Chapter 4: The Shooting
Beckett looks over at Castle, "If I asked you to stay in the car, would you?"
"No."
"Didn't think so," she sighs.
"Don't worry, Kate. I'll stay behind you and won't touch anything."
"I'd still feel better if you'd just stay in the car."
"Look, Kate, if you actually had a reason to be worried, I'd stay in the car. But this isn't even an arrest; we don't even know if this is the right place. And if it is, he might not be there. You shouldn't be worried."
"I would have thought you'd know by now that you can't expect everything to work out."
"I'm going to be fine. You're going to fine. Esposito and Ryan will be fine."
"I know. I just don't like the possibility that something could happen to you."
"And I don't like that you endanger yourself everyday to save other people, but I accept it because it's part of who you are."
She looks in the mirror to see Ryan and Esposito pulling up behind them. Castle follows her out of the car, and they go to the trunk to get their vests. "Just listen to me for once, and don't do anything drastic, Castle."
As Ryan and Esposito join them, she pulls out her gun. "Ready?"
They all nod before heading over to the warehouse. She gives the signal, and Esposito kicks the door in. As they enter, all three cops shout, "NYPD."
Castle, as he had promised, remains behind Beckett and the others, letting them do their job without endangering himself.
"Put your hands above your head," Esposito shouts to the two men in the middle of the room.
The man on the left complies immediately. The other one hesitates, hands half up in front of him.
"Hands in the air," Ryan orders to the second man.
"Easy, easy. We're not doing anything illegal," the man says, slowly lifting his arms higher.
With a glance at Beckett, both detectives start to ease toward the suspects in order to cuff them.
Before any of them can react, the second man, the one who had been reluctant to put his hands up, reaches behind him and pulls out a gun from his waistband. The three detectives turn their guns on him. "Put your guns down, and we'll all walk out of here alive," he demands, no hesitation or fear in his voice.
"That's not going to happen. You put down your weapon. If you really haven't done anything wrong, you'll be free to go," Beckett tries to distract him so that Ryan and Esposito can edge closer.
"What is it you think I've done?"
"We're investigating a murder that was committed yesterday morning."
"I didn't do it."
"Okay. Put your gun down, and we'll talk about this. We'll verify your alibi, and if it clears, you can go. We'll even drop this whole situation. Just lower your weapon," she too edges closer.
"Stop," he shouts, noticing them moving closer. "Or I'll shoot."
Castle wishes he had stayed in the car. Or that he could do something to help. Or just step in front of her so that she wouldn't get shot. But he knows that if their suspect didn't shoot him, she certainly would for getting in the way.
"Shooting one us is only going to make things worse. If you killed him, if it was an accident, we can help you. All you have to do is put the gun down."
None of them notice the first guy, the one that easily complied in putting his hands up, as he slowly lowers his hands and reaches around his back to grab his own weapon. "No," he yells, and before the detectives have even turned their attention to him, he has fired his gun.
Five more gunshots follow, but Castle isn't paying attention to them at all. The first bullet fired had been heading straight toward Beckett, and she is now falling backward. He quickly takes the three steps forward necessary to reach her and catches her before she falls. "Kate? Please don't die on me. Not now after we're so close," he tries not to panic as he lays her down, quickly looking for the wound.
She blinks, "Castle?"
"Thank God. You're not dead. But where we're you hit? We've got to get you help." Without looking up, he yells, "Someone call an ambulance."
"I'm okay, Castle."
"No, you're not. You were just shot," he unvelcroes her vest and pulls it off, still looking for a wound. Upon seeing no blood, he looks confused. "Kate… where were you hit?"
"In the stomach," she says, trying to sit up.
Castle pushes her back down and reaches for the buttons on her shirt in search of a bullet hole, "Stay still."
Beckett pushes his hands away from her and sits up. "I'm fine, Castle. No bullet wound."
"But… you were shot."
She reaches over to grab her vest and locates the bullet still embedded in the vest, "See? It didn't hit me. I'm fine."
"But…" he still looks uncertain.
"The bullet is right there. There's no blood on me. I'm fine."
"Can I… see? I need to be sure." She glares at him. "Humor me, Kate. Please."
With a sigh, she unbuttons her shirt to show him her stomach. "No bullet wound. Happy?"
His frown deepens, having spotted a scar to the right of her belly button, but he nods, appeased that she is not in mortal danger. "I didn't really think those things worked."
"The vests?" she asks, standing.
"Yeah. I thought they were just… decoration."
She shakes her head at him, a slight smile on her face. "If they didn't work, you wouldn't be following me in here, even with that on."
Ryan and Esposito walk over, having subdued their suspects. "You okay, Beckett?"
"I'm fine. You guys?"
"We're good. But they're in a lot of pain," Ryan tilts his head toward their suspects, who each had a bullet wound, one in the leg and the other in the shoulder. "We've got paramedics coming if you want to be looked at."
"I'm good."
"And you, Castle?" Esposito asks, looking over at the writer, who was very pale.
"Fine," he mumbles.
She looks at him for a long moment before turning back to her detectives. "You guys can handle everything in here?" They nod. "We'll be outside. Let me know when the investigative team gets here," she grabs Castle's arm and drags him outside.
"Investigative team?" he looks at her. "You were shot at. You had every right to shoot them back."
"Relax, Castle. We'll be cleared. It's just time and paperwork really. They just have to make sure we're doing our jobs properly."
"Like any cop would just shoot someone for the heck of it."
"It happens, Castle."
He leans back against the wall of the warehouse and looks at his feet silently.
"Rick… what's wrong?" she asks, stepping closer to him than she normally would have at work.
"What do you mean, Kate? You were just shot. Isn't it obvious?" he says bitterly.
Timidly she steps forward until their bodies are pressed together and wraps her arms around him, "Rick, I'm fine."
"But next time you might not be so lucky," he whispers, putting his arms around her to pull her even closer to him and burying his face in her hair.
"Castle…"
"I know it's your job, Kate, but I can't help imagining what could have happened – what could happen any day, at any moment. I could have lost you, Kate."
"But you didn't. I'm not going anywhere."
"Would you have thought this morning that you were going to be shot today?"
"Well… I know it's always a possibility."
"I'm never going to get used to this. I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you, Kate."
Kate pulls back slightly to look at his face. Before she can give it a second thought, she kisses him, letting all of her emotions pour out of her. After the momentary shock, he kisses her back, flipping them around so that she is pressed against the wall. She allows the kiss to last a little longer, hoping to comfort him some, before pulling her lips from his, not wanting anyone to find them like this. "Rick…"
"Please, Kate."
She looks into his eyes before giving a slight nod, "Yes. But we have to get through the rest of my shift first."
Castle smiles, leaning in to kiss her again. Before they can get too involved in each other, her phone vibrates, indicating a text message. She pulls her phone out and shows him Esposito's message: Stop making out and get in here. "Do they know?" he asks her timidly, not sure how she would feel about her coworkers finding out.
"Probably not," she gives him one last quick kiss. "So don't give anything away."
Inside two investigators are waiting for them. "Detective Beckett?" one asks, holding his hand out.
She nods and takes it, "And this is Richard Castle. He's following me for his books."
When they are done being questioned, Ryan and Esposito come back over. "We talked to Montgomery. He wants you to take the rest of the day off."
"But I'm fine."
"Take the time off, Beckett," Esposito says firmly.
"Okay," she rolls her eyes at them. "You guys can handle this?"
"Of course. We learned from the best."
"Alright. See you tomorrow, boys. Come on, Castle," she calls, and they head out to her car.
"Where are we going?" he asks once they are seated in her car.
"Where do you want to go?" she looks over at him.
"My place?"
"Won't Alexis be home soon? And Martha?"
"Wait… you said yes… but I honestly thought that meant that you're ready to commit to this, not that you wanted to get in bed with me."
"I don't want to get in bed with you, at least not yet. But some privacy would still be nice, especially since you couldn't keep your hands off of me back there."
"Okay, your place is fine then."
She starts the car and pulls away from the warehouse. Castle desperately wants to reach over and take her hand, but that might cause another life or death situation, and he's not sure he can handle two in one day.
A/N: One more chapter to go. I'll post it either Sunday or Monday before the new episode. Thanks to everyone who is reviewing.