A/N Thank-you for the wonderful reviews. I'm glad that you guys liked Kate's wedding vows. I think that was the thing I was most upset about missing out on in the finale, so I wrote what I thought she would have said. I wasn't sure whether this was going to be a one-shot or a multi-chapter but seems to have a mind of it own. I hope you enjoy it.

"Just because we haven't figured it out yet, doesn't mean we won't" R.

Chapter 2

"Detective Beckett" She watched as the inexperienced police chief pulled and tugged on his tie. Whether he was stalling for time or just uncomfortable, Beckett didn't know and didn't really care at this point.

"Chief Brady, can you confirm if Castle was in the car when it was set alight?" Kate demanded, determined to get some answers.

"Chica" Esposito stepped forward, blocking her view of the hapless chief. "They haven't been able to ascertain much past the fact that the car was registered to Castle."

"Chief Brady called you first because Castle had phoned him yesterday about the wedding and any possible noise violations. Beckett, he remembered you guys from the case you solved up here and still had your number in his files" Ryan jumped in. The strained expression on his face, evidence of his concern for the writer.

"So we don't know that Castle was in the car when it went over" She reiterated. Not really caring for any other details except this one. Kate felt warm, the tightness of the bodice of her wedding dress starting to feeling like a straight jacket, her breath coming in short bursts. Right now she felt like she wanted to jump out of her own skin.

"Beckett, they haven't been able to get close to the car because of the flames. Chica, we don't know if Castle is de...er ..was in the car" She hears the slight quiver in Esposito's voice as he tries hard to avoid stating what they all fear.

"Espo! Castle's not in that car!" Kate cried, not sure if she truly believed it but unwilling to give up hope. Kate saw the pained expression in her friend's eyes, the way his shoulders slumped and raised her hand to stop him as he took a step towards her, his arms raised. She knew he was just doing what he always did in their relationship, stepping up to support her, hold her up when she looks like falling down. But Kate refused to accept it, not today because there was no way Rick was it that car, no way this was their ending. Feeling her breath hitch in her throat, the sob captured before it could escape, Kate pressed her palm into her friend's chest, physically and mentally holding him back.

"Kate.."

"NO, NO Javi! Don't!" Without waiting for his response, she dodged around him, her eyes roaming the accident scene for Chief Brady. She wanted answers and unfortunately for the inexperienced police chief, he was her target. Squinting against the brilliant afternoon sun she located him beside the patrol car talking to an officer in the Hamptons PD uniform. Kate stalked over to him, ignoring the thin layer of dust now clinging to the hem of her wedding dress.

"Chief"

"Yes Detective"

"Tell me everything you know" She demanded, her eyes pinning the police chief to the spot. Chief Emmet Brady, having only been in this position for two years and required to fire his gun for the first time a little over a year ago in a case involving this particular homicide detective, was wildly inexperienced in comparison but he knew enough to fear what Detective Kate Beckett was capable of. Just two weeks ago he had been glued to the television set as he watched her take down a US Senator, who had allegedly murdered her mother and attempted to assassinate her. He wished not for the first time today that he had stayed in bed and far away from anything to do with this couple.

"Um.. from what we can best ascertain, Mr Castle's vehicle was travelling east towards his residence when it seems to have missed the corner at the bridge and veered off the road into the ditch below. At some point the vehicle has burst into flames. Unfortunately we don't know if anyone was inside at this time. Once the fire department extinguish the flames we will have more information. " Emmet Brady recited the facts, going against his natural tendency to ramble.

"So there is a chance Castle survived the initial impact and walked away, he could be lying out their somewhere, injured."

"While its possible Detective, the car appears to have impacted the ground at high-speed. It's unlikely any person in the vehicle, walked away from this"

"And Rick is a very unlikely person. Have you searched the woods, canvassed the local houses to make sure he's not out there somewhere" Kate demanded, her voice cracking as emotion overwhelmed her. She knew that Rick would do everything to survive, and she needed to do everything to find him. That's what partners did, right?

Kate turned to the men she thought of as family and pleaded for them to understand.

"They checked Beckett, he's not lying around injured. I promise" Ryan explained, the unshed tears evident in his voice. Of the two detectives, he was the one who followed Castle around like a lost puppy, laughing at all his jokes even the bad ones. Kate had been so focused on getting answers that she hadn't heard him approach.

"But I'll go and look myself" Ryan reassured her, keen to do anything that didn't involve watching his friend's body be extracted from the burnt-out wreck. Kate watched as he jogged off into the woods behind the smouldering car, still wearing his tuxedo. She knew he would be true to his word and if Castle was in the woods, Ryan would find him. Kate was torn between wanting to follow Ryan and needing to stay with the car.

"Detective Beckett, my deputies have secured the scene. But we are only a small team and I don't have the man power to canvas the neighbouring ranches and protect the evidence here as well." he stated "We are doing our best, I'm sorry but the likely scenario is that Mr Castle was in the car. "

"No! Until you show me his body, HE is still out there, somewhere and I won't stop looking until I find him, because that is what Castle would do!" Kate yelled, causing the smaller man to take a step back. "So go out there and do your job, FIND HIM!"

Brady breathed a sigh of relief as he saw one of the other detectives, a Detective Esposito he remembers from his earlier introduction, approach them from where he had been watching the recovery process.

"Kate" The quiet, almost whispered use of her first name, not missed on her. Kate felt her stomach roll and pitch, what little she had eaten for breakfast threatening to come up. The bluster leaving her as she realised what he was coming to tell her.

"Kate, they found a body in the car"

"No, please Javi, No" The plea escaping from her lips, her vision of the usually stoic detective with tears in his eyes suddenly obscured by a thin film of water. Kate pressed her fisted hands to her eyes, trying to stem the flow. The tightness in her chest growing, restricting her ability to breathe. She felt light-headed. This wasn't possible, he had promised that they would have their happy ending. He promised and she had been so sure that he would survive because Castle never broke his promises. How was she to make her stand if he wasn't there to stand beside her.

Kate felt his strong arms come around her as she started to slide to the ground. Her weight now fully supported by the younger detective as she allowed herself to give in to the crashing waves of grief. She felt his arms tighten around her, comforting her, his tearful 'I'm sorry' whispering in her ears. Kate sobbed harder as she grieved for the loss of the only arms she ever wanted around her, the only voice she wanted whispering to her. She tried to curl into herself as he shifted her in his arms, speaking softly to someone.

"Yo Ryan, you need to get back here, bro" Esposito ended his conversation with Ryan abruptly to make the next call.

"Chica, she needs you" She heard him murmur. "He's gone, Lanie"

Kate moaned, trying to block out Esposito's words as her world crumbled around her. She pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle the moans wanting to escape, feeling the bite of her engagement ring into her soft cheek. Opening her eyes she looked down at the large diamond in its elegant platinum setting, remembering clearly how his blue eyes had gazed seriously at her, how he had held himself so stiffly kneeling down on one knee when he proposed. She remembered how every thought had left her stunned brain and her sudden concern for his injured knee. She remembered the slight tremor in his hand as he offered the ring to her, the only sign of his inner turmoil. And she remembered the joy that bubbled up inside at the realisation that he wasn't breaking up with her.

"I'm not proposing to you to keep you here or because I'm afraid I'm gonna lose you. I'm proposing because I can't imagine my life without you. If that means when things get difficult we have to figure them out, then I'm willing to figure them out, assuming you're willing to figure them out with me." The seriousness in his eyes a reflection of the massive leap of faith he was taking. She hadn't realised until Castle had told her about his previous failed marriages how he had built walls so much like her own to prevent being hurt again. That Castle had chosen to demolish his own walls and take that leap with her , still amazed her.

Kate trembled as she realised that today was the day that their story ended. They weren't going to get their happy ending. She had been so certain that they wouldn't find his body in the car, that if she turned around he would be walking across the road with his usual swagger, looking a little like a certain British spy in his wedding tuxedo, ready to spin some wonderous tale about his near-death escape. Kate had been so certain that she would know if he was truly dead, and she still felt his presence, so couldn't be gone. Nothing made sense anymore and she didn't have the strength to figure it out without him.

Esposito held Kate, gently stroking her back and feeling completely out of his element in how to comfort her, Kate's entire body shaking with the sobs. Esposito continued to hold her until the sobs quietened and he felt her go slack in his arms, almost hopeful she had fallen asleep. He had never seen Beckett like this and it terrified him.

"Javi, I need to see the body. For me, for him" She whispered huskily when the tears finally slowed and she could find her voice. Kate refused to say his name, if she did then it make all this too painfully real.

"Kate..." She heard the refusal in his voice, but wasn't about to be swayed. She pushed away from him, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder til she regained her balance. Esposito placed his large hand over hers whether to restrain her or continue to offer support she wasn't sure. His fingers sliding in between hers, palm to palm, drawing her hand down to rest it on his chest. She could feel the rapid pulsing of his heart and knew that this was hurting him too.

"Chica, you don't need to do this. I called Lanie, at least wait til she gets here."

"I'm sorry, Espo" She slipped her hand out of his to clasp the train of her wedding gown and make the short walk to the burnt out Mercedes.

As she approached the top of the bridge she watched as the fireman switched off their hoses, as the last steady stream of water hit the partly caved in roof of the car and then slid in a torrent down the sides. The water sloshed to the ground and was quickly absorbed. Kate now had a clear view of the crumpled chassis of the Mercedes and realised that there had been little chance that Castle would have walked away from this crash, even without the fire. She remained rooted in place as she watched the driver's door being pried from its hinges to allow access to the body. Kate tore her eyes away just as the door broke off with a tearing screech of metal and fell to the ground, instead focusing on the largely unscathed boot of the car. She couldn't go down there, this wasn't just another crime scene. This was Rick and she wasn't ready to see him gone, his vitality and thirst for life reduced to nothing.

Kate could feel her racing heart threatening to burst from her chest and was surprised that it even knew how to beat. She could feel the tears coursing down her face, she could feel each sob being wrenched from her chest but she felt disconnected to it all. As she focused on the small black mark on the rear of the silver Mercedes, everything else receded into the background. The patrol cars with their flashing lights, the fire engine, the smell of burnt rubber, the professional chatter of the fireman as they examined the wreck, even the slow steady breaths of her friend who had joined her by the bridge, all receded into nothing.

She examined the black mark, tracing the long linear smudges from the rear passenger door to the brake light at the back. She noticed a small dent in the rear fender. Gasping she turned to Esposito, grabbing his arm in a death grip, her knuckles turning white.

"Espo, that mark on the rear fender, it's new. There was another vehicle involved"

"Maybe it was there before"

"You've borrowed the Ferrari enough times to know that Castle freaks out at the smallest scratch on his cars. Do you remember the time Ryan spilled one of Jenny's detox drinks in the back seat. I thought he was gonna have a coronary."

"Best halo day ever" Esposito chuckled

"So there is no way that dent was on the Mercedes when Castle left the city" Kate stated, glad to have anything to focus on that didn't involve the body in the driver's seat.

"Kate, Lanie just called. She's on her way but little Castle is with her." The reason for his appearance at her side now evident.

"Hell! No, she shouldn't be here. Why didn't Lanie stop her!" Kate exclaimed. Starting to pace back and forth in her silver stilettos.

"She's a grown woman who has a right to be here and what was she going to do? Handcuff her to a chair?" Esposito grabbed for Kate's hand before she fell down into the gully below, halting her frantic pacing. "You need to talk to her. Martha and your Dad too."

"Espo, I can't" Kate sobbed "I'm not even sure I know how to do this without him. I'm not strong enough."

"Chica, you are the strongest woman I know." Esposito pulled her in for a brief hug, releasing her as he heard a car pull up behind them. "You need to go and talk with Alexis and I need to go and check out those marks on the car."

"Hell!"

His lips moved up in a poor attempt at a smile, not quite able to muster the feelings to put behind it. He turned and scrambled down the hill towards the wreck, ignoring the cloud of dust he kicked up in his wake.

Kate took a steadying breath as she turned away from the wreckage and faced the daunting task ahead of her. She felt the next brick fall into place, her wall steadily rebuilding itself as she closed off her emotions. She saw the rear door of a black limousine open, watching as the young redhead still in her best man tuxedo, jumped out followed quickly by Lanie. Kate strode towards them, the tears drying on her cheeks as she faked a steadiness she didn't feel.

"Kate" The terror evident on her young face, mixed with anger. "You promised to call!"

Kate halted in front of Alexis, trying to block her view of the recovery process going on behind her, her height giving her an advantage over the shorter girl today.

"I know Alexis. I'm sorry" She took Alexis' cool hands in her own, feeling as they quivered at her touch, unsure if it was her own hands shaking or the young girl's. Kate took a deep breath, realising that she wasn't ready to do this. Having been a 19 year-old shattered by her mother's death she wasn't ready to do that to Alexis. She wished that she had more time to prepare for this but somewhere in her numb mind she knew she never would have been prepared for this.

"Alexis, your Dad's car crashed. He...uh...he..." Kate paused, unable to continue as the words stuck in her throat, threatening to choke her. Kate had sat down with numerous families; mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, and lovers delivering bad news to them but she couldn't do this. She still wasn't willing to admit he was dead. Desperately she looked over Alexis' head, avoiding her gaze and beseeching Lanie for her help.

"Alexis, honey. Your dad didn't make it out of the car." Lanie came up to gather the young girl in her arms as she started to collapse. Kate stood back feeling helpless but not sure she had the emotional reserve to comfort her right now. She watched as Alexis sobbed in Lanie's arms, her best friend stepping in when Kate couldn't. Kate turned away as tears blurred her vision again, feeling like she had let Castle down yet again. She felt Lanie's smaller warm hand slip into hers. Looking up she met her friend's eyes to see only sadness reflected back and no censure.

"Kate" Just that single word from Lanie was enough to break through the numbness and Kate allowed herself to be pulled into the hug. She wrapped her arms around Alexis and placed a kiss to the top of her head. Kate closed her eyes and started to speak softly to the young girl, hoping that by telling the story of his last moments she would start to believe them as well.

"It looks like his car missed the curve and he crashed through the guard rail at the bridge. The car landed hard in the gully below. The leaking fuel must have caught alight, maybe a spark from the engine ignited it, and a fire started. It's unlikely he would have been aware of anything after that initial impact." A sob escaped Kate as her mind conjured up images of Castle trapped in the car. She had to believe what she was telling Alexis because she wouldn't survive with the other option, that Castle had been alive when the car burst into flames.

"No Kate, please, no!" Alexis cried as she flung herself into Kate's arms. Kate allowed her tears to flow, remaining silent as the girl's sobs intensified.

"Lanie, I need you to go and make sure that they don't miss any evidence on the..uh...on Castle." She whispered, her voice faltering.

"There is no way Castle just veered off the road, something caused him to end up on that trajectory and I'm not gonna let some country cops rule this an accident. He was too experienced as a driver and he knew these roads too well to take that curve at speed, something happened and I intend to find out what." Kate refused to believe that Castle's last act would be something so reckless. If anything he was the more cautious driver out of the two of them and there is no way he took that curve too quickly.

"Sure honey, I'll look after him" Lanie pressed a kiss to her cheek before walking away.

She watched as Lanie climbed down the dirt incline in her emerald-green bridesmaid dress and stilettos. Watching as Esposito quickly approached when her stilettos proved incapable of carrying her through the mud at the bottom and pulled her into a tight embrace lifting her into his arms. She looked away unable to prevent herself from wishing she had Castle's strong arms around her now. The world always seemed so much safer and easier to bear when she was in his arms. He made her safe and that was a feeling she wasn't sure she would ever feel again.

"Kate, Kate we need to tell Grams" Alexis pulled back, her face red from crying but her sobs having subsided.

"We will but first I need to talk to Chief Brady, then we will go back to the house and tell Martha. Can you wait just a little bit longer."

Kate wasn't ready to leave yet until she had made sure that the Hamptons PD were doing all they could to find out what happened. She also admitted to herself that she wasn't ready yet to go back and face her family, the wedding guests, the house all preparing for a wedding that was never going to happen. She definitely wasn't ready to face that reality.

"Ok. But I don't want to see him, "Alexis pleaded "Not like this."

"Oh honey, never, never" She reassured the girl.

"I'll put her in our car and stay with her until you're ready to go" stated Ryan, having returned from his search of the woods after Esposito's call. His nod at her affirmed that Espo had brought his partner up to date on everything that had happened in his absence.

"Thanks Ryan" Kate squeezed Alexis' cool hands, bending down she looked into her tear-stained face and made her a promise. "I'm going to find out what happened, I promise you"

"I know you will Kate" Alexis stated with conviction.

She watched as Ryan led Alexis away, inwardly glad to have a slight reprieve before facing the rest of her family. Kate felt a burning seed of anger take root inside of her, she allowed her grief to feed the flames. She was angry, angry at Castle for leaving her, angry at whoever had stolen her happy ending from them, angry at herself for believing that they could possibly make it, even angry at the fates that had decided that their destiny was this, another sad bookmark to add to a life touched to often by tragedy. Kate angrily dashed the tears from her face, as she searched for Chief Brady, yet again. Ignoring the activity going on down the hill she located her prey standing by his patrol car talking on the radio.

"Chief Brady" Kate stalked over, watching as he quickly ended his conversation at her approach.

"Detective Beckett. I'm very sorry for your loss" he stammered.

"I don't need platitudes Chief, I need answers!" Kate unwilling to allow him to squirm away again.

"What have your men found?" she demanded.

"We have found some tire tracks about 200 feet up the road to the west that suggest the car was stationary before accelerating towards the bridge." Emmet Brady couldn't quite meet her eyes peering over her shoulder into the distance.

"That's not possible. It doesn't make sense" She stated.

"Um well Detective, the evidence suggests he may have purposely driven straight towards the guard rail. There are no skid marks to suggest he attempted to brake."

"No Chief! The evidence is WRONG! If Castle has taught me anything it is that the evidence doesn't always tell the whole story and in this case it's telling the wrong story" Kate refused to believe that Castle would deliberately cause his family this much pain. If she believed in anything, she believed in Castle's love for her and his family. He would never do something like this.

"You need to check your evidence again, and once you're finished, check it again!" She shouted. "Because Castle would never do something like this. I spoke to him when he was just 20 minutes away and he was as excited as I was for this wedding. He waited 3 years to declare his love for me, another year for me to declare it back to him, then a further 2 years to get us to this point. There is no way on this earth that he would have allowed himself to miss our wedding. So go and find more evidence because someone did this to him and I'm not going to rest until they pay!"

The seed of anger was now a raging torrent inside of Kate and she had no wish to quell it. The anger was preventing her from collapsing into a useless heap and she would use it to sustain her as she searched for answers. If Chief Brady wasn't prepared to assist her then he was an obstacle that she would just navigate around, because nothing would stop her from getting justice for herself, for Castle.

Brady was spared from responding by the ringing of his cell phone. Glad for the brief reprieve he excused himself as he stepped away to answer it. Kate bit back a scream of frustration, taking a slow breath to calm herself down. There was no point getting the local cops off side, not until she had a good reason to get them there. Oh Hell Castle, what happened?

"Yes"

"I understand"

"Yes ma'am, ur...yes Sir!"

"My entire force is willing to do what ever it takes to resolve this"

Kate unashamedly listened in, watching as Brady's complexion became redder and redder until he hung up with a flourish, stabbing at the call end button.

"It seems that Richard Castle has friend's in high places. That was your Captain, she has received permission to offer NYPD personnel to aid this investigation." He stated. "I don't know what sort of pull she has but your friends, Detectives Esposito and Ryan are now consulting on this investigation and Dr Parish is to be provided full access as well. This is unheard of!"

Kate watched as the Chief's adams apple bobbled up and down as he swallowed this new turn of events, obviously not happy to have his investigation invaded by the NYPD.

"Hey Beckett" she watched as Ryan jogged over.

"Gates just called. Seems Lanie ran into Gates on her way out of the house and told her what had happened. She called 1PP and the Mayor arranging for us to assist." Kate teared up again, surprised yet again at the show of loyalty from the stern captain. Kate rubbed her eyes, wincing at their grittiness as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her. The incessant swing of her emotions from grief to anger and back again, draining her.

"Your friends can stay and assist, but Detective Beckett, you can't stay. This is not your case to investigate." Chief Brady stated, having recovered from his first encounter with Captain 'Iron' Gates.

"This is my fiancé, Chief Brady, there is no part of this doesn't concern me!" Kate spat out., anger and stubbornness evident on her face.

"Beckett, we've got this" Ryan reassured her "He was our friend too and we will find out what happened. But Beckett you need to be with his family now, they need you."

"But Ryan, I need to be here. I need to stay with him" She cried, resisting his attempts to guide her away, her anger shifting back to sorrow.

"Lanie will stay with him, I promise. Alexis needs you now Kate." His crystal blue eyes welling with tears. "We loved him too"

"Promise he won't be left alone, promise me that Kevin." The tears once again flowing freely down her face.

"Always" Ryan stated

Kate's breath hitched at that word. What had made Ryan say that word, their word to her. Kate sobbed, allowing Ryan to pull her into a hug as she finally began to realise that their "Always" had been a lie. She was docile as Ryan led her back to the Rolls-Royce, through tears she could see Alexis sitting in the back seat. Kate quietly climbed in as Alexis made room for her, barely settling back onto the cool leather seat before the young girl had wrapped her arms around her. She felt Alexis' quiet sobs against her neck, the lace trim of her wedding dress already starting to dampen from the flood of tears.

"Thank-you Ryan" she whispered as he closed the door, signally to the driver to go as he straightened his shoulders and prepared to do his job. Kate placed a soft kiss to Alexis' forehead as the car engine came to life.

"Tony, don't go yet" She quietly requested. "I need to stay a little bit just until he's gone"

"Of course Ms Beckett" The usually reserved chauffeur's voice quivering with suppressed emotion.

Kate sat quietly watching as the firemen rolled up the used hoses and equipment, she watched as they climbed back into the engine and drove away, sirens on silent now there was no need for haste. She quietly watched as the local ME's van drove up, and a young man, barely old enough to drive jumped out, she watched as her best friend shook hands with the ME and led him to the car. She watched even as Alexis' sobs ceased and her ragged breathing settled into soft snores. Through silent tears, almost an hour later Kate watched as a black body bag was carefully carried up the steep incline. Its weight born by Esposito, Ryan, Chief Brady and the young ME, with Lanie following close behind. As the doors of the ME's van closed on the body bag and Lanie, she watched as Ryan pulled Esposito into a hug before finally closing her eyes.

"Goodbye my lover. I will love you Always" Kate whispered quietly to herself as Tony pulled the silver Rolls-Royce back onto the road.