Just a little one (another Tumblr drabble, sorry) because I miss my Potpourri baby! I'll be working on some more oneshots (some better ones) to upload because I have plenty in the works, I just keep getting distracted. Sorry.


Fic prompt: After the fight in 4x23, Kate is injured in some way and hospitalized. Castle is contacted and rushes to her side.


His mind was a storm, clouded and dark, a million possibilities spinning like a hurricane.

He had known this wouldn't end well: that's why he had walked away.

It's your life. You can throw it away if you want but I'm not gonna stick around and watch you. So this is, uh... over.

It was an empty threat though, wasn't it?

I'm done.

But they both knew he wasn't, didn't they?

Stupidly, he had hoped the empty threat would be enough to save her.

Stupidly, he had hoped that she would realise what she was losing, that she would rush after him and apologise, confess that she loved him too.

Stupidly, he had hoped that this wouldn't end in exactly the way he dreaded it would.

But when he turned his phone on after Alexis' graduation only to find several dozen missed calls - Ryan, Esposito, Gates - he knew that had been naïve.

He dialled into his voicemail, clicked on the most recent message and held his phone to his ear. Gates' voice, heavy with sorrow, sounded quietly through the speaker and shattered his heart into tiny pieces.

He had remained composed long enough to kiss his daughter goodbye, to remind her to have a good time with her friends. To stay safe; always stay safe.

After a torturously long drive to the hospital, impossibly slow elevator ride up to the fifth floor and the too-long trek down a seemingly never-ending corridor, he finally arrived at her room.

He burst through the door, eyes searching frantically for her; hidden behind the half-drawn curtain.

She was bruised and bloody, hands bandaged and arm in a sling; but she was alive. And for the first time since Gates' solemn voice broke the news of her hospitalization, he felt like he could breathe.

"I didn't think you would come," she said meekly.

Teary, hazel eyes looked up at him; so tired, so broken. All the fire and anger from before had vanished, there was nothing left but the empty shell of her.

"I'm still mad."

"I know."

He stayed still, as if his feet were glued to the ground. His mind was shouting - go to her - wanting nothing more than to hold her, to place his hand over her chest and feel the steady rhythm of her heart beating under his palm, to reassure himself that she really was okay. But she looked so fragile, and he was so scared of causing her any more pain.

"I'm sorry," she whispered shakily, so quiet he almost missed it. "I'm so sorry, Castle."

"Tell me it's over," he whispered back, hopeful.

She shook her head. "He got away."

"Tell me it's over," he repeated, firmer.

He didn't care about Maddox, didn't care about the case: he was giving her one more chance. One more chance to walk away from the case before he would really have to make the decision to walk away from her.

"I'm here, Kate." Right here, for four years. "But I need this to be over."

She rose, gingerly, from the bed and he rushed toward her, placing a supporting hand under her elbow.

She looked up, into his eyes and touched her freed hand to his face.

"I promise you, I'm done." She closed her eyes and took a deep, shaking breath. "I don't want to lose you over this."

She tilted her head and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.

"I love you, Castle," she whispered into his mouth. "Forgive me? Please. I'm so sorry. I love you."

For a moment his brain battled with his heart, unsure if he could really trust the words that spilled so freely from her lips. But that moment was short-lived and before he knew it, he was kissing her back; a tender, reverent kiss.

Because when it came to Kate Beckett, he knew his heart would always win.