Disclaimer: I still don't own them.

Author's Note: Well, I received only two written reviews - thank you both so much! - for the prologue of this story, but there have been nearly 300 hits in 24 hours, one favorite story listing, and six story update notifications, so I'm taking that to mean that there are at least of few of you who are interested in how this story plays out. Therefore, I've decided to make this more than just a One-Shot, but please, if you like what you're reading, please let me know! As I said in the previous chapter, reviews are the food of the creative writer, and though I've had a forkful of the appetizer, I'm still starving. REVIEWS! PLEASE! :) Yes, I'm begging. I admit it.

Stand With Me

Chapter One: Comrades in Arms

At the sound of the sliding doors' muffled "whoosh", seven pairs of expectant eyes looked up at the surgical nurse who entered the small waiting room. She was known to them – though most would have forgotten her name was Ana if it hadn't been stitched into the front of her scrubs – because she had been delivering regular, if not frequent updates. She pulled her cap off her head and ran a hand through her short, dark hair. Her voice was tired and serious as she said to Alexis, "Your father is out of surgery."

Like an overly full helium balloon whose lip has been untied, a collective sigh released the nearly ten hours of pent-up worry and unspoken fears that had been generated by the unusual little family who had kept vigil together, supporting one another, for what had seemed like days.

Seemingly as one, each person took a step forward from their scattered locations around the room, anticipation in their eyes. Seeing that she was about to be bombarded by questions from all directions, Ana raised her hand to quiet them before they could be asked. "The surgeons will be out within the hour to talk to you about the surgery and Mr. Castle's prognosis," she looked from Martha back to Alexis. "When I left him in recovery he was still under the effects of the anesthesia, but he was stable."

Alexis' small cry of thankfulness – the first sound anyone could remember her making for hours – brought tears to even Javier Esposito's eyes as he watched her turn again into her grandmother's comforting arms and they sat back down on the overstuffed sofa they had shared for most of the day. Jim Beckett rested a comforting hand on Martha's shoulder, and she gripped it for the support he offered.

As Ana left them to their thoughts, Esposito felt Lanie's fingers tighten around his in silent thanks that Castle had at least made it through surgery. He smiled at his girl and kissed her forehead for he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Castle would never have made it to the hospital alive if not for her efforts.

Once the initial shock of the shooting had subsided, Lanie's seldom-used trauma skills kicked into high gear, and she started barking orders to everyone around her who wasn't hunting down the sniper.

Put pressure there! Keep his airway open!

With the help of the paramedics, she had successfully re-inflated the novelist's lung while in the ambulance, and was straddled over him on the gurney performing chest compressions as it rolled into the E.R. of the Bellevue Trauma and Shock Unit at NYU.

Javier ran his finger along the V-neck of the dark purple scrubs Lanie wore – her suit had been ruined by the blood – and whispered in her ear. "Still think your talents are wasted on the living, Dr. Parrish?"

She smiled to herself and thought for a moment before looking up into his proud eyes. "For the most part, yeah … but not today."

"I'll probably be here awhile yet, Jen, so don't wait up for me. Okay, I'll do that. Love you, too." Ryan hit the "end" button on the screen, slid the phone back into his pocket, and turned towards his friends. He had been calling Jenny with updates each time they heard something new, but other than that, absolutely no information had been shared outside of the waiting room. "Jen says there's still nothing about it on the news other than that there was a shooting at the Captain's funeral," he whispered. "Nothing about it being Castle who took the slug for Beckett."

"I honestly don't see how One P.P. has kept a lid on it for as long as they have," said Lanie, a degree of amazement tinged her tone. "Montgomery's funeral was big enough news without adding the sniper shooting of a paparazzi favorite into the mix. They're not going to be able to keep it out of the press forever."

"No, not forever," agreed Esposito, "but long enough to give them a chance to get their feet back under them a bit." He nodded to where Martha and Alexis sat, their red heads each resting against the other, as they nervously waited for the surgeons to arrive with more detailed news. "The mayor's already a Castle supporter, so he'll do what's needed, and after today, so will the Commissioner."

"What about them?" Lanie asked, gesturing to the six uniformed police officers that stood guard on the other side of the glass walls of the waiting room. She knew that there were at least another half dozen scattered at the various entrances to the hospital. A sniper had tried to take out another one of their own, after all. But for all that Lanie loved her boys and girls in blue, she knew that not all cops were created equal. Not all of them had the same code of honor and professionalism as did those in the room with her. The events of the last few weeks had more than proven that, and the paparazzi were known for paying very well for news tips like the one they were all currently sitting on.

"Them? You don't have to worry about them," Javier assured her.

"Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, they can all be trusted," Ryan insisted.

"And how do you know that?" she demanded.

Ryan shrugged. "They're my cousins."

Lanie looked from Kevin Ryan to the four men and two women in the hall and back again to the Irish cop before her. "Ryan, Officer Thomas is black."

"Family isn't always about blood," Ryan said, his expression humorless.

"True enough," she said with an apologetic nod before turning back to Esposito. "And the second reason?"

Esposito tried to explain. "See, Castle's always been ours – the 12ths. Our responsibility. Our curse. Our good fortune. Our writer," he turned from Lanie to where the solitary figure of Detective Kate Beckett stood looking out the window to the darkening New York skyline beyond. She had stood there for hours, fingering a tear in the fabric of the pink scrubs she wore, only turning from the view when Laura would arrive with the latest update.

Beckett would listen, silently, to what Laura had to say and to the questions Martha, Alexis, her father, or one of the others would ask before turning back to the window once there were no more answers to the questions. Though she had spent hours staring out the window, Esposito would have bet an entire month's pay that she never once saw the traffic jammed in the streets below, the afternoon thunderstorm that pelted rain against the glass, or the daylight that slowly ebbed into dusk.

What his boss did see, Esposito could only guess, but the haunted expression on her face whenever Beckett turned from the glass had in many ways left him more worried about her than the man on the surgical table down the hall. At least Castle's wounds stood a chance of being healed, but if he died, Esposito feared that Kate Beckett's never would.

"I still don't see why Castle being the 12th's writer has anything to do with being able to keep this out of the press?" Lanie demanded quietly of her lover.

"Before today he belonged to us. Castle's her partner, but not in a way that any cops outside of the 12th – and even some inside of it – would acknowledge. But after what he did this morning, taking a bullet to save Beckett's life –"

"Now Castle is one of us," Ryan finished, gesturing beyond the glass to where the Commissioner, the Chief, and the captains of five neighboring precincts had taken up positions next to Ryan's six uniformed cousins. "Her partner in every way that matters, and they'll do whatever is necessary to protect Castle, his family, and Beckett."

"The thin, blue line just got a whole lot thicker," Esposito confirmed, his voice grave.

The sliding doors whooshed again, this time admitting the three weary surgeons who had spent the bulk of their day reassembling the human anatomy puzzle that was Richard Castle, and as Beckett turned from the window to face them, Javier was again struck by the lost expression that had seemingly etched itself onto her lovely face.

Esposito gave Lanie's fingers a quick squeeze, and then he and Ryan crossed the small room to take up close positions on either side of their boss. Whatever the surgeons had to say, whatever Richard Castle's fate had in store, Kate Beckett would know that she wasn't alone. They would face all of it as they had always done before.

Together.

I hope that you enjoyed this installment. Beckett's thoughts are up and coming, so fear not, but please let me know your thoughts on this chapter. :)

Thanks for reading!

~ Sarah