For starters, I do not own Castle or any of the characters from Castle. I'm just writing for fun, clean and simple.

My day has been spent writing. I just couldn't stop and I was free all day to do what ever I wanted so this is what happened. Sorry if I'm getting annoying, I just figured this would be one of the last chances I had to update for a bit so, why not take it.

This is more fun than I ever anticipated it'd be haha. Although, I'm still trying to learn the ropes. I've been trying to keep a chapter ahead of what I've posted so when school starts I'll have a little less to think about haha, but no promises. If anyone's even reading this, I hope you enjoy it. If not, well… I don't know why I'm even addressing you. Reviews? Critiques?

Thank :)

M

Part 3

5 days later, I was finally being discharged. There had been tests, on my heart, my liver, my lungs, everything that could have possibly been affected. There had been sleepless nights. 3 out of the 5 nights Castle stayed with me, leaning his head on the side of my bed to sleep and on those nights I'd slept like a baby. For some reason, having him around made me feel better; but on the two nights that I convinced him to go home, sleep in a real bed, shower, shave, see his daughter… I had woken up almost every hour from nightmares. Blood. My mother. Castle. The boys. Lanie. Alexis. My Dad. All bleeding out under my hands and then screaming at me for not saving them. The nurses had tried to sedate me but it only made the dreams worse.

During the days, I had an almost constant stream of visitors. Castle was almost always there. The boys would come by after their shift, usually bringing Jenny and Lanie along. Alexis and Martha stopped by most days too, after school. My dad hardly ever left, though he'd usually vacate after I convinced Castle to go home.

I got to start eating semi solid foods, which meant coffee which I was relieved about. One day they even gave me applesauce and though I'd never been a huge fan, it was ridiculous how happy I was to have it.

There were poker games, movies, reading books. Every second people were there, we were doing something. After the third consecutive day of this though, I got the feeling that they were trying to distract me, wear me out, keep me busy. What didn't they want me to know?

It was this that I was pondering when Castle came in my room on the morning of my discharge. After I had fallen asleep on the first night, there had, apparently, been an uproarious argument about where I'd stay. The boys said their houses so they could protect me. My dad said his house because he was my father. Lanie said her's because she was my best friend and knew me best. But Castle beat them all out, damn him. eHe said, because his house was the biggest and he could work from home, I should stay with him. From what I'd heard, they had all fought him for a while, but in the end, they all agreed that that was where I'd be staying. Not that I got asked for my opinion, but then, it was better than the hospital.

"Good morning, my dear detective," Castle intoned, crossing my room in three strides and handing me a cup of coffee. He looked better, closer to his normal self. He'd finally shaved and combed out his hair. The dark circles under his eyes had faded a bit, not as much as I'd hoped, but there was more of a spring in his step. He was dressed his usual dark dress pants again but he was still wearing a t-shirt and a zip up hoodie. It was different from what I was used to but I liked it.

"Hey Castle," I winced, after reaching for the coffee with the wrong hand and trying to sit up at the same time.

He put a hand on my back and helped me sit. I hated how helpless I was, needing help just to sit up. Everything hurt all the time and I was sure I'd snapped at Castle more than once for trying to help me but he didn't seem to be taking it too personally.

"Thanks," I mumbled, taking a sip of the coffee and barely suppressing a moan of contentment. God I missed food.

"So are you ready?" Castle asked, sitting down in his usual chair.

"For what, to be your captive for three weeks?" I asked, some what grumpily. I wasn't ungrateful; I was just tired, and worried. The dreams the night before had been horrid. The main players were Lockwood, Roy, my mother, Castle, and even Alexis (who had come by to see me almost every day) had made an appearance. I'd convinced Castle to go home the past two nights, but I had a feeling that the nurses had snitched on me to Castle because both days he came in much earlier than usual. I shook my shelf, driving away the feelings that I wanted to verbalize, the desire for him to pull me against his chest.

As usual, Castle ignored my tone for the most part and continued, "Four weeks, Beckett. And not captive. Roomie,"

"I am not staying in the same room as you," I stated and Castle laughed again.

"Understood. But you will be taking my room."

"What? Why can't I stay in the guest room like last time?"

"Do you really think you can climb those stairs?"

I silently cursed his house. Damn those stairs. Damn my weakness. Damn the whole shitty situation.

"Come on, Kate. Let me help. Just for a little while. Then you'll be back to ordering me around in no time."

I sighed as he turned his puppy dog, blue eyes one me and I melted a little. Inside of course, "Okay… thank you, Castle."

He smiled at me and I couldn't help smiling back. A sudden warmth made me glance down. We had wound our hands together without either of us noticing. Castle saw me looking and started to pull his hand away, muttering, "Sorry." But I held on tighter. I liked feeling that closeness. I needed it after last night.

"No. It's okay." The smile on Castle's face was enough for me to feel good about my decision. He shifted over a little and pressed his hand more securely to mine.

He really had been great to me. He'd had Lanie bring me clothes and gave me coffee whenever I wanted it. He talked me down when I got angry. He never brought up Josh. He tried to keep me happy. God, why couldn't I just let go and let him in?

I had fallen asleep every night, whether he was here or not, wishing my mom could meet him. They would have had a blast, talking about books and … whatever the hell else popped into their brains. Flowers, movies, raising teenage daughters. I ran scenarios in my head where they talked for hours and I watched. They would have hit it off so well. I think that was why I had such trouble with my dreams. I usually steered clear of thinking about my mom before I went to sleep, but I thought I'd be okay. I was only really okay when Castle was there though.

"Castle, are you absolutely sure about this?" I asked, still nervous about everything that was about to go down, "I mean, this is going to be a huge hassle for you and I'm sure I'll be inconveniencing Alexis and-"

Castle cut me off quickly, "Kate. I'm positive. There's no way you are staying alone. It's the best place for you. I can make sure you're okay and write at the same time. Mother and Alexis want you there. They feel the same way. You're important to us. We want you there." He was staring intently into my eyes. After a few moments I turned away.

"Okay. Thank you."

Castle opened his mouth to respond but my door opened and Dr. Carlson entered.

"Good morning, Detective, I see you're dressed and ready to go." If 'dressed and ready to go' meant sweat pants, one of Castle's zip up hoodies over one of my button up shirts, flats, then yeah. Sure. I just wanted to get away from this damn hospital.

"Yes." I replied, already anxious to get away.

"Alright. We've taught you how to change your bandage. Minimal movement for the first week and a half. You have a schedule for your medicine and all your prescriptions. Your discharge papers have been signed and you've got Mr. Castle here to take you with him. You are free to go. I'll have Nurse Adams bring you a wheelchair," Carlson saw me opening my mouth in protest. Walking hurt like hell and took me ages to go eight feet, but it was so much less humiliating than a wheelchair. Carlson interrupted my train of thought, "I know you don't want to use it, but it's hospital protocol."

I clamped my mouth shut and wrinkled my nose in consent. The doctor laughed and extended a hand to me, "It was nice to meet you Detective, I hope we never meet again."

"You and me both, Doc." I shook his hand and he left.

"Are we going to stop by my place and pick up some stuff before we go to your's?" I asked, hoping I'd at least get a little bit of dignity in picking out my own stuff.

Castle shook his head, suddenly looking a lot more anxious, "I had Lanie pick some stuff up for you a couple of days ago. It's already in my room at the loft."

I sighed and bit back the diatribe of irritated comments that came to my lips, "Okay. Thanks."

Castle nodded, watching he door distractedly.

"What's up? Why're you so antsy?" I tugged his hand lightly and he glanced at me.

"Nothing, just ready to get you out of here."

"Um… okay?" I shook my head. What was with him?

The door opened but it wasn't Nurse Adams like I expected pushing a wheelchair. It was Ryan and Esposito. Esposito was pushing the chair and a very guilty looking Ryan was carrying two Kevlar vest. They were both wearing one.

"Okay, what's with the vests?" I sat up slowly, dropping Castle's hand and throwing my legs over the side of the bed, hissing at the discomfort in my chest.

Esposito parked the wheelchair and Ryan tossed a vest to Castle, "Come on Beckett," Esposito tried to hand me the vest he'd taken from Ryan but I crossed my arms lightly and raised an eyebrow.

Castle sighed, "Guys, can you give us a minute?"

The boys seemed reluctant but nodded, "We'll be right outside."

"Castle, what the hell is going on?" I all but shouted, before the door had even closed. I tried to turn in the bed to look at him but it hurt too much so I just turned my head and watched as he came around the foot of the bed.

"Kate," he knelt in front of me and grabbed both of my hands. I pulled away for once but he held on tight, looking me in the eye, "You got shot. By now the person who shot you knows that you are still alive. You are the only one left living that's attached to this case. He will do anything to kill you."

My heart dropped. This is what they'd been distracting me from. And in my drug induced haze, I'd let it happen. I wanted to fight this. Being out of the loop was crap. But something far more pressing occurred to me, "Rick," I squeezed his hands, "I am not going to your house. I'm not putting Alexis and Martha and you in that kind of danger. It's not fair to them. Or you. This isn't their fight"

"Yes you are. You're coming home with me. I've…" he trailed off, trying to gauge my reaction, "I've got security. All over. The boys are coming as far as my loft and then we've got around the clock people watching your father, my place, Mother's school, Alexis' school, the precinct, Lanie, everyone. We're all safe. You are the one everyone is worried about."

"Richard Castle, do you realize how much this is going to affect your daughter?" On top of almost taking the girl's father from her, I was ruining her last summer and complicating her life, putting her in danger.

"Yes, Kate, we have talked about it, a lot actually," he sounded hurt that I'd think him so incompetent, "and we agreed as a family, you're worth it."

I pressed my lips together and looked away. I knew it meant defeat. There was so much more to talk about and we would later but there wasn't time now.

Castle knew he had won. He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it gently, "Everyone's going to be fine. I promise."

I nodded, still silently freaking out. I picked the hair tie off my wrist and turned my head, trying to pull back my hair without raising my arms too much, but it was impossible.

"I'll do it," Castle took the hair tie from me and walked around the bed behind me. I closed my eyes as his fingers ran gently through my messy hair , pulling it up into a ponytail. My breath caught momentarily as his fingers curled the baby hairs at the base of my neck into the ponytail.

"All done," he said, letting my bound hair fall across my back.

"Thanks," I muttered, eyeing the vest on the bed next to me. It wasn't my usual one. It didn't have COP written across it but then, Castle's didn't have WRITER on it either. These were plain black. They had probably opted for more discreet vests.

"Alright," Castle came back around the bed to stand in front of me, "I know this isn't going to feel good, but the doctors said your stitches and ribs have healed enough to strap this on for as long as it takes to get home." He picked up the vest and held it out to me. I raised my left arm, as high as I could (it didn't hurt nearly as bad as lifting the right one). Castle settled it over my head and arm and placed it on my shoulders. It wasn't painful until he was Velcro-ing it around my right side, causing the vest to be flush with my chest.

I bit my lip to keep from gasping in pain. It didn't get past Castle though, "I'm sorry. It's just for about twenty minutes then you can take it off."

"Okay." I gasped. The pain receded enough to take semi regular breaths and I glanced up at Castle. He was watching me with an expression of mixed pain and worry. I reached up with my left arm and slugged him as well as I could.

"Hey. Let's get going," I muttered with as much bravado as I could muster. He smiled and held out his hands to me. I grabbed his forearms and together, we got me off of the bed.

"Doin' good, Beckett."

"Castle hush." I snapped, without really intending to. My legs were slightly shaky even though I'd been walking around for the past three days. And poor Castle, I was giving him emotional whiplash. He was trying supportive. Why was I being such a bitch to him? Why was I so damn guarded!

"Sorry," I mumbled taking a few, tiny, tottering steps to the wheel chair.

"Don't worry about it, KB," he replied, slowly turning us so I could sink into the chair. I winced, trying to settle myself in a less painful position, but there wasn't much to be done. I plucked at the front of my vest trying to get it away from my chest but it only made it fall back against me, aggravating my injury even more. Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed Castle's hand, weaving our fingers together.

We paused for several moments in silence and I again, contemplated telling him that I remembered but now wasn't the time. There wasn't any time. We had to get moving, but for some ridiculous reason, I was scared again. Scared for Castle and his family, scared for my boys, scared for Lanie, my dad, Roy's family, everyone who was in contact with me. If anyone got hurt because of this, it would be my fault.

My breathing sped up and I clutched Castle's hand as the panic twisted my chest into agonizing knots, in equal parts from my GSW and the fear. What had happened to Badass Kate Beckett, afraid of no man?

Castle knelt down in from of my chair, placing a hand on each arm rest. Heat radiated off his chest and rolled over me. I fought the urge to shiver at our proximity, at the heat he was providing.

"Kate," He waited until I pulled my eyes up from my lap to look him in the eye. When I did, the blue iris were serious, concerned, something I was all too used to seeing in his eyes lately. Underneath the hardness though, there was, as always, an undertone of warmth and caring.

"We're gonna be fine. Everybody is going to be okay. We're gonna catch that son of a bitch. You'll be safe. I promise. I'll be with you the whole way." As the last words fell from his lips, I started to calm down. The combination of his warmth, the feel of his breath on my cheeks, the smell of his cologne that I'd come to crave when he wasn't around, his words, his promises all seemed to slow my heart rate and ease the worry in my chest.

I took a deep breath and nodded, not breaking our eye contact. His eyes softened a little and a small measure of the worry trickled away.

"Good girl," he murmured, kissing the side of my head and then standing, "Here we go."

"Thank you, Rick

"Always," I bit back a small smile as he said it. Always. How could there be so much meaning in a tiny, two syllable word. It was a promise, a fact, a security blanket, a verbal hug every time he said it.

By the time we were in the hallway, Ryan and Esposito flanking us, I was more or less back to my usual self.

"Took you long enough, Boss," Esposito quipped as we hurried down the hall, but his voice was strained, tense.

"Yeah, well, let's shoot you in the chest and see how fast you move, Esposito," I shot back, earning a bark of laughter from Castle and Ryan and even a smile from Esposito.