The fire was warm and comforting and the lights in the room were dim. She leaned back against the cushions of the sofa and took a sip of her wine.

"It's good, huh?"

She nodded, smiling at him.

"Yeah. You went all out."

"Only the best for you."

She set the wine down and picked up the cheeseburger, taking a larger bite than she normally would have in mixed company. He watched her chew it with a smug expression, but she didn't feel at all self-conscious like she normally would have; it was too good to care. Cheese and meat melded together in the best combination she'd ever tasted in her life.

"French fry?" he asked, holding one up.

She grinned.

"You eat it."

He needed to eat, too, after all.

He ate it, clearly savoring it as much as she was enjoying her burger.

"Good?"

He nodded.

"Perfect. Like you."

She rolled her eyes at the compliment and set the burger down.

"We need to talk."

His gaze softened as he swallowed the French fry, but the mood was spoiled when it apparently went down the wrong pipe and he started coughing. She started to smile, ready to tease him about it, but the coughing grew worse and his face started to turn red.

"Castle?"

The coughing was louder, and Beckett reached out for him.

"Castle!"

"Easy, Detective Beckett…"

She jerked awake as she felt hands under her, lifting her up and then settling her back down on the hard ground, this time on her back. Her eyes opened and the sun blinded her. With a whimper she closed them tightly, but had to open them again when she heard voices and felt something cold pressing against her chest. There was a man leaning over her with a camouflage hat and a serious expression on his face as he took hold of her wrist. There was a stethoscope in his ears and she looked at him dumbly, trying to figure out what was going on.

"What?"

"Hold on for one second, please, Detective, I need to listen to-"

"Castle!"

She tried to sit up, turning toward the fire, but he held her down.

"Easy…"

She didn't listen, and his grip on her tightened. She couldn't see Castle, because there was a small army of people around him, but she had to try. Army in more than one sense of the word since they were all wearing military uniforms.

"Let me go!"

One of the men crouched beside Castle detached himself from the group and scrambled over to her, helping to hold her down while she struggled in their grasp.

"Hold still, Detective. You're going to hurt yourself."

"Be careful with him," she shouted – or tried to. It came out as a croak around her abused throat. "He's hurt."

The man nodded.

"We know. We're taking care of him. Are you hurt?"

"I don't think so."

"Give us a chance to check, okay?"

She let him push her back down, mainly because the burst of adrenaline that had spurred her into action was failing fast and she wasn't going to be able to sit up much longer anyway. She turned her head, trying to see what was going on by Castle while they listened to her heart and lungs.

"Who are you?"

"Lieutenant Ronald Allison," the man with the stethoscope replied. He made a gesture with his chin toward the other guy. "That's Corporal Henry Cooper."

"Do you have any medical allergies?" the corporal asked her by way of greeting.

"No. How did you find us?" she asked.

"The plane's ELT."

"ELT?"

"Emergency Location Transmitter," Allison explained as the corporal vanished from sight for a moment and returned with something in his hands that she couldn't see clearly. "One of our planes caught the signal early this morning and then we brought in a helicopter to see if we could find anyone."

"This is going to sting, Ma'am," the corporal warned her just as she felt him stab a needle into her hand. She hissed with the sudden pain and looked down and saw that he was hooking her up to an IV. "It's antibiotics and saline," he explained at her expression. "You're badly dehydrated."

"I tried…" she said, defensively.

Both men smiled, and there was nothing but respect in the expression.

"You did great, Detective. As soon as we get Mr. Castle stable, we'll carry you guys back to the helicopter and get you to a hospital."

She sighed, and tried to relax a little more, giving herself over to their care and grateful that they were there.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Martha Rodgers was asleep on the same sofa that they wouldn't let Alexis fall asleep on the night before. Beside her, snoring softly was Jim Beckett, who hadn't left the night before when Esposito and Ryan had. He and Martha had talked well into the early hours of the morning, finally drifting off only a couple hours before.

Martha's cell phone rang, startling them both awake. She grabbed for it even as she was sitting up. Jim watched her, hopefully, while she answered.

"Hello?"

The look of relief that crossed her expression after the first couple of moments of the conversation were all he needed. She looked over at him and smiled, covering the phone for a moment.

"They found them."

"Are they okay?"

"They're bringing them out right now. Detective Ryan said that he was told they're battered but they seem to be fine."

"Thank God."

She nodded her agreement and went back to the phone conversation, but it wasn't a long one. She closed the phone a minute later and he grinned.

"You should go let Alexis know."

She laughed and hugged him closed, so relieved that she could feel tears stinging her eyes.

"They're going to fly them both back here, so we need to get to the hospital."

He nodded.

"You go wake up Alexis, and I'll drive us."