Disclaimer: Castle and the recognizable characters are property of the folks at ABC and their creators who make a lot more money than I do. This is for pure entertainment purposes.

Thank you all once again for reading, reviewing, following or taking any sort of interest in this story. I really appreciate it. Here is Chapter 3, enjoy.

Chapter 3: It Happened So Fast

"Sounds awful."

"Yeah, it was one of the worst arguments I've ever seen between them."

As Beckett recounts what happened between Ryan and Esposito earlier in the morning, Castle involuntarily flinches. He's glad he decided to sleep in a little longer today and ended up getting caught in some of the morning traffic. He's definitely happy he missed the epic screaming match between the two detectives.

"Is it because of this case?" Castle wonders aloud. "I know it's gotten to Ryan pretty badly."

"That probably has something to do with it." Beckett agrees. After working with each other for all these years, the four of them had truly formed a family unit. And families know when something is wrong. It's as clear as day that the Ashley Cartwright case has gotten to their youngest member; all you've had to do is look at Ryan for two minutes and it becomes obvious. It's always painful when they get a case that hits one of the team hard because they all end up hurting. These types of personal cases are a brutal reminder of how tough their job really can be.

If Beckett and Castle are hurting, the two of them are acutely aware of how bad Esposito has been feeling at seeing his partner like this. Esposito is protective over all of them, even, rather reluctantly, Castle, something the author is well aware of, but there is absolutely no reluctance from Espo when it comes to Ryan. When they were out having beers last night Esposito mentioned his worries about Ryan multiple times, and concern seeped through every word. Castle distinctly remembers Esposito saying "I'm going to talk with him tomorrow. That damn bullhead can be so stubborn."

Castle lets out a sigh and takes another sip of coffee. Optimistic as always, he assumes that Ryan and Esposito will figuratively kiss and make up pretty soon. Those two are so close that he doubts they can truly stay mad at each other for long. He's about to offer this reassurance to Beckett when a sharp voice echoes throughout the Precinct.

"Detective Beckett! Mr. Castle!"

The two of them look towards the source of the voice; it's Captain Gates. Behind her standard iron gaze, there is an obvious undercurrent of worry in her eyes.

"What is it Sir?" Beckett asks, a sense of dread creeping into her voice.

"There's been an incident…."

The drive to Benny's apartment is tense, uncomfortable, and most surprisingly for us, silent. I'm fuming in the passenger seat, pissed at the world. Jenny had a reason to be mad at me, I concede that; I should have called her. But Javi? No, he had no right to get like that with me. Knowing him like I do, I know he's not going to apologize. No, he's going to wait for me to concede that I was wrong and coming begging for forgiveness. That is not happening. I'm not wrong and I sure as hell am not going to apologize. He needs to apologize to me, not the other way around.

The longer the drive goes on, the more I dig in my heels and the angrier I get. My mind starts going back to all of those incidents Javi and I yelled about in the break room and I zero in on when I went undercover for the second time as Fenton. Javi said he had my back during that case, but that's bullshit. Right up until the moment we were on the dock, he was trying to talk me out of it. Just like with this case, he thought I was too zealous, too involved, and too reckless. I get it, I'm the rookie on our team; even Castle treats me like the rookie for God's sake, but I'm not helpless. I was in the top five of my class at the Academy and I was undercover for over a year in the Irish mob. I know what danger is and what it's like to stare death in the face. None of that has happened on this case; I just worked a long night and didn't go out for drinks with everyone at the end of the day. It isn't a big deal, why has everyone gone so damn crazy over it? Do they really think I'm that helpless? Why don't they trust me to take care of myself?

As I sit smoldering in the passenger seat, I barely notice the drive to wherever we're going. Javi didn't show me the address and I didn't ask to see it. Looking up at the apartment, what strikes me most about it is how undistinctive it is. Typical older apartment building in New York, with nothing to distinguish it from the thousands of others scattered throughout the City.

Neither of us says a word until we meet up with the landlord and even then, Javi does the talking. The landlord leads us up to Benny's apartment. According to the landlord, Benny's been acting a little unusual lately, which makes my ears perk up; suspect in a murder acting unusually? Yeah, that's a big red flag.

The landlord knocks on Benny's door "You in here Benny? Some boys from the NYPD want to talk to you."

There is silence from inside the apartment. The landlord takes the key and unlocks the front door. "Alright, I'll be downstairs if you need anything."

We wait until the landlord leaves and Javi gestures for me to grab the door. I wait until he's ready and twist the nob open. Don't get me wrong, I'm still absolutely furious with him, but this is standard procedure, something that's so ingrained into me that it just happens, and for good reason; it keeps us safe.

The two of us enter the apartment and begin looking around. There's no one here so we both holster our weapons. It's a typical guy's apartment; very few decorations, messy, and unkempt. There are tell-tale signs that someone has been here recently, no surprise there, but I'm not seeing anything that jumps out at me. Of course that's mostly because I'm not really focused on the case. My mind keeps going back to our argument in the break room. Apologize? Not a chance. Hell with it, I'm not apologizing to him after what he said. Not going to happen.

"Did you hear that?"

Sure I did. What's up his sleeve now, some stupid prank? Some terrible attempt at making a conversation? He can be really, really irritating sometimes.

My lips are curling into a snarl to bark back at him when I'm suddenly pushed to ground, slamming into it. Before I can say a word or make any kind of movement, a shot rings out. Instantly, my gun is out and I pick myself up, scanning the area. Off in the distance I hear a pair of shoes clattering on the hard floor as they get away. I'm about to take off after them when the sound of a pitiful moan catches my attention. Looking down at the source of it, my heart stops.

There's Javi, lying on the ground. No! No! No! No! No! This can't be happening! I'm on the ground by his side in a second. Every bit of anger I was holding on to has evaporated in an instant. Blood is starting to pool out of Javi. No! God no! The bullet entered into his abdomen. I immediately take off my coat and use it to try and staunch the wound, keeping the pressure on it.

"Come on Javi stay with me! You hear me? Stay with me!" I frantically beg.

His eyes are darting around as his mind tries to process what just happened.

"Look at me Javi! Look at me!" I quickly tap his cheek, trying to keep him awake and alert.

This catches his attention and now he's definitely looking at me.

"Kev…"

"Shh, save your strength." I pull out my cell phone and dial 911. It then strikes me that I don't know the address of where we are. Damn it! I waste precious time looking up the address on my phone, since Javi left the paper with the address on it in the car. I finally find the damned address just as the 911 operator comes on the line. The moment I hear the operator, I start rattling off our information. I can't hear anything she is saying except for the phrase "EMS are on their way." It's the only phrase that matters. I turn my phone off and return to my wounded partner.

"EMT's are on their way. Just hold on Javi!"

"Kev…" Damn it, what is he doing? He needs to save his strength.

"No, you aren't saying anything right now you got that? Whatever you have to say can wait, because you are going to be fine. You hear me Javier Esposito? You're going to be fine."

This time, he listens to what I'm saying, and he never takes his eyes off me.

Keeping the pressure on his abdomen with one hand, I grasp his hand with my free one.

He mumbles faintly. "You okay?"

I fight off the temptation to roll my eyes at him for asking such a stupid question. "I'm fine. Christ Javi, you're the one who got shot."

"Got you outta the way."

I didn't think it was possible, but I feel even worse now. The push, the gunshot, oh God. It hits me like a freight train; Javi pushed me out of the way of the bullet that's now lodged in his abdomen. I feel the blood drain out of my face. He took a bullet for me. I feel shell-shocked. My stomach is twisting into a horrible knot. God why did this happen?

"Stay with me Javi!" I keep my focus on my wounded partner who hasn't said anything for the past few moments, which terrifies me.

"Say something Javi! Say something!"

"Sorry…Kev…"

I never would've thought those two simple words would hurt so much.

"Stay with me Javi…WHERE'S THE DAMN AMBULANCE?!" I roar.

The faintest sound of a siren echoes in the distance. It can't get here fast enough.

Beckett and Castle race to the scene, each of them trying to brace themselves for what they might see. They arrive just in time to see Esposito being loaded into the ambulance. Just behind them, Ryan is arguing with the EMTS to let him ride with them to the hospital.

"Sir, we don't have enough room for you to come as well." One of them tries to tell Ryan while they finish setting Esposito up in the back of the ambulance.

"Then make room, I need to be there for him."

"Sir, we'll take care of him I promise."

Ryan isn't listening to them though. "That's not good enough. He's my partner, I have to be there for him."

"I'm sorry. We're taking him to Trinity Hospital, you can meet up with him there."

"Damn it…"

Before Ryan can get another word out, the ambulance door slams shut in his face. The blaring lights and sirens of the ambulance announce its presence as it races off towards the hospital.

Ryan starts hurling epitaphs at the retreating vehicle. Beckett and Castle approach the Irishman, who is looking absolutely furious, yelling at the ambulance. They catch the tail-end of his rant against the EMTs.

"Stupid, good-for-nothing, God-damn worthless sons-of-a…"

"Ryan!"

The Irish detective looks back at them, but in a sense, he doesn't. Sure Ryan is looking in their direction, but he acts like he doesn't see them. Beckett is startled at his appearance. He's carrying his coat, which has a large bloodstain on it. Ryan's hands are covered in blood too, and his face is a deep shade of red. His eyes are darting about frantically. All of those things are bad, but they aren't the worst of it. Underneath his anger, Ryan looks…lost and confused.

"Ryan!" Beckett tries to fully catch his attention. This time it works. Ryan's anger is almost physically radiating from him.

"They won't let me go with him! Why won't they let me go?" Ryan yells.

"What happened Kevin?" Castle asks.

The anger dissipates from Ryan. "I…we were…it happened so fast…" The Irishman rambles, his voice suddenly very meek.

"It's alright Ryan." Beckett tells him. "You can ride with us to the hospital."

"Our car…he was driving…I don't have the keys." Ryan can barely string together a coherent sentence.

"We'll have the car taken care of Ryan. Come on, let's go to the hospital." Beckett gently takes Ryan by the arm and leads the shell-shocked detective back to the car. Once the three of them are situated, Beckett starts the car and they start racing off.

Castle tries mightily to engage Ryan in a conversation and figure out what happened in the apartment complex, but it is futile. Ryan doesn't respond to any of Castle's inquiries. The Irishman just stares out the window, his mind far away from the car and only focused on an Operating Room at Trinity Hospital where his partner is fighting for his life.

Good? Not so good? Either way, if you have an opinion or comment about this story, I'd love to hear it. I'll try to get Chapter 4 soon.