Kate drained the last of her drink, needing the strength it still gave her to continue this. They were going to break each other's hearts all over again tonight, she could feel it, but she hoped this would be cathartic and help them to move past the bomb, finally.

She stood, wincing hard when she put weight on the knee she had smashed into the table.

"Shit!" She swore quietly, rubbing it hard, hating her own stupidity. Of course she would injure herself, just as the ability to run after him became paramount.

She looked around at the patrons of the coffee shop, all currently staring at her and their now empty table.

"What?" She exclaimed incredulously, pinning them all with her detective glare that she hadn't had to use in years. "Never seen two people break each other's hearts before?!" She hissed before grabbing her bag, and the phone Rick had left on the table, crossing the linoleum, and making her way out of the door, desperately hoping he hadn't gone far.

"Kate, you need to breathe, honey." Jim murmured softly, cupping the side of his clammy daughter's face as she gasped and coughed against her bedroom wall, her casted hand pressed into her hip. "Katie, breathe. Your lung can't cope if you hyperventilate." He begged her, gripping her other hand in his own, letting her claw at him. Her hand kept slipping against his, but he held her strong, letting her find her solid ground in his grasp. "They're on their way, baby." He promised, stroking his thumb across her forehead, worried about the sweat on her brow.

How did it get this bad this quickly?

"Just breathe, Katie-bug."

"Hurts." Kate gasped, coughing hard, resisting the urge to throw her head back, trying to protect her previous injuries even as she could feel the flames of blackout pain licking at her back and chest.

"I know." Jim murmured, pressing his lips to the top of her head, pulling her closer, letting her gasp and sob into his shoulder. "I've called an ambulance, Katie. Everything is gonna be okay."

He silently begged anyone that could hear him to help his daughter, hadn't seen her this bad since the summer she was recovering for her bullet wound.

"I…want…mom..." Kate's voice slipped away as she collapsed against him, wheezing.

"Katie!" Jim called, leaning down to catch a glimpse of her now slack face, even as her breathing remained ragged and wheezy. The pain had knocked her out, her body not able to handle it after the last few days. Jim's breath left him shakily, as he held his daughter tightly and wished the ambulance would hurry up.

Kate looked around her from the light of the doorway, spotting him pacing across the street, kicking his expensive leather shoes into the concrete as he gripped his hair in hands strong enough to rip it from the roots. It was painful to watch, and her heart hurt for him.

Kate sighed softly, slipping his phone into her bag, and gently smoothing her hair down at the back, still conscious of it even now. She crossed the street, watching diligently for traffic, before coming to stand a few paces from him.

He hadn't noticed her yet and she was happy enough to just watch him, let him go at his own pace. He had to process all this before they could talk about it. They had waited this long for each other, they could wait a few more minutes.

After a few moments, Rick turned his head to the sky, inhaled deeply and screamed, loud and long, trying to exorcize the deep-seated pain, the frustration, the horror of the last few years.

Kate startled, hard, feeling the twinge in her back at the sudden movement. "Rick?!" She gasped.

They weren't nearly far enough away from the precinct memorial, only a block and a half, for that to not draw the attention of the police brethren, they were already on high alert tonight.

Kate jogged a few steps towards the group of cops running towards the sound, holding up her hands in placation. He had sounded so broken, so angry, she couldn't blame them for coming to check. She also couldn't blame the few who didn't know them both personally, looking her over to check for signs of a domestic abuse incident.

"He's okay." Kate promised quietly, meeting the eyes of the cops she still knew, letting them see that she had no fear of him. "I've got him." She murmured.

She watched as their dominant hands left their hip holsters, even as they eyed him warily.

"I promise, I've got him." She smiled what she hoped would be reassurance, looking from one to the other, and nodded in response when they nodded to her, leaving slowly, sending him backward wary glances even as she turned back to him.

"Rick?" She murmured softly, coming back to him, wanting to slide her hand over those tense shoulders, but not sure pushing him would be a good idea right now.

He shook his head, clearing some of the emotional cloud, stalking towards her quickly, and Kate couldn't stop her instinct, stumbling back a few steps before he took hold of the tops of her arms, steadying her as much as stopping her retreat, the contact like electricity in her veins after so long of not feeling his touch.

"Kate, look me in the eye, and tell me you were going to come home." Rick murmured lowly, begging and they both knew it, and Kate could feel the tension in his muscles, could see the tears building in his eyes.

"Rick," she winced, slowly bringing her hands up, making sure they were in his view the whole time so as not to spook him further, before gently clasping his arms, pressing her fingers gently into the middle of his wrists, making him loosen his grip involuntarily. She could see the confusion building so she sent him a weak smile. "You were gripping too hard." She murmured, regretting it when he pulled away as if she had burned him. "But I," she shook her head, looking him squarely in the eye, "I was going to come, home." She faltered a little on the last word but they both knew she wasn't lying.

Kate looked up, finding her dad, from behind the oxygen mask, knowing from the pain scribbled across his face that it was bad. She was starting to feel the pain in her back and just below her old incision site. Definitely bad then.

Jim finally noticed her open eyes and jumped to her side. "Hey, Katie-bug." He murmured thickly, gripping her good hand between both of his, kissing her fingertips gently, just as he had when she was much smaller.

He missed her being that little, when the worst she had to contend with was scraped knees and bumped heads.

He could fix those with kisses and ice-cream.

He had no idea how to help her at the moment and it was tearing him apart. Katie wasn't the only one who wanted her mother, Johanna had been so much better at all this than he was. She could comfort their daughter with only a look and a hug, and he wished she was here now to provide their child with that.

"Wha' happen'?" Kate murmured, looking in confusion when her voice slurred.

"You moved too quickly, in too funny an angle." Jim murmured, leaving her hand in one of his, while the other stroked a soft curl off her face. Sweat, and the movement from bed to bed, had curled her hair into those tight ringlets he hadn't seen in so many years.

"Dad?" She asked quietly, unsure, and scared.

"You had to have surgery, that break wasn't nearly as stable as they thought it was." Jim smiled sadly, continuing to touch her, needing the reassurance after she had collapsed in his arms.

"Thought it was hairline?" Kate asked quietly, what was apparently anaesthetic slowly loosening its grip on her. She was starting to come to properly, starting to pinpoint just how much pain she was in, despite the medication flowing into her arm.

Jim shrugged. "So did they. Closed fracture but fracture all the same, it shifted against itself when you practically dived across the room." He scolded lightly. "And then you had a panic attack because of the pain, and your lung gave up." He leaned in and kissed her forehead softly, swallowing the tears he could feel building. "Your lung collapsed, and they had to reinflate it. You have a chest tube."

"Bad, huh?" She murmured, couldn't stop herself thinking that the panic attack had been much more from Alexis's words than from the pain.

"Hospital for at least three days, then strict bedrest." Jim nodded, sitting back in his seat, keeping her hand though.

Kate nodded slowly. "Okay." She gave in, quietly.

"I'm gonna call Rick." Jim told her, moving to slip his phone out of his pocket, stopping in his tracks when Kate's heart monitor kicked up a gear and her hand gripped his fiercely.

"No, you aren't." She shook her head, the words rushed and panicked. "He can't come running just because it's bad."

Alexis's words were ringing in her ears and she couldn't fathom how much the girl would hate her, how difficult it would be for Rick, if he was told she was back in the hospital. He'd insist on being there, she knew he would, and she couldn't ask him to do that, no matter how much she wanted him there.

"Katie…" Jim said sternly, raising a very parental eyebrow, but the determination and fear in her eyes stopped him.

"You cannot phone him." She told him, managing to still sound stern behind the O2 mask. She couldn't make it worse, she couldn't make Rick choose, couldn't let them all down again. She shook her head, rolling her eyes skyward to try and stop them overflowing. "Please daddy."

Jim sighed deeply, wishing he knew what was going on here, wishing he knew what had happened between them while they had been trapped, where everything had gone so wrong for them both. "Okay, Katie, I won't call him."

"I could have had you back this whole time?" Castle asked, quiet and childlike.

He bought up his right hand to cup her cheek, making Kate flinch at the contact.

"Sorry." He chastised himself, swapping hands to touch her with his left, he may be used to his damaged right hand's feel by now, but she'd only known how bad it was for a matter of hours.

Kate shook her head, closing her eyes tight and gripping his battered hand in her own, bringing it up to her other cheek, revelling in his touch. "It, was you touching me, that made me jump not, your hand." She murmured slowly, needing to be honest.

She hadn't expected him to be so tactile, not after everything, but she loved it. And she was getting used to the reality of his right hand now.

Castle sighed deeply, leaning down to rest their foreheads together, cupping her face with both hands like she was the most precious thing he'd ever held.

"I…" he let it trail off, bringing his face up to kiss her forehead, lingering with his lips against her skin, treasuring her.

Kate slowly bought her hands up, the whole situation feeling so surreal, and tentatively slipped her hands around his hips, holding his hip joints in her hands, her entire body buzzing with the static between them, even all these years later.

"God, I've missed you." She breathed tearfully, gasping when Rick pulled her close, cradling her into his chest. He wrapped his left arm around her hips, slipping his thumb through her belt loop, while his right arm held her shoulders, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

Kate slipped her hands up to grip his shoulders from underneath, hanging on for dear life, burying her face in his neck, breathing him in.

The feeling of being home slammed through her with such force, it took the strength from her knees.

"I've missed you so much, Kate."