could be, hoping that by doing enough good he could somehow atone for a sin he'd never intended to commit. But it was a foolish hope, delusional even, believing that there had ever been a possibility of this ending any way other than badly, for him, for her, for all of them.

He replayed her words from the brief conversation they had just had over in his mind and tried to savor them. It was the last time she would speak to him with a voice full of trust and hope. He knew he was going to break her heart the next time he saw her, but a heart broken by betrayal was better than a heart stopped by a bullet. If he could protect her one more time and keep her alive, it would all be worth it.

He'd known ever since he found her that night down in records, with that flashlight and box and that look in her eyes, that it was just a matter of time before his involvement was uncovered. The past and the mistakes you've made have a way of catching up with you no matter how long or how far you try to run from them.

The cards had been dealt, all those years ago. Someone was going to die tonight. There was no way around it.

Roy's eyes traced over the name and address on the front of the package as he went over the plan in his mind one more time. Someone had to die. That was the way it had always been. Ever since Bob Armand fell in that alley, bodies had continued to fall and would until there was no one left or until someone found a way to stop them.

Lockwood had made it clear: Beckett or his family. It was an impossible choice to make. But there was a third option, one that Lockwood hadn't considered and Roy Montgomery was going to make damn sure he did everything he could to prevent his family and his favorite detective from joining that long list of the fallen.

He needed to go, but first there was another phone call he needed to make.

Castle picked up before the first ring was complete and launched into the conversation, forgoing his typical friendly greeting.

"I tried, Roy, I did. But she won't listen to me. She told me we were through." He spoke quickly and ardently, anxiety evident in his voice.

Roy sighed, knowing that he was only going to be adding to his friend's distress.

"I know, Castle… but listen, I have to tell you something…"

"What is it? What's going on? What's happened?" The questions came in rapid fire and he could tell Castle was close to panic now.

"Nothing's happened," Roy reassured him, "not now…but something, something happened nineteen years ago… something that I was a part of…"

He could tell by the sharp intake of breath the moment that Castle realized exactly what he was saying and its implications.

"Don't hang up on me, Rick, please. I can't stop this. It's too late for that. But it's not too late to save her."

Castle didn't say anything but he didn't hang up either, so Roy began to explain. He told him how he'd been involved in Raglan and Macalister's 'incarcerations' and what had happened the night it all went south. He told him how he'd been covering it up ever since and how he'd managed to protect Beckett from them.

And as he laid out his plan, he sensed that the writer's anger had ebbed and was being replaced by understanding, which was more than he had dared hope for.

"She's going to try to stop me but you can't let her do that and you can't try to either. She's going to fight you but you have to make her leave. Please, Rick," he implored his friend, "Promise me you'll do whatever it takes."

Several seconds of hesitation passed before Castle agreed.

"Fine, I… I promise… but, Roy, there has to be another way. You don't have to-" Roy could tell that the enormity of the plan and its repercussions were sinking in and he could feel it himself as well, like a lead weight sinking in his stomach. Telling Castle made it real, made it impossible to turn back from.

"Yes, I do, and I've made my peace with it. It's time I answer for what I've done."

"Just give me the name, Roy. Tell me who," Castle requested beseechingly.

"I can't do that, Castle, and you know why. It'll get all of you killed."

He couldn't tell them, not now. That information was too dangerous, especially to someone as determined and unwavering as Beckett. But if everything went according to plan, they had a chance of ending it, not now, not soon enough, but someday.

"I'm sorry, Rick… for everything… Take care of her." Roy ended the call before his friend could say another word or say goodbye.

He stood and slid his gun into its holster. He could feel its weight at his hip, heavier than it had ever been since that night nearly two decades earlier. He grabbed his keys and the package and headed for the door, pausing for a moment to look at the picture of his family hanging in the entranceway one last time.

It was nearly his undoing. He and Evelyn had just made so many plans for the future. A future that now appeared to him like a dream upon waking, the details that had once been so clear and certain were fading and slipping away from him and there was no way to get it back.

He knew his detectives had their doubts, but he really had been planning to retire this time. He'd done the best he could do for his city and he'd wanted to see the world and spend more time with his family. His girls were still so young. They had so much life ahead of them and his son was just finishing his first year of college. He was making his own plans for the future and deciding what he wanted to be. They all still had so much to do and see and experience.

But he had to do this. It was the only way.

So he gathered his courage once more, closed the door behind him and walked to his car without looking back. He would have to hurry to make it to the hangar before Beckett did. Fortunately, there was a post office on the way.

Thank you for reading and thank you to everyone who has reviewed and added this to alerts and favorites. You're all awesome.

Happy Canada Day to everyone but especially to any Canadians out there!