Author's Note: As always, I am thankful to you, Dear Reader, just for doing that thing you do! A favorite, follow, and/or review would be lovely as well. If you are enjoying this story, you might want to think about putting me on Author Alert so you don't miss an update or new story! As usual, I've called on my CastleTV Chat friends to beta read for me. This time I'm sending out a special :hug and :kiss to RickBeckett and McFluffy, who also happens to be my partner in crime on a joint fanfic venture we are hard at work on and have plans to begin publishing after the finale. To all my friends at CastleTV Chat and all my readers, your time, support, feedback, and kind words are more than any writer could ask. Thank you so much!

Disclaimer: We all know who owns these characters. May success continue to follow their creator so they will continue to grace our television screens with new stories for years to come.

Chapter Three: Reinforcements

Javi shakes the shoulder he grips. His eyes roam over the wreckage. Beckett pinned down by the rod that thrusts through the interior. A straight shot across the seats. He fingers the edge of Castle's vest. Glances down and sees the blood soaking his leg, dripping over the seat, pooling on the floor. Too much blood. Too much.

"Castle. Hey, man." He gets no response. Castle is out cold. His fingers seek a pulse, but find an out of time beat that's barely there. WriterBoy, you'd better not be thinking of dying.

Beckett's struggling again. Castle's shoulder twitches under his hand. He moans, but doesn't wake. Javi sees a fresh track of blood make it's way down the writer's leg. "Beckett, stop moving. You're pushing the rod further in."

Kate hasn't managed to twist herself around enough to get a look at Castle, but Espo thinks his words have set a blazing fire of fear raging through her system based on what he hears in her voice. An agony he never wants to know and never wants to hear again. "Javi. Javi, get us out of here."

"Javier!" Esposito turns toward Ryan's voice calling out. Irish is jogging toward him. Javi spots Jenny sitting in their car, pulled off to the side just past the intersection where the mangled Ferrari gave it's final death throes. Reinforcements. Thank God.

Esposito moves out of way for paramedics and firemen approaching the car. He grabs up Kevin by the arm, hard, dragging him further away from the car, out of Beckett's hearing. He does not want to be the one to change Kevin's bewildered expression to a tragic mask, but there is no one else.

"Javier, what..." Ryan doesn't look like he wants to hear what Esposito has to say anymore than Espo wants to say it.

"Beckett, I think is okay. Just pinned by that rod." Espo pauses a moment. Squeezing Kevin's arm tighter. "Castle isn't so lucky. Damn rod is stuck right into his side. Bleeding bad, man." He meets Ryan's eyes and shares the burden of pain and fear with him, looking for a bit more solid ground to stand on.

Ryan comes through, grabbing hold of Espo's free arm, shaking and squeezing it. "If Beckett can manage a miracle, so can Castle."

The scream of a buzz saw ends their conversation. They both turn back to the Ferrari. The NYFD have pried the top off and are now cutting the rod in half, taking advantage of a small gap between Castle and Beckett's bodies. Espo moves closer to get a look at Beckett. They've thrown a heavy protective blanket over her and Castle both, he can't see either of them.

Now EMS is easing Castle out of the car. Espo could do without seeing the sheared off rod sticking out of his side. Castle disappears into the first ambulance just as another team of first responders pull Beckett from the torn and ragged Ferrari.

"Esposito!" He gets a text from Lanie just as Kate's command rings out. Good. Her voice is clear and strong. He peeks at his phone as he makes his way over to Beckett.

Alexis got a text from a friend. Red Ferrari. Bad Accident. Mid-Town. Javi, you're tailing today, right?

He reaches Beckett on the stretcher. Refusing to lie to her, he gives it as easy as he can. "You won your fight, Beckett. He's as strong as you, you know. Maybe stronger. He's got a good chance. And the vest. That was some kind genius, you making us put them on. It's already saved him."

She holds his gaze, seeking the truth behind his words. Sees his belief in them. In her. In Castle. She reaches her hand out and he's there to grab it, his other hand smoothing back her hair. He surprises her when he leans in to press a kiss to her forehead.

"Besides, he knows how much you'd mess him up if he dared die on you, boss."

His smile is genuine and he's encouraged to see the brief lift to her own lips. Nobody is dying today if Beckett is smiling, right?

A paramedic shuffles Espo off to the side, tells him they've got to move now. Then Beckett is disappearing into the ambulance. He watches it pull away and sends a quick message back to Lanie.

Take Alexis to St. Vincent's Emergency. Your girl seems okay. Her writer's in bad shape.

Her message back is short and comforting.

Be with you soon.

He must've lost some moments because suddenly he's standing beside Ryan's car and Ryan's got his hands on his shoulders, trying to coax eye contact. "Javier...you okay?"

He shakes off the memories of Lanie in his bed. Even now, after all the stinging barbs and cutting jabs, he's still surprised to find her there. In his bed. Not as often as before, but not so long between appearances as to make him worry she'll never be there again. That he'll never get another "be there soon" text from her. Why can't I just give her what she wants?

Ryan is shaking his shoulders again. Calling his name. Espo makes eye contact, lays a hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"No, no. I'm fine. It's just..." Espo glances to Jenny in the car. She's completely focused on Ryan, but she's fervently speaking into her phone. Ryan glances back at his wife, giving her a smile to warm the ice surrounding them. The cold dread of that stabbing steel rod. She mouths, "Martha" at him. He nods, turning back to Espo.

"Lanie is on her way to St. Vincent's with Alexis. I'd say there's no where for us to go on this today. I'll fill in Gates then head over. You'll take Jenny now?"

"Yeah. Okay. See ya in a few." Ryan had let his shoulders go when he started speaking, but reaches out to clasps hands for a moment. Unspoken words hang in the air between them. Till the wheels fall off.

Ryan's back in his car and pulling away before Esposito even makes it back to his own car. He's not even sure how he manages the trip back to the precinct. Either his autopilot skills are still sharp or fate decided it's screwed up the day enough. More than enough.

He makes quick work of his chores at home base. His report to the Captain is short. She might not be completely onboard with their cloak and dagger methods, but he thinks she sees the value of it. Knows there is something there to uncover, but that will have to wait for another day now. She dismisses him and he's back on autopilot in no time. He makes it to St. Vincent's and is just walking through the emergency room doors when his phone zings. Lanie.

Rod out. Bleeding stopped. Lost heartbeat twice, but numbers improving. Still critical, but hopeful outlook. K being released now.