Oops, I just noticed I didn't change the summary for the current scene last time. Sorry about that. This is the last of the stuff I have already written, so the updates will be sporatic from now on. But I will be taking the suggestions from the previous reviews into consideration as I write new scenes, so hopefully there will be steady improvement with each new scene.

Disclaimer: If I owned this show, I wouldn't have freaked out over the first promo for 5X01 like I did. Instead, I would have known it all from writing through to the completed project. So yeah, I don't own it. But that means I get to write fan fics about it, so there's a silver lining in having to wait until SEPTEMBER 24th (20 weeks between new episodes is INSANE!) to see the whole thing.

Boom!

Rescue From A Burning Apartment

The crackle of the fire grew in volume as Castle made his way closer and closer to Kate's apartment. The old wood door glowed an eerie red, visual proof that it had been impacted by the flames. The writer didn't hesitate as he threw himself against the door, twisting so that his left shoulder took the brunt of the impact.

"Kate!" he yelled as he made contact with the door a second time. "Kate, are you in there?"

He called out for her again as his third attempt finally loosened the wood from its hinges. Instead of swinging open the structure toppled over, slamming against the floor. Momentum caused Castle to slide along the door as it fell.

"Ouch," he gasped as his shoulder connected with a small flame. "Ah," he grunted as he slid his arm out of the sleeve of his jacket and wacked it against the floor. Thankfully it took only a moment for the flame to dissipate, leaving only a dark stain of soot behind.

With one sweeping glance Castle took in dull yellow sheetrock that hung from beams that slumped in the middle without any weight to support them and flames that leapt at least two feet high, eagerly consuming whatever got in their path.

"Kate?"

His eyes desperately searched for her slender frame but there was no sign that anyone remained within the raging inferno. Maybe he was wrong and she was far away from the devastation but there was no way he was giving up the search until he had checked every square inch.

He called for her again as he made his way through what used to be her living room. It was when he was almost to the charred remains of her kitchen that he heard it, a faint sound of coughing coming from the direction of what used to be her bathroom. Another cough reached his ears, louder than the first.

"Kate?" His tone was hopeful as he bent slightly, wondering where she could possibly be. A slender hand reaching for the edge of the white old fashioned tub gave him his answer. Relief hit him hard and fast as her head, with her dark hair thrown up in a messy bun, came into view.

"Kate!" He hurried towards her, shoving a falling beam, surprisingly not on fire, out of his way without really registering what he was doing. "Kate, you're alive!" He pushed away what he assumed must have been part of the bathroom door and then he was finally, finally close enough to reach her. "Oh, and you're naked," he added when his gaze took in her bare back.

"Castle, turn around!" Kate ordered just before another bout of coughing hit.

Castle didn't hesitate. As much as he had fantasized about seeing her in such a state, he knew now was not the time.

Although-

"You know, your apartment is on fire," he pointed out. "Now might not be the best time for modesty."

"Castle, hand me a towel," was all Kate said in response.

Eager to get her covered and get her out of there, Castle's gaze swung towards her stack of towels only to see a ball of fire dancing above the terry cloth pile. "The towels are on fire."

"Well, what about the bathrobe?"

"The-" Castle really wished he didn't have to say it, but the shooting flames made it necessary, "Do you have anything that's not flammable?"

"Castle!" Kate gasped when he turned his head towards her.

"Sorry," Castle's voice was raspy as he realized how close he had come to seeing everything. He hadn't seen any more than he had before and it was more difficult than it should have been, given the situation, for him to turn his head away.

"Give me your jacket," Kate ordered, her Detective Beckett tone firmly in place now that the danger of Castle seeing more than she wanted him to had passed.

Castle shrugged out of the brown coat, holding it out while pointedly keeping his head angled in such a way that she would have no doubt that he was preserving her modesty.

"Don't look."

"I'm not," he insisted.

And yet she said it again.

"I'm not-I'm not looking," he said, frustrated and a little hurt that she didn't seem to entirely believe him.

But the second assurance seemed to work as he felt her hands take hold of his coat.

"All right?" he asked after a few moments.

"Yeah," she said and gave a soft sigh of relief.

"Okay," he said. He knew that just swinging her up into his arms wouldn't be appreciated by the overly independent detective so he merely held out his hands for her to use as leverage.

"I dove into the tub just as it blew," she told him as she got a firm grip on his arms to use for balance.

"Can you walk?" he asked as she gingerly swung one foot and the other over the edge of the tub.

"Yeah," she said as her unsteady feet slowly touched the floor, "just a little banged up."

His hands cupped her elbows as she limped away from the tub.

"You in any pain?" he inquired as they slowly made their way towards her front door.

"Well, not nearly as much as you." There was obvious amusement in her voice that puzzled him. "It's just killing you, isn't it?

"What?"

"Having to wait this long to tell me how you banged down the door?"

Ah, humor. Their regular banter. She was going to be just fine.

More than willing to distract her from her predicament, even if only for a minute, he launched into the story. "You want me to start from the beginning….?"