MISSING SCENE: 6X05 TAKE 3

A/N: Scene at the power plant.

The room was swimming around him as his life was being strangled out of him through the hands of Ward. Castle couldn't even through a proper punch. He couldn't save his own life, but if it gave Beckett a chance to get out of there, he was more than willing to pay the price. His vision was going spotty, and he couldn't make heads or tails anymore. He heard something, and just like that, he could breathe again, but it was too late. He was falling, and everything went dark for several seconds.

He didn't want to move, but there was a concern working to the front of his mind that was pressing. Beckett. Someone nudged his shoulder, and his eyes opened blearily to find that it wasn't his fiancee, but Simon Doyle. He struggled to his feet, hand instinctively reaching to the back of his head where it collided with some machinery rather painfully. His throat hurt, and forcing his voice out felt like he had swallowed a burning hot fire poker.

But… Beckett.

He barely registered what Simon was doing there, and in all honesty, he didn't care when Kate wasn't there at his side - perfectly alright. He moved to the area where she had gone down, knocked out by Ward, only to find that she wasn't there…

Where?

He looked around, frantically, but Simon was talking, and oh so distracting. "Drop your weapon!" Even Castle started at the sound of Beckett's voice. "Hands in the air." He and Simon turned, and he had to mentally restrain himself from raising his own hands, something he didn't hesitate to do when she cuffed him in the bedroom. He'd surrender to her any day.

Beckett's eyes flicked to Castle for a brief second, satisfying her need to know that he was okay. With the weapon, or whatever it was, turned over to Castle, Kate reached behind her and produced handcuffs. "Turn around," she growled at Simon. The time traveler protested, but gave in when he realized Kate wasn't going to be lowering her weapon any time soon.

She cuffed him so he wouldn't escape this time, and turned to Castle. She tipped her head to the side and wandered in that direction, Castle following her cue. He glanced back at Doyle once, and when they rounded a corner, Kate turned to look at Castle. "Are you okay?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"Don't worry about me, Kate. Are you okay?" he reached a hand up, touching the backs of his fingers to her cheek, and she found herself leaning into the simple gesture.

"Just got the wind knocked out of," she offered a reassuring smile, but it disappeared as soon as it appeared. "I saw you…" she breathed. Kate's hand reached up, slightly moving his purple shirt collar. She bit her bottom lip, seeing the reddened skin. She watched his adam's apple bob and her eyes flicked up to his ocean blues.

"I'm sorry…"

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Rick," she murmured, lowering her hand. "You saved my life. Who knows what would have happened while I was down." She let the silence hang for a second before wincing with her next words. "He would have killed you."

"And you."

They both knew how close they had come today to visiting their dear friend, Death, but it was a visit they wanted to put off for as long as possible. Castle fixed a strand of her hair, tucking it behind her ear before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Let's get this done."

"Sounds good to me."