Nightfall

SIX

FRIDAY – 2:42 PM

Getting out of the ruined store had actually been a little easier than both of them had originally assumed it would be. All they needed to do was locate the staircase, which wasn't too difficult. There was a set of stairs out in the open, not far from where they had regained consciousness. Beckett led the way, weaving through the overturned shelves and piles of broken cutlery. Castle kept close, and she could practically hear his breathing in her ear. It made her shiver, remembering their unexpected, but not entirely unwelcomed, kiss. Her lips still tingled from it. And she could still taste him on her tongue.

To be honest, it was a little distracting.

As they climbed up the staircase, moving cautiously, just in case the bearings were left unstable due to the monster's crash into the front façade of the building, Beckett worked at slowing her heartrate. Her skin was still flushed from their heated embrace and the discussion that followed. Beckett had not intended to reveal so much, but she didn't regret it—the timing, yes, but not the kiss. Never that. Never.

"Look!" Castle pointed towards the fading afternoon light that streamed through the gapping maw that had once been a set of windows that faced the street. The surrounding floor had caved in during the collapse, tilting forward in a way that it almost resembled a ramp. Though it was covered in debris and concrete rubble. Castle glanced towards Beckett with a hopeful expression. "What do you think?"

She pursed her hips and nodded. "It's doable, we'll just need to take it slow and easy," she hedged, worrying her bottom lip as she flirted her gaze up to the ceiling above, examining it for any structural damage or weaknesses. Last thing they needed was the floor above to crash down on top of them as they clambered down the rubble and debris to the street below.

Castle darted forward, moving far too fast and reckless for her liking. With quick reflexes, Beckett reached out and snagged him back by the scruff of his jacket, stopping him before he could accidentally trip over a loose piece of detritus and tumble headlong down the scree covered rumble. She yanked so hard that he almost toppled back into her.

"Damn it, Castle!" she flashed him a warning glare. "Be careful, will you? You might have broken your neck."

"Oh," Castle breathed, rubbing his neck and swallowing as if picturing such a horrific accident. "Yeah, don't want that to happen."

"No, we don't," Beckett agreed sternly, feeling her heart pound profoundly beneath her chest. Just a few moments ago, they had just taken a huge step towards a potential relationship. It would be far too soon to lose him now, before they'd had a chance to explore the possibilities. But first, before any of that could happen, they needed to survive this surreal crisis.

Placing a hand on his shoulder, essentially to hold Castle back, Beckett craned her neck out and scanned the street below them, as well as the shifting rubble beneath their feet. After declaring it safe, she led the way, slowly climbing down the rubble and debris that had once been the storefront of the Crate & Barrel that fell out into the street.

Once safely on the ground, having only one instance of worry when he'd lost his footing, Beckett watched as Castle frantically started padding his hands over his pockets, searching for his phone. She decided to do the same, pleased to find it still in her front jacket pocket. Removing it, she punched in her lock code. When she tried to make a call, she quickly discovered that she was unable to make a connection. It appeared that the cellular network system was really down this time. Pocketing her cellphone, she glanced up at her partner, seeing an expression of distress and frustration marring his handsome countenance.

"No reception, you?" she hedged, trying not to startle him.

His wild eyes darted up to hers. "No, nothing," he said, jaw clenched, the muscles flexing under his skin. She ached to reach out and soothe away the tension with her hand, but refrained from doing so. It was too soon.

"Did you try texting?" she asked, knowing that sometimes during emergencies text messaging worked better than trying to connect a voice call.

He inclined his head. "Won't go through," he sighed.

Beckett touched a hand to his arm, and squeezed, trying to comfort and reassure him.

"We should get moving," she said.

"Yeah, yeah," he bobbed his head, shoving his useless phone back into his pocket, following her lead after a brief pause.

The intersection was empty, save for a handful of abandoned automobiles and the grisly sight of soldiers that had either been ripped apart or stomped on by the gigantic creature invading New York. The air smelled funny. She could quite place it, but it was strange, like ionized oxygen of something. There was no sign of the creature, so they could only hope it had moved on and would not be retracing its path back.

Beckett did her best to ignore all of it and focus on the task at hand, finding a way to get them out of the city and reunite her partner with his family. She had seen so many terrible and horrific things during her time with the New York Police Department, both as a patrol officer, her time in Vice, and as a homicide detective. The things people did to other people could be quite appalling. Human beings could be monsters too. Probably more so than this thing—this creature—that had destroyed Liberty Island and attack the soldiers lying on the street around them. It was just an animal, acting on instinct to protect itself, while the scumbags she hunted down and put way murdered with purposeful intent, sometimes for irrational reasons. People killed each other for the stupidest of reasons.

Sighing, Beckett shook her shoulders and closed her eyes, clearing her mind of such musing. Even though it was silent and still didn't mean that danger didn't lurk around the corner. And even if the massive creature wasn't the same as a human murderer, its presence on the island of Manhattan posed a danger to those she cared for… those she loved.

Shifting her gaze over at Castle, her chest clenched at the sight of his face, seeing him taking in the carnage of the battle between the soldiers and the large beast. She moved closer to him and trailed her hand down his arm until she could link their fingers together. She offered his hand a light squeeze, and she watched as he pursed his lips and swallowed.

"I can't help thinking of Alexis and Mother," he voiced, after a long beat, with a worried look twisting his brow.

"I know," she replied with a nod of her head. "We'll find them, Castle."

He stopped, tilted his head to look at her. His blue eyes narrowed just a bit as he thought, brow furrowing. "You know what, as insane as this whole thing is, when you say that, I believe you," he asserted, then let out a small chuckle.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Just… I've always believed in you, Kate," Castle explained. "No matter the situation or the obstacles. I just… I always believe in you. Always."

Beckett drew in a sharp breath, darting her eyes up to meet his. It was like she was seeing everything clearly for the first time. It was a little overwhelming. Wetting her lips, she offered him an inadequate smile for what she was truly feeling, but under the present circumstances it was the best she could do. She could only hope her eyes reflected out all that she had trouble giving words to.

"I feel the same," was all she could manage. And she meant it. She believed in Richard Castle.

Beckett remembered telling Damian Westlake, Castle's old school friend from the Edgewyck Academy, that very same thing not that long ago. Her heart still ached for Castle's disappointment that his friend had not been the man he'd thought he'd been. But her statement had been the truth and still was. She believed in Richard Castle.

They walked through the wreckage, still holding hands, and for some odd reason, even though they never did that sort of thing—ever—Beckett didn't find it awkward or uncomfortable. Quite the opposite. His large hand engulfing her smaller one was reassuring, soothing. It was comforting to know she wasn't alone, and that it was him—Rick Castle—her annoying shadow, who was with her.

"Where do you think it went?" Castle asked out of nowhere.

Beckett shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

As if on cue, two jets screeched overhead, soaring towards the south, supposedly in the direction the creature had went. Beckett exchanged a looked with Castle. His brow creased with concern, matching her own. That was the same direction as Canal Street, where the bus carrying Alexis and her fellow students was trapped in a logjam heading into the Holland Tunnel. Twin plumes of flame and smoke rose up into the air as the aircrafts delivered their payloads. The distant howling roar of the creature reverberated out into the air, sounding more pissed off than injured. The sounds of buildings buckling and crashing could be heard as the jets circled for another pass. Then, something, like a blue fireball, shot up into the air, impacting one of the aircrafts. The jet sputtered, and then in a flash, exploded in a blinding flare of orange and white light.

"Oh God," Beckett muttered, watching in horror, with large saucer eyes, as the wreckage spun uncontrollably to the ground and out of sight.

The second jet veered right, and with a burst of speed from its powerful engines, streaked away like a dog with its tail tucked between its legs.

"Alexis!" Castle exclaimed, eyes could wide with terror, his paternal worry overtaking him.

"This way," she tugged on his hand, taking action, hurriedly leading the way towards one of the abandoned automobiles. Castle followed, his grip tightening as they rushed towards the car. With the monster closing in on Alexis's last known location, they needed to get some form of transportation. "We won't be able to make it on foot."

"Oh yes, you got that right, not with Godzilla running rampart, spitting his blue fireballs," Castle chimed in, offering her a pursed lip smile, affable enough, but not as brilliant as his teasing smirks normally were, which, given the situation, was completely understandable.

Her chest swelled with warmth at Castle's attempt at humor in the face of such peril. She had learned that humor was his coping mechanism. It was one of the—at first—irritating qualities he had that she now found so very endearing. She could always trust Castle to find ways to lighten the mood during the darkest of times. Nodding, Beckett graced him with a matching smile, silently thanking him for his efforts—especially considering his own distress—with a tender squeeze of her hand, allowing her fingers to interlace with his so that their palms kissed. It felt so intimate for such a mundane and common act. Maybe it was because it was them, and it was something that they never did.

Approaching a silver sedan, Beckett let go of Castle's hand, albeit reluctantly. An odd sort of disappointment filled her chest at having to let go of him. She shook it off, not needing the distraction. Focusing her attention on the sedan, Beckett cupped her hands against the glass as she peered inside the vehicle. No keys. But that wouldn't stop her. She could hotwire the car if necessary. Stepping back, she tried the car door, and wasn't too surprised to find it was unlocked. When in a panic, someone could hardly be expected to think about locking up their vehicle when running for their life.

Turning back to Castle, she nodded. "Get in," she ordered, stepping back to usher him into the passenger seat as she swiftly hiked around the front hood to climb in behind the wheel.

"Are we stealing this car!?" hooted Castle.

"Borrowing," Beckett corrected, jerking her head up to meet his startled gaze. "I don't think they'd mind."

Ducking her head down, she yanked at the console below the steering wheel, pulling the paneling away from the key ignition. She tore at the wires, knitting her eyebrows together and chewing on her lower lip as she concentrated. It had been a while since she'd had to do this, but Beckett felt confident in her ability. After a few twists and a flick of her wrist, the engine roared to life. Sitting back, she let out a hot breath and brushed the hair back from her face. Her eyes flicked up to see Castle staring at her, mouth ajar, eyes wide.

"That was so hot!" he exclaimed in an excitable manner that had her grinning.

"Another hidden talent you can use for Nikki Heat, eh?" she replied with a saucy smirk and wink, before then flashing him a quick warning look as she changed gears. "Now buckle up, Castle, we might break some speed limits."