Disclaimer: Still own nothing. Just trying to make it from Monday to Monday.
Chapter 3
Castle struggled to open his eyes. Coughing, he felt white-hot searing pain. His hand rising to his stomach, he felt it, the reason for the pain. A large piece of rebar was protruding through this shirt just under the bulletproof vest he was wearing. He slid his hand around behind him and felt where the large steel bar entered through his back. There it was still connected to a large chunk of concrete holding him in place.
As he lay there images began to flash back to him. He and Beckett in her car rushing to this parking garage. Beckett so angry with him. He remembered telling her of the mystery man "Smith" who had contacted him just after she was shot. Of Smith's involvement in the case of the mayor. The anger was etched across her face, and was evident in the way she held the wheel of the cruiser as if trying to crush it within her own grip. Castle knew that if the secret ever got out she would be angry, hurt. He knew that it would break the bond of trust they had built over three years of working together. But he knew that he had done it to keep her safe. He knew that he could live without her in his life as long as he knew she was alive, and safe.
His mind flashed to Kate on the phone with Esposito standing in the parking garage looking over the edge and her face as she realized what had happened. She noticed a man running from the building. Dressed in black carrying a bag, Beckett's instincts had instantly kicked into high gear. They'd been set up. In the hurry to escape whatever the ambush entailed Beckett had grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the stairs. They were on the fourth floor of a five-story garage and there wasn't time to get back into the car and drive it back down. They had made it almost to the door of the stairwell when the ground shook beneath them and a cloud of dust obscured everything. Even each other.
As Castle's mind caught up he frantically began looking for Kate. She had been right in front of him as it had happened. Now though he wasn't sure which way to even look. He didn't think he'd been out long. Most of the dust had cleared but the sirens were still a way off. Unable to get up he turned his head from side to side, scanning the rubble.
Then he saw the bright white letters spelling POLICE on her vest. She lay there still. He could see her face partially covered by the hair that had fallen over her cheek. Under that hair Castle saw blood. As he scanned the rest of her he noticed her left arm lying at a strange angle from her elbow down.
"Beckett!" Castle summoned strength and yelled her name. No movement. With the thick vest on he was unsure if she was even breathing. The amount of blood on her face could be from a significant head wound. She could be dead or worse laying there dying and there was nothing he could do. The rebar was too long for him to try to pull his body off of it. He'd already checked his pocket for his phone but it wasn't there. Probably fell out in the blast and could be laying anywhere.
Then he heard the most wonderful sound since Alexis' first cry. A cough. He immediately looked over as Beckett's head lifted.
