A/N: Okay, emotional stuff is coming, I promise. I hope you all enjoy this and I hope you continue to let me know what you think. It really does inspire me and make me write faster. Please drop me a line if you're still reading this garbage.
I'm going to try to have another chapter or two up before Countdown on Monday night.
On with it, and I don't own Castle…
Richard Castle was pissed off. He sat with her for over an hour in the back of a FDNY ambulance as the EMT worked on her. Eventually, Dr. Lanie Parish strutted up into the compartment.
"Girl, what in the hell did you do to yourself?" she asked, looking at Beckett's oozing wound.
"Umm… Would you believe me if I said 'Nothing'?" Beckett asked.
"Hell, no. You tore those stitches wide open." Lanie shook her head. "You're lucky you didn't damage anything on the inside." She looked to the EMT for confirmation and the young man nodded.
"I know, Lanie," she looked at her friend, "but I did what I had to, and I don't regret anything about tonight.
"Anything?" Castle thought.
Lanie approached the EMT and told him that she would finish her friend's patch-job and examination. Lanie worked thoroughly and swiftly. Castle waited on the steps of the ambulance but lost his patience, got up, and began to pace. He shoved his hands into his pockets and landed on Kate's forgotten pain meds.
He leapt up into the ambulance, startling Lanie in the process.
"Jesus, Castle! You could give a girl a little warning. I am working with a needle here."
"Pain pills, Lanie." He presented, still avoiding Beckett's steady gaze. He was having a hard time looking at her.
"Thanks, Castle." Lanie relaxed.
"Yeah, no problem."
"No… What I mean is Thank You. Thank you for helping to get to Javi and Ryan." She looked at him sheepishly for a moment before grabbing him into a hug. She whispered into his ear, "Now, take care of my girl."
"Yeah, I will." He whispered back, giving Lanie a gentle squeeze, before letting her go back to work.
When they broke apart, Lanie turned to face Beckett whose eyes were shut and she looked as if she was trying to concentrate on breathing.
"As for you… girl, you just stupid."
Beckett's eyes snapped open and her mouth fell ajar as she focused on Lanie.
"Wha-?" Lanie cut her off.
"That was the stupidest and bravest thing you ever could have done. I expected you to storm the mayor's office, call the Nation Guard, but never go out and finish this yourself. It was stupid to put your already wrecked body through this, but I can't tell you how thankful I am for you, Kate."
Lanie looked on as Kate closed her mouth into a small smile and a mist formed over her eyes.
"Now, don't get all sappy on me." She commanded. "Let's finish up here so we can all go home."
Castle went back to being pissed sitting in the cool New York City night air. How could she be so cavalier with her life? Why didn't she tell him about all the bleeding? They were, after all, partners… Weren't they?
He sighed as he stood again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lanie helping Beckett into her coat. When it was buttoned, they both stepped down off of that ambulance, Beckett leaning heavily on Lanie. As he noticed the extreme exhaustion and pain etched into the lines on her face, his anger melted away and only concern remained.
"Okay, your breath sounds are nice and equal and sounding good on both sides. The only pain you are experiencing seems to be from the wounds, so you should be okay." Lanie explained. "You know I'd rather have you in a hospital for the night, but since you assure me you are "fine" and you are refusing both me and the EMT, going home with Castle is going to be it, I guess."
"Castle, if she so much as coughs in a way that you don't like, you call me or an ambulance." She said, turning towards him.
"You got it, Lanie." Anger was creeping back again; she should be more responsible than refusing treatment.
"Thank you, Lanie." Beckett rasped weakly.
"Anytime. I'll be by to see you and check on you soon." Lanie smiled.
"Say hello to Esposito for me, okay?" Beckett added.
Lanie nodded, squeezed her friend's hand and walked away, winking at Castle on the way by.
There they stood, facing one another, neither having the works to start a conversation. Castle sighed and stuck out his arm.
"Come on, lean on me, and we'll go to the car."
"Okay." Beckett replied and leaned into him. "How's your hand?" she asked, examining the bandage.
"Excruciating."
The car ride was quiet. Castle drove through the bridges and streets of the boroughs of New York City. Kate's eyes had slid shut minutes into the trip, leaving Castle alone with his overactive imagination. He had to keep glancing over to make sure her chest was still rising and falling gently; which it always was.
When he pulled into his designated spot in his underground parking garage, he was relieved that he wouldn't have to wake her when her eyes fluttered open at the lack of movement.
"We here?" she asked, groggily.
"Yeah." He replied. "Let me come around and get you."
"I'm fine, Castle, you don't have to do that." She responded
"Tough," he barked. "Stay put before you hurt yourself anymore, Beckett."
Beckett looked at him with her eyebrows knitted together. He had been very gruff with her since the warehouse and before that, he had all but avoided her at the loft. Instead of broaching the subject, she gave in to her exhaustion and waited for him to come around to the other side of the car.
Castle opened the door and helped her out of the passenger seat. As she stood, she faltered slightly and he looked at her, worriedly.
"Just the pain meds making me a little dizzy. I'm fine, Castle."
"Sure." He replied, curtly. "Come on, let's go."
They walked to the elevator and rode up to his floor in a tense silence. Beckett had never seen him like this. She was certain he was upset with her, but she couldn't for the life of her, figure out why. When they reached the entrance to the loft the door swung open violently, making them both take a quick step back. Beckett immediately regretted the motion, grunting softly.
"Where have you been?" Alexis appeared with her hands on her hips.
"Sweetheart…." Castle started.
"No! You know better than taking Detective Beckett out like this, Dad!" Alexis raged on. "What could you possibly been doing out after she'd been shot?"
"Alexis," Beckett cut in before Castle could defend himself. "This is my fault. Your Dad tried to get me to stay, but Esposito and Ryan were in trouble." She explained. "Without your Dad, they would have been killed."
"Oh my God." Alexis gasped, moving aside to let the pair in and Martha joined them. "But they're ok, right?"
"They're fine, Pumpkin." Castle replied, setting Kate on the couch and returned to Alexis to give her a hug. "However, Detective Beckett, here, pulled nearly all of her stitches out and is banned from the precinct for two weeks."
"Richard, what happened to your hand?" Martha asked.
"I punched a hit-man… three times."
"And saved my life in the process." Beckett added, her head leaning against the back of the couch.
"Kate, dear, you look dreadful." Martha stated, sitting next to the brunette, putting a hand on hers.
"Thanks, Martha." Beckett smiled, looking at her. "Really, though, I'm fine; just tired and sore."
"Alexis, honey, can you help Detective Beckett upstairs and help her get comfortable?" Castle asked. "I'll be up in a minute."
He didn't wait for an answer, or glance at Beckett, before walking into his study, shutting the door, and flopping into his desk chair with his head in his hands. He needed to calm himself down. He was halfway between breaking down and crying and throwing a fit and screaming at his detective. He was sick and tired of hearing about how "fine" she was. She wasn't fine and telling everyone she was just pissed him off more and more. He knew it was irrational to feel this angry at her; that it was just Beckett's knee-jerk reaction to protect her loved ones, but he couldn't help himself. The wound was still so raw and painful on his heart. Watching her slip out of consciousness from nearly bleeding to death; watching as she doubled over in pain; watching the blood leak from her torn stitches; all of these images were torturing his writer's brain and making scenarios that didn't happen appear in his imagination. If there were a way to turn off his brain, he would gladly take it.
The knock on his door didn't surprise him at all. He knew someone would eventually follow him to see what was wrong. When the door opened, his mother came in and sat on the chair in front of his desk.
"Richard, what's wrong?" She asked, gently.
"What isn't wrong, Mother?" He looked up.
"You're all fine, Richard, and you caught the man that did this to all of you." She reasoned. "I don't think there's anything wrong with that."
"I kissed her." He stated, out of the blue. At Martha's startled look, he continued. "It was supposed to just be a cover, a distraction to get into the building. It was supposed to mean nothing."
"But it didn't mean nothing, did it?" Martha finished for him.
"No… and it scares the hell out of me." He replied. "and I'm so God damn mad at her for letting her health take the backseat." He shook his head, "She lost another bunch of blood from those stitches and didn't even tell me until I found her in the back of an ambulance."
"She can tell, you know." Martha got up to move behind him and lay a hand on his back. "She knows you're upset but I don't think she knows what to do about it."
There was something incredibly soothing and comforting about his mother rubbing slow circles across his shoulder blades and he breathed a sigh of relaxation.
"Let me tell you what kind of woman Kate Beckett is, Richard." Martha stepped back to look at him. "She's a protector. She protects the people she cares about even if it means suffering herself. She's also independent to a fault. She's afraid to need anyone because of the amount of people that have either left her, or have been taken from her." Martha continued, "I think you need to remember that Kate Beckett doesn't wear her heart on her sleeve like you do, Richard."
He got the message loud and clear. He stood and hugged his mother.
"Thanks, Mother."
"Anytime, now go up those stairs and check on her." Martha commanded.
"Right… going." Castle replied, walking to the opposite side of the apartment and up the stairs on the far side.
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