A/N - Thought I would write you a story about why this is so late. It involves new cars, college graduations and hundred thousand dollar fund-raisers, but I know you don't want to read about my boring life. You came here for this story.

Thanks for all the encouraging and thoughtful reviews and most importantly, your patience. I can't make any promises but I'm going to try to wrap this up before my surgery next month. It's knee surgery. I have the bionic sound downloaded but I'm really hoping for a murder mystery to solve (ala Castle - Lives of Others) ;-)

Enjoy!

~GeekMom

The Commitment

Chapter 11

Yippee Ki Yay

Previously:

"It sounds like Castle's trying to talk the guy down. Alexis is there."

The gunman had turned the gun on Tammy McDaniel. "Hey, you need to just relax and don't do anything you'll regret." Castle inveigled.

The gunman turned his focus and aim on Castle. Castle could see the crazy from fifteen feet away. "What are you doing? I said everyone was supposed to get down. That means you, too."

Castle crept a little bit forward. "Are you Geoffrey?" Tammy nodded, fear and realization co-mingling her expression.

"Who the hell are you?"

Castle shook his head and held up his hands. "Just a guy attending the funeral of a friend." He impressed himself at how soothing and calm his voice was. Inwardly, he was neither. "Did you know Susannah?"

"Know her? Yeah, you asshole, I knew her she was supposed to marry me." His voice thundered while he waved the gun over the terrified heads of the gathering.

Beckett drove white knuckled through the streets to the cemetery. The boys followed. Saturday traffic wasn't too bad and did not delay them except for a city pet appreciation event. Kate impatiently decided to use the siren to cut through the mass of dog, cat, rodent, insect and reptile lovers. Technically the call was out of her jurisdiction, so the use of the siren and lights was officially against the regs, but she had to get there. Based on his phone call, she pictured Castle, too brave or too stupid for his own good. She thought back to all of the times he'd busted his way into something; cocky and arrogant, unwilling to openly concede the danger in front of him.

It started on that very first case that had brought them together. Castle was held at gunpoint by Harrison Tisdale; he clocked the perp with his elbow and twisted the gun out of his hand. Kate remembered his excited 'Tell me you saw that! You're going to put that in your report, right?' Kate shoved him against the wall after she cuffed Tisdale and asked him what he was thinking, and that he could've gotten himself killed. He responded that the safety was on the whole time and when she scolded him for not telling her, he asked, where's the fun in that? She should have paid closer attention to all the red flags waving madly in front of her face. She tried to heed the warnings, but he pushed his way onto the team. Yeah, she had to get there, now. She'd deal with whatever consequences there were later.

Castle subtly inched closer to Geoffrey. He stood about four feet away from the gunman and Tammy McDaniel sat another six feet beyond Geoffrey. Castle wiped the sweat off of his forehead and tried to keep his mind focused. His adrenaline combined with the oppressive humidity had soaked his already damp shirt. The meticulously kept green grass of the graveyard was lightly misted with dew. He made a mental note that if he were ever in a similar situation that he should not wear the Italian leather dress shoes. Though you would think that five hundred dollar handmade shoes would imply that they were top of the line in every way, but they held no traction in the wet grass. Castle made another mental note to get some converse basketball shoes. He hadn't worn a pair since college. 'So much for focus,' he thought. He made a final mental note to work on his focusing skills.

Geoffrey Robbins, Susannah Hamilton's former and Tammy McDaniel's current boyfriend was a big man. Castle stood at six one, but Geoffrey easily had an additional half a foot and a hundred pounds on him. He wore the expression of utter grief on his face, Castle noted, not menace or insanity, just unadulterated, bottom of the barrel 'oh god why' anguish. If it weren't for the forty five he wildly brandished, Castle would have tried to console the man.

Tammy McDaniel sat quietly sobbing a few rows in front of the standoff. Geoffrey turned back to her suddenly and screamed, "Shut up! You were never her; you were just a stand-in, an imposter, just a distraction."

"Geoffrey, how can you say that? I…I love you." She had the big man's full attention.

"Please," Robbins said contemptuously. "Susannah was the only one I loved and now she's gone." He became unfocused in his grief and Castle buried his common sense, swallowed and made his move. He dove for Geoffrey's arm, knocking the gun out of his hand and under the chairs. The two men, both desperate but for vastly different reasons, wrestled on the ground. Amidst the screaming of the people fleeing the scene, and the clattering of the metal chairs knocked about in the panic, Castle heard Alexis' anxious cries. He wanted to reassure her, but his priority had to be diffusing the situation.

He had Geoffrey pinned and was trying to reason with him, but Robbins was too far-gone for anything Castle said to make it through his fog of grief and delusion. Castle hesitated but then smacked him hoping that the pain would bring the man back to reality. The rough treatment only served to turn Geoffrey's grief to rage and in Castle, he found a ready target on which to discharge that fury. 'Well, it worked,' Castle thought, 'at least he's focused on me…oh…oh shit.' With a great heave he pushed the writer off of him and got to his feet. Castle flew through the air and collided with the podium, tousling the arrangement of lilies into the air only to land on the coffin. Robbins looked around for an avenue of escape and Castle came back to tackle him again. Robbins feinted left. Rick missed his mark and crashed ungracefully into the chairs in the opposite aisle, folding them down around him. Geoffrey turned to escape through the cemetery, but Castle quickly untangled himself and was on him again. He heard Alexis pleading with him to stop, but if Geoffrey was Susannah's killer, he couldn't watch him walk away. He grabbed the bigger man's shoulder and pulled him back. Robbins kicked at his attacker and caught Castle in the stomach which made him let go and double over momentarily. He swallowed and jumped on his back just as he cleared Susannah's casket. Robbins crashed to his knees taking Castle with him.

Shouts from a cavalry, dressed in dark blue, demanding that he get down and freeze and stop surrounded Robbins as he grabbed Castle by the scruff of his neck, hauled him off of his back and over his shoulder. The big man tossed Castle as easily as if he were tossing paper into the trash, crashing him into headstones directly in front of him. Rick huffed out a chuckle when he realized he was actually seeing stars. Little birdies circling his head would have been better, he thought, but stars were cool, too. The last images Castle registered before he succumbed to the effects of the rapidly growing knot on the side of his head were of people kneeling on the wet grass: Robbins with his fingers laced behind his head in submission and Alexis by his side, worried and calling his name repeatedly. Her voice sounded like she was in a tunnel or a walkway underpass at the park. He smiled. He liked the park. He briefly wondered why she would be in a tunnel, but he must have been there too, because it was getting dark.

He wrinkled his nose and swatted at the offensive odor. He made a face as he identified the smell: ammonia. He blinked as a bright light assaulted his eyes.

"Mr. Castle?" Someone asked close to his ear. Then the man turned away and called, "Detective? He's coming around."

"Dad?" Alexis pushed her way to his side.

"Mm hum, pump…" He was warm and floating since the irritating lights and smells had gone.

"Dad? Open your eyes."

"Kay…but mm…sleepy."

"Alexis, is he awake?" He knew that voice.

Alexis' voice was muffled as if she had moved away. "Um, sort of, Detective."

"Beckett." He said her name clearly, almost like he and she had been having a conversation, not like he was semi-conscious.

"Alexis, come out please so I can ask your dad some questions."

"Okay. Daddy, can you talk to Detective Beckett?" His head wobbled. "I'll be right outside." She kissed his forehead and dropped his hand. When had she picked up his hand and held it?

Castle slowly opened his eyes, looked around and realized he was in the back of an ambulance. It all came rushing back to him. The funeral, Robbins and the gun, Susannah's killer.

"Hey," she tilted her head, "are you okay?" Beckett asked as she sat on the bench next to the gurney. She assessed him herself: His eyeballs were rolling around in his head.

It took what seemed like forever to get his eyes to focus. He licked his lips and willed himself to focus on her. "Did you get the guy?"

"Yeah, but Castle…What the hell? You could have gotten yourself seriously hurt. The guy had a gun."

"Yeah, a big one too. I totally kicked it out of his hand. Very John McClane yippee ki yay mother…"

"It was reckless," she cut him off and gritted her teeth; he sounded a little too cocky. "You should have waited. Black & whites were on their way almost as soon as you called."

"I did…called…I called for backup first, but Beckett he was pointing the gun at Tammy and Alexis and everyone else who was there. I couldn't just sit there." A slightly pleased grin emerged." "I knocked the gun away on my first tackle." The grin was followed by a grimace of pain. He raised his hand to his head.

She pursed her lips in an annoyed but all together amused way. Castle thought it was adorable. He drew in a shuddered breath.

She misinterpreted the shudder. "Are you okay? Do you need the EMT?"

"No," he said as he dragged his hand down from the bulbous mound at his temple and across his face.

"You could've been killed."

"I couldn't let Susannah's killer just walk away."

"Wait. Susannah's killer?"

"Well, yeah, alleged, maybe?" He stammered, confusion crossing his features. "I, uh, I just assumed. I mean who pulls a gun at a funeral. Why would he do that?"

"I don't know either, but why do you think…"

"He said he was going to marry her Beckett, but he brought a gun to her funeral. Why else? Except..."

"Except?" She repeated.

"Except, he didn't look deranged or crazy. Beckett, he looked like he was grieving. Really angry, but it was not directed toward Susannah. I think it was for Susannah, in her defense."

"Hell of a way to show it."

Light dawned in his features. "I think he was going to kill himself."

"What?" Kate was incredulous but made a mental note. Her partner read people very well.

The EMT appeared at the back doors. "Ma'am, we're going to transport now."

Castle started to sit up only to be gently pushed back by Beckett.

"Kate?"

The use of her first name startled her. When she turned back, he looked so uneasy and worried. She smiled at him reassuringly. "Castle, you were out for a few minutes, they need to check you out." He started to protest but she cut him off in a very good imitation of Lanie, complete with her sassy head shaking. "I am not going to do extra paperwork if you drop dead because you didn't get that goose egg checked out. No arguments. If you're going to play around like, who did you say?"

"John McClane, from Die Hard."

"John McClane, you'll have to follow the same rules we do, well the ones having to do with your health. You just ignore most of the others, but there's too much at stake here. You do not have a choice." She gave him a Beckett death stare for good measure, gave his arm a reassuring squeeze and turned to get out of the ambulance.

He lifted his head again, despite the spinning vortex it caused. "Hey Beckett?"

"Yeah." She turned as she stepped down

"Thanks," he exhaled as he settled back onto the pillow.

She smiled warmly. "You got it, partner."

A broad smiled appeared on his lips in response. "Oh, can you get Alexis home?"

"I'm not going home," Alexis reappeared at the doors, her hands poised on her hips as she matter-of-factly protested.

He graced his daughter with an understanding loving look. "Sweetheart, go with Beckett and get Grams, get her to hire a car service and both of you can come to get me."

"If they don't keep you," Alexis said timidly.

"I feel fine. Why would they keep me?" Kate noticed that he put everything into presenting a strong front for his daughter. Bright, focused eyes, steady and reassuring smile. He did not want his daughter to worry. Kate was happy that he hadn't felt the need to hide how badly he was injured or how badly he really was feeling for her. It made her smile again.

Castle caught Beckett's smile and realized that Alexis had moved away from the back of the ambulance. He collapsed back onto the gurney. He was spent, but he nodded as she reached up to touch his leg, just to make a connection letting him know that she understood. "I'll take care of her. You just take care of you."

Beckett closed the back of the ambulance and thumped the doors. The driver immediately pulled away. She looked over Alexis' head for Ryan and Esposito. Kate focused her attention back to Alexis who was looking every bit the fearful daughter whose father was just taken away in an ambulance. "Alexis, will you be okay for a minute? I just need to talk to my team so we can get started then I can take you home and I'll take you and your grandmother to the hospital."

"I'm fine, Detective Beckett. Dad said to get a car service."

"Oh I know. I kind of need an excuse to check up on him though." She smiled at the girl as if sharing a secret. "Do you mind?"

"Oh, um no, of course not." She sat in a metal chair and contemplated her hands, looking very young.

"Good. I'll be right back."

She met two grim faced detectives just inside the crime scene tape. Esposito walked up to her after completing a witness interview. He was shaking his head.

"Espo, what's up?"

"This is messed up, Beckett."

"How's Castle?" Ryan asked as he joined them.

"More dopey than usual, but I think he'll be okay. He has quite a bump and he's pretty out of it. I'm going to take Alexis, stop at the loft and get Martha and take them both to the hospital. He thinks he's coming home tonight."

"And is he?" The boys, both anxious about their friend, asked in unison.

"I doubt it. What did you find out? And are we going to have jurisdictional problems with the seventeenth?"

Her team gave their report in the usual way. Esposito and Ryan tag teaming their insights, information, and humor. Ryan began. "Well, first, the seventeenth's on board and is graciously stepping aside seeing as this is a part of an open homicide investigation."

"That's good and slightly unnerving." Beckett said, her eyebrows betraying her surprise.

"Yeah, Montgomery called in a favor."

"Hm, okay and witnesses?"

"Just like Castle said: dude walked up to the casket, pulled a gun, and fired into the air. Most of the mourners bolted, but those who remained credit Castle with stopping Robbins."

"Yeah, his name is Geoffrey Robbins; big dude. I would think twice about tangling with him. It's a wonder Castle didn't get more messed up."

"Robbins was Susannah's ex-boyfriend, maybe ex-fiancé and Tammy..."

Beckett supplied. "Tammy McDaniel's current boyfriend."

"Yeah, but the witnesses' statements make me think that was a onetime fling. Robbins allegedly said she could never measure up to Susannah." Ryan continued.

"You know at the top of his lungs, at a funeral for his ex, while waving a gun around."

"Apparently when Robbins was distracted destroying Tammy, that's when your boy, Steven Segal, jumped him."

Beckett held up her hands. "Okay, those kinds of comments stop here. What Castle did was reckless. I don't want to encourage him to put himself in danger like that and if he starts singing his theme song again…" She closed her eyes, pinched her nose and sighed in a long-suffering way.

"All right Beckett, but from what we heard he was pretty bad ass." Espo said, smiling and earning a fist bump from his partner.

"Yup, it looks like our little ride-along has grown up." Kevin held his hand over his heart wistfully, blinking back the imaginary tears.

"Finished?" Beckett asked impatiently but inwardly grateful for the cop levity in an otherwise tough situation.

"Nah."

"Nope."

"You guys go ahead and knock yourselves out. I'm going to collect Alexis and go. Call me when Robbins is processed."

Espo answered. "You got it. Hey Beckett? Tell Castle he did good."

"Yeah, from me too, only use correct grammar." Ryan added garnering a back of the head slap from Esposito.

She shook her head. "Yeah, if I get to see him. Might be that only family is allowed."

"Badge it." Espo's eyes gleamed. "A little misuse of authority for our boy won't hurt."

She agreed. "We do need his statement, don't we?"

Martha was waiting for them on the corner. Beckett pulled her cruiser up and Alexis jumped in the back after hugging her grandmother. Beckett observed again, how Castle's family was very affectionate with one another. There was teasing and games, but all of it was layered with a healthy dose of love. She missed having that type of family.

"Oh my goodness Katherine, can you tell me what happened."

"Alexis was there. I was at the precinct and Castle called me."

Martha turned around to look at her granddaughter who was intensely studying the passing city streets out of the back window. She opted to make sure her granddaughter was coping later. They drove the rest of the way to the hospital in an easy silence: each considering the day's events and how they were affected by them.

Ryan and Esposito arrived back at the twelfth with Geoffrey Robbins in custody and in tears. The big man sobbed the entire ride back.

Ryan actually started feeling bad for him. He nodded his head toward the back seat. "Espo, I think our boy back there may be needing a psych eval."

"I think all he needs is some alone time in the lock-up. That will solve his grief."

Ryan looked doubtful.

"Man, the way I look at it is," Esposito expounded, "that if he was grieving so bad, why did he bring a gun to her funeral?" He lowered his voice, "no, man, this is our guy."

Ryan was thoughtful, but remained quiet for the rest of the ride.

Kate strode into the emergency room holding her badge up. "Richard Castle." She didn't ask it as a question. She expected to be directed to him. The tactic worked about seventy percent of the time. It all depended on how much of a pushover the admitting nurse was.

The woman checked her computer screen. "He's with a doctor now. Have a seat." She indicated the hard plastic institutional green waiting room chairs through the double glass doors to the left of the desk. She left no room for argument. This nurse, apparently not a pushover, was in that other thirty percent. She sat.

"Family of Richard Castle?" A kindly looking man in his sixties held a clipboard and his eyes searched the waiting room.

Martha stood and stepped toward the doctor, followed by Alexis. Kate remained seated. She wasn't family, not really a friend. Or was she? Not really. They worked together, sort of. She wanted to hear though. She cared about what happened to him. Kate decided to try to define their relationship later and stood next to Martha who clasped Kate's hand in her own. The doctor had already begun his explanation.

"…multiple contusions and lacerations, none requiring stitches. The concern I have is the possibility of concussion. According to the EMT's report, he was found unconscious; was, and frankly still is having difficulty remaining cognizant. He has been fighting it pretty well, but it's only a matter of time before his body demands the rest it is seeking. I'd like him to be where we can respond in any way necessary. I'd also like to submit him for a CAT scan just to be on the safe side."

"How long would he need to stay here, Doctor?" Alexis asked, concern plainly written on the teen's face.

The doctor gave her a small comforting smile. "Barring any problems, it would just be over night," he said, nodding his head. "I have to convey to you that it is Mr. Castle's wish to be released now. It would be against medical advice, but he is currently conscious, aware and capable of making decisions. I'm asking you to take what I've said under advisement and see if you can convince him to allow his body time to recuperate. Just overnight."

Martha got a determined expression on her face. "Don't worry Doctor, I'll convince him. Thank you. May we see him?"

"Yes, I'll take you back to the exam room. You can see him there for a few minutes and then he will be transferred to his room. Thank you, ladies. It really is in his best interest."

They followed the doctor through the maze of hospital corridors: past the myriad of thin curtains offering the illusion of protection and some modicum of dignity and privacy to the countless patients. Some of them were suffering quietly, some not so much. Kate grabbed Alexis' hand to help calm her fears. The doctor stopped and turned toward the women while he parted one of the curtains so they could enter the false cocoon of discretion.

Castle was propped up on the bed in a hospital gown. His own clothes draped across a procedure tray in the corner of the curtained off area. His eyes were closed he was breathing on his own, but each breath looked as if it caused him pain. The side of his head had begun to change colors: no longer the red and white of the initial impact, the bruising had begun. Purple and green tinges at his temple and dark maroon and yellow were beginning to show around his eye. His right hand had been bandaged. The florescent lighting at the head of the bed cast an eerie green hue to the entire area. Kate noted that he had not been hooked up to any monitors or even an IV.

"Dad!" Alexis cried out as she saw him. Castle opened his eyes. Kate noticed that he still had the 'my brain is jumbled and I can't focus my eyes' look. Martha noticed it also as she covered her mouth with her hand.

Castle drew in a breath and pushed himself higher on the bed: a move that obviously caused him discomfort. "Hey pumpkin," he responded while catching an armful of his daughter. He looked up to his mother who stood next to the bed behind Alexis and smiled. Kate thought again, about how remarkable it was that he would make others feel at ease regardless of how he was truly feeling. Pushing past the obvious pain and discomfort they had seen when he was not aware that they were there and putting up a supportive façade, especially for his daughter.

"Oh, Richard, what did you do?" Martha shook her head.

His recently focused eyes twinkled and Kate had the feeling that they had had this very conversation many times before. Maybe the details changed every time, but she was sure he had to explain his choices to Martha previously and often.

The master storyteller began his tale. "I was just minding my own business, thinking about life and death and…" His eyes found her hanging back in the shadows, not wanting to intrude in the family reunion. He smiled broadly. "Beckett?"

Martha rolled her eyes. "We are not finished speaking about this, Richard." She leaned down and kissed his forehead then running her thumb across the lipstick smudge to eradicate it from his forehead.

"Yes, Mother," he said absently, another thing Kate was sure happened regularly. His eyes hadn't left hers.

Martha tugged on her granddaughter. "Come on kiddo; let's see what kind of coffee this place has to offer."

"Coffee?" He asked, "I'm not going to be here much longer."

Martha wheeled around. "Yes, you are. The doctor is adamant about your staying overnight and that's what you'll do."

"But, I feel fine…"

She cut off his whining with a glare. A mom glare. "You'll stay and give me the comfort of knowing that you're all right. You'll also submit to whatever tests the doctor feels is necessary."

"Mother, I am an adult. I can make my own decisions."

Kate felt very much in the way, almost intrusive; eavesdropping on a private conversation. She interrupted. "Look, I'm just going to wait in the hall. I need to take your statement Castle, so I'll wait outside." She drew back the curtain, but turned back. "I…I'm glad you'll be okay, but your mother's right. You really should listen to the doctor." She added the last in response to the silent plea of help Martha sent her.

"Beckett, you don't have to leave," he said resigned to the facts, "I'll stay." Martha looked between her son and the detective, impressed with the power she held over him.

"Good," she said and leaned down to kiss his forehead again. "I'm glad that you listen to Katherine, at least." Mother and son shared one more endearing look between them; Martha squeezed his hand and turned to leave, grabbing Alexis' hand. Alexis gave her father one more hug before exiting with her grandmother.