AN: Thanks to everyone's who has been reading and reviewing. Special thanks to White Pawn and BoneyCastle237 for your consistent and incredibly encouraging reviews – you guys always manage to brighten my day and make me excited to start working on the next chapter. Also, White Pawn, your ideas are genius, you manage to bring up things I tend to forget about and I'll be working at incorporating them into coming chapters. That said, enjoy the latest instalment!

Chapter Thirteen

In his fantasies, it was always just himself and Beckett, always.

This particular fantasy was incredible though. It was just so tangible; he could practically feel Beckett's fingers delicately running along the back of his neck, moving gingerly over the gaping wound on his head from the butt of the gun. He could almost hear her whispering in his ear to come back to her, could hear her say that Alexis and his mother were waiting for him, could hear – hang on, he could hear her. This wasn't part of his unconscious mind weaving delusions of grandeur. This was reality. Beckett had come to rescue him. The weight on his chest dissipated to nothing. He sought to reassure her –

"Be…" he mumbled, words escaping him, all the while his mind screaming her name. He couldn't reach coherency, he found himself slipping further from reality once again.

X-X-X-X-X-X

All Beckett had seen since entering the room and his name had slipped from her lips was Castle. She couldn't take her eyes off him as Esposito ordered the man to drop his weapon. Her eyes didn't leave his slumped form as the boys spun the man and cuffed him. She searched every inch of him with her eyes, gasped as she found the gnash to the back of his head. Her eyes didn't leave him as she dropped to her knees beside him and ran her hand over his wound, checking its depth, willing it to stop bleeding. She didn't look away as she whispered pleas for him to wake up. She thought she heard the echo of her name on his lips –

"Be…" before drifting away to nothing. It was then that her eyes left him, she closed them cautiously hesitant to break the connection, and leaned in to press a chaste kiss to his cheek. As she fluttered her eyelids slowly back open she remembered they weren't alone in the room, Esposito cleared his throat and Ryan grinned. The madwoman wailed, whether it was because police were arresting her husband or Beckett was kissing Castle, Beckett didn't know, nor did she care. Tessa continued to sob, loud and pitiful moans wretched from her very soul, as Ryan cuffed her and brought her to her feet. The boys made to take Tessa and Bryan from the room.

"Wait," Beckett murmured, barely a whisper, but being so attuned to one another the boys caught it and froze. "I need scissors, a knife, something."

"Pocket," Esposito shifted his hips towards her, hands busy restraining Bryan who had fallen into silent submission – after all, what had he done wrong? In his eyes, it was his adulterous wife who was to blame for everything. Beckett drew a small blade from Esposito's pocket. She cut the binds restraining Castle, kissing each his hands gently as she pulled them free, ignoring the boys smirks. His wrists were red and raw and her brow furrowed, clearly not happy with the picture before her. Of course, she was ecstatic to find him relatively safe but that didn't take away from her anger at his injuries no matter how small they may be. Besides, the open head wound was a serious concern. She frowned at his shirt, it was really was something. She drew her hand under it and pulled it away from his body before slicing it open and tugging it from his chest. She balled it up and tenderly pushed it to the bloody gnash at the back of his head. Satisfied she turned to Tessa who whimpered under her intense gaze.

"Like I said, he's mine," there was no malice to her tone, just firm possession. "You're going to pay for making him bleed, I promise you that," she was speaking to both of them with that. She was fairly certain that Bryan had hit Castle, but she was also certain that Tessa was the one who had orchestrated this situation in the first place. They both would pay, she would see to it. There would be no deals, no shortened sentences. All that was coming for them was justice.

Sirens blared outside and EMTs rushed into the building. Ryan and Esposito led the Lonkings from the room. With Castle still unconscious, the EMTS placed him on a stretcher and wheeled him out onto the street. Beckett clasped her hand with his as they walked, the EMTs moving around her. She could see Alexis' eye's bulge and her hand jump to grip the door handle as she saw the detective and her father come into view. Beckett nodded wildly and the girl plunged from the cruiser and rushed to her father's side with Martha on her heels.

"He's fine, Alexis. Just a concussion from a hit he took to the head," she attempted to tame the wild panic in the girl's eyes.

"Hit to the head?" she squeaked out. "Oh, Dad." She lowered her head and clasped his free hand. "Please wake up." The nearest EMT turned to her.

"Your old man should be fine, sweet thing. We're just going to take him back to the hospital to monitor him for the next day or two. Would you like to ride along with us?" Alexis nodded firmly. "Okay then, up we go." Their small procession had reached the waiting ambulance. The EMTs loaded Castle into the van and helped Alexis up. As Castle's hand slipped from hers, Beckett felt an overwhelming sense of loss. She took a moment to compose herself as the ambulance doors were pulled closed before she turned to Martha and took the matriarch's hand in hers.

"To the hospital," she managed.

"To the hospital," Martha agreed.

They drove in silence. Reassured by finding Castle but scared all the same by his unconscious state. They were both used to a myriad words, not absolutely nothing, flowing from the lips of Richard Castle. They found him still silent upon reaching the hospital.

"Doctors say he just needs time to wake up. Given the situation they think he probably hasn't slept for the past couple of days as it is, and with the bump on the back of his head, well, his brain just needs some time to wake itself up. It could be anything from hours to a day or two," Alexis spilled out as they found his room. A nurse walked in and considered the increase in occupants to the room with a frown.

"I'm sorry, no visitors at the moment. Immediate family only," she said with a sigh, her tone serious. Beckett made to pull her badge from her pocket. Martha laid a hand on her wrist, halting her.

"That's what we are," Martha said sweetly, but with an obvious firmness to her tone. The nurse nodded her acceptance and checked the bandage on Castle's head was still secure before departing the room.

"Martha," Beckett started softly. "You didn't have to…"

"Nonsense, my dear detective. It's the truth," Martha stated sliding her hand down Beckett's wrist to clasp hers. Alexis let out a soft chuckle, her eyes still glued to her father but clearly listening to the exchange going on in the room around her.

"Not everyone gets to come to the family viewing of Gram's one-woman shows, you know," she added softly. Beckett found a small smile spill onto her lips. She moved to put her hand on Alexis shoulder, pulling Martha with her. Alexis drew one her hands away from her father and grasped Beckett's hand on her shoulder gently. They stood like that for a while, all eyes in the room focussed on the man breathing steadily in the hospital bed before them.

Beckett wasn't sure how much time had passed when she heard Alexis' stomach grumble. She groaned, she'd been with the girl since the night before and hadn't fed her a thing. Her getting caught up in a case and forgetting to eat was one thing, but her neglecting to care for his child, that was another something altogether. She mentally admonished herself; it was stupid to forget about food time and time again. It was another glowing reminder of how she'd come to depend on Castle so heavily, he would have force fed the both of them hours ago. No wonder she was so exhausted, Alexis unused to neglecting herself as Beckett was must be starving.

"Hey Alexis, do you want something to eat?" She started to get up from the seat she'd taken across from the girl at some point after entering the room. Martha rose to her feet.

"I'll go. Alexis, darling, would you like to come for a walk?" The young redhead glanced from her father, to Beckett, to her grandmother.

"Sure. I could use the movement," as if to emphasise her point she drew her hands above her head and cracked them briskly before gently rotating her neck. With that she took her grandmother's outstretched arm and they walked from the room.

Beckett was content sitting in silence, tracing patterns onto the back of Castle's hand as she held it tight. It wouldn't be like last summer when she'd pushed Castle from her hospital bed and onto the street, this time they would do it together. She would be here when he woke, ready to spill her secrets and keep hold of his hand forever. That was the dream anyway. Reality tended to get a little skewed. Despite the overbearing presence of the wall within her heart, she felt ready. She'd throw Castle a ladder and he could scale the wall to stand hopelessly without answers on the same side as her. At least they'd be together.

Alexis and Martha hadn't been gone long when Beckett heard movement in the room behind her. She was about to turn and acknowledge them when a very different, but glaringly familiar voice filled the room.