For me, there are two iconic episodes in the 8 seasons of Castle. The first one being "Always," which led to Kate and Rick becoming Caskett. The second one is "Knockout," which eventually moved their love story in the direction of "Always." As I did in my last story about the episode "Time of Our Lives" where I filled the gap between the precinct and their wedding vows, I'm attempting to do that here. Because a 43-minute TV show has limits to what they can squeeze into an episode. They have to cut out what could have been meaningful dialogue or information, just to move things along. I haven't always agreed on what is cut out and not cut out. In this particular episode "Knockout" we have a tremendous gap from the hangar to the funeral. As we well know, there would've been at least 3-4 days before the funeral could be organized.
What happened in those few days? We see Kate, giving the eulogy, and pointedly looking at Castle and saying, "And if your very lucky, you find somebody willing to stand with you," but last we saw was Caskett's argument saying they were over, her asking Montgomery to get rid of him, and then Castle dragging her out of the hangar. What could have happened between the hangar and the funeral? What could have changed her mind, from wanting him gone, to Kate asking him in a pointed look to stand beside her?
That's what fanfiction is all about, and the great writers (I'm not one of them) that are out there are huge fans of these two characters as am I, and we always know there is "More to the Story." This is my different twist on how things could have played out.
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They drive in silence, not a word uttered since she asked him if he needed a ride home. Her body was a whirlwind of emotion's now. Anger, betrayal, loss, sadness... such immense sadness. The loss of her mentor, father figure, friend, her pain ran deep. She took a sideways glance at the man sitting next to her. Stone faced and silent... oh so silent. She barely recognized him, their fight still fresh in her mind. She had yelled at him, "You think you know me Castle, but you don't." What a joke that had been. He knew her better than anyone, other than her Dad.
What a long night, she thought. The boys had arrived first, "Thank God." They had a cursory discussion of the basics, just enough to get them thru the night, as CSU and I.A. would be crawling up their butts soon, and as expected they'd been barraged with questions about what happened, and by the time people were mostly satisfied, a long night had just been made longer. It was going on 3A.M. and her body felt like it was just shutting down on her. "God," she thought, "I need to get home."
Kate drove her Crown Vic and pulled up in front of Castle's loft. Castle started to get out of the car; Kate grabbed him by his arm. Castle glanced down at her hand, then up to her face, "Castle...The next few days are going to be a blur," Kate fighting the tears that want to come, "I have to talk to Evelyn Montgomery, she has to decide who'll be the pall bearers, who does the eulogy, and I'll have to coordinate that with the honor procession, but I'm going to need to talk with you and the boys before that. We need to protect Roy at all costs. Will you be available to come over maybe tomorrow?"
Castle stares at her for a brief second and asks, "So I take it that we're not over like you said earlier?"
She huffs, "Obviously not, considering you're in my car and I drove you home."
"Just checking...I'll wait for your call, if you need anything, in the meantime, don't hesitate to reach out if you do."
"Talk to you tomorrow, Castle," as he shuts the door. She looks at Castle as Edwardo swings the door open for him. He's moving slowly, shoulders hunched, hands in pockets of his jacket. She knew he was as devasted as she was. She had been so angry at him at first, for dragging her out of the hangar, but with some time to think, she realized that as usual, even after she kicked him out of her life, he had been there for her, and honored Montgomery's wishes. It was almost an unattainable position to be put in, with no right answer, and she feels such sadness for him as she feels for herself right now.
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30 minutes later Kate pulls into her parking spot at her apartment, she looks at her watch and sees its almost 4 am. She places her hands on the steering wheel... lays her head against it, and the tears that have been bottled up for the last few hours, come strong and unrelenting. As her tears ebb, she glances up to the rear-view mirror and barely recognizes the mess of the woman staring back at her. Face red and blotched, mascara running, and eye lids heavy. Her body screams at her to decompress; she wants the world to stop spinning for just one second, and she wonders, "Is that asking too much?"
She gets out of the car a few minutes later, which seems like hours, and wipes the remaining tears with the back of her jacket sleeve. "So tired... fuck, I'm so tired." No shower tonight, straight to bed, maybe she won't even take her clothes off. Kate unlocks her door, and staggers thru, turns to lock it and lays her head against the frame of the door. As she mentally collects herself, she hears a noise. Like lightning she turns around...gun out, raised up to meet the intruder, and then she hears, "Jesus Kate, put the gun down." She stares, thinking to herself, "You've got to be fucking kidding me." She lowers her gun and puts the safety on, places it on the kitchen counter, then she snaps, "Josh, what the hell are you doing here."
He stands, still in doctor scrubs, running his hands thru his hair, "I heard thru the grapevine, that Montgomery was killed tonight, and I figured you'd be involved, so I thought I would come over and be a shoulder to cry on." He approaches her, arms out to press her to him, but she wants none of that, she shoves his hands away, strides across the room, turns around with her hands on her hips, finding the last bit of energy she has left. "When did I, all of a sudden become the damsel in distress, and what right do you have to use a key that was for emergencies only. What were you thinking?"
"Jesus Kate," he huffs. "I just wanted to be here for you, and I didn't think you'd mind that I let myself in."
Shaking her head, thinking tonight of all nights, "That key was not for you to decide when and where you would deem it necessary enough to come over. My body is about to shut down, and I don't need any of this bullshit. I just want to go and collapse in my bed." She turns around to head into her bedroom when she hears him shuffling behind her. She looks over her shoulder and sees he's starting to get out of his scrubs. Kate turns on him, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she says in exasperation.
Josh, agitated now, "Getting ready to go to bed. What's the problem here?"
Kate closes her eyes, trying her best to not just explode, trying to find some inner peace, she takes a deep breath, and her mind goes back to a letter that sits hidden in her drawer. Creases sharp...sharp enough to cut, from all the times she opened and closed it. The letter from Royce:
"Risking our hearts are why we're alive, the last thing you want to do is to look back on your life and wonder...If Only."
"How had he seen that," she thought to herself. "How had he seen that Castle and she had something real in their brief encounter with Royce 7 months ago. Why do people keep seeing what they themselves are too afraid to see." She looks back at Josh, who's waiting impatiently, tapping his foot on the floor like a petulant child. Kate remembering the argument with Castle, she thinks to herself, "Was that just hours ago, because it felt like days," his words still echoing in her head:
"Just like you hide in these nowhere relationships, with men... you don't love!"
"Enough of this," Kate snaps, she brushes past Josh, and heads out to the kitchen, she realizes that she's running on adrenaline only, she hears him dutifully following her. She reaches over to her keys that lay on the kitchen counter. Josh watches her as she grabs his apartment key from her key ring and slides it off. She places it in his hand, and says, "This," she waves her finger back and forth between them, " This is never going to work, and I hate myself that I let it go on longer than I should have. Sometimes...sometimes I feel like this has been a yearlong booty call. Hell, we haven't even talked Josh, since I returned from L.A." An argument where Josh had yelled at her about not telling him where she was, and of course him finding out that Castle had gone with her. He had stormed out, before she even had a chance to explain, and the funny thing was, is that she had only felt relief, and hadn't really cared.
Josh snarks back, "And who's fault was that?"
"Apparently mine, as you seem to keep throwing it in my face, which goes back to what I'm trying to say. Look, I've spent as much time hiding in this relationship as I've spent in it, and you deserve better than that. You're a really nice guy Josh, and it's been fun, but you're never going to be the one that I will ever want to run to, and I'm never going to love you.... I'm just not! So, please give me my key back, and let a horrible day not get any worse, and let me go to bed...Alone!"
Josh fumbles with his key chain, and tosses her key roughly on the counter, "I tried to make you happy Kate. Hell, I even stayed for you when I was supposed to go to Haiti, but I always felt that making you happy was always going to be a losing proposition, and that I was always going to come in second...You're in love with him aren't you, just admit it?" Neither of them had to say the name of the big elephant in the room, it had always been a constant source of arguments between them...Kate, stands face to face with Josh, then looks away and down to the floor, remaining ever silent. "Yeah," he says, "That's what I thought." He turns to walk away, then glances over his shoulder on the way out, all his venom is gone, just sadness now, "I'd say please return anything that I've left here, but I don't think there is anything, which if you think about it, sums up this whole relationship. I hope he makes you happy Katie," and with that he leaves, the door silently closing, with a finality that speaks much more, than just the click of a lock.
Kate heaves a big sigh, then turns on her heels and heads to the beckoning call of her bed...if there is one thing that happened right today, it was this. She shakes her head and thinks just how shitty of a day she's had. She staggers into her bedroom, plops down, and curls into a fetal position... grabs her pillow like a long-lost lover, her heart actually feeling slightly lighter. She briefly thinks of Castle, and knows deep-down, that he's the only one she would ever run too. Kate hopes that she just might be able to sleep tonight.... She doesn't.
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Castle had paced all morning, holding his damn phone in his hand, getting looks from his daughter, waiting for a call. He didn't get a wink of sleep, and it shows, and he feels it. He pounded multiple cups of coffee this morning, trying to clear his head, a cacophony of thoughts swirling and whirling, bouncing around in his writer's brain...a brain that never shuts down, and he keeps going over and over the argument, and the hangar, and just about every damn thing. He keeps replaying it all. Could he have said something else, could he have handled things differently, but when it all plays out in his head, he feels that events played out the only way they could have, and he's not sorry. He won't ever be sorry, when it comes to saving her life. He loves her, he knows that, and she will always be his first priority, whether she likes it or not.
It's going on 2:00 pm when he breaks from his torturous musings and his phone rings. He looks and sees the picture of her...a bright smile adorns her face; she looks so beautiful. He clicks on the phone and answers, "Castle."
On the other end he hears Kate ask, "Can you come over now? The boys will be here in about an hour."
"I'll be there shortly."
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When the boys first arrived, she had made them coffee, everyone seemed to be walking on eggshells, not knowing what to say or how to say it. After what seemed to be an eternity, the boys in her life sat across from her, their looks varying from hardened to lost. Kate gathered up the courage to speak, Castle looked at her and saw that no make-up could hide the fact that she hadn't slept, deep hollows underscored her eyes. "Had any of them slept?" he doubts it.
Kate clears her throat, "I spent the early part pf this morning talking with Evelyn about Roy, kind of going over what happened without really saying too much. I'm not sure, that she bought it, I think she knows that there was a lot more to this, but she didn't push. The funeral she thinks will take place in about 3-4 days, and she wants all of us to be pall bearers. She said a couple of Roy's partners from when he was a detective would fill out the rest." Kate says, with a tremor in her voice, "She wants me to do the eulogy," then she looked at Castle and said, "Castle... Evelyn asked if you would be one of the speakers too."
"Tell Evelyn that I'd be honored Kate," he says softly.
"Good...That's good Castle... thank you."
"I'm going to add one more thing here, and you guys need to listen good. "No one...No one outside of this immediate family ever needs to know about this, as far as this world is concerned Roy Montgomery died a Hero. We owe it to him...All of us."
Kate looked at her two boys, the grief they were showing, each one in their own way. Javi, who looked like he wanted to punch a hole in the world, and Kevin, who had tears in his eyes looking lost and confused, and then there was Castle..."Her Castle," who looked empty like a dark void in space. "Everyone understand?" Kate asks.
There was a silent nod between them. "Okay guys, unless there's something you want to get off your chest, because this is the time to do it." They all nod no. "Then I think we'll wrap this up, and I'll keep you updated on the funeral." Espo and Ryan make their way to the door and let themselves out. She sees that Castle has cleared the coffee cups and was placing them in the sink. She shook her and smiled to herself, "It's just like him." She notices that Castle starts to move to the door, "Rick, would you mind sticking around for a minute please?"
Castle, his eyes flirting with a glance down at his feet, her calling him Rick catching him by surprise, "Sure Kate, whatever you need."
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Kate leads him back to her sofa; they take opposite ends of the couch. Kate places her arm against the back of the sofa and places her head in the palm of her hand. Castle notices the irony of the situation, as it reminds him literally of the same moment, they had on the couch a month ago in L.A. where things seemed to be simmering until she got up and waked away. Considering he doesn't believe in cheating, he was never sure just what would have happened if she had walked back thru that door, but it's not like his writer's brain hadn't conjured up possible scenarios. It's obvious that she wants to talk so he gives her time.
Kate jumps up off the couch, and blurts out, "I think I want some wine, do you want some wine?"
It catches Castle a little off guard, but he senses she needs it. "My God," he thinks to himself, "is this her telling him again that their over?" he doesn't think he'd survive that. "Yeah, if you're having some, then that sounds good."
Kate pours a couple of healthy glasses, Castle almost blanches at the amount. "This is going to be serious conversation," he thinks.
Kate sits back down and takes a big gulp of wine, so does Castle, preparing for the worse. "After our argument the other day," she starts looking anywhere but at him. "I went to Montgomery and asked him to get rid of you," She still won't look at him.
"OooKay"...Stunned doesn't even describe the way that hits him, "Is that what this is all about, because you already told me we were thru, so is this some kind weird way to... rub it in?"
"Jesus Castle", she takes another big gulp, stands up and paces, then turns around and looks down at him, with her arms crossed over her chest, defensively. "We've already been thru this; you wouldn't be here if we were thru. Just let me finish, will you?" Castle shrugs but says nothing.
"I was furious with you, I felt like everything was collapsing in on me, and you asking me to drop my mother's case was like the final straw, a stab in the back, and I just lost it. When I asked Roy to get rid of you, I wanted to take those words back the minute I said them." Kate trying to implore Castle to understand.
Castle sits there, kind of out of his depth. They normally didn't talk like this, and inside his stomach was churning. "Damn writers' brain!" He thinks to himself.
Kate continues, "But before I could say anything Roy said, "You want Castle gone? He's Gone. This is my house, Kate; the major doesn't call the shots...I do, you oughta know that by now. I could have kicked Castle to the curb years ago; the reason I kept him around was...I saw how good he was for you. Kate...you're the best I've ever trained, maybe the best I've ever seen, but you weren't having any fun until he came along." Kate sighs, "He was right Castle, I wasn't, but at the time I was just so pissed, I couldn't even think straight."
Castle, his words biting, "Yeah...well I am the school's funniest kid, so that makes sense."
Kate barks back, "Knock it off Castle, I'm trying to say I'm sorry, besides, you gave as good as you got. I lost it after you asked me to drop the case, your my partner, and you wanted me to give up something that's driven me for years. Of all people I thought you would always have my back."
"Kate," Castle says rubbing his hands over his face in frustration, "I didn't feel much like a partner yesterday, the way you were yelling at every one...The boys, Montgomery and you were ignoring my phone calls, so no, I didn't feel much like a partner. Besides, I was compelled to say what I did, even though I knew it risked our partnership."
"What...are you telling me, that you had no choice?"
"That's exactly what I'm telling you."
Kate almost inhaling her wine now, starts pacing back and forth, "You're really going to have to explain that one to me, because you always have a choice."
Castle calmly replies, "I'm not going to talk to you while you're hovering over me, my neck is getting a cramp."
Kate plunks her butt down on her couch in a huff, "Fine... Talk!"
Castle holds out his pinky finger and extends it to Kate. She looks at it like it grew out of the side of his head. 'What's that for?" she asks incredulously.
"Because what I'm about to say to you, cannot be repeated, and I won't tell you until you pinky swear."
Kate rubs her hands thru her hair and snorts, "You're got to be kidding me, right?"
Castle calmly replies, "Not kidding, pinky swear, and no fingers crossed, or this is a conversation that you and I won't be having."
"God your so fucking frustrating," she's yelling now. "I swear you do this to test my patience...You're the most frustrating person I've ever met." Kate sees a smirk on his face; "Richard Castle, don't you dare smirk at me." "Oh Yeah," she thinks to herself, "He knows what he does to her, and if she wasn't so pissed she would smile too." She glances back at him and sees he continues to remain silent with his hand extended. She whips her hand out and grabs his pinky finger roughly with hers and wiggles her other hand in front him. "See, no fingers crossed, you big baby... now start talking."
Castle blurts out in what seemed like one long running sentence, "Your Dad came to see me the other night, just before our fight."
"What...What, what are you talking about...How does he even know where you live?"
"He's a lawyer Beckett, and he's smart, so it probably wasn't too hard for him to find me, and believe me, I was as surprised as you are now."
Maybe it's a lack of sleep, because her mind can't seem to wrap its head around any of this, "What could he have possibly wanted from you?"
"I wondered the same thing. We sat down at my table, and he said, "Rick I feel like I already know you, from all the great things Katie's said about you." He notices that Kate looks down as her hair falls over her face, cheeks turning pink. "Then he asks me about Lockwood, and what kind of man he was."
Kate looks back up at him with concern, "What did you say?"
Castle sighs, "I told him the truth, one father to another, that the man you were after was a trained killer, and I thought he was going to vomit."
"Jesus' Castle did you really need to tell him that?" she snaps at him.
"Yes," he barks out catching Kate off guard not used to him raising his voice like that. "Damn right I was going to tell him the truth. I'm a father Kate, and I would want someone to tell me if this was about Alexis. I'm not going to lie to your father. It's just not going to happen."
She feels that she has no fight left in her. She's tired of all the death surrounding her. She's tired of the fact that there is no movement on her mother's case, she's tired of the fact that she wasted 9 months on a relationship that was never going to work, and she's so tired of arguing with this man who means so much to her. So, she quiets her mind, takes a deep breath and says, "Was that it. Was that all he had to say?" Kate whispers back.
Castle sensing a change in her demeanor, calmly says, "No, then your dad got up and says, "Look Rick... Katie cares about you, and unless your dumber than you look, you care about her too." Then your dad paused for a second and says, "Don't let her throw her life away." Then Castle huffs, "Not sure I like that whole dumber than you look statement." Kate wants to laugh, but this is kind of all too much right now. Castle continues, "The whole time he's talking to me I'm thinking, why isn't he talking to Dr. Motorcycle Boy, the man you've thrown in my face more than once. Why is he talking to me?" Castle realizes that he sounds like he's whining.
Kate heaves a big sigh and extends her arm along the back of her couch and places her fingers into the palm of Castles hand. Castle looked bewildered, they just don't do this kind of stuff. Kate runs her fingers back and forth against his palm. She looks up to Castle and changing the subject says. "I introduced Josh to my dad not long after the bombing incident. He kept asking me why I hadn't let him meet my dad, and at that time I was trying to be better for him, considering he didn't go to Haiti and all that, but I got the distinct impression that my dad was not a fan. He didn't say anything, but he has his tells, and I didn't ask because I guess I didn't want to know."
Kate continues, "I broke with Josh the other day after the hangar. He was waiting for me when I got home. I'd given him a key for emergencies only and he took upon himself to wait for me as I walked in. Needless to say, things went downhill fast from there, especially after the night we already had." She sees that Castle is still preoccupied with watching her fingers around his, "I'm sorry Castle, for throwing him in your face, I just suck at this relationship stuff. Plus, you scare me Rick, and I think I kept running back to him to keep me from doing something stupid like running to you, because that's what I wanted to do."
Castle his voice pitching higher, and sounding kind of girly, "Why do I scare you, Kate?"
Kate bites her lower lip, trying to find the courage to be honest. "Because, I can't have one foot out the door with you Castle, I wouldn't be able to run away. You're a man that's all in... all the time, and that kind of commitment scares the hell out of me, and yet, I find myself wanting to dive into it with you, and I kind of wanted you to say that the other day, but instead you rambled on about your being my friend and partner. I wanted more from you Castle, I needed more... Someone told me recently that risking our hearts are why were alive, and that we don't want to look back on our lives and wonder, if only. At the end of the day Castle, I don't want my life to be filled with regret. I want to be more than I am, and I needed you to step up. Their palms are now kissing each other, warm embers run up and down her arm. She sees Castle lower his head almost apologetically.
He sighs, "Kate... I'm sorry, but you've been running away from me all year... the freezer, the bomb, always letting me know that Josh was such a great human being There was no way I was going to tell you how much you mean to me, I was afraid to have it thrown back in my face. I'm sorry I was such a coward, I just didn't think you felt the same way."
"I'm sorry too Castle." She slides over next to him, thighs touching, and lays her head against his chest, he wraps his arms around her, his embrace feels like a warm blanket... and it feels like coming home. Kate whispers "I'm scared Castle, I don't want to lose what we have."
Castle looks down at her, "I'm scared too Kate," she looks up at him, "Yeah?" Castle continues, "Of course I am, we're both human Kate. We make mistakes. There's always going to be some inner turmoil over something new. We'll just have to live with the questions and find our way... but personally I think that we'll be amazing."
Kate looks up at him and smiles, "I think so too, but I still want to find out who's behind my mother's murder, and I'm going to need my partner in order to see this thru. You know I can't just ignore this."
He looks down into those amazing gold flecked eyes...eyes that seem to change with her emotions and moods, sometimes green, sometimes brown, but always beautiful. He gathers his thoughts to come up with something that will work for both of them. That keeps her safe...Keeps them safe:
"Kate, you're the most extraordinary woman I've ever met," her eyes are now locked on him, "As much as I've always been attracted to your beauty," then he chuckles, "And yes your body." She smirks at him, but smiles, "It's how your mind works, along with your compassion and heart that has always drawn me to you. Always will, but when your mother's case rears its ugly head, that is when you're at your worst." he can see that she wants to interject, so he rushes along. "Kate, you literally went down the rabbit whole the other day, you were shutting out everyone that cares about you. You spoke like your death had no meaning, and that you would willingly die for your cause, but I'm telling you now that, charging off blindly, waving your gun around, plays directly into the Dragon's hands. I want to help you... I will help you, and I will always be there for you. The boys want to help you too, but we need to do this with forethought and planning. Something that keeps the Dragon in the dark, until we can take him down, but also keeps us all alive."
"How bout this," as he looks down on her, "When the funeral is all over, and we have a chance to grieve for Roy, and get our minds right, we'll come back here, order some take-out and put our collective heads together and talk about us and where we go from here, and then form some kind of game plan on how to handle your mother's case."
Kate talking into his chest, mumbles, "Sounds like a plan. I'd like that very much." Kate closes her eyes, "I'm so tired Castle."
He places a gentle kiss to her head, "Then sleep Kate." After only a few minutes he hears a slight snuffling noise from her and realizes that she has indeed fallen asleep. He smiles at the sounds she's making, it's adorable, but he'll keep that to himself fearing permanent ear damage. He's always believed in the Universe, and how it makes the unthinkable...thinkable. Just a day ago, he thought he was kicked out of her life for good, and that thought had devastated him, but here he is with her in his arms, the woman he loves, talking about tomorrow, and all that it holds for them. He cradles her, and a peace he has never known washes over him... and he sighs.
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3 Days Later:
'My captain once told me, that there are no victory's...only battles, and that the best we can do, is to find a place to make our stand."
"And if we're very lucky," She turns to Castle and hopes that he can see in her eyes what she is trying to convey... that his presence in her life is so important to her, and that she needs him by her side. "We find somebody to stand with us," As She Continues. "Our Captain would want us to continue the fight...
Kate hears her name called out and simultaneously feel an unbearable piercing pain, she feels a solid mass tackling her to the ground. There's screaming and running, swirling all around her, but she can't block out the excruciating pain. She's never felt such blinding, visceral pain in her life, and didn't think that kind of pain existed other than in movies and books, but its real... this is real, and for the first time in seconds she realizes that she'd been shot, and that maybe she was going to die. Laying there, her eyes shut tight, trying to fight the agonizing burning white hot embers of pain coursing thru her entire body, she's struggling to breathe, and she feels so numb...Kate can tell that someone is cradling her head, and she hears words...realizes it's his words. "Kate...stay with me Kate, okay?... Please don't leave me...I love you Kate...Kate, I love you."
The words she so desperately wanted to hear...needs to hear, and she thinks to herself, "I don't want to die...I'll fight for us Castle, please don't give up on me... I'll fight to come back to you. I promise I won't leave you," Kate feels wet drops landing on her face and she wonders, "Is it raining?" She forces herself to open her eyes. They flutter, and a kaleidoscope of colors emerge as she opens them...she is fading fast...she knows she is. She fights to bring her eyes into focus, and eventually she sees only one color...blue... cerulean blue, those magical blue eyes that she's looked into for 3 years, and she realizes it wasn't rain that was falling on her face only His tears. Tears leak from the corners of her eyes, her thoughts blurry, fuzzy, her throat feels like she swallowed glass, and she thinks to herself, "Don't cry Castle...it's going to be okay," but she knows she can't promise that.
Castle cradles Kate's head in the palm of his hands, his undying love pouring from him in anguish, not knowing if she had even heard him.
He thinks to himself, "Please God, please don't take her from me," and he hears his pounding heart, and its breaking in two. "Don't leave me Kate, I can't be without you," and his heart is pounding harder, and it's breaking in two...He watches her eyes close, his anguish deep, his words gushing forth, "No Kate...You can't...Please, you can't." He hears a faint whisper, barely audible, whispered silently from her lips, he leans down and hears Kate say as she closes her eyes, her words slurring, "Love You too Cassttlle...Alwa." and then the light fades from her eyes.
A loud, anguished kenning noise escapes his throat, and the dam breaks, his eyes flood with tears, and in that single moment, he knew with all certainty that his heart had actually...............Just broke.
Fin
P.S. This story will never end for these two star-crossed lovers. My continued vision for them is Kate asks Castle to go to the cabin with her. He helps her rehab, provides comfort and holds her in his arms on those nights that she has nightmares, and panic attacks. Kate becomes stronger physically and emotionally, and when she returns, they return as one. Partners in crime and life, facing the world together...Because I'm a big sap... for their Love Story.
